B17- Bomber

We were invited by our wonderful neighbors to head to a local airport to see a B-17 Bomber.  My husband and I jumped at the chance to show our girls this old, beautiful plane.  When we pulled up to the airport I noticed all the firetrucks out with their lights on.

 I got a little anxious, but everything looked okay so far.  We quickly found our friends and headed over to the huge plane for pictures.  While we were out there we found out that the firetrucks were there for a plane who was having a little difficulty with his landing gear.  I really didn't want my children to see anything so I watched the sky the whole time we were there.  I was praying frantically while we watched our friend line up with the others and the pilots. 

Then we watched them load up and take off. 

We never saw the plane land, but heard from our neighbors that the firetrucks were gone so everything must have turned out okay.  Thanks be to God!! 

Our friend's flight lasted about 30 minutes and he enjoyed it so much.  So did we.  We also went to feed the ducks at the pond at the airport which turned out to be a lot of fun for our little guy.  He loved throwing food to the ducks.  I think he might have some baseball in his future...

"I'm not a little kid anymore..."

This morning I actually got to go for a walk all alone, for awhile.  My almost 8 year old decided to meet me at the park to play while I walked the track.  After walking back to my street to meet her at the end, we headed back to the park.  I walked around once while she played and then she joined me at the path. 

Me: "Would you like to walk with me?" 

Her: "Yes, I forgot I'm not a little kid anymore."

Me: "You are very big now."

Her: "Yes, I forgot I'm not little kid anymore and so I can't play at the park without friends." 

I agreed and told her that it was a lot of fun to play with friends.  Then I laughed to myself and saw her as a much bigger kid than I had before.  She is growing quickly...Time goes fast.

Trying a daybook again...

The Simple Woman's Daybook

I find such peace by reading others and find myself constantly thinking of wonderful posts, then time gets away and another day goes by, so I am going to try to do just this each Thursday and see how things go.

My Simple Woman's Daybook:

Outside my window:  It is raining, but not too hard.  It's amazing how a hurricane can make the humidity go away and the breeze actually brings relief to the heat.

I am thinking: about how wonderful prayers can be when we storm Heaven and beg for His never ending mercy.  Pray for Alec and his parents.

I am thankful for:  an amazing husband, beautiful children and wonderful friends.

From the learning room:  This is under construction for now...many plans and ideas are needed to motivate those who struggle.

From the kitchen:  I smell amazing beer bread just coming out of the oven.  Prepared and baked by an amazing 10 year old who never ceases to amaze me!

I am wearing:  a new purple workout shirt and new black workout shorts that I still haven't changed out of since walking early this morning.  Better go freshen up before hubby gets home!

I am creating:  guides for our home.  I prefer to call them guides rather than charts, because I think they might go over better this way.  This is all part of my simplifying summer to be able to form new habits before we begin schooling again. Prayers would be appreciated.  Especially for me...the inconsistent one.

I am going:  funny thing, the last time I wrote a daybook I was going on a retreat, now I am preparing to host that retreat in a few weeks.  So many blessings from this beautiful event.

I am reading:  I am finishing up Simplicity Parenting and it has changed my life.
  
I am pondering:  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tiding to the poor."  Luke 4:18

I am hoping:  for everyone to wake up one day and actually feel the love Christ is sending their way.

I am hearing:  the t.v. which hasn't been turned on much this summer, until this week.  Hopefully I'm  not starting a trend.

Around the house:  laundry is going, dishes are clean, floors need some tidying, but that is an everyday occurrence with a shedding dog.  

One of my favorite things:  spending time serving others.

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Hurricane Alex changed our plans, for now I wait to see what the weekend brings...

A picture thought I'm sharing:

I hope you all have a blessed Fourth of July celebration.  Our Lady of Hope, pray for us.

Savoring the Summer

Savor summer contest!!

This is a friend's new summer challenge.  I offer it to you with love so that you may enjoy the simple things this summer.  Now that we have finished with swimteam, our simple summer can begin!!  Happy Summer!!

