What is Home?

 So, I have a friend that we met down in Texas. Her and her husband sold their home and bought one of these.  It has me so curious.  I think they traveled all summer, because I saw pictures like this at times on Facebook.  They will  be heading down to South Padre Island, TX to park and live in this for the winter soon.

It has me thinking and wondering and almost, I guess, attracted to the idea of getting rid of everything and just living simply and someplace warm. Someplace beautiful. Having the ability to travel anywhere in the United States and still be home.

It has me wondering if "home" is a place, or the people you love.  Is home just my husband?  Or is home my children too?  Of course now, it is my children too, but, you know, when they are all grown does that change?  Do I want to have the "come home to mama's" type home/life?

If you did something like this, what would you keep? I'd have to store my pictures I suppose, you know, the pictures I'd developed before everything was digital. I think we'd have to have a 5th wheel type RV, you know the type you'd pull with a truck.  Then, we'd have a vehicle to drive around without pulling it behind the camper.

Where would you live in the off season, like in the late spring, summer and early fall?  Would you rent a space on a lake somewhere in the Midwest?  Would you get tired of a small place?  (although, this looks big, it's much smaller than an actual house)

I don't know.  I have tons of thoughts and questions about this.  After thinking about this, I think I'd love it for sometimes, for certain seasons, but not all the time.  I'd love to have a place for the kids to come home to, but then, that too, opens new questions and some of the same questions.  Like what is "home"?  Would it matter to my kids if "home" were in a different house, like a patio home, or a condo where the yardwork would be taken care of and maybe there would be a pool and workout room?  (and in a warmer state, like Arizona)

After thinking quite a bit about this, I think I'd like a "house" with space. just space to be alone sometimes. (not that that happens ever here)

After spending one winter and another 5 weeks on South Padre Island, Texas, boy, that is something to dream about. I loved it so much. The people, the area, the ocean, the humidity, the salty air, the small-town feel it has. Now, wintering in this way, also opens a ton of questions. (I think I'll save that for another post!)

I think "home" is family.  My husband and children and someday grandchildren.  If my parents moved away from the home they've lived in for the past 29 years, I'd be OK with that. Because seeing them is all I care about, not the house they live in.  Besides, since my mom remodeled her kitchen 18 years ago, I still don't know where anything is.

The wonderful thing about our beautiful Catholic faith is that no matter where you are, the Mass is also and it is the same in every Catholic church across the country, even world. It is the first thing I look for when we travel and plan a move, the church.  If they have Adoration, if they have Confession, if they have daily Mass. I have to admit one of the things I missed most when we were in Texas (for 3 months) was our church family. Seeing the same people every Sunday. In a city by the ocean, you rarely see the same people each Sunday.

I'm curious, what do you think? Given a choice, what would you do?

And the Winner is...

 OK, so I decided to do this the "old fashioned" way

and just draw names out of a cute Christmas bowl!

 First we prayed for the children that would get to read this beautiful little book,

then, we drew a name

Jen Vogel!!

Jen, could you please email me your address and Peanut Butter & Grace will

send you out this precious book!

(jamiejo99 @ gmail.com)
(no spaces though)


If you did not win, you can still order this sweet book,
HERE


The price is right and would be a perfect gift for yourself, your children,
godchildren, grandchildren or any child in your life!
 

Summer Kitchen

 First, I want to pass on this tip I found when I needed to have softened butter.

(I only had cold butter)

If you need softened butter quicker than the "leave on the counter for hours" way,

 

Place a stick of butter between

2 pieces of wax paper

and roll it out.

 

That's it!

Then, just spatula it off into whatever you are using it for!

I love Google.

 

We baked cookies today to take to the lake tomorrow!

Here's the recipe!

 

 

 

View of my kitchen

(as bare as it looks here)

(this is house-selling bare)

(even though our house is not selling)

 

It all happens in the kitchen.

I love my kitchen.



 A good friend has so generously given us a ton of cucumbers and zucchini!!

This makes me very happy!

 

A few favorite things I've been making with zucchini

is:

-Cut up raw with veggie dip

-Sliced and sautéed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper,

topped with fresh parmesan cheese

-Zucchini bread

 

Not my picture, got it HERE

 

And this delicious Chocolate Lover's Zucchini Cake

HERE

I made this tonite and will frost it for dessert tomorrow night.

 

 Now onto cucumbers!

