Monday, March 30, 2009

Monday, Monday

What a beautiful day! I woke up to blue sky and birds singing...and a pulled back muscle! So, instead of being able to spend the day taking the kids to the park, I am sitting in the only comfortable position I can find. I cannot lift anything, it hurts to move, and if I need to walk I have to be hunched over.

How am I managing this with three kids at home? Well, Sophia is super helpful. She helped dress Vibiana and herself - she did o.k.with Vibiana, but Sophia is wearing a nice skirt and mismatched knee socks. Sebastian insisted on picking out his own clothes, which is why he is wearing Darian's shirt and Sophia's shorts. No one got their hair combed, teeth brushed or face washed. I set up the diaper changing station on the hearth of the fireplace (since I can't lift anyone onto the actual changing table) so at least their butts are clean.

While I sit here "relaxing", the dishes are piling up, the laundry is multiplying and I won't even mention the state of my living room. Oh well. At least I get to spend the day with my feet up!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Goodbye, Grandma

Last evening, after a long illness, my grandmother passed away. We will miss her, but I am comforted knowing that she doesn't hurt anymore.

Darian, as usual, helped to put it all in perspective.

After I told him, he was sad and let me hold him while he cried. This morning, just before leaving for school, he said "Mom, I'm kind of glad that Grandma Monica died."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Now that she is a saint in heaven, I know she will be with me at my First Communion. She wanted to go, but when she was alive she was too sick. Now, she isn't sick anymore."

Rest in Peace, Grandma.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The "teenagers"

Well, our "teenagers" left us this morning. They were not actually teenagers, they were young adults. And, they were not on retreat, they are leading the retreat. They are a group called NET Team and basically what they do is travel around the country for nine months and lead retreats for the youth.

What a fabulous group! This is a group of young people, many of them discerning vocations to the religious life, living and sharing their faith. This was a group of "kids" filled with love for God. It was really wonderful to spend an evening with them and see the Holy Spirit at work in our youth.

Praise God!

Monday, March 9, 2009

How do you say no to nun?

I, apparently, don't.

Over the past few years our family has grown very close to "our" sisters at Mt. Carmel. So, when Sr. Gabriela called this afternoon and said, "We need to ask for some charity" I thought, okay, I can afford to help with something.

Then came the kicker.

"We are hosting a retreat for a group of young people who are traveling from out of state and we are in need of homes to house the teenagers."

Teenagers!! Seriously??!!

She quickly explained that it would only be for one night next week.

I, very hesitantly, said that I would need to talk to Jason.

"Oh, God bless you!," she said, "We are having such a hard time finding people willing to be hospitable to the youth, and I told Sr. Benedicta that we could count on your family!"

At that point, how could I say no? So, next week, we will have two retreatants staying the night...pray for us! And pray for me...I haven't told Jason yet!

Darian's new rosary

Yesterday, we opted to attend mass at Valyermo with the monks. We all love attending there once in awhile, it is a nice change of pace.

After mass, Darian wanted to say hello to Fr. John Bosco. Father has known Darian for about 4 years now. We got to talking and Fr. John asked Darian when he was making his First Communion. We told him the date and that Darian would be making his First Reconciliation this Saturday.

Fr. John asked us to wait a few minutes, he had something for Darian. He went into the monastery and came back a few minutes later with a rosary for Darian. He told Darian that it was a nice, sturdy rosary that would last him awhile. We said our thanks and went on our way.

As we were walking to the car, I asked to see the rosary. I discovered that this was definitely not just any rosary. Some of the beads show some wear and the face of the crucifix is worn smooth. This rosary is obviously a well used, often prayed rosary. We talked about the special gift he had been given, and Darian immediately began planning how he would keep it safe.

God bless you, Fr. John Bosco, for helping pave the path for our son.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

RE Congress weekend

Jason and I spent last weekend at the Los Angeles archdiocesan Religious Education Congress. We were very fortunate and heard some great speakers, nothing too "out there". Some of our friends were not so lucky, so we are feeling especially blessed. One of our friends had a speaker that told the group that they shouldn't teach about mortal sin anymore because it might hurt people's feelings. Do you think their feelings will be intact while they burn in hell??!!

Seriously though, we had some fabulous talks. A theme that I got from all was a reminder to be strong in our faith and don't be afraid or ashamed to preach the truth! Definitely a message we can all use. One of my favorites was Fr. Tony Ricard. If you have never had a chance to hear him, you should. He is highly entertaining with a great message. We purchased a CD of his talk so if anyone wants to borrow it, just let me know.

God Bless!