We're having a cold snap - the heater's on! I had grand plans to bake a bunch of bread, and try this out. Then the oven door exploded into a thousand cubes of safety glass. Hmmm...should I give up the oven for Lent?

(Gratuitous shot of curly red baby head - cuz it's my blog and my mom reads here!)


Baby Faith has anencephaly, and was supposed to die (actually, "be terminated" if the doctors had their way.) She's 3 weeks old now, and so beautiful, fat, and pink! Her mother is a single college student, and she is so encouraging!

I've just discovered Twitter, but I doubt I'll ever be this addicted. Mama Says: If someone breaks into your home, call the cops. Don't twitter it and then set up a live stream!

Tide laundry detergent has a program that provides washing machines, dryers, and free laundry services to victims of natural disasters. Who knew? You can buy a t-shirt to support the cause.

Interesting article about organic food from MotherJones magazine.

Food Stamp Challenge - husband did the shopping, and lost the receipts. Also, I didn't make a menu plan. I'll add in the numbers to next weeks post, to keep and accurate tally going, and blog new menus next week!

Speaking of organic food - we have our first harvest!


(We ate some chard shoots that I had to thin, but I don't think that counts.) The chard is growing fabulously, but the spinach is anemic and slow. Maybe this cold snap will wake it up!

Labels: 7 Quick Takes, black thumb, cooking, Food Stamp Challenge, Linky love, Prolife

We are THAT Family, the new hostess of Works for Me Wednesday, has a themed edition today: greatest hits.

According to Blogger, I have published 85 WFMW posts! How do I pick just one? Which are my best?

Hmmm, maybe it's the homemaking tips:
Stomp on the TP

Organize the Kitchen so the slaves children can clean it

When You Have to Chisel the Oatmeal Off the Floor


Or the cooking ones?
This post is the one that gets the most hits! Make Your Own Hamburger Helper. Despite the fact that I think "use some water" is a valid recipe direction.

Maybe money management:
Invisible Clutter

Hmm, surely I have a good laundry tip!
The Family Closet

Ah, I'm an expert at parenting. Occasionally.
Cure Sibling Rivalry

Aw, heck, check 'em all out!

But, I think my #1 most useful post is If You Have a Toddler.

Because Ikea is a dangerous place. And so is a house with a two year old.

What's your favorite tip I've offered on Works for Me Wednesday?

Check out the other WFMW Greatest Hits!

Labels: Linky love, Mama Says, Works For Me Wednesday

See all Food Stamp Challenge posts here.

My goal? Spend $2 per person per day on food. $140 a week, for our family of 10.

Week 5 and 7 are MIA because I did not go shopping that week and we ate out of our pantry.

I spent $109.59 (and $17 on vitamins).

Average spent per week so far: $103.86
(I'm really surprised it's this low, although we are eating vegetarian for most lunches, and eat oatmeal or hot cereal for breakfast most days. Also, I make a lot of things from scratch.)


What I got:
1 doz. eggs, 2 gallons milk, 32 oz. plain yogurt, 2# shredded cheese

5# cornmeal, 4# sugar, 8# quick oats, 1 box complete pancake mix (at 99¢ for 32 oz, it's cheaper than mixing up my own!), 1 box Multigrain Cheerios (sale + coupon = .67 for the box!), 200 corn tortillas, 12 pkg. ramen noodles (per husband's request - YUCK!), 14 oz. alphabet noodles, 3 cans picante sauce, 6 cans hominy, 2 cans Ranch Style beans, 1 bottle ketchup

17 navel oranges, 24 apples, 1 head cauliflower, 8 organic bell peppers (red, yellow, and green mixed, on the reduced rack for $2 total), 21# potatoes, 5# carrots, 2 poblano peppers, 4# white onions, 2 1/2# Roma tomatoes, 4# green cabbage.

1# dried garbanzo beans, 1# pearled barley, 1# blackeyed peas, 2# dried white beans, 1# dried black beans, 8# rice.

