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Our Ride. A 1995 Buick Roadmaster.

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There’s been a story behind almost every vehicle we’ve ever had.  We’ve been through a good few since the start of our family, beginning with our marriage.  We’ve always bought pretty used vehicles, and have managed to never have a car payment, until recently. Michael is quite mechanical and can fix almost anything that needs to be fixed, and we could never afford to buy anything nicer before, anyway.  We’re pretty much “make do’ kind of folks. But this vehicle, our 1995 Buick Roadmaster in particular, really has a story.

 
Before it became ours, it was a dear friend of Michael’s, who passed away.  Mr. Bill was an old man in his early 90’s we met at church. He was always there, and always dressed spiffy for Jesus, with his hair groomed just right, and his bow tie just so.  He made it to Mass not only Sundays, but weekday morning as well. As a result of those mornings, when he helped on the altar, he was known as the oldest altar boy ever. As he grew older, and his health started declining, he fought not making it to church, tooth and nail. It often took every bit of strength he had, to drive to church, and get inside, eventually pulling his oxygen tank behind him. In due time, he was in and out of the hospital or too sick at home, and it was in those periods of time that Michael began visiting him where ever he was. Michael very much enjoyed hearing Mr. Bill’s stories, or just sitting quietly with him, and Mr. Bill surely enjoyed the company. So it was a sad day when Michael got the call, that Mr. Bill had passed away during the night. He was 96. We all attended his services, and Michael was a pallbearer.

The opportunity to buy Mr. Bill’s car for quite a deal, was presented. We happened to need one very soon, as our large conversion van was DONE. Mr. Bill’s wagon was in great shape, as it was always garaged, when not in use. It was big enough for our family, it was available immediately, and well…. I could also tell, Michael just wanted it. It was Mr. Bill’s, and I knew he would treasure it for the time he could. just as he does one of Mr. Bill’s bow ties.

 I told Michael when he wanted to get it, that it was going to be so temporary.  I mean….come ON! A mini-van had a bad enough rap for a family vehicle! 
But a wood-paneled station wagon?! It was almost like a joke!

I knew driving this thing was going to draw some attention, but [Read more…]

Mother’s Day | A Social ShareIt

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 One night a week or two ago (have I told you how bad I am with time frames, yet?, lol) . . . Michael and I were having a casual conversation. So very casual in fact, that we were both in the bathroom, getting ready for bed, come to think of it.  Anyway, I don’t remember (either) exactly what the conversation was originally about, but it was on the topic of Mother’s Day being around the bend.  And the course of that conversation led me to state how “Mother’s Day was a way bigger deal to me, than my birthday”.

 For some reason, that statement seemed to get Michael’s attention in such a way, that it got my attention, because it got his, so much.  It was the surprise in his voice, and the tone of his sudden and very real curiosity, of how he said, “It does? WHY?!”.
Like he really didn’t get how Mother’s Day could trump my birthday. Which, to me, was just silly to wonder. I couldn’t believe I had to explain that.
But it was such an easy explanation.  And so the answer flowed like honey, from my heart and soul:

 


“Mother’s Day means more to me than my birthday.  Because while my birthday is a celebration of the day I was born, Mother’s Day, to me, feels like a celebration of the reason why.”

And then, after I said it so matter of factly, and maybe because it was late and I was tired, all of the power behind the sincerity of those words, that came so easily from the most sacred part of my heart, hit me.  So I actually had to go into the other room for a minute, to just have a a little quiet cry with myself.
It was not a sad cry.  It was a cry that just came from that overwhelming sense of love in the sincerity of the words I had just spoken, and knowing how truly blessed I am, with my children.
Truly. 

I know we all are.  All of us who are mothers, however we came to be one, and to whatever children God placed in our care.
We are all blessed to have this role, whether we know it or not. I know many really do.
I know I really do. 

Someday, maybe I will share with you all the story of my children, and how God really did grant me their earthly lives, in a very special understanding between me and Him. Especially with the triplets; and the part their big sister played in their lives before we were even expecting them.  It’s a quite deep and emotional story; so much so that it would take a lot for me to tell it all. And I know it would be a long post, and an emotional event to type.  It’s another reason I’ve yet to tell it. But I can tell you this; Despite the hopeless odds and statistics, in one situation after another from the moment we learned of their conception, through the weeks following their birth, our trio are still here on earth because God heard my daily, sometimes hour-long prayers, from the 6+ month bed-rest I was prescribed to. He is the Ultimate Physician. Scientific odds and statistics are completely irrelevant, where His hand is involved. These children I have, are all here on His Creation of this earth, because it was HIS will for them to be.
And for as long as He intends them to be, He has named me; their mother.

