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, December 23, 2009

    Surprises.

    They're what much of the Christmas season is made of. Surprise gifts, surprise visits from a loved one, surprising new ways of celebrating what God has given...all pleasant surprises.

    This year, I've received one that's not so pleasant. I'll be spending Christmas in the hospital.

    Yesterday, during what was expected to be a very routine appointment with my orthopedic surgeon to check my progress and look at xrays, he discovered some not-so-good news. It's complicated and I won't try to explain it here, but it really amounts to quite a mess inside my leg and hip and necessitates pretty much a reconstruction of the whole leg from hip to knee. I naively asked my great doc if he could manage to do it before he leaves here in February (I wouldn't want anyone but him to do it) and he seemed slightly amused and told me that he was going to check his schedule to see "if I can do it in the morning." And he made sure that even though I had walked in to the examining room, that I had a wheelchair on the way out.

    Bam.

    Well "tomorrow" (which would have been today) didn't happen, but Christmas Eve did, so I'll be reporting into the hospital at 5:15 in the morning for an early (and probably lengthy) surgery. The best part is that I'll get to have one of their great diabetic dinner trays for Christmas Dinner! And no, I won't be sharing.

    Really, I'm trying to keep smiling. We've just finished opening our family gifts, since taking them into the OR was not an option. We celebrated last night with all the grandchildren except the two in Virginia and I thank God that we had at least enough notice to be able to get together for that.

    And I have a remarkable surgeon, one who's taken me into the operating room five times before and who looks to the same God I do for strength and guidance. Despite the fact that I don't like the timing, the Father has had His hand on me and will continue to walk his daughter through the next painful part of the journey. It's a road I'd rather not walk, naturally, but I didn't get to choose it. My God chose it for me and equipped me with His presence and with a family, friends, and a church family who are the best I could ask for when going through trials. So I accept it as from His hand and ask for the grace to rejoice in His love and the gift of His Son no matter which bed I'm sleeping in on Christmas Eve.

    I will truly appreciate the prayers of those of you who are led to remember me tomorrow morning and to lift me up as I sort of start all over down the road of recovery, physical therapy and re-integrating into all the things I want to be able to do.

    And may each of you celebrate Christ's incarnation with joy no matter where you are or what your circumstances! Merry Christmas!

    (I'll try to talk CJ into getting on with an update when I'm on the other side of tomorrow's operation. You don't want to see me type on morphine. It's not pretty.)

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    has spoken at 5:57 PM
    10 Backtalks to Granny



    Sunday, December 20, 2009
    Sunday snippets...

    'Twas the week before Christmas
    And throughout Granny's House
    Every creature was stirring
    Even the wireless mouse....

    Okay, I'll spare you more; suffice it to say that our mouses (how come the plural of computer mouse isn't "mice"?) have been busy ordering gifts and making plans...some of us have even braved real stores in addition to the virtual ones...and we're almost ready for next weekend. It has seemed crazy here at times, but then I stop and think that within five years our home is going to be a lot quieter and I will long for the craziness...

    In the few quiet spaces, I've been reading, jotting down ideas for New Year goals, praying for friends who have hurts and or/big decisions ahead, and putting my feet up when possible to conserve energy and minimize pain. Happily, there have been enough of those spaces to keep the craziness enjoyable and not insane!

    Printer update: We are loving our Canon Pixma printer. I recommend it.

    It's looking like we're about to find out how much ObamaCares about all of us. I can't believe that we're on the cusp of being thrust into the pit of socialism, but since we've been creeping that way anyway I guess I shouldn't be surprised. One of the things that stuns me is that anyone enrolled in a government "exchange" plan will be forced to pay an abortion premium (doesn't matter if you've had a hysterectomy or you're a 22-year-old young man or you object to abortion) every month to fund those abortions that can't be "publicly funded". Yeah, right.

    I'm thinkin' the east coast had plenty snow that they could have shared with south Texas, but no....Hey, maybe the administration can fix that, too? I mean, level playing field and all that...

    Once again, Williams-Sonoma Peppermint Bark is the best. As are friends who give it :-)

    In these days when "peace on earth" seems cliche and certainly doesn't express the current realities, I'm reminded that there will be a new heaven and a new earth before we see it come to be. And so I close with the words of a old carol by William Wadsworth Longfellow:

    And in despair I bowed my head
    “There is no peace on earth,” I said,
    “For hate is strong and mocks the song
    Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

    Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
    “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
    The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
    With peace on earth, good will to men.”

    May each of you reading have a blessed, peaceful, and worshipful Christmas!

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    has spoken at 3:10 PM
    1 Backtalks to Granny



    Friday, December 18, 2009
    And they said it wouldn't happen. Just give us permission to dole out a few hundred billion to our friends and it will all be okay, they said.

    Nine Months After Stimulus 49 of 50 States Have Lost Jobs

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    has spoken at 4:45 PM
    0 Backtalks to Granny



    Wednesday, December 16, 2009

    And speaking of books...

