Twins? Think again.

Lately, my kids are into calling themselves twins if they wear the same colors or eat the same food or both wearing boots and just about anything alike.

I made hot chocolate for their afternoon 'snack' today and they had a choice of a blue or a green straw. My kid #2 and #3 who are close in age- 18 months gleefully called themselves 'twins' b/c they picked the same color blue straws. No other comments were made by the peanut gallery. They actually look a lot like twins b/c of their identical sizes!

Then my kid #4 who is 3 called herself and my kid #1 who is 8 years old 'twins' b/c they picked the same color green straws. My 8 year old looked up at me and quietly said (not to upset the 3 year old) "Mom, we are not even close to twins." Obviously he is not enthralled by the others' definition of a twin!
God bless,
Mary

Prayer Request for baby

I have been following this story of a little miracle baby, Faith Hope. I first heard about her on facebook (when I used to be on it! I gave it up for Lent!) and check in every now and then. God is so good for giving baby Faith and her mommy so much time on earth right now together. She is an amazing 35+ days old now! If you can say a little prayer for this miracle and her mommy, that would be great. Thanks!
God bless,
Mary

Kids' Obesity Solution

Have you ever noticed how much the school buses stop to pick up the kids these days?

I mean, really! My hubby tries his best to get out the door for work before 2 buses pass our house. If not, he cannot avoid them stopping about every 3rd house for most of his 20 minute drive to work. That's what happened this morning. We both saw the 2 buses come and go then we looked at each other and did one of those smirky annoyed kinda-smiles.

We both thought at the same time...do kids ever have to walk to and from school bus stops anymore? Those buses stop for each kid at their houses. I am not talking about kindergarten young kidos or those with special needs but those older ones.

They got it good.

Not to date ourselves, but we had to do lots of walking to and from those bus stops waaaaaaaay back when. But, for them...nope. No walking needed. Except from the bus to the car. Even when they are called to walk, oh, about 500 feet, their parents are out there to pick them up.

I have a long time nieghbor friend who had to walk to and from her bus stop every day. That walk was a mile and a half. She went to a private school where her bus had to go to many different towns in a small amount of time. For her, that bus could not and did not get any closer to her house than a mile and a half.

So, my hypothesis is to get those kids walking again and have them trek the distance to the ol' bus stop down at the corner of the street.

My hubby encouraged me to make a disclaimer here. This post that I wrote is NOTHING against heavy/ above average/ little bit chunky type of kids. It's just something that I have noted and was a bit well, slightly peeved about.

Rob, you got this? I have just written a post for you this friday- your 'pet peeve phriday' post!

What is this picture, you ask? I have no idea, do you ?! What are they gonna come up with next?!
Anyway, I think I'll take a walk today.
God bless,
Mary

Laughter in the best medicine

Today, my hubby took the older 4 to see his great grandpa who is in a nursing home. That left the two little ones and me. No big deal, I thought.

My 2 year old showed me how much more I need to laugh.

He is a ball of laughter just about all the time! What a joy he is to have around. We laughed about corny things such as having ice cream on the table (yup, ice cream- even during Lent! I love to spoil this kid!). We laughed at the slurping noises we made and funny faces we made. We also laughed at how choo-choo train tracks hook together and how funny it is to put a little people tractor on it. We also laughed at our baby and how he loves to make some funny noises. So we copied him and guess what? We laughed at that too!

Did I mention that he is 2?

He also showed me that he loves his baby brother VERY much. He has this thing about throwing his blanket into the baby's face all the while- laughing- can you believe the audacity of that little guy? heee heee. He also showed me how much he loves his baby brother by tackling the poor thing. I know, it's a boy thing. As long as I am holding the baby, then the baby thinks that 2 year old kids rock! If I dare let him down and 2 year old comes around the corner, my 6 month old baby will let out the loudest squeal you've ever heard! (hum...I wonder where he gets that from?...)

While they rest of the gang was out, I was reminded how much I depend and how much I enjoy having those (somewhat) older kids around!

Take care and Happy 5th Sunday of Lent!

God bless,
Mary

Baby's motto

This is such a baby's motto, don't you think?

No worries for you, little baby. Momma is at your every need. Dirty diaper? No problem. I'll change it. Hungry? No problem. I'll feed you. Tired? No problem. I'll give you your pacifier, wrap you up in your favorite blanket and put you in your crib. No worries for you, little baby of mine. I got your back!

