To Boston and Back

Above and Below : Jesse and Mary at Cheers in Boston

Above : Mary Therese with her patron Saint Mary Therese Martin in a Cathedral in Boston.

Below : The kids in their Boston gear. I'm so glad we are all together again!

Jesse had business in Boston the past few days and was kind enough to take me with him. Mary Therese came too, of course. It was short and a little on the stressful side but we did some fun things. For one thing I finally made it to "Sam's Place" (Cheers). I LOVED that show when I was a kid. So at the risk of being a true tourist we went and took pictures too. :) I was also able to meet up with a friend from my Catholic Mama's board and her two kids. In addition, I had lunch and a great day of shopping with my dear friend, Pam, whom I've emailed with for 10 years but never met in person! It was amazing! She is such a sweet person and we had a great time.



For anyone thinking of inviting me on a trip that requires flying I would just like to tell you I will pass. ;) I think it would take a gun to my head or a true emergency to get me on a plane again. At least while I have little kids at home. On the trip home I had to pull out all the stops and skip right over the Saints and Angels to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It worked and we're home safely (without incident. I cried the whole plane ride on the way there, LOL).



My parents had the six older kids. What great grandparents they are! Sammy didn't even notice I was gone. Hannah changed all of the diapers!



Anyway - I'm so happy to be home to my normal life. I've no desire to live in the fast lane or to wear high heals and nylons (lots of high heals and nylons at the hotel b/c mostly business people were there). I'll take my plain clothes that are currently covered in pirates booty and chocolate covered pretzels. ;)



So praise God for a safe trip. It was nice to spend a little extra time with Jesse. We also got to see his sister whom we haven't seen in over 4 years.



Excuse the typos and lack of fluint thought. It's been a long week! God Bless your day!!!

March For Life

Today marks the 35th Anniversary of Roe vs Wade passing in the supreme court. This law allows abortion from conception through 9 months of pregnancy. It has cost 50 million lives so far. It is a tragedy.

Brandon attended the march today and we are so proud of him! He went even though he has a cold. He took an all night bus trip and arrived in DC this morning. They attended a rally and mass at the Verizon Center and then on to the march. He's on another bus for another all night trip tonight! God bless him! God bless all of the people (most under the age of 25 years old) who are standing up for those who cannot speak for themselves. We watched the coverage on EWTN this afternoon. There was an excellent Rabbi that spoke. I loved his message. He urged the Pope to insist that people who believe in protecting human life not vote for any candidates that support abortion in any way. He said it's not a religious thing at all. It's about doing what's right. He is so right. It's so obvious that from the moment of conception there's a whole new person formed. Science now proves it over and over again with shows on The Discovery Channel and TLC showing ultra sounds from the earliest days. Days when most women don't even know they are pregnant. Women are not meant to kill their own children!!!! It is not a choice. Someday this law will be overturned. The youth of our country will make sure of it. The mainstream news media was nowhere to be found at the march today. They arrived around 5pm with the National Organization for Women group that came to protest. There were 12 of them. They were interviewed. It doesn't matter. We don't need mainstream media. Our message is clear.

I mentioned the movie Amazing Grace in a previous post. I keep thinking of how William Wilbur had to fight for years and years against all odds to prove that slaves were real people. That they shouldn't be tortured and treated as property. If I told someone today that it was my *opinion* that slavery was acceptable but that they were entitled to their opinion they would think I was off my rocker. There's no opinion when it comes to the sanctity of ANY human life. We are all created equal - in the image and likeness of God. This culture of death will end someday. Until then we will march, our children will march, we will pray. Forgive them Father, they know not what they do.

God bless you all.

Here's a quiz about Roe and the ruling. Most people fail miserably. Should we really be supporting something that we know nothing about? http://www.roeiqtest.com/ui/quiz.php

The Miracle of the Moment

Well, another week has passed us by. The miracle of the moment is my theme for the week. I'm trying to take every moment as it comes and enjoy it. This is not always easy as I feel that my plate tends to be very full. Then there's the "plays" that I am invited to by Katie and Sammy and whomever else joins in. Those take up a lot of time. ;) Below is the kids in their costumes made of playsilks as they were playing Annie. If you don't have playsilks I highly recommend them. They are a great open ended toy that have a million uses. Colleen has them in her store I believe. Yep - here they are : http://store.naturalbabies.com/store/WsDefault.asp?One=1043 Mary was introduced to bubbles this week. She's trying to be a trooper in this picture as she wasn't feeling well (and still isn't). Still, she did enjoy the bubbles.

I got my hair all cut off yesterday. This picture shows it as the hairdresser did it. A little "big" for my taste. I like it better today but alas there is no picture from today so.....It's the shortest it's ever been, I think. I like it, I think. I don't LOVE it but I didn't love it before and I don't love it now but it was fun and exciting to do something different. I get my hair cut once/year or so. I figured I'd make it exciting. :) That's about it for now. I need to go put groceries away. Please pray for Brandon as he travels to Washington DC for the March for Life Monday thru Wednesday. Check out http://www.rtl.org/ for events going on in our area.

Saw the movie Amazing Grace last night. It was very good. I highly recommend it. Probably teens and up.

God bless!

