Teething tablets

About a month ago, Ian finally cut his first tooth. Just this last week, his body has decided to pop up 3 more, so we're not getting much sleep, much less anything else. Good thing Jason is done with his sales route and has been home to help carry the "little load" around.

At Christmas, Steph told me about these "teething tablets". They are homeopathic quick-dissolving tablets that helped her youngest when she was teething. I've tried the Orajel stuff & that just makes him mad when I rub that stuff on his gums. I don't know if it's the taste or that it probably makes his tongue numb, or maybe it's me putting my finger in his mouth. Whatever it is, he doesn't like it.

So I am up for anything right now to attempt some sleep and have a happy baby again. So far, they've worked great! Actually I haven't even had to take them out of the bottle. He's been happy to just chew on the unopened bottle & shake it as a rattle! Whatever works, I guess!

Alleluia! Unto us a Savior is born!

What a wonderful, fun & family-filled weekend we've had this Christmas!
Look at how the family has grown!

Here is the beautiful set up that we had for a yummy Italian dinner.

We had lots of snow this Christmas, so unfortunately that meant not getting up north to see my family, but we will arrange another time to do that. Meanwhile, the kids had fun with their
cousins pretending to be gophers in the snow...(Minnesota Gophers, get it?)

Another treat was having Father Jeremy over to celebrate since he also could not get home to be with his family. He brought over a gingerbread house kit for the kids, but I think him and Jason had just as much fun putting it together as the kids did.

Ready to scream!

My attempt to be frugal and save ourselves a little money has backlashed on me & whittled away on my free time, not to mention my bedtime!

So last Monday, I ordered something online & sidestepped the shipping by deciding to pick it up, in Fargo. We were already planning a trip up there, so I thought, why not try to save 20 bucks? Didn't think it would be a problem until I tried to convince the website that I wasn't going to pick it up in MN & would rather do it in ND, so I spent 20 minutes on the phone getting that figured out.

Four days later, I get an e-mail saying I need to pick up my order within 6 days of placing it, or I would lose it. Well, I still had a week before I was going to get up there! So, again I spent some time on the phone & got an extension for 8 days. Wouldn't you know, I get an e-mail saying the no longer have my item. Huh?! Plus, now they say there's a problem with my card!

So, once again I get on the phone to this company to find out that they tried to charge me for the extension, but then cancelled it, but since it didn't credit yet, it was denying the new request. So, that rep got me on a, get this, conference call with the card company to get it figured out. So now I'm waiting AGAIN for a rep, but now with one waiting with me! I had to joke with her...she now sympathizes with those calling in. So I listened in while they went back & forth to get things straightened out & eventually we had to just cancel everything & start over.

The good thing is now it will come directly to our house & we still won't have to pay shipping. Here comes the confirmation e-mail. BAD THING! She messed up on my address!! She entered the street & zip code right, but left the city & state as Fargo, ND! Of course their e-mail link won't work!!!

Guess who's on the phone again...I should put it in my speed dial! Not only do I wait for 5 minutes to get a human on the phone (that was my SHORTEST wait by the way), all she does is takes my question & connects me to another line to wait...for 20 minutes! All this for an address correction! In the meanwhile, I decide to blog, but baby also decides to awake. I can't leave the phone now!! I'm already 15 minutes in! So now that Jason's awake, he unhappily brings Ian down so I can nurse & listen to the phone tell me "Your call is very important to us...please stay on the line" & continue to type with my free hand.

So now it's after midnight, and I have hours of time spent on the phone to save some money. Lesson learned, but at least Jason will now have his present BEFORE Christmas & I won't have to set foot in that store on Saturday. That's worth the 20 bucks right there!

Does it matter??

Whether you see it as "soooo biiiggg!" or as "Touchdown!", I just think it's just plain cute.

The best medicine is...

laughter (and silliness doesn't hurt either!) There's plenty of that in this family!

My brother, Tony, his wife, Dawn, and their adorable little boys came to visit us this past weekend. The kids had a blast and we enjoyed having them here to spend some time together.

Here is a picture of AJ when he was 6 months old. What do you think? Is Ian is like AJ's twin, 7 years later, or what?

Good news / bad news

The good news is that we made it through snow day with out any major outbreaks and the day went fairly quickly.

The bad news is, (well, it's not really that bad, it just makes an interesting title), that in order to have fun, the kids need to make a mess of things sometimes.

So, the good news on that is that they were having a blast together and playing imaginatively and interactively.

The bad news is that every cushion (8 total) on the furniture was off and blankets were everywhere to make forts, little furniture was brought in from the cold play room into the living room to make for an art table & baby got a hold of the box of markers and spread them everywhere (it's a box with probably 40-50 markers in it). This was in a 10 minute span.

To end on a positive note, the good news is that when all of the cushions are off, it makes it really easy to vacuum out all of the crumbs & we find pieces to toys we've been looking for, not to mention lots of pencils & crayons.

Snow Day

OK, maybe it's just that I've enjoyed a little quiet time. Maybe it seems like we have yet to have a month where the kids have a normal schedule. It seems like "teacher break" here, "off for State athletics" there, or a holiday, conferences, etc., and now what started out as a 2-hour late start, has turned into a "Snow day". I know I should be excited to have all my kids at home, and that I should embrace the opportunity to involve them in the activities and projects I had planned for the day, but chalk it up to an all-to-recent extended weekend with them, a lack of sleep from the baby, grumpy attitudes to each other with what seems to be like constant fighting, and so yeah, I guess I'm not so thrilled about it right now. The only time I have seemed to eek out to post this blog was a desperate attempt at the constant pleas for some TV time & gave into letting them veg in front of the tube with a movie. (That by the way is a great distraction, but doesn't help with the fighting as soon as it's over.)

So, I know, "suck it up!" and have a fun day with the kids doing something we didn't do all those other days. Make "Snow day" a fun day & be glad I don't have to be outside. Hopefully, this won't be the start of many more to come, considering that they may end up in school well into June otherwise!

Laminin

"OK, enough with the videos!" you say, but this one was just too good to pass up. Thank you, Steph for sharing it with me. It's just so awesome I think I'll have to put it on my Facebook page as well! Who says science and God can't co-exist?! Actually, I think we're learning everyday that science actually proves God exists and that He gave us intelligent minds to know so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0-NPPIeeRk&NR=1

"C" is for Cookie...and C-U-T-E!!

They've been practicing...

It's no doubt that Ian likes to dish out the love

& has plenty of kisses to go around...

I have no idea where this choreographing came from, but it sure is original, fun, & definitely from the heart. (That's Laney by the way.)

Here's Faith doing "The Twist". She's the taller one in the light dress, in case you can't tell. (Yes, that's cousin, Elena, and Aunt Teresa dancing as well.)

State Champs!

Congrats to the Minneota football team who made it to State & then took home the title with an undefeated record! We took the kids to the playoff game at the SMSU field and Laney displayed her spirit by making her own sign.

