Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Advent Music!




Do you have any favorite Advent songs? I'm trying to come up with an Advent playlist. There's only so much one can take of the top 30 Toddler Christmas Carols. All day. For a month...

Monday, November 29, 2010

A Full of Grace Creations Coupon!


This morning I am announcing my very first Full of Grace Creations Coupon! As it is I try to keep prices low and quality high, but this week you can use this coupon to take an extra 10% off. The coupon code is: FULLOFGRACE10

I've been busy creating new pieces like this one which was posted last night. I have a few more lined up waiting for a few free moments to post!

And if you have something specific in mind that you don't see (or a saint that you love and want something made with a particular medal) just convo me or email me here and I will make a custom piece for you.

And that's all for my Full of Grace Creations posts for this fine Monday Morning! Back to your regularly scheduled blog!

Full of Grace Creations Monday Morning Giveaway: A Freshwater Pearl Bracelet

Today’s Full of Grace Creations giveaway is a freshwater pearl bracelet from Full of Grace Creations! Instead of the medal shown it comes with your choice of a small miraculous medal or a small crucifix.

It would make a great Christmas present!

Now for the rules!

There's no limit to the number of times you can win (in other words, if you've won before you can enter again!)!

You can earn one entry simply for leaving your contract information in the comment section (only once though!).

You can earn one entry (each) if you tell me that you mentioned this giveaway on facebook or twitter!

You can earn three entries when you become a follower (or if you already are a follower!). Just mention it in the comment section (it can be in the same post).

Lastly you can earn five entries if you post the link to your blog post about this giveaway in the comment section!

Entries will be closed Sunday December 5th at noon and the winner will be announced sometime Monday morning!

And my international readers are welcome to enter! We ship internationally!

Good luck and God Bless!

Full of Grace Creations Monday Morning Giveaway: A Single Decade Rosary and the Winners are....

It’s time for another Full of Grace Creations Monday Morning giveaway! And as a special first week of Advent surprise I drew two winners! I used the Random Integer Generator to generate a number the winners are:
Wanda and Karen!

I have to say that blogging about these giveaways is a proven way to win!

Congratulations you two! As soon as I get your mailing info I’ll pop them in the mail!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Bishop Soto Named Chairman of the CCHD

I am tentatively hopeful this weekend. You see, yesterday my husband was catching up on his Catholic news online and this caught his eye. Bishop Jaime Soto (our Bishop!) has been named Chairman of the CCHD. Now I really like Bishop Soto. And from everything I've ever read or heard about him he is adamantly pro-life. In fact here's the title of the article from Life Site News: Outspokenly pro-life, pro-family bishop new head of US Bishops’ beleaguered CCHD.

Here are a couple of quotes from the article:

"...Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, who, for example, is known to lead prayerful processions to abortion facilities, will be charged especially with overseeing the implementation of the organization’s recently-launched “review and renewal”..."
"...“I am grateful for the work of the previous committee that has re-tooled CCHD so that it can be even more effective in its mission,” said Bishop Soto. “My committee will continue to monitor the progress for the implementations of the new guidelines.”

“God’s people are the Church’s best resource for the mission of New Evangelization,” he added. “CCHD will continue to invest in them so that they can be the protagonists of the Gospel, announcing the joy and hope of the Lord Jesus to a weary world.”"
Now I'm not about to encourage anyone to donate to the CCHD. Bishop Soto has a lot of work to do as the Chairman. But this has to be a good sign, right? Bishop Soto has stood up for Catholic teachings in the past when doing so was far from popular (a speech he made when he was still down in Southern California comes to mind). So this is, cautiously, a step in the right direction.

Of course I still very much advocate finding groups that actually work on the ground in your communities or out in the world and donating directly to them! I'm sure there's probably a soup kitchen in your town (or a rice bowl fund at your own parish) that could use the help this holiday season! And then you'll know that your money isn't paying for any skewed "social" agenda.

