A Day in My Life (yesterday, to be precise)

Here's a good ole fashioned Day in the Life post, complete with photos, some unedited to really throw it back to old school blogging. This is from yesterday and I did a mix of typing in chunks - so some of the time is 'ish' (like 9:15-ish) - and typing as I went - so some of the time is accurate. Some of it is summary and some of it is commentary but please note that this was both an ordinary day and a not so ordinary day. Usually I stay in bed until 6:30 and my kids do not get fresh, warm coffee cake for breakfast. Also, Mondays - Wednesdays we have morning activities but I'm thinking of keeping Thursdays to myself. It is so nice to have a long day at home (even if that means the mid-day transfer).

Okay, here goes!

4:23 - Thomas wakes up. Nurse him in the living room, like always. Listen to the downpour and feel bad for the garbage man who will have stinky, soggy trash to deal with.

4:37 - Lay back down in bed, super thirsty but don't drink anything and try to will myself back to sleep so I can sorta take a sorta accurate temp at 5am for my nfp charting. Dose off at some point.

5:00 - Alarm goes off, I take temp and wonder if I should go back to sleep or stay up.

5:30 - Stay up. I head to the kitchen and immediately start mixing up a double batch of coffee cake.

5:35 - Remember to turn on Mother Assumpta praying the rosary. (This is a tip I just learned on Instagram - a woman named Becky shared it on one of my pictures and I LOVED it! I pray along with the nuns when I can but I let them pray for me when the kids or life interrupt. Plus, as Becky stated, it creates an incredibly calm and beautiful atmosphere in our home and hopefully for the rest of their lives the rosary will remind my kids of peaceful times at home. Hopefully.)

5:38 - Travis comes out, ready for work. I stop the coffee cake and turn on the coffee for him. We discuss his work day, a bill, what time he'll be home, and dinner plans (pizza party for Mary's birthday!)

5:40 - Travis leaves, travel cup filled with coffee. (Because it's the little things, right? And in our marriage, me making him hot coffee for his morning commute is a way I can communicate my love to him... when he's not communicating his love to me by letting me sleep in.)

5:50 - Coffee cake goes in the oven. I check Facebook and then turn off the kitchen light, but leave the light on over the sink, and then walk around the house lighting candles, knowing the kids will love it as much as I do. Tidy up a bit as I go.

6:00 - I pour myself some coffee, put on a classical music playlist, and sit down with my Bible, opening it to the end of Mark, which I finished yesterday. Think about if I should read Mark again, choose another Gospel, or do an epistle. Say a quick prayer to the Holy Spirit and then...

6:10 - James calls out for his dad; I see him at the end of the hall so I turn on the light and invite him to come to me. We sit on the sofa together, snuggling in the dark, candlelit room.

6:15 - I wonder about getting up Bennet and Lydia, whose bus will come in 45 minutes but just then Ben comes into the living room, fully dressed and checking out the candles.

6:18 - L comes out and sits on the sofa, commenting on the candles. Ben asks if he can light up the jack-o-lantern which I currently have displayed as just a pumpkin because it's only September 8th. I tell him yes, because why not?, and then we go to the basement to find another votive candle, me carrying a folding chair and laundry basket with me.

6:20 - I put the chair away, fill the laundry basket with the kids' whites from the dryer, and walk back upstairs with Ben, who grabs and the matches and happily sets up his jack-o-lantern. I pull the coffee cake out of the oven.

6:25 - I begin to pack the kids' lunches and discuss which fruit option they all want. (Applesauce, apple slices, or grapes? And you better eat it, too!) Jofis comes down the hall and into the kitchen with his blankie over his head "wooooooo"ing and for the one thousandth time we all cry out, "There's a ghost in the house!" He pulls the blankie off, showing a huge grin and we all say, "Oh it's just Jofis!"

6:35 - I slice up and serve the coffee cake to JF, Ben, Jofish, and L. We pray the Morning Offering and Grace. I pick up a few things in the living room and grab a brush, ponytail holder, and bow. While L eats I do her hair.

6:45 - I go back to making the kids' lunches. Fill the water bottles, put everything in the bookbags, ask Ben if his homework is in his bag, thank the kids for bringing their plates to the sink and then send them to the bathroom to wash their hands and brush their teeth.