Then we took a trip up to the Metrodome in the Twin Cities for the semi-finals to watch the team advance to the championship. We ended up staying home for that game the next week, but we watched it in full comfort of our living room on the big screen. We loved the chance to be there, but one trip was enough for us and Ian. He is only good for an hour in the car seat, then the screaming begins.

Jason's cousin, Brett, is a senior on the team & led the team in tackles during the championship game. It has been about 20 years since Minneota has had a state title in football & it brought back memories for many from this town & it was fun to see such a hard-working bunch get what they deserved. Way to go guys!

An evening performance...

Last night, the kids treated us to "a show", complete with front row seats in a darkened room with a spotlight. Laney was the narrator with AJ & Faith acting out their parts. After Laney's lengthy monologue, Faith attempted to move the show along. Here are some of my favorite parts.

The scene: Faith is a fairy godmother manned with a "wand", (which is actually her new, unwrapped toothbrush from that day's dental visit.) A.J. is the poor sap who gets transformed into a frog, then a tiger (that gets scary, so we suggest a turkey). As a turkey, he begins gobbling and waddling slowly across the stage back and forth.

Faith: Zippity zap! Turkey!
AJ: Gobble, gobble. Gobble, gobble.

Laney then gets in and starts instructing Faith what to do next, but we are too encompassed on watching AJ's turkey impression, as he is now pacing quickly back and forth gobbling & flapping his wings.

AJ: Gobble, gobble! Gobble, gobble! Gobble, gobble!
Faith: (reaching over Laney to touch the crazy turkey) Zippity zap! Dead turkey!

AJ turkey falls to the floor in a dead turkey heap. As he eventually comes "alive" and starts to come after the two girls as if he's some sort of zombie turkey or something.

Faith: (not missing a beat) Zippity zap! Tomato butt!

(At this point, we're all laughing to tears. I think to myself that is moments like this that make parenthood a priceless gift and precious memories to last a lifetime, or at least until the next performance.)

Self-soothing

After months of nursing and cuddling our baby Ian to sleep, we are trying to teach him now to fall asleep on his own. This is not some new concept that we have just learned and we had really tried it from the start, since we had 3 others to learn from, but something with this one has just made it harder to accomplish.

One reason being is that maybe we're just enjoying our cuddling time more. Maybe we realize that our time spent doing things around the house can just as pleasantly be spent snuggling with the baby.

Another reason could be that I often need some time to rest as well, since I get up often at night. Although that would probably cease if he learns to fall back asleep on his own!

But one of my biggest reasons for not enforcing the self-soothing method for such a length of time is that this little guy doesn't just cry and wear himself down. He cries and gets more worked up. He wakes up the next time or in the morning remembering how much he cried for you to comfort him and then makes you build up his trust the entire next day by insisting you are not going to put him through that again. He'll start crying as hard as he did when he fell asleep, almost as though he remembers it all too well.

In contrast, if we pick him up and settle him down and allow him to fall asleep and then lay him down, he is a much happier and more trusting baby than if we do it the other way. Granted, he may still not sleep well through the night, but he's much easier to lay back down in his bed after he's nursed or been held. The other way, he takes offense to the crib rather than accepting his own bed space as he does when we don't make him cry and wail to get to sleep.

So, once again, I am torn between experts & research verses my heart & instincts to soothe my baby and decide what's best for him (and us) and what will help him in the long run without him becoming totally reliant on us in certain aspects. After trying it both ways for several evenings each, I think with this little guy, I am going to have to lean toward my gut feeling and see where that leads us. Some rules just don't apply to all people, and for this baby, he's helping me to see that to some people, there are just some rules that don't work out, no matter how much you want them to.

(I think I just wrote my way out of self-soothing, which is what I said, at the beginning of the blog, that we were trying to teach him. Guess I'll keep you posted on what ended up working!)

Tooting contest.

Unfortunately this contest did not involve trains or tugboats or anything like that which normally are described as making a "tooting" noise. No, as a matter of fact, this contest involved our innocent-looking little girls and their inherited genetic disposition for being able to outwardly express and share their natural body functions on demand.

It wasn't bad enough that I had to grow up with this and find myself subjected to moments of "pull my finger" and "get a load of this!" or the all-to-familiar, generate-a-blast-on-someone-else-for-a-laugh, and to now find myself flashing back to my childhood through my kids.

As many of you know, Laney is quite generous when it comes to this aspect of sharing with the rest of the family, so a couple of nights ago, during dinner mind you, she starts farting away. (Just for an added effect, I should mention that we have wooden stools that we sit on, so that made it even more entertaining.) I decided to remind her that it wasn't polite to do that at the table and asked her to please take it to the bathroom. Well, if you've been in our house, the bathroom is right off the kitchen, so she proceeded to make trip after trip to the bathroom to "toot".

So last night, Faith decided it was her turn, and as she ran back and forth, she managed to catch the entire family's attention by belting out some whoppers that sounded like they were produced by a 250-pound full-grown man, and not a 30-pound 4-year-old little girl. As the amazement and laughter generated from the kitchen (mind you that the door was closed each time) she came to the conclusion that she was accomplishing something Laney didn't the night before. Therefore, every time she went to close the door to the bathroom to pass gas, she would holler out with a huge grin, "Tooting contest!", and as Jason commented that we wouldn't let her live this down when she was a teenager, I knew that it was something I needed to blog in case my memory fails me.

Milestones: by Ian

It turns out that Friday the 13th isn't such a bad day after all, at least it wasn't for me! I was so happy when my first tooth finally cut through so I don't have to be so uncomfortable! Except I did hear Mommy say something about "at least until the next ones come in", so I don't know if I am looking forward to that. But I do enjoy trying new foods and when all these chompers come in, I will get to take full advantage of eating all that everyone else in the family has been eating and so heartily scarfing down each day. I am anticipating my first Thanksgiving next week!

Not to put the tooth thing down on a list of accomplishments, but I also successfully attempted my first coordinated movements forward in crawling! I was tired of watching the vacuum go to and away from me, so I decided to muster up the courage to get up and go to it myself. Everyone was there cheering me on, so it must be a big deal. I enjoy that I don't have to remain stuck in the corner anymore and can now crawl out rather than cry until someone saves me.

I am trying to be brave and sleep in my crib more so Daddy can sleep in the bed with Mommy again and not have to sleep on the couch. He has been letting me sleep there so we could all get more sleep, but now that I am rolling around more, I think I better learn to snooze in my crib so I don't fall out of bed. At least in my own bed I can stretch out, but I miss snuggling with Mommy all night long. But I also think she has been tired from getting up with me so often because I have started waking up more at night again. My crib did get moved to their room, so maybe with Daddy's snoring, it will be a white noise to help me sleep, but I don't think it helps Mommy as much...she's such a light sleeper!

Patience is...

As I have said before, having children is part of my virtuous training, so here are a few things that have been a push on my "patience button".

-Grass stain removal- 7 year old boy and his pants (EVERY PAIR!) as well as some shirts. It's a guarantee that the knees will be covered, but don't forget to check the rear end & hips. This takes patience because of the fact that you can't just sort & dump, it requires CSI investigative skills at times.

