Where's DH??

This is a game of Where's Waldo, I mean Craig.

Here are the clues:

1) Its not in the U.S.

2) Name of city is same as a U.S. city

3) Had to fly across the Atlantic Ocean

4) Got to see the Aurora Borealis on his flight (way cool!!)

5) They drive small cars on narrow roads in the opposite direction

6) Had to exchange for pounds

7) Should have taken a 120V power converter

8) Apparently they don't like iced drinks?? Craig can't find ice anywhere!! LOL! And he HAS to have COLD drinks

9) Can only find Rugby on the tele

10) Have awesome pudding (there it means dessert) and crumpets

11) Home of those yummy chocolate eggs we like so much at Easter

Where is he?? The winner gets some sweet bread from that country. You must get the city and country correct. Make sure I know your email so I can get your address. Craig says he will bring back enough sweet bread for the prize winner as well as for the family. First one to guess correctly wins!!

Geo Culture Club

This past Wednesday was our first time attending Geo Culture Club. I have to say, of all the clubs we've ever belonged to, this was the best!! And I say this after having organized and led a Little Flowers group for 2 years!!! LOL!

I think what made this day wonderful was that it was for the entire family and required little work on my part. Actually, each family contributed and it was great. Many hands make light work.

So here's how it works:

Every month the group studies a different country. On the appointed day each family shows up with a dish from that country (dessert, side or main dish). Each family also researches some aspect of that country. A SMALL aspect because presentations should be no longer than 3 minutes. When we arrive the first thing we do is eat!!

That right there is why I like the club so much!

We ate and socialized for over an hour. Then we set the chairs up and listened to each family present their book report, poem, song, play, skit, puppet show, book review, poster or ANYTHING that meets their fancy.

It was great! We learned about Portugal this month. My girls did a report on Portuguese sailors: Vasco de gama, Bartholomew Diaz, Prince Henry the Navigator, Ferdinand Magellan and Americus Vespuscious (who was actually Italian but sailed with the Portuguese over to the New World.).

We didn't do anything as exciting or creative as some of the families. It was our first time, what can I say. And it was the first time my girls have had to get up in front of a crowd and present something (other than piano recitals). They were nervous and Anna even wanted to bail out. But Isabelle wouldn't let her because she couldn't do it alone! Well, they did great!! And they learned a lot from the other presentations!

I loved seeing little 5 yo's get up and share a tidbit. I enjoyed hearing 15 yo's give book reviews. One family with seven kids did the cutest puppet show on La Gallina. Another family sang the Portuguese National Anthem (in English of course). And although two different families presented on Fatima, one focused on Jacinta while the other on Lucia.

All I had to do for this club was make a delicious and authentic Portuguese meal.

This club is genius! I only wish I had thought about it years ago! Its perfect because it incorporates the entire family, involves eating, works on speaking skills and allows them to practice being a good audience. And we get to socialize!!!

The presentations probably took about 1 hour. And you learn so much abut a country without having to do all the research!! I'm looking forward to next month's meeting where we will be traveling to South Africa!!

Here's what we cooked up:

(Portuguese Chicken)

Here are some more delicious dishes we tasted:





Of course, my younger ones went straight to the dessert, HEB bread and Shipley Donuts. They weren't about to try anything new. But I made up for their lack of adventure. Isabelle and Anna also enjoyed trying new foods. Catherine kept quiet the entire time! The first 1 1/2 hours she ate custard pies, rice pudding, fried donuts, lemon cake and lemonade. She slept the second 1 1/2 hours. Which proves there is nothing to the myth that sugar makes children hyper!! ;-)

Just kidding! She also ate a little bit of chicken and rice.

Here are my nervous presenters (who did a wonderful job BTW!!)




I doubled the recipe so we could enjoy it for dinner. I made some Puerto Rican rice (Arroz con Gandules) to go along with it. The recipe for the rice is in my head or else I'd share it. Its been passed down generations on my father's side. It went well with the chicken.
Here's how our dinner looked that night:

Até a vista
(good bye)

William Tell Overture for Moms

This was hilarious! That's exactly what I sound like most days! LOL! Except for the sending off to school on a bus but close enough!

So as to allow the resident 2yo live to be 3yo ....

... I've decided to blog so as to laugh rather than get angry!!!

Last night I was so thankful that my Guardian Angel had inspired me to defrost a roast. Normally, I remember that I want to crockpot something the morning of ... when the big chunk of meat is still frozen.

Forward to 3:45pm when I go to check on the roast .....




Craig, amid his laughing, reminded me that children eat free on Wednesdays at Jims.

Hmmmm ..... the 2 yo got lucky this time.

Treading Water

I've not been posting because I'm trying to keep my head above water.

Homeschooling is ALOT like swimming. Kindergarten was like learning how to swim in the shallow end. No matter how much people told me kindergarten was easy, I still had to learn how to homeschool one kid ... I had to learn how to swim.

With each grade I've become a better swimmer, but I also keep getting thrown in the deeper end, or I have to learn a new harder stroke.

And so I'm seeing that it doesn't just become easy one day. Sure, I've gained experience along the way, but I'm also a novice in many respects. This is the first year with three pupils. And 4th grade is turning out to be "character building" both for Isabelle and myself!! LOL!!

