Paula Abdul - Dance Like There's No Tomorrow—OFFICIAL VIDEO

New Paula Abdul Song!

OK, I Admit It!

We don't watch much tv, but we love to watch American Idol! We watch every week and we have our favorites. My hubbys favorite lost last week. Mine are still on and I am betting they will be the final 3!

We did not see the first season, but have watched every year since. I think Ryan is so cool, Randy is very real, Simon, not very nice, blunt and truthful, people follow what he says, I think people vote according to what he says and Paula, she is just lovely. (that is my new word) I loved her songs, yes, back in the 80's and she has a new one out I like it too.

My favorites are David Cook, Brooke White and David Archuletta. David Cook is the underdog, (in my eyes) I did not like him at first, but have loved him probably for the past 8 weeks at least. If you watch, who are your favorites?

Yesterday, when Paula was coming to our house, my little Rosie Ballerina said "Paula!! From American Idol?" She says she was kidding, but it was pretty funny at the time!

Simply Lovely Windows

Paula is hosting this lovely fair and I am joining in, because I was kind of challenged by her and I cannot skip a challenge! I am not very creative in the writing department, so I hope this is acceptable!

I chose this window because literally every time I walk by or sit here and look outside, I am amazed by God's goodness. He found us this amazing home that fits our family perfect. I love the country, but my dear hubby loves the city. We recently moved from a more country setting (I thought) back into town. We needed a bigger home, we had around 1300 square feet in our older home and all 4 children were in the same small bedroom, we had wall to wall furniture and toys and there was no place for the clutter to go. No closet space, no storage and not many cupboards.

We looked into adding on, but it was just too costly and not worth the hastle, since it was a buyers market, we decided (my husband) to move. I knew we had to, I agreed to, but was sad about it. I liked our neighbors, I liked our country view in the front. (we had a section of woods across the street from us, so our front view was woods!) The lots were all pretty close to 1 acre lots, but the housing development was a couple miles out of a small town. I don't know, I just loved it there.

We found this house, made an offer, and listed our home and sold it in 8 days!! (at the end of our St Joseph novena, of course) Our new house is much bigger. (at 3300 square feet)

My city boy husband informed me after driving by a home I picked out in the country with 4 acres, that "We will NEVER live in the country." So...sad as I was, we moved here and how wrong I was!!

We have this neighborhood looking home in the front, but the back windows and yard are all country! We have huge hills behind our home great for sledding in the winter, climbing all year round and hopefully great for picnics in the Summer. With a view that is breathtaking. (I will post a picture of that another time) Kiddie corner from our land there is a beautiful graveyard buffered by a patch of woods. We love to take walks around the graveyard and pray for the souls there. The oldest grave we found was 1865. The graves closest to our land are mostly babies. (so sad)

We have seen deer many times within 10-15 feet from this window. We have seen squirrels, (of course)red squirrels, chipmunks, foxes and many kinds of birds. We love to watch birds. One neighbor said they have seen an oposum, so we are looking for that now.

That is why every time I walk by this beautiful window in this "city home" I am amazed by God's goodness and blessings. I actually think to myself every time I walk by or sit there "thank you God for this beautiful home!" "We are SO blessed." Maybe this should be called my "Thanksgiving Window." It's where I count my blessings. Blessings of faith, a wonderful husband, children, wonderful neighbors, (who pray rosaries with me) and blessings of God's wonderful, beautiful nature for us to watch through this window. When we did decide to move here, I trusted in God to put us in the right place and am amazed at what happens when we just trust. Trust as He asks us to do.

Jesus, I trust in You. I place all my worries, thoughts and actions in Your hands. I trust You to take over. Thank You, Lord, for my lovely windows! Thank you Paula for hosting this fair of Simply Lovely Windows!

This dumb thing will not let me post paragraphs, it always just runs it all together, sorry to all who read, it's annoying, I know!

New IRL Friend!

Today Christine and I met Paula IRL (In Real Life)!

