MARY ANGEL'S FOOD PANTRY VISIT

We are so blessed to be able to have opportunities to serve others with our children.  Savannah's brownie troop pulled away from Girl Scouts of America (questionable values) and became a service group that her and her friends named themselves "Mary's Angels".  Mary was the first apostle of her Son, Jesus!!  ANYWAY...they went to the North Tarrant County food bank and worked in the warehouse in an assembly line filling boxes for the poor.  We ALL need to remember how blessed we are to have food whenever we are hungry!

A sign over the warehouse window

Here is an outside view of the BUSY warehouse where the girls worked the assembly line

 Savannah filling boxes with juice boxes with the help of some other workers

 There was SO MUCH food!!  I know that it does not go very far though, with all of the hunger!

They needed to get Savannah a chair to stand on to reach!  I just had to take a pic!  It was so cute! What a little servant of God!

 Madison got to go with us and help too.  This is her and her friend, Clare loading boxes with peanut butter and fruit roll-ups

 My little man had to wait behind the glass while the girls worked.  He was a little antsy but really still very good....aside from a few whines about leaving...but he NEVER got in trouble for it....it was really nothing bad.  Why do I mention all of that.....well, for the next pic.

On the way out of the parking lot, the girls thanked me for bringing them and said that they loved being there helping (wow, I got the credit....God bless the my mommy friends who organized the visit). 

Without being prompted AT ALL.....I hear this little voice (of the boy pictured above) mumble..."Sorry for being a toot, Mommy"  He wasn't even disciplined for his very small offense.  I loved to see our Lord at work in his soul to feel when he has not been at his best. 

As if the day wasn't awesome already, another blessing was that we got to go on the Feast of The Immaculate Conception.  So we left the food bank and met Daddy at Mass.  What a truly blessed day!  I want every day to be like that!

WHY I LOVE MY BROTHER AND SISTER

The kids have been a bit impatient today with each other, so Jeremy and I had them write letters to each other telling why they love one another.  We presented them during our Advent offering that evening.  The kids worked pretty hard on this project.

 Here is Madison reading her letter to Nicholas.  She made poems for each of them about why they were special

 Then she read Savannah's poem and letter

 Nicholas and Savannah made snowflakes to go along with their cards to each other.

Savannah made a word puzzle at the end of hers for the other ones to solve.  They really enjoyed it.  Lots of hugging and happiness.......I know that this complete peace won't last forever but I am enjoying it for now.

We need to remind ourselves about the great attributes of our family members.  It's easy to forget, but I love remembering why God chose them for my family and why they are PERFECT for me!

PERFORMANCE AT THE MALL

My children got to perform at our mall with the Christian Performing Arts Center.  They were so precious singing Christmas carols and then more singing and dancing, professing their faith for the passerby's  I think the shoppers were surprised to see so much faith from such a big group of little kids, and teens!  I just love that my kids can be a part of CPAC!

 I love that look on Madison's face.  This was before they started singing.  She was laughing and embarrassed at the same time....there was a boy (who you cannot see behind the crowd) telling her a joke.

 There is little Nick and Savannah.  They just electrified the place!  What a way to get everyone in the Christmas spirit and help all to refocus!

 They sang Christmas carols, Christian rap songs and danced hip hop!  It is such an energetic and cool way to praise our Lord.   In the words of St. Augustine, "The one who sings, prays twice!"

There is nothing like the sound of Children's voices lifted up in praise!

FAMILY ADVENT WREATH

There is nothing more romantic then seeing your hubby leading our children in our nightly Advent offering.  What a beautiful and important time for the our family

 Look how our little ones listen carefully to Daddy reading scripture and special prayers preparing our hearts for the Christ Child

 They were having such a sweet discussion about what we can do as a family to peach Christ's word to others, especially during Advent

 Everyone had something to share.  I love their powerful ideas!  Their souls are just on fire for Jesus, they feel like they can do anything for Him.....and they can!!!  I can learn so much from them.  "It's not our strength, but His..."

 Madison staring at the Advent wreath.  The kids love lighting the candles each night.  Christmas is coming soon!!

Here is our family's Advent wreath and one of our offering booklets that we follow.  We have 2 booklets that we read from each evening, and Jeremy always asks me (every night) "Why do we need 2?!?!"  I just loved how they were both laid out.  They use scripture, prayers, reflections, and hymns to help prepare us.  One is from when I was little and one is more contemporary.  I just could not choose....so we use both each night.  It's such amazing family time.  We are going to continue with nightly scripture after Advent too.  We have always talked about it, but never stuck with it.  It is so valuable.....something that they will thank us for!

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.

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

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