All for God!

It's interesting how moms very rarely blog about sitting on the couch and eating cookies and letting the children dump every toy onto the living room floor. We've all done it (or something similar) though. It's just not blog-worthy I guess. Similarly, although I blog about our weekly Good Shepherd Garden Parties, you don't read here about how my mom and sisters always send me home with leftovers.... because I'll take them and make them stretch and not have to cook the next day! They joke about always asking me what's for dinner and me saying, "Leftovers." Most nights are NOT fancy, symbolic affairs around here.

Over the past few weeks several friends and I have continued the conversation about the perils of comparing ourselves with others. It's so tempting to put others on pedestals and think that they "have it all together." There is a nice little article about this today on Faith and Family Life. Check it out at: http://www.faithandfamilylive.com/features/compare_contrast_despair.

None of us have it all together. It's awesome to share our successes, but important to be real and share our struggles too. Not all of that is blog-worthy or appropriate on a blog though. As I talk with my friends I want to repeat over and over again to them AND TO MYSELF.... "Be gentle to yourself.... Accept your talents and your calling and your shortcomings. Take care of yourself and your children and do your best with discipline, education, etc. Share ideas and experiences with others, but don't allow their brilliance or success to be a measuring stick for yourself. Celebrate them for who they are and what they are doing. Keep praying and walking day by day with God and with your family. You are doing what you're meant to be doing." (Note: I mostly say this to MYSELF!)

Last week one of my favorite bloggers, Elizabeth Foss (see her blog "In the Heart of My Home" in my sidebar) posted this quote by Kathleen Norris:

"It is a paradox of human life that in worship, as in human love, it is in the routine and the everyday that we find the possibilities for the greatest transformation. Both worship and housework often seem perfunctory. And both, by the grace of God, may be anything but. At its Latin root, perfunctory means 'to get through with,' and we can easily see how liturgy, laundry and what has traditionally been conceived of as 'women's work' can be done in that indifferent spirit. But the joke is on us; what we think we are only 'getting through' has the power to change us, just as we have the power to transform what seems meaningless--the endless repetitions of a litany or the motions of vacuuming a floor. What we dread as mindless activity can free us, mind and heart, for the workings of the Holy Spirit, and repetitive motions are conducive to devotions such as the Jesus Prayer or the rosary."

That quote has stuck with me all week. I continue to remind myself that what I am doing (as I take care of our house and do a zillion loads of laundry) is holy and does transform me. It is the work I do lovingly for the good of my family, but it is also the daily routine through which God meets me, empowers me, speaks to me. It is my prayer. It is not "beneath me" (since I DO have a graduate degree and USED TO do more worldy, "important" work). It is here in this work that I praise God daily, model so many virtues for my children, and work out my salvation.

Two little related quotes to close....

First, I remember being a young adult and attending a Jubilee celebration for my Great Aunt who is a Dominican Sister. I clearly remember her best friend preaching that day and saying, "The thing about the Christian life is it's so darn daily." She talked about the everyday challenges and devotions that make up a long life of following Jesus. I remember that frequently.... It's the little things we do each day that really shape our lives.

Finally, I love the saying I heard somewhere (?) that moms change the world "one diaper at a time." Thankfully, we are past the diaper stage here.... but we could certainly insert other tasks into this phrase. We truly do change the world one load of laundry, one home-cooked meal, one storytime at a time! We're experts at it! Embrace it! Whatever we're called to do today, let's do it for the glory of God!

Mother's Day Highlights

Mother's Day was filled with fun and blessings. I was awakened at 8:30 with a delightful breakfast in bed. The boys bought me two rose bushes for the yard and made me beautiful cards, including this one by Adam. It shows the two of us with "drops of love coming down on us" and a monster.

Later, my mom came over and we made her breakfast and we all went to Mass together. The boys enjoyed giving her some cards and pictures and a flower pot they painted. (The pot has a larger-sized saucer so it can be used as shown in the picture as a bird feeder or bird bath.)

After Mass we gave the Mary statue in our yard a little bath. Then we had a simple May Crowning.

We spent the afternoon and evening at my mom's house with my sisters and their families. My sisters and I planted some flowers for our mom. We ordered food from Olive Garden and brought it home. Yum!

For the children, we resurrected an old family tradition that my mom's parents used to do with us. We had a peanut hunt. The children had a blast hunting for peanuts and then Adam won the prize for eating the most and scattering shells all over my mom's house!

It was a really nice family day. Thank you God!

