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I cannot explain why I find this so amusing. It defies explanation. I just really, really like it.
I want to put a bunch of these up in my house and not caption them or anything, but just chuckle to myself every time I go by one.
Or maybe if I ever have a mudroom, I’ll have a big line of them across one wall and I’ll get some of those fancy script decals for the wall and instead of them saying “family” or “laughter” or “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” mine will say “You better hang up your coat, drunk octopus wants to fight!”
This is Bobby’s impression of Drunk Octopus:
I trust you all had a lovely Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Thursday. We did!
Those of you who like Catholic All Year on Facebook know that I planned to let the kids make Queenship-themed ice cream sundaes. (You also know that for some reason I think the Queenship of Mary is a solemnity, when it’s just a memorial. Oops.)
Anyway, they turned out quite cute. And they were easy to prep and for the kids to do. Ahead of time I used a serrated knife to cut triangles out of the top edge of some pink ice cream cones we had in the pantry, and I also cut most of the handle part off. Then I let the kids decorate them with cut pieces of gummy fruit slices. They stick right on! Then we made ice cream sundaes and put the crowns on top.
Mary, Queen of Heaven, pray for us!
We also said an at-home family Rosary that night for the first time in too long. After all, it was a special day AND I am the proud owner of a custom-made new Rosary.
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| I’m pretty sure all the necessary parts are there. I just need to figure out how to access them. Gus is awfully pleased with himself for making it. |
I have a whole post on How We Say a Family Rosary, but it was written back when Frankie was in bed before we would start saying our family Rosary.
Here’s what it looks like saying a Rosary with Frankie:
and that was BEFORE the ice cream. But I’m sure Our Lady appreciated his efforts.
In a post earlier this week, I explained why my kids wear uniforms for homeschool, recite the pledge of allegiance, and do calisthenics before we start school each morning.
But you only got to see ONE of their two sets of uniforms. I know you’re dying of curiosity. So, here’s what the Tierney kids look like on Wednesdays and Thursdays:
Hey! Here’s another random thing that is awesome . . .
I really loved this post at Verily Magazine, defending the wisdom of an educated woman’s (even an Ivy League educated woman’s) decision to stay at home and take care of her children.
While I’m not an Ivy League graduate, I do have two bachelor’s degrees from USC, plus considerable post-graduate training in a field that would seem quite unrelated to stay-at-home mothering. But my education allows me to pass along a way of seeing the world to my children, a love of knowledge and beauty and culture that I would not have but for my studies.
When I was pursuing my education, I didn’t yet know that my vocation was to be a stay-at-home mother. And when I quit my job to stay home with my first child, I didn’t know that I’d one day be his teacher, along with his siblings. I also didn’t know I’d become a writer, and end up using those English degrees after all.
To say that a woman ought not attend a prestigious university if she intends to stay home with her children would require a crystal ball, would it not? How can we know what the future will bring?
The whole debate reminds me of the father from The Poisonwood Bible who says, “Educating a woman is like pouring water into a shoe. It wastes the water and spoils the shoe.” In case you haven’t read that particular book, let me assure you, you DO NOT want to be on that guy’s side. He’s pretty much the worst.
Happy weekend everyone! We’re heading down to San Diego to visit my parents and see my sister and her girls and meet up with an old college friend of the husband’s and his wife and their five kids. Annnnnd . . . we’re going to test drive some big vans. Yikes! Thanks to all the awesome folks who responded to my Facebook cry for help, we’ve decided to take a look at the Mercedes Sprinter, Ford E350, and Nissan NV. Wish us luck!
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Homeschool uniforms… love it! Will pass this idea to my homeschool friends.
Kummerspeck… I can relate!
Crystal ball comments… so true.
American soil… priceless!
hahaha! Ok, I saw that drunk octopus thing a while back, and we have a few in our house. Yes, I do laugh every time I see them. Even after all of this time.
Things that can't be unseen.
Omg. Grief bacon! I've totally been there! Funny that the Germans, of all people, have the most apt word to describe that phenomenon!
I love your post, Kendra (as usual). Your '7Quick Takes' make me want to add 7 witty comments, but I just don't think I can keep up. Love the Rosary pics of Frankie, the mitre, the drunk octopus…wish we could hang out some time!
Hey! We have a date next summer to see a bunch of water fall down a cliff do we not?
Grief bacon! I needed a word for this postpartum, sad eating phase! Once again, I have found my answer in your blog! 🙂
My husband is going to be so jealous of the sprinter, even with just two kids so far he tries to justify getting one!
Enjoy your trip!
Kendra, you have quite possibly the most fun QTs out there! I didn't write a QT this week, but I clicked over to visit, loving the octopus in the title line sitting in my inbox. ( I figured out how to get my good posts out of the spam box and back into my inbox. Took me long enough. Actually, my son figured it out in 1 minute. It took me forever to ask him!)
The miter H and S, hilarious.
The octopus…too funny!
Love your rosary pics! So cute!!!
Gotta share a link to my posts back during the O Antiphon days in Dec with rosary making. I love this one company that we bought our kits from. The lady who makes them is just so sweet….
