This one is for my friends at Sanctus Simplicitus. They are having a giveaway of their wonderful daily planners! Visit them here for your chance to get one of these beautiful books:

http://www.sanctussimplicitus.com/1/post/2013/04/its-almost-the-end-of-the-school-year-how-about-a-planner-give-a-way.html

I have used this planner for the last 2 years, and it is my favorite Catholic one for both homeschooling and daily non-academic planning. The articles and artwork inside are beautiful and inspirational.  I hope you will support this Catholic family endeavor by subscribing to their newsletter and using their planners!

“What’s your favorite tip for teaching your littlelest littles? If you don’t have a favorite tip yet, what makes you nervous?”

So,  let’s have some fun with it, shall we?

Here is a list of my favorite tips for teaching the littlest littles:

1.  No paint.  Unless they are wearing already-stained clothes and are at someone else’s house, and that someone else likes cleaning paint off children.

2.  That’s pretty much my favorite right there.

That was easy!  Now for the “What makes you nervous” part.

1. Paint near littlest littles.

2. Littles near paint.

3. Littles on or near ladders and paint.

4. Painting the back room on a ladder with paint, while no one is watching the littles. (True story).

It was the night of Real Mike’s Commissioning into the US Air Force as a Second Lieutenant.  Real Mike looked handsome in his uniform, and we all were so proud of him! Dad (a USAF Lieutenant Colonel) Swore him in, and Mom, together with Aunti Mimi and Aunt Barbara pinned on his new rank insignia.

After the ceremony there was a little reception with snacks and cake, so we took Mini-Mike over to the bar to see what there was.  First, Mini-Mike took a ride in Ian’s shirt pocket with the silverware and napkins.  He had a great view of everything there was to eat.

Mini-Mike decided that the Chex Mix looked good, but he wanted a closer look.

Wow, what a big cake!  No, Mini-Mike, you may NOT jump on it or lick the frosting.

After the long ceremony and all that cake, Mini-Mike was tired.  He had a good sleep in the camera case with the camera, and was ready to tour Real Mike’s Alma Mater the next day.  Stay tuned for Mini-Mike’s next adventure!

Oops!

And then, once I had the bread in the oven and turned on the timer, someone turned off the oven!  I had to guess about how much time to leave it in the oven to bake.

Another oops!

It still tasted yummy!

Finally, we got some pretty sandwich loaves!

Yummy!

I found a cute mouse in the kitchen, so I gave him a cookie.

Squeek! Squeek!

Put cooked meals in freezer so you won’t feel guilty about not feeding your family after the baby comes. (You’ll still feel guilty but that’s ok)

Paint a room or two so that hideous (groovy?) wallpaper does not haunt you and make you feel guilty (I don’t know why it should make you feel guilty, but I have to fit guilt into every item on the list).

Organize all of your children’s art work AND baby books. If you don’t have baby books for all of your children, make some now before it’s too late! Don’t forget to include the lock of hair from their first haircut! Use acid- and lignin-free everything so you don’t RUIN EVERYTHING!!!!!

Sew, knit or crochet a Christmas stocking for each of your children. You may not use glue of any kind.  If you have a gold-plated needle, use it for this project.  Have the gold re-plated because it will rub off.

Hand-dip a baptismal candle from beeswax from your own bees, and decorate it with hand-dyed wax. The design on the candle should depict our Lord’s baptism in the Jordan, or at least the central panel from the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling. If you didn’t do this for the other kids, get crackin’, girl! (Note: You cannot use the same picture on different candles. Each child needs his or her own picture, preferably with a Biblical theme.  Scenes from LOTR are acceptable too)

Hand-write invitations to baby’s baptism, using your best calligraphy. If you don’t know how to do calligraphy you are a bad Mommy. Organize a reception for after the baptism. Make sure you have painted the walls in your reception hall to match the 3-tier cake (handmade) and invitations. What? You don’t have a reception hall? Tsk, tsk!

Go to confession (all that guilt, ya know).

And finally, enjoy these last few weeks of pregnancy!   You will not have a good excuse to eat that entire box of Ding-Dongs after the baby comes.

