Mardi Gras

Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras).  Our church is having their annual party to celebrate.  For the first time,  our family is going to attend. Normally we have CCD on Tuesday nights and as a teacher I was always unable to attend.  I am taking my much needed break from volunteering for a year, so we can go. When Honey got back, I decided that I needed to take it easy and only deal with homeschooling, so I dropped the job of girl scout leader and CCD teacher.  I am always willing to help, but am trying to avoid the leadership, organizing, and running of anything.    I also chose not to send them to CCD but to leave the religious education at home for this year.  It has enabled us to change our focus to learning about more about the saints and reading more from the Bible and discussing it.

I am looking forward to celebrating Mardi Gras.  I think it will be a lot of fun.  My grandparents always went to New Orleans to celebrate because my uncle lived there.  I have the happy memories of Mardi Gras that my grandparents shared with me.  That is probably why it is on my list of things I would like to do in my life.  It seems like such a fun event.  Maybe Honey and I will go one year when the kids are older.  In the meantime, I went to help decorate for the event and took Elizabeth to help.  She was a huge help.  We had a great time and Elizabeth is excited for the party.  She loved all the bling and sparkle.  She was planning her wardrobe for tomorrow all afternoon!  I am glad that she is excited.  I love to see her smile, it warms my heart.

 I hope you have a Wonderful Mardi Gras!

4 in a row.

It just occurred to me that there are 4 holidays in a row this week.  Weird.  So Happy Valentine's Day! Happy President's Day! Happy Mardi Gras! Have a Blessed Ash Wednesday!
Whew, Thursday is our day for a break!

Where is this going to lead.

I have had a very hard time trying to decide how to handle my blog and what to do with it once Honey got home. Should I stop writing? Should I change my focus? What is my goal?

I love having all the memories of my little ones as they are growing up. I love sharing my thoughts of the day and all the crazy things that seem to happen to me. I love that family and friends from far away can see updated pictures of the kids. So after months of not much writing, but a lot of reflection, I have decided to continue, but I want to add a little more focus on two things: my faith and my history. Both are an integral part of who I am. I think without the background, it is hard to really know me.

So we are going out with the old adventures and on with the new.

OLD

Family, Homeschooling, and life in general. Where am I going and where do I want to be?

Trying to keep Honey up to date on the kids while he defends the country. He has his adventure & I have mine.

NEW

"Family, Faith, Homeschooling and this crazy thing called life. Don't let it pass you by! Enjoy every day for what it gives and takes."

I try to live my life with no regrets. It is hard, but I try to remember that even if it is a bad experience, you learn something. I had to choose to be positive and strong while Honey was away. I could have wallowed in despair, self pity, & worry. But I had to give my worries over to God, and choose to take what fate had in store for me. It is not always easy, but you can choose to grow stronger. It is all about the choice. Choose to be strong. Choose to learn. Choose to grow. Choose to Live.

Gratitude

Today as I prepare for the return of Honey. I can hardly believe that the time is almost over. Hours are all I have in front of me instead of months. In light of that I want to discuss a more serious topic, Gratitude. Gratitude is defined as thankfulness or appreciation. It is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgement of a benefit that one has received or will receive. (Wikipedia)

As I mentioned months ago, I am very grateful to the Bad Backs Lax for their gift to our family. There are many other individuals and families that have been so kind and generous to our family during the time that Honey has been away to defend our great nation. The kind words and outpouring of love, assistance with the kids, help with the laundry, mowing the lawn, meals and phone calls just to say hello; have been such a huge blessing. I don't think I have ever felt so loved. I am so grateful to know so many wonderful people. I don't think I could ever repay them for the friendship, love and support that I have been given. It is a gift of love that has no price. They have been a perfect example that "Kindness is love in action" (from The Love Dare by Stephen Kendrick).

So I ask you to remember that the smallest things that you do might have the biggest impact on your day, or more importantly; the day of others. Try to follow John 15:12, "This is my commandment. Love one another as I have loved you." Smile at your mailman, say hi to the check out clerk, let that person in front of you in line at the store (or parking lot!), give your child or spouse a hug, call up a friend you haven't talked to in a while. These small things may make a big difference in their day. I know that the quick phone calls or emails to see how I was feeling, made all the difference in the world to my day. The acts of friendship made me not feel so alone. I am a huge believer in "what goes around comes around". This isn't just about the bad, it's about the good things too. Friendship means being there when times are hard, not just when it's easy. So when you get up each day, ask yourself "Who do you want to be nice to today?" And get to it. Be a blessing in someone else's life!

