Sunday, January 15, 2012

Powerful Moment...

Yesterday, the children and I were on the way to my sister's home to pick up some much-appreciated and always fabulous hand-me-downs... While waiting at a red light, I looked at the car to my right, also stopped.  There was a young woman, about 18, who looked like what I would Imagine my Libby (6 yrs. old) to look like as a young woman.  It really, really hit me.  I begged the children's attention and told them to "stop, look around, I want you all to remember this moment, and how much I love you, how much I thank God for each of you."  It was one of those moments when Heaven felt so near and everything was so clear... this is what is important, right here, right now.
These precious moments are going by to quickly...  I have GOT to remember to savor every moment.  I pray for the grace to find joy in each moment, including the cross-bearing ones.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

iPhone Thomas George...


Guilty!  My iPhone went missing for several days...  Thomas George (my Tech savvy 3 year old) finally came clean.  He had placed it in one of the Wellies (rain boots) in the hall closet... Had I found it first, I'd have had NO doubt who the perpetrator was!  There were about 30 pictures of this nature (leveraging the reverse camera functionality on my phone).  It was impossible not to laugh...  I had to leave the room.  :)

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Ink Pen in the Dryer...

After finding my son's ink pen had exploded in the dryer (filled with a full light load of Church clothes and my brand new, favorite sweater).  I had set my heart on a few bottles of RIT clothes dye.  My Mom (who knows pretty much everything) suggested we try rubbing alcohol.  I had tried this on the inside of the dryer, along with 25 other household products ( hair spray, toothpaste, alcohol, bleach, acetone-based fingernail polish remover, etc) to no avail.
My mom and I soaked and rubbed each spot with the rubbing alcohol and let them sit over night in plastic bags, then I repeated this the next day, scrubbing some laundry soap into each spot and then washed them with a lot of agitation and let them soak (with rubbing alcohol in the washer.)  The spots were gone, for the most part.  I reapplied rubbing alcohol and then tried the suggestion from my friend Tina to scrub Borax on each of the remaining spots, and viola! those too are gone! 
All told, we used 4 bottles of rubbing alcohol.  Not a bad investment.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Wisdom for Today...

... and every day, made possible by The Spiritual Combat...  "Know, then, beloved, that when the Lord has discovered in us the desire to yield ourselves up in earnest, and to strive as we ought for so great a prize, He at once prepares for us a cup of the sharpest temptations and hardest trials, that we may drink it when He wills; and we, acknowledge His love and our own profit, should receive it cheerfully and blindly, and drink it trustingly and unhesitatingly to the very dregs, for it is a medicine, mixed by an erring Hand, and composed of ingredients which are as profitable to the soul as they are bitter in themselves."
Scupoli
Remembering to be thankful, after trying remove the ink pen from inside the clothes dryer with hair spray, toothpaste, alcohol, bleach, acetone-based fingernail polish remover, and several other household products to no avail... and having not even begun to tackle the light load of Church clothes in which the incriminating pen resided (pants pocket)... and which are all completely covered in ink.  This might be a gentle reminder to be careful about what I ask for! God always keeps His promises and makes good on our prayers!  :)

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Advent Plan

Advent Plan

- As a family we learn a new prayer over Advent and Lent (Advent we plan to learn the Anima Christi in English, then in Latin for Lent.)
- We love the Holy Heroes Advent Adventure

- As a family reduce the level of sarcasm in our home (following the Gospels "let you no mean no and your yes mean yes... anything else is from the evil one.")...

- The Advent Unit Study on Serendipity.com - Advent Unit Study

 Read Jotham's Journey

The Advent wreath (the children make the candles from Emmanuel Books)

The Jesse Tree...  we read the scripture daily and each child colors an ornament-sized picture for the day and pastes it to the HUGE tree that I draw and we all color.  It hangs on the wall in the kitchen... (I use theAdvent, Christmas, Epiphany in the Domestic Church book by the Fournier family" for the ornaments and readings.

The Advent Calendar - we read this daily at breakfast and then on child hangs this on a mini tree in the kitchen. 

- Starting 12/17 The O'Antiphons are the children's copy work.