A Recycled Tank

I got this book, Alabama Studio Style, because I'd seen so many cute dresses and skirts over at Pleasant View Schoolhouse.  Adding appliques and beads and stencils looked like a fun way to create a unique, yet comfortable, outfit.  Since I should have the title Slowest Knitter in the World, though my friend Kath is giving me a run for my money, I thought doing some handwork that was slightly faster might be a good creative alternative.

Alabama Style encourages recycling old fabrics, so I chose a stack of The Hub's old undershirts to make this tank fit for a princess.  I sewed the entire thing by hand, seams and all, except that when it was too big for her, I took it in on the sides and shoulders by machine.  Then I let her pick the type of stencil, the embroidery floss color and stitch, and she helped me add the stencils.

Do you like the Tramp Stamp on her back?  I prefer it on her shirt than her skin!

It's very cute, despite my uneven stitching.  I finished it in only a few days, but those were unusual summer days where I had a lot of time to sit!

Next up:  I'm going to see if I can get a skirt for her out of a L pink t-shirt that I bought at Value Village for a breast cancer themed swim meet and no one will ever wear again.

Call Me Mary

FOR TODAY


How many of you saw that title and thought, "Call me, maybe"?  You can thank me for that earworm later.

Outside my window...Mostly clear.  Gonna be another hot one.  I think we're moving up to the high 90's.

I am thinking...About the amazing day I had yesterday.  It was truly a blessed day which started with the early Mass at 7:30.  That's the No Music Mass for the older folks who want to get in and out, but the visiting celebrant chanted most of the Mass and we were able to pray without being distracted by inappropriate music.  As much as I love to sing, I could get used to that.


Later, I joined my little group at the parish for an episode of Catholicism on the liturgy, which was awe-inspiring as usual.  I can't say enough good things about this series which beautifully portrays the Catholic Church.  It's beautiful, it's thought provoking, and it hits the highlights (so to speak) of the Church.  I can't wait for the book to arrive so I can read it!

Immediately after our discussion, I had an invitation to Maria Johnson's home for a gathering of incredible women.  (I don't think I have the appropriate vocabulary to describe the day I had yesterday!  Look for lots of superlatives!! But I'll try to control myself.) Pat Gohn, Sarah Vabulous, and Jennifer Willits were there!  Kelly Wahlquist and a couple of other ladies who were part of the Hearts Afire Parish-based programs for the New Evangelization retreat that took place in Kennesaw this weekend.  A 3-hour get-together turned into 6.5 for me; there were others staying a little longer! 

I am thankful...For the opportunity to bond with all these lovely ladies who were all relative strangers with their love for the Lord and the Catholic Church in common, and Maria and the internet to bring us together.  Wow, it was so, so fun.  I couldn't even begin to tell you what we talked about....well, I could, but it would be a long list.  Suffice it to say that there were moments of hilarity interspersed between more spiritual subjects, along with personal sharing of family life.  There's so much to ponder from yesterday.  That should be the Word of the Day.


Thank you, Bego!  

From the learning rooms...Math.  Ugh.

In the kitchen...A Costco-sized bag of chocolate chips to be made into cookies, cookie dough for the beach, and gluten-free cookies.  Fun!

I am wondering...What plans God has for me now.  I've had a couple of hints since March when I made my Total Consecration to Mary, and I wonder what yesterday had to do with those hints.

I am reading...Extreme Makeover by Teresa Tomeo for the moms in our AHG troop.  I have to finish it for Saturday though I've had 6 months to read it!  If you're a woman, you should read it.

Around the house...Quietness with my Pip gone to summer camp.  A yappy dog who is not content with his lot in life today.  

One of my favorite things...Time spent among like-minded women.  Did you figure out what the title of my blog-post means?  I was blessed (to be) among women yesterday.  

A few plans for the rest of the week...Sewing and summering.  

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...  

An experiment that I'm hand-stitching (and painting) from cast-off undershirts using this book for a guide. 

Hosted by The Simple Woman's Daybook 

Fortnight for Freedom

Maybe you like birth control and you think everyone should have free access to it.  Fine. The HHS mandate at it's core is not about that.  It's about religious freedom, the freedom to follow God's laws and not be forced to break them because your government made another law.

If you're an American, you ought to have learned that America was founded on religious freedom.  So many of the original settlers fled Europe to escape persecution and to be able to practice their faith freely.  Many were Catholics, but many more were Protestants.  Freedom of Relgion is one of the primary reasons that America is the great country it is today.

If the HHS mandate is not overturned, we will lose so much more than schools and hospitals.  So much more.

Grounded!

Yep, the kids are grounded.  Some of them.  All of them.  Even the 18 year old.  Of course, for him it means something completely different.

He's perfectly happy to spend his life in his room sleeping, tweeting, whatever, and only coming out for food, the very occasional swim practice, or car keys.  Instead of being sent to his room, he'll be forced to come out and help around the house, doing some of those projects that I don't see myself getting done!

The younger ones are practically never home from dawn to dusk!  I know, it's every other mother's dream to have their kids stay out all day, but here's the thing:  I like my kids.  Unlike most of the moms I meet, I like having them around the house especially if they bring their friends.

Aside from just wanting to see them once in a while, they need to fulfill their basic household responsibilities AND spend some time using their brains during the day!  We have lots of math to catch up on and books to read.  All I'm asking is an hour, maybe an hour and a half of mental exercise, and another 30 minutes of chores!

Meg wants to know how long they're grounded for.  In all cases, it's until we get a routine going and they're making an effort to get their stuff done before playing.  In her case, it's extended until her disaster of a bedroom is clean and organized and she makes an effort to keep it that way every day.  Clothes draped over every surface and shoved into every corner so the center of the room is clear just. does. not. cut. it. for. me!

The only one who is not grounded is TMax.  The Perfect Child. (kidding, Katie!) Maybe that's just because he doesn't sleep as much as the Other Teen and he doesn't have friends in the neighborhood to hang out with, so he's home.  He works.  He organized his room voluntarily and cleaned out all his school stuff.  He watches Khan Academy videos for fun!  He's pretty much Johnny-on-the-Spot if I need anything.  He could spend a little more time doing his summer homework every day, but he is working on it.

So, after a little attention to Duty and swim practice, they can run around with their friends all they want.  They can go hunting for the pack of coyotes in the woods with just a tennis racket and a golf club for weapons.  They can make Disney dance videos in the yard.  I'll even take them to the pool!  But for now, they're grounded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Sort of kidding about the coyotes...if you follow me on Twitter, you probably know that we hear them howling and yowling frequently.  Sometimes we go a while without hearing them, but sometimes it's a couple of times a day.  Their den seems to be about 100 yds from our front door, down an embankment, into the woods.  The neighbors and their "weapons" stood at the top of the bank looking and saw at least one pup down there.  I don't think they actually went into the woods, but I wouldn't put it past them!  I saw a coyote out of the woods the other day while walking past with the dog, but he slipped down and drainage hole immediately.  I was about 20 feet from him!  When they start coming out for more than a few seconds, it will be time to do something about them.  No more being outside on the chain for Gus!)

Summery Daybook

FOR TODAY Outside my window... Early morning sun, and the air is cool. In fact, I think I'll open the windows to let that beautiful breeze in before the day gets too hot!

I am thinking... About the upcoming elections and the political situation in our country, especially regarding religious freedom. This is definitely not a political blog, so lets not make it one, but I will say that it's much easier to choose a presidential (or any other) candidate when you choose LIFE.

 The first time I heard this suggested was many years ago when I was a very young voter. It seemed way too simplistic to me. OTOH, I'm not the type to examine every single issue, do the math, and come up with the candidate who has the highest score. Or you can just vote your party regardless of what the candidates stand for. The more I think about it, year after year, the more I realize that if we, as a nation, allow the wholesale killing of innocent babies every year, then we are doomed. Likewise, if we promote a lifestyle of free sex and free contraception, which leads to more abortions, then we are doomed. We can't succeed in the other areas because we don't have the best interests of the country at heart.

I am thankful... For friends and a community of support.

From the learning roomskitchen table... Nothing. Day after day we fail at remembering to do our math. :-( The kids are happy, though. They play outside with their friends most of the day; they go to the pool; they generally have fun even though they read less and watch more than I would like.

In the kitchen...
The oven needs a repairman since it won't light all the time.  Dinner last night was an hour late because it took 45 minutes for the darned oven to light!  I can hear all the alarm bells going off in your heads as you think about the gas oven not lighting, and the gas accummulating!  Yep.  I'm right there with ya!

I am wearing...
White bermuda shorts and pink polo. Summery and cute as a button.  ;-)


I am knitting...
Nada.  Finished the baby blanket which is blocking as we speak.  I'm hoping to start a new project---sewing, not knitting---after I acquire a couple of supplies.

I am going...
To JoAnn's for those supplies, and to the post office to mail a couple of things (like a rosary to Jen).


I am wondering...
What my sweet Katie is doing in Spain today.  She arrived yesterday and has 3.5 glorious weeks to spend with her friend, traveling Spain and Italy!  Lucky, lucky, girl!

I am reading...
The same. old. things.  All Creatures Great and Small --- Interesting vet stories and characters, but I'm not seeing the arc.  All I see is endless stories and I don't get any closer to the end.  And boy, does that sound like heresy when so many people LOVE these books!

I am hoping...
That our next door neighbor calls the professionals about the coyote problem here.  As I suspected, their den is just across the drive from their (the neighbor's, not the coyote's) garage, and down an embankment in the woods.  A great deal of unholy howling and yipping is concentrated there, and I even saw one out of the woods yesterday evening.  So, naturally, the next time we heard a ruckus during dinner, Meg ran out of the house, right over to the edge of the woods to see what she could see!

I am looking forward to...
The beach later this summer!  We're going to St. Augustine, one of the places I've always wanted to go.  I'm looking forward to lots of little historical field trips to break up the endless days on the beach!

I am hearing on my ipod...
When I'm not listening to one of the many, awesome, SQPN podcasts, I've been listening to Fun which my 16 yo introduced me to.  It's fun.

Around the house...
The list of things to do, large and small, around the house is overwhelming.  Maybe my thyroid is on the fritz again because I just cannot see myself doing any of it!

One of my favorite things...
Chocolate.  Chocolate paleo brownies.  Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate bars.  (Does the desire for dark chocolate have anything to do with the thyroid?)

A few plans for the rest of the week...
Swim meet, as usual, but we're pretty free to relax do stuff around the house this week.


Hosted by The Simple Woman's Daybook

Sacred Heart Mass

In honor of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday, we went to the overnight vigil at our parish.  Both the 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. Masses were in the Extraordinary Form (Tridentine).  We went to the Friday night Mass.

This Mass was one of the most beautiful I've been to.  They had an excellent cantor who sang Gregorian chant for the processional and recessional and the 3 communion hymns.  In the past, they had one or more people singing traditional hymns, but in English.  It was really lovely.  I wish I were more comfortable with the Extraordinary form so I could just enjoy it all and not be flipping through the book trying to find where we are and whether we should stand, sit, or kneel!  There are a lot of "newbies" at the Two Hearts Vigil, so you can't necessarily trust the actions of the people around you!

Two notable things happened on at the Mass.

First, I wore a veil for the first time.  I'd been meaning to get one for a while, or knit one, but hadn't gotten around to it, so I asked Meg to go out to the narthex to see if they were selling any.  They weren't selling them, but they had some to lend, and she got one for each of us.  She didn't keep hers on, but I did. (She ended up sleeping throught it, anyway.)  Having read several essays about veiling or blog posts about wearing one for the first time, I expected to have this other worldly experience where I was more in tune with God, more prayerful.  But that didn't happen.  I was me, with this veil that kept slipping off the back of my head and making me itch!

It did have an effect that I didn't expect:  I felt inappropriately dressed.  I certainly wasn't the least modest woman there, speaking objectively.  I had on khaki capris and a cotton shirt that wasn't tight, but it wasn't baggy either.  Mainly, I felt as if I should be wearing a long skirt and not pants at all!  Almost all my skirts are knee-length and I felt that wouldn't be long enough or modest enough.  So, I'm wondering if that was a prompting of the Holy Spirit, or just me being scrupulous.  I'm sure y'all have opinions out there!

The other thing that happened is that during the Liturgy of the Eucharist I felt for the first time that something really special was happening on the altar.  I go to Mass all the time; I love the Eucharist; I know what's happening up there, but I've never felt the miraculousness of it all as I did Friday.  Now, it's not just the Extraordinary Form of the Mass that did it, because I've been to those before.  Maybe it was because I tried to stop using the book any more than necessary and be a part of it for the first time.  I don't know what happened, but I appreciated it.

I was still having my crazy, distracting thoughts about the veil, my clothing, not experiencing what I expected to experience, what others were doing, etc.  I don't know how I managed to pray at all!  I am glad that we made the effort to go.  It was very late, and we had to leave shortly after the Mass without staying for the prayers or the Saturday Mass.  It was a bit of a struggle to get there, and everyone wanted to go to trivia night, but I'm so glad we went.  It was, dare I say it, awesome.

Pink & Babies {PHFR}

~Capturing contentment in everyday life~

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

I love the sky in pretty much all its manifestations.  It's one of the things that speaks to me the most about God's power and majesty.  Simply beautiful.

Balloon over our neighborhood the other day.

Pink balloons released in honor of all those  with breast cancer, and in memory of a swim team mom who passed away.

{happy}


These are baby food jars that my dear daughter dipped in paint, and they're to be filled with flowers to decorate for a good friend's bridal shower.  The guests get to take them home afterward.  They're really cute in cheerful pinks and peaches and coral.  I hope she sends pictures of them with flowers! (hint)

{funny}

Someone refused to let me take a nice picture of us at the swim meet!

{real}

Sometimes, your pictures cross categories.  These could be funny, or real.  

Or Scary.

 

We couldn't let all that baby food go to waste, so we cooked with it.  Yes.  We did.

I used all the vegetables---mostly squash and carrots, some peas and corn--- to make soup.  We added sauteed onions, lots of garlic, coriander, salt & pepper, and 1 qt. of chicken broth.  It was pretty good.  Even the little one, who I thought would gag the whole time, ate it.  She doesn't like any kind of soup.

Then I used a bunch of fruits, like apples, pears, and berries, to make some type of "bar" according to the recipe.  Thanks to the cinnamon in the recipe, it tasted, and looked, like a spice cake (I don't know how they thought it would be a bar!).  It was super yummy with butter on it!

There were still 2 more bowls of babyfood mixtures in the fridge, but I tossed them as I don't have the time or inclination to continue to come up with more recipes using baby food.  I can be thrifty, but some things are just too much.  :-)

New Photos in the Powder Room

We did have some Celery Art in these frames, but my daughter and I found that to be something of a failure.  They stayed there too long!

Today, when I had to make a quick run to Costco with that Dear Daughter, I remembered that I wanted to get some prints to replace the celery art.  I think we were getting tired of skimming through the thousands of really bad pictures, on a time limit, and we both thought we had struck paydirt when we got to her photos from Rome. 

She suggested these pics---the one of the public, communal outhouse, and the other of a crumbling statue's backside.  They are the kind of pics a 17 year old in Rome with her graduating class would take!  She was a little taken aback that I agreed so quickly, but they're kind of fun for a bathroom.

What do you think?  Shocking or Funny?  Or do you think most people won't even realize what they're looking at?

Happy Monday!

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...
Raining and drizzly, again, but I had a nice, cool walk with the doggy this morning.

I am thinking...
About how I don't have much on the calendar this week, so I can relax.  I still have things that need to be done---AHG, of course---but it's going to be hard to motivate myself!

I am thankful...
For the Eucharistic Congress this weekend.  I got to see the beautiful Eucharistic procession with all the schools and parishes from the Archdiocese.  You've got to love the Hispanic groups that are dressed up and dance and sing all through the procession, just like King David singing and dancing for the Lord!  I'm especially thankful for making new friends IRL (Maria and Sarah!), and getting to spend a fun hour with them.

From the learning rooms...
Math, math, math.  All summer long.

In the kitchen...
Last night my dear daughter made gyros.  I was just going to roast the leg of lamb that I bought for Holy Thursday (!) and never cooked, but she immediately moved to gyros and did most of the work.  They were good; the gyro lovers in the family thought they were awesome.  I'm not one of those, evidently.  But I ate it.  I wasn't excited about the lamb in any form, except maybe live.

I am wearing...
Shorts and an XL polo from a past Eucharistic Congress because I found plenty of other good stuff to eat this weekend, and it's a day for loose clothing and frumpy casual.  Only beause I'm in a good mood, though.  If I were in a bad mood, that would require bright colors, probably turquoise, flattering clothing, and makeup.  :-)

I am knitting...
Finishing the baby blanket today.  Really.  It's big enough.  The goal is to knit those last few rows, bind off, and weave in ends.  All that work will probably require a good movie or two!

I am going...
No Where!

I am wondering...
Why kids can't find anything to eat when both the pantry and fridge are stuffed to the proverbial gills with food.

I am reading...
The Catholics Next Door; All Creatures Great and Small; The Truth About St. Therese

I am praying...
For my best friend and her family, for Alison, for Elizabeth de Hority, for our priests and deacons, for a marriage, and for my children.

I am looking forward to...
the sun shining again!


I am hearing on my ipod...
I enjoyed Just a Catholic Dad on my walk this morning.  He always makes me smile!

Yesterday I heard myself on my ipod! At the Eucharistic Congress I got to record an episode of Catholic Weekend with Capt. Jeff, Maria, and Sarah Vabulous, the Catholic Drinkie.  So, go listen up if you want to hear my "lovely, female voice".

Around the house...
Laundry!!!  And I'll probably get drafted into helping my grown girl make preparations for a bridal shower this week, and getting ready for her 3-week trip to Spain and Italy.


One Two of my favorite things...
The Wizard of Oz, which, if you follow me on Twitter is one of my favorite movies.  We watched it last night and it was so much fun.

These hardy hibiscus flowers by my mailbox which bloomed today and greeted me this morning!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Look who came by while we were recording.

 Hosted by The Simple Woman's Daybook

Corpus Christi---The Body of Christ

It's late in the day, but while my grown up girl makes gyros for dinners, I'll blog a little and enjoy the help which will be gone all too soon.

~~~~~~~

Happy Feast of Corpus Christi---the Body and Blood of Christ---when the Church celebrates the fact that Jesus gave us his body in the Holy Eucharist.  As Catholics, we get to experience Jesus in a very special way every Sunday.  Daily, if we choose!  

I love Jesus in the Eucharist.  I can remember before my conversion when my husband and I discussed John chapter 6 and the Last Supper.  I was shocked when he simply explained that if Jesus himself said, "This is my body" then shouldn't we believe him?  If I couldn't trust Jesus to speak clearly and truthfully, whom could I trust?

So, you know how that turned out! Here I am, firmly, happily ensconced in the Catholic Church, despite the fact that sometimes the music at Mass is amazingly awful and inappropriate.  (Not badly done, mind you, just poorly written and chosen.)  I can't believe that today, of all days, while celebrating Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, His gift to us was diminished by our  (well, not my) singing that We are the body and blood of Christ, broken and poured out for the salvation of the world.  Not that we don't have anything to do with the salvation of souls through our prayers and sacrifices, but to compare ourselves to the Blessed Sacrament is a bit much, especially today.

Enough griping....let me tell you an embarrassing story about myself...just promise you won't tell anyone else!  

When I came into the Church in 1996, I was very excited for the Easter Vigil, but also a bit nervous because there was so much to remember and do.  The RCIA director explained that the Candidates for Confirmation and First Communion would be the first to receive Communion.  But we were sitting with our families (and mine took up most of a pew!) and sponsors, so I didn't see how we could receive first.  I asked for clarification, but she insisted that we were to go first.  

Fast forward to the Liturgy of the Eucharist...when it came time to go up, I was sitting in something like the 6th row, far, far from the center aisle.  In fact, I might have been on the outside of the pew so I could get up if my 3 month old (who was baptized that night!) got fussy.   But I dutifully got up and climbed over everyone else in the row to go up to receive Jesus for the first time.  As you might imagine, I was the only one who did that!  Everyone else followed the traditional method of going row by row.  Talk about embarrassing! 

 When we met with the RCIA team later, my very kind sponsor insisted that it was my hunger for the Eucharist that made me do it, not stupidity, which was my choice.  She said that several times over the next couple of weeks---and I was all, like, can't we just drop the subject?  With the hindsight of 16 years, I can say, unequivocally, that maybe, just maybe, she was right.

I do have a hunger for the Eucharist, and I'm profoundly grateful for that gift at every Mass.  

But I just might be a little dense, too.

Quick Takes Friday!

---1---

Started a couple of blog posts this week, but they were abandoned when duty to Real Life called.   Those pesky kids have no respect for my sanity!  ;-)

---2---

I'm joking.  Sorta.  They don't have any respect for my sanity, though they might if I lose it, and then they'll see what they're missing!  But anyway, it's only the beginning of the second week in June, the third week of summer vacation, and I'm still adjusting to the randomness of the days!

---3---

Even though I hate to live for the future, next week should be a little easier.  Meaning there will be a lot less randomness and a lot more time to waste.  Driving to and from school will be over since drama camp will be over.  Woot.  I'm done with big American Heritage Girls meetings for about a month.  AND, in big news, which should merit its own Take, my husband will be part of my life again when he gets home tonight and his Big Trial is over.  That has taken over his life for the past month!

---4---

I'm psyched for the Archdiocese of Atlanta Eucharistic Congress tomorrow!  I'll be helping out at the AHG table for a couple of hours in the morning.  I'll go to Adoration and Confession, and listen to a couple of great speakers.

---5---

AND, more big news is that I'm looking forward to meeting Maria Johnson of Another Cup of Coffee and SQPN's Catholic Weekend fame.  We've bonded over Words with Friends and Twitter, but she doesn't realize I have a total girl-crush.  So, shhhh!

---6---

The Eucharistic Congress is an amazing event, though.  If they have one near you, you should definitely go.  Some years the speakers aren't as fabulous as others, but it's mostly an incredible experience to be with thousands (literally, 20-30,000) of other Catholics who come to worship Christ in the Eucharist.

---7---

Have you heard about this?  I love this project to get solid Catholic reading materials into the hands of seminarians in Africa!  They've already taken care of the 2000 seminarians in Cameroon and are moving on to the rest of Africa.  For just $2 you can provide a seminarian with an excellent start to his vocation.  It's worth a click!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Join the fun at Jen's for more 7 Quick Takes!

and have an AWESOME weekend!

Nothin' but Sweet Potato Pancakes...

...and really bad pictures!  That's all I have to blog about unless you want to hear about how I'm suffering from the Summer Lack of Routine Blues, trying to keep track of my kids and their schedules and get them where they need to go, having car trouble AGAIN, and never seeing my husband anymore because he's got a big trial this week.

 But you don't want to hear about all that, so I'll entertain you with really bad photos of the Really Awesome Sweet Potato Pancakes I just made!

I was just driving home from Drama Camp, starving to death, wondering what I could eat when I got home.  In the fridge was a huge bowl of sweet potatoes left over from the other night (which is weird because we never have large quantities of sweet potatoes left over), and I knew they'd go bad if I didn't use them pronto, so I whipped up some pancakes without a recipe!  (I'm daring and bold like that.  Other ways, not so much.)

Really, REALLY, bad picture!

I had about 3 cups of potatoes, to which I added 1 cup of flour, 1 T baking powder, 1 egg, and about a cup of milk.  All the basic ingredients for pancakes---except fat which was already in the potatoes in great quantity.  ;-)  They were still a little thick, and probably would have benefitted from more milk, but I didn't want to lose the main ingredient.  I wanted them really potatoey!  

Tom says I should never make Real Pancakes again because these were so awesome.  Except then, Meg would never eat pancakes again.  

Hmmm....What would you do?

What Did You Do Today?

I didn't have my usual punishing list of Things to Do today, so it was a rather nice Saturday!

---I did a little laundry and a few chores in the morning while my husband and son were running a 5K at our parish.

---I settled in with the Neverending Baby Blanket to listen to my favorite podcast live:  SQPN's Catholic Weekend.  That was an hour and half spent listening and joing the chat while knitting, occasionally responding to emails, and working on an AHG document.

---After a quick lunch, I went shopping with my favorite 22 year-old girl.  It was just a couple of quick errands (ha!) after a quick visit at the church to take care of some things for tomorrow.

--- I practiced my music for Mass tomorrow since I'm cantoring.

---Off and on I dabbled in a killer game of Words with Friends!

---I announced to my children (whichever ones happened to be present at the time) that Daddy said I should take Saturday's off from cooking dinner and let one of the kids do it.  So, I picked one and told him what to make.  In my husband's youth, they got to choose what to cook, but I'm pretty picky about the quality of food around here, so they'll have to choose from my approved menus and available ingredients!

---I watched a crazy movie with my kids while Tom made dinner (shrimp tacos, Barbara!), and I occasionally got up to help!

---I sat with my poor, hardworking husband while he ate his dinner late, after getting home from a long Saturday at the office.

---We took a long, refreshing walk around the neighborhood with a frisky dog.

---And now, I'm blogging because I had such a nice day.  It's better to blog after a nice day than after a bad one.  Same thing goes for waking after a refreshing night's sleep versus a bad one!  And I just realized 5 minutes ago that it's 9:30, probably too late to start watching a movie!

Did you have a nice day today yesterday?  What did you do?

Have a beautiful Trinity Sunday!