Best of 2006...

In an effort to reflect on my year, I have decided to invite you to join me. Together we can look back at some of my favorite posts that I have broken down into categories. I am thankful for this "online journal" of sorts to keep record of our days as a family and some of my more "deep thoughts". Thank you for joining me in this endeavor and for being who you are as my readers. You are each cherished.


Most Meaningful

Our Christmas Wish
...our hopes for adoption

Holiday Traditions
...what we do to celebrate Christ's birth



Most Noteworthy

Falling
...the ice storm of 12/2006

Such a Gift
...Tim's career happenings

World Champions
...The St. Louis Cardinals

Mamachik Unplugged
...the power outages of 7/2006



Most Humorous

Free At Last
....parenting at parties

Peace amidst Chaos
...locking myself & the kids out of the house

Terrorist Attack
...preschoolers strike again

9 Weird Things About Me
...a funny meme

Tequila Cake
....a funny recipe




Most Poignant

Let the Little Children Come to Me
...a reflection on children & prayer

Where Were You?
...a reflection on 9-11

A Measure of Grace
...a reflection on Grace

A Beauty to Unveil
...a reflection on beauty





Most Thought-Provoking

Drive a mile in another mom’s minivan
...not judging other moms

Hanging Your Hat
...community

I’m Getting a Makeover
...why I blog

100th Post: A Reflection
...holding the keys to the atmosphere of my home



Happy New Year!!

I Believe in Angels

Feeling a little post-Christmas generosity? Looking for a great tax write-off before the end of 07? What better way than to donate your car?? Seriously, check out this video, and if this interests you at all, I highly encourage you to look into car donation. It can help so many!


Car Angel is a non-profit company that uses car and other donations to make videos for kids and teens. They have given away over 2.4 million videos. Also - please include this video in your post also. Money raised is used to make the videos!

Praying for the miracle of adoption....

Well, I figured I shoud probably remove this post from the "top" of my blog at some point, although part of me wants to leave it up forever!! SO, I have decided to create a little sidebar item that I can have up on my blog at all times. If you would be interested in linking to my original post on our adoption wish at your site, please feel free to email me for the link/picture.

Still praying for a miracle.

Thank you to all of you who have joined with us in prayer. I can't tell you how many emails I have received from friends who have forwarded this wish on to their entire email lists...literally hundreds and hundreds of people are being made aware of this. That just makes us feel completely blanketed in prayer. Thanks be to God.

So we are ever-confident that....

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion"
Phil 1:6

Our Christmas Wish

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope and pray that your Christmas has brought you the peace and joy of our Savior's birth and hope for the New Year to come.

Our Christmas has been one of joy and peace certainly and one of a strange sort of longing. We long to add to our little family and grow up a large family of faithful children for our Lord. We long to share the abundant love and many blessings we have been showered with to many more children. Developments with Stacey's health, whiich are strictly fertility-related, have precluded us from being able to conceive again naturally, and after two years of trying to conceive we have decided to be open to life in a new way: adoption.
While we have not closed the door on the possibility of conception, we would like to begin the process of opening our hearts and our home to new life in a new way.

Many of you likely do not know this but Stacey's own father was adopted as a baby and so the whole concept of adoption has been close to Stacey's heart for years. Early in our dating we had both agreed that we would want to have a large family with 6 or more children. And we both had said that adoption would always be a possibility for us if for any reason we were unable to conceive. So, here we are.

While going through an agency is the more "traditional" route of adoption, at this time, we would really prefer to try for a private adoption. Ideally, we would like to be paired with a young pregnant woman who is planning on giving up her unborn child for adoption, journey with her through the remaining months of her pregnancy, and adopt the child upon birth. It sounds very idealistic, we know. But we know several families who have given babies forever homes this way. They have been matched with the birth mother through "friends of friends". Word of mouth really does go a long way!

That is where you come in.

Our special request for you is two-fold:

1. That you would pray for our family as we embark on this journey.

2. That you would be open to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit in your circles of friendship...perhaps you have a friend who has a neice who has a friend who has an unplanned pregnancy (or whatever)....you could mention us to them, and give them our number....and from there.....it is God's work. Does that make sense?


We are just so grateful for your friendship and your prayers for this journey. Please know we remember you in prayer daily.

You can also forward this to anyone and everyone you can The idea of an "all-points-bulletin" keeps popping in my head! The more widely we cast the net, the more likely we are to "catch a fish" - if you will.

Thank you and God bless you this Christmas season.

Oh Happy Day!