Let's all pray that Bishop Soto will stand up for Catholic teachings as he goes forward to (hopefully) truly reform the CCHD into a truly Catholic organization that will help build communities and values that respect both families and life.

Decorations!

Here's what we came up with tonight. This is our new "tree." Paul spent the first part of decorating making fun of it. I think it's kind of cute though.


I did end up putting the princesses on. I started picturing Sadie trying to put them on and decided we could put that off for another year. I'm just hoping the entire tree stays standing all day tomorrow. And then the next day...


The tree was so tiny that I started trying to find different, creative places to hang the extra ornaments. Most of them did end up going back into the box. Here are a few that stayed out and became a hanging light decoration.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Giveaway, Coupons, and Cleaning: A Bit of Everything on a Busy Night

Tonight and tomorrow morning are your last chance to enter this weeks Monday Morning Giveaway, but I am excited to try out a new feature that Etsy is offering. If you read my blog there's a very good chance that you know that I'm a little bit crazy about coupons! Well now Etsy is allowing Etsy shop owners the chance to set up coupons for their own shops! So I plan on putting up my very first coupon tomorrow night (I think it will last for a week!).

Tonight (and the last few nights) blogs have been rather brief because I have been working on a bunch of new ideas for the shop and have been trying to get the house ready for Advent. We are just about to start decorating. We decided that at this point in Sadie's rather rambunctious life it is probably best if we get the apartment almost completely done, and let her wake up to the surprise, rather than trying to put up the tree and string lights with her enthusiastic "help." I'm going to present her with some princess ornaments I found (and used coupons to get free!) tomorrow morning and let her put those up herself, along with whatever other sturdy decorations I can find. Now to get things ready!

Friday, November 26, 2010

The Santa Visit

I posted this afternoon on Facebook that the odds of Sadie sitting on Santa's lap were 20:1. She actually did much better than I expected. I did take a little video which I'll try to upload later. But for now here are the pictures.

First here's a quick flashback. Here is a picture of Sadie the first time we took her to see Santa:


And then there was last year. I believe Santa may have been traumatized by the screaming:


And the aftermath... She was barely consoled by holding the candy cane:


She was rather joyous about the idea of Maggie sitting on Santa's lap. I'd asked her about it several times during the day and kept getting the same response. "Do you want to sit on Santa's lap today?" "No." (with a very serious look) and then, "Should Maggie sit on Santa's lap?" "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" (accompanied by jumping up and down and laughing). Maggie wouldn't give up Binkie, but wasn't phased by seeing Santa:


And then Sadie walked over and took a candy cane from Santa. Then she surprised all of us by blowing him kisses.


The next thing we knew she was having a nice little talk with him about Dora the Explorer (Nani has a couple of the DVDs) and she was shocked that he knew who Swipper and Boots were.


Maybe next year she'll sit on his lap! As for Maggie? Who knows!

How Do You Celebrate Advent?

Okay, so other than the little 25 day advent calendars that they sell everywhere, and the wreath that they have at most churches I've been to (protestant and Catholic) I've never really celebrated any Advent traditions. And this year I want to change all that!

Soooooooooooo....

What do you do during Advent? What traditions does your family celebrate?

Last year I promised myself we were going to do a Jesse Tree... and it was truly disastrous (bakers dough ornaments... oh they were so pretty before I baked them... and then the cracking started...)... and I promised myself I wouldn't wait until the last minute next year and yet here I am, last minute Jesse Tree-less.

It's also official that the new place we are moving to will be vacated on December 22nd (the floors have to be ripped up and repaired though before we can move in and I think it's a little over optimistic to think we'll be anywhere near moved in before Christmas). And Paul is taking his LSATs mid-month (all prayers are appreciated!)! So it's busy, busy, busy! But I definitely want celebrate Advent more fully and begin traditions that the girls will remember when they're older!

Now I need to start searching for that book I have around here somewhere full of Catholic traditions. I bet I find it when we're moving! Unfortunately Advent will be pretty much over by then!

