This and That and A Couple Re-Posts

I have been absent for awhile due to what else.....drum roll please.....medical mumbo-jumbo.  However, we have also had some wonderful chaos and that is a family wedding! It was just two days ago and it was lovely. Here is a picture for you.....

This is our son Michael and his lovely bride Bridget.

Anyway, in my exhausted stupor I was reading some old posts feeling sad that I had not written in such a long time, so I thought it would be nice to re~post some of my favourites until my brain starts working and I can enjoy writing as the joy and stress reliever that it is for me.

Please enjoy the following few posts.

~Many Blessings~

Lisa

Sundays and Caffeine......

I know, weird title huh?  Stay with me.
Here's a tidbit "73% of children consume caffeine on a daily basis" Read on.

 

I went on a retreat many years ago about keeping Sundays holy. It was an awesome retreat and I learned many things but one of the things I implemented immediately upon returning home to a house full of small to medium age children was making Sunday a very special day. A day different from the other six. This meant Sunday was not just a day off, not just the one day a week Daddy had off work, or a day with no school, but a day that was different in even the small things. Sunday meant it was the day we worshiped God at Church of course but I learned the whole day should be God's Day so it was a happy day, a day filled with good things and things we didn't have or do on the other days. It should be much like a holiday with friends, family, food and fun.

On Sundays we have always had picnics, gone on walks, played outside games, swam and had friends over. Daddy still BBQ's every Sunday and during the winter the kids handle dinner and Mom gets the night off!! Sometimes we're lazy and watch old MGM movies and play board games after church.

 

We have always lived pretty frugally because I stay home with the children and that was a decision we made before we ever had a large family. We knew what we were getting into. We knew it meant we weren't going to have "things" as much as we were going to provide time and ourselves to our children. What has this got to do with Sundays? In our home this means on Sundays we have things like chips, soda, cookies and other special treats. We don't have some of those foods and drinks during the week for several reasons, two of them being they don't fit into our budget as a daily staple and because for us they are not the healthiest foods for every day so once a week is enough for the kids to have some of them and really I think that's what "treat" means anyway.

 

So the retreat I attended combined with our lifestyle we had already been living makes Sundays our "treat day" as the kids always call it.
That oddly leads into the other half of the title....Caffeine.

 

I read something today that prompted this post. Okay I know I get all up in arms over stuff but this just blew my mind big time and I am all mad and well, you know....mad.  I had no idea about these stats and I am just shocked.....get the feeling I'm worked up?  I know...calm down Lisa.

 

Here's the link to a great article from a gal who is a physician, a mom and is very balanced so I am willing to listen to her. Her blog is called Seattle Mama Doc and I like it because her posts are short, relevant and down to earth. The post she wrote is about caffeine and kids. It's called  Caffeine Intake High for Children But Shifting. It was excellent and she did not flip out as I am.

 

Did you know that 73% of children consume caffeine ON A DAILY BASIS in beverages and food???  I mean I am just blown away by this.  This article is so good and not long at all.....please go read it whether or not you're a parent.  The really disturbing stat for me is that in the 2-5 year old group, the use is over 60% daily.....seriously???  No way my brain said....NO WAY. 

 

Yup.

 

No wonder some kids have so many problems in this country. No wonder. And folks I am not a health food nut in any shape or form. Ask my family or friends. Sheesh ask my Mother. I struggle to get my children...heck my HUSBAND to eat anything green all the time. But those stinkin' stats are scary.

 

I have to say though, that my not quantifying the stats is unfair until you read the article. It does not mean every kid is running around with Lattes and Red Bulls all day. However the energy drink craze is a real issue as is daily soda intake. Many times I have driven down my own road at 7:30 AM and seen kids waiting for the school bus with a Coke in their hand. Now I love Coke don't get me wrong but at 7 AM ? Waiting for a school bus?  Ummm, no.

 

Let's think about what that does to a student just before sitting in a classroom. How does caffeine affect me? I need it to speed up and get going. They need to sit quietly, listen, concentrate and behave. They have to cooperate and get along well. I cannot imagine caffeine (let alone sugar) is going to have a positive effect on any of those qualities in a child or adolescent and it is going to be a real mess if they have not eaten.

