Something Special for St. Joseph's Feast

Hi Friends!

I'm jumping back on to let you know that Paul and I will soon be giving up trucking. We are praying that this will be a blessing for us and that God, through the intercession of St. Joseph, will bless our new business. God willing the change will be a little easier on my body than trucking has been hence allowing us to get pregnant.


We will be marketing the books that my mother and aunts write and illustrate for our family company, Precious Life Books. I have created a new blog for our company that I'd like to share with you all. You can check it out by going here.


I also wanted to quickly share with you a wonderful book that we published that is perfect for children and adults as Holy Week draws nearer. Children's Stations of the Cross is both a beautiful story of two young Irish boys and the journey they make with their Grampa to the parish church to reflect on the Stations of the Cross. It is a reminder of the importance and beauty that suffering can hold for each of us. I just love the illustrations in this book! They are truly POWERFUL!

I hope and pray this has been a meaningful and reflective Lent for each of you! May God bless your daily sacrafices!

Yes, I am still here!

Hi everyone! Just a quick Sunday note to let everyone know that I gave up blogging and Facebook for Lent so that I could concentrate on my spiritual life, my home, my family and friends. People have been asking what's going on, so I just wanted to clarify since it was a last minute decision and I didn't post about it.

Since today is Sunday and a day of celebration, I would like to quickly share what has been going on in my life with a few quick bullet points.


1. My brother and his wife had my parents first grandchild last weekend. He was a whopping 8lbs 11oz and is happy and healthy- Praise God!


2. My husband and I just got home from a reunion in the mountains with the Brothers of the Eternal Song and their families. HEAVEN is the best way to describe the week.

3. I painted and reorganized my laundry room and that too is now a little slice of heaven!

4. I converted a spare bedroom into a lovely office and am now preparing for our first conference, The Tennessee Homeschool Conference in Memphis, next weekend and The St. Louis Homeschool Conference on the 26th and 27th! If you want to buy the most amazing Catholic childrens books as Lenten and Easter gifts for your children, grandchildren or godchildren you can request them here by leaving a comment or see me at one of these conferences :)

5. Life has been prayerful and good. I am going to see a specialist about some medical/fertility stuff, so if you can offer up a quick prayer I would really appreciate it! Also, hubby and I have been apart for a few weeks and he is going back on the road tomorrow. I will be staying home for 2 to 4 weeks without him- also not fun. Prayers that he will be safe while on the road alone are also greatly appreciated.



Hope you all are having a wonderful Lent. Grow closer to Christ each day!

Ice, Ice Baby!

Paul and I have spent one full day at home since New Year. We had to go home on Feb. 1st (just for the day) so that I could have some dental work done. I've never had a cavity, but knocked out a tooth ocean kayaking! There's luck for ya- yuck!

We got home just in time to see our farm frosted in ice and snow. It was truly breath taking. I am really controlling myself by only posting a few pictures- okay, I would have posted more (and some of the best!) pictures, but we are in the Mojave Desert and my internet connection is flaky. Hope you enjoy these pics of Paul and my beautiful home.

Fence ties and in the background is our milking shed. Paul didn't think anyone would know what this was a picture of :)

The meadow in our woods. This is were my brother and SIL sold Christmas trees during Advent, hence the little fenced in spruce. Picnic table and firepit are in the background.


Paul, once again testing how waterproof his new shoes are by standing in the icy cold spring.

Following the trail over the new cedar bridge covered in icicles.

The old stone wall along the Arrowhead Field that really is filled with arrows!

Now I will "leave" you be (sorry- I can't help myself!) to enjoy your own winter wonderland if you're on the east coast or, like my BIL, if you are experiencing the 5" that came down in Dallas today!!! Be in awe of God's creation and pray that you don't run out of good reading materials, candles and hot soup!

Win, Win, Win!!!

Win wonderful things!!!

Like This:

And this:

And This:

Colleen over at www.martinfamilymoments.blospot.com is holding her first giveaway and is offering some of the cutest and sweetest stuff around! Please go check out her blog and the links to the etsy shops whose items are being given away. The woman who makes the aprons (ADORABLE, right?) just lost her husband and is having a sale.



