I took all of my children on another day of errands this past Tuesday. While we were out we recycled a van full of cardboard; returned books & videos to the library; purchased Closet Organizers for the old school room closet which is now the boys room; purchased supplies for our State-to-State Notebooks and other crafts this coming school year; had lunch with hubby on the grass outside his office; redeemed the children’s Summer Reading Programs at both Barnes & Noble and the library; purchased a BBQ Chicken Pizza for dinner as well as fresh produce at a local farm including: sweet corn, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and the most delicious blackberries ever.
Last Friday we filled the back of our van (with all the seats down!) 4 times with things to donate. The first trip was with all the clothes, toys, etc that I had decluttered over the past couple weeks inside our home. (I even found a place which would TAKE the toys, a huge success in itself!) The following 3 trips were of furniture and other items that have been outside in our “garage” for over a year. I guess we could have tried having a yard sale, but being so busy and living out of town would have made that difficult. It is so nice to have it all out of here!!!
Despite the fact that I injured my finger Tuesday, carrying that bag of corn pictured above, I was stubborn enough still able to make another Brown Scapular Cake (at the request of my children) to celebrate today’s feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (our chosen patron for our homeschool).
I also saw the doctor about my finger today. (Huge success surviving a LONG waiting period at the doctor’s office this morning with a hurt finger and all five children. At least everyone in the office kept saying that I have the best kids ever… Oh and of course the one person that just HAD to ask “Don’t you know what causes that?” ughhhh…) Apparently I did damage the nerves in my finger and am now sporting a bright pink finger brace. The good news is that it is my left hand and I can still use my other hand as well as take pictures!! 😉 The bad news is that it could take a few days, a few weeks, or forever to get better. However, if it is not better in 10 days the doctor will refer me to a Neurologist, in the meantime she wants me to avoid using it and keep it in the brace as much as possible. (What is it with me and hurting my fingers in the summer??) I had to laugh when she pulled out pink gauze to wrap the brace… She said it needed to match my pink shirt. I think it sticks out like a sore thumb! 😉
Oh and one last small success… I have not eaten all of that chocolate in my purse!
Hope your finger feels better soon. Fabulous cake. I linked your last year's cake on my blog for Our Lady of Mount Carmel. I could use some of your hand me down clothes right now, my daughter is growing too fast for me to keep up 🙂
Me too. I will pay for shipping! I am so sorry about your finger…just the thing a mom needs right?
Lovely cake, you have inspired me again that and your magentic saint calendar.
My husband and I are going to sit down tonight and discuss homeschooling for this our first year. I think we have it all set, but we need to tweak it.
HOw funny, I am purging like crazy over here too. I want to start fresh!! sorry for the long book!
Wow – 4 van loads – that's alot of stuff. I love to purge out junk too!
Funny thing about your finger – my sister-in-law has permanent damage to her thumb from a Christmas shopping trip we went on two years ago! She was carrying a bag that was too heavy. It's funny and it's not – hope yours heals to like new!
~Angela
As my son drifted off to sleep in my arms tonight I admired the moment and asked St. Ann to help me be a good mommy to him as she was to Mary. I thought about the beautiful responsibility she had and the responsibility Mary had to Jesus. As I was admiring them my thoughts drifted off to the scapular (was this grace?) It wasn't until I came downstairs to check my e-mail and read some favorite blogs that I realized it's the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Thank you, Jessica, for your beautiful celebrations and helping us see exciting ways of living the liturgy at home. I realized that I know very little about the church teachings on the scapular. I've googled it and found an article on http://www.mydomesticchurch.com/2009/07/our-lady-of-mt-carmel.html
I've entered this in your comments section because I am very humbly wondering if anyone could e-mail me more about what the church teaches about the scapular. I'm a little embarrassed that I no so little. many thanks!
fun.mom.cher@gmaildotcom
Thank you everyone!
Hand-me-downs are great, aren't they?!?!! Wish I had some to send, but I went through the girls clothes back during Lent and the things I passed on went to local friend's little girl — the rest was boxed for this baby. (I still think it is a girl! 😉 )
Angela ~ I don't like hearing that!! It would really stink to have this be permanent. 🙁
Fun ~ Totally grace!! How special!! Here is a link to one of my old posts on the Brown Scapular:
The Brown Scapular – Garment of Grace
So sorry about your finger, I'll pray for healing! It's amazing how much we need one small body part like our finger, isn't it?
Beautiful cake, totally impressed, we didn't do a cake, as we just celebrated my daughter's birthday and still had leftover cake!
is your finger any better and is that your belly sticking out or did you just move the shirt forward to be seen in the picture? i sure hope it is your cute baby bump
r
It is a tiny bit better and yes, that IS my growing tummy! =)
Hi Jessica,
Love your blog!
Isn't it amazing how people feel free to comment about the number of children. We, too, have five kiddos, the oldest of which will be 7 next month. We are forever getting the question you mention. Well, when I was pregnant with my fifth, my husband came up with a response that stopped them (however briefly).
"Don't you know what causes that?" asked someone.
"Yes, I do," Matt said, pausing. "God does."
: )
Thanks again for your great ideas and your tremendous example of patience with your kids. I'm still working on that with mine…
Kelly