the latest nudge.

Let us be silent,
so that we may hear
the whisper of God.
          ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

# 7

My seventh is seven today.  SEVEN!

Happy Birthday Charlie!

I remember well, my nervous (read: anxiety-ridden) anticipation of your arrival.  Our Christmas letter that first year summed it up well I think.  After sharing the various gifts that each of our children bring to our home, I added....

"...and NEXT comes Charlie, who's gift is that he keeps us from wanting to say LAST (no, we're not expecting as of yet.)  Before he made his debut in July, we certainly tried to prepare ourselves and the kids for the chaos and stress that were sure to come.  But the truth is, Charlie has brought the exact opposite.  He is such a joy!!!  We just feel that he's brought such a sense of peace to our home.  He's a little bit of heaven, sent to remind us to be grateful and to recognize all the graces that come with following God's lead.  How blessed we truly are!"

(okay...so not always peaceful.  But definitely a constant reminder of God's grace.  He's never short on hugs and kisses, never too big for a snuggle.)

July 27, 2005

and today...July 27, 2012 (dad's busy puttin' bread on the table.)

Love you Chaz-mo.

more from the Frank-ster.

Haven't had any little Frank tid-bits on the blog lately.  Despite his constant grumpiness, and "worst days ever!"  that kid cracks me up.  He is the cynic, the critic, the glass-half-empty kinda guy.  And despite his best efforts to drag me into his mood-of-doom, I just want to squeeze his cheeks and love on him that much more.

Here's his latest and greatest...

He and Sam got into an argument.  More like Frank drove Sam absolutely over the edge repeating the same 3 or 4 words over and over again, until Sam snapped, yelled at him and sent him out of the room, banished from the table of Lego's they'd been sharing.  Frank (annoying as he'd been a few moments ago) was now heartbroken, in tears, and wanting to write Sam a note to apologize.  He sat down at the bar as I was fixing lunch and sounded out the note as best he could...asking me a couple times how to spell certain words.  In the end...his simple apology, and peace offering totally cracked me up, and melted me like butter (or cheese!)

"From Frank, To Sam:  I am sorry, but do you want cheese or not?"

When I asked him what the heck he meant by the cheese part, he replied with a shrug, "In case he's hungry!"   (naturally.)

(sigh).  Love that little dude.

movin right along

Thank you for all the incredibly kind comments. 
I really wasn't fishing...but you're all so encouraging.  Thank you!

I think one anonymous commenter really hit the nail on the head (and made me scratch my noggin) when she mentioned that even when I don't write and share with you...knowing that I should be writing and sharing has made me much more aware, and contemplative about all the goodness God brings into our lives.  And for that, I feel truly blessed.   Awareness is a wonderful gift.  And share-ness is the step I'm working on now.

So...enough of all the compliments and kindness and mushy stuff.  My head's getting a little big for my shoulders.

Back to reality.  The perfectly imperfect me.  Moving forward.  One baby step at a time through the laundry, and housework, and weird sticky stuff on the side of the fridge...through the morning sleeping-in snuggles, to the end of the day "Angel of God's" and everything in between.  Remembering that God's hand is guiding us through it all, and hoping that I'm not giving him too many callouses in the process. 

Happy Weekend everyone!  God is good!

(I have some random thoughts/ideas for posts in my head...hoping to answer some of the questions I've been asked when speaking in large groups.  There have been some doozies, and would love to elaborate here.  Questions like "I have twin toddlers, when will life get back to normal?"  and "How do you discipline your children?"  among others.

Do you have any topics or thoughts/questions you'd like me address.  (I'm not saying I'll have the right answers...but it might strike up some great conversations in the comment box!)

Peace out.

The First Steps

The First Steps, by Vincent Van Gogh
(Deacon John referred to this painting in his homily on Sunday)

Almost every day, I find time to open up my computer, check e-mail, peek at a blog or two that I follow, and sometimes even check in here.  Random thoughts roll around in my head about things I've been meaning to share, but most days I feel like I don't have the time to develop those thoughts into words, and so I close the computer back up, and hope for more time "later."

I'd be dishonest if I didn't share that lately, I want to just call it quits.  (with the blog, that is.)  As I go through "dry spells" in my faith life, when nothing seems especially enlightening or overtly worth mentioning/celebrating...I'm just trusting, and hanging in there...I feel as though I'm stringing you along through the mundane.  And if I'm feeling "blah" about things, I must certainly leave that impression with you too.  So my mind toys with the idea of just packing it in...pretending there was never a blog, and feeling assured that none of you will miss it when I've gone.  (Certainly there's another on your list of favorites that will fill the bill.)

Seriously.  Who am I?

And then, we go to Mass.  (And Little Miss Anne does not...she stays with Grandma.)  And I get a good swift kick in the butt thanks again to beautiful music (we sang "The Summons" again,) and great readings, and a homily that felt like it was written specifically for me.  ME.  (Because to answer my own question,  I am HIS!)  And even when I seem to be only "going through the motions," He reminds me to continue to trust.  And as we take those first steps towards something new, even first steps toward starting over He is there...providing us with the people and the tools we need for take off...to encourage us, and even to catch us should we stumble.  (Lord knows, I feel like I've been stumbling lately.) 

And so, if you're willing to keep checking in...I'm going to try to keep taking baby steps, attempting to put all these thoughts and inspirations into words.  Hoping that by writing them out, my thoughts will become actions...a lived faith, and trust in God's perfect plan...a way to bring our family into a deeper relationship with Him, and in turn, your family too.

Peace & God Bless


but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.
~2 Corinthians 12:9

the difficulty in slowing down

Sam was showing a couple of his cousins how to play an old-school Atari game (Pong) the other day.  As the adults passed through the room and stopped to reminisce at the "simplicity" of the game, we laughed out loud to hear one of the boys mumble..."This is the hardest game I've ever played!  It's so slow!"

Ha!

Did you have this when you were a kid?  Both players compteting from a single console unit...turning knobs to control your "racket."

Happy Red, White and....

(blue.)

God Bless America!

(and God Bless grandma for dropping off that blue-frosted cake.)