as cozy as spring

This and That

*Story Cubes - My brother and sister-in-law gave these to my children for Christmas.  They're so much fun, easy to use and encourage creative story telling.  Love!  (This blog post provided by Story Cubes, which are occupying the children behind me.)

*The new HHS ruling.  I was explaining this to a non-Catholic friend over a lovely brunch yesterday and her immediate reaction was "But that's unconstitutional." Yes, it is.  I don't usually get into politics here but I find this so obviously unconstitutional I think everyone should be outraged.  To make coverage for this (by and large) lifestyle choice mandatory while coverage for actual medical needs shrinks with every passing year just baffles me. I'll link to my friend Faith who has a better post up about it.

*Giving the children control over the IPod while they clean the kitchen is a brilliant idea.  My children clean without complaint and I don't have to face the remnants of late night snacking first thing in the morning.  

*I did knit a bit over the weekend, but not as much as expected.  A family grocery/clothing shopping trip and the aforementioned lovely brunch/trip to the nursery took up most of my weekend.  I hope to finish the cardigan over lessons this week.  I thought the yarn color would be yellow ('Maize' sounds yellow, doesn't it?) but it's exactly color of....coffee ice cream and I don't think I'll have any choice but to use little brown buttons on it.  I want these but they are too big.  I'm about to fall down a button rabbit hole where I spend hours searching for just the right one and will overspend when I find it. 

(photo by my daughter)

My little girl is begging me to get off the computer already so she can look up her favorite author of the moment, Gordon Korman.  I gave her my old copies of the Bruno and Boots books while she was sick last week.  She's now a huge fan (as am I).  She was particularly inspired as Mr. Korman wrote the first book at age 12.  

And oh! Journey North Mystery Class starts today.  I really don't want to add anything to our lessons right now but we are in desperate need of something alive and fun and interactive.  I hope my daughter will take the lead this year.  

Off the cuff.

I just woke up and heard the news from my brother. I am conflicted.  I'm sure we all are, especially those of us who truly don't want to rejoice in another man's death and are ashamed of that tiny bit of joy we feel.  Is it even joy or is it relief?  Is is just the satisfaction of accomplishing a long held goal?  I don't know yet. 

Cut and pasted from here.

The Vatican has released this statement this morning on the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed by American forces in Pakistan:

“This morning, following the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, P. Federico Lombardi, issued the following statement to reporters:

Osama Bin Laden - as everyone knows - has had the gravest responsibility for spreading hatred and division among people, causing the deaths of countless people, and exploiting religion for this purpose.

 

Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of everyone before God and man, and hopes and pledges that every event is not an opportunity for a further growth of hatred, but of peace.”

We will be praying for his soul.  He'll need it.

Haiti

"I appeal to the generosity of everyone, so that our brothers and sisters receive our concrete solidarity and the effective support of the international community in this moment of need and suffering," 

-Pope Benedict

Catholic Relief Services Donate Page:

Please help the people of Haiti with your support of CRS as we respond in the aftermath of a massive earthquake that struck near the capital of Port au Prince. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and was still recovering from deadly 2008 hurricanes when the quake struck.

Stamp Out Hunger

I meant to mention this earlier just in case you, like me, ignore random mailings.  Easy cheesy.  We've got our bag all ready to go.  It's tomorrow, don't dawdle!

Government finally steps in

A crackdown on church bake sales.  It's about time!  These grandmas and their pies are a social menace.  And please, no one comment about "safe food preparation standards" because I think if we've gotten to the point that we are afraid of grandmas and their pies there is something seriously wrong with us.

(This is my Dad's childhood parish - I've been there several times and lived to tell the tale.)

Clematis.  Also terrifying.  

Controversial Weekend Blogging

I promised myself I was done being outspoken on current events, but this story had me clapping my hands together gleefully - and sticking my tongue out, saying "Ha, ha!" at all the late night comedians and liberal talk show hosts.  

Harvard Researcher agrees with the Pope

Now I will do my best to go back to flowers, knitting, picture books and fairies tomorrow.  But seriously, this needs to be noted.  

Ha,ha.  Pass it on.

Earth Hour

Today's post is written by a more opinionated Jennifer.  I do my best to ignore her, but some days she refuses to be silenced.

I heard about Earth Hour on the radio and my first thought was "Oh how fun!"  We'll sit around the fire (because yes it's cold again) and read stories, have a candlelight dinner and cut down on the electric bill by a teeny tiny amount.  

And then I flipped on the computer this afternoon and saw these conservative rebels talking about how they were going to do their best to turn every light on instead.

Why?  What does that do for you - or anyone else?  I'm not commenting on global warming or politics.  You don't have to agree with or believe in anything behind this effort.  I don't see the harm in teaching your children about using our resources responsibly.  Why does it have to be turned into something divisive?  

I am a fairly conservative Catholic but I will be turning my lights off tonight, not because I agree with them but because I think it's a kind of a neat thing to do.  

Just popping in to say...

I think this is hilarious.  

Can I just say?

From yesterday morning - this photo has nothing to do with anything except that I'm hoping it will distract you from me being catty (again). But it's bad to hold things in too long.  So - 

He's not Jesus!  Can we please just get a hold of ourselves America?   My favorite late night comedian keeps joking about how Obama was 'born in a manger and rode to school on a unicorn' and on and on.  OK, no Bush wasn't necessarily the best president ever but Obama hasn't done a single thing yet.  His speech yesterday was mediocre at best and appalling to some.  So just settle down everyone.  I fully intend to give him a chance and everything but really.  

Look at those chubby hands!  So sweet!

That's all.

Puzzles are here - this company makes some great products.

And one more thing, why do I only catch my typos when I see them on Google Reader?  Why not before I hit publish?  

With Courage

I have an intense admiration for people who are courageous enough to say what they truly believe, particularly (though not exclusively) when I agree with them.  Perhaps it is because that is a quality I lack myself.  

My sister sent me this excerpt from this CNS article:

 Bishop Paul Loverde of the Roman Catholic diocese of Arlington, Va., said last week that if the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) should become law and a Catholic hospital in his diocese is forced to provide abortions, he would refuse to let the hospital comply, but he would also not close the institution. 

Though there are no Catholic hospitals in his diocese, the bishop nevertheless was defiant: “I would say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to close the hospital, you’re going to arrest me, go right ahead. You’ll have to drag me out, go right ahead. I’m not closing this hospital, we will not perform abortions, and you can go take a flying leap.’ ”

And I give a singular standing ovation to Bishop Paul Loverde.