Monday Musings – 24 January 2011

Right now…it is 11 am, the sun is up and shining brightly. We are having a lazy morning, the kids are reading books and/or playing with Legos.

This weekend was…somewhat busy and crazy! We had made plans for Joshua’s boss to come for dinner with his family on Saturday night. I woke up that morning, planning on showering, staring a load of diapers then heading out to the produce market for fruits and veggies. I went to make a bottle for Benedict and turned on the water to discover a small trickle. It was cold, 26 degrees, so I thought “frozen pipes” and woke Joshua up. He told me to turn on the hot water faucets, so I did and crawled back in to bed. The water pressure did not get much better though out the morning. I managed to wet my hair down and blow it dry to keep it from looking too funky and headed out. I went to the produce market (a place I love), then on to the grocery store for a few more items. I decided to grab a coffee and stopped at the local Sbux for one. (Say what you will, I don’t go often.) It was there I learned that we had a city wide water outage. Nice. I called Joshua to let him know then headed to the grocery store. I found out there that most other restaurants in Valdosta were closed due to the water outage.

When I got back, Joshua had managed to fill the tub up with water for the kids so they could bathe. Who knew kids got so much bathwater in their mouth? We then started boiling water, per the advisory and straightening up for the dinner guests.

For dinner we made homemade pizza and it was great. Karol was, unfortunately crazy and knocked the kids table over, spilling milk all over the place. Sigh. We visited a long time, then they headed home.

Yesterday we went to Mass at our small country parish then headed home. I fell asleep around 230 and stayed that way until about 530 or so. It was very nice. We folded laundry after dinner, so that chore can finally be checked off. Benedict decided it was a party night and did not go to sleep until 130! I was asleep around 2 and we had visitors quite a bit through the night.
Some plans for this week: Joshua is going out of town for work at the end of the week, so mentally preparing myself for that. I have arranged with Michele, the wife of Joshua’s boss to sit with us during mass, here in town, but I am thinking of just sucking it up and going out to Moultrie by myself. The biggest problem will be the early hour we need to leave the house.

If I have some time to myself, I want to…enjoy a cup of coffee and a book.

Prayer intentions for this week: Special intention for our family, for the respect for life and for

Something that makes me smile: Benedict slept almost ten hours straight three nights in row!

For more musings, check here!

Filed under: Monday Musings

On “Planning” Children**

I am not sure if you all have picked up that we are what some call “providentialists” when it comes to planning our family. That means, we do not, but God does. We do not do anything to avoid pregnancy, but we do not go out of our way to make as many babies as possible either. There has to be a lot of trust in God that He will not give us more than we can handle, but to also know that He will give us the graces, if we accept them, to handle all that he gives us.

This is a lot easier said than done sometimes. As I read in another blog a few weeks back, it is easy to be open to life during the day time, but in the middle of the night it is a pretty scary thought. Yes, I have doubts sometimes, I wonder “What will people say? Will we be able to support another child? Will I be able to endure another first trimester with four little ones? Can I handle another labor?” The answers to those are: “Who cares? Of Course! Yes! Yes!” However, I look outside and see the sun shining and my kids are getting along well. If I were posting this in the middle of the night or they were fighting, I would begrudgingly give the same answers.

It is in those dark times that I seek out wise women who have been in our place and saints who have addressed motherhood but most of all, God because without Him, I am nothing.

With all that being said, I have put together a few links and quotes for my reference and, if you like, yours also. (I have to thank my friend Suzanne for posting a few of these links and inspiring me to write this post.)

“That special power of loving that belongs to a woman is seen most clearly when she becomes a mother…Yet we can destroy this gift of motherhood, especially by the evil of abortion, but also by thinking that other things like jobs or positions are more important than loving, than giving oneself to others. No job, no plans, no possessions, no idea of “freedom” can take the place of love.” ~ Mother Theresa

Five Things That Are Worse Than Being in Debt

The Poverty of Inconvenience

St. Josemaria Escriva

**Yes, I realize this post has the tone that an announcement may soon be made about the expansion of our family, no such announcement is forthcoming as of yet**

Filed under: Church Laws, Quotes, Social Commentary

Monday Musings

Right now…7:00 pm,  dark and cool outside. The dishwasher is running and Joshua is reading a book to the kids. Benedict is sleeping next to me on the couch.
This weekend..on Saturday we hung around the house, relaxing. I was supposed to fold laundry, but had no desire to do so. I am okay with that. I am okay with it sitting, clean in baskets. Instead of folding laundry, we conferred with a friend to set up a blog, more about that later! I did some searching for a Family Doctor for our family and found one via the One More Soul website. He is in Tallahassee, an hour and a half a way, BUT he does not prescribe birth control and knows the Creighton Model of NFP. We don’t chart or anything, but that is the NFP we learned when we were first engaged. I have to call tomorrow to set up a physical appointment for myself. I am so excited about find him.

Also on Saturday, I went to the craft store and picked up a crochet hook. I started to use it, but the video I picked on line to watch wasn’t very helpful. It started in the middle of a lesson. I was not able to look up another one though. We also cooked out on Saturday night, hamburgers!

Sunday was Mass then home. We came home, had lunch, then put away Christmas. Now the kids are asking if it is Easter, like every five minute! It is bare in our living room, but looks nice. I pulled out a few things to place on the piano, so it looks a bit more homey in here.

We also made our way through four of the Star Trek movies this weekend too, ’cause as you might know, we are all geeks!
Some plans for the week: Work on addition and subtraction with Karol, make a doctor appointment and work on things for Vianney Vocations.

Special prayer intentions: The men studying at the Pontifical College Josephinum, as they begin their spring term this week.

If I find a little time for myself: Practicing crocheting some more!

Something that makes me smile: A sleepy Benedict…I forgot to mention that he slept from 10-ish last night to 530 this morning! I was in bed by 11 and woke up just before he did.

For more musings, check out this Patch O’ Dirt!

Filed under: General Stuff

Pope John Paul II to be Beatified*!

Oh what wonderful, happy, joyous news! Our beloved Pope John Paul II will be Beatified on the Feast of Divine Mercy. Since Karol is named after our former Holy Father, we will most certainly have to have a big celebration.

Say it with me: “Juan Pablo Segundo te quiere todo el mundo!”

*Edited because I really do know how to spell Beatified, really*

Filed under: General Stuff