Good Shepherd's Garden Party - Week Five

This week's garden party theme was "The Gardener Plants Paradise." So, we had a garden-themed garden party! Everyone chipped in on this one and we enjoyed preparing and eating the meal together.
This week's symbols were:

1. The Tree of Life's Leaves. We enjoyed maple leaf cookies.

2. The Tree of Life's Flowers. We had a centerpiece made of flower lollipops. We also had broccoli and cauliFLOWER served in a flower shape.

3. The Tree of Life's Fruit. We had a delicious fruit salad.

4. The Owl. The boys loved making and devouring these owl cupcakes!

5. The Olive Tree. Adam and I really enjoyed eating some black and green olives.

6. The Palm Tree. We had palm tree toothpicks in cheese cubes. Ray LOVED constructing and eating these!

7. Roses and Lilies. We ate flower-shaped sandwiches.

It was cold and blustery outside, but it felt sunny and happy inside as we enjoyed this garden party. We had festive flowery plates and napkins. We talked about the meaning of each symbol. The boys are getting really good at connecting the foods to the symbols and readings for the week.

We are really loving our 50 day celebration of Easter! Two more garden parties to go!

Happy Mother's Day!

A priest friend of mine likes to tell the story of the first Mother's Day after he was ordained. At the end of Mass he wanted to wish all the mothers in the congregation a "Happy Mother's Day." He expressed his good wishes to all of the mothers, grandmothers, step-mothers, godmothers, and "all you other kinds of mothers." It took him a minute to realize his faux-pas when people began to snicker. Maybe he shouldn't have tried to be so inclusive!

Anyway, Mother's Day does have lots of dimensions to it.

On this day I am first of all thankful for my own beautiful, loving mother. She has sacrificed so much for me and my sisters. She lovingly and patiently supports us and walks with us through our own journeys of motherhood. She is my role model and my friend. I know that I am so blessed to have such a close relationship with her. We share our faith. We encourage one another. We laugh a lot together.

A little Mother's Day acrostic about my mom, Loretta:

Loves to sew
On the go
Really quite chic
Extra unique
Total cooking whiz
Tells it like it is
All that a mother should be!

Thank you Mom! I love you!

Next, of course, I am so thankful to be a mom to Adam and Ray. They are truly the center of my world. I love them more than I ever could have imagined I would. I learn and grow so much by spending each day with them. Being a mom is the greatest and hardest job. I pray every day for the grace, wisdom, energy, and patience to be the best mom God wants me to be.

I am also thanking God today for other women who have been mother figures in my life: my grandmothers (Mary Jo and Verna, who are now deceased), my godmother (my Aunt Janet, who passed away last year), my Mother-in-Law (who is wonderfully supportive of me), and several Dominican Sisters, teachers, and friends who have taught me about being a holy, healthy, happy woman and mom.

I have been privileged to meet and learn from so many wonderful moms in the past few years. May we continue to pray for, support, and encourage one another. May we resist the temptation to compare and judge ourselves and one another.

I also love sharing the journey of motherhood with my sisters and sisters-in-law!

I pray in a special way this weekend for women who are going through the pain of infertility, women who have miscarried and/or lost children, and all who grieve the passing of their own mothers.

Finally, I thank God for the gift of our Most Blessed Mother, our example and inspiration in this most holy vocation. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God.

Polar Bear Encounter

Today is an absolutely gorgeous day here in Central Ohio.... sunny and breezy with a high temperature of about 73 degrees. So, after our schoolwork this morning we decided to head to the Columbus Zoo. Today was opening day for the new polar bear exhibit. We had a really spectacular afternoon. The exhibit is AWESOME.... very well-organized. It allows for big crowds to see the polar bears and other related displays easily. The new exhibit area even has it's own polar-themed playground. I was so impressed with the boys' behavior. We had a great time exploring for more than three hours. Today I'm loving being a homeschool mom!

Living with Dragons (and Superheroes)

All Adam wanted for Christmas this past year was the DRAGON CASTLE (by Imaginext). So of course Santa Claus brought the dragon castle and lots of dragons and dragon-fighting guys and even the "dragon wagon." Both boys have really enjoyed playing with it. In the past few months they have really gotten into imaginative play.

