So...What is 'TBT'?

I have always admitted that I am no technology queen....and I rely on my teens to keep me somewhat current in the social media world.

It seems like every week there are new abbreviations in the texting world that I have to figure out what they mean!  (For a long time, I thought that lol meant 'lots of laughs'....my older sons would just shake their heads at me with that "look".  You know, the 'how can my mom possibly be so ignorant/embarrassing' look!)

Ahh...the joys!

Anyway, lately I noticed a lot of 'tbt' on Facebook, and, again, had to ask my teens what it meant.  Jon promptly informed me it meant 'throw back Thursday'.  Yay....a little less ignorance for me!

Armed with my new found knowledge, but probably already behind a dozen other new abbreviations(!), here is my 'tbt' contribution!

 This is a picture of Sarah and our Goddaughter, Collette!  I'm guesstimating, but I think Collette is about 3 and Sarah is about 5.  I found this picture in my box o' pictures in my room that stares at me every day and makes me feel overwhelmed/guilty/etc.!  One of these days, I will organize them all and get them in albums!  The one thing that is fun about a big box o' pictures, is that you can grab a pile and unearth random treasures of good memories!  (And the pic above is one of them!:)

Collette is the daughter of our very good friends, Bud and Kim.  Despite their best efforts, (and then because of their best efforts!), God chose to grow their family through adoption.  We were blessed to be a part of their lives during their struggles with infertility...which were made even more painful when so many of their Catholic friends that were open to life were blessed with pregnancies all around them.  We were blessed to be a part of the journey of their openness to God's timing in pursuing adoption.  In fact, I was physically pregnant with Peter while Kim was spiritually pregnant with Collette.  We were able to share our time of waiting together for several months.

I still remember Bud and Kim arriving late one evening with the first picture they finally received of their daughter waiting for them in China!  It was all the joy and excitement of a parent's first ultrasound picture...and then some.  The countdown began until their long journey to China to finally hold their baby in their arms!  That's when the real adventure began!

Jay was even blessed to be able to be one of the entourage at the airport to welcome the weary, new parents home!

In just a few days, Collette will join the ranks of a teenager!    I can't believe that our girls are growing up so quickly...and into beautiful young women to boot!  Happy (almost) birthday to our special goddaughter!  We are so blessed that she is able to be a very regular part of our lives! (and btw....please stop growing up so darn fast!....lol)

...About A Wish

This weekend wasn't nearly long enough!  Jay was covering the weekend, and he had to work 3/4 of Saturday.  Thankfully, he didn't have to work on Sunday, but with the time change everything felt discombobulated!

Saturday afternoon we did something a little spur of the moment....we went to an open house!  Not that I am looking to move right now, but I do have a little "Wish". 

As a side note.....'Wish' is actually my word of the year.  When I went back in my blog posts to find where I wrote about it, all I found was a place I mentioned it but never really explained why I felt it was such an appropriate word for me. Now I feel like I'm writing a grade school essay, lol!  "Wish is an appropriate word of the year for me because....."

Really, it is a good word for me.  On the brink of entering the next decade of my life, (insert giant 'gulp' here!), I find myself doing quite a bit of soul searching.  Surviving, (not planning and certainly not dreaming) has been my primary m.o.(mode of operation) for the last two decades.  For a while now, Jay and I have worked on changing that.

Having the word 'wish' presented to me in such a way that it felt like my inspired word of the year was kind of like a wink from God that I am heading in the right direction on at least one thing I am working on in my life!