I never knew what that meant until starting this blog! I feel like a teenager text mailing or something! Paula was so nice and down to earth. I really enjoyed talking with her. She's one of those women you feel like you've known all your life. Her children were wonderful, my kids loved them! Thank you Paula for a wonderful day! Next time, I promise I will not make chicken salad, or probably EVER! And Christine, I will not make anything with nuts EVER again for you. After almost 3 years knowing eachother, she informs me today that she does not like things with nuts!!!!!!!!! How many times have I made things with nuts? Wild rice soup, my ravioli balsamic brown butter dish, salads and chicken salad!!! I DO wish she would have told me sooner!! Poor thing, she probably has hated coming over for meals knowing it probably would have nuts! I promise no more nuts!

7 Random Things Meme

Melissa from Bountiful Blessings tagged me for this. It's hard to think of 7 random non-important things, habits or quirks. I am like her, and would love my husband to come up with them...but that might start an argument and cause me to be defensive and that just is not good. So I will have to do it on my own.

Rules for this meme:

1. When tagged, place the name and URL on your blog.
2. Post rules on your blog.
3. Write 7 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Name 7 of your favorite blogs.
5. Send an email/comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged.

Here goes!

1. When I get in the van, I always get a piece of gum. (unless I'm going to Mass) I usually chew Extra Spearmint of peppermint. (1/2 piece only) I always chew sugar-free. I'm always worried about bad breath, always have been.

2. I always brush my teeth after each meal. If I can't, I chew sugar-free gum! (I am positive I don't have cavities because of this gum problem I have) I don't like how my teeth feel after eating and it will bug me until I can brush them.

3. I cannot eat things with a spongy texture, like mushrooms, marshmallows, egg whites & angel food cake. It gives me shivers just typing it.

4. I cry very easily. I cry during every episode of Little House on the Prairie. I even start to choke up in the beginning when they play the music! The kids always look at me to see if I'm crying.

5. I met my husband on a blind date. (I guess that's not "not important" but it's random?)

6. I read a lot of books at once. Currently I am reading Managers of their Homes, My Spirit Rejoices & Honey for a Childs Heart. I do finish them, I just pick up whatever I feel like reading at the time.

7. Once I start a movie, I cannot stop it in the middle. I do not fall asleep, I have to finish it. My hubby is not like this AT ALL. This, I do not understand. If I don't finish it, it will bug me until I finish it. I don't like things undone I guess. The problem is I will almost always say I will stop it half way through, but never can.

Ok, I think every one of my favorite blogs have been tagged, but here's a couple I'm not sure of, Christine you are it! Paula, you are it too! I had lunch with these lovely ladies and some of their children and it was a wonderful day!! I will post pictures later. Paula was teasing me because I'm not sure how to edit the pictures. I always just post them the way they are. I actually don't even know how to attach pictures to an email. I do, however know how to cut and paste now! So...I'm going to mess around with that and try to figure it out! If you are reading this and you have a blog and have not been tagged, haha, you are it too!

Feast of St Mark Muffins!

I forgot the recipe actually called for caramel corn instead of popcorn, oh, well...the kids loved them anyway! Thank you Jessica for the great coloring sheet link!
They don't really look like lions, but they are cute, whatever they are!
We made cinnamon muffins and used our leftover frosting from the dragon cake!

I Know God Wants Me to Organize My Time!

I've started reading this book and so far, I love it. I haven't gotten very far yet, but just past the part where it explains that God DOES want us to be orderly, to have a schedule. I get that, I believe that. I have a hard time doing it though, on my own. In the book though, they do say it is not going to be easy getting up early, but that it will be worth it. It is written for homeschoolers, but so far, what I've read, could be applied to any state in life. We all could use a schedule. (does that help Nerm?)

I am also reading My Spirit Rejoices the diary of Elisabeth Leseur. Wow, I love this book!!! She is right up there with St Josemaria Escriva, St Francis De Sales and Bishop Sheen. Last night hers is the book I brought with me for inspiration, I guess. (to the chapel) This is the quote that stuck out for me:

"To Bring organization of one's life a strict method, and to deviate from one's rule, once it is established, only for serious reasons of family or charity. To do as well as possible whatever one is doing, not abandoning it for something else without a real need." -Elisabeth Leseur

Now, was that meant for me or what? "To do as well as possible..." Wow! Without a schedule to follow, am I doing as well as possible? Probably not.

We are almost done for the school year. So, I can see how we will need a summer schedule and a school year schedule. Which by the way...in the summer, we love to be outside and not inside on the computer, my blogging might have to slow down a bit. With snow in our MN forecast tonight, (4 inches by morning) not sure I should be worrying about summer yet!

