I’ve just spend a good 20 minutes or so deleting porn trackbacks and comments from my blog. I usually have a couple to delete each morning but today they surely have outdone themselves.

Blog Notes:

Mrs. Wilt is back at The Sparrow’s Nest and she has found some useful printables at Martha Stewarts’s website.

My friend, Jeanne, has been playing around in OneTrueMedia.com and put together some pretty videos.

Kim, who always has great ideas, is thinking about Christmas shopping already and offers ideas for Christmas Gifts for Less.

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There is a beautiful spirit breathing now
Its mellowed richness on the clustered trees,
And, from a beaker full of richest dyes,
Pouring new glory on the autumn woods,
And dipping in warm light the pillared clouds.
Morn on the mountain, like a summer bird,
Lifts up her purple wing, and in the vales
The gentle wind, a sweet and passionate wooer,
Kisses the blushing leaf, and stirs up life
Within the solemn woods of ash deep-crimsoned,
And silver beech, and maple yellow-leaved,
Where Autumn, like a faint old man, sits down
By the wayside a-weary.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

Michael suprised me this past weekend with finding and putting my electric throw on our bed. I guess he was tired of my cold feet. *smile* He tried to find our electric blanket but had no luck…I can’t remember what I did with it! I know it’s got to be upstairs somewhere.

I spent yesterday homeschooling, cleaning out and organizing a kitchen cupboard, baking bread, a cake, making peanut butter chocolate fudge and macaroni and cheese in the crockpot, which came out suprisingly tasty. Of course anything with that much butter in it had to be good.

I also went to Target to pick up a few things and came home with the cutest Autumn sweaters for Bailey and Yumi! Michael didn’t complain too much (he hates when I don’t follow the budget and they were defnitely not in the budget but they were on sale for only $7/ea.) because they look so darn cute in them. I’ll post a picture of them wearing them soon.

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Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

1 lb. dry macaroni
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
12-oz. can evaporated milk
Campbell’s cheddar cheese soup - 10 3/4 oz.
1 cup milk
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
salt & pepper to taste

1. Spray crockpot with Pam.
2. Cook macaroni al dente. Drain and pour into crockpot. (I used 1/2 macaroni & 1/2 rotelle)
3. Cut butter into chunks and mix into hot macaroni until melted.
4. Combine eggs, evaporated milk, soup, milk, dry mustard and garlic powder. Add 3 cups cheese and pour over macaroni & mix well.
5. Cook on low 4 hours. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and cook an additional 15 minutes or until melted.
6. Taste…season with salt and pepper.

Moms selling popcorn in front of Giant for our Scouts…who are out camping this weekend!

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In Autumn

They’re coming down in showers,
The leaves all gold and red;
They’re covering the little flowers,
And tucking them in bed.
They’ve spread a fairy carpet
All up and down the street;
And when we skip along to school,
They rustle ‘neath our feet.
~Fannie Montgomery~

The Prayer of Quiet is regarded by all writers on mystical theology as one of the degrees of contemplation. It has to be distinguished therefore from meditation and from affective prayer. It holds an intermediary place between the latter and the prayer of union. As the name implies the prayer of quiet is that in which the soul experiences an extraordinary peace and rest, accompanied by delight or pleasure in contemplating God as present. In this prayer God gives to the soul an intellectual knowledge of His presence, and makes it feel that it is really in communication with Him, although He does this in a somewhat obscure manner. The manifestation increases in distinctness, as the union with God becomes of a higher order. This mystic gift cannot be acquired, because it is supernatural. It is God Himself who makes His presence felt in the inmost soul. The certain sight of God therein obtained is not the same as the light of faith, though it is founded upon faith. The gift of wisdom is especially employed in this degree, as it is in every degree of contemplation. According to Scaramelli the office of this gift, at least to a certain extent, is to render God present to the soul and so much the more present as the gift is more abundant. Some authors say that this is not to be understood of the ordinary gift of wisdom which is necessarily connected with sanctifying grace and is possessed by every just man, but of wisdom as one of the charismata or extraordinary graces of the Holy Ghost, specially granted to privileged souls.

• At first the prayer of quiet is given from time to time only and then merely for a few minutes.
• It takes place when the soul has already arrived at the prayer of recollection and silence, or what some authors call the prayer of simplicity.
• A degree of prayer is not a definite state excluding reversions to former states.
• A time often comes when the prayer of quiet is not only very frequent but habitual. In this case it occurs not only at the time set for prayer, but every time that the thought of God presents itself.
• Even then it is subject to interruptions and alterations of intensity, sometimes strong and sometimes weak.

The prayer of quiet does not entirely impede the exercise of the faculties of the soul. The will alone remains captive. The intellect and memory appear to have greater activity for the things of God in this state, but not so much for worldly affairs. They may even escape the bounds of restraint and wander on strange and useless thoughts, and yet the will, attracted by the charm of the Divine presence, continues its delights, not wholly in a passive way, but capable of eliciting fervent affections and aspirations. As to the bodily senses St. Francis de Sales tells us that persons during the prayer of quiet can hear and remember things said near them; and, quoting St. Teresa, he observes that it is a type of superstition to be so jealous of our repose as to refrain from coughing, and almost from breathing for fear of losing it. God who is the author of this peace will not deprive us of it for unavoidable bodily motions, or even for involuntary wanderings of the imagination. The spiritual fruits are:

• interior peace which remains after the time of prayer,
• profound humility,
• aptitude and a disposition for spiritual duties,
• a heavenly light in the intellect, and
• stability of the will in goodness.

