Can You Imagine?

Think about it....

My Kids Are Rednecks....Just Like Us

You must click HERE to watch the funniest video ever of my kids!

Hee hee !! Haw Haw!!

(It expires on Jan 15th, so hurry!)

~H

O Come, O Come!!

He's almost here....

~H

Planned Parenthood Covers Up AGAIN

And they're all for women's rights? Sure.

~H

It's Cold

Yesterday, my family and I braved the cold to go to Mass. Not that we need a medal or anything. I didn't even know how cold it was until we started loading kids in the car. I may have decided to keep everyone home if I had checked the weather beforehand. Ergo the point of this post.

When I did get home and was able to check the weather, it was -4 degrees outside. Negative. Four. The "high" for the day was -3. The low was -10. (Fahrenheit people - I live in America.)

Do we even need these numbers at this point? Can the weather man and The Weather Channel and the internet sites just say, "It's *^!*ing cold out! Stay inside!" Or, a more family friendly way to put that might be, "It's cold beyond all reason. Don't leave the house!"

I mean really, do the numbers mean anything at all once you get to, say, 0? That's already 32 degrees below freezing. The freezer compartment of my refrigeration unit is set at -1. If it's colder than my freezer outside maybe the news stations could say, "If you'd like to warm up after coming in from the #*!%ing cold take a tour of your freezer - 'cause it's warmer in there."

Don't get me wrong. I like to be informed of important upcoming changes in the weather. It's nice to know when a blizzard is coming (like last week and this weekend). But I'm really not sure that I'm getting any more "informed" by knowing that today it's -3 and tomorrow it's going to drop to -15. Am I going to feel a difference? Probably not. I'm just going to say, "#$%* It's COLD!"

~H

Pro-Life Rosary Meditations

Joyful Mysteries

The Annunciation
Mary is troubled by the angel's greeting, yet rejoices to do God's will. Let us pray that those who are troubled by their pregnancy may have the grace to trust in God's will.

The Visitation
John the Baptist leapt for joy in his mother's womb. We pray that people may realize that abortion is not about children who "might" come into the world, but is about children who are already in the world, living and growing in the womb, and are scheduled to be killed.

The Nativity
God Himself was born as a child. The greatness of a person does not depend on size, for the newborn King is very small. Let us pray for an end to prejudice against the tiny babies threatened by abortion.

The Presentation
The Child is presented in the Temple because the Child belongs to God. Children are not the property of their parents, nor of the government.
They - and we - belong to God Himself.

The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
The boy Jesus was filled with wisdom, because He is God. Let us pray that all people may see the wisdom of His teachings about the dignity of life, and may understand that this teaching is not an opinion, but the truth.

Michigan Abortion Clinic

See what was found in the dumpster outside this abortion clinic. This is grafic. Please view before allowing your children to view.



This is real. This is what is happening. Become a voice for the unborn.

~H

It's Almost Time!!

Happy 4th Sunday of Advent!

God Bless you and Merry Christmas (it's OK to say Merry Christmas, folks!)!!

Prayer To End Abortion

Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,

And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.

I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion,

Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death

by the Resurrection of Your Son.

I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.

Today I commit myself

Never to be silent,

Never to be passive,

Never to be forgetful of the unborn.

I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement,

And never to stop defending life

Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,

And our nation once again becomes

A nation with liberty and justice

Not just for some, but for all,

Through Christ our Lord. Amen!

The Cutest Baby Hat Ever!!!

It's a hood. It's a hat. It's a scarf. It covers the ears!

It's ADORABLE!!!

Is it just me? I *heart* Etsy. Got this at Lyalya's shop. So awesome!! Makes me want to just eat him up!! Or buy a matching one for myself!! Don't go and buy it before I can.....

~H

A Bone to Pick.......

.....with Pillsbury.

Let me explain.

In my short lived experiment with couponing (read about it here) I had purchased some Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough. I know, I know. I usually make my own cookie dough - it's cheaper and tastes better.

But, I thought, I have a baby and a toddler, and a COUPON, so I'll buy some dough. It'll save me the time of having to make sugar cookie dough, then refrigerate, then roll, then cut out, then bake, then frost before eating our Christmas cookies. I get to skip two steps! Woo-hoo!

Was it worth it?

Um, not so much.

Perhaps a picture demonstration would be better? Ok. Here you go:


Exhibit A -

Notice the size differential between the cookie cutter and the resulting cookie? WTF! When I make my own sugar cookies THEY RETAIN THEIR SHAPE AND SIZE. Period.

