1st Holy Communion prep

Yes, I am still here :)
We are in the midst of preparing for 1st Holy Communion for 2 of my kids this Saturday! :)

It is a great time, albeit a bit overwhelming, but so wonderful.

Thanks to Minnesota Mom for the super First Holy Communion Novena that we are praying in preparation for the big day.

My oldest will also be an altar server which he is elated about.  This innocent joy they all exude is so contagious!

Lord, help me prepare their hearts to receive you in such a special way in only a few days!  Help us not to be wrapped up in all the exterior things that go along w/celebrations (clean house, good food etc...) and help me to focus again on receiving You in a special way..each time I receive You.  All our patron saints, pray for us!  All our guardian angels, pray for us!
God bless,
Mary

Signs of SPRING!!!

Family Hikes

***Photo credits of all closeups to my 9 yr old daughter!!!  Didn't she do great?! :)

Spring, we're so happy you're here!

God bless your day,
Mary

Sin-freeeeeeee

I am so happy and proud to announce that we have 2 very sparkling clean souls in our household!

2 of my bigger kids, kid #2 and kid #3, went to their First Confession last night.  200 children and 2 hours later-they are shining bright with holiness!  Yes, that many children and that long, I am not kidding.  This year I have both of these kidos in the same grade-2nd grade.  The best decision I made-it is working SO well for all of us.  A little bit of competition and peer pressure to get their work done goes a long way with these two!  We realized that why push one child just to be a grade higher when clearly they are not ready for it.  This is God's doing and how He made each child.  I am just glad I figured it out and listened to Him early on and not when they were older.  I have heard it is much harder when they get older to hold a child back a year. 

Anyway, it is a 2 yr process of prep for their 1st Confession and 1st Holy Communion in our parish.  We decided to not enroll them in the actual classes that the religious ed offers.  They were totally okay with it-in fact, the RE director home schooled her own kids! What a blessing that homeschooling is so welcomed and encouraged around here.  I am very thankful to God for this.  We are using the Faith & Life series by Ignatius Press.  We, as parents, find it awesome!  The kids do too!!! IT is a great mix of learning and fun, coloring and writing.  My children do not mind doing religion almost every day.  Since we incorporate our Catholic Faith in ALL aspects of our life and our family, doing the religion 'book' is not that grueling for them :) I highly recommend this for all kids, even if they go to a CCD program.  It is so easy and fun for parents to do with them, along with what they are learning in the classroom setting. 

We have such an awesome diverse parish, with 31 countries represented (seriously!), that we were obviously the minority.  We love our priests and parish and all the colors and beauty that is displayed.  What a wonderful gift that my children get to see how 'universal' our Catholic Faith is!!! Growing up in a mainly white/Caucasian neighborhood, town and parish, I love that my own children get to see, early on, how widespread our Catholic Faith truly is. 

We went as a whole family last night and I am glad we did.  Even for 2 hours, I am glad we did.  In fact, I sort of persisted with this decision with my husband-he thought the opposite.  But, in the end, we are all SO glad we went.  What a great learning experience and how awesome that my little children got to see what their big siblings got to do and what they have to look forward to. My kid #4 (age 6) and kid #6 (age 3) even asked us (ahem...begged us over and over)  how they wanted to go to their own first confession THAT night!  Now, that is a testimony to what a great decision it was to bring them all!

Now, onto a celebration party for my kids!  We're all a little bit holier now!!!

God bless,
Mary

Warmth

You know what warms my heart?

When one of my children compliments one of their siblings....without prompting them to!!!

I just heard "That's a nice picture!" from my 4 yr old little man to his 9 yr old sister after showing off her painting of a rainbow.

So sweet.

This is just one of many....Lord, let me relish in this and think of these moments often.  It is truly THESE moments that I know you are honored and glorified.  Thank you for my children.  Amen.

God bless,
Mary

St. Maria Goretti, pray for us!

WHat a super saint-one that is close to my kids' ages and so amazing.

HERE is the site we printed off a pic to color.

My kid #2 (M) made a fruit salad to symbolize her martyrdom-full of red strawberries and blackberries-it was so creative!!!

St. Maria Gorretti, pray for us and help keep us pure!

God bless,
M

9th Birthday Pics

Yesterday was my oldest daughter's 9th birthday and guess where we went!
It has to do with shoes and balls...

SHOES:

AND BALLS:

Those shoes always look so darn cute on little feet, huh?!?!

Now, check out my new 9 yr old daughter!

