FAUSTINA, JUDE & BENEDICT

Dodge Nature Center

2012-02-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

This morning my awesome SIL called offering us an opportunity to go visit the Dodge Nature Center. I have heard great things about it for a long time but we just haven't made it there. It was a fun morning and the kids were able to learn a bit about Reptiles and Amphibians; they were even able to touch some! Wow, these animals really are spectacular - animals are so incredibly fascinating. No wonder kids love them so much. At one point the guide let a tarantula out on the floor to crawl around which was a bit terrifying. Jude is especially into animals and he liked the morning - although he does look a bit freaked out in the pictures.

Valentine Treats

2012-02-17T11:53:00.000-08:00

Mike made the 14th a special Valenine's Day for the kids (and me!)by bringing home cards and a lady bug and bumble bee filled with treats. The kids were pretty excited, to say the least. Faustina is at the age where these little gifts are her special little treasures that she doesn't forget. And she talks about it for the next many many days! Why is she wearing a swimming suit? Well, there really is no good answer for that, except that she is still changing clothes many times a day. She is all girl.

My little opossum

2012-02-09T14:14:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to call Benedict my little opossum because this is his favorite position.

He likes to be on his tummy on my arm. I feel like my arm is a tree branch and he is hanging on like a opossum. Usually I just hold him on one arm and carry him around like a football; often he wraps his arms tightly around my arm and it seems like if I let go of him he would hang there all by himself!

This little guy is more of a baby now than an infant - he is not so fragile anymore. His is getting bigger each day, getting longer, and he is now smiling!

Actually he started smiling noticeably a few days before his baptism. I thought babies didn't smile until they were at least a few months old - but this little guy's smiling response to our silly baby talk is undeniable.

Here is crazy man Jude with his brother Benedict on the day of Benedict's baptism. Jude is doing one of his 'funny' faces and this is one of Benedict's first times smiling.

Thumbs up to cars

2012-02-06T19:00:00.001-08:00

Jude loves his cars. Loves his match box cars. Over the course of the last week, he has carefully lined them up in 25 different places or surfaces around the house including on the organ, the crib, every table, chair etc. Slowly they will all make their way to every single place in the house. He is a boy of great detail!

The Rule sheets

2012-02-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

My dear husband is a designer at heart. This is one of the things I love about him and I didn't even know it until after we married!

So, he put together the new Rule Sheets for Faustina and Jude. We have been having some 'special' times (mainly) with our eldest - the black and white lines had to be drawn. Faustina loves looking at her 'responsibility' sheet and we read it every morning to remind us of what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

It has helped quite a bit. There still have been many tantrums, but we now have clear rules and clear consequences. I actually have taken out some parenting books that were given to me years ago but I have yet to crack them open. I am amazed at how children have such a sense of justice. Faustina is accepting of her punishments even though she may not like them. She even has thanked me for punishing her!

I am quite confident that this is only a phase our young daughter is going through. It may be a long phase, but I trust it will be conquered as she matures. Unfortunately, both Mike and I clearly recall being very (and me especially very ) difficult for our parents at times. She is only three years old, I must remind myself and she is growing at a rapid rate. After 2 different highly explosive tantrums this week, she took 4 hour naps.

Her strong will, determination, her perseverance are all good qualities, they simply need to be trained and channeled!

Oh, what an opportunity for us all to grow in virtue - especially parents!

As I start to think about Lent....

2012-02-03T10:45:00.000-08:00

Lent is not for a few weeks, but it is time for me to start thinking about what I can do. I find the following article on Mother Teresa incredibly inspiring. This list of 15 ways to increase humility may be a good Lenten challenge. What a beautiful woman - she seems to just glow with goodness in such pictures as the following.
Good article on Blessed Mother Teresa here.

Mother Teresa’s Humility List

1. Speak as little as possible about yourself.
2. Keep busy with your own affairs and not those of others.
3. Avoid curiosity.
4. Do not interfere in the affairs of others.
5. Accept small irritations with good humor.
6. Do not dwell on the faults of others.
7. Accept censures even if unmerited.
8. Give in to the will of others.
9. Accept insults and injuries.
10. Accept contempt, being forgotten and disregarded.
11. Be courteous and delicate even when provoked by someone.
12. Do not seek to be admired and loved.
13. Do not protect yourself behind your own dignity.
14. Give in, in discussions, even when you are right.
15. Choose always the more difficult task.

More of Baby Benedict's Baptism

2012-02-03T10:07:00.001-08:00

It was a good day.

"Exorcizo te, immunde spiritus, in nomine Patris + et Filii + et Spiritus + Sancti..."

2012-01-29T18:44:00.000-08:00

Today we had baby Benedict baptized in the older form of the Latin rite liturgy. The Baptism begins in the narthex (entrance) of the church with an exorcism of unclean spirits. Next, the family processes down the nave of the church chanting the Creed followed by the Our Father. Throughout, the child is exorcized, blessed, anointed with oil, impressed with salt ("salt is the symbol of wisdom which gives a relish for the sweetness of divine nourishment") and finally baptized with water and words of the sign of the cross. Parents and godparents partake in "The Renunciation of Satan" (cf. the scene from Godfather Pt. II!) where they reject Satan and all of his evil works and promises. The baby's white garment (in olden days worn for 8 straight days by the newly baptized) symbolizing the purity of a soul cleansed from all sin. The godparents are given the baptismal candle as a sign to keep the new light of faith burning brightly for the child no matter what the circumstances.

A beautiful and symbolic liturgy administered by Fr. Ubel - our thanks to him. We had an open house with a few family and friends beforehand. Danish ebleskeevers (sp???) were feasted upon by all.

Good times. Deo gratias.

Coming out of the fog

2012-01-27T07:49:00.001-08:00

For the last 2 months I have basically felt like this:

I wish I looked and felt as heavenly as this picture:

This is a normal morning at home as Faustina is eating cereal. She simply cannot get enough of her dresses. Auntie found this beautiful dress for a few dollars for Faustina.

Just now I am starting to come out of a 'having a newborn' fog and starting to feel that perhaps I remember what it is like to be a normal person again. People have been so helpful and generous - we are so very grateful. Life is busy here with day to day activities. I am in the stage that there is always much to do around the house, but my hands are full with - Benedict!

Jude and Faustina are good; just a few days ago I was thinking to myself how yes, they still are toddlers, but they seem more and more like young kids each day. There certainly is a difference. The few months before Benedict was born, Faustina and Jude were unusually difficult and would act up at the drop of the hat. They knew some change was quickly coming as Mom's tummy grew. Now, after Benedict was born, they have returned to themselves and actually are even easier than before - fascinating!

As I think about life moving forward and the fact the kids are so young and close, Benedict's face captures a fleeting thought:

But I take each day as it comes and it all turns out. I am getting plenty of sleep at night which is incredibly helpful.

January, what?

2012-01-27T07:45:00.001-08:00

Here is what our Christmas picture would be if it was December 25th instead of the end of January! It is so hard to believe February is in a few days. Crazy. 2011 certainly gave our family a unique Christmas time with the birth of Benedict - it seemed like Christmas never happened and then I blink my eyes and it is practically Lent. Here Jude is showing his enthusiasm for all the change in the Adkins' household and Faustina is showing how lovingly she cares for her brother. Oh, how they compliment each other.... :)

Our new little guy

2012-01-05T12:26:00.000-08:00

Little Benedict is 12 days old today! I love these first few days - his cry is still "llaaaalllaaallaa" the infant sound that isn't quite a cry yet. His little hands and fingers move in slow motions as they slowly open and close. His breath just smells fresh and he is still so so little!

I can't get enough of him to cuddle. And he really can't get enough of me - He will barely ever let me put him down! He is so sweet, I don't mind at all. Thankfully I am getting quite a bit of sleep at night as Baby Ben sleeps with me and we are both happy. Last week and this week we have been taking life very easy - in fact, today Faustina ask, "Mom, can we do something today? We never leave the house anymore.". Haha. I assured her that life would return to normal next week.

Faustina is absolutely loving her baby brother - as you can see from the very enthusiastic smile she has in the picture (!). She wants to hold him, comfort him, (she wants to feed him which she can't help with!), put him to sleep and lay by him. She is very proud of both her brothers and fits the bill of the 'eldest' child to a tee. :)

Since Mike and I were both fairly confident that Benedict was going to be a boy, I took a chance and made a cowboy quilt for him earlier in December. I am excited how it turned out and the back is oh so very soft! I copied the general pattern that my Mom had made for Faustina which actually turned out to be Jude's blanket. It was fun to make and put together as I cut out the cowboys and framed them in different colors.

2012!

2012-01-01T07:56:00.000-08:00

Aebleskivers!

2011-12-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

Mike has been the master chef in our house lately. I could get used to this! :)

The last five or six years (?) we have been going to our Danish friends' breakfast that is served every so often in Minneapolis. They make delicious aebleskivers (basically pancake balls) sausage, coffee and juice. For Christmas this year, Mike got me a aebleskiver skillet so we can make our own at home! Mike made them plain this time, but apparently they can be filled with jam, chocolate, or other fillings. I will certainly have to try that at some point! I enjoyed mine this morning with some rosemary rhubarb jam that a friend gave us. Delicious.

In loving memory

2011-12-31T08:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday would have been my Mom's 66th birthday. Family gathered at the cemetery to honor her, remember her, and read a few scripture passages and readings. A family friend is buried right next to Mom and there also happens to be a little tree next to both of them. The Krause family decorated the tree as a Christmas tree and put family pictures on it. What a great idea! That was extra special. Afterward, we all went to breakfast as we have done the past few years.

I think it is no coincidence (although I don't believe anyone realized it at the time of picking Mom's card) that the picture on Mom's holy card is an image of the Holy Family and her birthday happens to be the Feast of the Holy Family in the Catholic Church. I don't recall making this connection the past few years, but somehow it makes sense.

One of my brothers read 1 Cor. 13:1-7 - this is one of the more well known passages saying "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong but rejoices in right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." And he went on to explain how Mom showed this love to us all.

I read a reading about the Holy Family. One paragraph that especially reminds me of Mom is the following, "The family is the fundamental project and pursuit of the human person. It is the place in which human life begins, is nurtured, and is cherished. In the family, the human person learns to love by being loved, and learns that each person has an incalculable dignity that must be respected and affirmed in small or great ways each day."

We sure miss Mom, but we are thankful that we can do our best to live out the Christian life she taught us.

A new sibling

2011-12-29T21:43:00.001-08:00

Mom and Baby Benedict came home Christmas Day evening and it is good to be home! Things are well and Faustina and Jude are adjusting to having Benedict around the house. Faustina is wonderful with him and loves her new brother while Jude is a bit unsure at times, but seems willing to like him. He will hold Benedict and then say, "I'm done with this!" Benedict is a very good eater; since we have been home he has already gained 9oz and is up to 8lbs 15oz!

Welcome, Benedict Joseph!

2011-12-25T09:41:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!
Benedict Joseph was born at 1:17 a.m. on Christmas Eve.
Specs: 8 lbs. 9 oz. / 21 in. long / 13 in. head circumference
Both mom and baby are well and we hope they'll be home this evening.
Jude and Faustina anxiously await their arrival! Deo gratias!
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Blessings to you and yours on this Christmas day!

Waiting and creating

2011-12-21T17:12:00.000-08:00

Still waiting on this babe to come. I'm doing okay, tons of contractions, but hanging in there.

Meanwhile, I was able to finish this little sweater. There are so many projects I find I want to do, (I find a downfall for me is that I spend more time looking online or at quilting & knitting blogs than working on stuff myself), but it is good to complete at least one!

In the Spirit of the Season

2011-12-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

As I placed part of Jude's lunch before him, without any prompting, he was ready to bless the food. Can't find much cuter of a picture than this.

A little tease

2011-12-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

Well, this baby number three of ours is certainly keeping us (me especially!) on our toes. S/he already is playing psychological games with me. I was sure this little one was going to have a grand debut last Friday night. I had about 3 hours of serious contractions, my bags packed for the hospital. And then - everything stopped.

Now, yes, the 'official' due date is the 25th of this month. Still a few weeks away, right? Yes, well, since both Faustina and Jude were early, I have been ready for this one to follow that same pattern. Faustina was 11 days early and Jude 13 days early which would be either tomorrow or yesterday if this baby would follow suit. I have been laying pretty low around the house with the constant (good) feeling of anticipation. Meanwhile, the baby does not stop kicking, moving around, poking or punching me. This one is by far the most active in utero.