2# frozen gumbo mix, 2# frozen broccoli/cauliflower mix, 2# frozen garden blend

3 chickens, 3# boneless beef steak, 5# pork roast, 11# shank ham

...and 3 bags of half off Valentine's candy. The chocolate's for me, the conversation hearts are potty training bribery.

I found a fabulous new resource at the library - The Vegan Lunchbox Cookbook. Every once in a while I'll click over to the Vegan Lunchbox blog and admire her lunches. I knew there was a cookbook, but wasn't ever interested because we're not vegans, and there's no way I have the time to make such intricate and pretty lunches for 8 people everyday.

But, the cookbook is great! I'm trying a ton of recipes this week. Our lunches had become throw-together ho-hums, and I apparently need to eat more food -I've lost weight for two months inexplicably, and I'm down to my prepregnancy weight, more or less. And I still have 3 1/2 months to go! My problem is that I am not hungry, more or less. If I didn't have 7 little stomachs yelling for food all the time, I'd probably forget to eat altogether!

I'm hoping that carefully planning lunches and snacks will help with that.

I'm also hoping to mix up our grains, so if we have malt-o-meal (wheat) for breakfast, we don't also have pasta (wheat) for lunch, bread (wheat) for a snack, and bulgur (wheat again!) for dinner. Or cornmeal mush for breakfast (the kids don't want oatmeal everyday... so okay... I'll try anything once!), polenta for lunch, popcorn for a snack, and tacos for dinner all in the same day.

What we're eating:
Recipes in green are from The Vegan Lunchbox Cookbook.

Sat., Feb 21: Lunch, snack: Peanut butter and jelly, apple, orange
Dinner: Chicken fajitas, pepper strips, Spanish rice

Sun., Feb 22: Lunch, snack: Golden Cauliflower soup, apple, pepper strips
Dinner: Ham, baked potatoes, peas

Mon., Feb. 23: Lunch, snack: Tostadas, pepper strips, "cheesy" roasted chickpeas
Dinner: Pasta Carbonara w/broccoli and fresh tomatoes

Tues., Feb. 24: Lunch, snack: Corn pone muffins w/pintos, mixed veggies, orange
Dinner: Waikiki Chicken (stupid name for recipe from WalMart kiosk), broccoli, rice.

Wed., Feb. 25: Lunch, snack: Baked cream cheese spirals, apple, bread
Dinner: Fish tacos, cole slaw (didn't actually make them last time!)

Thur., Feb 26: Lunch, snack: hummus and sprout pitas, honeybee balls
Dinner: Hambone and black-eyed pea soup, cornbread

Fri., Feb. 27: Lunch, snack: Leftovers or sandwiches.
Dinner: Vegetarian gumbo with red beans, rolls or cornbread. (I love cornbread and could eat it every day!)

BTW- Baby X ate three bowls of the cauliflower soup! I made it with fewer potatoes than called for because I have to eat like a diabetic, but it still turned out tasty.

Labels: cooking, Food Stamp Challenge, Frugal Foodie, Linky love

Probably, most likely, but not for certain...

I had an ultrasound last Friday, but my scanner is not liking the US film. The baby was turned backwards so I'll probably have another one in a few weeks to get a better look at the face and heart.

Due date is still June 11.

Everyone's having babies, now, though! First DadWithNoisyKids, then Kelly, and now Yofed and the Zimms at any time!


Pretty, free vintage clip art at AntiqueClipart.com

Labels: Family Life, Linky love

Go tell DadwithNoisyKids congratulations on baby #13!

Labels: Linky love

Just for you, Lesley!

These are some of the blogs subbed in my bloglines.

Starry Sky Ranch (check out her links, too)

By Sun and By Candlelight (I love Dawn's seasonal planning and use her file crate system)

In the Heart of My Home (Elizabeth Foss's site. She's written several books)
Related: 4 real Forums
Related: Serendipity

Boys Plus Academy - public school teacher turned homeschooling mom

Trivium Academy - posts weekly updates and very detailed planning of Tapestry of Grace

Principaled Discovery - Homeschool watchdog, politics.

