Camping, hiking, and photo selfie etiquette....

So this weekend was supposed to be our last little yahoo before school started. (it actually starts tomorrow).

We were supposed to leave Friday morning for Watkins Glen and stay down there, over there, whatever direction it is, until yesterday mid morning.

Well, in true crazymomma fashion- there suddenly appeared about 10 extra activities for Friday, causing our camping trip to be postponed to 5 in the morning on Saturday.  Which, would have been completely fine, EXCEPT, have you ever tried to put together four meals for 8 1/2 people for just one night?  I literally took the entire day on Friday preparing food items....

But despite all the annoying preparations, it actually is a lot of fun to camp.  I know what you're thinking....camping....one tent.....nine people.


Seven of whom are 15 and younger....

So we may have decided it is now time to purchase another tent....

The problem with that one- is who will be forced to sleep away from mom or dad?   That was an interesting argument....I'll spare you the details of which ones whined the most about being afraid to sleep without us....but your clue is one of them is going to college in just a few short years and either she's living at home, or she's going to cry every night being apart from us....

So it's time for another tent.  Just a six person one would be fine.  Ours right now is a 10 person one and it's plenty big enough for a few skinny, tall kids, but it's pushing maximum density and there are a few more who could potentially be over 6 feet tall...

So we arrived at Watkins Glen State park a little before 8 am.  It's a 2 1/2 hour drive from our location, so we knew we wanted to be up early. By early, I had no idea the baby would decide that 3:30 was it....so by the time we arrived at the park, I had been awake for 4 1/2 hours... I was ready for a nap...
But there was the tent to put up....breakfast to eat.....and a hike to go on.....


Needless to say, by 11 am, we had eaten, set up, and cleaned up our campsite and were ready to head to the gorge for a hike....



Along with half of New York State....

My son brought his phone to take pictures, so it might be a week or 10 before I get them from his phone to mine....but let's just say, there were bodies EVERYWHERE.... I'll post some pictures of the gorge I borrowed off Al's internet....

Amazing views

Entrance to lower end of Gorge

Amazing bridges and tunnels

Funny, same pic as above.... :) 

So we hiked the gorge trail.  It was amazing.  It was hot.  And like I stated earlier- there were at least half of all residents of NYS there, along with several thousand Canadians, New Jersians, and Pennsylvanians....

Which brings me to my next topic of discussion I shall toss in here with my fun, family, camping, hiking weekend blog....

Proper photo selfie etiquette.  

No one on this planet knows selfies like I do.  

Doubt me?   Let me find some pictures from 1981 that I took on my camera with FILM in it and took a selfie with every.single.roll so we would know who's pictures they were.  I was a budding photographer, and I certainly did not want ANYONE stealing my pictures.... (as if...)

So to say I'm an expert in the field is a massive, massive understatement....

When one attempts to hike with half of the country on a path that is at greatest two people wide, it's best to just either WAIT, to take your ridiculous selfie every 5 feet, or just come back another day because it's just too crowded...

My oldest had the 2 year old in a back pack on her back.  I had the baby in a front pack on me.  My awesome hubs was in charge of the two younger girls, and the 12 and 14 year old were bringing up the front and rear.  

To say we stopped "often" for what appeared to be the same.people.every.time is being generous. 

At one point, I wanted to take a few of those phones and drop them over the gorge....ok.  That might have gotten me into a bit of a pickle, but when you're hiking with an extra 20 pounds on your front and your going along behind the person in front of you and they stop RANDOMLY every 5 feet to take selfies- it can make the strongest feel agitated....

Come on people!!  Have we become that much of a narcissistic world that we can't walk by 23 waterfalls without putting ourselves in EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM?

You think I'm exaggerating.  

I am not.  

And in 12 weeks, when my son finally gets around to sending me the pictures he took?  You'll see.

Now, I'm not against selfies.  As I stated earlier, I've been taking selfies since 1981.  Yes, that would have made me 8 years old.  I got my first camera at age 8.  So basically for 12 years I've been taking selfies....

Hahahahahahahahaha..... It's ok, folks.  I'm a little tired today....my math and typing skills are struggling a bit and I'm not even going to correct that one because it made me LAUGH OUTLOUD!!!  I'm working on very little sleep and not much coffee this weekend....

So I've been taking selfies for several, several decades.... There is a time and a place.  If there are bodies, body to body on a path that is already winding, wet, and somewhat dangerous (yes, I'm talking to YOU, who decided to drape your leg over the ledge to capture your 10th selfie in 10 minutes.....my agitation meter might have been about to pop by the time you settled your leg over the edge.....), you need to look past your horse blinders (hold on- I'll post a pic for those who don't know what that is....)

You know it's a good day when you find
what you imagine in your head you want....

THAT'S IT!   Look PAST your blinders and see that the 11 billion hikers behind you that you continuously keep abruptly stopping in front of, are getting tired of your photo op coming every 5 feet...

Did I mention it was every 5 feet?

And while I'm on my tangent. can I just say how depressing it is to actually see so many people with their noses in their phones on this hike?   It's like they're more concerned with either posting at that exact moment (God forbid we actually go back to waiting to do things....)

Wait?  What's that mean?

Or they really just don't care where they are, just that everyone else in the world knows where they are....  (you can quote me on that one...)

