Balance

I title this "Balance" because it is something I have been lacking these past few months. My life seems to have gone way off "Balance". Blogging is the only thing that has changed or caused the changes, the off-balance. I can't bring myself to completely give up blogging. I have found many good things to come of it. Many new friends, Nerm, Jill, Jessica, Paula, Tracy, Melissa, Barbara and so many other frequent commenters (forgive me if I did not mention your name, it's late! And I am not linking...you know who you are!) Christine and I have gotten much closer through this new common interest. I have really enjoyed having my "Petition Thursday" where I am able to pray for specific petitions many of you have. I have loved sharing my love of our beautiful Catholic faith and many of the blessings of it. Kitty, Marie and KellyAnn I will continue to pray for you, you all have special places in my heart.



I have not shared though, how since starting blogging in February, my kids have gotten way out of hand, with manners and attitudes. I really think this is directly from me being on the computer too much, too late. Every free moment in the day, instead of swooping up the kids and doing something together, I run to the computer to "check" in on everyone. I catch myself being disappointed when my husband comes home early, knowing he will need to use the computer. Now isn't that terrible? I should be very excited when he comes home early. I used to be before starting blogging. I can't wait til he goes to bed, so I can get on the computer. I'm embarrassed to even type it. That's not being a good wife, a loving wife. The wife that God wants me to be.



I have noticed along with the good, has also come bad. Temptations to be on the computer, way too much. Temptations to be on the computer when "real" people are right here in my own home being ignored, getting in the way, bothering me, because of my selfish want to read about other people and their lives.



Laundry has each week piled up. Not the usual pile up, I mean PILE up. To the point where I have to wash or we will not have certain clothing articles that we need. Supper has been made with haste and not care and love. Let's just say it has not been very good. My family deserves better than that. Oh, I have done what I have to do, but not out of love, done because I have to do it. I'd rather do it because I love than just do it so I can get on the computer and read blogs and comment everywhere I go. So I can hurry and get a post in. To fill my own pride. Pride, that's another thing that has happened. I knew there would be that temptation to be full of pride when starting. (Margaret has posted about this a few times) Pride of liking the nice comments, actually living for them. Constantly checking for them.



I need to say to any readers out there who think my life is perfect, I am not all that!!! I am not perfect, my life is not perfect. I have daily struggles and temptations. I lose my patience and I spend way too much time on the computer. My late nights (it has become normal for me to go to bed around 2am, since blogging) have made me tired and less than patient with my children. I don't want to be less than anything to them or to my husband.



That Satan sure creeps up on people. On me. I will not let him win though. Since Saturday I have only been on the computer for a few minutes at a time, to mainly check emails. I catch myself thinking about the way it used to be, when I used to only look at a few blogs per day. I need it to get back to that. Now, I use Google reader and I have comments sent to my email (although, they don't all go there) and it helps, ALOT, but I need to change things. I still need to be on less.



I talked with my priest during Confession, he said to use blogging as a penitence, a sacrifice. To set and limit my times, to do it less. He explained that "penitence" and "sacrifice" are good things, or we are giving up good things by doing this. He explained it's not "conversion", which would be giving up something bad. He recognized the good in the blog world, which, I guess validated my feelings that I DO love it. But not more than my family.




SO, I will be posting less. I will be commenting less. I will be reading less. I will not be looking up every link everywhere. I have already started this, since Friday. Haven't even noticed, I bet! I HAVE noticed though, that I am available for my children. I am available if they need me to play a game, or color with them, or just play hand games like "Say, Say, Oh Playmate". We had time today to read a stack of books, instead of just one each. They loved it, I loved it. I felt like the mom that God wants me to be today. I started laundry for the week and only had the usual pile up. I also washed sheets and have our supper menus planned out for the next 2 weeks. And I was available to discipline them for talking back or disobeying or just for not being nice.


Dear Lord, thank you for showing me what needs to change to get my life back in balance. Thank you for all my wonderful readers and blog friends. Please bless them in a special way.
Lord, I am nothing, You are everything. Lord, show me the way. Lord, Make Me A Saint. Amen.

Feast of The Body and Blood of our Lord

Have a blessed Corpus Christi everyone!!

I hope your church has a procession so you can walk with Jesus!!

Signs of Spring, Finally!!

Lilac buds starting to come out! I LOVE lilacs! I can't wait until they bloom!
My dear hubby tilling flower gardens for me. My goal is to make it bigger and bigger every year! A good friend gave me, (yes, gave me) a bunch of perennials, her dear mil also gave me a ton, I can't wait to plant them today!!
Isn't this tree cool? We are just going to watch and see how long those branches get this Summer!

Hanging pots!

Some kind of flowering tree in our backyard!

Some kind of bushes in our back woods area!
A beautiful flowering crab tree right by our back thanksgiving window!