This past saturday we attended a wedding - and as I was laying out our very coordinated wedding clothes, I decided to call the Picture People and see if they had any appointments that afternoon. We haven't had family portraits done in 2 years. It would be perfect: once at the ceremony, we were only 2 minutes from the studio and we had been having trouble coming up with something to do that wouldn't get the kids' clothes destroyed between the ceremony and reception. Well, you wouldn't think that they would have had an appointment at all that day, being the saturday before Christmas and all, and given that this is the type of studio that prints your photos while you wait (less than an hour)...

But YES! They had an appointment at EXACTLY the time I had hoped for! So we went in and got our pictures done and the photographer was amazing - the best we have had at that studio yet! And then, the kids could play in the mall playground (which is right outside the studio) while we drank starbucks and waited for the pics! Too FUN!!

So, here are our 2006 portraits.

Priceless moments of Christmas...

Favorite Ingredient Friday

For this week's Favorite Ingredient Friday, I decided to go with my favorite Christmas recipe. Enjoy!

TEQUILA CHRISTMAS CAKE
1 cup water
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup of brown sugar
Lemon juice
4 large eggs
Nuts
1 bottle tequila
2 cups dried fruit
Sample the tequila to check quality.
Take a large bowl, check the tequila again.
To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.
Repeat.
Turn on the electric mixer.
Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.
Add one teaspoon of sugar.
Beat again.
At this point its best to make sure the tequila is still OK.
Try another cup...just in case.
Turn off the mixer thingy.
Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.
Pick the frigging fruit up off the floor.
Mix on the turner.
If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver.
Sample the tequila to check for tonsisticity.
Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something.
Check the tequila.
Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
Add one table.
Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.
Greash the oven.
Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.
Don't forget to beat off the turner.
Finally, throw the bowl through the window.
Finish the tequila and wipe counter with the cat.
CHERRY MISTMAS!

Okay, so obviously this is not a real recipe. I just think this is hilarious!!! It is so worth posting just a few days before Christmas - when some of us really could use a night of baking like this to 'get us through' to Christmas!! Lol!! I copied it from someone's blog last year and couldn't resist posting it again as my way of saying Merry Christmas!!

An Advent Reflection

A friend sent this to me. From what I understand, it was the homily at a graduation mass at U.San Fransisco. It really touched me today in ways that are too private and raw to share so I thought I would post it as a reflection for Advent. Feel free to make your own reflections in the comments.

Baccalaureate Mass 10 AM St. Ignatius 12.15.06

The first reading’s assertion about God “teaching us what is for our good and leading us on the way we should go” is ideal for a commencement liturgy at a Jesuit Catholic university. Learning what is for our – every human being’s – good and how to achieve it is an as-important, if never ending, learning exercise as what you have absorbed here through your studies in whatever fields or disciplines. In light of that selection about God “teaching us” and ”showing us the way”, the second reading about Mary visiting Elizabeth is quite instructive.

Now I have to confess this Gospel reading is not among my favorites. For me it conjures up Renaissance and Baroque paintings depicting the majestically robed young Mary embracing her elderly and equally elegant older cousin, Elizabeth. This tableau is preceded by that of an angel appearing to Mary, the flower of all God’s creation, and Mary hearing from the angel that she is pregnant and soon to become the mother of the Messiah. Fra Angelico’s painting of the scene of Mary and the angel of annunciation is a common Christmas card image.

The truth is that Mary was not an elegantly dressed woman of courtly manners, soft skin, light complexion and polished bearing. She was a dark-skinned teenager who probably went barefoot in a dirt floored hut, was surely illiterate and rather crude by our standards of hygiene and etiquette. She was a shrewd, hard-nosed peasant who found herself unexpectedly pregnant and surely wanted to get advice and support at this most disconcerting moment from a trusted and dear friend. Hence, the visit to her older cousin, Elizabeth.

Before Mary can get a word out, Elizabeth blesses her among all women and the baby she will have. Mary received the reassurance and support that she came for without even opening her mouth, and she breaks out into the great song of the Magnificat which is today’s gospel.

What does Mary sing about? Not about herself, but about God. A God who chooses the little instead of the big; the weak instead of the strong. A God who lifts up the lowly and puts down the mighty. A God who makes fruitful a young virgin and a barren old women. Mary sang because she realized she was chosen by God, not because of her purity and goodness – later generations would make that mistake – but because she was a nobody in a nothing town. How extraordinary that of all the possibilities God broke into her life to teach her what was good and show her the way!

