In the same vein as Monday's Post ....

Sunday, when we ate at Adam's Pizzeria -Adam lamented to us how much he misses his family. He is one of 14 children and is originally from Egypt, his parents are both dead now and his siblings spread through out the world. He talked about how as a young man he came here to visit and ended up staying - enamored by the ease of life, the quick dollar earned. He quickly amassed a small fortune for himself, and eventually bought a house - 12000 square feet in Europe - somewhere on the water and was reprimanded by his older brother when he complained that it was not 15000 square feet.

Adam told us; (Hear this in the accent of the Ivan Korshunov the terrorist leader, from Air Force One) "He said to me, Brother - do you not remember when we were 16 in a house of 1500 sq feet, 7 to a bedroom and HAPPY? And you complain for the lack of 3000 square feet? Do you not see how your materialism has gained you nothing? NOTHING!”
And Adam shrugged his shoulders as he gazed at the children with us and said," He is right. We have our TVs, our money, our houses and cars and yet we are not happy. We were so happy then when our biggest care in the world was getting a meal a day. "

Then while we were eating he said; “You know, you are like family to me and if you do not mind I would like to pass by your house now and then to have, what is you drink in Canada? Tea?”

We told him that of course he was very welcome – please, whenever! (And I thought to myself ‘and of course he will show up on the day that we have papers all over the floor and the floor unwashed for two days (and it only takes is one day to look filthy!) Nathaniel will have built his massive train track, and Emma will have knocked it down so that it is in pieces - all over!!!’)

When we left, I looked over my shoulder at his empty restaurant and at him in the kitchen, washing his counters... all alone. I felt very sad for him and very grateful for my family! We are living what are his memories. It is, I will be honest, hard to appreciate the idea that fighting day by day is wonderful but still - I understand what he means. We are together, loving each other and enjoying each others company. The absence of Aimee and Jenny emphasize even more what I think Adam was trying to say. Enjoy what you have WHEN you have it. It is gone in the blink of an eye.

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What is the hardest part of being mum2twelve?

Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
I always leave my handprints
On the furniture and walls
But everyday I'm growing big
And soon I'll be very tall
Then all my little handprints
Will be so hard to recall
So here's a special gift
Just so that you can say
This is how my hands looked
When I placed them here today.

Right now I feel that the hardest part of being 'mum2twelve' is having children who have become young adults. They move away and leave... you... with a huge hole... in your heart!

And you miss them... a whole... bunch!

You miss them every day, but some days are more punctuated by their absence than others. When that happens I look around me at all the little faces and realize that I have so many more goodbyes to say in 8 years, 9 years, 10 years, 12 years, 14 years, 16 years, 18 years down the road. So I decide to read to someone, or have a little cuddle. I listen a little more carefully when someone tells me about a silly or scary dream they had last night. I look in their eyes and listen, really listen.

How quickly those first 23 years have gone with three children already having flown the nest. And it is not only hard on the parents, but also the younger siblings. Recently we have managed to arrange a few of our business trips so that we could pass by where Jenny is attending college and spend an hour or two with her. This Thursday I decided to accompany Hugo on his trip to Maryland to be company and available to drive if he needed a break after being on the road for several days over the past two weeks. We brought four children with us, one of them was 3 yr old Emma, who is Jenny’s god daughter. After a few hours on the road – Emma began to ask when we were going to Jenny’s house. She calls Jenny’s dorm ‘Jenny’s house’. No matter how much we tried to explain to her that we were not passing by Belmont and would not see her today she kept asking when would we see Jenny. Finally we called Jenny on her cell phone, and as soon as she got the message she called us back and had a long chat with her baby sister. We heard several “I wov you Denny! I mit you, Denny!”

I did not envy Jenny having to finally say Good bye.

Many of my days, and much of my time, is spent helping children deal with squabbles, changing diapers, nursing Elsa, making menus, tying shoes, explaining long division – again. And yet, all of this compared to dealing with children grown – out on their own, is a piece of cake. When they are grown – you are no longer there to catch them if they stumble, you can’t help them with their daily choices, chores and decisions. You can pray. You can call. You can hope they will call... but ultimately you have to let them go and trust that all you have taught the first 18 or 19 years of life is having an impact and keeping them on the straight and narrow. You pray that your prayers are keeping them safe when they are out alone at night driving home from work or on the bus traveling to work in the morning. And you miss them - a lot!

Yes – I think the hardest part of being 'mum2twelve' is saying goodbye.

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32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

To live, grow and persevere in the faith untiil the end we must nourish it with the word of God: we must beg the Lord to increase our faith: it must be 'working through charity,' abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the church." CCC 162 ( as quoted in Catholic Women's Daily Planner)

Saint for the day: St Theophane Vebard
Readings:
Wisdom:6:12 - 13
Psalms: 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
1 Thessalonians: 4: 13-17 or 4:13-14
Mathew 25: 1-13 Read more!

The value of...

FAMILY:

Etymology: Middle English familie, from Latin familia household (including servants as well as kin of the householder), from famulus servant

1 : a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head :

5 a : the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their own or adopted children; also : any of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditional family

PARENT:

Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin parent-, parens; akin to Latin parere to give birth to
1 a : one that begets or brings forth offspring

1 b : a person who brings up and cares for another

CHILDREN:

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English cild; akin to Gothic kilthei womb, and perhaps to Sanskrit jathara belly
1 a : an unborn or recently born person b dialect : a female infant
2 a : a young person especially between infancy and youth b : a childlike or childish person c : a person not yet of age
3 usually childe /'chI(&)ld/ archaic : a youth of noble birth
4 a : a son or daughter of human parents b : DESCENDANT

SIBLING:

[Middle English, from Old English, from sibb, kinsman. See sib.]

1 : SIB 2; also : one of two or more individuals having one common parent

The sum of the above definitions…. Priceless!

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No Vanity in THIS house!

(Just a quick post as we catch our breath from our whirlwind tour through Georgia and Florida and prepare to leave for Maryland this morning. )

As reported from the livingroom:

Jonathan: "Tanny Paul, you look very handsome today!"

Nathaniel: "Oh hank you Donatan! And dood looking too!"

Yep - there is not a vain bone in this boy's body! Read more!

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Tell us straight that you do not believe in the Gospel of Christ; for you believe what you want in the Gospel and disbelieve what you want. You believe in yourself rather than in the Gospel."
Saint Augustine

"Duty before everything else, even something holy."
Saint Padre Pio

Twenty nine days to the first Sunday of Advent! I have ordered my candles and now anxiously await to see if they survived the postal service.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tomorrow night we head to Florida and possibly Georgia. The kids especialy love this route as it usually means a night in a hotel. This time it will mean Mass in a new city as Tuesday is a Holy Day of Obligation. (All Saints day) I am really looking forward to doing some research and finding a church to attend somewhere in Georgia. So it will be a few days before I can post again. I have an idea for another cartoon and will run it by Anna tomorrow. It will be a challenging one again, but Anna loves a challenge.

Blessings to you all!

mum2twelve aka Christi to her friends and madre to her 2 oldest sons....
Read more!

Not just another business trip...

We left around 9 pm for Mechanicsburg PA, a little later than Hugo likes, but since I was able to help with the driving it was not so bad. We drove until about 3 am, then we stopped at a truck stop and tried to sleep. It was sooooo COLD! We even bought two extra blankets in the gas station there to try and help a bit with the chill!

We slept until it was light and then we pushed off to the military base... got there and had to have a temporary badge made for me. That was interesting. Finally we were at the warehouse and they brought out the first load … about 6 - 7 boxes that I drooled over – they looked to be the exact size I have been needing and not finding the past week when packing stuff for the shipping.
I said to Hugo "You be nice to those, eh?" He chuckled because he recognized the size!

I said – “Okay - that's it? Yes? We can go....”
Hugo: “Umm no - we need to wait for the microwaves. “
Me: “ Microwaves? How many?”
Hugo: “Oh, just a few...”
Me: “Okay....”

.....................................


