Giveaway!

Pam over at Sew Gracious is giving away another beautiful handbag! Go visit her blog then her etsy shop and then make a comment and you may be the next winner!! Thank you Pam for sharing.. and Cheryl too for letting me know!! I just love the Chocolate and pink damask bag!!

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July to all of you! We started our day with confession and Mass.. a great feeling! Yesterday Cookie got the top brackets ( braces) put on.. today she is so very sore.

 

We are going to finish our 4th of July  lapbook today, read a few more books from the library, make a flag cake and celebrate with friends and watch the fireworks. It should be another well packed day! Oh yeah…. we are moving too!!! So the house is filling up with boxes.. we decided to rent instead of buy. With the Army so “iffy” with PCS orders, we are going to rent a nice (new) home near our friends and church. 

Great article

This morning My good friend, (and homeschool mom and M&M’s godmother) shared this article with our homeschool group. I love homeschooling my children and yes, we rise when we are ready. I hope you enjoy it  and either get a peek into our world or relate to the scenario and enjoy your kids as much as I do.

Our Baby Girl…

After learning our sweet baby was a girl, we have given her a name.

Karoline Elise Snow

She shares the same initials as her big sister “Cookie”…. Now we have a few “minor” changes. We need to notify the cemetery that there is a baby girl buried with her big brothers and notify the monument company to have the stone removed from the grave to have a new stone made in her name. We kept Karol from the original name I was so drawn to in the delivery room. Jennifer reminded me that Karoline Elise left us to return to God on May 18 (PJPII b’day). We discovered this on May 19th at 8:00 in the morning all while blood was still in areas of her little body. She must have only been gone a short while. I have found much comfort in learning this baby was a girl. I was starting to wonder if I couldn’t carry a baby boy anymore.

We are in the process of having our home inspected ( old Army post housing) for the air, soil, and water quality. If anything is found, we may be eligible for a move..(praying.. praying…)

On a sweet note, M&M decided at the elevation of the Mass to announce while pointing “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! ( with a bit of a slur to her words)” this past Sunday. The people in front of us turned around smiling and sharing her joy with their surrounding family. At home she saw a Divine Mercy image in my room and shouts again, “Jesus!” she began pointing to all of the pictures in my room.. next she saw the Sacred Heart..”Jesus!” then Our Lady of LeLeche ” Marmy!” then back to Sacred Heart, “Jesus!” then to a church picture, “house!”

Happy Birthday!!

June 22.. Today is our Son, Opie’s 8th birthday and my Dad’s birthday! They got to celebrate together this past week while my parents were visiting.

Opie is having fun building his new Lego sets. He will sit with them for hours without losing his attention to detail.

I know Opie’s Brothers and sister are celebrating  from above!

Goodbye baby Karoline….???

Good bye baby??

Well, we have wonderful news from the chromosome testing we had done on our baby. There were no chromosomal abnormalities. Also, much to our surprise….. this was baby Karol…..Karoline… not a baby Matthew…. I was so drawn to the name Karol in the delivery room..( No wonder…our baby girl went back to God on May 18th, Karol Wojtyla’s birthday.) We picked Matthew after the other two boys, Luke and Mark! This was a girl baby who went back to God!! Whew! Actually this is wonderful news to us as we were really starting to think we had a 50/50 chance with each baby thinking we would lose every boy. Now I am really starting to question this house.

We are going to pursue the air quality with an inspector to see if it is something we are breathing. We have had illness after illness living in this old post housing unit. ( Pneumonia, Bronchitis, strep twice, croup, allergies, etc….and three babies in the second trimester)

Now I need to go and change the baby’s name at the grave site where her tiny precious little body is resting with her big brother’s Mark and Luke. Karoline’s middle name is still being thought of…

still struggling with….

to buy or not to buy… with the current housing market we are not sure if buying is the right thing to do. We found a house in the area we would like, but are worried about the next few years.. what if we move and need to sell? What about all of the thousands of new homes they continue to build in the same area? What if …..

It all comes down to trust. I can’t see into the future. God transcends time and already knows. I suppose in a few weeks if we haven’t put an offer on the house we are looking at we won’t be moving and John will deploy. The kids and I will make do in our post house and perhaps put cheesecloth between us and the vents ( all of the sickness and death of babies I am starting to blame on this house!) God will provide for all that we need.

In today’s gospel we read from St Matthew:

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 6,19-23.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal.
But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light;
but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.

We can be happy anywhere and without a beautiful home to call our own. So our kitchen cabinets in this house are at an angle ( all eggs will fall to the floor) The mice better find another home, and yes, we will get a storage unit if we don’t move to get the gym out of the dining room, and third princess bed out of my friend’s garage!)

