What's Your Secret?

So, I am not a morning person.  I am a night owl.  I enjoy the peace and quiet of nighttime.  Everyone else is sleeping, so there is no one there to ask me to wipe them, or feed them, or change their diaper, or be the judge in a dispute over who gets the orange slinky (even though there are enough slinkies to go around for all, they are apparently not all created equal!!), and nor is there the constant barrage of "Mom, will you help me?" (or "me-me" if it's Rachel =).  And, since it's the end of the day, and I've usually gotten all my chores done and to-do list finished, so I can just veg out and relax without feeling guilty.  You can't do that in the morning.  There's no sitting around enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee, because there's too much other stuff pressing to get done:  laundry, dishes, breakfast; kids who need to get dressed, clean their rooms, brush their teeth, and whatever other catastrophe that may unexpectedly show up; oh, and of course, I desperately need to brush my teeth!  So, no, I am most certainly NOT a morning person.  Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE being a wife and stay-at-home mom.  I'd much rather the pace of being at home than the hustle and bustle of a traditional career:  the quiet that comes with folding clothes and washing dishes (assuming the kids are napping, of course), the wonder in the 1st grader's eyes when she picks up on something new in school, all the "I love you's", the funny things they say, reading book after book on the couch, and the silliness of just laying in bed with the kids in the middle of the day.  But, to get up early and take the day by the horns...not. my. style.  The problem is, I feel really guilty about not getting up really early (and, by really early, I mean at least 30 minutes before the kids get up).  It's not that I don't try...because, I do...sometimes.  I set the alarm clock, I set the alarm on my cell phone (and put it in the bathroom, so I actually have to get out of bed), I beg for the graces to get up just half and hour earlier, and I have kids who rise shortly after the sun does.  But, I just usually end up slapping the snooze button 2 or 3 times (OK 5 times!) and turning off the cell phone.  And, the kids are good about just snuggling quietly with me until I get up.  I guess they know me well enough to know that if Mom is laying down, it's in everyone's best interest to leave her alone =)  I just can't seem to make myself get up as early as I would like to, unless I know I have to for an appointment or some other commitment.  It's like one of those cartoon moments where there's a little white angel on one shoulder and a little red devil on the other, and they are laying out the pros and cons of sleeping for just 20 more minutes.  Unfortunately, the little red devil wins most of those battles O_o.  So, I know I *should* try and get up half an hour earlier, but I just don't know how.  And, really, I could try harder, but it is one of my biggest weaknesses.  I have no motivation to try harder.  So, if you have any really great tips or secrets, I would LOVE to hear them!  And none of that "the early bird gets the worm" nonsense!...do you seriously know anyone in their right mind who wants worms besides birds??  I didn't think so.  My goal is to be one of those mothers who is awake before the kids get out of bed, already dressed, morning prayers said, and breakfast cooking.  Is that too much to ask??  Maybe I'm just being unrealistic or overly idealistic...and, maybe the kids don't really care...maybe they like things the way they are...they do get disappointed on those rare days when I actually am up before them fixing breakfast, because they didn't get to lay in bed with me for a few minutes before the the day starts.  Maybe that is just our quiet little family time to start the day; a little gift from God that I should just leave alone.   

