Day 6

I meant to do this earlier but life got in the way a bit.  We make plans for our life (big or small) and God laughs. I should know that by now.

Today I am thankful for my youngest child.  A brief time spent with us but a presence felt in our hearts much longer.  She looked like her oldest sister. She captured our hearts and minds. It's been a long lonely year without her. A year spent worrying about how the older children were handling things, a year watching one son become overly protective of me, a year watching my husband still fight with the guilt of could he have done more, a year of learning that you frankly can't lean on anyone because they just can't be there for you.

Thankful for this picture because it represents the generosity of a group of people I don't know.  You see we'd priced things out and saved money until we could afford a simple stone. Then we called the church to see who we needed to talk to and were put in touch with the one guy who handles everything for the cemetery. We were then quoted a price 4 times what we'd been prepared for. In a bit of shock and dismay, I sent an email to a friend telling her what I'd learned. I just figured we'd save longer and figure it out eventually. But she reached out to her local friends (all of whom I've never met) and they donated enough to cover the cost of the headstone.  Seriously amazed by the generosity of strangers.  Truly touched. And it also makes me wonder why it's so much easier to help those we don't know.

So today I am thankful for generous hearts, small souls, and mournful spirits. May we all learn to treasure those things in front of us just a little bit more than we do today.

The Blurry Halloween Pics

My camera has been dropped a few times. You now have to turn it on and off repeatedly to get it to even attempt to focus properly.  And even then, it sometimes changes it's mind. As it did while we were taking pictures last night. But telling all the small people to stand still while we figure out the camera is just not happening so imagine the picture all sorts of clear and such things.

There were several last minute costume changes and in the end we had a princess, a chef, a pilot, a frontier girl, an astronaut, a boy scout, Indiana Jones, and 2 MiB.  I told the kids all costumes must come out of the dress-up box or stuff we had at home.  We attended a trunk or treat at a local parish that was sadly very small because from what I've been told, there has been a huge exodus from this parish as a fall-out from people being people.  And Father decided the two handing out candy resembled the Blue's Brothers so that's what he called them. A fun time was had by all, especially the younger ones who have only been trick or treating once before this.

a.k.a. Genius

Step into the shoes of one Gabe Carpenter as he navigates the daily challenges of life as a seventh grader in the book a.k.a. Genius.  Gabe is your typical 7th grade boy dealing with the normal challenges of life: an annoying sister, a locker that won't open, parents who don't quite understand him, changing social status at school, and that ever annoying lunch room.

Years after being released from the confines of a school environment, I felt all of the insecurities of life in school rushing back at me as I read this book.  Being one of those lucky people who attended 4 schools between 7th and 12th grade, I remember well that constant fear of will I fit in, will everything work out, and for goodness sake who on earth will I sit with at lunch.  The shifting sands as all of the other kids are trying to determine where they stand in the pecking order so the folks who were your friends yesterday suddenly won't speak to you today. I will honestly say that I've not read a young adult book recently that so accurately captured that struggle every kid deals with while navigating the halls junior high.  Or am I dating myself by even calling it that anymore?

After reading the book myself, I handed it to one of my sons to read.  He loved the book as well. His favorite character in the book was Linc, best friend of Gabe Carpenter.  I do believe he said he enjoyed his sense of humor.

Although this book does have a typical cheesy everything is perfect eventually ending, I did find it otherwise an enjoyable read. Gabe doesn't ever figure everything out or get his act completely together but does eventually start to come to terms with being ok with the person God has created him to be. In a library full of empty preteen literary suggestions, this one stands out in my mind as a positive yet realistic choice for young readers.  A welcome change from the current popular offerings out there.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on a.k.a. Genius. The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.

Popcorn

No, not the Boy Scout kind. Although if you'd like to buy any of that, I have 3
boys who would just love to take your order. The real kind, growing in fields. Not sure if we picked enough so I might take a few kids back tomorrow to get a bit more.

I've learned many things about my kids this year.

One is that they know much more about where their food actually comes from than I ever did. Another is that for the most part, I have a crew of very hard workers.  There are a couple of kids who like to go hide or mope or pout anytime they are asked to do any work, ever. But we're working on them.

I did try to get pictures of the older boys but they were rather elusive among the corn.

Now the corn must be allowed to dry for a week or two before we remove it from the cobs. Yes, you can leave it on but since we usually use an air popper, that just won't work for us.

Karate Belts are not Just for Karate

Raising God First Kids in Me First World

Did you ever find yourself really looking forward to a book only to be entirely let down once you actually finished it? I finally got around to reading Raising God First Kids in a Me First World by Barbara Curtis. I know I kept putting it off because it was the last book she wrote before she died and I felt like once I finished the book, I would be closing the book on a source I had become used to looking to for wisdom. I always loved that Barbara was so real and honest in sharing about her life.  You could always feel the love she had for her family and yet she never held back from sharing some of the painful stuff. The real nitty gritty stuff that helps you relate to someone and maybe, just maybe makes you feel like you aren't such a failure at this parenting thing after all because someone else is dealing with less than perfect stuff, too. Let's be honest here: there simply are not many truly large family bloggers who are sharing the less than perfect stuff with the world.

Yesterday I finally sat down during karate class to finish the book.  And although you could feel the love she had for her children and just knew she put so much of her heart into the book, I have to say there was nothing new in the book for me at all. Or much concrete advice to be honest. There were lots of stories about her children but no real suggestions.  So I guess I'm feeling a bit disappointed.

It is wonderful to see that she felt such closeness to her high school and adult children. I don't think many parents feel that connection. I doubt many kids feel that connection. And it was obvious she poured her heart into the book in her last few months. But I have to call it more of a final memoir than a parenting book.  Wonderful stories of a wonderful family, but not quite a parenting book.

And, yes, I do still miss reading the stories she would share with her readers every week.

Our Sunday

The older two boys spent the weekend at a Eucharistic retreat and had an awesome time. I'm hoping maybe we can convince a few more folks to go with them next year.  After picking them up, we spent the afternoon with some friends. There is one rule when it comes to visiting this particular family: your children will leave soaking wet. It is just part and parcel of visiting this family.  Seemed to happen in Florida (granted the kids were almost always in the pool) and it seems to happen here.  Yes, half of the kids spent part of the time on the lake but even the kids who were dry after getting out of the boat ended up soaked before we left for home.

Everyone had a wonderful time and it truly makes me wish we lived just a little bit closer so we could see each other more often.