Picture of John Paul
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I love this picture of John Paul in a tree.
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The Tiger Salamander Pictures
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Another window-well beauty. These always fall in our wells in the fall.
Alex enjoys this.
Read about the salamander here.
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Pocket Gopher
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We get one of these guys in our window-wells every once in a while. Look at his ribs! He must have not eaten n a while.
He has all his food stuffed in his cheeks. Sometimes he spits it all out in a little pile.
He is grooming now.
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Pictures of My Carnivorous Plants
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My favorite pitcher plant. It has been thriving and catching it’s own bugs since June. I don’t know what causes the brown tips on the plant.
The new pitchers growing.
The black stuff at the bottom of this pitcher are indigestible exoskeletons of past meals.
A venus fly trap in it’s fall foliage.
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The All Saints Eve Party
J+M+J
Each year on Halloween, Saint Margaret’s Fellowship hosts an All Saints Eve Party. Children dress up as a saint and play saint related games such as: St. Peter’s Fishing Hole, Saint Bingo, and St. Therese’s Rose Toss. There is also a parade of saints and a Litany of Saints where children say the name of their saint and everyone responds, pray for us.
This year, I was Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha. I made my own costume and Maria’s St. Joan of Arc costume and Alexander’s St. John the Baptist costume.
My friend Grace and I were in charge of Pin the Bread in St. Elizabeth’s Basket (inspired by the way St. Queen Elizabeth secretly took bread to the poor) and the Halo Toss. First I ran the bread game. The tape on the bread was so worn out it wouldn’t stick to the picture of St. Elizabeth, so I had to constantly grab the bread from all over the place along with tying the blindfold on. Then Grace and I switched, and I worked at replacing the heads and wings on the angels that wouldn’t stay until the party ended. It was fun work.
St. Joan of Arc, ready to lift the siege of Orleans, crown her dauphin, and free France from the grip of the English!
St. Tarcisius, zealously guarding the Blessed Sacrament from the Romans!
“Make straight the way of the Lord!”
St. Christopher carrying the Christ Child across the stormy river.
Putting the blindfold on Alexander while Maria looks on.
The pumpkin I carved all by myself picturing the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Joseph investigates a wingless angel.
Caught in the act of stealing the head!
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Farming Pictures
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A while back, I wrote about our trip to the farm. Here are the pictures of what we did that day.
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The Keebler
J+M+J
Thursday night, I dreamed about hot air balloons. Noon Friday, I learned Dad was going to take Landon, Maria, Johnathan, and I along in his friend Mr. Wilson’s pick-up truck while he chased the hot air ballon Mr. Wilson was flying with his instructor and helped him inflate and deflate the balloon. Maria said she wasn’t going to come because she had seen hot air balloons on television.
When Dad arrived at three, we piled in his truck and went to a park in Brandon. Soon Mr. Wilson arrived and we began to help him set up the balloon. First we got the balloon bag out of the car. The boys helped roll it a little way from the car. Then we got out the basket and put it upright.
Next we tipped the basket on it’s side and Dad and I began to take the 200 and some pound balloon out of it’s bag. It was like a magician’s scarf trick in that it kept coming and coming. Meanwhile, Mr. Wilson’s instructor arrived.
Now we turned on the fan and began to inflate the balloon with cold air. Mr. Wilson informed me that I was to help him buckle down the top of the air balloon’s vents so the heat, when it was applied, would not escape. I passed off the camera to Landon.
Filling up!
Buckling down.
This is why it’s called ‘The Keebler’
Beginning to rise!
The inside.
After the vents were closed, Mr. Wilson gave me a rope attached to the top of the balloon and told me how to ease up the balloon into the air as the burner heated up the air inside the balloon. This was hard as the balloon was EXTREMELY HEAVY!
Getting directions. I have to wrap the rope around my waist but not tie it and pull. I am told to let go if I have to. Then Mr. Wilson demonstrates what he does not want to happen by cupping his hand to his mouth and calling into the sky, “Let go of the rope, Sarah!”
The balloon is not very heavy in this picture yet. For now I am able to smile and wave.
Now the balloon is big and it takes all my strength to hold on. I ease it up.
Going up!
All the way up.
Dad loves this picture.
When the balloon was completely in the air, I rushed in and added my weight to help keep the basket down. Mr. Wilson had me step up into the basket on a side that was trying to escape into the air. This was a lot of fun. It was similar to those rides in the entrance to the grocery store where you are rocked back and forth. The wind pushed the balloon up. Sometimes the basket would lift. I leaned to this sneaky side trying to go up, and then to that side, trying to keep my balance. I called to Landon to take pictures of me in the balloon.
When the basket was level and everything was ready for the take off, I heard Mr. Wilson say to his instructor, “Can we take her along?” I held my breath. The instructor’s answer was yes, if Dad would consent. She went over to talk to him, and Dad nodded his head. The instructor had only been giving him directions on how to cast off the rope, which was tied to the pick-up. THen Mr. Wilson asked, and Dad said: YES! We lifted off. I wished I could have had the camera, but Dad was getting into the truck and, “I can’t come back! I don’t know how it works!”
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Wheeee!!
Mr. Wilson’s touch-and-go.
