What Jane Austen heroine are you?

As a great lover of Jane Austen, I couldn't pass this one up.

Take the Quiz here!

I think it's right that I have a good amount of Elinor Dashwood in me. I also have a good smattering of Anne Elliot in there, too.

I've always wanted to be more sparkling, witty or beautiful like Elizabeth Bennet or Emma Woodhouse or Marianne Dashwood. But, I'm so glad that Jane Austen wrote some heroines that are quiet, steady, and a bit wallflowerish. I can really relate to them. Besides, what would the world be like without the calming, wise influence of a few Elinors and Annes?

More prayers please

UPDATE: The triplets are here! I don't have much information yet. My mother-in-law said that the babies are doing well but "Trio" is a little sluggish. I've got to stop thinking of them by their nicknames. They have real names now! Welcome to the world Gretchen, Michael & Charles! You are such a gift!!

Thank you all for your prayers for all of us affected by hurricane Ike. I am so thankful for all of you wonderful women!

I have another request for prayers today. My triplet nephews and niece will most likely be born today. At my sister-in-law's last couple of ultrasounds, they noticed that "Duo" is not growing like the others. Something is pinching his umbilical cord and limiting flow through it. They admitted my SIL to the hospital yesterday, were going to do one more ultrasound this morning, and, if nothing changes, the babies will be delivered this afternoon. She is currently at about 32 1/2 weeks gestation.

Please pray for their safe delivery, for the health of the babies and their mother, for the doctors and nurses, and for my brother-in-law (who happens to be a doctor as well) who has been under so much stress. I think being a doctor makes it much worse because he knows the details of every little thing that could go wrong.

Blessed Mother, please watch over and protect these precious babies! St. Gerard, St. Anne, St. Gianna, please pray for them!


Update: The babies should be born around 4 or 4:30 this afternoon!

I'm still here!

We made it through Ike with only some minor inconveniences. Our house did not suffer any damage (praise the Lord!) but we were without power until last night. So, I'm just now getting back on the computer to try to catch up on everything.

We left Thursday night and nervously watched the weather updates from Eric's parent's house. We headed back Sunday afternoon knowing that we would be returning to a home with no power, at the minimum. Since we did evacuate, we were able to bring back lots of supplies (tarps, generators, water, food, gas, etc) for both us and our friends and neighbors. We are VERY blessed to not have gotten any damage to our house. Many homes in our neighborhood had roof damage, broken trees and downed fences.

Last night we went to bring our generator that we no longer needed to some friends that are still without power just three or four miles east of us. What a difference that three or four miles makes! Trees were completely uprooted, roofs were gone, fallen trees cut through houses like knives, cars were smashed, power poles were down everywhere. I think it will be a long time before our friends' neighborhood gets power again. And, so many people have it so much worse.

I was able to go to the grocery store for the first time this morning. Jonathan actually had school today, though I doubt many of the kids will show up. Too many people are still without power and are still trying to clean up. Lines at gas stations are crazy long and ice is a very precious commodity. Eric is back at work. Since we have power, we are making as much ice as we can and Eric is taking it to work to give to his employees.

So, please continue to keep the many victims of Ike in your prayers. It will be a long time before things are back to normal for so many people. Things will never get back to normal along the coast and near Galveston. The destruction is so complete and devastating.

But, a disaster like this one really brings out the best in people. Neighbors are reaching out to each other and friends are coming to each others aid. I get frustrated with the news coverage because they only seem to complain about how relief efforts aren't moving fast enough, etc. I think it makes the people of Texas seem very ungrateful. But, in truth, everyone is so thankful for every act of kindness shown them and most people are being very patient with the situation.

The kids are the best. The lack of power or variety in their food or ability to get out of the house really doesn't bother them. They are so content with what they have right now and don't worry about the future. I could go on and on about the lessons we've learned from this natural disaster. It always amazes me how God can take something that seems so bad and make so much good come out of it. He is so good!

Hurricane Ike

Please keep everyone along the Texas coast in your prayers as Hurricane Ike heads our way. Each new update of the forcasted path of the storm seems to bring it closer to us. Thankfully, we don't live directly on the coast, but there are still very real concerns about high winds, flooding rains, and unpredictable tornadoes where we live. Of course, those on the coast have even more serious concerns facing them.

I have to admit, I'm starting to get a little bit nervous. We are going into preparation mode now. I'll be buying some supplies tomorrow and we're discussing if or when we would evacuate. We evacuated during Hurricane Rita three years ago.