6:55 - Step outside to check how hard it's raining. Hear the kids' bus and call them out. Watch them run down the drive as I yell, like every day, "I love you. Have fun and make good choices." Watch the bus drive away and feel really content because they love school and I love our life. That sounds really cheesy and chipper but it's true and I'm grateful.

7:00 - Take a picture of the cake mix box and blue frosting to share on social media as a reminder that today's the Blessed Mother's birthday. PBS Kids gets turned on.

7:05 - Make breakfast for myself - eggs + bacon, wrapped in a tortilla. Freshen my coffee and sit down with my breakfast, planner, and Bible. Look over the day, my prayer intentions, my to-do's. Decide to go with an epistle and open my Bible to Titus. See that it's super short and dive in, reading the intro and first chapter. Sit with a couple of verses, thinking them over and praying about them, looking at my own life in comparison.

7:38 - Get Thomas out of his crib. Take him to the living room to nurse. Resa wakes up and comes out in the meantime.

7:40 - Change diapers, wash hands, get breakfast for Resa.

7:55 - Wash breakfast dishes. Decide to start this blog post, despite the fact that it has so far been an unusual and not at all typical day.

8:20 - JF gets on bus. I turn on PBS Kids.

8:25 - Play with Tee on the floor, watch the rain, freshen coffee.

8:45 - Put Tee in highchair for breakfast. Work on blog post while he eats.

8:50 - Draw bath for Jofis and Resa, divvy out bath toys and make a firm warning of "no shampoo or conditioner!"

9:00 - Facebook, blogging, read the article about the 10 kids just like everyone else.

9:15 - Tee is done with breakfast. Wipe him off and dump all crumbs on floor. Vacuum floor. Decide to cut his super long hair. Cut too much, giving him a "Caesar" haircut straight outta 1996.

9:30 - Kids are done with bath. While Tee plays in living room, go to bathroom to wash Jofis and Resa's hair. Tidy bathroom, note ring in tub that needs to be cleaned, turn off light.

9:40 - Put lotion and clothes on kids; brush their hair. Tell them to play while I work on blogging.

10:00 - Pull Tee out from under the table and lay him down for a nap. Try putting a pretty Cinderella dress on Resa only to have her take it off because it's itchy. Put on Halloween music at Jofis' request, pass out bananas, refill water, work on editing pictures for a blog post.

10:23 - Realize that I have to pick James up in 50 minutes and dash off to the shower, updating this blog post first - of course.

10:25 - Plug in computer to recharge, make bed, attend to personal hygene, try blow-drying hair to control frizz and fail.

10:55 - Exit room looking absolutely fabulous! (in yoga pants and a shirt I've already worn once this week.) Round up the kids and send them to the van. Wake a sleeping baby and notice how bad his hair looks. Shoot.

11:02 - Everyone is buckled in. I put Sara Groves in the cd player and we are rolling.

11:05 - Arrive at the public school. Sign JF out, chat with his aid, allow JF to carry the huge rainbow umbrella which means I walk in the rain. Whatevs.

11:15 - JF is buckled in and eating his lunch, we head over to the parochial school.

11:23 - Arrive at parochial school. JF and Resa need to use the bathroom. Jofis requests "Train Song" so I put in Johnny Cash cd and play "Orange Blossom Special." Take the two in for the bathroom and check in at the office. Go back to van so JF can finish his lunch. Just as I'm about to record a *brilliant* Instagram Story JF tells me he's done with his lunch and ready to go in.

11:40 - Take JF down to his classroom. (As an aside, JF *really* likes routine and he really likes me. He dislikes change and being on his own. We had just gotten to a point where he was comfortable doing drop off when there was outdoor recess. I would park by the sidewalk to the playground, his friends and siblings would help him out of the van, and I could drive away with him happy. But indoor recess is different and we're working on what to do. If you could say a prayer for us that would be great. I don't feel bad for him - I feel bad for the staff having to deal with my crying kid.)

11:50 - Chat with the principal and Spanish teacher about how I should best get James in school on indoor recess days.

11:55 - Back in the van, driving home.