Daily Dose of Cuteness: Sadie Edition!

What your favorite book looks like when your dad is an aspiring theologian...

If you can't make out the title it is: First Thousand Words in Hebrew

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Middle of Nowhere?

Sometimes people drive up to our part of the state and, being from the city, feel like they're really in the middle of no where. I complained about it last year when deer hunters stopped by the side of the freeway and started walking around with their guns looking for deer in people's back yards on the outskirts of town.

Today, something a little funnier happened (it only ended up being funny because they didn't actually hurt anyone with their lack of common sense).

When I was driving with Nani and the girls we came upon a SUV less than a mile outside of town that had pulled over to the side. It was over the fog line (as in still on the road partially) on the freeway. Two men where by the back passenger side door shoving what looked to be a fir tree into the back seat...

It seems that they had stopped, on the freeway, to find the perfect Christmas tree.

I think they thought that they were a little further into the "middle of nowhere" than they actually were."

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Wearing Dresses When It's Cold...

I've been wearing dresses and skirts a lot lately. I would say that I've worn them every day for more than a month, except that there was that one snowed in day when I didn't get out of my sweat pants and Paul says that since I went outside and played in the snow "it counts." So much for my perfect record! However, I have taken myself out of the pants vs skirt/dress debate. I believe that both pants and dresses/ skirts have equal opportunities to be modest or immodest. That is not what this post is about (oh the ugly debate!)!

I am, however, more of a dress type of a person these days. Nicole sums up a lot of the reasons that come to mind in this post. It also doesn't hurt that I feel more comfortable in dresses and that post-babies #1 and #2 they've just been more flattering. Now, on to the actual point of this post.

Is it possible to wear a dress out in the kind of weather that we've been having lately, without freezing my legs off? Today the low in our town was something like 18 degrees (Fahrenheit). The temperature hovered around freezing for most of the day.

So this is one of the questions I been thinking about lately. I already knew the answer (yes, it is possible!) but perhaps the more important question was whether it was possible without a penny in my 'buying new warm clothes" budget?

And then there's this: I'm not a huge fan of tights. I'll wear them if I have to, but I don't really like them. Last year I bought four pairs, and when I began to think of dressing warmly I went straight to the drawer that they're supposed to be in and found that they are someplace else (I have no idea where that is, however).

I have actually been happier this year without the tights. Here's what I came up with. And I have been toasty warm:
The key to wearing dresses when it's cold out is to layer. I'll start on the bottom for my "how to stay warm in a dress" explanation. Keep your feet warm. Get a pair of thick socks. In this picture I have a thick pair of knee high cable knit socks that are almost too warm when I'm indoors. They're perfect for long walks when it's freezing (these rather tall boots, however, are not!).

Under the skirt I have even more layers. There is of course usually a post-pregnancy girdle (this post talks about the importance of good undergarments in general. I had to search to find it again!). And then I found a pair of silky pants that were my grandmothers that are very warm! On top of those I have a second long slip and then the skirt itself. The slips are one of my favorite parts of my wardrobe. I have a huge stack of them. Some are quite beautiful! They were my grandmothers and they were almost tossed out because it was thought that no one would want them. But I rescued them from the garbage bag and this winter I am especially glad that I did!

My top half is kept warm with a camisole, under a shirt and then a long sweater/dress that I found at Old Navy last year. I threw on a scarf, a headband and a pair of $1 gloves and when we went on a very cold three mile walk (in sneakers!) everything except my face was warm! And when it's really cold I would go with a thicker scarf to stay even warmer.

Here's a picture of some of the layers:


In the picture on top we'd just gotten back from a three mile walk and Sadie has already stripped off three layers of clothes to run around in her PJs. The cold means she's been wearing a lot of PJs under her clothes lately to add an extra layer. We're all layering to keep warm.

