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Stealing Jenny, by Ellen Gable

I mentioned it a while ago, but wanted to bring it up again because it is now available for purchase. It will keep you on the edge of your seat and probably destroy your sleep pattern as you stay up to find out what happens. But beyond being a great suspense, it’s also an excellent example of morals in action and family life redeemed. As a fan of Ellen Gable’s work already, I’m now officially getting a t-shirt!

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Weightless: Making Peace with Your Body, by Kate Wicker

Weightless is the kind of book I need to buy in bulk, because it’s the kind of book I think just about every woman I know needs to read. What woman hasn’t questioned her physical appearance, wondered if she should change, felt a prick of unsurety in the face of a full-length mirror?

Kate Wicker is no stranger to body image issues, and she speaks to the reader as if to a close friend–the kind of friend you can tell the hard stuff to, with complete honesty. Kate shares her struggles candidly, even as she pushes you to seek the higher way.

Kate speaks to the hidden part of each of us, to that small voice that whispers, when we least need it, that our butt’s too big or that he can find someone better looking (as though that’s his top priority anyway). Kate brings the love of Jesus to her readers, even as she makes you smile and want to hug her.

Don’t miss this book. Every woman I know deserves a copy.

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Wholly Mary: Mother of God, by Chris Padgett

This book was a delightful surprise and testament to the fact that there is always something more to say about the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Padgett’s words are vivid and he describes deep theology with a sense of humor and complete humility, a combination I found both unexpected and enjoyable.

Whether you have a devotion to Mary or are looking to learn more, I recommend this book as a great addition for your personal (and parish!) library.

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A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms: 52 Companions for Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul, by Lisa Hendey

Over the years, I’ve come to know and love Lisa Hendey. It was a joy and a blessing to read her latest book.

Lisa inspires me with her intimate view of the saints. She not only makes them accessible and relateable from a mom’s point of view, she brings us an opportunity to learn more about the saints in a way that’s uniquely suited for the nitty-gritty of everyday family life. You’ll experience the saints as real people even as you grow in your faith journey.

One of my favorite books this year, and perfect for a group study, an individual devotional, or a gift.

So don’t wait. Preorder it now.

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I’m currently reading an upcoming novel by Karina Fabian (who I met in person–at last!–in August).

Oh wow.

She is so converting me to “speculative fiction” (because I’m more likely to read it if it’s not called sci fi/fantasy, and I realize that probably makes me silly or shallow…but there you have it).

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Speaking of books, today’s the LAST DAY of the Marian Novena of Giveaways at CatholicMom.com.

And WHAT a last day it is!

Stop in, pray with us, and enter to win a great book.

Then pray some more.

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My #1 fan told me the other night that he’s disappointed lately when he reads my 7 Quick Takes posts.

“I always hope for pictures. And there are never pictures anymore.”

This is for him (and for those of you who might not have “liked” me on Facebook yet).

Stop by to see Jen at Conversion Diary for all the fun that is 7 Quick Takes Friday!

But I also want to remember that this space is a little corner where I can share the most precious moments of my current days.

Like, for example, my equestrian daughter and her persistence with a pony who shares a flair for being strong-willed that she meets as though she recognizes just what to do about it:

Or the way the other daughter just falls asleep. Will I ever get tired of her scrunched-up sleeping face?

No, I think I won’t. It won’t be that small or scrunched-up (or willing to be posted in cyberspace) for much longer…

And we can’t forget the newest members of our household:

How about pigtails? (Some of the other women in my girls’ lives have introduced them to a concept known as “Mommy Does Your Hair.” Have I mentioned I’m a tomboy, through and through? These pigtails are darn cute, because they’re on my really adorable children, but I think I may need to start practicing on the Barbie head that’s floating around here somewhere…)

(Oh, and we can’t forget the empty jar she insisted on holding.)

These days are sliding by fast enough without me forgetting to share them…perhaps with a me who will stumble across them in a few years and wonder where those little girls went.

~ 1 ~

I’m back in Ohio this week and enjoying the sun here. It’s not quite the warm we’re used to from our nice long visit to New Orleans, but hanging the laundry on the line, and then taking it down and folding it, and then doing it again…ah, I love spring. I feel reflections brewing inside me.

~ 2 ~

So, funny thing…while I was in New Orleans, I had pretty much no problem with my nausea. Was it because my mother-in-law let me sleep in embarrassingly late? Was it because I ate breakfasts that were far different than what I eat at home (pancakes, French toast, eggs)? Was it just the different setting?

Ah, I wish I knew. I’m back to hugging the toilet and trying to think positive thoughts of holding a downy-haired newborn, smelling the little feet, holding the little body against me.

One particular experience last night gave me a lot of food for thought in terms of uniting myself with the Cross. And I decided it’s highly overrated.

Or maybe what I realized is that it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. I realize that every single time I try to offer up my sufferings.

Any advice from ye wiser than me?

