Faithfulness

"God is so faithful."

Those words are echoing in my heart this morning.  About 2 months ago, I added in walking to our family schedule.  What a joy this has been.  It has also its share of trials, as I am not a morning person (have I ever mentioned that?!?!? haa haaa!!!).  Overall it is a real blessing. 

God is faithful.

Fresh air. 

Birds singing. 

Time for me to soften my many thoughts and worries and place myself at ease.  I envisioned myself walking with rosary in hand, praying devoutly.  But I realized very quickly that my early morning walking is me just trying to wake up!!! :)  I sort am in a haze for the first 10 mins.  THen the next 10 mins are pretty good and I am awake to tackle the day, kids at the door and husband awaiting my return. 

God is faithful.

A great early 20 mins of my day. 

Lately my neighbor has joined me.  A God-fearing- Bible talking- Jesus loving -Southern Christian homeschooling mom.  Yes, that is right-another homeschooling mom!  She has 6 children of her own-much more spaced out than mine, but lovely just the same.  What delight to have someone to walk with!!!  I am so thankful.  My wish of accountability of getting some exercise has come finally.

God is faithful. 

It is not everyday that we walk together, only 2 or 3 times a week.  I enjoy it so much.

My hopes is have this walking and talking time to be a time of honoring God.  Not a time for complaints, although it is very hard not to fall into that trap.  Here is another Mom with many kids who homeschools and is a neighbor of mine and understands this lifestyle?  Wow.

Today she reminded me of spending time "in the Word" and  she repeated to me that God is so faithful.  No doubt that God used her to get His point across.

God is faithful.  Yes, He is. God is faithful.

God bless,
Mary

St. Monica, pray for us!

St. Monica, pray for us!

My oldest and I were able to get to daily Mass this morning and what a glorious day to go!!!  The feast of St. Monica-yet another one of my all time favorite Saints.  We also have a little girl having a name day too today!!! :)  Her middle name, but nonetheless wonderful! 

My children like learning about this Saint and how she had such virtue of perseverance in praying for YEARS AND YEARS for her husband (who was full of such temper and violent) and her wayward son (you may know as St. Augustine!: )  Yes, her terrible son turned Saint ~her son!!!

Her life gives mothers such hope! 

Thank you St. Monica for never giving up, for living a life of joy in the midst of turmoil.

Thank you for praying for us, mothers. 

Help us to do all for the Glory of God~ remind us to live a life of selflessness and of great love,

being the heart of our home.

God bless,
Mary

Rain

Finally it is raining!!! :)  We were in desperate need of rain around here.   My biggest boyovertuned the kiddie pool and used it as a super duper 'sombrero'!

We had an earthquake a few days ago-it sure was something!  It was my first 'big' quake since last summer we had a smallish one-and I remember that one so vividly too.

And now we are preparing for Hurricane Irene.
Never a dull momet, huh?

Since it is raining, these days call for some homemade chocolate chip cookies! ;)

God bless,
Mary

Quote of the Day

"Prayer is the oxygen of the soul."
--Padre Pio

One of my favorite Saints ever!!!

God bless,
Mary

Quote of the Day

"Labour without stopping;

do all the good works you can

while you still have the time."

- St John of God

How we do it-Chores-Part 2

The main comment or question that I get when I am out with all my kids is...
you guessed it.

"How do you DO it?"

...and... 

"There is noway I could do what you do."

First off, let me tell you something. 

You are right.  Absolutely right. 

There is noway I do it and noway I can do it.  The ONLY way and I mean it, the ONLY way I can do this is with the grace of God.  He is the one that helps me.  He is the one that gives me strength.  He is the one that keeps me forging ahead. 

How does HE do it? 

B/c I ask Him.  I beg Him.  And most of all, I allow HIM to help me.  I pray and I pray some more.

Yes, I fail.  I mess up.  Everyday. 

But yet, I wipe my tears and beg God to give me the graces to get up and try again.

