Wednesday, November 30

TRIMMING THE TREE AT NANA & PAPA'S HOUSE

Have I mentioned how blessed that I feel to live so close to Jeremy's grandparents!?!?  We get to spend so much time with them and they really get to take part in our daily life as a family.  They get to watch their great-grandchildren grow up as my children get this amazing opportunity to know their great-grandparents so intimately.  I just would not trade this situation for the world.
Jeremy and I love to make them smile!  We love to show them how special they are to us.
This evening we took all sorts of Christmas decor over to their home and decorated it for them with the kids.  What a great blessing that was for us.  Our hearts were so joyful looking at how their home lit up with Christmas joy!  Here are some pics from the evening.
 Here is Madison trying on the "tree skirt" as a skirt!  She is such a funny girl!
 Savannah and Papa looking through the "junk drawer" for a screwdriver to attach the door wreath
 We bought these ornaments but didn't realize that we had to tie the "thin" string around each one in order to hang it on the tree....It was like threading a needle!!!! BUT a true labor of love
 Yeah!  Madison got one done!!...35 more to go...
 Nick found our Angel in our attic to bring over her Nana and Papa to enjoy on their tree this year
 He REALLY wanted to put her on top before the tree was even decorated
 Being silly with the ornaments...."look, it's Madi the Red Nosed Reindeer!"
 Very creative, but kind of creepy all at the same time (I like her beautiful blue eyes much better)
"My love" working on hanging the wreath on the door with Nick's help, of course (he always want to help us with anything....he has a true heart of service)
 Doesn't our Nana look beautiful in this picture!!!  I think that she would like this picture!
 A mini Christmas tree planted in the pot for outside the apartment
 I wish that my blog had smell, because this is a REAL LIVE pine wreath to welcome their many guests.  You can smell it coming down the hall.  If anyone ever asks.....Christmas DEFINITELY has a smell!! Didn't Jeremy make it look amazing with the pretty plaid hanger?!?!
 We made quite a mess with our real pine wreath so the kids vacuumed the floor
 They loved helping out with this special evening of trimming
 Some greenery adorned with berries and pine cones on Nana's beautiful China cabinet....I just love Christmas decor!! It just dresses up an entire room with joy!!
 Here are the great-grands with their Nana and Papa beside the pretty lit Christmas tree (this picture really catches the mood of the evening...we were all so happy and just laughing)
 Here are the grands with our Nana and Papa beside the pretty lit Christmas tree
Here is a picture of the tree.  I turned out to be the perfect size for their home!  Thank you Jesus for this evening.  This is more Christmas than anything that we have done so far this season!   We love making our Nana and Papa happy.  They make US so happy too!!  They are a huge joy in our lives.  We couldn't imagine them NOT living near to us.



Sunday, November 27

JESUS SAID "LEAVE THEM TO ME"

I have to praise God for something.....This past weekend when we went off to the lake to spend some time together.  It wasn't going at all like I had hoped.  The kids were really being crabby with each other and Jeremy and I seemed to be tense with each other and with the kids as well.  I felt heart broken.  Jeremy and I talked to the kids about not arguing but in no time at all, they were arguing again.....We were all just crabby!  We were laughing and playing together, but not feeling genuinely happy.  I was out of ideas!  We really needed this weekend together to reconnect and just enjoy each other!!!  Now we were here together and I wished that I could be somewhere else.

  Then the Holy Spirit reminded me of something that I read recently.....when I feel like I have done all that my human mind can configure and just frustrated and feeling helpless "Blessed are the poor in Spirit", I finally hear my Jesus saying "Leave them to me".  "Give them to me, Kerry and  I will take care of them.....you are just getting in the way sometimes" (with my many words and solutions).  When I finally listened to His voice in my heart, it was like running to my daddy....weak and weary and just throwing myself into his arms, knowing that he has to be the one to fix it and he will fix it because he loves me so much!!  I felt all of those feelings of relief that a child feels in the arms of her earthly father,  but I was being held this time by my Heavenly Father!  It was in His strong arms that I was finally consoled. I knew that I wanted to offer my family, along with myself to our Jesus for some reshaping in His Hands.   I found these 2 amazing devotions for mothers and I recited them with such beautiful desperation and trust!  My exhaustion and "depleted-ness" was such an intimate gift from my Jesus

FOR FIDELITY IN A MOTHER'S VOCATION

Dear God, give me the grace to appreciate the dignity of motherhood, which Thou hast been pleased to bestow upon me, and to fulfill its duties according to Thy Will. By my prayers and good example, may I lead my husband and my children closer to Thy Sacred Heart. Make me a devoted wife to my husband and a good mother to my children after the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Almighty God, I thank Thee for the blessed care and protection with which Thou hast embraced my family. I humbly submit to Thy decrees and resign myself to Thy Divine Providence. I grasp Thy guiding hand, and I shall never follow my own ways lest they lead me astray. Thy good pleasure shall be my happiness; Thy commandments shall be my only rule of conduct. Thy Will shall be my will, and Thy service shall be the object of all my desires.

