I got this from Danielle...

… who got it from ramblinggopsoccermom who says she got it from Stacy…

What did I get? This idea!

Lets all get together and send a note of appreciation to our crisis pregnancy centers and prolife organizations. Know a priest who has taken an unpopular stand in a local parish and tried to teach us about the teachings of the church on contraception or pro life issues – drop him a note! Lets all do something. We can’t let the Pro abortionists be the only pro active people! Click here to find a pregnancy center near you!

HERE is where I will send my first thank you note! Read more!

Mini Poll Results...

And heeere are the results from last week's poll - "What are you doing for Lent?"
Increasing Prayer time came in first at 45 %,
What I am doing is not listed came in at a close second at 23%.
Giving Up Chocolate came in third at 7 %.

With this weeks poll, I am hoping that if people choose 'other', that they will be willing to post here what their favourite feast Day is. Please do not feel you have to, but I would love to know especially as it might be a Feast day I am unfamiliar with. Perhaps some of us would also like to post why they voted for the one they chose. Read more!

Lost and Found

We are currently trying to find God Parents that we have lost contact with in Canada and just found one God Mother, Kathy Clark, and have discovered that she has written a children's novel, A Whisper In My Heart.

Check out this book - I know Kathy's life story and I am sure that this book is going to tug at the heartstrings and be very enlightening at the same. I hope to read it myself very soon, and will post a review here as soon as we have finished reading it.

Here is the synopsis of the book followed by a short excerpt;

Ten-year-old Klari/Claire is about to meet her parents for the first time in seven years. Why did her parents abandon her seven long years ago? And more importantly, why do they want her back?

Klari/Claire is trapped in a world where no one understands her language, where the other children make fun of her and where everything is new and frightening. As she tries to gain acceptance, Klari/Claire learns something about herself, and this knowledge enables her to conquer her fears and uncertainty.

"My parents might force me to live with them, but I will not let them really know me. I will make sure that the separation they started seven years ago will remain forever. No one will ever know what I think and feel. I will be strong. I will not give in."

Why Kathy wrote this book;

"When my daughter was ten years old, she and I were on a walk together and she asked me what school had been like for me when I was her age.

As I explained what my school experience had been like back in 1963, I realized how different it was from her own. I had just arrived from another country, did not speak the language, and had a very hard time making friends. School was a big struggle for me. As I related my experiences to my daughter, I began to think that this could become a story worth sharing with other Canadian children.

In Canada, we have the privilege of sharing the beauty and wealth of our country with people from all around the world. However, we often do not appreciate the difficulties that immigrants encounter when they first arrive here. I wanted to write a book in which some of these seemingly insignificant difficulties are recognized. I wanted to encourage Canadian children to welcome people from other countries, and make them feel accepted instead of alienated. I hope my story will help children consider how their actions affect immigrant children who are striving to fit in and be accepted by them."

I can't wait to receive my copy of this book! Read more!

Whoo Hoo!

We have had ten sales from my mum2twelve's country cupboard. Thank you everyone who is supporting my little store. Look for more selections for photos and cartoons to come soon.

I also wish to publicly say thank you to everyone who has been supporting us through donations and prayers. You all have been so kind. We are very close to having one month's rent collected.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Read more!

AND theyrrrre off!

...with Anna in the lead by one marker! My surprise project for the kids was finally completed this week although I do need to make and laminate some more coupons.

Over the weekend I made a race track. With my being so involved in the business, the children really needed some self motivation to keep to their tasks and school work. So I came up with a game that seems to be helping. Each child has their own laminated race car which has their picture on it attached to a race track with velcor markers on it. To move forward one marker you must earn 10 coupons. Anna, is currently in the lead, having moved just moved one marker forward last night.

To place bets on who you think will win, simply call 1 800 GO KIDS! Your choices are;
Anna, 12, tentatively holding first place
Gabriela 15, currently in second place - about to tie with Anna.
Next we have Teddy, 9, blazing a trail hot with seven coupons. Hot on his heels is Bethany, 8, with five.
Noah, 10, who has been focused on his guinea pig who was ill and passed away yesterday morning only has three, but I suspect he will be coming along strong shortly.
Emma 3, and Nathaniel 4, each hold the last place firmly with one coupon each.

