My Outer Child

There are many reasons God has given me my beautiful children. Currently the most obvious is that 5 children necessitates a level of organization that I would never have attained otherwise.

But a lot of times I see the small gifts, joys, and blessings unique to each of these 5 distinct people. Like the blessing of having a voice for all my irrational/inappropriate desires.

I would really like to get lunch out for all of us. We'll be tired and hungry when we get home. But it's not in the budget--so I'll suck-it-up and head for cheese toast and salad.

MOOMMYYYY!! I WANNA GO TO A RESTAURANT!! WAAAA!! A RESTAURANT!! I DONWANNA EAT AT HOME!! THAT FOOD IS BORING!!!

Sigh, I do like having help in the kitchen, but sometimes I just want to work alone. But that's OK, I know they love measuring and stirring. We'll have fun together

THIS IS MY JOB! MINE MINE MINE!! STAY AWAY! WAAAAAA!

I sure am tired. There's a lot left to do today, but I just want to go to sleep. I'll work for a half hour more then hit the sack.

I'M NOT TIRED!!! WAAAA!!!!! I'M NOT TIRED!!!

It is not hard to empathise with the struggles of childhood, because they really are familiar. Can you guess which child is my inner voice?

Dance Recital

Yes--Thaddeus was the ONLY BOY in all the classes. And a very cute on too! Mary Catherine begins to show the grace of a Little Woman. Thalia is her own exuberant self! There is no audio on the video clips. What kind of contraption do you experienced bloggers use for video? My digital camera doesn't have audio--but it does have video.
That's Thalia chasse-ing towards us in the middle. That is Arveragus looking in the camera.

Mary Catherine is in the center back of the graceful armed girls.

That Pesky Shifting Morality

When a State Attorney General demands an abortion clinic's records to investigate the possibility of under aged girls being victims of sexual abuse, Planned Parenthood shouts FOUL. But after a crank call against a religious sect every child is taken from their homes because of the possibility of married under aged girls. How does this jive with the teen pregnancy rate in our country? How does this line up with teen girls of the same age being able to have abortions without their parents knowledge? I don't get it.

The country is moving toward recognition of several variations of "marriage", but polygamy is not one of them, apparently. If gay marriage is OK, why is polygamy (I'm assuming between adults) still illegal?

"Get your religion out of my Laws" a bumper sticker says. But why is it that we still hold to some morals but not others.

Like horse meat?!

I'm not a horse meat eater myself. But in Europe they eat it. How come American companies can be shut down because horse eating is not acceptable in the US? Don't get me wrong. I think it's fine to debate and discuss this issue. It's fine to disagree.

But why are my morals (pro-life, pro-marriage and family) considered intolerant, while the left-wing morals are accepted at the same time as they are intolerant of any opposing views (like anyone who questions an abortion clinics practices has an anti-abortion agenda) ?

Why is it OK for teens to have sex and abortions, but not for them to marry and have babies? Is this intolerance? Is intolerance OK in some situations? Am I being judgemental by saying abortion is wrong, and hurts women and children? Are we being judgemental by saying 15 year old girls should not be married? Isn't it important for us to be able to judge? I'm not being snide here--these are real questions for me. As a society we must judge, we must not tolerate that which is reprehensible. We must be able to address the issues without degrading into name-calling.

Democrats are not scary baby-killers.

Republicans are not ignorant religious-nuts.

We are Americans trying to form our country. Morality is part of the mix.

Photo Essay--Shaved

BAD MOM Award goes to. . . .

the crazy woman who goes to the dance recitle with a sick baby (hand, foot and mouth--but I didn't know till later--really!), lets a heavy bathroom door close on the 3 year olds head, then the next time they are walking through a heavy door together, while reaching back to hold open the heavy so so it WON"T squash his head, puts a BIG GOUGE under his eye! And all in ONE DAY!!

I'll have to wax romantic about our 13th annaversary some other time. . .must tend sick baby and injured 3 year old.

I LOVE FOOD!