12:05 - Put Tee in the high chair, cut up a banana and give him some Ritz crackers. Make salami and butter sandwiches for Resa, Jofis, and me while I watch the latest season of Once Upon a Time on Netflix. Call kids to the table, catch up this blog post, eat sandwich.

12:25 - Wipe down Tee, dump crackers on floor. Nurse Tee in family room and try to ignore the curtains that Jofis has arranged. Put him down so he can play,  watch him do the worm across the floor. (Seriously, that's how he crawls. It's amazing.) Scroll through FB and IG.

12:40 - Begin to work on scouting stuff. Almost cry. Want to quit. Record an Instagram Story about it. Literally put head on counter. Sigh a bunch. Send a bunch of texts to Travis. Put Tee down for a nap. Email people. Continue to want to cry. Wonder how in the world other people do it. Resist the urge to drink or eat a bunch of chocolate.

1:24 - Bake Mary's birthday cake while watching Once Upon a Time so I can forget how dumb I feel for not understanding what the hell I'm supposed to be doing so my kids can have a wonderful time in Scouts. Okay, bake the cake.

1:41 - Cake in oven. Update calendar with all sorts of stuff. Text Travis about a sitter and camp and all kinds of stuff.

2:05 - Decorate family altar (aka the buffet) with all things Mary for her birthday. Tell kids it's time to turn off My Little Ponies and play.

2:27 - Tidy kitchen. Again. Get distracted and tidy living room. While taking dirty bib to laundry shoot remember ring in tub. Clean tub, sink, and toilet - praying for Steve Husband as I always do. Refill handsoap, clean master bath. Use term "master" loosely. Daydream of having more money so we can re-do the bathroom - at least the vanity!- and then the carpets... and then the windows... and then tell Jofis that he shouldn't play with the light saber in the bathroom. On the way back to kitchen notice the curtains in the family room and tidy family room, like 50%.

2:53 - Get back to kitchen. Unload and load dishwasher.

3:05 - Get Tee out of the crib. Nurse him and miss a phone call. Tell kids to get their shoes on. Change a poopy diaper. Tell kids to get their shoes on. Put Tee in carseat. Yell at kids for not having their shoes on; send shoeless kids to van.

3:15 - Head to parochial school to get kids, forgetting that we're done with the heat schedule so *errbody* (read: all public and private schools) is getting out at the same time and the drive is a bit slower.

3:30 - Arrive at school, unload three kids, walk over to where the kids are let out, count to six over and over and over again as I keep track of my kids. Load six kids (all mine) into van and head home. Tear up a little bit listening to this Sara Groves song:


3:55 - Daddy's home!!!!!! Unload. Yell at one kid who is pouting. Remind two kids to bring in their bookbags. Carry in baby Tee, noticing his haircut. geesh. Tell the kids they can only watch PBS Kids - no Netflix. Chat with Travis. Look through mail. Ask Trav to make pizza dough so it can rise while he runs to bank.

4:10 - Begin frosting cake. Drop the knife repeatedly. Clean up blue frosting from floor, kitchen cabinets, and my clothes. Praise Ben for his A+ spelling test. Praise L for seeing her brother in need and helping him without asking.

4:23 - Finish icing cake. Check out FB and IG. Yell at kids about after-school stuff. Look over L's homework. Put Tee in crib for nap. Take multiple phone calls reminding me about stuff.

4:38 - Go outside to pick oregano and begin sauce for pizza. Travis comes home and we have talk, argue, talk, hug, laugh, talk. He goes to living room with kids and I stay in kitchen  a l o n e !  

The rest of the evening went something like this: make dairy free pizza, burn my finger on the pizza pan, eat dinner with my finger in a glass of ice water, listen to four kids praise the pizza - one kid state she does not like the dairy free cheese - and Travis say nothing which means he also does not like the DF cheese but is kind enough to eat it for the sake of the rest of us, clear the table, quiz kids on spelling words,  work on sight words, sing happy birthday to Mary, eat white cake with blue frosting, clean kitchen while slopping water all over the place (my finger is still in ice water) sorta oversee pj's and brushed teeth and clean diapers (were applicable), nurse baby Tee and put him down for bed - all still with my finger in the glass of ice water. Kids in bed by 8. Kitchen clean by 8:25. Finger still throbbing at 8:30 so some pain meds and then off to bed.

