Easter Art

My boys made these pictures for their Great Grandma who hasn't been feeling well lately. I hope these pictures fill her heart with Easter joy and help to prepare her soul to meet her Savior someday soon.

A Blessed Good Friday to all of you! Indeed it is good, for by His wounds we are healed!

The Beauty of the Cross

Last weekend I was tired. Very tired. Lately, my sweet Nathanael wants my company about every hour during the night. I love his company, but I also dearly love sleep. Over time, the lack of sleep starts taking its toll. I guess you could say the toll was collected this weekend. Emotionally and spiritually I fell into a very dark place for a couple of days. I was not patient with my children. I was not loving toward my husband. Fatigue made my small cross seem overshadowing, weighing me down with sadness and, at times, almost consuming me with bitterness. Like the photo above, my cross looked dark. My eyes refused to see its beauty.

Our crosses should not have that affect.

Our crosses, when carried with Christ and for Christ should bring us JOY.

It is the evil one who distorts our perspectives, steals the joy, and tries to discourage us from carrying our cross; he tries to make us think our cross is too heavy, and to look elsewhere for joy. True joy can only come from doing God's will. The cross of self-less love is God's will. Whereas, self-love is the will of the evil one.

Last weekend I listened to the lies of the evil one. Satan likes to pounce when we are tired and weak, and I feel like I lost many spiritual battles this weekend. I chose self-love rather than self-less love. I picked open old wounds that Christ keeps trying to heal. I chose not to love because I wasn't feeling loved. In other words I was not being Christ-like at all. That's the bad news. But the good news, the reason I am sharing my weekend's weakness with you, is to show you that there is hope when we fall. The beauty of the cross is that it symbolizes a merciful God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to die so that we can be forgiven. A God who delights when we come out of the darkness and bask in His light. I am astounded at how quickly my mood and my perspective has changed this week after asking for God's forgiveness (and my husband's too!) :} This week, fittingly as Easter draws near, I am rejoicing in His forgiveness, clinging to His promises, refusing to be consumed by selfishness...trusting that (sleep or no sleep) He will give me the grace to choose joy and see the beauty in my cross because it makes me more Christ-like.

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. His mercies are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

P.S. Thanks, Jenny, for this beautiful cross in my kitchen--a constant reminder that the crosses I am asked to carry can be beautiful when looked at with eyes of faith.

Have a blessed Holy Week!!!

5 Month Update

Nathanael turned 5 months old last week. I know it's cliche to say it, but his time with us sure has flown by. It seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. He continues to be a delight...so smiley, so easy (during the day, that is). This month he had his first cold---thankfully a mild one. He has rolled over both ways a few times. He has mastered the art of eating mush, but still has not mastered the art of sleeping. He actually seems to be regressing in that department, much to my dismay. He had been sleeping a 4 or 5 hour stretch at night, and now he's back to waking every hour or two. I thought it was just a growth spurt, but it's been going on now for a few weeks. He nurses for just a minute or two and falls right back to sleep, so obviously he's not waking from hunger but rather out of habit or for reassurance. I'd be all ears for tips! I know the goal is to teach him to comfort himself when he wakes up instead of needing to nurse for comfort, but I'm not sure my heart can handle the "tough love" (a.k.a. crying) it might take to teach him this important lesson. Please pray for my parenting wisdom, patience, and perseverance to function joyfully during the day on very little sleep...I'm especially in need of joy...I seem to have run out :} Thank you!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

"1st Game of the Season Pre-Game Photo" taken by a very proud momma who sadly had to miss the game due to mastitis and a baby with a cold :( I'm told it was a mighty exciting game... Joseph's team was behind by one, two outs, the final batter at the plate with two runners on base. The batter jacked one to the outfield bringing the two runners home and ending the game with a 13 to 12 score! Hurray for team red, white, and blue!!! (It's probably better that I wasn't there...my obnoxious cheering might have embarrassed my boy. Poor kid...it's only a matter of time.) :}

Favorite Things

The other day Dominic found my little digital camera and had a ball taking pictures of his favorite things. I know I probably should not have let him play with such an expensive "toy," but the delight on his face while he was snapping photos of Orcy the Orca and Sparkles the Shark was just priceless. He even snapped a few candid shots of Nathanael and I, which turned out a bit blurry, but I will still treasure them always. Watching the joy on Dominic's face as he took photos of his favorite things reminded me how I need to be thankful for the ordinary moments of my day and to rejoice in the "favorite things" that are right in front of me that I often fail to see. Right now some of my favorite things are:

• nursing my Nathanael as he unlatches to give me a big toothless smile


• seeing my boys play baseball together in the backyard...brothers and the best of friends


• being comforted by my husband's calming spirit and his warmth next to me at night


• hearing Dominic say "Mommy" 10,000 times per day with his sweet high-pitched voice


• sipping hot coffee with lots of cream and sugar to help me get through my sleep-deprived day


• finding a quiet moment to read a good book or an encouraging blog to recharge my tired soul


• talking to kindred spirit friends


• soaking in a hot bubble bath

Those are a few of my favorite things this week. Just writing them down brightened my mood just now (which needed brightening as I'm feeling kinda lousy with a mastitis infection today). I encourage you, my kind readers, to ponder what are your "favorite things" today...look for them, write them down, and let them lift you up.

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." Philippians 4:8

Dominic's favorite things right now: Spakles, Orc, and Orcy :)

Nathanael's favorite things both start with "M": milk and mommy

Dominic holding some of his favorite things. His sweet smile is one of my favorite things :)

Two of my favorite things: nursing and sipping sweet tea

I'd love to hear what some of your favorite things are this week :)

Michael's Nerf Birthday Bash

Michael turned 8 this week (April 3rd to be exact) and chose a Nerf theme for his party. He wanted to have a big Nerf war with his best buddies, and they all had a blast playing "Capture the Rag" across the street at the baseball field. To make the war even more exciting, God caused snow to fall on the troops, adding a whole new level of manliness and determination to the game :) After the big battle, in which the Birthday Boy's team emerged victorious (how fitting), the boys returned for pizza, ice cream cake from Dairy Queen (I gave up baking for Lent), and the opening of presents. Michael received a few new Nerf guns, a Nerf football, the Military Combat DVD series from the History Channel, season 2 of MacGyver (OK, I admit I picked that gift), a die cast airplane, some fishing lures, and a very special St. Michael necklace from Grandma Theresa (which was the smallest but favorite gift of all). All in all, it was a boy's dream birthday come true. How Michael wishes every day could be so fun, and how glad I am that every day is not...a mother can only handle that much chaos and testosterone in her house once a year! :)

Michael, we love you more than all the Nerf darts in our house, minus the ones that our cat has eaten, times the number of Nerf guns we own, plus infinity...squared! Now that's a whole lot of love! :)

Michael with his "Nerf Master" ice cream cake from DQ...

Michael with "The Last Supper" puzzle from his friend Brendan...

Michael with a new N-Strike Nerf gun and some extra darts...

The Nerf war party after the "Capture the Rag" game was complete (notice that they don't seem to mind their frost burned cheeks one bit)...

Joseph and Michael getting all set up for the big battle...laying out all the guns with baggies filled with 10 of the correct darts for each gun (to keep the game fair, each soldier was given the same number of darts even though some guns hold more and some hold less...the boys thought of every detail)...

Michael proudly showing his new St. Michael medal, which he has been wearing faithfully and probably always will...

Dear St. Michael, please defend our Michael in battle until the real war is won and he joins you in Heaven to praise God with all the angels and saints forever!