    I shared this Monday night with my HOPE group but thought I'd mention it here too: If you want to read a book that will be a wonderful preparation for the resolution-making, goal-setting, priority-establishing rituals here at year's end, let me recommend Richard Swenson's Margin. It's a fairly easy read but can help you get a whole new perspective on living life without overloaded time, finances, energy and every other resource you have.

    Read it and breathe.

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    has spoken at 10:38 PM
    2 Backtalks to Granny




    If you read, listened to, or even started and haven't finished, Atlas Shrugged this year, please leave me a note in the comments, along with any thoughts you had about the book in relation to the current socio-political climate in the U.S.

    Also, if you've read it in years past, I'd like to know that too.

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    has spoken at 10:31 PM
    3 Backtalks to Granny



    Sweet 5 year old granddaughter Carrie: Mom, I'm so upset.
    Kristen: Upset about what?
    Carrie: Because sometimes the thinks that I have go away when I start thinking about something else and I still want those thinks!


    I hear ya, Carrie. And you're only five.

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    has spoken at 8:33 PM
    1 Backtalks to Granny



    Sunday, December 13, 2009
    Sunday snippets...

    The Christmas carols at church today were exquisite, voices assisted by strings, flute and two pianos. For some reason the third Sunday of Advent is always my favorite--we're well into the season but not yet swirling in those last few days before Christmas. I wish I could say that my heart is as quiet on the fourth Sunday as it is on the third, but I'm just being honest here...

    Is it just me or have you noticed that parking is not as bad this Christmas season and the stores aren't quite as crazy? I think that internet shopping, which I've been doing for years now, is finally starting to affect the total volume of shoppers out on any given day. Not that I actually GO in stores, you understand. Just observing from outside :-)

    Could we just go ahead and extend Eggnog Lattes for two months?

    I will pick up the very last gift tomorrow. Then starts the wrapping marathon. I bought myself a pair of memory foam slippers just for this purpose. It's the most standing I'll have done in a long time...although sometimes I do sit in a chair and lower my ironing board to just the right height so I can SIT and wrap!

    Winter was canceled.

    While on my Hawaii trip I finished (thanks to Kindle!) The Courage to be Protestant. I think I mentioned before that the writing was pretty bad. It did get better, almost as though Wells switched editors halfway through. Regardless, it's a valuable book and I'm glad I bought it.

    I'm still not holding my breath, but I'm beginning to smell a meltdown in the Democrats' Health Care Destruction bill. Doesn't mean they won't still pass something horrendous, and whatever it is they'll claim victory, but perhaps we can avoid some of the worst parts: public option, Medicare buy-in for people my age (which is worse than a public option and I'll tell you why if you email me), and what amounts to a repeal of the Hyde amendment. We'll see.

    This month, Shelley, our senior who's also taking Dual Credit college courses, finished up French 3 with a solid A. She's really found a love here, second only to her music. Yesterday she went as part of the French Club to participate in a story time with kids at Barnes and Noble. She read, in French (and beautifully to my ears), Dr. Suess's Les Oeufs Verts au Jambon. Oh, you haven't heard of that one? Well of course you like Green Eggs and Ham!

    Have a wonderful week-before Christmas!

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    has spoken at 7:29 PM
    2 Backtalks to Granny



    Thursday, December 10, 2009
    Good news.

    “The heart of most religions is good advice, good techniques, good programs, good ideas, and good support systems. These drive us deeper into ourselves, to find our inner light, inner goodness, inner voice, or inner resources.

    Nothing new can be found inside of us. There is no inner rescuer deep in my soul; I just hear echoes of my own voice telling me all sorts of crazy things to numb my sense of fear, anxiety, and boredom, the origins of which I cannot truly identify.

    But the heart of Christianity is Good News. It comes not as a task for us to fulfill, a mission for us to accomplish, a game plan for us to follow with the help of life coaches, but as a report that someone else has already fulfilled, accomplished, followed, and achieved everything for us.”

    —Michael Horton, The Gospel-Driven Life (Grand Rapids, MI; Baker Books, 2009)

    via First Importance

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    has spoken at 10:50 AM
    0 Backtalks to Granny



    Monday, December 07, 2009

    On the count of three, everyone will permanently refrain from exhaling:

    Officials gather in Copenhagen this week for an international climate summit, but business leaders are focusing even more on Washington, where the Obama administration is expected as early as Monday to formally declare carbon dioxide a dangerous pollutant.

    An "endangerment" finding by the Environmental Protection Agency could pave the way for the government to require businesses that emit carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases to make costly changes in machinery to reduce emissions -- even if Congress doesn't pass pending climate-change legislation. EPA action to regulate emissions could affect the U.S. economy more directly, and more quickly, than any global deal inked in the Danish capital, where no binding agreement is expected.

    Many business groups are opposed to EPA efforts to curb a gas as ubiquitous as carbon dioxide.

