We are a speck, on a speck, in a speck.

This puts our size in perspective: look how diminutive our planet is in the grand scheme of things.

Yummy Apples

I made this apple snowflake for the kids during lunch today. It's sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Joshua liked the pattern and called it his "turkish delight."

Joshua (long edition)

Joshua is an incredible kid! It is so fun to watch him developing. He has really begun to understand & organize information. This summer Joshua mastered riding his tricycle. When we went on walks Jesse & I struggled to keep up with him (on his bike). This fall I watched as he began to process the sounds & meaning of the English language. He amused me because at first he knew what letter words started with but didn’t know how to say it properly so he would say things like “t starts with tiger”. He eventually figured it out & now if you ask him to spell jet he will say “it starts with a j, then an e, then a t”. Using a few ideas from the Montessori Method he enjoys spelling, writing, & reading simple phonetic words. He has also become interested in the clocks around our house & is beginning to understand the concept of telling time. The digital clocks are of course much easier for him. He has also unlocked the patterned for numbers & can count to 100 with some help whenever he comes to the multiples of ten. I also love doing short story problems with him at bedtime such as “if dad brings home 5 m&m’s & gives two to Maria how many will he give you?” I am really enjoying watching & facilitating his new preschool type abilities!

Joshua is also fully potty trained as of this year & a competent self dresser. He prefers to wear only red & blue, the year before it was orange so he has expanded his style. Oh, by the way, he wears one red sock & one blue & the red always goes on the right foot! He is very amusing & is the youngest kid I know who uses a shoe horn to put on his shoes. He is also particular about his hair so generally it is best to let him do it himself. Changing the subject, he is absolutely bursting with creative energy! He is a great story teller. Very dramatic! His voice & hand gestures make up for what lacks in plot development. He loves reading, especially the comic book Tintin, building elaborate duplo creations with even more elaborate names such as a big monster shooter crusher blue & red machine truck! He also daily pretends to be anything from a snail to God to electricity! If you call him Joshua he will correct you & say “actually I’m a caterpillar”. As you probably gathered we are really having a lot of fun with him & my biggest challenge is keeping him busy him with age appropriate activities.

Maria (long edition)

Maria is an amazing girl! She is so sweet & fun to be around. She has become accomplished at speaking this past year and can easily match her older brother in a conversation. She will readily take him on & argue about whether this old man played “one” or “two” with them both insisting you’re wrong & I’m right! They do enjoying playing various games together although Joshua can be tricky. I overheard him convincing Maria that she should be happy about not winning and in her good nature way she agreed to be happy about not winning. She does have a wild, feisty side as well though so you better watch out. She will stand up to anyone she perceives as a threat. Once a younger but much bigger boy decide to hug & try to control Sammy & Maria was right there grabbing back & screaming he’s my brother!

On the other hand she loves to cuddle & chatter. She is generally the first one awake so I get to cuddle & talk with her every morning & after nap. She is very relational & aware of people’s emotions. She is distressed when people are sad & she still talks to me about her little brother Anthony who died. She is also very maternal. She will try to take care of me if I’m not feeling well & she is often caring for her brothers or playing mommy to her baby dolls. She calls Joshua "little buddy" & Sammy "my baby". When they get hurt it’s not unusual for her to come running while screaming “I’m coming! Are you okay?” She is also the designated ice getter for boo-boos.

I really enjoy doing things with her because often she is most inclined to sit & complete a craft. She really loves stickers & cutting & gluing things. Also if you find your shoes unlaced & “re-laced” in an unusual manner you can bet Maria did it. She is also a little gymnast & does not have much natural fear. We put a rope ladder in our basement for her to climb & swing on. Swimming is her other love! We recently joined a nearby YMCA & the boys prefer to play on the edge while Maria grabs a swim noodle & kicks, splashes, floats etc. She is even willing to go under water & thinks it’s funny! We hope to get her swim lessons as soon as possible. Maria is such a special part of our family! She really adds a lot of joy!

Sammy (Long edition)

Sammy's personality is rapidly emerging! He is such a character! He is very playful & loves to tease! He loves to come up & either tickle you or just dive right onto you. I see him all the time come up behind a sitting Joshua & throw his arms around Joshua’s neck. You do have to watch out because he can be rather rough & he loves to throw & bang things! We try to have balls readily available so that more dangerous items are not hurtled through the air. He can be rather persistent & knows how to get attention without saying a word. He’ll just come up & begin bopping you until you look at him & then he motions for you to come. He loves praise & definitely wants to know everyone is watching him & ready to clap. He has no problem blowing his own horn & starting the clapping himself either! At the same time he is also very affectionate & loves cuddling. He enjoys cuddling with his siblings every morning & again after nap. Since Joshua takes a long time to fully wake up Sammy has ample time to crawl & hug & bounce all over Joshua. He especially loves sitting on Joshua’s back just bouncing up & down with short pauses to hug Joshua. Most of the time Joshua doesn’t mind & they will begin to just sort of roll & wrestle around on the bed.

Sammy has mastered walking & progressed to running & climbing. Last month he decided a great way to get my attention was to climb onto the kitchen table. He is curious, fearless & not deterred by injury. Sometimes I wonder if he even feels pain! He enjoys playing with just about everything but seems to favor balls, cars, taking baths, & playing chase. His very favorite pastime is nursing & reading books. He loves the book “Where The Wild Things Are” and alternates between growling & pretending to be scared. He is interesting to me because as the 3rd child he seems to alternate between baby & big kid. He wants to at least attempt everything the big kids are doing & hates to be left behind. He wants to sit in their chairs, drink from open glasses, color, & glue & paste the same crafts. But when he gets frustrated or scared of being a big kid he runs back to me to nurse. In some ways he seems like such a paradox. My biggest challenge with him is supervising him & keeping him busy & safe. If he’s out of my sight he’s sure to be getting into some sort of mischief from unrolling the toilet paper to pushing the chairs around & opening all the kitchen drawers. Despite these challenges or perhaps because of them he is such a great joy! His laid back personality mixed with his cheerfulness is such a great addition to our family!

