Stressed...but very Blessed

Summer is here!  Does that make anyone else want to dance for joy?!  This year, I'm pretty sure I was ready for summer more than any other year.  To be perfectly honest, this past school year was the...most...stressful...one...eeevverrrr---for a litany of reasons:

My teenagers had a tough teacher that made their year miserable,
               but by God's grace we got through it.
All of the boys got a horrible case of the hand, foot, and mouth virus,
               but by God's grace we got through it.
My husband and I had a mini marriage crisis this Fall,
               but by God's grace we got through it.
Spring rains and snowmelt caused natural springs and flooding in our backyard (and our basement),
               but by God's grace we got through it.
Dominic got a  rare bone infection in his knee and spent a stressful week in the hospital,
               but by God's grace we got through it.
Dominic's hospital trauma ushered us onto a path we never imagined---the path of panic attacks,
               but we are trusting in God's grace to get us through this day by day.

It would take me pages to elaborate on each item in that litany, but I'm sure you get the jist of it from those few lines.  Our family has been carrying some crosses, but there have been so many blessings along the way.  God has been with us each and every step--consoling us, and helping us carry the crosses He chose for us...crosses that we trust are making us holier, teaching us lessons we may have never learned otherwise, and turning the trials into blessings that someday we will praise Him for when we look back with hindsight and clearer understanding.  Actually, we praise Him now, because we know He is good and is doing something good even though we don't quite understand it yet.

Still, I would like to ask sincerely for prayers.  We are still going through some very difficult times with Dominic's panic attacks.  We are trying everything we can think of to quicken his healing:  counseling, neurofeedback, occupational therapy, probiotics, yogurt, kefir, inositol supplements, neurotransmitter testing, essential oils, breathing techniques, countless rosaries and chaplets...  I do think he is getting better each week, but the progress is slower than we imagined.  He is having fewer panic attack than he did during the school year, but they are still there...and our whole family lives in apprehension of when the next one will hit.  They are sudden.  They are scary---for Dominic and also for anyone who is around to witness them.  He has at least one per week, and it is affecting his lifestyle.  I can't send him to church camp.  I can't send him to someone's house for a playdate.  I don't know if I can send him to school next year.  So please help us pray for quick and miraculous healing, and also for guidance for my husband and I as we navigate this new road that we previously knew nothing about.  It has been very humbling.  We have made some mistakes.  But God's mercies are new every morning and we do trust that He will work all of this for good in His perfect timing.  We welcome any advice and all the prayers you can send our way!

And I will leave you with some "praise pictures."  The last 12 months have been very hard, but I still have been noticing blessings all around me.  This Summer has been especially full of the blessings of nature that have been like healing balm to my cracked and weary heart.  May the beauty and colors bring joy to your heart too!

I planted tulips last Fall and it was so beautiful to see them bloom this Summer---the first flashes of color in our backyard.  Tulips are special to me because they remind me of my mother and her mother who also loved tulips.

This picture shows the natural springs flowing from the ground in our backyard.

Thankfully, we were able to divert most of the spring water into our pond,

but some of it caused minor flooding in our yard and in our basement.

Pink Bleeding Hearts remind me of the Sacred Heart of Jesus...

White Bleeding Hearts remind me of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

We were blessed to watch these baby robins grow day by day in their nest on our backyard gate.  

I cannot believe how quickly they grew from skin and fuzz to feathers and flight!

The mix of struggle and beauty that I find myself in reminds me of the beautiful old hymn, "How Can I keep from Singing."  (Which, ironically, our son Dominic loves and can play by ear on both the piano and the cello).  If' you've never heard it, I highly recommend listening to it on YouTube, sung by Catholic artist Audrey Assad.  Here is the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li2hddmy63U.  Or, you can just read the beautiful lyrics that are both poetic and true:

My life flows on in endless song;

Above earth's lamentation,

I hear the sweet, tho' far-off hymn

That hails a new creation;

Thro' all the tumult and the strife

I hear the music ringing;

It finds an echo in my soul—

How can I keep from singing?