This baby is the family tie breaker - will the males or females be in majority? Although we have thought it likely for this baby to be a little guy, I really am curious to know whether this one is a boy or girl. Either way, we don't have a name, so that will end up being another surprise for us.

Although I continue to have many contractions, who knows the timing of this one. Maybe if I just keep eating a ton of food like I have been, there will literally be no room left in there and s/he will just have to pop out.....?! 'Tis the season for excitement!

Faustina Elaine 5lbs 5 oz

Jude Michael 7lbs 3oz

A healthy detachment

2011-12-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

This Advent season the Christian message "Being in this world, but not of this world" has been on my heart. I have heard it during Mass, read it myself many a time in Scripture, meditated on it, read commentary on it, etc. After all, it is a fairly basic message. For me, I have always understood it in light of things of this world - being careful to not be too materialistic, too attached to wealth, money, reputation, or ideas.

John 17, John 15:19, Romans 12 are a few Scripture passages that talk about this. John 17, particularly strikes me this Advent season as Jesus discusses PEOPLE being in this world, leaving this world, or being 'of' this world. Here, Jesus is not talking about THINGS he, he is talking about PEOPLE. Jesus talks about how he will not always be present on earth with his disciples, but he prays for them.

During the Christmas Season, we celebrate God's incarnation in this world as a baby. Why does God come as a human? He comes to save us - to give us eternal life! To show us the way. How amazing is that?

This Advent season as I (or Mike and I) go through different fun and trying stages with our two little children and excitedly await our third - I find it important to remember that these little people are gift to us and we have the responsibility to train them and teach them. I cannot control them, my happiness cannot depend on them, they will fall at times and I will not be able to help them and that is okay. In other words, I cannot be too emotionally attached to them. As the Christmas Season is so much about family and friends, I need to remember to have a healthy detachment from adult relationships as well.

Sunday night at a book club discussion on Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, this idea again came to light for me as we discussed Lady Marchmain's character. As the woman of the household and the mother figure, she can at times give the perception of being cold or too detached from her family. Although there are good arguments pointing out her faults, I think she has something right. She pursues God before people and relationships and spends much time with the sacraments. Given human emotions, it could be easy for me at times to pursue people before truth.

But what does that look like to love someone unconditionally and with your whole heart, but give a person freedom to make his or her own choices? How was Mary able to bear watching her son being crucified on the cross? How was Abraham able to even be willing to kill his only son Isaac?

Well, I think that is the paradox. And therein lies the desperate need for constant prayer, I guess.

For me, I consider myself very lucky that I believe I have a model which I can think of in regard to these ideas which makes sense to me. When I was 15 years old, my own mother was very concerned about me. Years later she had a conversation with me and told me why she was concerned about me at the age of 15, but that the Lord made clear to her that she needed to 'let me go'. She described how and why that was hard for her, but that she was able to do it. And on my part, I distinctly remember that my relationship with her improved when I was 15 years old and on. She gave me a freedom yet at the same time a motherly love that spoke truth.

What exactly did this 'detached' motherly love look like? Well, it is hard for me to clearly articulate, but with my Mom I always had the feeling of unconditional love, I respected her, she did not push ideas or opinions on me ever, she mainly listened, she told me she prayed for me, she had a gentleness about her, she accepted my downfalls, and she was always just 'there' for me.

As I think of Christ coming to the stable manger December 25th, I think of his godly love for us humans. We only had Christ here on earth with us for 33 years! But, thankfully, we do have the opportunity to spend eternity with him, which is his ultimate desire for us.

Faustina's first drawings

2011-12-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

These are a three year old's attempts at drawing a person. I believe these are Faustina's first drawings that were more than random scribbling.

She wants what she wants... and she wants it NOW!

2011-12-10T20:34:00.001-08:00

Faustina: "Dad can we go to the mall?"

Dad: "Sorry, not right now."

Faustina: "Why? I want to."

Dad: "Well, because it is night time and all the stores are closed."

Faustina: "No. [In dictator voice.] I don't want it to be night time."

Dad: "Sorry. Look outside, it's dark. That's just the way it is. People go to bed at night and stores close when it's dark. So, we can't go to the mall."

[A minute passes.]

Faustina: "Dad, can you get a big ladder and climb up it to the sky and heaven, and then make it summer time and day outside?"

Keeping this in mind today

2011-12-05T06:08:00.000-08:00

“What must you do to have life? Before all else, the first thing you have to do is pray for courage every day to carry the cross the Lord has assigned you. Then let each of you do your own work really well, the work proper to your state, as God wants it, and according to your condition.”
~ Blessed Philip Rinaldi

Thanksgiving, last week already?

2011-11-30T07:36:00.000-08:00

Where did the last week go? Where did this month go?

We had a good Thanksgiving 2011. A relaxing weekend and there are no complaints about spending time with family, friends and eating good food!

And, of course, we all went to the Water Park on Friday and then headed over to Uncle Travis' afterwards for pizza. The kids enjoy the water park more and more each year.

Our peanut butter boy

2011-11-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

November 14th, 2011

2011-11-14T06:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Travis! We love you! Thanks for being such a great brother and Uncle.

Dancing Queen

2011-11-12T09:56:00.000-08:00

Here is Faustina in all her 3 year old glory. She is growing so fast and learning so rapidly, it is hard to process everything that is going on with her all the time!

Last night Mike and I went to the movie "Courageous" which we both thoroughly enjoyed. It has an excellent message about parenting, specifically directed at fathers, and it reflects on all sorts of different relationships between family and friends. It was fun to come home last night and after we put Jude to bed, Mike layed in bed with Faustina for at least an hour and they just 'talked'. They talked about all sorts of things - we couldn't believe it! It is so fun to see her mature, see how she responds to the loving attention of her Dad, hear what is on her mind, listen to her opinions (which are very very strong!) on all sort of different random topics ranging to what her favorite animals are and why, to all her friends and relationships to what she thinks about heaven to her looking forward to her "first holy community (translate communion)". Fascinating.

She is growing into quite the young lady and she helps Mom with things around the house and babies. She is cleaning up her room and messes around the house. She is changing clothes outfits about 100 times (if Mom would let her) and she loves her dance class. She can't wait for the baby to come and I am sure she will be a big help!

Paper dolls

2011-11-12T09:40:00.000-08:00

In the winter of 2010 I made a 'Paper Dolls' quilt and gave it to one of Faustina's best friends, Belle. I learned a ton making it, it was very fun and I was thrilled with the results! It was the first time I had used the 'free lance' quilting needle and learned how to do my own designs and maneuver the quilt to produce the look I wanted. It is especially fun for kids because it is an interactive quilt. There are 9 dolls on the quilt and then there are clothes that the little girl can put on the dolls to dress them.

I made a second one more recently and Faustina was thoroughly enjoying playing with this quilt. I plan on making more, they are so fun for little girls! There is a pocket on the back to keep the clothes.

Mystery Baby #3

2011-11-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

Well, I am most certainly in full fledged 'baby mode', and have been for the past several weeks. Although my due date is Christmas Day, I plan on being ready a few weeks early since Faustina and Jude came 2 weeks early. That gives me 4 more weeks.

Last weekend Mike and I were able to take a 'Baby Moon', I guess some people call it. We were able to take a whole day Saturday to hang out and do whatever we wanted and then stayed at a hotel nearby (compliments of Grandpa and Terry's anniversary gift - thank you!) It was wonderful!! Uncle Travis and Auntie Kim held down the fort here with the kids - these guys just hang on Travis and Kim they can't get enough of them.

Although the baby is not here yet, I officially feel the constant presence of our 3rd child. This baby is kicking me nonstop, I feel the tiny toes and fingers tickling, its elbow and knees are visibly sticking out all over the place. That part is very fun! And thankfully, I do continue to feel very good.

I am excited for Thanksgiving coming soon - this week I plan on making some lefse with Faustina. I, believe it or not!, am looking forward to a pretty snowfall. Advent starts in a few short weeks here. The seasons are in full effect and it is such a fun time of year. And then excitement of the baby grows every day! With this little one, I really will be surprised to find out the gender and we do not have names picked out still! As Faustina and Jude get older, mature, and we learn more of their personalities, it is so fun to imagine what personality #3 will be like.

Beautiful things

2011-11-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

Every woman loves beautiful things. I know. But lately I have been obsessing over filling my eyes with images of beauty. It could be that I am in 'nesting mode' with the baby coming only weeks away from now and my belly seems to be growing daily. I want to do my best to get organized, cleaned up and be prepared. It could be that with little people running around the house creating chaos, any beauty quickly turns into...well, chaos. Or it could be this lovely time of year, probably my favorite, when the weather gets cooler and it is ideal to get a down blanket and cozy up with a cup of tea and a book, or a cup of tea to work on quilting. It is probably a combination of all of them.

I am especially prone to find things that I can create and give to people or hopefully hand down to kids as time goes on. I have found much inspiration lately! I'm not sure how much time or energy I'll have to be productive in the next few months, so sometimes flowers are all I need. :) These are from dear husband for my birthday and anniversary.

I am excited about this quilting book I received from my SIL. The quilts, material, inspiration are overwhelming! I'd like to imitate this purple one for Faustina and the patchwork blue and yellow looks like it could be for Jude.

I got this gorgeous yarn in the mail from my brother in Madison and can't wait to figure what to do with it.

I also am very excited about this wonderful cookbook I received from my SIL! It is one of those 'healthy' ones. But I love this stuff and I every so often need inspiration to get back on track with eating and preparing food the way I really want to for our family.

Cheers to fall time in MN! Thankfully, there still a good number of trees that are full of colorful leaves.

All Soul's Day sweets

2011-11-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated All Saints Day, and today we commemorate and pray for All Souls in purgatory preparing to enter heaven. We made cookies this evening with the imprint of the cross to celebrate this feast day.

Scarves!

2011-10-31T12:43:00.000-07:00

This is a fun video - for women. I always see women wear such cute scarves (especially here in MN) and wonder "What is the correct way to wrap a fancy scarf?!". Well, here are a few examples. I am newly inspired!

Celebrating birthdayS

2011-10-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

Since there are 5 birthdays to celebrate in the span of 4 weeks here in October, today we spent the day with family eating good food and hanging out. Cossetta's pasta with meatballs was on the menu with bread, salad, and chocolate cake.

Cheers to all who are celebrating another year!

7 years ago to the DAY Mike's godson came and no one's life has been the same since! ;) Happy birthday to the Dominator!

And dear X-man...Can't get any more handsome than this birthday guy!

Blessed among women!

2011-10-29T09:32:00.001-07:00

Here is Jude yesterday sitting with all the ladies. We had a lovely dinner with friends last night and Jude was certainly out numbered by the female gender. No worries, though, he holds his own. :)

Happy Feast Day yesterday (Oct. 28th) to our little boy!

Layers, layers, layers, and more layers

2011-10-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

The books I have been reading the past 6 months have brought up a theme of new levels, depths, and proportions. I am finishing up St. Teresa of Avila's book "Interior Castle" in which she has 7 levels of the 'interior life'. I am loving this book because it really is about a soul and God - forget other people, what other people think, say or do, forget about cultural expectations and norms, stereotypes, etc. What really matters is one's interior life that no one else really even can know - except God, of course. Each level in St. Teresa's book brings more intimacy with God and gives a person freedom to live truth that is refreshing, to say the least.

I am reading C.S. Lewis' "The Great Divorce" in which he lays out an analogy to describe souls and their relationship to God depending on how each one lived its life here on earth. And, again, he describes in an amazing way the levels of intimacy to strive for which could bring one closer to heaven. It reminds me of highschool conversations that had a great impact on me while reading Dante's "Inferno" and his seven rings of sin that lead into Hell. There is a theme here!

This past summer the books I read and some I reread such as Mark Twain's "Joan of Arc", Edwin O'Connor's "The Edge of Sadness", "The Brothers Karamozov", and C.S. Lewis' "Till We Have Faces" all bring to the forefront the layers to life which unfold and how I can learn from them. It is absolutely fascinating to read a book at one point in life and then reread it 10 years later and take completely different lessons from it!

There are layers, and layers, and layers to unfold and to peel back. These authors are so full of truth, so full of wisdom that it is humbling to read such great works. These books show me how much there is to learn. There are always areas to improve in. There are always new things to learn about people even if I have known them for years and years - and there always will be! There, really, is an infinite amount to learn here on earth, and that is exciting!

These books truly are inspiring as I do my best to live each day, learn and move forward. Trying my best to raise children, be a wife, friend, family member, serve others and use any God-given talents can seem taxing, burdensome and only a struggle many days; but then again, stepping back and reading these great works of literature and seeing a story from beginning to end in its entirety give me a new perspective of hope and purpose. There is much work to be done!

Testosterone

2011-10-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

5 boys
1 pair of twins
2 boys named Paul
2 3 month old babes
Under age of 2 1/2
happy boys

My Thursdays and Fridays.

In cahoots

2011-10-10T23:23:00.001-07:00

These two.....are trouble! At least today that was the case. Do you see them laughing at me, with that gleam in their eyes?

Today I felt like the stepmother in the movie Parent Trap that the twin girls were so cruel to. These are a few of the things I encountered today when I was away from Faustina and Jude for under 5 minutes. The clue was when they are too quiet.

- coming downstairs to find a case of sprite cans having been thrown into our washing machine - which meant they climbed up to get the sprite. Luckily I caught them before they turned it on!

- Going into the bathroom to find both of them standing barefoot in our bathroom sink squeezing huge globs of toothpaste onto random tooth brushes and eating it! Jude, over course, with soaked pants from turning the faucet on.

- Faustina having brought a bag of apples outside to the front boulevard and both Faustina and Jude were chucking apples into the street and laughing hysterically

- going into our bedroom to find Jude standing on my dresser with a screw driver trying to screw a nail into the wall

These things all happened before I put them down for rest time around 1pm. During the course of the next 2 hours of rest time Jude soiled himself 3 different times while continuously 'escaping' from his crib - which meant climbing out and then Faustina opening the door of his room for him to get out. I found both of them sitting on Faustina's bed scheming. I probably put Jude back into his crib over 45 times today and half of the time with a spank. This is most certainly a new problem.

I did find myself laughing, however, at the end of the day as I looked out the window at them playing and they made a game of facing each other about 30 feet apart with their arms wide open and then running full speed at each other to give a hug and then falling down on the grass. They did that about 20 times. And at least that was pretty cute instead of naughty. If they are going to drive me crazy some days....at least they get along together as siblings doing it.....I don't know what was in the water today.

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

2011-10-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

This is interesting and worth the 15 minutes. He was an impressive individual and he shares 3 lessons he learned in life: follow your heart, spend your life doing what you love, and remember every day of your life that you will soon die. And he did die at the early age of 56. Wow, did he do a lot in those few years.

Our Lady of the Rosary

2011-10-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

"It could be said that each mystery of the rosary, carefully meditated, shed light on the mystery of man. 'Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you' (Ps 55:23). To pray the rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his Mother. The rosary does indeed 'mark the rhythm of human life,' bringing it into harmony with the 'rhythm' of God's own life, in the joyful communion of the Holy Trinity, our life's destiny and deepest longing. Through the rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer."
-Blessed John Paul II

Soaking in the Fall

2011-10-05T12:07:00.000-07:00

By far, this is my favorite time of year. I love the temperature, the fall colors, the smell in the air and it was always associated with the soccer season and new school year which are both exciting times.

Today we went to an apple orchard with some friends - this was our third time in the last few weeks and probably won't be our last. Today we did not even purchase any of the yummy honey crisp or sweet tango apples, we just took in the countryside, had a picnic and hung out. What more could one ask for? After the orchard, we drove through the Hastings, Afton, and St. Croix River areas just to enjoy the country side.

I am so so thankful we are having nice weather before colder weather and winter come!! Soaking in these last bits of warm temperature will last me through the cold months.

The Mississippi Blvd a few blocks from our place has also been the place where we have been spending mornings with the amazing colors and nice trails. Gotta love MN. Have not been taking many pictures the last few months. I guess it has been good to just take in some of the moments without 'having to get that picture!"

Feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel

2011-09-29T06:03:00.001-07:00

The is such an awesome picture... I love the images of Saint Michael being victorious over the enemy.

I especially appreciate days commemorating the guardian angels and archangels. Thank goodness for the reminders that we are certainly not alone.

And Saint Michael is my dear husband's namesake - it's a good one!

Alas, one of my favorite prayers:

"Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray. And do though, O Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the Divine power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen."

The process begins...

2011-09-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

of potty training that is.

Jude is now 25 months old and he is talking all the time about the potty and going 'poo-poo'. He is very aware and always informs me of his activity while he has a diaper on; I figure, why not try to make some process with potty training while he is thinking about it.

I am not expecting much, but, again, why not try - especially before the baby comes. He has now gone on the potty about a dozen times. And he is wearing big kid pants around the house. I must say, I love seeing him run around with his cherubim body!

After I took a picture of him facing forward, he immediately turned around and demanded "Another picture Momma!!". It was like he was taking mug shots.

And this last picture? Well, Faustina would not be left out of the picture taking fun. She insisted on a picture with her friend, Julien. Jude has been going around to everyone with this goofy stance and holding up this picture in front of his face and yelling, "Smile!".

Mr. Poirot

2011-09-17T08:47:00.001-07:00

We can't get enough of him! Really, we are obsessed.

Hercule Poirot is the genius detective in the Agatha Christie books. The BBC movies are absolutely captivating and addicting. A good friend owns them all and we will be lost when we have eventually seen them all. I have never been a 'mystery' or 'detective' story person, but I must admit, I really love these movies! About 6 months ago we got rid of cable (best thing we'd done in awhile since 99.9% is junk) and so we are more creative in our movie/t.v. entertainment.

I go in waves of having knitting projects on hand. This one has proved to be frustrating as I have taken it out to redo portions of it when the first time it came out looking like a 1980's sweater with shoulder pads. At this point it is a little big for Faustina, but maybe by winter time it will be appropriate? We'll see. I still have finishing touches to put on it. I've tried to work on it during the Poirot movies - but they are too captivating! As the weather gets colder...I will have more and more 'indoors' time to work on such things.

2 Years today

2011-09-14T07:06:00.001-07:00

Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we worship you, because by your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

We miss you uncontrollably, Grandma! At the same time, I am so thankful for the presence you continue to be in our lives every day because of the Mother, Grandma, and friend you were.

Babies seen, babies unseen, babies everywhere

2011-09-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

These past couple weeks I have had babies, babies, babies on the mind!

A week ago when I was at Adoration, I got into a conversation with the guy that comes the hour after me. Somehow we got on the topic of abortion and he gave me the book Unplanned to read which I had been wanting to read for awhile.

It is a great book! A quick read, I read it the very next day almost in one sitting. It is the story of a young woman who spends 8 years working for Planned Parenthood and how she becomes pro-life. It was good to hear Abby Johnson's explanation of her pro-choice thinking - she convinced herself she was helping women and trying to minimize abortions. In the end, when she saw an abortion happening on the ultrasound screen for the first time in her life, she left the clinic that she was in charge of and never came back. It is a story that is inspiring as she searches for truth and how God leads her every step. It had a big impact on me and there were some things that I needed to think about that the book providentially presented to me.

Over Labor Day weekend I volunteered at the Pro-life booth at the State Fair and it is fascinating to see people's reactions to the simple display of an ultrasound on the t.v. and to have parents come over and show their children the model displays of different babies while they are in the womb. Fascinating. I understand there is a great deal of history behind each individual and their beliefs, where they are coming from etc. But when you see ultrasounds, when a woman has children of her own, when she feels a baby move inside her, how can one possible decide to abort this little child? I know, it is one of the most controversial topics today, and it will be for the foreseeable future. It was a good experience and I would certainly volunteer again.

Also, we have a new little friend here as of last week - Baby Paul. He is very sweet and a content little guy. Faustina and Jude are loving having him around! Faustina, especially, is getting excited for December when her sibling will arrive. Jude continually gives my belly kisses and talks about the baby.

And I....am feeling a lot more pregnant! But I really cannot complain. I have felt so good this whole pregnancy, and although I am starting to slow down, I still have enough energy. This baby is kicking me like crazy and it is very fun to be carrying him/her. I no longer feel like I only have 2 kids in my house, I definitely have THREE children, I am just carrying the third one everywhere!

Stairs complete!

2011-09-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to report that the stair project - around 3+ years in the making - is now complete!

I just have to pump a few more screws in each spindle and tighten. Otherwise, it's finally done. It is pleasing to see this project come to a close, and that it looks much like I envisioned three years ago.

Deo gratias!

Performances

2011-09-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

Faustina does not sleep during her rest times anymore unless I lay down with her, which I am most often not able to do. So, I hear her choreographing many many songs and dances in her room. Today she was quite eager to show me her new 'performance' as she calls it. It is interesting to think where she comes up with this stuff, she never really hears Christian rock! But she is very excited about her dance and tap classes which start soon.

Exhaltation of the Cross novena

2011-09-06T09:03:00.001-07:00

It is a special time of the year as I remember Labor Day 2009 to September 14th. During this time, my Mother was preparing to see God, and she truly was carrying a heavy cross! A tradition is falling into place to pray a Exaltation of the Holy Cross novena during these nine days leading up to the 14th. I am confident there is a special grace present for our family as we remember Grandma. Pray for us, Mom! - we need your intercession.

Here is the novena.

Here is the chaplet of the Way of the Cross.

The Autistic Eye

2011-09-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

This video is pretty amazing. Last night we had friends over, one couple has a 13 year old autistic boy and another friend has her MA in psychology specializing in the area of disabled children. It is fascinating to try to understand autistic childrens' perspective and what is going on in their minds. So many many autistic individuals are incredibly talented and each one has their unique personality. One of our friends was sharing a story about a family she knows that had several children of their own and then adopted an autistic child. 2 years later they set out to find another autistic or child with down syndrome child they could care for and love. These individuals with disabilities must have a special place in God's kingdom. This Stephen Wiltshire flys over the city of Rome for an hour, and he is able to sketch the whole city in minute detail from memory. Unbelievable!

God alone suffices

2011-08-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing dismay you.
All thing are passing.
God never changes.
Patience attains all that it strives for.
He who has God finds he lacks nothing.
God alone suffices.

— St. Teresa of Avila

Boating on Lake Minnetonka

2011-08-29T10:56:00.001-07:00

This weekend we were treated to a boating outing on Lake Minnetonka. It was perfect weather and we practically had the lake to ourselves! We figured people must have been at the Great MN Get-Together or getting ready to go back to school. But we had a wonderful time cruising the lake, checking out the million dollar homes and eating at Lord Fletchers. It is fascinating to see the kids at different stages: this time around, Faustina loved the boat ride and Jude was not so much a fan. Last summer the roles were switched. Faustina's cousins got her into it even more as they were giddy with excitement the faster the boat went. It would be fun in the future to get some skies out! In this first picture, Mike is showing the kids how fish like to eat wads of spit.....uuugghh!

Back to the mountains

2011-08-23T06:03:00.001-07:00

As fall time seems upon us and school is starting up, it is fun to look back on our trip pictures. I am fully confident there will be a season in our lives when Faustina and Jude will embrace hiking (as I speak he is roaring like a lion and watching David & Goliath, certainly a boy's boy!), but now is not that time for going on mile and mile long hikes like the good ol' days. We walked maybe half a mile around Jenny Lake in the Tetons and then sat down to enjoying throw rocks and wade in the water - quite a bit more relaxing than a hike.

Here we are at Glacier National Park. It is GORGEOUS.

Anyone who has been to Glacier is familiar with the Going-to-the-sun road. It is the main road that goes right over the mountains. At first Mike and I were wondering what kind of name that was, but we soon figured it out and it really really does feel like you are 'going to the sun'! You keep driving up up up up up and up. You end up being even with the mountain peaks at about 10,000 feet. It is truly magnificent. With this drive, I didn't need miss the back country hiking as much.

Here we are at Logan's Pass. There is a visitor's center at the peaks of the Going-to-the-Sun-Road. We got out and it was very cold, windy and full of snow! The scenery was breathtaking; the pictures, of course, do not do justice. We saw three goats and a big horned sheep which was really cool.

Faustina was not so much a fan of the wind!

Mike is in the middle of this picture!

Here we are on the other side of the Going-to-the-Sun-Road. It takes a few hours to drive on (!) and afterwards, I was ready to do it again - it was that beautiful. :)

To our boy on his birthday

2011-08-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

Your joyful heart, playful smile, and captivating personality are a constant source of delight in our home - we love you Jude!

