We now have a name for what ails Michael

It is hemolytic uremic syndrome and is a rare condition caused by the bacteria E. coli.

Here are some links about it. What is HUS, Hamburger Disease , eMedicine .

Pretty frightening. The mother of this young boy can not for the life of her figure out how he picked up the E. coli. He has not been swimming in lakes, a common source for E. coli bacteria nor has he been eating in any restaurants the past two weeks. No one else in the family has been sick. It will likely remain one of the mysteries that we never resolve.

However - with all that is in the news about Swine flu it seems to me that we are at greater risk of contacting E coli food poisoning then Swine flu and 1 of every 10 children will go on to develop HUS - which is life threatening.

What is abnormal about Michael's case is his age - he does not fit the typical age profile; a very young child or an elderly patient. None the less - he has it and they are looking at possible kidney dialysis and blood transfusions. Antibiotics were worsening the condition so this battle is in the hands of God. Please let us keep praying and passing the prayer request on.

THANK YOU again for your prayers. They are very gratefully received by the family who has asked us to thank you for your prayers.

GOD BLESS!

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WAITING

...for an update on Michael. In the meantime here is an important link you can check out while we wait to hear. There are many worthwhile Catholic causes, website etc to support, but I can personally vouch for Envoy. My husband and I attended the Institutes's conference here in NC last year and we both enjoy reading the magazine. Each are uplifting sources for growing in your faith as well providing you with opportunities to increase knowledge of your faith.

I doubt there are many Catholics who have not heard of Patrick Madrid - he is a regular guest on EWTN and is one of two co-founders who started the magazine Envoy in 1996. Currently he is the director of the Envoy Institute of Belmont Abbey College and publisher of Envoy Magazine and he is making the call for our support in what he is calling a war!

This summer Belmont Abbey will host Envoy's second annual conference. Click here for the dates. Make sure you mark this link so you can check back for details, such as scheduled speakers. I've heard rumors that Peter Kreeft will be there again. If you are not familiar with him check his website out here. I have already marked my calender and I recommend you seriously consider doing the same. My husband and I enjoyed last years conference thoroughly and I know we will again this year. Come join us in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains which are a piece of the Appalachians & enjoy an enlightening weekend building your faith, hearing great speakers, and meeting fellow Catholics who are also seeking to grow in their faith.

And if my words are not temping enough for you - then let this photo of the grounds, where the conference will be, lure you in!

Is it not just breath taking? I hope you will consider joining us this summer!

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a phone book....

As I was inputing a new contact in my phone book, Elsa exclaimed "YOU have a PHONE BOOK?"

'Umm, yeah." I responded absently - as I focused on those little keys on my phone.

"Yeah" giggled Nathaniel... "IN her PHONE!"

Peals of giggles filled the room as the two of them relished the humour in that.

A phone book within a phone. But you know I can only begin to imagine the amazement of my great grandparents of such a thing. A tiny little hand held device that can not only make calls, but also contain a PHONE BOOK.

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UPDATE ON MICHAEL B

(UPDATE AS OF LATE SUNDAY EVENING)

We thank God that Jonathan, our son, and Alicia, his girl friend, arrived safely in Tennessee this evening. We have learned that her 14 yr old brother, Michael, received the sacrament of the anointing of the sick this morning. He has been seriously ill for five days now, vomiting almost every 15 minutes as well as other digestive problems.

Today after the anointing and countless people hearing our prayer request through the Internet, Michael has begun to gain a little in strength. Through twitter we have possibly reached as many as 8000 people.

He has been removed from anti-biotics as the ecoli was not responding to this. In fact the ecoli has begun to release toxins in his blood stream which are attacking his kidneys, causing the capillaries to rupture within them. The Doctors say that his body/immune system MUST fight this on his own.

Michael is beginning to show signs of turning the corner though still far from being out of danger. Also - the longer it takes for his body to fight this - the greater the risk of permanent damage to his kidneys. His family is asking specifically for prayers for his spirits and his kidneys.

After five days of this devastating illness, he is very low in spirits. They can not really give him anything to help him sleep or for pain. They have only been able to attempt to treat the nausea and provide IV fluids.

Please share this prayer request with anyone and everyone you know. Pass it onto prayer lines and, if you twitter, please add a prayer request for Michael B. to your tweets. This battle is now in the hands of God! so we must pray and keep the number of prayers growing. We are possibly sitting on the edge of a miracle as this morning all hope seemed to be lost when Michael was anointed. Since then little glimmers of hope have been shared with us.

GOD BLESS you all and thank you for your prayers.

We will keep updating on Michael's condition!


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URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

Please pray for 14 yr old Michael B, he is 14 in hospital. Diagnosis is possibly rare form of ecoli that does not respond to treatment. At this time his kidneys are shutting down. Please pass this on to all you know with prayer lines. This is my son's girl friend's little brother.

