Saturday, April 26, 2008

Tis the season...

... for these cute fuzzy things. Or something almost like it. And Elsa has a decided passion for them. Which means she wants to share them with everyone special to her. Which includes me. UGH! Don't get me wrong - I love how fuzzy they look, from a distance and better yet on a branch - not crawling up my 3 year olds bare arm. And definitely not in my wooden recipe box, no matter how much Elsa's pet needs a house.

Clearly I am getting old because there was a time when caterpillars, in our family, settled for margarine tubs with holes punched in the tops for their homes. Whereas this generation is moving into condos, err, aquariums on the front step. Or if they are lucky enough to fall into the hands of a great real estate agent, like Elsa, they get their own house; aka the aforementioned wooden recipe box.

But with that house comes a shower, ala the front garden hose... so when I heard what sounded like my hair dryer wafting through the dining room window that is just above the hose; imagine my relief to learn it was simply a neighbor blowing dust off the side walk, and not Elsa playing hair dresser to her sopping wet caterpillar.

Later I was treated to a Barbie doll head floating past the corner of my eyes, decorated with a flower and stuck not on a body, but rather a stick... dripping wet. A funeral procession for the caterpillar perhaps? I don't think they do well in the shower.

Yes... tis the season and the burning question is how many caterpillars will survive it and Elsa's passion for them??? Read more!

Friday, April 25, 2008

Please also add...



Story to your prayers.
To read all about Anna's god father's grand daughter
click here!
Read more!

Update on the house...

... at this time we have called a halt to negotiations on the house. Reason - the bank is asking much more than we can pay in cash. So the next step is to seek a mortgage - which had been the original plan when we decided to invest our savings in a home for our family. However, when we saw this home and learned that our agent had recently seen some banks accepting very low bids at first offer - we decided it was worth a try.

The idea of this particular home is not completely out of the question - it is possible we can get it with a very small mortgage but before we go to that step we want to be pre-qualified.

Keep up the prayers both for the graces and that God will guide us to the right house, right decision and right area for our family. Where we are currently, is not a safe area for our children and we are anxious to move.

God Bless and thank you once more for your continued prayers. Read more!

Please Add...

...Gracie Jean and her family to your prayers. To read her story click here. Her family is from the town we live in and my neighbour knows her personally.
Read more!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Counter Offer...

Well - after discussing the counter offer from the bank with our real estate agent, we came up with a FINAL counter offer, making it clear to the bank that we are not investors and this is all the cash we have... and we want to be mortgage free so it is our final offer.

Prayers,please, for the graces to be patient and I feel like asking for the graces not to dream about a positive outcome because I don't want to get my hopes up. But I won't ask for those prayers. Instead I will dream and hope and have faith that if this is not God's will - He will open another door for us.

God Bless you all and thank you for all of the prayers. Read more!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Discouraged...

... the bank's response was less than positive and I am feeling extremely disappointed. Please pray for me and for the graces I need to get through this. I had such a positive feeling about this and feel like a door has been shut in my face, even though I know better. Read more!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

So where has mum2twelve been hiding these past...

...eight days. Well, I would love to tell you she has been trailing the Pope around the eastern sideboard. But I haven't. I have been, GASP, working on T A X E S !! In between sorting out a years worth of receipts and sorting them into order and tallying up rows and rows of figures I have been introducing phonics to one of my younger children and occasionally remembering to throw in the odd load of clothes into the washer.

But in addition to this... we have put a cash offer on a house that is bank owned and now we are waiting to hear back. Please keep this in your prayers as buying this house at this price would allow us to live mortgage free and would be an incredible opportunity for us. Not only that but this house is only SIX minutes from our church. Our ability to attend the various functions as well as daily Mass would be quadrupled, at the very minimum. Thank you in advance for your prayers. I will keep you 'posted'.

God Bless
Christi Read more!

Mothers love, God's Grace

You know that it can only be a mother's love coupled with God's grace that allows you to weakly smile and say "Thanks" when after spending hours;
photo copying,
cutting,
gluing
and then sorting seventy phonogram cards into the correct order only to have your son helpfully pass you the box they are in and drop the box with a big OOOPS as the cards sloosh out and over the side.

GRATITUDE and RELIEF are what you feel when you are rewarded with the discovery that the worst that happened to the order of these seventy hand made cards is that is that only a few turned upside down, but miraculously all were still in the right order. Read more!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Cute Chat...

...after being away from home and Elsa all day and then snuggling with her:

Mummy: "Did you miss me, Elsa?"
Elsa: "Oh yes, I DID!"
Mummy: "Did you miss Gabriela?"
Elsa: "Oh yes I missed her, all de day I missed her!"
Mummy: "Well, we missed you too."
Elsa: "But I didn't go any where!" Read more!

still working on that

... slide show and now have even more pics to work on as Anna just recently participated in the Pure Fashion Show today. Whew - it was fun - but glad its over. The last few days have been very hectic with one hour drives to and from the city where it all took place. To learn more about Pure Fashion - click here. They have a great message. Thought I knew a lot about them, if not everything but today I learned that they are actually now an international program, with shows taking place across Europe as well as here in North America.

We are working the bugs out of a new routine while still discerning some important decisions to be made by our family. Please keep us close to God in your thoughts and prayers as we continue this process. If I do well, smoothing out the wrinkles in the new routine, you will hopefully see more regular posts as well as possibly some more published articles. At least that is my hope.

