November Blessings

Now that the fall colors are fading, and Thanksgiving is approaching, I often find myself in a bit of a funk. During the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas I always worry and fret and stress myself out. What are we going to get our kids/parents/brothers/sisters-in-law/niece/nephew? What am I going to cook? How am I ever going to get my house clean AND buy presents AND send Christmas cards AND get presents wrapped and shipped, etc. etc. etc. I'm always envious of people who get all their Christmas shopping done and their presents wrapped before Thanksgiving, and are able to relax and enjoy Advent, and really prepare their hearts for the coming of the baby Jesus. I've mentioned this to Joe on occasion, but he doesn't like to think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving; although today he reminded me that there is no reason why I can't start thinking about it sooner. But this year at least, as always, we'll spend time with family for Thanksgiving (which is always a relaxing and enjoyable time for us) and in the weeks ahead, try not to stress too much about Christmas.

This year I want to focus on the many blessings that we have. Why do I worry so much about what gifts to buy friends and family? Many people are unable to buy gifts for anyone. Is it really necessary that my children get the latest electronic gadget they're begging for?

We have so much to be thankful for. We have a home to live in and plenty of food to eat and clothes to wear. My husband has a decent paying job that keeps the heat on in the winter, the refrigerator stocked, and allows us to save money so the kids can go to college. Right now our parents are all alive and well, and they love our children more than they imagine. They have aunts and uncles and cousins who miss them and pray for them every day. The boys are all doing well in school, and are forming lifelong friendships.

I want to share some highlights of the last month; on All Saints Day, Moe dressed up as St. Juan Diego. He had an old shepherds' tunic left over from one Christmas when the boys were in our church's Christmas pageant, and he painted an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the front. At school his class led the annual All Saints Day parade, and he was one of a few students selected to read his essay about his saint in front of the whole school. His teacher complimented him on how well he read. I was so proud of him!

(He's covering his face because he doesn't want me to take his picture. I'm seriously thinking of abandoning my own blogging rule about not showing my kids' faces here, especially now that they're getting older. The picture of Moe with the hat on top of his head is much better, and you should see his sweet smile!)

This is Curly, getting wrapped up like a mummy this past Sunday by the boys in his confirmation team. I am really looking forward to his confirmation preparation this year! My friend Lesley, whose twin daughters are also preparing for the sacrament, and I are leading the team together. (That's the other thing. I'm tired of referring to my friends as "L" and "J" and "B", etc. I want to use their real names from now on. I hope they don't mind.) Anyway, on Sunday we got the team together for our first official meeting, fed them ice cream, and as an ice breaker we had them wrap each other up in toilet paper.

At our parish, kids preparing for confirmation are required to complete three spiritual works of mercy and three corporal works of mercy with their assigned teams. A spiritual work might be attending Stations of the Cross during Lent, or a holy hour at church--something to help them grow closer to God. A corporal work is serving someone's physical needs--feeding the homeless, collecting clothing for the Salvation Army, raking leaves for an elderly parishioner. We decided (and this was Lesley's idea, as was the toilet paper icebreaker; I am extremely blessed to be working with my friend I've known since the sixth grade--plus she's super-organized AND creative!) for our first corporal work we would pack boxes for Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child project. We packed boxes with small toys, school supplies, toiletries, even socks and t-shirts, and they each wrote a note to the child who would be receiving his or her box. Lesley delivered the boxes to the distribution center where they were packed into crates and loaded onto a truck to be shipped, eventually, to needy children overseas.

Ever since we moved into our house nearly fourteen years ago, we've been talking about landscaping the front and back yards. We've had a lot of other things done--remodeled our kitchen and two of our bathrooms, had a deck built, painted and re-carpeted various rooms--and now we've finally hired a landscaping company to hopefully make our yard more attractive and (hopefully) less muddy. On Saturday there was a crew here drawing lines and digging holes and planting bushes and ferns and things and spreading topsoil. These last few days have been rainy, so unfortunately they haven't been back; but Lord willing, we'll have a perfectly landscaped yard before Christmas, and if we're lucky, it will stay that way for years to come.

This will eventually become a stone pathway.

Oh, and one more miracle happened: Curly was able to snap a picture of Holly our neurotic yellow Lab before she jumped up and started barking and letting us know in no uncertain terms that she does NOT like cameras.

I want to wish you all a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

UPDATE: There is one more November blessing I did not mention; check out my latest post over on Cooking Nick's Books to see what it is!

Praises, and Hither-and-yon Outdoor Fun (or, Get Thee To The Woods Vol. 8)

I had planned on posting a Sunday Praises post yesterday (I'm long overdue for one) but it didn't happen. We've all had some great outdoor adventures this week, too, so I've decided to combine them into one post.