Today we went to noon Mass at our Cathedral in town after music class. It was wonderful and Jedi is planning on counting all his Communions, 1st Communion, 2nd Communion....The priest who usually says the noon Mass, is retired Fr Patrick Riley. He loves children and blesses them and always comments about how he loves their noises...we have lots of that! I thought he was around 70, turns out today is his birthday and he is 90!!! He is very active and think about that, he's probably been a priest for over 60 years!! Amazing! He always gives information on the saint of the day and today was of course, St Mark. We sang the blessing song over him and happy birthday and yes, I cried...I'm such a tearjerker. (thank you Lisa for helping me with the littles, you are the greatest!)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, God bless you all!

What Would You Do?

Last night in the chapel, I started thinking about my children and what we would do if something happened to me or my husband or both.

Do you ever think about that? Really every person I thought of is not me, therefore, were not good enough in some way. Not that I am the best, but I am the best for these children, my children.

What a gift we have in our motherhood. Only I understand Jedi and all his little things. Only I can comfort Ballerina Rosie or Mary after a nightmare. I am the only one who's hair Babycakes plays with and snuggles with in a special way. Only I know all the little things about each of them.

Picking someone, is something I suppose every person should do "just in case". What if no one is picked? Then what happens to my children? What if only I die, what will my husband do with 4 children? Who will watch them while he is working? I'd still want them homeschooled, how would that happen? So many questions! What a gift to enjoy the present. To enjoy this motherhood. I must be the best I can for these beautiful children, because I am what is best for these children.

I know, I know, don't think about these things! But sometimes, I can't help it. I need to tell myself, Trust in Him, Jesus, I trust in You, Jesus, I trust in You. And I trust that all will be in order if something like that were to happen.

Do you think this way sometimes?

St Padre Pio!

St Padre Pio's uncorrupt body on display!

Now wouldn't that be something to see? Amazing!!

Holy Hour

I do have my Holy Hour tonight with our Precious Lord, but did not post Petition Thursday. I will pray for you all in my rosary, These people I think I know your petitions so no need to leave a comment. If anyone has anything you'd like to add, I'd love to pray for you. Please leave a comment, sorry so late posting this.

(Paula, Margaret, Sarah, Amy and Nerm) I'm not linking you, you know who you are!

Bird Crafts and Snacks!

I should have posted this picture of our pigeons with the "pigeon poop" recipe, oh, well...

Kidseed Birdfeeder

1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup craisins
1 cup peanuts
1 cup broken pretzels
Mix together and put in clean (new) bird feeder!
Thank you Jessica for the great ideas!

Our nest is a little different than Jessica's, but the kids loved it! We found peanut butter M&M eggs (really cheap on sale) and used pudding in these little cake thingys, oh, and colored coconut.

Birdhouse Craft

We had some friends over today and they joined right in with our bird stuff. Including our kidseed birdfeeder...next post!
The kids were very creative!

Pigeon Poop (Bird theme snack for kids)

This is one of our "bird theme" snacks, Pigeon Poop!

4 cups peanut butter crunch cereal

3 cups rice krispies

2 cups pretzel sticks broken in 1/2

2 cups miniature marshmallows

2 bags white chocolate chips

Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl and melt white chocolate chips in microwave and cover and mix, then lay on wax paper until cooled. Break into pieces.

The kids loved making this! It's so fun to say too!!

Feast of St George and the Dragon!

He's such a cute dragon! We spent our St George day with Christine and her son Jonathon. I used candy coated little kisses for the toenails, aren't they cute? I made a similar dinosaur cake once for one of Jedi's birthdays. The kids loved cutting their own cakes with their "swords"!

I have enjoyed seeing all the different cakes out there today, how fun for all those kids!

Thank you Christine for a lovely time today and for taking pictures for me!

Christine brought dragon teeth (string cheese) and dragon hearts (strawberries). The kids said the fish sticks were dragon mouths and the salad was dragon brains, (or maybe that was Christine who said that!) It was beautiful here in MN today and we enjoyed the outdoors all afternoon. After Christine and Jonathon left, (and Babycakes woke up) we went pick up my camera, yes, it was fixable and only cost $25 total, which is much cheaper than buying a new camera!! I was very happy, am very happy to have my camera back! We then went to a park and played until supper time. There is snow in our MN forecast for Friday, so we are not putting our boots away yet!

