I’m back from my mini-vacation to St. Augustine.  More on that later.  I was supposed to have this book review done for TODAY, so I don’t have time to blog about sunny skies and warm temperatures and driving in a Jeep with the top down.

Did Blogger change its format, or is my computer all wacky?

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I am honored today to introduce to you Sarah Reinhard.  Perhaps you know her already?  If not, you are in for a treat.  I’ve “known” Sarah since before I moved to Kansas many years ago (2007).  I actually met her on that move, since she lives not too far from my brother, and I went to see him en route to Kansas.  My husband is not the sort of person to agree to drop in on a total stranger, because virtual friends are not “real” friends, right?  But I built up this plan for quite some time by telling him about Sarah, the Snoring Scholar.  I added the bit of information that she “lived on a farm in Ohio” because that adds gravitas in my world.  I’m from Ohio.  I have relatives who live on farms in Ohio.  I played on farms in Ohio as a child.  Living on a farm in Ohio doesn’t guarantee coolness, but it certainly adds in your favor.  It didn’t take long for Sarah, the Snoring Scholar, who lives on a farm in Ohio, to become a common topic in our house.  To this day, I can’t just say “Sarah Reinhard” without my husband adding in the rest.

Way back then, Sarah was just a blogger.  Now, though, Sarah has more than a few published works to her name.  I highly recommend Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families and Welcome Risen Jesus: Lenten and Easter Reflections for Families.  I have not yet read her Do I Really Have to Give Something up for Lent? but for $1.50, I don’t think you could be disappointed.

And now Sarah has a book-book, not just a pamphlet type book to brag about: Catholic Family Fun: A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative or Clueless.  That link has a bit more about Sarah, a fancy summary of what her book is all about, and some lovely endorsements from other Catholic blogger/authors.  I don’t have anything new to add to what is written, really.  I feel like a Rush Limbaugh listener who calls in and says “Ditto!”  


But perhaps I do have a few things to add.  First of all, I have two copies to give away.  Just leave a comment here, and I’ll enter your name in for a random drawing selection to be held on Tuesday, May 1st, promptly at noon.  I’ll even put it on my calender so I don’t forget.  

Secondly, I think this book is most appropriate for families with a preponderance of children under the age of 10.  This is not to say that older children would not be interested in any of the activities; it is merely to assist those of you with multiple ages in deciding if it would be right for you.  Half of my children are under the age of 10, and, experienced though I am, I still found many of her suggestions interesting and useful in sparking my own creative ideas on things to do as a family.  My older boys, though, are into a different brand of fun.  Sarah does not include canoeing, fishing, camping or anything involving fire, and I suspect that this is because her son is still but a toddler.  Definitely, though, if you have young children, this book would be great for you.  


And lastly, don’t let the word “Catholic” in the title throw you off.  This is not a book about how to make praying the rosary seem exciting or having your kids memorize the names of the books of the Bible in order or charades where you guess which title of Mary they are (is that Queen of Angels or Queen of Apostles?).  Rather, this book is primarily ideas for doing things as a family with additional ideas for how to make it Catholic thrown in (which you can take or leave).  So don’t feel that you or your family isn’t Catholic enough to enjoy this book, but also realize that incorporating our Catholic faith into normal, family fun is very easy and also beneficial.  Having fun together as a family strengthens the family, and having some faith-base to those activities strengthens our faith.


Of further interest: Sarah has a Catholic Family Fun link on her blog.  Pauline Books has a whole Catholic Family Fun website which promises monthly updates and new material.  And of course, there is the Catholic Family Fun Facebook page.


Don’t forget to enter to win by leaving a comment!

I am reclining in a room in a small bed and breakfast in Saint Augustine, Florida, and my children are hundreds of miles away happily visiting cousins. If only my husband’s blackberry would shut up, life would be great.

I’m guest blogging today over at Sarah Reinhard’s place, The Snoring Scholar, where she’s been doing a series on the Hail Mary, one word at a time.  Thank goodness, she gave me something meaty – blessed – instead of a preposition!  She is so kind to make this tired brain not have to work so hard.

I was doing some pregnant woman bonding with a woman I happened to see in the maternity section of the store on post.  She is due in 10 days and her husband just left for training in Louisiana.  He *hopes* to be back around the due date, but the training is scheduled until mid-May.  This baby is their first.

She has a doula, which is great.  And she told me that her mother-in-law is coming this weekend to be with her and help her, especially in case her husband doesn’t make it home in time.  Then she paused and told me that I reminded her of her mother-in-law.