When I was a kid,

 We would get cucumbers from my Grandpa

and I'd slice them and put them in vinegar and water. 

 

Refrigerator Cucumbers in Vinegar and Water

(original from me!)

 

Slice many cucumbers and put into an ice cream pail

fill with about two-thirds water

and one-third vinegar.

slice an onion...any way you like, smaller might be better.

Salt and pepper.

Lots of salt and pepper.

 

Here's the hard part:

Refrigerate for at least an hour.

(or hide it in the garage fridge until the next day like I did)

This will stay good for days.

If they last that long!

 

Optional: Add more salt and pepper to your bowl of these amazing cucumbers!

Here's a recipe from a fellow homeschooler.

I used a Strawberry Vinaigrette and it was too sweet, next time

I'd probably use a more mild vinaigrette.

 

Chopped Romaine Lettuce

(sometimes I add regular lettuce to make it go farther)

1 cup quinoa, cooked

(after it's cooked, there will be a lot more than 1 cup--use it all!)

Sliced strawberries

slivered almonds (I made this part up)

(I think maybe sliced almonds would be better...but whatever you have is fine)

Vinaigrette dressing (fruity or whatever!)

 

 

 And we can't forget summer mud-pies

 They're always happening around here

Enjoy!

Flat Zelie!

 My 8 year old shiny-haired daughter here

has a good friend named Zelie.

Zelie is doing a school project

where she sends herself, in a flattened version,

through the mail, so she can go different places!

(see FlatStanleycom)

 

 Since we just got back from Texas,

(where she could have done a ton of sight-seeing)

Flat Zelie just wanted to play with my 8 year old at our home.

She got to play with the little kids too!

 

 

Flat Zelie played dolls and dinosaurs with them!

 

We will miss you Flat Zelie.

I think you are headed to your Grandma's in Washington now!



Appetizer Ideas?

I always bring veggies and dip.

It's easy and I love them!

 

We are invited to go to a get together in a couple weeks though

so I thought maybe I should put more thought into it than my old standby!

 

Or, I mean I thought maybe you'd help me with the more thought part.

What appetizers do you like to bring places and/or serve?

 



Reviews and Special Prayers

 Trying to get a good blog header photo in the sun

 

The sound of the ocean and the sunrise from this morning

for Barbara!

 I thought this was funny.

It, for some reason bugs me when people all over the internet

post pictures of their ashes.

I don't know why.

Probably because it seems like bragging or something.

"Look at my ashes!"

Prayer is more of a private thing for me.

(that's why I have a blog--haha!)

When I think about it though, after wondering why it bugs me,

it is actually a really good thing.

Seeing other people making it a "normal" thing to do,

go to Mass, get ashes, pray and sacrifice for Lent.

It's actually a really good thing to do.

 

 We have TV down here!

We've been watching American Idol.

We haven't watched in like 3 years.

I really like how they do it now,

it's focused more on the talented and not the untalented.

Now that Simon Cowell is not on anymore,

it's not so negative, comments are not made for attention.

All these judges are sincere and really nice.

We don't have TV back home, just Netflix,

so this show will be missed.

 A couple of the girls and I saw this movie here on the Island.

I hesitate to review it, I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Remember, I love happy endings.

This doesn't really end like that,

it kind of shows what happens after the "happy ending"

 

It is a musical, so if you don't like musicals, you won't like it.

The funniest scene I thought, was the song "Agony" with 2 of the princes:

 

 

I loved Meryl Streep as the wicked witch.

If anything, see it for that.

I didn't care for the way some of the characters

were portrayed, after their "happy ending",

I think the writers could have had them go a different bad way.

Or better yet, just a different way.

 

OH, and Johnny Depp?

He was the big bad wolf!

His part was short, and awesome and kind of creepy.

And kind of funny.

That's kind of what we expect from Johnny Depp though, isn't it?

 

 I am really going to miss Texas Salsa.

There's something different about it, it's just better.

It's not as thick and it tastes fresher.

 

 If you love pickles (I do)

they also have the best pickles down here in Texas!

These are the best.  I think I could eat a whole jar!

 

 We've I've been using a Swifter Sweeper here in the condo we are staying in.

My review for this is:

It just seems so wasteful!

I miss my old mop.

You know, it's a sponge mop

and you use it and use and use it over and over again and again.

It only costs you the price of the mop.

