Quiet Time...

I've gotten away from quiet time for the last probably 3 weeks. It's hard to do when the kids are up at the crack of dawn and wanting to come down right away. Today, my spirit just told me that they needed to stay in their rooms and I needed to give God a few minutes to just pray over my husband, my children, and myself. It felt good to do that again. Things go so much better when I take the time to do that every morning. I need to spend time with God alone so He can speak to my heart. And I'm learning that my kids need to respect that too and that it's ok for me to have that time before they come down and we start our day together.

Showing Love...

I decided that this summer, I was going to do something called "Spirit Camp." We were going to focus on a fruit of the Spirit each week. This week we focused on showing love. Each time I caught one of the kids showing love (all on their own), we were going to write it on the paper on the wall and they were going to get some points towards earning their money. We prayed for increases in love and we colored pages about God being love. This is a few of the ways we showed love to one another this week.... Emma comforted Melina when she was upset Melina shared her crayons with Tracie when the other kids didn't want to share with her Emily was concerned when Melina got hurt (all was ok) Josiah offered to help Tracie finish cleaning up after he was finished and she still wasn't done with her part. (This is HUGE for him). Deidra made cookies for everyone. Deidra put the groceries away for me without even having to be asked. Tracie gave hugs to everyone Emma offered to do chores to help me out when I was busy trying to get everything done and was a bit overwhelmed.

A renewed spirit...

Thank you, Abba, for renewing my spirit. I woke up feeling better about things. So thankful that I can give my problems to You and You can take care of Me. You know what's better for me anyway, evenmoreso than I do myself. Thank you for renewing my spirit and I am going forward now and I will be joyful today while I go about my work and caring for my children and my husband. :-)

God speaks...

I really have been struggling with so many things...the kids' behaviors, the no privacy factor with my Mother-in-Law living with us, the kids acting up more when she is around, this thing with my leg, I've been feeling burned out and just down about a lot of things. Andy and I have really become like roommates and I hate it, Deidra's attitude has gotten really horrible, Josiah's been out-of-control with anger and temper tantrums, and this "I don't want to" attitude and everything sets him off...the other day it was not getting a napkin first at the table...him not being first out the door, him not being first on the bus...him not eating something that someone else has...or he thinks someone else has more...him not getting his own way...not wanting to take his pills, not wanting to go to his room...he wears me down. Emma's gotten this horrible mouth on her lately and Tracie has been very disobedient lately as well. I'm just one worn down Mommy. Anyway, I've been praying for so many things this week and I love how God has spoken to me. Sunday, he talked to me about having faith like the mustard seed and he also told me that some things also require more prayer and fasting. I believe he was honestly telling me there to fast for Josiah and that I need to give everything to him in prayer no matter how small or how great...just give Him everything. Monday, He talked to me about always accepting His little children and to have a willing heart. Tuesday, He talked to me about being a good wife and about my marriage and that I needed God's help to be everything that He wanted me to be. I also asked for a huge increase in faith. I also asked God for heart-change for Josiah. Wednesday, I was having more struggles with Josiah in the morning and how he wants to be "first" for everything. God brought me a scripture from Matthew 20 that said "And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life like a ransom for many." So now, we had a talk and I told him that anytime we have a power struggle over being fist, he will get to do something for someone else...more than likely the person that he pushed or hit out of the line or whatever. And I'm hoping this will help to change his heart there too. Thursday, he talked to be about being a house of prayer and if we just believe and have faith, that we will receive. That one truly spoke to me as well. I need to quit being so caught up in everything and just trust that God knows what's going on, He wants us to bring it to Him, and trust that He will take care of it all in His timing and that He will make everything good. This morning, He talked to me about the fact that many are called but few are chosen and that He wants us to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds and that we are also called to love our neighbors just as we do ourselves. I have a lot to do in my love walk and in my prayer life. But, I love that God is talking to my heart and that I can give all my worries, fears, joy, and my everything to Him, and that He knows what is best for me and my family and He will take care of us. What an awesome God we serve!

