Proud to Throw Like a Girl

Sometimes comics speak volumes:

Did someone take a picture of me when I wasn't looking?

Around here, snowballs are flying every time we go outdoors, whether it be to run errands or after church. A few of us made it to reconciliation Sat, and as Michael and I built up our ammo to ambush Dad, Luke and his friend, Michael mischievously states, "Mom, (giggle) we're gonna have to go back to confession!"

Nah...this is pure fun ;)

Home Improvement?

Evidently this is what happens when lil' kids take pictures:

He may just be the Wilson of this family.

Anything you want to talk to him about?

Happy Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesday

Rescue Hero's

Boys at play; thoughtful enough to include their baby brother:

"Come on, let's go, I've got the baby!"

Vocal gun noices, and planned out exit, carrying the baby through the house...

"I've got you guarded, ok.  Quick!"



*10 minutes later:

"Mom, we need to eat, will you feed him so he's ready when we're done."

The Lost Sheep (continued)

2nd Installment of The Lost Sheep

Ok, the kids are loaded up. I went back in the house and called for Michael. No answer. Here we go again... Up the stairs. Would you believe, I lost the lamb again! He was no where to be found. Neither was his backpack, shoes, the works- all missing!

This little lamb was not going to follow 'Mary' to school, today.

I decided I had better take Daniel. He had been waiting to go, and he didn't want to miss anymore of the school morning. At this point, he was already an hour late. As I left, I yelled through the air, "Michael please be ready by the time I get back home!" hoping the sound waves would carry to him, wherever he was. Then I called Dear Dad to fill him in on the missing child situation.

We arrived in the front office and I state, "Well, here's Daniel, I don't know exactly know where Michael is." The office staff answers back, "You're kidding, right."

"Well, I think he is in my house, the last time I checked, he was getting ready." We then had some caring dialog about this lost sheep which ended with the secretary saying, "Well, he'll have to use the bathroom eventually!" And I thought, 'Yes, we've got something going for us there' :) .

(This lost sheep of mine struggles with his colon, and the medicine he is on right now does NOT help his behaviors.)

On the drive back home, I began to second guess my decision to leave the house. What if he ran away while I was gone. Would he come back. Then thought, 'Of course he would come back, he's a kid; kids always come back, right?'

We pulled into the driveway, and I tell my 'littles' not to unbuckle just yet; incase Michael is ready. Inside I go, wondering. Wondering, 'Will he be here? Will he be ready? Will I find him?'

No luck on the quick find. I go back outside, and begin to haul the little ones in. Once we were all in and settled, I called for Michael again, no answer. I decided to leave the situation alone for a few moments, thinking he had to be in the house. Besides, I needed to figure out a better way to coax him out of hiding. As I swept up the mess of cereal and chocolate Nesquick that Vincent made during the Michael hunt, I thought of another tactic. I went upstairs with a prayer in my heart, and called again, "Michael, we need to talk, please come out." I continued to look around. Nothing, no Michael. How long do I wait before I have to search the neighborhood?

I beckon again, calmly going through each room, "Michael, please come out. I'm not going to hurt you. I love you and I forgive you." The third room I come to, I hear a stirring. I stop, listen, then repeat, "I love you, Michael, please come out." More stirring comes from under the bed. He was hiding in between two storage containers. Out he crawled, followed by him dragging out his shoes, backpack, and extra clothes.

We embraced, and talked. Since a significant amount of time had passed, I called the school to tell them I had found the lost sheep and would be bringing him up shortly. (Only 2 hours late).

This story, brings me to a greater understanding of the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:10-14). Our Father does not want any of us to be lost. We hide in shame, when we feel like we can not be forgiven; and only come out when we trust in Love. Oh what I learn from the example of a child...No matter what our sin, we should not be afraid and hide it; rather expose ourselves, for Jesus already took care of our shame by His crucifixion. His suffering with the pain of the cross was easier for Him to go through, than it was to watch with compassion the suffering consequences of our sin. With love and pity, He suffered to gain our eternal embrace.

How can we follow Jesus' example? By offering our everyday challenges with love and pity for others, so that we may all enjoy the embrace. Today, I re-learned that when people are shown punishment, they hide more; and when they are shown mercy and love, people change!

