7QT: Such a long to-do list, I think I'll blog.

We are leaving for Michigan in the am.  The laundry isn't done.  There are still groceries to buy (Hello Aldi cheap beach snacks!).  The house is a mess.  But I think I'll cough up seven quick takes and tell the big kids to make brownies, because these things are important.

1.

Those people down there are my people.

Michigan.  It's just like this.  On a lake with a beer and a baby.

2.

We have a new Christian in the house!

Many, many thanks to Fr. Steve Grunow of Word on Fire for coming down to our neck of the woods to baptize Polly and to the many family members who journeyed far and cut vacations short to be with us on this great occasion!

3.  Here are some examples of how Old Scratch tried to spoil the day interspersed with photos that are not related to the text.

My dishwasher broke the night before.  Patrick duct taped it so the tape was barely noticeable and the dishwasher still functioned.

The morning of, in a group effort to get beverages in the coolers, Lucy picked up a 12 pack of beer on the back porch and the box broke!  Broken glass and beer everywhere!

Then after cleaning up that mess, Susan was stirring a glass pitcher of OJ RIGHT BEFORE WE WERE TO WALK OUT THE DOOR, AND THE PITCHER BROKE!  Glass and OJ all over my clean kitchen.

At this point, Patrick, Polly, Jill, and I took off for the church, leaving the oldest four to clean and make their own way.

Polly was a perfect baby for the entire ceremony except for some serious fussiness and squirming during the prayer of exorcism.  But then Fr. Steve called the Holy Spirit down on her, and she settled right down.

4.  The rest of the day was just lovely.  There was no Bacon Cake left.  No ham.  None of the four egg casseroles.  No Prosecco.  It was a great feast!

Then we napped.

My hair looked pretty good too.  Washed it the day before.  Curly friends, you got to get educated in Ouidad.  I read about this nursing friendly dress on this blog.  Thanks, Tess.  Sorry not sorry I got the same print as she did.  It's the prettiest one.

5.  Some of the male party guests were complaining about our gorgeous vegetable garden. I think they were afraid their wives would get ideas.

I'm linking up with Cari's Garden Post. Our harvest has been small so far.  Some lettuce, Swiss Chard, basil, and a total of 2 cucumbers and 9 green beans.  This is our first attempt at vegetable gardening.

Each of those cucumbers cost us about $175.

There are zillions of green tomatoes too.  I'm certain everything will ripen while we are away.  If you live locally, swing by my back yard and help yourselves.  I have a good gazpacho recipe here.

The pepper plants look good, but no peppers.  The watermelon was about the size of a golf ball, but squirrels got it somehow.  It looks like we will do well with pumpkins.  That will save me about $8 this fall.

Next year, I'm growing zucchini and arugula.

Mixing the compost.

BTW, the vegetable garden is all the work of Patrick, Edmund, and Peter.  Any and all flowers are my domain, and they are all dead or mostly dead, which is why they are not pictured.

6.

On Monday, we took our Houston family members to the zoo.  They left from the zoo for the airport, but we stayed and went to the Butterfly House.

Patrick is SKEERED of butterflies, so we have never been there before.

It was gorgeous and magical and I want to live there.  Or at least spend a couple of hours in there with a large iced tea.

7.

Jill is talking about this moment when she says she touched a pig at the zoo.

I suppose that's enough procrastinating.

I will try to keep up with the WWRW posts, but there is a serious lack of internet and even cell coverage where we're going.  Don't you ever think that I'd skip a What We're Reading Wednesday post because I haven't read any books.  Jill would never let that happen.

Linking up with Jennifer @ Conversion Diary and Cari @ Clan Donaldson.

7QT: Because photos are easier than typing...

1.

This girl had a birthday (six weeks ago).  Drivers' Ed.  Again.  Pray for us.

2.  

A month ago yesterday.

3.  How is Jill handling it?

4.  Marvelously.

5.  Polly is a wee bit colicky.  I keep saying and hoping it's a wee bit.  Please be just a wee bit.  

Pray for us me.

6.  One month old already!

Her baptism is tomorrow! And so many out-of-town relatives are going to be here! Including her godmother and uncle and newest cousin, Isaac!  17 pound ham!  Maple Bacon Upsidedown Cake!  Chrism!  All the good smells! (Hey!  Our families smell pretty darn good.  Most of the time.)

7.  

One more month and this tall baby of mine goes away to college.

Patrick, Edmund, Jill, Polly, and I are all "helping" him move in.  I'm certain our caravan of characters will make a great first impression on his classmates.  

Pray for him too.

Thanks.

Linking up with Carolyn because she's not at the Edel conference either.

