Ball Family Chronicles #2: Little Voices at Mass

It's been entirely too long since I published something (and in the process of writing this post, I realized how few pictures I've taken over the last three months.... shame on me!). The newborn and infant phases of parenting have really been taking everything out of me.

Daniel has left to go to work, and so in these smallish hours before the littles wake up, I have a little joy to share with you.

As you can imagine, having a baby makes going to the same Mass each week a bit arduous, so we do the sensible thing.

We don't worry about it. We get up when the baby makes us, and we go to the first Mass that's after she finishes nursing.

Essential Virtues for Potty Training... (and How I Don't Have Any of Them)

For the record, I have no idea how anyone manages to potty train a child. None.

For the kid... diapers aren't inconvenient. You do your business wherever you happen to be and tell mom you need a new diaper whenever you get around to it. You don't ever have to stop what you're doing.

So far, I have attempted potty training with Pitter Patter twice... and I don't think that's Pitter Patter's fault - it's mine.

Why We're Trying Cloth Diapers For The New Baby

When I was still working, there was someone I worked with someone who really liked working from a hard copy.  It wasn't unusual at all for this person to generate 2 reams worth of paper in any given week. (I wish I was exaggerating.)

I tried to show him how to adjust the printer settings so he could print out double-sided copies, but his unfortunate response was, "I don't believe in global warming."

To which I would always, always respond, "That's no excuse not to be a good steward of what we've been given."

{7 QT 18} - Glove Boxes, Duggars, House, and Kids

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So, we bought a new-to-us used car last week, and it wasn't until we were leaving for our road trip on Friday that we discovered that one thing that we missed when we were looking at the car.

The handle on the glove box is completely unusable. We can't open it, but we're hoping that our car guy can rig something up.

As undiscovered problems with cars go... it's not so bad. It jut means we don't have a good place to put all of the napkins we get from fast food places!

Never Underestimate the Power of Your Village

Never underestimate the power of your village.

At our annual Mother's Day gathering this past year, my Mom was playing with Pitter Patter (as per usual), and I was not about to stop her.

When her mom, my Grammy, arrived with my godmother (Nanny), Mom immediately started to show Grammy all of the cool stuff that Pitter Patter knows.

She first started out with the things that I had worked on with her, The ABC's, "what's that letter for", counting, "what sound that animal makes", and then she started into the prayers Pitter Patter knows.

Kids: A Great Example

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time

This Sunday, the second reading will be from Ephesians 4:30-5:2, but I’d also strongly encourage you to read the other readings.

We’re enjoined several times in scripture to be like little children. In terms of openness to the truth, in terms of radical trust, in terms of respect for our elders. This is one of few parts of scripture in which the this call is juxtaposed with a call to the imitation of God.

Remember all those places in scripture where we are told to do things like “be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect”? This is a call to imitate the father in his attributes, and also in his actions.

Children - especially small children - are a perfect example of how to do imitation right.