Weekend Excitement

Well, it's been a busy weekend at the Mosher house, but now it's Monday. . . and it's still busy! Lol. I'd venture a guess that with all the children and the husband at home, you can pretty much count on not hearing from ICHM over the weekends.

Buttercream transfer Hylian shield.

Saturday, we did our grocery shopping (and a little window shopping, which is always fun) and celebrated our freshly-minted 12 year old's birthday with his choice of dinner (burgers, corn, and potato salad) and cake and ice cream. For the cake, I tried out a new-to-me technique I've been considering for a while--buttercream transfer. If you haven't heard of it, I'll spare you the tutorial (mostly because I was in a hurry and didn't take photos during the process), but if you Google it, you'll find lots of information. I learned a couple things I could have done differently, but for the most part, I was really pleased with how it came out. And so was he, which is the main thing. ☺ This poor kid. It seems like his birthday cakes never come out quite right. He's a huge Legend of Zelda fan. Last year, I attempted a 3D Triforce for him. . . not my best work.

The offending Triforce cake.

It would be comical if it wasn't just so darn sad. I mean look at this thing. The gold sugar sparkles refused to stick to the icing properly, and I really should have cut my sheet cake in the opposite direction to make the layers. . . oh well. Water under the bridge, as they say. And if I'm ever crazy enough to do that again, at least I learned a few things to help the project along. Poor kid. I always seem to be busy, stressed, and broke for his birthday. That's what he gets for being born right at back-to-school time. 😜 

Today, so far, it's been sports physicals (late, oops) for 2 of the kiddos, a little bit of laundry, and a bunch of sorting out chores and schedules that I hope will make this place run a little smoother. Dad decided last night after dinner to assign two of the kids to clear the table and wash the dishes, and I was inspired. I have six kids around here, y'all--count them, 6--who are darn well old enough to help out with the chores. Although last night when I ventured into the kitchen and saw this, I sort of questioned that premise. 😆

What happens when you have 2 12 year old boys do the dishes.

So starting tonight, we're going to be running some new chore and bath routines, and if they actually work, I might share them with you guys. But for now, it's on to the next thing on today's to-dos, and I'll see you again tomorrow!

10 Ways I Keep Our Grocery Budget Under Control (And You Can Too)!

Feeding a big family isn't always easy. Sometimes people wonder how we do it, especially since it can seem impossible even for a "normal" family. Costs always seem to be going up, don't they? Well, today I'm going to share a few of the ways I keep our big family's grocery budget under control.

#1. Shop Sales

 This is my first step every week. When the sale flyers for local grocery stores start coming in the mail (or on apps I keep on my phone, for those that are in the neighboring town), I scan through them to see what's on sale for the coming week. I open my notebook and make a list of the items I'm interested in. This isn't a grocery list that I'm committing to buy, just a reference point as I compare sales and make my menu plan for the coming week. Which brings us to #2. . .

My current planning system.

#2. Plan, Plan, Plan

I cannot stress enough the importance of a weekly menu plan when it comes to keeping your food costs down. We can (no joke) cut our budget in half with a
little forethought, compared to deciding daily what's for dinner and going to the store for just those ingredients. Don't forget, when planning dinners, to have a plan for breakfast and lunch as well! Your plan doesn't have to be precise. I simply plan 7 dinners for the week and decide as I go what to have on each day. But make a plan!

#3. Use Up Leftovers

You know that meal plan? If you're making something you know you're likely to have leftovers of, have a plan for those leftovers. Will they be lunch the next day, reheated? Will they be morphed into something else later in the week (or next week)? Will they be frozen to reheat and eat later in the month? I'll write a separate post later with more details, but there are certain meals I make knowing that they will give us another meal or two later in the month.

#4. Buy in Bulk

This one has two applications. One is, when possible, buying more than you strictly need this week when something is available for a particularly good sale price. The other is buying in larger quantities when the cost per pound/ounce is lower that way. For example, I can often save up to $1 a pound on ground beef just by buying a ten pound package vs. a one pound package, then dividing it into quart freezer bags (one pound each) and freezing it. For a family that uses anywhere from 10-20 pounds of ground beef a month, that's a significant savings. However. . .

