Lent Begins

Tomorrow begins the season of Lent.

I always anticipate the beginning of Lent. What will I offer up as my sacrifice? What keeps me away from God? I also try to add in something to help bring me closer to Our Lord.

This year, as usual, I will remove sweets from my diet. This will be more difficult this year as it appears I have become completely addicted to sugar products. I do, however, look forward to turning this addiction over to Christ and letting Him turn my weakness into a strength that can be used for His Will.

I am looking forward to stripping away the things that keep me from my God. Therefore, tv will also be banished from my life. The exception to this will be during Holy Week when B and MC and I will watch the Passion of Christ together. It will be B's first time to see it, and at 14.5, I think she is ready. The other exception will be the Core Secret DVD's I've ordered to try to strengthen my body after this last pregnancy.

My computer time will be drastically cut. Email will be next to nil, but I will use the internet for some of my faith reading and possibly to blog my journey this year.

I am adding some elements to my day to draw closer to Christ. First off, we will be reading the scriptures each day. Secondly, we will be praying the Angelus and the Divine Mercy each day. And we will be doing more study of the saints.

I also plan to attend Stations of the Cross each Friday at our parish, but if we are unable to, I have some homemade stations that we will place in different areas of our home and meditate on them as a family.

Some of the children are too young to truly understand what it means to give something up for 40 days (which must seem like 40 years to them), so I will be suggesting that they make a daily sacrifice, something different each day. Give up gum for a day, give up ice cream another, give up veggie tales, give up the computer game, etc. While they are giving things up, I will be trying to explain to them how Jesus gave everything up for 40 days in the desert before He gave His life up for us on Good Friday.

The most important thing for me to do this Lent is to reconcile all relationships that I can. I am struggling very much with one in particular and can not seem to figure out what I have done to cause this person pain. I did nothing intentional, but that does not matter. This dear person is hurt by something I have said or done, and I am praying that before the end of this 40 days comes, we will have had the chance to resolve whatever it is and move forward in our friendship. I ask for your prayers in this matter, whatever God's will is, that I can accept it and grow from it.

I pray that each of you has a blessed Lenten season. If you are not familiar with Lent or it's practices, I encourage you to try something small. Offer up something to God and He will bless your efforts many times over. You will be amazed at the peace you will feel by Easter morning.

My Three Sons part 2

Good Morning, Hannah!

This is the view out my kitchen window each day

End of week summary

Today, Em went to Kid Potential and had another great session. She is doing so well. It is amazing to see the transformation in her skills. She should be starting the Master the Code materials very soon. It is such a thrill to go from the board/picture books to actual beginner chapter books! She is so excited. Her handwriting has improved as has her attempts to write.

This week I caught her putting something in the trash. I saw her look at me with those sweet brown eyes and then walk away from the trash. I couldn't resist going to see what she had thrown away. It was a little "poem" of sorts. I pulled it from the trash only to be kept in my secret stash of drawings, "mommy, i love you" notes, and the like.


i can by Emma

i can
Do enetheg (anything)
if i put my
hert to it
if i tire (try)


It is so sweet to see her positive outlook on life. It also is a wonderful opportunity to get a glimpse into how she hears words and then spells them phonetically. The hearing of the words is coming along. The odd "sound" of the words is most probably caused by fluid on the ear when she was in the language development stage. At the time we unknowingly had mold in our home and she was sick quite often.
The trainers at Kid Potential are very encouraged by her rapid progress, as are we here at home.

One thing this wonderful child of God has learned... perseverance!

My Three Sons

Sometimes you just have to laugh

Thanks to Danielle Bean for posting this on her blog. I needed the laugh!

A new day dawns

As I woke to feed the baby at 4:30 this morning, I thanked God for the gentle reminder to get up and get moving.

I returned to the Y for the first time since last March. Almost a year now. That is probably the last time I spent any real time in quiet prayer as well.

I usually work out for about an hour then return home to some dark, quiet time spent with the Lord. Boy, do I miss that.

Fast forward to today. I went for the work out, headed back home for a quick shower, then spent some time snuggling the baby, nursing him back to sleep. Then I retreated downstairs to break open the Word and found this responsorial psalm today...