If life was only like this for us. Don't we all want these quick and fast remedies to all our whims? The Truth is...we do have it this good! B/c God is in charge! Why should we worry?
Let's not forget what Jesus said:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil. " (Matthew 6:16-19)

Now, don't you feel better? I know I do. I'm going to try my best to remember that there is nothing that BOTH God and I can't do TOGETHER.
So, Hakuna Matata friends.
God bless,
Mary

Fly into Spring Cleaning

I am really tempted to begin this. Have any of you out there done it before? I have heard of this gal and how great it is. Well, it is Spring cleaning time. Perfect time to start...I wonder if I have the guts to actually do it! My biggest fear is the fear of failure. I don't want to gear myself up emotionally and physically to start it just to stop it shortly afterward due to things not in my control. I'm gonna think about it for a bit and wait to hear what you think too! So, drop me a note...I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this system.
God bless,
Mary

2 things I learned last night

2 things I learned last night:

1. By the 6th baby, a mom finally learns how to feed a cranky baby very liquidy baby rice cereal in a baby swing while it is swinging AND alternating the spoon with the pacifier AND finishing almost the whole bowl!
2. Never and I mean never let there be a UCONN NCAA game at the same time of the American Idol results. Come on people! What are you thinking?!
   
   Well anyway, have a great Friday- TGIF!
   God bless,Mary

You might need another coffee when...

...you try to convince your kids that their favorite show, Martha Stewart, is not on for another 30 minutes. When they are totally confused, with cortorted faces, looking at you as though you have 3 heads, you realize you meant to say this Martha show, you leave the room and start a new pot of coffee. It's gonna be a long 3 hours till Daddy gets home.
God bless,
Mary

Small Successes- It's Thursday!

It's that time again- Small Successes for the week:

1. A small success that I consider a big success is that I took the time to pray and LISTEN to what God wanted to tell me and that I needed to listen to. Did I mention that I listened?! Too many times I go to pray and I ask, I beg, and I ask and I beg, ask and beg, ask and beg. You get the drift. I call on God to pour His graces on me. Not that these are not good to do but I need to remember to LISTEN to Him too. He has great advice! I was so excited of what He told me, I immediately ran out to tell my husband. His response? "Wow, you haven't had a good insight in a looooooooong time!" Well, it goes to show that he knows me too well, huh!? :)

2. Yesterday I seized the moment and took a nap instead of cleaning up the house or making dinner early. That is huge for me. In fact, right now, I should be seizing 'that moment' again!

3. Made some yummy meals this week. Not the frozen leftovers. Not the frozen pizzas. Not the spaghetti o's. Any mom knows when a real meal is made, that is one big success.

Hum...I am seeing a theme here with the small vs. big successes. I wonder if I should write in to Faith and Family Live and ask them to change the term small successes to BIG SUCCESSES!

Any 'small success' in the world's eyes is a BIG SUCCESS for us Moms, don't you think?
God bless,
Mary

Cow Tipping

FUNNY!!! HA!!! Have a great day!

**Had to remove this funny cartoon**

sorry!!!

God bless,
Mary

Rockin' and Rollin'

Loosing teeth for my 8 year old is taking a long time. He has lost 2 bottom ones -one when he was 7 and the 2nd one just 3 weeks ago. Now his first top one is on its way out and he is super thrilled about it. A step up into the 'really big kid' world.
At breakfast today he touched it and said
"My tooth is so wiggly that it feels like there's a rocking chair in my mouth!"
Hopefully the tooth fairy will remember the 3rd time around! That tooth fairy is a very busy lady and forgets sometimes too!- whoopsie!
Isn't that great!
God bless,
Mary

Quote of the day

“Don’t get upset with your imperfections. It’s a great mistake because it leads nowhere - to get angry because you are angry, upset at being upset, depressed at being depressed, disappointed because you are disappointed. So don’t fool yourself. Simply surrender to the Power of God’s Love, which is always greater than our weakness.”
— St. Francis de Sales

So, there you have it.
God bless,
Mary

Blog changes

Can you tell that I am playing around with the colors on my blog? What do you think? I figured since it is Spring officially that I could spruce up this blog to make it more, well, Spring-y! I have let my little chickie daughter make all the color changes!

Don't be fooled by that little quiz I took yesterday. Just about all of it was right on, the one thing that will take a miracle for me to become better at is aesthetics!- the way something looks, especially when considered in terms of how pleasing it is. Anyone who knows me knows that I am very laxed about this. That gene missed me big time! ha ha! It's a good thing God knows what He is doing b/c although it missed me, he gave it to my daughter! Thank you God!
God bless,
Mary

Kool-Aid Kool-Idea

Check this idea that I found:
Make some tasty lip gloss for little girls playing dress-up. Let the girls pick their favorite presweetened Kool-Aid flavor. Blend a package of the drink mix with 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, then microwave for one minute. Transfer to a 35mm film canister and refrigerate overnight. Doesn't this sound like fun?! I might try it this week! The only glitch is I bet the yummy sweet taste of this lip gloss might entice them to have an empty 35 mm canister by the end of the day!
God bless,
Mary

My night last night..

Springtime quiz

I just did this by the recommendation of another blogger pal and I am happily surprised at the results. How did they know this by a little quiz!? Quite eerie if you ask me...here are the results:
What Part of Spring Are You?

You Are Blooming Flowers

"You are an optimistic person by nature. In even the darkest times, you are hopeful about the future.You feel truly blessed in life and can sometimes be overwhelmed with emotions.You have an artist's eye. You are always looking for beauty in the mundane.You have a good sense of aesthetics, especially when it comes to shapes and color."

I have to admit-that was so fun! So, what are you?

God bless,
Mary

a.k.a. America Express Cards

What I heard in the boys room as kid #1 and kid #3 were gearing up and pretend playing that they were Indian Missionary cowboys (or something boyish like that) going on a hike was just hilarious~! I had to write this one down. They were gathering their needed items and placing them in their sacks and kid #1 boldly states that they will also need their "American stress cards"-HA! How funny and how true is that?! :)
God bless,
Mary

Is it just me? American Idol thoughts...

Or is there anyone else other than my blogger pals- this gal and this guy (who both seem to actually enjoy her!) that get a bit annoyed and irritated when you hear this gal from American Idol?
Good thing the show is not over yet! We'll see who gets booted off this week...
God bless,
Mary

Quote of the day

"If your neighbor is not changed for the good because he knows you, you do not love him, you love yourself!"
- Mother Angelica (from the book Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality)

WOW! What an amazing quote!
Sitting in front of my bookshelf with tons of books that I have either finished, or started-and-stopped-and-started-and-stopped, I was drawn to this book that I have not read in a while. To me, it is a pick up book, read a small paragraph, meditate, then put book down. Mother Angelica just cracks me up- she has such a way about her and how she gets her point across.

This quote hit me hard. How many people do I know? How many actually change b/c of me? AND change for the GOOD?!?! Yikes.

Immediately I think of my children and I wonder if they are changing (yes) b/c they know me (yes). But are they changing for the good b/c they know me? Talk about a huge responsibility. My prideful self would say yes, but deep down after some thought...I wonder if I am loving them to the degree so that they will know the power of Jesus' love. I wonder if my sins -loss of patience and yelling have brought them to change for the good.

These children of mine really know me. They see me day in and day out b/c I homeschool them. They are with me 24-7. No one else sees me to this degree. They see my "happy go lucky, cheerful, patient, sweet, loving, kind, calm and in control in the chaos" type of Momma. But they also see my "mad, sad, yelling, blowing up at little things, my talking -talking -talking and not doing -doing -doing discipline" type of Momma. Which one do you think will bring my children to change to the good b/c they know me? Of course you know. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure that out. But it does take quite a lot of perfect practice (as my hubby says) to get this Momma in order so that Jesus' awesome love and Heaven become a reality to them.

Lord, I give everything to You. Take me for who I am and mold me into the person You created me to be. I am weak, Lord. But take these weaknesses and change them. Make me see the beauty of suffering in my everyday trials. Remind me of Your power in my weakness and give me the courage to act the way that will make You known. Lord you have said "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." For all I do is for You. I beg You to pour Your graces upon this little servant of Yours so that I can become the woman You have created me to be. I have confidence in Your love to overcome all my imperfections and all my sins. Forgive me, Lord and help me to avoid anything that can lead me to sin. Amen.
God bless,
Mary

Meet Jane Roe...I mean Norma

Well, well, well...wouldn't you know...take a look at this.
I'll let that sit and let you think about that for a while.
God bless,
Mary

He might be getting it...

...or not.