I really hope my kids got an eyeful.  Here we were at this magnificent site, and not only were people being incredibly rude, but they were demonstrating first hand what my awesome hubs and I have been trying to convey to our kiddos about for years.... what our society is turning into.  People are going to walk off cliffs, walk into streets, walk into bears (hey, I've seen that video- let me see if I can find it....) because we are so busy with our noses in our phones we're going to miss the stop sign, the cliff edge, the mighty big bear who just found lunch...

.

There's the video of the bear.....and the dude just texting away on his phone.....society at it's finest...

So the hike went well.  Despite that.  My kids were in absolute aww of the beauty of the falls and how the water had eroded the gorge down over the centuries, millenniums!  

After the hike, the awesome hubs took the older six to the pool, which is an Olympic sized pool that only about a quarter of the world was at.  

picture doesn't do it justice...

After that, we headed back, heated up some chicken with avocados, mac salad, and cookies for dessert.  It was a glorious day.  It wasn't even tough convincing them bedtime would have to be by 9 pm because they were all pretty worn out....

Of course, night time is always difficult for me to fall asleep.  I hear every single sound on the planet.  My husband claims I have some kind of freaky beagle ears and that I can hear thunderstorms coming from states over.....whatever..... but I do lay there at night and hear everything.  I can hear fire crackling in other camps, campers laughing and playing games, giant Sasquatches coming to kill and maim my family..... (ok, remember my overactive imagination a few blogs ago?  No?   Well, go back and refresh your memory...it explains a lot...)

So maybe there weren't Sasquatches, but there was one strange activity....shortly after everyone had fallen asleep, there was a loud sound (probably coming from New Jersey....) that kept getting louder and louder.  A minute later, I distinctly heard people shouting, "It's time for the glow stick wars..."  

At first I thought I had to be dreaming, but then I saw out the front of the tent a dozen or so bikes that were completely decked out in glow sticks.  Music was blaring and it was CLEARLY after quiet hours....why do people have such problems with obeying laws?   Oh, I don't know, maybe because MOM AND DAD CAN'T EITHER?????   

Someone shouted at them that it was quiet time and of course, an older person (I'm guessing MOM) shouted, "there's always one in every crowd."  

Wait, what?   One what?  Person who knows it's after 11 and we're supposed to be respectful of other campers AND the rules posted on the camping signs?    How trivial.....

I sat there annoyed.  My awesome hubs said I should have shouted, "no, there's two...."  But of course, that's why he's wittier than I.....  Rather, I laid there, annoyed, and apparently made myself fall asleep....  

So other than the crazy hike with half the world (yes, I may be exaggerating the numbers), the selfie world gone wrong, and the bizarre midnite glow stick event, the trip was fantastic.  The baby slept great.   The kids had fun.  And the hubs and I didn't lose anyone...

I would consider that a win on all parts....

I still got it....just a little bit of it....

Today I did something I haven't done in over 8 years....

I ran in a race...

I'm not sure when that Hogeye Marathon Relay was exactly, but I do remember it was prior to baby number 5, so I technically haven't done much of ANYTHING in the last 8 years- ok, minus having three babies, moving above the Mason Dixon line, and running a house-hold of nine people.... I haven't done much ATHLETICALLY in 8 years....

So I ran in a race today.   I'm getting ahead of myself, as usual.  Almost 5 weeks ago, my awesome hubster and my boy were going to do the Dunkirk Triathlon.  Unfortunately, my son decided the 6.2 running part was a tad out of his reach.

So I offered my services....  (insert a very big eyed emoji here...)

Thank you....

It was one of those moments that sometimes you wonder what the heck you were thinking when you said you'd do something?   yes.  So I was running the 6.2 mile part of the triathlon.

Each week I added a mile to the training.  First week I did 3 miles.  Second week was 4 miles.  Third week was 5 miles.  I had to lower my mileage this last week since the race was this morning so I never made it to six miles.  Which isn't good because I'm the kind of runner who needs to see what 6 miles feels like, and I never got to.  The farthest I got was 5.4 miles and it was SLOW!!!

But I set a goal of one hour to complete the race.  It was a lofty goal, but one nonetheless.  I was determined to NOT WALK.

So this morning we awoke at 4:15 and got ready to leave.  I woke up the little peanut and fed and got her ready to go and we brought two other minions with us to help out during the transitions.

Emil & Gi... 

 We got to Dunkirk at o'dark thirty and the hubs and I immediately headed to pick up our race packet.  As we walked up to the table there was a strange sign-

Ok, it didn't quite look like this- it actually said, "Swim cancelled."  Well, the look on my husband's face was priceless.  Utter disbelief.  And actually, we had a discussion in the car on the way down about Lake Erie possibly being contaminated with E Coli and would he PLEASE be careful and try not to swallow any water????   So seeing this sign was surreal because my hubs is a phe-NOM-enal swimmer.  I'm talking, the first triathlon I ever went to watch him do, he came out of the water in like second place!!!  He's a swimmer.  So this little "kink" in our race wasn't taken lightly.

Perfect, Barney!!

So the alternative plan was for the athletes to run one mile since the lake was un-swimmable.  My husband was getting worried.  He hadn't run since LONG before his knee surgery in June. At one point, he jokingly asked if I wanted to run it.  Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. That was funny, honey.  Really, truly funny.  I mean, I haven't even run over 5.4 miles, but let's make this a 7.2 mile race, shall we?   Ummmm, no.  Thank you, though.  If you want to finish in some semblance of appropriate and competitive time, you may want to just suck it up, big guy- because even IF you need to have knee surgery on your bad knee and even IF you just had surgery on your "good" knee two months ago, you still stand a better chance of performing better than I could!!

Before our race

My little triathlon partner...

My two real minions....

It actually was GREAT that he ran because he ran an EIGHT MINUTE MILE!!!   Can you believe that?  I'm serious.  Knee surgery two months ago, and a bum other knee and he still managed an eight minute mile.  I was beaming when he came in the transition area.  He jumped on his bike and took off.  I began to get nervous....

The hubs getting ready for his mile run!

Taking his bike out of transition area!

He had originally told me to expect it to take 1 1/2 hours to get back.   Well, about an hour after the first people left the transition area, bikers started coming back in!!!  I was really getting nervous because I was seeing guys who had left just a little bit prior to the hubster and that meant either they were getting some incredible mph on their bikes, or he was just going to be really slow....I was kinda hoping for the latter, because I had already taken about 5 trips to the port a potty and was fairly certain I needed to make at least two more before he got there.... (hey- I HAVE had 7 children...)

The other relay guy was in the relay transition with me when his dad got back on his bike.  Now, I was getting nervous because this biker was WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY slower than my hubs and my hubs was NO WHERE in site- where WAS HE??

I was to get the answer when the relay bike guy came over.  Apparently, the hubster had a flat tire.  Oh NO!!!  This was not good, because not only did I have NO IDEA of when he would be coming back, remember I had to use the bathroom, but who KNEW if he was actually able to get the flat replaced- he had been having tire issues this past week so I was getting nervous!!!

One by one, more riders came back and FINALLY!!!!   The hubs came around the corner.  I was both thrilled and terrified at the same time.  He got his bike into the slot and came over to take the ankle chip off and pass it to me.  I was shaking and nervous and he gave me a big ole smooch and told me to do my best (hey- you wouldn't pass up a smooch from your smoofee, and you know it!!!)

So there I was....just me, and the open road.....

Ok.  Not really.  My route took me down the edge of Lake Erie (yes, ole nasty, E coli filled, Lake Erie) and through a neighborhood, to the marina, and onto a pier and back again, TWICE.

Did you catch that?

Twice.

Yea.  I knew it, too. But for some reason, my mental part of me, tends to forget IMPORTANT things, like, THIS ISN'T SIX MILES, CRAZYCATHOLICMOMMA-it's only 3.1...you gotta do this TWICE...

So in true fashion for me- I darted off like the hare.  Passing a few people along the way and feeling pretty.darn.good about myself.

Until the realization that I was actually having to run the same course TWICE hit me.  My awesome hubs said we all do it.  We get our heart rates up and we run fast until the brick wall hits- in my case, the monkey.  Monkeys jump on my back.   If you ask my 10 year old, she'll tell you she believed me that an actual monkey jumped on my back...

So the second time around and I started dragging.  I mean d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g....  I had to stop twice and walk, but it was literally just for about 3/10ths of a mile and it was definitely after I had run 5 miles because I didn't have much left to go.

It was so very hard.  It was so very, incredibly, painfully hard.  I can tell you that my knees actually behaved during the race (most days I trained, they were like 90 year old knees), but my Plantar Fasciatis was really, really, bothering me.

I try to always start out praying when I run. Not only does it helps pass the time while I chit chat with the Lord in my head, but when I exercise, it's really one of the best times for me to sort through all my crazy.   And you KNOW I have crazy.  Seven kids?   Yea, there's a little bit o crazy at times in my life.  So praying while I run is actually so productive for me.

Something I realized when I finished was that I felt a very strong connection to something when I ran today.  Almost as soon as I started, I had an overwhelming emotional moment.  I was overcome with a sense of gratitude.  Gratitude for so many things.  My amazing husband who actually looked forward to his wife participating in the race with him.  My faith in Jesus.  My love of my Mother Mary.  It was crazy powerful.  I immediately thanked Him for the blessing of being able to even do this race, to have the health and ability (despite the aches and pains) and the blessing of living in a part of the world that is really just beautiful.

The view this morning of Lake Erie.   Looks like the ocean, doesn't it?

As I ran, I began to try to focus my thoughts on several friends of mine who are struggling with so much.  Breast cancer, marriage issues, money problems, children problems, other health issues, you name it.  I prayed for them.  I really wanted to devote and dedicate this race to so much.  It's what kept me putting one foot in front of the other.   Every time I felt like I needed to just quit- I just thought of those people I know who are struggling.   I am never gonna say when you offer up your own pains, problems, and issues, it certainly doesn't take any of them away, ease them, or anything, but it does, I PROMISE, give you a sense of peace about it.  That our struggles are not in vain.  God can make good out of all things.

So I will post some pictures of me running.  Which is VERY embarrassing because I do NOT like how I look when I run- even when I'm in better shape, which I'm not, but I am proud of my running.  I finished the race in 1 hour 4 minutes.  Not a great time for 6.2 miles, but I can't complain.  It can only get better from here!!

ok, there's only going to be one... :) 

I still got just a little bit of it!!!!