A fork lift started driving toward us, and piled so high with ... (was that microwaves?) that I could not see the driver. I looked at Hugo who looked nervously at the van, and I could tell he was mentally measuring the space inside.
"Hugo! Those are not for us, are they!?
Uh, looks like it - you better come help me load them.

I stomped over to the huge pile and started counting. Two, four, six - FIFTEEN! How were we going to fit fifteen MICROWAVES, 2 OF THEM COMMERCIAL ONES, in the van and then I noticed there were several boxes of paper, and a paper tape machine.... and the 400 dollar phone Hugo was interested in the most. The reason, in fact, that he had bid on this lot of microwaves. But to be fair - he had not realized there would be this many. (I think.)

I grabbed the smaller stuff off the pallet and packed it under the back seat of the van and watched as my four girls sitting on this seat disspeared from view. I grumbled about how many microwaves there were and why did they have to include ones that were obviously broken. My husband knowing better than to try and engage in a reasonable conversation with me silently kept loading them.

They were covered in fine black dust that was wiping off onto our clothes and fingers. Annoyed (a lot) I asked the girls for a diaper wipe so I could wipe my fingers off, and then I asked them to pass the baby to me through the back door so I could take her to the front of the van and nurse her.

Still grumbling about the "idots, err employees, who put the lots together and how unfair it was that they had put so many microwaves in this lot...." I nursed Elsa who grinned and drooled at me. Almost finished nursing, she twisted around and grinned and drooled some more at Hugo as he slammed his door shut.

He looked at me and asked; “So, should we go look for a huge dumpster somewhere???”

Knowing that was completely unethical, we stared dumbly at the piles of microwaves and than at each other again. Clearly we could not drive all the way back to North Carolina like this – it was as dangerous as it was uncomfortable. Then a distant voice called from the back.
“Uh – what do we do if we need the bathroom?”
“Hold it,” I deadpanned “until we get home.”
“Home? Are you serious?”, asked Anna, who peered at me between the cracks from about 6 feet back. Elsa was finished nursing by now so I got out of the van, walked to the back of it, opened the door and fed Elsa though the opening between the seat and the roof. Gabriela caught her and strapped her into her car seat.
I grumbled my way back to the front of the van and while I strapped myself in – we started to drive off the base and looked for a Denny’s. Perhaps once we had jump started our brains with some much needed food and some caffeine, we could think of a solution.

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of juice, some caffeine, pancakes, more caffeine, and in between mouthfuls toyed with different ideas of what to do with those darn microwaves.
“Maybe a pawnshop would like them?” I queried.
‘Maybe there's a college around we could give them to for some needy students’ was another thought. The idea of the dumpster was beginning to look better and better. We made one last trip to the bathroom in Denny’s, and then we helped the three older girls clamber over the backseat, and once more handed the baby in to them.

Hugo decided to take a detour through Carlisle as he wanted to show me how unusual the architecture is there. As we slowly and carefully drove down the front street with me occasionally pressing my elbow against the white stack between us, my eye caught a little red and white sign in a window.

Salvation Army.

In fact, there were several of these signs in the windows of this building. A light bulb went off. So far we had not seen one single pawn shop, and I wondered aloud to Hugo that maybe we could donate these lovely microwaves to the Good Will, Sally Ann – or whatever they called themselves in Carlisle.
We quickly rounded the corner and headed back. We stopped along side and asked the people already queued up outside when they opened.
‘Ten am, Ma’am.’

It was 10:01 according to our clock. Some employees walked by, unlocked, walked in and closed the door, locking it again. Perhaps they had seen the 15 microwaves inside our van? I looked at the guy in the front of the line. ”Do you think they will let us in soon, we just have ah, a few microwaves we want to donate.”
“Microwaves to give away?” he asked, his face lighting up.

Oh yeah, did I ever!

“You just want to go round the back – they can take them from you there.”
Gleeful that we had finally found a solution, we pulled up to the back of the building, and were stunned at the second queue of people. And the bags, and bags, and boxes of stuff flowing around them, and out of the large opening in the wall. I got out and asked the first person who seemed official looking, where I could leave a few microwaves.
“Well“, he said slowly, staring at all the items still be loaded into his already tightly packed storage space. “What’s a few?”
My husband and I looked at each other.
“Oh, about 15.” my husband mumbled.

“FIFTEEN?” Now how did that come about?” he asked suspiciously. Quickly my husband produced our invoice sheet before the gentleman had time to think we were thieves aspiring to redeem ourselves by donating stolen goods. We explained our dilemma while the girls stared through the darkened windows of our van at the warehouse, praying hopefully!
An older man spoke up; “How about I give Dana a call at Project S.H.A.R.E., I bet they would take them. “

Twenty minutes later, still loaded to the brim, we were once more cautiously winding our way through the narrow streets of Carlisle aware, more than usual, of the distance between our bumper and the bumper in front of us; a simple fender bender could mean instant disaster. Both Hugo and I gave deep sighs of relief when we pulled up in front of Project S.H.A.R.E. and I sailed in the front doors looking for Dana.

Thirty minutes later we were finished unloading all the microwaves AND the boxes of paper, had disposed of the broken ones in their dumpster (with permission!) and were happily being given a tour of the building. It was a large warehouse, but very warmly decorated with a peaceful atmosphere. It was clean and tidy. There were several volunteers about sorting clothes for the morrow when they were having their annual 'free clothing give away'. There were rows and rows of tables covered in clothes, sorted into neat piles by age and sex. Dana glanced at the baby bundled in a large blanket in Gabriela’s arms.
“You know”, she said, “if there is anything here you could use for clothing, please feel free to help yourself.” Honey to my ears.

“Well.” I said, a little shyly, “the baby could really use a snow suit and Gabriela could use some warm shoes since her flip flops are somewhat out of season now.”
She smiled, obviously happy that she could do a little something for us, even though by accepting our ‘donation’ she had already done us a huge favour. By 11 am we were helping the girls back into the van, this time by the side door and Dana handed snacks back to them, including some sun dried apples slices.

As we waved good bye I thought about how wonderful God is. He helped us take a very bad situation and turn it into a blessing that was going to spread to many people, while also taking care of some urgent clothing needs that we had. I have Project S.H.A.R.E.’s phone number tucked away so that in the future when picking up from Mechanicsburg’s base if we get other surplus household items, shoes clothing etc, that we sometimes get and don’t know how to fit in the van, my husband can just drive by and bless them again before heading back to North Carolina. Read more!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

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Do you have your candles yet?

Because there are only 33 days until the first Sunday in Advent!

Yesterday as I was tearing through the grocery store buying this weeks groceries... (Yes, on a Sunday! As my 20 year old would say; 'My Bad!') it struck me that Advent is just around the corner, and somewhere in amongst all the hoblin goblin costumes and plastic pumpkins that we have been assailed with, for what seems like months, there must be candles.

And I thought to myself, what are the chances that on the eve of the Sunday in Advent (which btw is November 26th) or worse on the day itself (the 27th!) I will be in this same store rummaging through their stock piles of candles seeking that elusive PINK candle I need for Gaudette Sunday! Then having, once more, compromised and bought three purple(ish) candles and one white, I will hit the sewing department and seek, like a mad women searching for her long lost child, a PINK ribbon to tie on my WHITE candle. And all the while I will be wishing that I had been one of those obviously well organized Catholics who had bought her PINK candle in October. Why else are they out of the pink candles in November???

Then I will wander up and down the isles of fake flowers and wreaths, wondering if I should splurge and make a new wreath this year. After looking at the prices, I'll faint, pick myself up off the floor and decide to find the old one we have used for the past seven years, ever since we moved to NC.

Trouble is - this year I have not a hope, nor a prayer of finding this wreath. We moved just before Christmas last year, and I actually had to compromise with FOUR WHITE candles, three purple(ish) ribbons and a pink one. Yes, all bought on the first Sunday of Advent. At the old house, the wreath went into the same closet every New Year so I have NO idea where the wreath went this time.

