7 PHFR Knit-Along Takes

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Another crazy week with too many things to think about and do that keep me from thinking about blogging!  It takes me a few days to get back in the swing of things after camping (hello, can you say 'exhausting'?)  I suppose its the lack of sleep caused by a hiking/camping safety lesson followed by a night hike with talk of the native bobcats.  I'm sure the gnawed half of a deer legbone, 6 feet from my tent door, didn't affect my sleep at all.  Nor the unwashed bowl that had held a marinated pork tenderloin in the same vicinity (though I did get the non-dishwashing Boy Scout to remove said bowl to a more distant location!).  I'm not usually uptight when camping, but on this trip, everything added up to less sound sleep.

Cinnamon rolls in the dutch oven are a good way to start the day after a restless night!

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Boy Scouts are good for teaching knots, even if they sometimes forget to do their dishes!

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Trying to get a selfie at this boy's Honor's banquet last week.  Aren't we so cute?  I can't believe I will soon have a second college graduate!

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The current yarn-along project is another ripple afghan in colors that coordinate with my kitchen curtain.

We (that's the Royal 'We', dontcha know) are still, slowly, savoring Pat Gohn's Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious.  If you haven't followed her blog tour, here's the schedule again.  Today's the last day and you may still have a chance to win a copy of her awesome book!

Here’s the schedule for the blog tour — Ten Bodacious Basics… Ten Minutes at a Time!

Mon Apr 15:   Lisa Hendey’s Catholic Mom

Tue Apr 16:   Sarah Vabulas’ The Catholic Drinkie

Wed Apr 17: Lisa and Joel Schmidt’s The Practicing Catholic

Thu Apr 18:  Sarah Reinhard’s Snoring Scholar

Fri Apr 19:  Leticia Velasquez’ Cause of Our Joy

Mon Apr 22: Maria Johnson’s Another Cup of Coffee

Tue Apr 23: Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle’s Embracing Motherhood

Wed Apr 24: Lisa Mladinich’s Amazing Catechists

Thu Apr 25: Elizabeth Foss’ In the Heart of My Home

Fri Apr 26: Julie Davis’ The Happy Catholic

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In honor of our AHG International Night, I found this lovely thistle pin.  Guess which country we have?

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Consquently, we've spent a lot of time in the past couple of days making shortbread and bridies (meat pies).  Exhausting.  Today we used an assembly line and it went much better! 

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And today's mish-mash of blog posts would be worthless without a birthday shout-out to my dearest husband.  You're awesome, and I don't know how I'd get along without you.  XOXO

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

Or stop by Like Mother, Like Daughter for more {PHFR}

and, last but not least, Ginny's Yarn Along!

7 Quick Takes...Monday

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What a week.  I'm behind on the news, but I know it's been a bad one for Boston and Texas, and I'll be praying as I go about my morning packing for another camping trip.

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Two weeks ago, I acquired the nickname "Best Camping Buddy Ever!" which, I am sure, you find hard to believe.  I must've used all my Camping Buddy Mojo on that trip because I'm so not feeling it today!  I just want to stay home and snuggle with my hubs, crochet, and maybe watch the news.

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My American Heritage Girls troop is going on a primitive/pioneer campout today.  Thunderstorms this afternoon.  Pit toilets all weekend.  Lots of girlie girls.  I better find and pack my mojo for a weekend of slogging around in the mud!

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Note to self:  Remember to take the car charger.  I'm thinking that geocaching will help eat up my battery life.

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(And now it's Monday.....) My friend that I was carpooling with had a flare-up with one of her medical issues, so suddenly, I had to figure out a plan for Saturday dinner (since that was her job), and do the after-school pick-up and prom tuxedo fitting with Tom instead of just leaving the car for him.  My departure time was suddenly in the middle of rush-hour and the rain.  :-(  Oh, and my Boy Scout Pippo decided to come hang out with another Boy Scout friend who was coming!

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I came really close to chickening out, but ended up taking my sweet time getting on the road...stopped at Wally World for a couple of necessities, and ate dinner out before leaving town. We finally hit the highway at 7 p.m.---the traffic was gone and so was the rain!  I had a great 2 hour drive listening to the final, gripping hours of the Boston manhunt.  I was gratified that Suspect #2 was in custody just as I arrived at my destination.

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The worst part of the drive was after checking in and getting directions to our site.  Is it so hard to tell someone that if they turn onto a sketchy, narrow, dark, rutted track in the middle of the forest where they might get stuck in the mud, that they're in the right place?  Just keep going until you finally...FINALLY....find your friends.  Sheeesh!  After that, it was all good.  