Catholicism, Politics, and Pro-Life...

Today, at the end of Mass, our priest told us that we needed to take a stand as Catholics and write to our Congressman about this push for making us go against our religions and offer contraceptives and abortions as part of our health-care. Obviously that goes against our religious beliefs as a Catholic. Anyway, he said that if a Catholic priest makes a mistake it's on the front page of the newspaper, yet he is tired of seeing Obama push all this stuff out there and sending out the message that it's ok to do whatever you want. He made the comment that nowadays a teen isn't "in" unless they're having sex. He talked about how women have come to confession and they say they want to be forgiven because they've just had an abortion. He said a lot of times these are women who he's never had come to confession before and he can't help but think that they didn't come before because they knew it was wrong. My eyes brimmed with tears...abortion has always been a sensitive topic for me even when we would debate about it in high school. I've always loved babies...I just don't understand how someone can make that decision and take a life. A baby is defenseless...you murder someone and someone has a chance at self-defense at least, but that precious little life obviously can't defend themselves. It's always broken my heart to hear about life being talked about like that...oh, it's just a blob of cells. Well, it's not...it's a precious human life. That baby deserves a chance. Anyway, the priest made a comment that he's really praying that Obama doesn't get another term as he's tired of all the changes that are being made and that Obama just feels that you should be able to do whatever you want. Well, at what cost? Most of the church broke out in applause. Those in our parish who did vote for Obama...I'm hoping that they realize now what they have been a part of and will not make the same mistake twice. I will spend part of this week writing my e-mails and letters to Congress to let them know that I am pro-life and that I am upset at the changes that Obama is trying to make. I do not think it's right to make us Catholics (or even others that are pro-life) to support contraceptive use and abortions.

Andy and I for the most part have never been big users of contraceptives. Obviously, we had pretty much given up hope that we'd get pregnant again too as we had tried for years for another baby with no success, and then came along Melina, and what a blessing she is. :-) We had a discussion after she was born that we were going to stay open to life. I've been reading a lot on the Church's stance against contraception use, but it wasn't until I was listening to Mass on tv a couple weeks ago and the priest was explaining something that I began to understand a little more. He went on to explain that the church is the bridegroom of Christ. Christ gives everything of Himself and we should in turn do the same seeing intimacy with Christ and it should be a give/receive relationship fully without any barrier. He explained that it should be that way as well between a wife and a husband. You can't give FULLY of yourself, if there's a barrier in the way and you're blocking blessings. You can only be FULLY intimate and experience that passion that Christ intends for your marriage if there's no barrier. I'm not explaining it all that well, but when I heard how the priest was explaining it, it was like a lightbulb began to go off in my head a little more. I am beginning to understand it more and more. Obviously, you have to trust too in your relationship not only with your spouse but with Christ too. He does know what's best for us and He will give us all the graces that we need if we stay open to His blessings.

Day 4 of Summer Faith Adventure

We learned today that families stick together and pray for one another and help each other...we talked about sacrifices that we could make to help each other and that God is the happiest with us when we're thinking about others instead of ourselves. We made rice krispies to reiterate families stick together. We talked too about honoring and obeying our parents and how that not only makes parents happy, but it makes God happy too. We made family trees and we talked about how we could pray together for one another and that God puts us in families so that we can help one another and pray for each other so that we can help one another get to Heaven. We talked about how the Mommy is here to take good care of us and the Daddy is here to protect his family. We talked about how marriage is the start of the family and what happens in a wedding. This sparked some questions from Emma about her birth as she knew her birthmom wasn't married. We talked about God's will for us is to wait until after marriage to have kids. It led to a good discussion about their adoption and a good family talk and how they were safe here and that we would always be here for them. I really felt that they understood a lot of what we talked about and it felt good to be open with them about some things. I also wanted to tell them that although they grew in my heart, that I would always love them and be there to help them the best way that I could. I am so thankful to have them in my life. Thank you, God, for these precious children!