Three Plus Two - homeschool mother of 6, aged 1-12

Homeschooling with Joy

Wings and Prayers - Family life in a HS family, from Birdie's blog.

Shower of Roses - Catholic HS Mom living the liturgical year

Wildflowers and Marbles - more inspiration

Montessori Mama - Montessori is not just for littles!

Aut-2B-Home - Tammy HS her autistic teenage daughter (and also her son) using Charlotte Mason's approach.

(Of these, Serendipity and By Sun and Candlelight probably have the most influence on our schooling methods)

The Homeschool Classroom (group blog)

Chasing Cheerios - Montessori type activities for toddlers

Crafty Crow - tons of crafts for kids

Think! - One creative/critical thinking activity per week, and they encourage readers to send in their "solutions".

Happy Hearts At Home - always has interesting links!


Notebook Learning (free notebooking pages to print)

Freely Educate (posts free resources and links)

Waltzing Matilda (beautiful printable coloring pages for Catholic feast days and the liturgical year.)

And check out Blissfully Domestic - I'm going to be writing for their new Special Needs channel, but they have a Homeschool Channel, too. Mrs. Fussypants HS her 5 boys AND runs an online magazine!

Labels: education, Freebies, Linky love, Montessori, special education, Why We Homeschool

1. We paid off our van! First time since I've been married that I don't have a car payment. So of course we've outgrown it AND it's developed an oil leak. Maybe I can pick up a school bus, cheap.

2. What IS it with boys and fire? Mr R got a magnifying glass in his stocking (he's recently become very interested in rocks and crystals.) Remember the oil-leakin' van? It leaked on the driveway. And my boys discovered they can easily create fire with Pennzoil + Magnification + winter Texas sun. Does that count as a science lesson? I'm marking it down.

3. Baby X makes three signs now. Please, more, and eat. He uses the signs to ask for... food. And he talks! Kind of. He says uh-oh when he falls off whatever surface he is scaling.

4. This house is available for us to rent-to-own. I love the house. I will never buy the house because of the HOA Nazis. Yes, another warning. Gasp! Our garage door was open in the middle of the day!

5. St. Gemma Galgani is my patron saint. I just discovered a great website dedicated to her, with reprints of her writing, photos, etc. It is sobering to think she died a saint at 26. I'm 30... probably have 70 more years before I *might* come close to being called one. And even that's doubtful! LOL

6. Katie at Team Bettendorf is having an interesting discussion about Christian neighbors. She asks, "Are you your Christian neighbor?" Do your neighbors know you are a Christian? Do you even know your neighbor's names? I don't agree with the premise that the organized church is to blame for lack of neighborliness, but the comments are thoughtful. It's an ongoing theme on her blog. I do know several of my neighbors - we've shared food, given opinions on roofing estimates, and I know where they work and their children's names. But we're still neighborly, not friendly. BTW, the neighborhood Mormon missionaries know me too. I'm the crazy lady who told them I could never be part of a church that wasn't prolife.

7. I am genetically programmed to blog about my grocery list. Just as I can't help but be Catholic - the chemicals in my DNA require it. Proof?

Labels: 7 Quick Takes, Catholic, children, Linky love, X

Kim, at Starry Sky Ranch blogs about (yet another) encounter with a grocery store clerk.

Barbara is welcoming home a prodigal, and she's giving away a copy of Ben Stein's Expelled.

Large Family Logistics is back up and running.

And not a huge family, but getting bigger... Mrs. Wilt is back up at The Sparrow's Nest!

Labels: Linky love

John C. Wright has the answer.

Labels: Friday Fun, Linky love

***UPDATE AGAIN***
Popping this to the top again.

Mama Says:
How can Obama lead a people, if he won't recognize a person?