Is it:
Under the stairs with the spiders and cobwebs?
In the closet I refer to as Mummy's crooked closet due to the door being cut in a bizarre shape? Is it in one of the million boxes in one of the four outbuildings?
Or - is it packed in one of the thirty boxes stacked in the garage?

Well - I have thirty three days to find out before I have to make that mad dash to a local arts and crafts store desperate for candles, ribbons and it looks like possibly a wreath too!

Moral of this story - buy your candles early, and on New Years pay one of your kids to pack the wreath in a safe place, with 50% down and the other 50% promised on the safe return of the wreath the following advent.

BTW if you would like to avoid the mad dash to the local craft store for that elusive pink candle, you can buy your advent candles online ! I JUST might do that myself, but almost certainly I will make my own wreath, as I have always done..

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How was your night?

The clocked ticked and ticked and ticked, the numbers flicked through on my digital clock. It was almost 12:30 am and I was tired but wide awake.

Tick tick tick tick FLICK. Tick tick tick tick FLICK.

I lay there thinking, thinking, thinking…. I thought about lesson plans. I thought about packing merchandise. I thought about my back – it was hurting. I thought about Hugo’s trip to Virginia tomorrow that he was leaving so early in the morning for. He planned on taking Noah, 10 and Teddy 9 to a public Auction. How many people would be there? Might one of them get separated from him and get lost? I got so panicked over the idea that I sat up and prayed a decade. Then I laid back down, a little more calm of heart.

Tick tick tick tick FLICK. Tick tick tick FLICK. One am!

I sat up again, and opened the laptop sitting on the table by the end of the bed. I opened my email account. I had a friend I was worried about, and wondered if I had an email from her. Another reason I could not sleep.

Nope. no email from her tonight err, rather this morning. I glanced at the clock. I sighed and opened an email to write to another friend. I complained to her about how I could not sleep … I managed to kill about 20 minutes. I closed my account, flicked through FoxNews.com and felt depressed. I closed that window and decided to close the laptop as well. I laid down once more, fluffed my pillow, shifted about a bit, moved Elsa a little and flopped down again.


Tick tick tick tick FLICK. Tick tick tick tick FLICK.

I kissed Elsa's check, and she stirred a bit so I left her alone. I was tired, but still not crazy enough to wake her up. I looked at the clock and there was only another 15 minutes until I had to get Hugo up. He wanted to leave at three for Virginia. I rolled away from the clock, determined not to stare at it.

My nose was itchy. My back was itchy, Even the back of my knee was itchy.

Tick tick tick tick FLICK. Tick tick tick FLICK. Now there was only five minutes before I had to wake him up.

Nudge, nudge; "Hugo - it's almost three and I can't sleep, so what do you think if I go with you?" He was more than pleased at the thought. The boys were company, but neither of them can drive!

So I scrambled into the shower, washed my hair, got dressed, got Elsa changed, got Gabriela up without waking Emma. Now THAT was a feat, esp since her arm was around Emma's shoulders, cuddling her like a teddy bear. Switched Bethany from her own bed to Gabriela's spot to help Emma stay warm and hence stay asleep. Woke Noah up and told him to get dressed. He said Teddy had decided not to come so I left him asleep with his dreams. Stole twenty bucks from Hugo and stuck it on the fridge for food for lunch. Wrote an email to Jonathan, even though he was asleep right there in the living room as I knew I could never wake him, and even if I did he would not remember I had, let alone any instructions I gave him. Woke Rafael and told him where we were going. Woke Noah up for the second time, this time succeeding in getting him up.

Loaded both diaper bags into the van while Gabriela settled the somewhat shocked and disgruntled Elsa into her car seat. Noah cuddled up beside her seat, wrapped a blanket around his knees and dozed off. Hugo started the van, and as we drove down the drive I saw that it was only 3:45. I laid my seat back, give a contented sigh and said to Hugo; “Not bad eh, it only took me 45 minutes to shower, dress, pack and load the van.”

I'm sure he said something in return, but I didn't hear him. I had finally fallen asleep! Read more!

Progress... sort of!

Over heard from the artist's corner:

Mummy: Okay, so here's what I want... mumble mumble mumble. Okay? Whatcha think, Anna?

Anna: Umm - Okay, I'll try again.

Minutes later.

Anna: Sooo, what do you think of this, Mummy?

Mummy: Hmmm, I'm not sure. The eyes aren't quite right yet. See, look at this cartoon you did before. The eyes are bigger.

Anna: Stares at Mummy, crumples up a page and throws it at her when she turns away to work at computer again. Mummy laughs, throws paper wad back and nails Anna in the forehead.

Five minutes later

Anna: Okay - now, what do you think?

Mummy: Emmm, uhh not yet. Here let me try.....

Silence... scribble scribble... erase erase scribble scribble.

Mummy and Anna look at the effort. Peals of laughter fills the room, while Mummy tosses page back into Anna's lap and says; Umm, now that I have TOTALLY wrecked it - you fix it, okay?!

Minutes later - first block in the strip we are working on - is ready... only three more to go before we publish it for you! Read more!

Prayers please... again!

I so hate to do this because I try to keep my blog up beat and positive while also sharing the reality of life as a large family. Challenging, difficult, but also filled with joy - usually when you least expect, and most need it.

Today though I am to the point of tears due to being ill for the third time since mid July. I am so tired of being ill. I know so many who are suffering and suffering much more than I, but today - I feel beat. Pease remember me in your prayers as I have been sick this third time for a while now, and today the pain I have in my back is pretty bad. Those who read my blog who are parents know full well that we mums can not afford to be sick, esp when you have other little ones also ill. And I do. Several of them are asthmatic and when they become ill, it can become a real challenge to get them well again. Two of my asthmatics are sick... again.

Of course, I realize that this is most likely positive proof of the fruits of our increased prayers. The devil does not like it when we try to get closer to God and will attack us - generally where we are weakest. The devil has been trying hard since we started our daily Rosary and, as I posted earlier, was almost successful in getting me in my largest archilles heel. Since that did not work... the health problems resume.

So I humbly ask you all to lift me up to the Lord, whenever you have a chance today. I have felt the power of prayers before, and it is simply amazing. As a family we have even experienced amazing miracles of healing, which someday I will share with you. (Yes, in the plural - we have been very blessed!)

Later today Anna and I will work some more on the cartoon I hinted at earlier. It is a challenging idea I have put forth to such a young artist and she is striving to meet it. The perspective of depth is a hard one in this story line I want to tell, this time only through the cartoon. She and I are also embarking on a book of cartoons, with input from Gabriela for the cover of the book. We are very excited about it and will keep you all informed as to it's progress. (There! Now having announced it... puts the pressure on! :-)

Since I know that most, if not all of you, who read my blog today will probably pray for me - I thank you now!

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!

mum2twelve, aka Christi to my friends, aka Madre to my adult sons Read more!

In the black...

(Picture of House in winter is graphic art by Gabriela 14.)

Over the past 23 years I suspect:

I have changed approximately 41,965 diapers. (Discounting the diapers I have had help with.)

Laundered, folded and put away about 17,960 pairs of jeans, 35,880 shirts and I have no clue how many pairs of baby jammies or pairs of socks. Towels must number close to 47,840.

Washed, by hand, more than 93,954 plates and bowls, forgetting how many pots and pans there have been.

I have reminded children that they are too close to the TV probably more than 16,744 times.

Spent about 3192 days pregnant, more than 120 hours in labour, 6,510 days nursing a baby and still counting.

Swept or vacuumed more than 14,542 floors.

Picked up more than 83,720 toys.

Cooked approximately 19 Christmas dinners, and as many Easter and Thanksgiving dinners as well and probably 182,505 meals.

But the number of butterfly kisses, hugs, smiles, flowers, little notes, drawings and love I have received these past 23 years is simply impossible to tally up. I am definitly in the black!

(Picture above is by Teddy age 9, drawn in paint shop.) Read more!

Come join us on our trip to the NC Zoo!