Blessed, am I.

He gave them to me to care for, and raise, according to His will. As He did any mother who has been given a child or children, in any way they’ve been given to them. There are days I feel so very unworthy of His trust. But there are never days I don’t know what a gift it is. And so I count these 4 blessings daily, and do the best I can, with all of the love and gratitude I have, to fulfill my promises and His trust in me.  I know there are days He is more pleased with me, than others. I know there are days much easier, for me, than others.
But if I pay attention, there are also days I feel Him right beside me; and the power of my role spills from a place beyond my comprehension.
We parents, we are not alone in this sometimes daunting, but always rewarding, task. Our Heavenly Father; the Father of us all, is with us every step of the way.

The journey that led to the day I held my first child in my arms, and the next chapters that led to our trio coming into this world, has shown me a conviction, of which no one can convince me otherwise: 

Motherhood, is meant to be a vocation.

And it is surely mine.

Blessed, am I.
Blessed are you, mothers.
Happy Mother’s Day.

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The Blizzard of February 2013 – Our Kids’ Snow Fun

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How ironic, that one week after the groundhog says that spring will arrive early, do we get hit with the biggest snowstorm of the whole winter! Although we didn’t get as much snow accumulation as we were half expecting, we did lose power for 36 hours straight.  That’s an event that will burn some memories for our kiddos, of their childhood.  What fabulous family time we are blessed with, when we are forced to stop all activity, and huddle together by the fire.  Oh yes……thank goodness for the fire.  The beloved family heirloom; a WESO ceramic wood stove.  It makes any power outage so tolerable. We are also so thankful that we had recently been reminded taught/reminded only 2 days earlier how to play the card game, Rummy. I am sure we played a thousand games (by the fire and at night by the light of a kerosene lantern), in the 36 hours. No I am not exaggerating, People.  36 hours! That’s a lot of time.

So this post is not about anything other than snow, and family time.  And family memories. As many fun projects as we love to share, the kids love being featured on our family blog. And you can bet I took lots of photos of them having a ball in the snow.  During the actual storm, there was not enough light to get natural photos, even indoors in our all-windows room. But I got lots outside.

About half way through the ‘blizzard’.


 All kinds of wood by the stove, waiting to burn, and keep us warm.


Our wood-burning stove; our most treasured family heirloom, passed down from Michael’s paternal grandmother, down through his parents, who had it in their home for quite some time as well.  To say we appreciate this in our possession, is an understatement.  We’ve got a fire going all winter long. We hang out in this room, eat in this room, and school in this room, all by the fire in the winter months. We LOVE it.
But during this blizzard with no power for 36 hours, we not only kept warm because of this stove, but also cooked on it, and heated water.


Our other little saving grace, in the span of 36 hours; a Kohler Power play 500 watt generator. We basically used this to hook up to the internet now and then. ; )  It was great to hear the weather updates, and update our little fan base.

And now just some photos of the kids in the snow. Family, far and wide (and some in warmer climates!), like to see these too.  To see the kids, and also all of the snow and cold they are missing.

Every good snowfall, as small as our .22 acres of property is, the kids (and their Daddy) manage to make an impressive sled trail from the top of our dirt piles/property . . . down to the bottom of our driveway.

Here is a slideshow of many photos of the kids (and their daddy) sledding in our yard.

(Slideshow link removed.)

This is my favorite photos of them all though….

The End.

Except; Wouldn’t you know it. There is yet another great big snow storm in the forecast for this weekend.
Darn groundhog and his shadow, need to retire.
Still, God knows what’s best. And I’ll take memories like these.

Please tell us about your own family memories, due to weather.

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Christmas Eve / Morning – 2012

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With Christmas 2012 behind us, we ultimately decided to blog a little bit of it, before we move on to wrapping up our year of projects for you, revealing a new one, and jumping into the new year with both feet, and some bigger projects than ever, that you are welcome to follow along with us. I cannot wait to get to all of that, and hopefully you all might have some great ideas and help for us along the way. It’s going to be too much fun!

But first, our little Christmas. We try to keep the entire season quite simple and stress-free.  (Not always an easy thing to do – right?). We celebrate Advent, we decorate, make some handmade gifts and shop a little, bake, drive around neighborhoods at night with cocoa to see people’s Christmas lights, and stuff like that.  We also try to not get too distracted from remembering that Jesus’ birth, and what the course of His earthly life would mean for us all, is the whole purpose of our own celebrations, personally. Some years Christmas Eve and Day is more simple than others, with a little more or less gifts or family/friends around.

