Reviews!

There has not been as much posting as I would have liked the past week, but there is a good reason for it. One, my wrist and lower arm has had the opportunity to rest but even more importantly we have been working, as a family, to prepare a number of reviews that will be posted soon on my Book and Movie Review blog.

The Christmas Season is almost upon us and it is not easy coming up with lists and lists of potential movies (cough cough) as well as locating them so we can watch them as well as share where you can find them. But some one must do this task. We have accomplished a most interesting list of movies and we are planning on mixing the interest levels up, so that we have a nice combination posted in quick order. Our hope is that during a one week period, one could have a choice of a children's christmas movie, a grown up movie and/or a family movie to chose from.

For the month of November we will be focusing on movies, but normally we will have a mix of movies and books.

But while you wait with bated breath for this momentous moment when we will begin to post these fabulous reviews.... heeeeeres where you can find some wonderful thoughts, inpirational quotes and some plain old funny facts. They have been pulled togethere by my daughter Anna on her blog Beans are Gross and other Interesting Thoughts. Read more!

Today is a gift...
that is why it is called the present.
(unknown)

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Can it really be?

Is my baby really growing up? Can it be that she is actually able to sign thank you and please while also stumbling over the words; "Tank ooo", "Peees". I have finally come to terms that not only has she been she toddling around the house for months now, but that she can also grab a crayon and flee, chortling over her shoulder so as to tease her victim from whom she has stolen.

But who was that little thing in pink at the breakfast table this morning that carefully pulled out a chair and clamboured onto it and then settled herself on her elbows and slowly surveyed the table. Seeing some cookies, she pointed to and received one. Then daintily grasping it between her index finger and thumb, this little creature leaned forward and dipped it into my tea and smiling her most winning smile at me she consumed this delicacy, and then as quickly as she arrived - dissapeared. The red curls slipped down out of sight and the chair grumbled across the floor as she pushed away from it.

Surely this was not my baby? This could not have been my tiny, helpless newborn whom I feel as though I only just brought home from the hospital a short time ago. Could that really have been her? Can it really be? Read more!

I wonder where this darling is now?

(Remember, clicking on the photo will open it up, usually to a larger sized photo. If the print is hard to read try that. It is worth reading. I borrowed this from the blog of a cool young gentleman who can be found HERE. )

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PLEASE READ and then SHARE!!!

I passed by Danielle's website today and learned that FDA has opened a forum for the public to share their opinions on vaccines being developed and cultured using aborted cell lines. For those of us who have felt so frustrated by lack of options we must NOT let this moment pass us by! Please click HERE to learn more. And then spread the word. Take action, do not be too busy to take advantage of this rare opportunity!

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Uh oh...

I will be posting largely with pictures the next few days or posting some reruns from the very early days. I have a slight injury to my right wrist and hand that is making typing rather, let’s say, uncomfortable. I will be back, in fit form, as soon as possible though.

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Is this my BABY??

Oddly enough, this photograph is stored in the photograph file named ... Pets? Hmmm. I think I have some file keeping to do.

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Please pray...

...for my friend Dorry. She is a lovely person who needs our prayers. When I have asked for prayers on my blog, I have always, always felt an increase in my level of peace and a decrease in my level of stress. I know that Dorry will too.

Dear Jesus;

At this hour of Divine Mercy please help Dorothy to feel your loving precense. Wrap your arms around her, and hold her close to your Sacred Heart. Ease her pain and give her the graces she needs to carry her cross. Today is the feast days of all souls in heaven, I ask them to join us in our supplications to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for Dorothy. I pray that she feels the fruits of this prayer very soon.

Eternal Father, We offer you the body and blood, soul and divinity of your dearly beloved son, our Lord, Jesus Christ,
In attonement for the sins of the whole world.
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Amen

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I will try not to judge...

This woman, Bonnie McKay is a saint! I do not know that I could be as forgiving as she is being with the loss of her son, one of eight children. Her son was one of the four fireman that died recently when the wildfire that was deliberating set over took him and his crew. I heard her statement that was made to the public on Fox News:

"I know my son; forgiveness is in his heart," she said. "It was a major part of who Jason was."
"I truly believe you didn't think that things were going to happen the way that they did. But they did," she said. "I, for one, will try not to judge you, for there is only one who can do that." "Don't let the remorse eat you alive. Come forward."