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Borrowing an idea...

...from Building Cathedrals, a blog by seven graduates of Princeton who, upon starting to build their cathedrals, realized they still had much to learn! However, I just gleaned a great idea for helping little ones to participate in the Rosary from them - to take a peek at this fun blog and a great idea - click here.

Amanda, dearest, you know your mother is hopeless with any needle but a sewing needle so the flowers will have to fall upon you, if we are to have them crocheted. Hmmm - 4 little ones times 50 hail maries... you will be busy for quite some time! Perhaps we will have them in time for thier little ones?

Never fear - I have my creative thinking cap on and will be looking at different options such as felt flowers with beaded centers, paper flowers to begin with, cloth flowers with embroidered centers, laminated paper flowers with intentions on them... the possibilities are endless.

As you can probably tell - I am thrilled with this idea, especially as we have temporarily put the Rosaries aside and have simply been using our fingers. Can anyone guess why?

At any rate this is a lovely thought that I am going to pursue especially as this is Mary's month.


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You know this old familiar tune

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb... Mary had a little lamb and its fleece was white as snow.

For some reason 6 yr old Emma thinks this is Mary - Jesus's mummy...

Hmmmm, there is a certain logic there, no?

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Father Corapi

How sad in the month of Mary - a famous Catholic college is blatantly ignoring the dictum of our Bishops to Catholic colleges to not honour pro death/anti life speakers by inviting them to speak on their campuses. We all know that I am speaking of Notre Dame and not only its invitation to Obama to speak, but to also confer upon him an honorary degree. It is an open slap in the face to our church and her prolife stance.

Father Corapi addresses this in the video below.

Please share this video and message. It can also be viewed here. I would also suggest that students attending this college or planning to attend to seriously reconsider this decision through prayer. Sadly the most effective way today to send a message - is with your dollars. If you really believe that this college is dishonoring GOD and His church through ignoring a clear directive from SEVENTY Bishops to not follow through in its invitation to Obama - you must decide whether you will support this college with your college funds and attendance. Go to Jesus and ask Him what would HE do?


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MARY's month... is MAY!

We are already heading into the second week of May - Mary's month. Do you remember this video from last year?


Well - here is the new one.



I'm not sure which one I like best. Neither can my kids. We like them both a LOT!

Anyway - I thought it was a good time to remind everyone that this is Mary's month. Do you have any special family celebrations planned for this month? Any family traditions you would like to share that might inspire the rest of us? I did not grow up Catholic so I am always happy to hear about new customs and traditions we might want to incorporate in our family celebrations.

Please feel free to link and share this post to spread the videos as well as to promote the opportunity for people to share their ideas of how to celebrate this month in a meaningful and fun way!

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ADOPTED!

Whew - Such a relief! We got all three puppies adopted and I am pretty sure they all went to good homes! For some reason I could not log into my Craig's List account so as to delete the ad - so I wrote another Ad with DUKE ADOPTED in the title so that hopefully people seeing both ads would not email me to see if he was still available. So this morning I open my email and low and behold what do I have but an email from a lady with a 6 month old beagle/Russell terrier mix. Her older dog apparently is not happy about the new adoption and the continuous fighting is driving her crazy. Would I be interested in rescuing her puppy....

Maybe - if, like her, I did not have a lot of children underfoot. (She has 3 under 4rs) The relief I felt when I waved good bye to Duke - as much as I liked him and as cute and cuddly as he was... the relief was immense! This was not a good moment to ask me to take on another puppy. Seriously! Not even a crate trained UTD on her shots puppy! Nope, not right now. Uh uh - NOT happening. Really. I sent her some rescue links.

I'm just glad she did not attach a photo! I'm a sucker for cute faces... as you can all attest to.


(Will add a picture of Duke later, but his pics are on another computer.)


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Blaze has a sleep over...

Blaze and Duke get along better than Blaze and Bella did. Sharing the crate was not even an option with Bella!

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Photos to substantiate Sundays Post

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Pandemic Crisis

This is what happens when you promise someone that only a pandemic crisis will prevent you from attending a function she has arranged, and that you really want to go to. Although I am not sure a broken water pump on one's van qualifies as a crisis, but it sure does "dry" up any possibilities of a long drive until it is repaired.

So Saturday found Hugo surrounded by tools, oil, grease, radiator and the a/c, along with other bits and pieces of internal engine organs vital to our van's health. It only took about 3 hours to get to the offending pump and would have taken less time to put it all back had a 1$ part not broken. As our only working vehicle was sitting in pieces all over the front lawn... he had to walk to the closest auto parts store to get the replacement.

The plan at the time I am writing this post is to get it all back together in time to attend Mass tomorrow so we can go to Charlotte and pick up TWO more puppies. One is being adopted by another family in our parish and we have a potential home lined up for the other. The family from our parish is coming with us and we will have a Picnic lunch up there. It should be fun.

