Flexin' the Big Guns!

God is in this too.....

Sunday nights are usually filled with anxiety for me. Stressed about going back to work and leaving the kids. Just plain thinking about all of the stuff that surrounds the week can sometimes be daunting.  So as a ritual of sorts, I don't sleep much around the first of the week.
I am a planner to a fault. Changes don't come easy. So when my aunt comes to my house this morning to watch the kids and wants me to bring the kids to her house instead. I get more nervous,  just more stuff to do. Wake them, dress them, pack toys.... UGH.  I knew my assistant would be gone in the morning and a Dr's appointment for the kids in the noon of after. Already, a busy day, so adding to the stress of what had to be done.
As I finally made it to work, my poor trusty assistant is writhing in pain due to an unknown condition at this time. She's off to the Dr and probably out of the office for a while. Rescheduled the Dr's appt for the kids.
I know that all of these are little things. But, I get a bit off kilter. I rescheduled the other appointments I had this week to anticipate my assistants absence. As I rescheduled one, the person on the other end of the phone said.... " Ya know, God's just saying he's in this too"

Peace just overwhelmed me. Yes, she is right. VERY RIGHT. Here I am AGAIN trying to make MY plans.

God has other plans for me.

I need to lighten up a lot. Open my heart and mind to what God wants me to do. God bless the woman on the other end of the phone today.

Look eye!, always look eye!

My kids love intimating the movie " Karate Kid"  They love to do "the moves" probably as much as my hubby. After hem and some hawing, we took the boys to try a taekwondo class. I was completely impressed by the control that the "master" had over the kids. I was amazed by my boys. My little one, did not cry for me. In fact, he had his karate face on and was ready to rock. Walked right in the room with his big brother and went for it. Parents sat out side the room and could watch. I think this helped my little one feel ok. He kept mouthing" do you have fruit snacks" He must have been hungry during the kicks and crab walks. The discipline was great. However, at some points a bit too much. The "master" picked up one kid by his belt and carried him like a suit case to move him to the other side of the room. I am not sure I would appreciate that being done to MY perfect angels. Do you think that is excessive? I am still on the fence about making this commitment for our boys. They had fun. They stuck it out the whole hour. We will be there the entire time with them to watch.

My baby girl will start her dance classes this Monday. She is very excited and is thrilled about wearing her little tutu.  My hubby and I thought it would be good to get them in some sort of activity during the winter at least. Although, we are all very sick through out the winter months. Both of the boys are without tonsils, we have started the kids on Vitamin D supplement's, and we will all be getting flu shots. We haven't gotten them in the past, but I think its needed.  Nothing is worse than having the flu, and trying to catch your kids "stomach contents" while you are rushing back from depositing your own. The memory is still so vivid. OUCH! Odd. My hubby slept through the mayhem of that night AND never got sick!  Do you and your family get flu shots?

Found the best Baked Coconut Chicken recipe. So easy so yummy. MY KIDS LOVE IT. They are so hard to please. Sub with  organic ingredients. Tum Yum. Also, Queen B, I saw your post about baked oatmeal. Looks yummy. I like to put steel cut oatmeal in the crock pot overnight on low. You can cook with water or apple juice. Dont forget the non-stick spray! So great and good for you. Another kid fav!
God Bless you today~

How much do I love thee...let me count the ways

I didn't know what I was missing until I saw you. You are everything I ever wanted.So warm and inviting. You just do everything for me. You open the doors for me, so I wont get tired. You love my children so much, you even make sure they are entertained with a DVD. You welcome any friends over with" Hey, I've got an extra seat here!" You play any music I want. You even found the Catholic Radio station for me. And, boy can you move! Like butta.
Ah yes my friends, I am the proud new owner/convert  of a Toyota Sienna. I have not enjoyed a vehicle since my 98 Pontiac Firebird 6 speed in college( those were the days). But now my excitement lies in the Sienna. The kids love it, the hubby loves it, I adore it. Blue tooth baby. I am so cool now. Worth every stinkn penny. I am certain it drives better than any Bmw or Mercedes. In fact, I am renaming it "Mom's Mercedes". Although, I strongly dislike the process of haggling, it all worked out. I feel like we got a great deal. Very happy. Thank you God for the opportunity to have this for my family.