I wish I could find her statement in whole, perhaps if I have time and can so a little research I can.

I know I can borrow a page out of her book and put it in mine and be a little more forgiving in even the little day things. Read more!

Note to self

When leaving the kitchen for only a moment , don't leave the flour box opened or you might find this... Read more!

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Which leads to this....

Arguments as to whose turn it is to suck up the flour with the monster vacumn cleaner Read more!

Second Note to self in the same day!

When removing babies from the tub remember to remove plug as well, or while you are helping to clean up the mess the older scoundrels made the baby might decide to take a second bath. This time in her diaper. Sorry no pics of this! Read more!

Thank you...

Thank you…

Recently, I was watching a beautiful video about life that the Room At The Inn had produced so as to be able to share their past year’s successes, as well as showcase some of the lives saved in the past year through their endeavors. Across from me sat our 21 year old son Jonathan, who was a volunteer at the function. Seated at the same table but away more than in her seat, was Jenny our 22 year old daughter. She was the event coordinator for this event so it was not surprising that we were seeing little of her. And beside me was my husband.

We were both touched by this beautiful video but strangely I felt a sudden surge of gratitude for the man sitting next to me. Perhaps it was because of the lack of fathers in the video that I found myself thinking about a comment a friend had repeated to me that her husband had shared with her. She said: ‘He told me that he finds Hugo an inspiration because despite all the difficulties, challenges and problems you have encountered the past five years, he is still there, in the harness, doing all he can to support your still fairly young family. Despite the weight of knowing he has nine dependents whose needs all rest with him, he is still there.’

And he is. He is also usually cheerful, joking with the kids and teasing me, making us all roll our eyes. Yes, he gets down and the worry pesters him, sometimes late into the night. But he is still here. Still plugging along. Still asking God for guidance. Getting up and dusting himself off repeatedly all the times that life throws him a hard ball that knocks his feet out from under him.

And for that - I want to thank him. Thank you for working so hard to support us. Thank you for all the little things you do to try and cheer me up when I get down. Thank you for being my husband and the father of our twelve children. Read more!

Novena to the Infant of Prague

If any one would care to join us in prayer, we will be doing a nine hour novena today in supplication for the needs of our family, spiritually and materially.

INFANT OF PRAGUE NOVENA PRAYER

O Jesus, Who has said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened," through the intercession of Mary, Your Most Holy Mother, I knock, I seek, I ask that my prayer be granted.

(Make your request)

O Jesus, Who has said, "All that you ask of the Father in My Name, He will grant you," through the intercession of Mary Your Most Holy Mother, I humbly and urgently ask your Father in your name that my prayer will be granted.

(Make your request)

O Jesus, Who has said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away but My word shall not pass away," through the intercession of Mary Your Most Holy Mother, I feel confident that my prayer will be granted.

(Make your request)

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Divine Infant Jesus, I know You love me and would never leave me. I thank You for Your close Presence in my life.
Miraculous Infant, I believe in Your promise of peace, blessings, and freedom from want. I place every need and care in Your hands.
Lord Jesus, may I always trust in Your generous mercy and love. I want to honor and praise You, now and forever. Amen. Read more!

Saving time?

Okay, so how many of you showed up too early for Mass yesterday? Be honest now! Any funny stories to share in the comments? Happily, I was aware of the time change (or routine change as we sometimes call it!) as I was looking forward to making the sun co-operate with my routine! I have been trying to get our day started earlier, but having the sun still in bed while I was trying to get out of mine was making it difficult. I vote we just get rid of clocks altogether and just rise with the sun, and go to bed with the sun!

As a writer in 1947 noted, "I don't really care how time is reckoned so long as there is some agreement about it, but I object to being told that I am saving daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind. I even object to the implication that I am wasting something valuable if I stay in bed after the sun has risen. As an admirer of moonlight I resent the bossy insistence of those who want to reduce my time for enjoying it. At the back of the Daylight Saving scheme I detect the bony, blue-fingered hand of Puritanism, eager to push people into bed earlier, and get them up earlier, to make them healthy, wealthy and wise in spite of themselves." (Robertson Davies, The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks, 1947, XIX, Sunday.)

