The Scoop on Granny

Name:
Cathi

Status:
Dreaming of the mountains...


Who is Granny?

I'm the incredibly blessed mother of 9, "Granny" to 16, and wife of "The Papa," the knight-in-shining-armor whose loving support has made it possible for me to stay home and give my life to mothering, homemaking, and 26 years of homeschooling. Life at Granny's House is full of laughter, friendship, books, music, lively debate, writing, and good things to eat. My days are made even more meaningful by coming alongside other moms, giving them the support and encouragement that I lacked as a young mother and helping them to network with each other in ways that strengthen homes and families. A few times a year I board a plane to visit my "away" kids, to attend the birth of a grandchild, or to enjoy some lazy days with my best friend, but I always love coming back to...Granny's House.

My Complete Profile

On Granny's Calendar
  • August 15 - SAC Day begins
  • August 16 - Sam is 7!
  • August 20 - Kristen's birthday
  • August 30 - THE WELTYS ARRIVE!
  • Sept 3 - FAMILY PICTURES
  • Sept 3 - Chris' birthday
  • Sept 5 - Henry is 9!
  • Sept 7 - Isaac is 10!
  • Sept 17 - The Papa's birthday
  • Sept 23-30 - Granny and Papa go to Hawaii
  • Sept 26 - PawPop is 88!
  • Sept 29 - Tim is 15!
  • Oct 2 - Cheyenne's birthday
  • Oct 4 - Liam is 5!
  • Oct 7 - John Caleb is 17!
  • Oct 18 - Tony's birthday



  • Email Granny!


    Get your own calendar



    Granny Cares
  • Care Calendar
  • Agape Pregnancy Help Center San Antonio
  • World Vision

  • Granny Cooks (and Eats)!

  • The Pioneer Woman Cooks
  • Once a Month Mom
  • $5 Dinners
  • Full Bellies, Happy Kids
  • A Year of Crockpotting


  • Granny's House (and yours!)

  • Simple Mom
  • The Nesting Place
  • Between Naps on the Porch
  • The Inspired Room



  • Granny gets around...
  • A Holy Experience
  • MommyLife
  • Confessions of a Pioneer Woman
  • Preschoolers and Peace
  • Breathing Grace
  • theMangoTimes



  • Granny stays informed...
  • Real Clear Politics
  • Fox News
  • Drudge Report

  • Granny Thinks...
  • Al Mohler
  • Between Two Worlds
  • Blog and Mablog
  • First Importance
  • Equipping the Saints
  • Desiring God

  • Granny says you may go to...
  • PowerLine Blog
  • Michelle Malkin
  • SteynOnline
  • WSJ Opinion Journal Best of the Web
  • GetHuman
  • Home School Legal Defense Association

  • Granny goes to the movies...
  • Netflix
  • Rotten Tomatoes
  • ScreenIt.com

  • Granny is watching!
  • Blue Pencil Editing
  • SPOGG
  • Mighty Red Pen
  • Conjugate Visits

  • Granny smiles at...
  • Purgatorio
  • ScrappleFace
  • LarkNews
  • Sacred Sandwich


  • Sunday, November 27, 2005
    The first Sunday of Advent is one of my favorite days of the year. Thanksgiving (though hopefully not the giving of thanks!) is behind, and all the celebrations of the Christmas season lie ahead. For the next four weeks we concentrate our thoughts, our events, our prayers on the advent, the coming, of the Messiah.
    At Granny's House, the first Sunday of Advent means getting out the advent wreath, finding the appropriate candles, locating our current advent book, and setting aside time as a family (including any visitors still sharing leftover turkey with us) to sing, read, and pray together each night.


    We live in a challenging household where, I am sorry to say, family devotions are more sporadic than I would like them to be. But Advent is the happy exception....at this time of year the nightly gathering, complete with lighting of the candles and singing of carols, is almost as regular as the setting sun. It's a time that honors our Savior and makes memories for our children and grandchildren.

    I grew up in a tradition that pretty much ignored Advent along with the rest of the traditional Christian church calendar. It was all-too-close-to-Catholic for the comfort of evangelicals, and so our churches very spiritually replaced a four-week commemoration of Christ's coming with cookie exchanges and parties where someone's dad dressed up in a Santa suit and passed out candy and Dollar Store trinkets. Hmmmmm.....