It is by such fruits true mystics may be discerned and distinguished from false mystics. The Catholic Encyclopedia

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No Time To Pray

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish, I didn’t have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me and grew heavier with each task;
Why doesn’t God help me, I wondered; He answered, “You didn’t ask.”

I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak;
I wondered why God didn’t show me - He said, “But you didn’t seek.”

I tried to come into God’s presence; I used all my keys at the lock;
God gently and lovingly chided, “My child, you didn’t knock.”

I woke up early this morning and paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.
~Grace Naessens~

Saturday’s seem to be coming up so quickly these days. I didn’t have time to look for anything last night (selling Boy Scout popcorn for the twins who are camping this weekend) and I’m off again this morning to our local Giant Food store to do it again. I don’t particularly like standing in freezing cold weather but I am very much enjoying talking with the other Moms. We finished off the evening at Denny’s, having breakfast for a late evening meal…something that I don’t often get a chance to do.

Please wish us lots of sales this weekend as our troop is badly in need of basic equipment!

I’ve had a few technical difficulties with my blog that I’m trying to correct. I installed FrontPage Extensions on my website and when it didn’t work right, I uninstalled them, but for some reason when I did that it messed up the categories on my blog. To get it working again I had to delete all of the categories, so now I am going post by post, recreating them. Michael always says that I know just enough to be dangerous…I really wish I knew how to fix things without having to fiddle with it. At least all of my websites are working correctly and I didn’t delete anything so I guess I should count my blessings. *smile*

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Le Jardin de Miss Clara is an enchanting little website full of whimsical artsy items. For Halloween items visit Halloween and Vine.

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SHIVERS

Bushes quiver
where shadows lean,
and not a sliver
of moon is seen.

got a makeover this morning. If you get a chance to visit, please let me know if you find any broken images. I”ve decided to just showcase my digital art here though I will still offer freebies on my other websites…if I ever get around to updating them! *smile*

and created a little pumpkin patch sweetie.

Autumn

When the trees their summer splendor
Change to raiment red and gold,
When the summer moon turns mellow,
And the nights are getting cold;
When the squirrels hide their acorns,
And the woodchucks disappear;
Then we know that it is autumn,
Loveliest season of the year.
~Charlotte L Riser~

Click to view full-sized image.

Not photos of my weight loss though I have been tempted upon occasion to post one so you all could see what I looked like 90 pounds heavier. On second thought, I don’t want any reminders of what I looked like then. LOL

Anyway, here’s my newest poser render. This is a before…before I bring her into Photoshop and hopefully make her as pretty as my Autumn Baby. I’ll post the finished image when I…finish. *smile*

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Some online homeschooling autumn-y things to do…

Online Autumn Cloze

Online Autumn Word Scramble

Leaf Invaders

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Really! Temps are back to almost 80 today (and tomorrow too) but when the twins have their next boy scout campout, this weekend, the temps are supposed to drop back into the 50’s for a daytime high. Oh well, they don’t seem to have suffered too much from last Friday and Saturday’s cold and rain. They did go to bed early last night and slept quite late this morning though, recovering from their fun-filled weekend. *smile*

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Blog Notes:

Love 2 Learn Blog has the first Catholic Homeschooling Carnival…and I’m on it, so go visit. *smile*

Kim has two great posts on cleaning, organizing and decluttering, HERE and HERE. Visit the links to Pottery Barn and drool…LOL

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October’s Party

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.
~George Cooper~

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The house is so quiet without the twins running in and out. It’s a boy scout camping weekend. A nasty, cold, rainy one and I can’t help but worry about them. Michael is leaving first thing this morning to go pick them up (about an hours drive away) so they can hopefully be back in time for Mass.

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I guess I can start posting Hallowe’en graphics now. Please feel free to download.

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Great Pumpkin Is Comin’ To Town

Oh, you better not shriek, you better not groan,
You better not howl, you better not moan,
Great Pumpkin is coming to town!
He’s going to find out from folks that he meets,
Who deserves tricks and who deserves treats;
Great Pumpkin is coming to town!
He’ll search in every pumpkin patch, haunted houses far and near;
To see if you’ve been spreading gloom, or bringing lots of cheer!
So you better not shriek, you better not groan,
You better not howl, you better not moan;
Great pumpkin is coming to town!!

We’ve had another busy week here again. Our homeschool co-op met yesterday for a class in “farmers and the environment.” Quinn decided to be a disruptive little stinker so he and I spent the time in the library where he kept insisting that I sit in this tiny little rocking chair while he performed eensy, weensy spider in the little puppet theatre they have set up. *smile*

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Today was Quinn’s second pottery class. It went better than last time though it didn’t start out too great. Almost as soon as I had paid Mr. Chris for a month’s worth of lessons, Quinn decided that he wanted to go home. *smile* I coaxed him to the table and he eventually had a great time flattening, rolling, and pulling apart the clay. We made a leaf, an acorn and a small pumpkin.

We also had an amusing potty incident today…Quinn pooped (HOORAY) in the potty and as we were standing beside the toilet saying goodbye (he always tells his poop, as it flushes away, “I’ll miss you, poo-poo!”) he started to pee, all over my bathroom floor and rug, apologizing the entire time he was doing it. Well, one time in the potty is better than no time, right? *smile*

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The woods are full of fairies;
The sea is full of fish;
The trees are full of golden leaves;
Let’s make an Autumn wish.