We celebrate Mary as the Mother of Jesus not because she deserves it, but because she does not deserve it. No one does. That is the point of the Gospel story. As long as we imagine the Mary of the paintings – perfect woman of queenly stature, ideal choice for mother of the Messiah – we can go about our lives confident that because we are not made of the same stuff as she, God will not break into our lives “to teach us what is good and show us the way.”

Mary sings about a God who turns everything upside down – for her, for you, for me. The Gospel story we call the Visitation says that if God could break into the life of an ignorant, small-town peasant girl, God could and would do it to all the lonely, lowly, broken, and insignificant people such as you and me. That’s what Mary sang about.

The gospel is not a story about the visit of two regal women reassuring each other about God’s wisdom in choosing them. It is a story of the meeting of two bewildered peasant women stunned by the realization of God’s breaking into their insignificant lives.

To understand this, is to open our own lives to God. It is to know that God strains gently and subtly to “teach us what is good and show us the way.” To put Mary on a pedestal – to confuse great art with good theology -- is to take ourselves off the hook. The Gospel consistently speaks of the lives of little people being broken into by God and that pattern continues in our own times. We cannot escape asking ourselves where and how God works in our lives to teach us and show us the way.

Many years ago when the great African American contralto, Marian Anderson, was asked to name the greatest moment of her life – for example, the concert she gave at the White House, receiving the $10,000 Bach award, Toscanini’s proclaiming her the greatest voice of the 20th century – she said the greatest moment of her life was the day she went home and told her mother she would no longer have to take in washing.

That, in nutshell, is the Gospel we just heard today. Mary was a washer-women, a minority person in an occupied territory, living in a miserable backwater town and God broke into her life. Today we celebrate what God did for Mary, what God has done for you here at USF, and what God wants to continue do for you and me.
Take a moment to look back and reflect on where and how God broke into your life and changed you during your time at USF – an experience that challenged you to rethink your life’s priorities, a class that opened you to the realities of global poverty, an encounter that helped you accept your own fragility, a tragedy that led you to question the purpose of life, a relationship that made you feel good about yourself and confident about your future. However and wherever it happened, recognize and celebrate God breaking into your life to teach you what is good and show you the way.

My prayer this morning is that during your time at USF, you have acquired some awareness of what God hopes for from you. May you leave here with the realization and conviction that God has lifted you up; that God has given you good things; that God who is mighty has and will continue do great things through you if you let God break into your life and teach you what is good for us all and show you the way.

Let us go now to the table and receive the nourishment that we need to walk in the ways of the Lord.

Works for Me Wednesday - Christmas air freshener

Febreeze Air Effects "apple spice & delight" - the perfect companion to my holiday decorated home!

One of the latest products of Febreeze is Febreeze Air Effects. Febreeze Air Effects products are like the standard spray air fresheners of today, but Air Effects has another claim; instead of covering up the odor, it will make it disappear, completely! And at this time of year, we are cleaning out our fridge, getting up into the stale attic, and pulling wrapping paper from the basement...bringing all the yucky smells into our center of living space.

This stuff makes the whole house smell like Christmas in 2 minutes flat! And it is not over powering - just a beautiful subtle fragrance of clean. And you can tell it isn’t just covering it up, it’s actually helping to eliminate any foul odors from the air.

Next time you’re in the air freshener aisle, go past all the others and buy something that really works...it Works for Me!

Be sure to check out Rocks in my Dryer for more WFMW tips!

You're invited....

...to my home for some yummy hot cocoa! Sorry this invitation is a little late, but maybe you were overwhelmed with so many friends to visit at once last week over at Boomama's Christmas House Tour and so maybe this is good timing for you to really enjoy yourself here in my home. We are pretty casual. No need to take your shoes off, unless ofcourse, that makes you more comfortable. So, come on in out of the cold and hang your coat. Welcome to our home for the holidays!


When you come in through the front door you will see this cute little table in our piano room welcoming you into our home.


This is a vase of Candy Cane scented potpourri - it is AWESOME! The whole room smells divine and there is no fire hazard! (Not that I am anti-candle by any means!!)



This is one of our nativity scenes set up among the angels on our piano. We have the family bible open beneath it and a rosary on the bible. This room is what we call the piano room and it is more like a chapel - because I always take my prayer time here.



This is the mantle in the piano room. You'll notice proudly displayed Christmas books, snowmen, and our stockings which I adore....okay, on to the bathroom.



This is the vanity area where we get ready while someone else is at the sink. Those pics of the kids are there year round. I add the snowmen, the garland, and the lights to make it feel magical and wintery!



The dining room.