Beautiful painted toes in sandals!

My tulips that I planted last Fall, right after we moved here!! Tulips are so exciting! I have some purple ones too, that have not flowered yet, but they are coming soon!

OK, I Give Up!!

I really, really, really, really, really wanted a vegetable garden this year. But I have to just give up, we have so many deer in our backyard! I just don't see my hubby, as nice and sweet as he is, putting up a 8 ft fence with a gate, just so I can garden. This would cost probably $300 to do anyway. SO, I am kind of sad. It's hard to explain. My friend said, "just go to a farmers market to get your veggies." It's not the same as growing it yourself. I love to weed and grow things. I love to watch them grow and become something beautiful! I love to share my veggies with the neighbors. It's so fun for the kids to see and help with. I had such big plans too, green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, pumpkins, tomatoes and beautiful flowers all around too! I am sad, sad, sad. It's kind of a yearning to want to garden, hard to explain into words. It actually kind of hurts to not be able to do it! Maybe I will find a 7 or 8 ft fence at a garage sale, who knows, maybe next year it will work out....maybe I will have to invest in a bebe gun? Just kidding, I don't want any animal rights people after me.

You are my God

PETITION THURSDAY

Tonight I will be with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. I can't wait! Please leave your petitions in my comments box by clicking on "comments" at the bottom of this post. I will pray for you, I ask that you pray too!

Introducing a New MN Blogger!

Introducing Melissa! She just started her own blog. She also has a MySpace page, homeschools, sells Creative Memory Scrapbook stuff and she has 3 beautiful children that I had the honor to watch last week. She is in our Catholic homeschool group and I am just getting to know her. She is a delight, she's really sweet and nice.
Her daughter got along great with all my children and helped make this obstacle course.
Her son is driving the truck. He loves all things train and truck and car! He's a very sweet boy!

Her baby is the most mello, calm, content baby I have ever seen!! She loved being held, playing on the floor, being in the baby car seat, being outside. She was very sweet and it DID make me want another baby even more!

Confirmation!

Come, Holy Spirit! May 18th, 2008
I had the opportunity to be a sponsor for not only one, but two beautiful young ladies. Emily is my good friends daughter. It was such an honor to be her sponsor. Through her Confirmation program, we were asked to get together at least once monthly and do selected activities together. It was a wonderful way to get to know her better and hopefully to be a good role model/witness for her. I really liked the way they did the program, it really involves the sponsors and gives them some responsibility for the faith formation of these wonderful teens. I tell you what though, it is such a contrast being with my small children all day and then going to do something with a teen. It was really fun! It made me really see how fast they grow.
At her Confirmation Mass on Sunday, there were about 4 other teens that I have not seen since I was an assistant teacher at a Montessori school, so the last time I saw them, they were around age 4 or 5. One girl, I wished I could have talked with her,(there were 88 kids Confirmed so it was busy afterward) her name is Camryn. When I had her in my afternoon group, oh, she was just such a cutie, her soft brown chubby cheeks, just called to be kissed! She was just a doll! She still looks the same, only taller! Her middle name is Grace, and when the priest called her name, I remembered at that moment, that when she was little, I loved her middle name and wanted it for one of my own, and I DID name one of my daughters with this middle name! I had forgotten why I liked the name.
Emily was one of these beautiful children at that school, so I did catch myself thinking back to when she was 4. How she has grown and changed and become such a beautiful young lady.


Doesn't Emily look beautiful? Red is the perfect color to be Confirmed in. I will add though, that the Bishop was VERY generous with the Holy Prism Oil, as you can see. Literally, his hand was dripping with it, after blessing their foreheads, he placed his hand on their cheeks, so there were a lot of shiny Confirmands there! They were glistening with the Holy Spirit! Her Confirmation name is Maria Goretti. This is her parents, Tim and Lisa, who without them, I could not do any daily Masses! Really, they help me out every time. Little Mary loves Tim and snuggles up to him and does not make a peep! Babycakes loves them both and it gives her more people to go to during Mass, up and down, up and down! Lisa is actually Babycakes' Godmother! Lisa and I have been friends for a long time now and she is one of my closest friends!

God Bless you Emily. I love you very much and hope the Holy Spirit continues to work in your life. The gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit are with you forever. Thank you for asking me to be your sponsor, it was an honor. I will continue to pray for you every day. (the kids too!)

Our New Favorite Book!

Friday evening was our old neighborhood's garage sale sneak peek night and I found about 10 children's books, lots of clothes for the girls, a great picture for my bathroom and a cool cupboard thingy! I spent about $30 total. I only had time for 4 places though, because, well, it was my old neighborhood and I DO like to talk!! I regret that I did not get time to go back, as I had intended (hoped) to on Saturday morning to get more deals and perennial plants. There are 2 women who sell perennials every year for $1-$3 a plant. I love to garden and can't wait to grow some things here at our new home!