 Here is a quote from Roland Griffiths, PhD, a professor of behavioral biology at Johns Hopkins University: "The caffeine content of energy drinks varies over a tenfold range, with some containing the equivalent of 14 cans of Coca-Cola, yet the caffeine amounts are often unlabeled and few include warnings about the potential health risks of caffeine intoxication."

We have several children with cardiac problems and their cardiologist firmly told them to NEVER drink energy drinks. This cardiologist is not an old fuddy-duddy either, being a football player and accustomed to athletic habits, etc. but said the energy drinks have a combination of two chemicals that can be very dangerous to people with heart conditions. The other issue is for those who do not know they have a heart condition. Many cardiac problems have no symptoms until the problem is severe. Pretty scary.

 

How about this from our corporate world.....

 

*The Mars ™ corporation recently released a caffeinated version of the Snickers™ bar, called Snickers Charged™ (Mars, Mount Olive, NJ). 
*Caffeine-containing water (Water Joe™) can be purchased on the internet and in some retail stores.
 *The Jolt Gum website claims that having 144 pieces of Jolt Gum (equivalent to 72 cups of coffee) will “make you the most popular kid on the block” and that you “may even be able to get an A in art history” because of the “greenish speckles” (Jolt Gum, 2008).

I realize we should all practice and I am a proponent myself of "Just say no" to things you do not want your children to have. I do not want anyone including the government regulating what I can and cannot eat or drink, but who knew where caffeine was....right? They market it in water, gum and now candy bars. Whew. Just weird to me.

So that's the soap box I am on today. You all probably knew this stuff but boy was it a shock for me. So the special treats for our "Every Sunday is Special" days are going to stay that way and not become daily. So my weird title comes together here with..... there are few things anymore that are "treats". I think many years ago there were a lot of things that were had once in awhile as treats that are now daily expected things. Treat expectations have risen and risen and risen. So has disease and behavior problems and obesity and medical bills and entitlement. 

I don't know why it is but when you don't do or have something very often it sure does make it wonderful and many times healthier.
 

~Blessings~
Lisa

 

 

*   Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2009 June; 33(6): 793–806.

Caffeine Use in Children: What we know, what we have left to learn, and why we should worry

Jennifer L. Temple

A Very Special Candy Shop

I haven't written in a long while. We are on yet another...that would be the 19th....medical trip to New York City for a couple of brain and spine surgeries on a couple of kids. It seems to be a hobby of ours unfortunately. These trips are both very difficult and wonderful because New York has become a second home for us. Among surgeons, appointments, scans, labs, surgeries, ICU and long term stress, there are also new and old friends and many places we have come to love.

 One very special place the kids must go every time we arrive in NY is Bobb Howard's General Store.  I must confess on the trips for my surgeries when the kids have not been with us Ed and I go too. This great little place is attached to an auto repair shop and you might miss it if someone didn't tell you it was there. Here in New York that's how you learn about EVERYTHING....someone tells you about it. Ed and I have found the most nifty places because a nurse or PA in the hospital or someone at Ronald McDonald House of Long Island said, "You've got to go to such-and-such".  We don't see this out west where we're from as much but it's constant here in NY.  I just love that everyone has their favorites to share and it's never the touristy places.  

A little side note here.....

 That reminds me to tell you that this is where you really learn that New Yorkers are so far from what people think they are. Yes, they are always running around fast and as they themselves tell me, "We are always running fast to get nowhere!" They may not notice you or may bump right into you and you will rarely hear an "Excuse me"out of them. Ya know, all the things people perceive as rude? Yet they are not rude, it's just the way it is here. But when you engage a New Yorker and talk to them....watch out because you'll be standing there awhile. They love to talk, love to visit, love to get to know you and with that great accent. This is my most favorite thing about them. It doesn't matter where you are; in a deli, a doctor's office, a hospital bed, at the grocery store or a diner, (I have had long conversations in all these places).....if you get a New Yorker talking plan on being there awhile. I Love It! This is how we found out about Bobb Howard's and a great little bakery, the best pizza in town (and there is always a debate about that!) and a burger joint a friend took us to that had the thickest burger my husband has EVER eaten. Everyone here has an opinion and a strong one!