A close-up of our table dressing - a runner; those vases with more of that yummy candy cane potpourri and our Advent wreath. I love my Advent wreath. I bought it when I first moved to St. Louis - it is a 4 pronged candleabra and I added the greenery and bows. It is simple and yet gorgeous. The candles are new this year since last years were the original ones from 7 years ago! It was time!




Our kitchen table. I love pointsettas. This one is from Target with a CUTE silver pot that I will use again. Maybe you'll see it come spring with some herbs in it!




Our Christmas tree.
We went rather simple this year. I have a whole box of ribbons, beads, and other ornaments that I didn't even bother with. I guess that reflects my attitude about Christmas this year. Less is more, simple is better. The simple purity of just lights and ornaments really does speak to my heart when I gaze at the tree in the evenings. And here are some of my ornaments:

This one is brand new to me. My husband's grandma gave it to me on Sunday and I just love it. It is dainty and yet so beautiful - just like Grandma Jane. It is sad that she gives so much of her stuff away, it is like she is just kind of preparing...you know for death. And she is not sickly or anything, I guess maybe you just get that way when you get older. I love this angel. I feel like it is an angel that will watch over us and pray for us long after she is gone.

This is the ornament I got in Vegas when I was there in November. It reminds me of that more laid-back attitude of Key West that I loved so much on our honeymoon. It was the inspiration for my more simple tree.

Okay, this one is just simply ME. I found this one a week or two ago and I fell in love. It was like it was made FOR ME. Because y'all, if I had my way Christmas would be all in shades of Red and Blue!!!

This is one of my many snowmen. I got him in Vail, CO in 2001 when we went there for Thanksgiving. This was such a magical weekend away before marriage with a great group of friends. One that lives in my memory forever. I love this little guy because he brings all those memories flooding back!

This is our main fireplace mantel. The bows are not black - what is with my lighting?? They are burgandy. And that is my Fontanini nativity set that we received for our wedding. We haven't added to it but would like to one day. This is really the focal point of our room in the winter because of how often we have a fire going. It is a lovely place to rest your eyes.


Well, thanks for coming by. I hope you and your family have a blessed Christmas season.

Such a gift...

My husband recently applied for a pretty significant promotion at work. He stressed for a week or two while he waited to hear from the company about the outcome of this process. I have to admit, he was a little hard to live with during that time. He was a little edgy...grumpy...short-fused snarly.
Anyways, this promotion would mean he would have his own hotel within the company - as a General Manager. This was his first major career goal after the career change 7 months ago. He came in to the company after 6 years as a teacher/coach/department chair at an all boys high school. He was an assistant manager for 6 months and then applied for a position as GM.

And HE GOT IT!!!

We are so thrilled! He has been in place as GM of the hotel over in Thattown for 10 days now and is loving it. He is really very much in his element. It is fun, and eventful, and stressful and challenging all at the same time. He very much enjoys his job and I think he really enjoys the idea that if he works hard and performs well, it will be recognized within the company. With teaching, you are on a payscale and no matter how outstanding you are, you do not get bonuses, or promotions. Nothing is merit-based. Which, for a workaholic husband like mine, became very frustrating.
So in this position, he has the opportunity for 3 bonuses a year - his annual performance review which can bring either a bonus or a raise, and then two hotel-based bonuses that are more a reflection of how the hotel scores on certain criteria rather than his own personal performance. But as the GM, he is the one who gets the bonus when the hotel does well.

I am very proud of my husband. He worked hard to get here and sacrificed a lot. He applied for this promotion because of nagging...prodding....demanding gentle encouragment and he was pretty certain he wouldn't get it. So, when the call came and he was hired, above 9 other candidates, with a raise, he was ecstatic. I think it is the whole "I am man, I will provide, grunt" -type mentality that this success catered to. He and I both want for me to stay home with the children which is why he made the career switch to begin with so to have him raise up in the company so quickly is really very encouraging and must make him feel great about providing so well for our family.

The other exciting thing for us is that we do not have to move away for this promotion. We knew that if the right hotel came open at the right time, we would move if neccessary to further his career - which as I said , would be good for our family. But boy, I am sure glad that we don't have to face that right now!

So, as we head into Christmas week I am grateful. I am grateful for so many blessings in our family life. I am grateful for making a good decision as a couple for this career change, and the ways I have seen God bless our decision and just shower us with blessing upon blessing! Thank you Lord! He gave so much of himself teaching & coaching for all those years, I can't help but think how much he is being blessed now for all he gave then.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Luke 6:38

The Big Switch

Well, I switched to Beta - and I am not sure if it is working. Ugh. I had to switch because without switching, I was unable to add comments to any of my Beta friends' blogs. Sheesh. This is a pain.

