"The Devil tempts us so that he may ruin. God allows him to tempt so that He may perfect us in virtue."

-- Ambrose of Milan

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Sometimes a tragedy hits close to home.

I did not know the two young college students who lost their lives when their van plunged into the icy depths of the lake they were trying to cross last week. Yet, somehow I feel their loss more deeply than I would for most strangers.

Sometimes a tragedy hits close to home. Maybe because you knew the extended family, or you went to school with a friend of someone involved, or maybe its just because it was where you used to live or visit often. In this case - Combermere is a place of special memories for our family. We traveled up the mountain roads on more than one occasion to visit Madonna house or friends who owned farmland up there. And having lived so far north it is easy for me to envision the snowy white roads and the frozen lake where the tragedy took place.

While we have not been to Madonna house or in the nearby area where the two college students drowned in over 11 years, learning of this tragedy has brought back many memories. And mixed with them are my prayers for all of those involved in this very sad event. Yet while all who knew the two young people who died are greatly saddened, it seems that this college is filled with a hope. A hope that springs from living out their Catholic faith.

The president of the college has shared; "While the college, and indeed, the surrounding community, was shocked and saddened at the news, the sadness at the college is pervaded with a hope and even a joy at the near knowledge that these two souls, so close to God on earth, are bound to be with Him in Glory.", and one of the professors stated that; "I'm going to continue talking with them," he says of Sanders and Lieu. "I'm going to tell the students they're more real now than they were when they were alive."

Such amazing faith. To learn more about the college the students were from go here. And please remember this tiny Catholic community that is tucked away in the snowy valley of Ontario Canada as they mourn the loss of two beautiful lives while they also celebrate the life they brought to the community. Read more!

Sometimes...

...just sometimes you get the words you need to hear/read at just the right time.
Sister Patricia has been sending out a novena for employment and I read the first days prayers and then a fit of rebellion slipped in and I refused to read any more of the prayers as they came into my inbox the past few days. (If you do not know Sister yet - click here)

Now after my wonderful announcement of employment why am I irritated by a novena for employment? Well, while I am working... it is on commission and it will take a while before I see the fruits of my labour. Hugo is busy with school, maintaining the eBay business at a very low key level and has not had the time to begin the Spanish classes we had hoped to start. He is still looking for a job and we are w a i t i n g, w a i t i n g, w a i t i n g for a withdrawal from our retirement funds in Canada and it is a p a i n f u l l y s l o w process. If all goes well - so many prayers will be answered and our life will improve immeasurably. But so many things have gone wrong the past years that sometimes I have a very difficult time being able to trust in God.

Sadly the past few days, partly I suspect because I am suffering from what I am calling 'battle fatigue' due to the illness our family has been battling against, I have been finding it especially difficult to be patient and to trust in God's goodness. Until recently I had just kept giving this whole "waiting" scenario over to God.

Then tonight I was eating a quick bowl of cereal and writing a note of thanksgiving to my Dad and step mum, when I noticed an email had come in. I was curious so I clicked on it - it was from Sister Patricia. I sighed, felt grumpy and was not going to read it - after I had not read the last 4 or 5 so why read this one, eh?

Well - I decided to take a peek just to see how irritated it would make me feel.

This is the message I got...

Now its time to spread a little Franciscan wisdom. One of our own American Franciscan saints to "be" (he's a blessed but not canonized) is Bl. Solanus Casey. A very wonderful and holy man. Father Solanus's favorite saying, was "Thank God ahead of time!"

Of course we know its very St. Paul based too! But this is such a great and wonderful way to pray. If you want a miracle - then Saint Paul tells us we must believe we are going to receive one. What better way to jump start our faith than to start "Thanking God ahead of Time!"

Solanus Casey used to say with a twinkle in his eye (he was a very warm-hearted and holy man) that when we thank God ahead of time... we put God in a tough spot....God is almost obliged to give us what we want because we've already thanked him for it!

Trusting God enough to thank Him before we get what we want is a great way to step out in faith. It's like trusting your parents to provide good things for you - trusting that your best friend is going to help you out when you are in trouble. Thanking God is all about trust and appreciation. I truly believe that God likes to be thanked .... and doing it ahead of time is showing our great confidence in our loving God. Anybody can thank God "after" they get what they prayed for - but it takes faith to do it "before" the answers come!

So go ahead! Spend the whole day thanking God for the wonderful job he is finding for you or for those you are praying for. Almost immediately you will feel stronger and excited about what is going to happen. A Joyful heart is good medicine and a joyful spirit makes someone want to be around you. If you are looking for a job than you really need to have people be glad to be around you because who knows where that job opening might come from? A family member, a friend, a person you smile and help on the street?

Dedicate yourself to Thankfulness!

So... that is what I am going to do this LENT - spend each day thanking God for the blessings that have yet to come. I am going to thank Him for my first pay cheque from SIT, for Hugo's job that is just around the corner and will be a perfect fit, for the mortgage we will get. I will thank for the good health also just around the corner. I am going to thank him for the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit as he guides us in the purchase of our new home. I will thank him for my success in building a better prayer life and for success in creating and following a solid family rule - and on and on and on.... This Lent - I am going to just keep thanking God. And in thanking Him - I will be believing in Him and His graces and His gifts. Read more!

When do you praise the Lord that we have the Influenza?

When you drag a very sick toddler into the doctor's office, trying really hard not to think how much your child's behaviour and symptoms for the past month have been like that of the two year old who was just diagnosed with Leukemia.

When the pediatrician looks very worried because he can not find an explanation for the sudden onset of a 105 temperature... after weeks of flu like symptoms that keep coming and going and had finally seemed to be gone and then this sudden spike in her fever brought you into his office.

When the doctor orders a blood count test and a Flu test and tells you our best hope is a positive flu test, and his voice trails off...

When the nurse comes back with a big grin on her face and says "SHE HAS THE FLU!" and you laugh in relief.

YES, we have the influenza - Type A - highly contagious, but treatable. Very treatable.

Praise God.

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When does hearing Thank You put a lump in your throat...

...when your 2 year old, while running a fever of 104, says thank you as you move the cool clothe to a different spot on her head.

... and again later while this same two year old lies limply in your arms and whispers thank you as you put her favorite cartoon back on for her to watch for about the 12th time in a row.

This being the same 2 year old who has recently fallen in love with the word HATE. In fact you have heard "I hate dis tupid thing! " so much you begin to wonder how much you are carelessly using the word hate and resolve to be more attentive to your own vocabulary.

Yup - that is when the expression 'thank you' wrings your heart. Read more!

Out of the mouths of babes...

This morning (Sunday) our 2 yr old Elsa woke up shivering and groaning. She complained she needed to use the bathroom, but when I picked her up I realized at once she was a little furnace. Her temp was about 103. After a quick trip to the potty, I grabbed a 'vitamin" out of its package on the medicine shelf. (Vitamin is code for Tylenol as if we call it by its proper name - she won't take it...)

She tearfully chomped on the tablet and then grabbed her legs complaining that they hurt. Then she jumped. "Mummy, der's a monster over der!!" she whispered.

I peered into the darkness to try and see what might be disguising itself as a monster but could not identify the culprit. I scooped her up and carried back into our bedroom where she shivered and shook in my arms.
"Mummy, DER it is!" She gasped.. "It's in my drawers." I flipped on the closet light and we both examined her drawers and again could not find the culprit.

I was beginning to worry she was hallucinating from the fever. As we turned away from the closet, she whispered, "JESUS!" Startled, I looked at her and said, "What?"

She whispered again to me, this time she said "Mummy, I want Jesus!"

