wishing you........

and signing off for a few days!

the i gave octamom an award and it took her two years to post it award

now i don't do very well with praise. i greatly appreciate it, but it is never the reason that motivates me to do what i do. maybe it is partly because i never feel very worthy and partly because i feel like any good that i do, comes from God anyway therefore i don't really deserve the credit....

however, juli, was kind enough to bestow this award upon me and so here it is. it has taken me a few weeks to post it-not 2 years-for i tried a few times, but i just couldn't get the words out. and since this award involves serious chocolate eating, which i will be giving up doing so much of due to my newest resolution to start watching what i eat a little more-for spiritual and health related reasons-the addiciton to ghiradelli's peppermint bark candy has outstayed its' welcome-and so i thought now would be a good time to post this. (the night i received the award i did eat some rocky road icecream to celebrate and today i'll have a few chocolate chips-please don't judge me..........)

it is with great joy that i pass this award to the following ladies........there are so many wonderful, holy "moms to a multitude", but today i chose these:

~Kimberly at catholic family vignettes (she was my very first catholic blog, bella dia being my first blog ever-to read)

~Jessica at a shower of roses

~Barbara at praying for grace

and last, but certainly not least, a newly discovered gem:

Laura at our house of joyful noise

and so the rules(which i think have been changed by some choco-holic along the way) go like this:

-You must eat a piece of chocolate in honor of accepting the award

-You must eat another piece of chocolate when you put it on your blog

-You must visit Debi B. who designed the award for the original Octamom

-You may add or subtract to the rules as it suits your fancy!

so, with this final rule, i add the following rule: since us moms to a multitude are quite often busy, please do not feel pressured to post or pass this award on. if it gathers a bit of virtual dust, i completely understand. there are many meaningful things in my life which gather dust occasionally, but since i am no loger superwoman, it is ok with me!

p.s. please try and visit the ladies i have passed this prestigious award to.

superwoman syndrome

yesterday afternoon, as i was napping on the couch after a loooooooooong Sunday, a long week actually, i heard the rustling of plastic bags and i leaped off the couch because i knew what he was doing. he was bagging clothes to take to the laundromat and there was no way i could let him do that, that is MY JOB after all, isn't it? I am the one in charge of those things.....usually that it is.

up until very recently my husband has had a very physically demanding job. he was/is a concrete contractor/construction foreman, used to very hard work, often coming home tired, dirty and in no position to do any domestic duties. but now he is in an office all day, learning how to play the stock market, which if you knew my husband, you would smile a little bit because he is such a tough guy.

in these uncertain times, i am thankful he has a job at all, but i must admit i was a bit concerned how this change would affect him, and us. he is coming home earlier, he is not sooo tired. he has more energy when he comes home.

there has been a bit of tension around here lately as we adjust to a new schedule and try to find a routine that works for both of us.

one of the things he is expecting of me is that i work out with him. i have mentioned before that i am not very enthusiastic about physical activities. i'd rather snuggle up on the couch with a few good storybooks or some hand-sewing, but all he is asking of me this week is 10 minutes on the exercise bike.........which is 3.5 miles. wow, was i tired last night! i think this is his way of curing me of my night-owl ways, which are so irritating to him. we have such different body clocks and it is hard to force myself to do things which are so contrary to my nature (even though the things i prefer to do are not very good for me).

so over the next few weeks i will get over myself and stop thinking that i need to be the one who has to do everything. that superwoman syndrome can be so dangerous; it is very contrary to the spirit of humility and i know that it has to go. i will let him bag the clothes-after i sort them=), of course, and today, we will go again, to the laundromat, which is our new hangout, after we've worked out and maybe he'll tell me again, "isn't this kind of nice?" like he did last night, as he put his head on my shoulder while we sat side-by-side- waiting for the clothes to finish washing, he was watching the news and i was doing a little hand sewing......i never thought moments like that could strengthen a marriage, but it seemed to.

i have known my husband since i was 13 years old, which is more than half of my life. we have been through many, many things together. surely we can get through this, right?

ps. today the part will get ordered for the washer.

DIVINE artwork

saturday afternoon drive

the past few days..........

Christ's Mass

these were the highlights of my day.

hope you all have a blessed ChristMas too........

a CHILD is born

The Proclamation of

the Birth of Jesus Christ

Today is the twenty-fifth day of December, unknown ages from the time when God created the heavens and the earth and then formed man and woman in HIS own image.

Several thousand years after the flood, when God made the rainbow shine forth as a sign of the covenant.

Twenty-one centuries from the time of Abraham and Sarah; thirteen centuries after Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt.

Eleven-hundred years from the time of Ruth and the Judges; one-thousand years from the anointing of David as king; in the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel.

In the one-hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad; the seven -hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome.

The forty-second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus; the whole world being at peace, Jesus Christ, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father, desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, and nine months having passed since His conception, was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary.

Today is the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.

Christmas Eve Daybook

Outside my window..........alternating clouds with sun

I am listening to.......Christmas carols, of course!

