My child, I love you.

Lessons Learned-The Evening Meal (and food in general)

2012-02-09T18:28:00.001-08:00

Since I can remember, I've wanted to be a great cook and baker. I was my mother's kitchen helper. I am sure I drove her crazy always baking something, wanting to try something new, and experimenting even when I was young with making candy, pretzels, decorating my siblings birthday cakes. I loved it.
My dad always loved pie. His mother was a master pie baker. It must have come with that age of women. Didn't all women born in the 20s know how to make pie? He loved it. His favorite was fresh apricot pie and Coconut Cream Pie. I remember making them to please him. When I went to college and was away, I always called our neighbor and ordered two pies for her to bake and deliver to him on his birthday. He made me always feel like he was shocked and surprised. "How did you arrange this, honey?" he would say while calling me at college. "Thank you, sweetie. You know how much I love pie." I delighted in our little event every October 7th.
Probably from watching my own mother cook and bake, I realized how important food was to the manufacturing of home life. It is essential. Food keeps everything going almost more than anything else. Several of our children wake up in the morning and say "What is for dinner tonight, mom?" I decided in high school that I wanted to major in cooking or baking. I knew it would be something I would use the rest of my life. As life played out, that desire fell by the wayside, but my passion for food preparation never stopped. I subscribed to Taste of Home in college and would spend hours clipping and organizing my recipes to be used when I ran my own home. I just couldn't wait.
Somewhere between then and having children, my desire remained, but motivation drained.

Meal time became stressful, hurried, and just another thing to do. I usually had someone crying at my leg, others asking for snacks because they were hungry, and the day just in general was worn. I had forgotten my lost love and just chalked it up as something to get done.

As the Good Lord always does, He renewed my desire for the kitchen and has provided great insight again to help me view the whole situation differently. I have remembered little bits of advice from the past I forgot. I developed a new system to keep things running smoothly and also found new systems to aid the process. I really do look forward to preparing our evening meal at night and am grateful for the desires God has renewed in my heart concerning this topic. I view the time in the kitchen before dinner as setting the tone for our time around the table which I hope will last at least an hour every night. I know as our children get older it may be the only time we see each other each day.

(As always when writing most things down, this journal was intended as a gift to our children. So, I usually speak to the adult them when I write.)

The Dinner Inspirations I have found:

1. I met a wonderful woman this year that treated her kitchen and food like no one I've ever met. She said one day, "Why would I buy it, if I can make it?" Her eyes sparkled when she talked about food and preparing it. She talked about her fruit trees. She told me stories of her in-laws and the amount of fruit they grew. She didn't want it to go to waste so "I began preparing things in my kitchen." I LOVED how she talked about her pie baking. The lard she uses in her pie crusts and how she mixes it together with two "old" forks made me want to go home and bake. She enters 50-75 food items in the county fair every year and wasn't aware that "little" adventure was amazing. I was mesmerized. She is such a lady. She has four little children that her and her husband homeschool. I love how she views teaching them through watching her in the kitchen, garden, or home. I love these rare finds of a person. She really was unaware of her talents. She had a baby last summer and was telling me about tending her garden with the baby sitting next to her in a bouncy seat. I felt like I was reading a Jane Austen novel. Her hair is always done up pretty. We were talking last week about pies and she told me her next adventure was making a cut-out crust of leaves with each leaf a different fall color. She learned to dye eye whites and paint the leaves red, orange, and yellow. I told her that I will pay her if she will let me come sit in her kitchen. Last week, I tasted her Carmel Apple Pie. I had to look closely at the pies to make sure they were real. Her crust was perfect in color, shape, and form.

I also remembered another mother of a large family telling me once "You have to think about dinner in the morning. There is just no other way."

2. Msgr. Nemec told us in marriage prep. that the table in our home is our domestic altar. It is to be cared for, prepared for, and meant to imitate the altar in the Church. Take care in setting the table, getting out the nice serving dishes, displaying a nice center piece. I read on a designer's blog once that she always purchased her dishes at the Dollar Tree. They have such a nice variety and if they break it is no big deal. It is not that I wouldn't purchase beautiful China for our domestic altar, but with children it seemed unreasonable. I love what I found at the Dollar Tree.
*Take the time to set your altar

3. I further reflected upon all the biblical references to food and the most important aspect of our Catholic faith which is Our Eucharistic Lord. Food is important and worth my time.

4. Most childhood memories are of food. You will hear adults say, "My mom makes the best cinnamon rolls!" or "I can't wait to go home this weekend and have my mother's cooking!" I thought about this a couple weeks ago and reflected upon the amount of time I was putting into the runnings of our home. #1 Cleaning #2 Schooling and #3 Food. I spend most of my time cleaning and organizing. I know it is important, but I definitely don't want their memories being of cleaning. I want them to remember the food.

5. In the past upon entering the kitchen to make dinner, I remember feeling rushed, hurried, and annoyed. Now, I say "Take your time. Put love into your food." I watched the "Dog Whisperer" a while ago and he talked about the love he put into preparing his dog's food. Man. The points he made about dogs and food could definitely be made about people and food. They know when love is put into a meal. I slow down. I get everything out. I try most days to save TV time until then. They are happy with their show of the day and I am in the kitchen. I now look at everything as building memories, planting seeds, growing roots, and an opportunity to be with them and show them through the meal my love for them. I somewhat had fallen into a "anything is good" attitude. I had other things to do besides preparing a great meal each night.

6. For 10 years, I have struggled getting to the grocery store on a set day of the week. I don't know what my deal was, but I hated that about my schedule. I hated the days where I didn't know what was for dinner. The day always seemed backwards. At the beginning of this year, I decided to change that habit once and for all. I picked early Wednesday morning. I make my list Tuesday night. I collect everything on the table (calendar, recipe books, etc.) I start to plan my meals, snacks, saint day celebration foods, meals to be brought to other families, and our new baking adventure of the week. I cannot tell you how incredibly life-changing this has been. I have every part of our day covered in relation to food. I made a laminated sheet that lists the day of the week, followed by a line that is for the saint of the day and the food we want to make to celebrate, a line also for other food events that day i.e. birthdays, new babies, etc. CRAZY helpful to me. Weekly grocery shopping on the same day each week is Essential for me to run our home. I look at the schedule the night before and know what needs to be prepared then, what needs to be thawed, or if the recipe involves excessive chopping, I will do it the night before.

7. After 10 years, I have learned to batch cook and Freeze. I know many have done this forever, but for some reason I hadn't. Man, I was missing out. When I am planning our meals, I always allot for two or three of whatever I am making to be made and frozen. Crazy helpful. We made four huge pans of lasagne a couple months ago and I wish I could express how those silly pans of food made very busy days not so busy. Tuesdays are our busiest day of the week. I spend more time in the car then I do at home. Dinner was about the last thing on my mind. Even so, I HATED falling into the house at 5:30 with starving kids, John wasn't going to be home for 2 more hours, and I was just starting dinner. I hated it so much because I was exhausted, they were exhausted, and it really did affect the next day because we wouldn't eat until 7:00 which pushed everything back from bedtime, prayers, etc. Now, I know when our busy days are so I pull out a pan of frozen goodness in the morning and know that when I get home, dinner will be almost ready.

8. Another little tidbit that people have done for ages, but I delayed participating in is cutting up and freezing portions of recipes. For example, cutting up onions and freezing them into 1.c bags. Browning several pounds of meat at a time and freezing in 1 c. bags. Making several cups of chicken broth and freezing in Ziplocks. Cooking and shredding chicken into 1 c. bags. Man. I missed out big time. I just discovered how wonderful it is to freeze items FLAT first then stack them nicely in containers in our deep freeze. I use to just throw the ziploc in the freezer and it would freeze in a big clump. DUMB??? Now, everything is flat, labeled, and easy to find.

9. Buy the utensils you need to be as successful as you want to be. I have long put off buying certain cooking and baking items. No more. I bought the little scoop and the silicone mat I've wanted for cookie making. Little things, but really have helped my desires.

10. I decided to master each new baking item I try. I don't just want to make cinnamon bread. I WANT TO MAKE CINNAMON BREAD. I have made a little game with myself and am enjoying troubleshooting my mess-ups and finding out where I went wrong from temperature, baking rack, or pan used. I like the challenge of figuring it out.

11. Most importantly, John loves food. Men love food. He is not one that HAS to eat the minute he walks in the door. He never expects it and actually is an amazing cook and baker himself. More than food, I know he appreciates the efforts I put into the evening meal. Additionally, I think he appreciates that when he gets home and food is ready, he knows our evening will run much smoother because everything else falls into line.

The Butterfly Circus

2012-02-02T18:28:00.001-08:00

Potty Training-A full version

2012-01-25T18:26:00.000-08:00

I felt like I gave a very brief summary of potty training adventureland. It was comparable to asking a cook for the recipe and they tell you the ingredients, but forget to tell you all the "little" things they add to the recipe to make it so darn good. I will always call the person later and say "That didn't taste like yours." To which they reply, "Did you run around the house three times with the cake before putting it in the oven?" Nope. You forgot to tell me that little secret of yours. Always essential to the success of the recipe. That would have been helpful YESTERDAY.

So, to provide a more detailed potty training how-to at our house.

A. Understanding the Age
1. I DO NOT stress about potty training. My motto "I have never seen a ten-year-old not potty trained." We will get there. I usually start around 2 1/2 for my girls. My mother has told me boys take longer and are harder. So, if I had little boys I would be resigned that we probably wouldn't start until later unless I thought they were ready. It definitely is one battle I will NOT battle.

B. I begin when the baby is 18 months or so talking toilet.

1. I have no intention of training them at that time, but I will say "Where does "DoDo" go? In the potty?" I ask that almost every time we change their diaper.
2. When I am getting ready to put the child in the bath, I always sit them on the potty first to get them use to the idea. "Do you want to go potty?" For example, I do this with Clairvaux (18 months) now. She thinks it is great because I will call the older kids in to see her. We all cheer. I think this has helped alleviate fear of the toilet. They are so use to sitting there "for fun" that when it comes time to train nobody is freaking out.

C. Assembly Utensils

1. Potty Seat: I LOVE the style that fits onto our normal toilet. I loathe potty chairs. I tried that once and cleaning the chair after each use made no sense to me. I love that we can travel with the little seat and that it is an easy transition to just sitting on the normal toilet.

2. Step Stool: This is essential to begin an important lesson I didn't learn until the last few. Teach them from the beginning the whole process.

a. move stool to toilet and pull down your pants
b. get on the stool
c. turn around and sit down
d. scoot back
e. use the restroom
f. wipe (this is up for discretion as I wipe our children for a while to eliminate the obvious.)
g. pull up your underwear
h. flush
i. wash hands
j. turn off the light

When we first started training, I would just sit them on the toilet, but this became terribly inconvenient with every day living especially when they really needed to go and needed my help to just get on the toilet.
Vianney will say "I need to go potty." I now respond "You know what to do." She can go in the restroom and get herself on the toilet.

3. Treats
1. I buy two kinds. One for wet and one for the big job.

2. This little trick has worked great for motivation. If Vianney goes potty, EVERYBODY gets a treat. If she goes, I will call out into the living room "Vianney went potty!" Everyone comes rushing in and I have her hand out the treat to them (which she quite loves.) They all tell her "Congratulations!" John told me he likes this trick best because you see all of them ask her all day if she needs to go just because THEY want candy. Good Peer Pressure.

4. Character Undies
It has never worked for me to put them in pull-ups to train them during the day. It feels like a diaper. If they have an accident (BM) I usually throw away that pair of underwear. I look at it like diapers for just a little while. I will say "Don't get your Dora's dirty." My mother-in-law taught me this little trick. She told me to pick someone that the child knows i.e. the doctor and tell them "Dr. McNeely said you can't go in your underwear anymore." Lillie stopped wetting the bed literally that night. I couldn't believe it. I tell this to Vianney and know she understands what I am saying.

5. Books for the child to look at while waiting. Often, the child just needs to sit there for a little bit, but I need to go to something else so if I give them a book they will just eventually go.

D. The Actual Method

1. I wait until John has a couple days off so at least one of can be devoted to her for the first couple days. They have to be watched at all times so they don't sneak away and go.

2. The first three days I set the timer for 15 minutes. When it beeps, I take them into the restroom and start our routine as listed above.

3. Usually, they don't go at first because they are so use to standing and going. With lots of liquids, it is inevitable.

4. If the child goes before 15 minutes, I shorten the timer time to every 10 minutes until I can read there bladder size. Some have a bladder the size of a watermelon and others the size of a grapenut. You will have to watch your child. I mean LITERALLY watch them for the first couple days so you can run them into the bathroom if they start going.

5. For me, if the child isn't making any improvement after 2-3 days, I STOP. I will try again in a couple months.

6. If they are making headway, I eventually wean from the every 15 minute routine and just starting asking them often "Do you need to go potty?"

E. DO-DO Protocol:

1. This is usually the hardest part for most.

2. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT LET THEM SNEAK OFF TO DO THEIR DUTY. Urine must come out, but the bowel movement can usually be held by them until A) naptime B)when you aren't looking. They will watch. This is a whole new territory for them. Sitting and going versus the old habit of standing and going. I will not them out of my view.

3. You will start reading their signs of trying to sneak off or concentrating rather intently for longer lengths of time. They will probably cry and avoid the issue, but you must catch the act. Vianney cried the first time and said "I want to wear a diaper." John and I laughed because isn't life like that. Just as things are getting hard yet good, we want to put a diaper back on. I left her alone for a while and she went (which scared her). She did go once in her underwear and I showed it to her which completely disgusted her and probably won't EVER do that again.

4. For the first couple days, I don't put them down for their afternoon nap so we can continue to work on it and they don't a chance to do their big duty because THEY WILL if you give them the chance.

F. Going out to Church or errands, naps, and nighttime
(Make it a habit to put them on the toilet before leaving anywhere, before naptime, and bedtime. At least you can say, I tried to take them.)

1. Depending upon my comfort level, I will put them in a pull-up for the first few weeks for outings and mass.

2. For naps, I will put a pull-up on until they are dry for at least two weeks.

3. Same goes for nighttime. It has to be a good two weeks before I trust them.

G. Troubleshooting

1. I view it a lot like training them to do other things i.e. using the stairs, getting down from their highchair. It usually has to be taught some quickly others a little longer. Just like you wouldn't teach your 4-month-old to walk down stairs, you have to wait until they are ready for that phase to be taught.

2. Often, after 2-3 weeks they will digress for a few day. At first, I just explain that we don't do that. If it continues and I know they are just being stubborn, we will have some sort of discipline suitable for the age. You will know the difference between just "having an accident" while playing and willfully going in their pants. Most probably will have a few accidents while you are out, while they are playing within the first couple months. I just clean it up and re-explain "We do not go potty in our underwear, okay."

3. We always call John at work and the grandparents to let them know "They went potty." Vianney always says "Can I call Papa?"

4. Have your list of prayer intentions to offer up in case it isn't going easy-peasy. Why not save a soul or two in the process??????

Vianney on the PT

2012-01-24T20:27:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting to potty train Vianney until after her surgery. I tried a couple months ago, but she nor I was ready to do the job.

I am so glad we waited. John had the weekend off so we decided to go for it. She caught on right away. We are on day #4 and she has been dry all day and during naps. She also does the big job which is a big deal. She had one accident with the big job and I showed it to her and that was enough to convince her the rest of her life. She was absolutely appalled.

She is our fifth child to potty train within the first day or two so I do feel confident we got the method down in most regards. What advice can I pass on to you?
I guess it probably depends upon your temperament as a mother. I would rather wait until we can teach them in a couple days instead of battling it for months. I always wait until John is home for a couple days so that at least one of us can be dedicated at all times the first few days to taking and teaching her.

