Sunday, February 26, 2006
Trying to lose weight???
... and not having much success? Well, Your Pastoral Coach has discovered that new research has identified that perhaps we have been using our scales erroneously. Look below for a visual description of the proper way to measure weight.
Read more!
Saturday, February 25, 2006
8th Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Porphyry
Hosea 2:15-17, 21-22, Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13,
2Cointhians 3:1-6, Mark 2:18-22
"Prayer is a cry of gratitude and love, in the midst of trial as well as in joy."
St Therese of Lisieux
(photo credit J. Noah age 10, Feb 2006)
Read more!
The results are in....
Favourite Prayers
The Rosary came in first at 35 %,
The Chaplet came in at a close second at 29%.
Can't decide and Other tied at 14% each.
The Litanies came in as Follows:
Litanies to Jesus 5%
Litanies to Mary 3%
Litanies to Joesph 2%
We had a lot of fun watching the votes come in. We have new one for this week. Again - it is just to the right of the posts. I am trying to figure out how to change the ability to vote more than once so that families who would like to have more than one member have a turn to vote, can do so in one sitting. Although the poll will be there all week so at least 7 members can vote, and if you have more than one computer... you can vote even more than that so maybe I don't need to change this setting. Hmmm - perhaps the subject for another poll? Remember - if you have any suggestions you would like to see a poll on email me at; mum2twelve@yahoo.com
On another note, I have received FOUR sales in my little shop. Needless to say - we are just tickled and want to thank you all for your support, whether through purchases or prayers!
This shop will continue to grow and we are so excited about some of the ideas that we have to add to our little online shop. So check back often as these changes will be soon and often!
Thanks for voting and for making it such a fun week for us! Now I am off for one of those muffins I was wearing earlier this morning with a fresh cup of coffee. Read more!
The Rosary came in first at 35 %,
The Chaplet came in at a close second at 29%.
Can't decide and Other tied at 14% each.
The Litanies came in as Follows:
Litanies to Jesus 5%
Litanies to Mary 3%
Litanies to Joesph 2%
We had a lot of fun watching the votes come in. We have new one for this week. Again - it is just to the right of the posts. I am trying to figure out how to change the ability to vote more than once so that families who would like to have more than one member have a turn to vote, can do so in one sitting. Although the poll will be there all week so at least 7 members can vote, and if you have more than one computer... you can vote even more than that so maybe I don't need to change this setting. Hmmm - perhaps the subject for another poll? Remember - if you have any suggestions you would like to see a poll on email me at; mum2twelve@yahoo.com
On another note, I have received FOUR sales in my little shop. Needless to say - we are just tickled and want to thank you all for your support, whether through purchases or prayers!
This shop will continue to grow and we are so excited about some of the ideas that we have to add to our little online shop. So check back often as these changes will be soon and often!
Thanks for voting and for making it such a fun week for us! Now I am off for one of those muffins I was wearing earlier this morning with a fresh cup of coffee. Read more!
Cooking Tip for the Day
When you decide to drop muffin tin full of pumpkin muffin batter, so as to better distribute the batter, close eyes so as to be able to wipe the batter off your eyelids... instead of your contact lenses.
Read more!
Thursday, February 23, 2006
A Blogger Moment...
Five yr old Tanny Paul: "Teddy! You will HAVE TO lissen to me when I ham older dan you!!"
Nine yr old Teddy, with a HUGE grin: "Sure Tanny. I PROMISE when you are older than me, I will ALWAYS listen to you!" Read more!
Nine yr old Teddy, with a HUGE grin: "Sure Tanny. I PROMISE when you are older than me, I will ALWAYS listen to you!" Read more!
Mr. James Fuzz Patrick
Mr James Futz Patrick, Amanda's purebreed Ragdoll, recently had a complete nervous breakdown. In the past six months we have lost two cats from his little harem and as top cat, this apparently had un-nerved him in a big way. On the day he just fell apart. He was wandering about the house hissing, and if someone passed him by - he swiped at them - claws out. Miguel gingerly picked him up, prepared to deposit him in an area where the rest of us would be safe from his razor sharp claws and mal humour. At that point James began to hiss and spit and he doubled in size as his fur fluffed out at all angles. Miguel held him at arms length as he carried the ball of spiting rage through the living room. His hisses drew my attention away from my computer.