#5. Only Buy What You Can/Will Actually Use

Watch yourself on those sales and bulk buys. It can be tempting to buy things we don't need just because the price is a good deal. If you would never have bought it without the sale price, chances are you didn't actually need it, and it's still money better spent elsewhere. It can also be tempting to buy that ten pounds of hamburger (or bulk quantity of whatever) without a concrete plan of how you'll store it, only to realize half of it went bad before you could use it up. Don't let this happen to you! Buying in bulk is only a good deal if you actually get to use all the product you purchased. Also. . .

#6. Watch Per-Unit Pricing

You may want to take a calculator along or use the calculator app on your phone until you get the hang of this one. Some stores show their per-unit pricing on the shelf sticker; others don't. And even in stores that do, I've found that they're sometimes calculated wrong, or in a way that makes comparisons difficult (for example, one might be calculated by the ounce, while another is calculated by the piece, making it hard to accurately compare the two). The point of all this is to remind you that the larger package, while often the better deal, is not always the better deal. Sometimes sale pricing makes a smaller package cheaper by the ounce. Other times, there's virtually no difference, meaning you might as well just buy the size that's most convenient for your family.

#7. Cook From Scratch

 If you're willing to invest the time, this one suggestion can offer substantial savings. Convenience always costs. Whenever we have spaghetti for dinner, my
family enjoys garlic bread with it. If I purchase the frozen garlic toast they like, it costs me $3 a box, and we eat 2 boxes. That's $6 just on garlic toast! OR, if I plan ahead and invest the time, I can make garlic breadsticks, which taste suspiciously like those served by Olive Garden, for little more than some of my pantry staples. The cost is negligible, and a fraction of what I pay for the more convenient option. If you'd like to try making them for yourself, you can find the recipe here.

#8. Think Outside the Box

Sometimes savings can be had just for a bit of unconventional thinking. I sometimes like to make pork chops for my family, for example. Pork loins (especially if you buy whole or half loins) are frequently on sale in my area for around $1.79-$1.99 per pound. Chops? Never! Yes, sometimes they're on sale, but usually for around 50 cents (or more) per pound extra. But if you have a sharp knife and a reasonably steady hand, you can save that money and still have pork chops. Just buy the whole or half loin, and cut your own boneless loin chops! Depending on the size of your family, you could even cut off a few chops and still use the remainder as a roast for another meal.

#9. Buy Generic

I realize this doesn't work for all people or for all products. We cloth diaper, and one area I refuse to compromise is laundry soap. When your baby routinely poops on something, it absolutely, positively HAS to come clean, EVERY time. But if you haven't tried generics, you're probably missing out on a lot of money saved. Many generics are virtually identical to their name-brand counterparts. Some are noticeably different, but still quite good. You might even find, as we have, that you prefer the generic version of certain foods. My husband is the one in our family who tends to have what I call "brand hang-ups," but there are a few products he actually favors the store brand of over the name brand. You might wonder how a product that's so much cheaper can be just as good (the phrase "You get what you pay for" comes to mind), but what you are likely paying for is the name-brand company's advertising budget.

#10. Use Apps

You have to be careful with this one, because sometimes it's easy to get sucked into buying something you wouldn't have otherwise bought, but rebate apps like Ibotta (my personal favorite) can be quite useful at saving you a few cents here and there, which adds up in the long run. I also use a handy tool on the Wal-Mart app called Savings Catcher. You can enter up to 7 Wal-Mart receipts per week, and the app will track what's on sale at area competitors and give you back the difference if a better price is found. The only caveats are that it works using UPC codes (so no store brand comparisons), and you can only get the money back on a Wal-Mart gift card. I find myself shopping at Wal-Mart enough that that's not a problem for me, personally, and there's no limit to how much you have to accumulate before they'll let you cash out. I also use the store apps for grocery stores in the next town over to access their sale flyers, since those don't come with my weekly paper.

Bonus: Aldi!!!