-Nose wiping-just when you think you've gotten one taken care of, someone else gets a runny nose...myself included!

-Feeding a 9 month old-did you know that one slice of a banana has to be sliced into 9 tiny pieces & that it takes 15-20 minutes to get that down?

This one doesn't relate to the kids, but is a new one that I am adding in lieu of Jason's encounter this morning...sitting down for 3 1/2 hours in "conversation" with Jehovah's Witnesses over at Seth & Teresa's. Those JW's have some crazy ideas & really don't care to understand your side at all. My patience is tested and I wasn't even there!

Daylight Savings Time

It's remarkable that one little hour change twice a year can make such a difference! No matter what we do or don't do as parents, the effects on our kids are amazing. Case in point, it was DST that pushed our kids to a 7:00 bedtime that seems to have done well with us for the last year. No matter what time we put our kids to bed, they were up at the buttcrack of dawn. So we thought we'd at least make it work to our advantage and make for an earlier bedtime.

Well, this morning DST ending reared it's early head as the 2 older ones awoke, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, at 5 AM on the dot. I unfortunately am a very light sleeper and was forced to arise when they did. Ironically, it was the best Ian has slept in months. He has been getting up 4-5 times a night to nurse and is up for the morning around 6. I usually don't go to bed until around 10:30-11, so you do the math...I don't sleep for very long stretches. But last night, he only woke up once after I crawled into bed, so you can imagine my disgust when the older ones were up so early and ready for the day.

Hopefully it will get better as the week goes on. If anything, maybe I'll learn to reap what "fall back 1 hour" has to sow and get to bed earlier so I can be ready for the day before everyone else. Did I mention that I'm the night owl? Jason's the early riser, or at least the one who's less crabby when awakened early. Too bad it's just harder to wake him up!

"You can't catch a cold from farting."

Yes, that's actually what came out of my mouth the other night while talking to the kids about germs and washing their hands. I insist that the kids wash their hands when they get home from school & before they eat. But after watching them eat that night, I have decided that it's a good idea during cold & flu season to have them wash their hands after eating as well.

After eating with fingers and licking them, AJ proceeded to move over to the baby and put his hands all over Ian's face. I asked him to please wash his hands before he touched him & said that was one of the ways that germs that make us sick and pass around. I added that may be one of the reasons Ian is sick with the same thing as AJ.

AJ then ventured to say that maybe we're sick because of Laney's farts, which I instinctively answered with, "You can't catch a cold from farting.", after which I paused and immediately began to laugh for the silliness of that very sentence. We all had a good laugh & I knew it had to be blogged.

AJ had to finish with the comment that her farts, (which are quite frequent), do make us sick more times than not, but we all know that it wouldn't do any good to wash our hands in that case.

I'm officially "a Lady"

It's a good thing that Jason embarks on adventures, otherwise I'd probably never have a reason to get dressed up.

Last weekend, he was "knighted" and in doing so, officially makes me a "lady" I guess. He's in the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal men's organization. He joined a couple of years ago when St. Ed's didn't have their own chapter, and now there are over 30 men from our parish area who are involved. It has been great to see the men, as a group, doing their work for the church. They love doing the "manly" things such as cutting down trees in the cemetary and ripping out carpet in the church, as well as doing charitable things such as fundraisers and pro-life awareness events.

So getting back to Sir Jason...when he joined, he was a 1st degree knight. This last installment was his 4th degree and during that time, the wives are invited to join the men for the evening social & banquet. As you can see, they are all wearing tuxes, so we decided to get spiffed up as well. Good thing, too, now that I am "Lady Myhre" ;) Yeah, that sounds weird to me too!

I hear the ceremony was just as a "knighting" should be, with the sword and all. And now when events come up that call for the Knights, Jason & his fellow 4th degrees can get all gussied up in their entire regalia (part of which includes his own sword, cape & feathery hat) Neat, huh? I look forward to seeing it! (If you're imagining 3 Musketeers, it's not quite like that...)

Also getting their 4th degrees that day were: Seth (Jason's brother, who also sells insurance for the Knights), with wife Teresa; Wayne Hennen & Lisa; and Father Jeremy (holding Ian). It was a great meal which included the largest piece of cake I have ever been served! I managed to inhale the entire meal though, despite a snug-fitting dress...a nursing mom's gotta eat ya know!

Happy birthday, Laney!

My dear, oldest daughter,

I did not forget your birthday on the 18th, I just forgot to blog about it that day. I remembered Monday, but didn't have a chance to do it & now it's Wednesday & I'm realizing that I still didn't do it. Of course, as I begin, your baby brother begins to stir in his bed, but thank goodness you have such a wonderful Daddy who will go up to comfort him until I can finish.

Six years ago, Jason, AJ & I headed for Arizona for the second time & when we realized the work would be better for Jason in El Paso, TX, we moved on after a week or two. After struggling daily for a week & wondering if he would have made enough money for us to remain in the hotel, he scored a few more shoeing jobs and we had enough to move over to an extended stay motel. That was home for another week.

Then our dear friend, Gary Ladd, God rest his soul, showed up and borrowed us enough money for a deposit on an apartment that was more than a great home for us for the next 7 months. After 2 weeks of living there & not having any furniture but an air mattress on the living room floor and a tv in front of it, along came Laney, 3 weeks early, but still 7 pounds and ready for the world.

After less than an hour of labor at home, we headed to the hospital & as the attendent wheeled me to the OB department, his realization of the frequency of my contractions had me thinking I should not have waited so long. So while Jason went to move the truck out of the emergency bay, the nurses gowned me up for delivery. As soon as he got back to the room, the doctor was there & said it was time to push. HUH?! Three pushes later, I was moved to tears as they announced it was a baby girl...we got our little girl!

She was a very content baby who loved to sleep in her bed, always ate well & didn't fuss much. Now, she still loves her bed, although she's up before the sun lately, she still eats well (actually more than AJ and Faith combined most of the time), but the fussing has changed a bit, but we won't get into that. So here's a belated birthday wish for her that the future holds just as much joy for her as her entrance into our world has been for us.

"I'mmm fifff-tay!" (Sally O'Malley)

It just doesn't come out the same way written down! I totally missed that when I hit my "50th" blog, so it's actually, "I'mmm fiff-tay [three]! and I can KICK-STRETCH-aannd KICK! I'mm fiff-tay!" Here's a cute spoof I found on, where else, You Tube!

Halfway through!

This weekend, Jason & 10 of his permanent diaconate program classmates took part in the Rite of Installation of Lector into the Catholic Church. It was a beautiful Mass as the church choir's angelic voices sang hymns of praise while the candidates (donned in crisp, white albs) proceeded up the aisle, as well as receeded at the end, with the Bishop LeVoir, Monsignor Lozinski, 2 priests (one being Fr. Paul Timmerman), 2 deacons, seminarians, and acolytes. (I am not positive I have all that info 100% perfect.) The were called forward & received a bible from the Bishop as a reminder to bring the Word to the people as preparation for service to them.