What tho' my joys and comforts die?

The Lord my Saviour liveth;

What tho' the darkness gather round?

Songs in the night he giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm

While to that refuge clinging;

Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,

How can I keep from singing?

I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;

I see the blue above it;

And day by day this pathway smooths,

Since first I learned to love it,

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,

A fountain ever springing;

All things are mine since I am his—

How can I keep from singing?

Another April Birthday

We have 2 April birthday boys in our family--a big one and a little one (although even my little one isn't so little any more!).  Isaiah turned FIVE this year!!!  My baby is about to start kindergarten and is getting too big for me to carry any more!  But, he still loves to hold my hand, follow me wherever I go, snuggle, read books, wants to be near me and talks to me non-stop, so for all those things I am soooooo thankful.  My other April birthday boy no longer does any of those things, so I'm going to soak in Isaiah's sweetness as long as I can!  :)

Here are photos from his special day.  We just celebrated as a family---minus our two teenagers who were at baseball---but Isaiah felt happy and loved and special nonetheless. 

Here is Isaiah holding the LEGO Luke Skywalker that he picked out with his birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa, while sitting on the Star Wars blanket that Grandma Theresa made for him.

What JOY he has added to our family!  God knew Isaiah was just what our family needed, and I am so thankful to be his mommy.  May God guide him closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus with each passing year and may he always know he is loved more than all the Legos or Star Wars movies ever made! 

May the Force 

(oops, I mean Holy Spirit) 

be with you always! :)

And just for fun, I thought I'd throw in a couple of pictures from his very first birthday!  He had no idea what to do with that candle or that chocolate cupcake! :)  He's come a long way since then! 

Spring Break Recap

Well, now that we are FINALLY having Spring weather, I will finally post our Spring Break photos from way back in March!  :)

We chose a new destination this year:  Winter Park, Colorado.  Paul has a cousin who works as the PR person for the Winter Park Ski Resort, so he was able to give us free lift tickets for the whole family for as many days as we wanted!!!  That's what made the trip possible, and we were so grateful for this fun opportunity.  Thank you, cousin Steve! 

It was a looooonnnng road trip to get to Winter Park.  It took us 15 hours to get there due to a snow storm that slowed us down.  I think it took about 12 hours on the way home.  But, the kids did great in the car!  They have become terrific travelers, and all of us enjoy listening to good books on tape to pass the time quickly.  This time we listened to the book, "Unbroken," which we highly recommend.  What an inspirational story of perseverance, forgiveness, and miraculous conversion.

Once we arrived at Winter Park, we had a blast at the condo.  It was lovely, with lots of space and a wonderful rec center with a nice swimming pool, pool table, and work-out room.  One of the big bummers of the trip was that Dominic was not able to ski due to his recent bone infection that he was still recovering from.  But thankfully he had plenty of fun swimming, playing the iPad, and two days of snow-tubing instead of skiing! :)

On this trip, we decided to let our teenagers go off and explore on their own---which was hard for their worry-wort momma!  :}  They had a blast at the terrain parks and the double black diamond runs!  Crazy boys.  One lesson they learned was to always wear sunscreen, or at least a buff to cover their face, because they ended up with wicked sun and wind burns.  That was partially my fault, because I forgot that you can still get sun-burnt even when you're playing in the snow.  But I think they would say it was totally worth it :}

As for the little boys, they had fun learning to become better little skiers.  Natey did fantastic!  Last year I think he only skied once at our local ski hill, but this year he quickly graduated from the easy green runs to the tougher blue runs.  Isaiah was a different story...  This was Isaiah's first year on skies, and he spent most of his time laying in the snow, whining, and waiting for Paul to pick him up and carry him down the mountain :}  We should have put him in lessons.  Lesson-learned.  I'm guessing that next year will be much better.  I cannot believe that we now have our whole family in skis and that we can all be together on ski hills.  I dream of many fun skiing vacations ahead!  It's a new chapter for our family, and I like it :)

And now for the picture-story :)

Abundant blessings 

on your Spring and Summer!!!