God hears our cries for help. On the initial road of Calvary, Jesus had help. As I think back on this ordinary cross of mine, I thank God for the help he puts in my life. I called my mom after I got Michael up to school, and asked her to say a prayer for us. I began to joyfully clean up the ordinary messes which cluttered our 'road'. Then I heard a knock on my door. I opened it, and the lady on the other side stated, "I've got an hour, put me to work!" What, did I just hear? Really? I gave her a big hug. We talked and cleaned, and she left. And I was blessed by the Lord.

Carpe Diem!

Psalm 28

The Lost Sheep

'Mary' had a little lamb, its fleece was, well, not white as snow...

Monday morning goes as follows:

I was up and ready! I dropped Kathryn off at school and headed to Mass. (God knew I needed to be there this morning more than I!)

What a beautiful morning!

I joyfully came home, ready to seize the day. Carpe Dium! My other school go-ers were getting ready, well two of them anyway. I went back into the room of the younger two, reminding them to get up before they miss their ride with Dad. I could hear a bit of grumbling as I left the room, but they seemed to be moving the the right direction!

However, it came to be, they didn't move fast enough. Dear Dad took the older two, and I told him I would take the other two, so the bigger ones wouldn't be late. Off they went. Carpe Dium!

I helped Daniel tie his shoes, and started prepping the others to load up. I called up to Michael, "We're leaving, let's go please!" No answer...

I run up the stairs, taking two at a time here and there. (It's better exercise, you know!) Call for Michael again. No answer. Hmm, maybe he went to the bathroom. "Michael, we need to go." No answer. Back to his room. "Michael, where are you?" No answer. "Michael!" Getting desperate, I call, "Does anyone know where Michael is?" Daniel responds, "He's in the closet." I went back to the closet. No Michael. Search the room, search his brother's room. Back to the closet, move around the sleeping bags, no Michael. Hmm. "Michael, come on, we HAVE to go!" Fifteen minutes of searching, and I state, "If you don't show yourself, the wooden spoon will! And it won't feel good!" Still, nothing!

I began to think, "God, are you still with me?" I could feel the anger coming on as I shouted again, "Michael!" So much for going to church; I was becoming militant for sure, but not exactly church militant. I marched down the stairs mumbling to myself how this child is going to get it - and get it bad. I couldn't believe I was dealing with this. It was a nice morning. I shoved the utensils around looking for a good wooden spoon, and yelled again, "Michael, you better not make me use this!" Then I had this chilling thought that someone was enjoying this scene: Not good!

Ok, God, you need to help me here, I'm losing it! Help me calm down.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Yes, calling on His name helped me. I began to relax. I thought of this boy of mine, and how I needed to follow through with the consequence I gave him. I thought to myself, oh, I know, I will test the wooden spoon on my own hand to see how hard I can hit it to make it hurt, but not bad. Brilliant, God! I'm ready. I walk up the stairs, stating, "Michael, this is you last chance!" Please come out." No Michael. I searched his closet again- a bit more thoroughly, and finally found him curled up behind some hanging snowpants. Firmly, I state, "Let's go, get up!" His reply, "No, I'm not going to school!" I dragged him out. The spoon stung his but; he began to get ready, and I loaded the kids into the van.

*to be continued...

A favorite Past time...

I guess it's time to give the van a bath!

But I don't want to erase the message...

If you look closely, you may notice Clean Me crossed out!

I guess they changed their minds...

However, this one in the rearview mirror is not so enticing.

So Gabrielle and Michael washed this van clean!

Though we may at times look good on the outside, God looks at us inside out and sees how we truly are. Then with our contrition, He cleanses us with His mercy in the sacrament of reconciliation. Even when we don't want to be cleaned, because we think we like the message on the outside, it is always better that we make the effort, so we can truly reflect His glory!

Thanks be to God!

7 Quick Takes Friday! (Vol.4)

I feel way behind on the blogging, so I figured I would do it this way, this week!

Thanks for hosting, Jen!

-1-

Vincent's new trick

FYI, walking off the table just means you have to rub off the bump and get back on!

-2-

Michael's Growing

He's gone from a vacuum stalker to a soccer, football and golf fanatic.