Deacon Mark (the director of the Permanent Diaconate program in the New Ulm Diocese) mentioned to us that it was probably going to be the only time that they would be in a Mass where all 7 different levels of service would be present. (I know I don't have all 7 listed...I couldn't remember them all...I was tending to baby when he mentioned it & caught the tail end of his announcement.) But even aside from all that, it was really neat. We are officially halfway through his studies, with 2 1/2 years down & the same to look forward to. It has been an incredible journey filled with learning, bonding, faith & friendships and we are thankful for the opportunity & anticipate the future with open hearts & minds to God's will.

Time for an update!

Woah! I've been quite lacking in the blogging world the past 2 weeks. I think I was enjoying having a little free time to myself. Don't get me wrong, I was still plenty busy & thanks to Steph's mom, Carol, we now have a house that looks more like a home. She came over to help decorate & rearrange our living room and to just go through things that we've been moving around for the last 11 years & tell me what to keep & get rid of. I'm one of those people that doesn't like to keep things & to find places for them. I do for some sentimental things, but I am also willing to let things go at the advice of a professional. It feels really good to get rid of some stuff & "clean house".

"So what do you do now that you have 2 kids at school all day, Tina?" That's a good question! I find myself studying more now that I am in a bible study on Tuesday nights and a SAHM's (stay-at-home-moms) study group 2 mornings a month, so when I'm not doing my "routine" things at home, I am trying to read. Ian, on the other hand, would rather I didn't. He would rather I sit on the floor with him & watch him play, or lay in bed with him when he naps or just hold him. He's rolling all over, but get's mad when he can't get back up to a sitting position. He's better today because I think he got more sleep since I held him when he dozed off. Otherwise, the naps have been short which makes for crabby baby.

Well, enough about all that! Here's some pictures, which are WAY more interesting than me blabbing about my day. I shouldn't complain. We have a beautiful home, in a great location for us, our health is great & Jason brings home the bacon so I can watch our babies grow. Life is good & all the glory & praise to God!

Ian & Toby (our most recent godchild)

Faith sporting her new haircut (she begged me to cut it short)

Tomatoes anyone?

Two days. 10 cases of tomatoes. Lots of onions, peppers, garlic & chopping. 66 quart jars. 66 "popped" tops. That equals enough salsa, spaghetti sauce and canned tomatoes to last us all year, hopefully. Not to mention that our tomato plants are still producing. What else can we make??

Canning not only provides for our family for minimal costs, but also brings about good conversation, lots of dishes, the aroma of cooking, and makes for a good way to "break in" a newly painted kitchen. It was fulfilling to do something that I grew up doing & being able to share that experience with Jason & the kids (although we did most of it when they were gone.) We'll make sure they get in on it as they get older & don't want to help. Keeps them out of trouble...at least it did for me for a little while.

Where's Waldo?

Well, this is our version of it, but we'll call it, "Where's AJ?" One of his favorite things he learned to do this summer is climb the tree in our front yard. I personally think it's to scare the crap out of me. I really don't enjoy seeing my 7 year-old way up in a tree, nor do I enjoy envisioning him falling out of it. But he was pretty proud of himself, to say the least.

We're busy canning tomatoes, salsa & spaghetti sauce so the blogs have been thin. Our house smells like a salsa factory & I smell like I work in a mexican restaurant. But it's great bonding time for Jason & I and we love consuming it all in the days ahead. Just can't eat salsa from the store anymore since we've made our own...it just doesn't taste as good!

"Rolley polley"

That's what the kids call it.

I call it "The wheels on the bus".

Maybe it's the move that we learned to a Vacation Bible School song.

Whatever it's called, it's the latest thing Ian is showing us he can do,

and it's just so darn cute!

Oh, happy birthday (yesterday) to our little Faithy girl, who is now 4, and to my "Uncle Rita" who lives out in San Diego, and shares the same birthday. This one's for you...

Am I the older brother?

I am reading a book that has challenged me mentally & spiritually with every chapter I read & I love it! I am actually only on the 4th chapter, but I have received so much healing & grace with what it has brought to my attention. It's called "Unbound" by Neal Lazano & helps guide us through things that keep us from being fully happy in life with ourselves, others, and most importantly, with God.

So, anyhoo, there's a part in the last chapter I read where he refers to the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). To make a long story short, he questions what would have happened if the younger son, upon repenting & returning home, would have encountered the angry & spiteful older brother before his father? Would he have continued on, knowing how his brother felt after he remained behind, doing the right things in his father's eyes, and then how he went off & squandered his inheritance on "bad stuff"? Would he question his father's mercy based on his brother's emotions?

It got me thinking about my growing relationship with my faith & how I've tried to introduce it to my family & friends. Have I stood in the way of them running home to the Father's merciful arms or have I been doing what Jesus asked of us by spreading the Good News as the apostles and early church fathers did? Believe you me, I am certainly no where near what those saints did and my question is not if I'm doing that well enough yet, but if I'm hindering their path to the Father & His infinite mercy by not feeling completely merciful myself and somewhat irritated?

It's all part of the healing process, I guess, and it will be something that I continue to look forward to and somewhat loathe until I get my answer, if I so deserve. Oh, if I have gotten in your way, I truly apologize & I pray that I will have the grace & wisdom to trust in the Lord from now on & get out of the way when He asks of me. So keep running home to Him!

Tater tots equals a lesson in physics...

Laney was explaining something fun she did yesterday. She said, "Mommy, we got to go on the tater tots yesterday!" Tater tots? I thought to myself. "You know, you sit on them and go up and down! Those are so fun!"

"Oh, the teeter totters?" I questioned. "What did you call them again, Laney?" I asked, knowing what she called them, but I just wanted to hear her say it again.

"Tater tots!" she exclaimed excitedly. "I love those! Did you have those when you were a kid, Mommy?"

"Yes, I did! But I was kind of small when I was little, so I always got stuck at the top." Then the conversation turned into a lesson of physics to help her understand how that happened. I thought this would be a great one to blog...I'll never think of the words the same again. : )

Father, fisherman, or ROCK STAR!?

This one has been entitled "Chomping at the bit"
(that's his new favorite chew thing, Father's collar)

New daily grind

In less than a week, we will begin the process of sending our kids off to school. I think they will transition well, since they have been still getting up EARLY, which means they go to bed early.

This year, we will have 2 in school full-time & one in preschool 2 mornings a week. So for a few hours a couple days a week, I will have gone from 4 kids to 1 little baby. I AM EXCITED! I know, I know...I need to cherish these times when they are little, but with them all fairly close together, it's been a lot to do the last 6 years & I am looking forward to a little "break" & to actually have some time to miss them & appreciate them a little more.

