My kids are so excited because tomorrow we get to light the fourth candle on our Advent wreath and then the following day is Christmas Eve...can't believe it.
According to them the best part about lighting the Advent wreath is blowing out the candles after dinner. But now we are at the point where they ask every 2 minutes if they can blow out the candles yet. And tomorrow will be great because they each will have 2 candles to blow out. Sometimes life is fair after all.

We have started a new Advent tradition this year. A few years ago I bought a stocking for Jesus. I thought it would be fun to have this because, well, we are celebrating His birthday.


We have never done anything with it except to hang it with our other stockings, but this year, since Emma is almost 5, I thought we needed to do something special with it. After brainstorming with some friends, I decided to write down with the kids the good deeds they had done that day and then they put them in Jesus's stocking. The plan is to surprise the kids after Christmas Eve Mass with a piece of chocolate replacing each good deed. If you can't tell, I am pretty excited about this idea.


Last night I was putting the kids in bed and I told them that they need to go to sleep because when they wake up it will be three days until Christmas!! They both giggled and Emma happily yelled, "and then it will be 2 days, then 1, and then..."
And I then jumped in and yelled, "Santa comes!!!!"
Emma stopped and looked at me with a serious face and said: "Mommy, we have to be excited about Jesus. It is not just about Santa."
I told her that she was absolutely right and was so proud to be corrected by my little girl.




And yes, I know, my pictures for this post are random. But so is my life.

Merry Christmas!! (Almost) ;)

It's been a little while since I posted...so here are a few thoughts and stories to catch you up on our lives.

I can't believe that Christmas is two weeks away! When did this happen?!


We just got back from Memphis and we had a wonderful visit with Dan's family. The kids loved spending time with their grandparents and great-grandparents and they had so much fun playing with Uncle Pete and Uncle Matt!





Emma said that her favorite part of the trip was getting to play with Grammy's childhood baby doll, "Toodles".
My favorite part was having family time and having Dan with us for 4 days away from work. :)



On Sunday we decorated our tree and we brought out our nativity sets and Christmas books. I was so excited to decorate the house. While we were waiting for Dan to get home from LifeTeen, we cleaned up the living room, had bath time, baked cookies, and made hot chocolate. Finally Dan walked in the door and the craziness began, complete with Mickey Mouse singing "jingle bells" and Justin Bieber's "Santa Claus is coming to town." While decorating, Joshua cried because he couldn't eat the tree and garland. Kolbe cried because I dropped and broke one of his ornaments. And Emma cried because we had to hide baby Jesus until Christmas. She said passionately, "You can't hide Jesus! He needs to stay with his mommy!"
And for this reason we have multiple Nativity sets. One beautiful, but breakable one:



And two for the kids to play with:




Despite all of the tears, we had a lot of fun decorating and our living room looks beautiful.

Joshua is 6 months old today! Time is flying by. We are just starting to feed him rice cereal:








I think he likes it- it's hard to tell sometimes when there are a lot of little helpers. He isn't crawling yet, but according to Emma he is speaking. She said, "Mommy, Daddy! Joshua just said 'eeb', it is Spanish for 'eew'!" There you have it folks, our little baby prodigy!

And this concludes my update for the evening. Good night.

Ha


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Here are some of the conversations and comments I hear on a daily basis. Enjoy!

"Every time I feel a little buzz on my foot." - Emma, referring to how her feet feel in her boots...I think.


"I am going to cut your nose."
- Emma, when she was mad at me. I still have my nose, in case you were wondering.

"You are a trash can!"-Emma
said to me, once again...she did apologize after i burst into tears.

Me: who will help me clean up?
E: I'll do it
K: Me too
E: Me three
K: Me four
E: No your 3 and I am 4
K: oh Yeah
E: Wait your two
K: oh Yeah!
E: And then I ll be five and you'll be three And then I'll be 6 and then one day you will be 6
K: I am not sick, I happy!"

"Every time my lips dry out, I make them wet again." - Emma

"Two boys in class threw up today. One threw up, then another boy saw him and threw up too. One had green throw up and the other one had orange."
-Emma,
was this necessary for me to share? Nope, not at all, but I figured since I had to hear it, someone else should too...

"Don't take my burgers."
-Kolbe, as I was trying to wipe his nose. Gross

"I need towel on my neck!!"
- Kolbe, towel needed to clean off the chocolate pudding, of course.

"I think I need to take your coins from your wallet to fill my piggy bank up." - Emma

"Kolbe's diaper is so stinky I think that is why Joshua is crying."
-Emma
I don't think that is true, but that is why I was crying....

"I just found a snail shell! I am going to go put it in my snail collection."-Emma
Snail collection????

"Your eyes look spooky."-Emma
It's very humbling to have your daughter comment on the dark circles under your eyes...

Dan was teaching Kolbe how to play basketball.
Emma: "I want to be the middler."
Dan:you mean play center?
Emma: Yeah, wait, no I want to be the man in the middle who holds the ball up.
Dan: Oh you mean the referee?
I like "middler" better...

