Pool Day with a Rainforest in the Winterland!

This morning, Gina woke up and immediately put on her swimsuit.  She then proceeded to announce that we need to take her swimming!  I can't believe cabin fever is setting in already.  After about 7 hours of persistence, on this 'snowed in' day, I gave in to a pool party - in the tub.

She seemed to like the idea

Orange Bowl!

A little fun with the camera tonight!

Another child updated for my wall

Only 3 more to go!

Christopher 5 Months

Go Hawks!

Feast of the Epiphany

How does the Gift of Christmas begin?

The Angel came to Mary to tell her she would have a son; the Spirit breathes the life of Jesus into her womb. And Mary proclaims, “I am the servant of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” Then, Mary got ready and hurried to visit Elizabeth.

Mary was “Charged with the Spirit” and she was never alone!  Fr. Joseph Donders tells us in his book, Charged with the Spirit: Mission is for Everyone, “No one has ever succeeded in following God’s plan alone: there is too much fear to overcome, too many obstacles to clear, and too much resistance and confusion to set aside.”

Fr. Donders goes on to give us examples of togetherness: “What did Mary do?  She visited Elizabeth, where she received affirmation and support.  The first thing Jesus did on His walk along the lake was look for company; inviting people he accidentally met, to join Him.  The last thing He did on earth was look for company, in the Garden!  Together, with His family and friends He engaged himself for the Kingdom of God.” We too are meant to affirm and support each other as we engage on our journey!

 

Like the journeying wise men, each of us also has a gift to carry and share! Fr. Donders reminds us, “We each have a mission to accomplish."  Do we celebrate Jesus at Christmas, but then forget to grow with Him along the way?  Many times Jesus reaches our hearts and minds, but we miscarry Him before He grows in our soul!  Fr. Donders goes on to tell us, “We are called to realize the Kingdom of God." Realize! Realize means to understand clearly; to fulfill.  We realize the Kingdom of God, “by the way wives and husbands love each other and relate to their children; by the way children relate to their parents and future; by the way we offer our services; and by the way priests offer the sacraments.”  Fr. Donders also tells us, "We cannot complete our mission unless we attract others, and we attract others by witnessing our vision of God within our approach to life!”  Yes, within our own simple vocations; with our ‘Yes’ right where God has planned us to be! Not knowing fully what is to come, but faithfully trusting and loving from the depth of our souls!  When Love spills over, we become impregnated with the Spirit, resulting in fruit of the womb: A true witness of Love, then pain, in exchange for Joy as we greet new life and bear spiritual children for the Kingdom of God.

So I challenge you to share in my New Year’s Resolution:

To trust and to love;

Letting go.
Asking for help
to trust and to love,

Especially when my being wants to fear and throw a fit. 

How does the gift of Christmas end? 

It doesn’t!  However, it is fulfilled when we ALL make our home in the Kingdom of God!

John 14

Prayer:

Holy Father, You have chosen us to carry Your Son in our dusty souls;

As we say yes to You, may Your Spirit give us the courage and strength to hold your Son in the way each of us are called on any particular day.

Holy Spirit, charge and impregnate us!  Do not turn away from our ugliness, but with Mary, show us how to care for Christ.  As we travel together, guide us to love ALL the people you put in our lives, so that we may reflect His love and beauty and rejoice with new life!

Jesus, as we carry You and offer all our services to You, may those we pass by feel the Calm Breeze and Love of You, our True Life. May we all be attracted to your light; and together share our gifts and support, in humble adoration! 

Like Mother Like Daughter?

Who taught this girl how to cook?

Oh, wait, yes, I did.

And yes, she has learned well.

From me.

Did I just admit that?

As long as she remembers to take these chocolate brownies out of the oven on time, I can guarantee you they will be yummy!

 

The more love (aka mess) that goes into a project, the better it is!

Simply speaking from experience.

Gabrielle, concerning the shirt, and stated with a grin,

 "Well, it's gonna have to be washed anyway."

I may have said that before;

But that was years ago!

Or maybe 1 year ago;

Way back around Christmas time in 2009.

Mmmm, the aroma from the kitchen smells delicious!

Happy 2010!