Yesterday morning, my cutie pie 2 year old designed a little nook for himself by rearranging the play kitchen to make the perfect little spot.
It was so very tiny. Perfect size just for him.
He grabbed his book, looked at me and said "Pray. Pray."
Very cute for my growing 2 year old big boy.
Except the book he was 'praying' with is called Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss. Good thing he is driven to pray but we have work to do with his choice of a 'prayer book'! Don't ya think?
God bless,
Mary

St. Joseph video clip

Happy Feast day of St. Joseph!!!
St. Joseph, please pray for us!
God Bless,
Mary

It's March Madness Time!

Oh yeah, in this house, we are all about it. Growing up watching it and now my little ones are totally into it too.
And did you know what? Get this-you can even watch these games online. For free! At least Round 1.
Oh yeah, life is good and this Lent is chugging along...
God bless,
Mary

Happy Feast of St. Joseph!

When thinking of St. Joseph, what comes to mind is the humble and patient, just and protective, gentle and chaste spouse of Mary, and Jesus' foster father on earth. Being the head of the Holy Family; he was also poor in worldly terms of possessions, but super rich in grace and virtue.
What a great model of virtue. What a great Saint for us to pray to for our husbands. In this world today, they need all the help they can get! St. Joseph, pray for us, our husbands and our marriages!

I think just about everyone knows the tradition of burying a St. Joseph statue on your property can help you sell your home. But do you know where this tradition originated from? I came aross a site that I found so interesteing and had to share it. On this site, I found some info on it...

"The tradition of burying St. Joseph in the earth began hundreds of years ago during the time when St.Teresa of Avila was opening Carmelite Convents throughout Europe. Taking only the bare necessities and their statue of St. Joseph, her nuns would set out in search of land or buildings suitable for a new convent. St. Teresa of Avila always encouraged her nuns to pray to St. Joseph.
It is believed that, on one particular search, the nuns found a piece of property perfect for their needs. Having no money, the nuns immediately started to petition St. Joseph for the funds needed to buy the property. In the meantime, having no place to stay, the nuns decided to bury their statue of St. Joseph on the property so he would not get stolen or broken.
After the nuns prayed to St. Joseph, someone purchased the land and built them a convent. When it was finished, the sisters dug up the statue and built a beautiful shrine inside in honor of St. Joseph.
This is where the practice of the burying the statue of St. Joseph seems to orginate.
Many people want to ask for St. Joseph's intercession in the sale of their homes, but are hesitant to bury his statue. There is another pious approach to take. Rather than burying the statue, you can place the statue of St. Joseph in a prominent place in your home and pray the Memorare to St. Joseph. If and when your home sells, St. Joseph must be taken with you and given a new place of honor in your new home."

In honor of great St. Joseph, here is a terrific link to coloring pages that we will be doing today.

Here is a link full of ideas on how to make this feast day something special. I particularly like the idea of interviewing the breadwinner, the Dad, of the family. They gave some great questions that I'll ask Kid #1 to talk about with our Daddy. Here are the questions that we'll be using:

Interviewing Daddy about his childhood:

Where was your favorite hiding place?
Did you have a tree fort?
What games did you like to play? (Top three)
What was your favorite subject in school? Why?
Tell me about your favorite hobby as a kid.

Tell me about your best baseball game.

Did you ride your bike a lot and go swimming? With who?
When you were a kid, what was your favorite candy? dessert?
Who were your best buddies in school?
Did you have T.V. or video games when you were a kid?
Who was your favorite baseball team?

Can you tell me a story of when you were naughty and got into trouble?
Did you go to Mass on Sundays? What time and with who?

What was your favorite chore?

What was your least favorite chore?
Did you get an allowance?

What did you buy with it?
Tell me about a favorite time with your Dad.

Kid #1 is going to LOVE asking Daddy these questions. Kid #1 is always looking to have a conversation so this is right up his alley!

Happy Feast Day!
St. Joseph, pray for us!
God bless,
Mary

Hands On Learning to Pray

While searching the Internet for some crafty ideas on the 2 great feast days this week that we are celebrating (St. Patrick's Day and St. Joseph), I came across this rather interesting analogy of our hands and praying. Here is the link. It is called "The Five Fingers of Prayer". I wonder why I have not heard of this or seen this before! Immediately I printed it out and I can't wait to share it with my children. Talk about a wonderful way of explaining something hands on.
Ha ha!!! I crack myself up....! I really am quite a goof! God bless my husband for accepting me and my weirdness!
God bless,
Mary

Quote of the day

"All men were born to live.
One man was born to die."
-Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen


God bless,
Mary

Question of the day

Question of the day is…
Will I ever be able to read an entire book, cover to cover, to my 6 little blessings without being interrupted?!?! ARGH!!!