Well that was a long explanation!  One of the kids borrowed my parents' newspaper on Saturday morning and I happened to look at the front page of the section that had the 'Home of the Week' featured.  The home was in our town and was built by the owners, who had 9 children.  I was really curious to see the set up of a house that was built specifically for a large family.  I was extra curious because the way the house set up was described seemed to fit the idea I have in my head for building a large, multi-generational home.  (It's my wish...probably one that has no chance of being realized...but a wish nonetheless)

We were able to get there close to the end of the open house.  There were a lot of really nice features to the home.  The living space was pretty open and there was a lot of room.  Their closet spaces were amazing....and their cellar had high ceilings and was dry!  There were 5 bedrooms that were a great size, with 2 other rooms that could be used as bedroom space....and 4 bathrooms!  The only thing that was a disappointment to me was the in-law set-up.  It was part of a split level space and was too small.  Oh, and it has oil heat which made me shudder!  We just converted to natural gas about 3 years ago and pay 1/3 of what we paid with oil!  I can't imagine the cost of heating a larger home!

Well, it certainly gave me more of a real vision for what my dream home would be!  I find it hard to 'dream' or 'wish'.  I find it really hard to spend time thinking about things that seems so impossible.  It feels like I just let something in my heart that will just be a disappointment.  For me, that tends to drag up feelings of failure.  I've always been much better at just focusing on goals rather than wishes...because they are usually more realistic and do-able!

 Well, this whole wish thing is like anything else that God asks me to work on...it's a process!  (and He always gives me lots of opportunities to practice!)

We Survived to Friday!

Whew...we made it to Friday!  Let's jump right in!

1.Lent

We aren't the only family that has started Lent off with a bang!  The 4 regular members of my book club all had a child that was sick this week, too!  Two had a child with unexplained hives, one had a child with the dreaded stomach bug, and one had a child not feeling well.  Today, Jon is home with a sinus cold he has been fighting for over a week because the cold is winning!  A doctor's visit gave him the diagnosis of a sinus infection and an ear infection!
Ahhh....the joys of Lent's involuntary penances!

2.  Cavity Creeps

I'm showing my age with this one, but how many of you remember the Cavity Creeps?  Well, back in the 80's it was a dental campaign to keep your teeth clean and safe from the Cavity Creeps who want to make holes in teeth. 

I'm not sure how the Cavity Creeps popped into Jay's head, but he showed some of the kids around him the commercial on his phone.  The Cavity creeps have picks and drills and chant, "We make holes in teeth", while the 'Crest team' stops them.  Luke saw it with Jay and, since then, is completely freaked out about getting holes in his teeth!  Oy!

The good thing is he asks us to help him brush now so his teeth are healthier than they have ever been!   But, every once in a while, he gets this worried look on his little face and says, "I don't want to have holes in my teeth."  

Some things should have just stayed in the 80's.....

3.  Dating

I have been giving a lot of thought about dating lately.  Not for me, (haha), but ways to help make it a healthy experience for our kids.  Jay and I were married at 18 and had 3 kids by 21, so our experience is very different than our kids.(Thank God!)

Still, young adults and dating is a new phase for us and I want to help them the best I can.  I need to do some research....and, of course, pray:)  

Last night, I was having a conversation with Andrew and Jon....or at least I was trying to...

Me:  Have you ever read Josh Harris' book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye?

Andrew:  We have read and heard plenty of stuff about chastity!

Jon:  Are you trying to tell us not to date in college?

Jay:  No!  It's a book about courtship.

Andrew:(Mr. Sarcasm) We aren't royalty.

Me:  We are just trying to figure out the best way to help you find your future spouses.

Andrew:  Why?  Are they hiding?  Try the closet!

Me:(slightly exasperated) I don't know why I even try to have a serious conversation with you clowns!

Jon:  Dad...Mom called us clowns!

Jay:  I think you were lucky all she called you were clowns....

4.  Legos!

The kids all loved the Lego Movie we saw a couple of weeks ago!  It has inspired lots of Lego play!

Luke's version of the firetruck robot

So proud!

Jay, Ellie, and Jon(those are his legs) having some Lego fun.
On the couch behind Jay is Luke, who fell asleep on the couch.
That didn't stop the building!
Of course, Jay and Jon were only building  things to surprise Luke with in the morning;)
....or so they say!

