God Has Other Plans

Little Bear has been teething this last week like I've never experienced before. After being sick last week he finally got better over the weekend and actually slept through the night again Sunday night. But last night...I could tell that his 7th tooth(is a 6month old supposed to have 7 teeth?)  was just about to break through and I have the marks to prove it..Along with Jay now sporting a set of beautiful bright red raised set of teeth marks on his shoulder. Was it bad that I laughed about it and added in a "well now you know how I feel."?

Anyways.. After a long night of teething and a million failed attempts of teething remedies he finally went down for the night around 10pm. While I settled into bed a little while later and I could hear him rustling around in his crib I said a quick prayer. "Lord, please give Bear comfort and allow him to get a good nights sleep."... HA! Why did I do that? Of course.. God always has other plans. So after a few times of him getting up and going back to sleep I finally got a few hours in when Vivi woke me up...I look at the clock..5:00 am..Great, an hour or so before I have to get up for the day. After getting her back to sleep and laying back down I sort of chuckled and waited until Bear got up again.
Before forcing myself out of bed this morning to get ready for the day, I second guessed myself but I did it anyways... Said a quick prayer..including our wonderful Mother Mary that she help me throughout the day. And then got right into the day.

Of course God always has other plans. So I scrambled to get my kids out the door so I can get Vivi to school and noticed my gas cap was opened in my car. Ummm... huh? And of course the lingering smell of gas was very strong. I looked at Little Optimus who didn't walk out of the house until after me and wondered if he could have done this somehow but he was just as confused as I was. Looked at my watch.. Vivi had 8 minutes until the school bell rang.. Got them all in the car and took off while notifying my husband.

So just to inform you.. I live in one of the safest town and neighborhoods ever. I have horse carriages that walk by, not hoodlums with rubber tubes stealing gas out of peoples cars.

But I finally got Vivi to school while trying to explain to Optimus why we could turn the car around just to get him a cup of OJ to take with. Got home.. Made him and Bear breakfast when I realized it... We only had one banana and i just took a piece off to give it to Bear. Little Optimus, who never eats bananas in the morning all of a sudden wanted his own... He has a scary little fear of germs and wont share food or eat from someone else's plate. Then it started.. Temper tantrum of the year.. which included lots of screaming and throwing and well... you get the point... Where is my cup of coffee??

So anyways.. My morning kept going from there.. And for a minute I had the conversation with God... "Well, you know God...I kinda asked to have a good smooth day today." Then of course I began thinking... God has other plans. And I smiled very peacefully. Remembering all the other times in my life while the bigger issues came about and I prayed and prayed and God choose to say no or not right now.. But he always has his plans and they always seem to be the right way. I gave my life to him to do with what he wants. I promised I would follow him. It might not be the easiest thing to do but it has been the happiest and best thing I have ever done. To follow God's plans for me and to know that somehow it will come together the way he wants to is an extremely peaceful feeling. I am yours Jesus! And then I began to pray again...

"Thank you... For my wonderful and healthy blessings! Today may be a little tiring but at least I have my family.. and at least I have a bed to sleep in and peaceful nights in a home and a country that isn't be bombed or going through any natural disaster.. Thank you! Thank you for drawing me close so I can follow you and allow Our Blessed Mother Mary to give me strength and love through the trying times of stubborn boys."

I know when today is over I will still be praising God. No matter how tired or exhausted I am. because my home is filled with love and little hearts... And lots of laundry... God is Good. :)

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday! 

As for my family, well... we had a different type of wonderful. We had plans to go to My Mom's house for Thanksgiving but things changed last minute. Bear woke up Tuesday morning with a really high fever that lasted all through Thanksgiving. I thought with my 3rd child I wouldn't be so doctor crazy but being that my 6 month old had a 103.5 fever I couldn't resist and my worry got the best of me. So I took him in and all of the tests were normal. When my kids have high fevers without any other symptoms I usually worry about ear infections but thankfully that was ruled out during the visit Tuesday afternoon. So we waited it out and my little bear was miserable for the next few days. Yesterday his fever went down a little but was still running a low grade. So we ended up staying at home for Thanksgiving. We were disappointed at first but it was still nice to spend the day together as a family and just have fun. My husband had a lot of fun outside game time with the kids and I got some uninterrupted reading time while Bear was napping.  Which, by the way, after reading a few stories from Full of Grace I received an even greater sense of Thankfulness. 

I tried to figure out what I could pull together to have some sort of festive Thanksgiving dinner with what I had in our house besides the two big boxes of stuffing I was planning to make for my Mom's house.  But, I ended up not having to. My Sister -in-law so graciously brought over tons of left over food from every dish that she had had from her Thanksgiving with her family at her home. So we ended up having our own little Thanksgiving feast after all. With everyone listing all their favorite things they were Grateful for. Little Optimus' was especially cute with his list of, "Im Grateful for God, and Jesus, and Daddy and Daddy giving me toys." Those are the moments I am Thankful for the most. Seeing the love of God in their hearts. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, we are doing some fun fall activities and taking advantage of the nice weather. 

Although our printer cut off the top of St. Anthony's name, my kids had a blast with this scavenger hunt. We got the idea from Shower of Roses blog and found an easy printable. Thank you! 

I WON!!!! I WON!!!

About 2 years I got Sirius XM Radio in my car and my father-in-law told me about The Catholic Channel. It was wonderful to listen to as I was in the car and I was getting to know the different shows very quickly. Soon after, I started taking my kids to visit Great Grandma, which is about 30 minutes away from where we lived about once a week. So about once a week I started driving and listening to The Catholic Channel. Shortly after, I stumbled across a show called, The Catholic’s Next Door. Married couple Greg and Jennifer Willits put on the show about various Catholic and family topics and also includes different guests, authors, etc.

 As a recent Catholic Convert and as a Catholic Mother and Wife I remember being happily surprised that there was such a fun, family oriented and educational show was on the radio!  It was about a year after I completed RCIA and was confirmed in the Catholic Church and I was very eager to learn everything I could about my faith and my faith as it pertains to my vocation as a Mother and a Wife. I started listening to their show every time I was able to as we were driving. 

They just recently went off the radio and went back to recording Podcasts exclusively for their faithful listeners. I was sad to see them go off the radio but I was super relieved that they went back to Podcasts. Especially since I can listen to their show anytime now and download their podcasts on my iPhone and listen anywhere.

Last week, I entered their super pack giveaway, which included:

      Envoy for Christ by Patrick Madrid (Franciscan Media)

            Yours is the Church by Mike Aquilina (Franciscan Media)

            Wrapped Up: God's Ten Gifts for Women by Teresa Tomeo & Cheryl Dickow (Franciscan Media)

            Jesus: What Catholics Believe by Alan Schreck (Franciscan Media)

            God's Mighty Servant DVD (Ignatius Press)

            Terrapin: A Mystery by T.M. Doran (Ignatius)

            Fools, Liars, Cheaters, and Other Bible Heroes (Franciscan Media)

            Compassion: Living in the Spirit of St. Francis (Franciscan Media)

            Would You Date You? by Anthony Buono (Franciscan Media)

                        Abandoned by Monica Migliorino Miller (St. Benedict Press)

I’ve entered a handful of blog giveaways but have never won so I wasn’t very confident in entering a contest that I knew would get a lot of attention and entries. BUUUuuuuttt, I thought I would give it a try at the last minute. To make a long story short, I woke up this morning and quickly looked through my inbox and I saw that I WON!!! Yup, that’s right!!! I WON the super prize pack giveaway!!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!!! I am so ecstatic!! So thank you very much Jennifer and Greg Willits for picking me and I look forward to receiving my prizes! And to all my many readers (chuckling as I’m writing that) out there you should go and check them out when you can. What I really love about them is they are real. They talk about real family issues and are very honest about their feelings and concerns. They do it with sincerity, lots of humor and conviction. They have been an inspiration to me and my family. You can view them at http://thecatholicsnextdoor.newevangelizers.com. In their 4^th podcast that came out this evening they announced me as the winner, which I will write off as my 5 seconds of fame. J

This week’s book:

I actually bought this book a year ago but hadn’t had a chance to read it yet. I have been thinking about it for a few months now but I will begin reading this book tonight and I will keep you all update. Let me know if you read it and what you thought about it. 

Home made laundry detergent

Ah ha! I did it! I heard about easy ways to make your own laundry detergent for very cheap on bulk and I just had to know more!! I found a recipe online and followed All of the steps and viola!!!! Home made laundry detergent!! The best part of it is it is all natural and HE compatible. I got a 5 gallon bucket for $2 at Lowes, a box of Borax for $1.85 at Target, a box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda for $3.00 and a bar of Fels-Naphtha laundry bar soap for $.98 at Walmart.

You use:

1bar of Fels-Naphtha
1/2 cup of Borax
1 cup of Arm & Hammer washing soda

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

•Works well in traditional or HE machines.

•Low sudsing. It is the ingredients in the soap, not the suds, that does the cleaning.

•Clumping and geling of the detergent is normal. Stir before putting in dispenser, and shake before each use.

Pieces of My Heart

Before I became a Mom I swore I would never be the type to show off every picture of my child. I have officially became, "One of those!" I mean, really? How could you not want to look, swoon over and demand to see more and repeatedly pictures of my adorable children whom make up the pieces of my heart!

Viv, 8 and Little Optimus, 3 1/2 were so easy to get pictures of together

My loves! It was a little hard to get Bear, 6months, to take a picture with the older kids because he did not enjoy them holding him. 

This pictures makes me want to cry. ALso, because Little Optimus has my late Dad's eyebrows. 

This one was super funny because while Vivi and Bear were scared out of their whits to be up on a tree branch (Hubby and I were spotting them from behind) Little Optimus was laughing at both of them. 

I love the effects that Erin put on this picture. Its so gorgeous!

I don't even want to tell you why he was laughing but this is a perfect picture for my silly boy. his really is his personality. 

He melts my heart

My baby bear cub can just melt you with those eyes!!

She really got some great pictures here

AAAAhhhhhh sniff sniff

I seriously started crying when I saw this. I love my Baby bear and those eyes!

When did my little baby girl turn into such a beautiful young lady? 

So gorgeous!

What a model she is! Erin got some great angles!

I finally got a good shot of her with her cowgirl boots!

This smile is the best! You can't help but laugh.


My very good childhood friend Erin did these pictures for me and I am absolutely in love with them. She is very talented and just Amazing!  I've know her for ...gosh, umm... 15 years? She is very talented. She does pictures on the side but also does everything wedding related. You can see her work at http://erinsweddingdesign.wordpress.com