Its a good thing the hoodie still fits me because the overalls did not. They were being held up by the straps and one button on the top. I have to admit - the hardest part of the whole experience wasn't the shovelling, but getting into the boots and overalls and getting back out. That was more work than the shovelling!!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Ask and Ye Shall Receive!!!
We wished for snow and POOF here it is. The kids were giddy little school boys when they woke up to snow. There was just over a foot of snow. I didn't measure exactly, but the ruler did disappear in the snow about lunch time. After it stopped snowing, the two big boys and I shovelled off the driveway in front of the garage. I thought the occasion deserved a photo op. Here I am - looking all pregnant (Week 37, Day 5), all decked out for winter.
Its a good thing the hoodie still fits me because the overalls did not. They were being held up by the straps and one button on the top. I have to admit - the hardest part of the whole experience wasn't the shovelling, but getting into the boots and overalls and getting back out. That was more work than the shovelling!!
Its a good thing the hoodie still fits me because the overalls did not. They were being held up by the straps and one button on the top. I have to admit - the hardest part of the whole experience wasn't the shovelling, but getting into the boots and overalls and getting back out. That was more work than the shovelling!!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Expecting
We are expecting snow again this week. I am happy for the boys, whose faces drop every time the temperatures rise. Its a sad, sad day when the snow melts. Sad for boys who want to play in the snow and sad for mommy who doesn't want to deal with MUD. We have found many low areas that need gravel - like the entire driveway and in front of the garage!!!
I thought it would be cool to post a picture from when I was kid. This is when they said snow, it meant snow!! I somewhat miss those days. Now South Dakota mostly has a few snowflakes and lots of wind. Always wind. Michigan has snow, but rarely wind where we are. That's such a switch from my childhood. I suppose, as I ponder that more, its a good thing. A couple of my boys would probably get swept away - silly skinny minnies!!!
I thought it would be cool to post a picture from when I was kid. This is when they said snow, it meant snow!! I somewhat miss those days. Now South Dakota mostly has a few snowflakes and lots of wind. Always wind. Michigan has snow, but rarely wind where we are. That's such a switch from my childhood. I suppose, as I ponder that more, its a good thing. A couple of my boys would probably get swept away - silly skinny minnies!!!
This is a picture of my brothers, our neighbor and myself on top of some serious snow! This was in 1988 as far as the picture says. I remember this being the highlight of the day. And NO it didn't snow that much, I do believe (correct me if I'm wrong Dad) that this was blown up and pushed up into this pile. There might even be a stack of hay bales somewhere under all that snow. Either way - its a lot of snow and my boys would probably pass out from pure joy if they found a drift like that in our back yard.
I hope you will continue to survive winter. Look for the blessings of snow, look past the frustrations. Spring is on its way, which leads to summer. We all know summer means heat and bugs. I'd rather have snow I think....
Thursday, March 17, 2011
St. Patrick's Day
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! This is one of my favorite holidays of the year. We always decorate and dress up to celebrate. In recent years we have hosted a St. Patrick's Day party on the Sunday closest to St. Patrick's Day. This year we are planning it for next Sunday.
A handful, plus years ago my parents had a St. Patrick's Day party down at their sod farm for the family. We were unable to attend, but I was informed later that I was there anyway. Here is a picture of a poster that my mother made and hung up that night.
It says:
This poster requested by: Darren Gebes
And of course there is a "lovely" picture of me. Oh family - gotta love them!! All of them!
A handful, plus years ago my parents had a St. Patrick's Day party down at their sod farm for the family. We were unable to attend, but I was informed later that I was there anyway. Here is a picture of a poster that my mother made and hung up that night.
It says:Irish Superstition
A red-haired woman is UNLUCKY.
Said to be typically Irish, red-haired women were nonetheless treated
with great suspicion, and if a man met one as he was going to work he
would almost certainly forget all about his labors and go home.
