St. Therese comes through...always.

I just HAD to write the following about the 'shower of roses' sent down upon me from St. Therese today.

As I said this novena leading up to tomorrow's feast day of St. Therese of the Little Flower, for a very specific intention, I could not help but see that she answered me...

Here's the story: We went apple picking today with our Pop Pop DD(so fun!!!). Except for last year, since I was close to 40 weeks pregnant and very -very -due, we have been doing this annually for the past 5 years-with our Pop Pop-it has to be with him! The kids look soooooooooo forward to this event each year. Always asking if it is apple picking time, the moment they see an actual apple upon the trees.

Today was the absolutely perfect FALL DAY-overcast, a bit chilly-only 58*- had to wear long pants and a jacket- the wind was blowing a chilly breeze, it was great.

As we all took a big chunky bite out of our chosen apples, I could not help but want to just freeze that moment. The looks of joy and pleasure on each of their faces was beautiful. It was....just...perfect. I thank You, God, for this gift.

After paying the bill for those apples, I jokingly said to my father in law, who was with us that these must be 'diamond apples' with that price tag! The most I have ever paid, by far. But then again, for the memory we made, once again this year, it was totally worth every dime.

On the way home, my 4 yr old requested her favorite song. I could not find the specific CD she wanted, so instead, I put in another one like it (by CATCHAT-have you heard of it? My kids LOVE their music, and actually I DO TOO!!!) Anyway, this certain CD that I did find was all about the Saints/all Saints day/-and as she was getting frustrated and growing impatient so that she could hear 'her song'...I frantically just pushed through a few tracks and it stopped on one-which, get this, was all about St. Therese!

I am not so good as some are at finding out where St. Therese sends her roses. I have been looking very carefully, though. Wondering if some big bouquet of roses would turn up on my doorstep. Or if one of my kids would color a rose for me. Or if a friend would drop off a flower pot of baby roses. Anything, but not this type of shower of roses in the form off of a music CD. Hum...I wonder...

So, what do you think? Would this be considered her shower of roses on me?

I am going with it and I think so...I think.
Then again, we still have the rest of today and tomorrow, her feast day, to find an actual rose that may come my way!!!

God bless,
Mary

The struggle

I have been thinking a lot about how I am teaching my children. As my prior posts have stated. I wonder about how I teach them not just what I teach them.

Are my words and actions leading them a step closer to Christ

or a step further away from Christ?

Today, I have started out our school day a little bit different. Instead of being so rigid in getting this, this, and that done BEFORE the baby wakes up from his morning nap, I am letting them just take their time.

Why does it surprise me that they are enjoying it more that way?

I struggle with trying to get certain things done in a very small window of time, because I know full well that we may not get to it at all or if we do, it will not be done properly or with sufficient focus and attention.

I guess that is what we all struggle with, right? Homeschooling should be no different.

But today, I am letting go a bit. I am seeing them doing things the way they want to do them, not the way I am telling them to do it. Yes, there is obedience to their directions in school work, but I am reminded that there also has be expression and individuality in their work. That which makes theirs, theirs. That which sets it apart. Unique in their own way. Something for them to be proud of because of their decisions.

So what if St. Raphael has rainbow colored wings? So what that St. Gabriel has blue hair?

Sometimes us moms, (uh, me, that is) gets so wrapped up in things that have to look right or be done right, according to me. This is squashing their potential to be what God created them to be. Unique.

I need to allow them to blossom full of their life of innocence. They are so pure, not exposed to all the horrors of life. And I like that. They like that. And I know God likes that. I do not shelter them from ALL things, just some things. And I like that. Alot. Being a parent, I am in charge of what and when they can be exposed to certain things. Not the world, for the most part. There are instances that some things come sooner than I hope for, but I use those as teaching moments at that time. I do not brush it off. That is life.

So, what does this have to do with schooling?