9:00 - Put down The Princess and the Goblin and fall asleep.



PS - Not a sponsored post, but my super cute leggings in the title pic are from LulaRoe and you can get a pair from my friend Megan here.

Instagrammers you should follow, In This House of Brede, and a few other bits and bobs

1 - I heard this song on Lark Rise to Candleford, hunted it down, and taught it to my kids. It's a fun song to sing, though my husband thinks I'm nuts and typing it all out makes me feel really lame.


2 - Two years ago this August I ran a series called Instagrammers You Should Follow and highlighted the IG account of Anna Hatke. If you didn't begin following her then you really should now. Each summer she and her girls return to the storybook Italian village where her family's roots are. Sometimes her husband, author and illustrator Ben Hatke, comes too but this year it's just the ladies. And the pictures are gorgeous and magical. Follow her.


3 - And while you're over in Instagram land, I am also going to recommend you follow my friend Shana. She's just a mom and a wife and a woman who loves Jesus. She also happens to have a great sense of humor.

The funny thing is I never knew Shana before but I knew OF Shana. She was like a legend, a demi goddess. In high school one of my best friends was LB. Her older sister's best friend was Sarah. Sarah mentored LB and me a bit through a Christian youth program and we both thought Sarah was so cool. Shana is Sarah's older sister and everyone thought Shana was outrageous and amazing and the. coolest. person. ever. Ever.

So enough about 16 year old Bonnie and 21(?) year old Shana. She's pregnant and funny and lovely and real now. You can follow her here.


4 - A few months ago a friend mentioned a brush to me and encouraged me to buy one off Amazon. "It's great for detangling wet hair," she said, and I will admit I did not believe her. I think she sensed that so she bought one for me and she was 100% correct. The (affiliate link) Wet Brush is fabulous. It's not as great on dry hair, or at least not on my dry hair, but on wet hair it is better than the combs or picks I had been using. I love it for me and my girls.

 5 - Last night I stayed up until midnight so I could finish the book In This House of Brede. I enjoyed reading the novel tremendously and I sorta saw the end coming but when it got there I was... disappointed. Now let me do my best River Song impression:

Spoilers. ;)

I'm assuming that if you're still reading this take you have already read the book and so I won't be ruining the ending for anyone. So here goes: They get on a plane?! That's how it ends?! With them getting on a plane?! No. (head shake) No. (head shake)  No. (head shake)

I think I wanted to see them there, in Japan. I wanted it to end with Phillipa looking out into the Japanese gardens or something. Maybe that would be tidy, but it felt tidy having Penny and Donald there watching them board. And I don't really understand why McTurk went with them. hmmm... If you've read it what do you think?

PS - I did love Cecily and how she made her choice and how her prayer was answered. That was wonderful.

6 - One week from today I'll be leading a Blessed Is She workshop on Building Intentional Community. I'll be sharing what I've learned from leading, founding, attending, and belonging to various groups, ministries, and gatherings over the years. Personally, I found it to be difficult to find where I fit in as an adult and while I definitely haven't figured it all out I have gotten some things right while learning from few mistakes I've made along the way.

I think this workshop will be really useful if you are looking to join or form a ministry / book club / mom group / young adult group OR if you are already actively involved in one. If you signed up for the BIS Membership you will already have access to the workshop but if you aren't a member you can still watch. To sign up for the Membership click here or to pay the $15 and sign up for the workshop click here.

7 - Finally, I wish I could hug the world. The refugees, the LBGT community, the black community, police officers, and now the people of Nice, France. How can such a beautiful world have so much pain and ugliness? I don't have any answers but I promise that I am trying to become a better person and I'm trying to raise my children to be good people - the kind who fight for justice, who stand up and speak up, who are merciful and loving. And in the meanwhile I am praying with my very heavy heart.
Jesus, I trust in You. Come, Lord Jesus.+

The Rest of the Story & Pre-Gaming for Halloween

A few years ago, one of our children would awaken to someone calling their first name, telling us the voice sounded like a little girl’s. That same child would also run down the hall in the middle of the night, screaming, crying, heart pounding, terrified of something, something they couldn’t explain but it knew our child’s name. I had always believed in the “visible and invisible” but it was this experience that initiated my desire to understand the difference between the invisible good and the invisible bad.