And my son created this diagram, just for fun, illustrating how to say the rosary:
http://campfiresandcleats.blogspot.com/2012/12/rosary-collections-and-our-lady-in-news.html
I didn't have time to click to your mag link…….
Enjoy your trip! We were in no CA this summer..SF and Yosemite. I so love it there!
Our plan is soCA, AZ, NM, UT next summer. I'm sure your time with your sister and her fam will be wonderful!
Be well and God bless!
xoxo
If you are in So Cal when we're here (and not in Chicago with my in laws or Canada with the McConkeys) we'll have to have a bloggy meet up!
Grief bacon–awesome. There is actually a meme floating around of 25 words with no English equivalent. It is hilarious.
And the drunk octopus–I want one too!
Miter joke=good chuckle for today.
I laughed out loud at least 3 times reading this post and showed my hubby. Thanks! I will never look at a coathook the same way again!
Like the 2nd set of uniforms also. As one who has spent almost her entire like wearing a uniform you have made some good choices. Looking forward to seeing you this weekend as the weather is sunny and the pool is warm.
Nanacamille
Haha. You're so fun. Love you, Kendra!
I just laughed so hard at Drunk Octopus that I scared the baby. I am violently anti-word-decal, but I would buy your version.
Kummerspeck is my new favorite word.
And drunk octopus is awesome.
The miter-hide-and-seek picture I've seen before on Pinterest and honestly, it's just as funny the second time around 🙂
Have fun visiting family and searching for a bigger van! I tell my husband (and God, regularly in prayer) that we cannot have more than FIVE kids, that is my limit. Is it some great big financial or physical limitation or a noble desire to give those five my all? Nope, I just don't want to have to drive a car bigger than a minivan. I'm pretty sure I would end up taking out a pole or innocent pedestrians. Not a good idea!
😀
Drunk octopus vs Miter hide & seek…can't decide which is funnier.
I just wanted to eat that bacon. joy-bacon. Go with picture B!
:o(
We have the Nissan NV and LOVE it!! We had the Ford E350 before it and we would never own another E350. The NV is super comfortable and has some great technology features for not much more money. Good luck on the big van shopping! It was a big step for us 🙂
I know I'm super late to the game on this, but in reference to #6, should a woman really attend a *prestigious* university if she *intends* to be a stay-at-home mom? Does it make financial sense? If Betty and Anita got into Princeton but also told you that their main goal in life was to be a homemaker, would you pay for them to attend? Or would you maybe encourage them to attend a cheaper but still perfectly good state school instead?
My husband and I {who are high school sweethearts} both got into Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh, the school next door. We got full scholarships to Pitt, so even though it wasn't as prestigious, we went there instead. All Pitt students are allowed to take a class for free at Carnegie Mellon each semester, so we looked at their course catalog and really couldn't find any classes that our own university didn't offer.
Going to Pitt still allowed us to get a great education and gave my husband the skills to land a great job afterwards {at one of the same software companies that heavily recruit at Carnegie Mellon} but that choice also allowed us to get married a year before graduating and left us with very little student debt. So, no regrets here!
This is a great perspective Caitlin, and it sounds like what you guys did worked out perfectly for your family.
But as for the answer to what I would do if Betty or Anita got into Princeton, but wanted to be a homemaker, I would most likely still encourage her to go to Princeton. Because you never know what God's plan is for you. I know half a dozen women who want nothing more than to get married and start having kids, but they are in their late thirties and that hasn't happened for them yet. So they've been working. If that were to be the case for my daughter and she were accomplished enough to get into an Ivy League school, I figure she might as well go and have the opportunity to be doing someone awesome with her life while she waits.
Then, when/if she is finally able to get married and have kids, I'll advise her to walk away from all of it with no regrets, if that's her vocation.
And even assuming she'd be able to meet and marry someone young, her prospects of meeting and marrying someone who is as smart and capable as she is would be increased at a more prestigious university. Although she'll have to work to find a "real" Catholic guy.
We are involved with Thomas Aquinas College and while I love that place and have many, many awesome friends who went there, I honestly worry a bit about sending my daughters there to meet a great guy who is studying theology. Because, ya gotta eat. Plus the pants thing gets on my last nerve. But I probably shouldn't start on that.
It sounds like for you, you had the husband lined up already, and kids are awfully likely to come next, and you were able to make a whole-family decision. The fact that you decided to go to college at all in that situation shows a commitment to your own education and betterment that your kids will benefit from!
Yes, we are definitely very fortunate to have met so young, which gives us a unique perspective on things. Not everyone has their first daughter at 22 and their second at 24. Nor should they!
But, I think for our daughters and hopefully future sons, we will go our parents' route and recommend a good, affordable state school for undergrad and advise them to leave the prestigious universities for grad school, when there's a much better chance for scholarships. It's worked well for us and our siblings and seem to make the most sense financially. Since you guys can actually compare the education at a good state school versus the ivy league, though, I suppose you have a much better perspective!
I do think it's worth it to pay more for a Catholic education, but I also have a problem with all the restrictions! Here in Seattle, we have several friends that went to Wyoming Catholic and they had to ask permission to leave campus or use their cell phones. I feel like it perpetuates our culture's idea that college students are kids, not adults. As someone who got married in college, I'd very much beg to differ!