Friday Musings....

I can not believe it.  I actually remembered two Friday's in a row to do my little "Freaky Friday" segment!  The stars have aligned nicely.....and speaking of stars....

Have you heard about the meteor shower that peaked Wednesday evening/Thursday early pre-dawn morning?

Well, that was a real treat to sit outside with my kiddos and observe very late (until MIDNITE PEOPLE!!!) some pretty cool observations.... I'll try to post a link if I can...


Perseid Meteor Shower pictures!!

You can click on that link to see a quick 45 second segment on some pretty amazing pictures of the meteor shower.  One of the pictures towards the end with the extremely long, white, meteor is one of MANY we saw as we just laid on the driveway that late night....

So I jumped ahead of myself a bit for my "Freaky Friday" show.

Sunday, the hubster left for a week of training at that "shhhhh-they train batman and superman there" place I can't mention.  He wasn't learning any super human tricks this week, just how locks work.  Don't know HOW that will help his job.....maybe he's hit a mid life crisis and he's going to become a home invader....    Just kiddin'  I'm just excited he's coming home because I have to tell you, I do NOT function well at home, alone with seven kids...I guess, I should probably just say I don't function well at all, period....

So he left Sunday morning.

Sunday night, oh, about 12 hours EXACTLY after he left, the fire alarms in the house, ON EVERY FLOOR, starting going off.  Of course, crazycatholicmomma- they all go off because they're all so neatly woven together in wires hidden beneath the surface of your house!!  So, I've been in bed exactly one hour and these alarms start barking at us.  I wake up, grab my phone and head out the door of my bedroom- I smell nothing, see nothing and as quick as they started beeping they stopped.  I called my superhero hubs and thankfully he answered.  It started going off again, this time, the little lady trapped in the alarms started in with "fire fire", "fire fire."   But she quickly stopped as fast as she started as well.  I was, at this point, in a state of complete panic.  What the HECK was going on?

I checked the water heater, the stove, and the fire place.  Not that she was screaming carbon monoxide, but that was the problem the last time they started beeping in the middle of the night.  The kids were all on the front porch, minus the almost 7 year old who screamed at everyone who tried to get her up, and promptly went back to sleep.  I wasn't too worried about a real fire at that point, so I let it slide.  I can assure anyone, I'll sock her in the nose and drag her out like a caveman if she does that little stunt during a real fire....

My superhero hubs calmed me down and I got everyone back in bed.  I didn't fall asleep for a while and actually slept in my clothing the next two nights after that....

One night down.  Four to go....

Monday started band camp for the boy in the family.  He loves band camp.  I love it for him.  I think he's finally found his nitch.  He enjoys it tremendously.  I am very happy for him.  He was even out this week in the backyard practicing marching and playing his mellophone.  Super sweet!

Tuesday I ordered another set of bunk beds for this crazy house of crazy seven kids.  This will be a fun transition as we switch the older two girls with the younger three girls rooms around.  The new bunk beds will go in with the three younger ones and eventually, unless we finish the basement, the younger four girls will share that room.

Tuesday was also the day the Taz decided underwear was not supposed to be worn on your rear....

I can't make this stuff up...

That's why I must take pictures constantly in my house because I don't want people to think I am making this stuff up!!  Honestly!  This is how my life rolls.  See a pair of underwear on the floor?  Put it on your head!   Who needs to pee in the potty?  Not Taz!  She's happy as a lark with Olaf panties on her sweet little head....Speaking of Taz.  She gave herself a nap today....we thought we had lost her.  Ran around the house like mad cats covering up crap and finally went in her room and found her sound asleep.  ON HER BED....

Wednesday was nice because we decided to pray the Rosary together.  It was so sweet to hear the almost 7 year old be able to say all the prayers....in a timely fashion.  See, a few years ago, she desperately wanted to pray the Rosary.  I mean, have her own decade to pray by herself. 

It was very painful....she was soooooooooooooooooooooo slow and took soooooooooooooooo long to say each prayer.....  But now, she can wiz right through it and it almost made me sad....growing up so fast.

Here are a few of my baby girls waiting to pray...I love these little people...

My tiniest peanut, the little Lui, is talking more and more now.  I tried to post a video, but I don't know if it will work.  More importantly, if it works, I don't know if you'll be able to hear her actually talking.  It's ADORABLE!!!

Not sure that video will load but I tried.  One day I shall take this technology and finally learn how to use it....when I have about 10 extra hours in the day....

Lui also has learned a new stunt this week.   Superman hubs is gonna be sad he missed it-but hopefully she'll do it again soon!!

She can sit up on her own!!!!

She's so talented!!!!

So this week was pretty busy-next week is even busier....we only have three more weeks until school starts....life is going way too quick....

I'm just glad the superman hubs in driving home as we speak....

Life will get back to some semblance of normal.....right?

No truer words have I found.....

By the way- google crazy family images.

Nothing quite makes you feel good about your crazy than to see other even crazier crazy.  Trust me...

Friday Musings with a cup of Joe...

Well, since my Throw up Thursday came and went AGAIN, I will try another version of the "seven quick takes" for Friday.

We'll call it, FREAKY FRIDAY....