"What on earth is wrong with Jamie?" I asked
"Nothing that I can think of." Miguel replied, as he closed the garage door where he had deposited James for a time out. then he added.
"Well - I did tell him he looked a mess with his fur so wet from cleaning himself continuously. Do you think he understood me?"
"Well, not what you said but maybe your tone." I answered.
"I guess I was kind of laughing at him and that's when he started acting so strange." Miguel said.
After a few minutes of time to think better of his temper tantrum, we opened the garage door and in slinked Jamie. He quietly returned to the kitchen and climbed up on a chair, with his back to us and stared out the window. His whickers drooped and his tail hung low.
I have a soft spot for James, possibly because he is my first baby's cat. I felt bad for him as obviously he was very much out of sorts. Cappie, the first of the two cats to die had been one of his special friends. I crouched down beside him and softly asked. "What is wrong, Jamie?"
I leaned my forehead towards him and we touched heads. He leaned into my forehead as I whispered to him.
"You are a special boy - such a handsome cat." We sat there quietly for a few minutes and then I left him. He was much clamer, but obviously still quite depressed. Over the next few months he continued to clean himself in a frenzied, maniac manner. He started showing bald spots and his tail, once a beautiful plumb, was now just a limp duster. The final straw for me was when he chewed himself to the point of bleeding.
As Noah recently said, "I don't think I can handle losing one more animal, all in a period of less than 200 days!
I didn't think that any of us could handle losing another animal, but especially not our Jamie who adds so much comedy to our life. For instance, in the days when Caila was younger and often in trouble, we did not need to say much to discipline her. We just needed to speak her name in a sharp tone of voice, and in James would come at a tear. No matter where he was... he appeared at the meer sound of possible trouble with Caila. Up on his back legs he would rise and box that poor dogs ears. Never mind she was a strapping 70 lbs and he was only about 18. Size, I guess, is in the eyes of the beholder.
I sat there, staring at my bedraggled, scratching, licking, crazy cat and wondered what to do. All research pointed to a neurotic condition and I could just see my husband's face if I came back from the vet's with a prescription for Prozac, esp. when we are on such a tight budget.
Suddenly I remembered some drops I had for my Sam. (another special case) Rescue Remedy, I think they are called. Nature's alternative to Prozac. I called Miguel and we pinned James down.
Well - after few days of feline prozac, he is pretty much back to his good natured and comical old self. See what you think.... Read more!
"What on earth is wrong with Jamie?" I asked
"Nothing that I can think of." Miguel replied, as he closed the garage door where he had deposited James for a time out. then he added.
"Well - I did tell him he looked a mess with his fur so wet from cleaning himself continuously. Do you think he understood me?"
"Well, not what you said but maybe your tone." I answered.
"I guess I was kind of laughing at him and that's when he started acting so strange." Miguel said.
After a few minutes of time to think better of his temper tantrum, we opened the garage door and in slinked Jamie. He quietly returned to the kitchen and climbed up on a chair, with his back to us and stared out the window. His whickers drooped and his tail hung low.
I have a soft spot for James, possibly because he is my first baby's cat. I felt bad for him as obviously he was very much out of sorts. Cappie, the first of the two cats to die had been one of his special friends. I crouched down beside him and softly asked. "What is wrong, Jamie?"
I leaned my forehead towards him and we touched heads. He leaned into my forehead as I whispered to him.
"You are a special boy - such a handsome cat." We sat there quietly for a few minutes and then I left him. He was much clamer, but obviously still quite depressed. Over the next few months he continued to clean himself in a frenzied, maniac manner. He started showing bald spots and his tail, once a beautiful plumb, was now just a limp duster. The final straw for me was when he chewed himself to the point of bleeding.
As Noah recently said, "I don't think I can handle losing one more animal, all in a period of less than 200 days!
I didn't think that any of us could handle losing another animal, but especially not our Jamie who adds so much comedy to our life. For instance, in the days when Caila was younger and often in trouble, we did not need to say much to discipline her. We just needed to speak her name in a sharp tone of voice, and in James would come at a tear. No matter where he was... he appeared at the meer sound of possible trouble with Caila. Up on his back legs he would rise and box that poor dogs ears. Never mind she was a strapping 70 lbs and he was only about 18. Size, I guess, is in the eyes of the beholder.
