The comic Strip...

By Anna
(BTW - if you click on the pciture - it will open into a full page - making it easier to appreciate the details, as well as to read.)

Tomorrow we hope to have a list and details for activities we have used in the past to celebrate advent. Still no wreath and I now have less than a week to go. But I have my candles! (Smug grin accompanies this statement to offset my distress over the missing wreath!) Read more!

Christmas music is wafting through the house...

...and it was only 7 am - November 16th! How could that be? I heard children crooning away with the von Trapp grandchildren as they sang; Please Don't Send Me Fruitcake.

I was hidden in my bedroom sipping a tea, trying to prepare myself for a day that was already 2 hours old thanks to a little muffin who is developing the very bad habit of awaking at five am, when I heard these joyful notes slip through the cracks of my bedroom door. Gabriela knocked on the door and came in with an armful of baby who needed a change and explained to me that Bethany, 7, had pinned up a "sign up' sheet for the family Christmas play and in trying to create the right atmosphere to encourage her siblings to sign up and attend the first meeting for it this afternoon she was playing Gabriela's Rhapsody's play list.

This was a "kodak" moment that is the perfect answer to the eternal question I am frequently asked:

"But if you teach your children at home - how do they get any socialization?" Read more!

Guess How Much I love You?

Apparently someone has recently read our copy of How Much Do I Love You? to Emma as a conversation I over heard recently, revealed to me.

Emma calling coyly from another room: Meekell?

Miguel (18): Yes?

Emma: I wuv you all over the place!

Miguel: I love you all over the place too! (Smiles at me and then goes back to his computer.)

Emma: Meekell?

Miguel: Yes? (grinning)

Emma: I wuv you ALL over the place!

Miguel: I love you too! (Still staring at the computer...)

Emma: Meekell?

Miguel: Yes? (patiently...)

Emma: I wuv you ALL OVER the place!

Miguel: I love YOU all over the place (continues typing while smiling to himself)

Emma in a teasing tone: Meekell?

Miguel: Yes? (still patiently and well knowing the answer by now)

Emma: I WUV you ALL over the place!

Miguel: I love you too. (Grins at me again and I grin back. )

Emma: Meekell?

Miguel: Yes?

This went on way beyond what I would have had patience for. It was very endearing to see my 18 yr old patiently answer his 3 year old sister over and over until she finally lost interest in her new game. This is just one of the many pleasures one gets to enjoy in a large family. Read more!

The answer...

It was Saturday morning and I had my wicker basket hugged to my hip and the baby balanced on the other side. I glanced at Emma’s clothes as I carefully searched for the next step down, and noticed a wrinkled pink pull up peeking out between some jammies and a dress. While it still had it's flowers it was obviously slept in. ‘Humph’, I thought to myself. ‘Someone is not being careful when they help Emma change in the morning. I’ll have to ask the girls to pay more attention.’

I finally felt the floor solid under my feet, and passed Elsa to someone else, made my way to the laundry closet and dropped my wicker basket in front of the washer. I opened the dryer to remove Nathaniel’s clothes that I had put to dry the night before. I groaned when I saw they were still completely wet. Darn, I was sure I had turned them on. My memory has not been functioning so well for a while, but really?! Then I remembered I had purposely not turned it on because Nathaniel had been enjoying ‘helping’ me wash his clothes so much that I had decided to let him turn the dryer on. Obviously someone, or something, had come between me, Nathaniel and our date with the dryer.

Grumbling, I turned it on, and then gasped when I saw that the washer was full of towels, washed but clearly…. Not…. Dry…. I slapped them into Nathaniel’s basket and dragged them to the porch where Jenny’s makeshift clothes line still hung across the front of it. I flopped bath towels over the railings and pulled my sunglasses down so I could see to hang kitchen towels from the loose string that was flickering in the breeze. Harlie purred and rubbed her nose in my side as she basked in the sun under my dangling dish towels. I gave her dirty look to warn her off the bath towels now decorating the porch sides, and slipped back into the house. It was only 8’ish – I might get Emma’s laundry done yet before noon, if I managed not to get sidetracked too much. Hurriedly I dumped the full basket into the washer and pumped an oz of detergent into it, slammed the lid shut and moved onto the next chore.