And it is most definitely possible to stay warm in dresses (and be comfortable too! This is a very comfortable outfit! I could wear the skirt every day if I didn't have to wash it so frequently because four messy little hands!).

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Little Star by Anthony DeStefano: A Christmas Book Review

Last February I reviewed Anthony DeStefano's book This Little Prayer of Mine. It instantly became a family favorite that we read every night (I can now recite it without glancing at the words on the page). So I was thrilled when I got the chance to review a copy of Anthony's new Christmas children's book, Little Star.

I will give my thoughts on Little Star in a moment: but first I will give you the review that truly matters... Sadie's. Sadie is passionate about books, in a typical two-year old sort of way. She loves the books that she loves and she can not stand to look at the books that she doesn't love and will take them from my hand and toss them back towards the shelf (we talk about being nice to books a lot). And the books that are on her favorites list, may not stay there for long (she went from being in love with "Are You My Mother" to crying when she saw it on the bookshelf all in one week). So when I introduce a new book I never know what the outcome will be.

Little Star passed the Sadie test with flying colors. She sits and listens to it. She even went over and went through the books on the shelf and found it and brought it to me so that I would read it to her. It has become a holiday (and I have a feeling year round) favorite.

Little Star's story is one of sacrifice. It begins with a father telling his son the story of the Christmas star, which shown so brightly in the sky above Bethlehem on the night that Jesus was born. Little Star, as you can probably tell by his name, was not the biggest or the brightest of the stars in the sky, and was ignored by everyone. However, the fact that he was small helped him to see what the other stars missed on that first Christmas night and led him to make a sacrifice so great that he will never be forgotten and is part of Christmas celebrations to this day.

This sweet book with beautiful illustrations is a great addition to any Christmas library!

And if you'd like to hear the book for yourself here it is:


Monday, November 22, 2010

Full of Grace Creations Monday Morning Giveaway: A Single Decade Rosary

I have been coming up with new ideas for the shop lately and this week's giveaway is from that bunch of creations! This week I'm giving away a red single decade rosary. It will look very much like the one pictured here!

Now for the rules!

There's no limit to the number of times you can win (in other words, if you've won before you can enter again!)!

You can earn one entry simply for leaving your contract information in the comment section (only once though!).

You can earn one entry (each) if you tell me that you mentioned this giveaway on facebook or twitter!

You can earn three entries when you become a follower (or if you already are a follower!). Just mention it in the comment section (it can be in the same post).

Lastly you can earn five entries if you post the link to your blog post about this giveaway in the comment section!

Entries will be closed Sunday the 21st at noon and the winner will be announced sometime Monday morning!

And my international readers are welcome to enter! We ship internationally!

Good luck and God Bless!

Full of Grace Creations Monday Morning Giveaway: And the Winner is...


I almost forgot that it was Monday morning again! Here are the numbers for the latest giveaway from Full of Grace Creations!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

24

Timestamp: 2010-11-22 16:06:38 UTC


And that means that something that has never happened before happened! We have a repeat (very lucky!) winner! The winner is....

Wanda!

Congratulations Wanda! I already have the address, so I can finish making it tonight and pop it in the mail to you! Now for the next giveaway!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Moving!!!!!!

Our prayers have been answered! We are going to be moving (it looks like it will be the last week of this year!). It will be amazing not to have to worry about the air that we're breathing! After quite a bit of worrying I'm absolutely giddy! And the rent in our new place will be significantly less (and I love the place!)!

Thanks to everyone who has prayed for us and this situation!

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders!

Daily Dose of Cuteness: Sister Edition

Today while I was playing with the girls at Nani's house I realized that Maggie was wearing the same outfit that Sadie had worn two years ago on Thanksgiving Day. And so, I just had to snap a few pictures in the same spot that I snapped them with Sadie! We even had the same toys out for the girls to play with!

Maggie (4 1/2 months old- 2010)


Sadie (5 months old- 2008)


Maggie (2010)


Sadie (2008)


Maggie (2010)

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The Pope Said What? (The Media Fails to Understand Anything Coming Out of Rome...)