This is one of the children's books we found. We all love it. It's just so cute and has lots to talk about afterward, like being nice, being a nice friend, not calling people names etc....

I will be posting more later, but I am tired it's 11:30 pm and my paint is wet and I can't paint anymore, so I am going to bed!! (pretty amazing for this gal, any time before midnight is early for me!)

Garage sales, Music shows, painting and Confirmation...more to come!!

Feast of the Blessed Trinity!

Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three in One. Amazing Mystery of our faith. Today I am off to a Confirmation. I am a sponsor to another great teenager. I am bringing the Pentecost cake! I think I might make the teenager help me decorate it! (I'm so mean!)

I painted until 2:30 am after going to my childrens' music/dance practice and show yesterday and last night. It has been a very busy weekend!! I will post more tomorrow! Blessings to you all on this wonderful Feast!

In the meantime, we will try to do things in threes! 3 pieces of fruit, play eye-spy and look for 3 things. Play "name 3": Pick a room in your home and have each child think of 3 things that would/could be in that room and keep going with rooms and things! The kids love this game!

The Loveliness of Rosaries

Lovely Sarah was so very gracious to host this beautiful fair showcasing the loveliness of rosaries!! I am so excited to read all the beautiful posts she has taken the time to read and write about in her fair. She did a super job! Our Lady would be proud!

Blessing of the Womb/The Power of a Priest!

Before conceiving our first child, Jedi, we had tried for almost 3 years. One night in the confessional, our priest asked me if he could give me a blessing. He knew our struggles. We had just had a failed adoption of an 11 year old troubled girl and I was devastated. He told me he had read a book about a priest who had several couples coming to him that could not conceive, and this priest then started blessing their wombs. Every woman had gotten pregnant. I said "sure, I will take any blessing!"

I wish I could remember his exact words, but they were simple, he placed his hands on my head, and prayed something like this: "Please Lord, make Jamie's womb fruitful..." There was a little more but that was the main thing I remember. I left, not giving it another thought until 7 weeks later when I started feeling very, very sick (we were actually on vacation up north) and took a pregnancy test and could not believe it!! We counted back and it had been within a week and a half of receiving the womb blessing!! It was a miracle!

Now as with any miracle, there is always room for doubt. While laying in a hospital, flat on my back, (my water had broke at 32 weeks) and too much time to think, I started doubting the miracle...thinking it was just a coincidence...other people get pregnant without the blessing. Then, some friends of ours told me about their miracle story, they, too, had gone to a priest (the one who came after our priest) and they had struggled with not being able to conceive. Within a couple weeks, they were pregnant!

Ok, God, Yes, I believe in miracles!! I am truly sorry for doubting it.

I have since heard of 2 more stories where couples have gone to a priest to ask for a womb blessing and conceived within a couple weeks of the blessing.

Oh, the power of a priest, given to them by God. The blessing is there. If you struggle with infertility, go to your priest, ask for a womb blessing. I have told many people this story, but rarely do they listen. I think sometimes they are afraid to ask a priest. Maybe their life is not in order yet with God. Well, get it in order!!!

This blessing came to me right at the time I finally knelt down and prayed "Ok, God, I want to be a mother, BUT what do YOU want me to be?" "Help me to do what YOU want me to do".

I know that feeling of seeing children everywhere you go and not having your own, yet yearning to hold your own little one. Praying to St Gerard, wearing his medal. Constantly answering to people telling you to "relax!" If you have ever said this to someone trying to conceive a child, shame on you!! Do not say that, God has His reasons, and it is not because the person is not "relaxing"!

Tonight, I pray for all those people out there hoping and praying desperately for a child. God put that desperation there, He wants you to yearn for that child. Maybe He wants you to be there for someone else someday and understand what they are going through. Maybe it is in your vocation to be childless, maybe it is in your vocation to adopt. Ask God to help you to accept His will. Thank Him for this cross. Any cross will bring you virtue, if you let it.

Please Lord help these women and families desperately hoping for a child. Lead them, guide them, give them peace.

St Gerard, Pray for us.

Mother of all mothers, Pray for us.

You are My All in All

You are My All in All

Another Meme!! I was tagged by Nerm!

Please write a Six Word Memoir that represents your life's motto.... The rules are:1. Write your own six word Memoir. 2. Post it on your blog. 3. Link to the person who tagged you .4. Tag 5 more blogs with links (leave a comment on their blog with an invitation to play).

I'm tagging these people:
Margaret
Jessica
Melissa
Melissa
Regina
Amy

Paula
Tracy
OOps!! Was I only supposed to tag 5? Jill? Well, if I did not tag you, you're tagged!
If you do not have a blog, leave a comment in my comment box of your 6 word life motto!