Hello to our pot bellied little babe!

2011-08-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

Today we had an ultrasound for baby #3 and thankfully everything looks great with this little one. Our technician was fabulous (she's been doing it for 35 years). She was excited for us as well as very informative and knowledgeable.

This little person has a tummy as round as a perfect circle (!), we couldn't believe it. Check out its tummy in the first 5 second video (stomach is on the left side of the screen and head on the right) - S/he must be a very good eater! The baby is exactly 1.0 pound right now, the weight of 4 sticks of butter as the technician put it.

I continue to be amazed at how easy this pregnancy has been. No complaints! I hope it is as easy of a baby outside of the womb. ;)

I'm at about 22 weeks. Before we know it, we will have even more activity around here. It is already beginning to feel like fall to me with school starting soon. Although I can certainly use these next few months to prepare, I'm already excited to hold our newborn.

This ultrasound video, albeit short, is super cool. You can see baby #3 smacking its lips!

This next video is a really good profile with the heart beating.

Mini Driving Retreats

2011-08-12T04:17:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I love our road trips so much is that the car times end up being mini little retreats for Mike and I. We bring along our Magnificat magazine which has the daily mass readings along with reflections on them and we can have our prayer times in the car. We make sure we are loaded up with Catholic Lighthouse Media CD's which are 1 hour talks from some of the great apologists of our time such as Mother Teresa, Benedict Groschel, Peter Kreeft, Matthew Kelley, and many more. We have good music, we have the Rosary, and there is quiet time too. In the past when Faustina and Jude were not in the picture we were more able to read aloud to each other articles from First Things and from different books. That is not as much of a reality now. But from all of our trips, I distinctly remember spiritual themes that have come up while listening to different talks or reading different things. This past time we listened to an excellent talk on the Eucharist and its Jewish roots from the Old Testament; last summer my thoughts were forever changed about the meaning of the Last Supper and what Jesus was really saying when he said "Take this cup from me". Really, it is all quite fascinating, inspiring, educational and it all makes sense, which is probably the most amazing aspect to me as I put puzzles of the pieces together as I continue to learn and learn and learn more about my Catholic faith and tradition. I do feel refreshed spiritually after returning from longer driving trips (believe it or not!).

God was certainly with our family and with me on this past outing. There were two days in particular while we were in Glacier that I was having a terrible time. I was not peaceful at all and tears were often right beneath the surface as I struggled. Yes, I was 'having fun' and enjoying everything, but there are always those layers to person which when examined reveal a true portrayal of a person's state of being - and mine was having rough time. So, I prayed - pretty much for 2 days and I did not experience any sense of relief.

The day we left one of our favorite campgrounds, outside the west side of Glacier National Park, we decided to go walk around the town Kalispell, Montana in the historic section. We wandered into a used bookstore and I fell into my normal habit of looking at the kids section of books. Immediately, my eyes fell on this book "More Little Visits With God". I was thrilled because it is a book that I grew up with, loved, and I don't ever remember seeing it anywhere else. My parents had a tattered old soft covered version that was held together with a rubber band and this was a brand new beautiful hard cover copy. It is a classic old school book written in the 50's that has probably 200 one page incredibly simple stories that each teach a lesson about God. (I mean, really, it has a story entitled "Why Sally wanted to be spanked."!In the story, Sally tells her friend that spankings are good because we want to belong to God and in order to belong to God we need to be sorry for our sins. Spankings help us be sorry for our sins. This has been especially helpful with our daughter lately while she is 3 years old!) There are no pictures in this book except a few pencil sketches, there are a few questions at the end of each story to review what happened, and each story ends with a prayer pertaining to the moral of the story. Anyway, I knew we had to get it and was even happier to find that it cost $6.50.

After we had an excellent lunch in town, we hopped in the car and I started reading a few of the stories to Faustina. I read one, then two, then three and she kept asking for more. Well, as it turned out, I know that finding that book and reading the stories was really the Lord blessing me and answering my prayers. They are such simple stories about love, forgiveness, relationships, etc and I was flooded with new convictions from the Lord and overcome with the peace that I had been looking for. It was as if the Lord himself was sitting me on his knee and reading me these stories and I really was the little kid. I was blown away by the simplicity of the truth in the anecdotes. Life, for adults I think, often becomes so complicated and messy that it can be hard to see truth sometimes. I was thankful for that blessing and it was yet another window for me to see how God was caring for and loving me.

Easy, cute baby gifts

2011-08-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

It seems everyone I know is having a baby. This past year I have been into sewing and burp clothes are an easy and fun gift to give to new mothers. There are so many fun fabrics, the options are endless. It is simply a pretty fabric with terry cloth on the back. I'm making a stash of these and plan on pulling out a bundle of them as a part of baby shower gifts. Faustina enjoys helping out.

Why Jude threw Dad's glasses

2011-08-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

It happened to be the case that our trip coincided with a phase in which Jude's vocabulary was exploding. He is certainly in the parrot stage, so it was fun to say words like 'mountains' or whatever and hear him repeat them back and point at the object. The following clip, however, is Jude having a 'conversation' with Dad in his own babble language. He clearly thinks he is saying something intelligible. As of today, Jude can pretty much say any word and he is starting to break into sentences. I love this stage - can't wait to see what his conversations are like when he is a bit more fluid - I'm sure they will be interesting.

The Black Hills

2011-08-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

Our trip started off at 4am Tuesday morning with a long ride out to the Black Hills. It went surprisingly fast and was a great help that my brother Travis actually drove most the way there.

We camped with John and Aaron's family and spent time with Grandpa and Terry going to Crazy Horse which is quite a spectacular monument. It was started in the early 1900's by a Catholic Polish man who was a talented sculptor(obviously!). He and his wife dedicated their life to this project and 7 out of their 10 still oversee the work being done. It is a terrific visitor center and there a ton to learn about the Indian/American relations and how everything unfolded at that time.

Luckily, we missed the hot hot weather by a few days so the camping was very pleasant. We saw lots of bison and various animals, there was a swimming 'hole' at the campsite. But most of all, it was fun to be with family and catch up.

On Friday and Saturday we had an extended Lee family reunion. It was fun to see aunts and uncles and, again, catch up with people I haven't seen in many years. The highlight was celebrating my aunt Joan and uncle Ronnie's 50th wedding anniversary. What an awesome accomplishment! They really are a very fun couple and they are a wonderful witness in how much they love their sons and grandchildren.

Faustina and her cousin loving spending time together and miss each other since Audrey moved to South Bend.

Liam and Leo being crazy together in the tent.

The actual Crazy Horse monument in the background with the finished model in front. They want to be finished in 60 years!

Everyone went into a cave where they did gold digging blasts in the early 1900s.

Campin' Out

2011-08-04T12:40:00.001-07:00

Most people think we are crazy to go camping in a tent for a couple weeks with a 2 year old and a 3 year old. But, it actually works out surprisingly well. All kids seem to have a natural love of the outdoors and things that may bother adults don't seem to faze them at all. And I love camping so, personally, I thrive on being outside and the work involved.

We stayed at a motel once in the middle of the trip to wash up and relax. And then we stayed at a Holiday Inn on our long driving day back. This last place we stayed was total disaster; something was very wrong with the room, air ventilation or who knows what. Mike ended up getting sick among other annoying things about the stay which are not worth going into. I think it more sanitary to camp!

We found we had great success with staying at the KOA which are plentiful out west. These places have come up in the world since 10 or 20 years ago! All of them have playgrounds, most have pools, outdoor places to eat at and great scenery from your campsite. One place we stayed at in Montana had biscuit, egg, cereal breakfasts, mini gold, bikes for the kids to use, a petting zoo and it was all free! These places were absolutely perfect for kids.

All American road trip

2011-08-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

We're back! Yes, we were on the road for the past 2 weeks and here we are back at our abode. We had an excellent time camping, seeing the sights, and hanging out with the Lee family. We hit up the Black Hills, Tetons National Park and Glacier National Park. The weather was good, a bit hot at times, but nothing to complain about.

Every day proved to be a fun little adventure as we decided where we wanted to go, what we wanted to do, and what/how we wanted to eat. We were free to do whatever we wanted and have fun without much care! Faustina is still only three, but she, actually, to me seems like quite the little grown up and it is fun to see her experiencing all the new sights. At the beginning of the trip, Jude was only saying a few words, now he is starting to break out into sentences (although the following video mainly debuts his favorites words!).

At this point we were in Jamestown, ND. Actually, my uncle lives here, but we didn't want to barge in on them and I thought I remembered he said he would be out of town when we saw him at the reunion. We stopped at the St. James Cathedral in Jamestown which was beautiful and then ate across at the Knights of Columbus Bar which was awesome. This place was the classic hangout that every small town needs.

Here are a few videos of our giddy long trek back on Monday. And yes, we were at a point of silliness when you laugh at anything and everything; we starting taking videos to entertain ourselves. We probably heard Jude say the word 'truck' and 'ball' 4,523,423,457,345 times on the trip. Those are his favorite things right now. In this video, you hear 'another one' 100 times referring to trucks on the road.

Morning conversation

2011-07-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

Faustina describing her morning to me:

"I woke up and saw you reading a book to the twins, and I was very happy to see them. And I wanted to go to Starbucks to get a coffee, but I don't have a license yet, I'm too big. And then, I was thinking, "I should go and pick up Kim and say hi to her! But, I can't, because I don't own a car." So, I'll just be happy here today."

Note: We don't go to Starbucks, although, I wish we could!

She sounds like a teenager, except that she has mixes up 'big' and 'little'. Minor details.

Women's World Cup 2011 Germany Abby Wambach Extra Time Goal USA vs Brazil

2011-07-14T07:17:00.001-07:00

This is awesome. Check out the replays - unbelievable. We went on to win in a shoot out. Go USA!

Arboretum

2011-07-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

This place is my absolute favorite place in MN besides my own home. I could spend days here by myself. It is so beautiful and peaceful. I can take or leave the zoo, nice parks, etc, yes they are fun, but I truly love the arboretum. I don't go here nearly enough. The fact that we had our wedding reception here is a cherry on top.

First bike ride

2011-07-12T06:47:00.000-07:00

4th in pics

2011-07-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

We got up early and headed out west to the Minnetonka area with donuts in hand.

We spent the day with good family friends. They knew of July 4th festivities near Minnetonka - such a beautiful area. Faustina rode her bike and Jude was in his stroller for the parade march. Kim and I gawked at the amazing houses on the along the lake.

The kids enjoyed the popsicles they handed out.

While Faustina was with Michelle and Belle going around to the dozen different booths of games, we needed to relax in the shade because we were melting from the heat.

Jude was spinning around and running around so much he kept falling over. We dowsed him to cool him off a bit.

We headed over to Lake Minnetonka for lunch and the beach.

Jude loves the water, and his Dad.

Auntie Kim and Faustina worked on their sand castles.

And the playground was a hit.

Mike and Philippe got their work out on the kayak.

We headed home to rest for an hour or 2 and then headed over to West St. Paul for dinner and to see the fireworks downtown. Needless to say, everyone was very ready for bed when the day ended at almost 11:30pm!

Rose from Grandpa Lee

2011-07-04T05:34:00.000-07:00

On Beauty

2011-07-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

"Life is not just a succession of events or experiences: it is a search for the true, the good and the beautiful. It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this – in truth, in goodness, and in beauty – that we find happiness and joy. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by those who see us merely as consumers in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth."

~ Pope Benedict XVI (New Technologies, New Relationships.)

I love this quote by Benedict. It is true, life is about truth, beauty, goodness. It is nice to keep it simple. This particular phrase 'Verum, Pulchrum, Bonum' (truth, beauty, goodness) is especially ingrained in my mind since it was the slogan for my highschool. As a person studies God's glory, these three virtues take on many sides and dimensions, there is so much to learn.

A week ago Mike and I had fancy sit-down dinner with about 10 adults who all read the book "The Godless Delusion" which is about atheism. One topic that surfaced was Beauty; people talked about how our culture has lost a true sense of what is Beautiful. Much of this stems from the fact that our culture is in a post-Christian era. Everything that is beautiful originates in God - he created Beauty. So, of course, with the absence of God comes the absence of Beauty. Beauty, of course, can apply to artwork, people, creation, ideas, books - beauty can be found in every aspect of our lives. It is something, I would argue, that we as human beings are created to crave. We want it, we look for it, we revel in beauty when we do find it. The wonderful thing is, is that everything beautiful is an imitation of our God and beauty always points us back to him.