I listen to the news each day and hear how much money the US owes China and nearly have a panic attack! Fox News had a guest on yesterday reminding Americans to try not to buy items made in China- I have tried off and on to do this and feel very strongly about it, but it can be REALLY difficult! Work at Home Moms and people with etsy shops are such a great way to buy items that are at least helping families here who are really struggling and trying to create something truly meaningful.



Please, check out this giveaway! You may get lucky :)

The 1st Anniversary of His 29th Birthday!

My dear, sweet husband has been outside of the womb for 30 years today! We have been teasing each other about our turning 30 this year and Paul has now begun stating that I will be the old one, he is only celebrating the first anniversary of his 29th birthday! Hmmm...



I am so blessed to know and love this man! I could not imagine God having created someone so perfect for me before I met him, but than I met him and was, once again, shown how great and loving God there is. I have been given a husband who is far more perfect than I deserve- all I can do is be eternally grateful!




In honor of this blessed day of my husband birth, I would like to share 30 reasons why I love him.



1. He has eyes that see me the way God sees me and not the way I see myself.




2. He is handsome with a beautiful smile.




3. He loves me and God (not necessarily in that order!).

4. He is an adventurer to the core who loves to travel and experience the wonders of God's creation.

5. He is a gentleman. A man who knows and understands what it means to truly be a man.

6. His dream house is a treehouse (think Swiss Family Robinson)!

7. He keeps me calm when I'm flipping out, but causes me to worry about his neck when he flips out!

8. He's the ONLY person allowed to call me "Bubba" and get away with it!!!!!

9. If he could only eat 3 things for the rest of his life it would be cheese, tuna and flour tortillas.

10. He is a wonderful Godfather and will be an incredible father.

11. He is passionate about teaching kids through camp ministry.

12. He could spend all day flying remote control airplanes and helicopters.

13. He has crazy red curls! I fell in love with him before I ever saw him clean shaven and with out a fro- thats saying something! ;)

14. In college he wore parachute pants!!!! And drove a crazy lifted pickup truck.

15. He is a Brother of the Eternal Song to the core. He loves Our Lady and his Brothers.

16. He won the National Iron Kids Triathalon as a teen.

17. He is willing to try almost anything crazy and adventurous.

18. He owns his own hang glider and was once almost decapitated by a jet ski.

19. He loves training our dogs, horses and pet squirrels. He is a regular Dr. Dolittle.

20. He can consume more candy than anyone I know and he never gains a pound!!!

21. Kids love him! My 9 year old cousin refers to Paul as his best friend. Our neighbors little boy once knocked on our door and asked my dad if Paul could come out and play! :D

22. He inspires and encourages everyone who knows him.

23. He is the silliest person I know!

24. He is adorable when he sings Garth Brooks off key!

25. I love how much he enjoys playing sports, but doesn't need to sit around watching the on tv.

26. He took ballet lessons (and wasn't very good!)!!!!!

27. I love that, though he is cute, he doesn't look good in a dress (see below).

28. As they say in the song, "I love the way he loves me"!
29. I love that he sacraficed by giving up the job he loved, changed careers and left his hometown to move across the country, live in a truck and be with me.
30. I love that he chose me to be his wife!!!!

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with a husband who is so good and loves me so much! Help us to be a blessing to each other.
Happy, happy birthday, baby!!!!!

Listen to EWTN right Now!

My mom and Aunt are being interviewed on EWTN Radio right now on Barbara McGuigan's program "The Good Fight"! The program is on from 2 to 4pm today. Tune in on Sirius or any way you can!!!


God bless!!!!

I AM Pro-Choice!

YES, I am for any legitimate Choice.

The choice to go to school where I want, to live where I choose, to work in a field that I care about.

As a woman, I am for the choice to get married (and not be forced into a marriage), to have and raise our children with love and, if God put me in the situation, give my child/children up for adoption if I could not care for them in the way they need to be cared for.

There are lots of wonderful choices. There are lots of difficult ones.

I do not have the RIGHT to kill my neighbor, my enemy or my child!

If I believed that I did I would be Pro-Murder and Pro-Abortion.

I am tired of hearing Christians using the term Pro-Choice when they are really speaking about Pro-Abortion. Abortion is not something that can be made "prettier" by terming it in more civilized verbiage. When we use the term Pro-Choice in place of Pro-Abortion we are implying that there IS a legitimate choice to be made in regards to a whether a person is allowed to live or die.