It was quite the adventure telling them over and over again to stay off of where the bowler is... I think they got it finally 10 minutes before we left! haaa

I love this pic:

Do you see his socks?  Only a sweet cute 4 yr old can pull that off!
And that cute big guy next to the cute little guy?  Yeah, he's taken.

Bowling!  We got a sweet deal of 2 free games (yes, FREE!) per week per child.  All we had to do was pay for the shoe rentals for them all.   We loved it, had such fun, cheered each other on-we were really loud!!! but, do you know what was louder?  The nasty music!  My hubby asked them to turn it down when we arrived b/c we could not even think, it was that loud.  But, we think they must have turned it back up little by little-it was SO loud when we left! 

And that music?  Oh my.  No thank you.  Let's just say that my kids were like

"What is that?  What are they saying?  Why aren't they listening to the Christian music station?"

But before we left, it was CAKE TIME:

Happy Bday to you!!!
God bless,
M

Happy 9th Birthday!

My sweet BIG girl turns a BIG 9 today!:)

Our world was forever changed when God blessed us with you...

you are my right hand lady, always willing to clean up messes (esp. your brothers' messes!!!)...

always ready to help your Momma when my hands are full (which is pretty often, huh?!)

you are determined to not let your petiteness get in the way of achieving BIG!

you are focused and delight in order...

you are a little fashion bug...with tons of barrets in your hair and many different hair styles throughout the day!

You love babies and already know you want "at least 20"!!!

You make the best chocolate chip pancakes around...

you choose to wear fancy dresses every day, always reminding me that every day is a celebration!

You are SO awesome and we love you so much!

Happy 9th Birthday to you!

God bless you!

God bless,
M

Finally! Success!

As a homeschooling mom, one often wonders if she is getting through to her students, her children.  Is it working?  Does something need to change?  Do they 'get it'?   Do they need to be challenged more or do they need to spend more time on a certain subject or problem? 

For me, these questions go through my mind daily.   I am juggling a 4th grader and 2-1st graders and a kindergartener.  I wonder at my children.  As I am teaching them, I am often re-teaching myself!  It suprises me often how much I either did not learn or failed to remember!  Either way, I find it fantastic that I am learning once again, even if it is grammar school subjects :) 

Today was a terrific day. 

Minus the torn into bag of trash and minus the cracked eggs on our kitchen floor and all the other things that happened b/c I simply turned my head for a short minute. 

Today was a terrific day.

It was terrific b/c a certain child 'finally got it'. 
It was a terrific day b/c I was there to see her confidence rise. 
It was a terrific day b/c I got to give her a great big hug and words of affirmation. 
It was a terrific day b/c I know she has been struggling with reading for the last 2 years.  I know the pain and frustration she has been enduring.  I know the lonely feeling she has felt as her peers flew ahead of her with reading.  I know b/c I am her Mom.  I know b/c she is my child.  I know b/c she is my student.  I am the Mom and being the Mom brings the gift of being able to feel exactly what my child is going through.

It was a terrific day b/c the once reluctant, shy child who claimed she could not read, has boldly claimed today that "I can read, Mom!"

Tis' a Terrific day, indeed!
Thank You God for this blessing.

God bless,
Mary

Summer 2010 in Pictures!

I finally, and I mean FINALLY!!! got my pictures on the computer.  Here are some from the summer.  I am sure there will be many more to come as time permits!

1)  Happy 8th Birthday to my kid #2~!  So much for a creative cake...I was down and out with first trimester blues and could only muster up cupcakes!!!  But having a party with her very best friends made up for Momma's lousy wanna be cake!

2)  Spring soccer!  Fun!  There's my kid #1 as goalie-he loves that position

3)  Random sunny summer day picture. 

4)  Lincoln log fort

5)  My monkeys on the monkey bars!

6)  Buddy playing time...

7)  What is summer without a pool and slide? 

8)  Roasting Marshmallows

9)  What is a hike without catching a FROG?!

more hiking...

10)  Ending our summer with a family vacation.  It was incredible!  Here is our youngest (almost 23 months) on a supposed to be 'pony ride' but with a real size horse.  Was he scared?  With Daddy by his side, he hopped up and even said "Giddy-up!"  HAAA HAAA!!!

11)  Lastly, do you remember my last post that included my son catching a butterfly?  (BTW, he is very good at this!  Indeed he caught another one this weekend too!)  We kept this particular butterfly in a special butterfly cage overnight.  The following morning we let him loose throughout our house and the kids loved it!  But it had to end when he landed on the rug under my son's leg and then my littlest son went over and stepped on the poor thing!  But we think he is okay, we decided to let him go after that incident and away he flew.  Each of my kids had a turn holding the butterfly on their fingers.  It was awesome!