The first few days I set the timer for 15 minutes and sit her on the toilet regardless. I give them lots of fluids so they "have" to go and can't hold it. We have our potty treats sitting right by the toilet to motivate.

Once we feel she has the method down and starts telling us on her own, I stop setting the timer. As for the big job, that has always been a little trickier because we laugh that "they own that part of their life." We watch her like a hawk and can tell when it is pending. The first few times is traumatic because they are use to standing instead of sitting down. I gave her books to read and she finally went. Each day gets better and better.

I still put a pull-up on at night, but will work on that next after we have this down. It usually involves just taking them once before we go to bed if they are having trouble staying dry.

I am always grateful when potty training goes smoothly. My mother tells horror stories of potty training. She hated it so I am so grateful God has blessed me with this road so far.

We always laugh seeing their little buns in underwear the first time.

Watching them play

2012-01-23T21:50:00.001-08:00

The Happy Family, André Henri Dargelas. French (1828-1906)

I came across this painting today on Pinterest and it reminded me of my girls. Their play is something we've never gotten use to.

They were playing "guys" with the colored pencils.

A little note on being a lady by my grandmother

2012-01-20T20:32:00.000-08:00

She is a endless fountain of knowledge and wise advice. From child-rearing, being a wife, running a home, raising multiple children, and the faith life, her advice smacks you like nothing else. I tell her every time we talk to write a book, but she won't. She always says she has nothing to teach. It is just the ways women were back then. Man, if she only knew.

She was such a lady and still is. All woman back then were. The only thing they knew was how to be like Audrey Hepburn. Grace, elegance, and class.

She told me this little gem a while back:

"You girls these days. You march into Church like you are leading your family somewhere. When we were married and raising children, your grandfather led his family into Church and into the pew of his choice. I followed him. That was proper back then. Let him pick. Let him lead his family. It will make him proud."

Such a little thing, but her words as always melted into my heart. I had never given any thought to such an issue before that. We would walk into mass. John and I would look at each other and discuss where we should sit based on the squirrel-of-the-day. After she told me this, I made up my mind to follow him to where ever he wanted to sit. So the next week, he looked at me and I said, "I'll follow you, honey." Don't ask my "Why?" because I don't know why, but I do know that for some reason this is special to him. He is leading us into Church and he is leading us to heaven.

And I want him to know "I will follow you!"

On being a wife-By my dear mother "I wish I would have known"

2012-01-19T19:07:00.000-08:00

My father passed away five years ago due to a 10 month battle with cancer. His death was glorious in so many aspects because he came into the Catholic faith 3 weeks before he died. At his funeral, there were 13 priests and the bishop of our diocese. I know this was a gift to my faithful mother who prayed for his conversion for their whole marriage. We laughed that when we die, we will never have so many clergy offering our funeral mass.
My mother has learned many lessons since his death, but the major one learned was about being the wife she wished she would have been. She didn't understand many things about him until he was gone. Her grief over that one aspect was almost unbearable. I asked her today to write a little of her memoirs in regards to her marriage. Her wisdom of 56 years of life, 35 years of marriage and 10 children is nothing to be ignored. I have an entire Rubbermaid container full of her letters and advice written to me. They are treasures. I have kept every single letter.

Below is her advice regarding marriage AFTER his death:

I WISH I HAD KNOWN…by Damaris Niewald

If I could rewind my mothering career, I would have put more energy and emphasis into being a better wife. Our primary vocation is to be a wife first and then a mother. Because of the exhausting demands of small children, most women lose focus on their marriage. Either they overlook their spouse and put him on the bottom of their “to-do” lists or they begin to treat him “as one of the children.” The bond of marriage is stronger than the bond of children because in marriage, “two become one flesh”—one flesh—you are no longer a single person after marriage you become absorbed into your husband.

I wish I had known how a man feels like a failure at work each day, and look to their wives to make them feel like a hero. If he comes home to a wretch, he feels like a failure at work and at home.

I wish I had known that a man is afraid that he can’t be a good provider, good husband, and good father, and that he doesn’t know what to do with his fear. I believe that anger is a sign of fear. I wish I had known that he wasn’t mad at me and that he was only afraid of NOT having the answers to life’s problems or quandaries.

I wish I had known that a man is afraid of NOT measuring up to other men, sometimes his own father and sometimes he’s afraid of NOT being able to measure up to the expectations of his wife. I wish I had known that God leads through the husband—not the wife. And even if the man’s decisions turn out to be disastrous, that a wife’s obedience will be blessed by God.

I wish I had known that the problems in raising children are the devil’s most powerful attacks on a marriage. The devil is after the marriage NOT the child. If he can destroy the marriage, he has captured the whole family in one swoop.

I wish I had appreciated the 1 million unseen, taken for granted acts of service. When they are gone there is a hole. My dear mother said “when you have a team each player has a role that is irreplaceable. When one member of the team is gone the entire team feels the loss.”

I wish I had been a better listener to his daily ups and downs instead of being focused on the woes and workings of my life.

I wish I had been more willing to fulfill his needs instead of trying to fulfill mine.

I wish I had been a better friend. As St. Francis said perfectly, “Master, grant that I may never seek to be consoled, as to consol. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.” I wish that I could have consoled him more, understood him more and loved him more than I expected of him.

Be an excellent wife, you never how long you will have him.

Guest Post-The Common Sense Mama

2012-01-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

Please head on over to Jeanne @ The Common Sense Mama. She asked me to guest post on her blog while she was away on a little trip. I wrote "Beginning with the End in Mind" as a perspective that our eyes must always first focus on where we are going and then work backwards. Thank you for sharing your blog with all of us.

I met her via blog world and it is always refreshing to meet women striving to do God's will every day in their vocation.

She and her husband have three little children. Her husband has been deployed four times in which he just got back from his most recent deployment. We pray every night for our military and are so grateful for their service, but as I told her we are also grateful for her service as she must hold down the fort at home while he is away. True sacrifice on both their parts. Thank you for your selfless example and being a beautiful soul.

Night Prayer with Children

2012-01-16T21:58:00.001-08:00

About a year ago while saying night prayer with our children and watching them squirm and fidget, I thought of all the wonderful pictures of Jesus, Mary, angels, and saints I had come across.

They really love to color so I started printing off the images that lined up with that days feast day or celebration. What a hit! They still look forward to the coloring pages each evening. John and I pray the rosary while they are coloring the saint page. I have noticed more and more them praying along with us.

We usually begin prayer time listening to the Saint of the Day on AmericanCatholic.org. You will find a tab at the top that says "Saints" and you will then scroll down to "Saint of the Day" for a brief history lesson on the chosen saint. We've learned a lot from this great program.

I have special markers, colored pencils, pencil sharpener, and crayon holders I pull out just for this. It makes me want to color. I hope to do this soon! So sweet.

I know it is good for them to sit and be, but I also know the rosary can get long for little ones. We want them to associate prayer time with talking and being with God not a time where we are constantly correcting them on their behavior. We now have no problem during prayers. If they finish early, they know to grab a rosary and finish with us on the couch. I know they are paying attention because we will ask for their intentions and prayer requests. John will quiz them about the saint also. This was a perfect fit for us. You can find so many sources on the internet for saint coloring pages. I have also invested in several coloring books of Jesus, Mary, and the Saints if I can't find the saint of the day on-line.

This site contains several images to print off for the different feast days. We also find different images by just searching for the saint of the day.

Waltzing Matilda

Some of my favorite coloring books:

Fenestrae Fidei Coloring Book= I L.O.V.E this coloring book so much I almost don't let them color in it. The book is filled with stain glass windows of the saints and the pictures look so pretty once colored. My favorite!

This series is also great!
Eucharistic Adoration: Coloring Book

Holy Name of Jesus

Dover Publications is another great resource for unique coloring books.

At the suggestion of a dear priest friend, we've been reading our way through the bible. We use this book for now, but I do hope to invest in this book for each child and read the whole bible in 365 days. Maybe in our Easter baskets this year!

Raising Jerry Lewis

2012-01-16T21:15:00.001-08:00

To begin with, this is Jerry a.k.a. Clairvaux. Yes, she is building with Legos and does so often several times a day. I will walk by, see that she has pushed a chair up to the chosen lego counter, and sit and build lego creations. She brings her creations to me and repeats what few words she says, "PrePre." Pretty. She is not quite 18 months old and we are convinced Jerry does this to make us laugh. It is the neck. The bent over neck working always gets me.

I really, really wish I could speak to Jerry Lewis's mother. I have had babies do funny things before, but I have never had a funny baby as in their basic temperament is to be a comedian.
She actually does this face when she is in trouble. She knows we laugh, so she does it.

My college age brother will even call to ask if he can come over to hang out with Clairvaux. She really is a cartoon-character.

Most of her antics need to be experienced in person like her squat walk, her purposeful diaper standoffs that consist of her tapping her finger on the floor for ME to come to her, her appetite that competes with John's own insane food consumption

She practices everyday, several times a day. She will pick her choice book, find her right page, and then "practice" with two fingers often singing something we haven't translated.

Not less than an hour before this, she was freshly bathed, dressed, and hair combed.

My sister claims she is "Stuart" in this video. I can't decide if she is more like Jerry or more like Stuart. Regardless, it is fun to have a funny baby in the family. They are hard to raise, but as my aunt said, "They make great adults."

Please watch this video to understand our Stuart.

Posts on Motherhood and our Earthly Life-My Experiences

2012-01-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

The past two weeks I have had the opportunity to discuss with four different mothers in four separate settings the issue of motherhood and being a wife. All four of these women are amazing mothers and wives devoted to their families and trying each day to raise children for heaven and be a good wife yet they are struggling. A few are struggling to the point of having a nervous breakdown. They cannot see what good they are doing and only are able to see their shortcomings. I wish they could see what good they are doing, how trying it is to be a mother everyday, and that the biggest tool the devil uses is DISCOURAGEMENT. He is very sly and uses it well. I tried to reassure them that I've learned when we are struggling most is when we are closest to Christ and our WORK IS MOST PLEASING TO HIM. Backwards in this worldly view, yet true in the Heavenly view. When we are stripped of all comforts be it friendship, confidence, assurance, order, sanity, etc. as He was, we are sharing most intimately in His Passion and THAT IS THE GREATEST GIFT TO HIM.

I am assuming that due to having spoken with four different women in the past two weeks that there are many, many other mothers out there who "aren't doing well" or "barely making it." I felt the need, as an army working together, to encourage, reassure, console, comfort, and pray for all mothers out there raising children to let them know you are doing just fine and more importantly that WHEN YOU ARE struggling, frustrated, having doubts, feeling discouraged, suffering, it is then your efforts are MOST PLEASING TO HIM. Remember, it is backwards on this earth.

Most of the time, He is not calling us to change anything, but to rest in His arms and say, "I accept." That is my New Year's Resolve-to say "I Accept." When I feel the anxiety, questions beginning in my head whatever the issue, I say "I Accept."

I've reposted a few items I've written in the past only in the attempt to let others know you are not alone and your emotions and feelings are spot on. Repeated again, It usually doesn't mean we need to CHANGE anything, JUST CARRY ON saying "I Accept."

Posts below regarding my experiences of motherhood to-date:

Honestly
Our Newest Gift

The Emotions of a Mother

What We Do In Life, Echoes in Eternity

Adjusting to a New Life in the Home

The Myth of the Supermom

Why Most Families Have Two Children

On being a Wife

My Plan...His Plan

Everything is a Grace

The Art of Forming a Child's Conscience

2012-01-14T18:43:00.001-08:00

I came across this article last year and have read and re-read it over and over. I don't believe there is a fool-proof method or guarantee for raising children. I know that forming their conscience is important for their return to Christ if they venture away and sensitivity towards sin. I wish we could prevent them from ever sinning, but that is not realistic, more importantly we want them to be sensitive to sin and know what to do if they do sin and not merely settle into luke-warmness and apathy.

The Art of Forming the Conscience of a Child

by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
From THE TRUTH CRUSADE SERIES ALBUM, VOLUME ii, Eternal Life

The single most important element in training children is to form their consciences. How can this be done effectively? To form a child's conscience is an art. This subject is immense. We will touch on four areas. 1. The meaning of art, 2. The meaning of conscience, 3. The forming of the conscience of a child, and 4. And most practically; rules and norms for forming the conscience of a human being from infancy on through one's life.

1. The meaning of art.

Simply defined, art is both the correct knowledge of something and the skill in doing it. Art is both in the mind and in the will. Both the mind and the will understands what needs to done and how it should be achieved. The essence of an art is to have correct knowledge, correct knowledge in doing something in forming a child's conscience.

Correct knowledge is doing what is conformable to the will of God, in performing good moral actions, actions that are pleasing to God. Correct knowledge of how something is to be done. It is also a skill, a certain ability, which is present in nature, but is developed by grace. The art in forming the child's conscience joined with the skill, involves the whole personality. It is being able to carry out what the mind knows should be done and how it should be achieved.

2. The meaning of Conscience.

The meaning of conscience, we believing Christians must be certain we understand and we know what conscience is. Conscience is the trained ability of judging between right and wrong in human conduct. It is the trained ability of judging. Conscience is a function of the human mind of judging. Judging between right and wrong, of past actions done, of present actions being done and of future actions to be done.

The Christian conscience for believing Christians is the human mind enlightened by the Christian faith. A conscience supernaturally enlightened by faith, which enables a person to know. It is a faculty of judgment, which enables the mind to see, or grasp, or perceive what is pleasing or displeasing to God. The enlightenment of the conscience by faith is crucial. Without the mind being enlightened by faith we cannot talk about conscience, not conscience, as Christianity has understood the term for 2000 years.

Baptism.

At Baptism the young child receives into the mind, what the mind could never by itself achieve. The mind of a baptized person is capable of knowing what God has revealed. And it has that capacity for knowing divinely revealed truth. There is all the difference in the world in forming the conscience of a child in general, and of forming the conscience of a child who has the faith. We are not merely forming a child's human mind, but a human mind, which is gifted from the moment of Baptism with the supernatural virtue of faith. The baptized child can know what the un-baptized can never perceive. It can see more. It can see human action as being constantly judged by the mind and will of God. God is constantly at work in forming the conscience of that child in a mysterious way beyond our comprehension. God wants the parents to provide the conditions for which in the child's mind is trained or formed according to the will of God.

It is not only the parents, or adults, who are forming the child's conscience. No, for a child that is baptized. It is the Holy Spirit who is forming the conscience of that Child because the Holy Spirit dwells in that child.

The Holy Spirit requires that the child be instructed by other human beings, human beings who have the true faith.

Keep in mind that the conscience of a child, with the virtue of the faith, is capable of knowing what could never be known without the faith.

Our Christian faith reveals God's will for us about things, except for God's revealed truth, we would never know as part of God's will.

God has revealed mysteries that we who believe can understand, and put into practice. So that we will put those mysteries into practice, those mysteries will penetrate the conscience. All this and much more is infused into the child the moment it is baptized.

3. The Forming of the conscience of a child.

To form a person's conscience is to teach that person what is God's will for that person in the changing circumstances of each individual's life. There are certain constants, unchangeable, absolute imperatives from the mind and will of God to every human being. Our minds need to be constantly enlightened to know how we are to live up to those unchangeable divine precepts. We are forming a child's conscience informing the child about what is right and what is wrong. It is by information, the mind is enlightened and the mind is formed. It is of imperative importance of the parents informing their children of what is right and wrong. Parents themselves must know what is right and wrong. What they are informing forms their children's consciences and shapes their eternal destiny.

