Bouncy House

The kids were begging Busy Woodshop Hubby to get out the bouncy house and set it up the other day. We saw it a few years ago at our local warehouse store and decided we needed it. It has provided LOTS and LOTS of fun over the past five years, I can honestly say we have gotten our money's worth. We get it out for birthdays, when friends come over, or just for the heck of it. Even the adults like it. Here is our most recent bouncy fun day:

Summer Bees

The bees are buzzing around here. Literally! The other morning I was getting ready in my bathroom and I heard a buzzing sound in my room. On further inspection, I noticed a little honey bee frantically beating him(her?)self up on my window trying to get out. I figured that when I went back downstairs I would get a paper cup and capture it to let it outside, when I was finished in the bathroom. Well, by the time I came out there were 7 bees in three of the windows, making a very loud combined humming sound. It was a little scary to say the least. I wondered how they all got in (the windows were open but the screens are on) and to have that many at once I wondered if I might have a problem. I went around capturing them all to let them out since I knew that hubby would get out the spray and zap them if I didn't help them outside.

They were all let out safe and sound, but I never did find out how they got inside in the first place. We checked the attic and it was alright and there have been no more bees in the house since then. Maybe they were on a mission to free that first one since it took me so long to get it!

I was outside checking around and didn't find any evidence of a beehive nearby. I guess for now the problem is solved.

Sister Chemistry

Oh the funniest thing happened last night. My sister just recently signed on to one of those dating match sites, and gave me a call to go over all her "potential" matches based on her personality profile and the type of person she is looking for. You know, basically the perfect man. I think she might have to settle for something slightly less but I'll be positive for her sake that there might be one more out there. However, I do believe that there is someone for everyone so let's hope that he is also registered at chemistry.com (and perfect for my sister!)

So anyway, she wanted me to look at her profile and help her jazz it up a bit, and while I was in there to take a look at her potential guys to help her figure out which ones to write to.

Well, we quickly discovered that we could both be signed on to her account at the same time (we live in different states). What fun! We started going down the list. "G" seemed nice and had quite a bit in common with her as far as his interests. She's been emailing with him to find out more information. I really like "G". Then another "G" also has shown some interest in her and she thinks he might also be a good possibility to meet in real life. He could be a good second choice. Can I tell you she's loving shopping for a date this way? I found my husband the old fashioned way but I guess you can find romance through the internet. It seems easy enough, and could save a lot of time by separating them out before she even has to meet them. Because after all at some point she will have to step out from behind the computer and actually meet one of these guys.

I gave her my opinions on all the guys based on what they had written about themselves and what they were looking for, what I know about her and also just what my instincts told me. My sister has no common sense when it comes to men, and she will be the first to admit that. That's why our little devious plan just might work!

Right away I told her to ditch "M" because he wants someone 'above and beyond' which indicated to me that he might just be a bit too picky. Besides he looked too pretty. He probably has some issues. Just sayin.

Then there was "R" who is an engineer and I'm betting really smart. He seems nice enough but can he loosen the tie a little? Unless he has a huge sense of humor, he wouldn't be too happy with my sister because she's pretty off the wall. Think Ellen Degeneres crossed with Roseanne Barr and a little Carol Burnette and that's my sister. She can't be around someone who's too uptight. But maybe "R" has a wild side. You never know.

There were a couple others and they all seemed nice and most of them weren't too bad looking. So we even have a plan C,D and E if we need it.

She and I were both laughing at the idea that I was helping her compose the letters to these gentlemen and also rewriting her profile and just thinking that we were totally getting away with something.

I was laughing that she totally trusted me with her log in information and thought just how tempting it could be for me to go in and change some of her answers. She is very trusting, isn't she? I wouldn't though. Probably.

So far so good on the chemistry homefront. I'll keep you posted!

It's About Time!

That's what I'm telling myself today. It's about time for a new post. I find myself making the rounds of my favorite blogs, checking once, twice sometimes three times a day (yeah, I know I could just put them in my reader. I like to check myself, though!) And sometimes, I am rewarded with new content even two, three times a day. Some bloggers are great like that. I guess I'm not one of those. If I even have a 'readership' who checks my content I can be assured that I am checked on weekly these days. Not daily, or hourly like those crazy great bloggers out there that we are all wanting to know every detail of their lives. Oh, you know who they are. Don't you?

Well, anyway if you don't, I'm not telling. Anytime soon anyway. I have to have some reason for you to come back, after all. It obviously isn't for my timely updates.

