The past ten days have been filled with much drama in the house, and not the kind I want. So much so that the Holy Father resigning has not been at the top of my mind.  I take that back, I’ve thought about it each day, taken out our books on John Paul II and two Pope Benedict books, but I’ve only read one of the books.  Last Friday we celebrated the Chair of St. Peter, a perfect day to really start discussing the Holy Father, alas, we had fried fish and a feverish child.

The Pope unit study I planned to start, still just a thought in my mind.  I found this great book that talks about everything Pope, and waited too long to order it, now it’s on back order with no estimated delivery date.

Slightly frustrating as the kids are somewhat interested in the Pope these days.

Last night, I tried reading some books about the Holy Father, but the boys were just too excitable and with the frustration of the last few days, I sent them to bed.

I did manage to write a small note in their lunch reminding them that today is Pope Benedict XVI’s last day.  We WILL talk about it tonight at dinner and no matter what, those books will be read.

When I arrived at the gym, the caregivers there were sad and we spoke for a while.  I even called them from the exercise machine to let them know they needed to take a quick break at 10 to see the Pope leave the Vatican.

I made it home in time to see the Holy Father arrive at his temporary residence and give his final address as a Pope.  It was wonderful.  Snax was sitting on my lap, calling him our Holy Father and wondering why I was sad.  He’s the only child that got to see this live, and he probably won’t remember.  I will.

Lots of people don’t understand why Catholics have a pope.  He’s the Vicar of Christ on earth, not Christ, not a replacement.  But he is so important to the faithful.  I grew up with John Paul II.  He’s a hard man to replace.  I attended two papal audiences, and I have a great snap shot of him and was even able to sort of shake his hand.  Truly he was an amazing man.  One who loved, one who taught about the sanctity of life by example, (how he led until the very end with grace despite difficulties) and by being outspoken on life, and not just being anti-abortion.  Maybe I loved him so much because he was an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, something very close to my heart.  He was my pope, the only Pope I knew.

Then Pope Benedict XVI became Pope, and I’ll admit, I wasn’t convinced.  He was no John Paul II.  Really, he wasn’t.  And John Paul II was no Pope Benedict XVI either.  (I read that somewhere today, and I can’t recall!  What a great quote though.)  It’s true.  Both of these men were chosen to lead the Catholic faithful and be leaders in this world.  And they did just that with grace and humility in their own way.

I feel so blessed to have grown up with John Paul II, I finally have an appreciation for Benedict XVI especially with this humble resignation,  and I anxiously await the news “Habemus Papum”.  Hopefully, before Easter!

And I savor today’s memory of Pope Benedict’s final blessing with my rambunctious boy in my arms.

Thank you, Pope Benedict XVI for your love and service to the church.

Here I sit at what seems like my home away from home…The Lice Squad.  You thought children’s furniture stores were crazy?  They have nothing on this place.  Yesterday, I dropped 392, today I have two more here.  I actually opted for the more expensive package because it includes lifetime checks on lice.  Seeing that Baby Hulk is just in K, and Goose’s class can’t seem to get a hold on keeping lice at bay, I thought this was a prudent decision.  I get free product, a cheaper comb, and if there is a future outbreak, a cheaper hourly fee and anytime I see someone scratch their head, I can just pop into the store for a quick check.

Maybe I’m a sucker.

I originally came to this place because I just couldn’t figure out what an egg was, and honestly, I just didn’t think my husband’s “we got it all” was true.

Turns out, I was right.  Each child had more eggs and some just hatched babies.  Not that I wouldn’t have followed up, but to be clear, I would be buying just as much RID to take care of my troupe as I am spending here.  Why not have someone who knows what to look for inspect their hair?  Because really, when RID says use once a week, to me that means uses daily.

Regardless, though…this place is bank…if you want to work in the field of lice.  I asked one technician if she minded and she said no, it was way better than pap smears.  Okay.  I guess that’s one way of thinking about it.  Of course, I asked, “you did pap smears?”  (Because I thought it was only MD’s and NP’s that could do those.  Turns out she was a medical assistant who assisted, which I guess means she was in the room.  How hard could it be to close your eyes really quickly and hand over the instrument?!)

Anyway…

The lice place is interesting, they have colored pictures from children thanking them for saving them from lice.  I mean, really?  I am paying so much to these people, I’ll never buy new clothes or take even a cheap trip.  They aren’t getting thank you pictures from the kids.