Parents in good faith can mistakenly inform their children about the moral law. Unless corrected, this bad seed is sown in the Child's mind can destroy the soul even in eternity. The parents' duty is to see to it that nothing should take second place to the forming of their children's consciences. Before God, parents are bound to form the conscience of their children for life here on earth to their heavenly destiny.

Forming a child's conscience, it is the noblest art for the parent to exercise. Nothing is more important than training the minds of their offspring and preparing them for a heavenly destiny.

This art of forming the conscience of a child can be partially learned by the parents, but it is also an infused gift of the Holy Spirit. When the parents married the Holy Spirit confers the grace to form the consciences of their children. It is a supernatural art, to be exercised by both parents. By the father one way and by the mother cooperating with the father. Both parents are needed.

The forming of a child's conscience is an art that must be cultivated by prayer, cultivated by the parents receiving the sacraments, regularly and frequently, cultivated by practicing mediation, mental prayer and by family cooperation. Forming a child's conscience is a sacred duty. Either the parents form the child's conscience or someone else will. Conscience can also be misformed. We say shaping the conscience or misshaping the conscience. The world is, inundated with persons, and powers, and the media, and political forces, which have, as their most dominate purpose the formation of the consciences of the children. The formation of the consciences of children in the United States is one of the main goals of our American system of education. And in so many ways are forming the consciences of their children contrary to the most fundamental principles of morality and basic Christianity. For this reason parents in the United States have had to resort to home schooling.

4. Some basic practical rules or norms.

The Church has developed through twenty centuries of her teaching wisdom on how to form the conscience of a child.

Rule: Forming the conscience of a human being is from infancy on through one's life.

First norm: There is nothing in the mind, which was not first in the senses. This means that all the ideas we have originally came to us from our senses. What we can see with our bodily eyes, or what we have heard with our ears, what we touched with our hands, or tasted with our tongues, these are the seedbeds from which all our ideas come. Please do not forget this.

Parents must make sure, from the age of reason, from the date of birth, from the moment of conception, the images, and sounds and feelings and tastes and touches are those which will provide the foundation for sound moral and spiritual ideas in the mind of the growing Child.

I plead with parents to make sure that their children's sense experiences - are compatible with the kind of ideas that the child is to have in having a good God-loving and God-fearing conscience.

Spiritual.

Teach the child to kneel, to fold its hands, be exposed to religious articles, and have pictures of the Sacred Heart, Sorrowful Mother in the room, and holy water at the door. Teach the child Catholic greetings, "Praised be Jesus Christ". From early childhood these sense impressions should be made and they should become more elevated, more sophisticated as a child grows. But, also protecting the child wisely, prudently from all unnecessary exposure to the demonic media.

Norm Number Two.

Example is the most powerful teacher. Parents form the consciences of their children not only by what they say or what they tell the children, but also what the children see, and how the parents behave. One statement must be quoted, "Contraception is deadly for the conscience of a child". Parents: practice selfless love for one another. Parents: practice self-giving love for your children. The children must have examples; they must see their parents living lives of chastity, of charity, of patience, of cheerfulness.

The forming of the conscience of a child is not only a matter of example. Parents are channels of grace to their children. If you want your children to be strongly believing, you must be strongly believing yourselves. If you want your children to be truthful, be absolutely truthful yourself. If you want your children to be charitable and loving, you must practice, if need be, heroic love yourselves. The single, principle channel of grace for children is the parents. If you want to form your children's consciences, be sure that you are absolutely, utterly faithful to God in following your conscience according to His divine will.

Norm Number Three.

Expect not be accepted by everyone. Parents need to believe this and so train the children preparing them for not being accepted by everyone. The Child, Jesus, had to flee to Egypt because Herod wanted to kill him. Children from their earliest years should be taught that following one's conscience can mean not being liked by everyone. Parents, train your children not to be conformists.

Norm Number Four.

Forming the conscience of a child is training that child for happiness. The greatest joy on earth is to be faithful to a well-informed conscience. Parents want their children to be happy. Nothing is more fundamental to ensure your children's happiness than to train them, form them to have a conscience to conformed to the will of God. This, this is real joy. Children should be ensured that they will be happy, and not just in heaven in eternity, but happy already here on earth. Provided they follow faithfully in doing what their conscience tells them is pleasing to God. Be sure your children understand there is no substitute. How I can be happy? I can be happy by knowing what pleases God, by loving Him and then doing what God wants me to do, out of love for Him.

Train your children to expect to suffer, because their own will, will not always be satisfied. They will always be happy; provided their wills are conformed to the loving will of God.

A Prayer

Lord Jesus, enlighten the parents who believe in you, how to form the consciences of their children. You told us to let the little children come to You. Children, dear Lord, will come to You, in the measure that they know Your will. It is especially, dear Jesus, the grave responsibility of parents to form their children's consciences to conform to Your divine will. This guarantees that the children will come to You. Not only here on earth, to be blessed by You, but they'll come back to You from whom they came when You created their souls. Back to You, to be embraced by You and never leave Your arms for all eternity. Amen.

Our Christmas Photo for 2011

2012-01-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

I just sent out our Christmas cards a couple days ago. I always get the picture taken in October or November and then something happens between then and now.

Dominic (9), Lillie (7), Rose (6), Zellie (4), Vianney (2), Clairvaux (1), and new baby in utero due April 2012.

Wooden Painted Saints

2012-01-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

I wrote a while back about a fun project some of my friends and I participated in together. We each picked two saints and painted approximately 13 of each to trade with each other. We did another swap last month and I had chosen St. Maria Goretti (Lillie's patron) and St. John Vianney (Vianney's patron).

St. Maria Goretti...facial features not present on purpose. Every time I attempted painting the eyes, they ended up looking crossed or like she had llama blood in her ancestry.

St. John Vianney

I was rather (to say the least) humbled the first time we swapped due to my last minute painting skills and very inadequate effort put forth towards my saints. The other women put a great amount of love, work, and detail into each saint and I wanted to take my little deformed saints and run off to Vienna. HID-E-OUS...for real.

I was determined this time not to disappoint so I started a good month in advance. Painting is not my forte by trade, but I did a much more eye-pleasing job this time around. No Michaelangelo happening here, but the harvest reaped from this effort was fabulous. Our children completely went nuts over their new saints.

Preparing Lillie for her First Penance

2012-01-10T21:24:00.000-08:00

We have been preparing Lillie to make her First Penance for the past few months. We came across this great idea in "Faith and Family" magazine.

I read about the idea to have her ears pierced on her First Penance. The symbolism being the pain of telling our sins leads to the beauty of our souls for God; just as it hurts initially to get your ears pierced, but then you can wear beautiful earrings and especially to wear them for your First Holy Communion. Of course, we would never force them to get their ears pierced, but if they want to this is how we plan to approach it using this great suggestion.

There are all the little important details in a young girl's life that they naturally inquire about like babies, nursing, ear piercing, and all of life's important issues. As Christian parents, we like to attempt on certain levels both natural and supernatural to associate all these events in the formation of her soul and to heighten her spirituality and associations to God and His goodness.

Her older cousins and aunts have their ears pierced so she has recently started asking when does a girl "get to have their ears pierced." We have not been keen on accentuating her teen years. To us, the milestones the world has determined definitely aren't our milestones. We believe her teen years will be the years she will need us most for consistency and direction. So, we didn't want to say "When you are a teenager, you can get your ears pierced.," as if she has reached some sort of "rite of passage."

Test Ready Dominic

2012-01-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

We had left over curriculum books from last year that I had in a pile to donate. Dominic was milling through the stack when he found an old "Test Ready" book that we used for testing at each semester.

"Mom, Can I please have this?" Sure. You go right ahead and do that.

Later that evening, we were heading out to dinner. The kids were already in the car and I was inside wrapping a few things up. Dominic came back in saying, "I want to bring my testing book so I can work on it while we wait for food." Sure. You go right ahead and do that.

The fun continued all week. How little he knows how much we enjoy watching the innocence of his youth! I know he is 9 years old, but he still does such innocent incidents as these. It makes me feel like he isn't growing up "so" fast.
I was also sorting through our coloring books and throwing out those that were full. He approached me quickly saying, "Please don't throw out my Test Ready book."

Again, in the evening while watching his new favorite, Tim Tebow, play football. I love that he brought the test book out while watching his favorite football player. Two loves. Thank you for the joy you bring to our lives through your joy of filling out testing booklets.

Matching Pajamas

2012-01-08T20:00:00.000-08:00

The girls received a package last week from my Aunt Ange. When I opened it, the amount of love stuffed into one package came out singing. She sent them all heart pajamas and with matching tutus. They are forced to remove them everyday as they love them so much. I really do love having a bunch of little girls. To not leave Dominic out, she sent him his own package of ring pops.

Go Huskers! (Past Tense)

2012-01-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

Nebraska played in the Capital One Bowl against South Carolina January 2nd. Not a good game at all, but we had a great party. Poor Huskers. They lost 30-13.

Nativity Set Play

2012-01-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

I remember reading once on someone's blog that during Christmas she had several nativity sets around the house for her children to play with. During garage sale season, I have come across several sets that are just perfect for their little hands. Vianney played with ours all Christmas.

I hope that will be a sweet memory for them when they are older. "When I was little, I remember my mother having nativity sets all over our house that WE COULD PLAY with."

A Warm Winter Day

2012-01-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

The weather was unnaturally warm today reaching a high of 68. We quickly finished school this morning and headed out ALL day. I could hardly believe it was January 5th.

Vianney's surgery

2012-01-04T21:08:00.001-08:00

For months, Vianney has snored like Darth Vadar. Her sleep was disrupted by the two mountains lodged in the back of her throat. When I looked back in her throat, I would see NO room for air. Her tonsils were completely touching. We had also recently noticed her hearing not being as sharp only to find that both ears were filled with fluid so no vibrations were detected. h
John and I were commenting that is probably why she is so easy going because she can't hear anything. She is such a sweet child.
I took her in to see the ENT and he said both sides were a 4+ and needed to come out. He also concluded that the fluid behind her ears needed to drain in order for her to hear and for speech development. Dr. Ferris is a father of several children and has been practicing for many years so we trusted his kind judgement. He did admit she was young, but was sure it would only help her.
We were fully confident in the surgery until about two weeks before and I noticed her snoring had gone away and her speech was improving daily. John was confident that we should proceed and knowing my emotional self, I knew I must trust his sound decision making. He recommended tonsils, adenoids, and tubes in the ears.
By that morning, for some reason my nerves were just shaken. I couldn't stop holding her and kissing her. Some days, I wish I could just get a grip. It made me sad when they carried her away down the hall and to watch her sweet face looking over their shoulders at me.

Before surgery: So sweet and completely unaware of what was going on.

We prayed the rosary together while waiting and made a list of our intentions to offer up the struggles for during her recovery.
I commented to John how I will always hold parents with chronicly sick children at the highest level. What a special, special cross God has asked of them. Their reward in heaven will be great.

I was expecting her to be mad, angry, confused coming out of surgery, but it was just the opposite. She never really cried or complained. She ate french fries, yogurt, pudding, grape popsicles, and drank right away. We couldn't believe it. I just kept thanking God over and over that she handled everything so well.

They monitored her for about six hours and we were home that night. The nurses never had to give her any more pain medication after surgery besides Tylenol. Today, I only gave her three doses of Tylenol because she said she was doing fine.
Her night was rough,but after about 4:30 she feel into a deep sleep between John and I and woke up happy and hungry. She played off and on today, took a great nap, drank great, and never complained except for the cold ear drops.

The nurse was so amazed that she didn't cry when the I.V. was taken out.

Personally, I think she did so well because she got to pick her choice of movie without any sibling intervention. We watched Dora, Dinosaur Train, and George all afternoon. She even enjoyed watching the Iowa Caucuses when we would slip those in "looking for George."

Thank you for the gift of this child, skilled surgeons, a kind friend who handled her anaesthesia, medicine, hospitals, my mother and sister who helped with our other children, and in great thanksgiving for her recovery.

It really is the simple things in life that are most important.

Thank you for your prayers

2012-01-03T22:19:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to write a quick note of thanksgiving for your prayers. We brought Vianney home this evening around 6:30. We couldn't believe how well she did in recovery at the hospital. Little Sweetheart. I can tell her real pain is starting to settle in. God teaches you so many lessons even through a child having their tonsils taken out. We woke her up at 6:15 this morning and her darling face was so precious, full of smiles and she trustingly took my hand as we headed out the door. She was smiling at my mother.

"Where we goin' mama?" She was so happy to be with John and I and so trusting.
I learned that we must have that same relationship with Christ. We must grab His hand like she did ours TRUSTING. Even though we were about to cause her lots of pain, ultimately WE ARE TRYING TO HELP HER. That is how He works with us. I felt that heart hurt pain that you get when watching your sweet child.

She didn't even question us or try to resist. She just rode so sweetly to the hospital in her pajamas and holding her blanket so excited to be going somewhere.

At times like these, I am so grateful that I know suffer can be used for a greater glory. We can offer everything as a gift to Him. It makes everything all better and can actually turn it into a joyful situation because we know we are consoling His heart.

Thank you again!

A View into the Womb

2012-01-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

24 weeks

SOMEBODY was being a little too quiet last week. I hadn't notice you move one night, but waited until the next day and still nothing. You aren't a crazy mover by trade, but I can always get you to move. After an afternoon nap, I tried for about 30 minutes, but no movement. I told myself if you hadn't moved by 4:00 I would call the doctor. No movement. I called Dr. McNeely and he wanted me to come right in.

He found your heartbeat right away, but very uncharacteristically sent me over immediately for an ultrasound. He is about as relaxed as they come so for him to say this I immediately said, "What's wrong or what are you looking for?" He reassured me nothing, but just wanted to make sure there wasn't a reason you weren't moving a lot.

I haven't seen you since you were 12 weeks old. The tech took an extra long time measuring you and checking your blood flow. I have never had an ultrasound to this length. Such a treat. Everything looked great! I enjoyed seeing you, but don't ever do that again.

If you don't mind, could you say a little prayer

2012-01-01T21:13:00.000-08:00

Early Tuesday morning, we take Vianney to have her tonsils and adenoids out and tubes put in her ears. I know I am ridiculously over emotional, but if you would say a little prayer for her I would be most appreciative.

What breaks my heart is that she is so very sweet and I know she is going to be in pain. She just lives a happy little, easy going life and I know the pain will be hard for a while. She never causes anybody grief or rarely ever unhappy. She has no idea what is about to hit her. We have lots of fun food planned and whatever movies she wants but still.

Of course, I'm having all sorts of ridiculous last minute doubts like "she really doesn't need it" and "can't we wait just a while longer to see if her issues clear up on their own." If I didn't trust our doctor so much, I would take her and run very far away from the hospital. I am praying it is a quick procedure and she handles the anesthesia just fine.

Oh, the heartache to love a child. Thank goodness for John. I D.O. N.O.T like making these decisions. Thank you for your prayers for our sweet girl.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

I know God is trying really hard to detach me from certain things in my life in order that I may be drawn closer to Him. Like most mothers, one of my main attachments is to my children, their lives, capturing their lives, remembering their lives, etc. God has provided several opportunities this past year that I can almost feel Him winking at me saying "I am trying to help you let me detach you."

The first major one came by order of my pictures. The pictures I take of our children and their daily life events are something I hold very dear to my heart. I covet them and have a crazy hard time deleting ANY pictures even if I did take 45 pictures of Clairvaux eating her first candy cane. I loved ALL of them.