I added this one as sort of a bonus suggestion, as I realize not everyone has access to an Aldi store. (My deepest sympathies if this is you.) Aldi is sort of my secret weapon as a mom who's trying to feed a large family on a (relatively) small budget. They carry mostly their own brands, and cost savings aren't that substantial on the few name brands you'll find there, so you have to be able to let go of those brand hang-ups I mentioned earlier. However, I haven't tried a single thing from there yet that my husband (the picky one, remember?) has asked me not to buy again. If you've never gone before, you'll find that they do things a little differently than most grocery stores. You'll have to bring your own bags (or buy some for a few cents), bag your own groceries, and return your own cart, but the cost of paying someone to do all those things for you isn't rolled into your grocery prices, which adds up to some pretty amazing savings at the end of the day. If you have one nearby, I highly recommend checking it out!

Garbage Rolls

Y'all, we had something new for dinner last night. And they were so good (and Jon liked them so much) that I'm putting them in the blog, if only so I have somewhere to look to remember how I made them for when I want to make them again! Anybody else out there do that? Seems like it happens to me all the time. You make something for dinner, and you didn't use a recipe. Maybe (like me) you were trying to use up leftovers by turning them into something else, or maybe you were just creating dinner out of what you had on hand. And it. was. AWESOME! But then a couple weeks (or months) later when you want to make it again, you can't remember how! So frustrating. One of the biggest lies I tell myself is, "I don't need to write that down; I'll remember it." Haha, yeah, right. Once upon a time, I had a mind like a steel trap. Now, it's more like a steel sieve.

And so, even if you never make these enchiladas (because that's what they are, but "Leftover Enchiladas" sounds too much like enchiladas that were left over, not enchiladas made from leftovers), I'm going to share with you how I did it, and in so doing, share how to do it with my future self.

The first thing you're going to need is some specific leftovers. The first is taco meat, which we've been making recently with a ratio of 3 pounds of hamburger to 2 cans of small red beans, and 4-5 packets of taco seasoning (I don't remember, ok? Use what suits you.), because it saves money by stretching the meat, and the family still likes it fine. In fact, I have one son who actually prefers it this way. But I digress. The second leftover you're going to need is some ham and beans, though not necessarily the ham part. Say 3-4 cups, though I really just scooped some out of the bowl until it suited me. If you don't have the leftovers, but you still want to make these rolls, I'd recommend using 1-2 pounds of ground beef, a can of red beans, and 2-3 cans of pinto beans, plus a couple envelopes of taco seasoning (and the water called for on the taco seasoning packet). Just brown the meat, drain the grease, add the beans and the seasoning, and smush the beans up a bit with a potato masher. Voila, that should do it.

 Next, you need tortillas. I like to make my own when I can, using this recipe I found courtesy of Pinterest. If you've never made your own tortillas, I highly recommend giving it a go. It's pretty easy, and fresh tortillas are better than store-bought any day. Plus, it hardly costs anything and uses ingredients I pretty much always have on hand. Win. If you'd rather buy yours, you'll need about a dozen soft taco size flour tortillas. They come in packs of 10, if I'm not mistaken, so that'd probably do. Don't overthink this and buy 2 packs of tortillas, ok?

To finish it off, you need some shredded cheese (probably 2 cups; cheddar, mexican blend, or colby jack are all good choices) and a large can of red enchilada sauce.

Got all that? Is your beef and bean mixture warmed up in a pan somewhere close by? Good. The next thing you want to do is pour a little of the enchilada sauce in a 5 quart glass baking dish (or a couple 9x13 cake pans; really, work with what you have). Just use enough to make a thin layer on the bottom, and spread it out with a spoon. Now take a tortilla, and put a line of cheese down the center, then spoon your beef and bean mix down the center on top of the cheese. Roll up the tortilla around the filling and put it in the dish. Repeat with the rest of your tortillas, and then pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the rolls. Bake at 350℉ for 30 minutes, then sprinkle the cheese you have left over the top and put your garbage rolls back in the oven for about 10 minutes or so--just long enough to melt the cheese.

Sorry I didn't get pics of the process, but you're going to end up with something that looks kind of like the picture on the right. Of course, this was taken after my family had devoured half of them, lol.

Now, for most of you folks with normal, average-sized families, this is going to be a "potluck" type dish. Feel free to cut it in half if you feel that will work better for you. Or, make the entire thing, split it between 2 (or more, depending on the size of your family) pans and freeze the extras.

