Tuesday, April 23

THERE WOULD BE NO RESURRECTION WITHOUT A CRUCIFIXION

First I must show you the inspiration for this post.......My beautiful friend, Celeste and her family
 This is my friend Celeste and her beautiful family.  They are an awesome homeschooling family.....in fact, Celeste was a huge influence on our decision to homeschool our children.  ANYWAY, Celeste and I have been friends for about 13 years (since my Madison and her Olivia were born....way back when we lived in a little Apartment in Dallas and Jeremy was in Dental School)  Celeste is an amazing Catholic Christian wife and mommy (of seven kids....she only had 2 when we met) and has totally inspired me over the years.  So many of her words have stayed with me and I have used them throughout my life as a wife and mommy.  
All of this to say that I am so blessed to have her as my friend.....I thank Jesus for her each day!! One thing (one of the many things) that Celeste told me a long time ago in a mother's prayer group that we were in together, was "There would be no Resurrection without a Crucifixion".  That is so true!!  We would not be able to understand joy, if we didn't experience suffering.  What would good food taste like if you had never tasted food that was yucky!!

Well, that was what I was thinking yesterday when I was finally blessed with feeling better after being sick for what seemed like, forever.  
Last night when I went to bed, finally freed from my ailments, I felt so comforted knowing that tomorrow (today) would be a "normal" day.  How I reveled in that joyful thought!!  Usually our daily wind and grind is pretty tiring.....especially our "crazy Tuesdays" as we call them (a lot of activities are scheduled that day each week)  We are driving here and there while trying to finish school at the same time.
I was so grateful for THIS Tuesday (today)!!!  There was no place that I would have rather been than starting our day with prayer together in our homeschool room, driving Madison to her science lab, and running to get gas and milk at the store.
I don't ever truly appreciate feeling well, until I experience feeling sick.  So, in the words of my sweet friend  (which have inspired me for so long)
"There would be no Resurrection without a Crucifixion"

A picture of today's prayer time.....the best prayer time ever (Our Awesome REGULAR daily life)
(a pic of our morning prayer time...see the candle with our Adored Christ Jesus.  It helps us to focus on the importance of our time in prayer to our Father.  See the book of pictures of Jesus' life that we can meditate on....this one is the Last Supper.  See the soft brown rug....we love to sit on it....our schoolroom has a wood floor and so this fluffy rug is the only soft place.  Now if you look closely, you will see something behind the candle. That is our schoolroom space heater.  We pile around it each day during prayer time....we love to be warm like a baby caterpillar in his cocoon) 
Most importantly, here are the little hands of my 3 precious children....I wanted to capture this pic
 
Madison is holding the purple Rosary.  Look how fast she is growing.  She has beautiful long fingers that play Taylor Swift songs on her keyboard perfectly while her friend Claire sings on FaceTime (see her clean manicured nails....she is always painting them and then cleaning them off because they are not perfect)  
Savannah is holding the green Rosary.  Look at her little fingers that have to stretch SO FAR to play "Sweet Home Alabama" her electric guitar along with her ipod (will she really ever appreciate that song as much as Jer and I do?!?!).  She loves to get her nails done but the polish is always half scratched off by the next day (See the bit of purple polish on her nails....they had black zebra stripes on them too, before she played outside in the dirt)  
Nicholas is holding the blue Rosary.  Look at his tiny sweet fingers with the dirt under his nails.....such a little boy.  He bangs away on his drums like a super cute and innocent rock star.  I just love hearing him play.  
Their hands tell such a story about what they are and what they enjoy.  Today is a GREAT day.  There is no place that I would rather be than in my schoolroom teaching my children, while NOT throwing up : )

Thank you Lord for making me better.  Thank you for my health!  Today only feels like such a blessing because yesterday was such a suffering.....thank you for the Great Suffering that You experienced before Your Magnificent Glory!