So I had to take Sunshine with me…what a mistake.  She acted like total fool the entire appointment.  Running around without her clothes on, going in and out of our little privacy room, screaming, throwing her sippy cup.  Interesting to note, she has graduated to being “one of them” when I call to inform their father what his children are up to.

I found out where all this crap started…third grade.  Not surprising.  Monday, I called the room mom for Goose’s classroom to notify her of the problem and request she send an email to the class.  She did and immediately two others responded letting her know their kids had lice.  It really pisses me off that they waited until someone else stepped up before telling anyone else.  The class had a lice check at school, and I think they found more cases.  Friday is Field Day and I think I may pay the kids to skip.  I don’t want to risk them falling on other kids and catching lice again.  They may say that repellent works, but I have spent way too much money, washed and bagged too many items to take a chance.

You know what would be nice?  Talking about my normal complaints in life.  No more nasty bugs.

No complaining today.  Offering up all my prayers for a friend delivering her new baby.  I guess the only good thing about our current situation is that I can’t force myself into her home until next week!  I’m sure she appreciates not having to politely decline my invitation to come over and invade her home while she settles in a new routine.

Isn’t a new baby just glorious?  Let the jealousy set in!  Best of luck, Jenn, much love and lots of prayers today.

Because things couldn’t seem more out of control in this house…

The younger boys, meaning every. single. boy. in this house except for Squirt have LICE.

See?  I have no shame.  Humility isn’t a problem for me.  Right?

Do you realize I have lived in fear of lice since Goose was in first grade?

I must have grown because a year ago, I would never have admitted this.  But when I’m dead and the kids are looking through mom’s notes on life, I want them to remember that me, yes me, took the time to wash their hair and comb through it night after night to get rid of lice.

Seriously, what else could happen in this house?  And not to sound petty, but can someone please explain why I haven’t been sent off for a pedicure by now?  Because after sifting through crap for a squished penny mom needs some sort of break.  After dealing with a daughter who all of a sudden refused ibuprofen despite having a 101-02 fever?  I need a break!  Do you hear that, universe?  Husband?  God?  I am at my limit.

There, I admit it.

Recently, I read that grace is showered upon you when you need it.  NOT A SECOND before that.  When I read that, I really liked the sound of it.  But that begs the question, is there more?  Because God, I am ready.  RIGHT. THIS. SECOND.

Really, I am fine, I just don’t like mess and to me lice is just another mess.  A mess that takes a bit of time to leave.  The reality is that life is messy.  And I don’t do well with mess.  I’ll deal, God willing, I don’t get this.  Because then, let’s be real, I WILL LOSE IT.  I’ve heard about the lice lady, $200.  If I get lice, I’m in with her.  Miss cheap will be there.

On a super sad note, this is the first time Goose is sleeping without Big Snoopy.

And on another note…CAN I FUCKING VOMIT NOW?  Best part of the night?  Her falling onstage.  And now, I really can’t take it anymore.  I’m done.

I did it!  I managed to watch all nominated movies and actors in each category.  Ok, I admit it, I didn’t watch The Sessions, but in my defense, I really am not a fan of Helen Hunt, so even though Paul told me she was really good, I’m passing on her and the movie.  Besides we all know she isn’t going to win.  By Sunday, I should be done with the documentaries as well.  Go me.

Best Picture…mostly good movies, in my opinion they weren’t all Best Picture worthy.  In fact, can we just return to five Best Picture nominations?  It just makes more sense.  Sorry that The Dark Knight didn’t make it that one year, but why torture us every year because of that.  And I’ll be honest, I didn’t think it deserved to be nominated anyway.

My top movies that are nominated are: Amour, Argo, Django Unchained and Zero Dark Thirty, pretty much in that order, although depending on my mood, 2-4 can change.  I thoroughly enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook except for Jennifer Lawrence and the dance competition, but I didn’t think it was good enough to be nominated for Best Picture.  Lincoln was good, but for me not great.  Despite being overwhelmed with just how amazing Daniel Day Lewis is in the movie, I”ll never watch him play that role again, I just didn’t like the movie enough.  Maybe I’ve listened to the Les Miz soundtrack too much because I couldn’t have been less interested in the movie which really surprised me because I was excited to watch the movie.  Once it started though, I kept checking to see how long before Javert kills himself.  And LIfe of Pi…beautiful, but for me, boring.  And Beasts just made my head hurt.

Best Actor: is this really a race?  If I had to think of someone other than Daniel Day Lewis winning it would Joaquin Phoenix.  Although, I loved Denzel Washington, and while he was great, he wasn’t as good as either of these two.  But really, how awesome is Denzel that he still gives us great performances?