I sat there, staring at my bedraggled, scratching, licking, crazy cat and wondered what to do. All research pointed to a neurotic condition and I could just see my husband's face if I came back from the vet's with a prescription for Prozac, esp. when we are on such a tight budget.
Suddenly I remembered some drops I had for my Sam. (another special case) Rescue Remedy, I think they are called. Nature's alternative to Prozac. I called Miguel and we pinned James down.
Well - after few days of feline prozac, he is pretty much back to his good natured and comical old self. See what you think.... Read more!
"Certified" email?
What is that all about? Well, AOL and Yahoo are apparently considering charging customers who email their clients a .0025 charge to "certify" an email and guarantee it's delivery. So to put that in perspective it means that someone like Sister Patricia would have to pay AOL and Yahoo to guarantee the delivery of her Peace Card/Joy Notes.
We would have the beginnings of legitimate JUNK MAIL being delivered to our inboxes. So what if we do not have an AOL or Yahoo account? If this proved financially successful - you can bet your bottom dollar that the other providers would follow suit. How long before legitimate group lists like Sister's get lost in the millions of spam email that would suddenly become legitimate through such a tiny fee. (But still a fee that would prohibit organizations like Sister's Joy Notes from being able to afford to mail their mail!)
Such a low fee would be nothing to large corporations looking to sell us something. Look the junk mail that has been inundating the mailboxes at the end of our driveways!
To read more about what this is all about click here!
Read and pray and take action if you feel lead to. I have already sent emails to Time Warner and Yahoo offices and will try to also email my State Legislators and Senators. If I had more time I would provide links. Perhaps later this evening I will have time to do that.
Thank you Michaela for bringing this to my attention!
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Supreme Court to Consider Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Click here for the Fox News report on this from yesterday.
We must pray, pray, pray for a good outcome of this! In our family today we will pray not only in words but through actions by offering up our day's work to the Lord. During the Rosary I will remind my younger ones how today they can also assist in this manner - by trying to remember not to lose their temper when a little one knocks over the tower of blocks they just built or when someone else refuses to give up their seat for them at the school table "cause they were here first". At snack time today, some of us can have one cookie instead of two. (This is will probably be more difficult for ME than them!) These little sacrifices are so powerful in assisting our prayers!
There is a link to the Priests for Life Novena to end abortion on the right side of my blog. Maybe today would be a good day to join in with the novena and add this prayer to your daily ones, if you haven't already. Even though I have had the link on my own blog, I have been neglecting to add this prayer to our daily ones. We will start today.
Prayer to End Abortion
Read more!
We must pray, pray, pray for a good outcome of this! In our family today we will pray not only in words but through actions by offering up our day's work to the Lord. During the Rosary I will remind my younger ones how today they can also assist in this manner - by trying to remember not to lose their temper when a little one knocks over the tower of blocks they just built or when someone else refuses to give up their seat for them at the school table "cause they were here first". At snack time today, some of us can have one cookie instead of two. (This is will probably be more difficult for ME than them!) These little sacrifices are so powerful in assisting our prayers!
There is a link to the Priests for Life Novena to end abortion on the right side of my blog. Maybe today would be a good day to join in with the novena and add this prayer to your daily ones, if you haven't already. Even though I have had the link on my own blog, I have been neglecting to add this prayer to our daily ones. We will start today.
Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,
And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.
I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion,
Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death
by the Resurrection of Your Son.
I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.
Today I commit myself
Never to be silent,
Never to be passive,
Never to be forgetful of the unborn.
I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement,
And never to stop defending life
Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,
And our nation once again becomes
A nation with liberty and justice
Not just for some, but for all,
Through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Seeking...
...a home for one cute and loveable 8 - 9 month old pup!
If you recall, this summer we had a gentleman show up with two pups on our doorstep and offered us the bargain of the century:
Foolishly I agreed and, at first, things were going very well. We had them vaccinated, I started their training and, in fact, the vet’s office was very impressed with their obedience. Then I got sick. Very sick this summer, and was almost blind for two weeks from an eye infection that was followed by a very severe sinus infection. All training came to halt. By the time I was well enough to pick it up again - they were wildly out of control and walking the kids. Or maybe I could even say, taking the kids for a run as opposed to being walked by the kids.