Why I just LOVE St. Anthony

I remember the first time I asked St. Anthony for intercession.  I was around 5 or 6 years old.  I can't remember what I lost, but I remember EXACTLY where I found it in my backyard.  He has been faithful to my desperate please ever since that moment, including the 3 times I've lost my engagement ring (sorry, Phil!).  But, this story really exceeds them all!  About 2 weeks ago, the kids and I went to the library for story time.  (I should give a disclaimer here...if you're not into details, this story will probably bore you to tears, but it's one I want to remember, so it's going on the blog =).  I unloaded the van of children, library books, and DVD rentals.  I put my keys in their proper side pouch of the diaper bag, and we headed inside.  About halfway through story time, Rachel takes my keys out of the bag and starts eating them, so I take them away from her, and put them in the larger, zippered portion of the bag, where most things get lost in the abyss.  At the end of our visit, we go up to the counter to wait in line to check out our books.  I placed my books on the counter, with my keys right next to them (I have one of of those little rectangular library cards that go on your key chain, which is why I took my keys out in the first place).  Now, this is a small town library, and I knew everyone in the library, so I wasn't paying that close attention at this point...Natalie had to go to the bathroom, Rachel kept trying to climb out my arms so she could un-shelve each and every book in the library, and Andrew was trying to scale the counter so he could stamp our books with the due date (sometimes the librarians let the kids do this when no one else is there...one of the very nice things about small town libraries =).  So, needless to say, I was starting to sweat, and I'm sure my hair looked pretty disheveled at this point.  By the time my turn was over (I was third in line), and the librarian had checked out and packed all my books in a bag for us, my keys had disappeared.  They were NO WHERE.  We looked everywhere.  I emptied my diaper bags no less than 10 times, and we checked every nook and cranny of the desk area.  The librarians even called the two people who were in line in front to me to see if they had accidentally picked up my keys (again, I can't say enough about small town libraries!).  At this point, I'm pretty sure they thought I was crazy, and that I had locked my keys in my van, but I was 100% positive that I had brought them in the library...Rachel tried to eat them earlier, remember?!  I immediately sent up a quick prayer to St. Anthony, and continued to do so throughout the rest of this saga.  So, anyway, at this point, it's almost lunch time, our blood sugar is starting to drop dangerously low (like 'yelling at the kids for every little thing' low), and I'm close to tears.  I call Phil, and he lets me know that he has no idea where my keys are, either...thanks, a lot!  So, I call my neighbor and have her pillage my home in search of our spare key...naturally, it is no where in my house.  Now, I'm really close to breaking down.  She asks me when the last time I had the spare was...I tell her that the last time I had the key, I had loaned it to our cousin (whose shall remain nameless for charity's sake) who had ran out of gas a mile from our house.  I was "positive" he gave me the key back when he was done borrowing our van to go get gas for his car.  So, I'm stuck at the library, with no keys, no spare keys, three starving children, and no car seats...excellent.  I ended up just having my neighbor come pick us up, and prayed the whole way home that we would not get pulled over or in an accident with all three kids not in their car seats.  After I turned the house upside down for the spare key, and didn't find it, I finally swallowed my pride and called my cousin:  "Hey, you remember that time you ran out of gas, and I loaned you the van with the spare key?"  Cousin:  "Oh yeah, the spare is sitting right here in my console...been meaning to get that back to you."  Me:  "....fantastic..."  Long story short, he brings me the spare, gives me a ride to the library to get the van while the neighbor babysits, and we've managed to eat something and calm down a bit, so things are starting to get better.  Ok...fast forward a week and a half.  We go back to the library, and the librarians ask if I've found my keys...no, I have not....they still haven't found them either.  We conclude that the keys are probably in the same place that missing socks are.  So, after we are done reading books and building puzzles, we go checkout our stuff...low and behold, there is a note on my account:  "patron has keys being held for her at another branch that is about an hour away from branch that we are currently at".  WHAT?!?!  Turns out, my keys managed to end up in the parking lot of ANOTHER branch of the parish library...about an hour away from our local branch (oh, and for you non-Louisiana people, a parish is pretty much the same thing as a county...whatever that is).  I have NO IDEA how they ended up in that parking lot, but that is why I just LOVE St. Anthony!  Never underestimate the power of intercessory prayer!

Sancte Antoni, Ora Pro Nobis!!!

What's in a Meme?

 A week or so ago, I was tagged in a meme by my friend Suzanne, from Classically Catholic.  What is a meme, you might ask?  Well, I have no idea.  So, I looked it up.  According to Merriam-Webster, a meme is "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture."  Kind of vague, but whatever.  Now that we have that cleared up, the directions for this particular meme are as follows:

Share Your Favorite Catholic Prayers in this meme:
~Step 1: Name your three most favorite Catholic devotional prayers, and explain why they're your favorites. (The Liturgy and the Sacraments are off limits here. This meme is only interested in people's favorite devotional prayers.)
~Step 2: Tag five bloggers you admire and ask them to play this meme.
~Step 3: Tell the person who tagged you that you've completed the meme.