Best Actress: Gabriella Riva, end of discussion.  I’m going to pray that things go my way on this.  I guess really it’s her way.

Best Supporting Actor: this is probably the most interesting race to me.  I can’t believe that each of the nominated actors has won previously.  Well, I guess I can, they are all pretty amazing.  I have no problem with the nominees except Alan Arkin especially when you consider that everyone in Django could have been nominated and Leonardo should have been nominated!  That said, I think Robert De Niro will win, but honestly, I love Phillip Seymour Hoffman so much, I would love to see him win.  Or Christoph Waltz, he was pretty damn good.  Not that I didn’t like De Niro…

Best Supporting Actress…I think this is a given.  Anne Hathaway.  And yes, she did a pretty good job.

Screenplay…Django Unchained

Adapted Screenplay…Lincoln, I mean look at what he was working with…

Best Director…Ang….or Speilberg

oh and Doc…must be How to Survive a Plague

and I gotta go…more effing drama in this house that requires immediate mom attention!  Sorry for any typos.

Snax came up to me tonight with a very serious look on his face.  He said he didn’t know where his new penny went.

His new penny he got at the dinosaur museum.  You know the ones that flatten out.

It had been in his mouth, but somehow it went down his throat.

He was so serious that I didn’t doubt him much.  I did perform a quick search for the penny and came up empty handed.

I asked if it hurt, and his response was “no, I’m fine except for a little choke.”

A little choke?!!!

We called the nurse line and she didn’t sound too worried.  I guess a lot of kids do this type of thing  She asked if the penny was larger than an inch.  I assumed yes, how could I measure?  She said that if so, I would have to verify it came out.

Her suggestion: have Snax poop on a newspaper and slice the poop with a knife.

Yes, have my son poop like a puppy in training.  I can think of nothing that would constipate a kid more than having to poop on a newspaper.

Lance started gagging when he heard slice the poop and left the room.  So typical of him.

Tomorrow, I get to take Snax into the doctor, for what, I’m not sure.  Then I get to wade through his crap.  Literally, until I find that damn penny.

Lance says that is a hazard of being the kids’ favorite in this house.

Snax can be a pretty obnoxious child.  I have never seen him so mellow in my life.  The weird thing is that he has never been the kid that puts stuff into his mouth.

:: 2 days down, 38 more to go.  I made this comment last night while tucking the boys into bed and Goose immediately started doing the math.  “If March has 31 days and it’s only February 14…”  Sundays are not part of Lent.  I know that, but I never knew that until I was in my 20’s.  Apparently I wasn’t into simple addition back in the day.  And apparently my parents never felt the need to tell me either.  I wonder if they even knew that fact.  I’m pretty torn over the fact that Sundays don’t count as part of Lent.  Mainly, because it’s not that hard to sacrifice when you know you can enjoy on Sundays.  Yet at the same time, I understand that Sundays are mini Easters.  But really, I think our family can sacrifice until Easter arrives.

:: Speaking of sacrifices, nothing annoys me more than certain people asking me what I am giving up for Lent.  Especially on Ash Wednesday as they are chewing a mouthful of meat.  I shouldn’t be judgmental, but I try really hard to focus on Lent, probably my favorite season of the year, and I don’t like people making sure I’m giving up the “right thing”.  I like fasting, but honestly I gain more from the prayer aspect of Lent, yet most people aren’t interested in hearing about that.  And yes, I’ll say it totally gets on my last nerve when Catholics don’t follow simple Lenten disciplines.  I know, I know, I am way too judgmental, and I’m working on that.  But really, it takes more than being baptized to call yourself Catholic, possibly going to mass is a step in the right direction.

:: Snax just continues to impress me.  This week it was talking about sacrifice, Presidents and reptiles.  It’s like he has turned a corner and grows smarter each day.  He has truly become an enjoyable child in ways I didn’t think possible.  Of course, he still talks in the loudest voice possible and makes inappropriate comments about people dying in front of family members.

:: Each night during Lent we pray for a specific intention.  Thursday night is for the Holy Father, his intentions, his health, for the Cardinals when the time comes to elect a new pope and of course, for the new Pope!  We talked about the Holy Father and plan to spend quite some time learning about the papacy and this particular pope as well as the new pope once elected.  As we talked about this, Baby Hulk made some comment about the President.  And was shocked upon learning that he wasn’t Catholic.  He then asked if Mitt Romney was Catholic.  More horrified.  He decided he is never going to vote unless the candidate is Catholic.  Note to self: must work on being more open minded with children.