We love you Michael!

Thanks for letting me coach the first half of your rainy practice today!

Maybe next time I fill in for Dad, I will be able to move faster.

Happy Birthday!

*see footnote for another story

-3-

Ok, so I'm going to quickly advertise the best birthday treats ever!

We bought them from our local SAMS club. I usually make my own treats for taking to school, but since we camped this past weekend, and Michael's birthday fell on Tuesday after a long weekend, I decided to take the easy road and try something new. I'm hooked!

-4-

Maybe it's because I know this babe is going to be here in a blink of an eye with the speed that summer seems to go, but one day this week I wondered. 'Why are we being blessed to bring another little one into this world - I can't handle what I have now!'

(I occasionally seem to get this way in the third trimester.)

Yes, I was overwhelmed one day this week. Kids were fighting all morning. The table used to be a safe place to put things, until Vincent learned how to climb onto it and spill everything in sight - cereal bowls with milk, drinks, syrup plates. He had his own food fight going on each time we prepared to eat or finished eating. Then you add a few other stressors into the mix: emotional pregnant woman, getting caught up from camping, poor spousal communication, last week of school, graduation, golf, soccer, did I mention emotional pregnant woman?

A little later in the day I came to my senses a bit with prayer. 'Ok, God, if you want me to feel overwhelmed, so be it. I give it back to you. You deal with it. I'm done!' A little later, I picked up the book St. Rita of Cascia and I will share this paraphrase with you, "By submission of our will, God graces us with suffering; allowing us to be an example of humility and patience." At this point, I was still pained with certain circumstances, but at peace with the day; ready to clean the messes and deal with life's events with a more joyful heart.

Thanks be to God for these opportunities of growth!

The next day, I got to practice more humility.

You got to love it when your dog escapes out the front door, thanks to kids opening it, and the neighbor guy comes over to inform us the dog is loose and asks the kids for their mother. Mother is sitting in the bathroom (near the front door) doing you know what, and realizes there is not enough toilet paper.

"Daniel, get the leash. We'll be right out!"

A friend on the phone even got a laugh from this conversation-I was caught!

-5-

Back to books, thanks to the camping trip this past weekend, I was able to complete Left to Tell. All I can say is, "You must read!" It's an easy read - and that is coming from a slow, poor reader. Look at #9 on the camping trip page for a brief synopsis.

-6-

Kathryn is officially a high schooler!

Only 4 short years of internal formation left. I'm excited for her and these years of upcoming growth. Since I was looking at Jen's sight earlier, I am going to steal a thought:

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting, "Man, what a ride!"

Even as you begin your high school years, I challenge you to take good chances, stand up for what you believe in, and work hard at everything that comes your way!

-7-

We are officially on summer break!

We're on sum-mer bre-ak!

So what does that exactly mean?

TOGETHERNESS

NEW BABY

RELAXATION

(except when the babe is actively entering this world)

From Father at Mass to the school kids,

"Remember, we never take a break from being Christian.

Continue to be a witness to the faith:

In your families, with your friends and to everyone you meet!"

Have a blessed summer!

*For Michael's birthday, we met him for lunch and recess. Daniel hung close for a few minutes, then played tag with Gina and some big girls, and Vincent was carried away by other big girls. John ran out to play football with the big boys. He told me he was connected to Michael and was going to be on his team. For the first play he was involved in, the big boys passed it to John. His teammates cheered him on to run all the way for a touchdown. The other team faked (very well) falling down and missing John so he could make it all the way. John scored! He tripped and fell, (doesn't take much) got up and fixed his sandal, came running out of the endzone with his arms raised and shouted "Hey guys, I got a touchdown. Oh yeah, you couldn't even get me! I was super faster than you!" And yes, the emotional pregnant woman had a joyful tear come to her eye as she witnessed the goodness of these boys being spread.

FLU-For Love Unveiled

FLU - For Love Unveiled!

I was pretty achy on Monday- I chalked it up to Communion preparation and celebration.

So please let me back track quick:

1st Communion: It was glorious!

The kids' faces beamed with beauty!

Even Michael's!

