Words to Live By

"The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."
 

— Mother Teresa

Motherhood = A Calling

As a member of an on-line Catholic mother's group I am continually coming across intriguing articles about being a wife/mother/parent. I have SUCH a passion for learning about my vocation as wife and mother. Yesterday, one of the mothers in our group shared this article and I found it particularly intriguing and thought I'd share. It certainly puts my life as "mother" into perspective. Happy reading!

Theotokos - Holy Mother of God, Ora pro nobis.

Bedhead and Breakfast

Each morning I wake with the littles between 6 and 7 am. I have NEVER been what you would call a "morning person" so getting up in the morning takes a LOT of will power love.

Regardless of the sacrifice, there is something wonderful about looking around the breakfast table at their heads of matted, crazy curls as they rub the sleep out of their bright blue eyes that makes each and every early morning worth it and reminds me of the absolute JOY that it is to be their mother.

Note: To those of you who are morning people...you know, wake at 5am, get your work out and prayer time in, have time to make and eat breakfast while reading the morning paper...

I am jealous...

sometimes.

We Made It!

It has been a couple of weeks since the last time I wrote...I guess we've been a little busy.

We successfully packed up everything we own, loaded it up, stacked it in a storage unit, and officially checked out of our 2 bedroom apartment forever. In a nutshell, it was messy, chaotic, and stressful...dare I mention the gallon of paint my 2-year-old dumped "spilled" on the clean carpet...or the fresh sidewalk chalk art makings all over the just-washed front porch and windows...or the...I think not.We are relieved that that part of our move is over. On a different note...it was SUCH a blessing to have good friends to help us on this side of the move. It has been quite overwhelming to feel the love of God through those we love.

We have been living in Albuquerque, NM for 2 weeks now and currently reside in a lovely (furnished) 1 bedroom apartment. We are in love with this city and have had such a blast over the last few weeks. So far we have enjoyed visits to the zoo, aquarium, and botanical gardens and have gone to an Isotopes baseball game. We have also enjoyed many FREE activities including visits to multiple library programs (reading, singing, dancing, puppet shows, and more...we're looking forward to the upcoming magic show, petting zoo, and recycle man band that will visiting within the next several weeks), checking out and reading library books, a scenic drive up to Sandia Peek, a visit to PetSmart (the miniature aquarium/small animal zoo), a trip to the duck pond to feed the ducks, and outings to many new and exciting parks. It has been so much fun to live in a big city with all that it has to offer.

The littles (specifically my 2 and 3) are very much looking forward to this coming week because they are signed up to attend Vacation Bible School (with mommy and baby girl as tag alongs). If all goes well I think I'll sign them up for another one next week.

We'll see.

It's a...

BOY!!!

One Perfect Baby

Two little feet,

so tender and sweet

That have walked with the angels

On heavenly streets

Ten little fingers, and ten little toes,

With every new day continue to grow.

One little mouth that sings to our Lord.

And two little ears to hear His word.

One prefect baby for us to love,

With wisdom and guidance from our Father above.

By K. Maloney

We can't wait to meet you little one!

Our Baby Girl is ONE!

“What Is A Little Girl!”

She's a bundle of sweetness,
brightness & fun...

 The beauty of springtime,
the warmth of the sun...
  
 

She's Innocence covered with mud,
sand, & soot...

She's Motherhood dragging
a doll by the foot...

She's a composite picture of
giggles & tears...

Of tantrums, excitement,
amusement & fears...

A bundle of mischief
and often a tease...

A creature of moods
not easy to please...

Who'll capture your heart
with her pixie-like grin...

Or chatter and beg till your
patience wears thin...

But obedient, naughty,
mischievous or coy...

She's Mommy's little Darling &
Daddy's Pride & Joy.

Happy Birthday Little Princess. 



We love you so very much.

Pretty Little Tutu Tutorial - No Sewing Involved!

Our little girl is turned 1 this Sunday! I cannot believe how big and beautiful she is! She is such a joy to have in our family and is so happy and good natured. 

I thought and thought of the perfect one-year birthday gift for a little girl and more specifically our little girl.

I don't know if I have ever written about my passion for encouraging "real" play within our home...someday I will. In a nutshell, I believe we live in an overly busy and electronic age and that children don't REALLY play (or even know HOW to play) anymore unless they are encouraged. I have been falling increasingly in love with all things Montessori and have several play "stations" (hee! No pun intended) set up throughout our home. These stations are VERY simple. They consist of baskets/boxes of toys that encourage our children to use their imaginations (For instance we have a dress up box, a play kitchen with a large variety of wooden and cloth food, a basket of play-silks, art supplies, building blocks, Duplos, , etc...).