As we lay in bed together, she continued to see monsters and then would call for Jesus. I talked a little to her about Jesus being with us in our hearts and all around us. Eventually she drifted off to sleep, leaving me to wonder about the innate ability of children to seek what is right and good. She was ill and frightened, seeing who knows what terrors of the imagination, and when I could not make the monsters go away - she instinctively called to Jesus for help. It is for no small reason that Jesus commands us to believe like little children. Read more!

Silence is Golden...

"God is a friend of silence. We need to find God, but we cannot find Him in noise, in excitement. See how nature, the trees, the flowers, the grass grow in deep silence. See how the stars, the moon, and the sun move in silence. The more we receive in our silent prayers, the more we can give in our active life. Silence gives us a new way of looking at everything. We need silence in order to touch souls. The important thing is not what we say, but what God says to us, and what He says through us. There is no life of prayer without silence."

To read the entire article that I have borrowed this quote from, click here. (If for any reason this link does not work, the blog is HERE. )

I have to admit, I am not a friend of silence, which is why this quote struck me with such force. I find silence lonely and sometimes overwhelming. When the house is silent - I turn on EWTN on my computer, or I put some music on. But I prefer hearing human voices in the back ground. Maybe that is why Ia m able to deal with the constant babble of noise in our home. None the less, I think I need to learn how to value silence and maybe in doing so - I will be better able to hear God. Read more!

Calling ALL Parents!

Do you have a paper shredder in your home, possibly because of the increased risk of identity theft? Well - if you have a child under five in your home AND a paper shredder - you now are entertaining one of the newest 'hidden hazard' scenarios.

Because this is typically an office machine that until recently, was only found in the office - the voluntary standards only call for an opening above the blades that will prevent a twelve year old's fingers from being caught in the machine.

And if your machine boasts of auto stop features to prevent entrapment in the blades one family's recent experience begs to differ. Danielle Bean shared one friend's horror story on her blog. Danielle's friend, referring to her two year olds situation, shared the following:

"his hand was between two pieces of paper, so the machine still sensed paper and didn't stop..."

And while this two year old is recovering well from the surgery it took to repair the damage " his hand will never be the same" his mother also shared with Danielle's readers.

Danielle posted a link to an article that explains in full detail the dangers these now common home office machines pose to our young children. Please, if you have children or know somebody with children who might have access to a paper shredder - take the time to read this article and share it with others. Lets all try to work together across the world wide web and see if we can't turn the statistics around and prevent other similar tragedies from happening.

Currently our shredder will be staying at our business location, but if we ever decide to bring it home - I will be following the advice proposed by the article. Given that many of these accidents occured while children were under the supervision of their parents doctors suggest the following: "...Paper shredders should be kept unplugged and out of children's reach. They also urge parents not to let young children use or be near shredders at any time, adding that the No. 1 way to avoid an injury to a child's fingers is to keep them away from shredders altogether"

To read the article click here - if for any reason your browser does not open to this link simply copy and paste the following URL in your browser.

http://www.factory-express.com/blog/2006/02/shredder-safety-and-children.html Read more!

CALLING ALL NC HOMESCHOOLERS

Thank you to Maria, who brought this to my attention.

"In September, the North Carolina Division of Non-Public Education (DNPE) sent a letter to some randomly selected homeschooling families requesting that they voluntarily meet with a representative of DNPE to review their school records. Parents agreeing to meet with the state official were required to bring their attendance, immunization, and standardized test records to be reviewed. Parents were also requested to bring their school-age children, a textbook list, a daily log/lesson plan book, and samples of each student’s work for review by the state official."

To read the complete article CLICK HERE

Please do take the time to read this article, especially if ou are a homeschooler here within NOrth Carolina. Read more!

Going for a fourth....

...am I catching my readers off guard? Making you worry that maybe you should start reading me daily again? Nah - don't worry. Maybe tonight I will get enough sleep to be able to focus on the more important things in life - like laundry, meals, grant proposals. Don't worry - I don't think I will top the number of posts today for quite a while.

In the meantime - I am here to tell you that while waiting for Canada Revenue to decide to either a) install more phone lines,
b) hang the phone up from their lunch break
or
c) for the majority of Canada talking to Canada Revenue to hang up so I can get through,
I have continued to entertain myself by doing further research on the origins of Canuck, aka Cannuck, aka Kanuck.

I was successful, but in the interim realized that while I do not miss Canadian taxes, I do miss Canadian humour. To share in my enjoyment - click here. (Note the last name given by the person writing in to ask the origins of Cannuck) Read more!

WHAT? Another post, THREE in one day?

This is what happens when you are brain dead and trying to complete paper work that entails frequent online research. You get sidelined by interesting questions like what is the origin of Cannuck... which leads you to stories online - like this one: Click here to read!

As to the origin of Cannuck (AKA canuck) - still working on that, in between getting busy signals from Revenue Canada. Who would have thought Canada's equivalent to the IRS would be so popular - or maybe they just took the phone off the hook for lunch!

PS for those who click to read the story above - the author does a great job of explaining various Canadian terms but forgot to explain that the Hydro bill is not the water bill - it is Electric bill. This is because so much of Canadian electricity is derived from Hydro Dams. Read more!

Some days this is how I feel as Elsa trails behind me asking "Ooopa Mummy Ooopa!"
(Ooopa is a Spanish/Argentinian term for up, spelling probably not accurate, but Hugo is not home for me to check.)

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Too tired, too sore...

... to move let alone think of something worthwhile to post. Most of us are down with some nasty flu bug that I swear must be traveling via the internet disguised a a computer virus as we have hardly been anywhere but on the internet these days. Yet everyone I know has/had this flu!!!

So once more I beg my readers for their prayers. We woke to a beautiful light blanket of snow covering the ground and about six stuffed, snuffling noses pressed to the windows - pining for snow boots so as to be allowed to play in this ever so rare occurrence. And despite the light rain that is now melting everything away and threatening to turn into freezing rain, several volunteers lined up to walk to the puppy.

In truth the children are too sick for me to allow them to enjoy this snow for more than it takes the time to walk to the dog. Please pray for me to have the graces to deal wit the frustration the littlest ones will have about not being allowed out to enjoy this miracle of whiteness and pray for my tired, sore body that has spent the past number of nights squeezed between two small bodies that might as well have been stone boulders for all the rest I got.

Please also pray for our eBay sales - as things stand it will be at least a month, maybe two, before we receive any pay from my new job and Hugo's new venture, and if we lose the power due to freezing rain - we will not be able to monitor potential customers questions and concerns. A power outage can be very disastrous for an eBayer.

And thank you ALL for all of your prayers. If I disappear for a while - it could be the weather or just plain fatigue! If your comments do not get moderated though, you will know it is the weather. (Or we were not able to pay Internet bill!!)

God Bless
Christi Read more!

Thank You Hugo

I want to publicly thank Hugo for being such a wonderful husband.

Sometimes love is shown in little ways that we can take for granted. He did not sleep well either last night while we coped with two sick children, watching Pink Panther on Youtube at 2 in the morning as we waited for a the tiny drop of Motrin I squeezed between reluctant lips to kick in. This was followed by waking up at 3 am by a still feverish child who was murmuring, crying and tossing turning until she finally fell back asleep leaning on me with both baby and I still sitting up. Five year old Emma clambered in at I don't know what time, adding her inferno temp to the warmth of our crowded bed. Now we each had our own live heating pad crowded up against us.

Yet he rolled out of bed first thing this morning and started in on the dirty dishes everyone was either too sick, or too tired to cope with last night. With his hands in hot soapy water he informed me that my toast was in the toaster and while I sat bleary eyed at my desk rescheduling a dentist appointment that took a month to get - he dashed out to get apple sauce for those whose throats are too sore for toast.

So thank you Hugo for being the best Husband EVER! I love you, and when you do these things for me - I know you love me! Thank you!!! Read more!

The Power of Prayer and the Promised Announcement.

