We Love Halloween

There's nothing like Halloween. We've had lots of laughing, in-good-fun teasing and even a little in-good-fun scaring, dancing, and naturally candy-eating.

At Middle Sister's class party today, I brought the "Snot on a Stick" snack, made of pretzel sticks dipped in Cheese Whiz with a little food coloring mixed in (found the recipe at Family Corner.) Trust me. It looks real. Ewwww. The kids played "Pass the Rat" instead of "Hot Potato" and Little Brother entertained everyone by break-dancing.

The school does not allow the children to come in costume, which eliminates the whole "don't bring a weapon & don't scare the little kids" thing. Instead, they allowed the kids to wear ONE non-uniform item and called it "Clash Day." The kids were very creative in their clashing. Middle Sister wore, with her red & green plaid school skirt, a "Bohemian" style printed top. Yikes. Others had neon soccer socks, or mismatched shoes, or pajama pants.

Daddy and Middle Sister's Friend's Dad took the kids out for the first round, came back for dinner, and just went out to circle another block in our neighborhood. We've got 2 extra kids along this year. I stay home and pass out candy to the kids who come to the door. Daddy's motto is: "We'll trick-or-treat until you can't walk anymore."

At dinnertime, the kids were more interested in candy-trading than eating dinner, though their appetites got the better of them and they quickly downed their meals.

I am traditionally the Repository For Candy Nobody Wants. I take the Whoppers and Almond Joys. I used to get the Milky Ways, too, but then the kids figured out that those are good, so that was all over. 5 kids were tossing candy my way as I was trying to serve dinner. So I got a bowl and attached a sign: "Donations for Feed Mom Candy and Continue to Receive Hot Food and Clean Laundry Fund."

And they have gone back out, leaving me here to rummage through their candy stash wash dishes and answer the door.

Question of the Day

Why is there a slimy blue dinosaur in my washing machine?

Little Brother's Report on Visiting Another Parish

Yesterday, the guys in the family attended Mass at a different parish. Big Brother's Boy Scout troop is sponsored there, and they were having a popcorn sale after all Masses. Little Brother loves to do anything with the Boy Scouts, so he went along.

Today, I got the full report. First he happily showed me the treat bag that the Youth Group passed around to all kids. There were a few pieces of candy, a rosary, a pamphlet on how to say the rosary, and a "Holy Trader" card of Blessed Jacinto.

I asked him if he knew whose picture was on the front of the rosary pamphlet. He said, "It's Mary--Father's Mommy." (Wouldn't Father love that?) He wanted to know about the Blessed Jacinto card. I wasn't sure how to put that so a 4-year-old could understand, so I just said that "Mary came to visit him and his friends because they were special, and she told them how to be good." When he's bigger, he can learn more....

Then he told me that at this church, "they speak English!" I don't know what language he thinks they speak at our regular parish.

Finally, he was very excited about "the candles with the buttons on them. Guess what, Mom! When you go up to them, and you press the button, it lights up!" I wonder how many of those candles Daddy had to invest in yesterday.

All RIGHTY Then...

Apparently I am less boring than I thought I was. So, in answer to your questions from the combox,

I appeared on Jeopardy! on October 31, 1995. I came in third, got a good many correct answers, but got the Final Jeopardy question wrong. To the eternal surprise of everyone who knows me, I answered a couple of sports questions, including one about football coach Mike Ditka that, to this day, I cannot explain why I knew. My "valuable prizes" were a set of really terrible videotapes. Most of them were given away.

When I was 9 years old, I saved someone's life. I was in Wildwood, NJ with my grandmother and her friends. The motel had a pool, and we spent more time poolside than at the beach. The only other child around was a good bit younger than me and we would play in the pool. I was pretty timid about water so I didn't get too far off the steps. He went down the steps and, I guess, kept going down. All I remember is one of my grandmother's friends saying to me, "I didn't know he was in trouble until I heard you say, 'Give me your hand! Give me your hand!'" Apparently no one was really watching us kids in the pool, and the little boy had gone under and wasn't coming up, so I grabbed his hand and pulled him out.

In high school at a school event, I won the costume prize for the cheapest and simplest costume I have ever made: the title deed to Boardwalk from the Monopoly game. I used poster boards to make the back and the front of the card.

So there you go.

Jean, do these count as 3 of the 5 "little known facts" about me? I hope they do. Here are my last 2:

I have been to exactly four football games in my life. All of them were Notre Dame games. 3 of them were against Navy. ONE OF THEM WAS TODAY! Go Irish!

