He is Risen!

Alleluia!

Soldiers guarding the tomb...

Roo and I have been busy making and doing the last few days. Today we put our make-and-do Jesus on the cross and at 3 o'clock took him down and placed him in the tomb. Then we put our two Roman soldiers on-guard outside and there they stand, in front of the great big rock at the entrance to the cave. (What would we do without toilet roll-inserts?) Roo is very interested in the story and it's great that he is learning the real reason for Easter.

Thank you to Lacy from the amazing Catholic Icing for the inspiration to get the lads involved in such a brilliant way.

Peace n quiet

Ah the joy of being able to play with your 'big boy Lego' and not risk having it nicked or swallowed by those little brothers.

The playschool holidays are upon us so Toot and Poonch are having decent horizontal snoozes rather than cat-napping in the car. And I am having nose-blowing competitions with Roo.

Daisy chain

Poonch and Lee gave me a lovely necklace today. They made it all by themselves from the sweetest little flowers.

Here it is at the end of a lovely sunny day where we went nowhere but Mass and the local shop (on a fruitless search for a barbecue). Soon after the photo was taken, much to Poonchy's dismay, it broke (well the little stems had withered a fair bit by then). And its ethereal beauty is in its fragility, perhaps.

Thank you, Honey Bears!

xxxxx

Little foal

For the day that's in it...

I love the images they put up on Bing everyday, but today's really made me want to share it with you. Roo loves looking through the pictures they put up too. If you click on the little © character, it tells you a little about the photo.

We could certainly do with a bit of a laugh in this country after yesterday's news. Unfortunately the story of the bail-out wasn't an early April Fool's joke.

Little pea shoots

Sturdy chaps these. So far they have withstood frost, attempted drowning and repeated toddler foot pressure. Wish them luck!

(They are the Kelvedon Wonder variety, for the record.)

Did you meet an angel today?

Anne has removed the comments box from her blog so I can't thank her for her lovely post on today's feast of the Annunciation.

Once again, her beautiful writing has struck a chord in me. I especially liked reading about the 2 year old 'angel' she met. Can't say I've experienced such a revelation myself, but I will keep it in mind the next time I'm trying to cope with a toddler meltdown!

You can catch up with Anne and her gentle wisdom here.

how to get children to eat their crusts...

Bread-making is definitely not one of my strengths, contrary to what Roo said to the little Toot this morning, ('Did you know Mummy is very good at making bread?'). The thing is any previous attempts always ended up like particularly inedible doormats, until I saw the marvellous Nigel Slater make his Lazy Loaf on telly. It's like Soda Bread, only easier to make. In about 30 minutes you can feel pleasingly self-sufficient by producing your very own bread or helping your children make it. Not only is it not inedible, but my little children really actually like it and hence Roo's confident statement. They even eat the crusts, something they avoid at all costs on any other bread. Follow the link if you too wish to see your children perform this amazing feat.

Unfortunately, and not wishing to put you off your loaf, but their eyes, on the other hand, are very crusty. All three of them have now had conjunctivitis over the last few days, which makes the poor lads look, on waking, like little zombies or Egyptian mummies. Roo is much improved, but not enough to return to playschool yet.

St Joseph's Day

We have a soft spot for St Joseph in this house and one of the lads is named after him. I had hoped to go to Mass this morning. Me and the lads were all ready and in the car, but I couldn't go through with it as the two older boys looked so sick with the little alien eyes they've developed in the last day or two.
Not going made me think what I could do in honour of the faithful servant that God chose to watch over His son on earth. If I get a chance, I will make a little cake to celebrate his feast and then I will properly fast for the rest of Lent. I haven't really given up anything this year, partly due to the breastfeeding and partly cos I meant to consciously Be a Nicer Person instead, but I didn't do that either. Just now, Fr Groeschel on EWTN has inspired me to once again make a little sacrifice for what remains of Lent. So here goes...

Lá Féile Pádraig!

Happy St Patrick's Day from the purveyors of green, white and gold jelly.

New beginnings?

The votes have been cast. Please God, look after our country and its new leaders. Some of them have promised to look after the most vulnerable members of society. May your Holy Spirit enter their hearts so that they truly fulfil that ideal and ensure that everyone be protected and cherished from womb to tomb.

Gratuitous picture of pegs and washing

Yes, those are pegs on the line- the first of 2011- with the little Toot's bibs flapping cheerfully in the breeze.

They make me smile. Because they give us hope that Spring might actually be on the way. Because it means one less airer full of limp clothes and loosens my guilty attachment to the tumble dryer that I never foresaw pre-sprogs. (When we moved in, I looked at it and thought, 'well the landlord might as well take that thing away'. Ha!) And because it means the little Toot is having a snooze and I'm out in the fresh air with Poonch who could do with a lungful of something fresh as his tum is upset today.

Can you help? (Warning: political issues involved)

Ireland is currently in the middle of an election campaign. The main focus is on how the next government will affect the economic future of this country, but there is another more important issue which isn't receiving any attention.

Since the European Court of "Human Rights"' ruling in December, some are saying the Government will have to legislate on the issue of abortion. This ruling ignored both the fact that Ireland is the one of the safest places in the world to have a baby and that surely unborn children have human rights too.

Anyway, if you are still reading this, could I ask you to do one of these things? If you can vote, don't vote Labour as they want to introduce abortion here. Second, make sure your local candidates are pro-life before you give them your preference. If you can't vote, then please pray for those who can. And if you'd like to help the prolife campaign in Ireland further, you can contact them here.

We luv IKEA!

My Hero

On our way up the M7 and just wanted to post about how proud I am of Roo. He worked very hard with his speech therapist and concentrated really well during a tough assessment today.
He certainly impressed me with his explanations and reasoning skills, and I'm not just saying that cos I'm his Mum. Well done, little man!

Have sand, will play

...even if it's pouring rain from the heavens. Thank God for those great rainsuits.

Take a seat

Hello. Quite an unusual feeling I'm having at the moment. Sitting down, waiting, with none of my boys to keep me occupied, and finding I have nothing to do.
Maybe a good time to pray. Yes, that's an idea. I will pray the ultrasound of my throat goes well.

Bye bye Jesse tree

Time to take down our last vestiges of Christmas- the Jesse tree and its teeny ornaments. Roo and I learnt more about the Old Testament last Advent as we made little bits to hang on it. An apple for Adam and Eve, a rainbow for Noah, a star for Abraham, Jacob's ladder. I had planned more, such as Joseph's colourful coat but Roo's younger brothers aren't really conducive to homeschooling so we didn't get as much done as i'd hoped. But it's definitely something I'll do again. Another 'tradition' we began was filling baby Jesus' bed with hay with each kind act during Advent. Then on Christmas Day, one of Roo's spacemen appeared, wrapped in swaddling clothes, playing the part of an leanbh Iosa sleeping on the hay.

Muddy puddy!

That's what Poonch called this little oasis of joy that he and Roo revelled in on our walk this afternoon. His vocabulary has expanded in the last few weeks and he chats away, coming out with sometimes startling sentences. He has his own little poonchy take on words, pointing out 'butty...flies', 'piders', 'catty...pillars' and 'bahdies', wishing people 'happy cwisbas' or 'happy to you' when it's their birthday.