Somewhere around two I remembered Emma’s clothes and headed back to the house from the packing shed where I had been organizing packing materials for the coming week. I opened the washer, reached in and grabbed…. that pink pull up I had seen earlier. I gave a yelp, and then laughed. Anna and Gabriela, curious as to what was so funny came over to look and had to laugh too at the pull up that now weighed at least a lb if not two and was about 4 – 5 inches thick with rinse water.
“Thank Heavens it didn’t burst.”, I exclaimed.
You see this is not the first time I have recycled a pull up, or a diaper for the matter, and I well know the mess it can make. But it had been a few years since the last time so I was quite amazed at the amount of water they can now hold. We threw it out, and I proceeded to pull the clothes out and toss them into the waiting dryer. Suddenly I gave another shriek. Darned if there hadn’t been TWO pull ups in that load and this one, while holding as much water as the first, had leaked some of its gel. The side of the washer looked as though it were slathered with a vanilla slushy! YUCK!

Moral of this story…. Umm – don’t recycle pull ups in the washer? Read more!

Can you guess what mum2twelve did?

Read more!

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

"We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us."
St Theresa of Avila

Readings for the day:Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20 30-31
Psalms 128:1-2. 3, 4-5
1Thessalonians 5:1-6
Mathew 25:14-30

Saint of the Day: St Francis Xavier Cabrini

(Image of Jesus with child found at www.hopecommunitybible.com/gospel_in_pictures.htm)
Read more!

Advent...

1. The coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important: the advent of the computer.
2. Advent
   1. The liturgical period preceding Christmas, beginning in Western churches on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and in Eastern churches in mid-November, and observed by many Christians as a season of prayer, fasting, and penitence.

Within the Catholic faith the season of Advent is second only to Lent and Holy Week. Every year since our fifth child joined our family, I have learned a little more about this beautiful tradition of my faith. As I have grown in understanding, I have learned that Tradition is considered by Catholics to be one of the means through which God reveals Himself to us. The other two are scripture and the Magisterium (the teaching authority of the church).

In the case of Tradition we are not just referring to the passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation as we find within a family, but we are also referring to the liturgy of the Church (as in it's Mass), and the sacraments.

In addition to this more formal meaning of Tradition, Catholics have a beautiful culture that encompasses many traditions as in the more commonly understood meaning of this word. One of them is the Advent wreath, which I had promised to explain so many weeks ago!

The Advent wreath is an ancient Germanic idea we have adopted. The wreath of evergreen boughs offers us many symbols for this time of spiritual preparation we are participating in. The evergreens symbolize God's everlastingness, and the colour green reminds us of the new life brought to us through the birth of Christ. As a circle, the wreath emphasizes for us God's eternity and mercy.

To this we add four candles to the body of the wreath (although some will place their candles separate from the wreath simply from personal taste.) Three candles are purple which is the liturgical colour of Advent and represents our feelings of penance and sorrow, as well as our longing for the birth of Christ. One of the four candles is pink or rose and is lit on the third Sunday of Advent - Gaudette Sunday. This is the Sunday of joy when our excitement at the nearing birth of Christ overflows and overtakes the silent penitential preparation of our hearts for the coming of our Saviour. Finally there is a fifth candle that is lit Christmas Morning (or in some families on Christmas Eve following the Midnight Mass). At that time the four original candles are replaced by white candles, and the wreath continues in use as a Christmas season decoration.

During the 4 to 5 weeks of Advent one candle is lit each Sunday, again nicely representing how the light of God grows each week as we come closer and closer to the birth of Christ. In the beginning of Advent we are four weeks or more till Christmas. The single lit candle, with its weak flame, seems rather lonely much as the faithful Jewish population was while they waited in the (spiritual) darkness for the coming of their Saviour.

By the time the fourth is lit - there is much light. Enough that if you choose to, you can read your evening prayers by it. Again, an apt reminder of how much closer we are to the coming of Christ.

There are many prayers available, as well as activities that families can incorporate into their own traditions to do each night or perhaps only on each Sunday as fits their schedule. Over the next few weeks I will be adding prayers, activities and celebrations that we do as a family, as well as some new ones we will be trying this year. Each year we attempt to try something new- sometimes discovering one to add to our traditions. My goal is to share these early enough so that anyone who might wish to try them with their family will have time to get any needed items for the activity.

We are now only 16 days left until the first Sunday in Advent. I have my candles, but not my wreath yet! Once it is ready - I will share a picture of it with you.

Many Blessings
mum2twelve

Read more!

Only...

...two more Sundays until the First Sunday in Advent. Do you have your candles yet? I had a request for an explanation of Advent and I promised an answer... and I will share about this wonderful tradition of the Catholic Church this Friday! My apologies for the delay!

Blessings
mum2twelve, aka Christi to her friends, madre to her two oldest sons. Read more!

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.

Read more!

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.

Read more!

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!

Read more!

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..

Read more!

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!