Monday, April 22

IMPROMPTU FAMILY CAMPOUT IN MOMMY AND DADDY'S ROOM


All of the kids piled in our room tonight for a "family camp out"  As Nicholas called it.  We just all wanted to sleep together so the kids threw blankets and pillows in our bedroom's sitting area (where Max sleeps by the fireplace) and had a slumber party.
I love how they all just pile on the floor, kind of overlapping each other, like sleeping kittens
Daddy joined in on the floor to lead our family prayer time, but soon ended up in our big soft bed for a good night's sleep
It was quite a sight indeed....I just had to take pictures of them together
 Here are all of my loves laying on the blankets that the kids set up around Max's bed
 Here is a closer picture of Daddy, Savannah, Nick, and of course, Max
 Max is absolutely LOVING this by the way......he is such a snuggle bunny
(even though he is a dog)
Madison, being the oldest decided that she needed a cot to sleep on, so she drug our big camping cot in and laid her pillow pallet on top of it.  A bed truly fit for a princess

I love when we are all together, especially at night.  This whole "family camp out" in Daddy and Mommy's room totally warmed my heart
I cannot help admitting that I loved it!!

Friday, April 19

A FATHER'S PERFECT LOVE

I know that I always talk about my Sweet Lord Jesus, but there is just so much to say about Him everyday.  He blesses me countless times per minute......and every once in a while, I notice (please forgive me for that) He is so much more than my mind could ever imagine. He is my every breath.

Just as I always worry about my precious little children and think of them every second, Jesus loves me with all of His Heart and He never stops thinking about me.

When I was little girl and even as I grew older, I would wake up in the night to my daddy (often along with my mom) in my room, either kneeling and praying at my bedside, or standing in my doorway to make sure that I was okay.  Even a couple of years ago, when I had gone through a surgery and Jeremy had to leave to go to the pharmacy for medicine, my daddy so patiently sat by my bed and watched me sleep to make sure that I did not stop breathing.......(I guess that is just what daddies do, right?)

Well, I have been pretty sick (my body just cannot kick this) It is frustrating to me that I need to be a mommy right now, but I am just laying there sick and I just feel so helpless....while my little ones need me so much.  
Well, the other night, I heard gentle footsteps in my room.....just pacing.  Surprisingly, I was NOT afraid at all, but just kept looking around to see if someone had come in (I just knew that someone had to be there b/c there were definitely footsteps). Then it just hit my heart so powerfully that I began to cry with the thought.  It was Jesus in my room.....pacing back and forth at the end of my bed, as any loving Father would if His little girl was sick.  What an awesome awareness I was blessed with.

I love You so much Father. Please make me better so that I can be a good mommy

Wednesday, April 17

LOVE FROM MY BABIES

MY THREE LITTLE BABIES
(They look so little.....this pic is 2 years old.....They are growing up so fast)

How blessed I am to have such sweet babies...They are the biggest love-bugs!
Madison, Savannah, and Nicholas are always trying to make me smile, and so when I was initially not feeling good, they went right to work on cards and pictures to make me feel better

Madison's Get Well card
(outside and inside)
 Notice the 3-D letters....she is such a great artist.....just like her Daddy

Savannah's Get Well Card
(outside and inside)
 Notice the beautiful rainbow below and the crossed bandages on the front....so sweet

Nicholas' Get Well Card
(outside and inside)
 Notice how he took artistic liberties by separating his words with lines while writing vertical and that he 3-ring hole punched it : )
They went out of their way to make my heart happy....and they TOTALLY did!

Monday, April 15

MY LOVE

(Here is a pic of my Jeremy....I had to crop out the dead coyote that is laying in front of him that he had just shot before this picture was taken)

I mention my sweet love, Jeremy quite often in my blogs, but I just had to talk about how great he is in his very own post

ABOUT JEREMY
Jeremy is my most perfect soulmate! He was sent to me from our Lord and he just loves me so much 
(For that, I am so blessed)  

He is most importantly a devout Christian husband and father and he is leading us to Heaven 
He is super handsome and funny  
He is strong, understanding and genuine
He is giving, hardworking and motivated
He is really brilliant
He is adventurous, positive and daring
He is warm, trusting and trustworthy
He has always protected me and our little ones and I feel completely safe in his care
(I don't know what I would do without him)
He has done amazing things to show love for me and I know that he would never let me down
There is SO MUCH MORE than even all of this to say about Jeremy
I just love him and he is mine

Like our holy priest Fr. Alfonse said in a beautiful talk on marriage:
"Neither you nor your spouse are perfect, but you and your spouse are perfect for each other"

Marriage is a beautiful Sacrament and I am so thankful that I was called to this vocation



Tuesday, April 9

TONGUES OF FIRE

Savannah's little Pearls group did such a cute project today learning about what the celebration of Pentecost is all about.  Pentecost is the celebration of when the Holy Spirit descended onto the Apostles and gave them tongues of fire, igniting their hearts and motivating them to spread Jesus' message to all the ends of the earth!!