The Little Blessings add up.

          Today I had the joy of going to church and seeing our friend, Father H--.  This week he was transferred to our parish to be the new parochial vicar.  We were sad to see Father F-- move to his new parish, but excited to see our friend.  We are looking forward to getting to see him every week.   It is truly a blessing to me that our friend was transferred to our parish.

          I am constantly amazed by the little blessings that are bestowed on me. Seeing this little blessing in my life make me really appreciate God's presence in my daily life.  I do not need to see God in a burning bush or have him speak to me.  I am happy to see Him in the world he created for us.  I am happy to see my little prayers answered and know that my bigger prayers will be answered, just not always (and most often not) the way I imagine them. God is good and I am grateful. I look forward to seeing each new blessing, facing His new challenges and enjoying the sweet little ones that He gave me to raise to praise Him.

1st Communion

Christopher had his first communion today.  He was SOOO excited.  He has been looking forward to this for a long time.  Literally since he was 4.  He was such a good little boy.  He followed the directions exactly and was a good example to others of how to behave during Mass.  I am so proud of my little baby.  He is growing up so fast.  It seems like yesterday that I was holding my newborn in my arms.

Here's Christopher looking great in his first suit!  Compare to his Baptism picture.
     

Christopher and our priest Father F. after the mass.

 

Here's the group photo in the smallest space possible for a group photo, but construction and rain were against an easier backdrop.

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   We celebrated afterward with a small party at the house with his Godparents, my mom, my sister and her family, and my in laws.  There was definitely enough food.  We basically grazed our way from lunch through dinner, with a short break for Grandma to spoil all 7 of the grandkids with ice cream from the Good humor man.  With gorgeous weather (after the morning rain) and good company, the only thing missing was Honey.  But I solved that with a surprise "Skype" visit from Honey.  I think his parents were especially glad to see him, as was Christopher.  It was a great addition to a tiring, yet fun filled day.

While waiting for Christopher's Godfather to arrive before the mass, I snapped this photo of my precious Keener.  She was having  a great time dancing around.

Crazy days are here again.

Congratulations to Christopher on receiving the Sacrament of 1st Reconciliation!  Our friend Father H. was able to be the priest for him, which made it an extra special day.  We then went out to lunch with Father and boy was Keener a lunatic.  She climbed all up and down everything. Luckily Father H. is from a big family and enjoys all the children.    Sometimes though I wonder if he thinks we are all crazy!   

Rolo is at Auntie's house because we were having such a busy, busy day for Christopher and I was hoping to let him have more fun with his cousins than drug all over tarnation with me. He is right in between my identical twin sister's two younger kids and it makes it easy for him to find someone to play with.

On to more adventures,  After lunch, we raced off to the basketball game where Christopher managed to steal the ball from the other team about 20 times in the first half and shut them out from scoring.  Luckily for the other team, they had a good defensive too and Christopher was not able to score, but his teammate got one basket.  At halftime we raced off to the 1/2 of  lacrosse practice that we were able to attend. Christopher had a wonderful time.   All his practicing in the back yard must have paid off because at the end of practice his coach said that he had done really well and looked like he'd already played the game before!  I am very proud to know that his practice paid off.  He is in the U9 league and that means that some of the boys are 9 and some are 7 like him (okay, okay, he'll be 7 in 2 weeks... picky, picky.  He's 6 & 353/365ths).  He probably won't be one of the best players on the team this year (despite his desire to be), but it is good for him to have older boys to model proper lax skills.    Keener had a grand time at the practice.  The team practiced in a huge field house and only used half the field, so she ran all over the other half.  She sure wore me out!!  

Home again, home again jiggity jig, will I ever be out of the car? I do care a fig!  So is my day over, No.  I have a baby that needs her nap and a boy that needs to get cleaned and dressed for his Boy Scout Blue and Gold Ceremony.   Now that he's off having a grand time with all his friends and I can finally sit down and write a little for Honey before I must make dinner.   I'm tired.  It was much easier having a little baby to take care of than having even one kid to drive around town all day!  Despite all the time and energy, I do love it.  I love to see the smiles on their faces when they score a point, sing in a recital, catch the fly ball,  create a masterpiece, like this barbie interior design that Elizabeth built today.  

I love watching an imagination grow.   This truly is the best job in the world!