Yesterday it snowed here (again!)...when we woke up Angelica saw the snow out the window and came running over to me...
"Mama, mama....it is Christmas time!"
(Not having made her connection yet...I said:)
"No, Angel the Christmas season is over...."
Angel went running to the window and pointing to the snow and with a very confused face said, "NO Mama...see...it's Christmas!"
(I guess when you have a White Christmas every year since you have been born you think when it snows, it just must be Christmas again!)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Exhausted
We have had some crazy scheduled days with everything that has been going on these last couple of weeks...the other night Meghan came over to make us dinner (a delicious recipe which I need to post) and all the kiddos decided they were tired and needed a nap. So for over an hour...they all slept...Emma on one couch, Angel on the other couch, and little Albert in the swing...so sweet!
Saturday at the Park
It has been so cold here we have not gotten much outside play time. So when Saturday came along with sunshine we decided to make the most of it. We are very fortunate to have a wonderful park so close to us...and the girls had a BLAST!! They both loved the swings (Emma almost fell asleep) and Angel even went climbing up high to the big girl tunnel slide and did it all by herself!! It was so refreshing to get outside and play and the girls slept very well that night!! Looking forward to spring!
At the top of the tunnel slide
Emma, waiting for Angelica
There she is!
At the top of the tunnel slide
Emma, waiting for Angelica
There she is!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Potty News
Well we went from our Toilet Troubles to finally some successful potty progress. Angelica is actually going pee in the potty!! She will ask to go and now she does!!! We have our own little potty dance and M&M rewards...I am so proud of her. I think something is finally starting to click and now her desire to go (which she has had for a long time now) is meeting the need and understanding of how to go. So some days she goes a couple, and Sunday she went 6 times. Now, when she does go poo in her diaper she says she needs to go potty...so I am thinking she realizes it a bit too late but knows she wants to go. It has been so much better since I stopped stressing about it and let her call the shots. So please keep your fingers crossed that we move in this direction. Funny story:When we had the reception for my PopPop after his funeral...Angelica was playing with her little friend Abby. Abby had asked her daddy to take her to the potty....the next night Angelica was telling Jason that Abby did that. Then she asked Jason, "Papa, are you my daddy?" Jason said, "Yes, Angelica I am your daddy." Angel replied: "Then, Daddy, can I go potty?"
See peer pressure and example works even at the age of two!! So thanks Abby for the potty power!! Might have to have you over again!
Doesn't Emma look thrilled with her hairdresser?
...and yes those are wings Angel is wearing...thanks Lili!
Our Godson's Baptism
We celebrated and welcomed our nephew and godson, Albert Gregory Sturhahn, into the Church this past Sunday. Jason has a goddaughter, but this is my first godchild. The Baptism was beautiful (celebrated with a friend of mine having her son baptized as well...Gabriel Lawrence)...and the celebration party afterwards was just as nice. I always love the smell of chrism on the baby's head and Albert looked very handsome in his beautiful little suit Marmee made him. There are more pics at the Sturhahns Site. I pray that we will always be positive role models, examples and good advisers for Albert in his Catholic faith and spiritual journey.
With Father Lappe
Proud Godmother
Marmee and Sleepy Emma
Godparents
Sisters (and kids)
Proud Grandmothers
Our Church's New Baptismal Font
No more Pagan Baby
With Father Lappe
Proud Godmother
Marmee and Sleepy Emma
Godparents
Sisters (and kids)
Proud Grandmothers
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
So sad, please pray. - Updated
I had just been on Amy's site (which I love) this morning and read her thought provoking post of the day...and then tonight saw the SAD and SHOCKING news that her husband unexpectedly died this morning when he collapsed at the gym. Please pray for her and her family as they grieve this tremendous loss!!! I have enjoyed reading several of his and her books and he also had a wonderful site. Amazing man, husband and father....rest in peace Michael.
UPDATE:
Danielle Bean is collecting donations at her site for the family. There is also a spiritual bouquet being collected, here. Also, Amy Welborn has asked that if you would like to tangibly do something....please buy Michael's book, The How To Book of the Mass, as her husband set up that all the royalties of the book go to their children's college funds. It is an amazing book to have, if not for you and your personal collection, you could always use it as a gift for First Communion, Confirmation etc. This is what Amy wrote:
Michael collapsed this morning at the gym and was not able to be revived despite the efforts of EMTs and hospital personnel.
We are devastated and beg your prayers.