(Acts 2:2-4) "Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."

Look at these precious apostles! They are so on-fire for Christ and His blessed message!!
Savannah and all of her sweet little friends from church

Saturday, April 6

TENDER LITTLE NICHOLAS


Today I was talking to Nicholas while getting ready to go out for pancakes.  He was sitting on the side of my bathtub, all dressed up in his Cub Scout uniform for his den meeting this afternoon (he loves putting on his uniform....he loves being a Cub Scout)

Anyway, little Nicholas was worried about a conversation that he had had with Daddy moments earlier about what the boys were required to wear to their den meeting.

He was telling me how he chose his "Class A" uniform which consists of his official navy blue button down shirt, yellow "wolf" neck-kerchief, tan shorts, belt decorated with all the the loops he has earned, and Wolf hat.  He was trying to be brave as his eyes started to tear up.  He then abruptly explained why his eyes were tearing up.

"Mom, this is really frustrating!", he said.  "Now my eyes have tears in them, and it looks like I am crying, but I am not.....they are just cleaning right now"

"Oh Nick", I responded as I sat down next to him.  "It is okay if you need to cry, sweetie.....why are you so sad?"

The tears increased as he told me that he was afraid that Daddy might be frustrated with him for wearing this specific uniform.

"Of course, Daddy is not mad at you, Nick"......"Daddy loves you so much and I heard him say that you could wear either uniform to your meeting."

Not sure whether I convinced him of this, or not, but he is just always so worried about disappointing  us.  What a sweet little soul Nicholas has been blessed with.  How tender his precious heart can be......I just love him for trying to be so strong for me, while at the same time, being sensitive enough to worry that he had hurt someone's feelings.

I just didn't want to ever forget how Nick said that his eyes were just cleaning themselves......and when those tears fell onto his sweet little lap, it reminded me of how important my job as his mother is.

I pray, dear Heavenly Father, to guide me in forming this little one into the saintly Christian man that You have envisioned.

Friday, April 5

I LOVE BEING A MOM (EVERY MOM CAN RELATE TO THIS)

This was MY view from my potty today......All the mommies out there will understand.
So there I was sitting IN the bathroom, and.....
My children were just "hanging out" talking to me about their day and what they were up to.....Madison was in the middle of describing the dream that she had, had last night.  No mind that I am on the potty!!
Maybe this is their way of getting my total attention, when I cannot be walking around busy?!?!

I guess that when I finally get the privacy that I sometimes crave.....I will then miss the company!

Thank you, God for the gift of motherhood, where I am transformed into a much better version of myself......more selfless and charitable with my personal time AND space

Tuesday, April 2

PRECIOUS LITTLE LOVE NOTES

Each morning, I so often I find little love notes and pictures drawn by one of my sweet children on our schoolroom chalkboard (I love homeschooling them....I am such a lucky mommy).  We start each school day with prayer time in a circle on the rug and the kids take turns setting it up (bibles, rosaries, candle, etc...).  Now it has become this huge deal, where prayer time is set up with extreme thought and so much consideration.  Each child takes such great care to surprise me with a really special prayer space.
So each morning, as Madison, Savannah, or Nicholas lead me by the hand, my eyes closed, into the schoolroom for prayer time, they excitedly watch as I open up my eyes and see what they have created for Jesus (and me) on the chalkboard and for prayer time on the rug

Today was Nick's day to set up for prayer time, and I found a little note drawn by Nicholas on the board and I wanted to post it because he was so cute to write that he loved each person our family...

BUT WAIT....here comes his innocent little heart.....the cuter part

Then, so as not to hurt Madison or Savannah's feelings, he signed his adorable little note from ALL THREE KIDS......but if you look closely, he includes every person in the love note and then signs the note from every person!!  Oh my precious little Nick!!  He is always VERY thoughtful and kindhearted.  He never wants to make anyone sad
My Children are such a blessing to me!! I love them so much!!
Between them and my precious love, Jeremy....I really do feel like the luckiest girl in the world!!