If you recall, before Christmas, I promised an announcement of something big. Well, after much prayer Hugo and I decided, just before Christmas, to close down the business. Currently we are in the process of liquidating and Hugo has begun the application process to Grad School and is also looking for a job, part time or full. This was decided with some trepidation as we really were not sure where we would go from here.

Last week Hugo and I began a nine day novena to the Infant Jesus with the request being a job for Hugo, a job for Miguel and a job for Jonathan who is returning to college and badly needs money to help pay for his next semesters expenses. As usual, Baby Jesus is coming through for us. Miguel had a job interview today at 4 pm and a few days ago I received a call from a fellow parishioner. He had read some of my writing and wanted to know if I might be willing to try my hand at writing grant proposals!

I was! So long story short, Hugo had the cell phone when Charles Patten of SITorg called and later the next day both Hugo and I met with the staff as well as the founder of SITorg. We were very impressed with the enthusiasm of everyone involved in this organization and it seems that they in turn were pleased with us. So both of us will be involved with SITorg for the next little while. (Hopefully for some time to come!) I will be involved in procuring funds for the organization and Hugo will be developing the Hispanic line of courses and teaching classes in Spanish/English. He will keep our business going for a little while longer esp. as what he is doing actually works well with the mission of SITorg, which is:

To Provide free upgraded computers for those in need.

Low cost technology services, and computers to benefit the community.

Provide environmentally sound solution for technological waste.

And all of is this is accomplished through the mentoring of the young children who participate in this after school program. What the children gain from this program is priceless. They are not only learning marketable skills, but the importance of proper stewardship of the environment as well as practicable means of accomplishing this, and all of this in a safe, Christian environment.

We have not yet finished the novena for jobs for Hugo, Miguel and Jonathan, we will be finishing it this Saturday, but the sweet Baby Jesus has already been busy! Not only have Hugo and I found something, but tonight Miguel received a phone call telling him that he had the job he interviewed for today.

I am very excited about this new venture and have already been working on finding some local donations as SITorg is between grants and would be very happy to receive monetary donations as well as computers! Please be sure to move your cursor over the red print in bold and check out the pages they take you too. Please note that SIT's website was created by the students involved in this program and if you wish to view another website created by them you can click here . If, after exploring SIT's site, you think this is a worthy program and would like to support it in some way, large or small, please click here.

In the meantime, Hugo and I need to finish our Novena and then begin another of Thanksgiving and we would certainly appreciate all of your prayers for success in these new endeavors, my grant proposal writing, Hugo's classes and Hugo's studies as he pursues a Master's degree in Project Management. Please also keep Miguel & Jonathan in your prayers as they further their studies and Miguel begins a new job!

And I would like to finish this post with a note of gratitude to all of you, my readers, for the prayers you have offered up again and again for us!

Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!

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Landry AKA Mount Everest

Mary left an interesting comment on my blog asking for advice on laundry. Oodles and oodles of laundry - the kind of laundry only a large family, especially one with lots of young kids, can generate.

Here is the crux of Mary's problem:

I am a homeschooling mom of 5 little children all under 7 years old....

So, anyway, my question is: do you have a set number of pants/shirts (not including Sunday best clothes) but every day clothes. Do you have the kids in uniforms? With all the changes of the seasons, we have such a huge amount of shorts/t-shirts/pants/shorts

/sweaters etc…the list could go on.

Do you have any type of system that works for you?

I know of another mom who has ONLY 5 OUTFITS-per child per season-hung on hangers-1 per day. They wear them stains and all.

I am a bit on the fence about this….well it is tempting to get rid of most of the kids’ clothes to just have 5! But I do like to see my children dressed nicely without all those stains(if I can help it).

Overwhelmed with the laundry loads, I figured I would ask you and I can’t wait to hear what you (or others) have to say about this deal.

Thanks in advance!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to your family!!!

God Bless you,

Mary

Here, at last, is my promised answer to you Mary.

I have tried a variety of systems. I have tried only having a specific number of outfits per child per season as your friend does - but there is a set back to this as insinuated with the " stains and all" comment. So I tried doing that with back ups put aside in my closet, or in a storage closet, but then when you need them they smell like, well stale laundry.

I have also struggled, as you do, with the feast or famine of donations. Because one can never be sure when the next drought might strike - you never like to say no to an offer of clothing. And then some seasons you get an overload of say, size six and absolutely no size eights so there is the temptation to hoard against the future. But I have learned to go with the ebb and flow of the donations and to not keep things that I do not believe I can use within one year of receiving - trusting to the Lord to provide when the need occurs.

I have a few ideas I can share with you - some I am currently using and some I am no longer using but might work for you, and at least one I am doing that you might not want to try until your children are older.

I will start with the one thing I am currently doing but your children are probably not old enough to do yet. Once my children are tall enough to reach the back of the washer and dryer and so the dials - I begin to teach them how to do their own laundry. They learn to sort their clothes and they learn how to use the machines. Each bedroom has their own laundry day with one day of the week free from laundry. They also learn what happens if they miss their assigned laundry day - no clean clothes!

Is not a perfect system but it works fairly well and when I notice the washer has finished and throw a child's clothes into the dryer for them - I am rewarded with a large smile and a huge thank you.

However, something your children can start to learn with you when they get ready for bed each evening is how to sort their clothes. I have used a white basket hamper for the lights with a darker one for darks.

To deal with the challenge of the change of seasons, I have begun purchasing the huge zip lock bags. I like that you can see through them and that they seem to be quite durable. When the season begins to change I keep them near the laundry area and as we make our way through the laundry the bags are slowly filled. I assign a bag to each room, but one for each teen. In other word the three boys rooming together get one bag and the two little girls get one bag but the two teens bunking together - each get one. They have more clothes and the individual articles are larger in size as well. When the bag is full I put them away in the corresponding bedroom's large closet. We have been so blessed with awesome closets in this house.

A suggestion I have not implemented but hope to soon, is to use baskets of different colours to indicate whether the laundry in the laundry room is fresh or waiting to be washed.

One disadvantage to the system I use of teaching the children to be independent with the laundry is that we sometimes experience a back up or over flow in the laundry area. And others waiting their turn for the facilities do not always know what has been washed and what hasn't. If the child before them is not around to clarify the situation we can end up with dirty clothes mixed with clean. This can be compounded by the general laundry, such towels, being left in the laundry area so I am hoping to be able to budget for some colour co-ordinated baskets soon.

My intention is to use a light coloured hamper for clean clothes and a dark one for dirty in hopes of preventing some of this confusion.

Now as to the number of articles of clothing, I do try to keep it somewhat limited but not as strictly as I once did. If I can't fit all of the clothing for one child in one large dresser and their alloted closet space, I know we have gone overboard. I have one drawer assigned for good clothes per child in his or her dresser. I also keep some good clothes separate in my closet for the younger children so that I know for sure that they have a good out fit for Sundays. When I have a special occasion coming up I do this for some of the older children as well. (Not the teens though) This removes some of the stress when preparing for the special occasion.

As I mentioned when I described how the older children learn to do their own laundry, each bedroom has their laundry day. This is something you could try to implement, it helps me a lot although on occasion we can get thrown off by being away on someones laundry day, that free days helps and when I know ahead we will be away, we try to squeeze a small extra load in ahead of the missed day.

I hope that some of these ideas help you Mary. I pray that one day soon you are able to tame your Mount Everest. Please, if any other readers have some ideas or solutions that have helped you - please feel free to share them with Mary and I in the comment section.

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I am spoiled...

... I really am. I look at awesome pictures from various blogs and admire the pretty snow. And I sigh at my romantic memories of sliding with the children. Bundling them up to take for a walk, pulling whoever was the current baby behind me in a sled. Catching small snowflakes on both my tongue and eyelashes. Watching children create snow angles, smiling as I remembered my own attempts, in vain, to get up without messing up my angel.

But then we have spots of weather down here in NC when it is so warm that I have to open the van windows if I am out driving - like I had to tonight. There was a softness to the fresh air and I glanced at the porches filled with laughing couples and families enjoying this spring like weather as I passed them driving home from visiting my boys.

And I realized just how spoiled I have become - how used I have become to such gentle and happy days such as this one today, here in the south. Or maybe I am just acclimatizing to my southern home where I have resided now for eleven full years. Regardless of what it is - I felt so grateful tonight for the taste of spring we have been granted several times this winter. Read more!

Heatless but not hopeless...

Our house is again without heat on the main floor and the temperatures dipped to -9 celcius last night. (15.8 F) BRRRRRR!!! But despite being heatless, I am not hopeless as I face the New Year. Never mind that my repeated attempts to establish a family rule has failed over and over again the past three years. Some of my readers might be scratching their heads and asking what is a Family Rule and why would you want one?

I find it easiest to answer this question by quoting the author of a Mother's Rule of Life?

"A rule is, and will always remain, a response to the call of God - a means of fidelity to one's vocation as a mother; a way to ensure that one's basic calling is being met with conscious care and a reasonable attempt to meet the many and varied needs of self, husband, family and home -- in such a way as to reduce unnecessary emotional turmoil or physical & psychological stress But instead, to have this valid tool as a means of living motherhood in a life-giving and self-offering way. This is the route of love." (To read the question and its full answer that this quote is from - click here.)

I read A Mother's Rule of Life a few months after a Priest, in the confessional, remarked that our family life needed to resemble that of a rule - perhaps the Benedictine Rule. 'There are so many individuals, varying needs and schedules to try to meet and adjust to, that in your life is almost like that of a monastery and you should try implementing a rule - maybe the Benedictine Rule.' Obedient confessor that I am, I immediately began to research this particular rule and shortly after came across Holly's book - A Mother's Rule of Life.

Since then I have come to know Holly Pierlot and we joined together to begin an online google support group and this lead to Holly directing an online workshop for us that was recently released as a workbook (To view a sample click here or to purchase - click here and a review of this book can be read here.)

Despite having read the book and worked through parts of the workshop and reviewing the workshop again when I helped Holly to compile it into the workbook, I still find myself failing when I attempt to implement my family rule over and over. Why, I have had to ask myself, is this so?

I have come to the conclusion that I always try to change, as well as implement, too many things at once. I become overwhelmed and give up. As well, our family is/has been facing trying times for the past six years and, with the changes we are facing in the upcoming months, I am going to have to remain very flexible in my daily schedules. However, after some prayer and reflection I have concluded that there are some goals that I must meet daily and I have realized that for now, my Rule will have to be simply be a list of these daily goals. There are ten in all.

1) Pray with my spouse, in the morning before we leave our room.
2) Attend daily Mass or start the day with the family Rosary.
3) Wash, dry and put away (at a minimum) one load of clothes a day. (Keep in mind my dryer is on its last legs or I would try to do more)
4) Breakfast & breakfast chores
5) School, including Tanny's Speech Therapy exercises
6) Lunch & lunch chores (recheck laundry)
7) Read w/ Emma, Elsa and Tanny
8) 3 pm Chaplet, followed by 3 pm chores.
9) Supper @ 5 pm, followed by supper chores
10) Bedtime routines started by 7:30, include examination of conscience at this time.

This is not a full rule and those familiar with Holly's book, will immediately see some holes in it such as time alone for myself. While this is a bare bones start, all of the five P's discussed in Holly's book are covered in a minimal way here.
First P - Prayer; is covered in 1, 2, 8 and 10.
Second P - Person; is covered by 4, 6, 8 & 10. Eating our meals on time is a basic need I must follow for myself as well as the family. Also by ensuring my children follow a bedtime routine, I leave time open for myself to be spent alone, as well as with my husband.
Third P - Partner; is covered by Hugo and I agreeing to start our day by praying together as well as through # 10 as I mention above.
Fourth P - Parenting; simply attempting to achieve all of these 10 daily goals will make me a better parent.
Fifth P - Provider; in ensuring the daily meal chores are done daily, and on time, helps with the area of provider as in doing so - I will ensure that food is not left out and wasted. As well, # 10 helps to provide for an earlier bedtime for Hugo and I, allowing us to rest and have more energy to give toward the needs of providing for our family.

My goal is to try and accomplish each of these goals daily for a minimum of thirty days and then add to it. I have determined that these is the very minimum that I must achieve daily in order for God to be able to bless my efforts and help me to lessen the mental stress that I am feeling daily. In doing this I am confident I not only will gain energy, but that I will also find that large gaps of time will open up, allowing me to pack more meat on this skeleton of a rule.

Now why have I chosen to share this publicly? Largely to put a little pressure on myself by publicly sharing a commitment I have made to myself.

And so now you know that while I may be without heat - I am not without hope as I face 2008 spanning before me, yet to be filled with challenges; met and conquered. 2007 was a difficult year that seriously drained our energies and sometimes our hope and even our courage. I can only pray that by starting off 2008 with this simple rule for myself, I will find the energy, courage and strength to face come what may. And most importantly, I know I will be doing it hand in hand with God.
------------------------
P.S. Whilst working on this post, the heat (after 8 hours of not functioning) kicked back in downstairs. Praise be to God and may the heat STAY on! Although we will still request a service visit to make sure that something is not wrong as it is very bizarre... no heat... heat... Read more!

The Kindness Test

I took this test and scored nine, the lower end of "kinda nice person, but as a follower of Christ I need work!" Ooops! Try the test yourself and see how you score!
Good Luck!

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Christmas Eve Prep

• Gifts Wrapped and locked in St Nick's work shop... check

• Clothes laid out and ready for Mass... Check

• Last minute mad dash to get ready for Mass... Check

• Hot chocolate and cookies before bed - forgotten in their haste to get to sleep so St Nick could get busy.
  

• Gifts now under the tree... check

• Stockings filled by St Nick... Check
  

• Snacks prepared to be left in bedrooms to help keep kidos busy and happy until 9 am, expected arrival of older siblings... check
  

• Coffee machine set up and cider warming in crock pot... check
  

• Ready for hot drinks for fifteen in the morning...

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Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!!!

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Note to self...

...next year do NOT buy cap guns for Saint Nickolas to leave in the stockings. And when I leave instructions for where and when to put out the stockings remember to tell St Nick that Hugo does not want the stockings put out before 7 am in hopes of avoiding the 3 am wakeup call we had this year.

Read more!

NO more till Dawn!!!

The Western style shoot out that was played out in the upstairs hallway around 4 am prompted my announcement that no more cap guns were to be heard until dawn. By midmorning at least one of the felons involved appeared to be regretting it. Read more!

More Christmas Pictures to come...

... I promise!

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Are you READY???

Are you READY!? Are we ever really ready though for the birth of Christ? I know I always feel somewhat unprepared, no matter how well stocked my cupboards are, or if all the gifts are wrapped and ready for Baby Jesus and St Nick to put under the tree. And I think this has a lot to do with the hecticness that I allow to creep into my last week of Advent. Every year I swear it will be different. But this year I think I feel a little more prepared than normal because I have worked hard to be able to relax today. Today I plan to do a little baking with the children. Originally, before so many were felled by a virus, I had planned on this baking to be done sooner. But one must roll with the flow, eh?

To help the children get through the day without busting a seam, I am posting a list of to dos over the Baby's creche so that they may make it just a little softer by adding yarn as they do these things. In doing so, they will be more focused on Baby Jesus rather than what might be under the tree tomorrow. (Well, sort of! They are kids after all and even I am looking forward to the tree and all of those expectant glowing eyes!)

(This awesome picture was found HERE.) Read more!

KNOCK on wood!!!

Since the baby had a fever that peaked somewhere over 103 - no one else has fallen ill. KNOCK ON WOOD!! (And a little prayer never hurt either!) We had some head aches, tummy aches but no more fevers or woofing of cookies!!

In fact as we drove to Mass this morning, with 13 of the 14 of us all in the van, Emma's little voice could be heard wavering over all the cheerful babble as she sang in the typical falsetto of most five year olds. She was rendering us her own Christmas carol.

"Christmas is Wonderful!
Christmas is better than eating breakfast!
Christmas is better than dolls!
Christmas is better than putting on socks!
Christmas is better than, ummm, Christmas is better than puppppppy dooooooogs!!!"

And she is right! Christmas is better than all these things - when we remember what Christmas really is!

"... in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2: 11-14

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Where is MY iron???

I hope to post a few times more over the next couple of days, but I never quite know how my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will go - no matter how much I plan ahead. However, I will brag just a little. I actually know what everyone is going to wear and I think all of it is clean. I have one more outfit to double check before I can I know for sure everything is clean!

Unfortunately as I was preparing some of these outfits, I was slowly building up into a full blown hissy fit because I could not find my IRON and I was all set to iron several white shirts so that they would be nice and crisp under each of my sons' sweaters... suddenly the ludicrousness of it all jumped in my face. I was about to blow a gasket, causing everyone near me untold stress and, as such, committing a venial sin by inflecting my mal temper on all around me. For what? So that I, and only I, could know that my sons' shirts were freshly ironed under their sweaters. Surely it was more important that I contribute to a peaceful atmosphere so that we could continue to prepare our hearts for coming of Christ, whose special Mass I was preparing these clothes for.

So, I think I would have made Danielle proud. I put away all foolish ideas of ironing and made myself a cup of tea, had a snack and then tackled the last two gifts that I needed to wrap.

So hopefully I will be popping in and out, especially as my camera has returned home so I hope to be able to share pictorially again. AND I have an announcement to make after Christmas. (No, mum2twelve has not have to create a new blog called mum2thirteen!!) So stay tuned and find out just what piece of exciting news I have to share with my readers.


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fevers abound...

of the 102 variety... so posts will be rare for a few days. Prayers gratefully accepted!!! Read more!

Dis bear needs surgery!

Last night I was tidying my room while 2 year old Elsa reigned from my bed. I came across my very old Teddy bear who had lost his nose to a puppy ever so many years ago. Sadly he was losing his head too as the stitching around his neck was loose. Quite some time ago, Gabriela had promised to repair him and now he badly needed even more repair than he had the day she promised this. I picked him up and watched as his head flipped backward and his gaping wound exposed his internal stuffing.

Mournfully I showed him to Elsa and commented on how Gabriela, her God Mother, had not yet made good on her promise. I placed him gently on my pillow and Elsa stared at him for a moment before carefully picking him off. She slipped off my bed with the bear cradled in her arms and quietly disappeared. I wondered what she intended to do with my almost decapitated bear.

I shrugged my shoulders and leaned back into the task at hand. Getting the coal off of my stocking on the dining room wall, and until my room was clean - there it would remain with all of my children's stockings bearing brightly coloured candy canes that marked how many days their rooms had been clean. A few moments later I heard the patter of Elsa's feet on the stairs and when I stepped into the hallway to stuff used paper into garbage the bag there, I greeted her as she entered. She looked at me and with the bear still clasped to her bosom she announced solemnly; "Dis bear needs surgery!"

"Oh!" I replied, hiding a smile. " "Who says?" I asked.

"Me!" She paused a second or two and then added, "and Gabiela!"

She marched into her older sister's bedroom and I watched her expecting the bear to be lovingly placed on her sister's bed, to await his much needed surgery. To my shock she carelessly flung the bear onto the bed and swung around to return to her throne in my room. Surgery had been promised and there was little doubt in her mind that her God Mother would follow through so therefor, I guess, the bear no longer required her assistance and her job was complete.

And she was right, later that evening neck firmly stitched up, nose still missing, my Teddy was gently placed back on his throne - my pillow. Elsa inspected him and was content. Mummy's bear was well again. Read more!

...and the door clicked behind me!

I stepped outside for a moment. We were still enjoying weather in the 20's (Celsius) and I needed something from the van. Click. I heard the front door lock behind me. Before I could turn around I heard the mail slot clatter and a voice, somewhat hollow sounding, called through it.
"If you tell me I can go into the classroom (aka St Nick's Work shop) I'll let you back in." Remembering that the side porch door was not locked I tore off around the corner and clambered over the fencing we have put up to protect Elsa, but before I could reach the door knob the culprit was standing there grinning at me as he twisted the lock in the knob. However one of the panes is missing so I simply reached in and unlocked the door. Much to his dismay - and my pleasure. St Nick's workshop is STILL off limits and I did not have to climb through a window to keep it so either! (I think I might leave that pane like that until after the 25th!) Read more!

Almost got me with this one!

Still trying to trick me into giving permission to enter the classroom aka St Nick's workshop my 12 year old son commented to me while I worked on the computer;
"Hmmm, I have been thinking about the classroom. I have thought of a better way to arrange the desks, want me to show you?"
I started to agree that I would be interested when I caught view of the HUGE grin on his face and caught myself just in the nick of time! Read more!

offer to clean...

"Mummy, could you find me a cloth and some tough and tender?" (This got my attention) "You know, those gifts might be dirty, I could clean them for you!" Read more!

running gag continues

"You know - some of those gifts could be bobby trapped. I better double check them for you to keep you safe mummy!" Read more!

Christmas Cheer Challenge

Click HERE to learn what this Christmas Cheer Challenge is.

We too have been the blessed recipients of a raffle of sorts. A friend from our parish noticed one of the prizes for their Christmas raffle was a basket of games and toys. She immediately thought of our family and said to herself, I need to win this for Hugo and Christi's family. So she prayed to God to allow her to win this prize for our children. And she did!!

So I owe a thank you note to Jesus as well as my wonderful friend who thought to pray for such a thoughtful thing. I think it is so cool to get a gift from GOD.

So if you want to share a little Christmas Cheer too click here. And just maybe you will win a lovely gift too. Read more!

Awesome Alternative...

... to BARBIE

Read more!

Tomorrow is...

... the feast day of Our Lady of Guadeloupe. And we are having a fiesta! The first with our friends from our new parish. The kids are excited. If all of our guests come there will be 8 boys, not including my own three here at home. There will be an additional four girls to my five plus a toddler in addition to mine and a NEW BORN! We are all drooling to get our hands on this new born! The grand total will 22 children in all - from five families and not all their children are expected due to schedule conflicts. It should be good fun.

We intend to meet here and then head off to a really nice local park for an hour so that the eleven or so boys can burn off some steam. Then we will come back here for treats and maybe a Christmas movie on the big screen. (One of the benefits of selling surplus equipment - big toys for small prices.)

If I have time between the organizing, cleaning and baking still to do, I will try to post a few of the recipes we hope to share tomorrow with our new friends. Tonight I will need to call my MIL in Argentina because it has been a few years since I have made empanadas from scratch, and I am hoping to make them for the party. However, my sanity might need to come first and we have to settle for chips, crackers and cheese! Read more!

Can I help?

Son to mother:
"You know, I was thinking about the gifts hidden in the classroom. Well - you know they could have gotten broken by people going in and out of the room, so maybe I could, uh, check them out for you, eh? Make sure they are safe and sound and all. Whadaya think?"

I smiled and thanked this child's kind offer but declined it.

2 hours later...

"You know - I was thinking again - it's always possible a few gifts might have gone missing, gotten stolen on somethin' eh? So maybe I could - like check them out, give you a count. Hmm?"

I thanked him again, and declined - again.