The invisible evil—demons and Satan himself, prowling about the world seeking the ruin of souls—are just as much a reality as our Guardian Angels and Saint Michael, who will defend us in battle and be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

Those words were written by me, and were published today for the Blessed Is She devotion. While I go into a bit more detail in the devotion several women have asked for the rest of the story: what did we do to help and protect our child in this situation. So here it is, the rest of the story:

Our home was blessed when we moved in but with this issue we wondered if it should be blessed again. We told a couple of priests about it (our pastor and a family friend) and asked for their thoughts on the issue. Then, armed with their advice; a respect for the situation; and formation we had received in spiritual warfare we proceeded:

When our child would hear the voice again or have a bad nightmare I would make the sign of the cross on the 4 corners of the child's bed, praying out loud, "In the Name of Jesus Christ, nothing evil can touch this bed." Then I would bless and mark my child with the sign of the cross and pray out loud, "This child belongs to Christ and in His Name nothing not of God can come near. No evil is allowed near my child, in the Name of Jesus Christ." I would pray the Guardian Angel prayer and the St. Michael prayer over the bed. I would entrust my kiddo to the care of the BVM and then I would go into the hallway and, again praying out loud, I would announce that only angels of God were allowed in my children's rooms, in our house, on our property, or anywhere near our house or family members. I used holy water and continued to pray in the Name of Christ that anything evil would leave immediately. I told satan and his demons to go back to Hell.

Travis did his own version of all this, too and after several incidents it stopped. Because I am my children's mother I have spiritual authority over them and knew that, while submitting to God and calling on His Name we would be safe. Also, because I had discussed it with priests beforehand I knew that what I was doing was safe and that we weren't working with something scarier or in need of "the big guns" aka an exorcist or even someone ordained. So what I was doing was in my job description, so to speak.

I say that because I really do believe that satan is real and he is trying to get at us and so I don't want anyone to think I  took this lightly or that I am offering advice for what you should do. Just as you have authority over your children, your pastor has authority over you and so do talk to him if something creepy / supernatural is happening in your home.

Now, you can read the rest of today's Blessed Is She devotion here. In fact, I think you should. Once I saw the following tweet from Pope Francis I thought, "The Holy Spirit has a message for today."

You can read about a couple other run-ins I've had with the supernatural in this post, The Seen and the Unseen and St. Michael the Archangel.


And now for the second half of this post: a little bit of pre-gaming for Halloween.

In case you're scratching your head wondering why - after the experiences described above - I would celebrate Halloween in our home I share this excerpt with you, taken from a post I wrote a few years back:

Somewhere between the occult and harvest parties lies what Halloween could and should be...

We’re Catholics, folks. We own weird, bizarre, and even slightly creepy. We reverence bone-y relics, we do exorcisms, we have holy cards of St. Peregrine showing off his cancerous leg. We look death and evil squarely in the eyes and say, “Oh, it’s you” and roll over on our beds to go back to sleep. We do this because we know that Christ has conquered death. Mary’s heel is squashing the serpent’s head. St. Michael has satan in chains, ready to cast him into Hell.

You can read the rest here: Halloween in Our Home.

Queen Elsa, a pirate, a princess, a little lion man, and No Noggin say Hello from the Troll Bridge.

And just for good measure, here's my Halloween playlist:



HAPPY HALLOWTIDE, EVERYONE!

What's up? Oh you know, bed rest.

This past week and a half was not what I thought it would be. I had envisioned daily walks with the littles during the gorgeous weather. I pictured working in my flower and vegetable gardens. I thought I'd bake some cookies for the kids to eat after school and tackle my To Do list.

And then a week and a half ago I started to feel achy in my lower back, just before dinnertime on a Wednesday. I napped, ate supper, went to bed early, and by 2 am I was in so much pain I could not sleep any longer. It felt like one long, solid contraction that would increase in intensity, making me nauseous and / or making me cry from the pain. Travis took me to the hospital, where I stayed for another day and a half. There were a couple of hard, scary moments but in the end I was able to come home with a safe and healthy 22 week old baby still growing inside.

