14 Favorite Love Stories

In the spirit of Valentine's day,  I'm compiling a list of my favorite romantic movies. This is by no means an exhaustive list :)  but I hand picked this bouquet for you dear readers!

                                                                     The Shop Around the Corner

14) Barefoot in the Park
13) P.S. I Love You
12) Persuasion (2007)
11) Daniel Deronda (2002)
10) Amelie
9) Victoria and Albert (2009)
8) Groundhog Day
7) Ever After
6) The Notebook
5) Jane Eyre (2006)
4) Pride and Prejudice (at the risk of being traitorous, I'm going with the 2005 version!)
3) The Sound of Music
2) North and South

............and at number 1) The Shop Around the Corner :)

I would love to hear yours!

Hot Mess

I was very tempted to use that as my blog description just now, since I am trying to pick up my blog and dust it off and figure out what happened to it in the last week.  "Cutest Blog on the Block" has left me high and dry and without a background, which means I need to spend hours trying to find compatible templates for my current design so I don't need to do a whole redesign (which is inevitable and long overdue but I just can't find the time!) As fun as all this software is to play with, it is sooooo time consuming, and I'm supposed to be finishing a book! Also I'm stubbornly refusing the help of a beloved geek, who could craft an artful website for me if I could only admit I needed some help..... I guess I'm just not ready.

So,  this blog fits me right now. Well-intentioned and full of heart, but unfinished. Muted but bold. In transition....on a journey......more to come......thank you for sticking with me!

One of these things is not like the other

Happy Birthday tea party for Lily

And before you know it...

McDonald's is sponsoring free karate lessons after school.

White belt

This is from the summer, we're close to earning our orange belt any day now!

                                           Taken by Renee Nolte of University of Sidekicks 2012

Elephants on the move

Superboy is better and doodling pictures. We call this one "elephants on the move." The best art is never planned! :)

Christmas and the Feast of St. Stephen

I just figured out something that makes me really happy. If I sit in the playroom with my journal or a book, the kids play contentedly! Why has it taken me this long to figure this out and do it?

I also figured out something that makes me really sad. I have almost no pictures of the Christmas season, not even one of us dressed up for Mass. But I do have some of my Dad's birthday, where he acted out a short play of King Wencelaus since he was born on the 26th and St. Stephen is his namesake. Eleanor B is the royal page. It was so sweet!

We enjoyed a lovely day yesterday celebrating the Solemnity of the Epiphany with wonder, joy, and hope, as we look to a new year of seeking the light of Christ.

And then a picture of me being treated to a puppet show, by Milo who is feeling much better, praise God. Life is good, and God is always good.

Thank you Lord for the gift of friends and family, a happy and holy Christmas and a brand New Year of life. Wishing the same for you all, too!