Sunday Landscape 101

This is the reason I don't blog as much this time of year. Our yard is very high maintenance right now. The moles have started moving, the grass is growing, and the weeds grow like, well WEEDS. We spent the day outside today working on the overall appearance. The only mishap was when Shadow stepped on a sticky mouse trap (that dog does it every time!) Let's just say it's not pretty, I didn't get a picture of that. But here is what I did take pictures of:

I didn't bother raking up the petals. With the camilla petals all around it, the fountain looks very romantic:

The lawn near the front porch:

The back patio, the umbrella was my Mother's Day present:

Another view (look closely, Wild thing is setting the table for dinner):

Our "garden" so far (tomatos, red pepper, strawberries):

The upper lawn (Mt. Hood in the background):

My lavender "field" (about seven plants, this is year two):

From the street:

From the front:

My snowball plant, 3 years old:

My little flower garden (not much is up yet):

The lawn from another angle:

The view from the garage (I love all the different trees: weeping cedar, maple, blue spruce, magnolia, all lined with a row of junipers):


Well, I hope you can see why I haven't been so prolific on the blog. I have been busy working outside. I love gardening, so I thought today I could combine the two. Happy Sunday to you!

Conversations in the Car

If you were a 'fly on the wall' in my car, this is what you would have heard today:

(Princess, 6 years old) "MOM! MOOOOMMm! Brother won't let me talk. Why does he get to talk and I don't? How come you listen to him but not me? When will it be my turn?"

(Mom) "Just a minute. You interrupted, Brother was talking first and when he's finished then you can talk, ok?"

(Princess) "OK. But I just want to say one thing."

(Mom to Brother) "Do you mind if princess has a turn? You have been talking for the last three miles. Let's give her a turn now, ok?"

(Brother) "O.K. But she didn't say "Excuse me."

(Mom to Princess) "Can you say excuse me, please? Brother is right, that is the polite way to show you have something to say."

(Princess) "O.K. Excuse me?"

(Mom) "Yes?"

(Princess) "I forgot what it was I wanted to say."

Experience + Knowledge = Wisdom

Wordless Wednesday

It's a Dog's Life

In this picture, Shadow is multi-tasking as a pillow. He laid here still like this for a long time-- Princess was really asleep:

He has perfected the sad puppy dog eyes (which explains why he's so fat!):

Shadow looking for dropped food:

Daisy thinks she is a person. She even sits like a person sometimes.
She also thinks she can read (or maybe it's the candy laying on the book she's after!)

Always an excuse for a nap. The dogs like to cuddle with anyone who stays still longer than 30 seconds (Ariel and Shadow):

ZZZZZZZZ

The wide angle shot:

Mother's Day Baking

I love to bake, and since I saw these Hershey's Cinnamon Chips in the store the other day I thought I would try them.
Oatmeal Cinnamon Chips Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Cinnamon Chips
3/4 cup raisins
Directions:1. Heat oven to 350°F. 2. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in bowl until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour and baking soda; add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in oats, cinnamon chips and raisins (batter will be stiff). Drop by heaping teaspoons unto ungreased cookie sheet. 3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes on until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. About 4 dozen.BAR VARIATION: Spread batter into lightly greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake at 350°F. for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool; cut into bars. About 3 dozen bars.


They taste great! For more great recipes, visit Hershey's website.

Happy Mother's Day from Fr. Corapi

This Sunday we once again have the joy of celebrating Mothers Day. It is certainly fitting enough that this falls in the month of May, the month the Church dedicates to the Mother of Jesus and our Spiritual Mother. It s a beautiful month dedicated to what is perhaps the most beautiful reality I can imagine mothers.

In the often misguided and morally confused society we live in, the vocation and blessing of being a mother isn t esteemed highly enough by many individuals that are so preoccupied with making a living and accumulating material things. Sometimes motherhood isn t respected enough by men. Even more baffling sometimes women don t themselves value this calling and honor as they ought. As far as I m concerned, it would be hard to imagine a more noble, more necessary, and more beautiful calling in life.

Moms, only in Heaven will you realize just how pleasing you are to God. You have collaborated with God our Father in bringing new life into the world. You have given our heavenly Father children, and these children He treasures more than you could ever imagine.

Mother Perhaps the most beautiful word in all of language. It expresses life. It expresses love. It expresses cooperation with God. It speaks of something that will never end.

One day, moms, you ll be honored by God himself for your many sacrifices. For now, accept our thanks, our love, and our tribute. We salute you, Moms, this day and for all eternity.
God bless you for all you ve done for us.

In Jesus Love through Mary our Mother,
Fr. John Corapi

Beautiful Music

Last night, we attended my middle school son's Jazz band concert. He has only been playing the saxophone since September, but already he has made great strides in catching up with the other band students. He began in Band as an elective, and quickly was invited to join the Jazz band, which is a more 'elite' group of kids, both middle school and high schoolers who get up really early in the morning four days a week and practice with the wonderful band teacher who, I am sure, does not get paid nearly what she is worth.

She has done marvelous things with this group of kids. I hope she reveled in the appreciative applause last night. Those kids sounded just amazing.