Back to Bobb Howard's

This is Eileen and Ronnie

From the Bobb Howard's website:

Eileen and Ronnie, the owners of Bobb Howard's General Store are a couple of Baby Boomers who grew up on Long Island playing Hopscotch and Hide-and-Seek, Stickball and Stoopball, flipping baseball cards and Jacks, and playing Hit the Penny and Spin the Bottle. They met, fell in love, and have been "playing house" for over 39 years.
The General Store is attached to the family auto repair shop that Eileen's parents opened 67 years ago on Columbus Day, 1946. People often comment on the combination of the 2 businesses. For Eileen and Ronnie, it is a natural extension of the things they love. Eileen has an old '67 Austin Healey and they have a fun collection of old gumball and coin-op machines and old toys and games in their home, not to mention Eileen's childhood favorites: Dubble Bubble, Jujubes, B-B-Bats, and Red Licorice in almost every room!
The repair shop is a landmark in the neighborhood as they are now servicing 2nd, 3rd, and some 4th generation family cars, and the rite of passage for some of the neighborhood kids is to be able to go to Bobb Howard's on their bicycles by themselves. The General Store actually started out as a convenience store in 1982, then 16 years ago, Eileen, noticing the frenetic pace of today's computerized world, decided it was time for a change, time to go back to a simpler time, to have people remember what it felt like to be a "kid in a candy store" again, and go back to a time when games didn't require batteries. So she started slowly converting the fast-paced convenience store into an old-time candy and toy store where kids of all ages could come and browse and giggle with nostalgic memories. And as the saying goes, "The rest is history".
Word started spreading quickly about the store and soon customers, the newspapers, TV and radio stations were putting Bobb Howard's General Store "on the map".  Bobb Howard's now ships "Packages of Memories" all over the world and kids and kids-at-heart come through the door for a piece of "their past" -- for themselves, for friends, for generations past, and to share with future generations. Eileen and Ronnie feel very blessed. They love what they do, they love coming to work every day, and they love being able to put a smile on some one's face, even if it's with a nickel piece of bubblegum.

Ed and I in front with me holding an old glass bottle of Orange Crush! They have an old time ice box converted to a fridge filled with ice and full of glass pop-bottles of various kinds of soda.

Doesn't this look fun?

Row after row of candy you'll remember fondly from childhood!

The pictures say it all about how the store looks but it says nothing about how you are treated when you walk in. Everyone is special. Everyone matters. Everyone steps back in time to a place when things were slower, when people were not in a hurry, when your neighborhood shopkeepers knew you, your Mom and Dad, and your favorite ball team! It was a time when a nickel got you 5 pieces of candy. I can remember that time because when I was little there were still penny candies. This is what struck Ed and I when we walked into Bobb Howard's. We were greeted and stood there talking forever. By the time we left we knew each other's histories and they knew all about our crazy medical mumbo jumbo and were truly interested.

The next time we came they knew us right away and where we were from as soon as we walked in the door! After that we emailed a few times and knew Eileen had a serious surgery coming. We promised to pray for her and thankfully she is doing well. They ask about the kids and their surgeries every time we go in on our trips. They must see thousands of people and they remember us....amazing to me... and very unusual in our world now. What a special place.

So....when you're in New York come to Long Island, and Bobb Howard's General Store .If you never come here go to their website and order some old favorite candies for yourself or friends and family. It's so fun to eat them and go back in time!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

581 Lakeville Road, New Hyde Park
516 354-9564
oldcandy@aol.com

~Blessings~

Lisa

P.S.

They were voted:

Why Our Kids Get 3 Gifts for Christmas...