Lately, I've been feeling like I am always yelling at my kidlets. They all have tons of energy and always want what the other has. The are smart enough to know what will make the other mad or upset. Half of the time, I do not see the crimes committed, but I can hear the aftermath. Trying to decided whom to punish is so hard. As I have struggled with this, so many tidbits have come my way. Mass this Sunday was all about discipline ( the  actual mass that I heard, we sit in the cry room so, we can only catch bits)  Did you ever notice that Disciples comes from the word discipline. I never noticed it before. How dense. For the most part, discipline is the art of making someone a better them. The example I heard on Catholic Radio was about a boy who is a concert pianist. He was disciplined enough to practice 8 hours a day to be the best. As parents, our ultimate job is to raise our children to be saints. Literally. You cannot do that without guiding children to be better. I need to stop looking at discipline as a mean action toward my children. Instead,  more as a means to help them be the best they can be at life. We all need to have more control over ourselves and our actions. Again, discipline. Although I feel like I am always "guiding" my children, they need it. They don't have a clue. They need help with the rules of life. That is why I have become so in love with my faith. I want to be the best teacher for my children. But who is to guide me on that journey?  The big G-O-D.

BTW, the organic movement is full swing in my house hold. Coming soon ....much better feed for the kids. Most def will include a weekly meal plan. I have found the greatest organic fruit snacks. They are made by Annie's and they are little bunny shaped. Very yummy. Target carries them and they are on sale right now.
Love it.

How you have a great evening. We will be taking the boys to try karate class. Need to work on spending some of that energy and building self discipline. I hope they enjoy it. God Bless!

Horse and Buggy

Lots of fun stuff happening in my neck of the woods. My big boy turned 5!!! He enjoyed every minute of it. I had planned to make him a cake. But, since it was his super cool 5th I decided to by him some really rockin' cakes. He wanted of course a Hippo and Rhino party. So easy to find decorations to follow that theme. I integrated Batman a bit too. All  in all, he had a great time. I can believe he is so big. Sniff, Sniff. He will be going to kindergarten next year. That will be rough on mom fo sho.

My hubby and I sold our Honda Odyssey van. One of my clients offered us a cant refuse price for it. So we sold it. Like I told the hubby, if someone offers you great money for some item that you have, you sell. We can always buy another van right? I strongly dislike buying cars. I knew this b4 I sold the van. You would think that the car lots are just swimming with clients and don't need to sell anything. I am having a heck of a time even getting sales dud's to give me a simple call back. It's so hard to drag the kidlets out to look at cars. Not to mention how boring it is for them. So, we have tried to do most of it by phone. Not working all too well.

At first we were going to buy another Odyssey, but frankly it wasn't much different than my previous van. So , we are looking at the overpriced death trap Toyota Sienna. All of our kids need car seats, I feel like our choices are limited. Good news is, 99 years from now, not gonna matter what van/car we ended up buying.

If you have any tips on buying a car. Let me know. I feel like we are just pulling teeth to get help. You think it would be easier with no trade in and no financing. I guess they cant hide as much when you just pay out right for a car.

God Bless you today!

My fav's

Thanks again to Queen B at http://happilyeverjohnson.blogspot.com/ for including  me in her meme post.
THE RULES-"Name your three most favorite Catholic devotional prayers, and explain why they're your favorites. Then tag five bloggers - give them a link, and then go and tell them they have been tagged. Finally, tell the person who tagged you that you've completed the meme. The Liturgy and the Sacraments are off limits here. I'm more interested in people's favorite devotional prayers."