So, in no particular order, my three most favorite Catholic Prayers are:

1.  Ok, I know I said in no particular order, but this one is actually my favorite...well, it is if I follow the rules about leaving out the Liturgy and Sacraments.  Although, this may *kind of* be cheating.  My first choice is Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.  I love the songs, the smell of the incense, the Latin, the prayers, and all the pomp and circumstance that comes along with it.  We have Benediction every third Sunday after Mass at our parish, and I look forward to it every month!  Especially because I am not able to make a regular Holy Hour right now.  It just lifts my soul in a way that other prayers can't.  Maybe it has to do with the Real Presence just a bit ;)?

2.  I would have to go with the Rosary...an obvious choice, I know, but it's obvious for a reason.  And while I have trouble concentrating and focusing on the mysteries, and it takes a serious act of will for me to sit down and pray one, this prayer always calms me.  The fruits are so immense, I notice them almost immediately.  And, if I have been really good about saying my Rosary, and then fall off the wagon, I can really tell a difference.  It makes such a difference in my life, it's hard for me to argue against praying it.  Oh, and for the record, my favorite mystery is the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery, Jesus Takes up His Cross.  That one always motivates me to work harder at my day's work, because if Jesus can do that, then surely I can wash a sink full of dishes without complaining!

3.  And, third on my list are the Stations of the Cross.  I don't really know what draws me to this prayer, but I just have a special place in my heart for it.  And, similar to the Rosary, it does take an act of will for me to say it, and the focusing problems are there, but I just love this prayer.  It just reminds me what we're all striving for, and that my suffering really does serve a purpose.  

Ok, there you go!  My top 3 Catholic devotional prayers.  Step 2 requires me to tag 5 people...I don't actually have time to do that part at the moment, so hopefully I'll get to that within the week.  So, what are your favorite Catholic devotions??  Thanks for the tag, Suzanne!

Would You Like a New Mantilla?

I just discovered this new blog today.  It's called Will You Mantilla With Me?.  I haven't had too much time to peruse the sight, but it looks like a really great place to be.  They are having a giveaway for 4 beautiful mantillas from Veils by Lily, so head on over there and put your name in the comment box for an entry!  The veils are really pretty.

"Guess what? I got a fever! And the only prescription.. is more cowbell!'

About a year ago, my husband convinced me that we needed more property.  We just didn't have enough grass to keep the 4 cows we had at the time!  What we needed was more land!  Well, we now definitely have just that...a whopping 18 acres of it.  So, naturally when we got here with our 4 cows, there was more than enough grass to go around for everyone.  Actually, there was no grass...the previous owners raised horses, who ate the grass down to the dirt.  Plus, it was New Year's Eve when we moved in, so grass was not in season then.  So, we had to supplement with hay.  But, I digress.  

Now that summer has been in full swing for a solid 3+ months, we have more grass than we know what to do with.  I mean, when the kids and I walk out to the barn, or anywhere on our property that is not within the confines of the wooden fence around our house, we walk through belly deep grass.  I think I've lost Andrew and Rachel a few times in the stuff!  So, the other day, my husband tells me what we need to solve said grass overload problem, is more cows!  And, since love is blind, I pretty much let the man do whatever he pleases. 

Some of our cows have calved since we moved here, so we were actually up to 6 cows total:  we have 2 cows each with a female calve, a heifer (who Phil believes to be pregnant!!  I'm hoping for a boy =), and the bull.  But a week or so ago, we added two new cows to our growing herd (one of which I think is also pregnant, but don't quote me on that one), which brings our total up to 8...oh, I forgot one...we have 9, because we are holding a cow for our cousin right now.
  

