Someone might have come up with this already, but I just had to share.  
I have always used baby wipes to clean the bathroom, for one, they're economical, 500 of them for $8.97.  A container of 75 Clorox wipes is $4.97.  For another, baby wipes are more durable and can be rinsed several times and used to clean the entire bathroom then discarded.  
Just add 1/3 of a cup of bleach to them and you can disinfect and clean with just one swipe.  You could use generic bleach for $0.97 a gallon or I prefer to splurge and use scented Clorox for $3.50 a gallon. 
Make sure you clearly mark the wipes so no one mistakingly uses them on the baby or on their skin. 

A friend of mine shared with me what their family does for lent.  She places a jar of dried beans on the table and when they do a good deed, say extra prayers, or do chores with out grumbling they put a bean into the soup bowl.  On Good Friday my friend makes bean soup.  If they have a good lent then they have good soup, if not then the soup reflects how poorly their lent went.  When I presented the idea to my 7 year old son Sam he wrinkled his nose and asked, "But what if we don't like bean soup?"  I asked him if he had any other suggestions, he tilted his little head and looked up while he thought about it for a couple of seconds.  Then he said how about we do macaroni!  Excellent idea Sam!  So we decided to call it HOLY MACARONI!  We are not off to a very good start but hopefully we will get more ambitious as lent progresses!    

This man truly represents what "Hearts to God, Hands to work" really means!  I am utterly touched by his gentle humor and tender heart for our God and Country.  He shows us that you can speak truth with courage, conviction and love.  He doesn't frame himself in a way that would restrict free thought, but embraces the truth and he is truly free to live it.  He doesn't complain about problems unless he can come up with something to help solve it.  On education, something he has a passion for, he started the Carson Scholars Fund.  This fund blesses those kids who are in Title One Schools, that do not have books or libraries in their schools.  Dr Carson embraces the truth that all children are blessed with tools and talents that are needed for the greatness of our country to thrive.  He believes that it is moral decay that destroys societies and that we are the problem solvers of this world.  I can't wait to read his book.  Listen and watch this video and be encouraged.  Our country is full of good people like Dr. Ben.  We are all called upon to rise, put our God given tools, talents and abilities to use for the greater Glory of God and to love our neighbor.  

It's conversations like these that will have me giggling for days!  My kids are too much...they just are!

Living through it, even as a little girl, I rarely look back on the 70's with much affection, but there are some things that were happening that redeem and make this time in our nations history worth while!  Not surprising of course, this one involves my Church!  

I'm not blessed, as my sisters (biological), with athletic ability.  My talent's bent is more on the creative side of my brain.  All 5 of my siblings had athletic talent.  Rarely missing their games, it was exciting and I would swell with pride at their ability and their successes.  I really enjoyed watching them play.  My heart would race with theirs, rejoice in their successes, sulk with bad ref calls, and grieve with their losses.  My sister Dana worked very hard, with a fierce competitive spirit and did well at volley ball.  My sister Amy played volleyball and basketball.  She had the height, the grace, drive, work ethic, and talent that made her a great player.  Women's athletics gave both my sisters an opportunity to play volley ball in college.  My sisters, like many other women benefitted immensely from Title ix. Dana played for College of Saint Francis in Joliet and Amy played for Monmouth College.  

This ESPN segment gives real insight to where Title ix rule started.  Not surprised that it had the push of the Catholic Church behind it.  Maybe not directly, but when nuns are praying miracles happen.  Cathy Rush, head coach of the women's basketball team of Immaculata College in Pennsylvania from 1972-77 "...To look at the circumstances to all arrive at this place at that time, you have to think there is some kind of divine intervention..."  Sister responds chuckling, "Could be!  I'm never gonna rule out divine intervention for anything, if it turns out well!"  The success of this all girl school's basketball team shared in catapulting Title ix into realization.  Even so they did it with out money and facilities.  Actually, I would tend to give more credit to the team that accomplishes greatness with out mandates from government!  Dare I say, a woman's strength and abilities are rarely fully realized unless we have opposition to them.  

You can take the movie's agenda with a grain of salt and just accept it as it being Hollywood's only way of doing the movie.  The sisters that I have known are way more down to earth and fully accepting of our human condition, all while they work to improve it!  This is true holiness that always seems to escape Hollywood and the like.  The holiness of the Church is always in the muck and mire of work!  The Church makes work for humanity, not stuffy postures and piety, it's prayer, even if it is a basketball game! 