This poster requested by: Darren Gebes
And of course there is a "lovely" picture of me. Oh family - gotta love them!! All of them!
Afternoon Well Spent
Our afternoon without the children turned into one of hurry up and wait - on everyone else.
We had to do some banking, which took longer than we figured. I'm glad it is done and over with and thankful we didn't try to do it online!
Then off to the Chevy dealer for a good round or three of dealing. In the end we bought a 2011 Chevy Express 2500 12 seater van. Its has just about everything we wanted, with exception of a hitch. We added that as an option - and we were all good. Its a dark gray stone color. Its currently hanging out in the doom and gloom of Chicago - but we expect to be liberated and in our possession within a week. I was the first to sign the papers so I wrote the down payment check as well. Nothing like Darren being able to say "Its all your fault, " if something goes wrong. He's such a nice guy that he won't say that, but maybe think it! Jokingly?!
Those three rounds of dealing ate up much of our shopping time. We high-tailed it to Green Bay to a good grocery store. Since we hadn't been shopping at this store as often as others - it took a bit longer. BUT I was a trooper and power walked the whole store. We bought an overflowing cart of groceries in an hour (new record for very pregnant me). Then off to Chili's for a quick supper of chicken fajitas.
We arrived at the theatre about 15 minutes before the show was to begin. It was busy! Then I did something extremely STUPID. I forgot Darren's ticket in the pickup, which he had just parked a LONG ways away. SOO, he had to hurry himself back to the pickup and got to his seat with about 4 minutes to spare. Thank goodness he loves me.
The Riverdance. WOW - there was good music, dancing, beautiful costumes, EXCELLENT music, impressive dancing, cute guys and beautiful girls, did I mention the incredible music. The drummer and fiddle player - IMPRESSIVE!!!!! The drummer worked just as hard as the dancers. He probably slept good last night.
The dancers were wonderful, as expected. The stage was smaller than I thought it would be, but the managed to give a great show none the less. COOL BEANS!
I wish I had pictures to post, but I don't. I am listing some links for you to see who performed and what they did.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/official_riverdance/5473769448/ this one is of the lead female dancer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/official_riverdance/5369382243/ this is the lead male dancer. He was incredible. After his opening dance, I turned to Darren and asked him how many young ladies he thought just fell in love. He kept the dances fun by always smiling at us and the other dancers. Amazing!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/official_riverdance/5369978696/ this is from my favorite part of the show. There was a "dance off" of sorts from the tap dancers and Irish dancers. This is a picture of what it looked like when the Irish dancers were making fun of the tap dancers. The Tap dancers took their turns at making fun of the Irish dancers as well. I laughed quite a bit. There was also a rivalry between the fiddle player (on the Irish side) and the saxophone player (on the tapper's side).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/official_riverdance/5473165899/ this is the tappers having fun. They were really good too.
Overall we had a great time and got home about 11:30 PM. It was well worth the time and expense to see them. Impressive!!
We had to do some banking, which took longer than we figured. I'm glad it is done and over with and thankful we didn't try to do it online!
Then off to the Chevy dealer for a good round or three of dealing. In the end we bought a 2011 Chevy Express 2500 12 seater van. Its has just about everything we wanted, with exception of a hitch. We added that as an option - and we were all good. Its a dark gray stone color. Its currently hanging out in the doom and gloom of Chicago - but we expect to be liberated and in our possession within a week. I was the first to sign the papers so I wrote the down payment check as well. Nothing like Darren being able to say "Its all your fault, " if something goes wrong. He's such a nice guy that he won't say that, but maybe think it! Jokingly?!
Those three rounds of dealing ate up much of our shopping time. We high-tailed it to Green Bay to a good grocery store. Since we hadn't been shopping at this store as often as others - it took a bit longer. BUT I was a trooper and power walked the whole store. We bought an overflowing cart of groceries in an hour (new record for very pregnant me). Then off to Chili's for a quick supper of chicken fajitas.