Soon after our discussion I had a dream (I have so many many dreams while I'm pregnant!!) that I was back in my seventh grade art class painting. I secretly always desired to be a good artist - I distinctly remember wanting to have the talents my classmates had as they produced gorgeous imitations of artwork in watercolor, pastels, and colored pencils. I was inspired that night to take out some paints and sketch an imitation of one of Mary Cassatt's paintings. I have always loved her artwork - often her subject matter is mother and children. When I was in highschool our family took a trip to the Chicago Art Institute and there was a special Mary Cassatt exhibit that drew me in. What I produced in an hour is certainly nothing to display, but it is fun to think of making an attempt to imitate something that is beautiful and meaningful. Since good artwork intrinsically directs a person back to God, it is a privilege to even try to imitate such beautiful art. For me, people and faces are especially hard to paint maybe because individuals are complicated beings! :)

A day for the pool

2011-07-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

Ohio House passes Pro-life Heartbeat Bill

2011-06-29T07:12:00.000-07:00

Good news! The Ohio House passed the most conservative pro-life bill ever.

Here are the three measures that passed:
- H. B. No. 78: Prohibits abortions after the 20th week if a physician determines the fetus would be able to survive outside the womb.

- H. B. No. 79: Prevents certain health insurers from covering abortions.

- H.B. 125: The most strict of the lot, it prohibits abortions after the first detectable fetal heartbeat, or in an estimated 95 percent of cases.

This would save 26,000 lives a year! Wow. It still needs to pass the Senate, and of course there is always the possibility it could end up in the Supreme Court. But it certainly is encouraging news and we're moving in the right direction!

I'll try to hook up the link that I saw it on, making links isn't working for me right now...

A terrific Tuesday

2011-06-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

Today we were spoiled as we spent most the day with our dear friend, Lizzia. We started the morning by bringing 4 beautiful roses out to Resurrection. Lizzia always picks out the most beautiful flowers. The kids helped cut and arranged them in the vases. It was an absolutely perfect perfect morning out - it is so peaceful at Resurrection, I love it.
We then went over to Choo-choo-Bob's and soon after to get some Izzy's Ice Cream next door. Seeing Jude eat his ice cream cone was about the funniest thing I've witnessed in a long time. He held onto it for dear life with both his hands as ice cream dripped down his chin onto his shirt and he kept yelling 'truck!', 'car!', 'airplane!'. We then headed over to the park for an hour and ended up at Cecil's. Can't ask for much better of a day! Everyone (which is unusual!) had a long nap and then woke up and was ready to play again seeing that Dad picked up a kiddie pool at Menards for the kids. We had dinner outside and the kids entertained us. It sounds like it is suppose to be hot toward the end of the week - we'll be using the pool again it sounds like.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

2011-06-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

The Message of the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

The child Jesus has just seen the angels who have shown him the instruments of his passion. St. Michael the Archangel holds the lance and gall-sop. St. Gabriel the Archangel holds the Cross and the nails. Frightened by the sight, Jesus has run to his mother’s arms so quickly that he almost lost one of His tiny sandals. It dangles from his foot. Mary holds Him lovingly but her eyes look at us - pleading with us to avoid sin and love Her Son.

His hands are in hers to show that, as a child, Jesus placed Himself in Mary’s hands for protection and to remind us that He now has placed into Her hands all graces, to be given to those who turn to His mother and ask.

The star on Mary’s veil shows her to be the one who brought the light of Christ to the darkened world - the beacon that leads the way to Heaven.

The falling sandal symbolizes a soul clinging to Christ by one last thread--devotion to Mary.

The golden background is symbolic of Heaven and shines to show the heavenly joy Jesus and His mother can bring to tired human hearts.
- from the blog www.catholicfire.blogspot.com

I am so thankful that today is a special day to honor Mary. Some days I just need a bit of extra grace - it happened to be one of those nights and here she is, as always.

Our 'funny eye face' boy

2011-06-23T06:43:00.000-07:00

Jude is so funny. I don't know what else to say. You really just need to know this little boy. I'm posting so many pictures because they capture his personality better than my words can.
Several weeks ago he started doing this goofy goofy face. He looks up out of the corner of his eyes and gets in a funny pose with his body and just freezes for about 5-10 seconds - usually while people are laughing and asking "What is he doing?".
We could not figure out for the longest time why he was doing this crazy face and where in the world he got it from. Then one day I looked over at our book shelf and saw our book of Grandma Lee with this picture on the cover.

That's where he got it! Grandma is still having an influence on him.

Successful half marathon

2011-06-22T07:04:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we headed up to Duluth in order for Mike to run the Grandma's half marathon early on Saturday morning (6am!). It turned out to be a fun time - we were fortunate to be able to stay at Grand Superior Lodges which our S-I-L's parents own. It is a big place with a spectacular view of Lake Superior about 50 feet from the window.

I am so proud of my dear husband who ran the half marathon in 2 hours and 20 minutes. His goal?! To finish in any sort of decent time and keep up with the buddy he ran it with! And he did! This is especially impressive since Mike was only able to do minimal training with such a busy spring and weather outside that was less than inspiring to run in.
We both ran the full Grandma's marathon in 2007, but Mike forgot his running shoes! Since he wasn't able to finish that run because his feet were about to fall off in the new shoes he bought, it was even more fun to see him enjoy completing this race.
Unfortunately we weren't able to be at the finish line to cheer him on since late Friday night I got pretty sick and was fairly miserable; I stayed back with the kids in the morning which may have worked out for the best since Mike left at 4am (!). The rest of the weekend I was fine and we relaxed by watching movies, eating good home cooked meals and enjoying the jacuzzi. Can't ask for much more! I don't think I have ever seen Faustina so excited as when we arrived at the lodge. She was bouncing off the walls and exclaimed, "I want to stay here for FIVE minutes!....or maybe forever!" She doesn't have a great grasp of different times yet, so she covered it all, I guess.

Unplanting the planted

2011-06-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

See that pile of dirt by Jude's knee? That was one of our geraniums.

As I'm washing dishes looking out the back watching Jude play, I hear myself start to yell (quietly since the others are sleeping) "Jude...! Noooo!" It was too late to save the flower by the time I got out there. As I tried to ask for it back, he did the typical "No this is mine!" gesture and grunted as he held it away from me (the second pic).
I guess boys will be boys....but our plants may not be plants, this summer anyway.

We have a heartbeat!

2011-06-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

That's right, we have baby Adkins #3 on the way and on Friday I was able to hear the little heartbeat which was quite exciting. December will be extra special this year with this little one due on Christmas day.

How do I feel? I, actually, feel wonderful - surprisingly. At the beginning, I was a bit worried about how life was going to treat me with baby on the way if I felt like I did with the other two kids (especially Faustina!). But, as it turns out, I hardly know I am pregnant and I feel great.

This spring I was beginning to wonder about a few things with my health after having had a few complications with Jude's birth (having had a DNC and going into the hospital since the placenta didn't deliver). So on the feast of St. Joseph (March 18th) I started a novena (a 9 day prayer) to Mary to figure a few things out. Well, my prayers were clearly answered as I found out I was expecting on Easter! It was a special blessing since the Lord had a lot in store for me this Lenten season. For me, it truly was a joyful Easter and I understood Lent, Holy Week, and Easter on a new level.

It is exciting to think what God has planned for this little one. It is no coincidence we found out about this little one on Easter and the baby is due on Christmas. It is neat to think that I can reflect on how Mary was carrying Jesus during these months leading up to Christmas. Faustina and Jude both had their own unique and special stories that the Lord was very much in charge of. Faustina came right away for us when we were ready for kids and she had perfect timing at the end of the school year. Spending the day with my Mom being in labor with her and the birth was one of the best experiences of my life. (Really! I know, most people think I am crazy when I say that.) We knew beyond any doubt Jude was a boy and he came just 3 weeks before Grandma died - and she was able to be at my homebirth with me! I know she did that for me even though she wasn't feeling great at that point. Jude brings us so much joy, what would we do without him? It will be fun to see the Lord's plan unfold for this little one.

Sunday morning hang out time

2011-06-12T10:48:00.000-07:00

"Of all that is seen and unseen"

2011-05-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

The last several weeks I have been struck by the following line in bold when saying the Nicene Creed.
"I believe in One God the Father the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
Of all that is seen and unseen."

It is right at the beginning of the prayer and I have come to love this line more and more as I realize how little I know the Lord and what the Lord's Will is for me and our family at any given time. In one sense it can be frustrating because I want to believe that I make progress and do, in fact, know the Lord more intimately all the time - but it is also exhilarating to know that his goodness is infinite and there are infinite ways for me to know him more! I find myself praying for specific things that I think are good or blessings that I think would make sense. Sometimes the Lord answers in ways that I recognize, want or in ways that fulfill my emotional desires, but more often than not he asks me to trust him and be patient and let my life unfold according to his own design. And so I keep going back to the line "Of all that is seen and unseen." I meditate on how powerfully the Lord works and moves people's hearts and minds and my own that other individuals will never know about - but it is a reality. And thus, "I believe in all that is seen and unseen."

Today is the feast day of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Rosary has become a sort of foundation in my prayer over the last several years, so today is a special day to honor Mary as we celebrate her visiting Elizabeth.

A mediation in the Magnificat captures much of what I have been thinking about and it was a joy to stumble upon it today:

"The events of today's mystery bring before the faithful in a peculiar manner the fact that our God is a hidden God, and that his power works in the soul a secret and impenetrable manner. Four people are concerned in the occurrence we are celebrating: Jesus and Mary; Saint John and his mother Saint Elizabeth. Now, it is most remarkable that of all these sacred personages the only one who seems to perform no particular action is the Son of God himself. Elizabeth, enlightened from on high, acknowledges the Blessed Virgin's dignity and humbles herself deeply before her: "When is this to me?" (Lk 1"43). John, even within Elizabeth's womb, feels his Divine Master's presence, and shows his joy in a wonderful way: he "leaped for joy". Mary, marveling at the great effects of divine omnipotence in herself, exalts the holy name of God and declares his munificence in her behalf, with her whole heart. But all this time Jesus himself, hidden beneath his Mother's breast gives no sensible sign of his presence. He, who is the cause of the whole mystery, takes no active part in it.
Strange as this may seem, it is not really surprising. Our Lord here hides his power intentionally, to show us how is the invisible force that moves all things without moving himself, and directs all things without showing his hand. Hence, we shall find that though he may seem to be passive on this occasion, his influence is fully apparent in the actions of the rest, whose movements are really inspired by him alone. One of the greatest mysteries of Christianity is the holy union that the Son of God forms with us, and his secret way of visiting us...When God deigns to look upon us, we can but learn from Elizabeth how to reverence his supreme greatness by fully recognizing our own nothingness, and to acknowledge his benefits by confessing our own unworthiness."
-Bishop Jacques Benigne Bossuet (died 1704)

Meet our Seminarian

2011-05-24T12:14:00.001-07:00

Here is our new friend, Joseph, sitting with Faustina and Jude. He is one of the nicest guys around!

I knew he would be a hit with the kids when he walked in our door with a huge bag of treats for the kids.

We are part of a program 'Adopt a Seminarian' and are so lucky to befriend Joseph and invite him into our family during his 4 years studying to be a priest at the Seminary on the University of St. Thomas Campus. Joseph just finished his first year of school; he came to MN from Uganda which is quite the change.

We had wonderful conversation and oh so many questions to ask Joseph about life here in the U.S., life in Uganda, how his classes are going and the list goes on. Faustina told him about her 'wounds' on her knees and that she moved into a big girl bed. Jude....was entertaining in different ways. :)

Since Joseph is officially on his summer break and he is sticking around the cities, we look forward to showing him some of MN!

Birthday girl

2011-05-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Faustina's 3rd birthday. THIRD birthday, what? This little girl seems years ahead of that. Quite the young lady! We had the Lee family over for brunch yesterday on her real birthday (Uncle Aaron was in town). And today we celebrated with both families over yummy desserts.

This pictures captures the Fauster on her 3rd birthday. "Yessss....? What can I do for you? I am three years old and ready to take on the world!"