Celebrating the Other Birthday

All of you know the day on which you were born and you celebrate it as your birthday, don’t you? We all celebrate our birthday. I ask you a question, that I have already asked several times, but I’ll ask it again: who among you remembers the date of your Baptism? Raise your hands: they are few (and I am not asking the Bishops so as not to embarrass them...). Let’s do something: today, when you go home, find out what day you were baptized, look for it, because this is your second birthday. The first birthday is the day you came into life and the second birthday is the one on which you came into the Church. Will you do this? This is your homework: find out the day on which you were born to the Church, and give thanks to the Lord, because at Baptism he has opened the door of his Church to us.

-Pope Francis, General Audience, St. Peter's Square, November 13, 2013

Saturday was Edmund's second birthday.  No.  Not the second anniversary of his birth, but the eleventh anniversary of Baptism.  I remembered!  And we celebrated!

This is actually Jill's baptism.  I look terrible in Edmund's baptism picture.

We went to Patrick's brother's house and had dinner and skating (they have a rink too) and I made certain that my sister-in-law knew the occasion.  I offered to bring a cake, but she had all ready planned on one. She stunned all with a decadent flourless chocolate cake topped with whipped cream.  (I did bring an appetizer.  I'm not a total slacker.  I did not bring a camera, so I am a partial slacker.)

But I've been thinking about this Celebrate Your Baptism thing, and maybe there should be a little more to it than cake.

So I asked the internet.

First link that pops up is this suggestion for a Family Prayer Service.

Honestly, my kids would die of embarrassment if we tried it.

I could see my teens balking at the idea of making the sign of the Cross and their kid brother's head, and I can't see him keeping a straight face, or allowing it.

Thus I have come up with my own ideas for Celebrating a Baptism Anniversary, all of which abide by my KISS (keep it simple, stupid) rule of party planning and are probably completely obvious to all of you anyway.

1.  Know the dates.

I have all of my kids' sacrament dates in my Google Calendar set on "repeats annually."  But for Patrick and myself, I have to do some recon.

My mother set me up with the link to get a copy of my Baptismal certificate and I was able to do it all online, from sending a jpg of my driver's license to the $10 payment.

Hopefully, you have copies of all the baptismal certificates, or the parishes that have them aren't closed, so you will have a much easier time.

Hopefully, my mother-in-law has the pertinent information.

2.  About gifts...

Many of the other links I read suggested BUYING THINGS for a baptismal anniversary.  Small gifts or even religious items.  I don't think Pope Francis would think this is kosher.

It just seems fitting that a Spiritual Birthday would have Intangible gifts.

I personally love giving (and receiving) spiritual bouquets.

A spiritual bouquet is a gift of prayer and/or sacrifice done for the benefit of the recipient.  Novenas, holy hours, a Mass are all good things for a spiritual bouquet.  A homemade card or note letting someone know that you've been praying for them should suffice for presents.

A little gift of service is another intangible gift idea.  Like taking over a chore, making a bed, filling their car up with gas, something small but thoughtful.

3.  Decorations?

If you have the baptismal candle, you can always bust that out for a little table decor.

We didn't get a baptismal candle for Susan.  The parish had just had fancy-schmancy rust colored burlap pew coverings installed and the pastor didn't want anyone dripping wax on them.  I guess I could just order her a baptismal candle?

You can even light it...or not.  What am I saving that candle for if not to light on baptismal anniversaries?

4.  Activities

"Um, Jessica? That's a tattoo."  Yes, but it was the google image I liked best.

Say a family rosary, letting the "birthday" boy or girl lead, or even pick their favorite mysteries, or go to Mass (and then a bakery for donuts, because everyone knows donuts are spiritual goods, not material goods),  or read the story of the patron saint of the person you are celebrating.

At the very least, you can do what we do and add a "God Bless So-so!" to the end of your grace before dinner.

Pray for the godparents.  Remind your kids to pray for their godparents too.

As a godparent, I'm hoping that all of my godchildren or their parents see this one.

5.  Refreshments

Have cake.

Or a dessert.  Because in my mind, it's not a celebration unless there's some sort of celebratory food or drink involved.

Raise a glass and toast to the ongoing salvation of the birthday person!

My kids love "Kids' Wine."  Martinelli's Sparkling Cider is their vintage of choice.  Welch's makes lots of good sparkling kid-friendly wines as well:  red grape, white grape, blueberry, and cranberry.

Whelp.  There are my non-Pinterest-worthy ideas for incorporating Baptism Anniversaries in your family life.

I'm sure you probably have lots of better and more-inspiring tips to share, so use the combox to your advantage.