I have to add a quote from my almost two year old nephew, Joe. He walked over to me grabbed my hand and with a serious face said:
"Stand up."
And stand up I did. Will the real Slim Shady...

And my favorite:
"Oh, you're right, mommy."
-Kolbe
YES. I. AM.

Have I mentioned that I am so excited for Emma to wear a uniform to school next year?! Every morning we battle about what she picks out to wear. I have finally given in a little, as long as she passes the modesty test, she is good to go.

Here are a few Emma originals:

So here she is wearing her tinker bell pjs with a skirt on top and note her neon socks that don't match...quite lovely.



Here is Emma in one of my t-shirts with one of hers on top. Add some leggings and boots and she is ready to go. Don't forget the bear hat that Uncle Alex purchased for her all the way from Austria. And yes, she really did wear the hat to school.





My favorite part of this ensemble is the little red jacket that she wore when she was 18 months old...



And finally here she is ready to take on the rainy day- complete with jacket and boots. She has on a pink shirt with a white v-neck on top and turquoise leggings to complete the outfit.


Yes, there are days where I really want to control her and make her wear an outfit that actually matches... or fits her, but I have to keep reminding myself that she is 4 years old and it just doesn't matter. She is so full of life and I love that she is confidant in who she is. I pray that she always stays that way. Thank you, Lord, for our little fashionista in the making and for all of the joy that she brings to our lives!

I am one of those people that has to arrive places 10 minutes early. Well, this is nearly impossible once you have babies. There is always something that happens right as we are heading out the door, whether it is a dirty diaper, a missing shoe, a lost doll that just has to come with us, or my keys have been misplaced. I have had to come to terms with not always being early or even on time.
Today was Emma's Thanksgiving feast at her preschool and all I had to bring was a bag of chips, Fritos to be exact. Those are Emma's favorite and that is what she volunteered to bring. So Fritos I had to get.
I had Joshua ready to go in his carseat by 10. I had an hour to get to the grocery store, go home, unload, and get to Emma's party. All I had to do was get Kolbe dressed.

And that's when I lost control of my situation. I was at the mercy of a constipated two year old who would not get dressed until his problem was solved... So I sat down on the floor next to the babe in the carseat and waited. I knew all of my years of cheerleading would come in handy one day as I began rooting for my son. "T-D, we want a touchdown." "S-I-N-K, Sink it!" And so on...
At 10:39 he was done, meanwhile I had taken crying Joshua out of carseat, fed him one more time and cleaned up the spit up on my pants. So I quickly changed his diaper and we were leaving the the driveway at 10:43. I had just enough time to run in the store with both boys and buy a bag of chips. Imagine the pain and torture I felt while being in the store knowing that I didn't have enough time to buy anything else that I needed. So frustrating. We finally made it to Emma's school at 11:04. And seeing the smile on her face when we walked in with her chips made the previous hour so worth it.


So to sum this little post up:
I am thankful for humbling experiences and for moments that remind me that I am not in control- but God is.
I am thankful for the joy my children bring to my life.
And I am thankful for Dan's leftover piece of cheesecake that I just devoured- sorry sweetie... ;)
Happy Thanksgiving!

On Thursday, November 8, my grandmother, Bernadette "Chubby" McAleer, passed away. She was the loving wife of Joe McAleer (you can read about him here) and mother of 7 children, 20 grandchildren, and 33 great-grandchildren. Over the past few days I have been reflecting on her life and what she taught us all. I believe her greatest gift to this world was the way she lived out her vocation as a wife and mother. Her vocation was her path to Heaven. Grandmommie grew up and continued to live her life as a devout Catholic. She went to Catholic school and then said "yes" to the boy next door (literally), who was the love of her life.

They both said yes to life and God's will for them by welcoming seven children into the world. She spent the rest of her life cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, giving hugs and kisses, and sharing laughter and tears with her family. She prayed often and always offered up any suffering up to God. She had a strong devotion to Our Lady and to the Eucharist.
During her final days, she had her children by her side. Early Thursday morning, around 2 am, her children were called to come say their good-byes. She was showing all of the signs that her time had come. After they all kissed her, they went into the other room, made some coffee, and prayed, reminisced and laughed together as they waited. Around 5 am, the nurse went to update them and told them that all of her color was back and that their voices and the sound of their laughter were keeping her here. After all, she was and forever will be their mother. Her life's work was raising them and then supporting them as they had families of their own. For the rest of the day, her children quietly prayed and at 1:58 p.m., right after they finished a Divine Mercy Chaplet, Grandmommie took her final breath. And then, simultaneously, her children applauded her. Her life was beautiful and so was her death.
Grandmommie's life was simple, but full of love. She was and will continue to be a role model for me, especially as I continue my path as a wife and mother. I am sure there were many hardships and I know she wasn't perfect, none of us are. But I know that if she fell, she got back up and when her time to leave this earth came, she was ready. The story of her death also reminded me of what is important in this life. There is that old saying, "You can't take it with you." At the end of her life she had given away most of her possessions and what she had left was the love and support of her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, their spouses, and her great-grandchildren.