Assuming Hugo can remember where all of those hoses, tubes and screws go, that is. I'll let you all know!

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Emmm..... Barbecue...... charcoal?

"Now," Benjamin said as he walked in with his freshly barbecued sausages "don't get mad 'cause this was my FIRST time making sausages on the grill AND my first time not supervised.'
"Hmm" I murmured, "they are a little uhhh..."

"Crispy? " he filled in.

Yeah - thats the word I was looking for - Crispy, black ... and.... uhhh - crispy!

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Nap Time

Where else would one want to nap on a hot summer day but in a light airy hammock?

Okay, so it's May and therfore technically spring, but the temps here are in the 80's
(or 27 - 31 c) which in my mind - equals SUMMER!

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Fine dining

What does any self respecting mother do when she walks into the dining room and finds her 11 yr old daughter setting up a "photo shoot" as she called it, with the puppy at the dining room table, complete with place setting?
Why she suggests adding a colourful napkin, of course!

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NO EXPLANATION NEEDED

April 27, 2009
The Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
President
University of Notre Dame

Dear Father Jenkins,

When you informed me in December 2008 that I had been selected to receive Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, I was profoundly moved. I treasure the memory of receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame in 1996, and I have always felt honored that the commencement speech I gave that year was included in the anthology of Notre Dame’s most memorable commencement speeches. So I immediately began working on an acceptance speech that I hoped would be worthy of the occasion, of the honor of the medal, and of your students and faculty.

Last month, when you called to tell me that the commencement speech was to be given by President Obama, I mentioned to you that I would have to rewrite my speech. Over the ensuing weeks, the task that once seemed so delightful has been complicated by a number of factors.

First, as a longtime consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, I could not help but be dismayed by the news that Notre Dame also planned to award the president an honorary degree. This, as you must know, was in disregard of the U.S. bishops’ express request of 2004 that Catholic institutions “should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles” and that such persons “should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” That request, which in no way seeks to control or interfere with an institution’s freedom to invite and engage in serious debate with whomever it wishes, seems to me so reasonable that I am at a loss to understand why a Catholic university should disrespect it.

Then I learned that “talking points” issued by Notre Dame in response to widespread criticism of its decision included two statements implying that my acceptance speech would somehow balance the event:

• “President Obama won’t be doing all the talking. Mary Ann Glendon, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, will be speaking as the recipient of the Laetare Medal.”

• “We think having the president come to Notre Dame, see our graduates, meet our leaders, and hear a talk from Mary Ann Glendon is a good thing for the president and for the causes we care about.”

A commencement, however, is supposed to be a joyous day for the graduates and their families. It is not the right place, nor is a brief acceptance speech the right vehicle, for engagement with the very serious problems raised by Notre Dame’s decision—in disregard of the settled position of the U.S. bishops—to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice.

Finally, with recent news reports that other Catholic schools are similarly choosing to disregard the bishops’ guidelines, I am concerned that Notre Dame’s example could have an unfortunate ripple effect.

It is with great sadness, therefore, that I have concluded that I cannot accept the Laetare Medal or participate in the May 17 graduation ceremony.

In order to avoid the inevitable speculation about the reasons for my decision, I will release this letter to the press, but I do not plan to make any further comment on the matter at this time.

Yours Very Truly,

Mary Ann Glendon

Mary Ann Glendon is Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. A member of the editorial and advisory board of First Things , she served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican from 2007 to 2009.

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Con Permiso...

... we would like to introduce our very own God Father Corleone!




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Over the moon...

...crazy happy because my PENATEN diaper cream finally arrived! I have tried everything to get rid of this nasty diaper rash that Cecilia had developed over a month ago. Nothing was doing it. I switched diaper brands, changed wipes, wished I had clothe diapers on hand, or some Penaten.

I used to be able to buy Penaten in Canada but have not been able to find it here and a friend from Germany, where Penaten originates from, is not planning a trip there any time soon - so ...I went online, googled it and voila! Found several online sites where I could order it.

Three applications and the rash is almost gone. I knew it would be! Penaten was always my stand by for stubborn rashes. The only downside is that if it should get left in the reach of little ones who might decide to paint your walls, rug and bed - it stains. Not that that is something I know from personal experience. Ahem! I am too organized for that to ever happen.

I love my Penaten!

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Crazy life

We have been going crazy here for the past two days. Are you wondering why? Well - we brought home one of Blaze's siblings to find her a home and keep her out of the pound. In the process we also found a home for her blond sister with my best friend in our parish.

We are still working on finding the last puppy, a blond and brown male, a home. So not a lot posting, schooling or much else has been happening the past few days and for some reason I feel really tired!

So chuffed, though, that we have found two really good homes for two of the puppies.

Here is our temporary guest who left this morning - in tow by her big fur brother,
a lovely Golden Retriever.

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