Feast Day: Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross

Today we celebrate the Triumph of the Cross ... the victory of Good over evil ... the conquering of death, once and for all.

String Bean even got up early to whip up a coffee-cake from her Molly's Cooking Studio (which is a great, do it yourself cookbook for this 10 year old!).  Yes, she really does love her family (the clock on the microwave is showing 6:32 a.m.)!

Happy Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross!

 

Feast Day: St. John Chrysostom

 St. John Chrysostom, nicknamed "Golden Mouth" because his sermons were so amazingly eloquent, was bishop of Constantinople in 398, a move that involved him in imperial politics. He criticized the rich for not sharing their wealth, fought to reform the clergy, prevented the sale of ecclesiastical offices, called for fidelity in marriage, encouraged practices of justice and charity. He was also named Archbishop and Patriarch of Constantinople. Because John’s sermons advocated a change in their lives, some nobles and bishops worked to remove him from his diocese; he was twice exiled from his diocese. Banished to Pythius, he died on the road.  He is a Greek Father of the Church and proclaimed Doctor of the Church in 451. 

St. John Chrysostom, pray for us! 

The best laid plans of mice and men ...

Well, the plan WAS to leave Friday morning ... heading south to Raleigh ... to surprise big sister Sarah and watch her play volleyball in the NCState Tournament.  As we were heading out, we decided to call said sister and let her know our plans. 

We then found out that our 6-0 senior at Georgia Southern had dislocated her shoulder and wouldn't be playing ... but she would be in Raleigh with the team ... she just wouldn't be playing.  Which actually worked out better (isn't God good?) as we were able to see her and visit with her a bit (we probably would have only seen her playing and then a quick hug after the matches if she had played!).

We also had the wonderful chance to spend time with our old friends in Raleigh (who so generously allowed us to spend the weekend with them!) .... they knew Sarah when she was just a little kid when we all lived in the same neighborhood over 10 years ago. 

... and I got to a knitting shop in Raleigh that wasn't there when we lived in the City of Oaks ...

a wonderful trip all 'round (except GSU didn't win any of their matches except for the one we DIDN'T see!)

Sarah is great seeing you ... and spending time with you ... we'll see you at the SoCon in Boone in November!

Nature Walks: a place for everything and everything in its place!

(Craig Valley, VA)

HT: Cassi at Crafty Crow .... you have to go check out Sew Mama Sew's post about making a nature backpack.  She's got links to tutorials about how to make these ...

I'm thinking this would be a stellar present for my nature-girl, String Bean, for Christmas ... filled with

• binoculars,
• field guides,
• journal,
• pencil case,
• specimen cases
• magnifying glass

 ... she'll be in 7th heaven!  Thanks, Sew Mama!

Review: Uncle Sam's Plantation

Wow ... whether you're affiliated with the Democrats, Republicans, Tea-Party, or Independant parties you should read Star Parker's book, Uncle Sam's Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America's Poor and What We Can Do About It.  This book is a riveting read proving that the Federal Government's involvement in welfare programs for the past decades (dating to just before Johnson's "War on Poverty") has actaully worsened the situation of America's poor (predominately African-Americans), run up the highest debt imaginable, and created an adversarial relationship between the haves and the have-nots, between people of ANY color, and generally wreaked havoc on our country.

Parker knows of what she speaks -- she herself was a self-professed "welfare junkie" who believed it was Uncle Sam's duty to provide for her and her child:  she is black, an unwed mother, an unemployed, homeless young woman.  She dumped the welfare programs and fixed her problems herself; she is founder and president of a non-profit think tank called Center for Urban Renewal and Education and a well-known advocate on people-based solutions to the social problems. 

I really enjoyed reading this book as I too believe we can do more good on a personal level, with occasional SHORT-TERM assistance from the government, than we can ever do with bigger and bigger government funded and run programs.  I loved her swimming pool analogy as well as her personal anecdotes and the statistical facts she includes.