I was so proud of my son, watching him play-- knowing how far he has come in such a short while.

Then, I thought of something else. I thought about how for months I have been hearing only his portion of the music, all by itself. We love hearing him practice (except not when I'm on the phone!) every day and many of the songs he has practiced get stuck in our head and we find ourselves humming them out of the blue.

But somehow it was by listening to the entire ensemble play these same pieces altogether and hearing them for the first time in that context that it seemed to me that is how the Body of Christ is also. We each have our own unique talent, given to us for a higher purpose. When we combine our gifts we can make such beautiful music.

My name is Rose, and I am a bloucher......

That would be ME. A blogging sloucher, or "bloucher". I think I made up the term but I read so many blogs I wouldn't necessarily trust my memory that I've never seen that word before.

This is the time of year that my blog goes right down the tubes. It coincides with the sun coming back out, the plants starting to grow, and my need to get moving and start shedding the winter weight that seemed to pile on so easily.

Spring is springing here and it makes it tough to sit and type all the wonderful blog posts that I have running around in my head. It's true-- I think of such witty and original posts that for some strange reason, never make it to the written form. By the time I sit down, all the words have somehow sat too long in the unrefrigerated part of my brain and have turned into a big soggy mess of brain goo. But I amuse myself while I'm out there pulling weeds. I guess it's not all for nothing.

So, I went to the doctor this week for some good old-fashioned poking and prodding. I'm trying to figure out this perimenopausal body I find myself in these days. Nothing works the way it should and I can't tell the difference between what is 'normal' and what is a red flag for going to the doctor. I'm sure they think I'm a classic hypochondriac.

Ok, so I call the advice nurse and this is how stupid I sounded. "Hello-- I'm calling about a few symptoms I've been having lately. I'm gaining weight right in the abdominal area. A lot. And, I haven't had a period in three months."

silent pause.

"NO, I know what it sounds like, but I am not pregnant! Also, I have been feeling light-headed, having headaches, mood-swings and shaky after eating."

Basically, a train wreck.

Or normal.

I gave about two pints of blood for testing and a urine sample, and will see my doctor again next week to find out which.

I told my husband that going through perimenopause is like having to play a game you used to know but all the rules changed and nobody told you what they were.

I keep telling myself this is a natural process. It does help a little.

Wanted: Experienced Juggler

I need some help in the multi-tasking department. Instead, something had to take a back seat and it was the blog. If you notice, the last time I posted it was a week ago.

In the beginning of the week, I had quite a bit of busy work to do. First, I had to plan the menu and shopping for our Easter dinner, which we held on Saturday since my sister couldn't come on Sunday. We opted for a traditional and simple Easter feast, which included a spiral sliced ham, cheesy mashed potatoes, asparagus, a tossed salad and a cute bunny cake decorated by our five year old.

In order for us to have a place to eat the Easter dinner, it was necessary for me to clean off the dining room table. Trust me when I say that this is not an easy job. Because we only use this room for special occasions, the rest of the time the table gets used for junk piling. Whenever I come into the house with extra papers, bags, boxes, you name it-- it goes on the dining room table and is promptly forgotten about. I am always amazed at how quickly the clutter piles up and becomes out of control. I can clutter up the entire 102" long table. A talent of which I should not be so proud.

Then, I went to the salon for a much-needed hair appointment. It has been almost a year since I last had it cut. My new stylist is fabulous! She made my hair do things that is scientifically impossible. The layers made it look much thicker than it really is, and the curls stayed put all day long! I just wish I could style it the way she did.

The doggies also had their spa day. They needed to have their coats trimmed since they have begun shedding and I don't like to vacuum every single day.

Then we had some outdoor sprucing and gardening to do. The weeds have started to grow with a vengeance, and since we had a couple of nice sunny days, we took advantage of the weather and got busy. We mowed, weeded, fertilized, and had the roof sprayed for moss. Then, we went to the store and bought some containers for planting. So far we have planted strawberries and tomatoes.

I sent our Easter Mass cards out to the grandparents. I always get them from the Missionary Oblates. I love their cards! For a small donation, I usually get a rosary as well. I have quite a collection of Oblate rosaries. They are great for giving or keeping.

I shopped around and found a cute little Easter outfit for the princess, a pink gingham dress with a cute little sweater to match. I forgot how much I love gingham. My mom used to dress us in it when we were little. It is just adorable.

While I was shopping, I picked up the Easter basket goodies. My children understand the meaning of Easter but it is fun having a basket to come home to after the Easter morning Mass.

So there was the first half of my week. Busy, busy, until Holy Thursday, when we tried to slow things down a bit.

On Friday, we ended the school week with shadow Stations which the 7th graders did an awesome job on. I ended up staying for both performances. In between I happened to remember that Friday was the first day of the Divine Mercy Novena, so I said the chaplet while I waited. In the spirit of Good Friday, we kept our electronics and tv off, to spend time in quiet reflection.

