Majorly motivated on a Monday

We got back Sunday night after an amazing long weekend in San Antonio at the Fullness of Truth Catholic evangelization conference. It was held at the gorgeous Hyatt Hill Country Resort, and it was a fabulous weekend full of family, friends, faith, and fun!

I'll share some photos and reflections in my next post because I am pleasantly exhausted as we came back from this trip and jumped right into our school year this morning!  I was up past midnight printing checklists and stressing out. But it went well overall, although it was quite a bit of work for me on the first day. Hopefully the kids will get used to the newness of this curriculum (Mother of Divine Grace), and we will get into our groove soon. It was much better than our summer days with nothing to do, though!

Just as we finished up our schoolwork this afternoon we had a lovely teenage girl come to help us pack up some of the house to get it show-ready. We packed coats, the under-stair closet, our altar area, some books, a lot of toys, and much of Ellie's room. Mary Clare has been packing her own things, and we are also moving some furniture items like bookshelves, kid desks and tables out to the garage. 

We packed 10 boxes and it feels so good! We were very productive today with the schoolwork and packing, and I hope the rest of the week is the same! I'd love to have the house ready to show in about a week, and I think we can do it if we keep working really hard, especially since we have the help of this nice young lady. An added blessing of this week is that it looks like Steven will be working here in town. Even if it's past 10pm when he gets home, at least he will be here if I need him. 

And so one of the busiest seasons of our life has begun. I even took all five kids to Walmart at about 8:30pm for some school and food items. Crazy! I only abandoned the stroller twice, and only once was the baby in it. Oops. I was just a few feet down the aisle. The school supply section was a mad house!  Anyway, I think the rest, rejuvenation, and the blessings of the conference this weekend will help us get through this challenging time. I pray that God will guide us in every step we take, and in all the big and little decisions we are making may His will be done! St Joseph the Worker, pray for us!