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!

The Christmas Play 2009

Kathryn, the narrator, shares the Christmas story:

After the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to have a baby, another angel (played by Gina) watched and waited for the great moment - when she would be able to share the good news with the shepherds and sing Glory to God in the Highest 

In our story, the angel Gabrielle, delivers the baby Christopher to Mary.  Joseph scratches his ear in wonder of this special delivery as Mary is filled with Joy!

The Shephards, Luke and Vincent followed the angels to the manger scene.

The littlest angel needed some flying practice...

Joseph and Mary look on with love

Each wise man came with gifts to honor the Babe,

then bowed their knees

The animals (Rudy and Lucky) romped in the background

The littlest angel, "Oh, my halo is falling"

The Shepherd Vincent rests with his elder on this Silent Night.

Joseph can't take his eyes off Him!

Thank you for coming to our Christmas Play!

"For the Lord is Good and His Love endures forever!

His faithfulness continues through all generations"

Psalm 100:5

Christopher and Great Grandma!

Photo Shoot

Ok, Let's take a picture!

Daniel wasn't too thrilled!

GQ Daniel and Christopher blowing kisses?

watch the progression of the Michael getting center attention:

'Poke the Baby'

 "TIME OUT!"
Daniel is finally happy.

So, we decided to try one more time at home:

Maybe they really just wanted Mom and Dad in it, too!
or
They were happy not to be looking at our crazy faces anymore!

From our Home to Your's

Merry Christmas!

Bowel Milestone

Boy:  "Mom, the poop, yeah, I could handle it!  Because it just stopped wanting to come out.  I don't know when it's gonna happen aga-in, but, I don't have to go anymore!"

Good News:  No poop in the underwear!

Let's hope he doesn't get constipated, now.

 

What do the Magnificat and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer have in common?

Can you guess?  Do you know?

They are Christmas Songs.  They are songs of praise to God for the gift of Love, Jesus!

Ok, so before today, I would have agreed with the Magnificat's song of praise, but Rudolph?  Really?

I never really thought much about this favorite Christmas song, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  That is, until today, when the kids sang it with great enthusiasm during children's liturgy!

So let me fill you in.

In today's Gospel, we heard that as soon as Elizabeth saw Mary, she exclaimed, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will have!"  Mary was filled with JOY and began to praise God in the song, "My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; for he has looked upon his servant; from now on all will call me blessed; the almighty has done great things for me; Holy is His Name!" And with these words, we had Mary's Christmas song!

We continued to talk about our Christmas songs today, both traditional and modern.  I tried to keep the songs focused about Jesus.  You know, Away in a Manger, Silent night, Joy to the World.  But they, the children, said their favorite songs were Rudolph, and Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells.  Yes, the secular world has taken over - or has it?

As we finished up, I had them sing Away in a Manger with me as I prompted them to think about getting ready for Baby Jesus' arrival.  They sang nicely.  Then I gave in, and asked them if they wanted to sing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  Reminding them (and myself) that no matter what our favorite Christmas song may be, it should be a song of Praise for God's gift of Love.  We began to sing.  You should have heard the enthusiasm!  They were magnificent!  Rudolph was gloriously loud!  I was tempted to think, how sad that they are singing this with such excitement, yet they didn't want to sing any of the famous 'Church' hymns.  Then it hit me.  As I paused a moment to listen to them, (wow were they good!) I saw Rudolph in a different light.  I began to understand a new meaning for this favorite song; it goes something like this:

Rudolph the red nose reindeer;  Had a Very shiny nose.  And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows!  All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names.  They never let poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games.

* WHAM  *
Yes, Jesus was also made fun of.  People laughed at Him and called him names, and didn't want Him to hang around - look at the Cross!  They wanted Him dead!

Then one foggy Christmas eve, Santa came to say, "Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight!"

*WHAM*
Santa, the Ultimate Saint, God the Father i.e: jolly old man with the white beard from the far North, as high North as you can go: Heaven.  Rudolph, again, Jesus following the will of the Father to guide us through the 'fog' from the darkness of sin into the right direction with His light.  Mary too was chosen, to bring this light into the darkness, and she is blessed for having trusted in what the Lord had said would be accomplished.