Is there a patron saint of hurricanes? I think I'm going to go google it right now.


Updated: It's St. Christopher! St. Christopher, please pray for us!

Update #2: We are heading to Eric's parent's house for the weekend, mainly because I'd be a nervous wreck if we stayed! I'll be back after Ike. Everyone in Ike's path, please stay safe!

Picture of the Day: Shove it in!

What do you do when you are 4 years old and you can't have dessert until you've finished all your supper?

Why, you shove all the food on your plate in at once until your mouth is so full that your lips need help keeping it all in.

Uh oh...

What does it mean when your washing machine suddenly belches some foul black/brown sludge into the tub and then stops and goes deathly still?

And, how many hours should I allow my husband to tinker with it and try to fix it before the dirty laundry overtakes our entire house and we are forced to go buy a new washer?

I give it 24 hours. Max.

But, I can't complain. We bought our used washer 7 years ago for $75 and it's never given us any trouble before. That's a cost per year of less than $11. I just checked online at Lowe's and their cheapest washer is $350. To be as good of a deal as our current washer, it would have to last for 32.7 years. Somehow I don't think that will happen.

Oh, I hope Eric can fix my old, rusty, dented, no fancy knobs/buttons/cycles/temperature settings washer! We'll never find a deal that good again!

Updated: It's fixed! Alleluia! Just a clogged hose. Cost: $0!

Picture of the Day: Watch out! Here I come!

Just don't tell him that he's not actually moving. :)

My niece

Isn't she just precious? We were able to see her this past week. What a little darling!I would also like to ask for some prayers for my triplet nephews and niece. They are doing great, are now at almost 31 weeks and could be making their debut at any time. Please pray that the delivery goes well and that the babies and mommy are healthy. Thank you!!

My perfectionism is getting in the way again

I realize that it's been a week since I posted last. It's not that I don't have things to blog about. In fact, I have a list of topics that have been on my mind lately. So, why haven't I posted about them? Because I'm getting in the way of myself again. A couple of the topics are some things on parenting that I have been pondering for awhile and I need a good chunk of time alone with my thoughts to be able to translate them into written words. Therefore, I've been waiting for a chance to write when I'll have a good hour (at least) to myself, in the quiet, without interruptions, when I'm not too tired, etc. Of course, such an opportunity has not presented itself. If I want to get these posts done, I'm going to have to make them happen, even in less than perfect circumstances.

I thought Blair's post today was interesting. Her struggle is starting things and not completing them. My struggle is just starting in the first place. I guess every mom has her own unique issues that hamper her productivity. I think the fact that we can identify our obstacles has to be a step in the right direction. Right?

My baby's feast day

Augustine as depicted by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1480

Today is Gustin's feast day, the feast day of his patron, St. Augustine. I've been praying for St. Augustine's intercession a lot over the last few days. Not just for my baby, but also for certain politicians who are using St. Augustine to try to rationalize moral atrocities.

I'm so glad that we named Augustine after this great doctor of the church. I admit, I had some reservations at first, but it's so cool that such a great saint is Gustin's patron.

It's silly, I know, but I feel a little intimidated praying to him. I mean, he's one of the big dogs. It would be like calling up Pope Benedict and asking him to pray for Gustin when he has a cold. I feel like I shouldn't be bothering him over such a little thing. But, I have to remind myself that the saints aren't limited by time and space, so there is no reason to not just ask away, even for little things.

St. Augustine and his beautiful mother, St. Monica, please pray for us.

Picture of the Day: I hope you have one of these hanging around your house, too

Disturbed

**UPDATED at the bottom**

I just saw a video clip of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi over at Mary's Aggies a few minutes ago. I am so upset and disturbed by it. Speaker Pelosi is asked in an interview on Meet the Press when human life begins. She dances around giving a definitive answer, of course, but during all her dancing she says that even the Catholic church doesn't know when life begins. She says that the issue has been debated across the centuries by the doctors of the church who couldn't agree on an answer. She even says that St. Augustine said that life didn't begin until three months after conception.

What?!?

I'm am so angered by her lies and misrepresentation of Church teachings that I'm having a hard time forming my thoughts into coherent sentences right now. I just want to scream! And then, I want to cry...

Equally disturbing is the clip of Barak Obama's thoughts on when human life begins. Apparently, he has no idea. Don't you think that if you don't know when human life begins, then you should err of the side of caution given that if you are wrong you would be committing murder? The fate of human lives hang in the balance.