They Came!!

Now, to organize my time to read the organizing time book!!

Tomorrow Christine is coming for lunch and we will slay our dragon!

However, I will have no pictures, since my camera broke!! (I did turn it in today and they will let me know if they can fix it and how much)

Today is my little sister's 30th birthday, even though she does not read my blog, I wish her a wonderful day today and I hope and pray for her happiness and grace!

She has had to deal with far harder things in her life than I ever have and I am so very proud of her. She is completing her Masters and is teaching at a deaf school in the Twin Cities.

Happy Birthday Brenna! I love you!

Happy 40th Birthday Christine!!

Happy Birthday my great Catholic, blogging friend. I am so thankful to God for bringing us together, you are a true friend and sister in Christ. Have a wonderful birthday my friend!

Stop on over and wish Christine a blessed happy birthday!

Pray For Priests!!

Never attack a priest!

Always at least pray a Hail Mary for him if he should offend you.

A PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

Keep them, I pray Thee, dearest Lord,

keep them, for they are Thine-

They priests whose lives burn out before

Thy consecrated shrine.

Keep them, for they are in the world,

Though from the world apart;

When earthly pleasures tempt, allure,-

Shelter them in Thy heart.

Keep them, and comfort them in hours

Of loneliness and pain,

When all their life of sacrifice

For souls seems but in vain.

Keep them, and O remember, Lord,

They have no one but Thee,

Yet they have only human hearts,

With human frailty.

Keep them as spotless as the Host,

That daily they caress;

Their every thought and word and deed,

Deign, dearest Lord, to bless.

I found this prayer again, while in the chapel last night. It is from my Pieta prayer book. I used to pray it daily. It used to be a favorite! Why did I stop? I need to start praying it again.

Yes, this is our bumber sticker on our (dirty) van. I have always liked it because it has a positive message and is so true.

A very long time ago, before we had children, my husband and I were at a double feature movie. I can't remember the first movie we were there for, but it was a Jennifer Anniston one, so it was bad, (in the moral department) the 2nd free movie was "In and Out". Not a great movie either. We happen to be sitting behind 2 local priests (known for being very liberal, one for whom I prayed every day by name). Well, once the movie started, I started thinking "why are these priests here?" "How can they watch these kind of movies?" "I can't believe they would watch this kind of movie!" "They should be home praying!" Every time they would laugh (and they laughed loudly) I would think, "they should be disgusted by this!" "They should not be laughing!" "They should be ashamed!" Well, you get the picture! I was judging them in my mind. Then, somehow, I realized it. I realized, wait a minute, why am I here? They are human just like me. Why am I sitting here watching something that is not pure? I totally turned it around and was so ashamed that I was there and that I had judged them for the splinter in their eyes yet I had a huge log in my own eye! At that moment, I realized it was me that I needed to worry about, my soul, not theirs. I can pray for them, and I can change myself but I cannot judge them. I cannot attack a priest. I must pray for them. We all must! After all, we need their prayers, and they need ours!

Petetion Thursday

Tonight is my Holy Hour with our Lord. I will pray for you and your intentions. If you have special intentions, please leave them in my comment box by clicking on "comments" . I have special intentions this week, one for Margaret
the other for my son, who will be making his first Communion this weekend.
I pray that our wonderful Lord keeps his soul and the souls of the other first Communicants as pure and innocent as they are right now. They are full of love and full of pure faith. I will be crying the whole time, I'm sure. Please pray for my intentions, and I will pray for yours!
God bless you all. May He make us all Saints!

Happy 81st Birthday Holy Father!

"Like a wave gathering force, my thoughts go out to all men and women of today, to believers and non-believers alike." -Pope Benedict XVI

I Was Wrong!

I thought getting a "cutting" book would prevent the cutting of other non-paper things
Guess not! Poor Bert! New haircut and surgery on his ear done by Dr Mary.
Other than being wrong, it really is a fun little book for her!

Please Say a Prayer!

Minnesota Mom, Margaret, found out today that she lost her baby. This is her 4th baby to lose. Our hearts ache for you Margaret, we all love you and lift you and your family up in prayer.

Our Lady of Sorrows, Pray for Us.