Still, we struggled along, precariously balancing chores, school work and the business with the dogs getting the short end of the stick. Finally, last night we held a family counsel and a vote was taken. (Much like in the original Cheaper by the Dozen, only Hugo was sitting behind a laptop, instead of a small desk.) The end result is that Zack will be put up for adoption as he is the most hyper and difficult to control in the house. He is a good dog and well deserving of a good home. But with time so tight and spare minutes rare in deed, what time we do have for training must be spent with the dog that is most responsive and easiest to train. That would be Ares and Finnegan - also still very much a puppy.
We also need scary looking dogs given the neighbourhood we live in, and Ares fills that description very well. Zack and Finnegan don’t. So when the pluses and minuses were added up, Zack just was not in the lead. It is a hard decision to make – but it is the best for all concerned because if we were to keep all three – no one is going to get trained and life will just get more and more difficult as these pups continue into adulthood, wild and out of control.
So I would like to ask you all to pray for us as we advertise for a new home for Zack. Also, if anyone is close enough to North Carolina to consider adopting Zack themselves or if you know someone who might like a happy, bouncy, cute dog who knows how to SIT on command and WAIT when you open his kennel door and is learning to WAIT so the person on the other end of his leash can enter the door of the house first, please send them to mum2twelve@yahoo.com and we can chat!
Read more!The Joys of Having a Big Brother
Last week Miguel was getting ready to slip over to the gas station and pick up a snack for himself. Emma noticed the movement and eager not to miss a chance to visit Amit, the stations owner she dashed over dragging a sweater behind her.
“Peeease – can I tum Guel? Peeeease?”
Miguel looked at me.
“Okay,” I said, “But NO candy. Absolutely not one piece. Understand Emma?”
A little crest fallen, she nodded and Miguel flashed me a quick grin. “NOT one, Miguel!”, I admonished. He too nodded.
The door closed and there was short respite of arguing and haggling between Emma and Nathaniel and I kept working on the laptop. All too soon the door opened and Emma pranced in brandishing a bottle of juice and a little bag of chips.
The joys of having a big brother!
Read more!Monday, February 20, 2006
Introducing my little shop front.
Well, after some struggle I have created a small storefront that is hosted by Cafepress. If you glance below the mini poll at the left, you will see the link to my store front. In it are mugs, a variety of clothing ranging in size from enfant to adult and from t-shirts to sweat shirts as well as some note cards, post cards, and a calendar. I believe the quality of the clothing is very nice as they are using the Hanes brand. As time goes by I will be adding more products as I become more proficent at adding cartoons created by Anna, photographs by the children and other pieces of art work by the children. We are trying to keep the images we use to decorate the merchandise pro life and pro family oriented. I need to take care when adding the images to product choices that they come out clear on these items as I would hate to have anyone dissapointed by something looking blurry or not perfectly clear.
If this storefront goes well, I will go ahead and upgrade it for a small fee of 4 -5 dollars a month, which will allow me to offer a greater selection. Right now I have to opt for one picture per item instead of being able to allow customers to choose from a variety of pictures on the t-shirt of their choice. At this time, my store front is completly free and unless I see that is somewhat successful, I do not feel I can afford to do more than just invest my time into the store.
Now - how does Cafepress make money if I am allowed to have this store front for free? Well - the prices you see listed are not total profit for me as cafepress is providing the merchandise while I provide the images to be displayed on the items for sale. For instance, the postcards have a base price of about 6 dollars. I am allowed to raise the price and the difference is my profit. There are 8 postcards in a set so I have the price at about 8.99 I am trying to keep my prices in line with what it would cost one to purchase a similar item in your local store. My profit line varies from a dollar to 10 dollars. On average most items will net me 2 - 4 dollars profit. So I would need several sales to make even 100 dollars.
While that does not seem like a lot of money, if people share my store front with friends and family members, I could actually start to make a little money from this. I prefer this to adding pay pal button for donations as I do not feel that I can justify that. Some bloggers truly can justify doing this as they are actually earning a living writing. While this is my goal, I am not there yet, so I do not feel that I can justify asking you to support my writing on my blog at this time. Even though my time is very tight, I am not having to make the choice between writing an article I will get paid for VS writing on my blog. Instead I have to choose, will I get up early and try to post before the business/school day starts or will I steal a little time from the business to write.
