You may have been part of an (alleged) miracle!!

Bonnie received some great news today! Her son, James', story will officially be the alleged miracle submitted for the beatification of Venerable Sheen (he was just recently declared Venerable, too!)!

That means that if you prayed with us, you too, are part of this whole amazing thing!

You can find out more about the process and James' story by visiting Bonnie's blog.

Praise God!

Lesson Learned.

Potato chips are much better inside the turkey wrap, rather than the side.

Move to Seattle and forget your canvas grocery bags, prepare for glares.

Move to Starkville and bring your canvas grocery bags, prepare for glares.

Crumbs are easier to clean up the next day, when they're dry and sweepable.

Making things makes life better: The Men's Shirt.

Finally! My to-sew list just got a little shorter. I have successfully repurposed a men's dress shirt into a little girl's summer dress!

If you know me at all, you know I'm horrible at following tutorials. I usually give up, and figure it out myself. This is typically followed by grumpiness, cursing, a second (or third) Cherry Coke, and swearing off sewing for the rest of my life. Dramatic, I know.

But, typically following that, is an adorable handmade goodie that I'm quite proud of. I'm nothing, if not consistent.

This dress was actually made for the girls' friend, Grace, for her 2nd birthday, but my girls always test out other people's gifts...

First I started with this tutorial and bailed when the sleeves drove me to near tears. I mean, she actually wanted me to measure and draw out a pattern... the nerve...

 I decided to go sleeveless (telling myself it was a choice isn't as embarrassing) and used this as my guide. But I was too lazy to do a chest band or criss-cross straps. And then I realized it was going to be too short, so I added the band around the bottom.

 After these photos, I sewed the bottom band shut and left the top buttons alone, so it could be unbuttoned.

Cute, huh? And the best part? This shirt once belonged to Grace's father. Happy Birthday, Grace - you adorable little thing!

Verbatim

"Papa... my bathing suit has water in it..."

"Momma, I don't like Wal-Mart."
"Why?"

"I don't like the cold part and it has too much stuff in it."
"Too much stuff?"

"Yeah - too much princess stuff!"

"Momma, we're pretending to eat camouflage."

"But you can't actually eat camouflage."

"Yeah - that's why we're pretending..."

"Hey Momma! It's almost your birthday. Then you can get a new husband!"
"Yeah, that's not how that works..."

"Joan, stop eating your hair."
"I'm only tasting it, and it's salty."

"What are you eating for lunch, Momma?"
"A salad."
"... oh... I didn't know mommas could eat leaves!"

"Ugh... Charlotte's poo looks like fog..."

Fortnight For Freedom

I didn't quite know what I wanted to write here today, about Fortnight For Freedom (the 14 days -starting today - devoted to fasting, prayer, and public action in defense of our Constitutional right to Religious Freedom, placed in jeopardy by the HHS Mandate).

Then I read Bonnie's short and simple post and decided to send you there.

Lord,
hear our prayer.

Vacay Recap: pics & lists

This'll be short & sweet, but if I don't do it now, well, you know...

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

- My parents came up and stayed the weekend and joined us for swimming & bowling (Evelyn's mom made an appearance, too)


- They graciously brought the girls back to Louisiana for a few nights and then passed them along to Jude's parents (What happens at the grandparents, stays at the grandparents, so nothing to report...)

- Jude and I enjoyed catching up on adult convos, Mad Men, & getting out of a vehicle sans two (sometimes 3) little girls in tote.

- I had a massage, ate sushi, and organized the girls' clothes (fine - I just put away their winter clothes.)

- We drove to Nashville and checked out Hatch Show Print & vintage record stores (if I hear someone say Hipster one more time, I might barf)

- Walked around downtown (not to be confused with Downton) & ate at F. Scott's with Art & Chloe (can't leave without an Elvis photo, right?)

- Saturday, we set up at Porter Flea and sold Jude's posters along with a million other hipsters (barf. but what other word is there?)

Good thing we got Twitter, dark framed glasses, and an iPad with instagram before we went. Lots of street cred.

- Counted our earnings and treated ourselves to room service and dinner at The Pharmacy

- Sunday, went to Mass at the Cathedral with great music, beautiful art, sentimental words, and no distractions.

- Returned to Starkville to greet our two precious girls and enjoyed Father's Day steaks with Jude's parents

Hey Lisa,

(Gesterling, that is)

I just wanted to say sorry for spilling that cup of grape juice on your newly carpeted stairs in my dream last night. I still feel really bad about it...

But since we're getting stuff off our chests, I really don't like the name of your fourth child, Space Zilfinan, even if he was named after the wonderful Sisters of Mary of the Crucified Zilfinan.

Sorry. I just don't.

I forgot to mention

Charlotte is officially a big girl. Just ask her new big girl bed. (Sometimes it probably gets a little confused since she spends the first 20 minutes of the night either climbing into Joan's bed, crying because they "bumped" heads, or desperately trying to open the door since her constant knocks and pathetic "Pa..pa... Pa..pa..s" didn't work.) But, the next several hours, she's quite content snuggled in her matching owl sheets. The plan is to convert that crib into a toddler day bed, and have a little reading nook or spare bed for slumber parties! (When does that start?)

