Video Rental

I have recently been engaged on Pinterest ( of which I recommend as to the many great ideas posted on there) and found a wonderful service for Catholics. It is called Pius Media (www.piusmedia.com) it is basically Netflicks for Catholics. I just signed up yesterday. They have many movies, TV shows and CDs to choose from. Check it out. And if you are on Pinterest check my pins at Redrobinhat :)

Random thoughts

Last night my husband and I were able to attend the Miter Society Thanksgiving Mass and Reception. It was a nice event with Mass at the Indianapolis Cathedral and the reception following at The Catholic Center. We had the opportunity to meet Bishop Coyne. We requested and received a family blessing from him in honor of our expecting our 8th child this December. We sat with two lovely couples with good conversation during the evening. One of the couples was young, married 4 years and had no children. I don't know if they want children or not. But it was kind of an awkward moment because you don't want to press such personal subjects on those you have just met. But something just hangs in the air unsaid. We know another couple who seem to want to have children but none seem to come forth. Being a teacher of Pre-Cana and trained in Theology of the Body I have a wealth of information and resources that I would love to share but don't quite know how to go about asking them the questions that would give me the opening to share these gems. I am left to think of them and pray for them waiting for the opportunity to help if there is a need. I am also praying for an NFP OB practice to open in my area. The thought of fighting with my current practice over the multitude of tests they want to do is not something I am looking forward to. If I could only find a practice that is on the same page as me! I am called to witness again I guess! Lastly, a quote from The Apostolate of Holy Motherhood: " the Eucharist must be adored. Adore the Eucharist. The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus is the greatest gift God has given to men. Sadly, it is now not appreciated. This is a grave tragedy. My Son shed His blood for your sins. The least you can do is adore His Eucharistic Heart in the tabernacle." page 6.

The Apostolate of Holy Motherhood

I have just recently begun this Apostalate and have already been richly blessed with a deep personal peace and a more harmonious home. I will just give a quick list of all the apostolate entails referring to the book and then if you feel called you can pursue it further. -An Apostolate of mothers consecrated to the Mother of God for the glory of God -Pursuit of the Divine Will in their lives -Contemplative prayer -Eucharistic Adoration -Practice do evangelical purity -Devotion to the Christ Child, esteem and appreciation for children -Devotion to the Holy Family, communication of the faith to their children -Fifteen decade daily Rosary -Wearing the Scapular and the Sacred Heart Badge -Intense sacramental life, frequent Confession and Commumion -Devotion to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts -Practice of the 9 First Fridays and 5 First Saturadys, reparation for sin -Devotion to duty -Fidelity to the Holy Father, the Magisterium, and all the teachings of the Church (both faith and morals) -Upholding of all the moral teachings of the Church -Prayers for purity in the world -Prayers for the mitigation of suffering of innocent children in the world -Prayers for priests I am actively working on each of these with God's grace to sustain me! The book is written by Mark Miravalle published by The Riele Foundation. It is called The Apostolate of Holy Motherhood. God bless you, every day.

Prayer

Yesterday I attended our local Catholic mothers group for the first time in a year. For some reason lately I have been staying home a lot. It was so nice to see other mothers similar to myself, encouraging. Anyway, the subject of the meeting was prayer. Fitting subject for this season of Lent. Father Adam who gave the talk encouraged us to have a spiritual game plan (taken from "Handbook of Prayers" by James Socias, Midwest Theological Forum, pp 8-10). Which includes a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and always sections to really help and guide you. I suggest you look it up practicle guides can be very useful in our busy times of today. Father also said that it would be best to pray the Rosary as a family everyday. So I encourage you to pray the Rosary (even a decade) with your family everyday! We have been doing this for Lent this year and have found it to be very rewarding. Well I'd love to write more but I have a birthday girl awake from her nap. Blessings, I will remember all who read this blog in my Rosary tonight!

Family Pictures

Where have I been?

Hello all! Where have I been you wonder? Well I have been knee-deep in daily life! Having our 7th little blessing has really kept me busy ( along with all of the others). As I write this I have had to retrieve my sweet little baby from playing in the bathroom (yuck). She sure keeps me on my toes. But by the same token I couldn't possibly love her more. She has expanded my capacity to love so much over the last 11 months. Now I have been wondering and praying on the notion if I am called to have another child or not. It is uncertain as I prayerfully wait on God to reveal His will in my life. Lent is upon us what better time to ponder God and His will more fully? Well, life is calling again at least I got a few thoughts down, more to come and it won't be months before my next post!

Angels Watching Us

Well, we finally were able to get our angel statues for our entryway.  They are really beautiful and remind me to pray.  Something which I think we could all do more of, especiallly for me a busy Mom.  I try to make my whole day a prayer but many times I fall short and these statues are a wonderful reminder.   I know that some feel that statues and other art can distract you from our Lord but I feel like these help to bring me closer to Him.  They keep me mindful of God.

Angels pray for me and with me, Amen.

Summer Vacation, over already?

It is so hard to believe that school has started already and our summer vacation is over. Time really flew by! We had a simple enjoyable summer this year. The children were so excited to start school today. They were up early and ready to go in no time. This year I have a 5th, 4th and 1st graders. Our little school downtown is just so wonderful. The children attended Latin Mass today, what a great way to start the school year. The little ones I have at home played nicely together and didn't seem to miss their siblings all that much, which was a surprise to me. The day flew by(as usual) and it was time to pick them up from school. All went well during the school day according to most reports! Oh how I enjoy these days of being a mother! Thanks be to God for that.