But then came bed rest.

I didn't do a ton of typing but I did do a lot of internet browsing and when I found this Etsy shop I fell in love and immediately began making plans.

I have a little list of all the prints I'd like to buy, starting with this one:

A nod to OutKast for the bathroom.

This Chesterton print for the boys' room?

This pretty mermaid one

and this Cinderella quote for the girls' room

I'd put this quote in my living room because I so fully believe it and try to live it.

And for the kitchen, a little Julia Childs

and a couple wise words

about making the most out of the day to hang right on my newly bright white soffit.

This morning I'll be heading back to my midwife and I'm hoping there will be an ease-up on the bed rest, allowing me a little more freedom. (You cannot believe the amount of cobwebs I spotted in the house while lying around! They MUST come down!)

If you could all just say a quick prayer, throw a Hail Mary or Glory Be up for me and my unborn baby and our whole family, that would be so wonderful and I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.


Oh and PS - this wasn't a sponsored post, I really do just love those prints!

A little catch up 7QT

Linking up with Kelly because she's the best.


1 - This song is on repeat at my house. Travis is not amused, but also can relate. Except I always went to Perkins with my friends - no Waffle House in Central Illinois.


2 - Thank you to everyone who came by last week and joined the link-up. It was so great having you here! I'm way behind on visiting all the blogs who linked up, but I will visit! Promise.

And thank you, too, for all the congratulations on the new baby. We really appreciate your prayers and your joy in our growing family.


3 - The good news is that my morning sickness has really backed off a bunch. I still have some crazy food aversions that suddenly jump start morning sickness-like feelings but that just makes me think I'm having a girl.

(I'm really hoping for a girl. I have a girl name all picked out. I can use those super cute, adorable clothes one more time. Travis hopes we have another girl and that she becomes a nun so he doesn't have three weddings to pay for.)


4 - I'm trying to do small things for low cost to keep me from feeling bad about the fact that I haven't been able to tackle as many things on my Summer To Do list as I had wanted. So I:

Took Teresa's dresser, moved her clothes to a cubby system that fits perfectly in her closet, and placed it under the mirror in the living room. It's supposed to have an entryway feel, which sorta works.

The top drawer currently holds swimming suits, towels, sunblock, goggles, beach towels, and swim diapers. In the winter these contents will be switched with the contents of the bottom drawer: gloves, hats, mittens, scarves, and the like.

The middle draw is where the diapers and wet wipes are kept because I no longer use a changing table - just the floor. The kids tend to wear the same pajamas and clothes until they're too dirty to be worn again. During the night the clothes are stored with the diapers, during the day the pj's are here. The living room is so much tidier because of this system!

The end table had been under the mirror, holding the book basket, but it was moved to the other end of the sofa:

From this angel it looks really full.... because it is really full. I promise things are shoved up against each other, and probably if I moved that rocking horse out it would be better, but the kids like to sit on it while they watch tv so it will stay. I do like having the end table - super handy.

The bookshelf was given a little sprucing up, and some more breathing room. I like it better this way - with empty space.

Many of the children's books that were in the living room were moved to the family room. My mom gifted me this oak bookcase, which I love and is really handsome. So far so good!

5 - I've been loving reading all the Edel posts and hearing from my friends how the conference went last weekend. When I attended Edel in Austin last summer it was such an amazing experience for me

Finding God in Shrimp and Grits
What a Great Party Can Teach You about Women in the Church
Edel is Like Fairy Dust and Other Revelations
The Edel Gathering Part I and Part II
Edel Gathering Recap
#edel15: My Family Survived on Frozen Pizza While I Ate Grits

That last link is to Kelly's blog This Ain't the Lyceum and it also includes a link-up for all the other posts. I wish everyone who wanted could have been there (I wish I could have been there!) but for various reasons it just wasn't meant to be, but I'm so happy for the women who were able to get away - who were able to dance and pray and chat and laugh and eat food they didn't prepare or have to clean up. I know Edel fills a need and I'm so grateful to God that Jen and Hallie are willing to put in all the hard work to make it happen.


