Last night, after the rest of the kids went to bed, we sat down with Margaret to ask her why she decided to take a walk. She didn’t give a reason, so we talked to her about what could have happened and why she must never go adventuring again.

In the end her punishment is that she cannot leave the back patio for a week and when that time is up, she is only able to play in the backyard where I can see her from a window. Caecilia received a one day detention to the back patio, and then will have to follow the same restrictions as Margaret.

This morning, we were getting ready to leave on an errand when Margaret told me that she would not play with the armor we brought home from the birthday party for 4 days and 9 nights. When I asked why, she said that it was because she really likes playing with it and it would be good to not play with it, so she can remember to be good.

Personally, I think she decided on it because she was wearing it on her adventure.

One thing about Margaret is that she knows when she has done something pretty bad and really thinks about what she’s done.

My midwife was here today and we were finishing up the appointment when I sent the older kids outside to take care of the chickens. The kids take care of the chickens everyday, they let them out and make sure they have food and water, as well as collecting eggs.

As my midwife was getting ready to leave, Karol came in to tell me the girls were missing. I went out and called them. No answer. I had Karol come back inside and sit with Benedict, then grabbed the car keys. I started with the pecan grove, then was heading to the road when my midwife called and said that she found them down the road from us. She was returning them to me. Bad bad girls.

I am amazingly calm about this, surprisingly and the punishment will be decided on when the Papa gets home.

This weekend, I think we accomplished a lot. We started with our normal Friday evening Mass, which was followed by Stations of the Cross and Adoration. Karol and Margaret even processed with father around to the different Stations. (insert proud mama heart here) Joshua and Karol were able to go to confession. I planned on going, but while sitting in the pew, with the other kids during adoration, Benedict and Caecilia got a bit crazy, including Benedict talking at the top of his lungs, so I took the kids out. The baby was also sitting in just such a way, that my sciatic nerve was getting pinched, so I was in a bit of pain and just needed to stand up and move around. I’ll make it next weekend though 🙂

On Saturday, Joshua was up early, 630, to work in the yard, as we had a birthday party that afternoon. It was also his birthday, so I was up shortly after, making a special breakfast. I made a coffee cake and fried up some sausage and leftover potatoes. We sang happy birthday and Joshua opened up the cards the kids made for him. They made multiple cards for him and were so happy it was his birthday! Joshua went back to clearing some garden beds and doing other things outside while I cleaned up. He did hair cuts (such a great thing on the family budget) and then we headed to the birthday party.

Oh, and on Saturday I moved the changing table to the hallway and the cradle to our room. I asked Margaret to organize the diapers on the changing table, and guess what, she did a great job! I’m not surprised as she is a good helper, but she even told me that she’d keep them organized and how I can help with that.

After the birthday party, we went to Mass at the parish in Valdosta, then to Target to pick up some things we need. Joshua has received some gift cards to Target using reward points from a printing company he uses, so it was like spending free money. We picked up some pants for the girls, for the yard and bonus, they were $3.50 each! Of course, I forgot the exercise ball, which was a main reason we went, well that and baby socks.

This brings me to a tangent-rant on the state of the Target store near us. Is it just that store, or are they all falling apart and not organized/cleaned? I would take a shirt off of a rack only to have three other ones fall off, because things were just thrown on the shelves. The shoe department was a mess, with shoes all over the place, nothing organized. Also, when you are in a store, isn’t it normal to have your cart to the right and the opposing “traffic” to the left? I thought so. Really, by the time we were ready to go, I was stressed out and needed to leave. It was almost like shopping at Christmas, but without the crowds. And on to baby clothes, I guess because most people find out what they are having, we don’t have gender neutral things anymore? Is this common all over or just here? Plus, there were no plain white baby socks. Target used to be a favorite store of mine, but now I don’t even think to go to it. Kinda sad. 

Since we went to Mass on Saturday (which we did, because we were near by and it helps us save gas) we had Sunday free. When we got up, we had a nice breakfast and then set out to tackle the upstairs. It is picked up and stuff daily, but it really needed to be organized. We spent a good three hours organizing our room and the hall closet. We found another tote of baby girl clothes, a few more onsies, and even a bag of white baby socks.

After lunch, I ordered the things I couldn’t find at the local Target from their online store, plus a few things from Amazon. I’m pretty excited for the control top corset I bought, for post baby. It’s the little things, I know.  I know it won’t work wonders, I just want things smoothed out a bit.

Dinner was chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. I added a rutabaga and a turnip to the potatoes and they added a nice flavor. I made a peach cobbler for dessert and let me tell you it’s calling my name right now. I will hold off though and eat a real lunch instead.

That was our weekend, productive and I enjoy not having to worry much on Monday about doing a lot.

Edited to add: I can’t believe I forgot to mention this: Our nephew Blake and his wife, Jenna had their first baby, a girl, on Friday! Yay for babies!

Sir Benedict.

This is the first time in Margaret’s six years, she’s ever been dressed up as a princess. Caecilia’s first time in four years, but to be honest, Caecilia’s dress here is very similar to the way she dresses frond the house, so it was not as shocking as seeing Margaret as Sleeping Beauty.

It would appear that when you slay the dragon, you place his head on your head.

 

I think she is very confused, but as long as she has candy, it doesn’t matter!

 

It’s not often I come across a giveaway for that is specifically Catholic and that is giving away some pretty awesome stuff. Go check out My Broken Fiat for more details!

Do you know Jake Tawney? If not, he’s a guy worth getting to know. He is a faithful Catholic, well read (when does he have the time??!), and very good at explaining things faith related (rumor has it he is a good math teacher as well.)

On March 5th, Jake will be giving a talk at Saint Mary Parish in Delaware, Ohio on the upcoming Papal Conclave. Here are the details:

With the news of Pope Benedict XVI’s pending resignation, the Cardinals are just a few weeks from entering a conclave to elect the next pope. On Tuesday, March 5, Jake Tawney will present “Conclave 101”, a talk on the inner workings of how a new pope is named. How many popes have resigned their office? Who is eligible to be elected pope? Who gets to vote? How many votes are needed? What happens behind the sealed doors of the Sistine Chapel? When does the pope first become pope? How does the smoke become white or black, and which color means a new pope has been elected? Find out the answers to these questions and more before we hear the familiar Latin “Habemus Papam!” The talk will be held at St. Mary Church in Delaware, Ohio, beginning at 7:00 pm. Jake will talk for about 45 minutes and leave ample time for questions. All are invited. Help spread the word!

I wish we were still in Central Ohio (yes I said that Andrea) so that we could attend this talk.

 

 

Yes, I normally post recipes that are healthy, but today is Fat Tuesday and my kids have been asking for corn dogs for a few weeks now, so I decided to  make them.

I used this recipe.

For starters, I did not use fresh ground anything for this recipe. I mean, they have hot dogs as a main component, so I saw no purpose in trying to make them healthy, so all purpose flour and bagged cornmeal was what I used.

I am not a fan of frying and normally delegate this chore to my husband, but tonight is Scouts night, so I did the frying, that way we could eat shortly after he arrived home. These were pretty easy to fry as well (read I did not get burned).

I wish I had a picture, but they were gobbled up fore I could take one. I served them with homemade french fries and cole slaw.