My First Meme!

I was tagged by Amy and this looked fun. Here goes:

10 THINGS "I'VE GOT THE URGE TO..."

1. Go somewhere tropical....
2. Take a long nap. (somewhere tropical maybe?)
3. Go visit my Grandma in California.
4. Cut my hair really short like a boys, someday...when I'm thin.
5. Grow my nails long again and take care of them, which would mean I could not clean or do much around here...
6. Meet my blog friends in real life!! And sit and visit all day!
7. Have twins.
8. Plant flowers!
9. Plant my garden!
10. Have a picnic and lie in the grass and read books and play with the kids all day outside in warm weather. (somewhere tropical maybe?)

OK, now I tag Christine and Nerm. I think everyone else has already been tagged, if not, you're it!

Come Holy Spirit!

O, Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul,...I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do...give me Your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will.
This weekend I had the blessing of being this wonderful young lady's Confirmation sponsor! This is Melissa, our old neighbor girl. I cannot say enough good about Melissa. We miss her so much!! The kids love her! She's always so sweet and nice. She (and her mom) introduced me to Pride and Predjudice! We have had a few "girl nights" where we watch a movie and have ice cream or snacks and just talk and have fun. (her, her mom and I) We'll have to do that again this Summer when Tom goes fishing! She is very mature, yet she loves to play with the kids. She was our first babysitter! (We trust very few with our kids)

She has a strong faith in God and it is so refreshing!
Her Confirmation name is Faustina. St Faustina has a special place in my heart, as does Melissa. Thank you Melissa, for choosing me, I will pray for you every day. God Bless you on this special day! (I'm sure she would want me to tell you that that shiny forhead is the blessed oil from being Confirmed, the Bishop was very generous with it) I could just feel the grace around her today.

If you have questions about the Catholic faith or have been gone a long time, come on home. You are just a confession away from home. Check out this wonderful site!
Click on the 3 videos on the bottom of their home page, they are wonderful!

More Butterfly/Caterpillar Crafts and Snacks!

Did I say my house was not a mess? Well...after today, my kitchen is! But that's ok, it was fun!
These are crescent rolls, a package of 8 made 4 caterpillars, we used chocolate chip eyes, pretzel antennas and pink sprinkles with cinnamon and sugar.

These are nectar sipping drinks...cups with flowers around, the straw is the tongue of the butterflies.

These were hot glued, so basically, they told me the colors and I glued, but they still liked making them together! (pipe cleaners, pom poms, beady eyes and magnets)

Ok, I think we are DONE with caterpillars and butterflies...maybe! It was a fun 2 weeks!

Now, I am on the lookout for bird snacks and crafts.

Petition Thursday

Give me your petitions and I will pray for you.

(leave your petition in my comment box, by clicking on "comments" at the bottom of this post)

My Holy Hour with our Lord is tonite at 10pm.

I can't wait!

P.S. I did answer some of you in my comment box yesterday, check it out if you left a comment yesterday!

WoW: Weigh on Wednesday

I am not going to participate in the WoW anymore...I'm out of jokes...just kidding! I just think I am hard enough on myself, knowing all my failings, I don't need to share that part of my life with the world. I have stayed the same not gained any, but not lost any either. I have not met my goal of exercising 3x this week, knowing for weight loss, I'd need to at least exercise 5x/week. This WoW thing has caused me to pause these past couple weeks though. Pause and think about the disorder in my life. I DO believe God is a God of order. I DO believe He wants us to be orderly.

"since he is not the God of disorder but of peace." -1 Corinthians 14:33

"There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to see, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. What advantage has the worker from his toil? I have considered the task which God has appointed for men to be busied about. He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without men's ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God has done."

-Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

I go to bed late, get up late, I have no particular time to do either. I Do get everything done, amazingly, but always feel rushed and not at peace with all I do have to do each day. Because it is not orderly. I am always rushing to wherever we have to go, always late, always in a hurry. Because my life is not orderly. I don't want my children to grow up having that rush and panic feeling every time they have to go somewhere. I have noticed the first thing they say when getting into the van is "Are we going to be late?" They are too young to worry about that. I am causing this worry, this anxiety at their young age, because of my disorder.