Baby Eyeliner

The other day Joshua was trying to ask to watch Baby Einstein and instead he said "baby eye-liner." Haha, thats a funny mistake. He must be spending too much time with Catherine when she is putting on make-up.

Christmas joy!

As Joshua was eating a christmas candy cane he joyfully exclaimed "Candy canes are my all time favorite!"

Merry Christmas! Glory to God in the Highest & Peace to His people on Earth!

My dear friends & family I wish to share the goodness of God with you! His blessings on our family have been so numerous this year! His greatest gift to us was the life & death of our dear son, Anthony Francis! Anthony, together with his brother David Mary have opened the flood gates of God’s goodness upon our family! When God took this second son of mine He literally stole my heart. Nothing matters to me in this world anymore. If God asked me for my house I would give it willingly for it is nothing in comparison to giving Him my son. Anthony’s death is a great blessing that flowed from the merciful heart of God. When I reflect on the moment of his death to this life my heart is pierced with the pain of anguish but at the same time it is immersed in joy & thanksgiving. How can this be? It is so because God is infinitely good! Through Jesus Christ He has turned our suffering to joy! In fact, suffering is a great gift in which we image Christ & draw God to ourself. What a paradox of faith that even suffering is joy!

If we reflect on the Christ child we understand that He was born into this world to die. The shadow of the cross is present even at His birth. For all of us we are born into this world to live. But our life is not in this world, it is in the next with God. At the moment of Anthony’s death he became the envy of us all because he entered the heavenly city & saw God face to face! For all eternity he will behold the face of God & give him ceaseless praise! Oh, may God grant this great gift to all my children!

And yet there is more to God’s goodness! We do not only experience & know His goodness when we die but it begins here on this earth. God desires to fill us even now with a lasting joy & peace. For a year now God has asked me bring the children to daily mass. Since the death of Anthony Francis I long to go because it is there where heaven touches earth & I can be with my sons who reside in the heart of my Eucharist Lord! Oh how I pray that you may all understand this great mystery! What joy is found in the presence of Christ! All things fade away but He remains eternal.

I never cease to be amazed at how God desires to pervade our whole lives even to the smallest detail. He desires an intimacy with us that is incomprehensible. So many times a prayer is barely even a thought before God answers me in abundance. It is as if He is aware of even the smallest flutter of my heart & He desires for me to know Him in the same way. God is so in love us that He took on our human nature to show to us how intimate He desires to be with us. Over & over in the scriptures He portrays himself as a bridegroom & we are the bride! What unfathomable love! I pray that you may all come to adore & love the Christ child this Christmas!

Not quite sure if it was me

Maria had built a duplo train and Joshua had built a duplo monster truck.
Anna left the room and when she returned the train was busted up.
Anna asked, "Joshua did you break Maria's train?"
Joshua slowly responded, "I just pushed the blue button on the big machine truck and it broke Maria's train... Did I break it? Yeah, I guess I broke it."

This kinda sounds like me when I say, "I didn't tickle you, my hand did." I guess I'll have model taking responsibility to the kids.

He prefers our nature over the angels...

I read this during eucharistic adoration last week and my mind has been going back to it constantly. I wanted to share it with everyone because I found it so meaningful.

The blessed sacrament is a magnet for souls. There is a mutual attraction between Jesus and the souls of men. Mary drew Him down from heaven. Our nature attracted Him rather than the nature of the angels. Our misery caused Him to stoop to our lowness. Even our sins had a sort of attraction for the abundance of His mercy and the predilection of His grace. Our repentance wins Him to us. Our love makes earth a paradise to Him; and our souls lure Him as gold lures a miser, with irresistible fascination.
~Fr. Frederick William Faber

Actually, my name is Cindy

My sister Cindy (Joshua's Aunt) is pregnant with my first neice, Gianna.

Lately Joshua has taken to pretenting that he is pregnant by putting a ball underneith his shirt. Sometimes if we call him Joshua he will correct us and say, "actually, my name is Cindy."
He says that he is carrying baby Gianna.
Yeah, I know this is kinda silly, but he thinks it is tons of fun to walk around the house like this.

Just fits

Maria just fits into the little front part of the shopping cart.

''Yeah, we tazy''

After going to early mass today we stopped at a park to play with the kids in the cold morning air. We wanted them to get out some energy before going grocery shopping. Our play time only lasted about 15 minutes because our cheeks and noses were getting so cold. As we were running back to the car shivering Anna asked the kids, ''are we crazy?''
Maria responded with a big smile on her face, ''Yeah, we tazy!''

Will we allow the Koran to enter the US Senate?

Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.

When all elected officials take their oaths of office with their hands on the Bible, they all affirm that some unifying value system underlies American civilization. If Keith Ellison is allowed to change that, he will be doing more damage to the unity of America and to the value system that has formed this country than the terrorists of 9-11.

If Senator-elect Ellison is allowed to swear-in using the Koran it will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones as they see the first sign of the realization of their greatest goal -- the Islamicization of America.

If you can spend 2 minutes to voice your opinion on this go to the AFA site Scroll down to the bottom and "take action" to automatically write letters to your senators.