Melina had to get in on the fun too...we gave her a bowl and a spoon and she wound up putting a fake lizard in her bowl and we told her that she was making lizard soup...she would giggle and carry it around in her bowl...



Emily helping with the cereal...



Josiah pours in the cereal...



Tracie helping to make the rice krispy treats...



Deidra helping to make rice krispy treats...



our morning started out with a little boy with a tummy ache and he fell asleep trying to eat his cereal...we prayed for him and he rested for a bit and then felt better. PTL!

God is the one in control...I get that now God!

God has been working with me today...I am not the one in control He is!

Tried to go to the Y today to get my workout in. THey didn't have room in the kids club today for all 4 of the kids. So, I just put Melina in there and I told the littles to play in the Kids Zone with Deidra. I wasn't on the treadmill 5 minutes and here come the kids into the cardio room. Deidra is complaining that they won't listen to her and Josiah keeps running away from her. He had been begging to play basketball and I thought he would have been having fun with that. I should have known better. I told them that they better listen to her or there were going to be problems and to go play for 15 minutes and I would be fast today. 5 minutes later, I see Deidra walk by to get a raquetball room and I knew what she was thinking. Smart girl! If she got them in the room, they couldn't get out and run from her. 5 minutes after that, here they all come into the cardio room again. Josiah had chucked the ball at Deidra's face. I was done. I gathered Melina from the kids club and we left. Get out to my car and the check engine light came on.

Ran home to make Deidra a doctor appt as I am sure she has swimmers ear. The kids were not super cooperative in the waiting room, but we made it. Finally got checked in and got back to the doctors waiting area. The kids played for a minute and then we got put in a room. Thankfully, the doctor was in right away and confirmed her swimmers ear and we got some meds called in and we were off.

Off to the dealership that is being revamped right now to see what's going on. Josiah immediately tries to start getting into their cookies. My Mom walks in and tells him no and that they need to sit down. He goes and tries to pull on the trailer hitches that they have on display and my Mom gets after him again. She finally tells them that if they don't listen to me, Deidra will go get her and she will deal with them. They sat relatively well, but needed a lot of redirection. I had to text the speech therapist and let her know that I was going to be late. Found out that it's some emissions code and it's safe to drive, some valve somewhere needs to be tightened or replaced but they couldn't get it in before we leave for AZ. Ran to Walmart and to Walgreens quickly for Deidra's meds and then home for speech.

Had to do VBS in stages. Oh well...at least we got it done...not a lot of pics though. I'm having a lot of fun doing this with them.

Day 3 of Summer Faith Adventure

We did day 3 of summer faith adventure today. We talked more about the roles of the bishop, priest, and deacons. We talked about holy orders. We were supposed to make pretzels, but everything I was trying to do today took a detour so we just bought the pre-made ones and popped them in the oven. If God taught me anything today it's that I can plan all I want, but He is the one in control. lol. We continued to talk about King David as well.

Emily with her pretzel...



Josiah with his pretzel...


Tracie ate her pretzel too, but she was doing speech when I took pictures so I didn't get a picture of her today.

Day 2 of Summer Faith Adventure

We did day 2 of summer faith adventure today. We prayed one of the luminous mysteries of the baptism in the jordan. We talked about how the stained glass windows in the church tell a story and then we made stained glass window cookies and our own stained glass windows that i hung up on the slider door. We also talked about baptism and confirmation. We also talked more about King David and Solomon. We also prayed for our families.

Tracie eating her cookie...



Emily showing me her stained glass window that she made...



Josiah helping to make the stain glass window cookies...

