Be organized again

Last night I was in the shower, taking much overdue care of myself, you know, shaving the hair that was so long I could braid it and scraping the dead skin off my feet? Please tell me I'm not the only mom who's been there before...

Anyway, while I was in the shower, I got to thinking how a year ago, I was so organized. I showered every morning, I shaved every Wednesday and Sunday morning, made dinner most nights, stayed on top of the dishes and housework, went to playgroup every Wednesday morning and MOPS every Thursday morning and Bible study on Monday or Tuesday mornings, spent naps being productive, was on top of all the laundry. Even when I was pregnant, my husband would bring it up for me, but it was washed and put away pretty quickly.

Then I got to wondering... did it all stop because I moved in with my parents? Or because my third child joined our little family? I also wondered if my life would ever be organized again and resemble any sort of 'schedule'. Since we plan on homeschooling, I sure hope so! I have high hopes that when we get back together as a family and get our 'own home' again, I'll get back to what I like 'normal' to look like.

Anyway, my middle child, Hannah, almost two and a half, has said some funny and sweet things lately. My favorite is "Hannah, where did you get your pretty curls from?" With a sweet, sincere, proud smile, she says "From daddy" :) Funny thing is I have very curly hair and daddy has a shaved head, that is actually straight.

Another gem is my oldest, Zach, got his tonsils removed on Tuesday. Hannah went to preschool yesterday morning, and came home with a sticker on her forehead. She said the sticker was for Zach. She gave it to him. He smiled and said "Thank you Hannah" and she said "You're welcome" then walked up and planted a big kiss on his lips and gave him a hug :)

And the final one, while watching the Royal Wedding this morning, she caught a glimpse of Her Majesty, the Queen, and said "Mommy! There's Great Nanny!" In all fairness, they do look fairly similar. She was also so excited to see "a real Princess". I know she technically isn't yet, but try telling that to a 2 year old. :)

Good Friday Musings

Life is soooo busy at the moment. Let's see the list.

• Weekend before last, brother got married. That involved me helping a lot, because I LOVE helping with weddings. The day after, my other brother came home from Afganistan and entailed a trip 5 hours away to welcome him home.
• Been working like crazy to get medical appointments done to get medical clearance for Germany.
• Got the brochure of information for our trip to Rome in December for Brother-in-law's priestly ordination. Sent in deposit and our plans to travel agent.
• Been trying to work out or take the kids to the pool so i dont lose my membership at the gym.
• Making sure to take the older two to preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• This weekend, heading to GA for my grandmother's yearly family reunion, which I havent been to in probably 8 years.
• Monday the zoo with my best friend and she's going to finally meet my older two.
• Tuesday Zach is getting his tonsils and adenoids removed.
• About two weeks after that, all three kids start swim lessons.

Somewhere in there, I was suppose to be remembering it's Lent, suppose to be sacrificial and give up something or take something new on. I tried. It didnt last long.

Someone suggested to me that I give up Lent for Lent. I never really planned to, but, well, that's what I ended up doing. I did manage to not eat meat most of the Fridays, but otherwise, I didnt even come close. In fact, I think I missed mass more this Lent than I have in the three years I've been Catholic, if not, it was close. I had downloaded an audiobook to listen to in the car when driving. I got about one chapter, then gave up because the language content was so over my head, I couldn't grasp any of it.

I'm not sure if this is bad and "unCatholic" of me or not. I'm not sure if it's one of those things I should confess or not. But, I'm pretty sure that God understands that as of lately, i'm just BARELY hanging on. I'm sacrificing a lot already. Maybe it's not in the name of Christ, but it's in the name of my children, and Christ has given me the task to raise them, so by default, maybe that is in the name of Christ. Either way, I know God looks on the heart. I know I tried. I know that I have nothing else left to give. and by this, I'm reminded of how we are to strive to be like Christ. I by no means am even close, but on Good Friday, almost 2000 years ago, HE gave it all. I can continue to give all I have to my children until my helpmate returns and helps me carry the cross. This is the small amount of hope I've found in this Good Friday.