No swimming lessons needed until it's 32F

As evidenced by this photograph, it turns out that the pond has a fall-thru-resistant 10 inches of ice on its surface.

It's only because of the happy face captured in this image that i am willing to forget the 5 minutes of agony i endured yesterday when i was beyond certain that my husband had fallen into the icy water and left me a widow.

I wont go into how he's prone to go on dangerous adventures without telling me.

I'll leave out the part about how, from my view out the kitchen window, i thought i saw a hole in the ice.

I'm even willing to delete the fact that, after running out onto the deck in sheer panic, my fears were confirmed as i saw one-way foot tracks leading out to the center of the deep end of the pond... and that i STILL thought i saw the hole in the ice.

I will, however, share with you that the husband agreed to never again venture onto the pond without first tipping me off about the endeavor. That, and i get a box of chocolates every day from now until Ash Wednesday to help me cope with the residual nerves brought on by this whole fiasco.

While we're posting pictures of my children dressed as clergy....

i might as well add this one of him at 10 months old dressed as Pope John Paul II.

Note the Papal Coat of Arms and crosier.
Such props made up for my inability as a seamstress.

Model Priest

Once he heard one of our favorite priests was going to be stopping by for lunch and a visit today, he insisted that i dig the costume alb, cassock, and stole out of last year's clothes bin.
(He was St. John Vianney for Halloween '06)

And with all the amazing examples of what it means to be alter Christus (lit. "another Christ"), it's no wonder he wants to be just like them.


Here he is in a picture which, 23 years from now, will prove prophetic.
Or so we've been told....

He has babies in his heart

In a lunch time moment of revelation, the declaration of which occured mid-scootch-into-the-table, Thomas exclaimed,

"Oh! Mommy! My heart is gonna open up!"

When i frantically asked why (*i was a little alarmed - always assuming that the innocence of childhood is allowed insights into the Divine Plan*), he explained that it was because

"...when Daddy comes home from the Marsh fer Life, he can put all the babies in there. And then they can be born. I'll close the door."
*big eyes, smile of satisfaction*

No wardrobe malfunctions this spring, thank you very much! (*Cough*)

Kudos to our local Catholic high school, who banned strapless dresses from this year's prom.

A courageous move by the adminstration? Absolutely.
And they have my support. I think i ought to write them a letter of affirmation, as i'm sure there will be many snobbish and unintelligent complaints about how this violates a girl's 'freedom' to dress with wreckless abandon.

I'm not declaring a moral problem with strapless gowns per se, and i don't think the admin is, either. An aesthetic problem, though? Well, yes. But i won't go into the inevitablity of armpit fat, the waterfalling of 'endowments', or the tackiness of dress tugging right now. My coffee is getting cold.

I do, however, think it is clearly within the rights of the school to safeguard the integrity of one of its social events by carrying over its dress code regulations, especially if doing so will decrease the possibilty of, um... wardrobe malfunctions. You know what i'm getting at, and it has happened. Embarrassing for all who had the misfortune of being within eyeshot, and it compromises too much for too many people.

Afterall, why not challenge the young ladies of our town to shop with a little more insight about the dignity of their bodies - created good and beautiful by God?

Adorn your bodies with gorgeous fabrics and jewels - satin and sequins and beads and organza and tulle - edifying them as the temples that they are. Don't leave them bare shrines to be profaned.

Rise to the challenge and grow in class.

2 new links

on the sidebar, both of which were featured in my favorite newspaper.

Faith and Family Flix boasts many via-mail DVD rental packages similar in price to Net*flix, but spares with-taste viewing families the burden of searching through lists of movies that feature nasty content or promote ill agendas. Right now, there are upwards of 2,000 titles to chose from. My apologies to those family members for whom we purchased NF subscriptions - had i known about this option, we'd have gone for it instead.

The Sacred Arts is the website for a group of artists that are reviving fine Catholic Art. A must see! And if ever the traveling art exhibits are displayed within range of Providence Cottage, i'm going.

Aspirations

It is still possible for a virtuous man to be inspired by primetime television.

From the mouth of my husband last night:

"This really could be great, honey! I could be the first person ever to compete in American Gladiators, The Amazing Race, AND Jeopardy!"

Go for it, darling!

To inspire my more domestic sort of friends

A picture of tonight's dinner, fresh out of the oven, and made entirely from scratch.

A typical Sunday night sup, the dough (1pkg yeast, 1 c. warm water, 3 1/4 c. flour, 1 tbsp extra v. olive oil, basil, and garlic powder) was kneaded by my KitchenAid Mixer for 8 minutes and rested for 10, got rolled out in cornmeal and plopped on two pre-heated baking stones, was topped with homemade tomato sauce, heaps of mozzarella, salami (though not homemade, i did slice it myself), homegrown peppers, and mushrooms. Bake these two pies for 18 minutes at 425F and you're sure to please all the hungry bellies in your family.

Homemade pizza is relatively fast and inexpensive - my estimated expense on tonight's meal is $1.50 to feed 2 adults and one toddler with a whole pizza left over - not to mention healthy. And i ought to say that it's enjoyable kitchen time, particularly when i have a pair of 3 year old hands eagerly asking to help roll-out the dough and place all the toppings - one...by one... by one....

baby quilts

My inspiration for this post comes from this link.

Though not hand sewn, i do make my children's quilts on my machine, cut and piece the fabric by hand, and wrap them up as presents for Christmas. A time-consuming gift of love that i can see being tossed across the foot of a college dorm bed in 18 years. (*tear*)

Here's Rosemarie with hers. A floral theme, yes.

I am Melchior

“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
...
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Mt 2

Flattery?

I don't typically handle the outside chores in the winter (or in the fall, spring, or summer) unless i am feeling extra self-sacrificial... like i was this afternoon.

Doing so does, on occassion, afford me an interesting tale about how one might react when attacked by a (bantam/miniature) rooster. And for that i can forgive all transgressions. (Thereby being extra extra self-sacrificial. See how this works!)

Plain and simple, my totally-caught-off-guard-by-porcelain-blue-feathers-flapping-near-my-eyes reaction was to screach. After swiftly regaining my sense of dignity, i was sure to give that brute of a bird a rather harsh lecture about how ridiculous a thing that was to do to the woman who just hauled out 5 gallons of water for his whole flock. "In the freezing cold, mind you." (*Glare*)

Necessarily, i reported this naughty behavior to the master of the house as grounds for spring butchering. Sympathetic and always looking for an instinctual motivation for bizarre animal behavior, my husband concluded, "And besides, maybe he could just sense that you're a girl?"

A rooster - aware of my feminine charm? "Weird!"

"Actually, i can completely understand!" quoth the flatter.

Appearance reveals all

I'm sometimes led to believe that certain physical characteristics have inherent meaning that reaches far beyond any possible or necessary demonstration of personality.

Like when a 3 year old says, "Here, Mommy - you play with the soldier with the naughty eyebrows," you'd better just trust his insight, and exchange both your rather shallow observation of thick, auburn bushiness and your assumption that the government must not issue tweezers for the fact that this dude simply has an evil core.