If you do decide to make it, I hope you like it as much as we did!

Ingredients:

Leftover taco meat and ham and beans

OR

1-2 pounds ground beef, 1 can red beans, 3 cans pintos, and 2 packs of taco seasoning

plus:

10-12 flour tortillas

2 cups shredded cheese

Large can of red enchilada sauce

Playing Catch-up

The other day, my husband and I got an unexpected package on our front step. The return address showed it to be from his mother, but we were still slightly baffled, as she hadn't called to inform us she was sending anything. But then we opened it, and the confusion disappeared. It was a beautiful album of our wedding photos (she was our photographer), lovingly put together as her gift to us! (I'll share some in a separate post, so those of you who saw them already on Facebook can avoid scrolling through endless wedding photos if you'd prefer.) :)

 Yes, dear readers, almost 3 months ago, after 3 years of untangling red tape, planning, and preparing, we finally were able to tie the knot. And I look at my list of posts, and I realize it's been nearly six months since I published an update of any sort. Shame on me.

Life with a big family will keep you busy, I suppose, especially during the summer months, when all of them are home from school and bickering with one another (seemingly) non-stop. But school recently started up again in our district, and I'm looking forward to a few things, among them having the house stay tidy longer than 2 minutes, and spending a bit more time developing the ol' blog. I keep

First day of school! Don't they look excited?😜

hearing rumors it's possible to make money from that sort of thing. And well, who doesn't like the idea of earning a bit of extra cash? Especially when your ability to do so in the traditional way (you know, like getting a job) is sort of limited. Can't afford to shell out for hosting on the more "professional" blog sites at the moment, so I'm sticking to good old (free) Blogger for the moment as I work on developing content and seeing if it actually starts to gather enough of a reader base to worry about migrating to a more professional platform.

So, friends, here's the part where you get to make suggestions. I already have a few ideas for categories posts could fall into:

Large Family Life Hacks

Meal Planning

Recipes

Saving Money

Grocery Shopping

Cloth Diapers/Wipes/Pads

Sewing Tutorials

Decorating on a Dime

Catholic Corner

Cakes

Funny Things Kids Say/Do

Perhaps you have some other ideas. What might you like to read about? Which of the categories above seems most interesting? Do any fall flat for you? Let me hear your thoughts!

Why I Veil for Mass

Well, it finally happened.  A friend I attend Mass with regularly asked me why I wear a veil. And since the reasons are varied (and often interconnected), I wasn't sure how to answer her, at least not in a brief and concise way.  So I sat at my computer, and I attempted a blog post on the topic, because we all know I express myself in writing far better than I do when speaking.  And it was too complicated, largely because I'm aware that a significant percentage of the ten or so of you who read my blog posts aren't Catholic.  Some aren't even Christian.  And so I found myself trying to explain the history and Catholic theology behind every point I was trying to make.  Can we say "headache?"

So I'm going to begin again.  And this time, I'll try to keep it simple, and personal.  If you don't have a basic understanding of Catholic theology and history to begin with, you may want to skip this post.  If you choose not to, questions are welcome, but I simply can't foresee and address them all in the body of a blog post.  I should know; I tried already. :P

To begin with, I'll say that women wearing a veil or some form of hat or headcovering in church was the norm in the Catholic Church (and most Protestant churches) throughout most of Christian history.  Besides history, the practice is rooted in sacred scripture, specifically I Corinthians chapter 11, verses 3-16.  In 1917, the first official Code of Canon Law was promulgated by the Catholic Church, and it enshrined the practice in Church Law, stating that women were not to enter the church building, and most especially not approach Holy Communion, with their heads uncovered.  (Men were also forbidden to do these things with their heads covered, but for some reason, no one talks about that.)  In 1984, a new Code was published, omitting any mention of headcoverings.  Some contend that this is not enough to do away with centuries of tradition, as new codes must be interpreted in light of old ones.  Others say that the notation in the new Code abrogating the entirity of the old is evidence that veiling for women was, in fact, done away with, or at the very least, no longer required.  Still others believe that while the new Code removes the legal requirement for women to wear a hat or veil, it remains a worthwhile devotion, and pleasing to the Lord.  A good comparison to this would be the fact that Canon Law does not require any Catholic to pray the Rosary; however, it is still considered a very worthwhile practice that pleases our Lord.  I'm not a Canon lawyer, armchair or otherwise, so I'll leave the picking apart of such things to those who are.  My personal beliefs place me in the third group, but I'll not insist my view is the correct one.  In doubtful things, liberty.