 

Sophia, (our 5 year old) and I had a funny conversation this morning... "Mom, we need to bake Santa some cookies!".  I replied, "We sure do!".  She tilted her head and looked at me, "Mom, I love baking with you!".  Of course I responded with the standard, "I love baking with you!".  She put on a sweet smile, tilted her fresh face and said, "I love baking with you moooooore!", and I said, "Yes you do!".  Started to sing her song of "I love to bake with my mommy!  I love to bake with my mommy!".  Then she paused and said, "Mom, I need to wear my 'Birthday Suit' when I bake!".  She is a very perceptive child, so she took notice right away to the puzzled look on my face and said, "You know mom, the pink one with dots, that Mrs. Levy bought me!".  Schwoooo! 

HHS mandate has serious Constitutional problems.  Time after time our first amendment right to freedom of religion wins in the Supreme Court.  

Do you know what I find insulting? The label, "Women's Issues."  Bobby likes to ask, "What issue is not a woman's issue?"  If you want to talk about women's issues being only about birth control, you reduce us all to being the objects of sex.  This administration clearly reveals how they really see women.  

Women are very capable creatures.  They have been providing birth control for themselves since the 60s. Why do they all of a sudden need a mandate to cover the cost of it?  

I happen to be more than a woman.  I'm a small business owner and a consumer. I'm a patriot.  I'm Catholic. I'm a mom, a wife and a leader in my family. I form the bodies and minds of my kids. Let's go through the list of issues and see which ones are not important to you.  

Let's start with the military.  Are women soldiers?  Wives of soldiers?  Mothers of soldiers?  Officers?  Trainers?  Arsenal personnel?  Our country boasts of 1.8 million women veterans.  Currently we have over 200,000 women serving in the armed services.  We also have more that 72,000 serving in the National Guard.  Believe me, the military is a woman's issue.

How about agriculture?  Currently over 165,000 farms are owned by women.  Now don't have a cow, but when is the last time you heard that agriculture is a woman's issue.   

Jobs, hmmmm?  Even though I am only a mom and only a small business owner, I and women like me, have been left out of the discussion of job creation and retention, by the liberal left.  They think that jobs are not my issue and why would they? Like Ann Romney, I have never worked a day in my life.  (Ann's lips and mine are dripping with sarcasm!) 

Energy?
Healthcare? 
Family?
Marriage?  
Education?
Child care?
Community?
Faith?
The economy?
  
The Obama administration reduces women to sex objects, by making birth control our only issue. They even claim that there is a war on women because the Catholic Church doesn't want to pay for it! 

The "War on Women" is a marketing scheme by none other than the abortionist PAC Early Money Is Like Yeast list.  EMILY's List is a radical pro-abortion PAC that bundles money for pro-abortion candidates running for political office.  They don't want you to know who they really are and that they endorse a candidate if they fully intend to be an advocate for the abortion industry.  Including support for partial birth abortion.  

Why isn't birth control a man's issue? The last time I checked, it takes two to make a baby!  It seems to me that by labeling it a "Women's Issue," you leave out a key component -  the man!  Why isn't this a man's issue?  Aren't we equal to men?  Oh that's right, the left wants us to believe that we have to take a pill to be equal to a man.  Which is the same as them saying that we are not...hmmmmm?  

The left claims that 98% of women use birth control and then claim they do not have access to it.  This conjured up war on women is how the left really sees women. 

Women can fight fires, fight crime, build houses, farm, fly planes, fight wars, etc.  Only OUR bodies can create the most wonderful thing in the world - another unique human being!  I find it perplexing that the creation of another little life is the only thing a man cannot do alone, but it is the one thing that the liberal left hopes to eliminate.  The left's focus is to gain the woman's vote by planting the seed of victim hood of our own bodies.  Perplexing...

Sophia and I made marshmallows today!  It was quite fun and super easy!  I pulled the recipe from Martha Stewart's web site.  Click here to get the recipe.  I added coarse sugar coated in gold dust from Wilton cake decorating products.  It comes in a variety of colors.  Just click on gold dust above and you can shop for your self.  I am going to cut these and put into plastic bags and tie with red string and tag and give to friends with chocolate mix and mug.

Here's my virsion

Ingredients

• Crisco
  
• 3 (1/4-ounce) packages unflavored gelatin
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, plus 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• Confectioners' sugar, sifted, for coating

Directions

1. Lightly coat a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with Crisco.  Line pan with plastic wrap, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water; let stand for 10 minutes. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water. Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil; boil rapidly for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and, with the mixer on high, slowly pour the boiling syrup down the side of the mixer bowl into gelatin mixture. Add salt and continue mixing for 12 minutes.
3. Add vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds; mix until well combined. Spray a rubber spatula or your hands with cooking spray. Spread gelatin mixture evenly into pan using prepared spatula or your hands. Spray a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place, spray side down, on top of marshmallows. Let stand for 2 hours.
4. Carefully remove marshmallows from pan. Remove all plastic wrap and discard. Cut marshmallows into 2-inch squares using a sprayed sharp knife. Place confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Working in batches, add marshmallows to bowl and toss to coat.