Take my hand, big brother

The latest Fishism

Fish: Mommy, I want to be a priest.

Mommy: Why, honey?

Fish: Because I do!!

Mommy: OK, sweetheart. That is wonderful!

Fish: But right now I have to go blow up Matthew's Transformer!

Mommy: OK... go right ahead...sigh

Discipline

Does anyone out there have any that I could borrow? Seriously. I am discovering through more time with St. Francis, that I am lacking in this area.
I don't know when it happened. I used to be TOO disciplined. Never could stand for things to be out of place, late, dirty, out of synch, ever.
Somehow, now, I find that it takes all I possess to get out of bed by 7:30 and get started on my wonderfully constructed Rule!
I lay in bed and tell myself, "die to yourself, die to yourself." And then that bad little angel on my shoulder says, "go ahead, die to yourself, after a bit more sleep."
Lack of discipline has been the root of most of my difficulties lately and I need to get a handle on this. Obviously, I must ask for the help I need from God, as I, me, myself, and I, can't do ANYTHING without His help.
If anyone has any helpful tips in this area, feel free to post them.

Happy Birthday, #1 son

My dear Foo, 1st born son, celebrated his 11th birthday today. He insisted on making his own cake, strawberry bundt with white icing!

I don't think a mom could be any prouder of her child. He is one of the most thoughtful, caring, kind people I know. He is an example of integrity that I can only hope to aspire to.

Happy birthday sweet son!



Oh, and thank you Mr. E for visiting tonight! It was so great to have you here, even for just a few minutes!

Accidental Nature Study

This weekend afforded us the opportunity to walk to our local pond where we have done nature study for years. We have not been in quite some time and were so excited to see the duck eggs.



Dad and kids enjoyed the fishing; mom enjoyed watching Hannah, the dog, chase the ducks. She doesn't ever catch them, instead is thrilled to watch them scatter into the pond.




On Sunday, Foo spied a moth who had just hatched from its cocoon.



We are not quite sure what this critter is, but we will be searching Enature for the answer...

How to know when...

your beloved children have watched Star Wars one too many times...

Dueling Duo

Light Sabers fabricated out of "Floam" found in their Easter Baskets.

Mom note here... DON'T EVER BUY FLOAM! It's tactilely offensive, makes one want to gag, hence, the kids love it!

Welcome to our World

To our newest goddaughter... we love you and we praise God for you!

6 months already!

I can't believe my sweet little one is already 6 months old! How time is passing. I am trying to enjoy and savor each tiny little moment that I have...

Easter 2006

Hopefully our 3 ladies are looking down on us and smiling!




Happy Easter from our "family" to yours!

Lent in Review

Karen E had this post the other day, and it gave me something to think about all of this Holy Week. (thanks, Karen!)

Things definitely happened this Lenten season. Layers were peeled away and it was most assuredly painful quite often. But growing usually is. Discovery can also be quite uncomfortable, however, looking at where I am tonight, happy, at peace, and relishing the time that I have with my family and friends, I have to thank God for each and every bit of discomfort that He chose to bless me with.

I definitely did not follow through with ALL of my Lenten practices that I had planned to do, but I did follow through with many of them and learned that sometimes, the sacrifice for me is trying to conquer my eternal quest for control, or rather, relinquish it.

The thing I wanted most of all was for relationships to be reconciled. Most of them have been. There are still a few that I pray will work out in time, in God's time. For now, I will rest in the knowledge that He knows what is best for me, and He will direct me accordingly, as long as I am open to hear His voice.



I have the extra special blessing of having one of my goddaughters with me this week. It was an unexpected, but wonderful surprise and I will always cherish it! I hope little Miss Cutie enjoys her stay here! She and Em are best friends already.

I will post more pictures from our Easter together as soon as I can!

Holy Week

Palm Sunday begins the Holiest week of the year. As a looked out of my window today, I saw the oak in my yard which just a few short weeks ago was barren, dark, dreary. Today it is full of life. Beautiful bright green leaves that shine in the sunlight.

I couldn't help but think of our souls as they journey through lent. Dark, barren, all the while, preparing to emerge with new life with Christ on Easter morning.

Take time this week, of all weeks, to read the liturgical scriptures each day. You can find them here.

Spend quiet time with our Lord. He is calling each of us to Him. We have spent our 40 days in the desert and we are approaching the time of great triumph. Christ's triumph over sin, God's unfathomable love for us demonstrated through the sacrifice of His son.