Wow, my poster has spread across the blogosphere! Well, not across, but it's popping up all over in our little corner of the World Wide Web!***UPDATE*** I'm moving this to the top of my page again as several more people linked over the weekend.

If you are new to this site, and would like to know more about why I feel so passionately about this, please check out the links on my right sidebar under Prolife and Politics.

Or watch this video, and see what Obama fought to keep legal.



I wanted to acknowledge those who are spreading the word. Again, anyone is welcome to grab the sign and post it on their blog. I'd appreciate a link back, and leave a note in the comments so I can get you up on this page! Or, fill in the Mr. Linky yourself! I plugged in everyone I knew about already.



Anyone who posts this poster on their blog with a link back to me will get some Mama linky love!

Was your link removed? Only sites with the actual poster on their site (sidebar or in a post) will be on Mr. Linky. Let me know if you have any issues - maybe I just didn't see it!

Labels: Linky love, Mama Says, politics, Prolife

As you know, I'm on my sanctimonious high horse and am not watching the Olympics. Well, that and I discovered HBO On Demand.

But it's all good! Scribbit has the Olympic rundown to keep me up to speed.

Labels: Linky love, Olympics

Monica is giving away some dresses for little ones!

Labels: Linky love

Too funny not to pass along, especially if you have a Simpsons fan in your family.

Cutting Calories and Saving D'oh at Cheap Healthy Good.

Labels: Friday Fun, Linky love

Great post today by Barb, SFO Mom on St. Francis and Environmentalism.


Check it out!

Labels: Catholic, Linky love, politics

...in a jaw-dropping, head shaking kind of way.

Is the stupidity quotient ignorance particularly thick this week, or what?



"Toddlers who turn their noses up at spicy food from overseas could be branded racists by a Government-sponsored agency."
(Only in Great Britain. Actual news story, not a piece in The Onion. H/T Random Brown.)


"I have repeatedly said that I think it's entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions..." ...and I have a bridge for sale in Arizona...

Obama's spin, trying to mitigate the fallout from his oppostion to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, support of the Freedom of Choice Act, and latest statement saying "health of mother" exceptions should not include mental health or emotional health. Poor man. He doesn't know if he's coming or going!

(BTW, head over to Catholics for Obama and disabuse them of the notion that Catholics care more about social doctrine, such as subsidized daycare for working mothers, than prolife issues. They call any outing of actual facts regarding Obama's votes and statements "disgraceful smears".)

"Like most Roman Catholics, I was almost unsaveable, but with God, all things are possible."
Not even gonna go there. The same blogger goes on to note: "In the following quote, Paul explains that not very many educated people will get into heaven. "
(1 Cor 1:17-29)

Yeah. Okay.

"Two schoolboys were given detention after refusing to kneel down and 'pray to Allah' during a religious education lesson"
Great Britain again. H/T Catholic Cavemen

Labels: Crazy is as Crazy does, Friday Fun, Linky love, politics, Prolife, Rants and Raves

I have so many school activity links they needed their own page!
(Disclaimer - many of these sites I marked to browse later, I haven't checked for objectionable content)

If you've been blessed by any of these links, leave me a note. What's your favorite homeschool site?

Reading/Literature
Free Phonics Worksheets
How to Read a Poem
Happy Hearts at Home Homeschool Library vintage texts
Rosetta Project children's books online
Narration, copywork, grammar - from a Catholic homeschool family
19th Century Schoolbooks
Repeat After Us online library and language lab



Writing
Basic Handwriting for Kids - printables
Printing Readiness from Donna Young
The Cursive Alphabet
Custom Tracer Page


Math
Mathquarium online games and activities
Googol Math online games and resources
Scratch free kids programming language from MIT


History
Easy Fun School History activites
Free Curriculum/Timelines
Faithful Citizenship from Catholic Conference of Bishops



Science
The Salt Page (beginning chemistry)
Fun Science Websites
Bird Templates for Nature Notebook
Free Coloring Pages
Preschool science activities