Need Life Insurance?

When we got our life insurance, we did not have to take a medical exam. It was strange looking back on it. But we did have to answer all kinds of questions about our health which is seriously the way it should be, I think. I don't really think that people with pre-existing medical conditions should be excluded from receiving life insurance. I mean seriously, if Tim were to die of a long illness, would that somehow make my need for the life insurance money less relevant? NO! Perhaps moreso! What a crazy idea! So, if you need life insurance but aren't sure you would qualify because of the doctor's exam, check out life insurance no medical .

A girl's best friend

Well, let's talk about diamond rings, shall we?
Yeah, I lost my wedding ring a couple months ago. It was horrible. I was so sad for so long.
And then, well, we got it replaced. And I cannot say that I am sad anymore. I have a bigger diamond now and a more "me" setting. I loved my old ring because of sentimental reasons, but Tim had never asked me what I wanted when we were dating and the ring he bought me wasn't "me" in some ways - in particular how the diamond was mounted.
I had always wanted a cathedral setting - you know where the solitaire diamond is set real high. Well, originally, that is what he proposed with but then later that day I found out that my "proposal ring" was in place of my actual engagement ring that wasn't ready yet (long story). So, when we went to pick up my actual ring, I was a little disappointed in the mounting. I can say that now after 5 years of marriage!
So, now after all these years, I have a mounting that I am in love with and a husband who is thrilled that I am happy with my ring. We both have taken a step back and realized that it is only a "thing" and it is not our marriage. But what a fun blessing to end up with a ring I wanted all along!

Falling

Whew...

well I am so sorry I have basically fallen off the face of the earth for the past week. I didn't literally fall anywhere but it sure has felt like it!

First the rain fell.
Then the temperatures fell.
Then the sleet fell.
And the temps fell some more.
Then the snow fell.
And fell.
And fell.

Then the tree limbs fell.
And fell.
And fell.

Then the electrical wires fell.
Then the lights fell.
Then the temps in the house fell.
And fell.
And fell.

When we woke up in the dark our spirits fell.
When my husband went out to shovel, he almost fell.
When the kids went out to play in the snow, they fell.

As the morning wore on, patience fell.
We packed our bags and upon Grandma's house we all fell.

Day one came and night fell.
Day two came and night fell.

Day FIVE came and night fell...

Suddenly out of darkness came the light rising into the night like a beacon calling us home.

The warmth of the house reaching out to embrace us as we trod in from the cold like a mother embracing her young.

The intimacy I feel with our house is at times uncanning...she is faithful and true. We had to leave her during the storm because her shelter was simply inadequate. Could we have been more flexible and stayed with her? Regardless of the possibilities we did not explore, there she remains, ever faithful, humbly abiding, simply reaching out to embrace us.

Thank you, sweet, sweet home.



**********************************************************************

More reflections on the ice storm to come. Still processing much of it. I wanted to write something tonight that at least let you all know that I am alive!

In Stereo

One of the things I look forward to purchasing for our new home is all the new entertainment gadgets. I am embarassed to say that we have the same stereo I have had since early college days - almost 12 years old! And our tv is decent but totally out-dated. I would love to have a new stereo system and an amazing flat screen tv. The other thing that bugs me about our family room is our entertainment center. It is this huge piece of furniture that is kind of dated and well, not really my style anymore. I remember loving it and saving to buy it when we first got married...amazing how tastes can change so quickly. When it is time to shop, I will definitely be checking out this site for a new stereo cabinet .

Can you say OCD?!?!

So, we are building a house. In like, a year. But can I just tell you that I am already thinking about the move????!?!? Yeah. It's going to be crazy! I have a binder started with all my decorating/architecture ideas for the new house and I love adding to it. I have just decided that I need to add a whole section about the actual move itself. I am anal about these things, can you tell??
I am just glad that our move is right here in suburban St. Louis and doesn't involve any major metropolitan areas, like Chicago or New York. Now that would be stressful! But if you are looking to take on that task in New York, check out mover NYC .

Just Say No Part II

I certainly thank God that drug addiction is not a demon any one close to me faces, but I have extraordinary compassion for those who do. I know that addiction can be a nasty beast that grips the very life-blood of those who suffer. I have seen addiction destroy families and lives on more than one occasion. If you or anyone you know suffers from drug addiction, please pray for them and encourage them to consider a drug rehabilitation program.