This post has roamed around my head awhile because I don't want to use a million words and I have told this story a million times when asked why our children "only" get 3 gifts from Ed and I. I just have so much to say about it like I do everything...sorry folks I'm a wordy girl. I'll try hard to keep it as short as I can. There are many details that will get left out but here goes.

 It begins with both of us being raised in divorced families where our Moms made our Christmases wonderful, never lacking anything.  In my house this meant easily 10-15 presents to open on Christmas just from my Mom. It was lovely as a child but my Mother certainly did not make a lot of money and I still have to ask her how she did it. She worked very long hours and we for some years when I was small, were quite poor. I'm sure she went without. Thankfully things got much better for us as the years went by!

You know I am not sure where to even start. I am a frugal shopper so even way back when, when I only had a few children I started early. When I saw this or that on sale I would put it away for Christmas. It might be as little as a 2 or 3 dollar item I found on clearance so there was not a great deal of money spent at all. There were items that were bigger that the children wanted but nothing extravagant. I would be done with shopping and wrapped by Nov. 1 usually so Advent could be enjoyed without the stresses of shopping and wrapping. (Sort of silly after you read this whole thing). When we put the tree up, as was the case at my house as a child, there were around 15-ish gifts under the tree for each child and with a big family this was no small scene! Please remember some things were small and very inexpensive, still, it looked like a Norman Rockwell postcard except that Norman Rockwell painted during some very rough financial times in our history but it was quite beautiful! Because I was an only child of a Mom who worked very long hours, these scenes were so very, very important to me. All the Traditions of Christmas were/are.

By the time of the "revelation" we had 5 children and we had a lovely neighbor, Vinay, who was Hindu. She and her family had never experienced Christmas and she asked if she could help me and was all excited to help me "do" Christmas on Christmas Eve.  I absolutely loved her and we were like little kids waiting for that evening to do this together.

Christmas Eve was always spent with the Grandparents on both sides giving and receiving gifts.....lots of gifts. Again, this was just how things were done and we didn't think about it. When the wonderful night with family, eating, visiting and gift-giving was over, we literally put 2 huge bags (you know those black lawn and garbage bags) filled with gifts into the trunk of the car and headed home.

After we got some very excited kids into bed I headed over to get Vinay and put Midnight Mass on T.V. She was absolutely enthralled by the Pope and all that was going on with that. She was like a child, always excited about everything new since her family was not from the U.S. Her family was Hindu so I explained our Catholic/Christian customs and WHO this Baby was and why He came. She was genuinely so interested in everything. 

Then she was anxious to begin the more secular traditions of Christmas Eve.

Then the...revelations......began.

I took her upstairs to where the gifts were hidden and we started to take them down to the tree. We made trip after trip...after trip......after trip..........after trip. It was fun at first, then she seemed confused, then she was in shock that ALL OF THIS WAS JUST FOR OUR CHILDREN. 

I was seeing all of this through the eyes of someone who had never experienced Christmas. At all. Ever. Remember..... I had just explained what it all meant in the Christian Tradition.......Ugh.

 I was disgusted, I was sad, my eyes were wide open. And when she left I cried. How had I missed this?  How had I fallen into this trap when my faith meant so much to me, to us as a family? 

I am truly not saying anyone who buys for their children is wrong or in a trap. This is about our family and that we were doing this in excess...truly. It was ridiculous. We had pledged to live a simple life when we got married. When I saw this through someone's eyes who I had just explained my faith to, who had NO IDEA about Christmas and the Christian practice of it....it was so....well....distasteful...is all I can say. No Black Friday Sale, no buying 6 months ahead of time, no excuse mattered that night through her eyes.....it was stuff and the night was about our Baby King.

 Ed and I talked about it and decided we would talk to the children and kindly, explain it to them. They played with Vinay's daughter daily and knew their family well. We wanted to know what they thought about this. Our faith was a lived, daily thing and these kids knew it. We wanted their opinion.

Anyway, the next morning, I had to pretend to have fun and I did well even as deflated as I felt. When it was all done and paper was everywhere and they were calmer we told them what happened. No guilt on them, no, none of that. Their eyes though were wide open too, like mine were the night before. I don't even know now who's idea it was but the whole family came up with the idea that Baby Jesus got three gifts on His first Christmas, gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Why should they get more than He?

