"I can't clean up because my heart is hurting."
Trader Joe's:
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
"Mom, can we stay here for my whole life?!"
[Boy 1 loves the kid carts and racing up and down the aisles with them, slowing down right before smashing into people and things. He forgets to look behind him when he's backing up and has a grand time. Today, he spilled a filled kid cart because he took too-sharp and too-quick a turn. I told him that that's what happened to the Land Rover we saw on it's side last week (blocking an entire exit and bringing traffic to a stand-still. He's been telling everyone about how the car tipped on its side.) Hopefully some of these lessons will sink in before we begin driver's ed!]
Highlights from Retreat
Sunday, February 22, 2015
[I'm making these mostly to jog my memory later. If they are disjointed, I apologize. You're welcome to read them, just keep that in mind. I also only included what stuck out at me, not everything discussed.]
"For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery." -Gal. 5:1
Freedom for Jesus means "belonging" -- understanding our identity as the firstborn sons of the Father, which we received at baptism. Our freedom consists in our identity. "See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are." -1 John 3:1
Satan wants us to identify with him through our sins so he can take the place of God the Father -- as our father. The greatest lie Satan ever told was that God was not a good Father. When Adam and Eve believed the lie, they were led to sin. But the root of their sin was believing a lie about God. This affected their self-perceptions and actions immediately. (Genesis 3) In the New Testament, St. Paul writes mostly about the mind. We need to identify the lies we've believed in order to avoid sin and to live in freedom.
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| I got the handicapped room! Pregnancy WIN!! |
Once we identify the lies we've believed about ourselves and about God, we can begin to change our lives. Life-changes require repentance and faith. "Repent and believe the Gospel." (Ash Wednesday liturgy) In Greek the word for "repent" is "metanoia," which literally translates as "go beyond the mind that you have."
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| This retreat house is a big square -- great for walking laps inside when it's snowing all day. |
Repentance allows us to address the issues of the heart and mind that led us to our sins in the first place.
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| I love this image of Bl. Mother Teresa outside the chapel. |
Faith is agreement with God. (Sorry I didn't take more notes on this one.)
Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal entry points of deception. Every lie needs to be revealed, denied, and renounced in Jesus' name. (This was done in a private-manner, unless people requested a personal, trained, and confidential prayer team to pray with them.)
Once we identify the points of deception, we need to forgive both ourselves and others. "...for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins." -Matt 26:28 Jesus offers all forgiveness, but first we must forgive. When Jesus teaches us to pray the "Our Father," he says, "...forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us..." We must forgive to be forgiven. Sometimes the person we need to forgive is ourself.
There is no more powerful weapon against the traps of Satan than forgiveness.
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| This is an image of St. Clare, which I found stunning. It reminded me of our Clair. (Nevermind that I originally thought she was a boy). |
We fail to forgive for many reasons, the underlying reason being that we are deceived. We fail to understand who we are in Christ Jesus. If we haven't accepted the gift of forgiveness, the best motivation is understanding how God forgave us.
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| San Damiano cross before which St. Francis was praying when the Lord told him to "rebuild My Church." |
We know that forgiveness is complete when we can ask God to bless the person who has hurt us.
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| The cafeteria, which served delicious food, drinks, and snacks. |
Our conversion to Christ is ongoing. When we can identify and name our enemies, we can gain control over them through renunciation and the authority which we are given as God's children. "And whatever you ask in [Jesus] name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it." -John 14:13
When we renounce the lies in Jesus' name, we are set free (provided we've repented and forgiven).
We are given authority to act on God the Father's behalf, which makes our enemies insignificant.
The final talk was on the Father's blessing and is discussed partly in the book Unbound. I read the chapter the night before and left after Mass Sunday (before the talk) to get back to the boys.
This was a great retreat for me. Being a mom has completely taken over my life. I hadn't been on a retreat in almost four years because I felt guilty about leaving everyone for a couple of nights. But a good retreat can be really helpful in making me a better wife and mom. I want to do this every year.
I picked the weekend based on what worked for our schedules and not necessarily on the retreat theme or content (with the idea that I could go to my room and think if I didn't connect with the speakers). This particular retreat was extremely helpful to me. I'm convinced that I was supposed to be there. (Apparently, there was a long waiting list.) The priests were excellent in confession -- listened well, asked follow up questions but didn't "recklessly invade souls," didn't rush people, and let the Lord do His work. I jumped through some hurdles that have been in my life for a long time and I look forward to continuing my commitments with new tools.
This was a moving image for me during the retreat. It represented hope (Mary as the new Eve). Also, this image provided inspiration for reflection on motherhood and my relationships with my children. It was simply a great retreat for me!
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Location- San Damiano Spiritual Life Center, White Post, Virginia
Guides- Matt & Jenn Lozano
More Snow!
Here is what the boys did after our additional 6" of snowfall yesterday. The little boys were very excited to talk about how they made this with Dad using charcoal, sticks, and a carrot.
Morning Light
Thursday, February 19, 2015
One nice thing about the snow is that it reflects the sunlight and makes light pour into our windows on winter days. We could all use an extra dose of Vitamin D these days!