...Well, as I was thinking about THE perfect gift for our little lady, that would also encourage "real" play, I came up with this..."girly" things to add to our overwhelmingly "boy" dress-up box.

I took a trip to a couple thrift stores in the area and found 2 beautiful (think royal wedding style) hats, 5 pairs of ladies gloves, and some long necklaces. (I know that second-hand hats can be a little frightening, BUT did you know that you can simply slip any "un-washable" item into a zip-lock bag and put it into the freezer for 48 hrs and it will eliminate any bacteria or little pests that might exist on it? Neat huh?)

Next, I set to work making a couple of little things. One of the gifts that I made for my little princess is this pretty little pink tutu...

Today, I have put together a tutorial so that you too can make a tutu! ; ) Just follow the steps below.(It is SO EASY. I promise!)

Note: I realize that some of my photos are sideways or upside down but I just didn't have the time to turn them all the right way. Please forgive me.

You Will Need:

2 spools of ribbon 

(you'll end up using a 1/2 spool of each color so you can make 2 tutus with 2 spools of ribbon)

1.5 Yards of Tulle (sp??)

(I used 1 yard of light pink tulle and 1/2 yard of hot pink tulle in order to give the tutu a two-toned appearance)

Tip: Have the tulle cut in 1/2 yard strips.

Scissors

Step #1

Choose 2 spools of ribbon (one wide and one narrow) and coordinating tulle. Unroll the spool of wide ribbon and cut it in half (approx. 2 yards)

Step #2

Fold each piece of tulle in half and cut it on the fold.

Step #3

Cut each double layer of tulle into 3 equal parts.

Step #4

Cut 10-12 pieces of narrow ribbon the length of one of the pieces of tulle.

Step #5

Fold each piece of tulle in half over the wide piece of ribbon and tie in a knot.

Step #6

Between every few pieces of tulle, fold each piece of narrow ribbon in half and tie in a knot.

I love the way that this turned out.

Our little baby girl just LOVES her pretty new dress up things and wore the little tutu all day long.

Catching Up...

So much is happening/has happened in my life and in my heart lately. Here are some of my recent thoughts...

I love the month of May. I just love it. I love the blossoms on the trees and the flowers that spring forth from the earth. I love the singing of the birds and the sunshine that pours through my windows. I love that it is the month of Mary. I love the Marian hymns at mass and the beautiful tradition of the May crowning...speaking of, I really need to glue our statue of Our Lady back together so that we can have our home May crowning...

Lately I am re-obsessed (it hits me every Spring and Summer) with smoothies. I JUST. CAN'T. GET. ENOUGH!

It is such a blessing to have the opportunity and grace to house another precious child within my womb. I am often overwhelmed with the the beauty of this reality. And, I can't wait to find out if we are to welcome a little boy or a little girl into our hearts and home this September (2 weeks until the ultrasound! eek!).

We are leaving in 2.5 weeks and I will dearly miss our friends...sigh. And, there is still SO much to be done before we go.

My in-laws are coming to our home in 3 days! 

I love my husband more than words can express. He is such a loving, giving, caring man. I have been feeling the blessing of his presence in my life a LOT lately. It is an incredible gift to be married to my best friend.

Speaking of my Mister, he made a toddler bunk bed yesterday! Who does that?! He did such a great job! I can't get over that man. We'll sand and stain it later this week. I can't wait to show you the pictures!

Speaking of yesterday, my baby girl turned 1 (1!!!) I can't believe it! The day was simply lovely.

Library fines can be so EXPENSIVE! That's all I'll say about that!

I found (and bought) this INCREDIBLE  orange necklace at this little boutique I happened to pass through the other day. You may have heard of it...it's called Goodwill. (Pics another day)

Did you know that Tom's of Maine made a toothpaste for kids?! I JUST discovered it this weekend...and promptly escorted it to the checkout and into my home.

I have been listening to the Parent Trap soundtrack on repeat ALL weekend. SO GOOD! I had forgotten how much I love it. And, dance parties with toddlers are truly priceless!

And now, my coffee is beckoning and there are empty boxes waiting to be filled...

More later!

Ciao!

"My Daddy"

...by a young artist.

From the Mouths of Babes...

This morning, as my "2" and "3" were playing with their magnetic trains, I could tell that my "3" was frustrated that the train cars kept coming apart. A few minutes later, I overheard him say shout to his little brother "I can't play with these anymore! They are too delicate for me!"

Delicate. That is the word of the day!

20.5 Weeks...

To my dear family and friends...by your request...

pictures!

 

Note: These were taken 2 weeks ago (by my handsome Mister). I'll post current pics soon...I promise.

First Comes LOVE...

Then Comes Marriage...

Then Comes the Baby in the Baby Carriage.

We will be happy to hold baby number FOUR in our arms this September!!!