For some interesting facts and stories regarding ‘daylight savings’ click HERE

Look for a book review or two to be posted this week.

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Hat in Hand...

This morning I woke up and I looked at the ceiling. Yup, always a bad sign when you lie in bed staring at the ceiling. You just know you make a good subject for a cartoon and the only thing missing is the cigarette in hand while you suck in the carcinogens and exhale while still staring at the ceiling - wondering how you got to this place of worry.

I thought about the day ahead of me and trying to push away the many worries laying at my door, I prayed:
“Help Us God, Help us with all these problems. I am so worried, God. Please help us. I am trying to have faith, Jesus. I’m trying not to worry and I am really trying to have faith.”

I stopped short and thought. ‘Wait a minute. Haven't we been told that faith is a gift. If so isn't God responsible for how much Faith I have? I am responsible for what I do with the faith He gives me. But He has to give me the faith.”

It was a light bulb moment. Maybe in addition to praying for the monetary assistance, I also need to ask for the faith to get through the tough moments. I know when I ask others to pray for me to have peace when feeling particularly stressed, my level of peace actually does increase. Yet, when I begin to stumble in fear and begin to flounder and almost feel as though I am going to drown in my fears, I never think to pray; Help my FAITH Jesus. Give me FAITH.

So I changed my prayer from an apology for the lack of faith I felt and instead asked: ‘Please give me Faith Jesus. I need more faith.‘

And thus my day began.

Hugo and I checked our business emails and made plans to try and rescue the business vehicle that broke down three days ago. There was a time when one could safely leave their vehicle for short period of time in a parking lot but in post 9/11 you know a white van sitting unattended for too long is going to cause problems so we needed to act soon.

This break down is such a small problem that has caused a host of problems for us. After purchasing some much needed merchandise to sell, we are now in the next phase of picking it up. This business is a game of luck and skill. You need skills in research, writing, even in the area of being able to bid on a multiple auctions as you discard one auction when it gets too high while keeping multiple others going. And luck comes into play as you begin to pick up the merchandise. Sometimes everything goes smoothly and all of the bases have appointments open on the days and times you need and you are able to pick up all your merchandise in a speedy manner, begin posting it and the well oiled engine of success begins to purr nicely. But, it only takes a little hic up to begin to knock the dominoes down and when one goes, they all begin to cascade in quick succession.

So it is with this break down. With this unexpected breakdown, the money allocated for the cost of pick up trips begins to be needed for living expenses and has dwindled quickly. And a few more dominoes have fallen.

Sometimes we are so overwhelmed by the trees that we can not see the forest. That is where I am . It is so very difficult to see a solution to our financial woes, esp when you hit a rough patch within a rough patch. Yet a number of readers over the past year have written and asked how can we help you? How can we assist you financially? (On occasion God allows you to be greatly humbled by the generosity of others!)

So after a terrible struggle with my pride, with hat in hand, I have humbly come to the conclusion that I will put a little donation jar up in the corner of my blog. In this way any reader who happens to stumble across this blog and has enjoyed what they have read and would like to leave a small tip as a thank you, or a regular reader who would like to extend a helping hand on occasions can do so. In this way I am hoping that I am also opening another window through which Christ can work as we refuse to believe that He will not provide for the children we welcomed into our lives when times were good. It can not be that we are meant to live in fear when we are open to life thinking - well, I must limit my family because at some point, possibly years from now, I will lose my job, my spouse will die or some other calamity will befall me. Recently I have posted twice about being open to life and having faith that God will provide for the blessings he has bestowed on us. When we started our family, we were in college and ultimately my husband was able to provide for our ever growing family with a well paid high tech job. The salary grew as our family expanded. We knew this was not only because of Hugo’s abilities and his hard work, but also because of God’s blessings.