I am sorry, but with all the media hype swirling around about the Tim Tebow ad, I have been seeing and hearing people using the term Pro-Choice incorrectly and, after more than a week of this, I feel like pulling my hair out in frustration!!!

We apologize for this interruption. We will now return to our regularly scheduled broadcast.

Heart Melting

Husband bought waterproof shoes at Cabellas this week and decided he had to "test" them. He hopped in every puddle he could find on our way to and from mass. Cute, huh?

This morning we are driving through Ohio.

The sun is brightly shining as snow swirls around our truck.



It reminds me of living in Austria.



We are listening to music from the 90's on Sirius.



Both of us sing out loud and slightly off-key.



I am happy to be here in this moment.



I asked Paul if we could listen to music this morning intsead of listening to everyone pick apart the State of the Union Address and I also explained the commitments to loveliness I made for this week. He listened and then gave me a slick grin saying, "You are lovely and I made a commitment to you."



Ahhh...melt my heart!

Commitment to Loveliness

Today I am joining Charming the Birds from the Trees in making A Commitment to Loveliness!

It is almost impossible to decorate and make it feel terribly cozy truck. The key word being almost. I was so happy when we bought new sheets for the truck, matched up our comforter with [gasp] a throw pillow! Paul quickly decided the truck wasn't big enough (it really was crowded) for the two of them- it was either him or the throw pillow. Out went the pillow. So now my goal is to start small and work my way up to the big things (like throw pillows).

We have tried to keep flowers in the truck. Paul surprised me once by tucking over a dozen roses all our the truck. They were in the clothes hamper and my mug. Tucked beside the microwave and the tv. There were several by my seat and one on my pillow. Several times he's bought me a dozen roses and set them in the drink well on the dash. They were always lovely, but would always spill when we'd hit a bump, unhitch a trailer or when the dogs would want to eat (seriously!) them!!! We may have had a few setbacks, but I shall forge away at making our home and our life a little more lovely!

Here are the ways I am striving to make a commitment to loveliness in our little home on wheels this week:

1. Decorate for St. Valentine's Day by changing my blog background. I look at it almost daily and feel uplifted when I see something bright and new! Do you like the change?

2. Turn off the news and listen to more uplifting music... Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Gypsy Kings, Nickel Creek, Edith Pilaf, Billie Holiday, Michael Buble and anything Celtic.

3. Make more of an effort to look my best even if the only people who see me during the day are Paul and the people I pass in the rest areas and gas stations.

4. Add fragrances to the truck either by spritzing on a little Happy Heart in the morning or spraying room spray.

5. Turn on the Christmas twinkle lights in the evening (No, we haven't taken them down yet!) and enjoy a cup of tea and a good book with Hubby instead of turning on the tv.

How will you introduce a little added Loveliness to your life this week? Share your thoughts with me and hop on over to http://www.charmingthebirdsfromthetrees.blogspot.com/ to post your own link and to see some "lovely" ideas!

Have a lovely evening!

Saintly Books for Little Ones

I feel like I just struck Gold!!!! I was over at one of my favorite blogs, Shower of Roses, and noticed her widget link to amazon's St. Joseph books. They are selling select titles in packages of ten for $1.50! That's 10 books for $1.50!!! Amazing titles that I remember from when I was growing up. Ones like these:

Confession: I bought 180 of these books from Amazon tonight! I selected 18 titles and was given a discount atomatically because of the 4 for 3 discount amazon has. With so many titles I received free shipping, so my total was $21.00! I use Swagbucks as my search engine and have earned a $5.00 amazon gift card.

Grand Total= 180 books $16.00!!!!

What am I going to do with so many of the same books, you ask?

1. One of each title for our family.

2. A set of each for our goddaughters.

3. A set for our nieces and my brother's baby who is due in March.

4. 4 sets to add to a Mass time tote to give as shower gifts, First Confession/Communion gifts, Christmas gifts, etc.I hate to admit it, but my Mom and Aunt were interviewed by EWTN for two hours last week about our most recent book and, in the excitement, I failed to post about it in case anyone wanted to listen. Luckily, the interview went so well that they have been invited back for a second interview next month. I will try to post the date and time as early as possible. The picture of our book, The Most Beautiful Thing in the World, that I placed above is not our newest book, but one of my favorite. The story is a beautiful and simple story of God's love and mercy that always brings tears to my eyes. Not to sound like an ad, but you can buy any of our books (and the most beautiful Catholic art!) at http://www.catholictothemax.com/ You will love all of their amazing paintings, mugs and clothing! When I worked there, I had to be very careful not to spend every pay check before I left work!