The media has enough trouble understanding Catholicism and Catholic teachings without L'Osservatore Romano releasing quotes from a new interview (book) with the Pope, which are taken completely out of context (and before any part of the book was supposed to be released at all).

This is why I have a problem when people say things like "the Vatican says (fill in the blank) is evil." and you respond with "where did you hear that?" and they say "Fr. so-and-so said it in L'Osservatore Romano and that's the Vatican's newspaper."

Sigh. Unfortunately a lot of people don't seem to understand that the Roman Observer does not have the teaching power of the Magesterium. Anyways, I digress.

The media is in a frenzy about something the Pope has "said." And they've taken the opportunity to announce to the entire world that the Pope has changed the Church teaching and that condom use is A-Okay now. It doesn't really matter to most of them that that isn't actually what happened. At all. It makes a good headline and good headlines sell papers.

Jimmy Akin has written a great explanation of what was actually said over at the National Catholic Register and I definitely suggest everyone who's interested in the Pope's opinion on the matter check it out (and he did say that it was a personal opinion).

One of the highlights of the article was this analogy which was written by Janet Smith. In the original interview the example that the Pope uses is a situation in which a male prostitute uses a condom. The Pope, obviously does not believe this situation is moral in any way, but instead indicates that the use of the condom might indicate that the person using it was showing a hopeful sign in that he cared about whether or not he hurt someone else (definitely read Akin's entire article though because he explains it much better than I do!). Here is Smith's analogy relating robbing a bank to that example:
"If someone was going to rob a bank and was determined to use a gun, it would better for that person to use a gun that had no bullets in it. It would reduce the likelihood of fatal injuries. But it is not the task of the Church to instruct potential bank robbers how to rob banks more safely and certainly not the task of the Church to support programs of providing potential bank robbers with guns that could not use bullets. Nonetheless, the intent of a bank robber to rob a bank in a way that is safer for the employees and customers of the bank may indicate an element of moral responsibility that could be a step towards eventual understanding of the immorality of bank robbing."
The story as it runs in the world press is just another chance for people around the world to become confused about what the Church actually teaches on these important matters.

Again, I strongly suggest you click here and read what Jimmy Akin has posted about the entire media skewing of the Pope's interview.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Birth or Not? Here's Hoping It's Just Some Sick Hoax...

This is one of the most sickening things that I have ever read in my entire life. I first saw it over on National Catholic Register in an article by Tim Drake (the title? Have Baby, Will Abort).

Peter and Alisha Arnold, both 30, of Minneapolis are uncertain about whether or not to become parents... so they're going to let the people on the world wide web decide for them whether or not their child lives or dies.

I'm hoping that this is a hoax and that the couple are trying to make some sort of point (that in no way involves murdering a child). But from everything I've found googling the couple, there are only suggestions, because of the outrageousness of the claim, that they don't really plan on doing what they say they're going to do. Jill Stanek does think it's a hoax and I pray that she's right (the photo above is from her blog).

“Voting is such an important part of who we are as a people. Here's a chance where people can be heard about whether they are pro-choice or whether they are pro-life, and it makes a difference in the real world."
Here's what the article on Shine from Yahoo! said about it:
"Which brings me back to my final, somewhat disgusted point: If you have to ask the question, be prepared for an answer you might not be ready for. If you are really asking anonymous masses to decide whether or not your baby should live, you aren’t fit to be parents in any way. If you’re cool with using your fetus as a pawn for national debate, or a ticket to instant fame, you aren’t fit to be parents in any way. If comparing what is a very hard choice for many families to your sad, clicky sideshow seems like a viable way to operate in the world, you are not fit to be parents in any way. A stunt like this isn’t worthy of national debate, no matter which side of the abortion issue you are on. Should the Arnolds get an abortion? That's up to them, ultimately. But I'm pretty darn sure no child should be left their custody."
I would like to switch the world "ultimately" in the second to the last sentence of the paragraph above with the word "unfortunately."