And so while I love blogging, I think I'm going to have to take a break. Because these past two weeks I've felt like big waves have been pounding down on me. And I really don't want to drown!! So I'm going to focus!!

Waking up early has been a life saver. And my consultant has been more like my life guard. She saved me from throwing in the towel yesterday. How I wish I could just go back and swim in the shallow area, or even sit in the kiddie pool!! Those were the days! I remember longing for the "real" school days where real learning would take place. No one ever told me how hard it would be. How deep the water would be. Its like swimming in the deep and having to hold onto all 5 kids!! I don't want to drop one but I also don't want to take them down with me.

I'm going to try to spend my evenings relaxing. Or listening to Craig affirm me! LOL! He has much faith and confidence in me that I almost believe him. And my consultant is going to have to take me by the hand. Also, I can only succeed with God's grace which means I need to make myself more available.

And bedtime ... I am FINALLY understanding that I'm no longer a college co-ed. I need sleep!! So my normal blogging hours will be spent snoozing!!!

But I do plan to blog on the weekends.

To leave this post on an upbeat manner, last weekend was awesome! It was great to see our cousins and long time friends. It was the reason we moved back. We hope to have everyone over monthly.

Pray for me that I get the hang of it all. Know that I pray for all of you. I think of you all as dear friends!!

Happy Birthday Catherine!!

Today Catherine turned two years old!! The time has gone by too quickly. Her birthday party won't be until this Saturday because Craig is out of town :-( BUT the kids still made it a special day for her.

It all started with Isabelle, the master party planner. She picked out one of her toys and asked if she could give it to Catherine. I told her sure! Why even ask? Well, because I had bought it for her on one of our "dates." She didn't want to hurt my feelings.

Anna and Sophia soon followed. Before I knew it ALL the kids were hunting all over the house for gifts to gift wrap for Catherine. They gave her the following:

1. Small plastic statue of St. Michael the Archangel
2. Stuffed teddy bear from The Cheesecake Factory
3. A book (Spot's Bedtime)
4. A homemade necklace
5. A baby animal doll

As I was preparing dinner Isabelle asked about the cake. The cake??? I hadn't planned on making a cake. I really didn't want this to turn into a full blown affair since Craig wasn't here. But they insisted so I started baking.

Then who should happen to drop by ... grandparents. Who wasn't wearing a bra and hadn't picked up the living room?? I ran upstairs and tried to spruce myself up! LOL!

And so we ended up having presents, cake and candles and singing. Then my mom stayed after and helped me pick up the kitchen while my dad took Isabelle to swim practice.

Catherine really seemed to enjoy her gifts. And my heart is just bursting with pride that my kids were so thoughtful and imaginative. They gave gifts from their hearts. And they truly intend for Catherine to keep their prized possessions!!

Of course, no batteries for the camera again. I really wasn't prepared!! But I will be on Saturday!! Until then, enjoy these older pics of Catherine.

Early to rise should go early to bed ....

... and I think I finally understand that now!! I've been waking up at 6:30am for about 4 weeks now. Its amazing how much I can get done! I've tweaked the schedule and no longer wake everyone up at the same time. Isabelle wakes up at 7:15am and I home school her starting around 7:45am. Anna and Sophia (who were being dragged out of bed by the alarm clock and their older sister) now get to sleep in. They don't wake up until 9-9:30am. And Kolbe and Catherine are still sleeping until 10-10:30am. So I am getting so much done with Isabelle. And she is really enjoying my alone time with her. Best of all, there is no guilt since everyone else is still sleeping!!

BUT ......... I haven't gotten into the habit of going to bed early. I'm still staying up until midnight or later :-/

It feels like I'm back in college! LOL!

In fact, today while I was reading history to Isabelle (Beorn the Proud), I started falling asleep! My voice started slurring and my eyes wouldn't stay open. When I dropped the book Isabelle started laughing. She said she would go work on her English. I took a quick 15 minute nap! LOL!

Later at lunch time Craig and I were in the living room and he was telling me about a book he just finished (about Padre Pio). Again, my eyes were heavy and I was nodding off. LOL! To show his love for me, Craig ran out and got me .......

(my favorite!!!)

I was able to continue with the rest of the day and all our homeschooling was done with plenty of time to start dinner. But I'm realizing I really need to go to bed early. And that is sooo hard for me. Harder than it is for me to wake up early. I just LOVE night time!! In college Craig and I used to study until 1am and then head for Denny's for a snack!

But I'm not that young anymore. And all those late night snacks are showing! LOL! And I just heard that at my age any sleep I get before 11pm is twice as valuable as sleep at a later time. So, my bedtime will be 10:59pm!! LOL!! I'm starting with baby steps!

I'm Invisible ........

One of the moms at the 4 Real Forum shared this lovely story that really touched my heart. I guess because I can relate to sometimes feeling invisible. This story is an excerpt from this book.

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I'm invisible.......

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?"

Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Pick me up right around 5:30, please."

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.

She's going ... she's going ... she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well.

It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this."

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."

In the days ahead I would read -- no, devour -- the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals—we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it."

And the workman replied, "Because God sees."

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over.

You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand-bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home.

And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

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I hope that wasn't too depressing!! The lady who writes this isn't Catholic and so the perfect example was missing. I like to think that the Blessed Virgin Mary, in all her humbleness, was the ultimate invisible woman. And so this week I hope to relish my invisibility!!