This morning I ordered M.O.T.H. Managers of Their Homes. It is similar to Holly Pierlot's book A Mother's Rule of Life only it gives many examples of schedules. It gives (for me) a clearer way of making it my own schedule. My friend, Sarah, introduced it to me last Summer, but we were selling our home and getting ready to move and a schedule was far from my mind, so it never got ordered. She loves it. She has her own schedule and it works for her. I need to find my schedule, my order. (This book is not Catholic, but you can fill in your prayers in their "devotion" time)

After ordering this book, (finally) I read Jessica's blog post today and she led me to 2 Excellent posts by Elizabeth Foss on exactly what I've been struggling with! (not the mess, just the disorder of what I do when) I know these posts are kind of lengthy, but they are well worth the read! Thank you Regina for hosting WoW and helping me to pause, to find what needs to change in my life.

The Real World

We had dinner at a work associates of my husbands yesterday afternoon. She and my husband and his partner are going into business together, by helping her start up hers. My husband is a LADC, Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselor, and runs/owns a halfway home for men. It is a 90 day program for men who have already gone through treatment and are sober. This program gets them set up in jobs, daily living, AA groups, using the bus line, well, just life. There are all kinds of men that come through. They are your neighbor, your son, your father, your husband, your fellow co-workers, people you know from church, school, stores, judges, lawyers, pretty much anyone across the line could be in a situation like the men my husband counsels. They are in the planning of starting a women's halfway home.

This woman just lost a baby about 6 or 7 weeks ago, at 20 weeks. She just started back to work. I had not met her until last night. They did not seem religious at all, at least not by our observations. (maybe they are, I will give the benefit of the doubt) Which, I suppose is the way most people are. I just never put myself in that situation that much, I surround myself with people with the same values and morals as we have. It's weird, I was very uncomfortable. I wanted to say something to her about the baby she recently lost, but there was not a moment where we were alone, and I had prayed to the Holy Spirit, and the time was never right to do so. Which makes the faith thing more real, or made me really see the barrier. Faith binds us so close. If this were any one of my fellow bloggers, or homeschool friends, even if it were someone I had just met, the bond is Jesus, the bond is there and it would have been talked about. No mealtime prayers were said. No talk of God or church or anything substantial for building a friendship. A True friendship. The kind we yearn for.

I could not help but compare the 2 women. Katie, who just had an abortion at 18 weeks, killing her own child, and this woman last night who lost her baby at 20 weeks. I know those babies are together in total Love. But the 2 situations could not be more different. One baby loved, the other despised for not being perfect. It has been a hard weekend.

What was really hard about the baby who was aborted, Brady, was it was in the newspaper, it was listed as "who died at birth." What? Died? You mean murdered, right? It has been hard seeing this as the real world sees it, as some kind of mercy killing. Something good. It was NOT. How can they have an obituary? I am glad the baby was buried. I keep thinking of a different situation. What if a pregnant woman, let's say 18 weeks along, was attacked and her baby was killed in the attack. The man who attacked her would be in prison for the murder of the child in her womb. (and rightfully so) Yet, a woman who wants to kill her own child in her womb can do so without any consequence, at any time. I guess that is not totally true, because our God is a Just God. (so there is consequence) I am just having a hard time thinking straight. It just makes me want to cry. This real world we live in.

I pray for these women mentioned in my post. I pray for Gods healing Mercy on them in whatever way is needed. I pray for Gods healing Mercy on us, who take it all to heart, to let it go and let Him take care of it.

Lord, have Mercy on us. Help us to live in this real world. Do with us what You want us to do.

2 Good Rentals

I'm no expert in movie rentals, but I did work in a video store when I was younger and the customers loved my opinion and always came back to me. I had my regulars! Anyway, over the last couple weeks, we have seen these two movies and they were both really good. August Rush, was very unrealistic, but good. I think the soundtrack has got to be beautiful, there was a lot of beautiful music in this movie!
I love John Cusack for some reason. I think it is his voice in the children's movie Anastasia. Maybe it is that movie, The Sure Thing, which I'm pretty sure I would not like now, but I did at one time! Anyway, the movie is really good. It does show a very unrealistic view of adoption and what happens afterward with the social workers and state people. But it is realistic to show some of the things troubled, waiting children go through. (We had a waiting child, an 11 old girl with us for 6 months about 9 years ago) This movie also starred his sister in real life and in the movie, Joan Cusack. It was fun to see them acting together, I'm sure it was fun for them!