On Saturday, we had a birthday party to go to and then home to cook and serve our Easter dinner. The day went by really fast. Early Sunday morning we all went to Mass, then out for breakfast and the book store, where I stocked up on gardening magazines and a new cookbook. That was my Easter treat!

We spent the rest of Sunday relaxing and watching the rain fall. We had our Easter egg hunt inside the house!

Hoping that your Holy week and Easter were wonderful!

Palm Sunday

Hosanna in the Highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, a day in which Christians celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the week before His death and resurrection. It marks the beginning of Holy week. We begin Mass at the back of the church where we each receive a blessed palm. We process in together and then we will listen to the Gospel account of the Passion of Christ.

Because this Mass is very long and very crowded, we arrived early for a seat and to spend some time in prayer. Since the weather was beautiful, and we had some extra time, I decided to take the younger two out to pray the Stations of the Cross.

We used the resource, Stations of the Cross for Children, which is a wonderful book of devotions on the way of the Cross. My 11 year old led us in the prayers for each station. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to share the devotions of the Stations of the Cross with their children.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia, on the custom of palm branches from a liturgical standpoint, it says this:

"The bishop or priest asks God to bless the branches of palm or olive, that they may be a protection to all places into which they may be brought, that the right hand of God may expell all adversity, bless and protect all who dwell in them, who have been redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Palm branches have been used by all nations as an emblem of joy and victory over enemies; in Christianity as a sign of victory over the flesh and the world according to Psalm 91:13; hence especially associated with the memory of the martyrs. The palms blessed on Palm Sunday were used in the procession of the day, then taken home by the faithful and used as a sacramental. They were preserved in prominent places in the house. On the Lower Rhine the custom exists of decorating the grave with blessed palms. From the blessed palms the ashes are procured for Ash Wednesday. "

Here is a web resource which has links and other information about Palm Sunday.

Doctors are our Friends

Today I'm bringing in my little Princess for her 6 year check up. The last time we went, I promised there would be no shots, but I was wrong. So when I tell her that I promise there are no shots today, I hope that I am right. She is very afraid of doctors. Despite the fact that her dad works in the health care field, she has no faith in doctors. She says that doctors only hurt her. Which isn't true but I can see why she would think that. When she was 3, we brought her to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor to check her vocal cords. She had a very raspy, hoarse voice which sounded cute but didn't seem normal. They needed to visualize the vocal cords to make sure there weren't any polys or growths causing the hoarseness. The doctor explained that they could do it under sedation but because of her age it would require her to go to a different facility and it would be more involved of an exam, or he could do it right there in the office, which would be slightly uncomfortable for her but it would be quick and without the worries of complications from anesthesia. I decided to go for the quick peek. It took three nurses to hold her down and keep her still while the doctor inserted a scope in her throat. She didn't like it one bit. Thinking back now, I think it might have been better to have her sedated, it would have been less traumatic but slightly riskier. It's a tough call. It turned out she had no growths which was wonderful news, but now she had no trust and a strong dislike for all doctors.

Which included dentists, and any other person wearing a white coat. Then the next time we visited the dentist was a disaster. First of all, she remembered the throat doctor torture chamber and was very reluctant to let anyone with a white coat near her. Incidentally they wanted to take full x-rays. She wouldn't open her mouth for anything. They ended up not taking the x-ray but were irritated that she wouldn't cooperate. There was really nothing anyone could have said to convince her to put those x-ray cards in her mouth. I tried to explain to the hygienist why my daughter was not cooperating but they seemed to feel that it was my apprehension that caused my daughter to be afraid. The hygienist needed to understand that a first time dental visit after a bad experience should be low key for a child who is so sensitive. Prior to this visit, I tried to be as upbeat and positive as I could and prepare my daughter ahead of time for what would happen at the dentist visit. It would have been nice for them to be a little more understanding, and to want to make the experience a positive one. I think that doctors and dentists should know that children have a long memory where pain is concerned.

Then, we had to go in the next year for an ear infection, and the doctor (who didn't really seem like she knew what she was doing) perforated the ear drum when she inserted the otoscope. She said it was only "scratched" but there was blood coming out of my daughter's ear. The doctor said it was because she moved while the scope was in there.

So now each time we go to the doctor where anything needs to be inserted in her ear or mouth, she just stiffens up and you can see that there is no trust. At her last check up, she was sitting on the table just trying not to cry. I could tell she was genuinely afraid, but trying to be brave. It breaks my heart that a few bad experiences have made such a lasting impression on her.

We do have a great pediatrician, she has a great bedside manner and she understands that my daughter is an extremely sensitive child. Hopefully, in time my princess will learn to trust doctors again. Wish me luck!