I also bought the sweetest nun doll recently. This is an awful, distorted picture of her! She is a lovely little nun with removable glasses, little leatherette shoes, white pantaloons and more. I can'y wait to watch a curly, red haired angel playing with her.

Any other amazing Catholic deals out there??? Feel free to share them with me! :)

May God bless the work of your hands!

My Funny Valentine

Recently, my fingers have been itching to do something creative.

The cover of My Life in France inspired me!

I decided to make a St. Valentine's Day pin with Paul and my initals on it.

We have had a slow month of work, so we have been trying to be very careful about our budet.
I looked around Wallyworld and found two sheets of felt for 38 cents each (Each sheet will make at LEAST 10 hearts!), a package of 3 needles and multiple colored thread spools for just under 2 dollars and a package of multi-colored glass seed beads for 1.98. I have pin backs at home.

Not bad, huh?

Here is the finished product. I loved that it only took me minutes to make and cost next to nothing. Big projects overwhelm me sometimes, but this made me feel so good!

My question for you, dear friends, is: do you think that I should add a "C" at the bottom of the heart or would that be overkill?

If so, what color should it be???

TTFN!!!!

Bon Appetit!

A while back Paul and I went to see Julie & Julia. We both really enjoyed it, particularly the portrayal of Paul and Julia Child's marriage. When we stopped at Cracker Barrel for our weekly book (on cd) run, we found the book My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme and decided to listen to it.

I was really hoping this would be a more in depth look at their life and marriage. It was that, but it was mainly the story of Julia discovering and learning French cooking. No real suprise there. It was certainly interesting. Paul even thought so!

Not being food, cooking or French experts, we were a little lost at times, but we both laughed at the similarities of the Child's nomad lifestyle and our own.

In the movie, Julia cries, "Where is home? where do we live?" Her husband, Paul (Good name, huh? ;D), calmly answers, "Home is where we are. We'll work it out. We can figure it out."

Amen!

I have never been a Meryl Streep fan, but Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci really make you feel the love, joy and fun that Julia and Paul must have shared during their marriage. Meryl was PERFECT for this part! It is inspiring to see the way that Paul Child is portrayed as a husband who is madly in love with his wife and who protects and leads her without ever pushing. In the movie, Julia always looks at Paul like a woman who is just falling in love. What a wonderful reminder for every marriage! We should be constantly falling in love with our spouse (and God!!!) and show it!

They seem to have had a marriage that was both passionate and fun, as all good marriages should be!

I felt myself joined with the characters in the movie, when Paul quietly supported his wife during moments that she felt broken hearted. It was very moving.

I enjoy Amy Adams as an actress and she was cute in this movie where her Character, Julie, is feeling her own life parallel with that of Julia, but I did find her character too be a bit to whiny and slightly annoying. That said, Amy Adams cuteness, especially when trying to be like Julia, reminded me of a cute and quirky, young Meg Ryan.

I would recommend this movie as a great date movie (and if you are on a car ride, the book is interesting enough to make any trip fly by!). If my Paul can suffer through it and find the beauty of it, any man can!


You might even send the kids to bed early, make a fancy meal for your own hubby and watch the movie whiloe enjoying a lovely (affordable!) bottle of French wine.


And, of course, as Julia would have said:


Bon Appetit!


And here are a couple of fun Julia quotes I found online:


"The only time to eat diet food is while waiting for the steak to cook."

"I think every woman should have a blowtorch!"

Disney Pins on Wings!

A few quick pictures from an interesting exhibit on Disney's morale boosting efforts during WWII. Enjoy!

The Rocketeer

The year was 1991 and I was eleven years old. I felt very special getting to spend the night at my cousin's house and staying up late watching movies, eating popcorn for dinner and playing Duck Hunt and Mario Brothers. The feature that night:





Last summer Paul and I bought The Rocketeer on dvd. When we got married and moved into our house we went to buy a tv for the house and were stunned to see how expensive a tv is. After a little research, we realized that for the same amount we could buy a projector and have a truly "Big Screen" experience. The Rocketeer on the big screen is a true blast from the past!


