I'm not Pinished, so look at these pictures

So I thought I would be all clever and give you another sneak peek at the (still-unfinished) living room/dining room brewhaha and link it up over at Scrutinies for Dorian's Pinishers thang, mostly because have you ever seen a more awesome graphic?

No.  I thought not.

Kids, Bill Lumbergh, History (7qt)

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It's been a while since I made you ogle pictures of my kids, hasn't it?  Must rectify, stat!

First, checkout delicious Ms. Mare Bear during breakfast this morning, 10 months old and filled to the brim with personality...

Theme Thursday: sky

Well.  I'm a tiny bit (and by tiny bit, of course I mean "hugely") shocked and humbled and, well I don't know, nervous?, about how many people have read yesterday's post about the baby-makin'.  So you know what I'm gonna do?  I'm gonna pretend that it's, like, my 10 closest friends reading it over and over again as part of some dare to memorize and then do a dramatic reading competition at some point when...etc etc etc.

Yeah.  That makes good sense.  That'll totally work.

"NFP doesn't work. You have so many kids!"

Recently I shared this little NFP interview that Haley at Carrots for Michaelmas published.  Do you know how long ago she sent me those questions?  A long, long, long time ago.  But it took forever for me to respond.  And do you know why?  Because I kept thinking "No one is gonna want to hear what I have to say about NFP because, like, look at all these kids I have. They're gonna think it doesn't work."  I was embarrassed to act like I'm some kind of ambassador for natural family planning what with the fact that, I don't know, we have a family and all.

Paint and Paneling. Punch them Both.

Mornin' y'all.

You know what's super suck-ando-licious?  Painting super textured dark wood paneling.  If you ever put up super textured dark wood paneling throughout every living area in your house, I will personally come and picket your front yard.  Does that sound like a threat?  I'm just trying to make the world a better place, promise.

Boys, cereal, beer

If you are banished to a region of America sans the wonderous establishment known as Meijer, look away. Look away, I say!  Well, okay, don't look away because Paul looks really cute in one of these photos, but you can totally stop reading the words.

Five Favorites

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pocket diapers from Assunta Store

So, I used to use cotton pre-folds inside of an adjustable diaper cover because, well, I'm cheap.  As it turns out, though sweet baby Mary's sweet booty is quite sensitive and needs to be dry, dry, dry, dry, dry.

Enter pocket diapers with their expensive expensiveness....

Manual Mode Monday

Rubber boots. Bare arms. Sidewalk chalk. Lollipops.

Spring, you fickle, wonderful beast.  I just can't quit you...

ISO 100  --  1/640s  --  F 2.2 

True Love of an Accidental Hipster

This is going to be a bit of a disjointed brain dump.  Bear with me if you can.

First and most importantly, thank you so much, all of you, for your prayers since Wednesday.

Please pray.

I love to share joy with all of you, but I am not so good at sharing sorrow.  But in this world, you will always find both. Today is a day I share some sorrow with you and ask you for prayers for someone you probably don't know.  I begged for your prayers on Saturday, and I'm going to beg that they continue.  The storm has yet to pass.

Garden, Kids, Renovations. You know.

Sometimes you just need a little break.  Not from the kids, but from everything else besides them. It's a tiring, frustrated thing when you start feeling disconnected from the very reason you do all the things you do around the house.  There you are doing the things and feeling irritated with the little people that keep getting in your way, when the little people are the whole point.  All the rest is details. Necessary, sure, but details. The people, the little ones and that big one you're married to, they're where it's at.

I love being Catholic. And spring. (7qt)

These first three takes are inspired by Micaela and her 3 Reasons I Love Catholicism link up.  The last four are your typical dweej-nonsense.

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The fundamental dignity of every person

If you didn't grow up believing in reincarnation as a fundamental bit of your belief system, this one might not be high on your list.  But for me....wow, this saved my life.  Anyway, you can read about the problem with reincarnation here, but the idea that I am really me and God loves ME, this exact individual person, gives my life purpose and meaning and ultimately joy.

Five Favorites

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Revlon Slant Tip Expert Tweezers

These tweezers are amazing.  I have a pair of those silver ones, you know, the ones your mom always had growing up?  They are terrible.  Horrible!  I have to hold them at juuuuuuuuust the right angle and then I have to squeeze them reeeeeeeeeeeally hard just to grab the hair and oh my gosh they are such a frustrating waste of time.  These Revlon tweezers are the bombdiggity.

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On Easter Day in the Morning

Gosh, we do love this.  Even though it's fun for even the youngest littles, everyone in your family will enjoy the rhythm and sweet illustrations in this book.  On Easter Day in the Morning is a book you'll happily read all year long.

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Ebates.com

If you shop online and you are not shopping through ebates today is the day you stop doing that and start saying yes to FREE MONEY.  Do you know how many actual dollars have been sent to me since I signed up with them?  FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT.  Yes.  $568.91 in the form of real checks, not gift cards or merchandise, sent right to my snazzy little mailbox.  Go to there.  Git ye some dinero.

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The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

 I know, I know.  If you've been reading this blog for more than five minutes, you know that I'm like an evangelist for this book.  I'm not being paid by them (why???  Why, ATK???  Give me some comission!).  I just want your life to be better.  Except for Mexican food (what can I say...my husband is a purist), every single thing that we've made out of this book, and it is a HUGE book, has been mouth-wateringly delicious.

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this quote from St. Catherine of Sienna

"All the way to heaven is heaven, because Jesus said, 'I am the way."
St. Catherine of Siena

(I've been thinking lately about how to live the way as much as the destination.)

Now hop over to Moxie Wife to check out everyone else's favorite stuff.

p.s. You didn't hear it from me, but it maaaaaaaaaaaaay be a certain Hallie Lord's birthday, so give her some love and some overdue baby prayers, will ya?

Easter Finery Redux {wiws} {oti}

Because I am the loser mother who can't manage to acquire a photo of my entire family despite my complete lack of planning and time management skillz, I don't have an adorable shot of the seven of us smiling serenely.   Mea culpa.  Maybe individual shots will do?  They'd better or you're out of luck.

But wait.  Can I explain to you something about our BIG holidays (those being Christmas and Easter)?