"Throw your cares on the Lord and He will support you."

I just love how God gives me just what I need when I need it.

My main focus right now is to keep Christ in each moment of each day as much as possible. I want to feel Him when I am praying, but I also want to feel Him when I am doing the laundry, directing the children, cleaning bathrooms, etc. If motherhood and married life is truly my vocation, then I need to make each moment a prayer to Him. I need to offer my best to Him. Always.

I will throw my cares onto the Lord and I will allow Him to provide for my needs.

time for reflecting

I have been taking the last few days to really reflect on where I am at in many areas of life. I am finding that my spiritual compass is sadly spinning out of control and pointing no where fast!

Isn't it amazing how that happens? Neglect your prayer life, neglect reading the Gospels, neglect talking with God, instead of about Him, and you wind up where I am... not a fun place, let me assure you.

I know what I need to do. Now for the "just do it" kick in the pants.

I am finding that trying to be present with Him in the small tasks of the day is quite difficult. But it must be done.

I thank God for the opportunity to be present with Him at adoration which will start very soon. I am sure that this will give me the much needed quiet time I need to make my connection with Him again. Just in time for my favorite season of the Church year... Lent.

Memories

It is becoming more and more real to me that each day that I spend with my children, I am creating memories. I have heard this "notion" for years now, but not until recently did this thought truly click for me.

I am now wondering WHAT kind of memories am I making? WHAT kind do I want to make, and HOW can I be sure that I leave the children with happy, loving memories of their childhood.

The reason this became so apparent to me is simple. My son. Matthew. Brilliant at the age of 10. Actually, he's been brilliant for years...

I was talking with a new neighbor about homeschooling. She is very curious about it and interested in trying it for her family. I attempted to share with her what a typical day is like in our home. I thought I was being very honest and upfront about what a day is REALLY like. Baby crying, phone ringing, teens with "emergencies" (got to get to the mall to get the newest mascara for an outing next weekend... RIGHT NOW!!!)
I shared with her that I rarely get everything done on my "list" and my "list" rarely even gets made anymore, only because I haven't the time to scratch one out. I shared with her that I school when I can, that life goes on within the home and that one should not try to bring school home, but always remember that our "school" is a HOME first. I told her I loved homeschooling and prayed that I would never have to send my kids to school.
That's when Matthew pops into the conversation with this... "you don't seem like you like it"...

Need I say more?

So, here I sit. Wondering why I am so frustrated with myself for the last few months, when all I really needed to do was sit with my son and ask him. Like I said, he is brilliant.

I will be spending some time this weekend deciding exactly how I am going to re-prioritize my life, my daily life, so that my son and his siblings know that beyond a shadow of a doubt, I WANT to be with them. I WANT to homeschool them. I WANT to make GREAT memories for them as well as for myself.

I will most probably need to cut things out of my life. I will definately need to lower my standards around the house. As I get back into the joy of homeschooling, these things can be added back in if needed.

Timing is everything. God's timing is perfect. I am just finishing up Mother's Rule of Life for the second time. I guess it's about time to start implementing it.

1. Prayer
2. Person
3. Partner
4. Parent
5. Provider

Starting with #1...

Happy 8th Birthday Sweet Em!

When the angels came,
They left sweet Emma behind,
To love and learn from.

new pictures

His eyes are so blue, I just had to share them!

The sympathy he'll get...

All went well at the doctor's office, although Matthew was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to pick a color for his cast. All they had was white.

I relayed my broken arm story to him and shared with him how fun the old plaster casts were! Not to mention that I had mine up to my shoulder, during the summer, while I was a swimming instructor to 4 and 5 year olds who did not like the water much... oh the memories...

He spent the rest of the day collecting signatures on his cast. One from the barber, obviously visited AFTER this picture was taken, one from Mr. M at TKD, and lots from his friends and family. He was able to teach two classes tonight, though he did not feel up to staying for his own training. Hopefully he sleeps better with a more sturdy cast on.

Casting Call

We are off this morning to have the doctor don Matthew a cast. We'll post pictures when we can.

The swelling is down, but the pain is pretty severe at times during the day. Hopefully, the more permanent cast will relieve this problem.