Today is for Matthew's Family
/Won't you please pray with us?
Daybook: Happy Songs for August
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Outside My Window ...
there is a grand reunion of neighborhood children back from holidays away. One little girl comments that she is so glad to be back because she didn't like having to go potty in a hole (she spent three weeks in Somalia)
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I am listening to...
Nicholas and Mary Beth discussing whether or not to make a potato torte for dinner tonight.
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Nicholas and Mary Beth discussing whether or not to make a potato torte for dinner tonight.
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To Live the Liturgy...
Big week!
St. Lawrence: August 10
St. Clare: august 11
St. Jane de Chantal (a personal favorite): August 12
Maximilian Kolbe: August 14
And the Solemnity of the Assumption: August 15
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To Fit and Happy...
My exercise bike is my newly found, long lost friend
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I am thankful for...
airplanes, safe landings, and reunions.
~
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airplanes, safe landings, and reunions.
~
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I am pondering ...
…the real strength of love consists not in enjoying the divine
sweetness, but rather in exact observance of the Rules, and the
faithful practice of solid virtue—that is, in humility, the love of
self-contempt, patient endurance of insults and adversities,
self-forgetfulness, and a love that seeks not to be known except by
God. This alone is true love, and these are its unerring tokens. May
God preserve us from that sensible love which allows us to live in
ourselves, while the true leads us to die to ourselves.—St. Jane de
Chantal
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From the kitchen ...
We had some fun in the kitchen last week. After watching Katherine's sister rock Cake Challenge, we stayed tuned for The Next Food Network Star. My kids were inspired to make it a Food Network week. we started with a menu from TNFNS and then surfed for more Food Network recipes all week. We had some bigtime fun in the kitchen, found a few keepers, and were inspired to get creative in the kitchen again this week. I'm going to infuse some life into a new cycle menu yet:-)!
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I am wearing ...
A pretty paisley skirt and pink seed stitched sweater. Bare feet and hair clip. And lip gloss.
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I am creating ...
menus for feeding crowds of big soccer players in the middle of August. Suggestions, anyone?.
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On my iPod...
l'Angelus, because both Colleen and Charlotte insist on it:-).
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Towards a real education ...
menus for feeding crowds of big soccer players in the middle of August. Suggestions, anyone?.
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On my iPod...
l'Angelus, because both Colleen and Charlotte insist on it:-).
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Towards a real education ...
making a rough draft of a schedule and sort of seeing how it's all going to fit together.
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I am thinking...
I have time to share ideas and plans and family joys online. Internet judging and drama? I don't have time for that.
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In the Garden...
I give up. The grass growing in the tomato garden wins. When the tomatoes wind down, I'm just going to mow the whole dang thing.
I give up. The grass growing in the tomato garden wins. When the tomatoes wind down, I'm just going to mow the whole dang thing.
Around the House
We've seriously overhauled. Lots of bedrooms perfectly clean and organized and very pretty. Sunroom ready and waiting for learning adventures. And the basement is pretty close to being "much better," maybe even "good." I think I'm a week away from being very happy with the state of my house. Makes me a little nervous. Something always happens when I achieve perfect order.
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Sarah Anne this week...
She got her first tooth this week. She does the cutest thing with her tongue as she still keeps trying to push that silly little tooth out of her way.
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I am reading ...
not blogs. I'm not going to read blogs until I finish this house project and nail down the first draft of the book Danielle and I are writing. There's some motivation to stay focused:-)
(I completely did not keep this resolution last week and boy, was I ever sorry.)
and
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I am hoping and praying ...
for my precious aunt who has been diagnosed with cancer. We are watching and waiting through the trying time of testing and decisions.
Note: It's not that I have forgotten to update this request; this has been a very long and complicated diagnosis.
for my precious aunt who has been diagnosed with cancer. We are watching and waiting through the trying time of testing and decisions.
Note: It's not that I have forgotten to update this request; this has been a very long and complicated diagnosis.
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On Keeping Home ...
Ah, these candles are heavenly. Really.
I think the St. Michael one captures the essence of Domestic Church
Cut some roses for a vase; light a candle; play l'Angelus hymns. Inhale holy inspiration.
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One of my favorite things ...
Iced tea lemonade. I like this recipe, only no added sugar and green tea instead of black tea.
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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
More soccer camp: two-a-days this week, for more driving aggravation.
Michael will host a half dozen or so soccer players here for a few days so that they can get some days of practice in before the dorms open. In all sincerity, I'm looking forward to making breakfast for those guys.
"School" will begin for Stephen and Nicky and Katie and Karoline, only to be interrupted by soccer camp for them next week.
I've got some cool things cooking for Faith and Family Live features (I get to interview some really interesting people) and I think I'm going to jump into the podcast waters.
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Picture thought
My Room (Guest Post By Mary Beth)
/During the bedroom switch, I moved up from the basement into my old/new room. This is the room that used to be mine and now is mine again. Since all of the little girls share a room now I have my own. Most kids talk about how they love having their own rooms but I have to adjust to not sleeping with either Katie and Karoline. It's a little bit weird to have my own bed and room. (Karoline now says she has two rooms: mine and hers and she still sleeps in mom's room at least half of most nights. Only Karoline could manage to come away from this project with 3 bedrooms). I do LOVE having my own quiet room though! We were not going to have to make any changes to the room except move my furniture up. Then we did the little girls room and their quilt didn't really match their room. Then the next morning, Mom moved my quilt in and it did match perfectly, though at the time I wish it didn't because I love that quilt. So... Mom said that if I wanted to that I could keep my quilt and we could just get the little girls a new one that was like it, or we could swap, or they could keep mine and I could get a new one. I knew that my quilt matched perfectly and so we cleaned out my new room and made another trip to Target. Now, after getting the OK from Dad, we headed off to Target and left with:
Polka Dot Wall Stickers
Polka Dot Curtains (They haven't really been hung yet. We need a bigger rod.)
And a Pretty Striped Rug
The rest of my room is:
A Dresser From Grandma and two white American Girl Doll shelves with free handed bows painted by mom.
A bookcase that is just like the little girls except it's the older version which they don't sell anymore, so this just means that it is green instead of pink and it doesn't have a toy chest drawer.
All and all, a GREAT ROOM! With a great theme: POLKA DOTS! We are still going to hang some pictures. The room didn't need to be painted either. It is blue. And the curtains make the light from outside shine this really pretty pink tone and my room looks pink-ish/purple-ish off of the walls:-)