We have our computer cleaned once or twice a year. We have TWO external hard drives, a great anti-virus system, and I usually save all our pictures to an outside source SO between all of that we thought we were safe having everything saved about 5 times. WRONG. We don't know what happened, but around August after having our computer cleaned, we discovered we lost almost two YEARS worth of pictures. Yes, years not months or weeks. I was heartbroken. My dear cousin spent two full days taking our hard drive a part and rebuilding it trying to find the pictures. He even took a day off work to help us. God Bless him. He stayed up all night, but to no avail. He found a few videos, but the pictures were lost.

So sad. I was mostly sad because I can never, ever get those thousands of memories back. Clairvaux's birth, birthdays, my family, John's family, events, games, homeschooling activities all were gone. I am grateful I had our blog to remember the highlights, but it was still very heartbreaking especially Clairvaux's birth.

With that said, I know the good Lord is trying to help me because it seems that my camera or some other odd event always seems to occur at the most important events like baptisms, birthdays, and Christmas.

During Christmas this year, most of my pictures were coming out blurry no matter what I did to the settings, lighting, or what not. I know He was trying to help me because I was SO excited to capture all the wonderful things I had planned this year. I know He just wanted me to sit back and watch. After about 20 minutes of realizing what was going on, I did. I put my camera down and just watched them. I know that is what He wanted me to do. I didn't get to capture their faces like I wanted to opening the gifts that I so meticulously planned for, wrapped, and delighted with glee in the nights before Christmas because I KNEW how much they were going to love IT.

I will remember Zellie this year talking really loud and shaking due to her excitement. She wasn't even aware of her voice. She was overwhelmed with the wonder of Christmas.

I will remember Vianney this year ripping open packages just because that is what she saw her siblings doing. What I didn't capture was her opening her updated version of her favorite literary work "Go Dog Go." She whipped out a new vocabulary we didn't even know she had. She was saying words we didn't know she even knew because she was so excited. We both found that one of the best parts of Christmas this year. Vianney opening that silly book.

Dominic has wanted walkie-talkies forever. He loves mystery novels and spy books so he has talked often about how a set of walkie-talkies would be so helpful to catch robbers and help with his detective work.

Zellie=glittzy. I have written often about how she loves jewelry. She uses hair ties for a watch so we got her a watch this year. Oh My, delight! I am a bit sad though because I miss her little homemade jewelry concoctions now that she has the real thing. I might hide her watch for a while.

Rose reminds me often of my memory of my childhood self. She is sentimental, aware, and nostalgic. We were at Barnes and Noble together a while back and I watched her discover this stuffed rabbit. It went on forever. I couldn't tell if she thought it was real or not, but she loved it. She talked about it forever. Her face was precious when she opened this little soft rabbit.

Camera. sigh. The only picture I have of Lillie opening her new doll. What I want to remember about her that night was watching her sleep with her new doll. She had her all tucked in next to her.

One of our favorite memories of our Christmas celebrations will always be watching each child delight in their sibling's gifts. It is adorable. They hug each other and shriek with excitement. I want to remember Clairvaux in awe of the Christmas lights on Sheridan Blvd. as we drove around Christmas Eve night. ooooooohhhhhhhh!!!!!! aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! over and over.

Favorite Gifts 2011- Dragon Slayers

2011-12-27T19:31:00.000-08:00

Dominic received a copy of "Dragon Slayers" by Sir Wyvern Pugilist for Christmas from John and I. He has not stopped reading it since he opened it. For most of the day today, I watched him curled up on the edge of the couch, covered in a blanket reading this book and periodically saying, "Mom, I just love this book. How did you know I would love this book!"

He related to me the connection between what the author writes about and the spiritual life. He writes to young boys about recognizing bad dragons. We were driving in the car today and Dominic was telling me about what the bad dragons do.

The book parallels a young boy's life and good virtues to what they will be tempted with like greed, laziness, hastiness in one's work, cheating, and dishonesty. The book teaches them to combat these "dragons" with virtues, prayer, and the help of certain saints and how the saints themselves overcame dragons in their lives. They will read about Ignatius of Loyola, Titus Brandsma, Therese of Lisieux, and many more.

This book is a new release so couldn't be found on Amazon.
I purchased it through a fabulous Catholic bookstore here in Nebraska.

To order through this bookstore call Gloria Deo 1-888-420-1830.
The cost is $23.99. One of my favorite characteristics of the book is the faux leather cover. It is fun to hold in your hands.

To look through the book go to this SITE.

Happy Reading!

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T20:45:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! The BEST picture we took of our family after mass.

Wooden Painted Saints

2011-12-18T08:05:00.000-08:00

Several months ago, my friends and I participated in a wooden saint exchange. We each were assigned two saints to paint. I believe there were roughly 12 or so women who participated. You were responsible for painting 12 of each saint assigned so at the exchange you received 24 saints.
Our kids play with these almost everyday from the oldest child to the youngest child.

Mary, Our Queen

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

My friend, Annie, suggested we do another swap for Christmas. I decided on St. Maria Goretti and St. John Vianney this time. It helped to do a rough sketch of my painting plan.

You can order the plain wooden saint pegs through craftparts.com.

I learned several helpful tips from the first painting experience. First, buy good brushes especially if you want to do detail work. Second, have a good plan. Third, use acrylic paints, paint pens, BUT DO NOT USE SHARPIES. When you seal them at the end with a clear polyurethane spray or Mod Podge, the sharpies will run and ruin any detail work. Fourth, give yourself enough time.

We found a great site on Etsy that provided inspiration. On the left hand side of this page under "Shop Info", search "Sales" for a complete listing.

The shop is:
St. Luke's Brush Shop

We exchange our newly painted saints tomorrow at Bible Study. I will post a picture of our final products. I think it would be great next Christmas to do the Nativity.

Making my Nest Part 1

2011-12-17T00:21:00.000-08:00

Nesting. I feel it kicking in. Although, it has to be somewhat disordered. I start hyper-organizing, purging, throwing, giving, cleaning, and disinfecting our home in preparation for the new baby to come. With Lillie, I even scrubbed the walls of each room. My friends and I joke that we act like we will NEVER be able to clean EVER again so we have to do it NOW. My friend told me that she even unscrewed the fronts to her washer and dryer and vacuumed out the dust.

Our game closet looked like this most days. I have a great distaste for board game boxes, but never knew what to do about it. The boxes are always broken, smashed, and the pieces are everywhere. No matter how well I cleaned and organized the closet, it would all just get dumped out especially by the shorter people in the house.

My friend told me about these tubs at Wal-mart with locking lids. PERFECT! I printed off labels so each box could easily be identified.

After initially driving out to Wal-mart and buying 25,000 tubs, I knew I had to start pacing myself because I was putting everything in our house in a tub with a nice little label on it.

It does indeed feel great to have the home in order.

Ballet-Is it Genetic or is it this time of year that just brings out your leotard?

2011-12-15T18:53:00.000-08:00

Snow brings out their best dance moves.

I don't know about you, but I can't stop wearing my leotard around the house (it is the only comfortable thing I have left being 5 months pregnant). I almost posted a pic. Just be glad it wouldn't upload. Man, what is that really saying to me?...Trouble upLOADing. I am NOT a load. I am NOT a load. I promise it was long-sleeved. Ever the modest one I am.

Exactly at this time last year, I posted this about the older girls and their excessive dancing and their love of all things ballet.

A couple days ago, I found the little two wearing leotards and believing with all their 1 and 2 year old brains that they looked just like Barbie and the Dancing Princesses.

Celebrating St. Lucy

2011-12-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

This feast is a special day for our family in many ways.

It is the Anniversary of my father's death.

It is John's patron saint for his profession. St. Lucy is the patron of eye doctors.

We have a favorite cousin named Lucy so we celebrated in her honor.

We made St. Lucia's Braided Bread. In all my years of bread making yesterday was the first time I had dead bread. I killed the yeast. We had to celebrate today instead.

We sang the "Santa Lucia."

The silver star shines on the sea,
the waves are gentle,
the wind is favourable.
Come to my swift little boat!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!

O dear Naples, o blessed land,
where creation was pleased to smile!
Come to my swift little boat!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!

Thanks to Jessica at Shower of Roses, we listened to the audio book of
Lucia, Saint of Light
here.

Celebrating St. Juan Diego

2011-12-10T20:13:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, we celebrated St. Juan Diego.

We started the morning off playing in the snow. (No relation to Juan) They played outside all morning. They would come in to change their wet gloves and then head back out. I remember my mom always on the prowl for good snow clothes. I've gotten pretty good at making their little bodies anti-snow tight.

Rose really wanted me to come out and play, but I stayed in with the Californians. It was also a
nice ice snow so I didn't want to risk falling being pregnant.

While I was putting her snow clothes on she said, "I wish we were Sea Horses sometimes."
To which I reply, "Why is that?"
To which she matter-of-factly said, "The father is the one who has the babies." I have no idea where that came from.

Due to her complete excitement about our new baby, she must have really wanted me to come out.

By the end of the their outside adventures, they were going down the slide and swinging on the swings.

While we were preparing dinner, the kids watched "Juan Diego: Messenger of Guadalupe."

It really is so much fun celebrating the feasts especially with food. The whole dinner conversation revolves around that certain saint, nationality, flag of the country, language spoken, and foods that certain culture eats.

TOSTADAS!!!!!! These are good every time.
We use Tostada chips, refried beans, Tyson's Santa Fe flavored pre-cooked chicken, colby and monterey jack cheese, pepper-jack is groovy also, olives, tomatoes, green onions, sour cream, and salsa. So good!

Pre-Heat oven to Broil
Pre-heat beans
Dice chicken and vegetables
Shred cheeses
Cover each tostada with beans, chicken, and cheese
Cook in oven until all is melted
Add your choice of toppings

Zellie and I headed to La Mexicana Market and Meat. 100 % Mexican. She thought St. Juan would be there. Nope, but I told her he looked like the man that helped us. Good enough.
She picked out BOING! for the choice drink of the evening for her and her siblings.
Strawberry or Fraise flavored.

Everyone wanted to know who this man was. We told them it was Juan's uncle.

John claimed that he wanted to save the drinks for the children so he would sacrifice and have the following. St. John...pray for us.

Zellie picked out the following for dessert from La Mexicana Market and Meat.
Sprinkled Flavored Cardboard! So good.

Mr. Church Pants

2011-12-09T16:50:00.000-08:00

I have been writing our blog for over two years now. I have mentioned John's sweetness, gentleness, spiritualness, wonderfulness, etc., etc. many times, BUT I have failed miserably to mention his best quality. Funniness.

He is hysterical. Not to be confused with the ole' "No one makes me laugh harder than my husband" comment. NO! He is legitimately hysterical. Not just to me. Oh No! My college roommates, his siblings, strangers, family members, my sisters, his identical twin sister, my brothers often remark to me about his humor. His stories are legendary. His mother tells me he was a cartoon to raise. In fact so much, that I have assumed everyone knows that I am married to Mr. Funny. If you meet him, you will find this soft spoken, mild mannered, well-behaved professional or father. If you get to know him, you will realize I have greatly underestimated his behaviors.

My mom even will say to me "Have you thanked God for John's sense of humor?" She is highly spiritual and EVEN counts that up there on the things I need to thank God for. True dat!

Example #1: He calls often throughout the day and we always begin each morning conversation as follows:

me: "Hi!"
him: "Hi! How's your day going?
me: "Good"
him: "Who moved it (referring to the morning offering) and how many times?"
Why do married couples discuss these things?
me: I tell him the quota of diapers changed. We remark together about the diaperlings amazing abilities everyday and then usually sing a short version of "They like to move it. Move it." (Madagascar)
Everyday.

Example #2:
He sees the world in a funny way. Like, he will keep track on a piece of paper in his coat pocket the first names of the old ladies he sees that day and calls to tell me the names. He also will call to tell me if he sees any elderly people riding together in a car in groups or especially if he sees a singular elderly person riding alone in the back seat. You have to agree that people riding in backseats are generally funny especially if they are alone, but being over 75 years of age takes it to a whole new level.

Example #3: (His best and most famous globally.)
If you have heard the term "Church Pants" floating around this decade or so, He is the originator.

This is how the story went. After leaving the Newman Center one night after mass and adoration, I had noticed he was what one would assume "deep in prayer." Later, I find out the real story.

John: "Lindsay, I just don't get it?"

me: "Get what?"

John: "Don't people feel that?" "Do you think they know it and just don't know what to do about it?"

me: (My mind is thinking something spiritual. Something he realized why praying.) "Umm, yeah, I know??? Exactly what were you thinking about it? (Puzzled Steve Martin giving the Blender look like he did in Father of the Bride.)

John: "Church Pants"

me: "What?" (I was quite aware that the person in front of us had the condition during mass, but didn't think extensively like Juan did about the whole thing.)

John: "I just don't get it. I would move, do a little jiggle, something, but he just stood there.
I get nothing out of mass when "it" is in view."

me: (dying)

John: "You know, come to think about it I think it happens after the homily. Everyone has been sitting relaxed listening to Father preach and then you have to stand up. You are still meditating about what he said so maybe you aren't aware of what party just happened on your back porch." (Please view lower portion of photo below if you are still confused.)

From that point on, people everywhere have accused John of ruining mass for them because of the syndrome occurring to them or someone within sight.

Example of Church pants although this would be Grocery store pants.
Homily Theory blown.

Sorry.

Celebrating Our Lady

2011-12-08T19:33:00.001-08:00

We celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception today. I always have grand plans of celebrating every saint and their feast in some form or another, but don't always get to it, but for some reason we always celebrate this feast.

We started the morning with white doughnuts for breakfast in honor of Our Lady's purity. For lunch, we had a white lunch. John went to early mass because he had to work late today, so I took the kids to noon mass at St. Mary's. We were there early enough to sit in the front pew and to be surprised that Bishop Bruskewitz was celebrating mass along with 6 other priests. The mass was beautiful.

For Dinner, we had a real feast. I made Fettucini Alfredo, blue jello, blueberry muffins, garlic bread, and white grape juice all in honor of Our Lady. Children are so content in this way. They watched me prepare everything for two hours and were so excited about the meal. It really motivated me once again to try and celebrate the feasts each day. I have heard of so many fun ways to incorporate the saint's lives into our lives. This will definitely be one of my goals for the coming year.

I really like this alfredo sauce recipe.

Here is the recipe:

Alfredo sauce:

8 oz. cream cheese
1 c. milk
1 c. cream
1-2 c. parmesan cheese
1 stick butter
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes if you like spicy

Soften the cream cheese and cut into cubes. Make sure you melt this completely until it is smooth. Add milk and cream. Cut butter into cubes also and add while stirring. Add spices.
You must whisk it continually or it will become clumpy. Pour over Fettucini noodles or I also like to do half Fettucini and half angel hair pasta.

We often will grill a salmon filet seasoned with Greek seasoning and serve this over the sauce and noodles. So crazy good. Add grape tomatoes on top of the salmon.

Tonight, I just bought chicken nuggets for the kids.

This afternoon, they watched the movie Bernadette: The Princess of Lourdes. It was in Lourdes that Our Lady said to St. Bernadette the words "I am the Immaculate Conception."

Today is also each of our children's feast day as each one of them has some form of Mary's name in their name.

Dominic Savio Joseph Mary
Lillie Maria Goretti
Rose Marie Therese
Zellie Marie Guerin
Vianney Jean Marie
Clairvaux Marie Frances

It was a wonderful day.

The internet provides an abundance of resources for celebrating various feast days. My favorite sites are:
Catholic Cuisine and Shower of Roses.

Human Anatomy

2011-12-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

We just finished up studying part of the human body and each child was able to make their own body, organs, and muscles. They really enjoyed it and learned so much. Sometimes I can't remember if I ever went to school or not. I spend most of the time teaching them thinking to myself "I didn't know that!"