I love writing, and my children are also quite talented in various ways, as you have seen hints of on my blog. I see this storefront as an opportunity to use their talents to earn some family income. Ideally - we would love to be able to get away from the current business we are in, which we were forced into by my husband being laid off. The current business is lucrative but the hours extremely demanding and the physical demands on all of us immense. It makes being a normal family very difficult as it requires so much of every ones time that even just accomplishing the daily chores of every day life is almost impossible. I have all day been meaning to put on a load of laundry, so far the basket has made it to the top of the stairs...
So - if you would like in someway support mum2twelve's blog and her endeavors to become a paid writer or you would just like to have some comfy apparel that sports a great cartoon depicting what life in a large family it like, or a mug with a prolife message, take a look at my shop, buy something you like and SPREAD THE WORD!
Blessings to you all!
Christi aka mum2twelve Read more!
Liberated...
Yesterday after receiving Communion, I quietly made my way to my pew with an eye on the back of Nathaniel to make sure he did not shoot out of the church and into the hall. Happily he sat down in the right pew and I joined him there. We both knelt to say our prayers and while I had my forehead resting against my hands, I thought about all of the stresses of the coming week awaiting me. And I thought about the lesson the children were on in the Baltimore Catechism. It is dealing the temporal sufferings of this world and the value of them.
“Love is purified, increased and perfected by suffering. This means not only bodily pain, but crosses of all kinds. God sends everyone all the sufferings they need on earth to cleanse, strengthen, and perfect their love. But most people waste their sufferings. They do not want them, complain about them and try to escape them in every manner possible, even by committing sin.” (Baltimore Catechism No. 2 p. 90)
We have been, as a family, talking about this and in what ways we reject many opportunities during the day to accept a small cross or to cheerfully make sacrifice. Things as simple as; cheerfully changing a diaper, offering your chair to a little one who really wants to sit by a big sister, putting down a book in the middle of an exciting sentence to answer a question. They are numberless. As I thought about this I offered Jesus to try and do better in this area, but I immediately felt so burdened by the thought of so many job titles awaiting me this week. Mummy, teacher, packer, secretary, and more. “Jesus,” I said, “I cannot possibly do this without your help. I cannot possibly cheerfully attack these small crosses and little daily sacrifices without your help. You must help me as I can only do it with you.”
Suddenly I felt liberated as I realized that I did not have to do this alone. That I was not even meant to do this alone, but that Jesus was waiting there to help me with my crosses, large and small. Such a simple concept, but one that so often eludes me.
So today, throughout the day, as I feel burdened by simple chores, when I feel too tired to be able to wash another dish, or impatient and unable to deal with another whiny voice of a child ill with a heavy cold, I will be turning to Jesus and asking him to help me with my yoke.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Introducing...
... my weekly mini poll. You can vote once a day and this week it will be for your favourite prayer. I will be changing this weekly (hopefully). Subject ideas will be welcome. Email them to mum2twelve@yahoo.com
I think this will be fun! I hope many, if not all, will participate.
Also - look for a store front to appear soon, many items will be available with Anna's cartoons on them. All will speak for family or prolife values. There will be mugs, buttons, magnets and lots of t-shirts. The kids and I are so excited about this, and really looking forward to making a little extra grocery money - with maybe a little left over for the rent too! (Which we are still behind with! Gulp!)
Read more!
I think this will be fun! I hope many, if not all, will participate.
Also - look for a store front to appear soon, many items will be available with Anna's cartoons on them. All will speak for family or prolife values. There will be mugs, buttons, magnets and lots of t-shirts. The kids and I are so excited about this, and really looking forward to making a little extra grocery money - with maybe a little left over for the rent too! (Which we are still behind with! Gulp!)
Read more!
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunrise in NC by Josef Noah age 10Saint of the day: St. Barbatus
Today's readings:
Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24-25, Psalm 41:2-3, 4-5, 13-14, 2 Corinthians 1:18-22, Mark 2:1-12
"Our Lord then declared to him: 'You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.' Christ, 'the living stone', thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakable rock of the Church."
CCC 552
Have a Blessed Sunday!
Read more!
Today's readings:
Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24-25, Psalm 41:2-3, 4-5, 13-14, 2 Corinthians 1:18-22, Mark 2:1-12
"Our Lord then declared to him: 'You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.' Christ, 'the living stone', thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakable rock of the Church."
CCC 552
Have a Blessed Sunday!