It turned out to be cheaper to buy a one year family membership than to pay individually for the eleven of us who drove up. (This is often the case for us. ) So after we signed up, we each received one of the stickers you see on Elsa's back. Now remember this quote?
"Please do not shoot me with a tranquilizer. I might look like a monkey BUT I am NOT!" I guess we really must look like monkies!

A pensive moment...

These guys were cute, I had a few other pics of them but as I explain below - I had some trouble with my zoom. There were six of them in their compound, but I only saw four rolicking about - apparently living the good life.


Termite housing in the giraffe, ostrich and zebra exhibit. There is a griaffe's head peeping over the hill in the back. I shot several photos of the giraffe that was closer, but my zoom did work so well, and I need to figure out why because a lot of cool photos came out just too light.

My darling Bethany!
This statue she is posing with was just one of many beautiful statues. I was tempted to shoot lots of pics of all the statues! Maybe next trip.

I believe this is the little fellow that has everyone in the picture below captivated.

A well earned break. Of course - I was still mobile, counting heads and snapping pics! Starting from left to right we have Jenny, John with Elsa snoozing in his arms. Gabriela, Hugo, Emma and Nathaniel in the twin stroller the zoo rents for only 8 dollars a day!Anna is standing and Miguel is slightly behind his Dad. The question was - where were Teddy, Noah and Bethany! It was question I had to tackle often. The only portion of that question that changed throughout the day was the proper nouns!


Despite so much time spent her with her pal, the gorilla, when asked her favorite animal from the day, Bethany said she loved the python best. This same python lead Emma to say when asked if she wanted it as a pet "No - he too big"
I suspect it was about 10 - 12 feet long and appeared to have a girth of 24 inches. Now if I had had more time between counting kid's heads, I might have been able to read his particulars!

"I simply don't understand why these humans get such a kick staring at me all day!"

Elsa; meet Tigger, your new buddy. Tigger; meet you new Mistress, Elsa!

I Love you Emma!

Owwwww! Help someone! This kid is as ferocious as the tiger Lala bought for her!

That was fun Mummy! Should I love her up again?

We watched this fellow pace back and forth and when he strolled over here and looked out his door, we realized he was waiting for dinner. We also realized that we too were all hungry and ready for a break and snack. After a short break we headed back to the African section to scout out the elephants who were slowly making their way to dinner and bed. By then it was 5:30 and all the animals were seeking shelter and food!

It was a great day. We slowly limped, err I mean strolled back to the parking lots where we said good bye to big sister Jenny and her beau, John. Many hugs and kisses later, we were off and not long on the road before more than half the kids were snoring!

Can't wait to visit again!

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The ZOO!!

Later today I will post pics of our trip to the zoo. I have prepared a file of pics to post but now it is time for our morning prayers and then the kids hit the books and I hit the packing room. I will be back before the end of the day. Also, Anna and I are working on a cartoon based on something that happened last week. It should be fun!

See you soon!

mum2twelve Read more!

To lose ourselves in God is simply to give up our own will to Him. When a soul can truly say, "Lord, I have no other will than Thine," it is truly lost in God, and united to Him.
Saint Francis de Sales Read more!

Where was I???

We had an impromtu birthday party for Teddy last night - he turns nine this month. A friend came over with her famous homemade CHOCOLATE cake (Yummmm!) and the girls rushed upstairs to wrap his gifts. Once we had the table set complete with a homemade tablecloth that the children had decorated themselves, I grabbed my camera so we could snap a few pics. I got in one picture of the tablecloth, and my camera began to complain that the memory was full. I was confused as I knew I had recently emptied it and begun a new file for October on my computer.

So I quickly hit the review button, and below you will find a few samples of what I found. Apparently - my kids have been playing with the camera the past week. Now the question is WHERE was I when they were doing this! Read more!

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Sibling love...

Emma (3) and Nathaniel(5) are the best of friends and the worst of enemies. Emma knows just what buttons to push and how to torture Nathaniel to get a rise out of him. On occasion, though, it is Nathaniel who is at fault.

Yesterday was one of those days. He went rushing by Emma and pushed her as he went by making her bump her head. The tears that gushed were more from hurt feelings than pain and before she could spit out her standard pay back; "I not your fwend any more Tanny Paul!" one of the kids spoke up:

"Nathaniel! You hurt your little sister! You need to fix that!"

Emma immeadiatly crumpled onto the bottom step, face away from Nathaniel. Smothering a smile I added:
"Yes, Nathaniel you need to say sorry, and give her a hug. "

He leaned over her, and tried to kiss her head.
"Torry Emma!"
She wanted none of it. She preferred to remain the injured party. Not to be thwarted, Nathaniel wrapped his arms around her neck to hug her. Emma growled and tried to push him away, catching him off balence. Still clutching her neck Nathaniel fell backwards. Refusing to let go, he wrestled with Emma until he had he gotten a solid hug in.

Satisfied that he had fulfilled his duty, he stood up and walked away leaving her on the ground. Emma laid there for a minute until apparently she decided it was fruitless to pursue the "arguement" any further, and got up and went her way.

Sibling love - ain't it grand? Read more!

As a wife I beseech Thee, O Triune God, make me cheerful,
trustful, unselfish, thrifty, and an affectionate companion.
If I am blessed with Motherhood, I ask the additional grace of
patience and good example. May our family be modeled
upon the Holy Family.

Amen.


This is one of my favourite prayers these days.
It is sent to my inbox every day, by a
Yahoo group called Catholic Flylady.  

Read more!

From the living room...

Recently my husband and son were discusing the current job situation in North Carolina - which is not great, esp for those in the high tech industry. My son had begun the conversation by asking how a friend of ours was doing in his search for work after being laid off earlier this summer from my husband's prior employer.

Jonathan (20): "So, Padre - how' s Theo's search for working coming along."

Padre: "Not good - he's beginning to sense there really is nothing out there. It hasn't improved much since I lost my job."

Emma (3): "You LOT your JOB, Daddy???"

Quick looks all around, as we all wondered how to deal with the shocked tone in Emma's voice.

Padre/Daddy: "Yes, Emma I lost my job a long time ago."

Emma: "Ohhhh, I lot my job too."

Snickers filled the room while family members peppered her about where her job had gone etc.

Later in the afternoon:

Mummy: "Whose on table?"

House is silent as Emma pipes up: "Meeee!"

Mummy: "You Emma - you are suppose to clean the table today?"

Emma "Yet!"

Mummy: "Okay, come take this paper plate to the garbage!" I started to gather up other plates she could take to the garbage, might as well get her while her entusisam is high, the child actually responsible for the job had not yet surficed.

Emma carefully carried the single ply plate over to the garbage can, dumped it in and than trotted back to the dinning room and swished past me heading into the living room.

Mummy: "Hey Emma, wait there are more plate to toss out. "

Emma: "Mummmy! I aweady did my job!"

Quick on the draw, Gabriela called out to her; "Oh, so you found your job again?"

Emma, as she grasped one last plate from me to toss out, called back over her shoulder:

"No - dat job is still lot!" Read more!

3 o'clock Confessions...

CONFESSIONS: It is a little after three pm (EST) and we have only managed to pack four items. But in our defense - it is so humid that the tape machine is sticking, the paper is tearing when we write on it, the boxes are limp and not wanting to accept any kind of tape. So given that no matter how grateful I was/am feeling for blessings of other sorts - I was starting to grumble... quite a bit and finally decided for the sanity of everyone it was time to call it quits. This job is difficult enough but add 70 % humidity to a temp of 27 - you feel like it is 29 celcius (or 89 f). SO I am off to the air conditioned living room, where I can relax with a cup of tea and count my blessings while sitting on the couch.... like a lazy cat who feels like a queen! Read more!

Lord Have Mercy!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,171646,00.html

Thousands are thought to have died in Asia as a result of a 7.6 earthquake!

Lord have mercy on their souls, as well as on the living as they now gather their dead and the injured. May God be with them as they try to put their lives back together after having them torn asunder in the blink of an eye! Read more!

This is how I feel right now – a bit like a lazy cat enthroned on the couch like a Queen. However, I am afraid I do not have that luxury today! When I am finished this post, I must away to my duties which today means… packing… again!

