Late Birthday and Googles!

Benjamin's birthday is in May- but we were preparing for a wedding this year and he never had a birthday party so we decided to have one now- at the end of August. Benjamin's request was to go bowling- and we could see why, he played two games and his total for the day was 202! It was almost the top score of the day if it hadn't been for his best friend who beat Benjamin with a score of 212.

You can see how elated he was most of the time. When he broke 100 he grabbed my Mom's face (twice) and screamed "I GOT 100!!!" I think he had a good time.

The theme of the party was, of course, googles (couldn't have seen that one coming). If you don't know what a google is, here are a few pictures. Googles show up everywhere and come in many forms. The way Benjamin always describes a google is as "a duck with no hands"- a google is one of the many "Webkinz" stuffed animals you can puchase and play games online with it- a total scam but I think Benjamin has gotten a lot of ware out of his googles.

This is an actual google stuffed animal,

but they often show up other places such as...

Walls:

School work (army of googles on the left side of the shield of virtues):

Vacation Bible School work (why the google was necessary on the St. Joseph window I've no idea..):

Drawn for fun (this is a "chocolate google", a very fat one, and his name is "Halupeno"- kudos to Benjamin for sounding out the word "Jalepeno" by himself) (this particular google picture resides next to Benjamin's bed):

And even in disguise (this is a snowman google- no hands!)

He draws them on his body, he signs them next to his name, I find them scribbled in the steam on the bathroom mirror when I get out of the shower, he bikes with them, makes up stories about them, has written the rule book about what googles can and cannot do and anything else one would want to know about them...

...So it was no surprise when he requested a google cake:

We also played pin the beak on the google. I think he had a good time.

Soup Day

Being rainy and cold- I thought it an excellent day for soup and reading. Reading that I've tried to do for years but never really got done... I think a lot of those into Anne of Green Gables series fizzle out around Rainbow Valley. Somehow when the exciting Anne and Gilbert love story is now more of a peaceful ever after, people lose interest. Being a big advocate for loving everyday life, I didn't want to be that way- so I've tried to plunge for the past few summers into Rainbow Valley. It seems I've been unsuccessful- but I did read a good chunk today.

In the meantime I was more successful making soup. During the past few years of living in the house at St. Olaf I found out that people actually make soup- not just get it from a can- horrible I know. I also found out how easy it was to make your own with whatever you had. Today I made some that I like to make a lot with dried split peas.

I boiled about 5 cups of water with

• half a bag of dried split peas, rinsed
• about half an onion, chopped
• two cloves of chopped garlic
• one sweet potato
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery (w/ leaves) chopped

After that I added seasonings like a little dried oregano, a bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste. I didn't add enough salt this time- silly me. Then I boiled it all for about an hour- maybe- I really don't know how long. I usually just boil it until I can't stand to not eat it any more- but an hour would be good- at least until the peas get soft and mushy and it becomes thick and soupish. Easy, good for lent, sticks to the ribs, and made out of random things anyone can have!

Ave Maria!

This year we decided to celebrate the Assuption of the Blessed Virgin by having a tea party- and seeing as it wasn't even a holy day of obligation this year, I think it was quite appropriate to put a little extra feasting in the day. The wall was plastered with some (not even all!) of the pictures of Mary that I posses:

We ate real tea party food like chicken salad, cucumber sandwiches, lady fingers, strawberry sorbet- and of course, plenty of tea and iced tea. One of the guests provided a copious amount of fresh mint from his own plant for the iced tea and pretty little garnishes for the desserts.

We also made garlands of stars- of course each one had 12- everything had to have marian signifiance- she was our guest of honor!

After we feasted we went for a rosary walk and sang hymns in front of the Mary statue at church. The Blessed Mother really let us share in her joy that day!

It really was a wonderful day- and it's a small triumph for Catholic culture in our silly world that separates God and everday life. It's nice to have a party for people like the Blessed Mother too- she doesn't allow you to get stressed out or have any kind of worldly focus. One night I was supposed to be practicing snare drum but I was planning instead and she wouldn't stop bothering me until I practiced. Such a mom. I'm definitely hoping to celebrate other feast days this way. Ave Maria!

Finishing Up...

My sister and her new husband finally moved into their little house this week. For us that means that the wall we put up to give rooms to 6 children in this house is coming down!

Goodbye Google pasted on the wall with "Benderoos"...

Goodbye doodles on the back of the door...

Goodbye door that shut out the sunlight...

Hello windows and sun and a wide open room!!