Day 1 of Summer Faith Adventure

We had a good first day of homeschool VBS today. We said the first decade of the Joyful mysteries...the Anunciation and learned more about that. We talked about baptism. We learned about King David. We made kings and crowns cookies...they had a hard time with carving. Emmy made a crown in her dough and Tracie just wanted to do a heart. Josiah wound up eating all of his dough before it could be carved out. Oh well. They had fun anyway. We talked about the pope and they got to make miter hats too. We also played "I am a child of God." I really enjoyed the day with them and I did learn that I could homeschool if I ever needed to afterall. :-) It went surprisingly well.

A very messy Tracie...



Emily carving a crown into her dough...



Josiah's picture that he colored of John baptising Jesus...



Tracie and her miter hat...



Josiah tasting the batter...



Emily helping to make keys and crowns cookies...

My business vision...

We have been selling on ebay for almost as long as we've been married. We'll be married for 13 years this year. We both enjoy it a lot. However, we really enjoy the thrift store hunts of finding things to resell as well as our garage sale finds. We got watching Storage Wars and American Pickers as well and our imaginations are going crazy. We were having our first garage sale ever last year and the wheels started to turn in my head. I'd love to have a resale store. Andy and I talked a little bit and could see ourselves doing that. The only thing is that we don't want to incur debt...it's all cash to pay for everything. My father-in-law built me clothing racks when he was down as we wanted to try to have garage sales more often. We just had a spur of the moment garage sale on the 4th of July as we wanted to try to get rid of some stuff to make room for my Mother-in-Law's stuff when she moves here in the next little bit. We had those clothing racks FULL of clothes and that was only about half the clothes that we had to sell. My Grandma used to love to buy stuff and wash it up and clean it and resell it. They would pair together with her sisters and have HUGE garage sales 3-4 times a year. When I'm out sometimes, I talk to her and doing this makes me feel closer to her too. But, my wheels are turning a little more as we talk about starting our next little branch of our business. I'd love to have a place that my whole family could work and have my kids close to me as we go about our work. We were watching The Cupcake Girls last night (never watched the show before last night) and I love that their whole family works together. I have a vision...I'm not ready to share it all quite yet...but I ran it by Andy today and he's on board with my idea. So, we'll get ready to grow out our next branch and see where this takes us. I'm excited. We're talking about starting it in August. God, use me and my family to fill Your Holy Will please. You know my heart and I am a giver. I have this vision and I want to do Your Work. Please use me and my family and help us to fulfill this dream together.

A reminder of God's promise...

We got the tiniest amount of rain just now, but with it came a beautiful rainbow. God gives us His love here in TX...I've seen more rainbows than I ever have living here. Love them!

Where does God live?

I was sitting with the littles while they were eating breakfast this morning. We did our daily devotion. We talked about what sin was and gave examples. I told them that God sets us free each time that we say that we're sorry to Him. And I told them that we can ask God to help us not to keep doing the same thing over and over and He will give us those graces. We prayed together and at the end Tracie asks "where does God live?" While Mommy was saying "He lives in Heaven," Josiah was saying that He is with us all of the time and Tracie was saying "He lives in our hearts." That makes me smile to hear them talk about what they have learned and their faith at their little ages.

Liturgy of the Hours

I found this website earlier this week http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/frames/divineoffice.html and I have been praying along. Love the prayers and how beautiful the songs are. I find that it helps to remind me to pray for certain things as well. God tells us to pray without ceasing and this certainly helps remind me to do that. I love how fitting some things are to what is going on in my life too. Powerful the way God works! I love that they link to Mass and to the rosary as well. All powerful warfare tools against the Devil!