Celebrity Baby

We made playdough the other day. When the older kids were little we did this at least once/week. I loved doing it! I had forgotten how much I loved it! We do it on the stove. I love the warmth of the playdough, adding the color, the texture, and even the smell (Owen complained of the smell silly boy). When I was a kid I made the warm stuff with my mom. I loved it then too! Here's the recipe we used:

From the book Mudworks by MaryAnn Kohl (available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/104-0068419-4202301?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Mudworks )

Salty Oil Dough 2

Matierials:
1cup flour
1T. Vegetable oil
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
2 t. cream of tartar
food coloring
saucepan
covered container
spoon

Process:
1. heat all ingredients over low heat in saucepan, stirring until ball forms
2. knead
3. explore dough freely
4. store in covered container or plastic bag


Yes - our Mary Therese is now a celebrity. Well, the people that attended the 10:00 mass at OLGC this week know who she is anyway. You may think she cried so loud that everyone noticed her. But no, Fr. Steve Burr said most of his homily this week while holding her. She was so good. I thought for sure she was going to cry or bite him or something, LOL, but she did not. She was great. Now if only I could get Fr. Steve to come over around 2 a.m. we'd be in business! Either way I got to stay in church for the whole homily so that was a bonus. ;)

Have a blessed Sunday everyone!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Life seems to be getting busier. I seem to be getting slower. It takes me longer to do things at the moment. Mary is always in arms as I can't "wear" her in my carriers. I generally have a hernia from about now (14 wks) until around 26 wks. So I sit alot. ;) Schooling takes up a lot of time. I'm learning alot so I hope the kids are too.

Last week Fr. John from Our Lady of Good Counsel (http://www.olgcparish.net/) was generous enough to give us 2 hours of his time. He explained parts of the Mass as well as pointed things out in the church. The kids learned a ton. I chased Sammy for part of it (then Caitlyn was kind enough to take over) so missed most of the presentation. The kids had a great time, though. They were even allowed to open the box of Saint's relics that are kept under the alter in the church. What blessed kids we have!

Other than that we are just keeping busy with the usual. Brandon leaves for the March for Life in D.C. next week. I believe in the 22nd of January. I had hoped to go this year as well but am not able to. Maybe next year. We're proud of him for standing up for those innocent babies that cannot stand up for themselves. We pray for a safe trip and hope you will all do the same.

I'm afraid I'm out of steam for the night. I hope you are all well. Thanks for reading and God Bless!!

Odds and Ends

Above : Hannah and Mary at Jungle Java in Canton. www.junglejavaplay.com

First - in a previous post I believe I put something about the "octave of Christmas". There is no Octave of Christmas and I meant the 12 days of Christmas. I guess I have the number 8 on my mind lately. ;) The Octave, of course, is of Easter. The 12 days of Christmas is the time between Christmas Day and Epiphany (January 6). Phew, that's been on my mind lately.

Second - I ran across this article on Catholic Exchange (http://www.catholicexchange.com/) and thought it did a great job of explaining the Church's view on Equality of the Sexes. http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/68575

Third - we had a wonderful morning at Jungle Java today with our good friends the McInnis'. It was so nice to get out of the house and to see friends! We are so blessed to have good friends in our lives!

Well - I'm off to break up a fight.....it doesn't get any better than this.

Happy New Year!!!

Above : Swimming at Great Wolf Lodge.

Below : A Christmas tree in the lobby at Great Wolf Lodge.

Below : Making ice cream sundaes on New Year's Eve.

Below : There's our newest baby girl!! What a miracle! God is so good!

So far so good for our New Year. Everyone is healthy and happy. Jesse went back to work today. It was nice having him home for 10 whole days. I did very little lifting or diaper changing while he was here. ;)



Last week my parents were generous enough to take us to Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, OH. What a great family spot! They have swimming, of course, and other fun activities for the kids. Check them out at http://www.greatwolf.com/



It snowed on New Years Eve and it's still beautiful today!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the snow! Praise God for snow!!



In other news, I went to my OB appointment today. I was anxious to hear the baby's heartbeat as I'm now 13 wks. I was pleasantly surprised to also find out via ultra sound that baby has all fingers and toes, a health heart, and that it's a GIRL! :) Now it's even, four and four. ;) And we won't have to put the girl stuff away. It's a win/win. I asked the kids what they thought the baby was and they all said boy. Ha - they were all wrong. Katie was thrilled. Jackson not so much and Owen had a bit of a defeated look on his face, LOL. It's so amazing that you can see baby move, count fingers and toes, see the brain, the eyes, everything at only 13 wks. (you can see all of this earlier, really). At a time when some people are still contemplating (and having) abortions. It's so sad. I really believe that if people saw their babies they would NEVER go through such a horrible act. My dr (whom I absolutely LOVE) also went over some of the tests that are recommended (but not by him). One such test is that which screens for downs syndrome. He said it's horrifying to hear how many dr's and scientists want a test that's 100% accurate so they can immediately abort any downs syndrome child. Why? And what's next? Who decides who is worthy to live or die? It's so disturbing. What if you have a perfectly healthy child and then they fall down the stairs at age 2 and suffer brain damage. Is it OK to kill them as they would become an inconvenience. It's so beyond my comprehension. I pray that people come to their senses before it's too late.



Alright - I've been gone all morning so I should pay attention to my kids. :) God bless you all in the new year!