Escapee

But he looks so Innocent.

Lost and Found

"Rejoice with me, I have found my lost sheep!"

So yesterday, I lost a child, a 2 year old child.  Something is just not right about that, but it happened. Quick to lose, what seemed like forever to find.  20 minutes is forever in a mother's heart.  Vincent is a wanderer, he had no intention of being lost.  In his mind he was not lost.  It was no big deal to him.  He was on his own, and perfectly fine with that.  His mother however was not.

And that is life.  How often do we go off exploring on our own, separated from our Father.  And to us, it's no big deal.  We think we are fine.  We don't see the danger with our independence. But He still gives us boundaries to keep us safe and hunts for us until we are found and back home again.

'Father, forgive us, for we know not what we do.'

Luke 15:1-7
Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.'  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."

World Cup Bound

Yes, things are getting a bit more intense on the pitch!

Vincent's cheekbone bruises are beginning to fade from Saturday's pick-up game with the big kids; but the lessons live on!

There are many times in our game of life that we have a choice to play hard and do the right thing.  Many of those times we take a bit of a beating. We're like grapes tossed into the wine-press; trodden upon and bruised.  For what reason?  To be made into the finest wine! Jesus gives us the ultimate example of giving it our all: beaten and bruised to become a pleasing offering to God.  It's not particularly enjoyable, but I guess God knows what He's doing.  All we need to do is thank Him for the opportunity to suffer, offer that suffering as a prayer, and allow Him to transform us.

Are you Cup bound?

Has anyone seen...

Oh, there's Christopher's pants!

And John's shoe!

"Please do not run off with the pull chain!"

Yes, that has happened!

Vincent's nickname: "Thief" 

He is a 'good thief'

Looks like Christopher has forgiven him!

Police - Maintaining Order

The 'Police Hat' Strikes Again

Please Pray And Sacrifice for Priests

That they may have the Grace
To embrace the Cross
United with Christ
Living the Mass
Ready and Willing
To Serve
To Suffer
For the Redemption of Souls

It IS OUR DUTY!

2 Many

When asked how old he was, Vincent said,

 "I Two Many!"

And this look of his says it all!

 Yes, some days he IS 'two many'!

Here's what he has accomplished this past year:

He has become an avid climber; indoors and out!

Driving!

I must say, he is quite good at driving my patience;

 in one direction or another!

Fishing!

And baking

To take care of his mama!

A bit of rest as he protects his little brother!

The art of taking a girl for a ride on his 'bike'!

He can pour his own cereal

into his bowl.

And he has become quite the carpenter with his Daddy!

Happy 2nd Birthday Vincent!

One bridge crossed, hopefully many more to come!

Imaginative Play

And this is what I caught as I was busy on the main floor, cleaning up from Christmas festivities:

As I began to yell at them to clean up the mess, I asked what they were doing.

The answer:

"We're having a cereal fight! Like snowball, only we're using cereal!  See, like this!"

Is it really good to foster imagination?

Why do they have to be so innocent?

My response, "Ok, you can cereal fight for 5 more minutes, then you have to clean up."

That is some expensive snow!

It's Snowing!

INSIDE!

And you ask where was Mama?

Simply changing laundry over.

Rest

I wouldn't recommend it, but the bassinet does hold more than 15 pounds.

Thank God!

You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.

Job 11:18

On Mom's Lap

Vincent Snuggling with Mom and Baby

Photo courtesy of Gabrielle

Father's Day

Daddy got his Father's day gift on Friday, but I wanted to share with you John's view of Father's Day:

"But when is it going to be Kids Day?"

Yesterday, Daddy worked on remodeling the pond with the kiddos, and I played with his Father's day gift a bit.

Hey, the two shall become one, right?

*Here's some pond helping add on photos*

Dad and Luke

Vincent helping

And my favorite sequence:

Can you bring me that big rock?

Whoah, I'm stong!

But I can't believe that big rock made me all muddy.

Are you Thristy?

A boy and his dog:

Jesus: "If you knew the gift of God and who asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." --John 4:10

Woman: "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw the water." --John 4:15

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.

A little reminder

So this morning, Vincent began to cry like something was really wrong. Initially, upon hearing this cry, thought I would be making another call to the Dr. for some stitches. Not this time.

Vincent managed to climb into an empty hamper - the collapsable kind. It was open, laying on its side, and Vincent crawled right in. He was simply suck in a hamper-needing help, feeling like there was no way out. I for some reason laughed at him. Yes, you can picture it, baby screaming, mom laughing at the poor child who worked so hard to get in there, then got stuck.

I am reminded God also laughs at us. No matter how inadequate (or stuck) we are, He simply laughs, helps us out and encourages us to press on.

"God does not require us to succeed, He only requires that you try." Mother Teresa

note to reader:

(I wish I could say I was actually doing laundry at the time, but no, it was left over from a couple days ago - so there are probably clothes laying on the floor in which ever room it came from. Who am I kidding, there are clothes laying on the floor - in more than the one room, sigh.)

Spring Break

Spring Break: Day 1

3 stiches later...

Yes, there was screaming during the stitching process.

But Vincent is back on the run!

Have a blessed day!