Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Great Deal with Christmas Pics!!!

WOW! 

Check out THIS GREAT and FREE DEAL from Shutterfly!!!

Who doesn't like a good deal, right?
You know how much I love taking pictures of my family and my kids, especially.  These fleeting moments are just too quick and I have to capture these moments before they are gone and done with.

I just found a great picture for our family Christmas Card...not THIS one that I posted about last week!!! Although those came out great too...hum, maybe I'll use BOTH pics for the card, now that there is so many ways to create these cards w/shutterfly!

I can't wait to start!

God bless,
M



Saturday, November 27, 2010

I have a 10 yr old son!




I have a 10 year old!

I have a 10 year old!

WOOOHOOOO!

Happy 10 Birthday to my "numba wahn sohn"!!!
We love you so much and we're so proud of you!
May you always strive to be holy and remain close to Jesus and Mary your whole life.

We love you!
Momma

Friday, November 26, 2010

So, whatcha doin' tomorrow?

What:  How about joining in with the Pope and do a PRO-LIFE PRAYER WORLD-WIDE VIGIL????
When:....Tomorrow, Saturday November 27th....

WHY:   Check it out HERE.

PSSSSSSST!!!!!!!!!!!.........This day also happens to be someone very special's 10th BIRTHDAY!!!!
I have a 2-digit child now! wow! :) 
More to come on his special day...


God bless,
M

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!


Isn't this so cool? 
My 6 yr old son made the monstrance and made a pic of the host be able to open up.  Inside he put a pic of Jesus!  Great Job buddy!!!

Did you know that Eucharist in Greek means THANKSGIVING? :)







And...now a funny one.....haaaa haaa! LOL!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family from all of us!

God bless,
M

Monday, November 22, 2010

Smile! CLICK~!

Yesterday, I was all set on taking pics of our kidos for our annual Christmas photo card.  There was no way of changing my mind.  I knew that this weather would be perfect timing-so nice and only slightly chilly out - not even enough to wear jackets, if you would ask my kids.  It had to be done-that day.  With being further away from our loved ones, this is one of the Christmas cards, I am sure, they are waiting for. 

And anyway, I love to take pics of my kids-esp. all of them together.  It is a real treat for me.  It brings my view into focus-on what really matters.  When I see those pics, no matter what they may bring-silliness, craziness, madness or dullness...it does not matter.  B/c these are our blessings.  Our little treasures

Each of our children has their own personality and it truly shines through when I take a bunch of the same pictures one click after another!  I love love LOVE it!!! :)

I *tried* to train them to smile those nice smiles where you can see their teeth and they actually smile :)   Not those 'smiles' where you can see teeth but they look like they are sporting some new evil teeth look at you! haaa  :)  I also *tried* to make sure that they knew when it was time to smile to do just that and then hold that smile so I could take click after click of pictures.  I still wondered, though, how this would pan out. 

I really enjoy reviewing the pics and laugh at each one as they are so different and so unique in each of their own special way!

I set the kidos all up, with the help of my adoring husband-he insisted oldest to youngest :).  And I told them to smile as my hubby acted goofey behind me.  The other people at the lake/park were looking at us and I am sure either laughing at us or reminisicing of their younger days doing just the same thing.  It was quite the sight, let me tell you! :)

And off I went with the camera. 

CLICK
CLICK
CLICK
CLICK

...And then it happened.

My batteried DIED! and I had NO extra batteries on me!!!
I guess there will only be a few to choose from this year and I hope at least one is halfway decent!!!

Here are some pics of where we were and some diff. shots before my camera died....






MY 4 WILD BOYS:

MY 2 SWEET GIRLS:

 And the sight they loved...

God bless,
M

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!

11 years

14 years of togetherness
2 years dated
1 year engaged
11 years married
and...
7 kids later...

WOWEE!!!


It's been one wild rollercoaster with you~!
And I am so glad that we are buckled in by our Faith,
next to each other.
There's no one else I'd rather be on this ride with than you!!!

I love you so much! (smooooch!:))
 
Can't wait to go OUT on a DATE with you tonight!!!

Fancy restaurant, a glass of wine and time alone... here we come! :)
God bless,
M

Friday, November 19, 2010

What we're listening to today









God bless,
M

Just a reminder QUOTE

If the grain of wheat falling into the earth does not die it will not bear fruit.

"If we do not die to ourselves, and if our holiest devotions do not lead us to htis necessary and fruitful death, we will bear no worthwhile fruits and our devotions will be worthless." 

----(from True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort, Chapter V).

God bless,
M

Thursday, November 18, 2010

What good must I do to have eternal life?

“Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?”
(Mt 19:16)


The invitation, “go, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor”, and the promise “you will have treasure in heaven”, are meant for everyone, because they bring out the full meaning of the commandment of love for neighbor, just as the invitation which follows, “Come, follow me”, is the new, specific form of the commandment of love of God.  (from this LINK).



"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another."
----JOHN 13:34



God bless,
M

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Was that a tornado?

Last night, I woke up shaking and yelled to my hubby:
"Honey, WHAT IS THAT?!"

He bolted up, screamed, "Eeveryone downstairs! GO GO GO!!!"

I swear we were in the midst of a tornado! But I cannot find any news or weather clips about it anywhere!

I have never been in a tornado but I swear it was one last night.

It was 12:30ish and I heard the wind begin to blow SO loudly; it was raining but then it was pouring SO loudly. It sounded like tree limbs and baseballs were being thrown at our windows within seconds!

For sure, one of my TOP 3 scariest moments in my life. Easily.


Our 2 yr old was in bed with us anyway(long story for another time...) and I basically threw him to my hubby as I ran down our hallway to get the other children up, yelling the whole time "Downstairs everyone!"

I grabbed the other children, (how did I do this being pregnant?!) and carried them as I was running throughout the house trying desperately to get downstairs to safety.

We all eventually gathered downstairs in the basement in an area where there are no windows, but our lights were on. We had no flashlight or radio so my portective husband quickly got a radio and plugged it in (not knowing for how long we'd have power).

My daughter, who is typically quiet, could not stop talking about how she heard the same things being thrown at her windows as well.

My hubby ran upstairs after a few minutes to get his laptop and we were sure there was something terrible going on outside. We wanted to know what it was and when it would stop.

Then it stopped.
It was quiet.
No rain, no wild wind, no hail or whatever we heard.

We waited and waited in this small area and checked our laptop weather updates continuously till we were not in a warning for 'severe weather'.

WHAT?! Severe weather? Are you kidding me? Was that all it was? Really?

To me, it was the worst I have seen mother nature behave. By far the scariest and I do not want to experience that one more time.

Oh my.

Thank You God for keeping us safe and letting us wake up to a mess of a backyard full of broken limbs and branches, full of leaves everywhere and now the sun is rising.

God bless,
M

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Random---ness Quick Takes

1.......My 2 girls and 2 little boys are making tents out of blankets, cushions, couches-whatever....you name it, they are using it.

2......My 2 big boys are playing with matchbox cars and BLUTRACK race car track.

3.....We made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and hot chocolate. Some rainy days just need those 2!!!: )

4......I found a few great links on how to live frugally. For some odd reason I cannot seem to link up anything!!! (very annoying!)

Once it works again, I'll post them for sure...

5.....We made an easy dinner for tonight. So easy my 3 and 5 yr old pretty much did it themselves (well, I did brown the meat first!!!)

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
can or frozen green beans
1 can garbonzo beans
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup (do not add milk)
1 bag of french fried onions
2 bags of tator tots on top

brown meat, drain and put in 9 x 13 dish
drain can green beans or just put on frozen green beans
drain and put on 1 can garbonzo bean (chick peas)
smooth on the cream of mushroom soup
put on top the onion and then layer the tator tots on top of that!

EASY PEASY!
Yummy! All my kidos eat tons of this dinner! :)

We always bake up whatever tator tots were not used on top...my kids love love tator tots!

God bless,
M

Old and new *update

This year, we've been studying the Old Testament. It is easy to forget all the beautiful stoires and our Jewish history. We're all enjoying it very much. This week we are on MOses and the 10 Commandments.

I'm all ready to post some pics and show you some links of what we're up to but...

...For some odd reason, my computer is not working correctly. I will post some pics hopefully soon...hope my computer works alright!

*Well, there will be no photos, at least none for today! :( We cannot find ANY gluesticks! How could we be without them?! haaa..maybe later this week...
GOd bless,
M

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Boys and their Woods


It seems that I post quite a bit about "BOYS" and their antics and imaginations, esp. in our woods in our backyard. 
I guess you can say that I am in awe of these little opposites.  They constantly surprise me with what they find amusing and how they fill their time up with doing all these "boys things"! 
I don't know if I will ever understand them! 
But I sure will love them through all this.  Since we have 4 boys  (so far-who knows what is next!), I know my life will be filled to the brim with boy stuff.

So, you've been warned. 

Here are some more pics of my boys and their stuff.   They are something else!!!


Walking the fence...

both walking the fence...


Kid #1 made a cage out of metal wires, he is showing me how he plans to catch a rabbit....


Teeepeeee #1 (yes, there are 2!) made by my boys....



Woa, Mom!  Look what I found.....


In our old house's backyard it was always frogs....here it is salamanders, frogs, turtles....


BOYS!!!

God bless,
M

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

6 yr old take on the $ Fairy

"Mom! The money fairy came and put some more money in my wallet.  I opened it up and was like 'wow!  wooohooo!"

Too funny! 
I love how 6 yr olds think and are so simple!

BTW, I have NO idea who the $ fairy is but my inclination is he means the tooth fairy (which has yet to come visit him-heee heee!)

God bless,
M

Saturday, November 6, 2010

St. Martin de Porres

We love this saint, nicknamed "Brother Broom".

Happy Feast day of St. Martin de Porres !!! (It was a few days ago.  I didn't have time to post this :))

Here is what we did on this great feast day:

Printed and then painted THIS picture of St. Martin de Porres...

....while listening to THIS CD about St. Martin de Porres- we truly love this saint and our favorite part is when he talks to the mice about the poison!  My kids love to imitate their voices :)  It's really cute.






God bless,
Mary

Friday, November 5, 2010

Busy

I've been busy doing this...


 with the 5 of them...


while my oldest is doing this...


I sure hope he knows that we still love him to bake with us...
but him being in 4th grade now, bigger things are expected of him. 

Please do say a prayer, if you remember, b/c sometimes growing up is just so hard.

God bless,
Mary

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Quote of the Day

"Keep your eye on the crucifix,

for Jesus without the cross

is a man without a mission;

and the cross without Jesus

is a burden without a reliever."

--------Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Because she is just this way...

My (now*) 5 yr old chick-a-dee is just this way...
At lunch yesterday, after taking a bite of cheddar cheese, says:
"Mom, this cheese is just so....cheesy, ya know?"

("Yes, my dear, it is very cheesy!")-haaa haaa :)  Love it!

We had our Physical Education class yesterday meet up to get the kids their timed runs around the track.  The little kids did a 1/4 mile, slightly bigger kids a 1/2 mile and the big big kids did a whole mile around the track.  It was a chilly 35-38* out there!  All the kids all did super!  

My oldest 3 ran and did great! :)  They had their eyes focused on their goal-the finished line.  It was so great to see them being so proud of themselves, knowing they did their best, fighting and pushing for a good time on the timers.  They like competition, some even more than others, esp. my oldest daughter.  She did not look away ONCE from that finish line!  She surely takes after my hubby-they are 2 peas in a pod, those competitors. 

But there is one little chick-a-dee sunshine girl that is a bit more like, uhm...me.
I am not a big competitor person.  I like us all to 'just get along'! :) 

At that PE class running, my little chick-a-dee of a 5 yr old just took her lil' ol' time.  That is how she is.  That is her nature.  Not a bother to be the last one running as she glances around looking at the pretty fall colored trees as she ran by.   At the end, everyone was cheering and a big smile was on her face, but she did not speed it up at all :) 

She was so happy having a good time, taking her time, and she was so glad that the cheerers were having as big as a smile as she had. 

Precious.
Cute.
Sweet.

Because simply....that is just how she is.  
She is just 'that' way.

I hope it lasts.  :)  There is so much innocence and sweetness about her.  I love it!  I love her!
Thank you God for this daughter in my life, she brings the sunshine and makes it brighter for all of us! 

God bless,

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

All Soul's Day today

Heavenly Father, You sent Christ Jesus your Son to wash away the sins of all mankind through His perfect sacrifice,
and you cleansed our departed brothers and sisters in the waters of baptism.
May His perfect sacrifice free them from the power of death and give them eternal life.
In your mercy, O Lord, grant them eternal rest,
and may perpetual light shine on them forever. + Amen.
 
AN IDEA FOR TODAY:
One of the best ways to teach children how we respect the dead is to visit a cemetery. You might be surprised that this can be a very pleasant family outing during the fall, when all creation seems to be preparing to end the active life of this season on earth, in order to prepare for life in the next.
 
Eternal Rest
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.


God bless,
M

Monday, November 1, 2010

Happy All Saints Day!!!

All Saints of Heaven,
PLEASE pray for us to be holy
and to get to Heaven!!!

God bless,
Mary