Saturday, February 18, 2006
We are in the midst of ice/snow storm so we could lose our power and being in the south, this can be disasterous due to lack of proper winter equipment to deal with such weather related problems. Sometimes a minor storm like this can leave you without power for days and days. So when this happens, I need to focus on baking, baking and more baking. We have already purchased a little extra milk and bread as a back up from our neighboring grocery store whose shelves were emptying at the typical break neck speed with which the local residents empty them when faced with a possible electrical outage, whether due to a forcasted hurricane or a winter storm.
As a result of my mind being on the need to bake and have extra food ready in the event we can not use the stove for a few days, my mind will not settle down here at the keyboard. Yet, Danielle very kindly listed me as a possible alternative for her blog while she is gone for a few days and, if new friends drop by, I would like to have an interesting post for them to read. Over the months, my readership has also grown and I imagine few have had the time to read the earliest posts, in particular the one in which I introduce myself and my family. So since I am so brain dead, I am going to repost that essay. I hope you enjoy it. If you are new to my blog - dig around a little as there are some very humerous comics I have posted that were created by my 12 year old. Anna is currently working on a new one, and I can not wait until I have an actual website that will allow me to have a page dedicated to her art.
New and old readers, if you post annonomously and do not have a profile, but would like to hear back from me, please email me at mum2twelve@yahoo.com
God Bless!! Read more!
As a result of my mind being on the need to bake and have extra food ready in the event we can not use the stove for a few days, my mind will not settle down here at the keyboard. Yet, Danielle very kindly listed me as a possible alternative for her blog while she is gone for a few days and, if new friends drop by, I would like to have an interesting post for them to read. Over the months, my readership has also grown and I imagine few have had the time to read the earliest posts, in particular the one in which I introduce myself and my family. So since I am so brain dead, I am going to repost that essay. I hope you enjoy it. If you are new to my blog - dig around a little as there are some very humerous comics I have posted that were created by my 12 year old. Anna is currently working on a new one, and I can not wait until I have an actual website that will allow me to have a page dedicated to her art.
New and old readers, if you post annonomously and do not have a profile, but would like to hear back from me, please email me at mum2twelve@yahoo.com
God Bless!! Read more!
Let me introduce my family - or at least a few of my dozen!
(This is a picture from Thanksgiving 2004. Two children are missing, the book ends, Amanda and Elsa. )This post is orginally from June of 2005, when I started my blog... enjoy!
Hi – my name is Christi and I am ‘mum2twelve’! A nice round even dozen, and as my son who is eighteen, recently pointed out - my children are trans generational. They spread across three decades, the 80’s, the 90’s, and the 00’s. I had four between 1982 and 1987. When first married and asked how many kids we wanted - I would always say; “I want two girls, and then two boys; or two boys followed by two girls, whichever way as long as they are born in groups of two so they can have playmates. (And I want four, God.) However, I forgot to tell Him that I meant 4 children spread over 6 or 8 years, not crammed into just over 4 yrs! So when the fourth was born, and I was asked if he would be the last, I responded that at 25 I was not ready to answer that question.
However, thyroid issues ensued, so it took four years before baby number five joined us. Gabriela Elizabeth is a miracle baby. Not only should I not have been able to conceive her because of such low thyroid levels, I should not have been able to carry her to term. Contractions started in her fourth month. She was the first of our 90’s babies and was born on her brother’s 4th birthday. We continued on to enjoy another feast of babies during the 90’s, giving birth to 5 in that decade. By the end of that decade we had nine children, and we really didn’t think there would be more. However, in 2000 number ten, a delightful remake of our 18 yr old son, was born. Same Roman nose and curly red hair, only Tanny’s eyes are blue and he has a dimple! Temperament is not quite the same as Miguel’s either. Both are very handsome and that’s not just my opinion either. According to Tanny Paul, he is “han umm” and all other males in the family are “dood lookin”!