Although I will be down a few, I still have not become overzealous on my to-do list simply for the fact that baby is now rolling all over & getting upset when he gets stuck somewhere. Soon enough he will be crawling & into many things & I will have to tackle the job of baby-proofing the new house & all the smaller toys that have accumulated as the kids got older. It's just too hard to expect them to keep those things away from him & he's also learning about tantrums & frustration when something gets removed from his possession, so we are going to try to cut down on those situations.

The kids are excited about going to games & getting back to school to see their friends. It will be fun to see how this year goes living in town & we are all looking forward to it!

Deep thoughts...interuppted

The scene: Three adults - Jason, Fr. Jeremy & I, sitting in the living room. Baby Ian has just arised from a catnap after nursing himself to sleep. As he intently sits forward, he gazes into the faces of those before him.

Fr. Jeremy: I can't wait to see what the future holds for you, Little One. I hope that I live long enough to see you grow into a man. You're not much for words, are you, Wujek? You just remind me of JPII. Maybe you'll preside at my funeral...Or maybe you'll be a doctor or something like that.

Jason: As long as God's a part of it, he can do whatever he wants.

Ian looks happily and deeply into their eyes while doing his usual baby jerky movements.

Tina: He's watching you so intently! I love how he looks at you when you look at him & it's like he knows what you're thinking! It's just so calming and you just wonder what he's thinking...

Baby sits up straight for a second, then...*Bleaaakk!* *Splat!* As baby vomits, Tina realizes that not only did he tag himself, but it's now running down her leg. As everyone erupts into laughter...

Fr. Jeremy: (laughing) Classic baby! We're all deep into thought, and then...way to go, Ian!

Baby Ian continues to look intently as before, but now with a slight grin and that adorable wide-eyed expression on his face as if he hasn't a clue what just happened and what we're laughing at. He is just loving that it's directed at him. All continue to laugh at this moment. When in all seriousness, the mood is interrupted by none else, than baby puke.

Fr. Jeremy: (still laughing) That HAS to go on the blog!!

I hope I did it justice...Here's the look that I tried to describe...

Virtuous training

It is my belief that the Lord blesses us with children, (and relatives for that matter), as a way to push us towards a more holy life, (or over the edge). Case in point: When I began praying for the virtue of patience, for some reason I actually believed that I might just *poof* get it. But God in His infinite wisdom & grace (and sense of humor) shows us that it just doesn't work that way. Nooooo! We actually have to WORK for it! So, when I prayed for patience, little did I know that I would get many an opportunity to develop that. (Look back to post on aversions.)

So the next time I prayed, I said, "I get it! I will no longer pray for patience!" How about strength or courage then?? Well, with that comes a whole variety of lessons. Opportunities to step out of your comfort zone, trials in life, and people who cross your path to make things difficult.

Wait! Maybe I need to add wisdom to that prayer...well, that's a little better, a desire to learn more. But then it's put to the test if I can actually spit it out once it's in my head.

Let's see, what else can I pray for? How about trusting in His will? Yeah, that's perfect! That way, I know that I'm not praying for myself, but for Him to work His will through my open and loving heart. What? You mean I need to wait for things to happen in HIS time?!? No really, Lord, I do trust you, but could you just move things along a little quicker?

So, I joke, but as I continue to live & pray for these traits, it becomes more evident that I will have my prayers granted and many times through situations provided by my kids. Many a times I have just thrown my hands into the air & exclaim that it's all part of my virtuous training. But I have learned to realize that we're not meant to do it all on our own, and that may be an answer to a prayer for humility.

Retreat!

Last weekend, Jason & I travelled to our much anticipated annual diaconate retreat, held at Christ the King's Retreat Center in Buffalo, MN. It's a beautiful facility located on the shore of the lake & all that's needed for a weekend away from the kids. We had a room with a view, 3 wonderful meals a day and snacks galore, not to mention a coffee/hot chocolate machine that makes a cup of joe at the push of a button.

We had the pleasure of the company of Bishop LeVoir, Monsignor Lozinski & Ann Pryzbilla, all from the New Ulm Diocese, to teach us a few things...(it can't be all vacation!) With all of that, I think we enjoy the social time the most. Being able to visit with our classmates and now dear friends that we trust and love, and laughing until our faces hurt.

Prayer time is pretty darn awesome, too! Along with daily Masses, morning and evening prayer, we had Adoration (Holy hour in the presence of Christ) and prayed a rosary by the Crucifix overlooking the lake (it's hard to see in the picture).

Ian enjoyed his time there, as well. He was actually with us last year, too, as we were reminded that we announced that we were expecting last year at this time. But this was our first time with him away from the rest of the kids for a weekend & he enjoyed his time in the spotlight. I know he missed them, though...Sunday he was restless until he saw them & he couldn't stop smiling & babbling at them.

A thousand words...

VBS: by Ian

Well, after months of preparation & one crazy but fun, faith-filled week, our Vacation Bible School is over until next year. I had a blast watching the kids dance around & sing. My brother & sisters were there and even some other family members. My great-grandma Corky helped with snacks. My cousin Brooke helped with the preschoolers. My aunt Teresa taught the station called the Swamp Stomp Sing & Play station, but I just called it song time that started the day off. There was a guy there that showed up during her time that everyone kept calling "Skeeter", but he sure looked and sounded like Daddy. He did some funny things like catching fireflies with his eyes closed, juggling crocodile eggs with his eyes closed, and other things...you guessed it, with his eyes closed.


We had fun, but it's also tough work to keep track of 42 kids and 20 plus volunteers without getting a little worn out. I do love the constant attention though! Here's me (on the floor) and my cousin Sammy at the end of our VBS day.

Sisters

I never grew up with a sister or any girl cousins. The first girl cousin on my side of the family came when I was 13. When I was in high school & college, my best friends were mostly boys. So when I had Faith, the thought of 2 girls under my roof was a little scary for me. Little did I know how fun it would be to watch sisters do the things sisters do to laugh & be silly.
Where do they come up with these things?

Along with the blessing of these two, I thank God that they were born between 2 boys to keep them in line & watch over them when the boys start chasing them...Daddy can only do so much!

Just a quick note to let you all (all 5 of you that read this... just kidding!) that we are ok & still blogging. It's just that last week we had Vacation Bible School & even though it was only 3 hours a day, we managed to be busy with the usual things...well, not the blog.

On Friday, my Grandpa (Dad's dad), passed away, so after a weekend away, we are unpacking & re-packing to head up to ND for the funeral & to be with my family. Hopefully when we get back, I can share more & maybe get some new pics up.

I don't think I'll even bother to put my suitcase away when we get back, though, since we have the annual diaconate retreat this weekend. I am looking forward to spending some time with my hubby for a weekend that we just eat, socialize, sleep, play & PRAY...maybe a little learning, too, but mostly some quiet time together & the kids will have some quality time with the grandparents.

I stand corrected...

I figured I would get something wrong when I try to process what Fr. Jeremy tells me and then try to spit it back out. It just never works out how I intend. So, I DID get the spelling wrong...it's WUJEK. And it wasn't Pope John Paul's nickname when he was little, rather when he was a priest, and in order to protect...you know what? I'm gonna get it wrong again, so I will take Father's word for it & let him call him "Wujek". And to quote Forrest Gump, (with a deep southern accent) "That's all I have to say about thaaat!"