:: Leaving Lent…my top movie for 2012 is Amour.  A friend told me he was bored watching this, but the premise was so romantic to me.  A couple together till the very end, the husband taking care of his wife.  Afterwards my friend and I spoke about it, and he explained he couldn’t relate at all.  Living marriage, the easy and the hard, this movie was so hopeful to me.  I just can’t say enough about how amazing this movie is.  And if Jennifer Lawrence beats Emmanuelle Riva for best actress, I will vomit in my driveway.

::Sunshine is obsessed with vitamins.  She calls them “mins”.  I assume this obsession stems from her love of fruit chews.  Well, her dad cut her off of chews.  She recently discovered that vitamins are a lot like chews so as soon as she gets up, she now asks for mins opposed to her usual grunt of “EAT”.

:: Snax wrote several Valentine’s cards for family and friends.  One of them was for our best buddies.  We dropped the card in their mailbox slot Thursday.  The father came home and found it, assumed it was for him and promptly made a card for Snax.  A homemade card that said, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Pancake” complete with a drawing of pancakes and syrup.  Snax calls the dad “Pancake” for whatever reason.  Actually, he shouts it at him all the time, the dad doesn’t mind, clearly, and it’s hilarious.  Snax was so happy clutching his personal card and reading it all evening.

:: Speaking of Valentine’s Day, it’s for lovers, right?  Not friends?  Squirt has been intent on having a Valentine this year.  Last week, he told me some girl was going to be his valentine.  Tuesday, he went and bought a bear and asked if he could spend more money on some roses.  All for some girl I’ve never even heard of before last week.  He wanted those flowers so badly that he asked Lance to take him to school so they could buy them because mean old mom wouldn’t let him spend the money!  Last night he tells us what he got from her, some candy and cookies, and when Lance asked about them going on a date, he told us “nope, she was just his valentine.”  WHAT???  How does that make sense?!

:: Lance and I didn’t go out last night, and I was fine with that.  He did come home with five, yes FIVE, bottles of wine though.  Wonder what he was thinking about last night.

:: Today Baby Hulk informed me he doesn’t like nicknames.  People shorten his name to Mase, instead of Mason.  This kind of sucks because every person in this home calls him Mase.  Turns out some kids in school are as well, and it is pissing him off.  And we don’t want to piss of this kid.

:: Baby Hulk has been going to school since August.  And it still takes the monitors 12 minutes to get them out of the cafeteria (where they sit in the morning) and walking to class.  They spend so much time talking about “bubbles and straight lines and facing forward” it makes me ill.  How about just getting up from the table and walking to class?!!!  That way they don’t sit and wait, they don’t get antsy and start talking and they aren’t effing around making stupid bubbles!!!  It’s no wonder other countries are out smarting us.

::  It’s Friday, we went to our first Fish Fry of the Lenten season at St. Michael’s.  I highly recommend it.  We’re getting ready to pray the stations right now.  I highly recommend praying those as well.

:: One more best picture to view and then five docs.  I reached my goal!!!  Although I just realized I have five docs to view before next Sunday.  Crossing my fingers that that happens before the Oscars.

Lent starts tomorrow.  Tomorrow!  Personally, I wish I had another couple of weeks to prepare.  I just don’t feel like I’m ready to start the sacrificial season tomorrow.  But ready or not, it really does start tomorrow.

The purple drapery is now hanging in the learning center, the Lenten books are out and the stations of cross box is ready.

I may not be ready, but the kids will get me there.  That’s part of the beauty of raising kids in the Catholic Church, probably any religion.  At least my kids get me there…they make me want to be a better Catholic, want to know more so I can pass it on to them.  The best gift they’ve given me is a love for the Stations of the Cross.  We have truly grown closer to Jesus while praying the stations.  Whether we are at the Grotto or using the box or candles, we enjoy the time together and genuinely reflect on the Walk.

I have one child ready with his Lenten sacrifice, and I am so proud.  It really is an amazing sacrifice on his part.  Lance is ready as well.  Snax and Baby Hulk aren’t quite there, so we may be giving up something for two weeks at a time.

As for me, I have my sacrifice narrowed down, personally, I’d love to keep it to myself but in this household it’s hard.  I like the idea of a personal sacrifice, but it’s also nice to have some accountability among ourselves.  I bought a new book that is a do it yourself retreat.  Now to actually use it.

