Today is the feast of St. Nicholas. In our family there is another feast we quietly celebrate and that is the feast of St. Joe, my grandpa. :) My grandpa died December 6, 1998. He lived life to the fullest and was a very holy man. He loved his wife, seven children, their spouses and grandchildren very much. He went to Mass every day and always preached the Gospel with his actions. He was a successful business man, but he worked very hard and never let the success get to him. He always gave back. I think it is so special that God decided to take him home on the feast of St. Nicholas. He was our living St. Nicholas. Grandpa especially loved Christmas. I have memories of him walking around in his santa hat and making us laugh. He kind of had that hohoho laugh as well. He loved having the family together and I know he loved bringing us to Christmas Eve Mass. After mass we would go back to their house with some of our cousins and the girls would sleep in the dining room under the table and the boys would sleep on the floor in my grandparents room. My brother would actually sleep in between my grandparents in their bed! :) We were only with them every other Christmas, but when it was their year we loved the time spent with Grandpa, Grandmommie, and all of our cousins.

When Grandpa was on his deathbed in the hospital, he had Grandmommie and all of his children around him. The grandkids were in the nearby waiting room because of lack of space. They were praying the rosary and as he was taking his last breaths he said, "the gates are open" and then he was gone. But he was not gone for good. His spirit, like St. Nicholas, lives on, especially this time of year. One of the things I have of his is actually his santa hat. Today Dan was promoting a Christmas event at school and he wore Grandpa's hat. His spirit even lives on through my husband and they never were able to meet in this life. God is good.

St Nicholas, pray for us!
St Joe, pray for us!

I am in the 12th week of this pregnancy. So far I have been blessed with a mild case of morning sickness. If you were to ask my husband however he would kindly say that on the emotional side, things have not been so mild! He loves to share the story about the time I tripped over a toy while carrying a glass of milk and a piece of cake and it spilled and I dropped to the floor and cried....not one of my finer moments... Anyway, yesterday, morning sickness, stomach bug, whatever you want to call it, hit me. I felt awful and couldn't do anything all day. Thankfully Dan was home and was a huge help with the kids and he still mananged to do what he needed to prepare for Lifeteen. My biggest prayer for the day was that I could make it through Mass without passing out. Success. Thank You Lord.

I was hopeful that I would wake up this morning and the yucky feeling would be gone, but I was not so lucky. After Dan left for work I called my mom and was hopeful she could race to my aid, but unfortunately she cannot come until later this afternoon (which I am very much looking forward to.) So what to do when you feel so sick and have two very busy toddlers. Well, cartoons are wonderful, but after an hour the kids begin to get stir crazy. At this point I decided it was time to atleast go get dressed for the day, thinking it would help, and suddenly there is a knock at the door- its time for our yearly termite inspection- perfect. Once the terminix guy left, the kids asked to color. I thought I could handle coloring- which turned into painting- which turned into kolbe painting his entire arm and face- which then brought us to bathtime- the perfect thing to keep them entertained and in one place! We will probably do bathtime again later today.

After baths we listened to Pandora's disney music channel and danced and sang for awhile. We then had a healthy lunch consisting of sprite,saltine crackers and spoons of peanut butter. Kolbe is now passed out on the couch and Emma is quietly playing with the nativity set.

So what I thought was going to be an awful day is actually turning out to be ok, minus how I feel, but I will get over it soon enough. Nana will be here soon and Aunt Jenn is bringing dinner. And I am carrying a beautiful little blessing from God. Life is good!

P.s. still no pictures- but we got our tree on saturday so hopefully I will have a fun blogpost soon!