Not enough, you say? Want more evidence? I give you Exhibit B -

Star of Christmas Cookie Cutter and resulting blob of confused squares. Again, I do not know what happened to these cookies. Does Pillsbury put some kind of super-human strength baking powder in their cookie-dough? Do they not understand that while it is OK for your chocolate chip cookies to conquer and divide among the cookie sheet it is quite impolite for sugar cookies to do so.



And, yes, there's more. Exhibit C-



Went in a Gingerbread Man, came out Frosty the Snow Man. This poor guy gained about 50 lbs. just because he agreed to undertake baking.



Exhibit D -

From left to right starting at the top: heart, bell, heart, bell, stocking, heart, stocking, gingerbread man. Oh-so-wrong on so many levels.

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, finished and frosted cookies-

To top off this wreckage of cookies, we had placed the remains of cutting out shapes into a blob and decided to bake a "large" sugar cookie by itself. It was the last "batch" that went in the oven. It was forgotten. Forgotten as the other cookies cooled. Forgotten as we made frosting (the green frosting is mint flavored, YUM!). Forgotten as we frosted the cookies. Forgotten until 30 plus minutes after it went into the over I got up to pee and smelled something off.

Found a large, brown hockey puck in my oven, complete with putrid smell of burnt popcorn wafting through the air.

Ah, the joys of baking. The cookies taste ok, although nothing compares to real butter, which Pillsbury obviously forgot about. And it was fun to see the little kids all covered in flour as Wobbs tried to roll out the dough. And his funny face when he realized his line of paper-cut-out gingerbread men had become poor souls that needed surgical help to regain their shape. My Flower, being the wisest of us all, refused to touch much less take a bite of the cookies.

Happy Advent!!

~H

P.S. Blogger has gone stupid and will not respect my formatting wishes in the above paragraphs.....melding then together as only Pillsbury could do!!! An ironic twist of fate, maybe?

Ramblings from the busy Mom....

I just need to ramble a few things today. Bear with me.

Diaper pins. Hate them. I am soooo glad I don't have to use them on a regular basis. As of this moment, I have only had to use them twice (counting right now).

My Lovey is currently wearing not a "diaper" but a flannel receiving blanket. These cannot be secured by my ever-trusty Snappi. No, my friends, flannel cannot be Snappied. You must revert to diaper pins.

Why I am using a receiving blanket? Because I am currently running low on diapers that are the correct size for my ever-growing, very brawny and stout not-so-little baby. He's a giant, for Pete's sake. We all love a good giant around here. He has outgrown all but 9 of the diapers I own. I have traded some items in my home for some new "fluff". But the new fluff has yet to arrive on my doorstep. Right now, I am washing my 9 diapers and waiting it out in a blanket (not me, him).

Back to the diaper pins. They are horrible. How did the previous generations survive? No wonder disposable diapers were such a wonderful relief (aside from the whole not-having-to-wash-them thing). I do know there are some "pin-loving" mamas out there - and I mean no offense to you ladies. But it is very difficult with my squirming baby, what with his constant kicking during changes and all, to push those pins through the fabric without stabbing him and especially ME. (Can you tell that maybe I've stabbed myself once or twice, or everytime!!!?) I can't imagine using this form of fastening for every diaper. I love my Snappie. And I also love, love, love my diapers that have snaps to fasten them, like these and these.

Moving on.....

I got the Jesse Tree up. I, unfortunately, did not get any ornaments on it until the 13th day of Advent. Since then, no more ornaments up either. Part of the problem I am having is that I have a slight OCD issue with having to read the scripture that goes with the ornament. I can't just put the ornament up each day unless we read the reading. And I don't have time to do the readings everyday, and then they build up and we have a bunch to read....and then I'm overwhelmed and nothing happens for days and days. Yep. That's just how it goes.

We also have no Christmas tree yet, and no Christmas decorations. We are hoping to get out this weekend to cut down our Christmas tree but there is a huge storm headed our way for Friday, so we'll just have to see.

We also have been "Church" shopping. My husband has a diversion to the "big city" near us where we've been attending Mass so we are seeking out our options to find a place that fits us better. We do really like the fact that our Bishop presides frequently at the parish in the "big city", but we need to do what's best for us as a family and staying out of the city is a big priority right now. Unfortunately the parish in our own small town is, well, "spiritually lacking" is the term I would use. It leaves one very thirsty for a deeper experience.

I pray you all enjoy this season and are able to celebrate it for what it is! God Bless!

~H

Not "Enough"

Lately, I have been tempted to feel not "enough".

Sometimes, it's not Catholic enough. Others, not "crafty" enough. And there's always the not blogging "enough". Not a good mama enough. Not a good enough cook (ok, well, really I am a good enough cook, I take that one back). Not thin enough. Not pretty enough. Not able to keep up with everything enough.