I am very interested in architecture, especially houses, churches, small businesses and schools. I'm fascinated by the exterior details that used to be commonly included on even humble buildings, and I mourn the loss of that art. (Driving around in Camden, NJ and Baltimore, MD today got me thinking about that.)

How Boring Am I?

The object of the game:  highlight the things you have done!

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (and survived the crush afterwards)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne (let's say tipsy)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster (that would be while doing #31!)
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show (OK, not money, but "valuable prizes")
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146.  Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life


Got this from Esther, who got it from UKOK.

The Difference Between Boys and Girls

The Homecoming Dance at Big Brother's school is tomorrow.

Last night, he decided he wanted to go to the dance.

In order to go to the dance, he had to buy a ticket today. He will also have to come shopping with me today, to buy a sport jacket to wear to the dance. I can see how this scenario will play out: we'll go to the store, find the blue jackets, try them on him until we get the right size, pay, and leave. Tomorrow after running in the Homecoming 5K race (probably in the rain) and watching the football game (possibly in the rain) he will come home, shower, put on his khakis, dress shirt, tie, and new jacket, and go to the dance.

4 years from now, Middle Sister will get ready for her first Homecoming dance. Only she'll start preparing in July. Of this year.

Royalty

I came up from the basement with a big basket of laundry in my arms, to find Little Brother perched on the back of the couch, happily eating a Tootsie Pop that Big Brother had given him this morning with instructions to "save until after lunch."

"What are you doing up there?"

"King Of Couch," he proudly responded.

"And what am I?"

"Queen Of Dishes!"

I think I'll be serving dinner on paper plates tonight, then.

Dining Separately

Because of my kids' sports schedules and my husband's work hours, there are two nights a week when my family won't be able to all eat dinner at the same time.

Everyone has to eat, but we can't eat all at once. This throws me way off, as I'm very attached to the "whole family dinner." I think it messes me up so much because my kids are not "super-involved." In general, they do one sport, one Scouting OR community-service activity, and choir or altar-serving (which doesn't involve time outside of what we'd already be doing at church). Big Brother has a couple of other things at school but they are very occasional things, not regular commitments.

I'm looking for some good dinner ideas that I can have in my "bag of tricks" for those nights. I don't want to rely on take-out as it's expensive AND not always very nutritious.

Two ideas that come to mind are chili and sloppy joes, as I can keep them hot in the slow cooker until everyone has eaten. I want to cook ONE meal per day--not several separate meals. Any other good ideas for days like these?

Bus Stop Fashion

Middle Sister stopped to watch the weather report on the local news. "It's Bus Stop Buddy!" she yelled. Bus Stop Buddy is a cute little cartoon guy who is dressed correctly for the weather each day. It's a gimmick, but it's a cute gimmick, and besides, I can let Bus Stop Buddy be the bad guy when she doesn't want to wear a jacket.

Middle Sister informed me that today Bus Stop Buddy is wearing a coat, mittens, and a hat. I said, "Better get yours all ready."

Her answer? "No WAY! I'm wearing a scarf."

Prayer Warriors Needed

Please keep in your prayers little Brenna, who was born Saturday, Oct. 21. She is the granddaughter of one of the Secular Franciscans in my fraternity--one of the ones who helped introduce me to the SFO. Brenna was admitted to the NICU with breathing difficulties. May God hold her in His healing hand, and also be with her parents, sisters and brother as they wait and worry.

UPDATE: (Sunday) Brenna is improving and is out of the NICU! Keep praying! And thanks!
(Monday) Brenna's Grammy says that she is doing fine!

I'm keeping this up top, now that I have figured out HOW, for as long as prayers are needed.

And while you're praying, keep Brenna's Grammy in your prayers, because she's got surgery coming up on Wednesday.

The Breast Cancer-Birth Control Link

Moneybags has a link to the Mayo Clinic journal article that clearly finds a link between the use of the birth control pill and breast cancer.

Last week in the newspaper (either the Wall Street Journal or the local rag) I read a feature article about the marketing behind the "Cure Breast Cancer" movement. All those pink ribbons generate a lot of money. Some of that money goes to foundations that in turn give money to Planned Parenthood. (Yeah, I know, I could have chosen a way better link here, but most of the results from the search engine couldn't be displayed on my browser because of my VERY aggressive antivirus. The "sex" filter removes just about anything referring to Planned Parenthood.)