Our family has not had regular television in years, but we do collect classic movies to enjoy over and over. During our family reunion this past June we carried couches and chairs out to the patio. We set up heaps of blankets and pillows and made buckets and buckets of popcorn. Two nights in a row everyone from my parents, in laws, aunts and uncles to the youngest little cousin followed a trail of tiki torches to find a cozy spot under the stars to watch one of our feature films.


We did showings of both The Rocketeer and Swiss Family Robinson. Everyone had so much fun!
Some of the little boys, who had been camping each night in a tent in the backyard, did get a bit scared of the Frankenstein-like fellow in The Rocketeer and decided to camp inside that night because they were a bit scared of bumping into a monster, but they also seemed to enjoy the thrill of being "deliciously scared," as Anne of Green Gables would have called it. For a Disney movie it is a bit mature, but our group was old enough to handle it.





So, what inspired this trip down memory lane? While at the museum on Monday I saw this racing plane and immediately thought of "Cliff Secord" and "The Bee Gee" that he flew. Isn't it a cool looking plane?


I wanted to look online to see if this plane that I snapped a picture of at the museum was really similiar to the one in the movie and, sure enough, it was!


Random thought: One of my favorite scenes is when "Jenny" and the evil Nazi actor are at the night club and a large sea shell opens, a clarinet begins to play and a lovely woman begins to sing. I wish they still have places like that. Seeing scenes like that give me the "I was born during the wrong era" feeling!


While searching online, I read that the original hope was to create a trilogy similiar to Indian Jones! Interesting, huh? I also found a couple of fun quotes from the movie that I thought I'd share.


Peevy: Clifford, when you borrow something, and don't tell no body, they call that stealing!


Cliff: [donning the helmet] How do I look?
Peevy: Like a hood ornament!


Matron: You know my rules: no gentlemen allowed inside after 6pm.
Cliff: But, I'm not a gentlemen.
Matron: You're telling me!




And last, but not least:
Cliff: Why don't you stick a welding torch in my ear, and call it the end to a perfect day!

Aim High with the Air Force

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was bitterly cold and gray. Our truck needed a tune up and had to go into the terminal outside of Dayton Ohio. We had time to kill and luckily the husband of my friend, Diana of the Lake of Shining Water, had suggested we explore the National Museum of the US Airforce. It was wonderful!


This free museum was not only fascinating, but it was also beautifully arranged! Like a well placed flower in a vase, each plane has been placed close enough to one another to strike one with a sense of awe and yet each plane stands out individually as though it were a piece mechanical art.

Each gleaming plane caused me to marvel at its beauty and imagine the horror that must have stopped the hearts of those who fled from the airstrikes many of these plane took part in.

It was easy to imagine the GIs who cared for and flew these planes to protect their country, trusting in the plane to bring them home safely.

We walked through one of the planes and I had to pause to smell it. Paul thought I was crazy, but tears were in my eyes as my mind recognized the smell. The smell of aged leather immediately reminded me of my Grandfather (my Dad's father). I never realized that the my Grandpa smelled like old WWII airplane, but I think he would have liked to know that my mind connected that smell with my memories.

My Grandpa Brindle was a wonderful man who taught me to jump rope as a little girl. He had been a soldier in World War II and had owned his own plane. After he passed away I kept his very large flannel jacket to wear around the house, because that soft fabric smelled like that special man. His scent has long faded from the jacket, but standing in that plane I felt the closeness of my Grandpa.

The museum holds over 450 airplane and numerous artifacts from early air ballons to modern space exploration. We only had time to make it through the first three of four massive air hangers. Their galleries include Early Years, Air Power, Modern Flight, Cold War, Missile & Space, Presidential, and Research and Development. They also have multiple smaller exhibits.

There is a lovely picnic area outside with monuments. An airstrip with a handful of planes outside. They even have an Imax theater (not free), a cafe and a surprisingly large giftshop with truly interesting books, dvds, music, artwork and models.

What little boy (or big boy!) wouldn't love to check out a stealth plane like this??? :D

If ever in Dayton, I HIGHLY recommend a visit! Of all the museums and sights we've seen while travelling these past two years, this was one of my favorites!