 

With Swifter Sweeper, sure it's easy,

(so it's perfect for renting a condo)

but those sheets are very spendy, like 12 bucks for 24 sheets.

That's 50 cents each and we I use at least 6-8 each time I mop.

 

What do you think?

 

 Farmer's Market Lettuce.

Nothing like it.

I love it, I crave it.

This is the spicy mix, but I also love the mild mix.

(it's clean and lasts all week)

I will really miss seeing the people that sell this.

Lauren is the owner's daughter and she's a real sweetheart.

Here's their farm

 I also got some of this yummy drink!

Here's a description

I love their purple beans too!

They turn bright green when they are cooked...veggie suppers, delicious! 

 Another fun product we've found

(maybe MN has this now too, I don't know)

It's really good, and addictive. 

 

This is Sarah.

She is a close friend of my friend Becky.

Becky is trying to raise money for Sarah.

Here are Becky's words:

 

"My friend Sarah, who has been fighting cancer for five years now, was just told a couple weeks ago that there are no other treatments for her. The cancer is moving extremely fast and he gave her less than six months. He doubts she will make it to June.

She is not religious but I think she would like to be. She has always been "interested" in the Catholic faith but never has taken the leap to commit to it.

I am more worried for her spiritually than I am for her physically. My brother and I set up a Go Fund Me account with her permission, and there have only been four donors---which one of them is me. It is depressing.

Her husband wants her to go see the Eiffel Tower, as this has always been her dream. I understand that to her, this is a distraction and a way of using her time rather than sit around waiting to die. But in the meantime, my brother and I have something in the works---we are going to also send them to Lourdes since they will already be in France. I think she would be open to it, especially since basically people are paying her to go...

My brother actually has everything lined up for her to go (including her family.) Do you have any idea how happy they will be to go together? Right now, they don't think it's possible for even Sarah to go. This could be her last chance, I so much want her to experience Lourdes. I went there and loved it. She needs healing. If not a physical healing then a spiritual one. She needs graces to get through this without trying to avoid it by using distractions. She needs to face God once and for all."

Sarah and her beautiful family

 

 

Will you please pray for Sarah and her family?

If you feel motivated by the Holy Spirit, donate HERE

Thank you so much.

 

 

Our time is dwindling down.

We leave for home in 5 days.

 

 

 

Yesterday At The Beach

 A beautiful day in the mid 60's

We had to head out to the beach

to construct a giant "water home" or "wa wa home"

as Little Red says here.

He is the foreman of the job

and boy is he bossy!

 She is one of the workers!

She works so hard and talks about how hard she works.

"Oops mommy, I'm sorry I hit your head with my shovel.

Here let me get the sand out of your hair, ummm, mommy,

I think you need a bath."

 That water she's getting better not be for my bath.

 Oh, he's got big plans, big, big plans!

 Might have to start calling him "Little Whitey" instead of "Little Red"

 He's even telling the big kids what to do for his water home.

 And they are doing it!

 Well, some of them are.

Back to work everyone!

 Time for the water!

Proud foreman here

Thanks for spending the afternoon with us at the beach!

I'm so blessed to be able to watch these kiddos all day long!

(I worked too, believe me, I dug and dug too!)

Please Pray for the Dead

 I've been reading this book this month, 

the month of the Holy Souls.

I've learned quite a few things about Purgatory.

One thing, is that we Catholics are not the only ones that pray for the dead!

This was a Jewish custom and in fact, Orthodox Jewish still pray for the dead.

Please go 

HERE

for biblical proof of Purgatory. 

I'd try to explain it but he does a much better job than I'd do!

I love that Everything we Catholics do is BIBLICAL!! 

I am black and white, I need that order, that backing so to speak.

I've always thought of Purgatory as a place of cleansing.

A place where the soul wants to be, to be purified for God.

Now, Yes, Jesus died for us, for our sins.

But sin is sin and the soul knows it.

The flames of Purgatory is the yearning the soul has for God.

The way I understand it is

each day in Purgatory is one day closer to God 

so there is Joy and a yearning pain at the same time.
The soul wants to be there.
The soul knows that he is going to Heaven.
  

Last week, I couldn't go to my holy hour 

because I wanted to go to my uncle's funeral.

On the way there, I had this pain in my heart, 

upon the realization of not seeing Jesus that day.

This pain is yearning.  It brought me to tears.  