...

..........Maybe there'll be more pics to come...!!! :)

God bless,

Mary

I've got ENERGY! Yeah!

I have not felt nauseous yucky sick in 2 days!  I am about 17 weeks now...technically that should have stopped at the 3 month mark but just like my last 2 babies and now this one, it went strong till the 4th month and a little over! 

AND I must have my energy levels somewhat back too.  This morning as I was thinking of the day, I knew we needed to get out and do something fun, away from the house.  The past 2 weeks were soaked in super record high with heat and humidity so that left us not much else to do besides the pool.  Actually, some days were so bad we did not even make it to the pool. 

But today was different.  The new parish we are going to has all day long adoration on Tuesdays.  During my short and not very focused prayer time with coffee this morning, I felt Jesus nudging me to go.  By the end of that short prayer time, I was compelled to go.  He told me:  "Bring the children to Me".  Simple as that.  He said he needed them and needed to tell them something.  What that something was I have no idea.  So we went to Jesus.  I told them just what I wrote and they were very intrigued to find out what Jesus had to tell them too.  We prayed a decade of the Rosary to ready our hearts, minds and souls to encounter Him.  It is only a short 8 minute drive and we were there. 

We showed up alright.  I think the others noticed but I did not noticed if they noticed since all I noticed was to make sure my children were quiet! ha ha!!!

So our visit lasted only 5 minutes.  Whoop de do.  Oh how I wish it could be longer but at the 5 minute mark, my baby and my 3 yr old started gulping loudly and saying eachothers' names.  Then my 6 yr old son said "But Mom, I did not hear what Jesus had to say to me.  All I heard was 'errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" (that was the A/C)."  I tried very hard to hide my giggles and told him to go back in for a few minutes and we'd wait for him outside of the Chapel.  In he went, and 1 minute later, out he came.  "Mom, again all I heard was 'errrrrrrrrr'!"   H A!!!

What could I say to that?  Right.  Nothing but smiled and off we left.

I told them if they were good at Adoration, that we'd head to the really cool park w/a resovior and trails and we'd go for a hike.  We love to hike as a family.

So, then we went hiking.

What joy and fun we had!!!  Each found a good walking stick and off we went.  We hiked along the water-but far enough inland that I was not nervous.  It was so pleasant outside-only about 85* and not that humid at all.  We crossed over some creeks and walked on rocks.  We collected some rocks and leaves and bark to bring home to show Daddy.  We...well,  uh-hum...I (!!!) found 2 frogs hopping around and the kids were estactic!  They love to catch frogs!

I told them if they were good at hiking, that we'd head to the pool afterwards.

So, then we went to the pool.

What joy they had there too!  My daughter finally got to go in the pool and swim around like a fish.  I bought her some crazy bright orange ear plugs to make sure she does not get anymore swimmer's ear.  She as a bit hesitant (what 8 yr old girl wouldn't be?  it's not quite the in-thing to wear!!!)  so I quickly added that I would wear one too to make her at ease.  She liked that idea so I got to sport an orange ear too and we laughed about it :) and she quickly forgot about them too.  She was just thrilled to swim around finally.  According to my 9 yr old son, this was the perfect day outside with the weather b/c he could actually take a deep breath in and feel like it was a good breath before jumping into the pool!  I agree totally!!!

That is it.  That is my morning, my day so far.  Oh, I guess I could add in that I slept really well last night, unlike the previous night!  So, I guess that had something to do with it!!!

Hope you are enjoying your summer too!  School is just so close, I am trying to make the most of these days.  I think we succeeded today, at least!

God bless,
Mary

Swimmers Ear stinks

...esp. having it a second time in 2 weeks.
...and having it when it so very very hot and humid almost 100* every single day.
...and having it and still have to go to the pool w/ the family.
...and having it and not being allowed to go IN the pool for an entire WEEK!

My poor 8 yr old daughter, who is a real fish in the water has this swimmers ear.  She is a tough cookie!  Her ear hurt for 4-5 days before telling me!  She did not want to not be able to swim.  Poor thing.  She is the one who was in the ICU back in Sept 09, and she is crying b/c her ear hurts. 

This Momma's heart hurts too, seeing her like this.

Any ideas on how to pass the time for her? 

Thanks and God bless,
Mary

Birthday letter to my 8 yr old daughter

Happy Happy 8th Birthday to my sweet little lady!!!

I could not have asked for a more thoughtful and helpful daughter.

What would I do without you?

Daily, you help me clean the house.

You help me with the other children, playing with them and keeping an eye on them.

You fold the many loads of laundry almost every day!

You help carry around your little baby brother and knows exactly what he wants and needs when he gets sad.

You keep a watchful eye on the kids in the backyard when I have to run inside.

You can finish a project or chore fully without being distracted.

You willingly help clean up your siblings' messes.

You tidy your bedroom without being asked (most of the time! :))

You can make breakfasts and lunches for all of us!

You love arts and crafts.

You can sweep, vaccuum and even mop the kitchen floor~!

You are irreplaceable.

God knew what our family needed when He placed you in it!!!

It's true that when you are not around, you are sorely missed! 

You give so much to our family to keep it running, and I thank God for the gift of you!!!

You are so beautiful inside and out!

God bless you on your 8th birthday today!

May you always stay close to Jesus your whole life through!

I love you so much.

Love, Mommy

Funny girl!

As we were out during our Thursday morning errands, I smelt something weird:
"Hey guys, do you smell that?  It's awful~!"

My kids all responded "yeah, we do!"
Then my (almost 8!) daughter says:  "Mom, that's your armpits!"

haaa haaaa!!!

For the record, no it was not my lovely armpits!  But some odd smell coming from the outside through the vents!!!

HAAA
God bless,
Mary

Homeschool Perk

Words simply cannot contain my excitement today! 

My oldest son, 9years old, is going to play at his first ever piano recital!  It is the same feeling that I had with my now 7 year old daughter who danced at her first dance recital-ballet and tap.  Be it that she was almost only 4 years old (yikes!) and there she was on the stage in a huge high school auditorium.  We treated and took both my parents and my husbands' parents to that recital.  That day will forever be etched in my memory as one of the proudest mom moments ever.  Awesome day 4 years ago.

I am overwhelmed with the thoughts of how time flies.  I am ever so grateful for this gift of homeschooling.  I truly believe that if my son was not homeschooled, he would not be taking piano lessons-thus not partaking in this beautiful piano recital today!  You see, all my children truly love music...making it or listening to it.  We knew this and prayed for about 2 years for God to lead us to a piano teacher that would be willing to come to our home to teach my son on the keyboard that someone lent us.  Wouldn't you know it, but the coach of my 2 childrens' soccer team last spring, mentioned that she knew someone who taught piano but has not seen or talked to him in a few years...but then she remembered something...she opened her purse and pulled out her wallet and gave me this old beat up business card of a piano teacher!  I called him this past August and he told me that he did not make house calls for piano lessons but....since we homeschooled....we could be flexible, right?....and anyway.....he was so busy teaching after school time and throughout the evening....he did not have any more free time slots.....but since we homeschool....he could come to our home....early in the day...TO OUR HOME!  Got that?!?!  How cool!  He is fantastic and my son likes him as a teacher. 

Perfect timing.  Perfect match.  Thank You God.

If we did send out kids to school, I know for sure, that our time would be limited to what we could possibly sign our children up for, ie:  extra ciricular activities and since he is so very boy-ish and athletic and full of energy-that extra stuff, for sure, would be a sport...soccer or whatever.  I doubt it highly that it would be piano.  That would be a shame b/c we would never get to see the blossoming beauty of his hidden talent of playing the piano.  I am so grateful.  Thank You God.

You see now?  This is all such a rush for me and a very grateful day for my children, my family, the gifts of homeschooling (no matter how tough and crazy and chaotic it usually is) and for music and piano recitals! 

Thank you God.  Thank you Mary and St. Joseph for protecting my children and leading us to homeschool.

So, here we are, getting ready for a 3:30 pm recital and I am so nervious for him!  I wonder if I'll be able to eat anything before the show! haaa haaa! :)

Gotta go get ready!
God bless,
Mary

Growing legs or wings?

My children and I have a funny joke that I say when they cannot find a certain item.  For example, if they lost a shoe I usually say "Well, it did not all of a sudden grow legs and leave our house, now did it?"   We both laugh and the point gets across to them.  They go off and keep looking for the lost item.  (And...St. Anthony is a good helper too!:))

Today, we were all outside all the while enjoying this beautiful 68* sunny weather, I noticed my 4 year old not wearing her shoes, just her socks. 

Again, I said "What happened to your shoes?  I got it!  They did not grow legs this time...they grew wings!  They flew up in the air, over the rainbow and into a cloud!  Do you think that is what happened?"

 She laughed.  I laughed.  My 7 year old daughter laughed too then added:

"Mom, that is not real."

I replied "Of course not, honey."

"Yeah, I mean...there is no rainbow today!" She says back to me.