In fairly rapid succession Nathaniel Paul (Tanny) was followed by two sisters. Emma Louise Kathleen, and Elsa Marie Bernadette. Emma is currently 2 and a half and a huge burr in Nathaniel’s life. To such an extent, that he actually cried for three days when he learned that the sonogram showed that his next sibling would be a sister. He was devastated! I am sure in his young mind he visualized Emma’s tortuous twin being born ready to walk, talk and able tease him in conjunction with Emma. However – he is in love with his darling baby sister, now 9 weeks old and definitely not a tease. (Yet…)
The oldest four children are all busy with their young adult lives, but still very involved with their younger siblings. The oldest, now 22, lives in NYC but only for another 7 short days at which time she will move to Boston where she has obtained a wonderful job at Harvard. Amanda Caroline is delighted to be a faculty assistant to two professors in her favorite department, Literature. And better yet, these Profs specialize in British and American Literature, as well as poetry – all great loves for Amanda. As she recently posted – God is good. In Boston she will attend First Day meetings at Friends Meeting at Cambridge. This daughter has left her Catholic heritage behind, and joined the Quakers recently. While this greatly saddens all of our family, we pray that her journey with God will be blessed, and maybe one day bring her back to our beautiful faith.
My second child – also a girl (God got the pattern right for the first eight babies and then He got bored with it!) is only 14 months younger than Amanda and is currently interning at Room At The Inn , a home for unwed mothers. I saw it recently and it is a lovely home beautifully decorated, and very, very peaceful! A rather joyful place for a young mother in need of support to pass those wondrous, but difficult months of pregnancy, and then to begin her recovery from birth and journey to independence with her new baby. Jennifer Alicia, typically a 4.0 student, is also attending summer school while also waitressing in the evenings. She is a bubbly personality and full of energy, but sometimes I worry about burn out for her. But then that is part of a mother’s job – worry.
Our two sons Jonathan, 19 and Miguel, 18 are giving their summer this year to our family business. We are at crossroads and determined to make it to the next level, and hopefully begin to bring in sufficient profits to support our large family without requiring outside assistance, beyond prayers that is! We are praying hard for success. When my husband lost his job three years ago due to lay offs, he immediately turned a part time hobby into a full time business. We have sacrificed our home, taken our sanity to the very edge and back and still we are not quite there – financially. But I think our family is somewhat stronger from the struggles of the past three years. Definitely we have learned the need for prayer, the need for family and, most of all, how much we depend on God to get from day to day – even minute to minute.
Jonathan, when not working for us – is a student at Belmont Abbey College which is where Jennifer also studies. This fall Jonathan will be a sophomore, and Jenny will be a senior. Where has the time gone, eh? Miguel, because of a few learning disabilities will continue to pursue his high school diploma from home. In 2006, if the family no longer needs his help with the business, he will either leave for college, or perhaps the military. My heart stops at that thought, as every mother’s does! Another area requiring prayer as my son seeks to know God’s will for him.
Well – I am off to bandage one of the many invisible ‘ouchies’ that only a “band-aid” will fix. I wonder if the fellow who first invented the band-aid realized the miracle cure he was offering to mums across the world – sometimes surpassing even a mother’s kiss in its magical ability to make it stop hurting!
Another day – perhaps tomorrow, I will catch you up with the younger crew. Until then – adios. Read more!
Friday, February 17, 2006
The Weather Pixie...
I am having a lazy day. So far I have only rearranged the dining room so as to be able to fit in a play pen for Elsa and the rest of my time has been largely spent focussing on Emma who is really not feeling well, so her ability to cope with even small stresses is next to nil. She is most happy when sitting on my lap as I read through the various blogs up for vote on Catholic Blog Awards.
Well, on The Cafeteria is Closed blog I found the little weather Pixie. I decided to add two of them to my blog, and if allowed maybe three. One for North Carolina's weather, one for Argentina and another for Canada's weather. I chose the lady with the cat for NC because of my love for cats... when I chose her it was almost 20 Celcius here in NC and she was dressed in a knee length dress. What I did not realize was that as the temperature climbs - so does the dress... Ahem. I am hoping the dress does not climb up much further, or I will either have to drop the Pixies altogether or switch to a guy pixie and hope they keep their clothes on!
Two days ago I made another discovery - this was a kind of 'DUH' discovery! How could I have not realized this sooner but EWTN TV can be viewed LIVE through the internet. This is one of few lamments I had about giving up cable, losing access to EWTN TV. (More about that later!)
Recently my husband made the comment about how polically savy we are and wouldn't be good if we were just as savy in our faithlife. He was not referring to knowledge of the faith but to our actual spiritual well being.