Then all the reindeer loved him.  And they shouted out with glee, YIPPY.  Rudolph the red nose reindeer; you'll go down in history.

*WHAM*
Jesus lead with such a bright light, that the others repented and could see well enough to follow; working together to bring gifts to all those in need.  Interesting that the one who was different and seemed to have a weakness; the one who was set apart from the others was chosen to lead, and make history!

So this is my Rudolph lesson:  It doesn't matter if people make fun of us or persecute us for our little light of faith; for in the end, we will be the leaders lighting the way.  Our God Loves us and wants to use US, just as Santa used Rudolph.  With our weakness, we light the way; because our weakness is actually our greatest strength!

May we, too, be like Rudolph and allow God to use us to shine through the darkness!
Merry Christmas!

Sarcasm to one = reality to another!

Me to child guzzling pop, "Why don't you go ahead and drink it really fast to make sure you get as much as everyone else."  (a few others just had a refill)

Littlest child, a mere 22 months old, with the sweetest voice, "O Kaay."  Guzzle, Guzzle

Laughter fills the room.
I think my sarcasm backfired.  ;)

Wordless Wednesday

"Look Mom, the deer sneezed!"

'Change We Can Believe In'

I heard the new song, 'A Baby Changes Everything' by Faith Hill, yesterday, after our big girls sang in the parish Christmas carols and meditations.  The soloist (not one of my girls) touched many hearts; so, I wanted to share this extraordinary song with you in this video response:



And this folks is the change we need.
Is our 'inn' closed, or will we be the one to open our dusty door for the Savior's arrival to the world?

Putting up the Christmas Tree

Michael watching the reader's below

Working hard!

Christopher watching the tree go up!

Almost there!

A little bit of team work!

YEAH!

Time for a bedtime story!

Thank God for siblings...

So we were in the van to go pick up Kathryn.  John and Gina asked to listen to their favorite song.  I told them no because a few minutes prior to that, they were not behaving well.  So Gina pipes up, "Well, can Vincent listen to it, he was being good."  Followed by John, "Yeah, Vince and Chris are both good, so they should be able to listen to it!"

Jeremiah 5:1
Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and take note, search through her squares.  If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.

They got their music...

Hidden Eyes

I heard Daniel's stroll going through my room as I was tidying up the bathroom, and before I saw him, I said, "Hello Danielson!"

Daniel replied, "How did you know?  Oh yeah, mom's have eyes on the back and sides of their heads!"
Me, "Oh, who told you that?"
Daniel, "I just knew it!"

Thank God for hidden eyes!  They may come in handy more than I think...

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

Herbivores, and Carnivores, and Omnivores; Oh My...

John's thoughts:

"Mom, so does that mean Christopher is a Milkivore?"

Answering his own question, "Yeah, Chris,  you are a milkivore."

Makes sense to me.

Tests and Homework

"God expects us to do our best work on tests and homework." This is what Fr. mentioned in one quick sentence at Mass, today.  For some reason it has stuck with me.  Here are my thoughts:

Tests and Homework
From a Mother's perspective:
Do I do my best 'home'work?
Do I put forth my best effort to pass the test?

To do well on the test, we need to prepare - always to the best of our ability;
1. complete our 'home'work, no cheating ;)
2. listen better
3. put more effort into the details
4. ask for help
5. look over our work and make necessary changes

I need to consistently work on ALL the numbered points above, but 5 really gets me.  Have you ever thought you did well on a test, only to find out after the grade, you didn't?  This has happened to me! More pride here, thinking I'm doing well...sigh.  But, if I am forced to look at something from a different perspective, (usually better, though I may not think so at the time) I gain greater understanding!

Each person's best effort may record a different result; but we must be willing to put forth the effort and make the necessary changes. Only then will the Help shine through!

As we begin a new school church year next week, let us gather our 'supplies' and pledge to put forth our best effort so that we may 'pass the test'!

Have a Blessed Advent!

In Preparation for Thanksgiving!

Giving Thanks For:

The Love

The Suffering

The Cross

The Beauty

The Body of Christ

and

Priests who bring Him to us!