Lord, grant me peace of mind because of my trust in Thy Providence, an unwavering and cheerful courage founded on my faith in Thy tremendous love, faithfulness to duty resulting from a constant awareness of Thy presence, and a firm hope of eternal reward.

Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I implore Thy blessing upon my family that we all may serve Thee faithfully in this life and deserve to be reunited in the eternal happiness of Thy heavenly Kingdom. Amen.





FOR HER CHILDREN

Holy Mary, Mother of God, Teach me patience and wisdom. Show me how to train my children to be worthy children of God. Let me be kind and loving, but keep me from foolish indulgence.

Pray to your son for my children, dear Mother. Keep them from all danger, especially from spiritual danger. Help them to become virtuous adults, but let them not forget the Kingdom of God.
Jesus of Bethlehem, make my children love each other and their home. Help them to work and pray together in holy peace.

Holy Family of Nazareth, be with us all, father, mother and children, every day of our lives. I humbly greet thee, faithful Guardian Angels of my children. I give thee heartfelt thanks for all the love and goodness you show them. Someday I shall repay your care for them with thanks more worthy than I can now give, and before the whole heavenly court shall acknowledge their debt of gratitude to thy guidance and protection. Continue to watch over them. Provide for all their needs of body and soul. Pray also for me, for my husband, and for my whole family, that we may all one day rejoice in thy blessed company in Heaven. Amen.


Right after saying these offerings, I fell asleep, feeling a great peace that it was all in His Hands now, and that my Father in Heaven would fix this for His daughter.  You will not be surprised to find out that He did just as He promised He would.  The next day was filled with peace and new found hope.  Our family was still laughing and playing, but with a genuine love and happiness that was just missing from the day before.  The tenseness in the air was cleared away and love between the children, Jeremy, and I was strongly present.
I must give Him praise and thanksgiving for this gift to my family!  He can do ANYTHING, and He wants to do EVERYTHING.  I will continue to offer these special prayers daily for the holiness of my family.  Remember your Father in Heaven is standing there saying (in a parent's voice) "Please, let me just do it!!"
PRAISE YOU FATHER FOR LOVING YOUR CHILDREN SO MUCH

Saturday, November 26

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND (ESCAPE TO THE LAKEHOUSE)

We decided last minute (when we returned home from our Thanksgiving celebration) to pack up and go to the lake for the rest of the weekend......we really needed the time away to just reconnect as a family and just spend time together.

Here are some pics of us just laying around
 It was really cold and cloudy......perfect for some cozy time together
 Max loves the lakehouse......he loves chasing the ducks
 Here is the only pic of me from the weekend......I am sitting on the back patio looking at the lake.  It was very serene (I just love my Mary Jane Sketchers shoes....so comfy and versatile.......or maybe NOT so versatile.......maybe I just wear them with everything!!)
 Noodles came out to see me
 The lake level is so low that we could not take our boat out after early August.....where the kids are standing used to be under water.  What better place to find "sunkin" treasure,  They explored all afternoon
 Nick found all sorts of clams (there is Max chasing a duck family)
 Nick even found an old bucket to collect all of his clams in
The children felt like real explorers.  I love when they play together

Thursday, November 24

THANKSGIVING PICS (AT MY MOM & DAD'S HOUSE)

 We put the cookies into a pretty basket to take to grandma & Grandpa's house for our Thanksgiving celebration
 My mom's table was set so pretty with all of her best china
 The "Blue Willow" dishes looked so striking with the red table cloth
 My mom made a special place for Jeremy during the Thanksgiving meal so that he could watch the important Cowboy football game!!  They won!!!
 My sister and her hubby, "Uncle Chris"
 Me and my Love Bug! (Notice his "jelly of the month club" t-shirt from the movie,  Christmas Vacation)
 Nicholas trying his first bite of the wonderful food...after we said our before meal prayers of course.  His favorite part was the turkey!!! Mine too
 Now for Savannah to have a try.....her favorite part is the sweet kernel corn
 Now, Madison.....her favorite part is the stuffing!
 My sweet little niece, Courtney with her Santa cup
 My sweet little niece Kerry (named after me!) eating one of our Christmas cookies
 The kids adorned Grandma's Christmas tree with Candy canes!
 Auntie Deonn reading some "Black Friday" newspaper specials
 Here is my Daddy!  I love you!
 Jerms and Uncle Chris talking about teeth! (Uncle Chris is in Dental school)
 Me, my Sis (Kelley) and Dad
 Me, my Sis, and Mom
 All four of us.....it is crazy to think that this was our ENTIRE family for so many years!!
 Now THIS is our ENTIRE family.....isn't our Lord amazing!!!!
 The Girls (Madison, me, Mom, Sis, and Auntie Deonn)
 Jeremy and his sweet Nana.....she didn't want any pictures but finally agreed to this one.  We were so glad that her and Papa could be with us on Thanksgiving
The Boys!!  Papa, Jeremy, and Little Nicholas....we are so spoiled to have Nana and Papa close by!
Happy Thanksgiving