Here's hoping!

Usually when I hear somebody say something once, I don't get too excited about it, but when more than one person tells me the exact same thing, I begin to sense what I like to call a "Godincidence". This is my word for "coincidence", but sensing that God has a hand in it and it's message, hence my funny word.

So, Father Jeremy has nicknamed Ian, "Wujack", (which I am sure I spelled wrong), and says that he calls him that because it was Pope John Paul II's nickname when he was little & that Ian looks just like him. Imagine my surprise when just this Sunday, one of our dear friends in the diaconate program, Steve, (who lives in Courtland, 2 hours away), while holding Ian says, "He looks just like Pope John Paul II when he was a baby!"

I, of course, had to check rather than take their words for it. Much to my surprise (and delight) that he really does! Also imagine my surprise when I see a picture (similar to the one I took here over 2 months ago) of JPII and his mommy!

With that in mind & a deeper sense, (even before all of this), that God may have a greater plan for our little "Wujack", here's praying that we may continue to guide him & help him grow in his love for God, and if destined for greatness as the late JPII, (who has been widely acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the twentieth century), we don't get in his way when God calls him to do whatever it is He has planned for him.

Here's also hoping that all of our 4 little blessings' lives will center around God and that His will be done in their lives with trust and open hearts.

Aversions

aversion n. - a strong feeling of dislike, repugnance, or antipathy toward something and a desire to avoid it.

My observations of child aversions:
1. Anything clean - this is a very broad category, so I'll break it down:
a. toilets - nothin' says "pee all over the back of me" like a freshly cleaned toilet. Once soiled, it never seems to get worse, but it never fails that after a good scrubbing, someone manages to whiz all over it.
b. windows - what is it with having windows clean enough to look through that drives them crazy enough to rub food, spit, boogers, etc., all over them?
c. mirrors - are those tongue marks??
d. toys - aversions to the toys, unless they are all picked up by you, and then they're fun just long enough to scatter them everywhere, then it's on to something else.
e. the car - (See also 1b) How does so much food end up on the floor and under their seat? And where did all this garbage come from? Let's not mention the cupholders...looks like a science experiment! Ewww!

2. What you picked out for lunch & dinner

3. What you picked out for clothes that day

4. Directions for safety & well-being (all other bad instructions, especially by "friends", filter right on through to the long-term memory portion of the brain)

5. Napkins - why use a napkin when the underside of the table works just fine? Or their sleeve...or pants, or your clean shirt. But when given the opportunity to use a cloth napkin, they decide they don't want to get it dirty.

6. Baby has an aversion to being laid down most of the time.

7. Bedtime - Unless completely & utterly exhausted, someone will come down in less than 5 minutes & say "I can't sleep". Baby's aversion is to his own bed. Wakes up immediately in his bed, sleeps in ours, even when we're not in it. Maybe I should read "The Three Bears" again...

8. (This one may be considered a non-aversion, or could go under the "anything clean" category) A clean desk calendar - unless decorated by lines and scribbles, the month wouldn't be complete. Must also be done right when the new month starts so as not to have a "clean" schedule for an entire month.

9. Toilet paper - this discovery is uncovered when I do laundry. When toilet paper is utilized, it usually requires the use of plumbing tools to regain a proper functioning biffy.

10. Parent-to-parent interaction - It could be quiet for 30 minutes and as soon as you begin a conversation with your spouse, everyone decides that it's their turn to talk to Mom & Dad. This also includes any affectionate gestures, which result in little bodies squeezing in at the knees to get in on the lovin', or just keep us apart.

Of course, this is all in fun...I just had a list of sarcastic funnies piling up in my head & thought I'd share it. Now it's time to start cleaning all of those #1 aversions...again!

"I have something to say..."

For the most part, Ian is a pretty quiet baby and doesn't babble much...until last night. He somehow "speaks" with conviction & a sense of authority. He must be listening to his godfather's homilies...

"Four?!? Wow, you must be BUSY!"

When people ask me how many kids we have, the look on their face and the surprise in their voice when I say "four" just makes me smile. I never imagined that one day Jason & I would have 4 babies & I thought that I never wanted to have that much to do. For the most part, those selfish days are over and I find myself strangely serene about it all. Don't get me wrong, I have my days of overwhelming, hair-pulling, jaw-clenching moments, but overall, I am surprised by how much better it gets with each baby. Chalk it up maybe to experience, or even a growing maturity, but my alone time with Ian is spent much differently than when it was just AJ.

Yesterday while the older 3 helped Daddy in the garage, Ian & I worked in the garden & then laid on a blanket in the neighbor's fluffy grass, under the shade of a beautiful maple tree, gazing up at the clouds in the bright blue sky. Not something I took time to do early in my parenting journey. It was a blessed moment and the peace I found with that was priceless & I find myself looking forward to it more everyday. Yes, we are "busy", but it's a good way to be busy, and actually, they have helped me to slow down more mentally & enjoy the simple pleasures.

Adios, summer rec activities!

Well, summer recreation has ended for the kids & I find myself searching for ways to keep a very active 7 year-old boy busy enough so he doesn't drive us all mad. Now that we're in town, AJ's need to be constantly entertained has jumped into high gear. That was something I didn't see coming. I knew he would have more things to do & more kids to play with. What I didn't expect was that when he had a minute of down time, it would drive him bonkers, which in turn gets us all crazy because he can't stop asking about the next activity.

Yes, giving him work helps, but that only works for so long. Happily, Jason's route is done for the month, so being the wonderful Daddy that he is, he finds things to do with them to allow Ian his much needed quiet naptimes and smother-free Mommy time. This, in turn, makes everyone happier for the most part. I just have to figure out how to keep them that busy now that there is no summer rec to burn up their energy for a couple of hours and when Jason's route starts again! It might be time to start drinking coffee every morning...

Milestones: by Ian

As you know, from Mommy's last post, I have started eating cereal so I can try to sleep longer at night. I just wake up so hungry and don't realize that it's just been a few hours since I was last up! I make up for my sleep loss during the day though so Mommy can try to get some things done. You've seen me in my swing...

Guess what I learned to do the other day? I started rolling over! It seemed so hard to do for the longest time, but I realized that when I turn my head to the side and then bring my knees into my chest, I roll over like a little Weeble! My brother & sisters get so excited when I do it & they squeal with excitement. They also like it when I laugh at them, so I try to make a point of doing it a few times a day.

Life is good! My meals are always the perfect temperature, I get outside a lot in the stroller & the bike trailer (I usually fall asleep!) and I am hardly ever short of attention. I sure love my family and thank God that He brought me into this world to love them. I'm pretty sure they love me just as much, too! I better go...Mommy needs some attention. Hugs & smiles! Ian

Baby food time!

