Wishing you a Blessed Easter!

A Blessed Easter Weekend to all of you

from our home to yours!

 

Here's some Easter artwork from my 3 oldest sons to put you in the Easter spirit...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Latest Masterpiece

All of our boys are very talented, and I love watching their different talents blossom as they mature.  Micheal appears to be very gifted in Math and all sports; Dominic is turning into a Lego-genius and quite a little pianist; Nathanael's true talents are yet to be discovered; and our son Joseph's most noticeable talent thus far is his artistic ability.  That boy can draw contentedly for hours!  Here is one of his latest masterpieces.  He's hoping to go fishing with Grandpa Pat this summer and make this scene come true :)

Gifts Given

For two months while I was confined to bedrest, my dear friends Mike and Margaret brought me the greatest Gift on earth every single day: my Savior Jesus Christ under the disguise of a humble piece of bread. The gift of the Eucharist was the highlight of my day while I rested and prayed for baby Nathanael to grow strong in my womb. I know the Eucharist helped me to grow stronger in my faith those two, long months. Each time I received Him, I could feel the anxiety leave my soul and be replaced with peace and joy. I treasured those minutes with Mike and Margaret every day... reading the Scriptures together, praying together, and being in the Presence of Jesus together. Receiving Jesus daily during that time on bedrest made my love and hunger for Him grow in a very beautiful way, and once my time on bedrest was complete I made a commitment to receive Jesus in the Eucharist as often as I could, for there is no greater Gift on this side of Heaven. I also made a commitment to find a way to thank Mike and Margaret for bringing me such a Great Gift. And so I started making them a gift of thanks...

My gift started with a simple rose, frayed around the edges to give texture and dimension (a tecnique called "French Roses" taught by quilter Heather French).

I followed with 9 more roses to represent the 10 roses we offer to Mary in a decade of the rosary (the word rosary actually comes from the word "rosario" (Latin for "rose") because each "Hail Mary" that we pray is like offering a rose to the Queen of Heaven).

Mary is our Queen and our heavenly Mother; how fitting to offer her roses just like a little child picks wildflowers to delight his or her mother! :) Let's surround Mary with roses every day!!!

As I stitched Our Blessed Mother's glowing halo and her tender hands folded in prayer, I tried to offer prayers of thanksgiving and blessing upon Mike and Margaret who, like Mary, glow with God's love.

For over 9 months I worked on this gift for them, designing every inch from Mary's rose-covered feet like she appeared to St. Bernadette, to the moon upon which she stood like the miraculous image on Juan Diego's tilma. Although Mary's true beauty far surpasses any image ever created, I prayed that Our Lady would be pleased with this humble quilt, and that Mike and Margaret's hearts would be touched as they touched mine.

What a sweet memory I will always carry, presenting them with this gift from my heart.

Margaret is such an inspiration to me...her deep faith, her love for Jesus and His mother, and her passion for defending the unborn. Margaret has faithfully prayed at Planned Parenthood every Friday for many years and has led numerous 40 Days for Life campaigns with me as her humble side-kick :) I wonder how many babies her prayers and loving witness have saved from abortion? I feel so blessed to be her friend.

Mary, my mother, I pray that you bless Mike and Margaret with graces galore for bringing me the Gift of your Son in such a beautiful way. And I pray that more and more people turn to you for help in times of trouble, for you are the loving mother to us all, guiding all souls to the only Source of Salvation, your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Break for Everyone (well, almost everyone)

My apologies for my lapse in blogging over the past week. We were on our Spring Break vacation in South Dakota...well, all of us that is except my very hardworking and generous husband got a break. Paul kindly offered to drive the boys and me 12 long hours to SD, and then he continued on driving another 14 hours to Oklahoma City for a week of FAA classes---then he drove back to pick us up and take us home. God bless him...truly. So, while my sweet husband was dutifully getting educated, the rest of us were having so much fun in SD that it's going to be hard for me to limit the number of photos I put in this post :)

Because the weather was not quite "Springy" yet in "balmy" South Dakota, we spent most of our time indoors, but that didn't seem to damper any one's spirits. Our days were filled with playing board games and card games, building model airplanes, reading aloud, drawing masterpieces, indoor roller-skating, and swimming at a hotel on the way home. Technically, this was Spring Break for the boys, but I feel like I was the one who had the best "break" of all... With Grandma and Grandpa around to play with the kids, I was able to do some "unaccompanied" shopping, catch up on my photo albums, finish a sewing project, go out to dinner with dear old friends, and best of all, I got to enjoy a peaceful hour of adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament! My spirit was certainly recharged during Spring Break! But I have to admit I'm a bit depressed today surrounded by my everyday routine and overwhelmed by all that needs to get done now that the break is over. I am so thankful for the best parents in the world who spoil the boys and me with all their love and attention when we visit. It was hard for us to say goodbye, but knowing that we will be making another trip to SD this summer made it a little bit easier. I'm glad to have captured a few of these precious memories on my camera to remind me of how blessed I am...may they somehow bless you too!