Catching up

Well, it sure has been a while since my last post. I have no excuse except for the 6 small children I have tugging at my so called "apron strings".  So much is going on these days.  First I will start with my accomplishments.  The one I am most excited about is that I have been able to make enough breast milk for our new little one now just 3 months old.  She started out at 6 pounds, 13 ozs. and now she is 12 lbs 2 ozs.! With no supplementation.  How wonderful!  I have a history of difficulty with milk production and have relied on Reglan to boost my meager supply.  For this time I have been really trying to stay off of that stuff as there is a potential for nasty side effects.  I am taking 3 supplements to help me out and they seem to be working quite well   without the risks associated with Reglan.   I am very happy with how nursing is going this time.  I have learned a little with each nursing experience and have improved each time.  Breastfeeding has always been a struggle for me for many reasons (latching problems, thrush, jaundice, mastitis, plugged ducts, food allergies, and low production).  I have had some sort of challenge with each of my 6 babies, but through sheer stubbornness I have overcome each challenge (save for the 1st baby) and have fully breastfed 5 babies none of which have ever had formula or a bottle.  Breastfeeding is THAT important to me.  The benefits for my babies are undeniable.  Anyway enough of that!

We just had my brother and his new fiance' visit with us for a week.  What an awesome visit.  They are great!  The children really enjoyed spending time with them.  We are so looking forward to the wedding and the possibility of my brother coming into the Church.  That is an answer to prayer!  He is open to attending RCIA, please anyone who reads this please say a prayer for his success. 
On another note poor Froggy he just got expanders put into his mouth and is quite uncomfortable.  I know that this too will pass but my heart goes out to him.  A mother is never good with one of her little ones being in pain.
There is more to tell you but no more time.  Until I blog again...take care!

Lenten Activities

This year in addition to our "Crown of Thorns" (see last year's post) we did a tree.  When the children do something extra they are able to put their name on a leaf and glue it to our bare tree. Thus at the end of Lent our tree will be full of leaves as if Spring came!  The children are so excited about this activity and have been doing lots of extras to help put leaves on the tree.  And with a new baby in the house there have been lots of opportunities to do things to help out.  So, what do you think? :)

Those early newborn days

Here I am again for the 6th time immersed in the newborn baby time. A time of very little sleep, trying to rest and recover from childbirth, nursing and sustaining a new life and falling in love even more with this little person who just spent 9 months residing under my heart. What a blessed time. I marvel at the goodness of God and the incredible gifts that he bestows upon us so generously! It is so wonderful to watch Big Daddy love his new little baby. All of her siblings simply adore her and each want to hold her as much as possible between feedings and diaper changes. We were especially concerned about how Little Buddy would react and were quite pleasantly surprised by how he loves "his baby". He loves to hold her and give her kisses! It is so cute. It is really amazing to experience how God multiplies my capacity to love for each new child He has given us. What a wonderful time for our family.

Our new blessing

Born March 7th

TY2010

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An Advent Blessing-Snow!

Today we had or 3rd snow of the season.  It is just so nice to have snow on the ground during Advent.  My preparations for the coming of our Lord's birthday have been going really well.  I am very busy of course but in a good way.  We have a couple of traditions that we do each year that help with preparing for the Christmas Season.  First we have the Advent wreath, we have an elf that visits us each year to report about the children to St. Nicholas, we do activities on an advent calendar, we do the Advent Adventures with Holy Heroes (www.holyheroes.com) and new this year we are making Jessie tree ornaments.  On Christmas day each child recieves 3 gifts (as Jesus did) and Santa brings each child one.  Santa also fills their stockings with little things.  After opening gifts we have a nice breakfast and then play until our dinner of ham, etc...  May God bless you this Advent Season and this Christmas!

Thanksgiving visit

We are heading back to PA for Thanksgiving soon!  It is really coming up fast.  We are so looking forward to visiting with family and friends alike.  We hope to see as many friends as possible given the short time.  We miss everyone so much!  Looking forward to catching up.  :)

We are having a....

We had our mid-pregnancy ultrasound today.  Thanks be to God that everything looks as it should with no idications of abnormality or complications.  We found out the sex of the baby today and it is a .... call me! lol

Speaking of Life

I just found a great blog dedicated to life when I was researching certain company's links to Planned Parenthood. It is www.erasetheneed.wordpress.com I was looking at the October 7 entry regarding the Susan G Komen Foundation and their link to Planned Parenthood. Things in life are rarely cut and dry but there are a lot of shades of gray for us to grapple with. This entry helped me to decide what I think is right (from a Catholic perspective). I hope that you will visit this site and talk with others about this important subject.

40 Days for Life

An update on the 40days for life campaign going on until Oct. 31st (you still have time to fast and pray!) as of day 20 238 little babies have been saved! How wonderful keep up the good work out there! Our school is going to Planned Parenthood this Friday to pray, will you pray for an end to abortion too? God bless.

40 days for life

As of the 13th day of the current 40 days for life campaign 138 babies have been saved!  Thanks be to God!  Keep up the prayers and fasting.

Saving money

This week I attended our Mother's group and they had a great subject this meeting-saving money!  Two of the ladies shared some wonderful information with us about coupons, freebies and their strategies for saving in their households.
They shared that you can download coupons right to your Kroger card!  How wonderful!  Printable coupons are available at http://www.coupons.com/ and http://www.print.coupons.com/  Daily deals can be found at http://www.groupon.com/  A good blog out there to catch deals is http://www.gooddealmama.com/  There are so many ways to save out there once you start surfing the web on this topic there are hundreds of free products and coupons to be had.  Happy shopping!