6 - I picked up In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden and though I'm only 30 pages in I am really enjoying it. My friend Nancy gave me a copy, so shout out to Nancy for being so wonderful and generous!

7 - For those of us who need simpler, less expensive events, much closer to home I am so happy that Jenna, the founder and Fiat-ess of Blessed Is She has started organizing BIS Brunches. Hopefully you're already reading and finding encouragement in the daily devotionals, but did you know there are also regional Facebook groups? In them we chat, share prayer requests, discuss the devotions, and have started planning the brunches.

Right now there are brunches planned in Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana but more are in the works. A Blessed Is She Brunch is such a great way to form community with our fellow Catholic women, and to do it in a way that is centered on Christ.

Hollie Hobbie and cute things the kids said

I suppose it's because we've been home together a lot more, but it seems that the kiddos have been saying lots of super cute things lately and I wanted to share.


Resa, uniting the world of diapers and trains: Last night, my diaper came uncoupled.


Me: Who was our first president?
L: Lincoln?
Me: No. That was a good guess, though.
Ben: Jesus?


Resa: I didn't knock it over, I just wobbled it a bit.


Resa: I want to watch the movie Mom's a Bear. You know that movie, where you're a bear? I want to watch that movie. Mom's a Bear.
Me: You mean Brave? You want to watch Brave?
Resa: Yeah! Mom's a Bear!


Resa, talking about a dvd with a scratch in it: This movie is itchy.


L, who has recently her bottom two teeth: Do you think the Tooth Fairy is nocturnal and is up during the day?


JF, who is kicking apraxia's butt a little more every day: Ready! Steady! GOOOOO!

My June mantel featured flowers from the yard and two embroideries my mom did years ago. 

Confession from a Mom who's Missed a Lot of Feast Days, or Our Struggling Domestic Church

For years I have had a few basic goals for how my family would be a domestic church. Nothing was really outlandish and everything was basic enough that I should be able to pull it off. Simple things, like:

- beginning the day with a family morning offering

- ending the day with a family act of contrition

- serving a special meal and dessert for Baptism days and lighting the kids' Baptismal candles at dinner time.

- making a special meal and dessert for namesake days, aka celebrating the feast days of the saints we are named for.

- taking note of one or two special feast days in each month and doing something special to recognize them, be it a special kind of food, a craft, or even placing a holy car in a place of honor.

Really, I could handle this. I could do this. But except for the daily family morning offering, I don't. 

 I thought it would become easier as my children grew older but now that I officially have a seven year old and my baby is almost two, well, I feel even further from this goal than I was when I was knee-deep in babes.

And let me tell you something:

It doesn't feel like an epic fail at all. It doesn't even feel like a little failure. It just feels like life being lived. 

Do you know how good that feels? To have gotten to a place where I can just let go and be okay with where we are? 

It feels so good. It feels freeing. It feels like how God wants it to be. 

Let me tell you something funny:

I haven't celebrated a feast day since St. Patrick's Day, which was more of a cultural thing in our home anyways so really it was probably Advent. But on the last day of April I thought, "May is the month of Mary. I should re-decorate a bit so the house shows that while it's still the Season of Easter it is also the month of Mary." 

And so on May 1st I felt happy that I had thought ahead and gotten things lined up, until I got online and saw Kaitlin's home altar with it's statues of St. Joseph and all the play tools her kids had brought to honor St. Joseph the Worker and how Lisa was making St. Joseph May Day baskets. Such good ideas- both of them!

I had to laugh. 

Here it was my son's namesake day and the day I usually honor my husband and instead I had completely overlooked it. 

Oh well. The great thing is that there's always another chance to pick up and try again, right? 

May is super busy with end of school things, Travis' coaching schedule and masters' projects, birthdays, speaking gigs, Mother's Day, seasonal allergy stuff that won't go away, and more. I'm going to just focus on Mary, the rest of Easter, and Pentecost for this month. Next month we can begin the Act of Contrition and sitting down with a calendar to plan meals and special days a bit better. June has two baptisms to celebrate... (root me on, will you?)