Why would a breast-cancer-research foundation fund an organization that pushes pills that can cause breast cancer, and abortion that can lead to the same disease?

Oh yeah, and the article in the paper also mentioned that there's such attention to breast cancer because unlike heart disease and diabetes, it's not your fault if you get it. That thoroughly contradicts the research that indicates that certain "lifestyle choices" including abortion, use of the birth-control pill, and even delayed childbearing can increase a woman's likelihood of developing breast cancer.

I am very grateful to the researchers who made the medical advances possible so that my mother-in-law has survived her bout with breast cancer, going on 6 years ago. It's not that I'm against breast-cancer research. But I don't think it's productive to funnel money into organizations that ultimately promote some of the very things that are correlated with the risk of developing the disease.

Judging a Bread by its Wrapper

Big Brother and Daddy just got home from a Boy Scout camping trip. As usual, the leftover perishable food was divided among the adult leaders, so there are two loaves of Wonder bread sitting on my kitchen table right now.

"Gee, that's a lot of leftover bread," I commented, wondering if there's room in the freezer for one of those loaves.

Middle Sister answered, "I like Wonder Bread. It has the best polka dots."

Teach Your Children Well

Follow this link to a wonderful homily by Father Martin Fox, in which he compares Jesus' advice to "Take up the cross and follow me" to the encouragement we have heard: "Offer it up!"

Here's just a bit of it--but do go read it all!
I know, you wonder, how can that do any good?
How can my cold, last week,
contribute to the salvation of the world?
That’s not for us to know, is it?

But we do know the Lord said:
you want to share the glory? Share the Cross!

Offer it up!

Notice what a great act of humility this is:
We’re proud to bring an impressive gift;
instead, we have to bring something so insignificant!

Parents, when you teach your children
these small sacrifices,
you are starting them on the path to heroic virtue:
this really is the school of sainthood!

This is how we begin to learn the courage it takes
to be a priest, to be a nun,
to be a faithful spouse and parent;
to be a missionary, to be a police officer or a soldier;
to be a worker for justice in countless ways.

Ironic, isn't it?

I spent part of Saturday morning praying a Rosary outside a local abortion clinic with some other SFOs. Just like the last time, right in the middle of the Third Joyful Mystery (the Nativity), the cars started rolling into the parking lot. It was a busy day at the clinic. And that's heartbreaking.

At Mass, which we attended before heading over to the clinic, Father H. mentioned that Pope Benedict has taught that it is a great sin against the Holy Spirit to call something "right" when it is truly wrong, and to call something "wrong" that is right. He also mentioned that the abortion industry is guilty of this very sin. I don't know if he knew where we were going after church, but he certainly did strengthen our resolve.

That evening I received word that one of our fraternity members has a newborn granddaughter! Little Brenna was born this afternoon. Prayers are needed for her, as she is in the NICU with breathing trouble.

I can't help but think of the contrast here: in the morning, so many babies (at least 5 while we were there) thrown away like garbage. In the afternoon, a little one, a wanted and welcomed little one, fights to breathe and survive. Other friends of mine who grieve over their infertility, or their inability to have more children, or the years of red tape before they can adopt children whom they know they can love and teach and raise as their own.

Mr. Independent

It was just before lunchtime, and I told Little Brother that he could choose from a tuna sandwich or leftover pizza for his lunch. He wasn't sure what he wanted, so I said that after I used the bathroom, I'd be back downstairs to serve his lunch.

I'm a mom. I do not linger in the bathroom.

I heard a noise as I came back downstairs. A noise like...the microwave. The one ABOVE THE STOVE.

There was Little Brother, who had pulled up a chair to the stove, unwrapped the leftover pizza from the foil, placed it in the microwave, and turned it on!

Interrogation revealed that Mr. Independent had set the microwave on "1-2" so the pizza barely got warm. Phew!

I think it's time to childproof again--in the High Places this time.

Little Brother's Calendar

Who needs a day planner when you have Little Brother?

Little Brother: "Hey Mom! Guess what! After this day, it's going to snow. And THEN, it's going to be CHRISTMAS!"

Me: "Really?"

Little Brother: "Yes! When I was at Back-Door Neighbor's house, she has a calendar, and first it's spring, and then it's snow, and then it's Christmas, and THEN it's Halloween!"

And he hasn't even BEEN in Target lately, where the Halloween and Christmas decorations are across the aisle from each other.


(I don't remember where I saw this cartoon yesterday....if it was at your blog, please let me know so I can credit you properly!)

