just to say hi

Matt snapped this winner of a pic with my favorite wine. 

The other dia after a looooooooooonggg day with the kiddos, two of whom were sick therefore leaving us stranded at the homestead ALL day, I began to really loose my marbles. I don't know if it was the constant questions and demands of my little ones, not getting much sleep the night before with Hopie girl doing her regular nightly nursings and the others sick, or too many games of candy land in a row, but either way I WAS SPENT.  And by the end of dinner I guess it was completely obvious to Matt. So being Mr. Amazing and always looking out for his other half (me), Matt sent me out sans babies to catch my breath and do some much needed Marshall's therapy shopping.

I think I could spend a whole day in Marshall's simply walking around in circles putting items in my cart and then later taking them out because I didn't really need them in the first place, and call it an extremely productive and well spent outing.

So, as I was scoping out the jean section (which for some reason I ALWAYS think I need a new pair of jeans) slurping on my smoothie, I got a text from Matt. It said: stay OUT and don't come home til u visit Jesus in Adoration. My heart immediately skipped a beat and knew that was exactly what I needed and probably SO much more refreshing than the faded apparale I was deciding between. So I packed up (and by packing up that meant putting back the 6 pairs of jeans that I was going to try on, taking off a pair of shoes that I was wearing to just "see" if I liked them and returning them to the shoe section, putting back the outfit that I thought for a split second Hope could not do with out, and heading to the check out line with my one item, a spatula, for our kitchen) and headed over to see the Lord.

As I filed quietly into our little chapel, I knelt before my friend and thought what do I want to say, its been so long (I seem to somehow always have an excuse to run an errand over making a quick stop to our church). Nothing came at first, then I just whispered: "Hey, I just came to say hi." I felt myself smile at the lameness of my simplicity before the King of Kings, but within seconds I knew he was smiling too and thanking me for stopping in.

Happy Easter and OTI Linkup!

Happy Easter!! He has risen!! Indeed He has risen!! 

Is it too late to link up with Camp Patton and OTI? Probably, but I just haven't had a second since Sunday. I am sure some of you can relate... Maybe.

My peeps

These pics do Hope no justice, because she was an angel throughout the whole mass. I promise!

The second picture is the best pic I have of my outfit. Yeah, I didn't really like it and had 2 minutes to get dressed and out the door, so it had to do. 

The Deets: 

Skirt: Marshall's 3 years ago. 

Shirt: Hand me down from Katrin, my sister in law.

Earring's:  Pier One (the only item I really like from the look, if you can really call it a look!)

Clothes aside, we had a very blessed Easter morning. My brilliant Matt decided that we should go to the 1:15pm Mass, giving us just that much more time at home with Easter baskets, play time, and breakfast. It was fabulous. To start the day this is what I woke up to.

Again, Hope was smiling, but then my flash blinded her. 

Isaac came into our bed around 7am and snuggled with me till 8, where Hope joined us from her co-sleeper somewhere in between there. Love having them both snuggled up together.

Easter baskets, which we hid the night before, were first on the agenda for the morning. 

 Gracie girls hair really does look like this every single morning. 

Breakfast, dads special egg in a hole, came next and then we went outside for a fun family game of baseball. I hit 3 home runs, just saying :).

After all our running around we settled into our Resurrection  Easter eggs. When the different Jesus Resurrection items in the eggs were passed around Isaiah said that they smelled like boogers every single time, which did keep us chuckling. (You had to be there to find this remotely funny, but I am still laughing as I think about it.) 

After Mass we had friends over, which was great (minus the fact that it took us 2 solid hours to frantically clean our home, ugghh not fun on Easter Sunday, but thank God we (I mean he, Matt,) had done most of our cooking the night before. 

We ended the night with a visit from the Easter bunny in our backyard.

May your Easter week be super blessed and full of His grace, peace, and love!

Now go join Camp Patton (best blog ever!) and her friends Kayla and Erika (I am sure their blogs are awesome too and they can count on me looking through all their posts this week :). 

Good Friday

Today we opted take our cheese pizza and head to the prayer garden at our church to do our Good Friday prayers with the kiddos. Success. Success.

We did the stations of the cross in the little outside garden kid style-- where at each station Matt gave a brief explanation, the kids could ask questions, and then we would say a short prayer. The kids loved it and had plenty of room to move, stretch, run, jump, and even talk. It really was quite the pleasant experience. Thank you oh wise husband for conviencing me not to try yet another service inside the Church with all four kiddos right at dinner/bed time. This was quite the breath of fresh air our little family needed.

Most importantly thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for me and loving me in the midst of my shortcomings and sinful ways. I love you and dedicate my life to you!

Holy Times

Holy week really is such an amazing time in our Church and I REALLY want to make it just as amazing for our little family. However, it doesn't always seem to feel that way.

We tried the Wednesday penance service with all 4 kids this year. After being there for a mere 5 minutes I thought to myself, "What in the world were you thinking?" The kids were not good, I couldn't focus, Isaac talked too loud and then continued to talk TOO loud, Grace screamed and wanted water and then the water got on her dress making her scream more.

I do have to say though that Isaiah was very good, and seemed to be even praying in the midst of our Boda chaos, which made this Momma bear very proud.

Of course, our Hopey girl was perfect.  But alas with 2 out of the 4 being not so good, we ended up moving our crew into the lobby/entrance/back part (you know what I mean) and then after 10 minutes of this action we had to move them again to outside of the church with Matt on kid duty, while I tried to pray in the back of the Church. Still the kids were too loud, so they and Matt were sequestered to the car while I waited to be first in line for confession. Saintly Matt then drove us all home, made sure I was somewhat settled in with the troops and then headed back to church for his confession. Cray to the Z.