    So I'm thrilled to be part of a corner of American Protestantism that is not afraid to join with Christians throughout the world and through the ages in remembering the coming of Christ for more than just two or three frenzied days. I want my children and grandchildren to know the slow, purposeful, anticipatory joy of nightly worship in our home, punctuated by the coordinating observance in our Sunday service each week. Christmas, then, becomes another way that our families are knit together with each other and with a long line of Believers who have received the greatest Gift.

    For the past few years, we've used the advent resources authored by Arnold Ytreeide for our nightly devotions. He has written a trilogy of short novels divided into chapters which correlate with the number of nights in Advent. They tell exciting stories set in the time around the birth of Christ and build each night toward a stirring Christmas Eve conclusion, and they illustrate concepts that we want to emphasize during our month-long observance. Parts of the stories maybe pretty intense for the tiniest children, but we've found that they are enjoyed and appreciated by most everyone, even the oldest among us (read: Grannies).

    If you think you'd like to incorporate these books into your family's celebration, here are some links to the books of the trilogy:

    Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent
    Bartholomew's Passage: A Family Story for Advent
    Tabitha's Travels: A Family Story for Advent

    We're looking forward to the weeks of reading, praying, and singing about Christmas with our children and grandchildren. I hope that however you choose to observe these weeks, they will be full of meaning and memories for all of you....


    has spoken at 6:20 PM
    0 Backtalks to Granny





    Granny's Mission Statement
    "...Tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done....that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children."
    ~Psalm 78:4-6

    My Focal Passage for 2011...
    Philippians 2:5-11

    5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

    6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

    7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

    8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

    9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

    10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

    11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

    ~Philippians 2:5-11 (ESV)


    Oxymoronica...

    "The vanity of being known to be trusted with a secret is generally one of the chief motives to disclose it."

    ~Samuel Johnson


    [Oxymoronica, n., A compilation of self-contradictory terms, phrases, or quotations; examples of oxymoronica appear illogical or nonsensical at first, but upon reflection, make a good deal of sense and are often profoundly true.]


    Books on the iPhone, the Kindle, or on the nightstand...


  • The Good Husband of Zebra Drive, Alexander Mccall Smith
  • The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, Arthur G. Bennett, editor



  • Books finished in 2011...

  • Oxymoronica, Mardy Grothe
  • Some Sing, Some Cry, Ntozake Shange, Ifa Bayeza
  • English Society in the Eighteenth Century, Roy Porter
  • One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, Ann Voskamp
  • His Word in My Heart, Janet Pope
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
  • Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
  • Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi
  • Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God, John Piper
  • Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, Joshua Foer
  • Blue Shoes and Happiness, Alexander McCall Smith
  • The Red Queen, Philippa Gregory
  • Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, Eric Metaxas
  • The Confessions of Saint Augustine, St. Augustine
  • Complete Poems and Selected Letters of John Keats, John Keats
  • Unfamiliar Fishes, Sarah Vowell
  • Words That Work, Frank Luntz
  • NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
  • Poke the Box, Seth Godin
  • Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It, Gary Taubes
  • A Patriot's History of the United States, Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen
  • Song of Saigon: One Woman's Journey to Freedom, Anh Vu Sawyer
  • The Artistic Mother: A Practical Guide for Fitting Creativity into Your Life, Shona Cole
  • The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature, Elizabeth Kantor
  • The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, David McCullough


  • Oh, the thinks you
    can think...
  • Tapestry of Grace
  • Anatomical Charts
  • America's Library
  • George Washington's Mount Vernon - Virtual Mansion Tour
  • Thomas Jefferson's Monticello - Virtual Mansion Tour
  • Hurricane Demo

  • Oh, the places we'll go...
  • The Alamo
  • Majestic Theater
  • The MAiZE
  • Magik Theatre
  • Sheldon Vexler Children's Theatre

  • Granny always says...
    It's Cranberry Day! At Granny's House, always on t...
    I'm sure I should feel quite blessed that in thirt...
    At Granny's House... if you arrive without your hi...
    This is the week to get the kiddos started making ...
    Well, I've neglected the updates on this blog for ...
    We're starting into our second month of having our...
    For Anne S. and anyone else who has a little too ...
    In October my thoughts turn to holiday baking. It'...
    A big welcome to the newest little guy in our circ...
    My four-year old grandson Isaac has had a rough co...

    Granny used to say...
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    Grace Notes

    "Were the whole realm of nature mine
    That were a present far too small...
    Love so amazing, so divine
    Demands my soul, my life,
    my all!"