Lillie's hair must have been blowin' in the wind.

Rose's organs colored perfectly.

Zellie dressed herself this morning. Once again, Zellie continues to make our day when we have to remind ourselves that she is four, but knows all her internal organs. Gerbil voice.
As always, somebody thinks they too participated in schooling events. To appease the little raccoon, I took her picture. She walked away saying what she always says after somebody takes her picture "Prepre" which translated into English means pretty. She cracks me up. I always mutter under my breath when she insists upon such activities "dork." She had no idea what she was doing, but if your siblings stand by a wall and take a picture so do you.

I feel as though I can't keep this from you any longer

2011-12-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

Meet Frida:

I can no longer keep this product to myself. This is my FAVORITE baby product hands down. When I first brought it home, John gagged. I gagged. Gross, but being continually frustrated with little people who can't blow their nose especially infants and babies THIS will save your life. Promise. John wouldn't use it for a year and finally this winter he tried it and says every morning, "I love Frida." In fact, I might be jealous because of how fondly he speaks of her and the way he looks at her. We traveled to Kansas for Thanksgiving and pulling out of the driveway I asked John if we had everything to which he replied, "Did you grab Frida?" Not only does it clear their nose out, but it clears everything thing out from here to I don't know where. The suction you get is awesome and then THEY can breathe without snorting snot for a week and you can sleep. I cannot tell you how many babies where up all night because they couldn't breathe because of crusty colds and nose gunk. It also helps to prevent the cold from dropping into their chest.

Disclaimer: Telling you about this product is like telling you my underwear size, how much John makes, or other personal information. "I can't believe she uses that thing" you might say, but I promise There is NO WAY in the HAY you can get snot into YOUR mouth. There is a filter. Promise.

Also, if you decide to be smart and purchase one, you do not have to write me a thank you note. (I am humbly bowing here in my living room right now.) If you don't buy one and struggle through the winter with your baby and their colds, I will say "I tried to tell you so."

Frida can be bought here or here.

You are most welcome, sucker!

a little additional note on usage: put the red tip in your mouth first and then put the blue sucker into the baby's nose.

Vianney & Clairvaux=Friends Forever

2011-11-30T23:08:00.000-08:00

They are best friends. Although, I hear a lot of "Cware!" they usually get along just dandy because SHOCKINGLY Clairvaux dominates easy-going Vianney. Vianney is the type of kid that is glad she was born. She wakes up happy and content to sit in her bed until retrieved, eats breakfast happily, takes her morning bath happily, and just continues her day happy. The extent of her requests are a mid-morning Yo-durt (yogurt). On the other hand, Clairvaux is spicy. She is adorable and the entire family gives her way more attention than one person should ever get, but besides that watching her and Vianney is dear to my heart.

One of their many games-feeding each other water with a spoon.

Thank you!

2011-11-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to write this note for some time so I apologize for the delay in gratitude. I wanted to thank anyone and everyone who has ever taken the time to read our blog and post a comment. I cannot comment back because my comment box is very temperamental so it would appear as if I were a blog snob.

I am humbled and grateful for such good friends and kindred spirits. I wish we all could meet. I want to apologize if you have ever asked a question and get no response back. Really. I don't know how to contact people in return. I love to chat, discuss, stay up late figuring the world's problems out, laugh, cry, eat, bake, cook, encourage, listen, talk a lot, and would love to sit and chat with everybody.

Thank you for all your kind words, emails, facebook messages, and most importantly prayers. Whenever I read a comment, I will ask the Good Lord to be near to your heart and specific intentions. Thank you for building the body of Christ.

It is funny that you can be so grateful for people you have never met in person! May God Bless you!

A couple good reads

2011-11-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

I read two great posts this week and had to share.

Elisabeth Foss's article on "What I'm never going to tell You."

and

Kelle Hampton's blog post regarding how children say thank you.

I love both of these and thought so much how my children tell me thank you. It is not always about the words "thank you" or a written thank you note.

I thought of Rose's sweet smile from across the room when she is having fun. Dominic's non-stop talking after we have been somewhere fun or we are enjoying a great meal together. Lillie's random expressions of how much she loved how I held her when she was a baby. Those are their ways of saying thank you to me and expressing gratitude.

Honestly

2011-11-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

A friend was over last week checking out homeschool curriculum. We had a nice chat, watched our children play, and when she was leaving she turned to me and said, "Do you ever feel overwhelmed?"

I've thought about her asking me that often. How could I NOT be overwhelmed? Like many mothers of young children, most days are overwhelming. So, to answer honestly I said, "Yes, every day." She seemed so shocked and relieved. She said, "Really? I just pictured you having everything under control, etc., etc." NO WAY and to be honest I don't want too. That is way too much pressure. I don't want to have all the answers. I don't want to appear as if it is no big deal raising several small children because every day is a big deal. I would never want to make another mother feel as though they can't quite get it right. I never want to "pretend" my life is easy, I have this mothering thing figured out, my marriage is better than yours, my kids are better, faster, smarter than yours. That is way to much pressure and not the Christian way to mother or be a friend.

So, to answer the following questions for myself, my daughters, and anyone who gives a darn.

1. Do you ever feel overwhelmed?
Yes, most days I feel overwhelmed some days more than others. I feel the weight of raising children, forming their soul, helping them find their interests, being strict, not being strict enough, forming habits while not making them able to go with the flow and not have their way if the routine is broken, encouraging while making them tough and strong, teaching them empathy while teaching them not to be a complainer. The task is comparable to climbing Everest.

2. Do your kids ever whine, fight,complain, be ungrateful, not appreciate, etc.?
Yes. We love our children with our whole hearts and are so grateful for each one of them, but they are not robots nor do I want them to be. They are human and they need Christ. I want them to need Christ. They are not perfect nor am I. My first years of parenting were so hard because I thought all their flaws were a reflection upon the job I was doing as their mother. As if they were some little project. I see things very differently now. Whenever I notice something in a certain child that concerns me, I try to first ask myself, "Do I do that to God?" "Am I that way to God." You see, I have long thought parenting is for the parent. Yes, I think we have "some" influence on our child, but the longer I am parenting I really believe God is refining me through them if I will let Him. He is teaching me the lessons I need to learn.

For example, if a certain child is being ungrateful. In the past, I would immediately assume they were getting too many treats, etc., and give them a talk on gratitude. Now, I give myself the talk I intended for them. "Look at all God has given to you and all you think about now is (fill in the blank)." Really, we aren't that far off from the faults we see in our own children just the issues are more grown up and some how okay.

If I find them restless and needy, I first must see where in my life I am restless and needy. Oh my, the apple never falls too far from the tree. I could go on and on which concludes me to say that "I must be what I want them to be." I must not make them into what I want them to be, I MUST BE WHAT I WANT THEM TO BE. They must see me disciplined, patient, cheerful, gracious, appreciative, attentive to my prayers, attentive to the sacraments. They must see me devote more time to study than to computer. Oh, it is so painful to realize our shortcomings.

I had a huge revelation one day while listening to my niece speak Russian. My sister's husband is from the Ukraine and speaks Russian to their children. My sister speaks English to them so they hear both languages and speak them fluently. Now, they never set Ehva down to tell her this is Russian, this is English. She just hears it. So, my brother-in-law told her to go throw something in the trash (in Russian). She walked over and threw it away. My sister then asked her what she threw away (in English). She responded in English.
We had been struggling with our children's manners for some time and I couldn't figure it out because I annoyingly reminded them "Say please. What do you say?" I was so puzzled because they usually needed to be reminded. Then I witnessed my niece and it dawned on me. THEY AREN'T HEARING IT FROM ME!!!! I would ask them nicely "Would you go grab Mama a diaper." "Dominic, Would you quick run and grab a fork?" I was forgetting one small little word probably because I was asking the request nicely. AMAZING the change. "Dominic, Would you PLEASE run and grab a fork? Thank you, honey." Truly, within days their manners improved 100 percent. I then became obsessed with using the wordage I was hoping to hear from them. AMAZING. Just like my niece learning and speaking Russian, THEY MUST HEAR ME SAY IT AND HAVE THE RIGHT TONE.
I tried to apply this to them also when they fall or get hurt. I use to say (nicely) "You're okay." Then, I realized to THEM, they are not okay. They may just want me to hold them or be sympathetic while not milking it. So now, if they get hurt, I always ask them "Are you okay? Come here." AMAZING. It has been wonderful to watch them be sympathetic to others when they get hurt. Once again, THEY MUST SEE IT FROM JOHN AND I.

3. Are you ever afraid to have another baby?
To be brutally honest, NO! I can answer that from the bottom of my heart. I, along with John, believe we are vessels or tools God uses to bring forth new life so to think that I have much say or decision making in the whole process seems rather trivial. We believe He is the giver of life. He knows the right time. He knows what I need, what John needs, what our children need, what the world needs for all eternity. God could have chosen any way he wants to bring forth new life. He certainly didn't need me, but in His goodness He allowed us to participate. So, I blindly trust Him.

4. Since you are never afraid to have another baby, does anything scare you about raising children or do you just trust God in all areas?
Yes. Yes. Yes. I am not contradicting my above answer. As much as I trust God in giving us new life, I am TERRIFIED AND Disorderedly afraid of losing one of them to the point of tears and anxiety. I cling too tight. I hold on too tight. I see their preciousness, their littleness and it terrifies me. When they are sick, I always say in my head, "I do not like being this vulnerable. I don't like feeling this paralyzed with fear of being without this child so therefore I can't have anymore children because I don't want to feel this vulnerable anymore because if I were to lose one of them, our worlds would forever change. This is an area where I need to grow and mature. I trust God in the giving of life, but not the taking and then my pride and lack of trust take over.

5. Whenever we've brought a new baby home, our house falls apart. Does this happen to you?
Every time. The baby is never the problem. I am a hot mess. The kids are all disoriented because my head is somewhere else. There are always lots of tears, lots of everything to be honest, but it settles down every time. Every time. I promise. Your first couple children will be the hardest. When I think about this new baby coming, I don't ever wonder those things any more. This is our seventh child. We know the crazy routine by now and we also know that is settles down every time. My uncle use to say "The cards have been shuffled." So true. Everyone takes on a new role. The baby becomes the toddler, the toddler becomes one of the little kids, the older kids become OLDER. I become a mother of seven not six. New roles, but you do settle into your role WITH TIME. Be patient. With time.

6. Do you enjoy pregnancy? Is it hard for you?
Telling your pregnancy, labor and delivery stories are a lot like telling your wisdom teeth stories. Nobody quite had it like you, right. We each have our own little tidbits that make our stories unique and special mainly to us. I do love being pregnant. I love taking the pregnancy test. I love seeing the line change and realizing somebody new is coming, I love ultrasounds, maternity clothes, doctor's visits, counting the weeks, reading my pregnancy book every time, watching each baby move, talking about names, watching the kids be excited, labor and delivery, and being in the hospital.
Pregnancy is though a gift of our bodies. One of the greatest gifts we can give to God. Kimberly Hahn said once that God will ask to see our battle scars when we die. Well, I hope to have a lot to show Him. We are battling for their soul. Be it weight gain, varicose veins, stretch marks, fatigue, mental battles, they are wounds we willingly take upon ourselves to show our love for the good Lord. My mother had varicose veins that were prize worthy. Holy Smokes. I, too, inherited her legs. I had surgery done on my legs after Zellie. The doctor told me that I shouldn't have anymore children if I wanted my legs to stay "nice." Needless to say, there is a reason you will never see my legs ever again. Not pretty, not quite sure recognizable, but I am grateful they work.

In most cultures, thinness is a sign of power. So for most women, this probably is one of the most challenging parts of pregnancy. The constant weight gain, attempted weight loss, weight gain, not quite weight loss, weight gain, I am getting really tired weight loss, weight gain and I am not quite sure I care, but I do weight loss, weight gain, I am tired weight attempt loss. For some reason, if you are thin especially as a mother "you have it together." How do you do it? How do you manage ALL these kids AND be thin?" Crazy that a human being can accomplish both of these things in the same lifetime. Too much pressure. I feel as though a woman's motherhood is often measured in her mind by her appearance. Ridiculous, pointless, and detrimental to the Christian walk of life.

How should we handle this? Should we just let go? Should we even care? It is so sad that the beauty of a new baby is clouded by our thoughts of a 45 pound weight loss journey that lies ahead. So sad. So empty especially at the end of our days when we our dying. I've not found complete peace with this because I think about weight issues a lot, but I have found peace knowing that this is my season of having children. As much as I don't look like I want to, I also will never put my appearance before having another soul. So, if that is the sacrifice I must make, then I lay it before God.

Once at my bible study, we were talking about this delightful topic and someone made a reference to "when I was in high school, my body..." Then, we started reflecting upon how funny the comments were because if I said, "When I was in high school, I was so good at basketball." Nobody would even care, and that is how our appearance is to other people. As nobody cares if I was good at basketball or not, why should they care if I weighed 115 lbs. in high school. So the comments, I could get back into my high school jeans is as ridiculously as saying "I can hit a three pointer." Who cares? That was the past. Things have changed. I have changed. My body has changed.

To the comment, "You don't look like you've had (fill in #) children. BUT, I have had (fill in # of children) so why is it admirable to look as if I haven't had any children. I have had children and why is wrong to "look like I have had six children."

7. Do you ever lose your patience?
Someone once told Stephen Covey's wife who had nine children that she must be a patience person for having all those children? She responded, "What part of me having nine children makes me a patient person?" So true and funny. Yes, I have lost my patience many times. Just because I love you more than anything than life itself, doesn't mean we don't have hard days, hard weeks. I am human. You are human. We are living together and growing together. I am not perfect nor do I want to be. I have yelled, spanked, been irrational, BUT what I have NEVER done is NEVER not said I was sorry. I have never let the sun go down on my anger. Before I put a certain child to bed of whom we have had a rough day together, I ALWAYS bring them to me, hold them, and say I am sorry if needed, talk through our day, pray together, and vow to work tomorrow to improve. Children, especially young children, are hard. They never quite seem to do what we quite seem to want them to at the given time. Not that I am not working on patience, etc., but I think more than being constantly patience and never losing it, it is more important for them to hear the words "I am sorry. Please forgive me." They will face trying relationships the rest of their life. We want so much for them to know how to repair a strained relationship.

8. How do you get your housework done along with all your other duties?
I believe I run an orderly home, BUT during most days my house is a bomb. There is only one of me and six of them. I pick up every night, fold laundry, clean the kitchen, tidy each room before bed, but by noon it looks as if I never have done anything. They have tried on swimming suits, princess dresses, built Lego ships, eaten two meals, changed clothes, brushed their teeth with a whole tube of tooth paste, washed their hands with all the soap, etc., etc. I try to make the habit of picking up before John gets home. He appreciates it, but never expects it. I don't feel the pressure to always have an immaculate home. It is near impossible especially if you care to spend time with your children, be joyful, let them learn, let them be children. There will be a day when the toys come out for their last time and I don't want it. I love surveying at night all that they did during the day. It is okay. So, my attitude is work hard, keep every thing going, but remove the pressure of perfection. Mothers wake up serving, serve all day, and continue on through the night getting life ready for their families the coming day. I am sure the Good Lord is pleased with our efforts. I know John and our children would much rather have me joyful during the day then walking behind them uptight about everything. That is not the kind of childhood I want them to remember.

But, you say, I can't function if my house is a mess.
To which I add, You have to pick. You have to find the balance. They will be little for such a short time. Work hard, do your best, but remove the pressure.

