to not forget to

These days, if I don't write something down, there is a very good chance I will forget it. Whether it's an appointment, a blog post idea, phone number, grocery item, field trip, you name it...it is all but remembered if not on my calendar. Insert my love for planners and colorful sticky notes here. Yes, it is true. I love my planner and the use of sticky notes. I use a monthly calendar. I like to see the whole month right in front of me. That way my commitments are staring me in the face when someone calls and needs me to bake 300 mini-muffins for the church bazaar. Not that that has ever happened, but you see how that could be a dilemma if not for my handy dandy calendar.

With a family of 6, it is of great importance that I keep track of all things scheduled or planned. God forbid I have to be in three places at once (happens often during sports events) and neglect to arrange L a ride home from football practice. Then comes the call of sullen guilt from poor L because his mother f.o.r.g.o.t to pick him up. And the downward spiral has begun. You can imagine the frantic behavior that erupts in my body.

Speaking of frantic behavior, have you ever been driving down the road and practically jump out of your skin realizing that one of your children is not in the car? Images of her (or him) quickly scan through your mind and you remember that she is at a library event and Susie Q's mom is picking her up. Phew. Panic city. My heart is racing just writing that. And yes, that happens to me on a somewhat regular basis.

Anywhoo. Back to my calendar. I use a monthly calendar to manage our family schedule. I use sticky notes if I need additional back-up. I prefer bright colored stickys, but the drab yellow will do just fine. There are tons of free calendar/planning printables online available for use. You can create your own planner in a binder which comes in handy if you need to add additional resources. Plus it can be reused year after year. I prefer a planner that is bound like a book. I usually pick one up at Target or Wal-Mart for under $10. A fair price to pay for mom's sanity.

Do you ever draw a blank when you pray? Does your mind wonder off and you find it hard to stay focused on praying for your family and those that so desperately need your prayers? Mine sure does. This is why I have decided to keep a prayer journal. I write down in my journal those that have asked for prayers, specific prayers for my children and my husband, and anything else that I want to be sure and remember to pray over. I read a great article yesterday in my HomeLife Magazine titled "Praying circles around your children". It had some wonderfully insightful things to say about prayer and its importance. As a parent, prayer is our single most powerful tool. "It turns parents into prophets who shape the destinies of their children." How awesome is that! No pressure right."Prayers never die. They live on in the lives of those who are prayed for." So for the times my mind is all over the place and the times I am too exhausted to remember, I want to make a prayer journal to keep beside my bed.

I found this example of a DIY prayer journal which I love. It is from this cute blog, the macs! I will make it one day(sigh), but until then, I found this to use.

Happy journaling...and remembering to!

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"Help! My kids are demon possessed!

I had never felt so defeated. So lost. So spent. As a mother of four ages 11, 10, 8 and 5, I have had plenty days of doubt and exhaustion. Days when I was sure my children were possessed by some out-of-this-world demon and I was destined to extract said demon if it was the last thing I did.

But this day was different.

This day was far worse than I had experienced before.

It was last Monday, to be exact. I woke full of energy and ready to begin our school day. The kids, did not. And so it began. The complaining. The whining. The rolling of the eyes. (A favorite of mine. Sends lasers up my spine through my arms to my hands and continuing to my brain.) We started school. All of us together at the kitchen table. The boys were giddy. Madison followed suit. I was repeating myself what felt like four or five times. I felt invisible. No school work was getting accomplished. Luke was dissecting a mechanical pencil. Micah could not sit still in his chair for more than thirty seconds. Brady was taunting the three oldest and I caught myself fantasising about the school bus coming to take these heathens away.

My patience had been tried and I was at the end of my rope. I felt as if I couldn't go on without breaking down in tears or breaking someones face. So, I chose to distance myself from the situation. I took Brady, my five year old, and we went in his room and played. The oldest three were left to their schoolwork at the table. They knew what work had to be completed by looking at their assignment sheets. If they needed help, they would have to look to each other.

I am not sure if that was the best thing to do, but I felt like, at the time, I had no other choice. After some time, we had to gather our things and leave for music and ballet lessons.