I think that is a very small example of what Purgatory will be like.

It's a love.  

The Love we have for our Father in Heaven.

The love and desire to be perfect for Him.  

St Faustina Kowalska relates in her diary, her mystical experience

of the complete moral self-insight that one day will be revealed to every man at the particular judgement after death:

Once I was summoned to the judgement (seat) of God, I stood alone before the Lord.  Jesus appeared such as we know Him during His Passion...Suddenly I saw the complete condition of my soul as God sees it.  I could clearly see all that is displeasing to God.  I did not know that even the smallest transgressions will have to be accounted for.  What a Moment!  Who can describe it?  To stand before the Thrice-Holy God!  Jesus asked me, "Who are you?" "You are guilty of one day in purgatory."  I wanted to throw myself immediately into the flames of purgatory,

 but Jesus stopped me.  

From Hungry Souls:

"St Faustina transmits the awfulness of the soul's confrontation with the Eternal, 

its insight that perfect holiness is required before it can enjoy God's presence--the smallest imperfections having more weight than even a pure soul as Faustina's had been aware--and the instinctive impulse of the soul to be cleansed, even in the flames of Purgatory."

This book also explains that ANY spiritualist phenomena, 

or so called manifestations of the dead during states of trance, hypnosis, or at a spiritualist and other magic or occult sessions: they are by no means the departed persons they pretend to be, but hoaxes or demonic imposters. 

This makes me think of mediums claiming to be "Catholic" and yet 

going against the Church and continuing to delve into this kind of phenomena.

Poor souls are not sensitive to commands to vanish in the Name of God, or in the Name of Jesus.

Their anxious begging for help signals hope for deliverance.

 The sad thing is that I don't think many people give much thought 

to what happens to the soul after death, except that it goes to Heaven.

I think that most people think that almost everyone goes to Heaven.

This is one of the greatest tragedies. 

The souls in Purgatory, having no one to pray for them, 

all their loved ones believing they are already in Heaven.

Pray, Pray, Pray...

They need our prayers

 Another book, I'm going to read again (in Texas this winter)

is Get Us Out of Here!

This book is Maria Simma's accounts of the Poor Souls that appeared to her, 

begging for prayers.  

This book is SO good!! 

You can find it HERE

 If you click on this picture you can see my Little Red in the background, getting ready to run!
(stinker)

Pray for the dead, pray rosaries, offer Masses, 

never give up praying for them!

Last week we had some of our Catholic Homeschool Youth 

 (32 of them) over for a walk to the graveyard 

(up the hill, down the hill, through the woods, and across the field)

to pray for the Holy Souls

I gave a short talk on Purgatory, indulgences  

and a little about St Gertrude and the prayer given to her from Jesus:

Eternal Father, 

I offer you the most precious

Blood of Your Divine Son,

Jesus, in union with the Masses said

throughout the world today, 

for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, 

for sinners in the Universal Church, 

those in my own home, 

and within my family.

Amen.

(This prayer was given to St Gertrude and Jesus promised that every time it was said, 1,000 souls would be released from Purgatory and allowed into God's Presence)

The saints knew of Purgatory!!

 

 Here we are walking across the field

 After my short talk, the kids got to explore and try to find the oldest grave.

We also have a section where all the babies that were miscarried during the year 

are buried through our Catholic hospital in town.  

Several of us went over there. 

Instant tears, I tell you, instant. 

 We caught this beautiful sunset on our way home...

 Then it got loud and a little crazy....

 We had pizza, pop, snacks and lots of fun!

 We broke into 2 groups (16 kids each)

 And played Minute to Win it games!!

 M&M Suck it (I named this one)

 Face the Cookie

 Stack Attack!
The parent helpers were awesome! 

 Guess the Candy amount to win the candy!!

 Have you ever made this?  Tastes exactly like Salted Nut Rolls...

The games were a lot of fun, but next time, 

I think we'll set up several places where the games can be going on at the same time, 

it seemed like there was a lot of waiting around...and then the non game players 

got bored...but most had fun, I think!
 My daughter heard kids talking about it the next day after Mass and she said they had fun!

My own kids thanked and thanked me over and over 

for a fun night!!

Please pray for the Holy Souls!!

I've always had a love for the Poor Souls

I have a hard time writing about it, for fear of not doing justice, 

but my goal here is to make people aware and to hopefully pray more!