I would suggest everyone go over and vote for her to have the baby, just in case it is real. This is one case where it's better to be safe and vote for the baby to live, even if there's a chance that it's a hoax.

I was kind of shocked that they've actually used their names. I guess they haven't thought about what their googling (or whatever the search engine of the future is) offspring is going to think when he searches for mom and dad and learns about their little poll. I seriously wouldn't want to have to explain this sort of thing to me twelve year old someday.

"Nothing Else to Do... Let's Have a Baby!"

I don't know about you but one morning I just woke up and said, "Well... I don't have anything else to do today... no football games to write up this week... honey... let's have a baby." That is, it seems, what Joy Behar and the panelists who enthusiastically agree with her seem to think drives most women to have babies (and no, of course it didn't really happen that way!). Here's the clip. Be prepared. You will hear some idiotic statements if you click play.



For those of you who didn't hit play here are some of the highlights:

Joy Behar: "Do you think that some women actually just make the choice to have kids because they can't think of something else to do?" (around the 40-something second mark).

"Now people regard that as littering..." (having large families... and large in this conversation seems to be more than one or two)

"for billions of years we ended up having one or two children per women, and we're moving back towards that now..." (billions...)

Does anyone really think that that is why couples decide to be open to bringing life into the world (the answer, by the way, is apparently yes... at least in the group of women on the panel)? I have a hard time believing that anyone who is actually asking that question has ever spent more than a few moments with a child.

Then there was this article. I originally saw Gale's post about it and went over to read the whole awful thing for myself.

Erica Jong begins her article by letting everyone know what she thinks about motherhood. She has "endured an orgy of motherphilia for at least two decades." Her initial complaints include movie stars proudly displaying baby bumps for photographers and magazines describing the joys of motherhood. Thus begins the angry tone that continues throughout the article.

If Joy Behar thinks that women have babies because they have nothing else to do, Erica Jong thinks that babies are used to oppress women and that they do the job more effectively than men ever have.

People who's entire focus extends no more than an inch beyond their own nose (or is directed towards the nearest mirror) and who can imagine no greater good than doing what they think feels good at the moment, can't even begin to understand the idea of a vocation of any kind, and that includes the vocation of a wife and mother.

Christians are fortunate in a way because we have it spelled out for us. We are called to serve. With the Catholic concept of vocation we often have an even clearer idea of just who it is that we are called by God to serve.

And that is something that our modern world will have a very, very hard time understanding.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

In Every Airport We Enter... My Husband Gets Searched...

All the recent news about the hassles of flying has me reminiscing.

Traveling with Paul, by air, is interesting to say the least. It might even be mildly amusing (if you have A LOT of free time). Because no matter how he's dressed the result is going to be the same. He could look like this...

or this...

or this...

or this...



and he is still going to be the pulled out of the line every single time and carefully searched and patted down before we're allowed anywhere near an airplane. It doesn't matter which state or country we're in.

On one particular trip he was patted down in London and Tel Aviv and then pulled out of line in Zurich and told his passport "had a problem" (they tried to hurry me away, but with my first trimester pregnancy hormones raging I refused to budge). As I write this though he did point out that at Dulles they let him walk past and grabbed the menacing looking 80 year old woman in a mumu to conduct a full body search on.

When we were boarding an El Al flight the conversation at the second security station went something like this: "You're knitting is very pretty" (turning to Paul) "please step over here sir." followed by a very thorough pat down.

I do understand why he's always targeted. He's a big guy. And it has become something of a joke in our family, because it happens (with the exception of that walk through Dulles on our way to another flight) pretty much every single time we enter an airport.

And no matter how security changes I have a feeling that the experience of flying with Paul isn't going to change in the near future.

Full of Grace Creations: New Sacrifice Beads!