The kids and I and my husband had a talk about what happened and some very important changes that need to take place in our family. It was time to reevaluate. Take away privileges for a period of time. It is always a good thing to do every so often or whenever the need arises.

Family meetings are a great way to come together and share ideas, emotions, concerns, stories, etc. I always feel better after one of ours.

I hope this post speaks to some of you reading. It is natural to feel defeated at times. To have doubts. To look at your children and think, "Is this how I have raised you to behave!". This is when you fall to your knees and raise your head towards Jesus in heaven and offer your children to Him in prayer. For years I have prayed for specific requests. Like this: "Lord, please help Luke with this anger. Please give Maddie confidence and Micah kindness in his heart." I still pray this way but I also want God to show me what my children need and what my husband needs. I want to know how to pray for each of them. So I ask Him to show me. Show me Lord, so that I may do your will! I ask Him to open my heart and guide me. My way might not be His way. I want to walk along His path for me and my family. For His path is the only way to heaven. I have found that when I really look and listen, He shows me. Always.

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her heart

Every prayer we mutter should be like that of an eight year old.

Bless her heart.

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inconvenience

I tell you what, at the end of some days I am so sick of hearing my name.

"Mom, can you come here?"
"Mom, can you pour me some milk?"
"Mom, where are my school shoes?"
"Mom, I don't have any socks."
"Mom, me done poopoo and teetee."
"Mom, I need you."

Most of you are smiling right now because you know exactly what I am talking about. Even when Daddy is standing right next to them, they still manage to call my name. Why is that? Do kids just know that Daddy is going to say, "I don't know honey, go ask Mama." Kids are so smart, aren't they! Skip the middle man and go straight to the head honcho.

And check this out. I truly believe my children have some sort of radar. I don't know where it comes from or who had the nerve to give it to them(probably Daddy), but radar they have nonetheless. This radar pops up and goes off at the most inoportune times. Let's take dinner time for example. My husband and I learned the easiest thing for our family was to serve the kids before we sit down. We make sure everyone has their food, drink, napkin, fork, spoon, etc. That way we the kids are settled in and happily eating and then we can fix our plates and sit down to enjoy dinner as a family without having to get up every two minutes to get something. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it doesn't. There are times the exact moment I finally sit down to eat the gorgeous steak my husband prepared, and drool is literally escaping my lips, a little one says to me, "Can I have more corn?" How is that possible! I haven't even started eating yet and you have finished one entire helping of corn already! Come on! So I get the child more corn, of course. I also ask everyone else if they need anything. I make eye contact with each child and attempt to tap into their radar and hack it. No such luck. No one needs anything at that moment in time so I proceed to sit down. "Mama, I'm thirsty." "Mama can I have more steak?" Mama can you cut my steak up?"

Take a number.

Does this at all sound like your dinner table?

What about bathroom time? Every time I take my daughter grocery shopping at Wal-Mart she has to go the bathroom at least twice. The first time to go, well, #1. And the second time to....you know what follows # 1! Not to mention she went potty before we left. Must be something in the air at Wal-Mart.

At night when I have cleaned the kitchen and wiped down the countertops and picked up all the toys laying around, and all I want to do is SIT DOWN, I hear the faint pitter patter of footsteps. Why yes, it's my three year old still awake at 9pm. I proceed to put him back in bed nine times, cursing the day he was conceived!

I love my children with all that is me. I have learned through the years how to love them. Raising children takes more than just love. Like everything else in my life, I am a work in progress Mama.

You might be wondering if I see my children as an inconvenience. Absolutely not! No way, no how! But there are days I want to change my name. And I do wish someone would hack into that radar thing.

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I am Pro-Life

Prayer to End Abortion




Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life, and for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the Resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part in ending abortion. Today I commit myself never to be silent, never to be passive, never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the Pro-Life movement, and to never stop defending life until all my brothers and sisters are protected, and our nation once again becomes a nation with liberty and justice not just for some, but for all, through Christ our Lord, Amen!

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
www.priestsforlife.org

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