May the best cleaner win! Updates and photos to follow later to help readers keep up with their favorite. Read more!

Highlights from our trip to Ohio...

While we were traveling home I thought of several amusing incidents that I could use for this post, and now that I am sitting here there is only one that comes to mind and truly it was for me the complete highlight. We left the Raleigh area at about 8:30 am sans breakfast as I had not had time to get groceries over the weekend. We left the older crew some hard cash and a list of menu ideas. They were about to embark on Survival 101 as we rolled onto the highway towards Ohio. At about 9:30 am we pulled up to a Pilot which had a MacDonalds, or as Tanny Paul calls them – Happy Donalds. Much to Tanny’s dismay we learned that ‘No – they do NOT serve happy meals at that time of the day.’ So hash browns all around it was. And, of course, even though I only ordered twelve hash browns I got the standard double take as they repeated; “Twelve?”

We settled ourselves back into the van, re-did all the straps, buckles and seat belts we had fastened only a short 60 minutes earlier and we were off. I think we managed to get another 2 hours in before we had to have a pottie break and we started watching exit signs for Pilots. As you can tell, these are our favorite roadside stops.

We had to make several more pit stops to give Elsa a “carseat break” as she was born hating the car seat. In this way we were able to more or less maintain everyone’s sanity. Of course, in the long run this slows the whole trip down and even though mapquest had assured us that the trip was a mere 8.36 hours…. It actually took us closer to twelve. Then only ten – twelve miles from the hotel Elsa hit melt down point and her screams of rage filled the van. Bethany’s eyes filled with tears as her little sister stretched her arms to her, begging to be taken from this horrible form of restraint and torture. I peered though the rain and growing darkness watching for road signs and counting them down.

“Hup – exit 97, almost there!” I cried, trying to keep everyone’s spirits up. At long last and two more left handed turns and we were there. Hugo pulled into an empty spot and I jumped out and rushed inside to register while Hugo rescued the sobbing princess. We hauled kids, back packs, pillows, medicine bag, cooler, babas and sippy cups inside and collapsed on the couch. Within seconds the kids had found Disney channel and Hugo and I just stared at the blank screen on our TV. Elsa scrambled back and forth in ecstasy to be free to move about and roam without constraint.

“Well – the pool closes at ten, Hugo.” I piped up. His head swiveled and his eyes, owl shaped, stared at me horrified.

“The pool, you were serious about the pool?”

“Umm, yeah. I packed everyone’s suit.”

Ignoring the look of desperation on his face, I calmly explained how we would supervise five non-swimmers in the pool.

“Look, I’ll take Emma to the pool – she hates it so she probably won’t stay in it long at all. She probably won’t even go in BUT she HAS to go, you know? So I’ll take her and while I am gone, you can, ummm, put Elsa’s little swimmer on.”

I flipped one out and passed it to him. He nodded, as I jumped up and grabbed Emma. In two shakes she and I were out the door as I called back to him; “Don’t forget to change Elsa into her swimmer!”

As I suspected Emma promptly sat on one of the beach chairs lined up along the side of the small pool and said. “I’ll tit here Mummy.”

“Don’t you want to go in the pool, Emma?” I wheedled.

Uh uh, she shook her head.

“Well then, lets go back to the room.” I reasoned.

“No – I want to tay here, at the pool.” she replied as she settled her 2.5 ft frame onto the 5 foot long chair.

"Well – if we are staying at the pool – we are going IN the pool!" I said, as I scooped her up.

Less than a minute later we were wet enough for me to feel we had justified the traipse down the hallway to the pool and I toweled her off and we returned to the room.

Elsa was ready and waiting in her lovely hot pink swimmer that was adorned with a lovely little belly button in her chubby little belly! I carried her to the pool and she was breathless with delight as we slowly walked down the steps into the hugest bath tub her little eyes have ever feasted on. I let her toes dangle into the cool water and there was a sharp intake of breath and then she leaned forward in my arms to touch the water with her finger tips. We played in the water for several minutes until the hot tub beside it became unoccupied. As I walked back up the steps out of the pool, Elsa squirmed in my arms and shook her head back and forth in protest.

‘Hey – don’t worry,’ I crooned to her. ‘We’ll be back in the water in a minute.’ Carefully I introduced her to the warm water in the tub and she quickly relaxed and started chasing the bubbles that danced across the water top. She grunted and stretched and splashed and played. Sometimes she leaned into me and just sat quietly watching the bubbles, her eyes never leaving them. I kissed the top of her little red head, and smelled her luscious baby smell. And I thanked Jesus for this gift of life that he has blessed me with, not just once but TWELVE times.

Finally the timer I had set for the bubbles, reached it’s end and the bubbles died away and with Elsa relaxed in my arms, I carried her out of the hot tub, just the two of us all warm and cuddled together. I stripped her little swimmer off and wrapped her naked, warm body up in a fluffy towel and carried her back to our room where her daddy took her from me. As I gathered her jammies and fresh didies up to dress her for bed I was able to admire her rosy pink cheeks and damp soft curls from her Daddy’s arms. Once ready for bed she nestled in my arms, had a wee snack and fell asleep. That half hour, alone with Elsa, was my highlight of our trip.

Read more!

I have sweated, and prayed and debated over this thought for the past day. As I mentioned yesterday we lost a couple of thousand dollars of equipment that my husband had just purchased to sell online. (Some gentlemen, who remove metal from our property, mistakenly took it to sell to the metal yard. By the time we realized they had removed the wrong items, they had already sold it for pennies on the pound…)

We are currently three months behind in our rent. Our land lord is patient, but he has written and asked that we do something soon to avoid eviction. This loss of the merchandise is a terrible blow. I think if I were to detail everything that has gone wrong in just 24 hours; you would think I was making it up. I have placed, again, a cheque under our statue of the Infant of Prague in hopes that Baby Jesus will come through for us. Since then, I have been coming back to the thought of a donation button and almost immediately pushing it away.

Finally, I decided to give it a try. For three weeks, about half of Lent, I am going to have a Pay Pal donation button on my blog so that if anyone would like to help us out of this predicament they may. I will be honest. I am a bit embarrassed to do this as I feel as though I am imposing on those who read my blog. It is harder to receive than to give. And very hard to ask. I am especially worried I will insult my readers by putting a donation button on my page. But then I said to myself. Nobody has to give. Not one person. But, if I do not ask, no one who might like to help - can.

Please, if I have insulted you by doing this, accept my heartfelt apologies. My husband is a very hard worker, and works around the clock doing what he can to keep this business going. I am only trying to open a door through which the Lord can help us, if it be His will. Regardless of the outcome, I will remove the button three weeks from now. Thank you for understanding my trying this, and all of the prayers and notes of encouragement that you have sent our way have been very appreciated.

Read more!

We are home...

...safe and sound. What a trip. We took the five youngest and while I would parade them through the restrooms, we would draw amused glances and often drew the comment; "My, you have your hands full!" I would just smile and agree; "Yes I do!" and I would think about the calories I was burning off with Elsa grasped under one arm and my free hand tightly clasping Emma the energizer bunny who was constantly hopping and straining against my iron grip.
"But I wanna buy DAT for Lala! Oh! I dust need to buy a dolly mummy Puhleeeease!" Nathaniel, while more quiet, needed an eyeball continuously attached to him as at any moment a car model might draw his attention and he would be gone in a flash to "Heck dem out."

This trip has caused me to come to the conclusion that the reason I lost weight so readily after each birth until I reached my thirties is not because that due to middle age my metabolism has changed; but because I had so many extra hands to help by then. Someone else was able to dash after an escapee and someone else could hold a baby as I helped a little one off the toilet. I did not have to haul the baby back to the van where my husband was filling the gas tank and checking the oil, and then have to traipse back so I could then use the pottie.

Yes - this trip has caused me to be very grateful of the help I have through my older children but it has also inspired me to begin to add this help up in the terms of calories lost or gained! My older children just might find me taking little ones to the pottie a little more often in hopes that the energy spent in doing this will equal pounds lost!

Highlights of the trip to follow tomorrow hopefully, as right now I need to go start burning some calories - catching up with laundry, and other duties left undone while I was gone. Read more!

Hi ho Hi ho...

...it's on the road we go! Tomorrow early in the AM we hit the road for Ohio with only the four youngest in tow. The oldest five (of the nine still living at home, that is) are remaining behind to do school and help with the packing/shipping. Please feel free to email or fax hot meals to them - I am sure they will be quite grateful!

My husband and I are picking up merchandise for the equipment for the business, and any prayers for our safety on the road, and esp for safety for the children staying home will be greatly appreciated. Prayers for my sinus infection welcomed as well! ;-)

I hope to be able to post tomorrow night from Ohio, but we will be back by Tuesday evening if I am unable to. Anybody in Columbus, Ohio with whom we can drop in on, and share a cuppa Tim Hortens with?

God Bless!!! Read more!

Under Construction

Today I will be taking valuable time from the business to work on a project for the kids. They are all very curious as to what I am doing. Mums the word, but I am creating a racetrack of sorts on a poster... Details to follow!

Wish me luck and the kids .... patience!

And heeere are the results from last weeks poll! (almost forgot to post them!)

Our Father came in first at 62 %,
Guardian Angel came in at a close second at 29%.
St Michael came in third at 9%.
The other prayers came in as follows:
Angelus 7%
Memorare 3%
Morning Offering 3%

Besure to check out the new poll and, if you are doing more than one of these activities for Lent, vote again another day. Phooey.. I forgot to add other. Well, back to the drawing board! Read more!

Why is it...

...when you give up something for Lent... something like chocolate, you think nonstop about it? You think all day about it. You think about it every time your tummy growls, you think about it even when your tummy is not growling. You find yourself wanting it more than you normally do. You find yourself dreaming about hot chocolate, chocolate bars, chocolate chip cookies, brownies until you remember that you actually gave up something else this year. And then you don't think about it again. Not once, all day. Why is that? Read more!

Now the million dollar question is;
Was he wearing these glasses to spy for aliens in his sketti,
or
to keep the sketti sauce out of his eyes?

Read more!

Forgiveness...

...is a virtue. And one Emma obviously needs a little instruction in. This morning, as I was making my bed and moving about rather gingerly as sudden movements caused my sinuses to send send stabbing pains through my upper jaw and cheek bones, Emma asked;

"Mummy, tan I watch a mooie? Peeeeease?"

I looked sternly at her and pointed the mountains of videos strewn about the floor, decorating about three feet of space in a semi circle around the small tv in the corner of my room. I had been stubbing my toes on them as I tread cautiously about the bed.

"What about THOSE, Emma Louise?" I demanded.

To which she replied in a most adorable and sweet voice, as she sank to her kness on my bed;
"Oh Mummy! Tan you EVER fortive me?" She clasped her hands and stared at me.

Smothering a smile, I said;
"Well, maybe if you pick up all of those movies."

Her eyes opened wide and she asked;

"Oh, but whyeeee?"

Clearly while the child does not need acting lessons, she could use some instruction on what it means to ask for forgiveness. And no, she did not get to watch any movies until the videos were cleaned up. Read more!

We pray for the repose of two young souls...

...and for their mummy and daddy who are mourning the loss of twin boys born at 24 weeks gestation jsut 2 days ago on February 27th. Their mummy shared with my daughter that she and her husband were able to cuddle both for an hour before they passed away.

What more can I say - except please pray for this young family from Australia. May GOD be with them. Mother Mary, place your mantle of love and protection over them in this time of need and healing. Read more!

ASH WEDNESDAY...

1	"Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2	"Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
3	But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4	so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5	"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
6	But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
16	"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
17	But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18	that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Mathew 6:1-6, 16-18

The Rules of Fasting:

Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. In addition, all Catholics 14 years old and older must abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all the Fridays of Lent.

Fasting as explained by the U.S. bishops means partaking of only one full meal. Some food (not equaling another full meal) is permitted at breakfast and around midday or in the evening—depending on when a person chooses to eat the main or full meal.