Ugh! I feel another need to scream coming on. And, some more crying. But, most importantly, I'm going to pray.

**Update:
Check out Danielle Bean's synposis of the response of several American bishops to Pelosi's comments. I'm so glad that our bishops are speaking up so clearly and quickly on this issue.

Picture of the Day: Tongue of concentration

My latest favorite movie

I know that I am not the most up to date on the entertainment world. Dan in Real Life came out in the theaters last year and on DVD last spring, but I just recently found this gem of a movie. It's funny, sweet, and wholesome with a quirky family and honest struggles.

I've rewatched this movie several times now (I'm the type who watches her favorite movies over and over again until every line is memorized). I absolutely love the interactions of the family. The grandparents are still parents to their children, even though their children are parents themselves. The grown siblings get along and encourage one another. Old fashioned values are the rules of the house. The young children teach their parents about love and life.

There's also a sweet love story about learning to love again after losing a spouse and some great humor is throughout the movie. You really don't want to miss the impromptu sing-a-long. I find myself singing "Ruthie 'Pigface' Draper" in my sleep.

So, as you can tell, I highly recommend this movie. It's perfect for a stay-at-home date night with your spouse.

Picture of the Day: My Sweetie

Elizabeth generally does not like to get her picture taken. She rarely both looks at the camera and smiles at the same time. I had to beg to get this shot, but I absolutely love it! I adore her sweet little smile.
Too bad this picture isn't "portraity" enough to count for her 4 year old portrait. I don't think our lawn chair is a very good background. But, I think I might get a print of this one anyway.

Here's another favorite taken the same day.

I've found that pictures of kids seem to turn out really well if I have them look up at the camera like in this shot.

Hmmmm... I can't decide if this one is "portraity" enough or not either. Maybe I should get a print of it, too? Decisions, decisions. I love it when the problem is that there are too many good pictures to choose from!

Daddy is away

Eric in on a plane right now on his way to San Francisco. From there he will go to Japan and then on to Singapore. He has business meetings through the week and then will come home on Friday. For those of you who travel or have husbands who travel, you know how grueling it is to have to travel so far. It will take him more than 24 hours to get to Singapore.

I would really appreciate prayers for Eric during this trip and for me and the kids while we go it alone for a full week. I really wish he didn't have to be gone over a Sunday. It's just not right to not be together as a family for mass (plus it's much more difficult to not have the extra set of hands!). I think I will be relying very heavily on the Blessed Mother to help me get through this week! I think Eric and I will both be having great adventures this week, however different they may be.

Picture of the Day: Why Daddy is more fun

Eric was in charge of watching the kids while they were outside again.

I guess this is why the kids like playing with Daddy more than they do with me. :)

Day doo

Gustin is doing the cutest thing these days. Though he babbles a lot, he doesn't really say many actual words (my kids don't seem to start talking until closer to 18 months). But, one thing he does say is thank you. Whenever we hand him something, a sippy cup or toy for example, he always responds with "day doo," his version of "thank you". It's too cute and he does it every time. I don't know if he picked it up because I am constantly reminding the big kids to say thank you or because I tend to say it whenever Gustin hands me something. Either way, I'm loving it! I hope he is always this polite!

First day of school

It's that time of year again. Jonathan's first day of first grade is tomorrow. His school is starting a good two weeks before any of the other schools in our area.


But, Jonathan is sooo ready. He met his teacher yesterday and found out that his best friend is in his class. He got a new backpack and loaded it up and his uniform is laid out and ready for the morning.


Of course, I'm not ready for him to go back yet.

But, it will be fun to walk him into his classroom tomorrow and snap a few pictures of him at his very own desk for the first time. It will be even more fun when I open up all my pictures in photoshop and they are full of this big smile.

Maybe then I won't miss him quite so much.

Mouth full of metal

Jonathan got a whole mouth full of metal today, his new appliances on both the upper and lower arches to fix his underbite and crowding issues. I was going to take a picture to post, but honestly, it's just not all that pretty.

The orthodontist said that his speech will be slightly slurred for about a week. We were to expect him having trouble with pronouncing the letter "s".

What has actually happened is that his speech is completely slurred. It sounds like he has a sock in his mouth when he talks. I can barely understand him. I hope it doesn't cause him too much trouble when he starts school on Thursday.

Jonathan is pretty nonchalant about it. He thinks it's all pretty cool. Besides, he's already reassured me, "Don't wuwwy Mommy, I can stiwl burp!"