I am waiting for his next excuse for helping me out with a gift count or gift check. I'll let you know if he comes up with another one. Read more!

A favor for Mummy!

Emma: "Mummy - there was an uncovered chocolate on the table and I didn't want it to get wasted so I put it in my mouth."

Mummy: "Well, thank you Emma."

Emma: "You are most certainly welcome!" Read more!

Confessions

I have a confession to make. My children are not perfect. And if their father and I were not already aware of this, it was made very evident the other day when we left the crew waiting in the van as we ran into a local store to run an errand after attending daily Mass.

Errand finished, we returned to find the the two boys, Noah and Benjamin, cowering under any cover they could find while women's panties flew through the air amidst chuckles from the girls who had started the undie war. A few of them were also singing the lyrics of "The Restroom Door Said Gentlemen." (Search for under R for Restroom Door Said Gentlemen, to hear the sung version.)

Where had these undies come from? Apparently an unopened package had fallen out of a box of gifts recently received.

I guess that will teach us to leave such unruly children unattended in a public parking lot again. No doubt, despite the tinted windows, more than a few people had to have noticed the shrieks of laughter, screams for help and the general shaking of the van as the boys ducked and dove in wild attempts to avoid being pelted with womens underwear!



Read Lyrics Below:

Restroom Door Said, "Gentlemen", The

(Parody of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)


The restroom door said gentlemen
So I just walked inside
I took two steps and realized
I'd been taken for a ride
I heard high voices turned and found
The place was occupied
By two nuns, three old ladies and a nurse
What could be worse
Than two nuns, three old ladies and a nurse?

The restroom door said gentlemen
It must have been a gag
As soon as I walked in there
I ran into some old hag
She sprayed me with a can of mace
And smacked me with her bag
I could tell this just wouldn't be my day
What can I say?
It just wasn't turning out to be my day

The restroom door said gentlemen
And I would like to find
The crummy little creep who had the nerve
To switch the signs
'Cause I got two black eyes
And one high heel up my behind
Now I can't sit with comfort and joy
Boy oh boy
No I'll never sit with comfort and joy

(Nope - my children are definitely not perfect - just human!)

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Such and appropiate thought for Advent

"Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world."

Mother Theresa

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An A.P.P. HAS BEEN ISSUED...

...For my brain. The last time it had a clear thought - unknown. It is sorely missed so if anyone has seen it - please direct back towards NC where it will put to good use.

In the meantime I will use this opportunity to apologize for the lack of intelligent, amusing or even any posting these days. It is not for lack of material - simply brain cells. Through out the day amusing and sometimes hilarious things happen that would amuse and delight my readers but once I have time to sit down to type them - my mind is blank, much to my dismay.

Perhaps it is the accumulated stress of the past year and especially of the last weeks. In fact most years I am doing much more to celebrate Advent. However, for now I am focusing on being. Simply being. After all, while having activities to help my children focus on the meaning of Advent is a great goal - if it means that I become so frazzled that I am tense, grumpy and irritable what have we gained?

But there lies beyond all of this calm reason the temptation to succumb to guilt. Guilt that the advent candles are not being lit every night, that I do not have little foot prints cut out and waiting to be gummed to a wall or poster so as to show one's path to the manger as children earn them through good deeds. Nor is the empty manger set up with yarn beside it waiting to be lined in the sweet Jesus' bed, again through good deeds done in silence and disguise.

Instead, we are quietly being together as we sort out the violence we experienced on our own front door step. We are praying for our friend who was shot. We are attending Mass as often we can and offering up our Communion for the healing of our friend as he goes through various operations in order to be put whole, as whole as one can be after such an assault. We are praying for his spiritual needs. We are also learning how hard it is to pray for someone who has harmed someone we care for.

So while I struggle with the guilt of not being busy; baking, cleaning or focusing on Advent activities before Christmas I ask for the prayers I need to gain the graces I need so as to be aware of what my children need while they heal. I pray for the graces to be calm when I do not feel calm. I pray to not feel anxious when, in truth, anxiety is surrounding me like a heavy blanket.

So for us right now, for the next weeks, the best thing my family can do to prepare for the rebirth of the baby Jesus on His birthday is to simply love each other and to be kind to each other - in Christ's name.

And in the meantime if anyone does happen to see my brain, while it vacations somewhere else, tell it to come home - I really need it! Read more!

prayer requests

Please pray for our neighbour, a fellow Canadian whose family originates in Egypt. For many reasons I will keep this post simple and brief. Our friend works in the convenience store across from us.

Two days ago he was shot through the front door of the store. Two of our children heard the shooting and several saw the after effects of it. Our friend is now in intensive care and expected to recover.

Please pray for our friend. He has had surgery and needs more. He does not have any family on this continent and we were just able to see him today. We will go back tomorrow.

We will be seeking counseling for the children who saw this, so we would appreciate prayers for them as well. Read more!

The pressure is on...

December second, the first Sunday is Advent is lying in wait for me - just around the corner. And I am determined to be ready for it. Yesterday I slipped out a couple of times and hit a few stores. In one I loaded up with candles for the Advent Wreath along with sewing materials for my advent tablecloths, and in another I stocked up on items to fill my Advent store that will open its doors come this Sunday.

Store, you ask? Advent store? Mum2twelve has finally succumbed to commercialism, you say. Not quite so. Allow me to elaborate before you lose all faith in me.

Long time readers, as well as family friends, may recall that come Thanksgiving we exchange names in preparation for Christmas and Advent. Throughout Advent the children are "secret angels" to the sibling whose name they have pulled from the basket. In addition to offering up prayers and doing little chores for them in secret, like making a bed, they like to earn little treats for them. So my little shop is ready to open, the buyers and future recipients have all seen the various offerings to be found. All that is left to do is for me to add to each item the numbers of points that must be earned in order to "buy" an item for sibling to whom one is the angel to. Extra chores have been written out with their value, in points, added at the bottom of the jobs description.

The angels are keen to begin and I am dreaming of a well cleaned sparkling home as my Advent Cupboard slowly empties.

Come this Sunday, my job is to have the white material for the base tablecloth washed, dried, sewn and ironed. Then I need to hem the purple sheet that will adorn the white cloth as a runner. Then I have some light weight plastic sheeting to use as a protective cover as my little ones are still messy eaters and given my dryer's terminal illness, I dare not count on it for the daily laundering of tablecloths. Later the plan is to replace the rose pink cloth that was lost in a move so that we can announce Gaudette Sunday by adorning the dining room table with a pink runner over the white cloth on the third Sunday of Advent. Sadly the beautiful St Nicolas tablecloth also disappeared in the same move and has yet to be replaced for use on December 6th, Saint Nicolas Day, and ultimately on Christmas day and the rest of the Christmas Season. In the meantime I hope to find some red material to create a a bright and colorful runner for announcing those special feast days.

This idea of announcing the Liturgical changes in the calender with table cloths or runners was shared at a homeschooling meeting I attended ever so many years ago while still living in Canada. We did this for many years until some of the cloths disappeared and this year I was determined to start this beautiful tradition once more. Now all this is left to purchase is some plasticine (modeling clay) to create holders for the candles for the Advent wreath.

I have a full 34 hours within which to wash, dry and sew the base table cloth and prepare the purple one as well. No worries. None at all. Nope - totally calm, got it all under control. I am definitely prepared, the second of December cannot possibly sneak up on me and catch me of guard. Not this year! Read more!

WRITERS BLOCK...

Despite accidentally sending in my letter of application and portfolio from my rather unprofessional mum2twelve email address I received a fairly quick response to my application...

"Hi Christi,

Thank you for applying to our Expert Tea Blogger position.