The journey

Lately I have been feeling very inadequate in so many ways. Around the house, in the school room, as a wife. Now in all fairness life has been very full and stressful, but that stress has left us now and I still feel like I'm so far behind in everything. I feel that my spiritual life needs to be so much more. I feel like I'm searching and searching trying to find inner peace. Then at Mass on Saturday night, it hit me. Like a ton of bricks. We always need to be searching because once the search is over, we have reached our destination. Once we reach the end of the journey, we're home. I want my home to be in Heaven with our Lord. I need Him to be complete. We are all on our own journeys, but they will all lead us home if we choose the right road to follow. I guess what I realized is that I should never feel adequate. If I did, then where would I have left to go? I always need to improve myself, I always need to grow. It is when we stop growing that we die and I really don't want to die. I want to live eternally with My Father in Heaven. My creator who calls me to Him every day. I just need to live in the moment and follow the journey He leads me on. Do the best that I can do and realize that I need to search, and I need to be more than who I am now. It is only through Christ that I find strength and peace. I need to see myself through His eyes. It is for Him that I live, serve and love.

Enjoy your journey and find peace along the way.

Are you ready?

Everywhere I turn these days, I hear this question. Are you ready for Christmas? If that means do I have all the gifts bought and wrapped, then no, but I will be. But if it means are my heart, soul and home ready for the coming of the Christ child, then I have to stop and think. Did I do everything I set out to do this Advent season? NO. Did I prepare in the best possible way? NO. I am here on the last Sunday of Advent wondering what happened. Where did all the time go and what about all my really great ideas for me and the kids? How did I get to this place and how far do I have to go to be ready for Christmas? I would love to say that my heart is prepared everyday to receive Jesus, but I'm not. I'm not worthy at all. These days have been such a challenge and I have become quite overwhelmed with it all. I usually wake each morning and begin my day with prayer, but this Advent it seems that there is too much to do and so I pray while I work. So I jump out of bed and start running before my feet hit the ground. I have to look back and realize that we did have a very fruitful Advent, filled with sacrifices, alms giving, visiting the home-bound, feeding the hungry. But what about my plan? Did God have a different plan for my Advent and did I truly grow closer to Him? YES. He knew what I needed this year. He knew how I would get there. I do truly feel at peace with Him and I do feel ready for Him. Our house is full of His love and we are excited to celebrate His birth. We started a tradition several years ago that is one of our most treasured. We do not put any presents under our Christmas tree until Christmas Eve. Instead we have a nativity, that the children can play with, and we have a gold wrapped box that baby Jesus is in. This is the first gift we open on Christmas morning. We sing Happy Birthday and we all take time to think about the gift that He is in our life. After that the rest just doesn't seem as important and we can really understand the true meaning of Christmas.

I hope you find that this Advent you have been able to prepare for Christ's coming in the way that He has planned for you. I hope that you too, are able to find peace in this journey and that you will continue His path for your life.

Merry Christmas!

I haven't written anything for quite some time for many different reasons. Mainly though, it is because life has gotten so busy. There doesn't seem to be enough time to stop and put my thoughts down into words.
We've started a new school year and everything is flowing smoothly with our academics, however we have taken two vacations since August and so now it is time to get the house all organized as well.
It's easy to let things get piled up, but it's impossible for us to live well amongst the clutter. How wonderful life is when we detach ourselves from the material possessions of this world. Some of us are called to this more than others. Right now I have two dear friends that are faced with the biggest detachment of all and that is their lives in this world. How scary and hard it must be to be faced with having to say goodbye to your loved ones, especially your children. Our faith in God has to be strong to be able to trust in His will. Our human minds can't begin to fathom this love He has for us. It is through our suffering that we are able to join our Lord and Savior on the cross. Our crosses are so small compared to others and yet they seem so heavy. It is when we are able to offer our sufferings up in prayer that we truly feel the presence of God amidst the pain. My mind is constantly with my dear friends in prayer and in deeds. How I pray for their strength and that of their families because as hard as it must be for them, they are close to joining our Lord in Heaven. Their families however, will still be here mourning the loss and feeling the pain. I pray that they may find comfort with our Lord on the cross and join their sufferings with His. This is the way to Heaven for no one comes to the Father except through the Son.

Our Lord is an awesome Lord and will love us always.

Please pray for Kelly and Linda during these next few weeks. Thank you and may God bless you all.