Ta-da!

Check it out! I did a bit of online research (i.e., I decided to ask "Googloise" - which, if you're scratching your head, would be my lame combination of "Google" and "Heloise") and I discovered that rubbing alcohol was suggested to remove permanent marker from the wall. Of course, I should have known! Rubbing alcohol takes care of everything. Ink on your leather couch? Rubbing alcohol will remove it. Germs on your thermometer? Rubbing alcohol will kill them. Dirty laundry on your floor? Rubbing alcohol will tidy up AND train your kids to pick up after themselves -- whoops, I'm daydreaming.

So anyway, approximately 89 alcohol-, ink-, and paint-soaked cotton balls and a half bottle of rubbing alcohol later, I'm left with this:

Not bad, huh? You can still see the markings, ever so faintly orange. And it really did take off a layer of paint. But what a vast improvement! Someday I'll have to prime and paint that spot, but now it can be done when we're ready to sell the house, as opposed to, oh... tomorrow afternoon.

Take THAT, Sharpie!


A lesson in household baby-proofing

Hey, has anyone seen my red Sharpie? Don't worry, the baby couldn't possibly have it; it's WAY out of her reach.

Or... maybe it isn't. I think the girl has Inspector Gadget arms. How am I going to clean this off??? The Magic Eraser didn't do a thing. Anybody have a good tip for removing permanent marker from the wall? (You know, other than primer and paint?)

I'm filing this under "Cute Kids", but to be honest, I have to say this is one of the less cute things she's done.

Another not so cute thing she did was break the wireless network adapter.

So, no internet on the desktop computer until we can move it into the spare bedroom (where the modem and router are) and physically plug it in. Maybe that will turn out to be a good thing - we'll all spend less time on the computer. Sounds rather appropriate for Lent, no?

Still, she's lucky she's so darn cute.


Catholic literature and M&Ms

Originally I took this picture to include with a post about the M&M prayer project. But when I looked at the picture, I thought it was interesting to see the books on the shelf behind the jars. That's one of my Catholic shelves. There is a really nice assortment of Catholic books there, from fiction, to apologetics, to theology, to motherhood. (And notice Sarah Palin's book on the shelf below - did you know her family was Catholic when she was young? I read that in her book. Fascinating.)

But since you asked, the M&M project is going very well. See how many M&Ms they each have after just a few days? They're quite fascinated with finding new ways to earn M&Ms for themselves AND for each other. ("Mom, Kayla just gave me the last bite of her waffle! She sacrificed!!") And it might be curbing a problem we've been dealing with of late, namely Carrie's refusal to accept apologies when she has been wronged. Usually she screams "NO!" and refuses to listen to the penitent, but now that she knows that accepting an apology will earn her a pink M&M, she has become much more receptive. I am naturally hoping she'll get so used to this over the next 6 weeks that it will continue after Lent. Perhaps forgiveness will become a habit? We shall see.


Alleluia, Alleluia!

We're shouting and singing Alleluia all day today. We're doing our best to get it out of our systems, because tonight after dinner, we'll bury the Alleluia and not shout, sing, or say it again until Easter.

All our prayers today have been punctuated with an extra "Alleluia!" at the end. Actually it's really cute; Carrie keeps mixing it up and shouting "Alleyoolah!"

I splurged on foam letters from Michael's, $1 each, and put them up on the mantel, just for today.

Alleluia on the mantle

We're milking this word for all it's worth today. Tonight, we'll take them down and "bury" them in a shoebox. Tomorrow, they'll be replaced by new letters, which are not as fun and fancy.

Repent on the mantle

I would have liked to get foam or wooden craft letters for "Repent" as well, but I couldn't find them all in purple at Michael's, and all I could find elsewhere were wooden letters at $2.29 each. That would have been almost $15 and I still would have had to paint them. So I typed the word into Word, chose a font I liked, printed it out on heavy cardstock, cut out the letters, painted them purple, reinforced them with craft sticks, and taped them together.

Whew! That was almost as exhausting to describe as it was to actually do the project! No, I'm kidding, it was fun, and the kids enjoyed helping....

Okay, I admit it, I didn't let them help. I made them watch. I'm a terrible, control-freak, perfectionist mother, and I did the whole darn thing myself.

But I promise I will get them involved during Lent. We have a giant calendar to keep track of important events and activities...

Lenten calendar

Kind of bare so far, huh? And I need to make another one for the rest of Lent. And kindly try not to notice that I got carried away while writing in the dates and tried to make this year a leap year. Luckily Logan stepped in and fixed it, as you can see. (See? Who says I don't let the kids help with projects?)

I also decided to go ahead with the jellybean prayer activity, but I changed it to M&Ms, which are not completely disgusting. :) The kids are so ready for this one. They each have a glass jar with their name on it, and they're eager to start earning those M&Ms.

And I have at the ready some coloring pages for the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary. I will color the pictures...

okay, I'll let the kids color the pictures...

and we'll put them up on the wall (if I can find a bare spot - we have an awful lot of projects on the walls right now!) so they can have a visual as we pray one sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary each day, as a family. Something I've been wanting us to do for years. Maybe someday we'll pray an entire Rosary each day, but this will be a nice start.

For myself, I've printed out the Morning Offering and pasted it onto a piece of blue construction paper to make it pretty. I stuck it on the wall in our bedroom, under the crucifix, to help me remember to say it first thing in the morning each day. I often forget. This is something I'd like to change. My day always goes better when I start out by offering it to God.

What an ugly patch on the wall. We really ought to fix that. :)

And finally, I've decided to do something other than give up Starbucks this year. Instead of fasting from coffee, I'll be fasting from... raising my voice. No more yelling at the kids! I'm sure they'll like this one much better than giving up Starbucks.

Especially since if I gave up Starbucks, I'd probably be extra cranky, and I'd yell even more.

So, until tomorrow... Alleluia, alleluia, ALLELUIA!!


Correction

Logan: Hey Mom, I figured something out! Four times three is fourteen!

Me: Are you sure, Logan? Let me show you something... here's four blocks, four blocks, and four blocks. How many is that?

Logan: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, oops!



  • About Me

    I'm Erin, a mostly-stay-at-home Catholic homeschooling mom of 3. I love all things domestic - even cleaning the bathrooms! I call myself moderately crunchy because I tend toward natural living, but I'm far from extreme. I practice full-term breastfeeding, I like to bake bread, and I sometimes attempt to grow my own vegetables, but I also use disposable diapers and eat boxed mac and cheese. It's all about balance, right? ;-) I strive each day for holiness (though daily I fail), and I am constantly looking for ways to incorporate my faith into our daily routine. I've got a long way to go, but I firmly believe "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me"! (Phil 4:13)
  • On The Menu for February…

    As Lent begins in February, we'll be keeping it very simple this month!

    Hamburgers
    Caribbean beans & rice
    Meatloaf
    Spaghetti
    Turkey burgers
    Beef stroganoff
    Taco soup
    Zucchini casserole
    Chicken burritos
    Southwestern chicken
    Lentil chili
    Crock pot turkey chili

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