The practice fell out of favor in Western culture, particularly, with the rise of feminism in the 1960s.  A protestant-influenced (and perhaps poorly-catechized) culture insisted that the veil was a symbol of woman's oppression by man, and as such, it needed to be done away with.  And if one reads the above-noted scripture passage, it's easy to see where they're coming from.  The passage from Corinthians, along with a corresponding one (in my opinion) in Ephesians (5, 21-33), has often been used by men to justify mistreatment of women.  The correct relationship between men and women, particularly man and wife, would be an easy side street to get lost down, but I'm going to do my best not to do so, because while related, it's not really the topic of this post.

The veil has many potential meanings, and Catholic thought doesn't tend toward seeing one meaning of something as correct and all others as wrong.  A few examples:  The veil is an imitation of the Blessed Mother who is rarely (some insist never) seen without her veil.  The veil signifies women's status as sacred (all sacred things in the Church are veiled--the vessels before the consecration, the ciborium inside the tabernacle, the altar itself) and as bearers of new life (the very "life" of Christ is veiled in the tabernacle, or in the monstrance if no one is present for adoration).  There is a great deal of thought to be found on the topic if one cares to go looking for it, but I do recommend Catholic sources, as Protestant sources tend to focus very heavily on the modesty and submission to one's husband dimensions.

To insist, however, that the veil is not about submission at all (as I've seen some try to do) is dishonest.  Scripture clearly points out that it is.  This is, in fact, the point that places me in the third camp noted above regarding the legal status of veiling.  If veiling is an expression of submission (which, one must remember, is actually considered a virtue in our faith, and not only for women), then requiring it by law under pain of sin or threat of censure is to offend the heart of the matter.  For something to properly express a spirit of submission, it must be offered voluntarily.  However, to see the practice of headcovering as being solely, or even primarily, about women's submission to men, or even wives' submission to their own husbands, is, I believe, to largely miss the point.

Christian theology, and Catholic theology in particular, teaches us that the relationship between husband and wife is properly understood as an image of the relationship between Christ (the Bridegroom) and His Bride (the Church).  In the sacrament of matrimony, the husband and wife give themselves, freely and without reservation, as a gift to one another, much as Christ gave Himself for the Church and the Church (made up, let's remember, of individual Christians) gives herself to Christ.  And so, if husband and wife are an image of Christ and the Church, then the veil, properly understood, also signifies the Church's submission to Christ.

So why do I veil?  In summary, I would say that I veil out of reverence for Christ, present in the tabernacle and on the altar at every Mass.  I veil as a sign of my personal submission to him, and for my part in expressing the submission of the Church as a whole to her Bridegroom and Savior.  I veil because, while the Church no longer requires it by Law, scripture and history teach us that it is still a practice that is pleasing to our Lord--and if I can please Him by such a simple gesture, why would I not?

I would like to offer, as a postscript of sorts, that the Vatican still requires (or at least strongly encourages?--someone may be more up to date on current practices than I am) ladies to wear a veil for an audience with the Pope.  If you would veil in the presence of the Steward, how much more appropriate is it in the presence of the King?

Ramblings and Grumblings

It's been a busy, but strangely peaceful, couple of days at the Duncan-Mosher house.

My car has been having issues recently.  It's a '95, so a few quirks are to be expected, and last week, it began.  The fan would stay on, no matter what position the key was turned to, or even if it was removed.  And then, the battery started refusing to hold a charge, and I've had to rely on another mom to bring my kids home from basketball practice most of the week.  I hate asking other people for favors, so that's been kind of a pain in the butt, but it has gotten my hermit-y self talking to other people, so I suppose there's a silver lining.  We finally took it to AutoZone to be tested, and lo and behold, the problem is a small part on the alternator.  Is this part replaceable?  Of course not!  You have to buy an entire new alternator for one little piece that actually looks like it would be quite easy to replace--if I just knew where to get a new one.  But, Jon's picking up the new one on his way home from work, so by the end of today, my car should be running again.  Just in time for my ex-husband to take it for the weekend.  :/  Oh, well.  Nothing's perfect.