If not, please tell me when so I can have some hope here, people!
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!
God bless,
Mary

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top of the morning to ya!

May St. Patrick guard you wherever you go
and guide you in whatever you do.
And may his loving protection
be a blessing to you always.
~Irish Blessing


Breastplate of St. Patrick
One of the most famous prayers associated with St. Patrick is the Breastplate of
St. Patrick. It happens to be one of my favorites too!

Christ beside me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ within me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me.
Christ on my right hand,
Christ on my left.
Christ where I lie,
Christ where I sit,
Christ where I rise.
Christ in the hearts of all
Who think of me,
Christ in the mouths of all
Who speak to me,
Christ in every eye
That sees me,
Christ in every ear
That hears me

What are your plans for St. Patrick's Day? The fun thing about St. Patrick's Day is how just about everyone celebrates it to some degree! It really does not matter if you are even Irish! Growing up, one of the fondest memories I have is of drinking 'green milk'- milk with green food coloring added to it. Way to go Mom! What a fun thing it was and now I continue to do it with my kids. I have even, a few times, made green pancakes. What a surprise that is for them too. I am not sure if I'll have time this year to do it b/c my hubby tends to let me sleep a little more in the morning when I have a rough night sleep. We'll see how that night goes...

We are also going to make some St. Patrick's Day crafts. An easy, fun and learning one is to make the Ireland flag. Here is an easy one online puzzle of the Ireland flag. Here are some coloring pages that my kids already did for St. Patrick's Day cards for friends and family.

And for us adults-on this site is some great info and videos about St. Patrick. I only looked briefly so I am not sure how good they are...but they appear to be interesting and that's what we'll be watching on Tuesday night!
Here is also some bio on St. Patrick.

And some more bio info here.

Ok, I'm done. As you can see, we could spend this whole week learning about St. Patrick! To think I only posted a small amount of what is actually out there!

So, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

One more thing...

'Erin go braugh'

An phonetic version of Éirinn go brách, which in Irish (Gaelic) means "Ireland Forever" !!!

St. Patrick, Pray for us!
God bless,
Mary

Movie Review

Saturday night was an 'in house date night' with my hubby. We started to watch this. Last night, we actually finished it up! But we added a bottle of wine and popcorn :) What ol' folks we are...can't even finish a movie in 1 night!! ha!
Well, it was a great one-both for the gals and the guys! My hubby thought it was good too. Usually those movies I pick out are ones that my hubby sits through but really does not enjoy...I find him drifting off in his thoughts or eyeing a book lying on the floor...you get my drift. This was different. Good picking choice for this Momma!
It was so very nice to see a movie with no bad language, no nudity, no filth. It's about time! Just a good movie with a good plot. Period.
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for it on Netflix now so to receive it for YOUR Saturday 'in house date night'!!!
God bless,
Mary

Playing Fair-Lessons from a 6 yr old

FYI- If you turn on the switch light in your room using your tippy toes,that is "cheating!". (ha ha!! :) too cute!!!)

Anyway, just wanted to make that clear.

God bless,
Mary

Tis' the season

of baseball!
Check this video clip out.
what awesome sportsmanship and character!



God bless,
Mary

He's too smart...

Our kid #1 loves to learn. He enjoys anything that has to do with learning. This makes home schooling that much easier. Of course, he is a typical boy. A typical second grader that would rather climb a tree and play on the monkey bars and play football- while learning!

He is my kid that really enjoys and craves learning and I am so blessed for this. It makes me want to keep learning more too!

So, this is where we are at...lately, he has been asking me questions just to see if I know the answer. Questions on information that he is studying that maybe I may have overlooked. He wants to be one step up on me. That stinker!

Questions like (said in a very sly voice)...

"Mom, is Europe part of Asia?"
"Mom, is 1 inch smaller than 1 centimeter?"

"Mom, how do you spell dew? Not do but dew?"

I know full well he knows the answers to these questions and sometimes I answer the wrong answer just to humor him. Oh does it make his face shine with delight-for he knows an answer that he thinks his Momma does not even know!

He is eager to learn and eager to be challenged!