Petition Thursday

Tonight I will be with our Lord in Eucharistic Adoration. Please leave your petitions in my comments box by clicking on "comments" at the bottom of this post. I will pray for you, I just ask that you pray too.

Stay close to the Blessed Sacrament. If you have troubles or worries, go to the Blessed Sacrament. If your church does not have a Eucharistic Adoration chapel, go to the Tabernacle. Jesus waits there for you.

Before we had Eucharistic Adoration, I used to go to the tabernacle and just sit there by it and pray and I cannot put into words the grace I felt leaving there. He took all my pain away and filled me with graces.

Going to the Tabernacle carried me through many hopeless times. He waits for you. Go.
He will show you what to pray. He will teach you. He will fill you with graces. He and only Him can complete you.

Our hearts are restless until we rest with Him.

I Must Defend Barbie!

I know Barbie is a controversial topic. I'm sure there are people out there who don't play with us because we play Barbies. I love Barbie. The first time I was introduced to this controversy was when I was working at a Montessori school and someone had donated 2 barbies and a few beautiful dresses with them. My boss, the Principal/owner rushed in and grabbed them away from the children playing them and she was furious and told me to find a bag and put them in it and give them back to parent who donated them. I stood there shocked. I didn't see anything wrong with the dolls. Maybe the way my boss did this was wrong. But she did explain to me at least "her" reason for not liking Barbie. Barbie is unproportioned and not the body image we want to show our children. She is unrealistic. Hmmm, yes, I see that Raggedy Ann is much more proportionate, she is the body image we want to model ourselves after. (I'm kidding) I love Raggedy Ann. I love all dolls (except those Bratz things)! I am a girl and I like all things girl. (except shopping, but that's another story) I just think that our children learn what they are taught. My girls have never used Barbie in a bad way. They use the bikini's they come in as underwear. They know that her waist is not realistic, come on, they said no one can have a waist that small. (I think she might measure a 1/2 inch around her tummy) Now, really!
Barbie has changed from when I was a kid though. When I was a child, I owned 3 barbies. One was a "real" Barbie and the other 2 were cheapie $1 ones. I wished I had at least a GI Joe for Barbie, but did not. I dreamed of having a Barbie house and 10 more Barbies like my cousin, but did not. I only had the original outfits they came in. Back then, most kids did not have tons of everything they played with (and we were fine). My mom would give me a piece of material, like above and a ribbon and I would make their own dresses. Sun dresses. I guess this is inappropriate now, but, it gave me lots of styles to play with. I loved dressing my Barbies. I would pretend Barbie was me, and I would mostly just dress her up and have singing shows.


Now, my littles play with Barbie, they set them all up (they have way too many, mom does garage sales) They love to dress them in beautiful gowns and then they have singing shows. It takes a long time to play barbies with my girls, EVERY Barbie has to sing. AND you have to make up the song!! I do try to sing some funny ones like "Feelings" and "The Rose"! "Some say, Love, it is a River...." Isn't that a fun one to sing? How about "Tie a yellow Ribbon around the old oak tree"?


Anyway, my point here is what is wrong with Barbie? She sings, dances, gets married, has children. I don't let them dress them inappropriate...yes sometimes the skirts are a little short, but it gives me an opportunity to talk about modesty with them at this young age. To talk about what is true beauty. They know she is just a doll and they love to dress her and sing and dance her. I guess it depends on our past and our experiences with Barbie.


Are there any Barbie lovers out there? I know Jill, you love her!! Anything you'd like to add?
Now, I did space for paragraphs, let's see if it worked....

Special Day!

Today is the Feast day of Our Lady of Fatima! We had our last monthly homeschool Mass and picnic and Tracy from Pinewood Castle joined us!! We played a little at the park, but it was too cold and early to eat there, (and it was raining!) so we ate a very simple lunch at my home.
Tracy is a very, very nice. She is very easy to talk to and has a beautiful smile with the cutest dimple! It was wonderful to meet her and her beautiful children. I think she fits perfect in our homeschool group and hope to see much more of her in the future!
I apologize I had to rush her off, so we could get to dance!
(I tried to edit this picture to center it...and spent WAY too much time on it and it did not work in the end, so I gave up!)
Now, I have another IRL friend!! (in real life)

For more information about Our Lady of Fatima go here!

Miracle Of Our Lady Of Fatima Portugal 1917

This clip is taken from the 1952 movie Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima. This is a great movie. Amazing this can happen and the whole world does not know about it! Amazing that a little child was told, he must say many rosaries!! Isn't that something? Now, we live in a world where children are not taught to pray!

At Fatima when the Miracle of the sun happened, it had been raining for days, there was water and mud everywhere. All of a sudden the sun came out and instantly dried everything and spun around and looked as if it were fireworks spinning from it. Then all of a sudden, the sun came crashing towards the ground, everyone there thought they were going to perish. They hid their faces in terror. Then at the last second, God took the sun back. Now, this is documented as happening, there are pictures as proof of this, why is this not taught in history classes? Why does the world not know about this?

Sometimes that is the way God answers prayers. We worry and panic and pray and at the very last minute, even second, He takes care of us. Things turn out fine.

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for us.

Fast
Monthly Confession
Go to Mass as often as possible
Read the bible
Pray the rosary

These messages are simple to follow. They are the messages of Our Lady. Bringing us closer to her Son.

Pray, Pray, Pray.

Confirmation/First Holy Communion!

In the Fargo diocese, children make their First Holy Communion and get Confirmed all in one day!! Jedi and I drove the (almost) 3 hours to witness about 30 holy, innocent souls receive these beautiful Sacraments. It rained all day, but just as we walked into the church, the sun came out and blessed everyone! This is my very good friend, Sarah (she's is like a sister) and her family, her son is one of the blessed Confirmed Holy Communicants! My Goddaughter, in Sarah's arms is not looking, but this was the best picture I got! Sarah is also pregnant and due in November!

The Confirmation/First Holy Communion was at 5pm, so we left Fargo by around 10:15pm and got home around 1am. How did I stay awake, you ask? Praying this, listening and singing to this and listening to one of her talks. (Thanks Margaret) Oh, and lots of This!


It was an honor to be able to witness this blessed event. Jedi thanked me over and over for taking him! God Bless you, Luke, we love you!

Pentecost!

Our beautiful Pentecost cake, daisies and roses (from my dear hubby)!

Cornish game hens, baked potatoes and a salad! How easy is that for Mother's day? Very easy, just put it all in the oven! *This was also suggested on Catholic Cuisine. (the game hens, I think)

Fruits and gifts of the Spirit! I drew the fruit, the kids colored them and we talked about them and what they mean.

I wrote the meanings on the back!

I DO like these beautiful doves with the gifts of the Holy Spirit listed on them.

Come, Holy Spirit!

Come, Holy Spirit

Replace the tension within us

with a holy relaxation.

Replace the turbulence within us with a sacred calm.

Replace the anxiety within us

with a quiet confidence.

Replace the fear within us

with a strong faith.

Replace the bitterness within us

with the sweetness of grace.

Replace the coldness within us

with a loving warmth.

Replace the night within us

with your light.

Straighten our crookedness.

Fill our emptiness.

Dull the edge of our humility.

Light the fires of our love.

Quench the flames of our lust.

Let us see ourselves

as you see us

That we may see You

as You have promised,

and be fortunate

according to Your word;

"Blessed are the pure of heart,

for they shall see God" (Mt. 5:8)

This is one of my favorite prayers, it calms me and gives me peace in times of worry or anxiety.

I will be going to Fargo tomorrow to see the First Holy Communion and Confirmation of my friend's son. We will not get home until very late Saturday night/Sunday morning. I wish all you wonderful mothers out there a very happy Mother's day!!! Happy Pentecost to you all! May our Lord pour His graces upon you and fill each and every one of you with the Holy Spirit!

My Favorite Rosary/Petition Thursday

Tonight I will be with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament for my holy hour. I ask you to leave your petitions in my comment box by clicking on the word comments at the bottom. I will pray for your intentions and bring them to our Lord Jesus. He waits for us to come to Him. I only ask you to pray too.

My little brother, Jordan, gave me this rosary about 13 years ago, on the day our Perpetual Adoration Chapel opened at our church. (we actually belong to a different church now, but in the same cluster) As I type this, and add up the years, I realize he was only 9 years old at the time, and what a sacrifice this was for him to buy this rosary for me. I had moved home and was going through a divorce. (yes, I said divorce) I may blog about this another time, if anyone is interested, it is really part of my conversion story. I was young, (married at 23) and 2 priests told me to leave. The marriage was annulled, and so actually was not a marriage at all.

Anyway, it was one of the most painful things I have ever been through. I was staying in my parents basement (well sleeping there) and my little brother cheered me up all the time. He was such a blessing. He hated seeing me cry all the time. He hated seeing me sad. He always made me laugh. I cry as I type this, it was such a humbling time for me. He wanted to do something special for me, (as if he hadn't already, just being there to cheer me up) so he ordered this rosary for me and waited for the opening of the Adoration Chapel, he gave it to me right before Mass. (my mom insisted that I keep it, that he really wanted me to have it)

SO, this is my Adoration Chapel rosary. This is the rosary that I always pray in the chapel. This is the rosary that I always have in my purse. This is the rosary that I have prayed for you with, many times.

The medals have been given to me and were special at the time, so on they went, they actually make it a jingly kind of rosary. 2 St Gerard medals given to me by people who knew how badly we wanted children. (we tried for almost 3 years before conceiving) The other medal is the Miraculous medal and well, that is my favorite medal, so it is on my favorite rosary.

This rosary used to be all silver.
 I hesitate to show you this, but I am, in the hopes of inspiring someone out there to pray the rosary. 2 or 3 months after the opening of the chapel, while praying there, I looked down and couldn't believe my eyes. I blinked, blinked again...then kept praying and looking at our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament in pure awe of His blessings on my life. Why did He give me this gift? I am nothing. He is everything. My rosary had turned gold.

Within a few months we (my family and I -all except one brother who is not Catholic) went on a trip to Medjugorje. I quit my job to go, as I did not have enough vacation time to go on a 10 day pilgrimage. Which means it was no vacation, it was hard traveling and took a huge leap of faith to put all our trust in God and Mary to wrap her mantle around us and get us there safely. Our first trip was cancelled because of unsafe travel, we went with another tour group a week later. We traveled there during the war. While we were there you could hear bombs going off in the, somewhere!

 At night you could see them going off in the distance. We were in this safe little village that was untouched by any war and it was totally felt by everyone there.

It took 2 days of travel to get there. Our luggage came 2 days late. We were sick the first couple days. On the 2nd day we climbed up Cross Mountain and when we returned, our luggage was waiting for us. The mountain is unbelievably hard to climb! it is rocky and steep. Yet, on the way up, you can't help but think of all the people of the village in 1934 climbing up the mountain carrying concrete and water to build this magnificent cross for God. Amazing! Once we were at the top, it was breathtaking. It was SO beautiful at the top. There is this amazingly huge concrete cross at the top and a view of the world!

On the 3rd day we went up Apparation Hill. This was not as steep and not as rocky. It was actually easy compared to the other climb. We all (our group) prayed a rosary at the top, I had my little brother laying on my lap and my sister's interpreter's daughter, also 9 yrs old resting on me. While praying the rosary, while on Apparation Hill, while these 2 children are praying on my lap, the crucifix on this rosary turned gold. I blinked, I blinked again, I couldn't believe my eyes.

 Now, I wanted to jump up and tell everyone, but couldn't really do that, it would be rude, so I kept praying and staring at my crucifix. Afterward, (it's amazing how I could forget something so wonderful) there was a lot going on up there and I just didn't say anything and kind of forgot about it until the next morning. That morning, a friend and I decided to get up early and walk across the village and go up the Apparation Hill and pray a rosary and talk. When we got to the bottom of the hill, I remembered what had happened as I took out my rosary, and I started to say, "Oh, my gosh, Victor, I forgot to tell you..." He interrupted and said, "your crucifix turned gold, didn't it?" He said "mine too!" Just during that time, just on the hill, both our crucifixes turned gold and then turned back to silver after the rosary.

Now you can doubt it, say it is from the oils in my hands. But my dad said he sweated his butt off in Vietnam and prayed the rosary every day while there (for 11 months, I think) and his rosary never turned gold. It is not a tainted color, it is a pretty gold.

I don't know why it turned gold. I think it is a gift. A gift to say "keep praying!" "Keep going!" "Keep changing!"

I really do hope this post inspires someone out there to pray the rosary, to pick up a rosary and pray it gold. Pray from your heart. Change what needs to be changed. Our Blessed Mother will lead you right to her Son's Heart.

I believe some of the fruits of Medjugorje were coming home and finding a job working with children as an assistant teacher for a Montesorri school, (having always wanted to work with children) and just being hired based on my smile, literally, my boss told me this! (she's a very nice woman) Then meeting my now sister in law, who at the time was dating my hubby's brother and she then set us up on a blind date! (after months of begging me) We married the brothers and the rest is history. -Did any of that make sense?

Did I see the miracle of the sun? Yes.
 Did you?
 Do you still?
 What do you see?
 Anyone have Medjugorje stories?
 I'd love to hear about them.

Again, for free CD/tapes of the rosary go to The Mary Foundation!

My favorite book about Medjugorje is The Visions of the Children.

I actually have 4 copies for borrowing to people, it's that good.

God Bless you all, remember to leave petitions in the comment box!

More Pentecost Ideas!

In The Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions, they suggest decorating your table with a red or white tablecloth for Pentecost and putting daisies on as a centerpiece. Just as a Daisy has many individual petals connected to a single center point, there are Christians all over the world belonging to Christ. Since Pentecost is the birth of the Catholic Church, isn't this a beautiful flower to help celebrate?

I bought this book a couple weeks ago and was kind of shocked by the price when I got up to the counter...but I thought about 10 seconds and wanted it so badly that I bought it anyway...(Sorry dear hubby! ) I have gotten so many ideas from it though and been so inspired by it. I now know it was worth the $24 price! I was at a little Catholic store in town and wanted it now, and did not even think of waiting and checking Amazon first, I should have...I guess.

Then this morning, I noticed Jessica has this book too, here I thought I was being original! I do love this blogging for the sharing of ideas, it is so inspiring!

We talked about the wind today and how we can see, hear and feel the effects of the wind, but we cannot see the wind. We discussed seeing things move, trees, laundry hanging, feel the breeze on our faces, warm or cold. Then we compared it to the Holy Spirit and how we cannot see it, but we can see It's Fruits. We can see It's Gifts.

12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit:

• Charity
• Joy
• Peace
• patience
• Kindness
• Goodness
• Generosity
• Gentleness
• Faithfulness
• Modesty
• Self-control
• Chastity

(Gal 5:22-23)

7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit:

• Knowledge
• Understanding
• Counsel
• Fortitude
• Piety
• Fear of the Lord
• Wisdom

They also suggested in this book to list the Fruits of the Spirit on shapes of actual fruits and each child can pick a fruit (from a basket) and explain what each fruit means and how we can use these fruits.

For the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, they suggest making 7 yellow flames of fire with a slightly larger orange flame glued behind it, and listing the gifts on each flame. Then put all in a hat (or basket or whatever) and each family member draws from it and whatever each person picks is the gift they will pray for all that year. (you can double up, if you have more than 7 in your family or also do the Fruits)

I also liked their idea of making paper kites and listing the Gifts of the Spirit on the knots. This would look great in our school room! Dawn also has a great windsock idea!

I have been given a little slack for not posting projects ahead of time, I hope this helps someone out there! I always have these ideas in my head, it's just easier to keep them there until we do it!

Have a great Wednesday everyone, Blessings to you all! Again, this dumb blogger will not let me do paragraphs, sorry, it's obnoxious I know!

Pentecost is Coming!

This Sunday is Pentecost! Here is a great resource for coloring pictures and crafts!

We are planning on making the Pentecost Cake on Catholic Cuisine. We will also make a mobile of Doves and flames listing the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit! I will post pictures afterward!

Another great resource is here.

How's that for planning ahead?

Key Chain Rosaries!

The Schoenstatt sisters come up every month and lead 1 decade of the rosary with all the Mary's Little Crowns. I tried looking up information on Mary's Little Crowns, but could not really find anything online. It is a wonderful group, comparable to Little Flowers. It is not just for homeschoolers, although there is only one family who is not homeschooled in our group. Not sure why? The sisters meet, I think with the older girls and lead a mom's group, in which I do not participate, I try to stay and have time with my daughters. I like to see what they're doing. I like to be available to help if needed.

The 1 decade rosary key chains turned out pretty good, they kind of twist because of that hard string, but it worked best for the time allotted and the age group!

Did you know that "rosary" in German means " a crown of roses"? So each time we pray a rosary it is like offering Mary a crown of roses!

Into The Wild

This picture (above) is the real Christopher McCandless. There was a roll of undeveloped film in his bag when they found him, this picture was on that roll. It would be interesting to see what else was on the roll.

We watched this movie sometime last week. It's a true story about a young man who left everything behind and went "into the wild". He did not tell anyone, he gave away all his money, car, left without a trace. He did keep a journal, which is how they were able to make this movie.

At first, we thought, what a selfish man he was, forcing his parents to worry, leaving his sister behind, leaving all responsibilities for a life in the wild. But after a while, probably an hour, it is revealed that he had an abusive childhood and as the viewer, you begin to at least understand why he was running away. This movie was slow going, but interesting. They did bring God into play towards the end, which made it at least worth it for me. There is nudity in the movie, not really sure why....there is no sex. They actually portrayed him as a very nice young man, just obviously troubled. I catch myself wondering what would have happened if he had made it out of the wild. I really liked Hal Holbrook's character, he was just a little lonely though. I would recommend this movie, but I like to look deeper into characters, which made it good for me. It makes me think about all the sad and hurting people out there and what they go through every day just emotionally.

What about you? Have you seen this movie? Did your like it? Why or why not?

Clay Rosaries by Sarah

Looking for great homemade rosaries? These clay rosaries are hand made by a very good friend of mine's, daughter, Sarah. She has been making these for many years. I think I got mine like 10 or 11 years ago, when Sarah was still in high school. She is now a new mother and living in another state, and her rosaries have gotten even more beautiful! The time and detail each bead has is amazing. I love that each bead has a symbolic meaning to help you pray. Please check out her rosaries and other gifts at Clay Rosaries by Sarah.

Another beautiful rosary maker is Barbara. Her rosaries are beautiful. (I love to look at all of them) Please check them out, if you have someone who you need to give a gift to, Mother's day, birthdays, First Communions, Confirmations, Father's day or just because, think about a rosary.

If you did not click on the link, here it is: Prayerful Beads.

I wanted to give these the attention they need, but will have a story shortly about my favorite rosaries and why I like them.

I am off to Ballerina Rosie's Little Crowns meeting, I am in charge this last month of the school year and we are making one decade rosary key chains, I will have pictures soon!

Beautiful Hand-made Childrens Rosaries!

We ordered this kit through Oriental Trading. It is a beautiful kit and very easy for the kids to make with only knotting supervision and counting for the littler ones. The kits were nice, but as you can see on Ballerina Rosie's rosary (above) the string was not long enough for all the knots for the last 2 decades. The others had enough string. Next time, I would not put so many knots, the beads fit over the knots anyway. They turned out really nice and so bright!

May, the Month of Mary!

May is one of my favorite months. Spring finally comes to Minnesota. It is one of the months where we give special honor to our Heavenly mother. Who would not want us to love their mother? When you get to know someones mother, do you get to know them better too? This is why Jesus wants us to love His mother. Loving her, knowing her, will bring you closer to Him.

I have to say the Rosary is my favorite prayer. I can pray it anywhere at anytime. I can pray just a decade or the whole thing. I can pray for a specific intention, or just pray out out of love. I can give my prayer of the rosary as a gift and I can spread this love.

Growing up, my family would try to pray a rosary during lent. After supper we'd kneel down and my dad would lead. When I grew up and finally decided it was time for me to learn how to pray a rosary on my own, I had to teach myself. (another conversion story for another time) I bought a tape and started praying along with the tape. I fell in love with the mysteries, which are a meditation on the life of Jesus. The rosary is such a gift. It is not a set of repititious prayers, it is an act of love. Love for Jesus and His mother.

For free, yes FREE tapes/CD's of how to pray the rosary and other great tapes/CD's go to www.catholicity.com

For instructions on how to pray the rosary, go HERE.

This month I hope to bring the rosary to someone out there reading who maybe has never prayed a rosary, maybe wants to learn or maybe is just curious why us Catholics pray the rosary. I do challenge you, though, to try praying the rosary this month. Just this month, give it a try, have this short goal of only one month. Just be prepared to see your life change and be filled with many blessings. Most of all be prepared to be closer to Jesus, through His beautiful Mother.

These promises are amazing. When I re-read them, I am reminded of God's love and Mercy.

The Fifteen Promises of the Virgin Mary
to those who recite the Rosary given to St Dominic


1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
14. All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.


Blessings of the Rosary
1. Sinners are forgiven.

2. Souls that thirst are refreshed.

3. Those who are fettered have their bonds broken.

4. Those who weep find happiness

5. Those who are tempted find peace.

6. The poor find help.

7. Religious are reformed.

8. Those who are ignorant are instructed.

9. The living learn to overcome pride.

10. The dead (the Holy Souls) have their pains eased by suffrages.

Benefits of the Rosary
1. It gradually gives us a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ.

2. It purifies our souls, washing away sin.

3. It gives us victory over all our enemies.

4. It makes it easy for us to practice virtue.

5. It sets us on fire with love of Our Lord.

6. It enriches us with graces and merits.

7. It supplies us with what is needed to pay all our debts to God and to our fellow men; and finally, it obtains all kinds of graces for us from Almighty God.

Ascension Thursday*May Day*Petition Thursday

In our area today is not a holy day of obligation, but it should be. We are going to celebrate it today and Sunday!!
Our May baskets for our neighbors and some friends. Candy, prayer cards of the Ascension and flower seed packets. The girls loved making these and they really turned out pretty!

Our plans today:

• Color Ascension coloring sheets.
• Deliver May Baskets.
• Plant Marigold, Morning Glory and Grass seed in pots. (I am going to plant some Basil)
• Make flower collages with bright flowers and stems.
• Finger paint with blue and white paint on blue paper, symbolizing the sky and Jesus ascending up to heaven.
• Do bubbles, bubbles going up, symbolizing Jesus going up.
• Drink bubbly water, (same symbolization) in homemade flower cups.
• Do all of this while watching my friends beautiful little 2 year old! :)
  
  
  

Today is Petition Thursday!!

Please leave any petitions you might have in my comment box and I will pray for you during my holy hour with our Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament tonight! I only ask that you pray too!

I'm sorry if the Paula Abdul thing changes your image of me...I do like dance music, it makes me want to dance. It makes me happy. I mostly wanted to practice putting a Utube video on my blog and it fit the previous post! When listening to the radio, I always listen to our local christian radio, safe for little ears. I have grown to love christian music. When listening to CD's, I always listen to Classical or soft music that soothes us all! I actually deep down love country music, but it always brings me back to a place in my life where I do not want to be, so I cannot listen to it! I also failed to mention with 4 small children, rarely do I actually get to SIT and watch American Idol, it is NEVER quiet around here and if the TV is on, it is even LOUDER!! So, it is rarely on. I did not even see the results last night! (I did see on the computer though that my Ballerina Rosie's favorite, Brooke White, lost)