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My sister-in-law introduced me to this Crazy Frog video during a late night computer fest. We laughed so hard that there might have been some bladder failure. (For me, not her.)

~ 4 ~

You know, I’ve never spent much time on YouTube. That might change, because my kids are asking for it. I ended up sharing my computer with them a bit during our trip (mistake #1), and now I not only have the Ladybug Picnic on a permanent loop in my head, I also have a five-year-old asking for PBS Kids whenever she sees me on the computer.

~ 5 ~

My husband is the one who’s always been the YouTube surfer. He’s the one who dug up all the old Sesame Street stuff a few years ago when our oldest was born. Talk about memory lane: how about the Alligator King? Or Number 9 Cutie?

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Recently, a friend emailed me a forward that was an anonymous person’s account of why they felt the thousands of dollars they had spent on horses through the years was worthwhile. I hate that it was an anonymous forward, because I nodded my way through it, and even had tears in my eyes at the end. Among the advantages listed were planning ahead, having compassion, independent learning, increased self-esteem, and understanding the value of money.

When I look at what she has learned and what it will help her become, I can honestly say that I haven’t “wasted” a penny on providing her with horses. I only wish that all children had the same opportunities to learn these lessons from horses before setting out on the road to adulthood.

In the two years we’ve been involved with riding — more this year since our five-year-old started taking actual lessons — I’ve seen all of these and more.

But, really, for me, the payoff is the big smile.

And the lingering smell of horse.

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Registration is now open for the Catholic New Media Celebration. Are you going? Will I see you there?

There are more Quick Takes over at Conversion Diary today.

Junie on Star

Ree on David

Elizabeth leading Trent

Elizabeth on Trent

You were probably expecting FLOWERS, huh?

1. Prepare to laugh

Michelle Reitemeyer, who blogs at Rosetta Stone, has long been a favorite of mine.  She outdid herself last week, though, and I feel it is my duty to share it.

My life right now is a little messy. “Mary, put on your diaper,” I’ll demand. “No, I, Naked,” she’ll respond. Well, hello, Naked.

It’s a post about potty training.  Maybe you think that’s not relevant to you.  And maybe that’s accurate.  But if you’ve ever been around potty training, you might enjoy this (you know, so you can laugh at those of us with toddlers). There’s even a handy quiz if, like Michelle and myself, you’re not sure if it’s time to bite the bullet with your version of “Naked.”

Take a moment, even if it means you won’t be coming back to see me, and read “I, Naked.”

2. Writing what I know (and what I don’t)

I’ve heard the advice, over and over and over, since I’ve started “really” writing that you should write what you know.  I have mixed feelings about this as advice (as I do about most advice), but I find that when I’m back against a wall, it’s what I do: I write what I know.  My latest column at Today’s Catholic Woman is an example of that.  I reflect on Mary’s title as Mother Most Pure and bare my heart a bit as I write about a woman who has been a hero and inspiration to me for as many years as I’ve known her.

On the front of sharing about what I know, however limited it may be, you’ll also find me on the upcoming episode of Catholic Foodie (which isn’t live yet) in a segment called “Mary in the Kitchen.”  If you’re not one to listen to podcasts or online content, I’m not offended.  But, boo for you, you’ll miss the awesome intro my Louisiana nieces, Junie and Ree, did, complete with a cascade of laughter that I think I may make into a ringtone.  (It makes me smile just to think about it.)

3. My lil cowgirl

My five-year-old is doing so well with riding lessons.

She’s been riding Trent.  She still likes him, even though at the lesson before this one, back at the end of January, he got spooked and she was thrown when he took off running.

He looks pretty laid back, doesn’t he?  He is.  And she is learning to control him.

Well, we’re fans…of the horse farm and of Trent the Pony.  Oh, and the smell of horse. 

4. My (un)Book

Over the summer, I announced that I was working on a book.  And now I find myself in the (embarrassing? awkward? weird?) situation of admitting to you that I have discerned that the arrangement I had is not one that will work for my life as it is right now.

That’s not to say there won’t ever be a book.  There just won’t be one soon. 

5. CNMC in Boston

On a more terrifying exciting note, though, I will be speaking at the Catholic New Media Celebration in Boston this August.  Will you be there?

I just realized, this week, that the weekend of the CNMC might conflict with our annual State Fair stuff.  So let’s just be up-front about this:  I really, really love you people to forgo one of my favorite times of the year.

6. Gunsmoke

Meet the new love of my life.

His name is Gunsmoke.  (I love that, on so many levels.)

He has a bit of character, as you can see.

We get along pretty well, so far.  (In answer to the discussion from a while ago, my husband said Yes to riding lessons for me.  What a guy! )

7. This weekend

As I understand it from my husband, this weekend is a big deal.  I suggested full use of the DVR; he maintains that not only would it get full, he wouldn’t have time to watch things back. The problem, I guess, is that he doesn’t take the week off like he used to. So I’ll spend the weekend with the kids, cuddling with him on and off, and entertaining thoughts of greener pastures.