She and Grandpa gave us many gifts. They were full of life and knew how to have fun. They gave of themselves and were generous beyond measure. The best gift, however, is knowing that they are now both up in Heaven praying for all of us. Blessed John Paul II said, "Do not be afraid to become saints." I am so grateful they weren't afraid and I pray that my family will live the same way.

A few thoughts of this tired mother...

1. Babies do not get the whole time change thing. Good morning, Joshua, at 5:15. And then we were out of coffee. Hello, Monday!

2. This morning I got in a clothes battle with my 4 year old daughter. Seriously?? She changed outfits three times and what she finally decided on was a dress that is now too short. Then I had to bring up the whole modesty issue. And I still was without coffee. I finally won the battle- but the war is not over.

3. Yesterday, between the two boys, I changed 7 stinky, dirty diapers. That is just wrong. Potty training the two year old begins...tomorrow.

4. I am working on decorating the kids bathroom. Right now the walls are white, the frames on the wall are crooked, and yesterday I was motivated to come up with a game plan. Here is a sneak peak of one of one of my paintings for the room:

Have I mentioned how much our family loves Peter Pan? ;)

5. Dan was gone the whole weekend, working at a retreat. He is taking most of the day off today. Hooray! Oh happy day.

6. Does it bother anyone else that most stores don't open until 10? I have been up since 5 and I can't run the errands that are on my list until 10. By the time 10 rolls around, we are going to be ready for naps or lunch or something. Craziness.

6. Confession: After I took Emma to school, I did go pick up some Starbucks coffee...which I happily enjoying now. hello, Monday!

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em...

For all of those who have been wondering what we have been up to the past few days...

Last Wednesday night Kolbe started to get a high fever, at one point it reached 104 and he had the shakes. We got his temp down, and we took him to the doctor Thursday morning. He tested positive for the flu and his white blood count was way high. An X-ray confirmed he had pneumonia. Thankfully we caught that early and it hadn't spread too much yet.

You know it's always a great day when you go to the doctor and at the end of the visit you are told to go upstairs to your hospital room. Poor Kolbe, we have taken him to the doctor twice for sick visits and each time he ends up in the hospital. God big or go home, I guess.

So Dan, Joshua, and I went with Kolbe to get him settled in his room. By this point it was nearing lunch time and my sister was able to get Emma from school. It took awhile to get settled in the room, we had to watch the nurses put the I.V. in and get some blood work done. Kolbe was so out of it, that he didn't put up too much of a fight. He was so brave. Even when they were having a hard time getting the blood culture and had to try a few different spots, he quietly looked at me with tears rolling down his face. Heartbreaking. The Mama Lion in me was getting ready to pounce.

Dan had left to go to a meeting and tie up things at work so he could stay with Kolbe in the hospital. It was hard to say goodbye and leave him. I wished I was able to bilocate. Note to self- work on becoming holier. I have to say though, that Dan is a wonderful dad. He was so good with Kolbe and despite the circumstances, they really bonded. Before Kolbe was a mama's boy and I am not so sure if that is the case anymore. They played trucks and airplanes and sang songs and watched movies together.

Back on the home front, Joshua was up most of Thursday night because he was so congested. I was quietly worrying about him too. Friday afternoon my parents helped with Joshua and Emma so I could sit with Kolbe and Dan could go to a meeting. Joshua woke up from his nap with a 102 fever. So mom brought him to me at the hospital and I took him downstairs to the doctor office. Here we go. Round 2. Dan joined me at the doc, and we prepared for worst case scenario and laughed about having two rooms upstairs and playing tag. But praise the Lord, Joshua had a double ear infection! Ok, so poor Joshua...but we were sent home with an antibiotic and that was good news! As I left Kolbe that night, he was crying out, "Untie me, Untie me!" Once again, heartbreaking. Friday night was a long night for Joshua, I was doing what I could to keep his fever down and he was struggling eating because of his congestion. No fun, but at least I was at home.

Saturday Jenn and Philip took Emma for the day and then she ended up spending the night at my parents house. She was good through all of this change, but she was searching some attention and they were thankfully able to give that to her.

My day was spent caring for the babe and also making visits to see the other two and bring them food and treats. The doc told us just one more night in the hospital. By this point Kolbe was feeling better...and getting very stir-crazy. It was a challenge to get an active two year old boy to stay in the bed one more night.

And finally it was Sunday. Joshua was feeling much better and so was Kolbe. We went to see them and I got to witness the nurse take off his I.V. Pure freedom. Kolbe started jumping around the room, he couldnt wait to go home!!

It was such a blessing to have the family together again under one roof.

I am so grateful for my family who helped by taking care of the kids and for cleaning the house while we were away.

For Fr. Dan, who came to our house Sunday evening to celebrate Mass for us.

And for Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart who asked to come pray over Kolbe and for the Duffey family who brought her.

And we are so grateful for all of the prayers from family and friends, especially those of Dan's family who I know would have been here to help in a heartbeat, if they could.

And most of all, thank You God, for trials and suffering, and joy and laughter. Thank You for our family and for our vocation to marriage. Thank You for the gift of life!