Of course, the main reason we are so politicaly astute is talk radio. (Namely Rush Limbaugh, but also Tony Snow, a fellow Catholic.) This lead me to try and see if we could maybe download some of the audio files on EWTN so that we could listen to them on road trips when we make especial use of talk radio. Tada! There it was - EWTN live TV, the daily Mass, the Divine Chaplet at three and also the cute cartoons my kids used to enjoy in the afternoons at the old house.
This afternoon as I sat with Emma searching the internet I had EWTN on in the background and On the Rock was playing. I had the window shrunk and was only listening. The host of this show was interviewing a wheelchair athlete who had no hands and no feet. My 19 year old wanted to see this athlete so I opened the window. We sat watching as they closed the program with an artist whose music I had never heard before. It was Tony Melendez who is also missing two limbs. His arms. Yet he plays the guitar - beautifully. His love for God as expressed through his music left a lump in my throat. You should check him out and if you haven't checked out the live TV and Radio live stream on the internet and do not have access to EWTN through your local cable - you should check that out too!
Now back to my sick chillies. Poor babies! Read more!
Well, on The Cafeteria is Closed blog I found the little weather Pixie. I decided to add two of them to my blog, and if allowed maybe three. One for North Carolina's weather, one for Argentina and another for Canada's weather. I chose the lady with the cat for NC because of my love for cats... when I chose her it was almost 20 Celcius here in NC and she was dressed in a knee length dress. What I did not realize was that as the temperature climbs - so does the dress... Ahem. I am hoping the dress does not climb up much further, or I will either have to drop the Pixies altogether or switch to a guy pixie and hope they keep their clothes on!
Two days ago I made another discovery - this was a kind of 'DUH' discovery! How could I have not realized this sooner but EWTN TV can be viewed LIVE through the internet. This is one of few lamments I had about giving up cable, losing access to EWTN TV. (More about that later!)
Recently my husband made the comment about how polically savy we are and wouldn't be good if we were just as savy in our faithlife. He was not referring to knowledge of the faith but to our actual spiritual well being.
Of course, the main reason we are so politicaly astute is talk radio. (Namely Rush Limbaugh, but also Tony Snow, a fellow Catholic.) This lead me to try and see if we could maybe download some of the audio files on EWTN so that we could listen to them on road trips when we make especial use of talk radio. Tada! There it was - EWTN live TV, the daily Mass, the Divine Chaplet at three and also the cute cartoons my kids used to enjoy in the afternoons at the old house.
This afternoon as I sat with Emma searching the internet I had EWTN on in the background and On the Rock was playing. I had the window shrunk and was only listening. The host of this show was interviewing a wheelchair athlete who had no hands and no feet. My 19 year old wanted to see this athlete so I opened the window. We sat watching as they closed the program with an artist whose music I had never heard before. It was Tony Melendez who is also missing two limbs. His arms. Yet he plays the guitar - beautifully. His love for God as expressed through his music left a lump in my throat. You should check him out and if you haven't checked out the live TV and Radio live stream on the internet and do not have access to EWTN through your local cable - you should check that out too!
Now back to my sick chillies. Poor babies! Read more!
Ungrateful Children....
The past month, in the name of economy, I have been baking. Many a morning, of late, my children have risen to fresh out of the oven biscuits or muffins baked the afternoon before. Homemade bread either from the oven or piping hot from the bread makers has been teasing their noses. Okay, some mornings it’s been peanut butter cookies with an apple but what’s the difference between that and toast with peanut butter, I ask?
Despite two bread machine 2 lb loaves of raison bread however, yesterday’s pickings were rather slim, as I had been once more gobbled up by the business and my baking ingredients had begun to wane drastically. Sadly - I had to face facts. A grocery trip was in order. I detest buying groceries. But sacrifices must be made in this world so I grabbed a pencil and set to work making my list. On my menu plan, I scratched out cream of carrot and potato soup and replaced it with roast beef sandwiches as I knew I would have little energy left to make dinner from scratch after my marathon grocery spree.
When I left the sun was still shining, but by the time I returned lugging a van full of groceries in with me – the birds had gone to bed and the warm air had just a tinge of chill in it. As the children hurried to help me haul in the goods I heard one child yell; “Sweet!”
My ears picked up. Had he discovered the raisons I had purchased for more yummy bread? Or maybe the maple syrup for the yams we would have this Sunday with our ham dinner? What had elicited such an excited reaction?
“CEREAL guys – Mummy bought Cheerios!” To which arose resounding cheers!
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