Ian got his first taste of "big boy food" yesterday and he absolutely loved it! The other kids winced and made funny faces when the spoon reached their lips, but not him! He opened his little mouth like a baby bird right on the first try and never stopped until it was all down the hatch.

I decided to try some rice cereal for dinner to hopefully get a longer span of sleeping in at night since he went back to getting me up every 3 hours to eat. Didn't really work last night, but hopefully tonight will be better. It also helped that he nursed for an hour before going to bed...now I just need to get to bed & fall asleep before he decides to wake up again!

No whining

Apparently, I seemed to be whining on my last post about how crazy the other day was, but let me assure you that I was trying to be somewhat funny, maybe a tad sarcastic. I just thought it was funny that during that day, we had seen Teresa 2-3 times and each time she had invited us over for strawberry shortcake...and we never seemed to make it over there. They live, what, 6 blocks away?

Anyhoo, we took the muchkins for a bike ride on the trail around town last night & managed to reach that "side" of town. Teresa just happened to have a little bit left which she happily prepared for us. It was delicious & we were happy to relieve her of the burden of trying to consume it all herself.

(*Note the sarcasm...that's me being, or trying to be, funny.) ;)

Time vs. strawberry shortcake

Seems like an easy choice doesn't it? As long as the day is, and as intent as we were to get over to Seth & Teresa's for strawberry shortcake the other day, it just didn't happen. Oh, how I longed for a little dessert that day, but for some reason the time just seemed to disappear that day as quickly as the entire week went.

Between Summer Recreation, running in the rain, meetings, fishing, church stuff, going to Sioux Falls to go to Chuck-E-Cheese, and a picnic at Camden Park, oh and let's not forget the biggest time gulper of all, THE POOL, we found ourselves this week in a blur of quick-fix meals, crabby-yet-ambitious children followed by eventual passing out on the couch a few times. Don't get me wrong, we had plenty of fun, relaxing activities to do and we enjoy it even more now that we live in town, but I think the kids (well, maybe just AJ) is in constant "busy" mode & keeping up with him gets exhausting.

But on the bright side, all is good! We are healthy, thankful & truly blessed for what God has given (and not given) us & we continue to look forward to what doors He will open for us, not ones that we try to kick in for ourselves.



"Comfort & tranquility" ~ how I envision us in our Heavenly Father's arms someday...

Joyride

I had to share this story about our nephews because it involved our tractor, (and Steph doesn't have a blog.) Since we've moved into town, we are no longer in need of use of our little 9N Ford Tractor, so we brought it out to the family home farm, which just happens to be where Jason's brother, Ricky, and his wife, Steph and their kids live. Kaden is 6 years old, Wyatt just turned 4 and little Kelly girl is 1.

So, at our party the other night, Steph shared a little story with us about the boys' first tractor ride. Actually, I should say drive because they took it for a little joyride before finally coming to a halt after running into a hay bale. Little did any of us know that the tractor could be started without the key or pushing in the clutch, as most driving implements require. Kaden had started the tractor, by the wise instructive words of his little brother, and drove with the hayrack in tow, across the yard about 40 feet before hitting an obstacle.

Even better, is that he wanted to show his Nana Carol that he actually could drive a tractor and proceeded to lead the family to the yard to show them. As he started it again & as the tractor leapt forward (along with all of the adults hearts), a lesson in "pretend" driving and real driving became a reality. Needless to say, they are no longer allowed near the 9N, but knowing the history of the farm & how boys are, there will be many more stories down the road for them to share and for us to be amazed how boys ever make it to adulthood in one piece.

Happy birthday, AJ!

Seven years ago today we were blessed with our first baby and son. How much things have changed in our lives since then, and now with another baby in the family, it seems like such a long time ago that AJ was that little, and that he was our only one!



We had our "annual" 4th of July/Birthday (and part housewarming) party yesterday and had Jason's family over. My mom was on her way down, with her friend Lee, and was expected to arrive around 2 or 3. Let's just say she didn't make it due to navigational difficulties and out of frustration because of driving almost to Iowa & then again missing the turn to head to Minneota, just decided to count it a lost day & set for home. By the time she actually got home, (she got lost again...don't ask me how), she had been on the road for about 11 hours. (For those of you who don't know, it takes about 3 1/2 hours to get from Fargo to here...Straight south on I-29 and then east on County Road 22/68 right to Minneota.) Yeah, she drove 3 hours out of the way before I had a chance to call her & find out where she was. Just makes my tummy hurt to think how long she drove & never got to see us. Now she'll probably never try to visit again!



It turned out to be a beautiful day which worked out well for having cake and ice cream outside (always a plus) as well as a pinata for the kids. Have you ever seen the movie "Parenthood" with Steve Martin? Here's about how it went, Hollywood style.

Here's how it went Myhre-style. I couldn't help but laugh hysterically inside my head paralleling the two.

Is seeing really believing?

In a society today that tends to focus on "prove that" or "I need to see it to believe it" on many things, I am curiously drawn to St. Thomas, the Apostle, who's feast day we celebrate today. I find it strange that from all the things we learn as humans, we continue to circle around to the weaknesses, mistakes, and doubts that those before us did. Even though we learn so much about the world around us, the lessons that God taught us seem to dissolve so that we feel we need to learn it again, but in our own ways.

Back in the Old Testament, it was the pagans saying, "Where is their God?" (Psalm 115), and today we hear many non-believers saying they don't even think He exists. Their "gods" are the things of this world...the things they idolize and can't do without that take their time away from putting God first. The existence of good things and why we should be good are "just because."

And then in the New Testament, Thomas states that he won't believe unless he sees Jesus for himself, and then Jesus calls him out on it. How many times today do we deny His existence until He smacks us upside the head in someway to prove that He's still with us? Why is it that we need to feel Him in our lives to have faith? "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." (John 20:29) I for one know that I was guilty of that very action. Do I now feel Him in my life because I have faith, or do I have faith because He became a part of my life?

Will & Grace

No, not the TV sitcom, silly! The spiritual Will of God & His beautiful, infinite Grace that we so not deserveth. (Now I'm being silly...) Here's a little quote I received in an e-mail. I think it sums up now how much we trust in God & His will for us.

"The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you."

We know the bad stuff happens, and eventually will happen, but we hope that we will continue to trust in His ultimate plan for us. God bless!

(Oh, if you're wondering what the slideshow is, it's one of my favorite scenes that never gets old and always calms me down...sunsets. They're one of God's many artistic masterpieces.)

It's video time!

The weekend before last we went up to the Twin Cities to attend the wedding of Jason's cousin, Lisa, & her new groom, Ted. It was an absolutely beautiful ceremony, held in the exquisite chapel at the University of St. Thomas. It was great to see a couple in such love with God as with each other. The kids had a blast & we all danced the afternoon away. That's right, afternoon! The wedding was at 11am with festivities following. With 4 kids under 7, it was actually nice to have them worn out by 5 o'clock so we could drive back home to be in bed by 9. (Here's a picture Fr. Jeremy would like...we thought of him when we saw the sign & thought it would make a good backdrop.)