    Carbon Dioxide Rule

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    has spoken at 9:58 AM
    0 Backtalks to Granny



    Sunday, December 06, 2009
    Sunday snippets...
    Sunday snippets asks to be excused, suffering from jet lag and a long to-do list :-)

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    has spoken at 10:41 PM
    1 Backtalks to Granny



    Wednesday, December 02, 2009
    Scott Ott is the best.
    (2009-12-02) — A day after a televised address about his plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan in order to bring them home again soon, President Barack Obama announced he would apply his Afghanistan war strategy to domestic health care reform.

    “It’s important that we seize the initiative,” the president said, “and put the resources in place so that we can withdraw them in 18 months, leaving the uninsured with the capacity to take care of themselves, to buy their own health insurance on the open market.”

    The president said he’ll commit 30,000 new bureaucrats to this effort, who will begin deploying in early 2010, to train the uninsured in how to buy health insurance, and to equip the unemployed to find work, or to start businesses, so that they, too, can buy health insurance.

    The president said the entire objective of his health care reform plan is to “hand over responsibility to the people, and then get our government forces out of their lives as quickly as possible.”

    This effort must be based on performance,” said Mr. Obama. “The days of providing a blank check are over. And going forward, we will be clear about what we expect from those who receive our assistance."

    Obama Brings Afghan Strategy to Health Care Reform

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    has spoken at 2:43 PM
    2 Backtalks to Granny



    “In fear-based repentance, we don’t learn to hate the sin for itself, and it doesn’t lose its attractive power. We learn only to refrain from it for our own sake. But when we rejoice over God’s sacrificial, suffering love for us – seeing what it cost him to save us from sin – we learn to hate the sin for what it is. We see what the sin cost God. What most assures us of God’s unconditional love (Jesus’s costly death) is what most convicts us of the evil of sin. Fear-based repentance makes us hate ourselves. Joy-based repentance makes us hate the sin.”

    [Emphasis mine]

    - Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2009)

    via Of First Importance

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    has spoken at 2:16 PM
    1 Backtalks to Granny




    While never overly influenced by what foreigners say about the U.S., its priorities and its leadership, I am always nevertheless interested and sometimes fascinated by the voices from overseas as they observe us. This morning, from German newspaper Der Spiegel:

    Never before has a speech by President Barack Obama felt as false as his Tuesday address announcing America's new strategy for Afghanistan. It seemed like a campaign speech combined with Bush rhetoric -- and left both dreamers and realists feeling distraught.

    One can hardly blame the West Point leadership. The academy commanders did their best to ensure that Commander-in-Chief Barack Obama's speech would be well-received.

    Just minutes before the president took the stage inside Eisenhower Hall, the gathered cadets were asked to respond "enthusiastically" to the speech. But it didn't help: The soldiers' reception was cool.

    One didn't have to be a cadet on Tuesday to feel a bit of nausea upon hearing Obama's speech. It was the least truthful address that he has ever held. He spoke of responsibility, but almost every sentence smelled of party tactics. He demanded sacrifice, but he was unable to say what it was for exactly.

    An additional 30,000 US soldiers are to march into Afghanistan -- and then they will march right back out again. America is going to war -- and from there it will continue ahead to peace. It was the speech of a Nobel War Prize laureate.

    I don't usually watch a whole Obama speech, as I've never agreed that he's even capable of the "soaring rhetoric" for which he's famous. But I did watch the speech last night, and this morning I'm thinkin' the Germans are very insightful. You can finish reading the observations here:

    Searching in Vain for the Obama Magic

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    has spoken at 1:59 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...
    Saying goodbye...
    Sunday snippets...
    Summer.
    Sunday snippets...
    Coming soon to a country near you...
    Making (a) room...
    Just in case this might make an impact on your spe...
    Midweek snippets...
    What's up?
    She said YES!

    Granny used to say...
    October 2005
    November 2005
    December 2005
    January 2006
    February 2006
    March 2006
    April 2006
    May 2006
    June 2006
    July 2006
    August 2006
    September 2006
    October 2006
    November 2006
    December 2006
    January 2007
    February 2007
    March 2007
    April 2007
    May 2007
    June 2007
    July 2007
    August 2007
    September 2007
    October 2007
    November 2007
    December 2007
    January 2008
    February 2008
    March 2008
    April 2008
    May 2008
    June 2008
    July 2008
    August 2008
    September 2008
    October 2008
    November 2008
    December 2008
    January 2009
    February 2009
    March 2009
    April 2009
    May 2009
    June 2009
    July 2009
    August 2009
    September 2009
    October 2009
    November 2009
    December 2009
    January 2010
    February 2010
    March 2010
    April 2010
    May 2010
    June 2010
    July 2010
    August 2010
    September 2010
    October 2010
    November 2010
    December 2010
    January 2011
    February 2011
    March 2011
    April 2011
    May 2011
    June 2011
    July 2011
    August 2011


    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!"