Towards rhythym and beauty..........I am cleaning up and decorating, despite the fact that we won't be home tonite

I am thinking about..........how it is almost time

I am thankful for...........this beautiful season, the gift of God in the form of HIS Son

In our schoolroom.........it has been transformed into a Christmas room: lights, a tree, books, quilts and pillows for snuggling and reading the Christmas story

I am wearing........a long brown-knitted sweater, teal long-sleeve shirt underneath, with jeans and converse tennis shoes with butterflies on them

From the kitchen...........sugar cookies and white-texas sheet cake

I am creating..........a few finishing touches on handmade gifts: a stocking for my godson, ornaments for my mom, grandma and aunts, a pop-corn and cranberry garland and some rag-balls

Towards a real education..............measuring for cookies, sorting clean socks for my little one, keeping track of the timer so we don't burn the cookies, need I say more??

I am going..........to start getting stuff ready to take to my parents house, we are spending the night and going to midnight Mass

I am reading..........mostly children's Christmas stories

I am hoping.........my washer will be fixed soon, REALLY fixed

Around the house.........a washer that is still not working, a dog with a hurt leg, cookie and craft messes, great-grandma spent the night, lots of little ones underfoot

One of my favorite things...........all of our twinkling lights

A few plans for the rest of the week............finishing some presents for Epiphany, crafting that couldn't get done during the holy season, a park day with our homeschool group-we are the Holy Innocents-so we'll celebrate that feast together, sale-shopping for a little boy who has grown out of all of his pants, finding some time for myself

Here are some picture thoughts I am sharing...............

the blanket stitch

since i discovered the blanket stitch, while reading this book, i quite often use it for hand-quilting, partly because it is so easy and partly because it makes things look soooo pretty. look at those cherries......they look like you could eat them! this was a gift for a friend who just had twins!

and since she will be busy do lots of nursing i made her this light little coverlet. baby a is home now, but her brother is still in the hospital, so i will give him his gift when he comes home.

i often felt like my children were being smothered whilst nursing under "blankets", hence my sweaty headed babies, but this is a light cotton material with a flour sack dish towel for the top. the cherries are felted and the stems are green grossgrain ribbon.

my sewing machine is behaving very badly, so i don't know how i will possibly get all the things i need to sew before Christmas done. my washer also decided it doesn't want to cooperate either, but somehow this doesn't bother me as much! my husband has decided to fix it himself and we have a saying around here that pertains to my husband and his fixing of things and it goes like this:

if it ain't broke, FIX it 'till it is!

speaking of cherries............

i was actually able to finish these before things got too bad. one pair of dolly diapers down and two to go.........it is sure hard to keep things a secret from my darling daughter. after having spent two nights with nannie and papa, she is home. i must go and take advantage of the little window of time i have left before she wakes........good-bye!

inside out braids

this little girl is very dear to me.

her mama was my cousin, my friend.

and every time i look at her face i am reminded of her mother

and how her life was cut short almost two years

ago when she was brutally murdered.

yet another very senseless tragedy,

her death was, for our family,

for these children she left behind.....

there are many shattered,

tattered pieces of broken hearts

left behind.....

and with wounded spirits,

little by little we struggle,

sometimes alone and on this day, together,

to pick up those pieces, trying to make ourselves well again.

trying to make sense out of death and life,

things which we have no power over, yet we still concern ourselves nevertheless.

so the only thing i could come up with is this:

make the effort to fill your days with little acts of great kindness and love.

we cannot control much, but we can control this aspect of ourselves, our lives.

being a mother is hard, there are always so many things to be done,

but we must always pause and take time for the little things.

i can't help but think that when we are gone,

those are the things that will have mattered most.

the day that i was asked by my auntie,

to come and do hair for a very special day,

for a very first piano recital,

i gladly made two inside out braids in the hopes that somehow

that small act would make the day better for both of them and maybe even for me too.

i went home, with my own little daughter in tow, a box full of ribbons on her lap and i thought about how often she is with me, not aloof like the boys kind of are,

always busy with bicycles, rocks and sticks.

and i thought about how this is my legacy to her.

it is the same one that my mother gave to me.

it is a legacy of love and goodness.

the legacy of a Christian life, making good out of evil.

spending the time we are given on this earth doing the will of God,

despite the circumstances which quite often befall us.

some things are consequences of our own choices, others,

simply because they are the will of God.

i once read somewhere that our lives are like the piecing of a quilt.

we sew with what we are given, we don't always have control over

what kind of material we are given.

sometimes the material is less than favorable,

but in the end we can still make something beautiful for God.

so during all of my oh-so-busy days

i will try to remind myself that all of our moments are timeless.

they go with us into to eternity:

every thought, word and deed.

i will try to remind myself that life and each day that we are given is a gift.

the SON is always shining somewhere

and i am so thankful that He came to earth

to share HIS light and

to share with me, with us, HIS legacy of love,

without which,

this life, this world, would be devoid of anything beautiful and good.

and i am thankful that HE has shown me there is

beauty in something as simple as a pair of

inside out braids......

magical mini forest

with a little crafty inspiration from here and here

we made some trees using branches cut off

of a tree someone threw away

(on the side of the road)

and brown clay for the trunks.

soon all of the the tiny animals came out to enjoy the fun

white pom-pom snowballs, glitter, and sequins were added for

a wintry effect.

it seems there isn't much in this house that isn't

covered in glitter and sequins these days!

santa and the fairies soon brought presents and magic.

and in the end this little magical mini-forest

made for some great imaginative play!