Spirit of Christmas Award

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I won an award! My first one! Maryellen at Grandma's Musings awarded this to me. Thank you so much, Maryellen. I am honored!



This award is for those who talk about and show the spirit of Christmas in their blogs. What is the Spirit of Christmas you ask?Quite simply it is those that have a generous and giving nature. Those who care about others. Those who have a kind word to say or a broad shoulder to lean on in the times that others need that. Those who display the "Spirit of Christmas".

Find out more about the award here.

I am so inspired and encouraged by so may bloggers that I can't single some out. Each of your stories and what each of you has to say encourages and inspires me. Each of you displays the Spirit of Christmas to me!

My Patron for 2008

St. Gerard Majella

St. Gerard Majella is the patron saint of motherhood! I look forward to reading more about him as he intercedes for me in my motherhood journey and my journey towards a deeper relationship with Jesus!

Go see Angela Messenger if you would like a patron saint for the coming year! Thank you, Angela!

Holiday Weekend

Thanksgiving Day went very nicely. We had Thanksgiving lunch with my brother and SIL. It went pretty smoothly considering I was worried that my kids would act up in a major way. I prepared them ahead of time and they ended up being good most of the time. We all got to chit chat for awhile after the meal so that was nice. Then the kids got a little antsy and we called it a day before things could get out of hand. My brother and SIL don't have kids so I try not to overwhelm them with the noise level that my kids can generate. But kids are kids and I don't fault them for that.

Once we got home, we let loose and relaxed. We watched some more of Charlie Brown. Steve watched some games on TV and then we drove to watch the fireworks at Disney*land.

Friday, I did not shop. I don't even have my shopping list ready. I hope to be able to do most of the shopping on-line anyway. I spent most of the day doing laundry, reading and knitting. Then we went to the park with the kids and let them play ball, run around, and play on the play apparatus.

Today, Steve is trying to get the Christmas lights up. We won't light them yet as it's too early and can be a little expensive. He just wants them up since today is a warm day and usually it's freezing when he gets around to doing it. My car is getting a tune-up so I'm waiting for the call to pick it up. Then it's off to do some errands.

And that's an almost blow by blow account of my holiday weekend so far!

Thanksgiving Postcard Wishes 1901-1911

Thanksgiving

The kids are off today in preparation for Thanksgiving Day. So we are pretty much just having a leisurly day. I rented A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving so we've been repeatedly watching it. I love the Charlie Brown holiday shows.

My brother and sister-in-law invited us for Thanksgiving so that's where we'll be headed. We're all looking forward to it. I just love the traditional meal with turkey and all the trimmings. The smell of the turkey roasting in the oven is so heartwarming as well as the taste of the traditional pumpkin pie! YUM!

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for many things.

For the health of my family.

For a roof over our heads.

For plenty of food.

That my husband still loves me in spite of the grief I sometimes cause.

That my mother is still alive and kicking and traveling and helps me tremendously when she can, even though she is advancing in years and doesn't feel well sometimes.

For the love and mercy the Lord shows me everday!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers and blogging friends. Thanks for sharing parts of your lives and your inspiration.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100:4-5

The Fall sports season is over finally. Ryan had his last baseball game today along with the usual end of season Pizza party. He has a lot of fun playing and it's great to see him improve, little by little. He will start again next spring. Kathryn ended her soccer season last weekend and her team barely missed going to the playoffs. She has improved so much since she started playing ( 2 seasons ago) that her coach nominated her to tryout for the All-Stars! But, after talking it over with her, we made the decision to not tryout this time. It would entail a huge time commitment with many long practices per week. Right now, she's still getting used to the homework routine at her new school and it's a lot of work. I would hate for her schoolwork to suffer. She's doing so well. Hopefully, she can play good enough next season that her coach would nominate her again. We'll see what happens.

Last week we had Parent/Teacher conferences at school. Both kids are doing excellent work and their teachers are very pleased with them. Needless to say, we are proud of how both of them are doing in school.

Tomorrow is dentist day for me :( I had my cleaning last week and the dentist found some more work that he could do. Not quite cavities but what could be the start of them. He's very much into preventive work. I guess that's why I'm there a lot!

That's what's going on in my household at this moment. I wish that I could say that I'll be posting my menu tomorrow. I haven't done that in awhile, but I don't think I'll get to do that this week, again. Maybe I can do a shortened version, keeping in mind Thanksgiving and all.

A Day with Emily

Steve had Monday off, so we wanted to have a little fun. Kathryn and Ryan had to go to school, so it was just us with Emily for the day. It was such a treat to have some fun with her and let all the attention fall on her.

We started with an appointment to get her hair cut. It had gotten a little wild and just plain getting all in her face (no, she does not like for me to put barrettes in her hair). She was an excellent customer and when she came out, I could see her cute face again!

After having lunch, we decided to go for a little walk by the lake.

There were the usual ducks and birds. I'm embarrassed to say that I know nothing about birds or ducks other than the usual ones I see all the time. Some of these were a little different. Maybe these are a little more common to others, but not to me.

These particular birds I see a lot in the lakes and ponds, but I honestly don't know anything about them or what they're called. I guess I better look them up. I should be able to tell my kids what they are.

Notice the interesting feet.

These ducks were a little different looking to me.

We had a wonderful time enjoying the beautiful day. It's not often that we get to just be together and do things spur of the moment. And it was so peaceful!! No arguing or bickering! Since Emily had us all to herself, there was no occasion for a tantrum, YEAHH!

One last stop before picking up the other at school - the park!

The Next Thing

I've been trying to spend more time in prayer lately. And I've noticed that I am more at peace and less anxious. That's good news as all this household needs is a wife and mom who's at her wits end, running around with her head chopped off, and yelling! What a sorry sight!

In Holly Pierlot's book, A Mother's Rule of Life, she talks about incorporating prayer, devotions at intervals throughout the day. That way, your whole day has been centered around your relationship with God. So, I think that if I can try to do that, my life will be a lot more focused. I can meet the needs of my family better. Isn't that what my vocation is all about?

Are you interested in getting a personal patron saint for 2008? Angela Messenger has kindly taken on the endeavor to do just that for anyone who asks. This is the first time I've heard of something like this and I think it's a great idea. Thanks to Therese (Aussie Coffee Shop) for the heads up.

I know it's early, but we are getting ready for a 3 day weekend. Kathryn & Ryan have Friday off from school and DH Steve has Friday and Monday off. Aside from the usual soccer and baseball games, we should have a free weekend to have fun. Kathryn & Ryan each won an award from their teachers for good behavior in class. As a result, they get a free meal at a local restaurant. I can go for that.

My Ordinary Time

The past week or so has been a trying time. I go through these periods once in awhile where I get overwhelmed with trying to be a good parent. The kids have all pushed my buttons and I've been frustrated big time. I begin to feel that my kids behavior will never improve and they are the only ones who can be this bad. Then that leads to me feeling like I'm such a failure as a parent. The most important job that I've been blessed to have and I'm not getting it right, I'm failing. So, I've been in a funk. I know God is there through it all, giving me the graces I need, but I can't seem to reach it and take hold of it. Perhaps He's trying to take me to a new level in my relationship with Him. Perhaps He's telling me to make Him my number one priority again. It's time to refocus and pray, pray, and pray some more.

This video reflects well my feelings. I've always enjoyed listening to Marie Bellet's songs as they reflect so well my thoughts on the vocation of motherhood.

Miscellaneous

Wow, I guess it's been a long while since I've posted. I think I got a little distracted by life. Of course by now, most people know that those Santa Ana Winds that I wrote about previously brought many fires here to Southern California. We were not in any danger of them, but were close enough to have to deal with the smoke and terrible air quality. That is small compared to the losses that others suffered. Hopefully when/if they come again, there won't be any fires. The Santa Ana winds usually come in the Fall, so there's a good possibility that we'll experience them again before the end of the year.



On to other news:



Kid's sports has picked up again. There has been a two week lull due to the air quality. There have been no practices or games. So Ryan had his practice on Tuesday and Kathryn starts hers today.



Halloween has come and gone. Kathryn dressed as a Holly*wood starlet and Ryan was Buzz Light*year for the second year in a row. Emily was too scared to go out. She doesn't like to see the other trick or treaters in their scary costumes. I don't blame her. Some of them are just too bloody, evil, and ghoulish looking. Too bad it's gotten that way, with lots of big kids scaring the littles. Anyway, they both had a great time and of course, are left with loads of candy.

Next on the list, planning Thanksgiving & Christmas! Just around the corner.