And I wonder why I suffer from mommy guilt?

As Paul was released from his time out today, still quite upset about the situation, he sobs out, "You are disappointing me, Mommy."

Disclaimer: His father is a lawyer.

7 Quick Takes Friday

********** 1 **********

I just mopped my kitchen floor with baby wipes. My German grandmother is turning over in her grave. Jane got into the wipe box, taking several generous handfuls of wipes and spreading them around the none-too-clean living room carpet. Instead of just throwing them out, I figured I might as well clean up my kitchen floor, which I mopped yesterday but was already disgusting. Who puts white tile in the kitchen? The floor looked great, but I've discovered that baby wipes used liberally on white tile leave a slight sticky residue. This is a hint I bet you'd never learn from Heloise.

********** 2 ************

Lucy's favorite new saying: "Where's my boy Paul?" She sounds like she's in a rap video. I don't know where she picks up this kind of stuff, but I mainly blame Aunt Ruth.

********** 3 ***********

The new yard has an established asparagus patch in it. It's producing an enormous amount of asparagus. There are two varieties: green and purple. The purple is outstanding, very tender. There is one particular giant stalk that I've just let grow to see how big it would get. It is now as tall as Paul. It's a little scary.

********** 4 **********

One of my closest friends just started a blog on her homeschooling experiences at The Chickadee Nest. She links to lots of great, free homeschooling resources. And of course, there are lots of pictures of her super-cute kiddos!

********** 5 **********

Last week I got these fabulous mommy calling cards. I love the idea of having a "mom" business card. Plus I find it useful for my volunteer and political activities to have my contact information ready to hand out. And these particular cards were just perfect. I found the graphic on a note card by the designer and asked her to put it on a card. It perfectly captures my kids!

********** 6 *********

I broke down and bought Davy Crockett off amazon.com yesterday. After having it checked out from the local library almost continuously for the past two months, I felt it was time.

Paul spends most of his time these days running around wearing only underwear and a loin cloth using a toy hammer as a tomahawk and trying to whistle like a thrush, "a Tennessee thrush."

********** 7 **********

My self-imposed ban on cable news has continued pretty successfully since the results of the November elections. I feel my blogging is much less interesting, but so is my general emotional state. Given the temperament of the women in my family, I think this is a good thing.

"This is wonderful!"

Driving in the car this week...

Four year old Paul: "Why is spring called Easter?"

Momma: "Easter happens in the spring, but they aren't the same thing. Spring is the season when the weather gets warmer. Easter happens in the spring, but Easter is the time when we remember and celebrate Jesus rising from the dead."

Paul: "Oh."

Two year old Lucy chimes in: "Jesus rises from the dead?"

Momma: "Yes, Jesus rose from the dead."

Lucy: "Jesus rose from the dead?"

Momma: "Yes."

Lucy: "Jesus rose from the dead?"

Momma: "Yes."

Lucy excitedly: "This...this is wonderful!"

The glory and joy of Easter only hits her a week late.

We're Partied Out AGAIN!

Some favorite pictures from my brother Josh's wedding...

Drinking and dancing? No problem for Jane.

Paul goes for the older women.

Lucy has her dancing shoes on...well, her mommy's dancing shoes to tell the truth.

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S!

Easter Picture Parade

He is Risen! Alleluia!

Jane gets Easter Sunday of to the right start with her morning "tea bottle."

Then we hit the Easter baskets...

Time to get ready for Mass. Of course, Lucy makes time for a little target practice.

Naturally, everyone was in the mood for pictures. (Mommy's allowed her little jokes.)

Here's the least offensive of the family pictures.

Then it's inside for Easter brunch, featuring the world's best ham thanks to this recipe from my friend Alton Brown.

Finally, time to hunt eggs...

Paul's not just hunting eggs, he is tracking - Davy Crockett style.

Alleluia!!

7 Quick Takes Friday

********** 1 **********

I know it has been bad around here. I can barely remember the last time I posted. And I can't really blame my MIA blogging status on unpacking because that has been pretty much done. I've just had nothing interesting to say lately. Really. I feel like my remaining brain cells are slipping away. No one would believe I was smart in college. I blame text messaging. I read an article today that said regular text messaging and cell phone use can cause your IQ to lower faster than smoking marijuana.

********** 2 **********

I do have one excuse for the light blogging. My husband just returned from a five day business trip. I know for many of you this is nothing, but my husband only traveled twice for work in the last eight years and both of those times were only two day trips. So this was BIG for me.

********* 3 **********

The kids and I got our time only together off to a spectacular start. We went to IKEA on Monday morning. It's a kids' favorite superstore. The trip was fun for all....until it was time to go. After I had buckled everyone up in the car, handed out snacks and drinks, and put on a DVD, a nice lady walking by pointed out to me that one of my back tires was flat. Sigh.

Two hours later, roadside assistance shows up. As the gentleman finishes the job, I open the van door to let him put the flat tire inside. Jane promptly falls out of the van head first. Sigh.

Praise the Lord, Jane suffered nothing worse than a nice, juicy strawberry on her forehead just in time for Easter pictures.

********** 4 **********

Once in a great while, the truth finally comes out. We had one great example of it this past week when one of Oprah's pet doctors, Dr. Oz, told Michael J. Fox on The Oprah Show that the "stem cell debate is over" and that it is adult stem cells, not embryonic stem cells, that provide our best chance at finding a cure for Parkinson's Disease. Better late than never, I guess.

********** 5 **********

Talking about truth and lies, this week we in Virginia saw a disgusting spectacle of dishonest vilification of our GOP State Party Chairman, Jeff Frederick, by a handful of elite party insiders. It ended with the Republican State Central Committee removing Frederick as Chairman, overturning the will of its rank-and-file members who voted overwhelmingly for Jeff to become Chairman last year.

Despite the trumped up charges members of the central committee paraded out, it was all too clear to all of us why Jeff was ousted. He is a committed conservative who actually cares about promoting Republican principles. He doesn't sell out when the going gets tough. It's disheartening to see the party insiders work so hard to destroy the very type of person who makes up their base of support - a pro-life, pro-second amendment, limited government Reagan conservative.

If they don't watch, they are going to start losing us.

********** 6 **********

After the heartbreak of Virginia politics this week, I was very heartened to hear that the Vatican is taking a tough stance with the Obama administration over its abortion policy. The administration has floated three different names for the new ambassador to the Holy See. Each of the names has been quietly rejected because of the individual's pro-abortion stance.

********** 7 **********

I can't believe I got out six semi-coherent thoughts. Hopefully, my brain cells will start plumping up again and blogging will resume at a normal rate.

Avoiding the Near Occasion of Sin

Momma: "We can never hit our sisters. No matter what."

Paul: "What about sisters hitting brothers?"

Momma: "Sister can't hit brothers; brothers can't hit sisters. No hitting ever. We need to change. We need to act more kindly and gently."

Paul: "And watch where we are going."