So last night we did the only logically thing that I could think of, we got a babysitter and went to Holy Thursday mass with just Hope. Matt had to leave early, because he was getting his feet washed, lucky dog :). And I had quite an adventure of a time getting out of our house and then out of our driveway with Grace running our the front door yelling "MOMMYYY," which really did totally rip on my heartstrings. But once we got her settled (with the help of a sucker) and I was at Mass with Hope (20 minutes late)-- it was a slice of Heaven. I love having my sweet babe with me at Church. And honestly I love having all my peeps (code for other kids) with me at Mass too. I just wish they would behave perfectly, but since that is a tad bit unrealistic at this stage in our life, I will take the moments of peace and serenity that I can get in our beautiful Haven of a Church.

Every year on Good Friday Matt and I try to make it as much of a retreat day as we can. Each year presents a new challenge, while he still balances work and I the kids, but I love how we make this a day of prayer. Please know that family, friends, and blogosphere friends that we are praying for you!

"Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering and the lonely right there where you are -- in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools. ... You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society -- completely forgotten, completely left alone."

Lent 2013

Lent is underway folks and I am pretty excited to dive in, which is so nice because I can't say that I have felt like taking a swim during lent in a long time. 

Matt had the great idea of together giving up night time TV.  

Last night was the first of 40 quiet nights in our home. And let me tell you, Oh-it-was-glorious. We cleaned (always cleaning first), talked, caught up, read, played with Hope, and went to bed.
It felt like it should be, not just talking between commercials or stopping mid sentence in order to focus on our drama show of the night.
We were just together.
It felt like how it might of been in the olden days when the couple sat by the fire after the kids went to bed, the wife knitting and the husband smoking a cigar. (We did neither of those things, but it still felt like that.) 

I am also giving up all things sweet and taking quiet time with God everday. 

And last but not least, my sweet and holy father in law, who is also my life coach by calling me once week with an amazing pep talk on life, told me to find one thing each day during lent to focus on that I am thankful for and to make that thanksgiving a prayer to God.
So, today I am thankful for my Matthew, you are the best valentine I could ever ask for. I don't know how I would live life without you. Sappy, but true

This is how she rolled at Ash Wednesday Mass. 

Clean up, Clean up

Warning-- Some may find this a teeny bit boring. But for those of you who spend your days picking up after your littles, I aim for enlightening (wink).

I would not classify myself as a super clean freak (if you looked in my closet you would immediately know this), but I do like my house clean, picked up, and somewhat clutter free... as clutter free as a 1400 sq. ft home could be with 4 kids, 6 and under. Just clarifying.

Boys room after a major clean. 

Our garage is a constant bomb that needs tending too!

I get uneasy/irritated when our home becomes a complete tornado zone. Go figure. But with time and more kids it has actually gotten easier  for me to work out my systems. For sure, long gone are the days of leaving dirty dishes from the night before in the sink to clean in the morning. Yes, I use to do that nightly when we were first married and beyond... I shall not say when this habit stopped... let's just say when our oldest turned two (give or take and probably give a little more).

Isaiah, our first babe :). One of the happiest days of my life.

But now, the experienced mom that I am (chuckle, and big chuckle), systems are in place and up and running.  First of all, I try always to clean in love. This may sound silly, but I have to constantly remind myself that when I am cleaning the kitchen for the 100th time that week that what I am doing does matter, because I am doing it out of love. Out of love for God, for Matt, for my kiddos.

I  looove what Mother Theresa said: "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." Every time I read this new life breathes its way into me as a momma. It so sums up what motherhood is in the day to day, hum drum of life-- dish by dish, diaper by diaper, time out by time out...doing small things with great love....

I have found that I could spend my entire day constantly cleaning up the kitchen and picking up toys, but this is so NOT FUN (even when doing it in love) and not what I want to be doing or truly feel God wants me to be doing when I have 4 lively (whiny) children wanting me. So, my master system-- 2 cleans a day. I clean after lunch (with the boys help of course) - the kitchen, the living room, and the activity room. I/we do this right after the girls go down for naps. The house is put together then and sometimes stays relatively clean through to the night, due to kids napping and taking quiet times. And then we clean (all 6 of us, Hope delegates from her bouncy seat) before bed or an hour before bed, whatever I fancy that night. And walah-- Mom is happy and house stays relatively picked up.

Now, I do put a disclaimer in that I am constantly doing laundry, which usually goes on into the late hours of the evening, and when this mom is too tired a big pile of clean clothes ends up on our couch for the next morning or afternoon, or (ahem) evening. But I am working on it, maybe when I master putting clean clothes away right after I fold them, I will truly become supermom, just maybe.

Just another Sunday

Ugghh, I have another sinus infection with no antibiotic on hand. Thus, I am trying to take the natural path. I used my faithful google and found out that Apple cider vinegar helps fight the infection. And... although it tastes HORRIBLE, I think it is helping!! Praise God. We shall see how tonight goes.

On a brighter note, the kids behaved fairly well at Mass today. We had three extra cousins, which actually made Mass easier... Well, I did threaten the boys that if they were bad, they wouldn't be driving their cousins home after Mass, rather stay in their room. But either way, the boys were great.

Grace on the other hand lasted until the reading of Gospel and then I took her and Hope to the back. But hey, that is better than heading to the back during the entrance hymn. Everything in perspective...