My favorite Catholic Devotionals-

The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. I have spoke about it in the past. Its such a beautiful prayer and I truly credit this devotion for helping my big boy.

The Rosary- So powerful. Described as giving a bouquet of roses to our blessed mother Mary. My children have started to learn it. My husband, who converted to Catholicism 7 years ago, just learned the Rosary too. We have just started to pray it together every evening.

I found the following information on http://foryourmarriage.org/

As you probably know, 46-48% of marriages end in divorce.


But did you also know that:

For couples who worship together each Sunday only about 20% divorce. For couples who also regularly pray together at home marital stability is even greater.

My parents have been divorced, remarried, divorced.So this gives me a sort of peace by praying the Rosary with my hubby. The sweetest part was my Big Boy picked up his Rosary and said it with us too.

I love  going to Adoration. I try to go once a week. Here is a great prayer to begin that time with Jesus.


While Visiting The Most Blessed Sacrament



by St. Alphonsus Liguori


My Lord Jesus Christ, for the love which You bear to men, You remain night and day in this Sacrament full of compassion and of love, awaiting, calling, and welcoming all who come to visit You. I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar: I adore You from the abyss of my nothingness, and I thank You for all the graces which You have bestowed upon me and in particular for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament, for having given me your holy Mother Mary for my advocate, and for having called me to visit You in this chapel. I now salute


Your most loving Heart: and this for three ends:


1. In thanksgiving for this great gift;


2. To make amends to You for all the outrages which You receive in this Sacrament from all Your enemies;


3. I intend by this visit to adore You in all the places on earth in which You are the least revered and the most abandoned.



My Jesus, I love You with all my heart. I grieve for having so many times offended Your infinite goodness. I promise with Your grace never more to offend You in the future.


Now, miserable and unworthy though I be, I consecrate myself to You without reserve;


I give You my entire will, my affections, my desires, and all that I possess. From now on dispose of me and of all that I have as You please. All that I ask of You and desire is Your holy love, final perseverance, and the perfect accomplishment of Your will. I recommend to You the souls in purgatory; but especially those who had the greatest devotion to the most Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary. I also recommend to You all poor sinners.

My dear Saviour, I unite all my affections with the affections of Your most loving Heart; and I offer them, thus united, to Your eternal Father, and beseech Him in Your name to vouchsafe, for Your love, to accept them.


Amen.

To finish out the meme, I will tag others to share their thoughts--

 Lerin at  http://mycatholicfamily.blogspot.com/. She is very open about her life challenges. Its hard to tell the truth. But she does a great job!
Sarah at http://theclayrosarygirl.blogspot.com/. Talented artist fo sho.



 

Hum.

I am so honored that Queen B gave me a shout  in her blog at http://happilyeverjohnson.blogspot.com/. I will make sure I complete the meme soon. Also, I received my order from Clay Rosary Girl at http://theclayrosarygirl.blogspot.com/. Worth every penny. Everything is so delightful.

I want everyone to know I am not perfect. Nor do I think that I am. If you tell others what you believe as a Catholic, does it give off the impression that you are better than them? A holier than thou thought? I know that if anyone, even today, were to tell me I need to be closer to God, I am certain I would become defensive. However, its true.  I grow in my faith everyday.Through life's struggles I have made choices that took me away from God and closer to God. The choice has always been up to me. I look back on times in my life and I wonder what would have happened if I had someone to guide me. Someone to tell me something maybe I didn't want to hear, but needed to hear. I am in such a better place than the year before and the year before that. I have grown remarkably in my faith. Everyday I will continue to grow. This growth is credit to everyday life challenges. The challenges that we ALL go through. Some talk about it, others don't. But trust, we all have 'em.