A Great Game!

Christine showed me this game when I visited her last and it is a hit in our home! It can be played in under 2 minutes. So it is a great game while making supper, or in between anything. It comes in this nice hard case and is easy to take anywhere. We got it at Wal-mart for around $5.

We Are SO Poor, Here in America

"Any country that accepts abortion is the poorest of the poor." -Mother Teresa

Many people have been asking me about Katie, the woman contemplating abortion. I admit, I was afraid to call my friend to find out for sure. I think I knew in my heart and it was easier to not know and just continue praying for her. Well, my friend T called today. Yes, Katie did have the abortion. Or the "early induction" as Abbott Northwestern Hospital in the Twin City area calls it. They induced her last Tuesday and she delivered a baby boy on Wednesday. (yes, they thought they were having a girl, but they were wrong, makes me wonder what else they were wrong about) Katie named him Brady. Little Brady was only in his mothers womb 18 weeks. The hospitals and doctors are so deceiving making her believe she was not prolonging the inevitable. Making her believe this was some kind of mercy (killing). May God have mercy on anyone in this situation who had anything at all to do with this decision. This is only one woman and her situation, what about all the others? We are a very poor country indeed, very, very poor. Thank you to any of you who prayed for Katie. I know your prayers did not go to waste. God will use them. He will make all things new.

Petition Thursday

Tonite is my Holy Hour with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Please leave me your petitions in my comment box (click the bottom of this post) and I will pray for you. All I ask is that you pray too.

WoW: Weigh on Wednesday

The only problem with the towel theory is, I don't wear the towel! I am exactly the same as last week. For some, you might think, that's better than gaining, except I have been the exact same since July! My big problem this time in my life is TIME. Finding that time to exercise. My goal for this week is to walk or exercise 3 times. That's not a big goal, but somehow it's hard to attain! I love exercising. Really, I'm not very athletic, so aerobics was my thing! I also love walking. I love walking with my rosary and praying the rosary and chaplet while I walk. Other things in my life must change in order for me to meet this goal. Like not staying up SO late, and getting up earlier to exercise. Like not reading SO many blogs. I have become addicted to blog reading. There are SO many wonderful, strong, Catholic women out there and I love reading about your lives. I think about you all -all the time. Balance is always the key. I need to balance my life. Is God first? Are my husband and children getting the attention they need first? Am I taking care of myself? The only way to make sure is to pray, pray, pray. Constantly. Balance is a daily struggle with everything. Computer time, time with my husband, playing & reading with the kids, getting my duties done as wife and mother, like laundry, cooking and cleaning, eating right, exercising taking care of myself, both body and spirit.

I bought these 2 books about a month ago, about the time I started my blog, and all this blog reading. I have only gotten past the introductions on both. Yes, my life is kind of like my book reading. I am currently reading like 5 books, whatever I feel like reading is what I like to pick up. I am all over the place. Being pulled all different directions. I'm not scatterbrained, at least I don't think I am, just very good at (or not so good at) multi-tasking constantly.

I need my down time though. I am not a person to run, run all the time. Part of my down time is praying and reading. I find it ironic that I have not been able to find the time to read this book, because I am too busy!! So, this week, I am going to try to trim my blog reading. I am picking a few to read every day, just like I used to before starting this blog. The rest I am going to read when I can but not every day. I cannot leave comments everywhere I go, but know I am still reading. I love to comment, I love to talk. But silence is a virtue, and I need more virtues, I need this one! I need some silence in my life in order to hear God. I think we all do. This blog and blog reading have to add to my family in a good way not take away from us. If it takes away, then something needs to be changed. I have to change. There is always something to work on.

Lord, please help me to change those things that need changing. Please help me to work on my vocation as wife & mother. Help me to fulfill this vocation in the way that You want me to. Help me to find that balance that we so desperately need. Lord, Make me a Saint!
Amen.

A Very Hungry Caterpillar Lunch!

Isn't this cute? We picked a few things from the book and put them together in this cup caterpillar. The crackers were not part of book, but they had butterflies on them. The lettuce represented the leaf the hungry caterpillar ate at the end! The kids had fun, I read as they ate, the neighbor girl even joined in and I hope liked it!