Actually, I'm really excited about the new cows.  There's something very quaint and soothing about looking out the window, and seeing a pasture full of cows grazing in the yard.  It makes for a very simple, quiet, and country-esque life...which, is great for raising children!  Please note that nowhere did I say EASY...life in the country is hard work, but much like being Catholic, it's really worth it.  I have to admit, it's not exactly my natural tendency to be a farm-type gal.  I'm pretty lazy.  But, it's one of those paradox things that are so hard to explain.  Even though it's not my natural tendency, I really do find so much joy living life in the country, and being a part of a family who raises farm animals and plants gardens.  Now, the sewing, cooking, knitting, and more domestic type stuff....that I love!  The harder, outdoor, rough and rugged work takes more of an act of will on my part.  But, like I said, I just get a lot of joy out of this kind of life, despite my tendency to laziness.  It's strange, I know, but it's the only way I can explain it.  And, the kids really like the cows, too.  Natalie loves to name them, Rachel likes to moo at them from the window, and Andrew....well, Andrew just wants to ride one =)  He told me the other day, "Mom, I really want to ride one of those cows.  Not a horse, though...I just want to ride one of the cows.  Can I?"  Love that kid!  Not to mention the fact that those cows will not only cut back on the amount of money we have to spend on diesel to run the tractor to cut our 18 acres of grass, but they'll also be providing lean, healthy, grass-fed, hormone-free beef for our growing family.  And, there's promise of a milk cow in the future!!!  Now, that is something to be excited about!  I've always wanted to try and milk a cow.  However, we've also been toying around with the idea of getting a milk goat, instead of a milk cow.  We are still doing some research on that to see which one we want, but there will most likely be some kind of fresh milk in the near distant future.  

Here are some pictures of our new farm friends:

 She is my favorite!  Isn't she pretty?:

Philip likes this gal:

The cows we already had are Dexters.  We went with a different breed of cow this go round, for a couple of reasons.  First of all, Dexters have horns, which Phil is not too crazy about...those are some strong animals, so I imagine they can do some pretty serious damage with those pointy weapons of theirs, and while I don't handle them very much, the man I love does, so I really don't want him getting hurt.  Secondly, Dexters are a smaller breed of cattle, so they can't keep up with the grass as well, it takes a lot longer for them to grow to full size, and you don't get as much beef off of one of those cows as you would a full-sized one.  So, we went with a Limousin and a Hereford....I think...I'll have to run that by Phil to make sure I'm correct.  And, please don't ask me which cow is which breed...I have no idea.  The only ones I can correctly identify are the Dexters.  We also went with the red variety this time, because with the intense heat in the summer, we thought it might be more pleasant for the cow to not be such a dark, heat absorbing color, like black.

Also on the home front, Philip finally got the chute for the cows finished.  It looks really great!  He's been working to get the barn turned into a cow friendly place, as opposed to a a horse friendly place, and little by little, it's coming together.  The chute is finished, which means we can run the cows through there if we ever need to tag them, administer medicine, milk them, or do anything that requires them to stand still and not try to hurt us.  He also built some wooden gates to make a holding pen, should we ever need to keep any of them separated from the herd.  

Here are some of them hanging out in the holding pen, waiting to be run through the chute:

One of the new gates, and the kids watching the action:

There they are, lined up in the chute:

One of the Mama cows and her calf:

Phil, letting them out through the head gate (look at me, using all kinds of fancy farm terminology!  just don't ask me what any of it means...I can repeat what Phil tells me, and that's about it ;):

The holding pen area:

Well, I think that is about it for what has been happening around the farm.  Oh, and I use the term 'farm' very loosely....what we have here is hardly considered a farm, but it's easier than saying 'our relatively large piece of land with cows, pigs, and a small overgrown family garden'.
 

On a more serious note, I really want to get some cowbells for our cows!!  How cool would that be?! 