9. Do you ever need a break?
Yes, everybody does from their work, their vocation. I don't mean leave my vocation, but I do need to step out of the office some times. Once again, as much as I love our children and enjoy being with them, I am also grateful for the moments I can regroup, rethink, review, reflect upon my motherhood. Although, I usually get terrible separation anxiety upon leaving. I always return refreshed. I went a couple months ago to a bookstore about an hour away to review homeschooling material for THEM. I hated leaving even though they were with John, but still felt sad to be driving away. I knew I couldn't bring them. I returned a couple hours later with great ideas, renewed love just from those couple hours driving there and back in silence and prayer. Of course, Yes, I do have those days that I just am in a funk. The monotony of the routine, fatigue, loss of motivation, the loneliness, feeling fat, the requests, and all the needs just get to me. Yes, I have all the same emotions you do. It is not a lack of love, lack of commitment, nor of dedication. It is just relationships and their nature. Some days just are. Some days are just tough. Some days are wonderful. Some days are just bad. We must keep remembering where we are going and what our end goal is and we start over. To me, it's about the relationship good and bad.

10. Do good parents make good kids? Do bad parents make bad kids?
I have never liked that statement. Too much pressure on people who are trying to raise their kids right who are struggling. It focuses way too much on results instead of the process and the end of our lives. I know some fabulous parents who are struggling a lot with some of their kids. I know some parents who in my opinion were terrible and they have great kids. I know good parents who have good kids and I know bad parents who have bad kids. I have several friends who work on obedience every day and their kids aren't obedient (in their opinion). I know kids raised in a Christian home who have no inclination towards religion. I know kids raised without God who are only drawn to God.
Above all, we must seek heaven for our children. We must seek what is good, holy, true, and beautiful for them. The results are up to God. He knows their story. He knows our efforts, our attempts, our tears, our frustrations. He sees everything. We must also remember that we took vows to our spouses not our children. It is easy to pour everything we got into our children while forgetting about the man we promised God we would love and honor. So, in some ways you can say "Good parents are good spouses."

Well, I hope my love and honesty is a reflection of my encouragement for you. I know what thoughts defeat me or play in my head and it is often comforting to know "You are okay. You are normal. Now, let us proceed."

The Ultimate Privilege

2011-10-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

I was sitting with my sister at a volleyball game this weekend and said to her "Isn't it funny that someone is sleeping inside of me right now and we can't see him/her?"

So simple. One should be able to look at this picture and say "How is abortion legal?" A thin layer of skin cells separate the world from this human being and the innocent human being from the world.

My cousin said it perfectly, "When people say, well what about the life of the mother, my response is, "Would you not give your life now for your child, what makes this one any different?"

ANY remotely stable woman would not even blink if they had to choose between their life and the life of their child OUTSIDE the womb. You would take a bullet, go into a burning home, trade places with your child in a Nazi prison camp, fight off anyone or anything trying to harm your child, interview anyone driving your child to and from an outing to ensure they are a safe driver, be disgusted at a coach or teacher who degrades or humilitates your child and their dignity, confront the bully who is harming your child at school, yet inside the womb it is okay to kill the child if you so freely choose??? What would we think of a mother who sat by and watched their child get shot, not attempt to run into a house on fire to save their child's life, push their child into the arms of a Nazi prison guard in order to save their own life as the mother, sit by and watch a dog mangle your child, let anyone drive your child to certain events without knowing anything about them, not confront a coach or teacher who repetitively degrades and strips the dignity of our child, nor do anything about the bully who threatens your child everyday at school.

WHY IS THIS DIFFERENT????

Zellie's 4th Birthday Extravaganza

2011-10-13T19:32:00.001-07:00

Dear Beans,
I've said this before, but your position in the family cracks me up. You want so much to be like your older siblings and their friends. To watch you try and mimic their actions, dance moves, language, and play brings way too much joy to our lives.

You have loved "Molly, the American Girl" for a couple years now. I don't think a day goes by that you don't ask to watch the tap dance scene from the movie. One of your favorite parts in the movie is when her father gives her a locket right before he leaves for the war. For the past year, I noticed you making make-shift lockets out of chip clips, hair clips, or paper clips. Once when we were at Mech's, you borrowed one of Kellan's necklace's and clipped a hair claw to it and finally knew you had "found the one." I asked why you liked this necklace so much and you told me that you like how it sounded when Molly opened the locket and clicked it shut. I've looked for a locket for you for some time.
For your fourth birthday, your wish came true. A real locket.

You told me that you wanted to put a picture of you and me on one side and you and Papa on the other side.

I'm so glad I captured your face when opening the locket. I think we enjoyed it more than you. Our faces hurt from smiling in anticipation of you opening the gift.

You and I went out for your Birthday breakfast. Like your siblings, you chose McDonalds. You weren't very talkative, but I enjoyed sitting with you and watching you enjoy your meal.

This has been a busy school year for you. You go to Montessori school with Rose and are enrolled in your first year of Classical Conversations with the rest of the family. I cannot believe how quickly your age learns. For the first five weeks, you cried at having to give your presentation in front of the whole class. On week six, we turned the corner. We would practice at home and you would have it down perfect, but when class rolled around...tears. I told you that you could pick one of my necklaces to wear for the day after you did your presentation. BAM! That is all it took. You do a great job knowing all your states and capitals, the timeline, and all other memory work. You are very proud. My favorite history song you sing goes "In 1776, the Continental Congress published the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia announcing the colonists intent to form a new nation." You sing it with soul and put your hand above your head shaking it to the rhythm. Each family takes turn giving a family presentation each year. As the whole family took turns introducing themselves, I was not expecting you to say anything, but when your turn to have the microphone came you said, "Hi! I'm Zellie and I like pie." ??????Pie??????

THIS is one inanimate object I definitely want to remember from your childhood. On our way back from your birthday breakfast, I asked if you wanted to go to a few garage sales. When we arrived at this particular sale, I said you could pick one item of your choice. Continuing along with your love of jewelry, I knew you wore rubber bands to mimic a watch so when I saw you spot the Hello Kitty watch, I knew it was all over. Your eyes dilated and it was precious how you looked at me. "Would you like this for your birthday?" "Oh, Please!" Sure. I gave the lady enjoying you as much as I was a quarter and we headed home. You are rarely seen without your watch either worn on your arm or your ankle. Not sure why the ankle, but it is often worn there.

We went to a family wedding in Kansas City this summer and I don't want to forget how you danced the night away. Now, for most children this is not uncommon, but you are our shy child. Very shy. We saw you dancing with everyone from people we knew to people we didn't know. You brought your best moves which is the hand on hip and side to side motion with your feet some what resembling a Irish Step Dancer. Painfully cute. I'm not quite sure why you let loose this particular evening, but it was precious to watch.

I say often to John, "Imagine how their little childhood minds view this." You know, when you are a child everything is so much grander than an adults perspective. After a wild night of dancing, we returned to the hotel around 9:00 PM and said, "Who wants to swim?" They couldn't believe it. Swimming at Night! We let them swim until the pool closed at 11:00 PM. So very fun. You were all having the time of your life.

This hat is another Molly move. On the front cover of her book, Molly goes camping and wears a hat. You wear this often in honor of Molly.

After swimming, everyone was starving so pizza was ordered. By the time it arrived at the hotel, it was midnight. Many of our cousins and relatives gathered in a party room to eat pizza. I know you all couldn't believe it. Swimming and Pizza at midnight. You will never know until you are a parent how much we enjoyed watching our children have a wonderful time. It brings such joy to a parent's heart.

You learned this habit from Rose. Rose is our neat and tidy child. Her dresser drawers are always folded nicely, she gets dressed every morning with everything matching and a matching hair accessory placed perfectly in her brushed hair. She taught you how to fold and organize your clothes. THIS was the first time you did it by yourself. I noticed you weren't playing with your siblings that particular morning and went back to check on you. You were so proud.
What do I dream for you? I dream a great many things. I know you love your sisters and I am glad. They are good examples,but I want you to know you are perfect the way you are. It cracks me up that at your little age you enjoy going to musicals, ballets, and symphonies. Anything the older ones do, you do too. I enjoy spending time with you and LOVE that you ALWAYS want to go on errands no matter where the errand is to. I can count on you to go with me to the grocery store or the hardware store.

This was your first summer to participate in Summer with the Saints.
I wish somehow I could capture your range of facial expressions. D.R.A.M.A. Any story told is expressed with such facial contortion that you usually ask me "Why are you laughing?" I ask you everyday (seriously) "Well, who did you eat snack with at Montessori?" You fall for it every day because you go into a long repertoire of how and why snack evolved with the chosen person for the day. Very detailed with much thought. Oh, to be four again and snack was that important.

You know we couldn't love you more.

Vala's Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

We made our annual trip to Vala's pumpkin patch. This year, we had family in tow! My mom, two little sisters, Jora, Kristin, and their offspring, and Tim and Hilary. We had a great time together.

John sling-shotting apples with Clairvaux on his back.

Doth my eyes deceive me? Tim and Hilary moved back to Lincoln. I can hardly believe it.

Milla, our goddaughter, came also.

She rode the whole day in this contraption. I LOVE it.

Our Annual Pictures:

New Baby due April 2012 First Time at Vala's! Next year, in your little picture you will be 5 months old.

Clairvaux-Fall 2010 First Time at Vala's 8 weeks old

Clairvaux 2011- 14 months old

Vianney 2009 6 months old

Vianney 2010 18 months old

Vianney 2011 2 years old

Zellie 2009 2 years old

Zellie 2010 3 years old

Zellie-2011 4 years old

Rose 2009 3 1/2 years old

Rose 2010 4 1/2 years old

Rose 2011-5 1/2 years old

Lillie 2009 -5 years old

Lillie 2010- 6 years old

Lillie 2011- 7 years old

Dominic 2009- 7 years old

Dominic 2010- 8 years old

Dominic 2011- 9 years old

"They" say that the more adults there are, the more children get hurt or lost. We had so many adults with us that I couldn't remember who had who, who was holding who, and whatnot. As I was checking on Lillie, I found her sitting alone watching a dog show. I found it adorable to see her sitting there by herself.

A Case of Way Too Much Attention

2011-10-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

Well, there is no doubt about it (As seen in picture above of featured family). Clairvaux officially believes she is smarter, stronger, louder, faster, and bigger than the rest of our family. She makes her tiny presence known each day. The problem is her siblings and a heavy dose of "baby of the family syndrome". She is doted on and toted around the house like a queen. Anyone treated in such accord would become a tyrant over time. Poor little Clairvaux.

The good news. Clairvaux hasn't gotten the memo that she isn't our first one-year-old. My mother always said people talk about the "terrible twos" referring to two-year-olds, but really it is their SECOND year of life (meaning one-year-olds) that we've both found to be more of a trip.

Now, if this would have been my first or second child, I would definitely been in therapy for months now. I would have KNOWN I was a bad parent. I would have sought advice from any mother I saw begging her for her secrets. When you are a fresh mother, you blame yourself WAY TOO OFTEN for your child's behavior. Not that people don't do some crazy things, BUT if you are trying to be a good and Godly mother, please know this phase is NORMAL and actually quite ridiculously on their part.

I call John often at work to tell him of her ridiculous and reckless behavior. For example, I took Terrorist #1 with me to Juice Stop to get my current pregnancy craving, Scissor Kick or maybe it was Side Kick, quite possibly the name was Toe Touch, but anyway. I gave Little Hitler a drink and she loved it. BFF her and I. Well, my new bestie wanted the whole drink and threw an Olympic size fit in the store. I smiled because it was that awesome. Then, on the way to the car she reared back to hit me with her little paw. I grabbed her hand and let her know that is not cool. Finally, she wouldn't sit down in her car seat. The best part is that the little 17 pound guppie forgets how tiny she really is. So, at this point I am dying of laughter and her little body being stiff and ACTUALLY THINKING it will work. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. NO WAY COTTON EYED JOE.
I also have a firm belief she entered some contest behind our backs for table standing. I get her off the table at least 198,000 times a day. She climbs up, stands in the middle, and says "Down!" "Down!" I think she must reach a certain quota each day. I'll have to check the rule book.

We dined at some friends home tonight and I actually turned to John at some point and said, "Am I sweating?" She must have paid closer attention to the monkeys at the zoo than I thought because she closely resembled the primates. She tried scaling their fireplace grate.
We laugh mainly at her crazy pirate teeth. One major fang with three small fangs coming in on the sides. Before last week, she was trying to win a mullet competition in which I quickly remedied. I do not have time for such activities with my children. Table standing. Mullet winning. Ridiculous. We cut the mullet off.

In all seriousness, if you are struggling with this age of child, please know how hard it is. Please know it is not really you who is the problem. They are tough. They are tough most days. I've read several discipline and child rearing books especially with my first few little ones.
I would highly recommend anything by Dr. James Dobson namely "The Strong-Willed Child" and "Dare to Discipline." His advice is right on, in my opinion. I also really like Dr. Ray Guarendi. He is hysterical. I read it mainly to laugh my head off, but his advice is sound.

When ever my mother meets somebody struggling with a small toddler and they ask her advice, she always says, "Have another baby!" We have found that to be really true. It won't be instant, but because your focus shifts to the new baby Terrorist #1 in your home actually loses their momentum and fizzles out. I have seen it with everyone of our children. I always say with Clairvaux, "Well, this will be taken care of when the new baby gets here." So many people struggling with difficult short people think that having another baby would only add fuel to the fire. This has not been our experience nor my mother's. I tend to listen to her advice. She did raise 10 toddlers in her lifetime and as she states, "My children didn't drive me crazy."

How do the days go with a firecracker? With the first few children, your life changes to suit them and their needs so if you have a firecracker on hand, usually each event is ruined or hard. With later children, the baby fits into YOUR life and schedule and you realize is it a phase that will pass and start enjoying life amidst the firework show. She does make daily life with homeschooling and other duties a challenge. Most days, I just plow through the day realizing this is what I am supposed to be doing. It is God's plan for me to be home, raising and teaching children, loving their father, and enduring these phases of their life. If it is bothering me and her fusser button won't turn off, she will have to sit in her bed for a moment. She usually learns her lesson after a couple of squats. It lets me think and her think (I think). She is learning though and I've noticed a glimmer of light shining through the tunnel. It could be her night light though.

Horseback Riding

2011-10-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

Like many young girls, Lillie has an intense love of horses. It all started with her first viewing of National Velvet a couple years ago. Her mode of transportation most days is on all fours acting as if she is a horse. John would often remark that he believed she really thought she was a horse. She is easy to buy gifts for because I just buy horse anything and we are good to go.

It was a rather nostalgic experience. It was a beautiful afternoon driving out to the country. Perfect weather, perfect breeze, and perfectly happy 7 year old eagerly awaiting a dream come true. I pulled up to the beautiful farm with a yellow home and white trim. The barns were a crisp red and the grounds were beautifully manicured. Horses grazed in the front lawn. She grabbed my hand with such excitement. The stable was something you see in a movie. It was a big barn with rows of horse stalls each filled with one of the majestic animals. It was meticulously clean. For me, it was one of the those experiences that I ask myself, "Am I dead?" "Is this heaven?" Everything was picture perfect. Mostly, I was so happy for Lillie. Thank you, God, for letting me experience this with her.

I've researched off and on different stables to see what they offered. It never panned out much due to varying reasons, but this summer I was at a garage sale and saw a poster advertising a specific stable geared toward children.
I contacted them and immediately became best friends with the owner. She told me Lillie reminded her of her granddaughter. We both knew these specific horse lessons would be a perfect fit for her, but the cost was something we weren't willing to put toward our budget.

Short story shorter, she called me a couple weeks later and told me that a donor had offered to pay for Lillie's lessons. We couldn't believe it. So, the Kentucky Derby here we come!

She told everybody for months she was taking horse lessons. She knew what gear she needed. She knew the time, the place, everything. We met some friends on the bike path today and she said "Hi! I lost a tooth and I am taking horse back riding lessons." She told the lady at Hy-Vee grocery store.

Horseback riding is a very healthly form of exercise. Riding a horse strengthens muscles, makes blood in our veins run faster and makes us breath deeply. I was speaking with the wonderful lady running the program. She shared with me so many amazing stories about different children suffering from brain injuries and how they've made miraculous strides through horseback riding lessons. A new horse riding program has been started for soldiers suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (Horses for Heroes). Some children she has dealt with cannot walk. A horse can help them learn how to walk. These children can ride on a horse's back to places where they wouldn't be able to get on their own.
She has helped many autistic children and other brain injured children who have trouble trusting and communicating with other adults and children. Because riding horses requires both sides of the brain to work, the rider retrains the brain through various exercises the instructor teaches them to perform. When the horse walks, its back gently rocks the rider's body. It lets the rider relax and rest. A horse is a wonderful animal. It reads and reacts to humans very well.

Getting fitted with her riding helmet.

At the end of the lesson, Sandy asked Lillie what she wanted to do with the horse. Lillie said, "Jump!" So, they let her jump over a little pole. I knew she would say that because of the movie!

From LOW maintenance to NO maintenance

2011-10-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

BEFORE:
(Disclaimer: We ALL thought she was adorable, precious, cute as-is, our favorite, lovely, BUT our hair was growing in a bit on the side of nappy so my sisters decided to take matters into their own hands) We "heard" from some reliable source (our mother) that if you give them a good cut or buzz when they are little, their hair will grow in twice as soft and luxurious.

AFTER: (get ready)
Do you blame us? Look how she taunts! She knows it looks good and she gained an extra roll in the process. Off with her hair! She'll never know and only thank us if she ever becomes a hair model. It does make one wonder what the Pantene Pro-V hair models looked like as young children?

We are Chinese, if you please

2011-10-04T17:43:00.000-07:00

Our wonderful parish hosted its annual Parish Picnic this past Sunday. There was great food, fabulous music, and a darling Saint's parade. Last year, I was at my favorite thrift store and found 3 authentic Chinese outfits. I decided that the following year for Halloween we were going to be the Chinese martyrs. It was fun looking for costumes, props, and accessories all year. I actually painted their hair with black hair spray after having put their hair in a very tight bun. We also painted their eyes. It was a fun afternoon getting ready. The kids had fun picking out which martyr they wanted to be. Granted, I think some of them were Japanese names, but you get the point.

My friend, Janel, had extra silk fabric around her home and let me use it for any extra outfits or accessories I needed. I found an easy tutorial for rice hats or coolies. They didn't stay on very well so I should have made a little tie under the chin. Do you see the two foot tall Samaurai warrior on the end trying to intimidate?

Let me introduce them to you!
First Up,

St. Mary Fu Guilin

We called her "Mary Fu" all afternoon and oddly it seemed fitting for her personality. Extra spicy with a cherry on top.

St. Martha Wang Luo

St. Agatha Lin Zao

Zellie made us laugh the most. I am not quite sure what it was. Possibly the tightness of her bun? Possibly her hair looked so funny painted black?

St. Lucy Yi Zhenmei

The day before was the special feast day of St. Therese. Rose's full name is Rose Marie Therese so she has always been very fond of her patron saint.

St. Agnes Lin Zao

Participating in their favorite dance-The Chicken Dance

St. Augustine Zhao Rong

My favorite the whole evening!!! Tiny Therese.

This was Lillie's Pollyanna moment! There was a table filled with around 20 different prizes. Everybody entered their name in the raffle and Msgr. Nemec called out 20 different names to come pick a prize. What I would do to see her face again when they called her name! I said, "Lillie, you are just like Pollyanna winning her favorite doll." Now, don't go and fall out of a tall tree.

Now isn't that Sweet?

2011-10-03T21:25:00.001-07:00

I glance down the hall to see this lovely view! I thought, "Oh, how sweet. John is reading to Rose. Then I thought, "Why is John reading to Rose in the hallway?"

So, I walk a little closer and realize Zellie is there too. I continue to ponder "How sweet! He is reading to Rose and Zellie in the hallway. Why is he reading to Rose and Zellie at the end of the hallway?"

I now walk in front to see two little joeys tucked in the pouch enjoying the book also. Look at that little marsupial!

She says "Dis!" (this) to everything or "Babies!" Over and over and over. The little spark likes to read though and will sit still forever. Our favorite book though is "Water Babies." The end is always thrilling when we say "Water babies love the deep blue sea."

Homeschooling 2011

2011-09-28T12:47:00.001-07:00

I wrote earlier this summer about my dreams and plans for our homeschool room. Unless you have large enough quarters in your home to dedicate an entire room to schooling, one usually is left to transform part or parts of rooms as needed.

Someone told me once to write down every year what curriculum we use, if we like it or not, and plans for the upcoming year.

*Before chalkboard paint*

*After chalk paint*
I love it! I debated way too many hours between buying a big chalkboard or a dry erase board. John likes the texture of chalk and wanted to be able to practice handwriting and other eye exercises with chalk so I opted for this.

I use the small side for the different poems we learn or other tidbits of memory work we go over each week.

We all LOVE the maps. I got them at Barnes and Noble for $7.99 each and then had them laminated for half of our mortgage each, BUT I love it! John bought wood trim from Lowe's and cut and framed each map. I think the wood was around $30.00.

The alphabet letters. LOVE. I found these at Hobby Lobby or as Zellie calls it "Kenny Chesney." I don't know why? Hobby Lobby -v- Kenny Chesney. I see why now. They were regularly $3.99 but I waited for the 50% off sale so each letter was $1.99. I wanted something that looked nice, but portable in case we ever moved. I am not a big fan of primary colors and I didn't want a poster. It took me about 57 hours to hang them in a row and straight. Yikes!

*Before Picture Wall

*After picture wall with our Memory Work

*close up of our weekly Latin board
I purchased 8 blank frames and framed 12x12 scrapbook paper that looked like old cursive handwriting. I wanted the wall to look somewhat nice when the boards weren't written on. Did you know you can write on glass with dry erase markers? Awesome.

I have wanted this forever, but couldn't find it anywhere on the www. I went to our little homeschool book sale and a lady was selling it for $5.00. I hugged her, promised to leave her my pet chinchilla, and bought it. The pictures are beautiful. We usually talk about a different picture during lunch.

MATH:
For the past couple years, we have been using Math-U-See. I love it. John loves it. The kids love it. My favorite thing about this program is that it teaches them the "WHY" of math. We build it, we write it, and we say it. I have learned so much. I am kind of embarrassed at what I didn't know. Why do we carry numbers to the next column anyway? Place value. What does that mean? My teachers in grade school and high school were all amazing, I just don't think I ever understood the why of math.

CLASSICAL CONVERSATIONS:
What can I say about this amazing, awesome, and brilliant program??? It is our first year doing Classical Conversations (CC). It is the first year Lincoln has offered the program also. I can hardly believe the brilliance of the program, but mostly we are so grateful for this opportunity. If you feel God is calling you to homeschool, please look into this program and see if your city has a community near you. It is such a gift to homeschoolers. Why? It is all laid out for you no matter what life situations you are currently in. Morning sickness, new baby, sick kids. We know what we need to go over and can go over it anywhere, anytime.

It is a program designed after the Classical model of Education. It was founded by a woman named Leigh Bortins. She and her husband were both rocket scientists. They homeschooled their kids and created this system. She truly thought of everything regarding the logistics of the program from time management, to childcare during lessons, to the tutors, to community life, and resources available to make it family friendly.

We go every Friday to meet with our community. It is not a drop off. The parents are required to stay. The kids are broken up into their classrooms, but all our kids are learning the same material. There are trained tutors who present the information each week and we then go home and teach it to our children. Our kids are required to present a 2-3 minute presentation (topic given to you) each week in front of their class. It has been adorable.

We cover history, science, Latin, math, English grammar, states and capitals, 166 points on the timeline starting with Creation, art, all the Presidents, and they do a science project every week. Like all classical models of education, the program rotates through a 3 cycle period. We are in Cycle 3 this year so next year we won't be learning states and capitals, but European countries.

My favorite thing about the whole program is the community. We have met so many great people and great children. Our director is an amazing woman of God. She cares so much and works very hard to make sure everyone is doing good. The tutors are mothers themselves who have sacrificed their time to teach. They have been trained very well and we are so grateful for all their efforts. After class is over, we eat lunch as a community.

*Even if you don't have a community in your area, you can still use the program at home. I have a friend who has been using it for 3 years just by herself with her littles and loves it.

*I would highly recommend attending the 3 day parent practicum they offer to further educate you. It really helped clear up any questions John and I had regarding the program.

*Below is the memory work we go over every day, several times a day.

Dominic stays for the afternoon session called Essentials. The morning session is called Foundations. Once they reach 4th grade, we add on the Essentials program. John attends class with him. In the afternoon, he studies and learns Andrew Pudewa's Excellence in Writing, math drills, and more history and English grammar. It is very challenging and he works hard, but he will be well prepared for college. He writes a paper every week. The magnets and rings are helpful to keep track of everything we must do each day and week. If I have it in front of me, I will do it and go over it with them. When they get older, they will move onto the Challenge A & B programs which are very intense, but will continue to prepare them well for life and college. They will study logic and philosophy.

Handwriting:
I have enjoyed using Handwriting without Tears program. It does a good job correcting a lot of the common problems regarding handwriting i.e. letter reversals, too large, too small letter formation. We usually introduce the letter, write it on the chalkboard or in a sand box, make the letter out of the wood pieces, and then work in our books.

GEOGRAPHY:
This year in CC we are studying the United States so I go over with each child everyday the US map. It is laminated and we touch each capital and trace each state with a dry erase marker while saying the name. Zellie is hysterical especially when you hear her little gerbil voice say "Annapolis, Maryland."

READING:
We have always used "How to Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" for reading. With the CC program, Essentials covers everything regarding English Grammar, but you are responsible for a reading and English program before then. We go over English definitions, but we are still responsible for teaching them HOW to read, vocabulary, and spelling. To be honest, I've not quite found anything that I'm terribly fond of for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. Still looking.
As for the actual reading and writing, the kids each have assigned reading books and books they have chosen to read. During nap time, Dominic and Lillie do 20 minutes of copy work and then read quietly for 30 minutes. I've created sheets to keep track of the books read by each child and once it is filled we go on a date of their choice. It really seems to motivate them.

SPELLING:
Last year, we used All About Spelling. It was good, but this year I am going to try Spelling Power.

RELIGION:
John takes care of the textual part of this department. He goes over a variety of topics with them each night be it catechism, commandments, faith and life, virtues, and morals. We don't use a specific text. Each of the kids received a Child's Bible this year to mark the beginning of the school year. We will read from this as a family. I love the pictures. Rose and Zellie attend Catechesis of the Good Shepherd once a week.

Dominic and Lillie attend art class once a week at the amazing Mrs. Hotovy's. They also attend a Geology class at the Montessori school once a week. Dominic, Lillie and Rose participated in STAGE this year which stands for Student Theatre and Godly Evangelization. The play was about Fatima. Dominic was Francisco and the girls were angels. Precious. Rose and Zellie attend Montessori school three days a week. I love the formation of Montessori for the soul. It is such a humanitarian way of looking at each child and their different interests. The three oldest take piano lessons from Mrs. Flamminio on Wednesday mornings in our home which works out great. She does a perfect job!

a few Thank You's

2011-09-19T21:28:00.001-07:00

Thank you, Hilary! They say the best gift to your child is siblings. I've always agreed, but today the words rang very loud in my heart and ears. You call and ask to come over. Bounce into our house full of love and laughter, bring Halloween Oreo's for the kids, bring MY husband chicken you grilled for him so he will have healthy food to eat for lunch, clean and pick up the house, and then take all six children to the park for two hours commanding me to rest or enjoy the silence. You played tag with them, pushed people on swings, took little people up and down slides and afterwards take everybody to the gas station for Gatorade. Such a treat. You are a dear and I couldn't be more glad you have moved back. Thank you for being so wonderful. I love that the kids still wait by the window when they know you are coming over and shriek with excitement every time they see you. Thank you for helping. Thank you for loving my kids. You are a gift.

Thank you, Kristin for not only listening and caring, but so willingly watch our children whenever I ask so I can do whatever it is that I need to do. I am well aware you have your own children and family, but you are so wonderful to always act like it is no big deal. You know how much my children love you and have fun with Ehva, Chip, and Baldy. I know you have your own schedules and your people take naps, but you always act like it is no big deal. Thank you. Thank you. I will always help you in return. Just ask.

To my dear Johnny. Really. Where do I begin to thank you for your heroic and saintly efforts the past month. Although, last night takes the cake. I only write it as to remember and so our children can read how wonderful you are. The comedian Brian Regan does a hysterical act on going to the Emergency Room. One of our favorite lines is when the nurse asks him "What seems to be the problem?" He states, "It seems that everything on my inside wants to be on my outside." As you know, that has been my motto these days. You never complain. Ever. Your work load has tripled and you do it as if nothing is a big deal.
Well, last night we were sitting on the couch together and about 12:30 AM we hear someone vomiting in the hallway. We turn the corner to see Zellie covered and still projecting. You grabbed her and I run into her room to see where the damage is. Bad move. The smell and the site make me throw up everywhere. I then turn to run into our bathroom and don't make it and throw up everywhere in our bathroom also. I had to shut our bedroom door because the smell was overwhelming. You were left to clean up Zellie, her bed, the carpet, everything. You then slept on her floor so she wouldn't wake me up in the middle of the night. In the morning, I apologized to you and you said, "Lindsay, I wouldn't have let you help me. It was no big deal." I really am sorry to leave you with such mess. I came out this morning and still smelled remnants of last night so I threw up again. You are always so kind and compassionate. I appreciate you calling everytime you drive home to see what I need or what you can pick up. I really do notice all those things.

Thank you for all you are and do. I hope you know how grateful I am for such blessings in my life. I hope to return the favors to all you whenever I can. I love you.

I can not promise you it will be easy, BUT I can promise you it will be worth it

2011-08-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Me + Couch= BFF

Posting is sparse these days to the horizontal, face down position of the postee, but I came across a few motivational items this past week.

I am heavily motivated by individuals who endure great amounts of suffering and come out vertical, human, and praising God. I always say "If they can do THAT, I can do THIS."

John and I watched a Netflix special "Return with Honor." It is the wonderfully heroic story of Jeremiah Denton and other prisoners of war during Vietnam. UNBELIEVABLE what they endured. Jeremiah's story was chiseled on my heart after listening to him speak about life as a POW for 8 years, being tortured, and his INTENSE love of his faith. He never faltered, in fact, his faith only grew. I want to write more later regarding the relationship I found between his ardent zeal for human dignity as a POW and Motherhood or better said "A life chosen against the grain."

I read the book "When Hell was in Session" about 10 years ago and fell in love with his story and courage. I've given so many copies of this book out that if Amazon did a buyer report, I would solely be responsible for buying all the copies listed.

I also recommend this fabulous read by Fr. Gereon Goldmann titled "The Shadow of His Wings". So good.

What is my theme this evening, self? Well, I will not lie, being terribly sick is no fun. It makes me question my own humanity. I know spiritually the war being waged, the price being paid to bring another soul into the world. You do not get off easy with the evil one in regards to the begetting of human life. Sometimes, I just wish I could flex my spiritual muscles a little stronger and not lick my wounds some days. I would rather go through labor than be nauseous. It is not a matter of gratitude because we are always so grateful for our children. I just plain and simple am weak and hate to suffer in this form.

Reading these stories, watching these movies help me to know others have endured far worse crosses of physical pain much longer and continued on each day growing closer to Christ. That is the part I want to get. Growing closer to Christ not praying that the sickness will be lifted soon.

Hy-Vee Grocery Ads

2011-08-17T23:05:00.001-07:00

Dom said to me today:
"Mom, can you save the Hy-Vee grocery ad flier? Umm, sure. "Why?"
"I like looking at all the food in the pictures."

Oh, I am so sorry, son! Food making around here these days is all but delightful. I think a better word is survival. We've had cereal for dinner the past two nights. I have been to Chipotle, Panera Bread, The Oven (2x), Papa Johns....all futile attempts to ease the Ferris Wheel feeling I feel like I've been riding on and can't get off.

Serious morning, afternoon, evening sickness. The idea of food and worse yet the preparation of it...not in my hemisphere. The ole' 9-1-1 almost had to be called today when the lunch menu was ham and cheese sandwiches. Just writing the word "ham" makes me gag.

On a happy note, they love it. They cheered when I said we were having cereal again. I promise, I will cook again. Just not for about 9 more WEEKS. Did I say that?

Gratitude

2011-08-16T11:58:00.000-07:00

Read this little gem a couple days ago.

What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?

Annie Oakley

2011-08-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

Rose calling to me from the other room:

"Mom, I'm Annie Oakley."

A little bit of Vianney by my side

2011-08-07T22:13:00.001-07:00

Vianney's just that kind of kid that is fun to look at and upon further hearing inspection of her voice, she's just fun to listen to.

Her soft, white blond curls are any mother's dream. She is just an easy kid to have around. Not that she never loses her cool, but she's easy to calm down. She just flows with our go.

I overheard her talking to Clairvaux the other day. The conversation went as follows after Clairvaux dumped her bowl of food onto the ground.

Vianney (in a firm tone):
"Cware, don't drop bowl over side, UNNER-TAN ME?"

She then realized her approach was a bit firm, so she very quietly repeated herself and got very close to Clair's face.

"Cware, don't drop bowl over side, unner-tan me?"

We decided to take her to see an ENT doctor because she snores like Darth Vader and is a mouth breather which is an indication of enlarged tonsils/adenoids/etc., etc. Sure enough, she was a "4+" on both her little punching bags, but they want to wait to take them out until she is older because of certain risks. I find that if I keep dairy products away from her she seems to do a bit better. So for now, she won't be much fun to have as your hide-and-seek partner because she is a heavy breather and will give you away every time. Just listen for the breathing.

I love you just the same.

Evangelizing

2011-08-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

This was so incredibly hysterical that I called John at work to give him a play by play. It all started at a family wedding the weekend before. John was talking politics with somebody and they were discussing the politician Michelle Bachmann. They were discussing different facts about her and then somebody said, "I heard she was Missouri Senate Lutheran and they hate Catholics." ?????

I looked at John and then we see all the faces on our older kids drop. They have been playing all summer with these two wonderful neighbor children whom they found out were Lutheran. They love Alex and Noah and were devastated to hear they "hate Catholics."

We returned home from the wedding and the next morning they were outside playing with Alex and Noah. Long and behold, Lillie tells her the devastating news that "Lutherans hate Catholics." She then comes inside crying. I had to reassure her that they DO NOT hate Catholics and Alex does not hate you. Do you think that was the end of it? NOPE. Not by a long shot.

Rose then comes in to report that Alex said her church "doesn't have a crucifix" and "she didn't even know what one looked like." She then pleaded with me to take one out to show her. All I see from the window is lots of convincing andRose's hand pointing.

Next up, Dominic comes in crying. Man, this morning isn't going well. "Dominic, what is wrong?" "Noah said he's never coming over again because he said he doesn't believe in purgatory because he's never heard of it and it isn't even in the bible. I assured him that he would be back. He then grabs his bible and headed outside to which I see the following.

After all the scuffle, I decided it best that I call their mother to make sure she knew what was going on and where it all started. She's a real sweetheart and we laughed at the intensity of their discussions and agreed it was good they were talking about such pressing issues at the ages of 5,6,7, 8 and 9. First things first when your playing with neighbor kids.

*For the record: I KNOW LUTHERANS DON'T HATE CATHOLICS* ok Martin!

There's nothing like a Dollar Tree Birthday

2011-08-04T19:39:00.001-07:00

I celebrated my 34th year of life in July in fine fashion. If you've not experienced a Dollar Tree Birthday, well you are missing out on all the good things in life. I've requested this now for a couple years and every year proves to be better than the last. The only strict instruction I give John is that he takes pictures and remembers the things they say.
I was greeted at the door and ordered to put on my party hat.

Lillie always organizes the banner making.

It is fun to me because they can pick from the whole store what they think "I" would like best.

Here is the run down the gift selection (not in order by favorite):

From Dominic:
Dom selected this angel bell. We pray the Angelus at noon and he thought this should replace our school bell. Perfect.

From Lillie:
She went through terrible distress trying to figure out what to give me reported the male parent. Lillie knows my heart so she couldn't figure out whether she should satisfy my sweet tooth or buy me something elegant.

Lillie got me lilies.
Two packs of M&Ms and Vanilla Wafers.

From Rose:
Rose is a simpleton. She is precise and decisive and always proud of her selection.
Good ole Aunt Rose.

From Zellie:
Zellie won the "Please let me take you to the Dollar Tree everyday" award. I guess she was unstoppable in the cute antics department. John said she was dropping lines left and right. I think she was shaking when I opened her gift due to proudness. She KNEW I had been wanting a watch so what better gift than a princess watch which I might add has a flip top (take that!!) and matching purple necklace and beads.

This was her first selection...ROPE which she thought was yarn. If only.

From Vianney:
A party hat. She was just glad to be there.

From Clairvaux:
Ole' Johnny he is a character. He had Clair's little note wrapped up and in her hand.

My dear Kristi took me to our favorite spot, The Oven. You are good to me.

I am spoiled. It was a wonderful day. Since I take them out to breakfast on their birthday, they each wanted to take me out individually on my birthday for breakfast. Oh my.

Our newest gift

2011-08-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

How do I feel about being pregnant? Well, if you know me, you can answer that question, but if you don't and if you are my children reading this in 40 years let me tell you.

To me, I could shout from the roof tops with JOY. I could tell strangers in the supermarket "We just found out we are expecting a baby!" (I have).
"Is this your first?", they might ask. NO, it is my seventh and we are so very grateful. And we are.

"Was this baby planned?" My YES!, by God.

Our fertility is something that we will never, ever take for granted nor the gift of each child to our family. It is something that is quite puzzling to me in speaking with so many women. I think most assume fertility will and ALWAYS will come easily to them. We need to realize it is our greatest gift as a woman. God did not give that gift to men. Only to women. AND it is not a given.

Oh, but you already have six, you must be use to this.

To which I reply, "I have never had THIS baby before and I can't wait to see who God decided to give us this time."

A whole new face, a whole new soul, a whole new personality. A whole person that God willing will join us for all eternity in heaven.

You see, children are the ONLY gift we can give GOD that He doesn't have. Let me say that again, God does not need anything because He has everything and is everything, BUT He did not have THIS child, this soul. He gave John and I the free will to say "YES, we are open to LIFE." Slowly think about the concept. What a daunting privilege!
We will give you the greatest gift as a small token of our LOVE for you. It is the greatest gift because it is the only thing on this earth that is eternal. We can do great acts of love in other forms, but a SOUL and the workings of it is the greatest act of love because it brings the human nature to its greatest extreme and greatest potential-continual self-denial and death of SELF.

We must use our fertility wisely and see it as a gift. A gift to God. It is a gift in marriage, but ultimately it is our gift to God. Plain and simple. I asked John's wise mother once a child-rearing question and she replied, "We must realize we have very little control, very little control."

If I trust God on the opposite end of the life spectrum (death), I must trust him at the beginning of the life spectrum (conception). As we cannot plan our deaths, Can we plan our beginnings? If a parent loses a child in an accident, it is debilitating. The loss is tragic. We must see the seriousness on the other end of the spectrum on the begetting of life. We are NOT in control. God is in control. To John and I, THIS is left up to the good God who sees all in our lives and knows what we need and what we don't need.

Our child "planning" motto can be found in the gospel of Luke "'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to thy word.' And with that the Angel left her" (Lk. 1:36-38). ...

At our wedding, we were asked the following question to which we responded "YES."

"Will you accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"

"Yes Lord, we will accept children lovingly from You."

So to you my dear little one as your mother, I couldn't have been more excited to find out you were on your way. I know that a time will come that I will never be pregnant again, so for this season of my life, I strongly embrace it with both arms. I could only beg God to let me see your face and know who you are. I have said this before, but the moment I see those two pink lines, a small part of me has already changed. I know that at this moment, only God and I know of your existence.

It is as if He hugged me and said, "Thank You!" Thank you for this gift that I didn't have.

Let's see...

2011-08-01T21:19:00.001-07:00

So true. So True.

Well, this won't work any more. This vehicle only seats six kids.

Let's try this again.

me and them

C-Vo's new birthday shirt

Our family played Scrabble this evening.

YDC-Young Detective Club

2011-07-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

Dominic still is at the great age where he believe almost anything little kids should believe. You know, like he really is a detective if he dresses up like one. He loves filling out surveys on LEGO.com in hopes of winning a trip to Disney Land with 1 in 1,000,000 chance. He believes it though and checks the mail everyday to see if they picked his lego design.

I once created a fictitious handwriting contest that the winner would be awarded "A Golden C3PO." He diligently completed his handwriting everyday and mailed in entries complete with "stamps" that closely resembled stickers I found at a garage sale. :) I found a gold colored C3PO figurine at Target one night while shopping and couldn't believe my two blue eyes.
I wrapped it up, created an award certificate, and put it in our mail box. I had him check the mail that day. I recorded him opening the mail box and finding the manilla envelope. I'll never forget his expression from across the street. His hands were outstretched and I could read his lips, "Momma, Momma, I WON. I WON." It was our Willy Wonka Bar moment.

We've entered many LEGO design contests which have inspired his sisters to create. Even if Vianney clicks together two LEGO pieces she brings it to me to "take a pitcher" (take a picture).
His current phase happened after he discovered the book "The Young Detective's Handbook." He devoured the book and has been set on performing much of the desired requirements. Fingerprinting, tracking, taking notes, observing. He wrote down all our neighbor's license plates. We found spy kits at the Dollar Tree which provided hours of fingerprinting fun. I haven't figured out yet what the white fingerprinting dust we purchased for a dollar was.

This day, he was determined to sneak up on the girls playing in the backyard and wanted so much to go unnoticed. I bet they noticed his disguise being we were the only ones in the backyard together, but he believed he "blended in."
He sent letters to several of his friends to see if they wanted to join the club. They had to circle YES or NO. The circling was very important.

Andrew is funny.

2011-07-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

My brother sent this little gem today that made John and I laugh all day.
We had been discussing large families via email:

This is what Andrew said,

"Seriously, I should live stream all this action and get play-by-play commentary….I can just see the advertisement on TV…

“Now on CBS…in an all new and new type of ‘Survivor,’ ------A tired mom. A crazy baby. A now crazy mother. An aggravated father in his boxers. A 2 ½ year old wetting her pants in the middle of the night. --------WHO will lose? WHO will bail first? WHO will stumbled out of bed and kick the toy car on their way to the babies bedroom? A prime time reality show about happiness. Joy. Poop and bed hair (and sometimes these last 2 are in the same place, smashed together.)”

That is funny stuff and Andrew isn't funny in person, but email brings out his humor.

Vatican bank president: Bigger families are solution to economic crisis :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

2011-07-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

My brother sent me this fascinating article this morning. Interesting.

Vatican bank president: Bigger families are solution to economic crisis :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

She loves Him

2011-07-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

She saves her best smile for Him. We cannot walk by a crucifix without her reaching
out to touch or kiss it.

Mrs. Harrison taught the children this song at CGS.

I see the Love of God in You.
The light of God is Shining Through.
I am blest to be with you, O Holy Child of God.

My favorite line is the first line.

"I SEE the love of God in You."

I say this a lot in my head when looking at them or answering all their daily needs and wants.

Msgr. Nemec told me that each child is a perfect chalice. Each designed its own way and each perfectly made because they have Christ in them just like a chalice that holds Christ.

Tomorrow is her Big Day #1

2011-07-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

Have 365 days really gone by? Really?

Tomorrow is her First Birthday! I don't know who is more excited her siblings or her siblings or her siblings? Man, if I met all their birthday wishes for "Clairvaux" we would be taking her to a movie, buying her a dollhouse from Target that is suitable for ages 5-7, letting her pick out the Princess cake from Hy-Vee, inviting all their friends to celebrate her birthday or letting her pick her favorite movie. Lucky baby to be so loved.

JackJack was at it again today. I found her on a Charter Bus with her beloved MumMums heading to Omaha. She is in birthday denial. Her age is difficult for her to discuss.

Dominic's First Pie

2011-07-18T22:47:00.000-07:00

He is my baker. He asks me usually once a day, "So, what do you want to bake today?"

This great book "The Best of Country Pies" provides several different recipes to create all the pie goodness you want.

I was proud of him. He did the whole thing from start to finish.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary Field Trip

2011-07-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

First things first, this picture captures their individual personalities to perfection. Lillie, the natural born mother who tends to "Smother more than mother." Rose is all prim, proper, and obedient because I asked her too. Zellie is the ever timid piglet. Vianney is cute, carefree, and clueless. Clairvaux is use to all the affection that she just tolerates being smothered.

We went out to Denton, NE for a field trip to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary. The seminary trains and educates men to say the old mass. It is such a beautiful and peaceful site.

We have a great homeschool group that gets together about once a month for field trips. We have visited the post office, the fire station, the Marian sisters, and Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop.

JackJack was at it again. I found her this time teaching a class to grown men. What a sniff!

I wonder what sassy pants will do tomorrow? Do you see her attitude upon being found?

How Sweet it is to be loved by You

2011-07-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

I love this picture. Have I ever mentioned how I really don't mind at all that I have a bunch of girls in a row? I L.O.V.E. it. I have made a small hobby out of it. I enjoy their sisterhood so much.

Let's see. From the previous post, which daughter continues her elegance even when going to get ice cream in 237 degree weather?

Clairvaux was up to her usual light post sitting antics. Every time I turn around she has Jack-Jacked me and is up on another light post acting aloof to her uncanny ability at 12 months to scale 11 foot structures.

Oh, uh, me. Get down?

We then usually reward her behavior with the best seat in the house around Haymarket Square.

Hair Pressure

2011-07-15T20:00:00.001-07:00

Well, she's at it again. This one is all glitz and glam. We had a similar incident a while back, but her hair attempts are part of the daily regimen. I caught this little site a couple weeks ago.

Well now, let's take a closer look at the desired do. Check the counter ledge. As you can tell from the picture, Lillie was struggling with the obvious lift part of the whole deal. I mean really How do you braid like that? Roll the brush up a couple times and it should get twisted enough to resemble the magnificence.

In case, you needed a closer look the chosen style for today was the "Tailored Elan." She use to go for the "Sophisticate" but since the page is torn out, she no longer requests that one. Praise the Lord...it was a challenge. I heard, "Mom, it doesn't look quite like the picture" a lot.

And just for your viewing pleasure and plea for hair assistance, how in the United States of America am I to do this tidal wave of front bangs? The pictured girl looks a little sassy as if it were her little secret and she's not telling. Fine, golden egg earring lady...you win.