Many thanks for all of the prayers and notes. It is overwhelming. Many have asked what they can do of a material or concrete nature. All I can say is to simply buy his books. Not from me, because I am in no position to fill orders, but from anywhere else. He long ago promised God that he would give all the royalties of The How To Book of the Mass to the children’s college funds, which he did faithfully. It is in good shape because of that. Buy them, read them, and give them away to others. Spread the Word. That is what he was all about.
She also posted his last article which he finished writing Monday...I was amazed at how now fitting what he wrote is/was:
While in Washington, D.C. several weeks ago, I ran into an old friend, Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, with whom I have collaborated on several books. We met after a Mass for pro-life leaders at Trinity College. It was exactly five years and 10 days from that night in Orlando, FL when Father Benedict nearly lost his life in a tragic accident, and almost four years to the day that I spent a week with him in New York, assisting him in putting the finishing touches on a book that he co-authored with Bishop Baker.
Working with a very frail Father Benedict at the time, I was reminded of an interview that he had given some years earlier at EWTN with Doug Keck on Booknotes. During that interview, when Father Benedict’s book Arise From Darkness was first published, Doug asked Father Benedict to elaborate on something that Father had called the “big lie” in his book. The “big lie,” Father Benedict said, (and I’m paraphrasing him at this point), is to think that if we say all the right prayers and live correctly, then nothing bad will ever happen to us. Sadly, there are many good people who have lost their faith by believing such a lie, and that makes it a big one indeed!
One only has to think of Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, and how much He suffered on the cross, to correct one’s view on this matter. In our own day, there are many whom we know have lived saintly lives, many who have prayed much, and yet have suffered too.
This brings me to another incident that I learned from Father Benedict while working with him four years ago in New York. I was waiting for him to make some corrections on a text when I noticed what looked like a wedding program. I asked him if it was for a relative or a couple he had married. He replied that it was neither, but told me the story of the person behind it.
Diana was a young Puerto Rican woman who grew up in a very faith filled home. Even though they were poor, her mother taught her at an early age to trust God above everything. By the time she was old enough to go to college, Diana found a way to pursue her education - again something that she credited to her strong faith - and became the first member of her large family to graduate from college. She then married and was hired by a large investment firm in New York.
Even though her job kept her busy, she found time to attend Mass everyday. When her friends threw parties, Diana made up goodie bags for them that included candy and make-up, but also a prayer book and holy water. When a member of her family couldn’t pay their bills, Diana secretly paid them. When someone in the family got into trouble she bailed them out of jail.
One night Diana had a strange dream. In the dream Jesus appeared to her, dressed in a white robe, standing on a cloud of smoke. He was beckoning her to come to him, telling her not to worry, that he was going to take her with him. Then it seemed to her that the whole world disappeared from beneath her and she awoke. She told her husband about the dream the next morning, but he didn’t want to hear about it—it scared him.
The next few nights, the dream repeated itself. She told her mother, who wondered what it could mean.
A month later on September 11, 2001, Diana was at work at her investment firm in the World Trade Center on one of the top floors. She phoned her husband and mother on her cell phone after the second plane struck the tower below her. She reminded them of the dream, just before the tower crumbled.
What is the opposite of the “big lie”? Trust.
When questioned by an English journalist about the future of the Religious Order that he co-founded, Father Benedict gave a simple reply, “We have no plans, except to be led by God.”
None of us knows what the future holds, but hopefully we can embrace what is inscribed in our coinage, “In God we Trust.”
UPDATE:
Danielle Bean is collecting donations at her site for the family. There is also a spiritual bouquet being collected, here. Also, Amy Welborn has asked that if you would like to tangibly do something....please buy Michael's book, The How To Book of the Mass, as her husband set up that all the royalties of the book go to their children's college funds. It is an amazing book to have, if not for you and your personal collection, you could always use it as a gift for First Communion, Confirmation etc. This is what Amy wrote:
Michael collapsed this morning at the gym and was not able to be revived despite the efforts of EMTs and hospital personnel.
We are devastated and beg your prayers.
Many thanks for all of the prayers and notes. It is overwhelming. Many have asked what they can do of a material or concrete nature. All I can say is to simply buy his books. Not from me, because I am in no position to fill orders, but from anywhere else. He long ago promised God that he would give all the royalties of The How To Book of the Mass to the children’s college funds, which he did faithfully. It is in good shape because of that. Buy them, read them, and give them away to others. Spread the Word. That is what he was all about.