A lot I guess! I have been reminded that in school too, I have to let their innocence flourish. Not to be so rigid with what I think the right way of doing things is, that they cannot bloom. I have 6 rosebuds here that are on the verge of blooming and I pray that they become the beautiful flower, so unique, the way God created them to be.

And for me, I need to get out of the way. Big time.

*UPdate 2 hours after I posted this...after thinking some more about what I wrote here, what I do want to add is that I feel so blessed to be able to homeschool and make these decisions daily. I do not take it for granted. Thank you God. It is said that the things that are really worth it are those that are the hardest. Guess that means, I am on the right path to holiness!
I also want to mention that the days that I concentrate on virtue in our house, such as love, charity, forgiveness, calmness, gentleness, honesty and joy and all the many others- that those are the days that God will love more so than those that I have been able to check off 10 pages of mathematics, 5 of phonics, learning 250 new spanish words..you get the idea!**

So, folks, my deep thinking is back! (So, I guess that means I have been sleeping better, eh?!?!)
Have a blessed day. Happy Feast day of the Archangels!!! May they protect us from the evil one.

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

God bless,
Mary

*update: my daughter may have or may have not gotten the chicken pox. She had some spots but surely NOT like my other 5 children-they were covered! So, she may have gotten a mild case or nothing at all. She was put on an anti-viral agent to help build her strength to fight off the pox b/c of her possible outcome that could have happened. Praise God it did not! Thanks be to God! We will do some follow up blood work in a few months to confirm if she did or did not get the pox. Thanks for praying and asking!

Quote of the day

"Let every action of mine be something beautiful for God."
-Blessed Mother Teresa

This is the quote I am thinking about constantly today. Please Lord, let these thoughts come out into actions, beautiful for You alone.

God bless,
Mary

Raiiiiiny Sunday

Okay, so my girls just WANTED to rearrange their bedroom. So we did.

So our laundry room threw up. And I have yet to clean it up. When will I? I have no idea.

I am throwing out everything in sight that is on the ground. I have had enough.

AND...why does my den look like that? There surely were some pigs in my den this afternoon! Did they even eat any of those crackers that they so nicely covered my floor and rug like that?

ANYWAY, just another Sunday in my life.
I am reminded it is a day of rest. Lord, help me.

God bless,
Mary

Confession

The other day was a tough day for me. There was only so long that I could hold it all together with what we have been through. That day was not the best and I knew it was time for me to get to confession. Thank God the local seminary priest said SURE I could come over and he could hear my confession. He is wonderful, so gentle in his words, so soft in his voice. The calmness and forgiveness is just what I needed.

I told the children that right after dinner that was where I was going. And I think deep down inside them, they were happy I was going!!!

What I did not tell them was that afterward, I was going to do a little shopping just to get out of the house that I have been glued to the last 3 weeks. It was much needed to have some personal 'mom time'. I did not come back till they were all in bed. When I got home, my hubby and I were talking and told me that my oldest said:

"Mom sure has a LONG confession!"

Ha ha! He thought I was in the confessional from 6:30pm till 9pm!!!

That kid is so smart! He knew I needed confession and it did not phase him that just maybe his Momma would need a 2 1/2 hour confession-no doubt that he knew I needed to get there!!! Yes, honey but not for that long!

Goes to show you how much our kids can teach us. Humility. That blessed virtue of humility. God knows I needed it, esp. on that day.

God bless,
Mary

Prayer Request for Sam Pray NOW

After discussing about a friend who is sick with a very high fever just after given birth (c-section) last week or so, and is on her way to the ER, my 7 yr old daughter says:

"Wow, I never knew that. Moms have fevers too? Really?"

You may think we are super-moms but not that super, my dear.

God bless, and please say a prayer for my friend, SAM.

God bless,
Mary

Why homeschooling is cool

Seeing my 8 year old son play "Beautician" and "Barber" with his younger siblings, as they are all dressed up and ready to dance. Seeing him doing this and enjoying it. He'd never get away with this at school!!!
What a good brother he is!
God bless,
Mary

Sunday best?

"When I was a little girl,

I always loved to watch my parents getting ready for church on Sunday.

It was an important thing in my house.

Mom and Dad insisted we all look our best."

Check out this LINK for more on this topic.
God bless,
Mary

Quote of the day

You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.
-- St. Therese

Small Successes- It's Thursday!

"It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that. "

1. Trying to be flexible with school this week-TRYING-to allow them to not only Do their school work but ENJOY it too! Laying off the 'check lists'.

2. Vacuumed under my dishwasher. Yuck! It is a good thing I only do that nasty job every once in a while.

3. Let one of my children use markers in bed coloring. I trusted he would ONLY color on the book and he made me proud! Only on the coloring book!

Go and check out the other successes!!! C'mon and celebrate with us other moms!
God bless, Mary

Bridge over troubled waters

Sometimes it is the little things that turn into the big things...

and you begin to see those big things a lot more clearly.

So, for today my one and only goal is for my oldest son not to cry during school. He has been under so much pressure with many different things lately. I am learning to look at myself for his way of reacting. What do I do that causes this child to be so sensitive to not being perfect? How high are my expectations compared with reality? It may be his personality, sure. It may be his temperament, sure. Or it could be ...me. I will not know unless I pray and think of how I might be able to change ME. Because that is all I can control, really.

That ME is all I can change.

Life can be busy and I can be very goal orientated for our school day. I can overlook the small things that make or break a little child's day. I tend to want things my way and flexibility is not that easy for me. My days consist of wanting to keep to my schedule, my plans that I have worked on so hard to accomplish for the week. I can look at schooling my kids with a big check list and I sometimes lose the enjoyment of schooling them. I want my children to see me teaching them JOYFULLY so that they enjoy learning as much as I do teaching them.

It is a reality shock at times of how and why we want things versus the reality of day to day.

There has to be some bridge and that is what I am on these last few weeks.

(It's not as bad as I may be writing it to be. Don't get me wrong, it is not as though my son is sobbing with tears all day long. But there are tears. Tears b/c of schoolwork. Tears b/c of his teacher. This is nothing that cannot be worked on and changed and that is what we are up to today.)

A bridge.
How could I NOT post this pic?! How true it is-look at it! Those troubled waters below; the "so called bridge" -so thin-but so is the right road that leads to life eternally! And I can't help but look at it and see that there is a friend along side me during these times.

So, I pray, dear Lord, help me to be extra sweet, extra cautious with my words and actions with this particular child today. Help me, Lord, to put out the little fires that occur many times a day with a gentle hand, a gentle voice and a joyful, forgiving attitude. Help me to chisel away anything that is not of You. Help me carve me into the mother and wife you created me to be. Forgive me for all the wrongs I do and help me to do right. Amen.

God bless!
Mary

Now this is a good read

Go check THIS out.
God bless,
Mary

Toy Review Tuesday

Congrats Sam on your new baby boy!(I knew it was a boy!!!).

It's Toy Review Tuesday!

Little People from Fisher-Price

I can't say enough good things about these. All of my kids (age 1-8) enjoy playing with them-there are girls and boys, young and old. There are animals of all kinds, firemen, chefs, farmers, engineers and just about any imaginable occupation. They end up outside, inside, in the pool and in the tub. My girls esp. like the little dollhouse and the boys like the farm.

I find the sets and individual ones at tag sales and from hand me downs from friends. They are not that expensive compared with other toys. They last long and they will be some of the toys I will save for our grandchildren!

God bless,
Mary

Happy 1st Birthday to my baby!!!

You are ONE already!

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet baby!!!

You have a special mission from God and we are so privledged to be here to help you along every step of the way. Always stay close to Jesus, Mary, St. Padre Pio and all the saints. We love you more than words can say. You have brought such joy in our family and we thank God for placing you here in our midst.



We love you sooooooo much and you are loved by your brothers and sisters sooooo much too!

You were born on a very awesome feast day-Feast of St. Padre Pio! (that is an awesome link full of info of Padre Pio-I highly recommend it:))

"Pray, Hope and Don't Worry!"

"I want to be only a poor friar who prays - if God sees blemishes even in the angels, can you imagine what He sees in me!"- Padre Pio

Some random things about you, Birthday Boy...Let's see:

• You havebeen very generous with your hugs and smiles to everyone. You are not shy to let them hold you and cuddle with you, which in turn makes their hearts melt and their faces light up!
• You have learned how to crawl and stand while holding onto things (not yet walking, thank You God :))
• You allow your big siblings to carry you, feed you, dress you up, (esp. in girls clothes and call you "Elizabeth"!!! -oh yes, my girls love dress up)
• You show us how easy it is to love another baby in our family! :)
• You show others how wonderful it is to have babies and what a blessing they are
• You love water! yay-after your brother who hated water at your age- it is great to see you full of giggles and smiles in water!
• You love to crawl after all your big siblings around the house-wherever they are, you HAVE to be right there in the midst of the action.
• You love your Daddy and say "Da Da" and "Baaaa Da Da" when he leaves for work.
• You learned how to wave Hi and Bye-it is so darling!
• You absolutely love your Momma and love her to hold you ALL THE TIME (which I don't mind...!)

I love you, my sweet baby boy!

May you always be as sweet as your today!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Love, Mommy

A secret of homeschooling

We do not eat much candy or gum in our house. But since I read another blog that recommended esp. boys, to chew gum while doing school work, I decided to give it a try.

There has been lots of studies that show that gum was found to help relieve anxiety, improve alertness and reduce stress among individuals. (ie: Check out this article).

I have to say, it is quite amazing how disciplined and focused my children can be (esp. my boys!) while they chew on chewing gum. The rule in our house is if they do not do their work (ie: goof off, daydream, or disobey Mommy) then they loose their gum and into the trash it goes!

So far, this gum thing is great and they are even asking to DO SCHOOL WORK so they can chew gum!

I know, this could lead to some major dentist bills in the future...not sure how long this will last. But it is working well for us right now and that is all I am concerned about. Right now is all we have. "Right here, right now."

God bless, Mary

Just because

these are some songs we've been listening to lately...


AND



There's more but can't post them right now...another day :)
God bless,
Mary

Week 2- Letter B

"Week 2- Letter B Week"

(Week 1-Letter A was such a better week for us...but I am sure you knew that already!)

Since this last week consisted of a small version of "Calcutta" of chicken pox (as my husband called it) and a slow healing asthma child with many different medicines at many different times...well, school was not much a top priority.

But, we did TRY to accomplish SOME. Here is what we did:

• We formed Letter B out of clay
• Did a hidden -B -letter Worksheet

I LOVE birds so we focused on B=Birds and read:

• Our Yard Is Full of Birds
• The Best Nest (my kids LOVED this book! and we had a fancy lil fun song to sing with it :))

Other than that, we tried to stay low, watched lots of movies and read books.
Just a very long- long-bunch of sick days.

This week, we are on Letter C and getting back to normal school, hopefully!
God bless,
Mary

She's baaaaaaaaack!

We got home from the doc appt this morning, and although her asthma looks awesome (great news!), she may have the chicken pox (uh oh) or they may just be mosquito bites. Time will tell as the day progresses. Will keep updated on this blog.

The other great news is that she can come out and play with her siblings and out of her room! No more isolation! yay! yipee!

Since she has been home, that is exactly 40 minutes so far, she has 1-held and fed the baby, 2-swept up my kitchen, and 3-is now cleaning the dishes in my sink.

No joke! She initiated this help ALL ON HER OWN!

See how easy it is to love a munchkin like her? :)

Oh, it's good to have her back! So good!

God bless,
Mary

Sunday good deals

what a deal I got today after hitting a tag sale after mass.
Check the price on THIS and THIS---
and I got the SAME things for a total of $2.50!
Yes! I love these tag sales!

I was hoping to get them without my son seeing them b/c I was going to stash them away for Christmas. But noway would he miss those, so needless to say, my kids are enjoying some presents today!

AND while I was there I also found a huge container of Dora and little people figures AND plastic Dora doll house furniture for my sick kid #2 to keep her occupied in her bedroom. For only another $2.50! Good deal #2! We've had a great fisher price dollhouse for a while now-almost 5-6 years, but without the doll house furniture. No big deal b/c the kids always have a way of creating their own furniture to play with. But, now we have some real dollhouse furniture and I was pleased to get it all at a good deal!

God provides! :)

Happy Sunday!
God bless,
Mary

A little too much

At breakfast this morning, I asked my kid #3, who is a HUGE breakfast eater, if he wanted some cereal.

He replies "Sure, Mom, as soon as I finish my syrup."

I guess we're a little bit syrup happy in this house! HA!!!

There really were some waffles under that stuff!
God bless,
Mary

P.S. UPDATE: My Kid #2 has not gotten the chicken pox, thank You God! Praise God! I think we may be out of the most critical point and onto the slow healing. We'll find out more at the doc appt tomorrow morning. Will update then. God bless.

Things I am grateful for:

• Family and friends who pray for us, and check in with us to see how we are doing.
• My mother who came and stayed the week with us-even with 2 kids who had the chicken pox! That takes some major courage!
• Our town library that lets us take out AS MANY VIDEOS AS WE WANT!
• Feeling ready and excited to start back to school this week, God willing all will be well or almost well. Well enough to start school!
• Getting most of lesson plans done for this week.
• My sweet hubby who took the children (minus 1) to the park so I could plan for school.
• Friends who have dropped off food this week or made us a meal. Perfect timing.
• A "Get well" card from our parish priest! How nice and thoughtful-the perks of a small parish, I guess!
• Finding this awesome science site that has LOTS of quick video clips on how things are made. My kids LOVE it!
• The weather this week predicted rain on 2 days but only a sprinkle to show for it-yay!
• Being able to get up every night-2x-to give my sick daughter her medicine and being awake enough to make sure it was the right medicine and right dosage too!
• My younger daughter who was up sick last night and threw up-but ONLY ONCE! (Uh, the 'only once' part is what I am grateful for-just in case you were wondering!!) I was feeling queasy too and I think it was attributed to the frozen fish fillets we had. Never again will I buy those. Noway. Never.
• And lastly, I am very grateful for my Faith in my God who loves me and will never let me be tested beyond my strength b/c He will always provide a way for us to handle it together. Along with many little angels helping me through.

This list is only a short list of my week and those small and sometimes big things that I am so very grateful for. People ask me how I can stay so strong during such turmoil and stress. It is exactly this list and paying attention to being able to see these things as God watching out for us. No doubt that He is there. No doubt.

What I do wonder is how in the world people make it through the day, and the massive tough times, without Christian Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. I have no idea.

God bless,
Mary

Update #2

So far so good...my daughter has still NOT contracted the chicken pox. I have no idea how this is possible that she did NOT get them-all I can say is prayers. Lots of prayers.

Thank you all for praying, sacrificing and thinking of us during this time. It means so very much to us. More than these mere words can say.

If we make it through the weekend, she may be in the clear for good so as not to get the pox that would indeed turn into encephalitis. Praise God she made it through the week!
Lots of movies, play dough, coloring, movies and music. Lots of time isolated in her own room, the poor thing can't wait to play again with her siblings.

Once she is outside, we give her liberty to play around (not too much b/c of her lungs not so strong yet) but she can chat and goof off from a distance with her brothers and sister and that makes her so very happy.

THANK YOU AGAIN!
Praise God.

All this we go through, let it bring Glory to God!

God bless,
Mary

Quote of the day

It is important that you choose your career with care, so that you may really follow the vocation that God has destined for you. No day should pass without some prayer to this end. Often repeat with St. Paul: "Lord, what will you have me do?"
-- St. John Bosco

School so far

**I wrote this prior to our ER & ICU visit.....

So far, we are doing okay. Starting with high expectations of school and then BOOM! reality hits. I already got a call from another mom saying "How in the world do you do this with all the little ones around?" She has a bunch of little ones too. She was looking for ideas, practical ideas of how to keep the little ones occupied while bigger kids school. So, that will be a post in a few days after I search far and wide for ideas and of course I will share some of my ideas too.

HERE is a link for a great program that I am using for my 1st grader, kindergartener and preschooler...along with the other books and programs that I am using too. So far so good. I am not using it completely to a "T" as she mentions...had to tweak it to our reality of what works for us.

HERE is another way to read about it.

If that link is too overwhelming, then THIS link will help you through it-sort of a tutorial of it.

WEEK "A"--Letter A

We cut out letter "A" out of sandpaper that I got at the dollar store-a whole bunch-15 sheets for $1! what a deal. This is for my hands-on kids to get a real "feel" of the letter A. We used clay to form "A" yesterday too. They loved that one! Pics still to come...

Lets see...yesterday and today, we read:

• Apple Picking Time
• Life & Times Of The Apple
• Johnny Appleseed
• Angels, Angels Everywhere
• Pascual and the Kitchen Angels

Here is what we are doing with all the old crayons we had and those that we given to us recently.

I think I mentioned about not being able to download my pictures-I am having a hard time and just need TIME to read up on it so that I can post pics and once I do, then I will for sure post pics-I know they'll come out sooooooooo cool!!!

If you could see some of my kids sitting in front of my oven glaring into it watching them all melt! So cute.

I'll write more when I get time...

God bless,

Mary

Quote of the day

We believe in the love of God for us. To believe in love is everything. It is not enough to believe in the Truth. We must believe in Love and Love is our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. That is the faith that makes our Lord loved. Ask for this pure and simple faith in the Eucharist. Men will teach you; but only Jesus will give you the grace to believe in Him. You have the Eucharist. What more do you want?
-- St. Peter Julian Eymard

Update

Hi all, thanks for your prayers.

Thanks be to God that my 7 yr old daughter is home in her bed tonight! She came home around 11am today. It will be quite a while till she is back to normal and she is on lots of medications. I have to keep a very close eye on her and monitor everything.

If any of you have a child w/asthma or allergies, please give me some tips on how to make sure she is free and clear of any dangers so we do not have to go down this terrible road again.

Also, please pray that she does not catch the chicken pox from my other 2 children -yes, you heard me right- my oldest and my baby both woke up covered w/ them on Sunday morning.

I was told at noon today by my pediatrician that we need to really isolate her from our other children and hope and pray she does not catch the chicken pox b/c it can lead to her getting encephalitis (infection/inflammation of the brain)!!!

We thought and prayed and debated long and hard about what to do, if we should go to a hotel room for hte week etc...but we opted to stay here since she has been exposed already and was exposed before her asthma attack on Friday that landed her in the ER and the ICU.

Once again, I am very scared and nervous so please please pray for us. Thank you.

God bless,
Mary

Pray for my daughter please

Prayer request!!!
My oldest daughter, 7 yrs old, was in the ER on Friday night with a severe asthma attack; moved to the pediatric intensive care unit early Saturday morning-6am-now back on the pediatric floor as of Sunday night 9pm. Please pray she does not have a drop in oxygen levels in her blood and that she stays off of oxygen and that her blood pressure does not drop down so low again. hopefully she can come home tomorrow. thank you so much.
God bless,
Mary

Mary Quote

In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal.
-- St Bernard

Quote of the day

Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.
-- St. Rose of Lima

On this day of 9/11...let us pray for peace and do all we can to have peace in our families. Society passes by way of the family.
God help us.

God bless,
Mary

I needed to read these today...

Today's Readings:

1st Reading:
Colossians 3: 12 - 17
12
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience,
13
forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
14
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
15
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.
16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

------------------

Luke 6: 27 - 38
27
"But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28
bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
29
To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.
30
Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again.
31
And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.
32
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
33
And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
34
And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.
36
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
37
"Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
38
give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."
---------

God bless,
Mary

Syllables

We've been learning syllables this week and I came up with a really cheesy song after lunch(be patient with me and just amuse me and try to imagine us clapping our hands and banging on the table, OK?!)
It goes like this:

GO-OUT-SIDE!...CLAP CLAP CLAP

PUT-ON-SHOES!...CLAP CLAP CLAP

GO-IN-WOODS!...CLAP CLAP CLAP

GET-OUT-SIDE!...CLAP CLAP CLAP!!!

OK...this is us...we are nutty, crazy and a bit odd but at least 'we-have- F-U-N!...CLAP CLAP CLAP!'
And truth be told, I guess this Momma just really needed them to get their energy out and get some fresh air!
God bless,
Mary

Quote of the day

The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.
-- St Vincent de Paul

Oh how I love you!

After throwing my worries at my husband, he says to me:
"Mar, remember homeschooling is so much more about home than it is about school."
You are RIGHT!
Thank you for reminding me-I love you!
This song is for YOU!:


God bless,
Mary

Happy Birthday Mother Mary!!!

Look at THESE great coloring pages. We did not get to them today but I bet some of you may still be able to squeeze in a little coloring :)

My oldest made a great cake today for Mary. It was the classic yellow with white icing (to show her purity) and TONS and I mean, TONS, of sprinkles!
At snack today, I surprised the kids with a special chocolate treat-they were so surprised! It was chocolate covered marshmallows-yum!
At lunch, we said the Angelus and said a few Hail Mary's to honor her today. I always seem to forget this prayer for some odd reason! So, this was a huge deal for us to remember for today.

Reality hit-sort of difficult to get through today...1st day jitters and could not focus.

Okay, so now I am on this computer and my 2 yr old just took a huge handful of white icing! Whoops...
gotta go now!
God bless,
Mary

1st Day of School

Don't mind us...we're busy getting school going. Will be back soon! :)
Oh, I have to leave you with a bit of a funny...
As you know we are on the mend from Chicken pox.
As we began school today, my kid #3 took the Websters Dictionary and said:

"Look Mom! Even the dictionary has chicken pox!"

It is a red colored dictionary and the pages on the side have red dots all on them. Isn't that hilarious?
It's good to be in school again. Our lives need this organization and schedule back in them!
God bless,
Mary

What a deal!

Click on THIS.
Did you look? Did you see that price?!
Yes, it did say $98.88!

Can you imagine they cost that much? Noway, I couldn't... so I looked some more and prices that came up for them were still very very high.

Now that you saw that, imagine this...
2 of THESE at a tag sale marked for $8 each. Used but much life left in them. Not many scratches at all!
I offered $5 each and...BINGO! SOLD!

Yahooooo for me-what a deal!!!

Let me tell you that I have been looking for them all summer long, thinking they just don't make them anymore....till today :) I have wanted to find at least 2 for my kids to ride on in our very large basement, esp. for those dark and cold winter months. So, now I have them and I am so pleased. Thanks God for providing!

God bless,
Mary

Draft school schedule

For those of you that are interested, here is the schedule that I came up with that concentrates more on my oldest child who is in 3rd grade. I will have to see how I am going to work in teaching my 1st grader and my little ones-preschool and kindergarten. But, for now, here is the draft template of our school day. I will post up the final one once I find out how I am going to do it! LOL!

*FYI-My hubby and I discussed which subjects that I would teach and ones that he would teach and be instrumental in helping out with. For him, he is responsible for Religion and History (which he LOVES and that works out well b/c I LOVE science, math and art!) I am very thankful for his interest in teaching and his desire to be an integral part in homeschooling. This may not work for your family. Each family is so different so you have to do with what you have and work with what you got! Just pray and find the way that God wills for you to make it work. IF there is a will, there is a way! God bless you on your journey!

(Religion-with Daddy in early AM or bedtime; we also have a special CATECHISM NIGHT on Tuesday nights that we use THIS and it really works for us)

Lesson Block 1
9-10
Math
Math-u-see

Snack/Recess
10-10:30

Lesson Block 2
10:30-12
Phonics
Spelling
Vocabulary
English
Handwriting

Lunch/Recess
12-1

Lesson Block 3
1-2pm
Reading
History

Lesson Block 4
2-3pm
Science
Art

God bless, Mary

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass

I have been mulling over a post for today but as you can see, I have not thought of much...That is, until I came to this 'exactly what I wanted to say' saying. After a week of 5 kids with chicken pox, I am even wondering how in the world I made it through~! How did I just do that?! But I did. We did-God and I. There is nothing He gives us that we (God and I) can't handle. So, here is the saying I thought was so fitting:

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass,

it's learning to dance in the rain.

An example was yesterday when all of us were in our backyard enjoying this wonderful weather (Thank You God!) and as I was putting calamine lotion on my kids' faces. It occurred to me to make them look like Indians! Why not? So, that's just what we did-we (including my oldest son that does not have the chicken pox and I) put our "Indian make-up" on and we made a tee-pee and had a pow-wow. I think what we did and how we learned to have some fun with this storm fits this saying perfectly, don't you?

It's nice to be reminded how very true this is-to learn to 'dance in the rain'. To make the most of anything that comes our way and use it as an opportunity to grow. And in my case that growth has to do with abandonment of my own will and trust and surrender to God's Will. Knowing full well that to be happy in this world is only found when we follow Him closely and His Will in our lives.

God bless you,
Mary

Small Successes- It's Thursday!

1. Being sort of ...actually ...thankful for my kids successfully (heee heee)catching the Chicken Pox!

2. Finding a lost Christmas gift-perfect timing for them to play moonsand inside :)

3. Being calm and cool with the kids lately-not quick to jump in and be critical or harsh to them. I count this as a huge success! Wouldn't you?! :) Thanks be to God for my hubby and I reading this and praying more together. Hey- Another success!

So....what are your successes???

God bless, Mary

The good, the bad, and the ugly

Life here has been, well...quite itchy lately. My poor little guys-4 of them as of today, including my sweet baby-have the chicken pox.

Good things:

• they will all likely get it
• they are all getting it around the same time-no long 1-2 weeks between kids
• It's still summer so wearing shorts and t-shirts limit the amount of clothes rubbing on their skin and bothering them
• The weather has been terrrrrrific! Mid-high 70's-could not ask for any better! Love it! And NO rain! Yippee
• School, for us, has not officially begun yet (next week is my goal!)
• Lots of movies for the sickos-their energy levels are depleted so it's actually kinda...uh, nice! if you know what I mean! I hope I am not a bad mom saying that!!! ha ha
• We have some interest from other families who want their children to be exposed to it so this is just one way to make new friends. Ha! I'm glad to be able to 'share'!!!
• Friends have been a great help with providing us with milk, eggs and bread. The essentials!

Bad things:

• Itchy
• Lots of Aveeno Oatmeal baths
• Lots of Calamine lotion
• Lots of whiny, annoying and weepy children
• Lots of movie watching (good for the sickos but bad for the energy filled somewhat well children b/c once the movie goes off-they go wacko hyper and my sickos are still laying there all chilled out)

The UGLY:

• There are still loads of dirty dishes waiting for me to attack them
• more laundry still to be done
• school prep to be looked at and attempted*(-key word) to finish
• and my girls are STILL up talking and singing songs

I guess nasty chicken pox cannot rob the giggles out of my kids!

God bless,
Mary

Have you not heard about this either?!

This has GOT to be the best kept secret. Who needs TV?
God bless,
Mary

The results are in

Itch...scratch.

Itch itch...scratch scratch.

Pass the calamine lotion, please.

1 down.

2 on their way.

3 to go.

Doc appt not till later but I can surely diagnose this stuff!
Thanks for the prayers, I appreciate them so very much!
God bless,
Mary