--- 1 ---

Yesterday was almost another Mental Health Day because Meg got sick and I didn't do any schoolwork with Pippo.  I had things on my busy Thursday schedule that couldn't be changed, so I wasn't home with her for half the day, though she was fine without me.  She was just on the sofa sleeping or watching movies with a sore throat and low-grade fever.  Several other little girls from AHG (who were all at the same birthday party on Sunday!) were sick, too, and I decided that I needed to be home with her instead of going to the meeting.  The troop managed to survive without its 2 main leaders last night!

--- 2 ---

DH went to pick up our college boys last night so they could be home for Fall Break.  We still don't have everyone together because Katie is going to Athens to see her friends.   It will be an interesting weekend with that college freshmen who is feeling his independence a little too keenly, and finds being at home stifling!

--- 3 ---

Our family routine for, lo, these many years is to pray a single decade of the rosary before bed.  We pray that, and then we renew our consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  We follow that up by asking for the intercession of our patron saints, but the twist is that we choose new patrons every year (though we obviously keep our namesakes as patrons!) on the first Sunday of Advent, the Church's New Year.  The other night, a couple of us simultaneously realized that it's time to choose again!  I'm pretty sure I'm going to go back to St. Monica.  Seems like I choose her every time one of my children goes off to college.....sigh.

--- 4 ---

You know what, though?  Telling you about our prayer habit and the fact that our home is enthroned to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart reminds me that I can't control everything my children do.  I've done my very best to raise them....just ask my husband!...and consecrating them to the Lord and His Mother is probably the single most important thing I've done in their whole lives.

--- 5 ---

Brendan, brilliant college-man that he is, made an astute comment last night:  People just don't realize how hard Catholics have it at Halloween/All Saints because we have to come up with TWO costumes!

I think Tom has the day off school Monday for teacher workdays, so the only schooling we'll get done is studying the origins of Halloween and All Saints Day.  Meg was begging for weeks to talk about it again, and I was hedging, but then when she asked me when All Saints Day is (!!!!), I realized we need a bit of a refresher....'Cuz if you don't know that Halloween is simply the vigil of All Saints, then you need another lesson.

--- 6 ---

Anxious to go see The Way before it leaves theaters.  Have you seen it yet?

--- 7 ---

Looks like 6 takes is about all we're going to get today.  Time to make some plans for the day---besides the plans which are already made for me.  Do some schoolwork.  :-(

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Save our Sanity!

I'm joining in LMLD's {pretty, happy, funny, real} for the first time, today, because it's something I've wanted to do for a long time, though I don't use my camera enough.  Someone(s) has been using it quite a bit in the past week or two, so I though I would post some of their pictures.

{pretty}

I'm not artistic when it comes to serving meals.  Though I like to cook and serve good food, it doesn't always look very pretty.  Probably because of that, a couple of my kids get their kicks out of photographing their artistry!  This is my Pippo's sandwich from the other day.  Pretty sandwich AND pretty photograph!

{happy}

Meg and her good friend from down the street.  They were having a good time photographing themselves doing glamorous poses.  Of course, the best picture is where they're just happy and laughing, not glamorous!

{funny}

Poor Gus, all dressed up in the Build-a-bear clothes.  He didn't like it much, but was very patient for a while.  Then he started trying to chew them off.

{real}

The dog has a crate with a nice, comfy mattress in it, and a doggie bed that's also very cozy.  But, naturally, he chooses to sleep á la Princess and the Pea in the basket full of blankets that we use on cold mornings.

Also in the category of "real" is my sanity, or lack thereof.  We can't photograph that unless someone wants to waste a shot on my grumpy face with lots of frown lines.  Too much going on outside of home and family.  I try to keep my commitments manageable, but I signed the kids up for our homeschool co-op this fall, and that always takes a lot of time.  Not only that, but it's Drama this semester and I'm in charge of all the costumes for A Christmas Carol.

In isolation, it's kind of a fun job (which is why I signed up) and I usually enjoy the creative aspect of it.  I also signed up to help with the All Saints Party on Nov. 1, and I'm in charge of the games there.

So, if you think about that for a moment, here's the rundown:

~housekeeping

~cooking

~American Heritage Girls activities

~picking up Tom from school in the afternoons

~Boy Scouts

~piano lessons

(all that's pretty normal and do-able, and now I'm in the midst of:)

~planning/designing Victorian costumes for 30 kids

~Halloween costumes

~All Saints Costumes, which I had forgotten about

~Organizing 10 games for the All Saints party

{crazy!}

~~~

I took a day off, yesterday, from schoolwork.  Meg, Pip, and I spent the day taking the dog to the vet, and going to quite a few stores to buy necessary items for the play, Halloween, and All Saints (party and costumes).  We were all over town, but we had fun together, and got quite a bit accomplished.  I feel better about life today, but it seems we're still going to take it a little easy since Meg has a fever and Pippo doesn't feel well.  

People think I have a lot of time to knit, but I don't.  It's a sanity-saving measure.  Those few minutes here and there, or during a tedious activity, give me a feeling of accomplishment and allow me to use my creative energies instead of letting lie dormant as I did for so many years.

{Have a beautiful day!  Take time to smell the roses and save your sanity!}

Yarn Along

Joining Ginny for her weekly knitting and reading tales!

 3 Books that are on my coffee table and getting picked up as much as I have time for:  2 Dog Whisperer books---Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems, and How to Raise the Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond
---and   Good Owners, Great Dogs
by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson.

I haven't had a chance to pick up  The Primal Blueprint 21-Day Total Body Transformation.  Maybe for next week.

My crocheting project, above, is the sleeping mat for a homeless person that I've been working on off and on all summer.  Mostly off while it was hot.  Now, we're back on.

Below, is the Infinity Cowl that I knitted up on my own.  It's made of the softest, most wonderful yarn, whose name I can't recall right now.  I think it's alpaca, though.  Nary an itch with this cowl!  It's not quite as infinite as I wanted, so I'm going to take out the stitching and the cast-off to use up the rest of the yarn.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Pop back in tomorrow and you can hear all about the Mental Health Day for Mom that I took today!