{sigh}

I am sure that her mother-in-law is young and hip.

And I’m seriously considering the need to wear makeup every day.

‘Heart-rending’: Young Slovakian sculptor captures post-abortion pain, mercy and forgiveness

We’re taking a spring break this week, but…

…yesterday, Billy and I finished editing his paper on Ancient Egypt that was supposed to be done weeks ago.  I am so glad that is finally done.  So is he!

…I told Fritz he had to spend a few minutes every day working on the second of three Shakespearean sonnets he needs to memorize.  He should be working on the third by now, but that first one was tough, and I wasn’t persistent, so it didn’t get memorized as quickly as it could have been/should have been.

…Katie.  Oh, my.  I told her last week and the week before that refusing to read her history book was going to make her a very sad little girl this week.  And she is.  She had to spend a whole hour yesterday morning locked in my bedroom reading.  A whole hour of her Easter Monday.  And now, on Easter Tuesday, she is once again banished for a whole hour to the solitude of my room to spend some time with Robert E. Lee.  It is quite possible that tomorrow, she will need to spend a little bit more time in there to finish up.  On her way up, the tears started flowing and she cried, “How come nobody else has to do school work?”  It is because I am a tyrant, and a cruel woman, who maliciously singles out students who, oddly enough, did not do their work when they were told to do it.

Easter coffee: after weeks and weeks of black java, that first mug yesterday morning with flavored creamer was delightfully decadent.  I bought two small jugs of that stuff, and when it’s gone, I’ll be back to plain cafe latte, which is quite yummy enough.

By early afternoon, I told Bill: May God strike me dead if I eat another jelly bean today.  He looked at me in horror, but not to worry: I had had more than enough sugar for the day.  Dessert plans were completely scrapped, and I made all my stomach-achy children eat a small, but wholesome dinner, insisting that real food would make us all feel better.  It worked for me.  Next year: no homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  I think that just sent us over the edge.

Peter really wanted an egg hunt yesterday.  I did remember to put one bag of candy aside to fill eggs, but just couldn’t imagine these kids needed any more sugar.  Maybe today.  I’d hope that he forgets, but I doubt he will.

We attended the Easter Vigil Mass, and Peter and Mary were asleep by the 2nd or 3rd reading.  Dark, quiet room plus bedtime hour equals parents who don’t have to reprimand squirmy little ones.  Works for me.

The boys were servers and due to altar crowding were sitting in the front row near the nun who is our “Pastoral Assistant” or something like that.  Sister Mary Ann is a very nice woman.  But she reprimanded the boys for their behavior.  One wasn’t sitting up straight enough.  The other was coughing because of the incense.  They were hot that she corrected them.  I’m not sure what was more offensive to them: being unjustly corrected (they felt), being corrected by somebody who wasn’t a priest or deacon (they have a very clear understanding of the chain of command), or having parents who did not share their ire.  That’s what nuns do, we said.  They yell at kids who aren’t behaving the way they think they should be.  We then went on to describe that scene from The Blues Brothers where The Penguin beats the daylights out of Elwood and Jake, and added our own stories of terrifying nuns  (although I did also mention my 3rd grade teacher, Sister St. Angela, who was the sweetest woman on the planet in my 8 year old opinion).  I’m certain we have now ruined any chances of our daughters dedicating themselves to the religious life.

The girls had matching Easter dresses – no pictures.  I was still doing some hand-stitching on the way to Mass, and Mary’s lining was not completely done.  I’ll finish them this week.  Katie picked out the pattern, which was Butterick.  Simplicity is so much simpler.  I’ll have to try to steer her away from other companies in the future.  I will say, though, that if you make three of the exact same dress, you get pretty good at it.  And if you have decent help in the form of a 10 year old daughter who knows how to thread the machine and do basic stitching, you can really make quick progress.

I did not finish my own dress, but I’ll work on it today.  After much angst over how to convert a non-maternity pattern to a maternity pattern, I finally realized all I had to do was move the front panel of the skirt pattern 6 inches away from the fold to add 12 inches of extra fabric which could be gathered to fit the empire waist top half.  I experimented on the lining, and it looked fine, so I’ll proceed with the rest.  My needles were getting dull, though, and the thread kept breaking, so I need to run to the store first.  I’m hopeful that it will look nice when it’s all done.  I did this dress as an experiment because I have another dress to make for a gala in 11 days – same modified pattern, but longer.  I need to get stitching.

Wishing everyone a lovely Easter week.

Bill was to work a half day today.  We have a joke about half days.  How may hours are in a day?  How many hours are in a half day?  If you only worked 8 hours, you didn’t even do a half day, right?

“I’ll be home for dinner,” he promised Billy.

I sighed.  Audibly.

I think I even rolled my eyes.  How does the song go?

You make me…promises, promises…

“Mom!” said Billy.  “Make dinner at 4!”  A great idea.  But it won’t work.

I left about 5:15 pm to go get the pizzas…with coupons I got two large take and bakes for $7.21.  Not bad.  Bill always calls when he’s on the way home, but he hadn’t called yet.

Knew you’d never keep…promises, promises…

By the time I got back, he had called.   He won’t be here when the pizza is done, but it’s better than most nights.  And nobody will burn the roof of their mouth.

A friend I hadn’t seen since 2010 made an unplanned visit on Friday.  My kids hadn’t seen her kids in 3 years…too long.  None of us had met her youngest baby who is the cutest thing and at a great stage – crawling, laughing, smiling, nursing upside down, squirming away from diaper changes. 

Later, I told Bill about the visit.  “Dominic is so cute!” I gushed.  “He makes me want to have another baby.  Can we?”

“I think I can arrange that,” he said.  It’s so nice when a couple agrees on such matters.

I had a meeting on post last night.  I brought everybody, except for Fritz who had CCD.  Billy was not at all happy about having to come.  He wanted to stay home with Fritz, and he is old enough to do so.  But, unfortunately, this child has demonstrated that following house rules when parents aren’t around is not a priority.  We have a no TV or computer rule for school days, but that just doesn’t seem good enough for him.  I’m not mad about it; he is still very immature, and some personalities are less obedient than others.  I have accepted that I will likely battle him over every single rule until the day he leaves home.  He, though, has not accepted the reality that I will battle him over every single rule until he leaves home.

“Aw, Mom, can’t you give me another chance?” he pleaded when I explained why he didn’t get to stay home.

“Of course I will,” I said, patiently, “when you are older and have matured a bit more.”

“But I’ll be 50 by then!”

“Yes, that is very likely,” I agreed.

At the front door, with me pointing to the van loaded with everybody else, he tried his final argument.

“I want to spend time with my brother!”

I answered him with silence.

“He’ll be going away to college soon!  I need to spend as much time with him as I can before that happens!”

It didn’t work.

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It’s military protocol to have 8 x 10 color glossy photos showing the chain of command posted on some wall in every unit.  I don’t know all the rules or requirements, but, for example, if you walk into a military hospital, somewhere there will be a photo of the hospital commander, and probably the hospital Command Sergeant Major (the highest ranking NCO)…then there will also be a picture of the hospital commander’s boss, and that person’s boss, and that person’s boss…all the way up to the Commander in Chief.  It’s actually not that many pictures – no more than a dozen.

The same series of photos is on a wall in my husband’s office building showing his battalion’s chain of command.  Last night, after the meeting, I encountered Mary and her dad looking at the photos.

“That’s Obama,” said Mary, pointing to the Commander in Chief.

“That’s right,” I said.  Then I asked,  “And who is Obama?  What’s his job?”

“He kills babies,” said Mary.

Um.  Political rhetoric a bit high at our house, you think?

For the record, I did have her repeat the title: President of the United States.

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Speaking of politics, I am convinced that Fox News really thinks that Mitt Romney is The One to take on Obama.  And I think they’re kinda freaking out about Rick Santorum.  This is the only way I can explain why all the articles about the impending Alabama/Mississippi primaries were how Gingrinch would likely win because he’s a good ole’ boy, but that Romney was still going to do really well and how he is polling strongly.  And then after Santorum won, they’re all how inevitable Romney’s victory is anyway, and why don’t these other bozos just give it up for the good of party unity, and how, really, when push comes to shove, more people think Romney can defeat Obama than Santorum can.

I’m still trying to figure out how the same article can say that polls show Romney beats out Santorum among fiscal conservatives, but that Santorum wins among Tea Partiers.  Um, last time I pad any attention to the so-called Tea Partiers, their agenda was all about fiscal conservatism and had nothing at all to do with social issues, which is why I didn’t really get involved.  I think fiscal conservatism is important, but I think it goes hand in hand with social conservatism (for example, if more women got married before having kids and stayed married while they raised their children, there would be fewer woman and children requiring government assistance to meet basic needs…funny how that works…).

We’ll see where it all goes.  But I find Fox News’ coverage very interesting.