And thanks to my sister I have a great website to find the whole grain, healthy, yummy alternatives for my food loving.

Can't wait to try the onion rings!!

I LOVE FOOD!

NEWS FLASH!!

Plunkbook is now open to all readers. I got tired of maintaining the invites. Enjoy!

Little Fish in A Big Pond

Last winter, in Maine, when we bought our 12 seater van, friends commented on our new BIG VAN. They were right. It is big. Our community in Maine is mostly land of mini-vans for families. There are two notable exceptions--families who have 6 and 7 children and have 15 seater vans. But they don't go to our church. So aside from the occasional suburban, we really had a BIG VAN.

Then we moved to Oregon. To an orthodox Catholic Parish. Where people said things like "Only 5? How sweet!" Now we have the small van.

OH! Henry!

I picked up a collection of O. Henry stories and am devouring them. Since we don't have TV--and don't spend a lot of time watching You Tube--the short story is the literary equivalent to a sit-com. I can get through one in only two nursing-the-baby-down sessions. He is so funny, ironic, playful, and romantic/poignant. Behold:

It was a day in March.
Never, never begin a story this way when you write one. No opening could possible be worse.
--from Springtime A La Carte

It is a awful this to hear a strong, desperate, fat man scream incontinently in a cave at daybreak.
--from The Ransom of Red Chief

Chicago seemed to swoop down upon him like Mrs. Partington, plumes and patchouli, and to disturb his rest with a soaring and beautiful song of future promise. But Raggles would awake to a sense of shivering cold and a haunting impression of ideals lost in a depressing aura of potato salad and fish.
Thus Chicago affected him.
--from The Making of a New Yorker


So, there is a little taste of some of my favorite sentences. I may have Mary Catherine diagram some of these--evil homeschooling Mamma! She has enjoyed the stories too, though I still have to sit down for a mini seminar with her and John.

What I think makes me most at home with these stories is that they easily vacillate from tragic (The Furnished Room), to redemptive (A Retrieved Reformation) to hilarious (The Romance of a Busy Broker). The swings and gyrations of the human condition all captured in this little book of stories.

Thank God for William Sydney Porter!

Funniest Card Ever

Go to Danielle Bean (link to the right) and check out the funnies card. I was gaffawing!!!

Hope everone had a happy mother's day!

Not Like Anne

Anne of Green Gables has always been a role model for me. I love Anne. The books. The TV movie (but not the weird third one. . .). I Love Anne, and Marilla.

Anne says she never makes the same mistake twice. She is right. She is an impertuous, and thoughtful soul. I, unfortunately, am impetuous and superficial. Not prone to long periods of, what's it called, maybe consideration, or prudence. . .

Case in point: Give a baby a cell phone and he'll suck on it until the ear piece is full of spit and your conversations are muffled until it airs out. Cell phones are not appropriate teething toys.

Give him the cell phone again. WOW. Still not a good idea!


Give him the cell phone again--I'm sure as an act of desperation or an extreme moment of thoughtlessness--the same thoughtlessness that would bring a mother to eat a cookie a child has asked her to hold to keep a younger sibling from eating it. . .terrible isn't it.

Finally toddler teeth penetrate the display window glass on the cell phone. Now not only are conversations muffled, but you have an attractive spiderweb crack, AND a wave of saliva swishing back and forth under the glass. What fun.

REPEAT--CELL PHONES ARE NOT BABY TOYS!

Maybe I have learned this lesson now. We'll see. . .


(no toddlers were injured during the making of this post)

Giving Credit

Where credit is due. The kids and I have noticed a lot of God's blessings in the little thing;

The pitas that puffed--Thank You Lord!
The fresh garden greens---Thanks Again!
The warm sunny day--You're the Best, Lord!
The sweet toddling Baby--A Miracle from You! Thank You!
The bag of awesome hand-me-downs from my sister-in-law --well, Shelly does get SOME credit for that!

To quote John Henry, "Thank You for the whole world. Thank You for the whole universe. God Bless the whole world. God Bless the whole universe."