Religion
Catholic Religious Educators clipart, readings, etc.
Bible coloring pages
Bible crafts and activities


Lapbooks
Free Lapbooks at Homeschool Share
JoAnn's Lapbook Lessons
Free Lapbooks and Templates
Notebooking
Lapbooking on a Shoestring
Lapbooking on Squidoo

Election Lapbook
Dinosaur printable activities
Bee lapbook (we did this before we went to Bee City)
Lifecycle Wheel Template


Unit Studies
Homeschool Mom free unit studies
The Virtual Vine (preschool/kindergarten)


Worksheets
School Express
Googol Worksheets and Printable Games
Lucy Learns
Childcareland preschool printables
Dinosaurs to color
A to Z Printables
KizClub


File Folder Games
Apples
Links


Phys. Ed. and Hands On
Presidents Challenge Fitness
Lesson Plans for K'Nex and Legos


Art
Art takes time art through the ages
Picture Study Mater Amabilis
Drawing Lessons
KinderArt


Philosophies
Waldorf Family Network
Montessori Materials.org
Montessori Mom
Ambleside Online Charlotte Mason
Simply Charlotte Mason

Inspiration
St. Jerome Academy Montessori Pics
Guided Freedom and Self Education
Su-Chen Montessori Math Album
"I Get To!"


Resources
Cathswap new website
Heart of Wisdom Articles
Homeschool Marketplace Newsletter Archive
Underground History of American Education
Homeschool Toolbar

Labels: Catholic, education, Freebies, Linky love

I've heard that updating the new Mozilla will erase your bookmarks.

I thought I post a few of my "most important" ones here, where I can find them. I've said before that my blog is kind of a public journal for me, so consider this a really boring entry. Plus, I can throw some Linky Love to some of my favorite sites!

Although, many of them I don't even remember bookmarking - often if I am researching something and happen across something else, I bookmark it, and it languishes in my folder gathering cyber dust.

This is like letting your mother-in-law look under the bed or behind the fridge. It's surprisingly personal!

But, I'm really boring so you won't find too many titillating links. Unless you like vintage freebie printables.

Homemaking
Teaparty Girl
Household Notebook Planner
The Family Homestead
Vintage Homekeeper's Planner


School Organization
Starry Sky Ranch HMB forms etc.
Teacher Planning Forms
Unschooling and Planning
Homeschool Curriculum Reviews
Planning the School Year - Footprints on the Fridge
Dawn's File Folder System

Parenting
Small Manual of Civility Manners in the Catholic Home
HealthyToys.org
When Mom/Teacher Role doesn't work


Food
A Little Cookbook for Girls
Frugal Abundance
Practical Pantry everything you ever wanted to know about the staples
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls
No Fail Pie Crust
Calcium Requirements

Catholic
Finding God liturgy and family life
Where is That in The Bible - essay on Tradition and Sola Scriptura
Sean's Pages - aplogetics
Hear the Gospel at Mass
Why Catholics Have a Pope
Catholic Culture
BibliaClerus Vatican resources, early Fathers, etc.
Women for Faith and Family
John 6 and the Eucharist
Catechism of Catholic Church searchable by keyword
Scriptural Rosary for Children
Amazing Catechists
Sanctifying Halloween

Religious Other
Evangelical Manifesto

Crunchy Granola Mama links
Natural Life Magazine
Healing Power of magnets - legitimate
Managing Post Partum Depression
Microchipping Public School Students
CFL Recycling
Drugs.com side effects, etc.