My favorite part of my little girl's birthday was yesterday afternoon walking up and down up and down the block with her for over an hour while the 4 boys slept in the house. We were able to walk through puddles since it had rained earlier, Faustina was running ahead dancing while singing at the top of her lungs (literally) and we had good conversation too! She carried her cards around the block showing our neighbors and telling them it was her birthday. And then one of our neighbors surprised us and brought over the beautiful doll cake - what a treat! Happy Birthday to our sweet girl!

There Be Dragons

2011-05-14T14:10:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Mike and I were given tickets for a special showing of the new movie "There Be Dragons". I came in with no expectations - and I came out of the movie theater with only praise for it. I thought it was an excellent movie. There are scenes, lines, and extremely compelling truths framed in certain light that will stay with me.

I've read criticisms of the movie which I disagree with. One complaint is that there is no plot - that thought never crossed my mind. In fact, the plot and narrative was very straight forward. Another complaint was that the movie should have stuck only with Josemaria's story - I would argue the side story of the father and son relationship strengthened the themes of sin and forgiveness. In general, I found the acting great, the story engaging, the dialogue substantive.

Father Longenecker has a good post about it on his blog and he makes the point that the story of the Saints' lives are mainly about their inner struggle and conflicts. How can one effectively capture that in a movie (he explains in more depth)? There probably is no perfect way to do it, but I thought the director Roland Joffe (who also did "The Mission") did a good job with making this major motion picture. I mean, really, if a person wants the real thing (substance, education, to be called on to think more deeply) - read the BOOK. Books are always better than a movie. Yes, movies are an art form - but they are entertainment with hopefully the bonus of a good story (although that is harder and hard to come by these days)!

I am certainly inspired to read more of Josemaria Escriva's writings.

Reflections on Mother's Day

2011-05-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day has come and gone; we had a restful (kind of!) peaceful day. We didn't make it out to Resurrection to visit Grandma Adkins and Grandma Lee - Jude needed to nap and then it started raining out. I, however, have enjoyed going out there the past three days with the kids and spending time walking around and praying a bit by Mom's grave.

Since Mom died a year and a half ago, I have many many people ask me how I am doing and how I've dealt with losing her. It is, surprisingly, a hard question for me to answer. It is hard because people, it seems, expect me to break out crying or launch into a sad heartbreaking story - when, in fact, the opposite is true. Often people ask me with a sad look on their face, with concern and in a tentative voice. My answer is most often with a smile saying - "You know, of course, I miss her terribly; but the Lord has turned Mom's death for me into a blessing!". And then I try to explain as well as I can. Now, that probably sounds very strange - perhaps to most people that would read this or hear me say that. Mom's death is not a 'hard' thing for me or something that I should be pitied for - it was God's will and he will use it to plant seeds of goodness and holiness here on earth.

The reality is that since Mom died, I feel like she is always with me here - all the time! And I mean that in a very literal way. I am sure this is simply a grace the Lord has blessed me with - but as I raise our children, when I am with extended family, as I clean the house, as I quilt or knit, as I experience difficult or joyful circumstances - I can hear her voice, see her face, and I, in a way, live out how she would be with me in that situation. It may sound corny (any one who knows me knows I am not a corny person), but it just is the way it is. In fact, I honestly feel a closer tie with Mom now since she is with God and the communion of Saints. I often ask her to intercede for us (we need it!) here on earth.

Not only do I feel my Mother's presence constantly, but both her time of being sick and her death launched me into a more mature understanding and pursuit of my faith. I have said this before, but her death slapped my in the face with how short our life is here - so I better do everything in my power to get it right. Since Mom has died, the Lord has persistently been answering prayer (not always in the way I anticipated of course) and giving me daily strength for what each new morning brings. I can see how losing a parent could shatter an individual's security, but the Lord has called me to run to him even more and look to him for everything. There are three areas - specifically with regards to motherhood - that I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on: The Blessed Virgin Mary, suffering, and God's will.

The first apspect of my faith that the Lord has strengthened has been growing in my relationship with our Mother Mary. She, truly, is our highest example of motherhood and I am grateful that I can lean on her for prayers and being a gateway to more grace from Jesus. Providentially, the month of May is dedicated to Mary in the Catholic Church - Happy Mother's Day to the Blessed Virgin!

Yet another area that has often plagued me about Catholicism is the notion of suffering. I grew up in a very exuberant, happy environment - there really was no pain or suffering of me to speak of. I always wondered "What is the deal with all the pictures of saints in agony, of everyone looking sad all the time, thinking this world is an awful terrible forlorn place?? Come on! I mean, really, people, this is a bit extreme! God made the world good, let's be happy!" As I saw my Mom suffer and as I get older and have more experiences of the sin and wickedness in the world - I understand more of what these Saints were about. It is all about the cross - that is at the heart of our faith. That is why Jesus came in the first place - to suffer and DIE for our sins! And he calls us to that suffering with him. Teresa of Avila said, (paraphrasing) "The more a person suffers and unites it to Jesus' suffering on the cross, the more holy that person becomes and sees the face of God."

The last area which I have learned much about is God's will - I need to accept it. Of course, it would not have been my will for Mom to die - but it was in the Lord's plan. I have grown up often praying for something fairly specific - but I have changed that mode of thinking quite a bit. I try more and more and more to pray for God's will to be done and that I can recognize what it is. I try not to pray for what my feelings or emotions desire (which for me is the easiest thing to do), but what the Lord's will is. When I really think about it - I don't know what is best for myself let alone how my actions will affect other people; so, I pray that the Lord's will be done, try to listen to people I respect and their wisdom, ask the Lord to open and close doors, and I do the best I can.

I was watching Mother Angelica on Mother's Day (she has been my new favorite for awhile! she is hilarious, so knowledgeable, and I believe a saintly person) and she was talking about heaven and death. One of the many things she said was that we, as human persons, never die. When our time is done here on earth, our souls live with God until the second coming when we are reunited with our bodies. I knew this, but the way she talked about heaven and life in heaven gave me a small possible picture of Mom's existence now. No wonder I feel her presence so strongly with me. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Into babies

2011-05-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

Faustina is turning 3 in a few weeks, and she is into babies! She already has the tendency being the oldest and being a girl with a strong personality to take charge and be a 'mom' to Jude, other friends, or even sometimes Mom and Dad! She loves her dolls and she carries them around in her sweater 'backpack' for sometimes an hour or longer. She sings to them, feeds them, puts them down for a nap, and the one baby often has a dozen different names in the same hour - Faustina can't seem to pick. This behavior is typical of this age and she has been doing it for awhile, but she has certainly stepped it up lately. It is quite endearing.

Blessed John Paul II

2011-05-01T21:20:00.001-07:00

Homily, Pope Benedict XVI, Rome 1 May 2011

During the Mass in which Pope Benedict XVI beatified his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, he gave the following homily.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Six years ago we gathered in this Square to celebrate the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Our grief at his loss was deep, but even greater was our sense of an immense grace which embraced Rome and the whole world: a grace which was in some way the fruit of my beloved predecessor’s entire life, and especially of his witness in suffering. Even then we perceived the fragrance of his sanctity, and in any number of ways God’s People showed their veneration for him. For this reason, with all due respect for the Church’s canonical norms, I wanted his cause of beatification to move forward with reasonable haste. And now the longed-for day has come; it came quickly because this is what was pleasing to the Lord: John Paul II is blessed!

I would like to offer a cordial greeting to all of you who on this happy occasion have come in such great numbers to Rome from all over the world – cardinals, patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches, brother bishops and priests, official delegations, ambassadors and civil authorities, consecrated men and women and lay faithful, and I extend that greeting to all those who join us by radio and television.
Today is the Second Sunday of Easter, which Blessed John Paul II entitled Divine Mercy Sunday. The date was chosen for today’s celebration because, in God’s providence, my predecessor died on the vigil of this feast. Today is also the first day of May, Mary’s month, and the liturgical memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker. All these elements serve to enrich our prayer, they help us in our pilgrimage through time and space; but in heaven a very different celebration is taking place among the angels and saints! Even so, God is but one, and one too is Christ the Lord, who like a bridge joins earth to heaven. At this moment we feel closer than ever, sharing as it were in the liturgy of heaven.

"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe" (Jn 20:29). In today’s Gospel Jesus proclaims this beatitude: the beatitude of faith. For us, it is particularly striking because we are gathered to celebrate a beatification, but even more so because today the one proclaimed blessed is a Pope, a Successor of Peter, one who was called to confirm his brethren in the faith. John Paul II is blessed because of his faith, a strong, generous and apostolic faith. We think at once of another beatitude: "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven" (Mt 16:17). What did our heavenly Father reveal to Simon? That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Because of this faith, Simon becomes Peter, the rock on which Jesus can build his Church. The eternal beatitude of John Paul II, which today the Church rejoices to proclaim, is wholly contained in these sayings of Jesus: "Blessed are you, Simon" and "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe!" It is the beatitude of faith, which John Paul II also received as a gift from God the Father for the building up of Christ’s Church.

Our thoughts turn to yet another beatitude, one which appears in the Gospel before all others. It is the beatitude of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer. Mary, who had just conceived Jesus, was told by Saint Elizabeth: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord" (Lk 1:45). The beatitude of faith has its model in Mary, and all of us rejoice that the beatification of John Paul II takes place on this first day of the month of Mary, beneath the maternal gaze of the one who by her faith sustained the faith of the Apostles and constantly sustains the faith of their successors, especially those called to occupy the Chair of Peter. Mary does not appear in the accounts of Christ’s resurrection, yet hers is, as it were, a continual, hidden presence: she is the Mother to whom Jesus entrusted each of his disciples and the entire community. In particular we can see how Saint John and Saint Luke record the powerful, maternal presence of Mary in the passages preceding those read in today’s Gospel and first reading. In the account of Jesus’ death, Mary appears at the foot of the cross (Jn 19:25), and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles she is seen in the midst of the disciples gathered in prayer in the Upper Room (Acts 1:14).
Today’s second reading also speaks to us of faith. Saint Peter himself, filled with spiritual enthusiasm, points out to the newly-baptized the reason for their hope and their joy. I like to think how in this passage, at the beginning of his First Letter, Peter does not use language of exhortation; instead, he states a fact. He writes: "you rejoice", and he adds: "you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (1 Pet 1:6, 8-9). All these verbs are in the indicative, because a new reality has come about in Christ’s resurrection, a reality to which faith opens the door. "This is the Lord’s doing", says the Psalm (118:23), and "it is marvelous in our eyes", the eyes of faith.

Dear brothers and sisters, today our eyes behold, in the full spiritual light of the risen Christ, the beloved and revered figure of John Paul II. Today his name is added to the host of those whom he proclaimed saints and blesseds during the almost twenty-seven years of his pontificate, thereby forcefully emphasizing the universal vocation to the heights of the Christian life, to holiness, taught by the conciliar Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium. All of us, as members of the people of God – bishops, priests, deacons, laity, men and women religious – are making our pilgrim way to the heavenly homeland where the Virgin Mary has preceded us, associated as she was in a unique and perfect way to the mystery of Christ and the Church. Karol Wojtyła took part in the Second Vatican Council, first as an auxiliary Bishop and then as Archbishop of Kraków. He was fully aware that the Council’s decision to devote the last chapter of its Constitution on the Church to Mary meant that the Mother of the Redeemer is held up as an image and model of holiness for every Christian and for the entire Church. This was the theological vision which Blessed John Paul II discovered as a young man and subsequently maintained and deepened throughout his life. A vision which is expressed in the scriptural image of the crucified Christ with Mary, his Mother, at his side. This icon from the Gospel of John (19:25-27) was taken up in the episcopal and later the papal coat-of-arms of Karol Wojtyła: a golden cross with the letter "M" on the lower right and the motto "Totus tuus", drawn from the well-known words of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort in which Karol Wojtyła found a guiding light for his life: "Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria – I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart" (Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 266).