5.  On the Way to Sainthood!

Bonnie from A Knotted Life got some exciting news yesterday.  The 7 member board of medical experts who advise the Congregation of the Causes of Saints at the Vatican unanimously approved her son James Fulton's alleged healing through the intercession of Fulton Sheen.  It is another big step on the way of Fulton Sheen to be named a saint!  

6. & 7. He Said/She Said

Jon:  I love you, Luke.

Luke: I like you.
Jon:(incredulously) You like me!!! Don't you love me?

Luke:(nonchalantly) I love you.

Andrew and I were in the living room and Sarah was taking a shower.  Instead of the usual singing....we heard Sarah reciting math equations!
Andrew:  Sarah, are you doing math in the shower?
Sarah:(sounding embarrassed) Shut up....I have a test tomorrow.  Don't judge me!
Andrew:  Nerd alert!

Here's hoping for a math free weekend!;)

Happy Friday!

Lent...Day 2

Lent...day 2.  Thankfully, it has been less exciting! Although Jay's stress levels are still really high after his difficult day on Tuesday, when he was exposed to bed bugs at a patient's house!

Fear of the 'what if' can be very intense.  It is waking him up early every morning and keeping his stress levels elevated all day long.  (It also didn't help that the new computer work gave him while they clean the one he had didn't work properly.  After spending 2 hours on the phone with the tech company, they determined they couldn't fix it and he needed to trade it in today for another computer!....Involuntary penance strikes again!)

It's one of those situations where only time, (and prayer), will start to heal the anxiety!  He certainly needs a break....and, unfortunately, he is on call this weekend.  Hopefully he won't have too many patients, but just not being able to completely relax and have a real weekend isn't a good thing for him right now.:(

Welcome to Lent!

Worries about Mike and some of the struggles he is having is giving Jay and I a lot of stress and worry.  He comes home for break tomorrow, and I am doing some serious praying for words of wisdom and for guidance on how to help him.  I'm also praying that God opens his heart!  This parenting of young adults is so.not.easy!  It's like being a parent for the very first time all over again!  It's easy to become to discouraged...or worry that because your first child is struggling with certain things that all the rest of them will, too!

These concerns are certainly fueling our prayer lives right now!

Luke is having a hard time at school!  Yesterday, he was misbehaving.  Today was better except when it came to doing his handwriting.  Sitting still and doing fine motor tasks is not his favorite thing!(Well, unless he is building with Legos!)  That was one of the main reasons we decided to keep him in preschool another year.  Hopefully, after a few more months of emotional growth, and he will be better focused!  Meanwhile, I'm trying to not be overwhelmed with guilt that my son is one of the "difficult children" in the class!  His teacher is great...and thankfully very patient.  I'm also thankful that she is a friend!  But still....

More talks with Luke about being obedient and making good choices will be forthcoming!

On a happy note, Peter is having a great week at school.  He came home on Monday with a handwriting page that was much better than his normal work.  I told him how proud I was of him and how happy it made me that he wrote so neatly.

On Tuesday, Peter went to school and was obsessed with making shamrocks.  His teachers had him "work for it"...finding natural motivation for Peter is always a bonus!....and he wrote me a note on the shamrocks:

It says "Peter proud"

smiley face, "Moms happy job"

In Peter speak....he was proud of himself because I was happy that he did a good job on his handwriting.  What a developmental leap for him!  And what a blessing for me to see how a few minutes of praise made him so happy.  Peter's milestones are extra special!

How is 'day 2' going for you!?!

Ready....Set....Lent(with a bang!)

As I said yesterday...."And so it begins!"

Little did I know when I posted  yesterday that God decided that our Lent would start a few hours early this year!

Before I get into our "extra chaos" from yesterday....
Last year, I wrote about involuntary penances.  My definition of involuntary penances are those trials that God sends our way giving us the opportunity to work on all sorts of virtues that  we never had any intention of working on   never realized were going to have to work on during Lent.

I don't know about you, but each Lent there seems to be extra "opportunities" that God sends our way to make us stretch and grow whether we wanted to stretch and grow or not!

I mean, really, I was already giving up things for Lent, God, isn't that enough!

Apparently not!

So, while I was planning on spending this Lent working on a few different areas, He sent Jay and I an opportunity to start out Lent with quite a bang yesterday!  Jay called me late yesterday afternoon very, very stressed out because he was in a patient's home, (his job is home care physical therapy), and it turns out the home had bed bugs.  The reason why he knows it has bed bugs is because there were a few bugs on his bag and his coat that he didn't see until he was already in his car!

I think that, at least in his conversations to me, Jay was able to keep his voice fairly calm despite the amount of stress that I know he was feeling! (I think he was just afraid that I would completely freak out, too)  He had the kind of stress that makes you feel like you will just pop!  (or makes you want to crawl into a fetal position and give up!)

To make everything more difficult, the exposure happened with the per diem company he works for so he also had to call his full time company.  Because all his equipment is in the car together, his main job also had to consider him a risk of exposure.  Now he had 2 computers that needed to be cleaned, bags replaced, and, because the exposure was from his per diem job, he will be responsible to replace things like a blood pressure cuff if the company feels it can't be sterilized and saved.

Stress and expense...oh, joy!

The per diem company is paying to have his car fumigated, but the company can't come until Thursday.  He ended up buying some garbage bags and throwing out almost everything in his car.  He probably went a little overboard, but Jay was so concerned about bringing anything into the house!  The thought of a bedbug infestation in our house....with welt bites on our kids and having to destroy our furniture....was threatening to throw him over the edge!

After disposing of the bags, Jay went to the car wash and completely vacuumed out his car.  When he drove home, he went into the garage and undressed completely and put all of his clothes in a garbage bag.   I had all the kids go into their rooms for a minute so Jay could have a shred of dignity getting to the shower!  There he spent 30 minutes...and all the hot water....scrubbing!  (Again, a little overboard, but unfortunately soap does not wash away fear!)

Poor Jay did not sleep well last night!

I know that God's grace was abundant because, despite my fear of what might happen, I had inner peace.  Before he got home, I knew that Jay was trying to figure out what he had to do to insure nothing came into our home, so Ellie, Jon and I started trying to create some peace in our home so that, whenever Jay finally walked in the door, he would at least have the opportunity to feel a little peace!    They helped me 'company clean' the main living area without complaint.

I was supposed to try a new recipe last night, but Ellie said, "Mom, maybe it would make dad feel better if we made him one of his favorite dishes."  Her suggestion was right on!  She is a very thoughtful girl who loves her daddy!  Thankfully, I actually had the ingredients to make Jay's favorite dish, chicken pie!  There's nothing like comfort food, right!

Even though this whole experience isn't very pleasant...I can't help but be thankful that Jay noticed the bugs before he came home.  That was a blessing!

Even though Jay will have to replace some of the clothing he tossed, all of it was pretty old anyway so he could use an update.  Yes there is the expense involved, but thankfully our tax returns came in last week.  After paying some bills off, what was left we were hoping to save for an emergency fund.  (I guess we just didn't think an emergency would come up so soon!)

Even though this trial is our opportunity to practice having a right response in the face of difficulties, it certainly has increased our prayer life over the last 20 hours!  It also gave me practice putting my husband first and trying to console and encourage him.....and watch my children do the same!  Watching their care and concern certainly made me proud of them.  (And when I told Jay what Ellie had said about dinner he may have shed a tear or two:)

Even Peter was aware of Jay's stress and kept repeating, "Dad had a bad day!"  At one point, Peter randomly read the Bible verse on the back of Jay's shirt(which isn't a common occurrence at all)..."With God all things are possible"....which was a good reminder for us Who is in control!  Comfort can come from many places!

A little love can go a long way to build someone up!

Jay had little glimpses of God's love from others as well.  His co-worker in charge of these types of issues was super kind today.  Her encouragement....and agreement that Jay went a little overboard...helped to calm him.  She even told him that the Bible verse on her daily calendar made her think of him this morning and asked to share it with him...(but I can't tell you exactly until tomorrow what it was bc his coworker has it at home:)

In my experience, the greater the trials the greater the blessings!  If yesterday and today were any indication of Lent's flow for us, we must be in for a pretty amazing Easter!(lol)

So....when there are moments of extra craziness in your home during the next several weeks, just remember, it's Lent!  Maybe we can pray for each other to embrace the struggles and grow in virtue...even the ones we would rather avoid!

I plan to share my triumphs and failures with involuntary penances this Lent!  I would love for you to share yours as well in the comments!  We can share ideas and moral support!

Welcome to Lent, 2014!

 I am linking up with the ladies running:

A Little of This and A Little of That

It's 'Fat Tuesday'!  Jon came home and said one of his teachers told him to go home and eat ice cream today.
Me:  So are you giving up ice cream for Lent, Jon?
Jon:  No.
Me:  Then you don't really need to eat it....
Jon:  Well, if that's the logic, then I will have to sit on the couch with my computer open to Facebook until midnight....(as he walked away with his bowl of ice cream!  Jon will use any excuse in the world to have ice cream!)

Kate looked super cute today and even let me put her hair up...and the bow is still there 10 hours later!

You can't see them, but she even had on Minnie socks:)

Luke, Kate, and I sitting on the couch...
Luke: We are all wearing jeans today.
Me:  Yeah, we are jean buddies.
An hour later Kate had a "diaper problem" and needed new pants...
Luke: (seeing a diaper clad but pantless Kate) Where are Kate's pants?
Me:  They got poop on them and I have to get her a new pair.
Luke:  But, we were jean buddies!  (After a moment pause) Does she have another pair of jeans?
Me:  Yes!
(and the jean buddies ride again!)

Ash Wednesday tomorrow......"And so it begins!"

Happy Monday!

Thankfully, we were spared the giant winter storm that the forecasters had been scaring us with last week.  It's freezing...and we have an inch of new snow...but it's March so spring weather can come at any time!

Right!?!

Winter, winter go away.....

I have to say that for the first time in a very.long.time we had a weekend with no plans!  I can't tell you how nice it was on Saturday puttering around the house working on little projects and spending time with each other.  With the Lego Movie still on the kids' minds, Luke, Jon and Ellie spent lots of time on Saturday sorting through our Lego bins creating all kinds of things.  Even Andrew joined in when he got home from work.

Luke thought it was great having so many people playing with him!

We had a family movie night watching The Emperor's New Groove, a gift Jon received from his friend, Amy, at his party.  It was the perfect gift inspired by our Emperor Kuzco references at senior night!  There were a couple of scenes in the movie where Kuzco reminded us of Jon, and Sarah would look over at us and laugh!  I found an even better picture comparison, too!

Sunday, Jay made an awesome chicken dinner for all of us and we had a mostly laid back day.  Hopefully, the restful weekend will help get rid of all the colds that are hanging around!  I can't wait until I can open up the windows and let some fresh air in!

Today, I have an extra kidlet.  My friend, Shelby, is relocating her family to Alaska(!) because of her husband's job.  She just gave birth about a month ago to her fifth child and now faces the monstrous task of getting her house ready to sell!  Her almost 3 year old daughter will be hanging out with us a few days a week for the next month or so to give Shelby time to do all that needs to be done....in the midst of nursing and caring for an infant!  Yikes!

We have only moved once in our 20 years of marriage and it was only a few miles away when we had only 2 kids.  A few times over the years we have considered moving, and the whole process seemed completely overwhelming!

I hope you had a great weekend, too!  Happy Monday!