7 Quick Takes

 

~~1~~
My 2 favorite new blogs.
My Child I love you
Catholic All Year

Both of these moms are about my age; one even met her husband the same week Steven and I had our first date and they both got married the same summer we did!  But they each have about double the number of children I have right now.  And they have the most amazing advice on parenting and the spiritual life.  Lindsey writes about holiness and treasuring each moment with our children, and Kendra has the most amazing parenting and discipline advice.  I could read their posts over and over again.  And I probably should so that I can soak in their amazing insights on motherhood!

~~2~~
We told the kids.
We're going to Disney World!  I am so very excited about this trip in September.  I think I've finalized our meal reservations (they're offering a free dining plan that month), and we're going to have so much fun planning out the rest of the trip.  The kids were thrilled!  Daddy had a few different ideas about how we should tell them, but in the end I bribed them with a surprise if they finished most of their cleaning jobs today.  We told them tonight, except for Tommy who was asleep during the announcement.  We actually told him a few weeks ago for fun, but he didn't catch on to the whole idea of going to see Mickey Mouse.

~~3~~


I can't stop laughing about this one!  At least I can pretty much sew, and maybe my girls can teach me to quilt and crochet so I don't have to take "What I Wore Sunday" photos as an elderly lady to keep myself busy!  

~~4~~
Summer is here.  Yay!
We finished the bulk of our schoolwork last week and did a couple things this morning.  I think we're going to hit the beach with some friends tomorrow, and then again with some friends coming to stay for Memorial Day weekend!  This will kick off a season of visitors, and I can't wait.  It's a lot of work to host things at our house, but it is so very worth it.  We are so blessed to have this nice home and yard to share with others, it's a shame when we go weeks without having any friends over.  On Friday we had close to 20 friends over for a spur-of-the-moment playdate where we went to play at the church playground only to realize that the church buildings were locked.  No bathrooms equals no go for small kids!  I'm thinking about a party and maybe even a little May crowning next Friday for the Feast of the Visitation.  Any ideas?

~~5~~
I read and shared this on my Facebook wall today:

CATECHISM SESSION

Why do Catholics pray to Mary?

An Evangelical friend said, "When I go to a doctor I don't want to talk to his mother." That is an interesting analogy. However, this Evangelical talks regularly with his pastor and asks the pastor to pray for him. The pastor doesn't turn him away by saying, "Don't talk to me! Don't ask me to pray for you! Go straight to Jesus!" The pastor has compassion and "intercedes" (stands in the gap) for him. He prays for the congregation and for individuals. He has compassion and wants to assist people in their relationship with Christ. This in no way diminishes Jesus' role as the Lord and Saviour.

Heaven is not a "dead" place. Catholics believe people in heaven are alive. (Mat 19:29, 25:46, 10:17-22, Mk 10:30, Lk 10:25-30, Lk 18:18-30, Jn 3:15-16). Catholics ask Mary to pray to Jesus for us.

Mary is a "born again" Christian who received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and spoke in tongues 2000 years before Pentecostals got the gift (Acts 1:14, 2:3). She knows how to pray - yes, even in tongues! In the Rosary we ask Mary to "Pray for us sinners."

We think Mary is totally alive, and is praying for us the way a faithful pastor would pray for his congregation, except much more so. She's interceding for the unborn, for mothers contemplating abortion, and for many others who are experiencing sorrows in our world, and who need Jesus.

Source: Catholic Bridge
-Albert-

~~6~~



Here is our 4-H Club after making and serving dinner at the Ronald McDonald House last night.  The girls had so much fun doing this.  They couldn't stop smiling!  For me I kept tearing up, thinking of how grateful I was to be the giver after being the recipient of the RMH blessings during our short stay there after Steven Joseph's open heart surgery.  I'll post some more cute photos of this experience soon; those little boys doing the egg wash and the girls breading the raw chicken for the meal was quite interesting to watch!

 ~~7~~
 
And I'll be sharing a little more about this guy and his baseball season, but here is the picture from right after he hit his first home run at their last game!  It was absolutely hilarious as he was chased from 2nd to home with 2 fielders right on his tail.  The stands erupted in laughter.  I don't know much about baseball but I know that it was the best play of the season!  That's my boy!



See more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary, and go congratulate Jen on her announcement about being published by Ignatius Press!