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

PHFR - Decorating Edition

{pretty}

This is an old, old (100+?) slate that I have in my kitchen.  Following the chalkboard craze, I put it on a pretty stand and I keep inspirational tidbits on it.  Then I learned how to make them look professional!  

It's easy...you simply print out what you want to say, in a nice font, and then rub the whole back of the paper with the flat side of the chalk.  Then you lay it on the chalkboard and trace the front of it to transfer the chalk from the back to the board.  After that you'll have a faint outline of your saying.  The real magic happens when you use a chalkboard marker to fill it in rather than a regular piece of chalk.  Magic, I tell you.  Total awesomeness. 

{happy}
Pip's room is 99% finished.  All that remains is for him to figure out what to do with the few things left in his closet that survived the initial purge, but did not make it back into the finished "decor".

Black desk courtesy of Dad's childhood, and then stolen re-appropriated from his brother's room.

  Painting courtesy of that same brother's 12th grade art class.

That side of the room is dark because there's only one small window in the room to the right of the bookshelf.  The left side of the bed would be a great place for a good floor lamp, especially if the outlet controlled by the light-switch were in that corner.  Which it's not.
I'm so thrilled with the dresser it's not even funny!  It's so pretty with it's new, gray paint job, and the pewter knobs.  
The really nice part about the new paint and decor?  Pip is really proud and pleased, and he's keeping it clean!  Love.  He's also getting lots of time to enjoy it now since he's sick and spending all his time in his bed. 
{funny} Meg begged me to buy her a pair of shades from the dollar store, and then some gems from Michael's so she could bedazzle them.  She did a great job, and then found another pair exactly the same to bedazzle for me!  Aren't we cute?
{real} This dresser started out life about 24 years ago when we bought it at an unfinished furniture store and I "pickled" it.  Remember that late-80's trend?  I don't know what ever possessed me to spray paint it with "granite" paint, but it lived that way for a decade or so.  Pippo spent hours, nay, daaaays, sanding all that off.   Bless his heart---he put a lot of sweat equity into his new room! Scroll back up to see how pretty it is, again!

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Stop by Like Mother, Like Daughter to see more snapshots of contentment!

Odds and Ends

We are praying for all those who were impacted by the bombs in Boston, yesterday.  That seems to be pretty much everyone---the injured, the onlookers, the workers, the first-responders, the people of Boston and Massachusetts, the whole country.  Thank God all the bombs didn't go off!

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I asked you all to send up a prayer for my MRI last week.   Thanks for that!  I'm happy to say that  it was clean and the old brain looks good!  I'm just a leetle bit hard of hearing!

Eh? What's that you say?

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My friend Pat Gohn released a gorgeous, blue book recently, and there's a 10-day blog tour that started yesterday.  You can still hop on and join the tour, especially if you missed out on spring break!  It's a podcast-style tour where you get to hear Pat's lovely voice reading excerpts from her book Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious.  This book really speaks to me, not just because Pat reads excerpts ;-), but because she sounds like she's sharing, over a cup of coffee, or a glass of wine on the back deck, about what it means to be created as a woman, and therefore a gift of God to all mankind, especially her family.  Go listen to those excerpts and read what the other bloggers have to say; I'm sure you'll be hooked!

Here’s the schedule for the blog tour — Ten Bodacious Basics… Ten Minutes at a Time!

Mon Apr 15:   Lisa Hendey’s Catholic Mom

Tue Apr 16:   Sarah Vabulas’ The Catholic Drinkie

Wed Apr 17: Lisa and Joel Schmidt’s The Practicing Catholic

Thu Apr 18:  Sarah Reinhard’s Snoring Scholar

Fri Apr 19:  Leticia Velasquez’ Cause of Our Joy

Mon Apr 22: Maria Johnson’s Another Cup of Coffee

Tue Apr 23: Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle’s Embracing Motherhood

Wed Apr 24: Lisa Mladinich’s Amazing Catechists

Thu Apr 25: Elizabeth Foss’ In the Heart of My Home

Fri Apr 26: Julie Davis’ The Happy Catholic

(scheduled shamelessly lifted from Pat's webpage)

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I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of the kids finished bedrooms!  They look so nice!

Linky Quick Takes

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To kick off the showQuick Takes...please offer lots of prayers for Jennifer Fulwiler, our usual Quick Takes hostess, since her newborn baby Joseph Thomas is in NICU 30 minutes from her home.  His breathing issues mean that he won't be coming home right away.  

It brings back lots of memories of the 8 long days I spent in NICU with the Pipster.  He wasn't very early (36 wks 6 days),  but early enough to have breathing issues.  As Jen said, it's grueling to go back and forth every day.  My husband used to drop me off at the hospital on his way to work in the a.m. so I could pump my milk, attempt to nurse or bottlefeed my baby, or do other little mundane things for him.  Mostly, it was sit around and watch him since his care meant that I couldn't hold him very much.  Meanwhile, 4 other children were being taking care of at home by my mom+.  They were very difficult days, though, I guess, not as difficult as they might have been if I were not certain that he would come home eventually.

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I have no idea who this man is, but this is a great video that explains, in a nutshell, that the Church teaching on homosexuality is not hateful and bigoted.  I wish more people got that.

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A video about why Fr. Dwight Longenecker is Catholic.  It's really beautiful.

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Meg and I had an awesome camping trip in South Carolina last weekend with the American Heritage Girls.  We went with 2 other AHG's and their moms---and we all had a blast together.  It was absolutely frigid Friday night!  I've been on some really cold camping trips, but I don't remember ever being so relentlessly cold before.  Thanks be to God that it was much warmer the next night---helped by the fact that I got my unfinished Ripple afghan out of the car to add an extra layer!

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We are still working on finishing up the bedrooms!  I finally started staining Pip's dresser which did NOT take stain well, so now it's being painted.  One more coat today on the top and we can put it upstairs!  Meg's room really needs curtains---the lime green just doesn't cut it with the pretty aqua walls.  It kind of makes me crazy when I walk in---I can't stay long or I have to turn my back to the windows.

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That last comment makes me think of my dislike for Kroger grocery stores.  I used to shop at Kroger years ago when it was the best option, but then a Publix opened closer to me and I can never go back.  My friends who shop Kroger don't get it, but I'm such a visual person that the store layout and design makes me crazay!  Now, I was in one recently that was different, but mostly they're dark and crowded.  I love my Publix with light-colored floors, wide aisles, and a minimum of visual clutter!  Does anyone else feel this way, or am I just weird?  

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It's Friday, and I'd like to say Woo-hoo for the weekend, but our weekend promises to be busy.  Lots going on, especially on Sunday which requires some ridonkulous vehicular gymnastics.  What about you?

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

Finally Spring! Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...
Sunny!  Promising to be warm, today!

I am thinking...
Lots of thinking.  I found this, very timely, excerpt from Pope Francis this morning. It is shouting to me---reminding me that Jesus is with me, and I should be thinking of Him, not myself.

How often does Love have to tell us: Why do you look for the living among the dead? Our daily problems and worries can wrap us up in ourselves, in sadness and bitterness... and that is where death is. That is not the place to look for the One who is alive! Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: he is life! If up till now you have kept him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust him, be confident that he is close to you, he is with you and he will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as he would have you do.  H/T Pat Gohn

I am thankful...
For my 33 Days to Morning Glory team who made their Consecration to Mary with me yesterday.  The last 6 weeks of gathering with them on Saturday mornings has been an incredible gift, a gift that, I hope, will keep on giving.

From the school table...
What is this "school"?  It has been almost 2 weeks since we last gathered around the school table. 13 days.  I'm not sure I know how to begin.

In the kitchen...
2 sleepy children having breakfast.

I am wearing...
Khaki capris with a white v-neck, and a lightweight pink cardigan.  3/4 sleeves!  Capris!  Toms!  I feel just like spring this morning!

I am knitting...
Still crocheting the ripple afghan, but I'm down to the last couple of rows, which is good because, until we turn on the A/C, it's going to be too warm to work on!

I have plans for lots of other little, rippley projects....

I am going...
To have an MRI this morning.  It's probably nothing; the ENT isn't particularly worried, but we want to find out why I'm losing my hearing at such an early age.  Fortunately, the hearing loss is symmetrical, or bi-lateral, so it's not likely to be anything bad.  But we obviously Want to Know. My brother, the expert on brain tumors, was giving me lots of information last night, and I was all...Dude! I'm not doing research on this...I'm not ready to think about those things....just trying to trust Jesus that it will all be fine...

Prayers for peace and a clean MRI would be greatly appreciated!  :-)

I am reading...
Knit Two, because I enjoyed The Friday Night Knitting Club,  on Overdrive.  I love being able to check out audiobooks from my library and listen to them this way.  I just wish the app was designed better!

I am hoping and praying...
Lots of people!

I am hearing on my ipod...
See:  I am Reading.  Most of my favorite podcasters seem to have been on Easter/Holy Week breaks.

Around the house...
Pippo's room is still unfinished.  Maybe today we will start staining his dresser.  IF he will finish sanding it.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
The usual:  scouts, American Heritage Girls.