The years have passed quickly and quietly. We now have 10 children, and something between 12 and 20 hens. The closest Walmart is closer than it was 12 years ago, and the drive into town doesn’t seem that long any more. Still, it is a quiet life; a good life. A few chickens, a few kids, dreams of a cow and feeding our family from our bit of earth. I wish everyone could experience this kind of peace, even amidst worries of paying the mortgage on time. It is quiet enough to hear God’s voice and lively enough to keep us young (or insane. I can never tell which). God is good. We have what we need most of the time, and we learn to trust in Him when we don’t.

You can see, beyond the sink, that the wall painting is incomplete. That is where the new pantry will go.

Here is the old pantry, in a new corner for now.

By a very unbelievably amazing coincidence, the kids just found REAL GOLD NUGGETS just lying on our driveway!  I can’t believe we’ve never found these before!  Do you think the coin deposit machine at the bank will accept them?

Robert & Luis cut and removed the damaged drywall, as well as the wet insulation.

Guess what? the built-in pantry cupboard was in the way! It had to be removed (and replaced because it was damaged) too!

The island had to be removed, so we asked if they could just put the electrical outlet in the floor and we’ll replace the island with something bigger and easier to clean.  Maybe a stainless steel work station like in a restaurant kitchen.

The sink cabinet has to go, too, so why don’t we just remove it completely and replace the floor under it all the way to the wall? Ian found a 3-basin restaurant sink , so let’s put that in instead!

Big, noisy machines were brought in and plugged in to blow the floor dry enough to make an assessment: Part of the subfloor must go! Here Drew is cutting out the damaged subfloor:

Since the vinyl was all one huge piece, from the kitchen, through the mudroom, and including the big bathroom, and it wasn’t glued down, ALL of it had to be removed, and it ALL had to be replaced.

Ian & I took out one more small cabinet that was next to the stove as well, so the new floor will go all the way to the wall and we’ll replace the cabinet with a rolling cart.

We painted the wall behind the sink to match the rest of the room, since there won’t be a cabinet in front of it any more.

Bob & Jaret are gluing in the new floor here.  They came the day after Drew:

The bathroom is done! Just have to replace the toilet and trim:

We like the look so much , we might just leave these on the porch.  Maybe set them up on cinder blocks?  Plant some petunias in the porcelain bowl?

The Colorado ResCon guys were really taking the time to lay the floor perfectly and match up the seam in mudroom:

Jaret made the effort to slice invisible slivers from the edges of the flooring so that no one could tell they weren’t one continuous piece.

Day 2: Workers were on the job half an hour BEFORE they said they’d even be here!  By 10:45 they were done!

Next: Tomorrow at 8 AM the plumber comes to install this baby:

Stay Tuned!

It all started because I have a running joke with my wonderful, funny, beautiful sister-in-law about how much my brother loves bacon.  Whenever I see something funny or interesting on the Internet about bacon (and what isn’t interesting about bacon?), I send her a link or a picture.

She suggested I make my own bacon post, so here are my favorite bacon finds!  ENJOY! (I know you will!)

First, here is a helpful flowchart for those uninitiated into the wonders of bacon:

Ok, now that you are convinced of the power of bacon, you want to share it with your loved ones.  Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day, so why don’t we explore some options here?

Let’s start with Bacon Stuffed Waffles!

Ok.  What goes well with waffles?

Of course!

And, after breakfast, comes lunch!  You will, of course, want one of these classics:

Here is a local classic for you locavores out there  (if you happen to live in Denver)

It’s hard to choose just one, isn’t it?  Aw, go ahead!  Eat all of them!

Now go run a marathon to burn off the calories.

It’s midafternoon, and you are a bit peckish.  Don’t reach for that Twinkie! It’s bad for you!  Instead,  grab some of these babies:

Now, dinnertime is rolling around.  What to serve?  Round out your day (and I DO mean ROUND) with the Bacon Explosion (it even has its own fan page on Facebook):

Cardiac arrest, here I come!

Now, you don’t want to eat this masterpiece on just a plain old table with no decoration!  What would be more appropriate than:

Dipped in brown sugar, they double as dessert!

Ok, table is set, dinner is cooking.  What will you wear for this special occasion?  How about WOWing them with this tasteful (hehe) chapeau?

Oolala!

Now I know what you are thinking.  You are thinking, “Gee, this is wonderful, but all this bacon will make me die and I won’t be able to enjoy bacon anymore!”  Fear not!  We’ve got you covered: