Thursday, December 2, 2010

Random Thoughts (just a little peek at some of mine)

I'll start with Advent.
I love Advent.
It's a time to go back to God, to prepare our souls.
To wait patiently and joyfully.
Key words for a mama with a restless heart, yearning for peace, yearning for God.
The above book, I really like. It's short and sweet, perfect for busy mamas.
How could anyone go wrong with St Padre Pio?
The same with this book. I couldn't decide which to get, so, I got both.
The two men are two of my favorites.
Isn't Fulton J Sheen beatified yet?
We got this book last year, but only read one chapter and then fell behind. It starts the first Sunday of Advent and you read a chapter every day til Christmas.
This year, we are reading it every chance we get and are actually ahead. Actually, we've been reading this instead of starting school early and are starting our day quite late after all our Advent activities.
I highly recommend this book. The kiddos love it. I love it.
Each chapter leaves you with a cliffhanger and makes you want to keep reading.
I'll quote the back of the book here:
"Ten year old Jotham's adventure takes him across Israel as he searches for his family. Though he faces thieves, robbers, and kidnappers, Jotham also encounters friendly wise men, shepherds, and innkeepers until at last he finds his way to his family--and to the Savior born in Bethlehem."
We are using Paper Dali
to color and cut out and put on our
Jesse Tree!
We are planning on doing the "Jesse Tea" with friends of ours closer to Christmas and I am so excited!
We took out our Easy Bake oven this week and it was all new for Babycakes!!
Thanks to Aunty Heidi who gave it to Ballerina Rosie when she was 3.
The next birthday or Christmas she also gave us a box filled with Easy Bake cake and cookie mixes! (they are expensive)
The little girls had a blast this week baking their hearts out!


  • I've been thinking about white bread. Yes, I said white bread. Someone I know said to me over a year ago, that she thought we "were white bread people". What does that mean? It's still bothering me. We actually happen to be wheat bread people. Just because I'm a little overweight doesn't mean we don't eat healthy, because we do. Sometimes I do buy that Kids Choice bread, but very rarely, in fact I don't remember that last time I bought it.
  • Speaking of being overweight....I have stayed the same for 4 weeks now, actually, I gained one pound back about 4 weeks ago and so the amount lost is 10 pounds, but I don't feel like changing the little sidebar thingy thing, because I know I'll lose that one pound....
  • Progessterone. Yes, I'm thinking about progesterone. The ladies in my book club said that once a woman is over 40 and she gets pregnant, she should take progesterone to make sure that baby lives. I've never heard of this. It scares the crap out of me. I'm 41 and hope for more babies. I hope I catch it in time if I do get pregnant and can get this stuff.
  • Orphanages. I'm thinking constantly about orphanages in other countries. I've been thinking about this woman and we will hopefully be giving our Christmas donation to the orphanage that is close to her heart. The things she's seen just break your heart and here we are eating to our hearts content and buying whatever we need and want. We are so very blessed.

There's more on my mind, but that's enough for now!

Blessings and happy weekend everyone!

**Sorry, I got my hormones mixed up!! (I fixed it) I was trying not to say "testosterone" and that's what I wrote. Sorry to confuse anyone.

14 comments:

  1. How wonderful to hear the excitement in your "voice" for this beautiful season! Advent is truly a blessed time, and I hope that yours is peaceful and wonderful.

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  2. Thanks for the link to Paper Dali's Jesse Tree ornaments!! I needed to print these...

    Those little Easy Bake packets cost $$$!! I've been pricing them, trying to fill a wish list... ouch!

    Testosterone? Really? Relax -- I was 45 when my youngest was born and I never heard anything like that before...
    Pregnancy went very well - he's super healthy... Check with your OB before thinking of taking anything!

    Wishing you a blessed Advent!

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  3. How wonderful to open up the link and discover you were talking about Kari and the orphanage in Siberia. I recently sent them a box of things that hopefully they will enjoy and the day before yesterday I sent the kids a long letter with pictures attached. They are beautiful children that don't have a clue what it's like to have fruit on a daily basis, socks without holes and just the basic needs of life. Hopefully it won't be too long before she can go back and come home or as she would probably say, stay over there permanently to love on all of them. She is a special lady for sure.

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  4. If you love the Jotham book, you will like the other two in the series, Bartholomew's Passage and Tabitha's Travels. They were OOP, but have been republished and are available on Amazon. They are wonderful.

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  5. That is a really clever way to create a Jesse Tree...

    and I've never heard of the testosterone for women over 40, either. What role does that hormone play in keeping the pregnancy healthy ... progesterone makes more sense because it's directly related to our cycles. We'll have to ask, I guess!

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  6. Oops! Big oops!
    I meant to say Progesterone.

    NOT Testosterone.

    Pro=woman
    tes=man

    Got it and fixed it!

    Thanks Paula!!! Wrote those books down and can't wait to take a look at them and probably buy them!!!

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  7. Enjoyed stopping by your blog and making a note of your Advent book suggestions for next year!

    As a woman who has miscarried, a lot, (5 little souls in Heaven) I agree with the other visitors to your blog to not panic over the progesterone.

    If you are using NFP and know your cycles well, than you can obviously get into your OBs office ASAP for blood work to check those hormone levels.

    I just had #3 at 41 and my progesterone was thru the roof...indicating a nice, healthy, pregnancy. One year earlier, my progesterone was borderline low, and by 8-weeks our baby had lost his/her heartbeat. I don't believe that progesterone would have made the difference. I thing a chromosomal abnormality and God's needing him/her in Heaven more so than Earth was the reason behind our loss.

    Wishing you a blessed Advent season.

    Valerie

    P.S. My great-grandmother had my great-aunt at 48!!! I don't think they checked progesterone in the early 1940s!

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  8. We are reading Jotham too! I am glad I waited until the kids are a bit older - I heard it was on the scary side. Previously we enjoyed the gentle Mary's Little Donkey. Happy Advent to you!

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  9. We have been loving the Jotham's Journey trilogy and this year is our third. We're reading the very newly re-released Tabitha's Travels.
    Noelle is SO excited to have the book be from a girl's standpoint and they are seeing and remembering how these characters interweave through the books.
    The kids LOVE the special time after lunch is all cleared away before naps and outside recess. We gather on the couch and then everyone begs me to read "just one more, Mom!"
    The author has just finished a Lenten book due out in Feb 2011, about Jotham's son 30 years down the road. We're excited to get our hands on it!
    We are also FINALLY doing our Jesse Tree after buying one from Illuminated Ink at the HS Conference. It's so fun!
    That, and doing our Advent calendars and putting a "straw" in for baby Jesus's manger is all this sick, pg momma can handle this Advent! :)

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  10. Hi Jaime,

    How are you & your family doing? Thinking of you and praying for you this Christmas season! I was wondering, have you ever bought a clay rosary from the Clay Rosary Girl? Which clay rosary would you recommend for me to buy? As you know, just like you, I love the Blessed Mother and have a special devotion to the Rosary. I am planning on purchasing a rosary from her next week!!

    Also, do you exercise every day? Do you still exercise to the Leslie Sansone DVDs every day?

    You're in my thoughts and prayers!

    Love,
    Maria

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  11. I still remember when I asked for an easy bake oven for Christmas....when I was little...and my dad told me to use the big one in the kitchen. Broke my heart.

    The bad thing is I will not buy one for my daughter either cause...guess what...I told her, "There is a big one in the kitchen!"


    like everyone else said the mixes are spendola!

    I have not started a read yet for Advent. Will go now to my little Catholic library in my bsmt and see what I can find.

    Love all your thoughts.

    and you DO NOT look like a white bread person...whatever that was suppose to mean.

    I think you look more like a green jello with a marshmellow cross kind of gal....hee hee just kidding.

    have a great weekend.

    think of you bunches.

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  12. Maria Therese- Yes, Sarah from Clay Rosaries is a friend, and yes, I love her rosaries. Wish we could buy one for each of us!!

    I love all of them, but I really like the black bead ones with the crucifixes.

    They do make great gifts!!

    Exercise? Not since Summer. School started, and with homeschooling, that took up my time that I had in the morning. I have the daily goal of at least walking on the treadmill or a Walk away the pounds tape....but that daily goal gets put by the wayside every day. Literally.

    Christine, you are the green jello person my friend, not me!! (but we all loved your green jello)

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  13. I love your Jesse Tree, Jamie. :)

    We're reading something similar this Advent. It's called *Destination:Bethlehem* and the children have really been enjoying it. They never want to stop with one chapter. There are 24 chapters to be read each day of Advent. I'll have to look into getting Jotham's Journey for next year.

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  14. Is it too late to reply? It's been four years. FOUR YEARS. (facepalm)

    After a long break, I'm back at Paper Dali with renewed fervor, and I've been seeing the cutest blog posts of my Paper Dalis being used.

    So cute! And I love the tree made out of handprints. I am borrowing that idea.

    Thanks so much for sharing how your family used the Jesse Tree ornaments.

    Peace and blessings!

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Thank you so much for stopping and commenting!