Letting Go

It may sound awful, but there has been many a time that I have seen a small child do something (usually my own child) and I have thought "that is just what a (insert animal I am thinking of here) would do!". Another one of those moments happened this morning.

Philip was playing with his Discovery Toys Hammer Away and stuck his hand in the hole to pull the ball out instead of letting it roll all of the way to the bottom. Now when his hand is stretched out, he has no problem putting his hand in and out of that hole. Once his hand is in a fist, it is going to be stuck tight until he stretches it out again, yet to pull the ball back through the hole with his hand, the hand will have to remain in a fist. See the dilemma? He either holds the ball and stays stuck, or he decides to let the ball go and can get free.

Raccoons are much the same way (My experience with raccoons extends from growing up in Tahlequah, OK where coon hunting is huge - ever read "Where the Red Fern Grows"?). They will reach through a thin hole to grab something shiny in the bottom. Then they will hold tight and so not be able to pull their fist back through the top. A person can then get them as they will usually not let go. I knew several people who went hunting with their dads and they really did this. I was so surprised to hear that it really does work, after all, wouldn't the raccoon let go sooner so that he can get away?

Except the beauty of the human being is that we have a complex mind that enables us to choose to let go. Sure we can hold onto the baggage or what we really want that is just right there in our reach. But if the stuff starts to weigh us down, we can also choose to free ourselves by letting go.

Philip was coaxed to let go of the ball and he was free. Now, as I go through all of the stuff we have hoarded in our house (especially after the extravaganza on Monday), I too realize that as this stuff is weighing us down, I too need to let go. This is what Jesus was talking about when he asked the rich man to leave all of his belongings and follow Him.

It is amazing that just when I start to think "Boy it would be nice if we had just one more room, or one more bookshelf, or one more plastic bin" I then quickly discover that no, what we really need is to get rid of more stuff. That is my goal for the rest of this week - to get rid of even more, so that we may be free!

All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - lots of great food, fun, and fellowship on Jesus's special day! On Christmas Eve, we made Won Tons, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Scrambled Rice and just spent the evening together in the family room playing games and legos. We finished the final ornament on our Jesse tree. Midnight Mass was as beautiful as always and in a first nobody slept during it! Even Jonathan was awake the entire time (he had quite the audience with two teenage girls behind him!). The boys behaved beautifully and our only miscue was Philip belting out "O Come O Come Emmanuel" during the homily!

Brennan and I were the first awake at 9 AM, so he helped me get the Almond Coffee Cake ready to go and by then everyone was up except Philip. Brennan and Nicholas dug into their stockings while we waited for Philip. Brennan also was very excited to show Nicholas his "really nice Spiderman bike" that Santa brought him. After Philip awoke at 10:30, we hit full swing. Brennan really got a kick out of placing baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas morning. We thanked God for sending us His Son. Then we proceeded to lounge about and just enjoy our time together. Everyone was in such good spirits - quite amazing for the immediate change in schedule.

And then the unexpected! Brennan was playing when he suddenly said "Hey, I think my new tooth is coming in!". I went to him and sure enough, he had his first lost tooth in his hands! He was so excited - what a special Christmas memory! I must admit that it caught me off guard (I didn't even realize that it was loose!) so he will be receiving coins instead of the nice crisp dollar bill that I always received from the Tooth Fairy, but it was such a bonus at the end of an already great day!

We had a wonderful dinner - Pork Roast and Mashed Potatoes with a German Chocolate Cake for dessert. It was a much simpler dinner than I have done in the past, but it was worth it because it meant low stress and added time with the boys! Nicholas didn't quite make it until dinner time (He had finished all the chocolate in his stocking too without my realizing it - oh well!). Jonathan really enjoyed mashed potatoes! I can now add a fourth food to the list of what he will eat! As everyone headed to bed, Brennan summed up the day perfectly when he said "Today was great, now if it would just snow...".

Now everyone is asleep and the house is quiet. I myself am having trouble adjusting to the abrupt change in schedule, so I thought that I would share a few minutes with you. Here is hoping everyone else also had a Blessed Christmas Day and I look forward to hearing about yours soon!

