Tea Time

Fred and I are starting a new cold weather event. Both last Sunday and this Sunday we've done an official tea time on Sunday night. We do tea parties pretty regularly as I really like tea and so do the kids. I might as well just make a pot. All the kids love to pick out one of my nice tea cups and drink from it. I have a pretty big collection now and I love watching them be used. I can't stand pretty things that simply sit on the shelf- they were made for a purpose.

Anyway, we set up the whole table with our best 'stuff' along with pretty cookies in a whole assortment so there is plenty to pick from, and once everyone has been poured a cup, we begin reading Fairy Tales. Fred reads one, I read the other. Tonight was The Pied Piper and The Swineherd.

Both times it settled the kids down so nicely before bed and the beginning of another busy week. It was really good family time too. I think we might just hold onto this one. Hope you all had a good weekend! 

Health and Fitness Update

So, we just finished week #2 of our new three week  workout plan. We have also made it through almost 2 full weeks of the Apple Cider Vinegar challenge. And I have completed not just the 20 sit-ups I agreed to, but I actually upped it to 25 this week.

Fred- my dear,dear husband of 18 years; never to be outdone decided to see my sit-ups and raise me.He was much, much braver than I. He decided to raise my ACV by adding it to a glass of milk one afternoon.

Truth be told- Fred is so horrified by the drinks taste, he was searching for SOMETHING-ANYTHING  to kill the flavor, and thought milk would do the trick. Which just goes to show you how little time Fred actually spends in the kitchen. He never knew that if you need to curdle milk quickly ( for a recipe that calls for buttermilk lets say) that you can simply add vinegar to it in order to curdle it. It takes just a few seconds to thicken the consistency of the whole glass of milk. It happens really fast actually. I'd say Just-about-the-time-you-begin-swallowing-it-down-your-throat! Peter was there to witness the show. He didn't puke but came dangerously close to it. I heard he was making some pretty awful sounds for a while afterwards. He is back to drinking it with water again now.

I am not sure if its making any difference whatsoever to be honest, but it doesn't seem to be hurting anything either. It is supposed to help build your immunity and since I haven't gotten sick in the last 2 weeks- that just might be true. I also haven't had any arthritis flare-ups but since I don't have arthritis I guess that doesn't count. (And yes- my blood pressure has always been good, thanks for asking) Come to think of it; Fred and I are probably just continuing at this point because neither of us want to lose the bet.

I have also added ground flax seed to my diet. I sprinkle it in my vanilla yogurt with a handful of granola and YUMM-EEEE. Seriously. All the benefits of flax seed, without having to bake. ( flax seed actually has amazing benefits- check them out here.)

I am running 2 miles a night on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and weight training afterwards + 25 sit-ups. On Tuesday and Thursday I do a 7 mile interval work-out on the bike. I can't decide which I like better, but I am enjoying getting in shape and feeling stronger.  One week to go til I hit my next goal!!!

The End of Birthday Alley

Tonight ends birthday alley in our house. Thomas turned 8 years old today ( where does time go?) It was such a beautiful day outside for him. He spent the better part of it playing in the sunshine with his brothers. I actually surprised him this morning telling him he had a day off from schoolwork. Little does he realize he paid for it already yesterday with a few extra lessons!(I know I'm a creep). 

We had a fun party for him after dinner. He was pretty specific about what he wanted for his 8th birthday (An RC car, Legos, hot wheels racer and an ice cream cake.) He also wanted plain pasta and chicken nuggets for dinner, but I managed to talk him out of that and into home made spaghetti and meatballs. He is still in the basement with the RC car now as I type. 

This is the 5th birthday in our house in 7 weeks time. Mary, Fred, Peter, Sarah and Thomas. We won't have any more birthdays until the new year when we enter the smaller Birthday tornado we call "The Birthday Blitz". January has 3 birthdays, 2 on the same day. Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years sandwiched neatly in between these more personal family celebrations. Its no wonder Fred and I are so happy to settle down for a long Winters nap once the holidays are over!

All Souls Day

Today is All Soul's Day. Its a lesser known Catholic feast day than yesterday ( All Saints Day) but I actually like this one better. As Catholics we don't just have the regular old up and down choices of heaven or hell like some other denominations. We actually have a third option called purgatory. Sounds scary doesn't it? Purgatory is for all those folks who certainly aren't saints yet, but are not quite devils either. It helps to 'purge' the soul of vices so you can be spit spot for that first encounter with Jesus.

Since I am naturally impatient the thought of spending time in this waiting pen of sorts has always tugged at my heart strings. When we were little kids we used to sing this song "Pray for the dead and the dead will pray for you, simply because they have nothing else to do." You see, once you die and get sent to purgatory, you can't make it out of there without help. You can no longer pray for yourself ( so remember to ask God to bless and keep you when you read this) so you must rely on 'good souls' left on earth to help petition Our Lord for you to make it the rest of the way to heaven. (if you make it to purgatory at all, you will eventually make it to heaven so at least you have that going for you- but who knows how long one has to wait to be purged of pride, envy, gluttony, sloth, anger, lust, greed- or any combination therein?

In any case, I really work on All Souls Day to pester Jesus enough to move a few souls along. My children were as intrigued with this thought as I was when I first heard it and spent different parts of the day trying to free up some souls also. Not grumbling-saying a few extra heartfelt prayers-making an offering-lighting a candle. My reasoning is two-fold.

#1 I can imagine the sheer torment of waiting to get into heaven as I can barely wait in line at the grocery store.

#2 I would imagine the souls who make it to heaven based on my prayers might be just a little grateful for that small favor and once they get to heaven are able to show that gratitude by helping me out when I get in trouble. (This is where the whole communion of saints thing weaves together so nicely!)

For all of you who have no faith go ahead and laugh now, OR you could try to picture yourself a few moments AFTER your death. And if you should just so happen to wind up in a waiting line and you could really, really, really use a friend to help you out... who you gonna call?

How do you like me now?

24 Hour Sugar Rush

The last 24 hours have felt like one long sugar rush. Despite my best efforts children are, well, children. Whoever  coined the expression 'like taking candy from a baby' clearly didn't have any experience with my children. We have taken the 'candy bowl' from them several times already and finally had to resort to stealth tactics like grabbing handfuls while they weren't looking and tossing ( sticky things like lemon heads and lollipops) or hiding (chocolate). Mary and Sarah climbed onto the kitchen counter before we were even finished dinner tonight to have a free for all while we weren't looking. That kinda solidified the next decision we made. Tomorrow the children will wake up to a majorly depleted candy bowl with only pretzels left behind.( There were tons of Halloween pretzels in the bag this year.Yes, you read that right, Halloween pretzels. Apparently putting a picture of a pumpkin on a bag of pretzels turns them into a Halloween treat. Fred is convinced this is actually  a trick , and deserves egging.) They will think Fred went beserko and ate the whole bowl. I am not positive yet where they will get that idea from , but I promise to nourish and nurse it along once it takes root. As for me, well- I did just fine around the candy bowl! I have dropped yet another pound this week and there is no way in hell I would give up that hard earned work to a lame-o-piece of candy. Or two. Or three-hundred. There are not enough Reeces peanut butter cups on the planet to sway me at this point. ( plus the fact that almost no one gave out malted milk whoppers this year saving me from a major temptation! Alleluia!)