And this book isn't just bashing Democrats or liberals.  This book shows that our government has gotten into things that it shouldn't, regardless of who is in the White House or which party rules the Capitol (altho traditionally, the most wastage and increased number of federal solutions to the War on Poverty comes during Democrat-led committees and administrations).  She defines and illustrates solutions that sound sane and workable -- and may just be what WILL finally end the War on Poverty (that we've been fighting for 40 years!). 

Highly recommend this book -- especially to politicians on either/both sides of the aisle -- read it, try and refute her analyses with facts and let me know what you decide should occur in our country.  Then VOTE that way.

---

This book was received as part of Thomas Nelson's Book Sneeze program.  The above review is my honest critique of this revised and expanded edition of Uncle Sam's Plantation.


 

"BamBam" really needs to be changed to "Joe Cool"

My youngest, otherwise known on this blog as BamBam (and with very good reason!), is taking dh's family heritage to heart.  You see, dh's family really dislikes letting go of their baby teeth.  At the same time, dh's family is progressive:  their permanent teeth come into position, whether or not the baby teeth are out of the way.  Cousins on dh's side (and others in dh's family) have had teeth pulled.  In fact, String Bean had a similar problem 3-1/2 years ago.

In the picture above, BamBam is getting ready for his two front lower teeth ("O" and "P" to be exact) to be extracted.  The novacaine (the swabs sticking out of his mouth) and "Hot Wheels" on the tube kept him so out of it that he didn't know the dentist stuck one of those HUGE, pain-killing laden shots into his gum ... and didn't even feel the teeth being extracted!  It took less than a half-hour of dental time (much, much longer on the mommy-clock) which would have been shorter, but BamBam wanted to watch the end of "Hot Wheels"!

Now that the novacaine is wearing off, he's not quite so calm and comfortable ... so off to do some nursing!  Thanks to all those who prayed for us all.

... ready or not, here those teeth come!

Happy belated birthday ...

...to Mary, Mother of God!  Yesterday was the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary ... a celebration in the Catholic Church and a Marian feast day.  We had a wonderful day ... morning Mass, van re-check (I HATE getting my car hit as it takes FOREVER for things to be right), library run, grocery run and home for school-work, read-aloud, and playing time.

Lest you think I forgot the Blessed Mother in all this fun and frolicking, I didn't ... instead I whipped up a tasty treat that will be used often for Marian feasts (and there are many and since my name is "Mary", I claim 'em all). 

I call this treat "Cool Mint Pie" ... 

Ingredients:

• 1 chocolate cookie crust (I used an Oreo one but you could certainly make your own; make a graham cracker crust recipe, just substitute chocolate wafers or oreo cookies)
• 1 bottle of Smucker's Magic Shell (Chocolate Fudge)
• 1 16-oz container Cool Whip, thawed
• 1 cup Breyer's Chocolate Chip ice cream, softened
• 3 cup Breyer's Fat-free Vanilla ice cream (which is amazingly healthy AND tasty!), softened
• blue food coloring -- about 5 drops or more, depending on how blue you'd like it
• pure mint extract -- 1 tsp

Prep chocolate-cookie crust by spreading the Magic Shell (I used about half the bottle) on bottom and up sides of crust.  Place in freezer while mixing up the other ingredients.

Place whipped topping, ice creams, mint extract in a bowl and mix together completely. Add blue food coloring, a drop at a time, until the mixture is  a cool-blue shade (think toothpaste). 

Whip all together completely and pour into chilled crust.  Squirt remaining Magic Shell across top of pie -- I used just about the whole bottle on this, but you can certainly use less if you're not as into chocolate as we are!

Chill pie for at least 4 hours, or till solid.  Remove from freezer about 5 (if a WARM day like we had) or 10 minutes before serving and serve up slices. 

It is SOOOO good .... guess what I'm having for lunch today?

So Happy Birthday, Blessed Mother and please pray for us all!