Good Lord, help me to always encourage him to keep striving and let nothing step in his way. Big plans and missions are in store for this little guy. Now, if I can just get him to sit still.... (ha ha! LOL! Keep wishing, mamma!)

God bless,
Mary

Small Successes- It's Thursday!

It's Thursday! That means Small Successes with Faith and Family Live! (and I am not 'one-day- late!!!-that counts for an extra small success this week-yay for me!)

1. Instead of just vacuuming the den rug, I actually brought it outside and we pounded it with a broom! What a difference- this spring cleaning has officially begun! It may take me all spring, heck, maybe all summer....but it has begun!

2. Learning to be flexible with schooling was a bit easier for me this past week. Being a check-list type of person, it is very hard for me to accept that some things did not get done. But do you know what? What got done was what was supposed to be done! As I said, I am learning...

3. I got creative with making dinners according to what was ALREADY in my pantry! How about that?! Saving some $ and being frugal. Love it. Now if my kids would just eat it. Hum...

God bless,
Mary

Great Marriage Love is...

knowing what a crazy night this Momma had with the baby, up all night long-every 20-35 minutes. Why? To nurse of course! (Talk about a growing spurt!) and then cancelling going into the big city for an important 1/2 day conference, and letting me sleep in till 8am!
Talk about love...my man wow's me so much!
I am so grateful for his love! :)

Last night was so nuts that I was rehearsing possible blog posts during and after nursing sessions! I should have come right out and written them up- there was some really great ones! Of course, over a long night of nada sleep, I have forgotten them by now-argh!

This strep throat has taken way longer than expected for me to feel better- of course it is probably due to my lovely sleeping habits- or lack there of. Please say a prayer that my sweet baby boy will sleep! Thank you kindly. When a lack of sleep with the momma, watch out!

Please dear Lord, help me to praise You with any type of day or night that You allow. Help me to spread Your Love to my little ones, allowing them to see You, not little ol' me, today. Thank you for my dear husband, who has shown me great love by putting me first. Help me to serve him and love him more than yesterday, and even more tomorrow. Thank you for today and strengthen me in the confidence in You that together we will get through it. All glory and praise be to You Lord!

God bless,
Mary

Phew-that was close

I know it's coming...

1. Yesterday, I overheard kid #1 saying to kid #2: "See? These are the male whales and these are the female whales. Males are like girls, and females mean boys."
(uhm... yeah!!????!!!??Ha!!)
2. Then today at breakfast, "Boys and girls? How do you know the difference? I mean, how do you know if someone is a girl or a boy?"

Are you curious how we answered???...My hubby said "That's easy, buddy. Just looking at them is quite clear. Us boys have a lot more energy than girls, right?"
Which Kid #1 agreed with whole heartedly.
For me, I looked out the window and said "Oh my goodness! Do you guys see that? It's raining outside!"
And the conversation quickly changed.
Phew, that was a close one.
I need to do some major praying on how to bring this up...any ideas anyone?
Do you recommend any books that are helpful in explaining it according to the Catholic Faith and the beauty that our God created us in? Boy! I wish there was something like Theology of the Body for 2nd graders!!! (bigtime beginners!!!)
Thanks and God bless,
Mary

A wee bit sick

Sorry folks. This blogging Momma is out of commission today. I went to the docs and even though the first test came out negative, they are sure it is strep throat. How does a Momma get it but no one else? oh well, lets keep hoping and praying all stay healthy. Thank you so much!
God bless,
Mary

Blog vs. FB vs. Twitter

This is such an interesting and thought provoking post from another blogger. (you can even read my comment that I added-its #8 and I also included it below)

Go ahead and take a look. I promise that it'll make you think!

And while you are at it, check this one out too-on the same topic.

So, have you made up your mind...what do you think about this?
And this?

As for me, what I have to say is...
(*found a comment #8 on this blog post) and I will also add it in right now...

I wrote: "Thank you for writing exactly how I was feeling too but could not express it as so you did!! Nice work putting your deep thoughts onto paper, er... I mean BLOGS!You inspire people b/c you are genuine and true. Thank you for that. You can count on me to keep up my blog too. There's nothing quite like it.Oh, as far as Facebook goes, I did join it and got hooked- b/c it was a quick fix to curiosity. My hubby and I laugh at how they call it 'friends'-ugh-give me a break!anyway, I took a break off of FB for Lent. I realized that I am not missing it much at all.Once again, thanks for writing this. Can I link to this on my blog?God bless,Mary @ Cheerios"

So, if you are still reading this....what are your thoughts?
God bless,
Mary

Chastity Q&A

*Caution: Some of this material in the link below may not be suitable for young readers.
Well, here is a site that can answer some major questions, and concerns.
What better way to teach others?! The answers are RIGHT THERE! Go see for yourself.
God bless,
Mary

Legos and Cheerios

This is hilarious! Great site for adults -they are so funny!!! If your kids like Lego's like mine do, they are sure to enjoy a lego a day too!
This is my favorite one....can you guess why?
God bless,
Mary

Play dough Dilemma

Today we made home made play dough. Can someone please remind me how terrible the pot is AFTER we make it?! Do you know what I am talking about here?!

I keep forgetting and I continue to make it. The kids love it and it is so cheaper than the store bought stuff.

God bless,
Mary

Meet our new friend...

Our New Friend


We have a new friend here
and we think he's pretty cool.
We dance and sing and play along,
it's music to our ears.


.
For many years to come,
we hope he stays around.
Perhaps a pianist, a violinst for some,
these thoughts make a great sound!

-just me! :)

Small Successes- It's Thursday! (One day late!)

Small Successes for this past week: (ONE DAY LATE!)

*Update: If you noted, I did color my hair- one day later than expected. So, that small success for what I thought I could do last Thursday, counts for this week!

1. Colored my hair. It did not turn green-thank You God! It did have hints of red- but then changed to the color blonde I was hoping for. Yahoo! And it only cost me $7.99 on sale compared to $50 at the salon. I just love good deals :)

2. With my post yesterday on cabin fever remedy, a small success was for me to let down my walls of frustration and allow the kids to go wild in a snow filled park. AND I did not get upset about it! This may count for a Big Success, don't you think? (BTW, thanks to Denn Mom for reminding me of this!)

3. My 6 year old daughter (who has this thing for cleaning -which I LOVE!) and I mopped the kitchen floor. But, it did not stop there. It continued to the hallway and today it will be the living room too! This little gem inspired me to let go of thinking that mopping the floor at the nasty hour of 4:45pm would not be a thing to do before Daddy got home to surprise him. And do you know what? It was a good thing to do. She was so right. Completely right. I have so much to learn from these little ones.

Hope you are noting your Small Successes with Faith & Family Live!

So, go ahead and celebrate the small stuff!

God bless,
Mary

Cabin fever remedy

What else would I do if today:

1. it started at 13 degrees and inched up to a whooping 39 degrees
2. there is still lots of snow on the ground-ridiculously a lot
3. the children have been in the car for a good 35 minutes and some were getting sleepy-eyed ----waaaaaaay tooooooooo early for a nap!
4. and I passed by a park we have not been to in .....oh, about 4+ months?

The answer:
I pulled into the parking lot and let the kids go wild at the snow filled park!
Result was lots of fresh air, lots of sun, and lots of energy released.

Totally worth the soaking wet pants, soggy socks and dripping wet sneakers.
Case closed.
***Stay tuned for my small successes post!!!!
God bless,
Mary

Me Too!

If you have read the book Me Too! by Mercer Mayer, then you'd appreciate knowing that my 5 and 6 year old are playing and running around saying "I am Super why" and "I am Super girl and we're on the case!" and then you hear a little 3 year old lagging behind saying "Me Too!"

Lord, help me never to take these moments for granted. You are wonderful in Your creations! Thank you for entrusting these little ones to my care. Help me to show them Your Love today.

So cute!!!

God bless,
Mary

Marriage Help

What would you do for your marriage?
What time have you put into and really invested in your marriage?
Have you thought about the real stuff, the hardships that marriage brings and how to hold on tight to each other when those times arise?

However you answered that, go check out this link, an initiative from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. All I have to say is Wow. This is SO needed in our world today.
There is tons of great information, answers, Q&A, links, videos, advice.

On their home page, it starts off stating this:

Couples might like to live on love, but a job pays the bills. What
happens, however, when a career starts to take time away from the marriage? How do couples balance family and work, or decide whether one spouse should stay home with the children?

Don't forget to pass it along to others. This is one website that all should know about.

God bless,
Mary

Divine Mercy ONLINE!

Check out this website that allows you to say the Divine Mercy online. Now there is no excuse, huh?
Very cool!
God bless,
Mary

Me dealing with Lent

So, here I am. Yup, duct tape and all. This is my way of dealing with my lenten promise of no yelling.

I hope it works and I sure hope I don't have to continue this into tomorrow and the day after and the day after...

As for my kids, they look at me and laugh :) My oldest just gave me a book of his on sign language. I guess there's always room for learning around here.

God bless,
Mary

Cool T-shirts

Aren't these the coolest t-shirts? IF we had the extra money laying around, I think I would totally spoil myself and get one! I mean, who in their right mind would ever argue with Mother Teresa?!
But alas, it is Lent.
It is time to sacrifice.
So, no cool t-shirt for me.
Oh well- There is always my birthday! (hint hint)
God bless,
Mary

Lenten food

What kinds of meals are you fixing this Lent? It would be fun if we can combine some great Lenten recipes.
Here are a few of my favorites:

Fish is our favorite meal. Since we are not big on the traditional famiy meal of Tuna casserole, we tend to stick with delicious fish. It amazes me b/c my kids really enjoy eating fish! Our favorites are salmon, swordfish and tiplapia...oh, and fish sticks! All I do for salmon is let it sit in lemon juice and dill for 1/2 a day then broil it till it is easily broken up if poked at with a fork. Totally easy. For swordfish, I lightly put some mayo on it and a little chunk of butter and broil that too. Tilapia- I like to dip it in egg then bread crumbs and bake it at 350 for 20 or so minutes- 10 mins each side. My hubby and I also like tuna, shrimp, and just about any other fish. We always said that if we could afford it, we'd eat fish every night! :)


Rice and Beans is also a yummy meal. I chop up an onion, sautee it over some oil or butter, add a can of mexican red chili beans and an extra can of tomato sauce. Stir that, then add a can of corn (drained). Mix it all together and heat to a boil for a few minutes. Then I serve it over tortillas w/ lettuce (if we have some) and roll it up. We use chedder cheese on top that my kids love. Or we just have rolls on the side.



This sounds great. It is not a meal per se, but it sure looks yummy. I have never tried it before. Maybe this year, the kids and I will give it a good try, on a Friday!
Did you know that the easy recognizable and tradition “twist” of the pretzel has its roots in religion?! The folded twist is meant to resemble arms crossed in prayer. At one time, people crossed their arms across their chests in pretzel fashion when praying instead of simply putting their two hands together. In fact, in Latin, the word for these braids of bread was “bracellae”, or “little arms”. The word was later said in German to “bretzel”, and then became “pretzel”. Many people would only eat one meal a day during Lent, but would ease the in between time by snacking on pretzels.


How cool is that?
Now I am getting a bit hungry. I'm off to munch on some pretzels now!
God bless,
Mary

Quote of the day

"A thousand years of enjoying human glory is not worth even an hour spent sweetly communing with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament."
-St. Padre Pio

"Mary went to the..."

I saw this at another blog and thought it was too funny to pass up! You type in "(your name) went to the" - don't forget the quotation marks - and see what comes up. Here is a short selection of what I found for me:

• 
  Mary went to the Market (yeah, I need some milk, eggs and I really need more diapers!)
• 
  Mary, went to the same gig see their favorite band and recorded it using their cell phone (the last time I went to a 'gig' was about 13-14 years ago! I did not know that you can record things using a cell phone?! I am getting so old...)
• 
  Mary went to the store (I said that already! I really need those diapers!)
• 
  Mary went to the tomb, felt an earthquake, and saw an angel come down, roll away the stone (uh...not me! )
• 
  Mary went to the pantry (to get some cookies right about now)
• 
  Mary went to the bank to set up a new bank account so they can save money for a holiday in 6 months time (ha ha! does this mean we go on a vacation, honey?! yippee :))
• 
  Mary went to the locker room with a two-point lead after a half court shot went down at the buzzer (oh, the old days of high school freshman basketball...memories...)
• 
  Mary went to the library to find some books (THAT was what I forgot to do this weekend!)

God bless,
Mary

Happy March!

Isn't it great that it is March?

March just sounds so...Spring like!

I am trying not ignore the fact that there is a very big snow amount (uhm...total accumulation of 10-14 inches! Argh!) that is predicted for tonight and tomorrow. So instead, in protest (hee hee), I will post some photos of pretty flowers starting to bloom in my yard- IN MY YARD! Isn't that great?! Yeah, I know, they will not last for long with nasty mr. snow coming.
But I am pretty glad I got pics of them! Take a look...

God bless,
Mary