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Snow Day!
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
We had our very own [real!] snow day today! Most snow days shut down schools and the government only -- not the Husband's office. This time it snowed from about 2pm until 6am, providing enough accumulation (4-6") to create unsafe conditions for everyone. So, Hubs is working from home today and taking snow breaks with the boys.
One of our neighbors came over and helped snow blow our driveway. Another one shoveled the sidewalk in front of our home. We have really great neighbors!
This one really likes the snow. His little brother is not so sure.
Can One Have Too Many Food Posts?
Monday, February 16, 2015
Sometimes you have more in your fridge than you think. The Hubs was on a creative streak this weekend and made us five different meals/snacks. (I know. I'm a really lucky girl!) I really try to use all of the food that we have before it goes bad. But the truth is that Hubs is much better than I at this. He comes up with delicious foods from practically nothing. Here are a couple of things he made:
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
This doubled as a project to do with the boys. (They're obsessed with sprinkles.) We had leftover almond bark from the cake pops and Christmas treats we made. The boys made these while I was at my 24 week OB appointment. (Everything's good. Angie's heart rate was 134.) The best part about these was that the strawberries were perfectly ripe. We've had great luck at Aldi lately:
Chicken Noodle Soup and Toast
There was a breakfast and panko pork chop dinner in here. (I forgot to take photos.)
And then, this, my favorite of the weekend:
And then, this, my favorite of the weekend:
Chicken Parmigiana
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| Of course he made his own marinara with red wine. This was truly the best chicken parmigiana I've had. |
What the Boys Do When Mom Is Out
Isaac studying applied ballistics with his Hot Wheels car launcher and Mega Blocks:
Our Seven-Seater: Chrysler Town & Country!
We took the plunge! Here is our new Chrysler Town & Country! After reading a hundred articles about negotiating car sales price, The Hubs and I walked into the nearest, well-rated dealership and ended up walking out with this beautiful, new car. We said some prayers for negotiating skills. (I've realized these are necessary life skills.) I added one to St. Joseph for a *blue* car and LO! One of these was available in our desired trim level:
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| Photo Credit: Chrysler.com |
For a long time I was convinced that we'd buy the Honda Odyssey because of its high ratings. However, the Town & Country has high ratings too (at least 4 stars in all categories) and comes with many more inclusions. The consensus of car salesmen (even at Honda) is that Honda gets to charge $2K more because they are the highest-rated minivan right now. We didn't want to pay the premium given the T&C has a great warranty and good ratings. Additionally, I prefer its look, enjoyed my college's T&Cs, and Chrysler makes great Super Bowl commercials:
This was a good reason to clean out our garage. The minivan *just* fits.
The Hubs tells me that we now have Notre Dame colors in our garage.
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| (Pardon the panoramic skilz.) |
V-Day
Saturday, February 14, 2015
After self-loathing because I feel like a gift-giving failure, I decided to turn to the trusted internet for some new and creative ideas. We get tired of the commercialism of the day. And I think everyone knows that $20 for a dozen roses, which still need to be cut and put in a vase is not a good deal. We want to do special things for each other, but also want them to be appreciated and heartfelt. So, this morning I woke up to happy kids eating breakfast, the smell of bacon, and some sweetheart cinnamon toast and fresh coffee. Now this makes me smile! :)
Last night, the boys and I made some red velvet cake pops with things we had in the pantry. (Our home was being serviced all afternoon.) We took out the trash and tried to do a couple of other things that Dad normally does. His love language is definitely acts of service.
Anyway, there have been years that Hubs buys overpriced flowers and I buy overpriced heart-shaped things. I'm sure we'll do it again, especially when we're in a time-crunch. But this year it was nice to do a few things that take time and make our home run more smoothly for the other person.
By the way, thank you for all the Valentine's Day notes! We dropped ours in the mail Thursday, though I think they were picked up Friday. Happy Valentine's (& Cyril & Methodius) Day!! :)
Update, Random Phone Photos
We've been pretty sick this fall and winter, which has affected a lot of things, including how frequently I've been updating the blog. I've been picking up every last bug, which makes me not want to do play dates at all. Being sick with two toddler boys should have been a circle in Dante's Purgatorio. However, today we are mostly healthy! So here is a slew of things we've been doing. :)
Hubs' first boss passed earlier this year. So, he went to the funeral and was asked to do a reading. Afterward, he was given a file, which included all of his communications with the Judge through the years, including Christmas cards, thank you notes, and a writing sample for which Hubs received a state bar scholarship. It was nice to go through and see some highlights of his life/career to date. I married a smart one. :)
Hubs was also elected to our HOA board last fall. Though he's one of the busiest people in our neighborhood, he offered to do it. The president coaxed people by saying that she makes members their favorite drinks at the monthly meetings. Then the first meeting rolled around and: no drinks. But we are learning more about our neighborhood and that's never a bad thing.
The boys seem to have found their niche in our family. They both act like they have important roles (things they do that make everyone else happy). Often times, these two just make each other laugh. (Boy 1 is in pull ups to help him get to the pot in time. Don't judge! This is a temporary situation.)