This year we went to Christmas Eve Mass, and had a quiet evening at home, with a little festive food spread.  While we had bought the kids a few gifts, Michael and I decided not to put them out the night before.  First because, one, two, or all of them tend to get up during the night to use the bathroom or get a drink of water, and I really didn’t want them to see anything.  Secondly, I was kind of curious what their reaction would be. There have been Christmas’ where the only gifts they received were from extended family and friends. But this year, since this year has progressively gone quite well, and we could afford more, I actually asked them all what they might want for Christmas. That’s something I’ve never actually done. Their requests were easy enough: certain books (Olivia and the Trio), a new basketball (Shane), a Pillow Pet (JackMichael), socks, (socks?), and Patriots or Tim Tebow calendar (Alexis).  So we got them those things, and a few more surprises.  But when they got up in the morning, there was nothing more under the tree than there had been all week: packages that had arrived for them from other family, and a large gift bag each from a sweet family friend. Still, they were bouncing around the house all happy-chatty and excited because well . . . it was Christmas Day.  And they love Christmas.

(After Mass on Christmas Eve.)

But Michael and I were pretty excited, to give them their gifts! So after breakfast and an hour or so of chilling in our pajamas, we asked the kids to go upstairs for a few minutes, until we called them.  After the 4 “Why?” ‘s, and our refusal to answer, they went up, and we got everything around the tree.  Despite the fact that there is a lot more to our simple Christmas than presents, that happens to be all I took photos of this year! lol.  Since I do intend to get back to some major scrapbooking some day, and I take photos of the kids through their childhood for their/our own memories, I always ponder if I should bother blogging these kinds of things. But our oldest (Alexis) and husband say yes – it’s our family blog in the end, and they want these memories a part of it too. Not just all of our projects and things we do. So I put together a small collection of some of my favorite photos of them opening their gifts. Note: I am TERRIBLE with on camera flash. Ugh-hate using it.  But the important thing for our family history is having these (any) family photos someday – perfect or not, they will be treasured more and more as time goes on. So I am embracing candid casual photography, to most enjoy these times with my family. There is a little description with each photo. But I’ll also say that aside from what they are sitting in, and a small gift each from us, they also got a few small things together, and one bigger item (which has not yet arrived), and will be part of another post (a major room revamp), coming soon.

If you look through the slideshow, you can use the arrows to go to the next one. Anytime you want to get out of the slideshow mode, simply click ON the photo, and it will close out.

However you and your family does Christmas, we hope it was beautiful, meaningful, peaceful, and you were surrounded by love and happiness.

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Braces Off & Earrings In.

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 So sure, these things happen every single day.  No big deal really.  Except we all know they are kind of a big deal within a family.  These 2 happenings in our family, were in the same day!  In fact, within the same hour. While our oldest girl was getting her braces off at the orthodontic’s office, her little sister was getting her ears pierced just across the way.  Both were somewhat of a long time coming, and so they were exciting. And anyway, we tend to  celebrate every-little-thing in life, because well, we enjoy joy.

Of course, I took a photo of Alexis before we left for her appointment . . . . . . .

And after (on the next day…)…


Truth be told, when we got the news, I was more excited than she was about getting her braces off.  She’s not much about appearances, under any circumstances. She’s just a different kind of girl sometimes, and you know, it’s another reason why we love her so much. Her reply about getting her braces off was this;  “I’ll just be happy to *finally* be able brush my teeth correctly again!”


She’s a very happy brusher now.

And here’s our beautiful, sweet little ‘O’ . . . . . .


. . . . . . but with earrings now.

She wanted them pierced when she was 9 years old. Her Daddy said, “Maybe when you’re 10.”  Boy did that year fly by for Daddy. ; )  Her birthday was at the end of August, but I’m kind of a freak about these things I guess, and I really (really) did not want to take her to any mall-type place. I spent months trying to get it done by a true piercer specialist. I just couldn’t get my hands on the one thing I needed. I won’t bother repeating myself about the details of that, but if you’re on Facebook and interested, you should be able to read more about that here.


Anyway, she really reminds me of her paternal grandmother in these photos.
‘O’ has a 7 week countdown to when she can take these little CZ posts out, and wear the teeny-tiny dangle earrings she bought with her own money at the waterfront festival this year.  (And also another count-down to a year or so from now, when she and her triplet brothers will have their braces put on.)

So for all of you who were asking for photos, there you go! All 4 of them are growing so fast. These ages, milestones and stages seem to be behind us before we even see them coming!  Maybe because we are so distracted by living and celebrating the present.  Even the little things. That’s got to be a good thing. It sure feels good.Ct

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