Where our heart is, our treasure will be.

*** Please remember Jennifer in your prayers as she found out her sweet baby has gone to heaven. She is hoping to avoid a D&C.

***Please pray for a teen and his family who took his own life yesterday, and for the HS he attended to find God’s peace.

6/17

I see 6/17 everywhere and I always thank God for His reminders of my wonderful husband! Today we have been married 13 years. We are very blessed with wonderful children, five here and three praying for us in heaven. Today was the day I was due with Mark. He was delivered back to God on January 12 this year at 18 weeks. 6/17 will always be a gentle reminder of my dear husband and our marriage and of life from above.

Happy Anniversary John! May Christ be with you as you deploy in a few weeks.

Gentle mother…..

teach me how to be more gentle…. as I look at how easily I become flustered at things lately, I am in need of becoming much more gentle….  I recently discovered more mice have been busy tucking dog food away for the winter (in the golf club bag and golf shoes…sigh)  Dh to deploy in a few weeks, other mother’s gently caressing their newborns, I find myself in need of much more grace and gentleness…

today I had my follow up appointment with my doctor, and without any surprise, the lab found nothing out of the ordinary or cause for concern with our baby, Matthew, who returned to heaven after a brief 14 weeks with us. I wasn’t surprised.. God doesn’t make mistakes…. It was Matthew’s time to return to his maker….

Again today on my treadmill, I found myself in song…

Gentle woman, quiet light, morning star
so strong and bright,
gentle mother peaceful dove
teach us wisdom; teach us love

You were chosen by the Father:
You were chosen for the Son,
You were chosen from all women
and for woman shining one.

Gentle woman, quiet light, morning star
so strong and bright,
gentle mother peaceful dove
teach us wisdom; teach us love

Blessed are you among women,
Blest in turn all women too,
Blessed they with peaceful spirits
Blessed they with gentle hearts

Gentle woman, quiet light, morning star
so strong and bright,
gentle mother peaceful dove
teach us wisdom; teach us love

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9,9-13.

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

What is your calling? God does not look for your availability, but for your ability. In Mass today, we all heard Matthew speak of his calling from Jesus, to be chosen to be an apostle. Now churches around the world are named after him. Children around the world share in his name. We are all called to be saints… to live holy lives here in this world.

The gospel was followed by the offertory  with the Summons... needless to say.. I was a ball of tears today hearing the name of Matthew and the summons lyrics.

May we all be open to God’s call.

Poor Bluebelle….

Our little three year old has been under the weather for a while, coughing, fever, etc…. we keep going in to the Doctor ( usually always flairs up on the weekends)… yesterday I got a call back from the Doctor who upon looking at the X-rays,tells me that Bluebelle has pneumonia…. We started her last night on an antibiotic and today I will have to go to talk to someone at the swimming lessons to see if we can postpone her class until later in the summer.

All of the kids were signed up to begin next Monday. This week was our last week of school. We now have: A sixth, third, first, and preschooler.. ( and one year old who will do anything) in our home!

Please remember Adele and her family as they say goodbye to a sweet baby at 8 weeks. May God bring them peace and comfort during this time.

Visitation…

…..She greeted her cousin Elizabeth, and at the sound of her voice, John quickened in his mother’s womb and leapt for joy…..

Today due to an early Easter, we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation…. I was just on my treadmill trying to return to a normal routine while the children joyfully play in the sprinkler and praying….first I went through the first Joyful Mystery…the Annunciation.. I can only imagine the joy Mary felt at hearing the news of carrying the Son of God.. the same joy I have felt along with millions of women at the news of a new pregnancy… a baby…and then in my prayers, my mind went to pray for those who find themselves pregnant and alone. Next, I turn to the second Joyful Mystery and thought of the Visitation…First I thought of the joy that John felt in his mother’s womb as he leapt for joy in the presence of his savior.

With what piercing shoots of joy does this story of Christ unfold! First the conception of a child in a child’s heart, and then this first salutation, an infant leaping for joy in his mother’s womb, knowing the hidden Christ and leaping into life.

..well, me being human and completely weak emotionally ( and into my about half of my mile) and began weeping on the treadmill as I turned my thoughts to the joy our little sons must have felt the moment they entered into the presence of their savior…then I thought of those who must go visit to tell of a new pregnancy, pray for God’s mercy to be on listening ears.

I continued my rosary, but wondered why I was so drawn to the visitation today.. now I know why…

After calling on God to give me strength ( emotionally) I completed my one and a half miles and focused on doing something special for our children here for this Feast day/

Read Luke 1:39-47, the story of the Visitation.

This feast reminds us to be charitable to our neighbors. Try to assist some mother (expectant or otherwise), visit the elderly or sick, make a dinner for someone, etc.