However, despite the drudgery of this task – I must try to do it with gratitude. There is always a reason to feel gratitude – if we try hard enough. Last night my two oldest boys narrowly missed being involved in a 40 car pile up because, instead of being on the road at that moment, they were here, at home, pacing and waiting for the Doctor’s office to call and confirm that Miguel’s asthma meds had been called into our pharmacy. Despite having called the office at 9 am, we had still not heard back by the appointed time of departure – 3 pm.

As patiently as any young adult with things to do and places to be, they asked me again; ‘When DO you think they will call???’

Finally we got the okay and they rumbled out of here, put puting down the drive in our rusted antiquated 1988 Blue Chevy ah – van? A discard from the army that has definitely seen better days, it is a mix between a delivery van and a box truck and really is quite funny looking. With no radio, no a/c and a leaking roof and a heavy diesel engine it was going to make for a long and tiring three hour drive to Belmont where they had plans to met up with some of Jonathan’s college friends and their sister to go see a movie and spend the weekend. Never the less, they were happy to have four wheels that were going to get them where they wanted to be.

They had only made it as far as the pharmacy, when we had to call them and tell them to turn around and come back as there was a 40 car pile up on the 85, causing the closure of six of its eight lanes. Four of which were the ones heading south… to Belmont.

Feeling pretty down in the mouth they turned around and came home. It is amazing, though, how sometimes the very irritation that kept us from leaving on time for a road trip also kept us out of harms way. I cannot help but think that is our guardian angels at work on those occaisions.

Later in the evening, after we had finished the indoor barbeque we had in honour of the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, it was time for prayers. Following the Rosary, Miguel suggested that each of us think of just one thing, no matter how small, that we were grateful for today.

Here is what we were grateful for:

Miguel 18: For Gabriela cooking such nice burgers for our feast dinner.
Anna 12: That Noah made the special drink in the blender for me today.
Noah 10: For our lovely dinner tonight.
Gabriela 14: For finding what I needed to buy on eBay today. (a rosary for a friend)
Bethany 7: For praying the Rosary with my family and our nice dinner.
Teddy 8: For such a wonderful day.
Jonathan 20: That the house is nice and tidy.
Daddy: That our boys were not involved in the accident and might have been, had they left on time.
Mummy: For getting to go out for coffee with Daddy this morning, and for the rain that we so badly needed.

Okay, so Bethany and I cheated and said two things, but the truth is I was, and am, feeling very grateful for a lot of things. So – even though I do not want to go out to the humid and stuffy packing shed to pack – I will. And I will try to remember all that I am grateful for as I pack… and pack… and pack…. And I will try not to grumble – too much.

Credit: The picture of the adorable cat on the couch is from Sister Pat’s Franciscan Cards website

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Finished! Read more!

WE'RE FINISHED!

Tomorrow I will post a picture of the completed Rosary. It was begun on July 4th. It took us much longer than 59 days to cover each bead, but we did it! There were many nights we actually prayed the Rosary, but forgot to cover the corresponding bead, and in the beginning there were a number of nights we were so tired by the end of the day that we skipped our Rosary.

But we plugged on, and here we are - ready to plan our trip to the zoo. A little hitch though. A few children had indicated that they are missing their second oldest sister at Belmont college and have hinted that they would rather spend the gas money to go see her, than go to the zoo. I am sure that if I polled them all, the answer would be unanimous - visit Jenny.

So - I got on the phone, and asked her if she would like... to go to the Zoo? She would! So in two weeks, God willing, we will all meet at the Zoo and visit the monkey, zebras and lions together. What fun it will be. Already Hugo is teasing the kids that they need to wear name tags informing the keepers of the following:

"Please do not shoot me with a tranquilizer. I might look like a monkey BUT I am NOT!"

They are also wishing they could see their sister in Boston. Hmmm, maybe another goal for a Rosary Poster? Read more!

"Oh ye of little faith..."

"Last Friday we learned some news that simply devastated us. While not entirely stripped of all hope - our business's future did not look very optimistic. The bank did not completely slam the door in our face, but left it open by just a sliver.

I stared at that small sliver of hope and tried with all my might to see it expand into an actual positive outcome. But so many times in the past, the door has slowly swelled completely and irrevocably shut. When my husband first came home and told me the news my heart just fell with a thud into the bottom of my stomach. I went upstairs to my room, kicked the laundry basket and cried.

My two oldest sons tried hard to put a good spin on it. While I was grateful to them - I also felt irritated, after all I am the parent. Aren't I the one supposed to be providing direction? My husband was very quiet, but also tried to be optimistic and accepting of the situation.

I wrote a few close friends and begged for their prayers for us. It was such a struggle, the temptation to despair was so strong and pulling me down. But I was determined not to give in. I grabbed a hold of that sliver of hope and prayed, and prayed, and prayed. 'Mary - help me not to give up. Mary - pray for me that I have the strength and grace to accept the final answer, whatever it is.' I also implored the Infant of Prague to whom we have been building a devotion to, and were in the middle of a novena to.

Monday the bank called.... the answer was not good, but again - was not a complete no. There was still hope. It depended on the new manager.

tick tick tick....

Wednesday, today, I worked hard out in the packing shed, with shed being almost more accurate than packing to describe the building. If there is one thing we all agree about this business - it is that packing is the most disagreeable part of it. And the most disagreeable part of packing is trying to find the right sized box for the item you are selling. Rarely, we get in a number of like items that require the same sized box, and happily a size we just happen to have in abundance at that moment. But, as I said, that is rare.

This day - it seemed as though not one box matched one item we had to pack. My two daughters, 14 and 12, helped as much as possible while 4 of their brothers helped their dad and a friend work outside, trying to beat the rain as they moved heavy equipment and merchandise into already over stocked outbuildings.

My husband, while carrying an item that weighed about 30 plus pounds, stepped on a rusty nail and in the agony of that misstep, dropped that piece of equipment on the ankle of the other foot. He had to limp about the rest of the day, when not resting both feet. By 5:30, we had about 18 items packed, and I was still out in the shed going through paper work and feeding my grumbling tummy with chips and soda water.

As paper whirred out of the printer, I noticed a shadow hobble through the door as my husband stepped over the threshold. I turned around. My husband looked at me and said:
"The bank just called." I sucked in my breath silently.

"They said yes."

I fairly danced a jig, and I think if Hugo had not been feeling so crippled with his injuries, he would have too.

And tonight Jonathan, our 20 yr old son, was reading a sermon from St Alphonsus Liguori to me and one of the quotes St Alphonsus used was: "Oh ye of little faith, why did you doubt?"(Matthew 14: 31) and it spoke so loudly to me. I am not just grateful for the positive answer, but that for the first time in a long time, I did not completely give up, and give in to despair. I was so tempted to.

Thank You, Jesus, for prayers answered and Thank You, Mary, for prayers made." Read more!

We spent Sunday visiting our daughter Jenny at college this weekend. We had a really great time, and after church, we met the priest who had celebrated Mass. Each of the children had the opportunity to introduce themselves. Some of the youngest ones received big hugs – much to their delight.

When Noah, our ten year had his turn, he was treated to a little known fact about his namesake. Father told him that Noah was the greatest financier of the Old Testament. Apparently he was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.

Read more!

It is better to be the child of God than king of the whole world. Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Read more!

The Blessings of praying as a family...

Back in June of this summer I began to ask Mary to pray for me that I would find an inspiring way to help us pray as a family regularly. Several years ago - something like 14, we had begun the practice of praying the Rosary nightly. It was not long before we felt the benefits in our family life. More peace, more order as well as a sense of well being simply because we were praying as a family, almost every night of the week.

Then about 18 months after we had begun this wonderful routine, we had our sixth baby, moved, and my husband's hours changed at work adding more hours to a day we had just lengthened with a 90 minute commute. In short, evening prayer fell apart as I coped with being a mother who felt as though she were single so rare was the time my husband now had to spend with us. And even then, his hours were spent trying to finish off the basement so that we could enjoy the views of the lake, as a family, while basking in front of the ancient wood stove that smoked down there diligently trying to heat the three stories above it. The 5 ft high windows, on either side, framed the lake and maple trees through their wide panes. The following summers, his spare hours were spent building and repairing outbuildings for the animals on our growing 5 acre hobby farm.