Abstinence forbids the use of meat, but not of eggs, milk products or condiments made of animal fat. For further explanation click here.

Read more!

Desperate...

...for a laugh.

The phone rang. I was reading a book while I ate the last of my supper. Argentinean roast, roasted potatoes, onions and yams. Everyone had left the table and it was more or less peaceful.
And then the phone rang.
I ignored it. Who wants to talk to a discrumpled customer at this time of night and WHO else would be calling at this time?

It kept ringing and did not go to voicemail. I sighed, put down my book and pushed back my chair. Standing up I turned towards the living room, wishing today had not happened. Another ring clued me in that the phone was on the kitchen counter and not in the living room. I halted, turned and grabbed it off the counter.

"What the heck?" I said. (Honest!) "Phone three is calling??"

"Hello?" I answered. Miguel's deep chuckle met me through the phone and from the couch where he was sitting. I had to laugh back. The phone got passed around as I walked over to my computer so as to check my email. I listened to Emma talk to Hugo through the phone, while she was actually standing in front of him. Then the phone was passed back to me and Emma told me she was on a boat.

"A BOAT?" I exclaimed, only 5 feet away from her. "Why are you on a boat?"

"Cause!" she said and then giggled. "It mine!"

After that, Tanny Paul needed a turn and told me he was racing in a racing car!
"What are you doing in a race car?" I asked. "You don't have a license!" He giggled with delight. As I typed on my keyboard with the phone squished to my ear, I snickered to myself. What one does when they are desperate for a chuckle! Now I need to go gather up my little sailor and racer and get them ready for bed. If phone three rings - tell them I'm busy. Read more!

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

It seems that when we, as a family, try to pray more we are attacked by the devil with a vengence. We are, at this time suffering from a virus that has affected the whole family and we simply can not seem to recover from it. My husband in particular has been very ill.

As if this is not enough, we have had one terrible thing go wrong with the business after another. We just had a couple of thousand dollars worth of equipment dissappear. Please, please pray for us. We are in a desperate situation as we are behind in the rent by a few months. With this loss of the equipment we are really up against a wall. Read more!

Is the Tide Turning?

Fox News reports that Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Abortion Protesters. To read the whole story click here ! Read more!

Prayer Time...

Our family prays (almost) daily and we try to pray the Rosary every day. We have, of late, added the Litany to the Infant Jesus and, as often as possible, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. We try our best to do it at three. I would say at least once a week, we have a day when we miss our prayers altogther. These are typically NOT very good days. It is funny how, despite knowing how much better one's day goes if started with prayer, it can still be such a struggle to settle ourselves down and just do it. Once we are actually praying, it is so easy. One Hail Mary after another and suddenly we are already on the fourth decade. Why then do we then put it off like an unpleasant chore? I truely have no idea. Sometimes, I wonder if this daily struggle helps to keep us humble, so as not to develope a sense of false pride. It is perhaps a reminder that we can do nothing without God's help andHis graces. Not even pray.

Still, as a family, we are striving to do better and we have begun to keep a book of intentions that we read outloud from at least two to three times a week just before our family prayers. When we do not read aloud from it - we ask God to remember the intentiosn we have written in our little red book. These intentions are not just for our own family, but they also cover the needs of friends when we become aware of them. We also have general intentions listed such as the end of abortion, an increase in vocations as well as world peace.

For Lent - I wanted to offer to add any of my readers prayer requests to our book.

If you would like to add a prayer request to our book of intentions please email them to mum2twelve@yahoo.com , or if you prefer, leave them as a comment. We will continue to pray for this intention until we have been told it has been answered, at that point we will change the intention to a prayer of thanksgiving, as we do for all of the intentions in this book. Read more!

Prayer Request for Daniel

This is St. Apollonia, Patron saint of dentists, dental disease and of teeth. I have a prayer request for a young lad by the name of Daniel. He met with an accident last night that caused damage to several of his teeth. It is unknown yet how extensive it is, or what kind of treatment it will require. So please pray for him, he is young, only about 9. Read more!