A while back, (we'll call it Valentines Day), Jude arranged for the MSU Show Choir to surprise me at my door step and serenade me. Thankfully, it was more sweet than awkward. It's the closest I've ever been to a flash mob, which would be a dream come true. (hint, hint)

I'm 9.5 inches lighter. (1.5 inches too light, if you ask me. Hair dressers never listen.) I donated it and even though I'm glad I can finally scratch that off my list, I probably won't ever do it again. You should have seen how pathetic my ponytails were to give away. They were damaged and thin - only the size of a nickel. I was hoping for at least a quarter, or even better a silver dollar. Hopefully it won't take another 3 years to get long, because I'm not really digging the new look. But I guess it's growing on me (wah, wah).

Speaking of hair, check out this grey one. I love it. It's only 1.5 inches long (I'm noticing a pattern here...) and wavy. It's holding on for dear life, but it won't seem to grow (yet another pattern...). I plan on keeping all of my greys because I want to go grey naturally. I hope I end up looking as good in person as I do in my dreams with a head full of salt and pepper. But watch, it'll probably be more like wet chalk.

We just got our quarter share of meat from a grass-fed steer yesterday and I'm super excited! Even more excited that it cost me $2.75 a pound and fits in the discounted freezer we bought from the consignment shop for $65, which also fits easily into our enormous pantry. Win, win, win, and win.

Gross.

I should just break down and buy new ones, right?

Facebook Repeat

Maybe you read this already, but I like reading it over and over.

I just saved our family $270.53 off of Jude's hospital bill.

Always request an itemized bill. Always check the charges. Always call with questions or corrections.

And most importantly, always ask for a discount for paying in full.

Always.

I knew that would come back to bite me.

It was bound to happen, right? I mean, you can't write a post like this and expect not to have some repercussions.

Well, my first Monday back to reality was kind and merciful to me. Tuesday? Notsomuch.

It starts (and probably ends) with Joan pestering me about the particulars of every particular event she can image. And the girl can imagine. Somewhere in between, I almost drowned in a sea of whininess. Someone let the air out of my compassion tank, definitely. Probably the two little toddlers roaming around unplugging cords, pushing buttons, and sticking stuff in their mouths (did I mention that Evelyn's mom asked about the purple bead she... uh... passed?).

Dealing with meltdowns of a four-year-old refusing to go to the once highly anticipated Vacation Bible School was not a great way to start the day and realizing that my first cup of coffee wasn't until 9:15 a.m. was even worse. Even showing up at the park, accidentally without my wedding ring, I'm annoyed and thinking, great - not only will everyone think that I had these kids out-of-wedlock, but that they probably all have different daddys, too. Evelyn's red (ok, orange) hair is no help.

The day had some redeeming qualities, (like the Housewives of Atlanta Reunion Part III) and a friend's afternoon phone call that I literally answered with, "Oh Amy, please tell me you're calling to rescue me." (She was.) Not to mention, the large Cherry Limeade paid for with happy hour coins.

But as a whole, I feel hot, irritated, and tired. And then guilty because I glanced at next week's calendar:

- Joan and Charlotte in Louisiana with the grandparents!
- Evelyn's in Sweden with her parents (are you keeping track? I have no kids alllll next week!)
- Weekend trip with Jude to Nashville filled with art shows, live music, and fancy dining
- a scheduled birthday gift massage (1 hour baby!)
- a dinner date at the hibachi grill
- grocery shopping, thrift store browsing, and errand running by. my. self.

I hope I have time for all of that since I'll be busy drinking coffee in my pj's and watching the Today Show all morning. Someone's gotta do it, right?

So... guess this post started off with venting and ended with bragging. Sorry. One day you'll come here and find just what you needed. Like a cute photo.

This was taken at 7:43 a.m., when she was pestering me about what time we're leaving for VBS. At approximately 8:18 a.m., she suddenly remembers how much she hates VBS and never wants to go there again. I choose to remember her this way.

Wait - I like sports?

If you need a frame of reference, read this first.

What just happened over the last 3 years? What has Starkville done to us? To me?

I listen to ESPN Radio. In the van. By myself.
I can sit through an entire baseball game and actually enjoy it.
I might just have a Fantasy Football team this fall.
I can't wait for the Olympics to start.

I know whether I'd want LeBron taking the last shot or Dwyane Wade.
I know that Mark Sanchez better step it up, now that Tebow's on the team.
I know that pitchers who lie about hitting a rookie in the MLB don't get fined or suspended like their truth-telling colleagues.

Such a stark contrast from how you'd find me, even just a year or two ago. And I can't tell if I'm more weirded out by my knowledge of sports, or my interest in them, but I'm definitely weirded out.

Now excuse me. I've got to see if STATE can beat Samford in the regionals even though we lost to them on Friday. But it's cool, they've used most of their good pitchers this weekend and we've still got some to choose from.

Oh good! Frazier just got a base hit!