And also consider beginning the novena to the Divine Mercy. It begins on Good Friday and will continue until Divine Mercy Sunday which is the Sunday after Easter.

Only in my house...

Could a priest be shot!

OK... now for the explanation.

Last night, we had the honor of having Father Ernie in our home to celebrate Mass in honor of the lives of my mother, Anna Marie, and Virginia, whom all passed away last year at this time. It was also a chance for my family to be re-enthroned to the Sacred Heart. We were also so blessed to have another family join us in their Enrollment. It was a very beautiful and touching evening.

While we were enjoying the wonderful Chili that my dh made, my mother in-law was kind enough to inform me that the children were in the other room shooting Fr. Ernie with their Nerf guns. Did you hear that? Yes, that was my jaw hitting the floor!

Mortified would not begin to describe the feeling that I had at that moment. Imagine, spending all day cleaning, preparing for Mass. Of course, Joseph was cleaning especially hard because he thought the Pope was coming...

House looks lovely, dinner is wonderful, out come the Nerf laden assassins!! Fr. Ernie, being the good sport that he is, sat on the couch and enjoyed his time as the target.

As he left, I informed him that next time he came he would be offered his own Nerf gun for protection. He laughed all the way to the car!

And who says we're not making memories around here!!

Rollin' baby

Sunday his first tooth appeared and today, he rolled from back to front, front to back, back to front, front to back.

The best part was the fact that I wasn't here to see it. I left B aka the condiment queen, in charge while little Em and I went to her appointment. I wasn't 5 minutes down the road when she called me.

"MOM!! He's rolling everywhere!! Wait, he's about to do it again!!" I had to remind her that I could not see him from the phone call...

It is such a beautiful thing that my 14 year old is just as excited about Brendan's milestones as we the proud parents are!

Newest Josephism

Today, while trying to push out the love seat to retrieve a certain coveted lost Lego, Joseph realized he was having difficulty moving the couch.

He yelled for me, "Mom, what's wrong with this couch? I can't move it!! I must have lost my super-powers!!"

I don't think he'll ever lose those...

Chicks with Chucks

The kids did their demo this weekend that they have been working on for a few months. It went very well! The day was beautiful, a bit warmer than we expected, but a great day to be demo'ing in the park!
More pictures to come during the week.

We have a tooth!

Santo Subito!

I plan to post my tribute to Our Beloved Papa later tonight. We have had quite the hectic weekend.

Please visit Moneybags' blog for a beautiful 4 part series on Pope John Paul II.
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There are so many wonderful tributes to our Beloved Karol that I am not sure I can even begin to write anything nearly as good. But I will post my thoughts because he was such a special person and deserves all that can be said about him.

"Be Not Afraid!" That was the motto I will most remember my beloved Holy Father for. And he lived it until the very end of his life. He was an example of how to live holiness each and every day. He showed us how to pray without ceasing, to make our very lives a prayer.

From the time he was a very young boy, our dear John Paul was called to a life of extreme holiness. Through all of the apparent tragedy in his life, his mother's death, then his brother's, and finally his father's, he was left an orphan. Living through the Nazi occupation of Poland, surviving that which seemed impossible to survive. Determined to become a priest during a time when to be found out could have meant his life. All the while, the hand of God was upon him, calling him to the greatest vocation of all, the Vicar of Christ.

He was never afraid to live as God called him to. He was never alone as he continually called upon our Heavenly Mother to be with him. He was his absolute strongest when he was physically his weakest. He was a force of peace, hope and love that changed the face of humanity for all time.

He emptied himself out to the world the way that Christ emptied himself for all of us. He was an example of true devotion until the very end.

I had hoped to visit Rome while he was still amoung us, but that was not to be. Thankfully, Pope John Paul left us with many wonderful resources to draw on and learn from for the rest of our lives.
The Encyclicals, homilies,Books, and Poems that we can study for years to come which will continue to impact our Church for quite some time.

He was a hero to many people, including me. I pray that he is resting well in the arms of our Lord, but I know that he is probably too busy praying for all of us still here on earth.

He was able to accomplish so much in his 80 years not because he was a super hero, but rather because he had a profound faith, a sincere and complete devotion to our blessed mother, and a true love of Christ.

May we all learn just a small bit from his example.