And lets hope I can figure out the slide show - I seem to be forgetting an important step in how to actually create a slide show through Picassa. Possibly I am just tired? Anyway - I am hoping to get the Shrine slide show up soon.

God Bless to you all and I pray you all have a good week. Read more!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Organized...

I am so organized that when I needed one of the older children to find some crayons for Elsa I knew exactly where to tell him to look - under the sofa cushions, of course. Where else would there be a stack of unbroken crayons? Read more!

In a more serious vein....

Here is a post one might want to read if they are concerned where their donations dollars are going. It just might surprise you! Click HERE to read. Read more!

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Working on a slide show from our trip to the Shrine!

I hope to have it up soon, however back pain is making the going slow! Might take me a day or two - plus I am doing that cherished spring tradition of T A X E S
Fun fun fun.... Read more!

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

tagged again... already???

I was just putting on the finishing touches to Soutenus's meme when I got tagged again! So I immediately tagged Child of Mary right back. But here is her meme. As I have just tagged five bloggers, I can't really tag another seven without worrying about causing a Meme War!

So instead I will just answer the meme and ask my readers to feel free to answer in the comments or pass the meme onto their favorite blogs.

These are the rules:
1. When tagged place the name and URL on your blog.
2. Post rules on your blog.
3. Write 7 non-important things/habit/quirks about yourself.
4. Name 7 of your favourite blogs.
5. Send an email/comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged.

Habits/Quirks:

1. I have to ditto Child of Mary here.... I love to read and I too read very fast. And it often annoys others how fast I read.

2. Reading my email first thing in the morning and then getting upset with myself for not tackling my to do list first!

3. I can hear really low or very high pitched sounds no one else is hearing and have to root them out or go crazy! Just such a thing lead me to a drawer this morning with a broken watch whining like a mosquito. Kids later wondered what was whining in the trash can outside in the back yard... I guess it was echoing inside the can!

4. I really dislike the expression 'have a good one...' have a good what? A good day, a good moment, a good holiday... a good what?!

5. Listening to Rush at night to help me fall asleep. But sometimes it doesn't work as I will get too involved in the day's monologue!

6. I love chocolate.

7. I love to walk IF I have a place to get to. I can't get into strolling the same street up and down just to exercise. But give me a Mall and lots of money and I can walk my feet off up and down it! Read more!

Hmmmm...

Where do you think the following quote is from?

"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train schoolchildren in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare."

To find out click here. Read more!

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Tagged twice in 48 hours!

Soutenus tagged me!

Rules of the meme:
1. Post these rules of the game first.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names.
Then the tagger goes to the blogs of those who have been tagged & leaves a comment letting new players know they’ve been tagged. The tagger asks them to find the meme and instructions back at his/her blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago:

  • Taking care of my ninth child who had just been released from the Intensive Care Neonatal Unit and put onto the pediatric ward where I then had to fend off medical students who each wanted to try out their pet theory as to why my newborn had landed in the ICU to begin with. Each theory typically required some form of blood withdrawal and pin pricks.
  • homeschooling for my seventh year
  • preparing for the confirmation of six of my children in the Byzantine Church we were currently attending, they ranged from newborn to 11 years of age.


Five things on my To Do List today:
  1. work with Hugo on a to do list for both of us
  2. unpack from the trip
  3. drop Miguel off at the Monastery
  4. buy groceries
  5. set up a check up appointment for Sam, my 10 year old cat

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
  1. Buy a farm and put money away for future property taxes
  2. Pay off all bills & my older kid's student loans and set up trust funds for my younger children
  3. Surprise some friends with items they really need - like a new roof on their home.
  4. Visit my in-laws in Argentina
  5. Figure out what business my husband would most love to do and back it and live off the funds this created.
  6. Give what was left over to the church to use as She best saw fit.

Three of my bad habits:
  1. procrastination
  2. not reading enough to my little ones
  3. coffee, tea and the snacks I eat with these hot drinks

Five places I have lived:
  1. Ontario, Canada
  2. Quebec, Canada
  3. New Brunswick, Canada
  4. Raleigh, NC
  5. Small town, NC

Five jobs I’ve had:
  1. Tour Guide on the Pasamaquoddy Bay
  2. Lab Research at the Biology Station in St Andrews N.B.
  3. ESL teacher at the University of New Brunswick
  4. ESL Teacher in North Carolina
  5. Budding writer, published for pay three times to date!
  6. Stay at home mum since 1982 and still home with lots of wonderful kids!

Five people I want to know more about (a nice way of saying TAG!):
Peg
Lorcan
j. a. varel
Beth
child of Mary

Child of Mary - I just got tagged twice so I'm tagging you back! Have fun! Read more!

We're...

BACK from ' acation! And Elsa was very, very ready to be home. We arrived home at about 11:30 pm last night, and she snuggled into bed and her whole body just completely relaxed as her curly red head sank into the pillow and I pulled the blankets snug around her neck. Yesterday morning when we awoke in the hotel in Atlanta (midway between Hanceville, where the Shrine is, and home) she announced to me:

"Mummy, I want to be home. Not dis home, my home home! Pease can we go home?!"

She did enjoy her 'acation, but we all agree with her, it is nice to be home!

Pictures to follow later. Read more!