Another New Friend

Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints!

I started reading the Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska on Sunday and every day of reading has been endless fun:

"One day, tired out from all these uncertainties, I asked Jesus, "Jesus are You my God or some kind of phantom? Because my superiors say that there are all sorts of illusions and phantoms. If you are my Lord, I beg you to bless me." Then Jesus made a big sign of the cross over me and I, too, signed myself. When I asked pardon of Jesus for this question, He replied that I had in no way displeased Him by this question and that my confidence pleased Him very much" (54)

The way St. Faustina talks reminds me so much of myself- I always used to bother myself with writing pretty prose or prayers- or just being really formal- in my journal to Jesus (He has since told me that He wants to hear what I say to Him...who woulda thought)- starting a sentence with "because" just seems to me to be a really 6th grade girl thing to do- I do it all the time when I'm rambling- but I love that she does it too! Not that she doesn't write beautifully, but it's so very human!

"O life so dull and monotonous, how many treasures you contain! When I look at everything with the eyes of faith, no two hours are alike, and the dullness and monotony disappear. The grace which is given this hour will not be repeated in the next. It may be given me again, but it will not be the same grace. Time goes on, never to return again. Whatever is enclosed in it will never change; it seals with a seal for eternity" (62)

A Few Things

Below is a picture of Joseph holding his bedtime snack tonight, a decadent dairy treat: hot cocoa with whipped cream on top. He even sprinkled a little cocoa powder on the whipped cream to make it fancy.

Why do I tell you this? Well, I've been looking for a replacement for whipped cream that didn't involve buckets of chemicals and partially hydrogenated oils- the search, I hope, isn't hopeless, but I have found a way to make a fancy, foamy dessert drink- behold!
Yes, the cup says "dream"- DREAM COME TRUE! It's just soymilk! You can't whip soymilk! Well, apparently you can- I did it while it was heating in a pan. I whipped it with an electric mixer over a medium flame (scorched soymilk tastes really weird- so heat gently)- when I was done I had heaps of foam that I could pick up with my fingers and dollop on my mug. Careful not to whip too much- it can all turn into foam and trust me, it really doesn't deflate.
I mixed in maple syrup, cinnamon, and cardamom- it was really good. Just like the fancy coffee place that made steamed foamy soymilk for me with their fancy machine- only I don't have a fancy machine! Further proof that not being able to have milk really isn't that bad.

And then...

As I was taking the above pictures off our camera I came across this video. I loaded it on my computer not knowing what to expect. This... is my family:

Don't ask me how Joseph make that sound at the end... he doesn't even know.