I rearranged the bedroom yesterday, moving Lissa's crib to a place where she can't reach through the slats and pull everything off my nightstand anymore, and moving the TV table (which hasn't had a TV on it since JJ broke the one we had in the living room) into the spot where her crib used to sit.  A bit of rearranging of stuff later, and my home altar project is underway.

This is where we're at so far.  The crucifix is stolen from the living room, so it's going to have to go back, but I'm thinking of moving the bedroom crucifix from over the bed to here and hanging something else in its place.  I'm just not sure what, because it's a small space between two windows.  Thinking maybe one of those initial art things.  And eventually, the crucifix (whichever one) is going on the wall, and I have a couple brass candle sconces from the thrift store to hang on either side.  It's likely to be a work in progress for some time.  But that's okay.  I want it to shift with the feast days and liturgical seasons.  What I really want is something for the living room or kitchen, to highlight the different feast days for the kids.  But I haven't really decided on a format for that yet.  So, this is where I begin.

This little angel is particularly special to me.  She was the last ceramic project my mother ever made.  Those who knew my mom know she was actually remarkably talented with crafts.  A few friends may even still have ceramics (or a plethora of other things) that she made over the years.  This is the only ceramic piece I have, as she didn't tend to keep those for herself, for whatever reason.  The little dish is meant for holy water, but the kids spilled the last bottle I had.  Somewhere.  What do I know?  Maybe they drank it.

The prayers in the back are from Catholic All Year, and are free to download and print.  There are several in the series.  I have all of them in this booklet, so the featured prayers can change as appropriate.

And to the left, I have a little figurine of Mary (I believe it represents the Medjugorje apparitions) that I picked up a few years back at Goodwill, when I first became Catholic, and a little vase with some silk roses.

I spent a little time there this morning, and I believe it set my day up very nicely.  I tried to pray a rosary, but well, ten-month-old babies can make it very difficult to meditate, especially when they're trying to pull the beads from your hands.  :)




Recently, I've been working on learning some of the basic prayers (particularly those of the rosary) in Latin.  It's been a fun experience.  I'm using an app called Memrise, and YouTube for the pronunciations, because Memrise doesn't offer audio in the free version.  Besides, Memrise breaks it down, and then YouTube brings it back together for me.  It's been a good combination.

I've made a new friend on Facebook, in a group I recently joined for women who veil for Mass.  It's not often that I add people I don't actually know in real life, but she seems very sweet, and so encouraging.  Who can't use more friends who encourage them in their Faith?




The boys' first basketball game is next Tuesday, and they're pretty excited about it.  Coach sent home uniforms yesterday, and they're washed and hanging in the closet.  I'm not supposed to put the darn things in the dryer, so I'm hoping this fabric dries quickly, considering they sometimes have games scheduled on two days in a row.  I only wish the season could be a little longer.  I really think playing sports is good for them.  Tristan could use the exercise, and Dalton could use the motivation to behave and keep his grades up.







Speaking of school, I got the word a couple days ago that it's time to begin science collections.  This year we have one leaf collection and one bug collection that are going to be due in time for parent-teacher conferences.  Oh, joy.  I can't be the only parent who dreads these things, can I?  I mean, on the one hand, they seem like a fascinating little project.  On the other, the kids are only home for 4 hours every night before bedtime.  In that time, I'm supposed to feed them, see to it that they bathe, and make sure they do any homework they might have brought home. And now I have to buy special supplies and see to it they gather a bunch of bugs and leaves, mount them appropriately, look them up, and label them.  :/  I know some of you breeze right through life, but I've barely got a handle on feeding people and making sure the house doesn't look like it should be condemned some days!  Failing at stuff like this, no matter how awesome it sounds in theory, is why I no longer homeschool.  Deep breaths.  This too shall pass. ;)

I need to wash the dishes.  I've accomplished SO much today, but those darn dishes.  They're my Achilles' heel, man.  I don't know why.  It's not like they're even that hard.

