Well said -- Holiday version

It's Beginning to Look a lot like ... Holiday written by Red Cardigan at And Sometimes Tea brings it back into perspective.

Like one of those commenting on her post, I remember when Christmas displays went up after Thanksgiving and the sales began in mid-December. Now ornaments and cards seem to pop up in the stores at the same time as the red, white, and blue decorations for the Fourth of July. A few short days ago Santa inflatables were sharing space in front of the grocery store with Frankenstein and Dracula. There's just something Wrong. With. That. Picture -- not to mention the inflatable ghosts hovering near the inflatable nativity scene snow globe.

The children are even picking up on it -- I am being asked to play some of the Christmas CDs in the van. That isn't happening before Thanksgiving, thankyouverymuch.

I'll leave you with some more well said words on the topic:

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

How cool is this?

Susan and Janice at 5 Minutes for Mom have an incredible giveaway going on. Somehow I didn't see it when it was first posted, but I have found it now and don't want any of you to miss it! The Retro Giveaway is for either a pedal car, suitcase record player, or a gift certificate to use at their retro store.

So what are you waiting for? Get over there and check it out!

1 November

"Let us rejoice in the Lord and keep festival in honor of all the saints. Let us join with the angels in joyful praise to the Son of God."
Entrance Antiphon

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This post will remain at the top of the blog through October. Please look below for additional posts.

The Breast Cancer Site was founded to help offer free mammograms to underprivileged women nationwide. With a simple, daily "click" visitors help provide mammograms to those in need.

The Breast Cancer Site is one of the links on my sidebar and a site I have gone to almost every day since I heard about it seven or eight years ago.

Growing up, the understanding was -- on my father's side of the family anyway -- all the men died from lung cancer and all the women from breast cancer. That being said, I'm sure you can guess how I felt when, in 1991, I discovered a lump in my right breast. In January, 1992, I had a biopsy. I was one of the lucky ones. My benign mass turned out to be scar tissue from a severe trauma received in a car accident. Other people (men can get breast cancer, too) are not so lucky.

Mammography is the best screening tool available today for breast cancer. Unfortunately not everyone can afford a mammogram. The Breast Cancer Site is sponsored by firms who donate money for any of several reasons including: every individual click on the Fund Free Mammograms button; clicking on their ad; or a percentage of any purchase on their site when accessed through that ad. Out of fairness to the sponsors, only one click per day is counted per visitor.

Some facts from The Breast Cancer Site:

Each year, 182,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 43,300 die.
One woman in eight either has or will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.
1,600 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 400 will die this year.

If detected early, the five-year survival rate exceeds 95 percent.

See also: You don't have to have a lump to have breast cancer

Need another good read?

Our Seven Qtpies is giving away an autographed copy of Love Letters to a Child: A Resource for Parents and Grandparents. This giveaway ends 14 October, 2007. Go check it out and learn more about this book.

Need a good read?

Biblical Womanhood is giving away ten copies of Passionate Housewives: Desperate for God. It looks like a great read. Entries for a free copy are being accepted through Saturday morning, 13 October, 2007. Check it out.

Do I really want to know?

"Do I really want to know" seems to be my catch phrase lately. With four children in the house finding any number of things to do, I hope you can understand the reason.

Dead toad in the rotating spice rack? Do I really want to know why? No. I do not. Just take it and throw it outside, please. And don't bring anymore toads in the house, please. Two days later we had a toad in the house. He wasn't allowed to spend the night. I am a mean mommy some days.

I'm going through a decluttering phase right now along with a rearranging furniture phase. I pulled vases out of a pantry and found one in the back with dried chocolate syrup and a wrapper from a stick of butter. Do I really want to know why? Not particularly. However, we will be having a discussion about proper vessels for making chocolate milk and the fact that the recipe for said chocolate milk is milk and chocolate syrup. No butter required.

Here's to hoping not to using the phrase for the rest of today!

Children say things differently

Children don't always hear things the way we do as adults. This, of course, means they don't say it the way we expect.

Some of our favorites over the past few years have included good night prayers in which "May angels watch me through the night" became "My angels." And we no longer have tartar sauce with fish, instead we have turtle sauce.

Some more recent examples involve my five year old. Olivia has been thrilled to have handwriting homework. She has two sheets: one has her name while the other has the alphabet. She also has a magic marker to write on them. Of course this means the paper needs to be able to be wiped off. According to Olivia, they can be wiped off because they have been lemon-aded.

Olivia has also been singing to me lately. "Oh, my darling, oh, my darling, oh, my darling, Clarinet." One day she will realize the difference between clarinet and Clementine and will correct herself.

Having been through this with Allan and Marie, it seems like the beginning of the end of childhood when these mondegreens disappear.

Boys will be boys

Boys. I have two of them. Allan, the ten year old, and William, who is heading towards four. They are the source of the greying hairs I see reflected back from my mirror. I have been trying to read Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson to try to understand why my guys do the things they do. However, they usually do something that interrupts my reading.

I admire women who have had sons only: my husband's paternal grandmother (4), Dana (3), Rachel (5), and Suzanne (5). I have two girls to help balance it out a little, but they are sandwiched between the two boys and have had plenty of time and opportunity to learn about tree climbing and catching toads and frogs among other things. So far the girls haven't joined in some of the more, shall we say, adventuresome activities?

Don't get me wrong. I love my boys. They are caring and considerate. They can also be utterly obnoxious. Especially to their sisters. I feel so proud when I see Allan -- and William on occasion -- hold doors open for people or help carry things or pick up something that someone has dropped. But this is also offset by the times when they are in such a hurry to do and be that they knock someone down.

I grew up sugar and spice and everything nice, but my daily life is snips and snails and puppy dog tails. I have learned to accept and expect smells and sounds that I didn't grow up with as one of three girls. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Not sure what to make of this

Seen on a few blogs, but most recently at Fr Erik's.

A is for

Alphabet! As in the alphabet meme I saw at Kimberly's Cup. She is doing hers as an ABCs of Tea. What I gathered from the post/blogger she referenced, this is meant to be a writing prompt -- over the course of 26 consecutive days, a blogger posts about something corresponding to the letter of the day. The writing prompt can be events from your life or, like Kimberly is doing, it can be about a favorite thing. I will admit I am looking forward to seeing where the tea alphabet goes (Darjeeling, Earl Grey).

Angels! Angels are God's messengers to us (see Fr V's post about what they are and aren't; I learned a few things). I believe in angels -- and not just the cutesy images of girls with long hair playing instruments. Think of St. Michael the Archangel whose feast day was 29 September.

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host --by the Divine Power of God -- cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

The feast of the Guardian Angels was 2 October.

A Mother's Prayer to the Guardian Angels of her children
I humbly salute you, O you faithful, heavenly Friends of my children! I give you heartfelt thanks for all the love and goodness you show them. At some future day I shall, with thanks more worthy than I can now give, repay your care for them, and before the whole heavenly court acknowledge their indebtedness to your guidance and protection. Continue to watch over them. Provide for all their needs of body and soul. Pray, likewise, for me, for my husband, and my whole family, that we may all one day rejoice in your blessed company. Amen

My favorite posts

We all write things that we like but then they disappear into our archive. This post, which I will add to occasionally, will be linked to my sidebar.

Where I am from

Some views around our neck of the woods

More views from our neck of the woods

You don't have to have a lump to have breast cancer

Mom's Turn

Mail Mom came up with a wonderful idea -- a blog to which you can post anonymously those things you can't post on your own. Having issues with friends, relatives, co-workers and need to get it off your chest but can't because they are regular visitors to your site? Visit Mom's Turn.

"For most of us, we began our blogging experience with one, two or both of the following goals in mind:

1. As an outlet to vent our frustrations of motherhood, womanhood, and adulthood.
2. To chronicle the everyday life, as well as the milestones and special memories, of our children as so we never forget.

As our blogs grow in popularity, not only strangers (now our "blogger" buddies), but our family and close friends have begun reading and commenting. It is no longer possible to really vent about the things we want and need to in order to maintain some balance of sanity.

We don't want to offend a friend, insult a teacher, embarrass our children or start a family feud ... so we don't write about some of the things we are feeling. We just sit and wonder why we don't feel we have the freedom to write and say what we want on our own blog. Well, guess what? It's our turn. MOM'S TURN ... to let it all out."

Read the rest here.

Remember -- and go forward

September 11, 2001

And some music videos about this day six short years ago:
Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) - Alan Jackson

Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American) - Toby Keith

Have You Forgotten - Daryl Worley

Scripture for children

A devotional I received in my E-mail today told about a mom, Kim Norton, whose daughter had Cerebral Palsy and a form of autism. She also had a new baby and didn't know how she was going to tell her children about Jesus. She prayed about it and the answer was to sing scripture.

Kim Norton's website, The Kingdom Kidz Club, explains it well:

The Kingdom Kidz Club is, in part, the answer to the dilemma of how to spiritually nourish stressed-out, time-challenged families.

We all remember songs -- including some that we don't want to -- after we hear them enough. Take time to explore Kim's site and make sure you watch the video and listen to the audioclips. You will be singing along before you know it. And these songs are worth remembering.