HAAAA HAAAA!!!
Yup!  You're right, no rainbow, but not quite the real reason I was looking for!!! haaa haaa! LOL :)

God bless,
Mary

Peanut butter and boys

Note to self:

Beware of your 7 yr old daughter who will say she can get lunch ready.  You just may find bowls of peanut butter (with spoons at least!!!) in front of 2 little boys (age 1 and 3) (Good thing no one has any nut allergies in our house or this would be terrible!!!).  Now, use your imagination of what the scene will look like.  Beware...Just sayin'.

3 sets of twins

A good friend of mine also has 6 kids-just like me, 4 boys and 2 girls.  We finally got together yesterday to do a little 'co-op' in the making...adding a family here and there, as we go along.  We have been trying to get together for months to do this, no joke. 

She was teaching history while I did arts and crafts and babysat the littles.  There were 6 littles to be exact- (2)4 yr old girls, (2)3 yr old boys and (2)1year olds! 

Yesterday, when asked my oldest daughter, a 7 yr old, if she wanted to be a part of the 'all boy history class' (5 boys!) she said:

"Oh Mom, but you'll have all those little kids.  I'll help you.  It'll be a lot for you."

How cute, huh??!!?!? So sweet, it melts my heart!!!  I love how she is a mother hen-just love it!!!

God bless,
Mary

The likes of dogs

We have a lovely older lady neighbor that lives across the street.  We always wave hello and stop for a little chit-chat every now and then.  When she is out raking leaves or shoveling snow or anything outside, my 2 older boys (6 and 9) are quick to ask if they can go over to help. 

This afternoon, she was hanging eggs out on her tree and just as last year, the boys asked (ok, begged) to go over and help since they helped last year too.  She even offered before I could ask her. 

The boys ran over and this time, for the 1st time ever, my 4 yr old daughter went too!  This is huge b/c our lady neighbor has a dog-a very old but friendly and old and slow moving dog.  Since my girls and one boy are quite petrified to go over, this was a shock to hear!  But it was beautiful, nonetheless.  Maybe she is over her fear sicne she has been over there for 20 minutes already~!

My older daughter is sitting by the windows in a complete stare.

"Oh Mom, the dog is pooping. The boys better watch out for that poop!" she says.

I glance out the window too and I do not see the dog pooping!

"Mom, the dog is still pooping!"

"WHy do you say that the dog is pooping?" I ask.

"Because the dog has been sitting there for a really long time, that's why."

HAAA HAAA!
Little does she know that the dog was not pooping but just pooped!  The poor thing is so old -13 yrs!

haaa! :)  Isn't that too funny!!!
God bless,
Mary

You're so cruel!

Lent is hard work.
Especially hard work.
Especially on day #2.
****Especially for a certain 6 year old little boy in my family, saying this under his breath as he is persevering through Phonics this morning:

"Man, I really did not mean to actually give up bubble gum for Lent."

"I mean, not the whole Lent."

"I really wish I did not give up bubble gum."

"This stinks. This just really really stinks."

****Then a certain sly 7 year old sister says to ME, loudly and sternly, "Mom, can I have some bubble gum during school work?"

You should have seen the face on a certain 6 year old.!
The nerve of her! Arrrr!

Siblings can be soooooooo cruel!

To let you know, I did NOT cave in and give anyone any bubble gum today. I didn't have the heart to make my son's Lent- giving -up any worse than it had to be!

There's always tomorrow....

God bless,
Mary

Mint-y Breath

One of the things that I have been using to keep the kids more focused and more into their school work is gum. Yup, gum. Amazing how the little piece of chewy gum keeps them going and going. There is bound to be some article or study on it but I don't have the time to go look for it right now.

(FYI-I only give it a few times a week and it only lasts a short while till they complain it is too hard to chew. Oh, and I am proud to say that they really only know of mint tasting gum, none of that strawberry -kiwi -pina -colada- strawberry- daquiri -kind! haaaa haaaaa)

This morning my 7 yr old says to me that she is glad she did not brush her teeth this morning.

Watching that I do not freak out at this comment, I say "Oh really, honey? Why would you say such a thing as that?" (with my nice, calm and in-control smiling face ;))

To which she responds "Well, chewing this mint gum is just like brushing our teeth with the mint toothpaste. Right, Momma?"

Okay, I get it.
I just hope she has not been using this technique for too long.
Either way, I have some serious work to do on this topic and the importance of good habits!

I got it. Off to go do it, now. It is 1:45pm but at least she will have clean teeth now! ;)

God bless,
Mary