We arrived at the theatre about 15 minutes before the show was to begin. It was busy! Then I did something extremely STUPID. I forgot Darren's ticket in the pickup, which he had just parked a LONG ways away. SOO, he had to hurry himself back to the pickup and got to his seat with about 4 minutes to spare. Thank goodness he loves me.
The Riverdance. WOW - there was good music, dancing, beautiful costumes, EXCELLENT music, impressive dancing, cute guys and beautiful girls, did I mention the incredible music. The drummer and fiddle player - IMPRESSIVE!!!!! The drummer worked just as hard as the dancers. He probably slept good last night.
The dancers were wonderful, as expected. The stage was smaller than I thought it would be, but the managed to give a great show none the less. COOL BEANS!
I wish I had pictures to post, but I don't. I am listing some links for you to see who performed and what they did.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/official_riverdance/5473769448/ this one is of the lead female dancer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/official_riverdance/5369382243/ this is the lead male dancer. He was incredible. After his opening dance, I turned to Darren and asked him how many young ladies he thought just fell in love. He kept the dances fun by always smiling at us and the other dancers. Amazing!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/official_riverdance/5369978696/ this is from my favorite part of the show. There was a "dance off" of sorts from the tap dancers and Irish dancers. This is a picture of what it looked like when the Irish dancers were making fun of the tap dancers. The Tap dancers took their turns at making fun of the Irish dancers as well. I laughed quite a bit. There was also a rivalry between the fiddle player (on the Irish side) and the saxophone player (on the tapper's side).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/official_riverdance/5473165899/ this is the tappers having fun. They were really good too.
Overall we had a great time and got home about 11:30 PM. It was well worth the time and expense to see them. Impressive!!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
In a Rush
Today is an exciting day for all of us. Darren is taking me to a performance of Riverdance this evening. We have wonderful seats (or so we think) and should probably be able to not only see them dancing up close, but FEEL them as well. Darren is taking a half day off from work so we can go van shopping beforehand. There are a few stores we need to stop at and pick up groceries and supplies. Darren has promised me a carpet cleaner if we can find the one I want. Also, we will go out for supper and, if I haven't gone into labor by then, we will have a great evening watching the Irish dancers do their thing.
The boys are going to have an exciting afternoon too. We are having one of our friends come babysit for us. She is bringing her brother along for the afternoon as well. The boys' faces lit up when they heard who was coming. They plan to spend the night, so there will be a slumber party as well. TOO much fun!
Of course every fun, exciting day always has its pains. Today's pains include cleaning the house, which needs to be done by the time our company arrives at Noon. The boys have stepped up their game and already have the basement cleaned and the living room almost complete as well. They have only been up for about 30 minutes. Wow, maybe I should invite company over more often?!
I hope this day finds you with excitement to look forward to, and some minor pains to earn it.
The boys are going to have an exciting afternoon too. We are having one of our friends come babysit for us. She is bringing her brother along for the afternoon as well. The boys' faces lit up when they heard who was coming. They plan to spend the night, so there will be a slumber party as well. TOO much fun!
Of course every fun, exciting day always has its pains. Today's pains include cleaning the house, which needs to be done by the time our company arrives at Noon. The boys have stepped up their game and already have the basement cleaned and the living room almost complete as well. They have only been up for about 30 minutes. Wow, maybe I should invite company over more often?!
I hope this day finds you with excitement to look forward to, and some minor pains to earn it.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Do You See God?
Do you see God in your every day life? Do you see Him in nature? Do you see Him in the faces of your family? Do you see Him at church? Do you see Him?
Do you look for Him? Honestly look for Him?
Did you see Him in that load of laundry you just folded?
Did you see Him in that child you just hugged?
Did you see Him in the stack of dirty dishes?
Did you see Him in the pile of bills that never ends?
I see Him.
I see Him in the eyes of my husband when he kisses me good night - love.
I see Him in the faces of my boys when I read them a book - love.