Goodbye Baby Matthew Karol…

We picked up Matthew in his tiny box from the funeral home before heading to the cemetery to meet our Priest. I was brought to tears when we realized the box was not sealed and I caught a glimpse of the cream knitted pouch holding our little baby. We turned around and John quickly returned into the funeral home to have it sealed. I didn’t know it would catch me off guard, but tears began to fall.

All of the children dressed in their new dresses Nana sent home with daddy from his trip to Altanta. Opie had his hair brushed and assisted Fr Richard as his altar server at the grave site. The cemetery opened just enough of the grave to add little Matthew’s pine box to the grave along side his brothers who have gone before him. We began with the sign of the cross and began listening to the readings. In the gospel, we heard the message of Jesus telling everyone to let the children come to him. Again, we had heard this same message in January when we buried Marc. In tears, I watched John place Matthew’s tiny pine box in the grave and Opie handed Father the bottle of Holy water. I saw sprinkles of water hit the top of his box along with Cookie’s scapular and the tiny statue of pope John Paul II Father placed on top of the box. Sprinkles also showered the headstones of Luke and Marc leaving the black granite stones shining in the Texas sun. As hot as it was today, we were so comfortable in the sunlight and there was not a sound in the air distracting us from the grace filled words from our beloved shepherd, Fr. Richard. We drove away in silence as tears streamed from my face. John clenched my hand and I felt God’s presence it would all be okay. After all, we now have three perfect children awaiting our arrival in the kingdom of Heaven and five beautiful children here on earth..

making plans is hard

Today I picked up John and Opie from a trip they took to attend our dear friend, Fr Kevin’s farewell Mass and Reception. If I get a picture , I’ll update later. They had a wonderful time as tickets were already purchased before last week’s news of our baby happened. Opie had a delightful time at his grandparent’s house playing with his cousins.

Today, although we are all exhausted, we ventured out again to go find a box suitable to bury our little Matthew in. I found a simple pine box and a crocheted blanket to place on top. My dear friend, and would have been Godmother, knitted Matthew a pouch to be placed in inside the box. We took the items for the burial over to the funeral home and made the final arrangements with them and the cemetery. We then went to the back of the building where the funeral home has the stones for headstones. We were looking for one like the other two boys since we wanted them all buried together. After going back in to pay for our baby’s stone, we left rather quietly and returned home.

I called the cemetery to confirm the time for tomorrow and then called our beloved priest to confirm the time with him. With baby Mark’s burial, we had friends with us. For Matthew’s it will just be our family. The girls all received beautiful dresses from Nana out of daddy’s carry on bag and are looking forward to wearing them tomorrow for such the celebration that we have another brother in heaven. As Moonbeam told us in January, she wanted to wear a beautiful dress for the funeral because she was so happy her brother was in the arms of God. She is equally as joyful this time too, and yes, has already prayed for more babies one day. Moonbeam ( 5yo) also has assured us that the most glorious day in all of our lives is the day we are in heaven. She has the wisdom that Fr Corapi speaks of in marriage prep.. ” what do you desire the most for the one you love?” Answers vary… “happiness, faithfulness, good health..” “those are all good, but if you truly love someone, you desire heaven for them.”

While I was on the exam table and John and the Dr were silent, I knew…. I’d been there before and quickly saddened… I asked… they confirmed… Yes, the song, the summons came to mind to bring peace..again it was happening…and then my mind turned to a mother who had such strong faith. Zelie Martin… Such faith through such hard hardships. She would pray after each baby for God to take them now or save them from mortal sin. WOW! I couldn’t be that strong, but here we were, saying goodbye again.

Tomorrow we will say goodbye again at God’s hour of Mercy. Please pray for all those who are having difficulties in their pregnancies to call upon God for strength.

Absolutely touched

I cannot begin to tell you how completely beautiful a picture is to me. It is entitled Escort to God. I stumbled across it online in search for a print for our son’s First Holy Communion after we delivered Mark in January. This picture speaks volumes to me and brings me to tears. We are looking at burying Matthew with his brothers early next week. Pictures like this help to bring peace. I think this picture shows comfort to such a painful time. Each day is like “going through the motions” I don’t even know what day it is as they all roll into one. Our oldest is struggling with the thought…If God heard our prayers to keep this baby safe and here on this earth, why did He take this baby too?  While I was in the hospital, daddy said she left the family prayer time in tears. As humans, we want to know why. Sometimes we just don’t know. We do need to trust. I trust God in all that He does because God cannot make a mistake. I am completely sad, but I will be okay.

Please visit and see this amazing gift this artist is giving back to parents who mourn the loss of a child.