That's how we came to the Tradition in our home and it has stuck ever since. They get gifts from grandparents, friends, etc. They do not need more than 3 from us. We love our tradition and it has so much meaning because of Christ and His revelation to us even if the origin looked and was so terribly selfish. It was a very good lesson learned and it will be passed down for generations I hope. I hope it is also passed down that we were not spoiling our children those years ago, but that we just let it get out of control because we loved them and that's just what was done at the time where we lived and the families we lived in. We weren't paying attention. The lesson learned though is more valuable than anything we could ever purchase and the fun is that 

the story is told over and over and that is a Tradition in itself. 

~Blessings~

Lisa

This Mom Just Won't Quit part 1

This is not my title but one I read this morning. 

Home Schooling With A Limp

I say part 1 because this one is one will be having to do with school the next will be adjusting to not being perfect in life in general. A bit harder and raw.

It is one though that I know well and one I that means a great deal to me because I have beat myself up many a time. I have multiple health issues and have finally learned over the years to live with them after having been a 100 MPH gal.

Just last night a wrote an email to one of my daughter-in laws-to-be asking for ohhhhh probably 8 things I needed help with today. Good Gracious that would NEVER have happened 10 years ago. That would have been screaming defeat in my homeschool world and that would have been unacceptable. 

I was Super Woman you see...oh I knew God, I had great Faith and used it daily but I didn't NEED help....not really. I could do everything, I had the ability to do everything, I had the desire to do everything. God allowed me to go on my merry way thinking it was me, me, me all the way......

When I could no longer do everything and 100 MPH turned into a school zone of 25 MPH, and everything was now in slow motion, my sense of self was upside down. I had always believed that every person's worth was from God and just being born a child of God made them infinitely worthy.  But I now didn't feel that way about myself because I felt useless not doing anything or getting anything done. I then realized my worth had depended on what I was getting done not who I was......very dangerous indeed.  It was really a crisis of faith and a deep disappointment in myself as a Christian. A heavenly 2 x 4 had smacked me right on the head you might say.

I now saw in real time the value of those who were very sick, paralyzed, in rest homes, dying. It was a whole new world. To talk about it was one thing. To teach my children about the charity of loving those folks was one thing. To BE one of them....oh boy...THAT was a whole new ball game.

But today I write about homeschooling, running a home and having an illness or chronic physical problem.

I learned to let things go. I learned everything could not be perfect. I learned to combine subjects like history and literature. I read horizontally and we watched many documentaries and had discussions. I bought math programs that corrected themselves. Our schooling took on another dimension of togetherness it had not had before. It was different. At first it felt D-fficient because it wasn't as E-fficient. But I finally figured out it wasn't...it was just different and it was what God had planned and nothing I could have done would have changed this course. 

But what was wonderful...what IS wonderful is this next set of kids of my 8 gets MUCH more of my time because I cannot be running around like a crazy woman anymore. They have more attention, more of ME. The first 4 had my creativity and energy and youth but I was so BUSY. They had a different Mom. These last 4 have a very different Mom and it's finally okay. 

The first kids had all their food from scratch, nothing was from a box, everything was old fashioned and with a deliberateness I had missed as a child of divorced parents. I was living my vocation with everything I had and I loved it. Was it hard? Yup, but I treasured it and I was exhausted each day, falling into bed late and waking up to do it all over again. I depended on the Saints to keep me going and daily Mass and older Moms to bolster me up when dishes and toddlers and laundry threatened to drown me. I had had twins by this time you see and about 28 loads of laundry a week! But still I was happy because I knew I was doing what I was called to do. 

Then the cards fell and after many diagnosis' and surgeries (not only for myself but for many of the kids) I had to evaluate not trying to be perfect anymore. Imperfection was glaring me in the face. Not being what others needed me to be was crippling for me.

For the first time I made muffins and brownies out of a BOX....gasp.  

