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


  • Wednesday, October 01, 2008
    Words on Wednesday

    Its. Admit it. Are you one of the millions of puzzled writers trying to remember whether it's the possessive pronoun or the contraction that needs an apostrophe in its spelling? (Notice how I managed to include both in that sentence!)

    W.O.W. to the rescue!

    Okay, I'll admit it. This is one that drives me absolutely batty. Just ask my business partner or my kids. Misspell anything you want, but just please don't put an apostrophe where it doesn't belong or leave one out where it does belong in it's/its. (Actually that's a lie, and my kids know that, too. It's extremely hard for me to leave ANY misspelling unchallenged, although I'm trying to loosen up. But I digress.)

    First, why all the confusion? It seems natural to place an apostrophe in the contraction "it's" because that's what we do with all contractions. But the problem is in the OTHER "its," the kind that denotes possession. The problem is that with MOST possessives in the English language, NOUNS, we do use an apostrophe. This is my mother's book. The dog wants the cat's toy. Carrie is waiting for true love's kiss.

    The exceptions, dear readers, are personal PROnouns. Hers, ours, theirs, yours...and its. No apostrophes. Please do not ask me to defend the indefensible. I'm not here as legal counsel for the nitwits who devised this system. I'm here to help keep you from looking like a nitwit for not following their screwball rules.

    When you're discussing an "it" and you'd like to denote something that belongs to the "it," such as "The dog is chasing its tail," you do NOT use an apostrophe. Ever. Period.

    When you're using "it's" as a contraction (that is, a shortening) of "it is," you DO. Always. Period.

    So...how do you remember this quickly and avoid having to stop and think possessive pronouns and contractions? Simple. Think of the apostrophe as a tiny "i" in the word. Then read it. The "i" makes you read "It is." If it doesn't make sense that way, don't use the apostrophe.

    "The dog is chasing it is tail." Uh-uh. Doesn't work.

    "I'm going to look outside to see if it is raining." Yep, sounds fine. Just takes longer. Use the apostrophe.

    If you can't substitute "It is" for the "its," then you must leave the apostrophe out. Out in the cold, freezing to death if necessary. Don't under any circumstances let it back in your word.

    Now, let me tell you one other thing, which a purist would rather die than admit. If (and there's little excuse for this since I've just explained it all so brilliantly), IF you are in a hurry and can't remember whether to put it in or not, don't. Why? Because the grammar stickler reading your writing and judging your personal worth by your level of adherence to The Nitwit Rules is more likely to see the omission of an apostrophe as a typo and give you the benefit of the doubt. On the other hand, putting an apostrophe where it doesn't belong is like a lethal assault on the eye of a closet proofreader, and is proof positive that the writer is either purposely flouting societal mores or is hopelessly ignorant of them.

    Yes, I'm giving you the Slacker's Rule. I do not, however, admit to having biological children who take the lazy way out. Nope.

    (If you ever say I told you this, I will of course claim that a hacker obtained the password to my blogger account and inserted these insidious paragraphs in my post in order to water down the appearance of my commitment to The Nitwit Rules. It will be your word against mine. I'm just warning you.)

    There are other issues with apostrophes, but we'll deal with those another time.

    And now, it's time for me to put my pillow through its paces....

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    has spoken at 12:01 AM
    7 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...
    I'm the first one to admit that the mortgage lendi...
    Tuesday edition of the Snippets...
    My thoughts on the (surprising) failure of the bai...
    Time's up, put your pencils down.
    Just in case there are 2.4 readers left here who a...
    HOPE floats!
    Sunday snippets...
    Some of our Fab Friday parents get worn out here.S...
    What to eat while watching the debate...
    I cringe to think that by Monday we will have sadd...

    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!"