Testimony

   I gave my testimony at the women's retreat I went on last weekend.  I go every year, and for some reason, this year they asked me to give my testimony.
   My testimony was about the power of Christ's love, the power of the Eucharist: being broken, like Christ, for others.  I linked this "being broken for others" with motherhood.
    At one point, I was telling about plunging a stopped up toilet.  I decided to offer up this experience for a prayer intention, and then God answered the prayer.  In the testimony I said, "Had I been a lawyer, a professor, an author, no law, class presentation or book could have brought that result about."  I said, "Standing there, covered in poo, was my most powerful option."
    The crowd, which had been clapping and responding vibrantly until then, broke out into a full-throttle roar.  They clapped so loudly that I threw up my arms in victory.  They cheered louder.
     I got so many comments afterwards, to the effect that this one moment validated their entire experience of choosing motherhood over other illustrious career choices.  It meant so much to me to give them that gift.  I am grateful, so grateful to God that He has refined this message to me: "Motherhood is not just nice; it is POWERFUL.  Don not underestimate its power!"  I love proclaiming this heaven-sent word!  

Cancer and Being Ready

    Ron topped off his month of having the flu with a colonoscopy.  Sadly, it revealed pre-cancerous tumors.
    His mother having died one year ago almost to the date of his colonoscopy from colon cancer, it was an emotional find.  We both really took a hit.
    But in a way, her losing her life will likely save his--early detection is the key.  So there is not much to be worried about in the long run, God willing.  But it is still sad in its own way.

   A month ago, I had a prayer time in which I felt like God was saying, "Are you ready?"  That usually means ". . . ready for a crisis."  I do not know why He is so good to me, to often give me a little "heads up."  He does it almost every time I am about to have a problem--it is really, really gentle and kind of Him!!  I told Him I was more than ready.  I clung onto the Cross like it was a lifesaver.

   I do not know if this is the crisis He meant.  But the image came to me again in Mass on Sunday.  I was hanging onto the Cross like an inner tube as I was flying through rapids.  I was taken aback by the image.  Then I remembered my prayer from a month ago.

  I love His Cross.  It is my safety, my comfort, and my happiness!

Flu

Happy Anniversary!!  We have made it over a month with the flu!  We have had 2 strands of it, and almost every one has had both varieties!

Although it is hard, there are some perks.  The main one is that my affection for each person in the family has grown--seeing them so feeble and tender, it makes your heart break!

What's grosser than gross?

Annie's ring pop!
Just a small "taste" of the 11 hour car ride home!

Of course, all the girls got one.  And of course, Annie's wound up--DISGUSTING!!!!

Being "Off the Grid"

    Then we drove to NM and rented a little cabin.  When I say "little," I mean 900 sq. ft. for seven people!  A little bit of Heaven!

Here are the children who did NOT want to get cold: 

And here are the children who could not get enough of the snow!

I had the best week.  

I wrote a whole essay as well as worked on a collection of aphorisms.  

I sat and did not move much.  

I learned what the A-DEP function on my camera is, and how I should use it if I do not want to use the flash.  

I prayed a lot.  

I knitted a lot.  

I love being "off the grid"!

Rocky Mountain High

     We Googled "Yerts for rent" and found a YMCA camp in the Rockies.  While they no longer had yerts available, we stayed in the family lodge.  CHEAP!  And unlimited ice skating, sledding, snow shoeing and cross country skiing.  AMAZING!  We loved it!  The best part for me: HUGE buffet--camp eating.  The kids scarfed down the food.  And it came with the room! NO COOKING for me!!!

making pies

    It was so much fun teaching the girls how to make pie crust.
    Here is their fluting lesson!

Yay, pumpkin pie!

Christmas

What I loved most about Christmas. . .