Cause it's been just that.

First up on my "Freaky Friday" agenda is what I believe is the answer to where the ants are coming from under my house.  I will post  the video I think you will find both fascinating, and super incredibly disgusting...

Yep.  Did you watch it?  That's under my basement.  Maybe even beyond my backyard, heck, the whole thing could be surrounding my entire property considering I live on .9 of an acre lot....

Which explains WHY I can't seem to get rid of my nASSSty ants....

The next three "Freaky Friday" moments revolve around a certain tiny terrorist who lives in my house who we will just refer to as, Taz.

Taz has had a bit of a busy week or two in this house.  Something about the age of a 2 1/2 year old.  I'd like to say that after raising 5 babies past the age of 2, I could be considered somewhat of an expert, but I want to assure ANYONE who reads my blog that I'm nothing of the sort.

If anything?  I'm getting WORSE at this parenting thing.  (Just ask the teenagers in this house-talk about brutal honesty...)

Taz

This is Taz.  Last Saturday, my amazing SuperMan husband brought her from the older girl's room into our room.  Notice anything about her eyes?  Hair?  Chest?

Yes.  She got into some make up.  Lip gloss and lipstick actually do not come out of hair as easy as one would think....

Today- just a week from that debacle above, I got the hair brained idea that we should just bite the bullet and get the Taz potty trained.  I mean, she's 30 months for goodness sake.  At this rate, she'll be heading to UPK with a big ole Luvs Monkey on her butt....

Oh boy.  Next time I get a hair brained idea like that, someone, ANYONE, please smack me in the head.... HARD.

Like I said, after potty training five kids, getting them past the terrible 2's, I guess I got a little cocky that I could handle a little obstinate, adorable Taz....

I felt so bad when my oldest, the 15 year old, called while I was at the dermatologist, to inform me that Taz had peed on herself, twice.  And to beat all?

She was demanding M&M's.

Cause I'm a briber from waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back.

That's right.  I bribe little terror two olds with M&M's so they will pee in the toilet.  Pooping is the bonus, but do you think my Taz understood that?

Why no.   After peeing all over both outfits, she demanded my oldest feed her M&Ms. 

After all, she went pee.

When I returned from the appointment, we tried it again.  This time, I showed her the toilet, I told her to put her peepee IN the toilet, and I told her she would get an M&M if she did.

Third times charm, right?

Wrong.

Third outfit for the day.  Done.  No M&M.

So guess who's back in her diaper?  

The third "Freaky Friday" moment also has taken place this week.  And also involves the two year old little terror.

For some reason, she has decided she doesn't need a nap!

Now, I don't know about anyone else out there, but I wake up with minions, and I go to bed with minions.  So nap times?   They are my glorious, quiet, let me take a sip of coffee without interruption, maybe I'll get a prayer in, time!!!! 

To say this little terror is giving up her naps is a bad thing is a TOTAL understatement.  

What am I going to do when the older minions go back to school in just a little over 4 weeks?  The baby is just now finally getting on a more predictable schedule and coincidentally napping in the afternoon at the same time Taz is supposed to!! 

This.Is.Unacceptable.  I am getting flustered just thinking about it.  Talk amongst yourselves....

Me.  Getting verclemt. 

I think I'll end my "Freaky Friday" session now.  I need a good cup of Joe.  Which I will leave you with a great picture I found at Hobby Lobby this week.  Might just buy it and put it on my front door...

Dear Children....

I have tried before to write in my children's journals I have for them.  I actually need to buy THREE more considering I only have four of them, but until I start writing consistently in them, here's a letter to my seven babies.

Dear Big G, JT, Em, Gi, ME, Chi, & Lui (that's what Chi calls her..),

Hello my loves.  First of all, I want you all to know something.  I love each one of you very much.  People ask me all the time how I can love, and care for, all of you and I'm reminded of a cartoon my grandma Grace sent me many, many years ago.   It was the Circus cartoon and the mom was asked how she had enough love for each child she had (she only had four- can you imagine??) Her response was classic, "With each child, my love has been multiplied."

It's completely true.   With the birth of each one of you, somehow, probably through God's grace since we were being open to life, we found our love to just burst even more.  If people think my hands are full, they really truly should see my heart.  (remember, I had a tshirt with that on it!)  At times, I think my heart might burst it's so full of love.

That's not to say it's been an easy, fun-loving, journey with all of you.  

Life is hard.  Life is sometimes unfair.  And you'll find as you grow up, life is really, kind of , yucky.  There are things going on that go against every fiber of our being.  You'll find, as you grow up, your faith will be shaken.   Your heart challenged.  Your mind overwhelmed.  At times, you'll want to run away and hide from the crazy of the world.  You may even embrace it at times, but my prayer for you is that you will always turn back to God in all things.

Sometimes, when I think about the challenges you all will face when you grow up, it makes my heart, mind, and stomach hurt terribly.  I want to protect you.  I want to shelter you from all the yuck of the world.  I want to assure you there is something waiting for you on the other side.  I've seen tiny glimpses of it.

I want you to know that if you try with all your might to live a Godly and good life, that He will share those tiny glimpses.  

I want you to know that if you work hard at living "in" the world, but not succumbing "to" the world, that He will show you many things.  Not everyday.  And it certainly won't make living "in" the world any easier, but it will help.

