A night to remember

Last night we had our dear friends Deacon Steve and his wife Betsy over for dinner. We invited them over because we wanted Deacon to bestow on Paul and I the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. We also wanted him to bless our family and our home as we take the next step in our spiritual journey.

It was a beautiful evening, the kids were full of energy, but we were still able to really enjoy each others company and have a wonderful time of prayer. Other than our wedding day, this is the first vow of commitment that Paul and I have done together. It was wonderful, especially because we had all our children surrounding us while Deacon blessed us and put the Scapulars over our heads. We are so blessed.

Our Lady of Mount Camel, pray for us.

Never loose hope in your efforts, and LOVE

Most of you know that our son Pauly is on the Autism Spectrum. What most of you don't know is all the emotional and physical stress that has gone with that during his lifetime.  My faith and hope for the future of our family and for him has been challenged. I  have been stretched to say the least and have endured more than a mother would ever dream of as she holds her newborn son. I have spent so many moments in such sorrow, confusion, and discouragement. One of the things that has hurt my heart so much is wondering if he would ever really love me. Would he ever respond when I told him I loved him? Would he ever just come up and hug me, or at least not resist my hug?

We have put so much time and effort in to helping him and our family, and we are definitely seeing the fruits of our labor. Pauly has started hugging us out of the blue, he hugs when he goes to bed, and he has even said I love you to Paul when he brought home a treat- a start. Today I received this in my bathroom. To say that it melted my heart is an understatement. There is power in our efforts; there is power in love; God is good!

Mischevious Kiddos- Exhausted Mama

So, George and Cecilia are running me ragged these days. They are both completely embracing their needs to be independent and explore. Wow!

We  resorted to duct taping over the outlet safety caps because our little Chi Chi can pull them out otherwise. To our dismay this is the only outlet she has left alone, she has pulled the tape off all the others. There's a first for everything.

 Then we tried taping the lock shut on our tv stand; no luck there either.

 Darn those kids who leave the cabinet open.

 While I was upstairs probably taking 10 seconds to go to the bathroom, George decided to climb up onto the counter and get into the baking cabinet; here he is help himself to the butterscotch chips. Of course sneaking the chips wasn't enough for my little man; he needed to pour garlic salt and flour all over the counter as well. We are still finding butterscotch chips in the flour canister.

 Then he decided he needed a pb&j. Who would think of drinking jelly instead of putting it on the bread? George!

Chi Chi is a climber like no other. We now have to put our table benches up, and the chairs have to be locked in the school room behind the gate. Somehow she pushed something over and still managed to climb onto the table. She climbs onto the school desks, toy boxes, anything. Then she taunts us with her look at me smile and  shoulder shrug.

Happy Valentine's Day

Prayer to St. Valentine

Dear Saint and glorious martyr, teach us to love unselfishly

and to find great joy in giving.

Enable all true lovers to bring out the best in each other.

Let them love each other in God

and in God in each other. Amen.

"Love is patient and kind; it does not envy or boast and it is never proud,
love is not rude or selfish; it does not get angry easily or keep track of wrongs.
Love does not delight in bad things but it rejoices in the truth.
Love always protects, trusts, hopes, and persevers.
LOVE NEVER FAILS." 
 (St. Paul to the Corninthians)

Update

Well, I have been sick on and off for most of the new year, and George has kind of been my sick buddy. I have been very blessed with a husband who has had a few extra days off here and there and has been taking very good care of us all. Out went our hopes for fun field trips.

Yesterday, I came down with an extremely bad sore throat; woke up this morning knowing we had to get in to see the dr. Elizabeth and Olivia started to complain. I called and made appointments for 5 of us since there were various symptoms and might as well get checked, but all 8 of us ended up getting a check up. To make a long story short, we spent 3 hours there, and 7 out of the 8 of us have strep and a couple of us with probable sinus infections and a few red ears. Daddy Paul is the only one not sick. Several of the kids had no symptoms at all; glad we checked anyway. We opted for shots instead of 7 bottles of medicine for 10 days; tell me how fun that was. The kids will forever be saying "bend over mom."

 Paul stayed home today after I begged him to not leave me, but he will have to go to work tomorrow. Not sure how that will work with me still feeling so awful; should be interesting. Prayers for healing would be much appreciated.


I had the results meeting with the school yesterday. Here's the bare bones of it. Olivia is extremely smart academically and has a lot of head knowledge as far as social skills and coping skills are concerned therefore she doesn't qualify for services educationally. They did however also see her emotional and behavioral challenges associated with the ADHD, depression, and anxiety. Basically, she has the skills but not always the desire to use them; she has a disposition to want things to be fun and fast, and anything outside of that isn't going to get her time and attention. Because she is functioning so well here at home with us with the current medication, she doesn't qualify for services in the emotional/behavioral category either. They actually told me that she is in the "optimal learning environment for success." The director of special education who came to the house told me that she felt that Olivia had a wonderful environment to learn in.  Talk about a  morale boost. We will just continue on the path we have been taking with her and the other children. http://www.chadd.org/ is a great website for understanding adhd.

Thanks for all your prayers. They truly sustain us.

Discernment and Discovery

Our family is deep in a time of both. We are doing very well and are full of hope. We could definately use your prayers that we would be intune with God and courageous enough to do His will. Thanks.



Jesus Understands Our Weaknesses and Trials

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

In times of darkness, we can be safe in Him. The problem in front of us in never greater than the power behind us. We can hold fast to the truth that He has us right where He wants us, right where we need to be to receive more of Him and less of ourselves.

"Do not be afraid, just have faith." (Mark 5:36)

"Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are the one I praise." (Jeremiah 17:14)

Have a blessed day.

Lamentations 3:40-41

"Let us search and examine our ways that we may return to the Lord!

Let us reach our our hearts toward God in heaven!"

A Great Night

Tuesday night was Pauly's first confession. It was a bit of a struggle at first because he was just so unsure of the new experience. We prepared him as best we could and tried to keep things as light as possible; we really emphasized the blessings and benefits of the sacrament.

Pauly and I first went to Adoration for about 20 minutes and then headed to "the line." I went first and made sure to take a long time to reassure him that even I am a sinner ;). I gave a little heads up to Fr. and Pauly headed on in. He came out with a huge smile on his face and looked very proud of himself. We finished up our Adoration hour and then headed out to Perkins for a celebratory meal.

Pauly and I had a very nice evening together just him and I. We are so proud of him, and he is proud of himself. A good experience, yeah! Thanks for the prayers.

First Confession

Pauly is making his first confession tonight. He is pretty nervous. Please offer up a prayer or two for him.

Lord, we thank you for the gift of forgiveness. Please fill Pauly with peace as he prepares for tonight. Please touch his heart is a mighty way tonight; help him to know how real You are. Thank you Lord for Pauly, and please fill him with Your grace.