I wonder what different choices I would have made if I had a strongER faith example growing up. My parents were Catholic and went to church every week. But, just because you attend mass doesn't mean much. Its a step, but you have to live it. That's the hard part. I think about my bloggy bud Queen B. She is on her way to becoming an ObGYN. She is strong in her faith.
***MEMORIES****My first visit with an OBGYN was when I was about 16. My mom didn't attend but she knew I was going for craZY period crampage. TMI. Anyhoo, at 16 I was then promptly put on birth control. It alleviated the situation, but at 16, I was not at an age to understand what path that could possibly lead to. I see nothing wrong with  making a point to show your faith in your work and to advise accordingly. I do know that there is fine line. But, I would love to have had  a doctor who could have supported my health and faith.

In the OBGYN world the doctors work hand in hand with God. Bringing life into the world. They also have the ability to prevent that life from flourishing as well. For example, last year, a family member found out that he and his wife were expecting a baby. After much testing, they discovered that the baby had a rare deformity. When born, she would be in a vegetative state for her life. I was disappointed in my Catholic family. Disappointed because they did not want to step on anyone's toes or cause hurt feelings, so they mostly kept their feelings quiet. My family member decided to induce her labor at 6 months. They decided not to do anything to help their daughter live after she was born. Thus, after a few hours their daughter died. I have struggled with their situation. I have struggled with the doctors whom advised them. I have struggled with my family's choice to stay quiet. What did I do? What did I say?  I spoke to the "higher ups" in my family. I expressed my sadness and wondered why we weren't stopping them. But, ultimately it was the couples' choice. I kept quiet.

So folks, when do you step in? Is it possible to tell those you love your feelings?  If I was given guidance at an earlier age I am sure I could have made better choices growing up. If someone would have spoken up. Ultimately, I made choices. Now, I feel that God is walking with me in the choices that I make.

When I speak about my faith or tell others about it, I am not coming from a "I am better than you or I know better" More like, this is what God has done for me and what I(and God) have done to GROW here.I want everyone to have what I have.Especially those I love. I am stumped. God's uses us all to help each other. If we ignore what God is asking us to do, how are we living in HIM?  And Scene.

Yippie!

I have been MIA for a while. My sitter had to take some time off. So, I have been blessed to spend extra time with my kids. This time has been such a blessing. They are all at an age where it is a bit easier to go
places. We have done so many fun activities. We did our own little bible school and made Pope miters. The kids got to make their own giant sugar cookies.Compliments of http://www.holyheroes.com/ We went to the children's museum.Took a stroll downtown and went to a pretty cool popcorn shop and "Jesus store" I also took them to out to eat to "flower garden" Any guesses at the real name of the restaurant? The kidlets have enjoyed getting out. All have been healthy and it is so nice to have these times with them.

Later this week we plan to see Toy Story 3, make our own pizzas, and make/take cookies to our parish priests. Again, so happy. My business is slow. Stressed about that. But, as always, I cant keep worrying about it. I do know I have to step it up a bit. I am really trying hard to strike up that balance. I know what I have to do to achieve the career goals I have. But it comes at such a high cost. So, I pray.

Have you ever prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy? http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/mercy/dmmap.htm
There are many promises that come with the prayer and the novena. I had said several novena's months back for the health of my eldest son. When his fever came back, I just brushed it aside as his fevers are God's will. But, after the novenas, I was motivated more than ever to make a change in my boy's health.I decided (the Holy Spirit directed me) to take him to Mayo hold the lettuce. There we were given a remedy for his situation. Although, that is not how I--- I--- was looking for him to be healthy,  it was how GOD planned to heal my boy.  I was so blessed to see that work in my life and to notice it. I know that I have missed God's work in my life. I just try to be thankful everyday to him.

More exciting news, if you haven't gone to Clay Rosary Girl's website you are missing out. Beautiful work. I have ordered a few gifts for Christmas( never too early). I also ordered 3 rosaries for my kidlets. My plan is to say the rosary for each on of them every day on their own rosary. When they are older,  I will give it to them to pray with. I am so excited. Take a look http://www.clayrosaries.com/. She also has a blog that is so neat.

Hope you have a blessed Monday. Peace!