In his Testament, the new Blessed wrote: "When, on 16 October 1978, the Conclave of Cardinals chose John Paul II, the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, said to me: ‘The task of the new Pope will be to lead the Church into the Third Millennium’". And the Pope added: "I would like once again to express my gratitude to the Holy Spirit for the great gift of the Second Vatican Council, to which, together with the whole Church – and especially with the whole episcopate – I feel indebted. I am convinced that it will long be granted to the new generations to draw from the treasures that this Council of the twentieth century has lavished upon us. As a Bishop who took part in the Council from the first to the last day, I desire to entrust this great patrimony to all who are and will be called in the future to put it into practice. For my part, I thank the Eternal Shepherd, who has enabled me to serve this very great cause in the course of all the years of my Pontificate". And what is this "cause"? It is the same one that John Paul II presented during his first solemn Mass in Saint Peter’s Square in the unforgettable words: "Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors to Christ!" What the newly-elected Pope asked of everyone, he was himself the first to do: society, culture, political and economic systems he opened up to Christ, turning back with the strength of a titan – a strength which came to him from God – a tide which appeared irreversible. By his witness of faith, love and apostolic courage, accompanied by great human charisma, this exemplary son of Poland helped believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian, to belong to the Church, to speak of the Gospel. In a word: he helped us not to fear the truth, because truth is the guarantee of liberty. To put it even more succinctly: he gave us the strength to believe in Christ, because Christ is Redemptor hominis, the Redeemer of man. This was the theme of his first encyclical, and the thread which runs though all the others.

When Karol Wojtyła ascended to the throne of Peter, he brought with him a deep understanding of the difference between Marxism and Christianity, based on their respective visions of man. This was his message: man is the way of the Church, and Christ is the way of man. With this message, which is the great legacy of the Second Vatican Council and of its "helmsman", the Servant of God Pope Paul VI, John Paul II led the People of God across the threshold of the Third Millennium, which thanks to Christ he was able to call "the threshold of hope". Throughout the long journey of preparation for the great Jubilee he directed Christianity once again to the future, the future of God, which transcends history while nonetheless directly affecting it. He rightly reclaimed for Christianity that impulse of hope which had in some sense faltered before Marxism and the ideology of progress. He restored to Christianity its true face as a religion of hope, to be lived in history in an "Advent" spirit, in a personal and communitarian existence directed to Christ, the fullness of humanity and the fulfillment of all our longings for justice and peace.

Finally, on a more personal note, I would like to thank God for the gift of having worked for many years with Blessed Pope John Paul II. I had known him earlier and had esteemed him, but for twenty-three years, beginning in 1982 after he called me to Rome to be Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I was at his side and came to revere him all the more. My own service was sustained by his spiritual depth and by the richness of his insights. His example of prayer continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God even amid the many demands of his ministry. Then too, there was his witness in suffering: the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, yet he remained ever a "rock", as Christ desired. His profound humility, grounded in close union with Christ, enabled him to continue to lead the Church and to give to the world a message which became all the more eloquent as his physical strength declined. In this way he lived out in an extraordinary way the vocation of every priest and bishop to become completely one with Jesus, whom he daily receives and offers in the Eucharist.

Blessed are you, beloved Pope John Paul II, because you believed! Continue, we implore you, to sustain from heaven the faith of God’s people. Amen.

[Vatican Press Office; Original: Italian]

Our bubble gum girl

2011-05-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

Faustina had her big spring recital today, and she did a great job! This group of 2-3 year old have come a long way this past year. Faustina was very comfortable standing in front of her audience without dancing her routine during her first performance last December. A few weeks ago on the car ride home, I asked her why she still wasn't always dancing with the group. She promptly responded that she was not suppose to dance, Miss Laura told her to watch. And she is right, her teacher DID tell the girls to watch her in order to imitate her dancing. Faustina was only doing the 'watching' part and not the 'dancing' part. So Mike and I grilled into her head over the last few weeks that she is suppose to watch AND dance. In fact, the whole point of her performance is for people to come and see her dance. Well, it seemed to work - because she did dance for us this time.

Coming to class every Friday for 30 minutes these girls [started to] learn how to be graceful young ladies. They learned to work as a group, follow instructions, they memorized a routine, performed in front of a large group of people and were pretty much as cute as could be. Faustina had her parents, Grandpa Lee and Terry, Grandpa Gary and Jeanne, Uncle Travis, Aunt Kim and Lizzia there to support her in her big debut. Afterward, Grandpa Gary treated us to very nice dinner. We're so proud of you, Faustina - you've got the groove! (Unfortunately, the video quality is poor, but it gives a general idea!)

It's Divine Mercy Sunday

2011-04-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

John Paul II will also be beatified today by Pope Benedict XVI.

Prayers taught to St. Faustina by our Lord, Jesus Christ:

Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.

You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty yourself out upon us.

O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us. I trust in You!

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,
have mercy on us and on the whole world.
[recite this last prayer three times, once for each member of the Holy Trinity]

Amen.

Wintergreen is still in style

2011-04-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, wintergreen (the kind of hat) is still in style when you are in MN on April 27th and it is 35 degrees outside!

Litany of Humility

2011-04-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...
From the desire of being approved ...

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

Two Easter bunnies

2011-04-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

Clearly, I am into videos lately. These two girls are pretty stinkin' cute if I do say so myself. They love hanging out with each other. Both these gals can hold their own on the tramp, and with their feisty personalities, I think they will be able to hold their own in about any situation!

ABC's coming along

2011-04-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

With Auntie Kim practicing the alphabet with Faustina along with the letters we are (slowly) putting up on the wall in her room - It is starting to click!

Easter 2011 in pictures

2011-04-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

The Eighth Day

2011-04-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The liturgical celebration of the Easter Vigil makes use of two eloquent signs. First there is the fire that becomes light. As the procession makes its way through the church, shrouded in the darkness of the night, the light of the Paschal Candle becomes a wave of lights, and it speaks to us of Christ as the true morning star that never sets – the Risen Lord in whom light has conquered darkness. The second sign is water. On the one hand, it recalls the waters of the Red Sea, decline and death, the mystery of the Cross. But now it is presented to us as spring water, a life-giving element amid the dryness. Thus it becomes the image of the sacrament of baptism, through which we become sharers in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Yet these great signs of creation, light and water, are not the only constituent elements of the liturgy of the Easter Vigil. Another essential feature is the ample encounter with the words of sacred Scripture that it provides. Before the liturgical reform there were twelve Old Testament readings and two from the New Testament. The New Testament readings have been retained. The number of Old Testament readings has been fixed at seven, but depending upon the local situation, they may be reduced to three. The Church wishes to offer us a panoramic view of whole trajectory of salvation history, starting with creation, passing through the election and the liberation of Israel to the testimony of the prophets by which this entire history is directed ever more clearly towards Jesus Christ. In the liturgical tradition all these readings were called prophecies. Even when they are not directly foretelling future events, they have a prophetic character, they show us the inner foundation and orientation of history. They cause creation and history to become transparent to what is essential. In this way they take us by the hand and lead us towards Christ, they show us the true Light.

At the Easter Vigil, the journey along the paths of sacred Scripture begins with the account of creation. This is the liturgy’s way of telling us that the creation story is itself a prophecy. It is not information about the external processes by which the cosmos and man himself came into being. The Fathers of the Church were well aware of this. They did not interpret the story as an account of the process of the origins of things, but rather as a pointer towards the essential, towards the true beginning and end of our being. Now, one might ask: is it really important to speak also of creation during the Easter Vigil? Could we not begin with the events in which God calls man, forms a people for himself and creates his history with men upon the earth? The answer has to be: no. To omit the creation would be to misunderstand the very history of God with men, to diminish it, to lose sight of its true order of greatness. The sweep of history established by God reaches back to the origins, back to creation. Our profession of faith begins with the words: “We believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth”. If we omit the beginning of the Credo, the whole history of salvation becomes too limited and too small. The Church is not some kind of association that concerns itself with man’s religious needs but is limited to that objective. No, she brings man into contact with God and thus with the source of all things. Therefore we relate to God as Creator, and so we have a responsibility for creation. Our responsibility extends as far as creation because it comes from the Creator. Only because God created everything can he give us life and direct our lives. Life in the Church’s faith involves more than a set of feelings and sentiments and perhaps moral obligations. It embraces man in his entirety, from his origins to his eternal destiny. Only because creation belongs to God can we place ourselves completely in his hands. And only because he is the Creator can he give us life for ever. Joy over creation, thanksgiving for creation and responsibility for it all belong together.

The central message of the creation account can be defined more precisely still. In the opening words of his Gospel, Saint John sums up the essential meaning of that account in this single statement: “In the beginning was the Word”. In effect, the creation account that we listened to earlier is characterized by the regularly recurring phrase: “And God said …” The world is a product of the Word, of the Logos, as Saint John expresses it, using a key term from the Greek language. “Logos” means “reason”, “sense”, “word”. It is not reason pure and simple, but creative Reason, that speaks and communicates itself. It is Reason that both is and creates sense. The creation account tells us, then, that the world is a product of creative Reason. Hence it tells us that, far from there being an absence of reason and freedom at the origin of all things, the source of everything is creative Reason, love, and freedom.

Here we are faced with the ultimate alternative that is at stake in the dispute between faith and unbelief: are irrationality, lack of freedom and pure chance the origin of everything, or are reason, freedom and love at the origin of being? Does the primacy belong to unreason or to reason? This is what everything hinges upon in the final analysis.

As believers we answer, with the creation account and with John, that in the beginning is reason. In the beginning is freedom. Hence it is good to be a human person.

It is not the case that in the expanding universe, at a late stage, in some tiny corner of the cosmos, there evolved randomly some species of living being capable of reasoning and of trying to find rationality within creation, or to bring rationality into it. If man were merely a random product of evolution in some place on the margins of the universe, then his life would make no sense or might even be a chance of nature.

But no, Reason is there at the beginning: creative, divine Reason. And because it is Reason, it also created freedom; and because freedom can be abused, there also exist forces harmful to creation. Hence a thick black line, so to speak, has been drawn across the structure of the universe and across the nature of man. But despite this contradiction, creation itself remains good, life remains good, because at the beginning is good Reason, God’s creative love. Hence the world can be saved. Hence we can and must place ourselves on the side of reason, freedom and love – on the side of God who loves us so much that he suffered for us, that from his death there might emerge a new, definitive and healed life.

The Old Testament account of creation that we listened to clearly indicates this order of realities. But it leads us a further step forward. It has structured the process of creation within the framework of a week leading up to the Sabbath, in which it finds its completion. For Israel, the Sabbath was the day on which all could participate in God’s rest, in which man and animal, master and slave, great and small were united in God’s freedom. Thus the Sabbath was an expression of the Covenant between God and man and creation. In this way, communion between God and man does not appear as something extra, something added later to a world already fully created. The Covenant, communion between God and man, is inbuilt at the deepest level of creation.

Yes, the Covenant is the inner ground of creation, just as creation is the external presupposition of the Covenant. God made the world so that there could be a space where he might communicate his love, and from which the response of love might come back to him. From God’s perspective, the heart of the man who responds to him is greater and more important than the whole immense material cosmos, for all that the latter allows us to glimpse something of God’s grandeur.

Easter and the paschal experience of Christians, however, now require us to take a further step. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. After six days in which man in some sense participates in God’s work of creation, the Sabbath is the day of rest. But something quite unprecedented happened in the nascent Church: the place of the Sabbath, the seventh day, was taken by the first day. As the day of the liturgical assembly, it is the day for encounter with God through Jesus Christ who as the Risen Lord encountered his followers on the first day, Sunday, after they had found the tomb empty.

The structure of the week is overturned. No longer does it point towards the seventh day, as the time to participate in God’s rest. It sets out from the first day as the day of encounter with the Risen Lord. This encounter happens afresh at every celebration of the Eucharist, when the Lord enters anew into the midst of his disciples and gives himself to them, allows himself, so to speak, to be touched by them, sits down at table with them. This change is utterly extraordinary, considering that the Sabbath, the seventh day seen as the day of encounter with God, is so profoundly rooted in the Old Testament.

If we also bear in mind how much the movement from work towards the rest-day corresponds to a natural rhythm, the dramatic nature of this change is even more striking. This revolutionary development that occurred at the very the beginning of the Church’s history can be explained only by the fact that something utterly new happened that day. The first day of the week was the third day after Jesus’ death. It was the day when he showed himself to his disciples as the Risen Lord. In truth, this encounter had something unsettling about it. The world had changed. This man who had died was now living with a life that was no longer threatened by any death. A new form of life had been inaugurated, a new dimension of creation. The first day, according to the Genesis account, is the day on which creation begins. Now it was the day of creation in a new way, it had become the day of the new creation. We celebrate the first day. And in so doing we celebrate God the Creator and his creation.