The Devil is playing with me today...

but I will stand firm with the Lord and dig my heels in. Tried to take my van in this morning, Andy was going to stay home from work to help as my Dad needs to go to the doctor too. They can't get the parts until this afternoon so we can't bring it in until tomorrow. Andy went into work. My Dad was going to follow Andy up to the dealership, but my Mom didn't want my Dad up there and my Dad wouldn't accept what I was trying to say until I finally had to tell him that "I'd follow Andy up there as Mom didn't want him up there." That hurt him and he was supposed to give my Mom her weekly check for my brother's college and now he's debating about paying it. Kinda feel like it puts me in the middle since I handle his finances. The kids are all rowdy and whiny today, Melina keeps trying to nap and the whining and crying wakes her up. They're saying they're bored left and right and I'm trying to keep them busy, but I'm trying to clean the downstairs today as well. And of course, they're constantly hungry and thirsty so I gotta keep interrupting what I'm doing to get them a drink or a snack too. Having my Dad here too, with their attachment issues, they act like magnets and they're constantly jumping all over him or he moves and they gotta ask "where you going? what are you doing?" Or they're constantly touching him or right up on him. I try to enforce the boundary rules to give him space, then he's on me for that "they're alright, they're just being kids." I quit and 2 minutes later he's yelling at them to give him some room. Yesterday, Emma grabbed a hold of one of his toes and bent it back the wrong way really hard and he yelled out in pain. All I could say was "you wonder why I'm constantly trying to enforce the boundaries...I do have reasons for the things I say and do to them." He says his toe still hurts today. :-( He says "they're like magnets, they just glue themselves to me." That's a problem with attachment issues, but I'm not even going to try and explain all that to my Dad as it will just include more headache for me. But, I sure do feel the devil trying to play with me today. I am going to stand firm with the Lord though and have a positive attitude and just try to get through all of this.

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day Nine

Ninth Day:
The gifts of the Holy Spirit that we've been praying for over the past seven days are supernatural graces. As we cooperate with those graces by performing acts of virtue, we grow in the Fruitsof the Holy Spirit, which reinforce our desire to do good.

Verse for the Ninth Day:
Thou, on those who evermore
Thee confess and Thee Adore,
in Thy sevenfold gift, Descend;
Give Them Comfort when they die;
Give them Life with Thee on high;
Give them joys which never end. Amen.

Meditation for the Ninth Day--"The Fruits of the Holy Spirit":
The gifts of the Holy Spirit perfect the supernatural virtues by enabling us to pract them with greater docility to divine inspiration. As we grow in the knowledge and love of God under the direction of the Holy Spirit, our service becomes more sincere and generous, the practice of virtue more perfect. Such acts of virtue leave the heart filled with joy and consolation and are known as Fruits of the Holy Spirit. These Fruits in turn render the practice of virtue more attractive and become a powerful incentive for still greater efforts in the service of God, to serve Whom is to reign.

Prayer for the Ninth Day:
Come, O Divine Spirit, fill my heart with Thy heavenly fruits, Thy charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, faith, mildness, and temperance, that I may never weary in the service of God, but, by continued faithful submission to Thy inspiration, may merit to be united eternally with Thee in the love of the Father and the Son. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be (seven times), Act of Consecration to the Holy Spirit, Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 8

Eighth Day:
Our prayer, verse, and meditation for the eighth day of the Novena to the Holy Spirit focus on wisdom, "the most perfect of the gifts" of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom shows that the Christian Faith involves the head as much as the heart, and reason as much as the will.

Verse for the Eighth Day:
Bend the stubborn heart and will,
melt the frozen, warm the chill.
Guide the steps that go astray!

Meditation for the Eighth Day--"The Gift of Wisdom":
Embodying all the other gifts, as charity embraces all the other virtues. Wisdom is the most perfect of the gifts. Of wisdom, it is written "all good things came to me with her, and innumerable riches through her hands." It is the gift of Wisdom that strengthens our faith, fortifies hope, perfects charity, and promotes the practice of virtue in the highest degree. Wisdom enlightens the mind to discern and relish things divine, in the appreciation of which earthly joys lose their savor, whilst the Cross of Christ yields a divine sweetness according to the words of the Savior: "Take up thy cross and follow me, for my yoke is sweet and my burden light."