I’m making him play basketball outside with our future basketball star, though!  (Someone has to get pictures!)

Unless it’s raining.  (Which he says he’s hoping for.) (I say we have enough mud!)

Quick Takes Friday happens because Jen makes it so. Check it out at Conversion Diary.

I’ve been wanting to go for three weeks or so, but there is SO MUCH that needs done around our place, so I wasn’t going to suggest it.  When my husband suggested it, though, I couldn’t help but think of how, every time she sees a picture of a horse, my nearly-two-year-old screams “ON!”  I remembered how we took our four-year-old, at about the same age, and she rode a pony for the very first time.

Granted, the nearly-two-year-old has wanted nothing to do with the ponies prior to this.  We offered her a ride the last time we were there, but she was not a fan of that.  No way.  She’d pet them, talk about them, yammer on and on and ON about them, but when we lifted her toward the saddle, she’d stiffen and scream and, in general, make our lives miserable.

When we arrived at the horse farm on Saturday, we saw more cars than we’ve ever seen at the horse farm.  As it turns out, they were having their Fall Farm Festival.

So…

We made stick horses.

We cheered as our four-year-old raced in the stick horse rodeo.

And, of course, we rode ponies.

And we rode some more.

And…we rode some more.

Our nearly-two-year-old has NO compunctions about riding ponies this time.

Neither did I. 

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To the person who found me by typing “can you pray one decade at a-time” into the search, I reply, YES! YOU CAN! (I hope they found this old post or this article link or even my review of one of my favorite books of all time.  But just in case they didn’t, I’m going to say a little prayer for them when I’m praying my rosary.)

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Tuesday (September is the feast of the nativity of Mary, or, in language I can understand, Mary’s birthday (Marymas?). Who better to host a giveaway, and what better giveaway to get, than Ginny Moyer, author of one of my other favorite books, Mary and Me (which I reviewed here).  Win your own copy by leaving a comment at this post over at Ginny’s place.  Good luck!

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I’m back to work this week, and we’ve started homeschooling (two weeks early!). However, it’s going well this week.  Better than I expected. I never would have thought that typing that first sentence, I would follow it with this one: I’m laughing a lot.  There’s nothing like a pair of four-year-olds punctuating their time with “School RULES!” and “Can we keep doing school?” to motivate the rest of my day.  I mean, work makes school possible, right now, and school makes certain other mentalities possible…so it’s really feeling like God’s plan.  I’m glad I had eight weeks of rest to prepare for this, though.

–4–

I’m still digesting all that I’ve learned in the last eight weeks, from my seven sabbatical lessons to my daily bread. I am pretty sure there’s going to be something about life in the present moment and how multitasking is overrated.  (With links, because these aren’t necessarily my thoughts, just things I learned over the summer.)

–5–

Our Jack Russell Terror has an inborn talent for finding critters. It’s an endearing trait.  Really.  On a farm, you need a critter dog and he’s really good at it.

Except with possums.

It’s the nature of possums to be the kind of critter he should like, to get into the barns, to go after the dog food and any number of other garbage-y stuff.  They are worse than raccoons (which is saying something!), in part because JRT can’t kill them.  They play dead.

It’s pretty interesting to watch, and the girls and I happened to be outside playing and bug hunting the other day, when JRT brought us his possum catch.  I told my four-year-old, she of the Never-ending Curiosity, that even though JRT was carrying the possum around and it looked dead.

“It’s dead!” my four-year-old insisted.

“Well,” I told her, “let’s walk down to the barn and see if the possum is here when we come back.”  (This also gave me a chance to teach her an important farm lesson: if you see a possum or coon during the day, stay away and get an adult.)

When we came back, the possum was on his feet, the dog was long gone (having showed us, been admonished to “KILL! IT!,” accepted that as praise, and moved on to the next critter), and my four-year-old was fascinated.  I called the dog over, and he did what he always does with possums — he gave me a confused look, then noticed the possum moving, pounced on it, looked up at me triumphantly, thinking it dead again.

My husband, the Chief-in-charge of Critter Control around here, didn’t get home until we went into the house and the possum made his escape.  He heard the tale, though, from our excited four-year-old, and I think maybe that took some of the sting out of his late hours.

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Speaking of farm life, it’s breeding season for the sheep. That means we have a ram out with the ewes, and the ewes are sporting colored patches on their back ends.  That’s a good sign; it means the ram is doing his work.  It’s also a chance to explain the natural order of things to that child who is asking all the questions around here.  It also means that Shepherd D will have lambs come January (and, actually, he should have fall lambs soon, so we’re going to have some science time in his barn later this month).  I just love lambs (and the photo opps).

–7–

We went to the library three times this week. My four-year-old found the section of horse books.  Guess what we’ve been reading all week?  (No complaints from me or my husband!)

Jen invented and hosts our Quick Takes fun every week, so go give her a visit at Conversion Diary.