AJ's breakdancing moves...

Faith (and cousin Elena) doin' the hokey pokey

*Laney & Faith - "Chicken dance"

*(Well, that was supposed to be another video, but we are having technical difficulties. Man, those things take a long time to download! Maybe I'm doing something wrong...)

Killing time...

Not much new here...we're just trying to stay cool in the 90 degree weather with high humidity. Today wasn't quite as humid, just what I call "Arizona hot". It's dry heat (they say), but your skin still feels like it's going to start on fire when you're in the sun.

When we lived in Arizona for a few months during their "winter" season, I worked at a 24-hour emergency veterinary hospital. Even though it was fairly mild at that time of the year, there were still some days it got plenty hot. I had left a pen on the dashboard after work one night and when I went to get it the next day (after it had spent all day there) I realized there was something weird with it. The plastic had softened and my pen was now bent from the extreme heat. It looks as if it was made that way. It's kind of neat. I had never seen that happen before & I actually still have that pen.

Is there a point to this story? Not really. I just wanted to post something & I can't put up any pictures yet because something is fishy with my computer wanting to communicate with my new camera. So in order to get pictures on here, I need to download them onto the laptop, save them onto a thumbdrive and then transfer them over to this computer. I have no idea why this computer won't download the software, and Jason borrowed out all the thumbdrives, so until we get them back, you'll just have to imagine the kids.

Ian is now 19 weeks old and weighs 17 pounds and is 25 inches long. Faith is becoming quite expressive & is breaking out of her shell. Laney has 2 new teeth in the front and is doing really well at swimming underwater. AJ can't be busy enough. If he's not on a bike, he has to be swimming, fishing, playing with the neighbors or at Father Jeremy's, or asking what he can do so he's not so bored.

It's a bird, it's a plane...

No, it's a BAT! Mass as usual has it's high points and today I sensed a certain warmth and spirit within the congregation. Then, during the closing prayer, a bat entered the church from the sacristy & made it's little way around the front of the church flying around and freaking many of us out.

Father shared his previous bat experience with us & hurried his recessional down the aisle while the poor lector tried to make the week's announcements very short. Just about the time we were supposed to sing the closing hymn, the little bugger dropped below the hard deck and buzzed the legs of one unsuspecting pew of parishoners. It was like watching a cartoon as one by one they popped up a little and squealed.

As it barely cleared my head, I thought, "Hit it!" and much to everyone's relief, someone thought of it as well, and whose reflexes were much quicker than mine. With song book in hand, Mr. Hennen brought the flying mouse to it's demise.

Even with the threat of attack vanquished, we still left the church minus the recessional hymn. Nothing like a wild animal in the church to bring out some humor and bond the body of the congregation together.

Ten reasons why we love living in town...

1. Church is right across the street (makes daily Mass a snap).
2. One of the parks is across the street. (No need to buy a swing set!)
3. A.J. will be close to school...guess how far? Across the street!
4. Laney & Faith are 3 blocks from school.
5. We can walk up to the pool (and the stores, post office, restaurant, etc.)
6. 20 minutes to mow the lawn (compared to 3 hours)
7. Great neighbors (we had great ones before too, but now the kids have lots of little friends to keep them busy, as well as Father Jeremy to bug when he's home.)
8. Closer to relatives (makes rock-picking trips easier for Grandpa.)
9. Easier trip to Marshall (more shopping! ;))
10. And as a (God-willing) future deacon, did I mention that Church is right across the street?!

With all of that, and more, we really DO love our new house and living in town. It has freed up so much time for us...now that we're finally settling in...and we are getting our time to do the things that mean so much to us. Thanks to all that helped us get here & praise God for blessing us with this opportunity & making it happen!

They really ARE listening!

The sweet sound of a little one playing in the "toy room" and singing. Even better is when it's one of your favorite songs from church. Faith was belting out the refrain from "I am the Bread of Life" this morning & it just melted our hearts. I was glad Jason witnessed it before he was off to work. Definitely a joy of being at home all day!

Well said Father Thomas...

Today we liturgically celebrate the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Here are some parts of Father Thomas' homily, which thanks to his notes he passes out, makes it easy to remember as well as understand. (Fr. Thomas is originally from India so some words are difficult to make out, which I really find out when I follow along with his notes. He is visiting for the summer.)

"We refer to this event as the Lord's Supper, or the Last Supper, or Holy Communion, or the Eucharist. It is one of the most solemn and significant acts we do as Christians. That is true partly because of the way it ties us to Jesus and helps us experience the meaning of his death for us."
"...it represents participation with Jesus in what he went through. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks, a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? (1 Cor 10:16) Through Communion we identify with Jesus. We are identified with him in his death and his resurrection. When we identify with Jesus by faith, we die at the cross. Our old, sinful nature is put to death, and we receive new life here and now."

The celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship. May we all as Christians be drawn closer to each other and begin to dispel the sad divisions which separate us...in keeping with Christ's prayer for us "that they may all be one" (John 17:21) (Today's Missal, USCC)

**Seriously!

Is it really Friday?! My email "junk" box had 173 messages in it! That's with a heavy filter! Has it been since Monday that I last blogged? **

As long as the days seem, the week sure wheels by, especially when you're trying to organize a house. Our storage spaces are quickly filling as well as my pile of donation items rack up. I think I will save them for the Youth Group "Pilgrimage to Rome" garage sale and save myself the hassle of trying to decide what to price things at and letting people see what kind of crap I've accumulated over the past few years. **

It's hard to feel totally accomplished with a project yet, since in order to organize one room, I need to make a mess in the other. Yet, I know that soon I'll have the house the way I want it...then it will be time to tackle the array of weeds around the house, do some landscaping and then venture into... dun, dun, dun... the garage so that Jason can park in his stall before winter arrives. **

Heeere, fishy fishy fishy!!

These past couple of weeks have been a blur! We finally have our internet hooked up, so I thought it was time to catch up on all that is anew with our bunch.

Ian is now strong enough to somewhat enjoy the exersaucer (for a short while usually) and here he is amid the boxes before our move.

My mom came down to visit and spent half of her time cooking. We enjoyed curry chicken, fried rice, egg rolls (with homemade sweet & sour sauce as well), wonton soup (Laney made all the wontons), and much more. She definitely spoiled us & we hope she comes back soon, and not just to cook! Laney loved having her Nana Thuy teaching her to cook. They are so much alike!

On Wednesday, we went up to Father Jeremy's lake cabin to take a break from the madness and get the kids out to fish. They played in the lake despite it's chilly temperature.

AJ caught this little bass all by himself...he was so excited to see it jump out of the water as he reeled it in.Laney really enjoyed fishing this time as well...

Father Jeremy caught some too...
...but Ian and I reeled in the big one! On our 2nd cast, we landed this 24 inch walleye, which we hear are rare to this lake. He was definitely good eats! Thank goodness for the sling, or I may have missed my opportunity. (Thanks to Father for manning the net.)