Sickness and Holiness: they really do go hand and hand

So, back at the beginning of January I caught a really bad (and fairly long) cold. And, this wasn't your normal "cold." This particular cold knocked me (and the rest of my family) out for days at a time! But, close to the end of my cold, Catherine and Jonathan caught the cold. At the end of those colds, Jonathan got a double ear infection- due to the cold. As he finished the 10 days dosage of antibiotics Catherine got the cold again! A couple of days after she got it, Chris got it (had to stay home from work for 3 days) and Jonathan got it AGAIN. I thought I was in the clear as I was drinking LOTS of o.j. and taking lots of vitamins, but I got it again. This past weekend Jonathan got his second ear infection. We spent a couple of hours in the Urgent care down the road on Sunday. Luckily, we got some new medication and he is on the mend. It appears that we are all on the mend and doing a lot better. WHEW!!

It has been 4 weeks of sickness in our household. Believe me when I say that I can't wait to get back into a normal routine, hangout with friends and clean my house. These past four weeks have been extremely trying with all the fussiness, all the medications, all the extremely early bedtimes and not sleeping well at nights. But, I was reminded by a friend of mine that this apart of my vocation- taking care of my family when it is not easy, or fun. It is ,most especially, in times like these God is offering me the opportunity to grow in holiness and experience His Peace and Love. I am just hoping that I took Him up on the opportunity and that I am a better person because of it.

Thanks for reading!

Friends!

Just last weekend we were blessed to host our friends for a couple of days. We have known Tim and Alia for 5 years. I met Alia when I worked at the Archdiocese, as she did too. Shortly after we were involved in a married couples Bible study with them, which strengthen our realtionship. Though, two years ago they moved to St. Louis... needless to say we don't see them very often. We were overjoyed to hear that they would be coming to town and honoring us with their presence. Our kiddos are only a few short months apart from each other, so it's comforting to have friends who are in the same boat we are!

from left: Alia, Tim holding Dominic and Issac

Thank you Tim, Alia and family for coming to visit! We had a wonderful time!! We look forward to more times together in the future.

Cereal Necklaces

The other day I decided that it might be fun to have the kids make some cereal necklaces. And, they had a blast!! Not only did they eat a TON of Frosted Fruity Cherrios, but Jonathan did a great job of stringing the cereal on the yarn all by himself. It was a success. Jonathan stringing the cherrios on

He for sure ate his fair share... but Catherine did too! Catherine sporting her new necklace... very proudly!

Jonathan had me take NUMEROUS pictures of him with the necklace on. He was more proud than Catherine!

I'm here!

Dearest Family and Friends,

Lest you think that I have totally neglected this blog- or have stopped blogging- be assured that I have not forgotten it! For some reason or another, I have had a very difficult time getting back into my regular routine- ever since Thanksgiving. I do have lots of fun pictures and stories to share from the past couple of months. Thank you for your dedication and interest in me and my family. I look forward to sharing more with you soon!

Talk about imagination

Jonathan has grown to love football these past couple of months. You can frequently catch him running around the house "tackling" himself and practicing his drop-kick. The other day he walked into the kitchen with a diaper box on his head... as his helmet!! Gotta love this kids' imagination.

Happy Belated Halloween!

For Halloween my parents decided to make the trip up to Denver to see their grandkids dressed up! We all met up at my brother's new house for lunch and hangout Saturday afternoon.

I tried to get some pictures of Padriac dressed up as a skelton... but they just didn't turn out. But, he was ADORABLE!Grammy holding Catherine the Tiger. She loved the costume and could have worn it all day!Jonathan was an elephant. He went back and forth as to whether he liked wearing the head part of the costume. Catherine and daddy

Me with the kids after their trick or treating experience. They both had a wonderful time! Catherine caught on quickly... and would run up to the doors to exclaim "Trick or Treat." Once she got her treat she said "thank you." It was adorable!

Cute winter hat

For the past several weeks, I have been searching for a winter hat for Catherine. The ones that I found were either, in my opinion, quite ugly or way over priced. I wasn't about to pay $10 for a hat that she is going to wear for a couple months. I, then, decided that I would take my 50% off coupon to Michael's and buy some yarn. So, for $2.50 in yarn and my Knifty Knitter (if you don't have one you should!) I made her a hat in about two hours- and I am slow! It was so easy and really fun. Now, I just have to convince her that hats are fun to wear!!