I used paper plates.....oh my GOSH. 

I scheduled days of the week where different kids made their specialty dinner.

I had older kids correcting their own work for some subjects.
I quit my homeschool group...there was no energy for it.

The kids always had chores but each took on more now.....mine...guilt.
I turned down invitations to many things.
My husband had to do the field trip type things and many of the errands after his full day's work

So many things changed.

And guess what...nothing terrible happened !

I had some adjusting in my Norman Rockwell mind and frankly it's ongoing and I still do. There are days I still grieve for the old days but God changed it all and it isn't up to me to know better than He. I feel blessed to have accomplished it at all having grown up a latch-key kid with one great parent. 

Guess what else happened?

My already imperfect, great kids became even more awesome....they can all cook, clean, and do everything I could do before I became sick because they HAD TO.  God is awesome....guess that's why He runs the world and I do not....OHHHH that's why.  Sometimes Mom's don't get around to teaching the kids things not because we don't want to but because we don't think of it. This mess I was in forced them into learning everything quickly because of necessity and because they loved me and saw suffering, they literally never complained. I'm not exaggerating, never. They learned to serve without complaint.....

How could I have ever really taught that ??  They learned it through love.

Back again to school.... Things would fall behind on my end but the kids kept going. Instead of always written tests we would have verbal ones so I would know where they were and know they had mastered the material. I combined subjects for the three younger boys and just had the older one do harder assignments. They could do the same subject matter and it made planning much easier.

When I test them with the standardized testing as is law here in my state...miraculously they are above grade level...what the heck....how did THAT happen when I am imperfect and things are not what they are supposed to be here in a perfect world? When I am not running the world?

 I suppose as the old saying goes,"There is more than one way to skin a cat".

We still use paper plates sometimes. Our lives will never go back to what they were pre-illness but I have times when I can do more so I do whip up things from scratch again and I love it. Those days are wonderful and I cherish them. When they whip my behind at the end of the day, I do not get mad or feel defeated anymore. I am profoundly thankful now because I know what it is not to be able to do those things for months on end. I remember doing dishes for the first time in months and being so happy and thankful just to stand at my kitchen sink and look out the window, then to load the dishwasher. It was so awesome. I never take it for granted anymore....ever.

Sometimes I do the kids' chores for them and they try to stop me. I tell them I like to give them a break when I'm able. They appreciate it so much and they don't like to see me work, but it feels wonderful and is such a blessing. It's why it's hard to see people complaining about working. Resting is not at all what it's cracked up to be folks :)

~Blessings~
Lisa

Changing the World Through Your Daily Duty

Think about your daily duty. Do you know what it is or has something else taken it's place?Are you happy? Do you feel a sense of peace and joy? Do you feel you are doing what you are meant to do?  This is not necessarily what you want to do but what you should be doing from the gut....not the same thing....at first. Until acceptance takes over. The world may be telling you one thing and your gut may be saying something totally different and you may not even understand and you may feel confused. Have you ever had that happen?
Listen to it ......the gut.

Daily Duty you ask? What's that?

I don't know if that's just a Catholic term or not but since I am a Catholic girl that's where I learned it. Daily duty is our daily vocation from God, what we DO each day that forms the rhythm of our life. I am a wife and mother so my primary daily duty is the care of my husband and family and all that goes with that. That is where I find my joy, peace and where I work out my salvation in this life. It isn't the only realm in which I do these things but it is the primary realm.

One of the things that sticks out in my mind regarding this and how simple yet big it is, is when I think of Mother Teresa. She had a call. Her call was not to pick up and care for thousands of dying people in the streets of Calcutta and then all over the world. It was to pick up one on that first day....and every day thereafter.

 It was doing her daily duty each day, one day at a time. 

This is how lives are changed. 

This is how families are changed.

This is how the world is changed.

It is my thought that people don't like the ordinariness of daily duty anymore. The mundane thought of daily duty over and over is just too boring. Years ago a week of work or chores took on a rhythm that played out over and over and over. This repetition had a security, a familiarity that was lovely. It is in the mundane, in simplicity that God can show us a person or situation that may need us or our attention and skills. In this God also shows us Himself.