Meanwhile our prayer life remained in neutral and our wheels, as a family, began to spin. Then my husband discovered Opus Dei and I truly could feel the blessings of his time spent in prayer and learning with this very holy society. After many months of his weekly hours of recollection I found that I would notice a lessening of graces that seemed to flow from God through Hugo to me on the occasions he could not attend Opus Dei. I wonder sometimes what kind of graces our family could have obtained had I been less stubborn about the necessity of Hugo being present so we could pray the rosary as a family.

Months turned into years and we were transferred to the US. We sold our animals, and put our little house on the lake up for sale. Nortel paid for our belongings to be packed up and we were moved lock, stock and barrel to NC in January of 1997. A new beginning like that would have been an ideal time for us to start new habits such as praying daily again as a family. Instead, we discovered that once again hours at work were such that my husband could not even continue with Opus Dei, nor daily Mass. Or at least we convinced ourselves of this. We began a long journey into the dessert, but just were not aware yet that that was where we were. We did make an attempt to sponsor a weekly Rosary on Sundays at our house with some of the members of our new Parish. Yet, the will required to make prayer a part of our daily routine still eluded me. The years marched on solidly, children grew and more lovely babies joined our family, some in quick succession.

Our oldest children, now teens, joined a local youth group and while some of them began to pray the rosary daily, as a family, we remained in the dessert unaware of how badly we were thirsting for the graces that come from daily prayer.

God decided to jolt us awake from our slumber in June of 2002. My husband lost his job and I was pregnant with our eleventh child. Thus began our journey with Job, but without his saintly patience. We were more of the attitude of his neighbours and wife. What had we done to offend God? What terrible sin had we committed?

Terrible health problems ensued, attacking especially my husband. Despite great pain, poor health and lack of medical care, my husband pushed on working un-godly hours, building a business in hopes of keeping a roof over our heads and food on our plates, never mind diapers on the bottoms of our babes! Did I yet clue in to the need to start praying as a family? No - I succumbed to bouts of depression and fear. Marilla, of the Anne of Green Gables movie, puts it so well when Anne asks her "Have you never been in the depths of despair?" and she replies” No - to despair is to turn one’s back on God." Well - if that is so, than I gave my back to God as completely as one can, and indeed fell into the depths of despair. I have never felt more alone in my life, and could not wish that misery on my worst enemy.

Then to add to our sadness our eldest daughter went though an incredible crisis of faith and ultimately left the Church. Then this spring, when it was time to baptize our newest baby one of the siblings we asked to be a God parent told us that they did not think they could be a God parent as they too were having doubts about our faith. I was so crushed. Which brings me back to this June. I sat there on my bed in tears asking God, and Mary, what had we done wrong? We had taught both these children their faith so well, we had attended church faithfully… Both children had been so in love with their faith that they had both considered the possibility of a religious vocation. I was filled with fear - what of the other children? Would they too suffer in this way and stray from their faith - possibly never to return?

The answer came to me in one simple word.

Prayer.

I had failed my children by not praying for them daily. And I was continuing to fail them - daily. By not praying. I needed to pray for their faith, for their future vocations and for those who would be called to married life - I needed to pray for their future spouses. If only I had done this the past 12 years, perhaps some of this pain and suffering incurred by my beloved children could have been avoided.

Then and there, I determined not to fail them any more. So I began to pray for inspiration. I knew I was weak and would not pray daily alone. I needed to find a way to encourage all of us to pray, preferably the Rosary. I like praying the Rosary with the family as it is precise, easy to follow and something even the youngest child, who can lisp, can follow. Also - it is Mary's vocation to bring us to Christ and this is done so beautifully through the mediations of the Rosary.

Still – how to do this in a way that would inspire us and keep us on task. I suddenly thought of how we had first begun the habit of the daily family rosary when Gabriela was a baby, 14 years ago. I had drawn a huge rosary on some poster board and bought some flower stickers. For every night that we prayed, we applied on sticker on a bead. The reward for covering all the beads with flowers, or in other words, praying the Rosary as a family for 59 nights, was a trip to Madonna House which was nestled up in mountains of Ontario, in a little community called Combermere.

Each child also had his or her own rosary to fill during the same time that we filled the family rosary poster. If they felt they had prayed well, they were permitted a sticker for their rosary. Once their own rosary was complete they would be allowed to purchase a new rosary on our family trip to Madonna house. Eight to ten weeks later, we set off for Combermere – each of the four oldest chattering happily about what kind of Rosary they wanted, and of course, often punctuating this with “Are we almost there YET?”

Well – back in Canada we were only about three hours from Madonna House, but here in NC we were looking at a two day drive, one way. A lovely thought – but incredibly unrealistic. I could think of no other place similar to Madonna House that was close enough to spend only a day visiting. Then I thought of… the Zoo. Okay – it was not exactly a religious pilgrimage, but it would inspire the children and I knew we needed every ounce of inspiration we could get. I certainly needed it.

Not wanting to wait until I had time, and a car available, to buy poster board; I immediately tore a huge piece of white paper off a large roll that we have. I drew a large Rosary on it and on my first trip for groceries bought flower stickers. I was ready in a day or two, and after discussing it with my husband announced to the children our plans. I have posted a picture of our rosary poster so that you can see how we have been progressing.

Ideally we would be finished now, but we have missed the odd night and have actually forgotten several times to add our flowers to the beads on nights we have prayed. In less than two weeks we will have earned our trip to the Zoo. Mary has already provided the money for the gas – it arrived in a paper envelope the same week we started praying daily.

Best yet – I can actually feel the graces flowing once more. Life is still difficult and money often short. But the graces to bear these difficulties are there in greater abundance than ever before. And I feel so much better knowing Mary is praying with me daily for all of my children, their vocations and for their future spouses. Read more!

Our Rosary Poster

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This sister's love knows no bounds...

Thankfully Emma has responded to the antibiotic injections she received yesterday, and today the doctor was able to call in oral antibiotics, Nice pink gooey cherry flavoured liquid to be dispensed one and a half teaspoons at a time. Our pharmacist suggested following it up with a chaser - something chocolate maybe...

I strolled through the door laden with bags of groceries, with various chocolate treats hidden between the bananas and jugs of cranberry juice. Nonchalantly I announced to the room in general, I have Emma's yummy medicine. As I feared Emma crumpled to the floor, her happy dance at seeing me halting abruptly. A wail of dismay rose, "Nooooooooo! I don want yummy medatin. Noooooo!"

The others, sensing sheer disaster if we can not get her to take her pink goop - immediately all grouped around me. They began to clamour, one and all, “Oh Mummy! Can I have some of Emma’s medicine? Plleeeease?” They took turns chiming things like, “Oh it looks so yummy – Emma can I try it?” and “Oh look – it has YOUR name on it, Emma Louise!”

Emma was having none of it.

With screams of anger and fear she plugged her hands over her mouth. After her traumatic visit to the Doctors yesterday, complete with two very painful medical procedures as well as two injections, through which at times she cried to me, “Mummy, make them top! Make them top!” I understood perfectly. Still, just as I had to ignore her pitiful pleas yesterday, I had to ignore her cries now and hold her firmly in my arms and administer this foul medicine. Her Daddy heard her and came to help – his gentle and calm voice assuring her we needed to give her this stuff. The children all applauded her braveness as she swallowed mouthful after mouthful of what felt like a never ending dose.

She ignored this applause with an injured countenance, but cheered a little at the pretty smiley face stickers I had bought as a reward. Proudly bearing her badge of honour, she walked away to the living room sucking on her lolli pop thoughtfully. A moment later she returned to the kitchen where I was organizing the groceries, and cleaning of the fridge. With great regality and dignity she drew in a deep breath and announced:
“Tanny Paul tan have my medatin.”