We flew low over the country. We saw many pheasants, deer, rabbits, and cows. I even saw a fish jump out of Beaver Creek we were flying above. The bottom of the creek was visible, as the water was transparent. The sun was out and there were no clouds. The ride was smooth and the air was fresh, cool, and crisp. However, it was not too cold. The only shivers I had were from excitement. The ride was smooth and gentle, except when Mr. Wilson practiced landing with a touch-and-go. I was instructed to bend my knees, face the direction we were going, and grab the basket in two places while we landed. It wasn’t quite as bumpy as I thought it would be. After we touched ground, Mr. Wilson squeezed the fire on and we rose into the air.
When we gained speed and height, Mr. Wilson let me squeeze the handle that controls the fire. I could just reach it by standing on the balls of my feet and reaching my arm high above my head. At first, Mr. Wilson told me when to use the fire, then the instructor told me she wanted to try something new. She squeezed my hand whenever it was time to use the fire. She helped me land the ballon very gently with almost no hard bumps. We touched ground, then lifted off a couple of feet and glided along the ground, and alighted again. This was repeated several times, like a stone skipping across water. Finally we came to a halt behind a car racing track that was not in use at that time.
Mr. Wilson took over and we again gained speed and height. He did not quite get that it was actually the instructor who had made the landing and he said, “Now you can’t make me look that bad.” We didn’t tell him what was actually going on until we had landed for good.
All too soon, it would be sunset, and Mr. Wilson landed the balloon. This time it was much bumpier, and I was smashed between Mr. Wilson and the instructor, who took turns falling on me. It didn’t hurt that bad. Dad pulled up in his Mr. Wilson’s truck and all together we began to put the balloon away.
First Dad pulled the air balloon onto the ground. Then Mr. Wilson and his instructor squeezed the air out of the balloon. Then everyone helped put the balloon into the bag. When the balloon was in, Johnathan jumped on the bag to get the air out. Finally, everything was loaded into the back of the pick-up truck.
Squeezing out the air.
Stuffing the balloon into the bag.
We returned too the park, had a few snacks, and then we went home. I had not expected to have ridden in the balloon that day.
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Dedication of the Month of November
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The month of November is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
Prayer of Saint Gertrude the Great
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family.
Amen.
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Hot Chocolate
J+M+J
I was sitting at a little table outside with Landon, John, Alexander, and Joseph drinking hot chocolate. Before we drank any, we all howled at the full moon that was just rising, even Joseph. I had to help him drink his. He was sure it was going to be too hot, even when I had tested it to be sure it wasn’t. He flinched when he took a drink, yet he really wanted to. He kept coming back for more.
I think I have finally gotten the recipe just about right. It took quite a while. The biggest thing was that for three years I have been adding cinnamon to hot chocolate. When I do, I have to stir it a lot because the cinamon separates itself from the mixture. I have just realized that cinnamon adds a gritty texture and a bad taste to hot chocolate. What I confused with a missing ingredient was really one ingredient to many. I want to put the recipe here, but Landon thinks it should be secret, so I will leave a couple ingredients out for now. Maybe I will put them on later.
1/2 cup boiling water
2 T butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup white sugar
1 pinch of salt
5-1/4 cups milk (Whole if you want a scrumptiously creamy treat.)
1 T vanilla extract
3/4 cup half-and-half cream (Only if you don’t use whole or two percent milk.)
Bring water and butter to boil in a saucepan. Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn’t scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but not boiling. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 6 mugs. Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature. (optional)
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In the Mall
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I was walking through the mall with the family. My heart was beating faster than normal. I had my Claires Botique gift card in my pocket. I wondered how bad it would hurt, because I was going to get my ears pierced.
We entered the store, and told the cashier what I needed, and then I was escorted by a proccession of family members and a ear piercing lady to a tall chair in the corner of the store. I was given pictures of many earings. The woman recomended that I get 14 Kt gold earings so I wouldn’t have an allergic reaction. If I did, I would have to take the earings out, and the holes would close up. Anyway, the gold ones were cheapest. I picked some white gold ones that were quite pretty.
Next came the hard part. I was going to have both ears done at the same time, and that took two people. The second person was checking out customers, and couldn’t get there at that moment.
When the woman arrived, they positioned the earings and told me they were counting to three and on count three I had to blow Maria’s hair off because she was standing in front of me. I didn’t quite do that, because I was concentrating on not flinching. That’s because the condition on which I was to get my ears pierced was that Dad got to watch my face while it was done. It didn’t hurt so bad, but my ears felt hot and were a little purple for about forty-five minutes later.
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A New Computer
Dad brought home a tiny computer today. He was frustrated with our old, slow thing. It is a Mac instead of Windows. I am exploring it to see what it can do.
Rain, Rain, Go Away. I Don’t Want to See You Another Day
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It has rained almost every day for two weeks. I am extremely tired of the rain. Summer must have given all his rain to Autumn.
There is a good side to it, though. At least it isn’t SNOW!
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The Fantasy of the Wind
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Outside the tent, a young and playful girl, the Wind, enjoys herself. She glides through the air, picking up the freshly fallen leaves and tossing them about at will, savoring the rustling sounds they make. She circles the tent, seeking with her thin fingers for a way in. she finds one that allows her to enter slowly and quietly, not in the noisy and sometimes harsh way she plays outside. she dances around among the half-sleeping children, laughing in unearthly whistling tones as I smile, for part of her light, invisible silk dress has brushed against my cheek, carresing it gently. She carries an autumn perfume of the smell of fresh leaves, sweetly meeting my sense of smell. As I sleep, she springs out of our tent and finds some fresh amusement.
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