Hosted by The Simple Woman's Daybook

I Should Be Packing Quick Takes

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First up, stop by Elizabeth DeHority's for an urgent prayer request for unborn-baby Martin!  Then pray.  Thank you!

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Next up, stop by our hostess's place Conversion Diary.  She is coming down to the wire (haha, literally) in this pregnancy.  Induction scheduled for Monday, and they want to put screens in her veins to prevent blood clots from reaching her heart and lungs before then.  Unfortunately, the doctors and hospitals don't play well together and it's getting a little urgent.  I can only imagine how she's feeling.  I'd be a complete and total wreck.  So, lets pray for a quick resolution, painfree insertion of sharp, metal objects, and safe delivery of that baby!

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Going on a Camporee today with my little girl.  Praying for a very minor thing---that the rain will stop before we have to set up the tent.  But we'll be in South Carolina, and it will be gorgeous and sunny tomorrow!

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I thought we would be so productive this week and get Pip's dresser finished, but no.  We've basically spent the week recovering from the intensity of last week's painting and Triduum, and getting ready for this camporee.  Yep, pretty much worthless this week.  A lazy, lazy week for everyone.  The most fun we had was when Tom's girlfriend came over one afternoon to play Settlers of Catan.  Only the best game ever.

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I love spring.  Just so you know.  The trees blooming in succession against the clear, blue sky (it's consistently gray this year, but generally speaking...) make me so happy.  I adore this little turn onto my street where there are cherry trees everywhere you look.  But my family is miserable.  They all have such terrible allergies.  God knows I'm a complete wimp because I could not stand it, if it were me!  

So, a photo of a cherry tree, or two, for me, and a link to natural allergy remedies for the rest of you.  Oh, and Honey, I got some of that local honey for you.  :-)

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Hmmm, I see by the clock that I should be packing....

---7---

And the dog is mysteriously limping and sitting with his leg stuck out awkwardly.  Poor little Ewok.  Time to investigate....

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Have a great weekend!  Don't forget those prayer requests---and I could use one, too, for a special intention.  Thanks.

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

What I Did During Holy Week

I would like to say that I baked pretzels, and prayed the Stations of the Cross every day, and prepared meaningful, symbolic meals every day while my children built awesome Lego depictions of Biblical events, but that's not what happened.

Oh, Meg and I did post pictures of the Stations all around the house---which we prayed together exactly once.  And we did go to Stations at church on Friday.  And attended the Mass of the Last Supper on Thursday, and the Celebration of the Lord's Passion on Friday.

We got adventurous and went to the Easter Vigil Saturday night at the cathedral with the Archbishop celebrating.  It was very moving with many, many young people being received into the Church.  Even walking to and from the church, from my daughter's apartment, in the rain, couldn't dampen our spirits and the joy of Easter.

But the real highlight of Holy Week is the redecorating we did around the house!  (And you know I'm being all tongue-in-cheek when I say that, because JESUS is the highlight.  We just had to get some work done while I had a helper here to do it.)

Katie was on spring break, so she offered to come help paint the bedrooms of Meg and Pip, which would have taken me forever to do what with all the furniture moving, and the decluttering, and the reorganizing.  And she loves that stuff, so we pulled off an amazing feat of emptying and painting 2 rooms in 2 days!

Sanding off the Boy Scout Law

Amazon Stone by Behr.  Love.

Excited much?

Stripes left over from Katie.

Jamaica Bay by Behr.

 The previous picture is the only one that shows the true color.  I think it's Easter Egg blue. :-)  Katie gave her the stick on chandelier for her birthday in January, and I gave her the Dream sign. Her two favorite parts of the room.  The chandy even has stick-on jewels!

Ack!  Blurry!  But note the pretty rosary.

Jamaica Bay is really pretty.  But not on the carpet. :-(

That's a big stain.  Maybe you can tell by my foot.  I know you love my shoes!  And did you know that rubbing alcohol takes paint out of carpet??? Yep.  That stain is 99% gone. And we were just too tired of it (and when I say We, I mean Katie) to go the rest of the way.  It takes a lot of alcohol, a lot of paper towels, a lot of pouring and blotting (not rubbing!), but it does come out.  And let me tell you, alcohol and paper towels are a lot cheaper than replacing the carpeting.

This is Pip's dresser that I painted with "granite" spray paint years and years ago.  He has been working very hard to remove the granite particles.  Bless his heart.  It's a big, slow job.  I think he's about finished and we can stain it.  I'll show you when it's done!

What did you do during Holy Week?