Ah – the love of this sister knows no bounds! Read more!

Prayers please...

Please keep little Emma in your prayers. She is quite ill with a kidney infection. Thank you Jesus for antibiotics! Today she suffered greatly, and tomorrow may need more injections. Poor baby.

Blessings
mum2twelve Read more!

26th Sunday in ordinary time

Our Lord does not come down from Heaven every day to lie in a golden ciborium. He comes to find another heaven which is infinitely dearer to Him - the heaven of our souls, created in His Image, the living temples of the Adorable Trinity. St. Therese of Lisieux

Saint for the day: St Sergius (pope) Read more!

Emma, poor baby, is ill...

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Anna does not dissapoint!

Scroll down to the Mice, mice, mice everywhere post, and you will find the new cartoon to go with it. Thank you all for your patience! :-) Anna has been very busy helping us pack for the business while also keeping up with her school work, so I always appreciate it when she takes the time to draw something for my blog. Thanks Anna! Read more!

Ode to Shelia

Shelia has left, moved, died or been eaten. Whatever has happened - she is gone! The children have been speculating the past few days what happened to Shelia, Noah's "pet" spider. He and Teddy had been feeding her grasshoppers the past week, fattening her up it seems. Perhaps Shelia had an image problem and decided to move where the pickings were a little "more slim". At least the children got some awesome photos of her before she departed. A picture they say is worth a thousand words so here is our Ode to Shelia.

(Post script, in orginal posting, I got Shelia's name wrong but soon corrected!) Read more!

To give you some perspective, this is Shelia photographed with Noah, 10, as the backdrop! However, as Noah is further back, the spider looks slightly larger than she was. She was about the size of the large blue mark on Noah's old tee shirt.
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Comic update...

We have a mound of suitcases, diaper bags, wet laundry, dirty clothes, knap sacks and coolers to unpack, wash and put away. At some point during this task, Anna will get her comic drawn and I will post it. See you then!
Blessings
mum2twelve@yahoo.com Read more!

Highly trained pets...

We stayed at an amazing hotel on this business trip. It was set up as a complex with several units spread over a number of acres. I am sure I jogged off all the calories consumed during breakfast just by walking back to our room. None the less, it was a beautiful walk through palm grass bushes and under trees that we called "the jungle" that emerged into a small grassy plain.

It was at this point that we heard dogs barking, completly startling the children with me on this trek back from breakie. (I was NOT going to haul eight children to breakfast, on foot, up oodles of stairs so we did it in shifts - I told you I jogged all those calories off.)
I explained that this great hotel even allowed pets!
"Woah!", exclaimed Noah. He joked; "Hey, I could have brought Marzie (his chubby guinea pig) and let him run around here through the palm grass..."
I listened to him rattle on describing all the things Marzie would do, and finally said to him: "But if you let Marzie loose here - you would never see him again, he would run away!"
"Oh, I could only do this if he were a highly trained pet!"
To which Anna whispered to me as she once more grabbed Emma, almost three, and pulled her back onto the path; "I wish Emma was a highly trained pet!" I laughed as I sped up to catch up with this wild "pet" in hopes of getting her through the parking lot in one piece. "Yes! That would be great, wouldn't it?" I called back to Anna. Read more!

Mice, mice, mice everywhere!

We have been experiencing a mouse problem of epidemic proportions! So, sadly we have had to resort to... POISON!

Blegh! But - it's the mice - or us! We have been gradually losing turf to them. First it was the drawers so silverware was moved to the counter top, then under the sink we noticed mousie doo. Now we have to cover our plates in the cupboards. It's getting so we are almost afraid to eat without washing everything a second time!

Well, today I decided to check on the box of poison hidden in the back of the now empty silverware drawer. It was mid-day and because I was scheduled to go get groceries I had my contacts in so I could see to drive the ten blocks there. Good thing too. Because as I opened the drawer I disturbed a little grey demon - uh mouse, I mean. I don't know who was more startled, him or me. He certainly jumped the highest, which is what provoked my little scream of surprise. "A MOUSE!"
Emma, almost 3, and Tanny Paul, 5, came running. "Let me tee! let me tee!!!"
Said demon, err mouse, jumped again and I jumped too with another squeak! This startled my audience. If this creature could make mummy jump like that - then this was a monster indeed. Their eyes round, and hair almost on end they both proclaimed; "Ewww! I hate mite! Ewwww!! I cared of mite"

Nathaniel though, all boy, did ask to "Hee de mout" again. I told him; "Oh no, the mouse is gone. He went home!" I did not want him digging around in the drawers looking for it. I was worried he might get bitten, or worse, find the little box of nasty green poison. Teddy, almost nine, being "helpful" opened the bottom cupboard doors. "Oh! He is hiding behind the garbage bags - right there!"

"No, no he's NOT!" I firmly admonished him. "Get - scoot! All of you! The mouse is GONE!!"

Ten minutes later, having almost forgotten the mouse affair, I was settled at my desk trying to finish my grocery list, so I could eventually take those contacts out of my burning, tear streaming eyes. Emma suddenly appeared with a spray bottle of Tub and Tile bathroom cleanser in her little paw!

"Ewwww! I hate Mite! Let me tee the mite! I will kill with dis!" And she brandished her lethal bottle of all natural non-toxic cleanser!

Oh - I wish it was that easy! Just stalk through the house with a spray bottle in each hand calling the little mousies to me. Squirt! squirt! No more mice! Yes, that would be very nice indeed - wouldn't it?

PS - this coming Tuesday when we return from a business trip look for one of Anna's comics to be illustrating this story! She worked on one Saturday, but was unhappy with the proportions with one of his characters.

Saint Christopher pray for safety for us on the road! Read more!

As my frequent readers know - I have been ill on and off the past month with a variety of viruses and infections. Now I find myself struggling, one more time, with a nasty eye infection. It is rather painful and is making it almost impossible to use my computer as the glare of the screen of my monitor blinds me, causing tears to stream down my face. I have even tried to use sunglasses to no avail.

My husband's laptop is a little easier on my eyes so I will try to use it to post - but it is possible that I will 'dissappear' for a few days, as I wait for my eyes to heal. Please feel free to include me in your prayers!!

Blessings to all!
mum2twelve Read more!

Out of the mouths of babes...

Early in the afternoon, Nathaniel was coming down the stairs when suddenly those eagle sharp eyes of his spied something. Something treasured and that, unbenownst to me, had been missing. Or, at least as far as he was concerned it had been missing. I, hpwever, had placed this little something there on the video case, unaware that it's owner was missing it.

He had given an excited gasp that caught my attention. He stopped and leaned towards the banister and stuck his slim arm though the railings. He grasped a small Winnie the Pooh photo album which contains the only photos we have of him as a baby. "My Album!" he whispered to no one in particular, and then to my surprise he continued with a very sincere; "Thank you God!"

Gabriela was sitting opposite of me and looked at me in surprise. "Did he say Thank you God!" she asked. I nodded. Yes he had, my little five year old who often proclaims come family rosary time; "Oh, I not paying."and then wanders off to a quiet corner of the living room to either play with one of our kid friendly rosaries, or perhaps to line up a row of his little cars.

Because he suffered a severe hearing loss for a period of two years, and as such existed in a world of his own for some time, unable to communicate and at times highly frustrated by this, we are sometimes reluctant to push him. I imagine that at times we are correct in this decision, and other times - too soft. Prayer time has been difficult for me as an area to push with him in particular. I want to gently lead my children to God, not shove religion down their throats. So for the most part what we have asked of Nathaniel is to be quiet and respectful during the Rosaries, but I oftened wondered what was going on in his mind while we prayed.

Clearly something has been getting through and now I think I am succeeding in gently leading him. Such a small statement, but one that gave me a very important insight of my little boy who is not "paying".

Thank you God! Read more!

Elsa...