Through our reception of the Eucharist, Christ will Love where we can not. All we need to do is ask Him to take over.

Feast on Him!

Wordless Wednesday

I will DRIVE them out

And then we experience a teenage driver...

Did you know that criticism is reciprocal?
Especially when it comes to teaching a teen to drive!
I didn't realize I was such a bad driver.

If I really am that bad, is it ok to repeat, "Don't do as I do, do as I say?"  Or maybe I need to work on change!  It IS really hard to keep my hands at 10 and 2; or turn on my signal, for a lane change, with no one around...but, maybe I need more practice. Maybe I need to work on obedience.

Our roads most assuredly become safer with an 'all-knowing' teen co-pilot! At least that's my experience...both in the car and at home ;)

Thank God for teens: driving out our bad habits on the road of life!

Reporting for Duty

Fr. Wade Menezes reminds us of the path to sainthood:

1.  Live an Active Sacramental life, so that we can be faithful in everything we do.
2.  We become holy by faithfulness to daily duties, St. Therese's 'Little way':


"Do what we are supposed to do, when we are supposed to do it, and in the way its supposed to be done!"

The day may get ugly, but we must stick with it, remaining faithful in service- until it is complete;
Just as Christ did ALL the way to, and through, the cross.

There is work to be done...and the time is now; no excuses

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."

Kitchen Slime

There is always a first for everything...

This morning, as I tread through the kitchen barefoot (I did just mop last night), I slid upon an interestingly slimy substance.  At a closer glance, I called over my notoriously messy sneezer and told him if his slimy boogers should happen to fall upon the floor, it would be courteous of him to clean up the mess.

 Still trying to refine this young man...

Family Food!

I think we are all on the mend from the flu bug, and one is still on prednisone, so this quote from a friend of mine couldn't have hit at a better time:

These kids are, "Eating me out of house and boob food."

Enough said...

Have a Blessed Day!

Stones

I'm in the midst of a few house projects.

Presently, I have wall paper mostly taken off of 2 bathroom walls (waiting for help to remove toilets and a sink- shortly, it might turn into a hands on self taught project ;) I think my husband takes pleasure in the fact that if he waits long enough, I will try it my self.) Anyway, we are also looking into ripping up well liked carpet and putting a hard floor down in our 'school' room. This is the ADD coming out in me. I really have a hard time sticking to a task and finishing it - or am I just flexible and able to handle multiple things at once?

Either way, I was thinking about putting some sort of irregular stone or tile onto the school room floor. As I was gathering ideas from this wonderful internet, I got to thinking these irregular stones can reflect us - our family, a bit irregular, patched together and laid on the foundation of the Catholic Church. Each of us with our our intricacies, yet still able to be stuck together. We need each other to portray the beauty of whole. By ourselves, we might look neat, but patched together we are so much more - Beautiful, Meaningful, Strong!

Someday you will be able to see the finished projects...

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...

Store-ing up Treasures!

Welcome to the neighborhood SAMS club.

Now if you are shopping in this store, you should be used to BULK items.

Including the main display today: Mom's Pre-school Package: 4 children, 4 and under (at least for 4 more days ;) ).

We had fun in SAMS today.

It all started with another mother commenting on the display above and how great they were. Followed up with her commenting on the fact that she is not ready to bring her 4 young children to the store, and in awe that it can work. For me, it has to work. Somedays it is not always in good order, but it works. As conversation went on, I filled her in that these 4 were the bottom half of 9 children. She replies, "So, you've had practice." Yes, lots of practice: namely in prayer!

I think she was priming us for what was to come. The record breaking number of times I would hear, "You have your hands full!"

First: a confirming smile.

Second: a bit of conversation followed by an attitude of "I can't talk right now, the baby is starting to cry, and 2 walkers are getting into the fridges asking if we needed everything in them."

Third: After the record breaking statement mentioned above, to John, "How do you like being the oldest?" John informs her that he is not the oldest, and I reiterate, "Yes, we have 9." I find it funny when I have to repeat the amount of children we have.

Did she

a. not believe him

b. believe she did not hear correctly

c. have short term memory loss

d. all the above

I don't know for sure, but I always blame it on c. short term memory loss. I guess that comes from my years visiting nursing homes. Repeat, repeat, repeat. That lesson comes in handy!