Why do we allow ourselves to feel this way?

As women, I think it is easy enough not to feel enough ALL THE TIME. Look at mainstream society. We are bombarded with images of "adults" looking like preteen, super skinny, airbrushed, "perfect" creatures. It takes a true turn to look at what God intended for us to realize how fake indeed that idea of beauty is.

Women were designed to have families. Families prevent us from being perfect in society's eyes, but not God's. When I look at myself in the mirror, I *try* (very hard) to see not an imperfect body, but what my body shows I have done for my family.

My soft, round middle is the purple heart for the three glorious children I have bore, without the need for drugs, thankyouverymuch. My overspilling (yes, they overspill) breasts are proof positive that I have nourished my children in the divine manner that God gave me. My short hair is end product of being able to keep my baby near me at all times, even when I shower. My jeans are snug fitting because instead of taking time for Pilates or Yoga, I surrender myself to attachment parenting and know that my children are receiving the best care I can offer them. Period. My clothes aren't the most fashionable, because my money and time are better spent caring for my home than for my wardrobe.

As far as those other "enough"s are concerned:

I try not to take things others do too seriously. Sometimes when I am out in the bloggy world it is too easy to get caught up thinking, "How come they have so much time to write such inspiring things? Why does their blog look so cool? How come I'm not making people want to read my blog?" I realize that these are temptations of satan himself trying to make me feel inadequate and lure me away from my true responsibility, that of sole care-provider for my home and family.

Sometimes, at Mass, I am tempted to feel not Catholic enough. Is there such a thing? Or is this yet another hit the devil takes at me to make me feel lacking and unqualified?

I see other families with perfectly behaved children, Mom and Dad in their Sunday best, no snacks, no one distracted. But my children are children. They act like regular kids. They don't always pay attention and we could never make it through Mass without a bottle of water and some cheerios.

Are jeans really that horrible? My husband has been away from the Church for the majority of his life. I thing God is pretty darn happy that he shows up at all, jeans or no.

And when my kids are sick, or I am 2 weeks post-partum, I have to believe that God understands that I can't make it if I am to fulfill his request that I tend to my vocation as mother and care for my children. Sometimes also, it's just too cold to take the little ones out of the house.

And so, I will try to feel instead of "not enough" that I am in fact doing just as He intended for me to do. Enough.

~H

Thankful This Advent Season

I am thankful for my $200 heating bill this month.....because it means I have a home to heat.

I am thankful that my jeans do not fit....because it means I have enough to eat.

I am thankful for the constant "noise" of my home....because it is filled with love.

I am thankful for the chaos of my days.....because it means I have a reason to organize.

I am thankful for the kids bickering....because it means I have been blessed with a large family.

I am thankful for the dirty laundry.....because it means we have clothes to wear.

I am thankful for the dirty dishes....because we have food to cook.

I am thankful for occasional argument with my spouse....because it means neither of us have to be perfect.

I am thankful for confession....because He has given us a Sacrament for His Forgiveness.

I am thankful for the Mass.....because it means we have a Savior.

I am thankful for my cross....because it brings me closer to Him.

~H

Too Busy

I have been too busy to write anything. He's a (really) quick look at what we've been up to:

Right now, I am up with the Wobs running a hot steam shower to get rid of his croupy cough. He sounds like a baby harp seal.

My husband has been working like he's the only sheriff in town. People are breaking the law left and right my friends.

I am soooo tired because I cannot sleep when the seasons change and it is officially winter here, snow and all. My hubby's had the snow blower out 2 times already.

Black Friday appauls me. Really. I am happy the Lord has really helped me to fight the consumerism I was raised to worship.

But......I am getting addicted to cloth diaper hunting again. My Lovey is outgrowing the size he's in and I've got to get new (used) ones. I found a forum where I can trade for dipes instead of buying them. I'm trying to trade some of my Mama Cloth (yes, I use cloth menstrual pads. They are the BEST!!!).

Or.....I can try and use the potty, like I did with My Petite Flower. The diapers are just easier, what with having a toddler and baby.

My marriage needs time. We are so busy, some days I have to remind myself to say "I love you." (I do Sweetie, love you that is. I'm sorry we're so busy. And thank you for the cards.)

Advent has started. I got my Jesse Tree out today and my Advent Wreath. Only 1 day late! A new record for me.

I've been reading up more on the Culture of Death and Abortion. I've got some good ones coming.

Couponing has been OK. But I save lots of money by just going to the right store.

Penciled in a time for Baptism. Now I just have to confirm with all involved parties.

I'm at least thinking about St. Nicholas Day. I don't know if we'll do anything.

God Bless you all!!! More to come soon......

~H