Due to the response we've received for this position, we are asking each qualified candidate to remit 2 sample articles for the Tea blog. The topics are to be as follows:

· Sample article 1 – the history of tea with a focus on blended tea

· Sample article 2 – health benefits of tea"

And this was concluded with more details as to what they were looking for. So I have begun my research. Do you have any idea of the sheer number of websites dealing with tea, tea pots, tea parties, Victorian tea parties and on and on? At least there will no end of shortage of material, should I bag this job.

Note the line stating qualified candidate. I am hoping this was not just a form letter emailed to all applicants. It would be nice to think I am actually one of the qualified. And I not just a little cowed by this requested assignment, so I again I ask for everyones' prayers... it will be a loooong night.

Thank you to one and all who have been praying for me so far. I have truly felt them. THANK YOU. Read more!

"God does not call us to be successful, but to be faithful."
Mother Theresa

There is a story behind the reason for posting this quote. Tune in later.

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looking for material

Sometimes I have no idea what to write about. I look around and everything seems so mundane.

The leaves are falling.
My double kitchen sink is plugged. No matter what my husband and oldest son do - it refuses to drain like a normal sink.
The children are overtired as their young bodies work with the antibiotics to fight off a possible infection of whooping cough.
My dryer is dying a slow and tortuous death.
My mouse is sticky and driving me mad....

And I look around and can not think of a single thing to write about that I think would be inspiring and/or entertaining. Where are the cute things my little ones do and say all the time? What has happened to my enlightening light bulb moments...

And then it happened.

You will not believe what I did... it was a brainless day. And I did a stupid thing. But it is something that my readers will enjoy a laugh at with me.

As you know from the previous post, I applied to a blogging job that will pay a regular monthly salary for 3 - 5 posts a week about.. tea. (I love TEA but I would have applied even if I didn't!) I forwarded the draft of it to my mum2twelve email address so that I could make sure the links I was using to direct the editor to some of my online publications would work after emailing it.

I reminded myself a few times as I edited and worked on the letter until I was happy with it - that I was now working in my mum2twelve email account. I said to myself;
"Don't forget to email it from the clg......s account, Christi!!"

Mum2twelve just does not sound very professional - you know. And MUM2TWELVE... how could a mother of 12... children... have time to write professionally, eh?

Well - I am sure you know by now what I did...

I worked on it, got others to read it, worked some more, read it one last time, gave a sigh of content and clicked... SEND from mum2twelve..... and watched it whoosh out of sight and then slapped my forehead, before banging it on my desk.

"Dummy! Dummy! Dummy!" I groaned while my children stared at me in confused amazement.

"What's the matter?", one of them ventured to ask me.

"Nothing." I groaned. "Nothing!"

But then I thought... 'Well, nothing is without its silver lining - now I have something not so mundane to write about on my blog!' Read more!

Please pray...

... on occasion I have very, very difficult days - spiritually. I humbly ask for all of your prayers as today is just such one of those days.

Please also keep in prayers an application I will submit today for a writing job that would pay regularly.

Bless you all and thank you for your prayers.

Christi aka mum2twelve Read more!

"It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start."
Mother Theresa
Read more!

Seeking prayers...

...for my oldest baby is so very sick - for a funny description of her misery - click here. Read more!

Did you know...

that "although whooping cough can occur at any age, it's most severe in unimmunized children and in infants under 1 year of age (early immunization can usually prevent this serious disease in babies). But more cases have been reported in teens and adults, because their immunity has faded since their original vaccination. That's why the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently recommended that kids who are 11-18 years old get a booster shot that includes a pertussis vaccine, preferably when they are 11 to 12 years old." (Read the rest of the article HERE.)

Now how would I have become aware of this little known fact, at least little known to ME before this past week??

Last week our oldest daughter Amanda, who lives in Boston, came home for a four day visit. Despite a rather severe cold, she prepared all of Thanksgiving dinner which I was too sick to enjoy as much as usual, but was very happy for regardless. The rest of the family tucked in and enjoyed every morsel. I enjoyed several turkey sandwiches the following two days as Amanda had thoughtfully bought and cooked TWO turkeys to ensure left overs for us to enjoy, even after she had gone. I also ate most of the left over Apple Crisp my second oldest daughter, Jennifer had contributed to the dinner.

Dinner over, followed by two hours of washing dishes on Sunday and it was almost time for Amanda to depart for the airport. Sadly, we all grouped around and hugged her and I said a prayer of protection for her flights back to Boston. To keep tears away from little ones - I kept reminding them that Amanda would be back in just a few weeks for Christmas.

But I digress. My apologies.

A few days later Amanda called to tell us the results of her Doctor's visit for what we all assumed was a bad cold complicated with a sinus infection. Our daughter has somehow picked up WHOOPING COUGH also known as Pertussis.

So eleven z-packs later and waiting to see who needs boosters; I am calmly handing out pills to those eleven and older and dosing the younger ones with yummy sticky syrup that they all hate.

For those of you who may not have known that this greatly needed vaccination is possibly wearing out as the clock ticks away the minutes and years in your adolescent's life - now you know. So call your child's doctor today and see if your adolescents need a booster. I believe we will be needing about four of these boosters, unless Elsa missed hers. In which case we will be getting five. But with one child with severe asthma and another with a heart condition - I am very grateful for the antibiotics, the vaccinations and the co-operation of all of the medical offices that were involved in treating our family. They made what could have been a very complicated situation go very smoothly. Read more!

clean hands, clean hearts

As we drove to Thanksgiving Mass yesterday, I was informed that someone had failed inspection and had dirty nails. Jonathan and I switched places and I inspected the culprit's nails. Two year old Elsa's nails were indeed very dirty! I quickly cleaned them, and as I worked on them, she and I chatted about the importance of being clean, especially in God's house. 'We want when Jesus smiles down on us from His little house behind the Alter - we want all of us to be clean for him," I told her. She nodded soberly with her quick short nods as only she can do.

I suddenly realized that a great teaching moment had been awakened for me to share with five year old Emma who was sitting behind Elsa, in her car seat.

"Emma?" I said as I turned around to look at her. "Let me see your nails please." She quickly showed me her clean little hands and smiled when I pronounced them clean. Very clean!!

"Now, how about your heart?" I asked. "Is your heart clean?"

She thought quietly for a second, her right hand resting just about where her heart should be.

The slowly she nodded. "Yes Mummy, my heart is clean. I hasn't eaten anything since supper last night. Just a little drink of water at bedtime. " Read more!

The answers... finally!

But what I really don't understand is how parents manage all those kids!

Well, I can not speak for all parents but I can say that in our home we use a combination of means to keep order. I have a huge schedule that is about 4 feet wide and three feet long. Across the top are the days of the week and down the side are the chores and under each day of the week is the name of the person who is responsible for that job. Some parents prefer to just ask whomever is around to do the job that is needed but I found that when I did it like that, that I often ended up asking the same kids over and over. It seemed as if a few of my children were born with extra sensitive antennae that allowed them to figure out when I was about to look for someone to was dishes, change the garbage or a diaper, and they would simply vanish.

So I came up with a schedule that offers variety, but is rarely changed. As children get older and can handle more chores, than I take the time to update the chart but as it is a very large chart - it is not a chore I am eager to tackle. (Even mums can be lazy too!)

I also have competitions that allow kids to earn movie nights by winning chore races. If you earn a movie night – you get to select the movie we watch as well as what treats we have. We also can earn points with clean rooms that allow us to have a special treat on Friday nights.

As we are coming up to Advent, many of the children are doing extra chores to earn extra points so that they can buy treats from my treat box with their points to give to the sibling that they are the secret angel to.

Every Thanksgiving we draw names from a bag or basket and we keep drawing until everyone has pulled a name that is not theirs out of the basket. So if the oldest daughter, Amanda, pulls the baby’s name, Elsa, from the basket she is then the secret angel to that child and will leave little treats and gifts though out the weeks of Advent for Elsa to find – usually on Elsa’s pillow. She also prays for that child and does acts of charity for her. For example a secret angel might slip into their person’s room and make their bed in secret.