My sweet babies.  You are the future of Catholic Church as well.  Your father and I have tried to always instill a love of God, our Faith, and one another in you since you were born.  We've tried to teach you JOY.  Jesus, Others, Yourself, so that growing up in this selfish world, you wouldn't be sucked into the "what's in it for me" mentality that seems to have gotten a hold of most of your generation and the one before it, and most probably, if your generation produces much offspring, that one as well.....

The Church needs a revolution.  She needs strong Catholics to go boldly teaching and proclaiming the faith like never before.  Your dad and I have been consistent with that.  And if we've taught you ANYTHING about Catholicism it's this.......

You will know the TRUTH about the Catholic Faith.  You will have all the tools you need to understand and learn what we believe, and WHY we believe it.  It won't be "just because."  It will be this is what we believe and this is why and here are scripture verses to back it up and the writings of early church fathers to prove we've done it for a long time.

You will need this armor as you grow up.  

People will tempt you to sway your beliefs.   Don't let them.

People will try to persecute you because of your beliefs.  Believe regardless.

People will abandon you because of your beliefs.  God will never, ever, EVER, and please understand I want to put 867 gazillion (yes, that is a word, even if your momma just made it up) EVER's in this letter, that GOD WILL NEVER ABANDON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have I ever lied to you?  

Ok, let's restate that, because seriously, the Easter bunny was never really promoted by me and you know that....  And I wouldn't think the tooth fairy was a "lie" per say, because really, it's like a fairy floating around trying to find teeth, coins and not wake you....

And we ALL know my rule about Santa........so keep that in mind....

So now that we've settled that- your father and I have never lied to you about matters of the faith.  We both want you all to learn exactly what the Catholic church teaches and why.  We both love the Eucharist SO MUCH, that we could NEVER fathom what God would do should we EVER, EVER try to water down our Catholic faith.  

God loves us, but be very clear, He loves us like a father.  Now, do you remember all that happened to you when you disobeyed YOUR father here on earth?   Your dad loves you very much, but did you not get in trouble when you disobeyed him?   NO.  And God your Heavenly Father, is no different.  He loves you even more than your earthly father, but that doesn't mean He will let you just "do whatever" and not have consequences for your actions.  

If we don't teach you the truth of the faith, that will be something WE have to account for when we are judged by Him.  By your baptism, we promised to raise you in the Catholic Church.  

That's not the "Catholicmomma and her rockin' superman husband" Catholic church.  That's THE Roman Catholic Church.

That's quite a responsibility.  

I'm guessing if people really sat down and thought about that, they might reconsider Baptism.  Or, hopefully, would consider getting themselves re-catechized.  Because we are making a PROMISE to God. 

God takes promises very seriously.  They are just like covenants He made with Adam, Moses, Noah, Daniel, etc. etc.  You get what I'm saying, right?

God is very clear in many ways about bringing up children in the faith.  

Your dad and I take that very seriously as well.  For many reasons, but two specifically.

1.  We've rediscovered our Catholic Faith these last 18 years.  And the true beauty of Catholicism isn't what you see on TV, or hear nominal Catholics talk about, or even, sadly, sometimes hear at Church.  (depending on where you go, you'll find, even shockingly, priests, redefining the Catholic faith....)  The real faith is hidden in the bible, in great books written by great historians, in books written by current, amazing, apologists, who have spent their lives reading and studying the bible and the Catholic church.  Your dad and I?  We can't go back.  We can never, EVER, go back to what our lives were before this rediscovery.  And that is the first reason. 

2.  I can't speak for your dad specifically with this one, although I know he's had experiences like it as well, but Heaven is real.   Heaven is so real, that even though we tell you that you can catch a glimpse at Mass of Heaven, during the consecration of the Eucharist, you probably still can't quite grasp the idea like I can.  Like your dad can.

Heaven is real, because we've lost some very important people in our lives and we've tasted a glimpse we can't explain in words.  

We can try, but honestly, until you taste that experience yourself, and to taste it would be to open your heart and eyes to God's daily graces He sends, you won't have that firm grasp.  Some of you do.  Some of you still have fears, tho.  Fears are ok, if you pray to God about them.  Fearing the unknown can be very normal. But fearing Heaven, just because you don't want to leave this world?  That means this world has too strong a hold on you.  

John Matthew, Gemma Rose, Michael and Maria are all four in Heaven.  

Don't you want to see them one day?   Don't you want to meet them and meet all the people we've prayed and asked them to greet in Heaven?  

I do.

I want to see them, and hold them, and stand there before them and tell them I love them so much.  I know they know I love them.  But I want my babies in Heaven to see how hard I'm working to get to Heaven.  I want to live my life to make them proud of me.  I want you to get to Heaven as well.  

Despite what the world will try and teach you, attaining Heaven is not a walk in the park.  

If you attain Heaven simply by proclaiming God as your Lord and Savior, than why on earth did he leave us so much to read in the bible that would contradict that?  If it were that simple, wouldn't the bible be much smaller?  Less parables by him?   Maybe just a shout out- Hey??  Just tell me I'm your Savior and it's done.

No.  It's more complicated than that.  Yes, Jesus Christ IS our Savior.  ALL of us.  Not just those who proclaim it.  

