Triumph of the Cross

"...with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!"
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died."

~from today's first reading, Numbers 21:4-9

Seriously, remind me to stop complaining! It's too risky.

Visitors, Anyone?

I was absentmindedly walking through the kitchen just now when I spotted it: a solitary piece of sweet potato, undoubtedly dropped by Anastasia during lunch. What had one time been a source of nutritious yumminess had morphed into a wriggling mass of scurrying black dots. My nemeses the ants were in full force thanks to the coordination of a brand-new self-feeder. I do not understand their role in this world(the ants, that is, not the self-feeder) - I'm sure someone on the food chain is thankful for his daily bread, but as for me... I mean, if St. Francis lived in modern suburbia his Canticle would surely say something like "Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Bastard Ant"... right? Sorry St. Francis, no offense meant.

So anyways, in a moment I transformed from your average housewife left to her own devices for 10 minutes alone to a maniacal deranged ant-killing machine. My favorite home remedy is plain old soapy water - it kills them on impact and is of course totally kid friendly, which is especially beneficial since the baby likes to eat whatever is dropped there for round 2 of each meal. I poured a glass of soapy water under the table and immediately discovered an important fact: one does NOT need as much soap as I used. Oh sure the ants were obliterated on impact, but my kitchen floor turned into a skating rink, as I discovered when my knees slid across the floor without the rest of me. Once that mess was cleaned up I realized, "hey! So this is what a really clean kitchen floor looks like!" And to think, it was easy (minus the hyper-extended knees). So I found myself extending my scrub area further and further and... well, before you know it I was scraping spots off the floor with my thumbnail and scrubbing the whole darn floor with hot soapy water. Out Out Damn Spots... and bacteria, and ants, and everything else!

There really was no point to this story, except that if you are considering visiting us I would recommend now - the kitchen floor is immaculate and I would hate for you to miss it.

September 11th

Irving Berlin wrote this song for Kate Smith in 1938. This video clip is from its theatrical debut, "This is the Army"




Still gives me goosebumps. Eternal Rest grant unto them O Lord, and bring comfort and peace to those left behind.

And Life Is Never the Same

This is parenthood, now isn't it - one minute I'm sitting here, minding my own business, basking in the delight that is a calm rhythm of life, and the next minute I look up and WHAT ARE YOU DOING ANASTASIA??? SIT DOWN. Who told that child I was ready for her to become mobile? Because they lied. I am NOT ready for her to be cruising along furniture and stretching out to transfer that little body on its toes from one object to another. I know what happens after this and I'm telling you I'm not ready.

Don't misread this and think she's on the verge of walking tomorrow; she isn't. But first you blink and think "Awww, that's cute that she's crawling a little bit and can now chase her toys. She's so happy to be able to do that, and it's nice and SLOW . Yup, that's really cute to watch." Then suddenly one day you're loading the dishwasher, or even better you're *ahem* indisposed and you hear a crash from the other room and the toddler says "No Anastasia!" and so you defy nature and stop what you're doing to run into the room and THE BABY ISN'T IN VIEW. And you look around the toy stroller... and under the table... and the potty seat... and under the laundry basket... Just as you see the open gate at the top of the stairs and your heart is starting to stammer you find the Baby behind the front door. WHAT??? BEHIND the DOOR? It takes only a quick glance at the toddler to realize that this is not, in fact, her fault. And that stammering heart just stops and your chin hits the floor because that means she maneuvered her way around enough obstacles to qualify for military training, including climbing over a box and under a chair and has pulled the door open, blocking her face which then peeks out because she knows she has just played the greatest game of peek-a-boo ever.

Sign me up for the funny farm now.

Quotable Quotes

Bella was singing (surprise, surprise) while playing, engaged in a lively rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle." She stops suddenly, and places her pointer finger to her chin for a moment. Then she turns to me with that same little finger and says very thoughtfully, "Mommy, YOU sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and I will sing 'ABCs'." (Go ahead, sing them both to yourself - they're the same tune!) She recognized the tune, although she was not able to actually sing a different song at the same time. Very cute, though!


While driving down one of our normal back roads we went over a hill at a speed that produces that free-fall feeling in the pit of your stomach. Apparently Bella does not like that feeling.
Bella: "Too high, Mama!"
It took me a moment to figure out she meant "too fast!"
Me: "ok, sweetie, I slowed down. We'll go gently over the hills."
Now, whenever we are on that road my backseat driver calls out loudly, "SLOW DOWN, MOMMY!" (why yes, Officer, my 2-year-old just told me the same thing...) (just kidding)


Usual Morning around here: "Mama, drink your coffee. It make you feel better."