Seven Quick Takes


1.
I got to meet that doula baby we've been waiting on yesterday afternoon!  Beautiful baby girl who came out and popped her eyes open and barely made a squeak the first few hours.  So sweet and content, just looking around at everyone and everything.  Her eyes immediately locked on her mother's as soon as she was brought up to her chest.  It was beautiful.

Yesterday, Cari's Theme Thursday was "Girls" and I thought I'd have to sit that one out since self, cat, and the hens are the only girls around this joint.  All four of my Godchildren are even boys.  (If someone gives me a Goddaughter, I promise I will do my best to not to smother her with all my untapped feminine inclinations.)   Taking a picture of the hens would be cheating, I think.

If only it wasn't horribly inappropriate and a breach of privacy to share the beautiful picture I got of that baby girl in her mother's arms right after she was born.  It would have been perfect.  Alas, I will indeed have to sit this one out.  But I will make up for it next week with a deluge of "Dad" photos cuz I gots PLENTY of those.  Pictures, not dads.
  
2.
Last week I let the older three boys sand and paint a bench I had garbage picked a couple of years ago.  I forgot about that one in my garbage picker post!  It was in good shape but covered with paint splotches.  We had it in the mud room at one point but then stored it away a few months ago when I was in one of my ruthless decluttering zones.  I figured I'd let them have at it with a fifty cent sample size jar of clearanced paint from Lowe's.




Not too shabby for fifty cents.  And I didn't even wrestle the paint brush away from them all control freak style.  Proud mother moment.

3.
Do you do bumper stickers?
I think they can be obnoxious or awesome, depending.  Way back in college days I used to have the Mother Teresa quote on the back of my little stick shift Mazda Protege.  "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."  Once we had kids I wasn't comfortable with them reading that and didn't want to be forced to have discussions I and they weren't ready for.  Also, we traded in that sweet zoomy little car.


This bumper sticker is currently adorning the backside of our not-sweet not-zoomy van as of last week.  I think it's many shades of awesome with just the bit of hypocrisy highlighting sass that makes me a bit self-conscious as I drive.  (You've seen those other co-exist stickers, yes?)  What do you think?  Obnoxious or awesome?  I have extras if anyone would like one.  I also have the contact info of the young girl at Isa-Life Productions who came up with the idea and created them if you'd like to order your own.

4.
In yet another example of how Jesus rocks at providing for our homeschool despite all my fretting, I submit this:


The spoils of a recent library book sale.  Do you see some of those titles He scored me?  DePaola, Sigrid Undset, My First Little House books, some Redwall and even a McGuffey's Primer!  And, of course, every homeschool library necessity, a toddler's board book on Ulysses S. Grant (?) and a children's picture book of Poe poems.  (Not sure on that one...what do you think?)  And all of this? $26.

Many many many of the titles in our little library have come from used book sales at the library and I highly recommend checking out if your library does one.  Take advantage of the fact that all the really good stuff gets shuffled on out in favor of the craptastic modern "literature" that is invading the shelves at an ever increasing rate.  Lemonade out of lemons.

5.
So the IRS was explicitly targeting conservative, Tea Party, and pro-life organizations.  And now the local people who did that are claiming it was directed by supervisors in Washington (which has been denied since this story broke).  I am not the least bit surprised.  We also know that the Obama administration, excuse me, the Department of Justice TAPPED the freakin' wires of the Associated Press.  Now it's come to light that millions of people's phone calls are being tracked by the federal governmentAnd it's now becoming clear that pretty much every thing you do and write on the internet is tracked by the NSA as well.  This is the stuff of movies and yet it's happening (and we're allowing it to happen) right here and right now.  All of this to prove the point that just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you.  People are fallen.  People are smart.  People from the beginning of history have combined those two things in their attempts at overpowering other people.  Why is that so hard to believe to those who snobbishly and foolishly declare that they don't believe in conspiracy theories?

I submit that all people of good will now all move to...I don't know...Australia?  Is it better there?

6.
Speaking of conspiracy theory television shows and such, I mentioned that we began watching Revolution in a previous 7QT.  We're still watching it and like it but be forewarned that it is VERY violent.  They're big fans of throat slashing and sword stabbing.  I didn't realize how violent it was the first few episodes so I apologize if you watched it per my recommendation then were disgusted with me.  I don't like the graphic violence and wish they could use a bit more artistic nuance to show it but it's still an intriguing show.  And were you ready for that twist at the end of the finale??  No, no I was not.

7.
A few times I've asked you all for prayers for a friend with cancer.  Nella is a friend I met through the internet long ago when John Paul was just a baby and the Catholic Mom chat room was one of my main sources of social interaction.  It turned out we were both WNY transplants and both of our families ended up moving back to the area a few years later so we were able to become in real life friends.   She is hysterical.  One of those people who can entertain a whole party and she is an incredible mom to boot.  Sometimes she is the one I picture when I'm about to lose it with a child.  I look at my WWND bracelet and think "What Would Nella Do?"

Nella was officially diagnosed a few months back with Hodgkin's Lymphoma when she was 19 weeks pregnant with her sixth child.   Anyway, she just gave me the go-ahead to share the blog she started to process the whole thing.  You'll like her.  She's also apparently been hiding the fact that she is an extremely gifted writer.

So, please pray for Nella and her family and if you feel so inclined you can check out her blog over here.


That's all, folks!
See you at Jen's place...




21 comments

  1. Your booksale loot!!! Swooon. Funny, I recently picked up a few of the very same titles because our system is getting rid of gads of fairy tales to make more room for modern lit. (Excuse me while I hyperventilate...)

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  2. Oh, and great bumper sticker. :)

    And I'm not ignoring your email, I'm just too lazy to get to my desktop and don't want to type a whole response via iPod. Lazy. :) Soon! Xo

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    1. Ha, like I ignored yours for an embarrassing amount of time? No rush at all...and stop calling yourself lazy while you are working hard growing babies! I wonder if there is a national library memo that goes out to all telling them what wonderful classic books are no longer PC and therefore deemed unfit for the modern library...

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  3. Love the bumper sticker - I ordered ten as soon as I saw it on Simcha's blog. I'm gonna hand them out to family and co-workers.

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  4. an island, that we buy and govern ourselves...that is our only hope.

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    1. Sounds good . . . . we'll move there with you all!

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  5. My hubby forbid me to watch Revolution. Way too close to the "end of the world, coming chaos" that I can stress about if I even hear about it. But, I am so tempted . . .

    Awesome score at the library! And, that bench is so cute. I really like the red.

    Praying for Nella!

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    1. Yes, it will definitely make you want to stockpile lots of guns and hone up on your swordsmanship so there is something to that :) Thanks for the prayers.

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  6. I like the bumper sticker, cause those other 'co-exist' ones drive me BONKERS.

    The one on our car is just a small square which reads "Abortion: The perfect foundation on which to build a violent society." We have gotten into a lot of interesting conversations thanks to it!

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  7. Mary I saw that bumper sticker on your car and forgot to tell u how much I liked it! If you have an extra I'd take one- or I can order one too!!

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    1. I bought ten which makes sense because we have two cars. So yes, you can definitely have one!

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  8. I about died when I saw a certain version of Rapunzel lurking near the bottom of that library treasure. When I worked in a children's bookstore (which regrettably shut down), we always had a few copies of that version available because the illustrations are just *gorgeous*. And Frog&Toad were very dear childhood friends of mine; I really hope your boys enjoy them! (Great work on the bench, too!)

    I'll put your friend Nella in my prayer book.
    Have a nice weekend,
    ~Willow

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    1. Yes, the illustrations are beautiful! Thank you for praying!

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  9. Ooooh, I think I need one of those stickers! Do you have contact info on how I could get one?? Thanks in advance :)

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  10. I love your bumper sticker!!

    I have one on our van that reads "Civil Rights or All Americans" and has a picture of an unborn baby. I really like that one too...but the Coexist one is pretty neat.

    Awesome library score!!

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  11. #3--AWESOME!!! Those other "Co-exist" bumper stickers drive me crazy! You just know when you see one that the oh-so-tolerant driver of that vehicle will co-exist with anyone...except a devout Catholic...or a pro-lifer...or an "unplanned" and "unwanted" baby growing in his mother's womb...

    A big thumb's up to the people at Isa-Life Productions.

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  12. Oh No Mary! Stick with WWJD when you're about to lose it with a child, because I'm pretty sure He'd respond to most situations with something better than putting everyone in the van to go through the Tim Horton's drive-thru while singing along with the radio and crying. You're so kind! Thanks for the prayer requests and for sending your readers over. You're a gem!

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    1. Ha! Well there were no TH's in Bible times so we will NEVER KNOW...

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  13. Love the bumper sticker!!! And I'm reading nellas blog. It's hysterical and so touching... Thank you or reccomending it.

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