Full of Grace Creations now ships anywhere in the world! I just had to start out this post by telling everyone that great news! And the shipping rates are pretty reasonable (I think!)! It's $2 for any shipment anywhere in the US and $3 for any shipment abroad! And I can add a gift note if you'd like to send it directly to a special someone! Now back to the post I was planning-

I have been hard at work on my etsy shop these last few days. In the days leading up to last months craft fair I hadn't posted much online. But I've been working on that these past few days and tonight I met my goal by posting five new strands of sacrifice beads. Here's the description of sacrifice beads that I put up when I post them (since they aren't the most common thing you run across!):
The story of sacrifice beads begins with the story of Saint Therese of Lisieux. As a child The Little Flower, along with her sisters, used a little string of beads to count their gifts of "little sacrifices" which they did out of love for God. They carried their beads with them in their pockets.

Saint Therese's "Little Way" is well known. She drew closer to God through small acts in her day to day life, saying:

“Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.”

Sacrifice Beads may also be used as a sort of pocket rosary, with one Our Father bead separated from the ten Hail Mary beads.

When you pull the ten smaller sacrifice beads they slide up the row and stay in place until you pull them back again. They are wonderful to use as a small rosary or to use to count good deeds and sacrifices throughout the day (and they are a great motivating tool!).
And here are my latest strands of beads!

This one is my favorite! They are simple stone beads, with a very simple crucifix. The medal show the Divine Mercy Medal on one side and the Our Lady of Guadalupe on the other. It's very dainty!


These are my toughest beads. They even have double strand of elastic running through them. The picture doesn't really do the cobalt blue bead justice, because it's really brilliant in the sun!


I could just picture giving these to a little girl for her first communion, or someone who loves pink any time! These ones are a little bit bigger than the others but they should still be small enough to carry easily with you.


Malachite was one of my favorite stones when I was little (I was a very passionate little rock collector!). And so I was very excited when I saw these beads. And they went very well with the gold miraculous medal and crucifix!


The beads that I made for myself when I first began making sacrifice beads looks a lot like these. Amethyst beads are some of my favorites because every time I make something with them I think of advent and lent!


I posted this one late last night! This stand is made with large amethyst beads between a beautiful gold crucifix and a colorful Saint Therese of Lisieux medal.


Now to get a little bit of sleep before the princesses wake up!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Daily Dose of Cuteness: Walking with Daddy! And a Maggie Update

While we're waiting for Daddy to get home from his last (I hope!) post op doctor's appointment (from having his knee repaired) to go on our daily family walk I thought I would post this picture from one of our walks last week!

Sadie would prefer to be carried like this on all of our walks! She has a better view of the flags!

And now for the Maggie Update: While I was helping Sadie get dressed this morning Maggie rolled over for the first time (intentionally at least) from her back to her front. She did front to back accidently earlier in the week (and scared herself into crying because she did it so quickly!). After I got Sadie dressed I walked into the other room to get a granola bar and a bottled water and when I came back Maggie had moved almost all the way across the room. She was lifting herself completely up on her arms and legs and then sliding backwards! I can't believe how strong she is! It's all that time she spends on her tummy watching her big sister play!

Veteran's Day Walk

The other day we took our camera with us when we went on our daily walk through town. One of the main reasons we brought it along was because it was Veteran's Day, which meant that the flags would be up all along the sidewalk. The other reason was that it was one of those chilly, flawless blue days and the leaves are just barely hanging on the trees, so we knew we wouldn't have a chance much longer to snap pictures of the changing colors. Here's what we saw:

The town museum is on the left.

An artist studio (in the brown barn) and the meadow where the farmer's market is held during summer. It's in between an art gallery with local artists' work and the Congregational Church.

The Congregational Church.

These trees are in front of a museum that is also the oldest Taoist Temple in the Western Hemisphere.

More of Sadie's Favorite Leaves.

The Gazebo.

A look at downtown. The red building at the end is the court house. The trees block most of the shops in this picture though! They're mostly red brick too!

Heading home.