1) Midnight Mass at our new parish--so beautiful I wanted to weep!
2) A party after Mass--1 AM!  Such fun!
3) Clare being giddy and joyful all day--such a change in her life!
4) Leigh having a gingerbread party with her friends last week, a family party on the 4th Sunday of Advent, and then a joyful birthday today!
5) Ron and I having such a blessed marriage.  What a GIFT!
6) The kids all loving going to so many Masses and saying so many prayers all week--they know the meaning of Christmas and love it.
7) The kids never complaining, fighting or being otherwise pouty about gifts--they do not expect much.
8) Annie leaning over during the caroling before Midnight Mass and saying loud enough for the whole church to hear: "I love you, Mom!" and then, "I love you, Dad!"
9) Annie clomping around all day in her new boots.
10) Asking the kids what they most wanted me to cook for Christmas dinner, and their response: broccoli, corn and artichokes.  Vegetables!

     What a blessing Christmas is to me!  I love Jesus, God WITH US!!

Violin and Cello Duet

A lovely Sunday afternoon, working this up.  
Clare is so much better than me! :)

O Come O Come Emmanuel

     I love Advent.
     I love our family singing "O Come O Come Emmanuel" for a blessing during this season.
     I love the Feasts of Our Lady, "without whom there would be no Nativity," said our priest this morning, and who teaches us to be humble, yielding to the will of God, and totally dependent on Jesus.
     I love how few things our children ask for Christmas, and yet how rich their experience of the JOY of CHRIST is.
     I love our friends, with whom it is so easy to enjoy this season.
     I love preparing my heart for the Coming of Christ, who has saved me, who has set my life on high ground, who protects me, gives meaning and happiness to my life.
    He is worth my life.  He is my all in all.

Yahoo!!!

     Yahoo!!  Clare has completed her reading Boot Camp!!!   And I learned some important life lessons in the process.
     She was not where she should be in Sept.  So I pushed her.  That failed.  So I had to do the impossible: go backwards.  I started over with "c-a-t" and like words.  It was so hard for me to feel like each day, we were back in pre-K.  But she needed to relax in order to learn.  So I had her do old lessons, and master them, and do them quickly and smoothly.
    We moved forward with 2 lessons a day, plus a phonics lesson from me, and then a phoncis workbook.  So really, 3 or 4 reading lessons a day.
    It was horrible.  She stumbled on obvious words that she has known for years.  Then I started making flashcards with phonograms on them.  We added this to the roster, which made 5 reading activities a day.
    Then somehow, she took off.  She had been working through "The Diggingest Dog," a 64 page, first reader.  She could only read 20 pages at first.  Then she moved up to 25.  Then 30.
    This week, we sat down and began at the beginning.  I said, "As I've said before, when you can read the whole book, I'll take you out to ice cream."
    No kidding, she opened it up, and flew through the whole thing.  I only had to help her with 4 or 5 words.
    That evening, we went out for gelato!

     Then yesterday, she started the Classic Start version of "Anne of Green Gables" (inspired by Aunt Kimmy's generous gift!).  Truly!  She has read one page of it for the past 2 days!
     The lesson that I learned was not to fear going backwards.  Sometimes it takes going backwards, and not being humiliated to do so, to move forwards.   Sometimes you just have to give in to the fact of where you or someone else is, and not send the message, "But you OUGHT to be somewhere else!"  That never works.  Instead, we have to accept the reality of where we are, and then figure out how to take the next step!  The gentleness of this approach seemed, in the case, to help her not just take one step, but take a hundred overnight.  That gives me hope!

Time Out!

    Sweet little Annie got her first, "No whining!" lesson today!

She did not really know what a time out was.

     So the kids and I all stood together, put a chair in a corner, and I explained: "We are only going to use kind voices.  No fussy voices.  No whiny voices.  So if you want something, you may say, "May I please have . . . '"

    I explained that if she whined, she would go in time out.  Since she is 2 years old, she would stay for 2 minutes.  I would stand with my back to the chair.

    Then I explained to the other kids: "We cannot whine or use any voice other than a kind voice.  We have to model kind voices for her. . . Even me!"  They loved that, and understood the importance.

    So the whole day, we were vigilant about Annie and her kind voice.  She got 3 time outs.  The other times, we corrected her, and she changed her voice immediately.

    She seemed to like her little chair, the fact that I did not walk away, and the chance to get it right, and then to be applauded and to get a reward.

     She was remarkable.  When Ron came home after work, we had to use it one time, and Annie's polite little request for what she wanted shocked him.

     Hooray!  All in a day's work!