How can I not mention my wonderful husband?  He is always willing to help out and do whatever needs to be done.  He is a super example of a father to our children.

He is always looking for ways to lessen my load.  I could not ask for better!!! He spoils me in his generosity.  I just wish I make him feel as loved and as important as he makes me feel.  He is so awesome.  I thank God for him everyday.
Now, the practical side of how exactly we do it.  And since I am not exactly sure what is meant by "it" but nonetheless, I will try to answer that persistent question. I think it means keeping house.  If not, please let me know.  I will try to answer that in another post.

"It"...=Chores.

Our family is a team.

Everyday we all have our daily chores to accomplish.  There is noway that I could be the housekeeper and tend to this house all by myself and be a calm wife and mom!!!

They each have their own morning chores and then the family's afernoon and evening chores.  The boys also have their outside chore work once a day.

Since you have asked, here are their family afternoon and evening chores... roughly:

10 yr old: Take trash outside -2 cans of trash; sweep kitchen and foyer; empty dishwasher; outside work
9 yr old:  Fold laundry; put dirty dishes into dishwasher; clean up play room and living room
7 yr old:  Laundry switchover, vacuum under dining room table; wipe down walls and doorways w/magic eraser; outside work
5 yr old:  Fold laundry; clear off table after meals
4 yr old:  Put clean utensils away; help fold laundry and help clear off table after meals
2 yr old:  Help other siblings as needed or be w/Momma
6 month old BABY:  Nurse and nap!!! :)

They do these jobs mid afternoon right before or after snack and evening chores right after dinner.
My husband makes sure these are done after dinner too! He is an awesome motivator to our children! :)  He really has that gift and I am always learning so much from him.
I hope that helps clear things up. 

They certainly do not do the best job ever but they sure do a great job for their age! :)  Having a big family helps me to accept their jobs doen to the best of their ability and let go of perfection.  I am just glad I have the help!!!

God bless your weekend,
Mary

How we do it-- Part 1 *updated*

Oh, yeah, did I tell you that we ditched all TV/Movies? 

Oh, I didn't?

Surprise!!!

Yup, we surely are making this a family lifestyle MAKEOVER lately! :)

I know...I know....don't start.  I know it is odd.  I know we may be missing out on the news.   I know we are missing out on a helper per se..a 'babysitter' of sorts.  I know I might be missing out on some good movies or shows out there.  Can we be any more 'wierd' in the sight of the world, other than having 7 children that make us stand out?
But do you know what else?

Our children are worth it.
We felt compelled to do this. 
We felt God leading us to this decision.
We felt God calling us to this radical decision and who are we to disobey His Will?

It truly has been a radical change in our family.  It is a lot of hard work.  Constantly.  But our children are worth it.  Their souls are worth it.

The big motivator for this decision was the trash all over movies and tv, which is awful.  There is not much uplifting of family life& marriage & children but just the opposite.  If this marriage and family and children is what God upholds as wonderful and beautiful, why would I subject myself or my children to watching those things that are the opposite of what God desires?  When we need to tell our children about something on the news or something that we feel is necessary to, then we will.  We, as parents, will pick the right time to tell them.  We  are their parents, afterall.

The other BIG motivator for this decision for our family was realizing how much time is plainly wasted by watching tv/movies.  When we decided to forge ahead on making this schedule, we were in awe of how much we wanted to accomplish with our God-given time.  Seriously.  We did not want to waste this precious time with our children on this sort of entertainment. 

It is so evident that we made the RIGHT decision.

Since the TV/movies have been off and gone, we have been so much more resourceful.  My kids have shown great growth in creativity.  Some of my kids have really matured in so many ways.  We have instituted "Books on CD" and quiet time in those times that I would have put on a movie, daily.  One of my children, my 4 yr old sweet guy, has been talking so much better, using better words than what I have seen.  We have been spending, and I mean really spending TIME with our children-being present with them.  Not one eye on the tv and one eye on them.  Not the "wait a minute" and I'll be there b/c I really want to see what happens with so and so in this show.  We have found our children focusing on us as much as we are on them.  They are happier b/c we are giving as much as we can to them.  I really think they are feeling better about themselves and feeling the value of themselves in our family b/c God put them here in our family.  B/c we are present to them.  We truly believe it is b/c of no more TV/movies.

(FYI---Of course, if they are sick or if we deem it is necessary, then we are not totally opposed to it.  IF it is educational, then we may feel it is okay.  There are some grey areas for this decision.)

Well, best go now...time to get back to my kids.  We are all enjoying a most beautiful day outside.  My kids are using some boxes on our front lawn making them into air space shuttles and whatever else!  It is quite amusing for my little lady and I to watch.  To the rest of the neighborhood, it looks as if we are having a yard sale!!! haa haa!!! LOL

Go summer!!!!
God bless,
Mary

My Schedule Thoughts-Part 1

This summer has been flying by so quickly!

 

It is HOT HOT HOT and sunny most days :)  If it rains, it is only a passing shower and it gives me some hope that we can get back outside or to the pool.  This weather is amazing! 

 

The blog, however...uh, as you have noticed probably has been placed on the back burner. 

 

I sure hope you don't mind and hope you are having a fulfilling and fruitful summer as we are! :)

 

I have been super busy with that schedule that I mentioned HERE.

 

It is a super duper, heavy duty, 30 minute time increments of our day.  I hope to, God willing, post in detail about our days and how we are working with it.  That will come with time. 

 

However, I will post today on my overall thoughts on it.

 

Prior to implementing our family schedule, I had some issues at the end of my day.

The biggest things for me were:

• Why didn't I start my day with prayer?  How did I forget?!
• Why was I ending my day and wondering what did I accomplish? 
• Why didn't I get to the things I really wanted or needed to do? 
• Why didn't my kids get around to doing the things I knew were best for them?

 

I was living in a total reactive mode of parenting. 

 

I could not get one step ahead of my children and their want/needs/desires.  I could not figure out how to tend to each of our 7 blessings in a way to 'fill up thier love tank' and be the Momma they needed me to be for them and the Momma and wife that God was calling me to be.  Daily. 

 

Days would go by. 

 

Weeks would zoom by. 

 

Months were disappearing in a snap of my finger. 

There was a mental list of things I thought that if I accomplished then it was a good day.  If I didn't get to them, than it was not such a good day. 

 

This way of thinking was not healthy, b/c we know children have their wits about them and God's Will was very prominent. 

The deal was, I was fighting God's will for me and my family. 

It was apparent that I needed to change a diaper (or 2!) or fold the laundry but I was doing this task lacking the much love that it needed and deserved.  I was grudgingly doing these things.  I was wishing that I was off doing something else.  I believe St. Teresa said to 'find God in the pots and pans'.  And that is so true.  In my vocation to motherhood, though, I was not seeing it.  I wanted to, oh, how my desire was to.  BUT, I was kissing this boo-boo, disciplining this child, vacuuming when I should have been reading to my son, or answering my emails or phone eradically when I should have been playing w/ my 2 yr old b/c he wanted me to and on and on and on.  Living in a reactive mode of parenting set me up for a disaster of sorts. 

 

30 minutes is what we have per scheduled activity throughout the day, minus lunch and dinner which is 1 hour each.

 

30 minutes is a very short amount of time. I like that. It is short enough that fights and squabbles may not errupt too badly and long enough to be able to get some stuff done. What I have to get used to is that a little each day goes a long way-we may not finish the whole page of Math for the day and may need to come back to it the following day. This is not how I have ever really done school-it was always to finish a whole page and then Math was done. Not now, it is done at that 30 minute stopping time. That's it. It is growing on me, for I see how excited they are to be done with that subject. They can visualize the 30 mins and they know it is not that long. They opt to get to the scheduled work quicker than me nagging at them to do it (most of the time! :)

 

Now, this 30 minute schedule really freaked me out the first few weeks-thoughts rushed around my head and doubts that it would really work for our family. But, once into practice for a while, it has helped us all tremendously.

 

It makes me think of what Blessed Mother Teresa said:

 

"Do small things with great love."

 

Making a list of things that I wanted and needed to do that entire day was uplifting.  It gave me hope that I could get to reading to my children that I so badly wanted to and all those other things as well, but could not 'find the time' to do it!  Now, when my kids are interested in me reading to them, I tell them that I absolutely will and what time it will be at.  And it gets done.  Period.

 

That's all I have time for today!
God bless your day,
Mary

Afterall, guess I am ok.

This morning was chaotic and hectic, loud and crudeness erupted everywhere! 

Mondays are sometimes like that, right?

That's just to make me feel better, saying that, ya know.  (or maybe not! ha lol). 

If I jotted down (which I was terribly tempted to do) every single crazy and outlandish thing that had happened this morning, I may frighten away any woman out there from having children!!! lol!

Seriously.

I am not kidding, at all.  Nope.

I waited to call my hubby to tell him all my life horror stories from a single morning, a measly 4 hours.  I waited and I was so in dire need of venting.  But I waited.  B/c if your hubby is anything like my hubby, he cares so much and loves so tenderly, that when hearing upon my venting words, he wants to come home, fix whatever needs fixing, and that's that.  And, of course, he is focused on home, --me, and the kids.  Not bad-he's a keeper, for sure.  BUT he is at work.  It is not good to be focused on HOME when he is at WORK.  Someone is making the bread $, and it surely is not me, of course! :)

Anyway, so I finally got him 10 mins before I knew he was heading to noon Mass.  (Good and holy hubby! Love him!)  When I did talk to him, by that time, I was cooled off, recollected, and ready to tackle at least lunch time.  He was proud of how I was handling my self & in control.  Hey, I was too! :)  It was surely God working through me to get me that cooled off place and definitely not me, by myself.  Noway.  (Thank You, God!)

So, now lunch is officially over, and some kidos are napping.  My sweet little lady is napping for the 2nd time IN HER OWN CRIB and NOT IN MY ROOM but the girls room!!! :)  I hope it lasts longer than the 20 min nap this morning (when she usually naps a good 1-2 hours).

My big kids are 'playing school'-I even got them some 'real school books'!!! Phonics for this upcoming year and I am hearing my oldest being the teacher for the 9, 7 and 5yr olds.  They are so cute.  They don't mind starting school already-they are excited to get going-and since we take a longer Advent and Christmas break, this seems to be perfect :)  I was not going to start school till after Labor Day (as in the past 7 yrs) but this year, if they are ready and I have the books, then so am I! :)  By the way, I have had them doing some math manipulates and reading the past 4 plus weeks since we got back from our vacation back in June.  We stopped school at the end of May, took 3 weeks off, then we went on vacation for a week.   I have noticed with my kids that 3 weeks is enough for them of dwadling and having a break.  Their souls, minds, and bodies are ready to be scheduled again. 

Since we have been working diligently on our very strict and quick changing family schedule, we have instituted FAMILY PRAYER TIME 2x a day!  How about that?  I love it!!!  It was always what I wanted to do but could never 'find the time to do it'.  That was my excuse and is was rampant around here.  Not now.  Things have changed.  For the better, I might add.

Feeling it was necessary to show and teach the kids about praying and how God answers our prayers, we began a Family Prayer of Intentions Book.  One of my kids jotted down at lunch, today:

1.  A family member to go to confession
2.  Mom
3.  New Baby

What was that?
 #3???

Nope, we are not expecting (at least not yet that I am aware of !) but I found it so touching that this child would ask for another sibling after a morning this today.  After a morning that held too many regrets on my part of saying too much too flippantly to this child.  Yet, he is asking God for a sibling. 

Wow, this absolutely amazes me. 

I guess I am not so bad of a momma, after all.

All Praise and honor be to God alone.  This is not my doing.

God bless your day!