Fourth: This was great! I still laugh when I picture this man's behavior. We turned right to walk down an isle. The man, behind us went straight. Then, stopped. Came toward us and stared for a few seconds. Evidently our display caught his eye? Then he continued on in the direction he was intending to go. A moment later, he came back to observe our moving display, and quoted the 'record statement of the day': "My, you have your hands full." He was genuinely amazed. And I chuckled at his amazement, and followed up with, "Yes, aren't they great! I wouldn't have it any other way." And his reply, "That's great!"

Fifth: another confirming smile. I was still stuck on the gentleman mentioned fourth!

And, It's still ringing in my ears,

"My, you have your hands full!"

Priceless!

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Bosses Day!

Do I need words?

Just for the record:

"I'm the boss of this family!"

coincidently spoken the evening before 'bosses day'

Do we need to do something for her?

Or have we already done too much??

It's Snowing!

INSIDE!

And you ask where was Mama?

Simply changing laundry over.

Let the children come to me...

John was rummaging through some old hats from Grandpa, and look at the treasure he found:

"Awesome, a police hat just like Father _." Followed by a happy dance. "I'm wearin' this one! Oh yeah, just like Father _. But mine is blue and his is black, right Mom?"

Please say a prayer for our priests!

We NEED them

therefor

They need our prayers.

Sing Out!

This is where we were Sunday night!

Kathryn's favorite song, if she had to pick - Sing Out!

Gabrielle's Favorite: At the Ceili and When You Believe

Michael's favorite: Dulaman -namely the percussion

Celtic Woman

Their music is beautiful, and they will warm your heart!

Check them out for yourselves!

Thanks Grammie, for a nice evening!

Visit Celtic Woman to find a show near you.

Incognito

So, our 15 passenger van in is the shop. Therefore I am driving a mini-van. I now know why they call them mini! It is so small! Biggest change, other than mere appearance, when I get out, my foot touches the ground. Weird! Usually I slide out from the upper atmosphere and it takes a while before my feet touch bottom. And when I get in, I just sit down. Weird. I'm used to the step, pull, step method. My body is confused!

I already had to go out and pick up a sick, puking kiddo from school. I saw a few people on the way to and fro, and guess what, they didn't see me! Do you know how good it feels; not to be noticed and stand out, exp: "oh, there's the __mobile!"

Yes, that's the introvert in me coming out! I kinda like not being noticed. Funny that I should be blogging.

For a short time,

-Incognito

Unexpected Guest

The best unexpected guest came to our home last Thursday, and is staying the week! I was so excited when I got the phone call last week, looking for a place for her to stay - she must have known we needed her presence!

Pray, pray a great deal and offer sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them.

-Our Lady of Fatima

Pilgrim Virgin Statue

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us!

Happy

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary!

St Maria Faustina Kowalska

Jesus I Trust in You

St. Faustina is the one whom Jesus worked through to bring us His message of Love and Mercy. In this International Week of Prayer, would you be willing to join me in saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet?

Jesus to St. Faustina, "Their love is weak, so I put them in your special care - pray for them."

FYI:

Here is a great DVD for kids! If you click the image it will bring you to EWTN catalog. It might air today on EWTN sometime between 4-5 PM Eastern time if you want a preview.

St. Faustina, teach us the mercy of Jesus that we may be merciful. We all fall to sin, but those who trust in God's Mercy prevail! His love and mercy are greater than any sin.

God Loves You!

*Actually, this is the DVD I was thinking about:

The sister teaches the children how to say the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and what to think about as they are saying it.

Need a Body Guard?

1-800-GUARDIAN ANGEL

Too many #'s? Then try the prayer line!

All you have to do is say, "Guardian Angel" and Bam, you've got yourself a body guard, protecting ALL of you, most importantly, your SOUL!

Give yours a call, today!

*Bill Osborne, a Christian artist, has some great digital pictures of Angel Warriors, the Guardian Angel is my favorite. These are the types of angels I want protecting me!

Here's one example named

Divine Protection:

-Psalm 91:11