Sorry.  

No.  I'm not sorry.

My sweet babies, I spent my entire young life being told that unless I "proclaim" Christ as my Savior,  I was not going to Heaven.  

It wasn't said out of malice.  It was well intended people trying to save the lowly Catholic girl who lived in the Bible Belt of Tennessee, but the older I became and the more I studied my own faith, I started to realize something.

First, I'm no theologian.  So PLEASE understand, I'm blogging you this letter.  Not sitting with my bible, or catechism, or early church fathers (which I have all of them) books confirming my words.

Jesus came to "SAVE" us all.  

Savior is something who saves.  

No where, NO WHERE, in my bible does it say Jesus only came to save those who proclaimed Him as their Lord and Savior.  

He came to save us all.  Whether we believed in Him (which we do) or not.  (which there are LOTS of people who don't)

So, always, always, remember that.  

But also remember this.  

Jesus said it wouldn't be easy to follow Him.  

He says that.  

In the bible.  

People will hate you.  Family will abandon you.  

He said to remember something, though. 

They hated him and abandoned Him first.  

John Chapter 6 is my favorite (ok, ONE of my favorite) chapters in the bible.  I have a lot, but that one is the one that sealed the deal for me and the true presence of the Eucharist.  Jesus NEVER, EVER, repeated Himself unless He knew people didn't understand Him....

Four times He repeated Himself and people actually LEFT Him because the teaching was too hard.

Seriously?  Too hard?  If it were a mere symbol?  How could it be "too hard?"

Cause it wasn't a mere symbol.

They knew He meant to physically eat Him.

Weird....

But how else could we "have life within us?"  Unless we physically consumed something?

His body and blood.

I won't go on.  You know how I feel about the Eucharist.  You know stories I've shared with you about miracles in regards to the Eucharist.  And how many, MANY saints in our Church DIED trying to protect the Eucharist.

I'll end my letter now.  You know how long winded I can get.  Especially in regards to our beautiful faith.

I want to leave you with one thing, tho.  Well, maybe two.  Ok, maybe a dozen.....

Your dad and I love you all incredibly.  Madly.  Deeply.

But your Father in Heaven?  

Loves you even more.

Big G, JT, Em, Gi, ME, Chi, And Lui?

Heaven is real.  God is real.  Jesus is real.  It's all real.  It's all for us.  All of us.

Learn your faith.  Read all you can on it.

Defend your faith.  Stand tall and proud of it.

Be your faith.  It isn't something you leave inside the four walls of Church.  Take it with you.  Become one with it.

Learn it.  Love it.  Live it.

I love you all.

Love,

Mom

Ant Invasion...and other scary stuff....

I am on a roll today...Literally.

I'm going to start a new trend.  You know, something similar to 'Throwback Thursday?'  Only, my new trend will be called, "Throw up Thursday..."  Cause, most of my "followers" are moms, with kids, and kids, well, puke.  But I won't post puke pictures.  I promise.  I am an empathy puker.  Do you know what that is?  It's someone who can literally puke at the sound, site, or SMELL of puke.  I have never actually done it, but let me tell you, I've come dangerously close.  DANGEROUSLY, close, I say....

So here's to a new, catchy, trend.  May it bring all who read it, great pleasure and nausea....



I was up with my husband this morning.  Which, if you know how EARLY he gets up, you'll KNOW I was up WAAAAY before the roosters crow....

But my older four have lessons today before band, so they had to be dropped off early (8 AM!!) and my husband and my oldest daughter are going on a high school youth group retreat to Franciscan University this weekend, so I had to stop by our parish and drop off some paper work....

But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Let's go back a few months....to, right around the start of spring...which for many is in March, but for snowland, it's more like end of May, first of June....

Ants....Ants started coming in this spring.

It's not the first time ants have invaded my home.  But every year they came, I managed to curb them quickly before it escalated to anything shocking...

You know, like this....

Oh Lord, that picture makes me want to hurl....

So here's your "Throw up Thursday" report....

My ants are taking over the house.

Ok, maybe not the entire house.  But the first floor.

Ok, maybe not the entire first floor, but I swear and promise they're taking over my kitchen AND my living room.   And quite frankly, it's unacceptable.  I hate ants.  I don't toss that word around too lightly, mainly in regards to spiders, snakes, and other non-human critters who try to invade my home.  Today?  Ants.  I hate them.  Why on God's green earth are they here?  And don't tell me I've invaded their environment because let me tell you, there are enough ants living under my house to supply THE ENTIRE FREAKIN UNIVERSE with enough ants that each of the 10 BILLION humans on this great earth, can have their own set of 1 million, with plenty to spare for the galaxy....  PLENTY...

So starting back in May up until now, I have steadily been noticing an increase of the creepy little *******s.  Sorry, I've been hanging around a few New Yorkers that like to drop all kinds of colorful language.

I tried everything.  Borax, soaked in sugar water, left on cotton balls.  Check.  Fail.

Baking soda, lining the entryways of all the doors.  Supposedly the little turds eat and blow up.  Check.  Fail.

Vinager and water, sprayed around the doorways.  Same concept.  Check. Fail.

Pickle juice.  Same concept as vinegar, only smells like I need to eat pickles.  Check. Fail.