Michael enjoying special reading time with Grandma Theresa

Michael reading out loud to his attentive Grandpa Pat

Grandma Theresa reading to Joseph, Michael, and cousin Elizabeth in their fort


The boys enjoying an intense game of air-hockey


Dominic and Grandpa Pat going for a crazy race car ride

Joseph quickly picked up the knack for in line skating

Dominic and Mommy don't quite have the knack

Michael was the King of Limbo

Joseph often was occupied with his artwork

Michael and Dominic kept themselves busy with Lego's

Grandpa Pat helped the boys make their first-ever model airplanes

I can't even count the number of "So Sorry" games that were played

The boys at a hotel waterpark on the way home

Joseph being a bit too brave in the pool

Michael also being brave in the pool

Speechless

Speechless is the perfect title for this posting for two reasons:

1. I literally am speechless today. Over the last few days my voice has gradually disappeared, and now all that's left is a sound that resembles a dying frog. Perhaps this is my Lenten penance... God decided that I talk too much and need to listen more, so He MADE me give up talking. Really. I don't doubt it. He did it to Zechariah, didn't He? Truly, though, this is quite a sacrifice for this talkative red-head. I'm too humiliated to even answer the phone, unless a true kindred spirit calls who I know won't mind my croaky voice :) I know that "this too shall pass," but please help me pray that it passes quickly...and if anyone has any natural remedies to speed up the process, I'm "all" ears :)
   
2. The second reason I'm speechless is because of my eldest son's most recent drawings. I've always known he was a gifted artist, and most of the time I take it for granted because I'm so used to him drawing great pictures all day long. But every once in awhile, he'll show me a drawing that truly renders me speechless. I only wish he drew religious masterpieces rather than detailed dog-fighting scenes. Hopefully in time :) I'm sure Michelangelo would've drawn jet fighters if his father was a pilot and if jets existed at the time, right?
   
   
   
   

Bragging About Birds

I have spent the last month working with the 2nd grade students on their auction project for the school. Their teacher is a bird-lover, so she and I came up with the idea of having each child select a bird to paint onto a ceramic plate. Sounds simple...but it was a lot of work. I'll spare you the stressful details regarding all the hiccups we encountered during the project and simply let you enjoy the beautiful results. I am so proud of the students and they are so proud of themselves! The only sad part is that the kids don't get to keep their plates after all that hard work. The whole set of plates is going to be sold to the highest bidder at the school auction. Of course I hope the plates earn a handsome price for the school, but my bigger hope is that whichever parent wins the bid will keep their child's plate and kindly give the other plates to their rightful owners. I am so happy this project is complete and that all the plates turned out even better than I expected. "Thank you, Jesus!"

Here is Joseph's beautiful ring-necked pheasant.
He picked this bird in honor of his South Dakota roots :)

Here are the proud 2nd graders showing off their masterpieces!

Michael's Masterpiece

In my last post I included a picture that Joseph drew, so for the sake of equality (and because I'm one of those obnoxious bragging mothers) I wanted to show off Michael's newest creation. It is so fun for me to see how different each of our boys are, and their artwork exhibits their unique personalities so well. Joseph is always precise and realistic in his artwork; whereas, Michael displays supreme creativity and flair. This picture is of an airplane he invented called the Boeing 797. He tells me it has 20 engines (that way if one engine breaks down, there are still 19 others to get the passengers safely to their destination), an impressive 1000 ft wingspan, an airspeed of 80,000 mph (that's mach 40...faster than any jet on the planet), and can hold 136 passengers (and I recommend that they carry a puke bag since they will certainly be pulling some Gs!) :)

Jet Fever!!!

The Thunderbirds are in town and have brought "jet fever" to our household. The boys are flying jets all over the house and making masterpieces of jets when they need a break from flying. I asked them if they wanted to be jet pilots when they grow up, but they said they are still debating between pilot and priest...I told them why not be both! :) We attended the airshow on Friday, but Paul was the FAA personel in charge of the airshow, so he had to attend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday...he was in heaven despite it being hotter than heck. Even Paul got a bit enamored watching those jets and literally started musing about whether or not he could still be trained to be a jet pilot for the Reserves or National Guard! Hopefully that's just a passing thought! :} Here are a few photos capturing our jet craze so you know what I'm going through...

Here are the three little flyboys with the Thunderbirds parked behind them.

Here are the Thunderbirds literally flying towards a Montana thunderstorm!

Here's Joseph dreaming of being a flyboy!

Here's one of Joseph's many jet masterpieces!