But this ^^^ is invariably how I feel about them.  Ah, well.  Suds await.

Still Here

Eep!  So, it's been over two months since I've published a post.  I've been busy.  Stop judging me!!! 

Just kidding.  You can judge me if you like. 

My life is regaining some semblance of order now that (can I get a "hallelujah?") the kids are back in school.  It's SO much easier to keep the house clean (and all the other odds and ends accomplished) when I have several hours each day with only my two tiniest mess-makers at home.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my kids.  I just don't love having all 10 of them up my butt all day every day, picking fights with each other and not picking up after themselves unless Jon uses the "Dad Voice."

That said, unfortunately, catching up on the past two months is going to be just this side of impossible.  So many things have happened that I thought "Oh, that would make a good blog post!"  And then I never found the time to sit down and write said post.  :/  Oh, well.  C'est la vie, I suppose.



The first weekend of August, my oldest stepson, Tomas, left to begin his basic training in the U.S. Army.  His departure was supposed to be a bit later, but when they moved up the date, the family swung into action and planned a farewell barbecue at his grandparents' house, complete with a "death by chocolate" cake, by request of the new soldier, and created by yours truly from a design chosen by his mother.  I must say, it turned out pretty well!  Don't mind the coffee mug, lol.  Someday, I'll learn to take better pictures.  It took about 3 weeks, but we finally have a mailing address for him, so add mailing letters to big brother to my list of things to accomplish on a regular basis.  :)  We're all proud of him, and, of course, praying for his safety and well-being.








 Now, since I showed you that cake, I feel honor-bound to show you the one I made for my 11-year-old son's birthday just a couple weeks later. . .

Yeah. . . That one didn't turn out so well, lol.  We'll consider this a learning experience and move on.  If I had it to do over, I'd know several things to improve.  For one, using gold sugar crystals to cover the cake and make it sparkley is a terrible idea.  For two, shop towels, for reasons I don't understand, cannot replace Viva for smoothing icing.  Just don't.  Poor Tristan.  Mom was a bit too ambitious with that design, and everything just went horrifically wrong.  Thankfully, being my easygoing child, he forgave me.  But now I feel like I owe him a cake that doesn't suck.  And his stepbrother, who turns 12 in October, already has his request in for a MW3 cake, so I'm on the hunt for designs that look doable.

I have so many ambitious ideas for what I'd like to accomplish this school year.  I want to make a bench for our kitchen table, so we'll have enough seating for everyone to eat or play games together.  I want to clean up the burn pile that the previous tenants had in the back yard and turn it into a firepit area, and hang out around a bonfire and roast s'mores and hot dogs with friends, or just family, on cool autumn evenings.  I want to fix the broken table leg and set up my craft space, which has been just a neglected pile of my craft stuff sitting in a corner since we moved into this place.  And then I want to sew all the things.

And I want to design a sacred space for our home.  A space dedicated to prayer, designed to direct the heart and mind toward God.  Which is really just part of a larger goal.  I want to bring faith home for my children.  When I was a child, we went to church every Sunday.  For a time, we went to church Sunday and Wednesday nights as well.  I attended Sunday School.  But largely, looking back on my childhood, though we went to church regularly, our faith didn't permeate every area of our lives.  It was there, but not discussed readily.  I was expected to be a Christian, but I was expected to be a good person (and perhaps a good Baptist) more than I was expected to truly care about loving and following Christ.

That's why, recently, I've begun to pray for more genuine love for Him, not just the intellectual assurance and overwhelming evidence that says the Catholic Church is Christ's church and the place where the fullness of the Christian faith is to be found.  But real love, the love I know I should have for One who loves me so completely.  I want to fill our home with sacred art, that points the mind and soul toward him, and reminds us of what we tend to forget, the God who is invisible, but ever-present in our lives.  I want to make time for a prayer life that is too often neglected in this busy, noisy, chaotic life I live.  I want to remember the saints, the great heroes of our faith, on their feast days, and teach my children their stories, in the hope that those stories will inspire the next generation of saints.

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is coming up soon.  I think maybe I'll bake a cake. :)