P.S. - Oh and we even had our Christmas miracle! On Christmas Eve, our NFL team the Houston Texans actually beat the Indianapolis Colts - if you are familiar with football at all, you will know what an actual miracle this is! Granted, they just exploited a weakness this Colts team has at the moment and squeaked out a win, but it was something for us football fans to cheer here in Houston!

And I Almost Forgot...

My other very precious gift...Mr. Jonathan

My Christmas Gift

Last night, as we gathered around our Advent Wreath for our Jesse Tree prayer, I realized just what gift I had been blessed with this year.

Brennan was telling us who each of the symbols stood for...he remembered!

Nicholas was asking to pray for everyone in our family (and LarryBoy too!)...how thoughtful!

and Philip has been quite joyfully belting out "O Come O Come Emmanuel" with us...how absolutely precious! (I need to find a way to record this!)

Dressing a Wet Noodle

No, I have never tried, but it has got to be easier than dressing a 2 year old - the 2 year old fights back!

Santa's Little Elf

Philip has taken to helping with the presents from grandparents - by unwrapping them. I have had them in my closet, but occasionally I forget to close the door and so we have another casualty.

Now this is unfortunate because I had just managed to use up the last bit of Christmas wrapping that I had stored. So when the first present he got to was Jonathan's from Uncle Phil, I decided not to rewrap it - after all, Jonathan is 6 months old, what would he care!. Then the next present was mine from my Mom (thanks for the gravy boat Mom! We will use it with our Christmas dinner!). Whew, at least no need to rewrap that.

But yesterday, he got into his present from my husband's parents. I have not decided whether it is worth it to buy paper just to rewrap it, or to just let it go and put it under the tree unwrapped. I HAVE decided to move the presents from my closet to the garage.

Hey, why didn't I do that earlier anyway. I am just so slow sometimes!

My First Christmas Mass

Well, the spirit of Danielle's post has prompted me to retell the experience of my first Christmas Mass (which was incidentally my first Mass aside from a funeral I attended as a much younger child). It will perhaps explain why I have such a fondness for Midnight Mass in particular.

A little background - I grew up in Oklahoma very Southern Baptist. Very. In fact, my grandfather was an ordained minister and my father is also an ordained minister (in addition to being an optometrist) who travels half of the year as a missionary to various foreign lands. I am so appreciative of my childhood faith, where I was taught at an early age about Christ and his love for us. I was also brought up with the importance of following Christ in everything we say and do. This was a tremendous gift that God, through my parents, instilled in me.

When I was a senior in high school, I was becoming discouraged with the church in which I was raised (for several reasons that could be an entire other post). I just felt that something was missing, but I couldn't place it. I started attending other churches with my friends on Wednesdays and sometimes on Sunday. I was then asked by a friend if I wanted to go to Midnight Mass Christmas Eve. Since I would attend with my family at 7pm, I asked my parents if I could go. I was a little amazed when they said yes, after a little hesitation - after all this was the Catholic church we were talking about.

As I walked inside the church, I was amazed at the lights, the smell of the incense, and the sounds of the choir. What a worshipful atmosphere! The Mass was so reverent and I just felt that this was what I had been looking for - something seemed so different. I still feel just giddy to think of that Mass, the awe of my experience there.

Later on, I chalked up this almost magical experience to being the beauty of a respectful, well-done Christmas Eve service. I figured that it must of been why everything seemed so right. I set out to prove my theory correct by attending a regular Sunday Mass a few weeks later with my friend (Yes, my parents were leery about this!). And while the music wasn't Christmas music and the incense and lights were not there, I still felt something else there that I didn't experience in the other churches that I had attended. I was curious about just what it was that I was sensing, but couldn't place a finger on.

To make a long story a little bit shorter, I started asking my friend questions about what I experienced - she didn't know the answers, but said "I think that you can come to CCE with me Wednesday night and ask my teacher". So I did. It was there, from that teacher, that I learned of the Catholic Church's teaching of Christ being actually present in the Eucharist and the meaning of such words as transubstantiation (I had never heard it before!). It was Jesus's actual presence that I was feeling at Mass! This made such sense to me. I had a preacher in my Baptist church talk about the importance of asking God for forgiveness before taking the Lord's Supper (communion in the Baptist church). He would quote Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-34 when he discusses the importance of not having unconfessed sin before receiving communion. It never made sense to me that this would be the case if the Lord's Supper were in fact just a symbol as the Baptist church teaches. It had to be something more, as Paul discusses people getting physically ill from consuming under false pretenses. Now it was obvious to me that Jesus was present in the Eucharist at the Catholic Church in a special way that He was not in the Lord's Supper at my church.