Then for Christmas, Amanda will buy a gift only for Elsa and Elsa will give a gift to the person she is secret angel to. (As she is the baby, I will do this for her.)

But even with all of these schemes to keep order in our home, we still experience chaos on a fairly regular basis. Have any of you watched the Home Alone movies? Well, the general bedlam that you see as the two families rush out the door to leave for the airport is the typical morning scene at our home as we zero into the last minutes before take off time in our 15 passenger van for daily 7 am Mass. We try to go to daily Mass as it really helps to have these additional graces but, to be honest, we do not always make it every day of the week

I wonder what the house sounds like, because in mine it’s not the quietest.

Some families on TV don’t fight and that is so weird to me because my families always fight, I sometimes wish that my house could be very quiet.

When we first moved to this house – I thought I would lose my mind. I even considered looking for a different house because this house has plaster walls that echo and echo and echo and echo…. But we adjusted to it.

Something that I do from time to time is enforce a quiet time, especially when the baby is napping. At that time each child is asked to take a book to their room and read or look at the pictures if they are not reading yet. Other times we put a movie on and sit quietly together to watch it and the baby will nurse and eventually fall asleep in my arms. It is very peaceful when we do this and we all enjoy it.

But typically there is always a back ground hum going on. Someone will be practicing on the piano, someone else will be listening (at the same time) to their favourite artist on Rhapsody while another person is playing a computer game what is bleeping and dinging. Occasionally a little one’s voice rises in an argument with another sibling over all of this music. Sometimes I put headphones on and listen to a radio program while I work at the computer so that I can concentrate. And sometimes it is very, very quiet. And that usually means trouble is brewing somewhere. (And yes I agree, families that don’t fight, argue or have disagreements on TV are not normal! Learning how to settle differences of opinion is an important skill to learn in life.)

What kind of job does your husband have to support 12 kids? I think that the amount of grace God has given your family is amazing.

My husband used to work for a very large telecommunications company, NORTEL. Then the high tech bubble collapsed and many people were laid off. My husband was one of the last to be laid off from his company so by then – there were no jobs left in his area of expertise. So he took a hobby of his and turned it into a business. We lost our home and our van and we have had to build our life completely back up from scratch. We are still struggling. We only have eight children still at home but it is still a lot of people to support. Our oldest sons have made a lot of sacrifice to help the family. Our son who is 20 has stayed home and not pursued further education so as to help his father with the business. Recently we learned that he has a serious heart condition which was very hard for him as his dream was to eventually join the army. Now he might not be ever able to do this. Still, he works hard to help us and is trying to discern what is God’s will in his life. Hopefully he will completely recover from this heart condition. Our oldest son has taken two semesters off from his University studies to help with the business and is hoping to be able to continue to help us with the bills next semester with a part time job while he finishes his last semester at college. Our oldest girls have helped whenever they can in little ways and they have certainly prayed a lot for us.

The past six years of our life has been a very long test of faith and we have been blessed with the opportunity to actually see ourselves grow in faith. It has not been easy and sometimes we have felt that our faith has failed us greatly - only to be given the graces we needed to get up, dust ourselves off and start yet again. And each time it has been just a little bit easier. What has kept us going is that we have tried to remember that God never gives us more than we can handle. And sometimes – it is ok to get angry with God and demand more graces. Just two weeks ago – I cried out to God that He must absolutely give me more graces if He wanted me to carry this cross any further because I was falling! Never be afraid to call on God for help, never be afraid to tell Him “I can’t do it, YOU must carry me now!” I have had to do this a lot the past six years and I have realized that I will have to keep doing this the rest of my life. I simply can not do this alone – Jesus and Mary are my partners. Mary prays for me and Jesus gives me the graces through her prayers.

Is it a hassle to have that many kids??? But I bet it’s a blessing to have so many kids.

Is this many kids a hassle? Not really, but making 30 or more sandwiches can be a hassle. Keeping track of the number of socks we need – can be a hassle. Trying not to lose any of them (the children, not the socks) at the zoo – can be a hassle. Settling the numerous arguments can be a really big hassle. But every single hassle is more than worth it for we are paid over and over in love and blessings. I am almost 46 but I feel as though I am still in my late twenties or early thirties. I am so very, very blessed. There is always someone nearby me to hug and kiss or to hug and kiss me, or to remind me in no small way of God’s love for me.

Now if I was this mom I would really want a couple of priests and nuns out of such a big family.

We are praying that we have a few vocations out of our family. My husband and I think it would be very strange if we did not. Besides if ALL of them got married and even only had four children each, we would have 48 grandchildren, and if the average number was 5 than we would have 60 grandchildren - and I am not sure I could remember that many names. Whatever happens, I think I will be needing a very large calendar to be able to record all of the special dates and occasions that we will be able to look forward to as grand parents, and hopefully also as the parents of some members of the religious.

I sometimes feel like my moms only paying attention to my sisters or my brothers. With your family that would be super hard.

I think that this is super hard, even when you only have four children as each child is an individual and brings his and her own needs to the family. These can greatly vary. When we still only had four children our youngest had serious food allergies that were affecting his behavior that required us to focus a lot on him. Sometimes the other children felt very jealous and did not understand why the family rules did not always apply to him. As adults now, they understand but then – it was very difficult. It was also very difficult for us.

Still we made an effort to compensate and have from time to time, we have made the effort to take one child at a time out once a week, so that each child had an opportunity to spend time alone with one of their parents. We have not done this as much lately, because with the family business there has often been the occasion to take children, in small numbers, on business trips. Sometimes they have even been able to go alone with their father on long trips or short day trips. We are continuously adapting and changing how we do things based on where and what we perceive the greatest needs to be. Again – this is where our need for God’s graces comes in. We are able to gain the graces we need through attending Mass, receiving Holy Communion and also through Confession. We try to take advantage of these sacraments as much as possible.

But in addition to this, we have also told the children that it is important to tell us when they are feeling alone and ignored. We have told them – “We are only human and sometimes we are not aware of what you are feeling so please, please tell us when you feel you need sometime alone with us.” This has helped because sometimes a child has done this and occasionally – it has been an adult child who has come and said – “I need to talk, there is something wrong between us and I want to fix it.”

I don’t know if they would have been able to do that if we had not made them, when they were children, partly responsible for the relationship between them and ourselves.

I think I have covered all of the questions that came up in the comments. And I want to thank you all again for the wonderful comments you shared about your thoughts about my article on family life and discerning family size.

I hope and pray that all of you have a peaceful Advent season and a wonderful Christmas.

God Bless

mum2twelve aka Christi

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Share and Share alike...

We all like to teach our children to share and typically when they are not willing to share we are not very happy with them. On occasion though, their devious means of getting out of sharing something is so funny that we can not help but laugh.

Jonathan (22) seeing an opportunity to teach a sharing moment with 2 year old Elsa asked her for a taste of her "bug juice' that she has been proudly announcing to one and all as her spider juice!

Elsa, normally willing to share was not so inclined to do so that night. Perhaps she was still offended by the fact that so many others had legitimately not been willing to share drinks with her earlier this week as several of them had active cold sores. She clung to her little bottle of blue juice protectively and shyly said no to his repeated requests.

Suddenly her face brightened as we all insisted that she share just a little taste with her big brother. Boldly she pronounced:

"No, I can't share wit you. I has a cold sore!!" and she slapped her hand over one side of her mouth and with the other she clasped her little bottle close to her chest and beat a hasty retreat out of the dining room.

Happily she later decided to share her bug juice with her oldest brother who bravely strove to hide his shudder of distaste for the sickly sweet blue juice. There is no end of sacrifice these siblings are willing to make for each other! Read more!