Deep Thoughts by my 7-year-old

At the dinner table, Joseph announced, "When I get to heaven, do you know what the first thing I'm going to ask God is?"

"What will you ask him," I prompt.

"I'm going to ask Him what the world looked like before He created the heavens and the earth."

I told Joseph that his question was very deep, and then we discussed our guesses about how the world looked before God created it. We even read Genesis and discussed what a "formless wasteland" might look like...all of this while eating chicken nuggets :) I, too, have a few questions I'd like to ask God when I get up there, but I can't say that was one of them :)

10 Commandments for a Great Date (for women)

1. Thou shalt not go on a date whilst thou is PMSing.
2. Thou shalt not set thine expectations too high.
3. Thou shalt not give thy spouse the silent treatment when thine expectations are not met.
4. Thou shalt not expect thy spouse to bring thee out of the pit of despair if thine expectations have fallen.
5. Thou shalt not get bitter when thy beloved asks to drive by potential hunting prospects before reaching the restaurant.
6. Thou shalt not incessantly worry aloud about how the children are doing without thee.
7. Thou shalt not insist on being home by 7:00pm so that thy babysitter won't have to tuck thy precious children in bed.
8. Thou shalt not dwell upon thy spouse's shortcomings rather than the myriad reasons thou fell in love with him.
9. Thou shalt not selfishly desire to be adored and put on a pedestal whilst on a date.
10. Thou shall not try to discuss why the date failed at 11:00pm whilst thy sweetheart is nearly snoring.

Well, that about sums up our last date night and enlightens me as to why it was a failure. The next date will be better if I can but follow these 10 commandments :)

Maria's New Look

I guess I loved the new look of my blog so much that I decided I needed a "new look" too! After 6 years of long hair, I decided it was time for a change. I love the new style today. I hope I still like it tomorrow :}

Welcome to my Newly Designed Blog!

Welcome to my newly designed blog! Isn't it pretty!? For my birthday, my sweet friend Jenny paid to have a professional blog-designer named Jennisa help me spiff up my blog, and she did an amazing job! Thank you Jenny and Jennisa! I love it :)

1st Day of School "Blues"???

Well, as you can see in these photos, the only thing "blue" about the 1st day of school was my boys' uniforms! The boys were so excited to start school today as big 1st and 2nd graders! Even Dominic thought he was old enough to start school and ran upstairs to grab his backpack when it was time to go :) I have to admit I was a bit "blue" knowing that my 2 big boys wouldn't be home with me all day, but it sure helped knowing that they were happy about going and that they have such a faith-filled Catholic school where they learn more than just the 3 R's. Just as an example, I lingered a few extra minutes in Michael's classroom this morning just to make sure he was "settled," and the teacher had all of the kids and parents make a big circle so that we could all pray together for a safe, productive, and holy school year. How blessed we are to have such a great school with such loving and holy teachers! I often ponder and pray about whether God wants me to homeschool again, and perhaps He does someday, but for now I feel so peaceful and confident about where my boys are at.

Do these boys look blue to you?

Joseph is ready for 2nd grade!

Michael is ready for 1st grade!

Dominic thinks he's ready for school too!

Holy Zucchini!!!

I jokingly said, "Holy Zucchini" to the boys when they showed me what they picked from our garden earlier this week, but in some ways my joking remark is true. Our garden truly seems "blessed" this year! It is overflowing with produce, but thankfully I have three eager helpers! The boys picked these three huge zucchini's which produced 18 cups worth of shredded zucchini...and we still have many more growing in the garden!!! I can almost smell the tasty zucchini breads, cookies, and casseroles we will be making all year long! Speaking of which, if any of you have zucchini recipes to share, I'd sure love to try them!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Michael is our "ACT BEFORE YOU THINK" child. He was simply born this way (but I sure hope he grows out of it someday!) I can prove this point with many-a-story, but here is the latest one... While we were on one of our hikes this past weekend, Michael jumped up on a huge rock that was overlooking about a 15 foot drop (at least). I promptly scolded him to get down while having a mini heart attack, and I explained that if he fell (which was a high probability since he's also our clumsy child) he could have died. The friends we were hiking with have a 3-year-old daughter named Agnes who witnessed and overhead the whole affair, and she immediately added, "Yes, he would need a very big band-aid." Truly, out of the mouth of babes comes wisdom. :)


I didn't get a picture of Michael on the rock with the perilous drop off because I was too busy trying to get him off the rock. So you'll just have to look at this sweet picture of Michael standing on some smaller rocks in the middle of a freezing, rushing, mountain stream instead. I sure hope his guardian angel has fast wings and is willing to work overtime! :}