...is not so sure what to think about rolling over. In fact, she seems to be somewhat insulted by the whole thing. There she is just lying there minding her own business and while innocently playing with her toes and stretching this way and that; she suddenly finds herself face down. She lies there for abit, somewhat startled by this sudden change in events and then struggles to pull her arms from wherever they have landed which is usually under her stomach. but occaisionally is under her face and neck. Then comes the insult to injury, someone finds her in this unprotected position and just has to blow bubbles and kisses into those delicious folds in her neck. What's a poor girl to do, eh? Well, she has no choice but to just lie there and take it, of course.
Well - Elsa soon, all too soon, you will find a great deal of usefulness this suddenly aquired new skill! You will discover you can roll AWAY and make us chase you before we can cover your beautiful neck with our kisses! Roll Elsa, roll! Read more!

AND it's off to the movies we go!

Well - yesterday I had a HUGE list of things to do ready for myself, but first I needed to lie down with Elsa after breakfast I was, err - I mean she was tired. She nursed quietly for a bit and we both dozed off. I woke with a jolt and hurried downstairs to grab my clothes out of the dryer.

Once dressed, I called the gang together and we said our Rosary. By now it was about 11 am. Well - I thought I still have a little over half a day with which to tackle my ‘to do’ list. Lesson plans times five children so we can get back to school next week. List five items for sale for my husband; help with packing as we are behind since so many of us have been ill. Finish two loads of laundry, prepare supper. Get everyone to do the three o'clock chores, preferably at three for a change. Oh, there were other inspirational thoughts on my list of to do's but at 12, almost exactly twelve, Nathaniel, my five year old handsome red head (not toot, only girls and babies are toot!) remembered that I had promised that I would take him to the movies.

I had been looking at his hair that was badly in need of a trimming so I asked; "Tanny - would you like me to cut your hair today? (Not, btw, on my to do list!) And his little face just lit up as he said; "Oh yeah - so we tan go to the mooies? You haid we would go to the mooies today. "

He had me over a barrel with those big owl round blue eyes that were shining with expectation as well as the confidence that I would keep my word. I had promised. I had promised I would take him LAST Saturday, but I saw no benefit in pointing that out since I had clearly forgotten that promise. My husband's eyes grinned at me over his laptop balanced on his knees. "I have a ton to do with this business plan.", he reminded me. This was also true. I looked at Nathaniel and his happy grin. "Well," I said, "we need to have a bath before we can cut your hair."

He skipped up the stairs ahead of me and made not a complaint while I scrubbed his scalp clean and wrapped him up in a towel in prep for the hair cut. While I was doing this, word got around that 'we are going to the movies'. Bethany pirouetted before me seeking approval of her blouse and pant combo. She got it. Another child checked to see if their hairdo was suitable for the movies. Another child was told he was not invited, no one was sure why but apparently he was not. I quickly put that rumour to rest. So, total count for this trip was eight plus Mummy. Thankfully we were heading for the 1.50 theater.

Finally, all groomed and presentable, my ‘to do’ list completely forgotten, we loaded all the car seats, diapers bags and babies, toddlers and the rest of us into the van. We waved goodbye to Finnegan and left. We made a quick pit stop at Ahmed's to top off the gas and thriftily pack the diaper bag with some candy and tiny cans of pop - cans the perfect size for the youngest to enjoy a taste of soda during the movie. The older kids and I would buy some there.

We got there with time to spare to spare so I ushered all the girls into the Women's bathroom while sending Teddy and Noah to the Men's. I had a mild heart attack when Anna asked me; "Where's Nathaniel?" He, of late, has decided he is too old for the Women's restroom but I had not given him permission to go to the Men’s and did not know if he had done that or gone looking for our movie - Madagascar. I hurried back out and, of course, there was no little red head to be seen. But I did spy a little blond boy about 7 years old. AND he was heading to the Men’s. I cut him off and asked him if he would look for a little red head who was five, or maybe just call out Nathaniel and see if anyone answered. "Sure!" he said as the door swung shut behind him while I tried not to obviously glance in. I strained my ears and I could hear a young voice calling out Nathaniel and I heard other voices. I waited and then clapped my hand to my forehead - of course - I had not asked him to come back out to tell me, so of course... he did not. A few paces back and forth and the boys, all three, trooped back out. By now Gabriela, 14, had joined me in the hallway so I told her watch them all while I went back to supervise the rest of the female pit stop.

Bladders empty and fingers squeaky clean we scooped up two booster seats neatly piled by the door to Madagascar and filed into the empty theater. After all - it was too early on a school day for there to be many children there. Two other families joined us as we settled into our seats and quietly divided out boxes of candies and split up the single box of popcorn I had purchased. Sadly I had not thought to bring some zip locks so I carefully wrapped up handfuls of popcorn times seven and passed them down. We were all ready when the lights finally dimmed and the previews rolled across the screen. Jaws silently chewed, and Emma gave up on her seat since it kept closing up on her like a clamshell regardless of her booster seat. Elsa more or less co-operated, but surprisingly I found that her attention is better held by the grown up movies we have brought her to. Perhaps it was the fault of the much taller seat backs in this theater? None the less, she added to the enjoyment by constantly tackling the wrinkly sounding chip bag on my lap.

Ninety minutes later and it was all over. Not a single bathroom trip was requested and I consider that quite a feat! Madagascar gets five stars from me!

Later, at night, I lay in bed and thought guiltily of my forgotten ‘to do’ list. I felt a bit miserable. I had not done a single thing on it. Nothing had been posted for sale, I had not packed one item, supper had been late and the three o-clock chores were done around seven. But then as I lay there, I looked at the 'got done' list; breakfast together, a little laundry, a pleasant cuddle with an adorable baby, a hair cut, one set of bangs trimmed and happy memories for seven wonderful kids. And most important - a promise kept, even if two days late. Read more!

We Remember 9/11

We remember the victims and their families. May God continue to bless this great country and protect us from further terrorist attacks. Read more!

A flower for you...

Saturdays have become our yard cleaning days. Now what kid looks forward to a Saturday morning clean fest, eh? None that I know and I happen to know twelve. So when I created this new family tradition this summer, I decided that I would get up early and have a nice hot breakfast ready for everyone, with coffee and bacon smells calling everyone out of bed, instead of me with a cup of water poised just so over one's forehead.

So far - it has been well received and everyone enjoys the special ‘breakies’ I have been concocting, pancakes and fried ham on the side, or fresh bread toasted with eggs sunny side up - you get the idea. Right out of Little Farmer, by Laura Ingles Wilder, only not quite on the same scale. Same menu, only spread over several weekends, not served all on the same Saturday morning.

As some may know, I have been ill. Quite ill actually, so the groceries had really petered out and there was no juice to go with the hot breakfast I was planning on, so I slipped off with cash in my pocket and walked over to Ahmed's Gas Station. As I made my way through the crackly dry, freshly mowed field that lies between us and the gas station I glanced down at the bright yellow mustard flowers. Despite the heat and dryness of the season they were in abundance.

Suddenly I thought of Emma, my soon to be three year old. Actually I thought of all my children when they were of the flower bearing age - sidling up to me poesy in hand. I remembered the delight that always danced across their faces when I accepted this token of love with a smile and a thank you. I thought; ‘How fun it would be to give Emma a little token of love for a change. Children take so much delight in this; it must be so special to them.’ I chuckled mentally at the thought of her face when I surprised her with a little handful of flowers.

I quickly made my purchases of juice, greeted Ahmed and hurried back to the field where I carefully chose a few buds of yellow. I made sure they were long enough to put in a glass of water. When I entered the house through the back porch, Emma was sitting at the computer with one of her siblings playing a PBS kids game online.

"Emma," I called coyly, "Look what Mummy has for you."

She scrambled down off the chair and with her face lit with expectation she hurried to me. I showed her the flowers. "I brought you some flowers Emma." She drew in her breath; "For ME?"
"Yes - for you!"
Anna, twelve, asked her; "What do you say Emma?"

"Your Welcome Mummy!" she breathed as she started to show everyone her flowers before feeding them to Finnegan.

Hmmm, yes. Thank YOU Emma, I thought, YOU give me so much pleasure! Thank YOU! So really - her welcome was quite appropriate! Read more!