Self-Reliance
Solar Powered Trailer
Living off the Grid
100 Ft. Diet
Grow potatoes in a garbage can


Blog
Technorati Made Simple
Making Bloggy Buttons
Make Blog Banners totally need to do this. Someday. Eventually.
HTML True Color Chart

Coupons and Deals
Mommy Saves Big
Coupon Chief
Coupon Mom
Organic Grocery Deals
Online Coupons

Special Needs
Autism Evaluation Checklist
Anger Management for Children
Bipolar Complimentary Medicine
Disaboom for people with disabilities

Prolife and Politics
Sen. Obama's Voting Record
CQ Moneyline Campaign Finance, PAC's, etc.
Catholic Mom Framing the Healthcare Debate
REAL ID/ REAL nightmare
Girl Scouts Radicalism
No Room for Contraceptives
Prolife Doctors
Fighting P*rn*graphy
Test Tube Nation (article)

Stuff to Make and Do
Homemade Playdough with pics
3D Papercraft

Just Plain Interesting
Illegal Alien Tracking and crime statistics
Squalor Survivors
Texas Hold'Em Odds
Letterboxing North America

ClipArt and Graphics

Writing
Love Honor Vaccum Write from Home
Houston Writers and Editors
Absolute Write
Writer's Resources
Wordplayer
SimplyScripts

Of Interest Only to Me
SC Lawyer
Harrison Bergeron


If you liked any of these links, leave me note in the comments! (If you're not asleep by now...)

Labels: apologetics, bipolar, Blog, Catholic, children, cooking, education, Freebies, Frugal, homemaking, Linky love, politics, Prolife, special education, Special Needs, therapeutic diet, Working from Home

...of someone else.

Dana has some great points about homeschooling and state oversight.

Labels: education, Linky love

I'm packing decluttering first.

John C. Wright, once again, has an excellent post on the illogical defense of abortion - "it's not a person".

Labels: Linky love, Prolife

Fr. Jackson is the pastor of my previous church in Denver (the FSSP in Littleton).

In one of his adult catechism classes,
Fr. Jackson alluded to the idea
that the universe is held in existence
by the power of God.

In "Wisdom Today" it says,
"...we have been called into existence by the
infinite power of God,
and we are maintained moment to moment by
that same power,
else we would lapse back into the nothing
from whence we emerged."

In the March 10, 2008, issue of
"Chemical and Engineering News" on page 88
there is an article bearing on this issue.

The rage these days in the world of tiny things
is nanotechnology
(chemistry of nanometer particles). But Richard Feynman
(a noble prize winning physicist, now deceased)
gave a lecture in 1959
entitled "There's plenty of room at the bottom."
The bottom being smaller and smaller. Below
nanotechnolgy in 10 to the -3 power increments, come
picotechnology, femtotechnology, attotechnology,
zeptotechnology, and yoctotechnology.

Now things get interesting. To quote the article
"Feynman, in his paper,
hints with some dark humor of a potential end-game
scenario, in which, say,
unwitting yoctotechnologists cause the vacuum of
space itself to transit
to a lower energy state. If that were to happen (by packing
several cosmic-ray-caliber packets of
energy into one spot, for example),
a spherical front would begin sweeping out at the 
speed of light from the
initiation point, changing all of the constants
of nature as it went along
its journey to the edges of the universe.
All protons, neutrons, and
electrons would pop out of existence like soap bubbles."

"One consolation is that from pole to pole on Earth,
the annihilation would take only four-hundreths of a second.
Terrible, yes, except for one
thing: There would not be enough time for regret,
Feynman pointed out with a sardonic touch."

So it appears that as Fr. Jackson seeks the truth and
Richard Feynman seeks
the truth, each in their own way, they both suggest that even the
vacuum of space is in a higher energy level and that
if a relaxation were to take place, everything would
disappear at the
speed of light including the
vacuum of space. In 18 billion years the known
universe would be gone including
the space that it occupied.

p.s. a nanometer is about one-hundreth of one-millionth
of an inch or 4 times ten to the -8th power.

Feeling smarter than a rocket scientist today? Solve Feynman's Math Puzzler!

If you are in the mood for something a little...less brain bending, check out my sister's new site:
My Puzzle Fix.

She writes a new puzzle everyday, and you can compete with other players for rankings. Yeah, I'm the dumb one in the family.

Labels: Catholic, Linky love, Science is Cool