One day several weeks ago we were shopping and Adam spotted a huge display of merchandise from the new movie, *How to Train Your Dragon. He had no idea that it was all stuff from a movie. He just saw dragons and was totally psyched. He wanted everything he saw. So, I asked my dad to pick out a few dragon things for Adam for his birthday. (Those of you who know my dad know that now Adam has a full wardrobe of dragon-wear... as well as a glow-in-the-dark blanket and pillow set. My dad doesn't know the meaning of the word "few"... but I digress. Love you dad!)

Here are some photos from today:

Adam sleeping last night in his new dragon pajamas, complete with cape and hood (attached by velcro). I stood in his room looking at him and remembering fondly the cute little sleepers he used to wear in his crib. Oh well.

Here's Adam getting ready to play outside in his dragon shirt (which says "Undefeatable" - He LOVES that!). The cape and hood from the pajamas are safety-pinned to his t-shirt.

Here you see the "Dragon Boy" swinging with "Buzz Lighyear." My lovely mother bought Adam the Buzz Lightyear wings for his birthday. In addition to sticking out and scraping my walls, they also have buttons that trigger several "fabulous" Buzz sayings. This morning I took Ray out for an early morning walk and jog around the track and he wore these lovely wings. For most of the rest of the day, the boys played some kind of complex "Dragon and Buzz" game which involved me switching the wings and the cape from boy to boy.

Here's Ray modeling the lovely dragon pajamas that we finally went out and bought for him this afternoon. It became quite clear that one pair of these beautiful pajamas simply would not do for us. You should have heard the fascinating conversation that took place at the store as the boys debated which dragon pajamas Ray should choose. (Yes, there are about half a dozen styles. No, I don't plan to buy any more. I did draw the line when they tried to get me to buy a second set of Buzz wings.)

And this was the end of our day. If you look closely you'll see the boys holding their rosaries. I would dare to wager that they are the only rosary-praying dragons in the State of Ohio.

I can't imagine what tomorrow will be like when I break the news that the dragon pajamas and capes must be washed!

So, I just thought I'd give you a peek into our wacky world today. I live with dragons. This is my calling. I love it, most of the time.

Our Michigan Adventure

We had a wonderful trip to Michigan to visit Jon's family this weekend. We make this trip (about 7 hours by car) several times each year, but because of tax season we can't go up January through April. So, we were all very excited to see our family and to celebrate Adam's birthday and the birthday of our niece Kelly, who was born one week after Adam.

The boys are quite accustomed to this trip since they've been doing it all their lives. They love to pack their backpacks with things to do and with snacks. They especially love getting to watch DVD's in the van for part of the trip. This time, however, we left home in the afternoon, after their final Good Shepherd class for this year, and (fortunately for us) this is what they looked like for a good part of the trip....


The best thing about going to Michigan is seeing Grandma! She couldn't believe how big the boys have grown since Christmas.


On Saturday all of our aunts (Jon has FIVE sisters), uncles, and cousins gathered at Grandma's for a birthday party for Adam and Kelly.


Adam got lots of cool birthday gifts, including his first fishing pole. He really wanted to go fishing on Sunday, but the weather didn't cooperate. Another really awesome gift he got was an Imaginext Space Shuttle set.


Ray also got a special surprise on this trip. One of his uncles gave him this BIG BOY BIKE! It's a bit too big for him really, but he thinks it is totally awesome! It was quite an accomplishment for Jon to load this bike, all of Adam's birthday gifts, and all of our other Michigan "stuff" into the van for the trip home. But he did it!


We swam THREE times in the three days we stayed at the hotel. We really like the hotel where we stayed (The Springhill Suites). The front desk lady even brought out little toys for the boys when she overheard us saying "Happy Birthday" to Adam at breakfast!


The boys LOVE spending time with their cousins! Grandma requested a NICE picture of the seven of them. Look who spoiled it! (Fortunately, we did get one decent shot for Grandma.)


Adam has a special fondness for his cousin Emmett. They played outside quite a bit on Saturday and Emmett even came swimming with us that night. It is so great for the boys to have these "big cousins" to look up to and learn from.


Sunday was really rainy and wet. The boys were thrilled to put on their rainboots and go walking and exploring in the woods with their cousin Addie. They looked for bugs and splashed in every puddle. They were soaked and filthy and so happy when they came back to the house!


We made the return trip on Monday and the boys thoroughly enjoyed watching "Toy Story" (which was a gift from Grandma). They laughed and shrieked through a lot of it. Today I've been unpacking and doing laundry and recovering from the trip. The boys have spent the day pretending to be Buzz Lightyear and Woody in the backyard.

These family trips are very special to us and I know the boys are creating bonds and memories that will last a lifetime.