7QT - Lip sync challenge, L's a first grader, blanched corn, a crown cake, and Mary

1 - Here's my submission for Kelly's lip sync battle. The gauntlet has been thrown down! We win by the person with the most thumbs up on YouTube so please head over and vote for me, all ya'all!


2 - Speaking of L, she had her first day of 1st grade on Monday. Look at my beautiful sweetie pie!

She's excited about the peanut butter cookies she made for her teacher.

 On her first day of kindergarten she wanted to be the Queen of all Butterflies. Now she wants to be a veterinarian like our friend Liz. She also wants to learn "to do math in the 100's."

Sitting in her desk, ready to learn. What  a cutie!


3 - I'm going to do a little shameless blog promotion here. Anna Hatke (@annamberto) gave some really beautiful answers in her profile in my Instagrammers You Should Follow series. One of my favorite parts is this:

I actually made a conscious choice to be a public account at one point because I realized that it was one small way I could open my house to the stranger at the door. American life is very private, unnaturally private even, and as a Christian I have always loved how Christ encountered people, usually on the streets in the midst of their normal lives, and always first as persons. We don't have a lot of opportunities for that, especially those of us who stay at home raising children. So for me Instagram is like a little commons, a piazza if you will. We can encounter people "on the street." I like that Instagram offers me a chance to show my faith in my daily life and in a way that is natural and uncontrived.

You should go read the rest. And then read Nancy's. And then come back here and finish these quick takes.

Also, I finally got around to making another video and this one has some basic information on Adoration and includes reference to the Yo Dawg meme so you know it's good.


4 - The other day I was super domestic and the kids were super good so I was able to make home made bagels and chocolate chip cookies. I also blanched and froze corn my grandpa brought us from his nephew's farm. It was actually kinda fun.

Blanching

Cold water bathing

Cooling and drying 

Cutting the corn from the cob.

Freezing and ready for the winter. 

5 - Here's what I've been up to today:

 Went to the library to pick up Daddy Long Legs which is my book club's next pick. My library has a drive up window - how cool is that?

I also bought some new earrings at WalMart for $1 and then came home and made a giant rice krispie treat in the shape of a crown for today's feast: The Queenship of Mary.

Also, this happened:

6 - Just a reminder, folks, that Leila Lawler, blogger at Like Mother, Like Daughter and author of The Little Oratory, will be speaking in Washington, Illinois tomorrow, Saturday the 23rd. Hope you can come!

7 - Mary and Courtney.have been on my heart and mind a lot lately. I've been offering up lots of extra prayers and most of my sufferings for Mary and her family. For a very long time I could not read Mary's blog. Courtney, you see, is very much like what JF should have been: blind, diapers, feeding tube, seizures, confined to a wheelchair. He was also supposed to have very severe cerebral palsy so that his body would be locked and contorted but the similarities were enough. Peering into Courtney's world was too painful for me and I felt nothing but guilt. Guilt that my baby was healed while Mary and Courtney suffered so much. For the longest time, every time I looked at Passionate Perseverance I felt like I needed to apologize. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that you're going through this and I'm not." I was still so afraid of the JF who was supposed to be. I was still going through the grief of it all. Heck, every time I tell JF's story I go through the grief of it all.

But then I started to notice something. Mary kept linking up with What I Wore Sunday. She was so cute and sassy and well dressed. She was vibrant and I stopped feeling guilty around her and started wanting to be like her. Her joy, her love, her passion - it was all so palpable. Mary's witness has done more to heal my heart than probably any other blog. God has used her and Courtney and their whole family to bring me closer to Him. I am so grateful.

Because of my gratitude for all Mary has done I am really, truly, sincerely asking you to pray for her, her husband, and children. Courtney's doctor have told them to prepare for the end. Lord have mercy on us all.