Yes, we believe in God, the Creator of heaven and earth. And we celebrate the God who was made man, who suffered, died, was buried and rose again. We celebrate the definitive victory of the Creator and of his creation. We celebrate this day as the origin and the goal of our existence. We celebrate it because now, thanks to the risen Lord, it is definitively established that reason is stronger than unreason, truth stronger than lies, love stronger than death. We celebrate the first day because we know that the black line drawn across creation does not last for ever. We celebrate it because we know that those words from the end of the creation account have now been definitively fulfilled: “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen 1:31).

Amen.

[Pope Benedict's Easter Vigil Sermon]

Planting seeds

2011-04-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

"It helps now and then to step back and take the long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord's work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us. No sermon says all that should be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are all about. We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and do it very, very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the Master Builder and the worker. We are workers, not Master Builders...ministers no Messiahs. We are prophets of a future that is not our own."

Archbishop Oscar Romero

The new atheism

2011-04-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

On Monday evening Mike and I were listening to a Holy week retreat on EWTN. Paublo Straub (he is wonderful!) was giving the talk and during part of it he was talking about atheism. He explained how the word comes from Greek roots and means 'turning away from God' (a=against, theo=God). In the traditional understanding of atheism, a person denies that God exists. He was proposing that the 'new atheism' is a person freely accepting the fact that God exists, but having the attitude of pursuing one's own will and ignoring God's will. Basically, "I'm going to do it my way and I don't really care, God, what your will is".

This makes a great deal of sense to me as I look around the world and think about my own life. Pride is the greatest sin - and, of course, pride is selfishness. Father Strabo went on to explain Eve's fall in the Garden and how we experience this sin of pride in our daily lives. We want what we want with the result of ignoring God and, in turn, whether consciously or not, we try to make ourselves gods. How easy it is to go through life without prayer, reflection, meditation, time set aside to spend with our Creator. How easy it is to live in my own world, to not think about other people's feelings, perspectives, struggles or joys they are having. It is a constant battle and requires constant awareness to seek God's will and submit; the Christian life demands perseverance in laying down my own life so that I may be a empty vessel for the Lord to use. No one said the Christian life is easy.

At the Adoration chapel, I was thinking about my next question - how do I know and seek God's will. After all, I am only human and I do have desires, I do have ambitions, I do have emotions. How do I know the difference between my own will and whether I am truly seeking God's will? Obviously this is not a new question to humanity!

-prayer Constantly praying for grace to seek God's will. Making it a habit and training my intellect to consistently give my will over to the Lord. This is what Jesus did in the Garden and it is in the prayer The Our Father. This is basic, but I am finding there is a whole new depth and many many many layers of meaning to it.
- thinking and meditating on stories Thankfully, I have had a life surrounded by many strong Christians and hearing their stories of faith and how God has blessed them gives me great hope of following God's will. I like to think we are creative as human beings, but God is creativity and he can do whatever he wants! Any plan I may come up with for myself is an anthill compared to the glories God has in store for us and how he wants that story to unfold. There is no need for me to make my own plans when his are far better than I could ever imagine or anticipate.
- be willing to accept suffering I find the saints the greatest inspirations in this area. They had incredible hardships, but they joined their crosses to our Lord's and the example they have become for humanity over the centuries is a testament to how God raised them up to greatness. I am sure they have the closest seats in the house to our Lord in heaven.
- patience This is a particularly hard one for me, I am not a patient person! Usually I want results, I want to make things happen and that ends up in me forcing an issue to doing things my own way. I need to wait for the Lord to unravel his will for me, listen and do my best to have a willing heart to follow

How will I know if I am following God's will? Well, a lot of the time, I probably won't. But I keep close to my heart something a read awhile ago about discernment. God told St. Francis Assisi to build his Church. Francis says, "Of course, Lord!" So he goes and starts literally gathering rocks and bricks to build a church. God said, "No, no, no, no. I need you to build my Church"; eventually, Francis figured out what the Lord meant which was to serve the people and preach truth. When we do our best to seek God's will and take action doing whatever it is we think we should do, God will slowly guild us, nudge us in this direction, take our hand and point us in this other direction. His grace is sufficient, and somehow it works out.

The new atheism - doing our will and not God's - abounds everywhere in our world, it probably is the most natural trap for us to fall into given our human nature. This week of Holy week, thankfully, provides a special time to reflect on how Jesus listened to the will of his Father. That sacrifice he made for us has become our way to salvation. Lord, continue to conform my will during this Easter season.

Carrying our own crosses

2011-04-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

A dear friend gave me this prayer; it is especially fitting for Easter week as we reflect on carrying our own crosses in order to draw closer to our Lord during our earthly life.

"The everlasting God has in His wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross that He now presents to you as a gift from His inmost Heart.

This cross He now sends you He has considered with His all-knowing eyes, understood with His Divine mind, tested with His wise justice, warmed with loving arms and weighed with His own hands to see that it be not one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy for you.

He has blessed it with His Holy Name, anointed it with His grace, perfumed it with His consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from Heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the all-merciful love of God."
- Saint Francis de Sales

The Twins

2011-04-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

I am getting a small taste of what it is like to have twins around - it is fun! Here are Isaac and James. We get to hang out with them on Thursdays and Fridays. The sleeping arrangements are a bit tight, but you learn how to make it work! They are sweet and good boys at the very fun age of 2. We are lucky to have such a full life with friends to hang out with! These two guys are very identical, they will definitely be able to pull a few tricks on people as they get older... :)

We made the switch

2011-04-15T06:12:00.000-07:00

Over to Saint Agnes that is. During this Lent we have been going to Mass at Saint Agnes Church. Since Mike starting working at Saint Agnes School 2 years ago, I knew we would probably move over there at some point.

Since I studied in Rome during college, I came to truly love beautiful churches. One of the classes I took was a three hour on-sight course going to all the churches around Rome and learning about them. As I look back it was life changing and left impressions on me that I never knew would have such a long term impact. It is our human nature, we simply are built to seek beauty, imitate it and love it - we can't resist being drawn to it!

Here we find ourselves parishioners at Saint Agnes and here area few things I appreciate about it.

- the stunning Church itself! The Staions of the Cross are breathtaking, the statues around the Church allow me to experience the communion of Saints in a real way, all the art work is inspiring and brings my mind to the Divine

- As I get older and experience more joys and hardships in life, I find that the only true refuge for my heart is in the Church. Why would I settle for anything less than throwing myself into a parish which is always faithful to the Church's teaching (unfortunately, that is not the case with all parishes)

- We were married and had our kids baptized at the Cathedral - another beautiful Church. The influence that the art work has on the kids' and the images alone is enough for me to go to Saint Agnes. The pictures and statues tell the stories of our faith, history and traditions sometimes better than we adults can explain. I love to see Jude looking up at a statue Mary holding Jesus while he points and says, "Jesus!"

- The priests and their homilies are always quality, make me think, they are substantive, and educational. That is what I am looking for!

- I love the alter boys. They are a beautiful picture in and of themselves and always make me think of little angels surrounding the priest!

- The community is like no other. It is a culture of life with many kids and people of all types. Where else would you hear a man telling a friend (on the stairs going down to get donuts after Mass) "Thank you! Yes, this is our 6th child. My brother and his wife just had their 10th and my sister just had her 8th child." !!! Talk about a culture of life.

- I thoroughly appreciate the communion rail where you kneel and priest places the Eucharist in your mouth. This way of receiving communion puts in the forefront of my mind Jesus' sacrifice and that I am receiving the Divine Body of Christ.

- We already knew many people since Mike works there. It already felt like community when we switched over.

- We thoroughly enjoy the donuts and fellowship afterward! Not to mention they make amazing egg breakfast sandwiches. :)

The following quote sums it up:

When you step through the doorway of a church you are leaving the outer-world behind and entering an inner world. The outside world is a fair place abounding in life and activity, but also a place with a mingling of the base and ugly. It is a sort of market place, crossed and recrossed by all and sundry. Perhaps 'unholy' is not quite the word for it, yet there is something profane about the world. Behind the church doors is an inner place, separated from the market place, a silent, consecrated and holy spot. It is very certain that the whole world is the work of God and his gift to us, that we may meet Him anywhere, that everything we receive is from God's hand, and, when received religiously, is holy. Nevertheless men have always felt that certain precincts were in a special manner set apart and dedicated to God. ~ From Sacred Signs by Romano Guardini

Quilting phenomenon

2011-04-13T05:38:00.001-07:00

This lady is amazing!

On another note, I'm finishing up (I guess I have been for awhile) my first quilt. I was reading a quilting book a few months ago and it was saying how every quilt 'has its own story'. That certainly makes a lot of sense. Quilts take a chunk of time and making a quilt would naturally be connected to what is going on in a person's life at that time. This first quilt is near and dear because I took a quilting class the fall the Mom died and this quilt is the product of that time. I used some of Mom's material and picked out some of my own. I can see how quilting is addicting with a the beautiful material! I learned a great deal through this class and it got me hooked.

Hey Jude

2011-04-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

Jude loves 'his' song. Every time he hears it he starts swaying and saying "eyyyyy uuudddd" or he starts sprinting circles around the island. Faustina is wondering where 'her' song is.

75 Years of marriage

2011-04-10T13:38:00.001-07:00

I love this story. A year ago when our family was going through a lot of things in the house on Niles we came across this story; I just 'refound' it and it puts a big smile on my face.

This article was published in a local newspaper in Monticello, MN several years ago. It is about Ann (my Mother's aunt) and Otto Thielman who hit their 75th wedding anniversary. My Mom absolutely loved this particular aunt and uncle. They had a beautiful house (really, practically a victorian mansion) close to Grandma and Grandpa Saunders' farm. Ann was the type of woman who was wearing pearl earrings, a dress and high heels even if she didn't leave the house for the day and was only doing chores. Otto had a natural handyman and was often working on different projects with his nice tool collection.

Here are a few of my favorites from the article.

"We're together all the time." said Otto.
Do they ever, have they ever, got on each other's nerves?
"No," he replied without hesitation. "She asks a lot of questions, but I do the best I can."
"I have to keep house for him," said Ann. "We're in the same boat. The main thing is, we're together."
"We manage each other pretty good." said Otto.
Ann is a little exasperated when asked what their secret is. It's a questions that's been put to them more than once over the previous three quarters of a century.
"There's no secret, if anyone knows how to be good to each other," she said. "You just keep loving. Where one goes, the other goes too. We fall asleep holding hands, and when we wake up, we're still holding hands in the morning. And we're always kissing each other, letting people know we're still married."
Their long happy and happy marriage will be recognized during St. Henry's Catholic Church's 10:30am mass this Sunday.
"It's been a long journey, and a wonderful one," said Ann. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

They lived to be 95 and 96, dying within 6 months of each. I love the line, "Marriage is no secret if anyone knows how to be good to each other."! If only the rest of the world thought it was that easy!

Learning new skills

2011-04-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

This past year I have dove 100% into quilting and it is quite addicting. I embraced the long winter since I was happy with a cup of tea and the sewing machine in the basement working on quilts.

Quilting quickly opened my world to sewing and all the beautiful things I could potentially make. When Faustina moved into her 'big girl bed', I thought "What the heck, there are so many beautiful fabrics, I should just make Faustina's duvet.". I did and it was a fun project.

Unfortunately these crafts are not always as economical as going to the nearby Walmart and buying something made in China. Unfortunately. But, as I gather JoAnne coupons and look for deals, it can cut even with buy store bought stuff.

Many individuals ask me, "Why would you spend so much time on these projects when you can just go buy something?". Well, I guess there are a few reasons I would give.

1. I love doing things with my hands. That is probably just the way I'm built - I love manual labor type projects and creations. I sometimes joke that I should have been born hundreds of years ago - I enjoy doing sewing, knitting, cooking, outdoor work etc. Now these activities are more hobbies than necessary labors.

2. I like being creative.

3. I enjoy learning (I learned how to make button holes doing this duvet cover)

4. I think it is important to learn and practice skills. It is the case 'these days' (I sound like an old crabby person) that people don't have any practical skills. This could prove to be a big problems in the years and decades to come if the NEED for skills in life arises again and we don't have everything at our 10 second disposal.

5. I appreciate handing these skills, traditions, and culture to our kids. I know my Mother did and I am so appreciative.

6. It can save money done in the right way.

The duvet cover is from Amy Butler's 'In Stitches' book which has many very cute ideas and has a good range of beginner patterns to more experienced. Here is a picture of the duvet pattern from the book and then a picture of the book.