Gina was attentive as ever. I bet you would never guess what she noticed: "Mom, all those girls are princesses! Where's my princess dress? They are beautiful!" and later, "Mom, that princess girl has sparkle earrings. I love um!" She continued to notice all the ladies around us wearing earrings. She's been on an earring fetish lately. I don't know about a 2 year old trying to convince her parents to let her wear earrings. She will have to wait, but some days I get really close to giving in! (She is our princess among the 5 boys-we all have a soft spot for her, but the older girls had to wait until the winter before they received our Lord to have their ears pierced.)

Also heard among the nephews watching attentively, "Why did all those boys and girls get married?" You know, they are not too far off with their observation! Through the consummation of the Eucharist, they all became united to our Lord! No wonder their faces all shine with glory!

I love the sacrament of Holy Communion. Something changes: bread and wine into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ; and then upon reception, humanity into the likeness of Christ. I am so grateful for this gift! Christ Himself sustains us and transforms us if we let Him.

Ok, back to Monday. By evening I was dragging, and was in bed by 9 (at least 2 hours earlier than usual). I slept a little, and ached a lot. I began to think that this might be a bug and not just pain from over doing it (like that ever happens ;) ). Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning, I had a fever. (Hubby said I was hot Mon. night, but I was too stubborn to admit that I was sick and take my temp.) My weak body hung out on the couch for a few days, directing traffic in between short naps. Thursday night I turned the corner. After we all got dishes cleaned up, Daniel went to sit on the couch that I had been occupying all week, but immediately got up and said, "Sorry Mom, I will get up so you can lay down here, because I know you're still sick." How sweet is that. My husband and the kids all came through with help; a couple of them needed more encouragement than others, but they did it! I'm proud of them! They made dinner, (Thank God for party leftovers!) got little kids to bed, and helped immensely. The FLU made me rest, but it was a joyous rest amidst the frustration of not being able to do what I wanted, when I wanted and how I wanted it done. This FLU made me put aside my selfish ways and hold my tongue as I painfully watched things get done in a manner different than I would do. (The couple times I tried to get up, I found myself landed back on the couch in a matter of 5 minutes.) Love was Uncovered! I got to witness love, and genuine help was unveiled before my eyes!

Today I can say I'm better. My hubby and kids are relieved: That means I'm back to work! My time on the couch, though at times was frustrating, was well spent. God knew I needed to relax, in mind and spirit. I was happy to relax, and still do my part-surrendering my will for the good of others.

I remember the quote by Blessed Mother Teresa, "We are at Jesus' disposal. If He wants you to be sick in bed, if He wants you to proclaim His work on the street, if He wants you to clean the toilets all day, that's all right, everything is all right. We must say, 'I belong to You. You can do whatever you like.' And this is our strength and this is the joy of the Lord."

I'm still working on the "You can do whatever you like with me." I say it, but don't always mean it. It is getting better, though. And with cooperation, there is always Peace!

Wordless Wednesday

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 1)

Let's see if I can figure this out, 7 Quick Takes Friday, that is. I got this idea from another blogger, so be sure to visit her!

--1--

Spring is here: so is soccer! We set up fields and practices have begun. You may catch me chirping this spring: sometimes beautifully, sometimes a bit aggressively, but I’m happy to join the birdies. According to my dad, they know everything! ("A little birdie told me!") At least one does. Not me!

What part of springtime are you?

--2--

Michael received the sacrament of healing, Anointing of the Sick Sunday. Fr. explained and administered this sacrament during Mass. After the explanation, Michael, 7, whispers in my ear, “Should I go up there, Mom?” I told him that was fine, and then he wanted me to go up with him. I was proud of him and his understanding of the sacrament. I also had the terrible thought go through my head, ‘let’s just ask Father to do it later, so people don’t start asking what’s going on with him.’ We went up. Maybe I was the one who should be receiving the sacrament of healing with my attitude? It was beautiful and probably more moving for his mother.