Also, here's one more goal that I have but it's so foreign to me that I just don't really know what it should look like and how it should work. If you have any experience with such things I'd love to hear your thoughts - blog it or leave it in the combox, please. That last goal: to have 10-15 minutes of quiet, prayer time where my kids are praying / reading their age-appropriate Bibles and so am I. Anyone have any ideas about this?

Whatever happens with all this I hope I don't stress. I've stressed enough in my life and that's not what living out our Christian faith should be. It should be joyful; it should be freeing.

Christ didn't come so we would have busy schedules. He came to set us free. 

"Rejoice and be glad for the Lord has truly risen."

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Easter Sunday and the days preceding

Jesus Christ is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
(and then you say) He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!

We had an unremarkable Holy Week that was capped off with very pleasant but also very tiring Easter celebrations.

I was able to help with the celebration in Ben's preschool classroom. I made these little tombs out of donuts and donut holes on a plate smothered with green frosting. I walked the kids through Good Friday and they all rolled the "stones" in front of the "tomb." Then we became very quiet as I talked about how sad the whole of creation was on Holy Saturday. Then I had them roll their "stones" away and open up the empty "tomb" because it was Easter Sunday and Jesus was risen!

They sorta cared.

Good Friday I was nothing but hangry the whole long day. We ate hot cross buns, walked to the library, had a quiet afternoon, did the stations of the cross, and called it a day.

But Holy Saturday started well, with my family and I attending the Blessing of the Easter Baskets at our Cathedral. Ben was able to "serve" and hold the book of blessings for the Bishop, who was a delightful ham and made everyone laugh repeatedly.

It ended well, too, with lots of fun with Travis' family.

Then Easter Sunday came and I was so happy to see it.

I did my decorating late Saturday night and finished up Sunday after 7am Mass and breakfast of bacon, coffee, and fresh cinnamon rolls.

Our Easter mantle looks a little like this:

I love this crinkle paper grass.

Some pictures of the kids with their Easter booty:

And finally, what I wore Sunday. (Linking up with the ladies at Fine Linen and Purple!)

This is as good as it got. I wanted to take a picture after Mass but the 8:30 crowd was showing up before the 7:00am Mass was even finished and then I was passing out fliers and Travis loaded the kids in the car. So, dining room picture was as good as it got. 

The girls are wearing Easter dresses given to them by my mother-in-law. Their cardigans are from Target. 

My dress: Target, this spring

My cardigan: Target, last fall

Glasses: Firmoo

Bangs: a whim

I currently love my dress but I have a pretty strong feeling that in a few years I'll be embarrassed by it. But for now: I look great!

Oh Lent

Oh Lent.

You always start off with a bang and then so quickly you trickle off.

"I will pray more and eat less. I will trust in God and not feed my fears and worries."

For one day. Yeeeeah, I'll do that for one day and then just ease up a bit. mmm'kay?

Oh Lent, I am so tired of being half-hearted.

Yesterday in my mom's group I confessed to my friends that I often think, "I need to be merciful because 'the measure with which I measure will be measured out to me' and that is a horrible reason to be merciful."

So Lent, let's work on that. I have looked at what I want and who I want to be and I'm trying, again, to be that person. I think I often look like I'm doing a good job but really I want to actually be doing a good job. The kind that gets a "well done, good and faithful servant" in the end and responds with complete humility and gratitude to God.

Lent, we can do this. There's some things I need to do. Not too much, but not too little either.

How is it, Lent, that you always show me how little I think of myself and how much I think of myself all at the same time.

So my real goals, Lent, have been reset. You asked, "How will you pray more?" And I have answered. 

Midday Prayer and/or Night Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours.

At least one Stations of the Cross

At least two holy hours.

Confession at least twice.

You have asked, "How will you eat less?" And I have answered.

No desserts through the week. 

All Fridays will be fasting days.

But I will also exercise for just 10 measly minutes every day.

And you want to know how I will trust God more? 

By responding to my kids and household duties foremost, trusting that my vocation should come first and that the other good things you have brought into my life can wait a bit, because that is how you want it.

I'm sure, Lent, that I will have to recommit myself to these goals again and again - and not only during Lent as many of them I want to make a part of my day. But in the meantime, let's celebrate that at least I got my house decorated.