How to Scare Your Wife

In the middle of our early-morning conversation hammering out which kid has to be in which place after dinner and which adult will drive said kid to said place and which adult will keep Little Brother out of trouble during all of this, my husband suddenly interrupted me:
"Wanna hear something scary?"
"What?"
"In ten years...we can get an AARP card."

A Need to be Needed

Today's the day Little Brother and I volunteer in the lunchroom at Middle Sister's school.

I've done lunchroom for 5 years and I really do enjoy it. Little Brother enjoys it too. It's a good way to see my own kid in her school environment, meet her friends, meet the teachers, meet other parents, and maybe just be a positive influence in some child's day.

Working in the lunchroom is not something to feed my own ego. Certainly there's no glory in wiping tables and chairs and counting out milk cartons. It's not the sort of thing you get the "PTA MVP Award" for, and that's fine.

But in this school, my help in the lunchroom seems less necessary. Last Wednesday there were the 3 of us Regular Lunch Moms, 3 Pretzel Moms, the janitor, the gym teacher, and at least 3 Hot Lunch Moms. That's 11 people to feed and clean up after 300 kids in 3 feedings. Last year there were 6 of us for 200 kids in 2 feedings, so the same Kids Per Feeding Ratio applies. I spent an awful lot of time hanging around in there with nothing to do. And there's plenty to do here at home. I don't need to leave the house to find something to do.

Granted, I did get the chance to check up on Middle Sister, congratulate her on a good grade on a test she'd gotten back that morning, and get a big hug from my godchild in second grade (which got plenty of raised eyebrows from the other 10 adults in there, until I informed them that yes, I DO have a relationship with this child where hugging is OK). I did get the chance to chat a bit with two other second-grade girls from "the Old School" who are happy to see my face each week, and they come over to tell me some random thing about their day.

I just feel like--if they don't NEED me, why should I go out in the drizzle right now and head over to school?

Collision Course

Today in my car there was a terrible crash.

The lone casualty: My coupon box (a 5X6X8 tub with removable lid), full of coupons, which separated itself from its lid and fell UPSIDE DOWN onto my open coffee cup just as I was about to exit the car with it in my hand. I flipped over the box, and coffee poured into the coupons that fell back in. The other half of the coupons were on the floor of the car.

It appears that they all are salvageable, though damp. They'll have to be re-sorted before I dare enter a supermarket again. But there are worse things they could smell like, I guess. I just have to find a spare 2 hours to deal with the wreckage. I will not just toss the whole thing and start over. Those things save me upwards of $30 a week, which is not small potatoes.

Anyone for a coupon-sorting-and-drying party? I'll provide the coffee...um, maybe not....

Sports, Fun and Competition

Middle Sister is trying out for the basketball team.

This is a whole new experience for her. Not basketball--she's played it for the past two years, and is pretty good, especially after the season gets started and she finds her rhythm in the game. In fact, she learned to dribble before she was toilet trained, when Big Brother was playing "instructional" ball in first grade.

But she's in fifth grade now. And basketball is serious business in fifth grade. There are tryouts. There are kids showing up in shirts advertising their positions on last year's "all-star" team. There are kids playing for their town "rec" team as well as the CYO team. The coaches are all business, and from the looks of things, the parents are too. We are here to WIN.

I could say that a wider playing field is a good thing, and that learning to take your lumps is a good thing. All that is true. But I think there's time enough for that when they get to high school. These kids are ten years old. They are still honing their skills. I think that at this level, kids don't need to be cut from teams. I don't think kids need to be playing on two teams for the same sport in the same season (when do they eat--sleep--study--shower--play?) I don't think the kids need to get in that mindset that if they don't perfect their layup shot by the age of 11, their chances of playing college ball are over.

Big Brother stopped playing basketball at his own request after his fourth-grade season ended, because "it's not fun anymore. All they want to do is win games." We didn't push him. He had a good handle on the situation, and basketball is really not his thing. He had finished the season, so there was no more commitment to be honored.

I see a wide-open opportunity for Middle Sister's fragile ten-year-old ego to be trampled in this sports situation.

UPDATE: Middle Sister did not make the Junior Varsity (5th and 6th grade) team. Next week she has the "opportunity" to try out for the Sophomore (4th and 5th grade) team.
Only 12 kids out of 30+ trying out made the cut. All 8 6th-graders, and only 4 5th-graders.
She looked good today, too. Not great, but she's 10.
Sigh.