This was the first step (and a major one at that!) of my journey to the Catholic Church during my freshman year of college. Maybe that is why the Christmas Eve Mass is so special for me in particular. And that is why I want to share a bit of that with my own boys from the earliest years on.

Rhetorical Question of the Day

To Philip, my dear 2 year old, as he throws yet another tantrum:

"Philip, why are you SO sad?".

Our Christmas Tree

I don't know about you, but as a girl I always loved decorating the Christmas tree. I looked forward to the trips to the store each year for new ornaments and tinsel. And each year, as I argued with my Mom and brothers over what would make the perfect addition to the tree, I dreamed of what it would be like to get a tree decorated just the way that I wanted it.

Here we are today, and I find ornaments like this


on my Christmas tree. I have to say that this is definitely not the tree that I envisioned those many years ago. As I look at the varied assortment of Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, Buzz Lightyear, and Spiderman ornaments that now grace my tree, I think back to the first year that we were married when I picked a Snoopy dressed as Santa ornament - that was more the direction I saw our tree going - pretty plaid bows and festive holiday themed ornaments. Not action heroes shooting at each other through the branches (who thought that such a sight was in keeping with the spirit of the season, anyway!).

But the boys (my husband included) love these ornaments, and they definitely make a statement about our family. In fact, the above pictured ornament was actually a gift to my husband when I was pregnant with Brennan. As I looked at this ornament, I quickly decided the perfect place for it - the back of the tree (I know, I know - how horrible!). My husband was deeply offended and I grudgingly moved it to a "more prominent place on the tree" (per his request).

Yet as I gave in to this request, I quickly realized that this is not my tree in my house. This was our tree in our house. I realized how unfair and selfish I had been in attempting to impose my desires without taking into account my husband's wishes (and now my boys too). As the years have passed, I have tried to consider this account as I make household decorating decisions. It is in this spirit that our front bathroom was recently redone not in the lavender and green flowers that I really wanted, but in blue with baseball themed towels. I admit that now I love it!

And I love our tree too. It may not be the tree I originally dreamed of, but it is the perfect tree for our family, and so it is the perfect tree for me after all.

Decorating...

We have had all of our Christmas decorations up for a while now. Well, all save one - our Nativity sets. Now I love our Nativity sets, especially the large one that we bought during our first year of marriage. I look forward to putting them out each year, and they are always the very last thing that I take down (last year it was April before I put the last one away!). So as I started to read about when everyone decorates, it was bittersweet for me to hear of putting the nativity out much later in the Advent season.

I say bittersweet because even though I wanted to place it out first, the very idea of waiting appealed to me! I even was reading up on the history of the nativity scene (I didn't realize that we have St. Francis to thank for this wonderous tradition!). I found that the manger, animals, and shepherds were traditionally put out the third Sunday of Advent. Then Mary, Joseph, and the donkey are in place on Christmas Eve. Of course Jesus would be added on Christmas morning - I love the idea of children "looking" for Jesus as I always liked scavenger hunts. Finally the wise men and camels would be added at the Epiphany. This all made such logical sense to me, and I thought "what a great way to visually drive home the purpose of the season!". But...


If I were to follow through with this, I would have to delay my gratification in getting to place out my special sets. I knew that this would be difficult. Yet, I knew that this would be a great way for me to joyfully wait for the coming of our Saviour. I might even get more out of this than our boys! And so we decided to wait.

I am ever glad that we did, because here we are just about to that 3rd Sunday in Advent. I am so excited about beginning to put out our sets this weekend that I am giddy with anticipation! I realize that we are so close to Jesus's birthday, and I am just so excited. And I realize that this is just what the season of Advent is meant to be - a time of joyful anticipation. Can you just imagine all of those people many years ago who were just as anxiously awaiting the birth of the Messiah?