She also posted his last article which he finished writing Monday...I was amazed at how now fitting what he wrote is/was:
While in Washington, D.C. several weeks ago, I ran into an old friend, Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, with whom I have collaborated on several books. We met after a Mass for pro-life leaders at Trinity College. It was exactly five years and 10 days from that night in Orlando, FL when Father Benedict nearly lost his life in a tragic accident, and almost four years to the day that I spent a week with him in New York, assisting him in putting the finishing touches on a book that he co-authored with Bishop Baker.
Working with a very frail Father Benedict at the time, I was reminded of an interview that he had given some years earlier at EWTN with Doug Keck on Booknotes. During that interview, when Father Benedict’s book Arise From Darkness was first published, Doug asked Father Benedict to elaborate on something that Father had called the “big lie” in his book. The “big lie,” Father Benedict said, (and I’m paraphrasing him at this point), is to think that if we say all the right prayers and live correctly, then nothing bad will ever happen to us. Sadly, there are many good people who have lost their faith by believing such a lie, and that makes it a big one indeed!
One only has to think of Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, and how much He suffered on the cross, to correct one’s view on this matter. In our own day, there are many whom we know have lived saintly lives, many who have prayed much, and yet have suffered too.
This brings me to another incident that I learned from Father Benedict while working with him four years ago in New York. I was waiting for him to make some corrections on a text when I noticed what looked like a wedding program. I asked him if it was for a relative or a couple he had married. He replied that it was neither, but told me the story of the person behind it.
Diana was a young Puerto Rican woman who grew up in a very faith filled home. Even though they were poor, her mother taught her at an early age to trust God above everything. By the time she was old enough to go to college, Diana found a way to pursue her education - again something that she credited to her strong faith - and became the first member of her large family to graduate from college. She then married and was hired by a large investment firm in New York.
Even though her job kept her busy, she found time to attend Mass everyday. When her friends threw parties, Diana made up goodie bags for them that included candy and make-up, but also a prayer book and holy water. When a member of her family couldn’t pay their bills, Diana secretly paid them. When someone in the family got into trouble she bailed them out of jail.
One night Diana had a strange dream. In the dream Jesus appeared to her, dressed in a white robe, standing on a cloud of smoke. He was beckoning her to come to him, telling her not to worry, that he was going to take her with him. Then it seemed to her that the whole world disappeared from beneath her and she awoke. She told her husband about the dream the next morning, but he didn’t want to hear about it—it scared him.
The next few nights, the dream repeated itself. She told her mother, who wondered what it could mean.
A month later on September 11, 2001, Diana was at work at her investment firm in the World Trade Center on one of the top floors. She phoned her husband and mother on her cell phone after the second plane struck the tower below her. She reminded them of the dream, just before the tower crumbled.
What is the opposite of the “big lie”? Trust.
When questioned by an English journalist about the future of the Religious Order that he co-founded, Father Benedict gave a simple reply, “We have no plans, except to be led by God.”
None of us knows what the future holds, but hopefully we can embrace what is inscribed in our coinage, “In God we Trust.”
Friday, January 30, 2009
Almost perfect Potato Head...
...except for the shoes on the head...but I was so proud she knew where all the other parts went!!
Emma Bemma Boo
Chris (my brother-in-law) has a great camera and has gotten some very sweet shots of Emma this past week....here are a few, and you can see more at his site.
Bertie Boy
So while last Friday was tough as it started with saying goodbye to PopPop it ended late at night with saying hello and meeting my new nephew, Albert Gregory, or as I call Bertie. Amazing how God keeps the circle of life going and for us in perspective...amazing how the heart can be heavy and happy all at the same time. The girls have loved giving their cousin kisses and Angel loves to hold him. Meghan has posted lots more on her site. He has so many cute expressions and makes all kinds of noises. He gets a very cute wrinkled forehead and gives us some big grins. He has such cute little chubby hands and just looks like a boy!! It is amazing to see my little sister as a mommy and I can't wait to watch little Bertie grow...hopefully not too fast!!
Celebrating
After the funeral last Friday, we had a reception remembering and celebrating PopPop at my parents house. We were surrounded by lots of good friends, good memories and good food! Angel had a blast playing with all the little ones and she and Abby really had fun taking turns pushing each other in the baby stroller. Angel also thoroughly enjoyed circling the food table and snacking all night long! Thanks to everyone who was able to stop by, your support and love means so much to us and definitely helps us get through the tough times!! It was very helpful to celebrate PopPop and the wonderful and full life he was able to enjoy! 
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