--3--

Gina (the 2 year old 28 pound princess) playing with Rudy (the 5 month old 58 pound puppy):

Gina was playing fetch with Rudy down the hallway. One time Rudy tried to take the toy out of Gina’s hand. She clonked him on the head and told him, “No!” Then, “Sit!” Next, she gave him a big hug, “You’re my best friend, Rudy!” We now know what it takes to be a friend to Gina – listen and do whatever she tells you. You’ll have a friend for life. We’ve got to work on this control thing – I mentioned to my husband that someone needs to inform her that she is not an only child. My husband piped up, “she is much more well adjusted than only child. She knows many different personalities and manipulates each and everyone to get what she wants!

--4--

Daniel: Monday, for the first time, after taking 2 weeks off school, he sat down and did his work right away without complaints. Schoolwork this day was too easy. I didn’t know what to do with my extra time. He gets to put 5 jellybeans in the jar for doing his best work this year! (he did great M,T,W-NOT Thur. O well, it was fun while it lasted!)

About the jelly beans:

We keep a jar and jelly beans in our prayer room during Lent. (Gina got into them once this season, they are ‘her’ jelly beans, ya know.) Everytime we catch the kids doing something good – helping out extra, being kind to a sibling, etc, they get to put a colorful jellybean into the jar. The white beans are set aside with me. The black jelly beans are for poor behavior. They hate getting black jelly beans. The goal is to have the jar filled by Easter. On Holy Saturday night, the white jelly beans replace the black ones as a reflection that Jesus died to take away our sins and make us white again so we can enter Heaven.

--5--

Midnight madness: NO, not basketball, though my kids do enjoy keeping track of who’s winning the games for the NCAA tournament! Luke doesn’t think he can sleep tonight due to Memphis and Duke losses yesterday. Poor boy.

Our midnight madness was a bit different. Chalk it up with the “joys” of parenting. Maybe after the fact, God was rejoicing, but definitely not during the incident: I’ll just say we had a lot of wake up calls but one not so pretty. It was one of those that I didn’t exactly handle well. One of our children was screaming, again. I went to the crying room to assess the situation. The child was on the floor, screaming. I could not calm this child with talking. I went to pick the child up and the blessing decided to pee all over and on the carpet. I too lost it, my temper that is. I was tired, I was mad. How could this child do such a thing? After aggressively taking off the wet pants through the continual screaming, the shirt came off by lifting the child slightly off the ground. I must be doing this too rough. I calmed down, made sure the blessing didn’t have to go anymore in the toilet and gently put the child back to bed with an I love you.

I too went back to bed again, and felt awful (clumped up once again). How could I have treated this child like that?

This Lent, our priest has been using Preface of Lent III for daily Mass. It has been moving for me. It was all I could think of when I got out of bed the next morning.

“…you ask us to express our thanks by self-denial. We are to master our sinfulness and conquer our pride. We are to show to those in need your goodness and mercy.”

So here I am, living it. As it said in the Magnificat that morning,

“By taking upon Himself all the shame of the nakedness and sin in Adam’s, and our place, Jesus once and for all brought it before the merciful eyes of His Father…and from this point on sinners should no longer hide; they have been reprieved from disgrace. So let them come to the light of Jesus’ cross…our own nakedness and sinfulness no longer has a reason for embarrassment or condemnation. It has become an opportunity for faith, faith that can arise even from a foolish self-confidence.”

May we have the “courage to humbly and gently gaze toward the bleeding face of the crucified Jesus” to gaze upon “the shame of Jesus who covers and hides ours.”

Yes, take courage: By God’s Mercy we are saved. How shall we thank Him?

--6--

All is well with Baby: After scheduling an ultrasound with the doctor, trying to change it because we found out the girls would have practice, and deciding to leave it alone and find a sitter for the rest of the crew; the doctor’s office called saying their machine was not working and we would have to reschedule. I called the sitter off, to only call her back a few hours later because the dr. office called back again saying they would be able to use a different machine and my appointment was back on. With all the variables, it ended up being a tricky planning day, but in the end, we got to see:

--7--

Gina: Mothering me on how to cut a pinapple. “No cut it that way. Be careful, don’t cut yourself! Be careful, Mommy! Now this piece. Are you being careful?” She then proceeded to put on Kathryn’s mascara which was left out on the island for some reason.

Where’s my ‘little’ girl?

----------

Have a great Weekend Everyone!

We will be celebrating with Kathryn. She is now old enough to get her permit to drive!

I repeat, "Where's my little girl?"