And just think, the time is almost here!

Card Update

Yep, not done yet. I am still trying to get a decent picture, although the idea of just sending a letter with individual pictures of each boy is sounding more and more appealing. With a letter though, I feel the need to write what we have been doing the past year. I don't mind getting these letters from others, but whenever I try to write one for us, I end up thinking "this will sound so boring to everyone else".

That is really my problem. I think that our life is plenty exciting, but I realize that when it is repeated to others, they may not exactly agree. So I decide to spare them and end up just sending the standard picture card. Back to square one...

Meanwhile Brennan and Nicholas are really in the spirit of the season. Mailing letters has become a daily task that they are more than willing to do (Santa being the most popular recipient). Hey, I should just have THEM write the letter! Maybe?

Let me think about that one for a little while...

Growing Concern

There was a segment on a network morning show today that talked about a young boy who had a dehabilitating disorder that by age 6 had crippled him and left him without the ability to speak. It would also, most likely, kill him. Doctors had tried an experimental procedure where they inserted not even embryonic material, but aborted fetal cell matter into his brain. The boy is now improving.

This news is alarming on so many facets. First off, I feel terrible for the family that was in the situation that they were in. I have never known, and hopefully never will know, what it must be like to be faced with such unfortunate circumstances. I can only imagine how desperate they must have been to look for something, anything, to cure their beautiful little boy. That said, I would hope and pray that I would not be so in despair that I would permit my child to be given such a treatment.

I know the arguments. I have heard them before. And they make valid points when they are taken at face value (after all, if the abortion has already taken place, shouldn't we derive some benefit from it?). Yet my opposition goes past the surface and into something deeper - we cannot make an exception, even once, for such blatant disregard for even the youngest human beings, unless, we want that exception to become the general practice concerning, and even the intent for creating new human life. Human beings have a sinful nature and even what is meant to be good is way too easily distorted. History has shown us this time..and time..and time again. We humans learn ever so slowly!

Then there is the argument "Well, don't make it illegal - give people a choice of having the treatment or not!". Let's throw aside the obvious "But it is so morally wrong!" argument. I have yet to see proponents of choice ever stop at just choice. Oh, sure they put choice forth at first to get past the controversial nature of the issue. But in no time, the issue evolves into one of "rights" and in this I mean the "right" of a child to have what those "expert" doctors call a no brainer life saving treatment even if the parent believes that procedure to be immoral. Here in Texas, we recently had a teen taken into custody simply because the parents didn't jump on the radiation bandwagon that doctors were pushing for their daughter. It wasn't that they were even going to ignore the matter - they just wanted to try something else first! So what makes us think that these powers that be would respect a parent's moral wishes with any procedure requiring aborted or embryonic cell tissue. Those who have ever opposed a controversial vaccine in a pediatrician's office already know the answer to this question - it ain't gonna happen. So much for choice...

This is why we need to fight this now! Because once that unthreatening tiny snowball gathers momentum going down a huge hill, it is no longer tiny and easily stopped as it slams into your house - it is already an avalanche!

Tis the Season

I remember when I was teaching, the kiddos at schools would get so hyper during the month of December. I just chalked it up to the parties and anticipation of the season and more importantly the break from school. I also dared to think that because we homeschool, I might be able to temper this seasonal behavior within my own children.

And yet Brennan has been bouncing all around the past week and a half - ever since we put our tree up, actually. If I do not keep him busy or outside, he quite literally bounces off of the walls. It is tiring. I have cut TV. I have limited sugar. We haven't even been to many parties or anything. Yet just the sheer excitement of it all seems to be too much for him to handle!

I guess I shouldn't worry too much because he is defintely happy. I just need to keep the organized activities a coming and joyfully await the time of the actual Christmas season - when we can celebrate our Savior's birth AND get some much needed rest!

Where is the time flying?

My precious baby Jonathan is 6 months old today! Already! *sigh* Where does the time go?

My Wise Husband

A little over a month ago, my husband told me that he would like to purchase a shop-vac. "A shop vac?" I asked. "What will we use that for, that our current vacuum couldn't do?". "Oh lots!" my husband replied, and so I relented.