1. Last week, we all travelled somewhere different: my husband (I wanted to nickname him Shemp for this blog, but he preferres Joe. Apparently there was a stooge with that name, too; who knew?) went to Hawaii for a work-related conference. I thought about bringing the kids and/or myself along, but for various reasons (one being that he would be spending most days in meetings), we decided to let him go alone this time. I was only the tiniest bit jealous when he sent pictures like this,

and this,

but he had a lot of work to do, and the rest of us were busy with swim practices and meets, as well as our own visits with family. He is back home with us now after more than a week away, Praise God!

2. Every summer for the past several years, one of the kids has spent a week with my in-laws. This is a great way for each of the boys to get to know them and to nurture their relationships with them. (Praise God for my husband's parents, who raised and nurtured him; and who love spending time with our boys!) This year it was Curly's turn. His first day, they visited an aviation museum on a naval base; he got to ride around on top of this bus,

and saw a lot of very cool airplanes.

Curly and his grandparents had a lot of other outdoor adventures, too, that he didn't take photos of (they are sending me the ones they took; if there are any more good outdoor photos I'll post them here later): they went to a waterpark, played golf, and took the puppy for many walks. (click here for my earlier post about this.)

Okay, so this was taken indoors; but isn't he a cutie? He must be resting after a fun day of chasing rabbits.

Curly is back home safe with us now, Praise God!

3. At the kennel where we leave our own dog, they have a little fountain/fish pond.

Sometimes Curly and Moe find frogs and tadpoles, but this time all they could see was this goldfish trying to stay out of sight.

Our neruotic yellow lab is almost impossible to travel with, so Praise God for a fun, safe place to leave her while we're gone. She loves coming here and they all adore her.

4. With Joe and Curly gone, Larry, Moe, and I decided to spend a few days with my parents. My dad's radiation treatments for his prostate cancer are going very well; he is experiencing minimal side effects, the doctors expect the cancer will be gone once they're finished, and he only has two weeks left to endure them. Praise God!

We took a drive up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we saw some spectacular views,

and visited the historic Mabry Mill.

Of course, we had to stop and look at the ducks and geese that live by the millpond

and Moe looked for critters in the stream.

There are many other interesting things to see there, too; the millrace,

the mill wheel,

the millstones that have been used here to grind corn and buckwheat over the years,

the cabin.

If Moe had a horse he might have made a good plow man.

There is a nice view out of the mill window, too.



The next day the boys and I took a walk along an old railroad bed that has been converted into a walking and biking trail.
Some of the old tracks are still there.

We saw many of these along the trail, and we stopped here and there for a treat.

About a mile down the trail is a bridge

that crosses a railroad track that is very much in use.

We made it home safely from this trip, too. Praise God!

5. There are many other blessings to be thankful for, too: my husband, who is celebrating his birthday SOON; and for the front that came through yesterday afternoon, and while it didn't bring us the rain we desperately need, it has given us some relief from the 100+ degree heat we've endured these past few days. For these and all your blessings, Lord I praise your name! Click here for this week's Outdoor Mondays post from 5 Orange Potatoes!

Mother's Day Praises, 2010

I hope you have all had a blessed Mother's Day!

1. Praise God for my dear mother who raised me, and my beautiful mother-in-law who helped shape my husband into the man he is today. I thank God for you both, and I love you!

2. Praise God for my handsome hubby, and my three fabulous sons. Tonight they prepared their annual Mother's Day Stromboli dinner for me. YUM!!

3. My mother grew up in Nashville. I spent many summer vacations there with my grandmother, and a number of Thanksgivings and Christmases there, too. We still have many relatives and family friends who live there, and by the grace of God, everyone made it through the devestating floods safely. One of my cousins said that the floodwaters washed away the insulation from underneath her house, but nothing else was damaged. Praise God! These photos were sent to my mother by another relative (although I'm not sure who took them). Our prayers are with everyone who lost their lives, their homes, and their loved ones.

(If you haven't seen this video yet, check it out. It brought tears to my eyes.)

4. Moe, our resident zoologist, is becoming quite the nature photographer. Check out some of the pictures he took this week:

Praise God for giving my children a great love for the outdoors!

(Click here for more about the Great Outdoor Challenge!)

5. Finally, Praise God for giving us the gift of His Blessed Mother to be our Mother; and for Holy Mother Church. I thank God for leading me into the flock that is the Catholic Church.

(No, I'm not finished with that conversion story of mine yet, but I'm working on it...slowly...)

Have a great week!