I see Him in the falling snow.
I see Him in the mountain of toys in the basement.
I see Him in the crumbs on the floor in the kitchen.
Do you feel Him in your every day life? Do you feel Him in headache you have? Do you feel Him during the happy times? Do you feel Him during the low, sad times?
Did you feel Him when you cried last time?
Did you feel Him when you practiced charity towards your neighbor?
Did you feel Him while you read of the pain and suffering throughout the world?
Did you feel Him in the night when nothing else seemed to comfort you?
I feel Him.
I feel Him every time the baby kicks.
I feel Him when I cuddle one of my boys.
I feel Him when my heart is crying for Mark and my family.
I feel Him during the happy times.
I feel Him during the low, sad times - maybe even more so during those times.
It is true - God is everywhere! God is all around us in every little thing. He is the smile you see, the pain you feel, the love you share.
Do you see God? Do you feel God? Have you looked for Him today??
This Lent we are jumping on the band wagon that seems to dominate the blogs I frequently read. Have you heard of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp? You should look into it. I haven't read the book or spent much time at the website, but I understand the need to see God in our every day lives.
This Lent we will start what I call our "Gratitude" books, may come up with a different name as time goes on. I bought a notebook for each of the boys, as well as one for Darren and one for myself. We will record the things that make us happy or we are grateful to God for. That might be something as short as "for life" or as long as a paragraph. The goal is to reach one thousand gifts or things we are grateful for. Every one of them will be a gift from God. A gift presented to us for our benefit. Even in the most painful times - there are always gifts.
SO...
Do you see God?
Do you feel God?
Do you look for God?
Did He give you a gift today? Did He give you many gifts today?
Write them down. Treasure them. Look back over them.
THANK HIM! LOVE HIM!!!!
Do you look for Him? Honestly look for Him?
Did you see Him in that load of laundry you just folded?
Did you see Him in that child you just hugged?
Did you see Him in the stack of dirty dishes?
Did you see Him in the pile of bills that never ends?
I see Him.
I see Him in the eyes of my husband when he kisses me good night - love.
I see Him in the faces of my boys when I read them a book - love.
I see Him in the falling snow.
I see Him in the mountain of toys in the basement.
I see Him in the crumbs on the floor in the kitchen.
Do you feel Him in your every day life? Do you feel Him in headache you have? Do you feel Him during the happy times? Do you feel Him during the low, sad times?
Did you feel Him when you cried last time?
Did you feel Him when you practiced charity towards your neighbor?
Did you feel Him while you read of the pain and suffering throughout the world?
Did you feel Him in the night when nothing else seemed to comfort you?
I feel Him.
I feel Him every time the baby kicks.
I feel Him when I cuddle one of my boys.
I feel Him when my heart is crying for Mark and my family.
I feel Him during the happy times.
I feel Him during the low, sad times - maybe even more so during those times.
It is true - God is everywhere! God is all around us in every little thing. He is the smile you see, the pain you feel, the love you share.
Do you see God? Do you feel God? Have you looked for Him today??
This Lent we are jumping on the band wagon that seems to dominate the blogs I frequently read. Have you heard of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp? You should look into it. I haven't read the book or spent much time at the website, but I understand the need to see God in our every day lives.
This Lent we will start what I call our "Gratitude" books, may come up with a different name as time goes on. I bought a notebook for each of the boys, as well as one for Darren and one for myself. We will record the things that make us happy or we are grateful to God for. That might be something as short as "for life" or as long as a paragraph. The goal is to reach one thousand gifts or things we are grateful for. Every one of them will be a gift from God. A gift presented to us for our benefit. Even in the most painful times - there are always gifts.
SO...
Do you see God?
Do you feel God?
Do you look for God?
Did He give you a gift today? Did He give you many gifts today?
Write them down. Treasure them. Look back over them.