Obviously, we are in the market for a larger vehicle right now. We are not thrilled with the idea of a minivan, though it may prove to make the most sense financially at this stage. And, honestly, anything bigger will be much nicer than our current setup. We've been over this list several times and previewed the Honda, Toyota, and Chrysler products. In terms of minivans, we see more Honda Odysseys on the road than any other vehicle. There are at least three on our street. We weren't super-impressed with the basic Honda model, which cost significantly more than the basic Dodge Caravan model. We were most impressed (in terms of comfort and conduciveness to long car trips) with the Chrysler Town and Country. Unfortunately, the Chrysler's ratings aren't as high as the Japanese products, though at least one of our mechanics argues that the T&C is a decent product. So, we are going out to look again and see what works best for us in terms of comfort behind the wheel.
Another development we've had is that the second have of this pregnancy for me has involved a lot of discomfort/soreness that I wasn't anticipating. So, sitting for a long time and even sleeping at night are pretty uncomfortable. As a result, the orientation of the seats are more important to me than they used to be. So we will test drive with that in mind too.
One thing I've been thinking about since I've been sick so much is my diet/exercise. Every time I mention I've been sick, a friend says, "Oh, have you tried Essential Oils" or, "Oh, I have some colloidal silver you should use" or, "Oh, I have this sugar free, whole wheat diet that really helped me have a VBAC." I do think the essential oils and diet and exercise would make a difference in terms of how I feel and increase my odds of being able to have an un-medicated birth. However, I'm 99% certain that I'll panic and want pain meds at the end of the birth anyway. So, in the interest of trying to make improvements, I've been trying to make more high-fiber, whole grain foods like these energy bites. We've been working on a low-cholesterol diet for a couple of years now and have brought the Hubs cholesterol down to 143 simply with diet! So we are excited about that! Of course, after that news, we had a little "splurge" dinner of creamy pasta:
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| Cooking Light's Bucatini with Meyer Lemon Cream and Chives, modified to reflect the ingredients I had, of course! |
Hubs liked everything but the lemon flavor, which was truly the dominant flavor here. So, I'm not sure we'll make it again. But it made me want to take another stab at the classic fettuccine alfredo -- maybe with a lowfat substitution and the addition of a pinch of nutmeg (America's Test Kitchen suggestion, which I think makes a big difference).
In an effort to simply our lives and make the best use of our time, we've been trying to buy everything we can get at Aldi or Costco. Above is a new bath mat from Costco. (The previous one, a wedding gift, had seen it's last day.) It's super-soft. The boys like making designs in it. One thing I learned about Costco: Most of their products are high-quality. So, if we focus on purchasing only what we need at both places, we end up with better products and less money spent -- yay! (That said, since we had the flu this week, we used Safeway's delivery service. There is the ideal. And there is what works this week. :)
Finally, while going through phone photos, I found about thirty of the above on my phone. Nothing makes me smile like these little signs of life everywhere! :)
Potty Training Update
You can either read this whole post or this summary:
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
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| Potty Training: Going as well as the reading in this picture. (FYI: Three-year-olds know which direction to hold books.) |
That is how potty training has been going. We have tried the "potty just for you!" method, the three day method, the all-rewards/positive method, the naked method, the clean up your own messes method, the you're-not-getting-off-the-pot-until-you-make-a-deposit method. At this point, the one success we've had is that Andre is completely interested in pooping on the pot and likes to sit on the little potty (which was already shunned by Isaac). I am truly happy for all of the parents out there for whom these different methods have worked well and whose children are potty-trained by two years of age (I really don't want others to suffer unnecessarily!). However, I'm fully convinced that certain kids are really, really stubborn, and, for them, the feeling of poop in their pants is simply not nasty enough to deter them from continuing to poop in their pants. Some moms of boys have assured me that their boys did not potty-train until they were four and they wished that they had simply waited and spared themselves all of the stress of trying and failing for a full year. So, we're not giving up completely but trying to save our energy for what's most effective. Boy 1 is completely in pull-ups so he can easily navigate his own way through the bathroom process. He has stools and soap and really enjoys washing his hands. He gets a pep-talk every morning and pees on the pot at least then. And he has the promise of a one-on-one trampoline park trip with dad when he stops wetting/pooping his pants. That's where we are. We are trusting some day between now and when he turns 18, he'll be out of pull ups/depends and in big boy underwear. :)
Serious Eyebrows
We've been working on appropriate ways to express ourselves when we're angry or when something unjust happens to us. So, for example, instead of throwing a wooden Melissa and Doug shoe through one's window when one does not like something . . .
. . . one could beat up a bean bag, or say "no thank you!" to the person doling out the injustice, or flash these very serious eyebrows to let the other person know that what he did was NOT OKAY:
The first time we really noticed Boy 1's use of this look is when a young girl clandestinely nabbed something of his in the crying room at church. It took him a good five minutes to realize it was taken. Then, he dramatically walked across the crying room and stood in front of her and her dad and gave her this dirty look (except without the smirk because he didn't realize how funny this was yet!). Now any time we need him to stop sulking and start smiling, we tell him to show us his serious eyebrows. Andre has tried to pick up the look too.
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