Now, like so many other families, we have fallen on hard times. With such a large family to feed and house, Hugo cannot return to school to hone new skills, and while this is a very difficult business we repeatedly, through prayer and long discussions, come to the conclusion that the business pays better than any of the current jobs that he could get. So we sojourn on, depending on God to get us through the scrapes and lean times and learning how to thank Him for the stones in our path and to praise Him for the little bits of green grass that gleam between them.

We have beautiful, intelligent and talented children. We are mostly healthy. We are discovering talents and skills we did not know we had. Our faith is being stretched and God has lead us to a very loving parish. So while life is very difficult right now, God is with us. I just need to keep asking - give me FAITH Lord, give me FAITH that I may continue to carry my cross with you.

(PS I have played around with the pay pal donate button and it now will give my current email address as the owner of the button, not mom2ten any more! :-) As well, I have worked through various steps so as to remove the shipping address so as to help those who wish to be annonymous be annonymous! I do believe I will be able to see an email address to which I would like to send a thank you note, but I have also added the ability to leave a note for me and if you prefer not to be contacted, please leave a note to that affect and I will respect your request. Thank you to everyone for your prayers, as well as any support you send our way!) Read more!

Hello Jesus!

Back to the drawing board…

I recently wrote in our parish bulletin about the cry room and shared how young teens not busy with younger siblings could maybe assist families who have more babies and toddlers than they can hold on one lap. I shared how they can help engage a neighboring toddler’s attention by drawing it to the Alter when the bells are rung. “In an excited whisper you can share with the little one. Look, look there is the bread. The bread IS Jesus. Jesus IS the bread. “

This is what I typically do at that moment in the Mass with my little ones. “Listen Emma. Do you hear the bells? Jesus is coming. He’s coming to visit us. He’s almost here. Look, there’s the Bread. It’s Jesus. Jesus is looking at you! “

Typically this helps Emma to refocus and quiet down as she stares in awe at the Host elevated by the priest. Last Saturday was no different. Following Mass I stepped outside with both Emma and Elsa so I could reflect quietly with Jesus, and not worry so much about keeping them quiet in the pew. As it was the evening Mass, and so, lightly attended, it was not long before other people followed us out of the church. Soon our priest and the deacon, who had assisted in the Mass, were standing outside so as to greet parishioners.

Emma had been enjoying the leaves as they blew about, and she had been skipping and dancing in the evening breeze while Elsa had cuddled quietly in my arms. Suddenly I heard a sharp intake of breath from Emma as she came to a sudden halt. “JESUS!“ she whispered in delight and then in a hop, skip and a jump she deftly landed squarely in front of the Deacon. Standing in front of him with the breeze whipping her bangs about her sparkling eyes, Emma grasped his hand with great enthusiasm and shook hands with our dear deacon. Little did he realize the sudden elevation in status he had just reached in this four year old's eyes.

Myself, I realized that I have still a bit of work ahead of me. Read more!

On a lighter note...

Where has mum2twelve been lately?

Why to London to visit the Queen of course. Okay not really, but she has been to Charlotte to enjoy the 12th annual Fundraiser for Room At the Inn

The keynote speaker was Patrick Madrid.

And before we left last night for Charlotte I reminded the children as I closed the front door; “Remember, if I come home tonight to a clean downstairs with all your chores done - we will spend to tomorrow finishing our costumes for the Trunk or Treat party at church.

My children, lollipops hanging from their lips and eyes glued to the tv screen as they watched a DVD Teddy had received for his birthday, murmured their assent. That unified and vague response left me feeling assured that I would not be needing to do any sewing today!

However, I am happy to announce that work on our costumes today - we did! When I opened the front door at about midnight last night, I was met with swept and gleaming doors, toys tidy in their toy boxes and the supper dishes in the dishwasher awaiting for morning so as to be put away.

So today, we have been cutting, sewing, and gluing while listening to Christmas music. (Weird I know - but preferable to Monster Mash in my opinion!) The only downside - the floors are no longer clean and tidy. Rather they are covered with wood shavings, pieces of thread and others bits of evidence of a hard days worth of creativity. Now I just have to figure out what is for supper -although the warm pile of chocolate chip cookies Anna and Gabriela have just pulled out of the oven might do. What do you think? Read more!