THANK HIM! LOVE HIM!!!!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Big week for Stephen
Stephen had a big week last week. He lost a tooth, literally lost the lost tooth. He came running up the stairs Thursday afternoon yelling that he was losing a tooth. Next thing we knew it was GONE, out of his mouth and not to be found. I promised I wouldn't vacuum until we found it. It took Blase and Stephen about 20 minutes of searching to find it. BOY was it a tiny tooth - same color as the carpet...almost a Mission Impossible!
The tooth fairy came that night and brought him a dollar in quarters - but forgot to take the tooth. SOOO, he left it in the water another night and ended up with a very old penny and a cool nickel. We figured she must have not been able to carry it away with her in the snowstorm we had that night. :)
That Thursday evening we had Fr. Litzner over for supper. Afterwards he tested Stephen for his First Holy Communion. He passed with flying colors. Stephen was quite nervous and would answer three or four questions at once. He will be receiving his First Holy Communion on the day we have the baby baptized.
What a week for Stephen George!
The tooth fairy came that night and brought him a dollar in quarters - but forgot to take the tooth. SOOO, he left it in the water another night and ended up with a very old penny and a cool nickel. We figured she must have not been able to carry it away with her in the snowstorm we had that night. :)
That Thursday evening we had Fr. Litzner over for supper. Afterwards he tested Stephen for his First Holy Communion. He passed with flying colors. Stephen was quite nervous and would answer three or four questions at once. He will be receiving his First Holy Communion on the day we have the baby baptized. What a week for Stephen George!
Winged Visitors
We love our winged neighbors. This last couple of weeks we have been very lucky to see some fun birds up close. We usually see Black-capped Chickadees, Juncos and both types of Nuthatches on a daily basis. When something "new" comes around we tend to get very excited.
I hung a suet feeder in front of our kitchen window. Usually that is where we put one of our hummingbird feeders. We were lucky enough to see and get a picture of this lovely female Downy woodpecker. She came back and ate for a couple of days, but we haven't seen her since. Of course the Nuthatches and Chickadees have been dominating the feeder at all other times.
This is by far the most unexpected visitor so far this year. We never expected to actually SEE an owl, let alone get a picture. This is a Barred Owl - not sure if it is female or male though. I had seen it swoop down by the wood pile (mouse possibly?) and called the boys up as soon as it landed in a nearby tree. We watched it for quite awhile then I opened the back door to spook it. The boys were super excited to see it fly away. They talked wing-span and owl calls with their dad later that night. Just when I thought Darren had missed all the fun, he pointed out that he had seen a Great Horned Owl on our land a few times. Now I feel like I have missed out on something exciting. We have all heard the owls calling, but this is the first time the boys and I have seen one. How wonderful country life is!!
I hung a suet feeder in front of our kitchen window. Usually that is where we put one of our hummingbird feeders. We were lucky enough to see and get a picture of this lovely female Downy woodpecker. She came back and ate for a couple of days, but we haven't seen her since. Of course the Nuthatches and Chickadees have been dominating the feeder at all other times.
This is by far the most unexpected visitor so far this year. We never expected to actually SEE an owl, let alone get a picture. This is a Barred Owl - not sure if it is female or male though. I had seen it swoop down by the wood pile (mouse possibly?) and called the boys up as soon as it landed in a nearby tree. We watched it for quite awhile then I opened the back door to spook it. The boys were super excited to see it fly away. They talked wing-span and owl calls with their dad later that night. Just when I thought Darren had missed all the fun, he pointed out that he had seen a Great Horned Owl on our land a few times. Now I feel like I have missed out on something exciting. We have all heard the owls calling, but this is the first time the boys and I have seen one. How wonderful country life is!!Unplanned Lent
The month of March is in full swing and yet I haven't updated the prayers on here. I picked the theme of Contrition for two reasons. One - its Lent, officially, and what better way to prepare for Our Lord's sufferings and death than with CONTRITION. Two - Stephen will receive his First Holy Communion, as well as have his first confessions within the next month. He needs practice with his Act of Contrition and examining his conscience. We are "learning" the Act of Contrition we already know and adding a spiritual communion prayer that needs a little more practice to be considered mastered.
That brings me to Lent.
We welcomed Lent in full swing last night. Darren and I finally found a nice quiet sleep about Midnight after a good talk about the latest on Relevant Radio and NPR. At 12:30, Brech woke up and HAD to sleep in our bed. That is always a sacrifice - some nights more pleasant than others. Two hours later - Cormac threw up on the carpet in front of the bathroom. He was trying to find a bucket, but missed the bathroom completely. I did tell him he can just throw up in the bathtub next time. He was pretty excited about that. Kids?! My sweet baby kept me awake, kicking up a storm, around 4 this morning. Come 6:30 AM - 3 out of the 5 boys were awake. That is unheard of unless we drag them out of bed. I could have hauled them all BACK to bed for another hour of sleep - but instead they lounged on the couches and I read. Lent is about sacrifices. I guess I hadn't really thought about how many sacrifices a mom and dad already have to offer up in just the little things.
This Lent is going to be a fly by the seat of our pants Lent. We do have some ideas for the boys and our family to work on. They are not set in stone, but more of a suggested course of action. Darren and I have our individual list of Lenten sacrifices. I do know we will continue to de-clutter and purge our belongings. I am determined to get through the spare bedroom by next week. The next room to conquer is the crawlspace, with Darren's help. That is probably all I will have time for before the baby comes.
To increase my spiritual life I plan to listen to audios of sermons from FSSP priests (over 400 downloaded on my computer!!) as well as continuing my spiritual reading. The current book I am reading is called The Domestic Church: Room by Room by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle. I am also reading the daily Lenten prompts from Small Steps for Catholic Moms Companion Journal. I am sure the audios and books will keep me busy and on course for Lent. Especially since I will probably be spending a great deal of time relaxing before the birth and nursing a baby after the birth.
I hope your Lent will be full of blessings. May God bless you and your family and bring you closer to heaven.
That brings me to Lent.
We welcomed Lent in full swing last night. Darren and I finally found a nice quiet sleep about Midnight after a good talk about the latest on Relevant Radio and NPR. At 12:30, Brech woke up and HAD to sleep in our bed. That is always a sacrifice - some nights more pleasant than others. Two hours later - Cormac threw up on the carpet in front of the bathroom. He was trying to find a bucket, but missed the bathroom completely. I did tell him he can just throw up in the bathtub next time. He was pretty excited about that. Kids?! My sweet baby kept me awake, kicking up a storm, around 4 this morning. Come 6:30 AM - 3 out of the 5 boys were awake. That is unheard of unless we drag them out of bed. I could have hauled them all BACK to bed for another hour of sleep - but instead they lounged on the couches and I read. Lent is about sacrifices. I guess I hadn't really thought about how many sacrifices a mom and dad already have to offer up in just the little things.
This Lent is going to be a fly by the seat of our pants Lent. We do have some ideas for the boys and our family to work on. They are not set in stone, but more of a suggested course of action. Darren and I have our individual list of Lenten sacrifices. I do know we will continue to de-clutter and purge our belongings. I am determined to get through the spare bedroom by next week. The next room to conquer is the crawlspace, with Darren's help. That is probably all I will have time for before the baby comes.
To increase my spiritual life I plan to listen to audios of sermons from FSSP priests (over 400 downloaded on my computer!!) as well as continuing my spiritual reading. The current book I am reading is called The Domestic Church: Room by Room by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle. I am also reading the daily Lenten prompts from Small Steps for Catholic Moms Companion Journal. I am sure the audios and books will keep me busy and on course for Lent. Especially since I will probably be spending a great deal of time relaxing before the birth and nursing a baby after the birth.
I hope your Lent will be full of blessings. May God bless you and your family and bring you closer to heaven.
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