Insomnia Combined with Access to Babysitters

Last week, I spent 4 days in my home town at my Mom's house, who lives 2 1/2 hours away.  My two sisters, one brother, their spouses, and children all live in my home town, as well.  It was really nice to get to see everyone.  I am actually the youngest of the four kids, and I have 9 nieces and nephews, ranging in age from 21 all the way down to 18 months.  So, with all that access to babysitting, my current lack of ability to sleep at normal hours, and peer-pressure from one of my sisters, I spent a good portion of that time doing some sewing for my girls!  And, man it was fun!  I left the kids with my Mom one afternoon (O.K., it was 2 afternoons!), and spent some time alone just browsing at the local JoAnn's Fabric Store.  Did I mention I was alone??  As in, without small children around me??  Like, pure bliss for a whole 2 hours!?!?!? (1 hour for each afternoon...don't start thinking I'm greedy, now).  It was SO NICE!  I managed to find a nice little selection of some very cute fabric on sale, and my sister and I both made a couple of pillowcase dresses for our little girls (who are both around 18 months old...they are about a month and a half apart), and a twirly skirt for our older girls (they are both 5 1/2...my Natalie is 7 months ahead of my niece).  

My sister already had some fabric at her house, so I went over there with mine, and we let the older girls decide who got which print.  They decided that they wanted to have their skirts match with each of their little sister's dress, instead of matching with each other (which is what my sister and I would have chosen....man, it's a hard thing when your kids don't want to follow your dreams for them! ;)  Anyway, here are the creations we made while I was in town:

Rachel's Pillowcase dress.  I kind of combined a bunch of different tutorials around the web, so I don't have just one link to post for the pattern.  But, just do a Google search, and you'll be able to find something if you are interested.  

This picture would have been so precious if it hadn't been so humid outside!  It fogged up the lens on my camera =(  Oh well...it's still a nice shot:

Natalie's Twirly Skirt.  I used this tutorial from The House on Hill Road Blog.  However, I must insert a caveat here...If I ever make this skirt again (which, I most likely will), I would do it a little differently than she did, because the waistband was kind of awkward the way she has you do it.  If there is enough interest in what I did differently, I'll post about it, but I won't get into details right now...

Another view of the skirt to show the fullness:

I never did get a nice picture of Natalie wearing this skirt, but that's ok...she wears it all the time, so I'll get one soon enough =)

The dress my sister made was in a cute pale yellow fabric, with butter flies and daisies, and it had a brown with white polka dot trim.  See how cute!:

  I wish I had gotten a picture of her finished stuff, but she didn't get a chance to finish her dress and skirt until after I left.  We bought 2 yards of the main print, and 1/2 yards of the trim, and there was enough material to make 3 items!  My sister and I decided to trade material, so now I need want to make either one more dress, or one more skirt....I can't decide....oh, the choices!

Aside from all the sewing, we did some other fun things as well.  Like, going to the park to feed the ducks:

They were everywhere!  And, VERY friendly:

Andrew hanging out with the ducks:

I wanted to take this guy home to our farm, but he wasn't having it...

Natalie and Andrew:

Little Rach, enjoying the ride:

Andrew kept pointing and yelling at the Muscovy ducks:  "Hey Mom, look at those roosters!"

What you might see at a park down in Acadiana...lots of cypress trees growing in the water:

You also might see a nutria...

or two:

And, my Mom also took the whole family out to eat at this really great restaurant called Hub City Diner.  If you ever go there, do yourself a favor, and have the fried green tomato salad, with grilled shrimp and roumalade dressing...oh, and a cup of their chicken and sausage gumbo!  Talk about good!  We made sure to go on Kids' Night, so they ate free, and the Balloon Man was there!  He was not only a great entertainer, but he had the best Cajun accent you've ever heard!  It was awesome =)

Needless to say, we all had a really fun visit at Granny's!  And, a long over due one at that!  It had been about 3 months since we've seen them. 

Tip of the Day

Just a few words of wisdom for parents...

When it's bedtime, and your 5 year old tells you that your 18 month old put a wash rag in the toilet, be sure to go and take it out immediately.  That way, when your 5 year old uses the bathroom in the morning, she won't flush the towel down the toilet because everyone forgot it was in there in the first place.  

I really hope this does not cause clogging issues....