Here we are today, and I am that dear old shop vac's number one fan! Since our old vacuum is, shall we say, quirky, I have come to rely on that shop vac in a pinch. It may take a little longer than the regular old vac, but it does a great job! It is easy to pick back out that little pirate sword that accidentally got swept up as your 6 year old yelled "there it is!". It is lighter than our regular vacuum, and easily manuveurs into the tightest spaces.

Yet today it proved even more useful than all of those reasons above. As I began the tedious process of ridding our dining room wall of wallpaper, Brennan came in and said "Mom, look what Philip did in the family room!" (Yes, yes, I know - silly me, I just thought that they were occupied with "Cars" playing on TV). I walked in to see Philip standing over a pile of Nesquik, freshly dumped from the brand new, Sam's size can that we had just bought the day before. And would you know it, that wonderful little shop vac got every single speck of that up out of the carpet? Yes, a carpet! And quickly!

Ahh, my husband is so smart! I do love him so!

A Somewhat Impromptu St. Nicholas Day

Being that St. Nicholas is the patron saint of both my husband and one of our sons, I had grand plans for quite the celebration. A special breakfast, a new paperback in each stocking, a St. Nicholas picture book, a stocking craft complete with "gold" (gold wrapped Hershey's kisses), santa shaped cookie baking, and a Mediteranean themed dinner. Ahh such plans....

Then I woke up this morning and glanced at the calendar. Now let me just say that I did realize that Dec. 6th was the feast day of St. Nicholas. What I did not realize until 6:30 am this morning was that TODAY was Dec. 6th! It snuck up on me, unprepared to carry out my plans. So the special breakfast was out. We did read about St. Nicholas out of our Picture Book of Saints and found modern day Turkey on our world map. We had to go run errands today anyway, so we stopped by the bookstore and let each boy pick his own paperback, plus we picked a book to donate to the toy drive. We picked up our bag of Hershey's kisses (had to settle for silver) and ended up grabbing lunch and eating at the park. After we came home, we put little ones down for a nap while the older two made their stockings to hold the "silver". Then we made our Santa cookies.

And now it is after 4pm and I am exhausted! The house is a mess. Yet we still have had a great day together, although I am thinking that we will not be having that Mediteranean themed dinner tonight after all!

Oh well! There is always next year! Happy St. Nicholas Day everyone!

How to Pick a Really Long Bedtime Story

Me to oldest two boys: Okay guys, what story do you want to read tonight?

Nicholas, age 4: the Bible

Me: Okay - which story do you want?

Nicholas: All of them!

Weekly goal

As of this Monday, we have all of our decorations up, we have finished shopping minus a puzzle for the 2 year old, baking (and eating) are well under way, carols are heard each afternoon, and we have begun our Jesse Tree prayers at night. Still one aspect of the season remains untouched - the Christmas card.

I find myself in this position every year. I procrastinate on this one item more than anything else (except maybe scheduling my own doctor's appts!). It is the hassle of getting a good enough picture of all the boys. I tried that earlier, but didn't work out! It is getting the printer cartridge so I can print them all out. Most of all it is the addressing of envelopes that gets me every time.

I really need to set myself a deadline and just do it. So that is just what I am doing. I am hereby stating that I will have my Christmas cards completed and mailed by next Wednesday, Dec. 13th.

Look for a project completed post sometime (hopefully) before then!

A Monster in my House

There is a monster in my house
And boy he loves to eat!
The glass ornament balls on our tree
Seem to be his absolute favorite treat.

Each time we put them way up high
Just so they are out of his sight.
But that monster is so nimble and quick
That they still end up on the floor at night.

You would think that a 2 year old could pick
Something edible, or at least something not made of glass.
So tonight, I sigh as I pick up these balls
And remember that this too shall pass.

In the Spirit of the Season

There are some really great ideas at the Homeschool Carnival this month. I especially like this O Antiphon idea. It is from the Advent Ideas Book by Teresa Zepeda. I bought the Lenten Idea book by Zepeda a few years back, but the ideas were a bit much for my (at the time) 3 and 18 mo old boys. So I put it away for awhile. I thought of it last year right as Lent began, but couldn't find what I had done with it.

Now this post is also reminding me to start looking for that book NOW. That way I might actually find it before February.