My hope for Lent is to grow, to unite in suffering and make some visible changes in my life.  I’m looking for patience and humility.  The kind of humility we saw when Pope Benedict informed the world he would be resigning.  We’ve heard all the reports, there hasn’t been a pope resign in 600 years.  To be the one that actually steps up and says, “I can’t lead the way I need to anymore” for the first time in 600 years, well, that’s big.  I’m not going to pretend to know what the pope thinks, but really, how could he not think, “I can’t be the one to finally resign”.

But he did.  And I respect that a lot.  I’m anxious to teach the kids more about him and about the entire papacy.  Right now though, I’m just thankful for his leadership.  I’m offering prayers for him and for our cardinals as a new pope is elected.  It will be a different Lent with one pope leaving and a new one elected.  But I know what waits for me at the end of this season, and when I remember Easter morning, any sacrifice is worth it.

:: Don’t you hate when you are having a great week, and by great week, I mean you haven’t yelled at your kids, and BAM…it’s all over.  I have a certain child who refuses to actually concentrate while in school and his stupid errors are making his A’s turn into B’s.  I can’t take it.  He is on the equivalent of lock-down right now.  He made a grade so low the other day, I am embarrassed for him.  And it’s not because he doesn’t understand, it’s because he’s generally talking.  A friend confided that her son brought home a 60, but it was due to a three day absence with a high fever and he had returned to school to several tests.  My son, well, he got sent to the hall to complete his classwork.  I am at a loss.  He really just doesn’t care, which is kind of scary seeing as I’ve already been down that road before this child.

:: Don’t I sound like a psycho mom worrying about grades in elementary school?  If I were homeschooling, I bet I wouldn’t be like this.

:: Maybe I’ve been off of movies too long, but I can’t say I’m super impressed with any movies I’ve seen lately.  I think I’m mostly disappointed with The Master.  I love Paul Thomas Anderson.  Love.  And Amy Adams, please, she is amazing, one of my favorite actors and I know one day she will win an Oscar.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman?  Words aren’t enough.  But this movie?  I don’t even care enough to try and figure it out.  That’s how bad it was.  I liked Lincoln, and despite the amazing performance of DDL, I would never watch it again.  I started The Impossible, but frankly, have no interest in that either.  Personally, I think I need to ditch Oscar contenders and watch movies that truly interest me now.

:: Next week, a friend and I are hosting a Mardi Gras party for Baby Hulk’s class.  We’re having king cake, giving a short talk, making a mask and reading a story.  We had several to choose from because my friend’s mother-in-law sends a book every year for Mardi Gras.  How inspired!  The in-laws are from New Orleans so Mardi Gras is pretty important to them, and they want to make sure their grandkids know about it.  Being a lover of children’s books, clearly, I love this idea, but even more, I love how this MIL is passing on family culture.  It’s like my dad taking the kids to donate bikes and gifts at Christmas or a grandmother who bakes with their grandkids.  Some things are so simple and yet so perfect.  Of course, I am now trying to figure out what kind of stories my parents can buy the kids in order to pass along our heritage!

:: SO…last week Squirt was going to Galveston to celebrate a friend’s birthday.  He told me to call the mother on Thursday.  During said call, I was informed that there was indeed a beach house where the party was located, that about 10 boys and girls would be attending this party and that they would ALL BE SPENDING THE NIGHT IN THE SAME ROOM.  You know, just all sleeping on the floor together.  I paused for about five seconds and immediately responded with “well, that’s totally inappropriate.”  We went back and forth, this mom and I, over how stupid/inappropriate/irresponsible  (me) this was to place teenage boys and girls in the same sleeping quarters.  She just said “you do whatever makes you comfortable.”  Comfort wasn’t the point, appropriateness was.  And she never understood.  I mean, her daughter’s boyfriend was there as well.  To me, she may as well have said they would be drinking under her supervision.  We ended with me telling her I would defer to Lance’s decision so long as different sleeping arrangements were made.  Oh, and she had to bring him home early due to going to mass.  I could not believe this parent.  Me, the liberal, was more clued in than her.  And they say liberals have no morals.

After my talk with her, I immediately spoke to Squirt about the issue.  He didn’t even act mortified by my comments, (as I mistakenly assumed he would.)  He said he completely understood my problem with the situation and if dad said no, he would deal with it.

Not sure why he decided to write a letter, but I find it hilarious that he told the tooth fairy to sign a name.