Chalk, drawn on the floor.  Perhaps a primitive attempt at Jesus' instructions for the first sinless person to cross to cast the first stone...... Check.  Didn't catch on.  They just found another route.  Fail.

I'm now on the second to last attempt before I call in the big guns.

I bought that stupid Terro ant bait.

I know, I know, I know....  It's basically the same little 'trick' as my borax and sugar water, cotton ball trick.  But for some reason,these nasty little beasts are sending in the first of the lower level of non-essential ants to drink it up.  And drink it up they are.  By the droves.  It's not even putting a dent in my problem.  I'm guessing it will perhaps kill 1/2 a million.  But when you have 365 bazillion (which is the largest number in the universe according to crazymomma dictionary) it really won't do anything to curtail the growing problem.

Here is a better assessment of my ants right now.....

Still makes you wanna barf, doesn't it?

Throw in my Terro ant bait, and you're looking at a pretty nasty little amount of those beasts.

My next attack will be something I've heard called "Ant Dust."  It almost sounds illegal.  But I'm holding out hope that they drink enough of the 'Necter of the Ant Gods' to make them disappear at least until next spring.  

But I was sending my husband a text about our ant invasion and suddenly it occurred to me what could possibly be happening.  He works with bad guys.  Ok, not with them, but trying to help catch them...

I'm always looking for ways to help him.  (side note here, he doesn't look at my "help" as actual help.  He made some comment once about how 'people like you give us way too much work to do when you spot Osama Bin Ladin shopping at Wegmans....' )  I know.  So ungrateful.

But it did occur to me.  What if? 

What if ants are what terrorists are using to infuse fear in people?  Then that got me thinking about other things (when I see squirrels, I find it best to sit back, hold on, and wait for it to end....)

What if, we as a people, culture, society, have decided that not much other than a house full of ants creeps us out?  

Ok, I'm stretching it a bit.  But today I watched a seriously disturbing video online.  I'm talking about something that made me SERIOUSLY want to throw up.  

I'll post the link....

Planned Parenthood selling baby parts?

It's only an 8:51 segment, but it's well worth watching.  A senior medical director (who performs abortions herself) is casually talking about procuring baby parts.  So casually that she says there are "ways to procure the parts without crushing." 

The most disgusting part of it all, is that she uses scientific words for every.single.baby.term. From the baby's head, to the bottom, to his/her neck, to the organs.  I presume it's to make it seem as though it's not what it really is.  Chopping up baby parts to exhume from the woman's body.  

Now, what I find MOST fascinating, if that's even an appropriate word for it, is the matter of fact way the two people under disguise can talk so freely about it.  I could never do this.  I could never sit there and listen to this woman talk about a human being and dissecting it so casually without tossing all of my cookies...Talk about throw up Thursday....

I know the abortion debate is still (for now) a hot topic.  I know there are people out there who still claim it's not a baby even though science has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt the baby has it's very own DNA from conception.  I know that even now, those who willingly admit that it IS a baby, have still decided it's a 'woman's body and her choice.'  Even though, technically speaking, there have been women killed who were pregnant and the person responsible had been charged with a double homicide.  

But if this doesn't get even the most staunchly pro-death person up in arms, well, then we really have de-synthesized ourselves from reality.  

If this doesn't make you cry in outrage (cause the media is avoiding it like the PLAGUE) than you need to sell your violent video games, cancel your TV subscription, and start watching Lassie and Little House on the Prairie again.  Cause it's wrong no matter how you argue it. 

I could go on.  I could go on and tell you that no one, NO ONE, wants to have an abortion.  I could tell you that no one, NO ONE, comes away from an abortion, feeling good about it.  I have lost four babies to miscarriage and even had to have a D&C (dilation and curratage) which is what a woman has during first term abortions-early on, which is similar to D&E  (dilation evacuation) which generally occurred when the baby was too large to just "scrape from the uterine wall."  When I woke from both of my D&C's, I was so overwhelmed with grief I couldn't stop crying.  I didn't know why I was so upset.  It wasn't until I was talking to a priest about it and he simply said, "you were upset because you're a mom.  The minute you conceive a child, you become a mom forever and there was no way for you to save your baby and it broke your heart."  Literally, it broke my heart because my physical body understood there was a loss within me.  

Women who go through abortions may not feel that intense emotion at first, but they feel different.  All the interviews I've ever read, or watched, all the women said the same thing.  There was an empty feeling in their hearts they could not explain.  

Their bodies knew something was wrong.  Even if their hearts and minds didn't. These women, suffer.  Sometimes for a very long time.  They need our prayers and support and love.  And we need to pray for our country.  In a lot of ways, but that we will start to look at things that are wrong and immoral as what they are.  Wrong and immoral.  If we don't stand up for these injustices, who will?  

I didn't mean to get off on my squirrel tangent today.  I really meant to keep the topic on my ant invasion.  But I suppose it was just the hand of the Holy Spirit that I pray for guidance when I blog who put the whole Planned Parenthood debacle in my heart.  I had watched it earlier, but decided it was probably best for another blog on another day....

Clearly, God had other plans....  

Enjoy your throw up Thursday.  And until next Thursday.  Well, if I remember to blog next Thursday....may you know the peace only Christ can give you....and may the ants of the Universe, stay far, far, away....