Prayers for the Eighth Day:
Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, and reveal to my soul the mysteries of heavenly things, their exceeding greatness, power, and beauty. Teach me to love them above and beyond all the passing joys and satisfactions of earth. Help me to attacin them and possess them for ever. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be (seven times), Act of Consecration to the Holy Spirit, Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 7

Seventh Day

"Counsel" our meditation for the seventh day of the Novena to the Holy Spirit tells us "is supernatural common sense." With this gift of the Holy Spirit, we can translate our faith into action in evertyhing that we do.

Verse for the Seventh Day:
Heal our wounds--our strength renew,
On our dryness pour Thy dew,
Wash the stains of guilt away.

Meditation for the Seventh Day--"The Gift of Counsel":
The gift of Counsel endows the soul with supernatural prudence, enabling it to judge promptly and rightly what must be done, especially in difficult circumstances. Counsel applies the principles furnished by Knowledge and Understanding to the innumerable concrete cases that confront us in the course of our daily duty as parents, teachers, public servants, and Christian citizens. Counsel is supernatural common sense, a priceless treasure in the quest of salvation. "Above all these things, pray to the Most High, that He may direct thy way in truth."

Prayers for the Seventh Day:
Come, O Spirit of Counsel, help and guide me in all my ways, that I may always do Thy holy will. Incline my heart to that which is good; turn it away from all that is evil, and direct me by the straight path of Thy commandments to that goal of eternal life with which I long.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be (seven times), Act of Consecration to the Holy Spirit, Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 6

Sixth Day:
On hte sixth day of the Novena to the Holy Spirit, our prayer, verse, and meditation focus on the gift of understanding, which helps us to grasp the meaning of the revealed truthfs of Christianity and to live our lives in accordance with those truths.

Verse for the Sixth Day:
If Thou take Thy grace away,
nothing pure in man will stay,
All his good is turn'd to ill.

Meditation for the Sixth Day--"The Gift of Understanding":
Understanding, as a gift of the Holy Spirit, helps us to grasp the meaning of the truths of our holy religion. By faith we know them, but by Understanding, we learn to appreciate and relish them. It enables us to penetrate the inner meaning of revealed truths and through them to be quickened to newness of life. Our faith ceases to be sterile and inactive, but inspires a mode of life that bears eloquent testimony to the faith that is in us; we begin to "walk worthy of God in all things pleasing, and increasing in the knowledge of God."

Prayers for the Sixth Day:
Come, O Spirit of Understanding, and enlighten our minds, that we may know and believe all the mysteries of salvation; and may merit at last to see the eternal light in Thy Light; and, in the light of glory, to have a clear vision of Thee and the Father and the Son. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be (seven times), Act of Consecration to the Holy Spirit, Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 5

Fifth Day:
On the fifth day of the Novena to the Holy Spirit, we ask for the gift of knowledge, so that we may truly understand that the world is ordered toward God and we may be able to perceive His will for us.

Verse for the Fifth Day:
Light immortal! Light Divine!
Visit Thou these hearts of Thine,
And our inmost being fill!

Meditation for the Fifth Day--"The Gift of Knowledge:"
The gift of Knowledge enables the soul to evaluate created things at their true worth--in their relation to God. Knowledge unmasks the pretense of creatures, reveals their emptiness, and points out their only true purpose as instruments in the service of God. It shows us the loving care of God even in adversity, and directs us to glorify Him in every circumstance of life. Guided by its light, we put first things first, and prize the friendship circumstance of life. Guided by its light, we put first things first, and prize the friendship of God beyond all else. "Knowledge is a fountain of life to him that pssesseth it."

Prayers for the Fifth Day:
Come, O Blessed Spirit of Knowledge, and grant that I may perceive the will of the Father; show me the nothingness of earthly things, that I may realize their vanity and use them only for Thy glory and my own salvation, looking ever beyond them to Thee, and Thy eternal rewards. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be (seven times), Act of Consecration to the Holy Spirit, Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit