I'm a Little More Country Than That

If you weren't born and raised as a Country Girl, then you had better earn the title.  And, while I'm not 100% there, as of this past weekend, I am definitely one step closer.

Phil and the kids put up a very lovely, bona fide, 3-wire clothesline for me!  I guess the fact that I am giddy like a kid in a candy store over it makes me even closer to earning the title of Country Girl ;)

Here are my hard workers, fixing to put a second coat of paint on the clothesline posts.  I actually inherited this clothesline from my Mother-in-Law, and if I were a betting woman I would put money on the fact that my Father-in-Law built these posts, but I don't know that for sure.  Either way, I have a REALLY nicely constructed clothesline, and it has sentimental value, too =).  I'm sure Phil's Mom will love seeing her Grand-kids running around 'her' clothesline while I hang clothes, or helping me put the clothes out on the line, too.  

Of course, Natalie thought she was way more knowledgeable about how to do the painting, so here she is telling the others, "you have to dip the paintbrush just like this!..."  She's definitely the oldest child, and I love her initiative.....sometimes ;)

Rachel was really excited to be included...usually she is "too little", so she felt like a big girl this day!  I love watching the girls together.  It makes me happy to think they might one day have the kind of friendship I have with my sisters.

 

Here is the span of the clothesline.  Don't ask me how wide it actually is...I have no idea (you can knock a point from my Country Girl status for that one ;).  All I know is that I can fit about 3 loads of laundry on that thing!

Rachel quickly lost interest in painting the post, and decided to just decorate the newspaper, instead :)

Luke really wanted to crawl over and get in on the action.....

....but, the task of keeping his little knees off the concrete kept him too busy to get to where he wanted to go.

Here it is, all finished!  Isn't it great?!?! 

 I don't know what it is, but there is such simple beauty in clothes on a clothesline, blowing in a summer breeze.  I especially love seeing my cloth diapers hanging out there.  Ahhhh!  It's the simple things in life that mean the most....  

While I must keep working on earning the Country Girl name, my kids have no need...they were simply born with it.  Well, Andrew & Luke fall more under the 'Country Boy' category, but you know what I mean ;)

Is It Logical?

I am not sure how many of you have been following the Father Corapi scandal, but I really haven't.  I mean, I know enough about it to carry on a discussion if someone asks me about it, but I really don't know all the sordid details and such.  I also know that it saddens me to see this type of scandal, yet again, smear the beauty of our Catholic Faith.  However, what saddens me more is some people's response to the situation.  A friend of mine posted an article on Facebook about the latest news concerning Father Corapi's situation, and, of course, it generated all kinds of different comments and opinions on her Facebook page.  Most of them were from Catholics, saying we should pray for him and the Church, which, in my opinion, is a good response.  There was one woman, however, who said, "Another reason that I am no longer Catholic."  Now, most of the time, I don't get into debates and such on facebook, because I do not think it is the right platform for that.  It's just too easy for your words to be misconstrued and misinterpreted.  But, there are a few instances, like the time I got into a debate with a woman about allowing her little girls to wear bikinis, that I feel like something really does need to be said or defended...don't worry, I was not on the pro-bikini side...pro-life, yes; pro-bikini, no.  Good, glad we got that out of the way.  Moving right along.  I felt like this was one of those instances that I needed to say something, because where is the logic in her statement?!?  Here was my response to her comment:

"...what some Catholics/priests/religiou​s do to violate the Truths of the Catholic Faith should have nothing to do with who you are as a Catholic. The Church was still founded by Christ, irregardless of how poorly we live it out. I mean, using that logic, I should quit being wife and mother because of all the other women out there who abuse their children and cheat on their husbands. Besides, the cases of good, solid Catholics and priests are probably much higher than the negative ones...the media just ops out of showing those cases all the time, because, unfortunately, scandal sells...whether in secular or religious news"

Please excuse my horrific grammar...when I get passionate about something, I don't proofread very well.  I also followed with a comment saying that I was not, in anyway, trying to be condescending or anything like that, and that it was just some points to ponder.  She never responded back, but I hope that she saw my point.  If anything, maybe a seed was planted.   So, in the meantime, let us pray for our priests, that they may be good shepherds to the flock.  And, also, for the conversion of souls. 

Just Another Reason....

....that I am not interested in having a pet live indoors in addition to children:

Eventually, those will be finished projects that I can share here =)  In the meantime, that little Luke sure does keep us on our toes!  He's quite a change from Rachel, who is the next oldest.  She was always (and still is) so quiet and cautious.  She didn't start walking until 18 months old!  This little guy is 6 1/2 months old, and is cruising everywhere.  And, boy, does he get into stuff (obviously ;)

While he can sit all by himself, he much prefers to crawl....

Yesterday, I caught him doing this (the photo is a bit wobbly, but so was he, so it was either get a decent picture, or get him from falling!):

What you can't see in the picture is that he was cracking up laughing at his big brother =)  Those two are SO cute together!  It's obvious Luke adores Andrew.  But, then he also adores the screensaver on our computer....you know, that thing that bounces around the screen, while changing shapes and colors...

What's even funnier is watching Rachel, the 2 year old, sit and watch this, saying, "circle....square....balloon...star...."  hahahaha.  I love my kids!

Needless to say, we'll take this crawling, drooling, little boy over a dog any day =)

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away.....

Ok, I have a confession to make.  The nerd in me has been looking forward to the Star Wars phase of our kids' lives probably since our first son was born!  Well, at the library last week, Andrew happened to pick up one of those 'easy reader' books, and it was a Star Wars one.  He.was.hooked!  And, I promise, there was no encouragement or prompting from me!  It has a been a week full of Jedi Knights, Jabba the Hut, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and, of course, Light Sabers!  And, oh boy, is it fun!  I used to love, love, love watching the original Star Wars Trilogy as a kid, and it's really a joy to see them enjoy something from my childhood.  Andrew constructed a Light Saber out of a medicine syringe and a plastic straw...I totally slacked on the photo op there =(  And, oh my gosh, have you seen all the really cool Star Wars things you can knit and sew for your boy on the blogs these days?!?!?  I doubt I'll make any of it, but still fun to look at =)  I'm not sure who is enjoying it more, me or them.  Andrew told me the other day, "a Jedi is always on his guard...you have to watch out for Jabba the Hut!"   Then, yesterday, Natalie was hiding in the "jungle" behind the couch, and she was telling Andrew about all the things you could find in there:  "you know, Andrew, raccoons, foxes, snakes, Jabba the Hut...things like that."  Tonight, we get to enjoy the first Star Wars episode for our family movie...can't wait!  I'll leave you with one more quote....

Andrew:  "Hey Mom, how do you spell R2D2?"....love that kid!

 Oh, and may the force be with you!