Our work is where we interact with people, have challenges, meet goals, press ourselves to do more, be more. Hopefully push ourselves to be our best. I always hope, because I am a mother, that Moms out there consider their job a career because it is. We form the hearts and minds of our children. The future citizens of this country and of heaven. This is a high calling. In whatever work you do, be it at home or place of business or on a roof or underground, you are called to do your best whether you like your job or not. It isn't what you do it is how you do it.

There is a wonderful encyclical "On Human Work" written by Pope John Paul II that is fantastic.  He was a worker. That man worked his tail off and was the working man's pope. Working is a GOOD thing people....it is NOT something to get out of, not something to escape from, not something to look forward to getting away from constantly. This is the wrong attitude and it is so prevalent now. We have a society obsessed with playing 24 hours a day.

Playing is NOT a vocation, not a daily duty. This is a large part of the general unhappiness of our times.  Playing is a part of the daily rhythm of life, but it should not hold the importance it does in the times in which we live. It is rather silly.

When people walk around bemoaning that they cannot "find themselves" it is can often be  because they do not generally work hard at doing their daily duty. They muddle through, try to get it over with in order to get to the real business of playing. In working hard and well there are abundant opportunities to serve others which can lead one into seeing a path to something real and important. This is how God works.  He doesn't just drop notes out of the sky on what to do next in your life.  I wish!  He will present ways in which you can change people's lives or your own for the better in any number of ways. It is in our daily duty that God opens doors and shows us our path.

It is in our daily duty that we do good for others. When we are not endlessly entertaining ourselves we see the nuances in life, we see others in need. In fact today I had a batch of children at the grocery store (part of our daily duty) and we came across several elderly people in wheelchairs or scooters who needed help. Since I too was in a wheelchair this presented several teaching moments for me, kind, charitable moments for the kids and thankful moments for these old folks who many times are invisible in this fast paced, technological world. The kids helped them reach things and pick up products. I chatted with each of them for quite a while and we discussed several things, lamenting signs of the times and parting with a smile and a "Well, I guess we solved some of the problems of the world!" It was lovely. It could have been 1950, or 1850.  We connected because we were not on phones, we were not in a hurry and we recognized that in our daily duty God uses us for others. This has been a theme in our family since our children were little. It is part of our Catholic faith.

We have tried to teach our children it is in the small things in our daily duty that we change the world. St Therese is one of the most popular saints in the church because she says it is enough to do small things with great love because some of us cannot do great things. I am only a mommy of 8 children. I have no big, important job as an attorney in New York city, defending corporations. I am not Mother Teresa feeding thousands. I am not a clergyman bringing comfort to a church full of people. I am a nobody......but I am one person and God has given me a vocation to do something great for Him. It is my job to do whatever that job is with great love. No matter how small my job is, no matter how unimportant the world may think my job is, I am called to do it as well as I can and with the greatest amount of love I can muster....everyday.

This is daily duty.

If I do this. If I do this well. If I do this day in and day out, I will be happy, I will be joyful, I will be content. Period.

It doesn't matter how much money I make (or do not make). It doesn't matter what I wear. It doesn't matter where I live or what people think of what I do. If I do what God calls me to do I will be happy because I am fulfilling what I was born to do.

Life is short. People are important....money and stuff is not. Playing constantly is not. Working hard is a really good thing. Doing small things with great love is a really great thing and in small way I change the world.

~Blessings~
Lisa

Our Thankful Tree

I just got back from yet another surgery, this one being an emergency for my brain shunt and having to fly across country to NYC with 24 hours notice. We were able to do it so quickly because of the generous donated help of others. That's why there have been no posts. This post is important to me and I want your help to spread it around because I am feeling very blessed and thankful.

I am doing a post on just our Thankful Tree today because in the past it has been intertwined with my Fall posts. I think it's so special that I want it to stand on it's own. Everyone who comes into the house always comments on it or wants to join in so I really want to get the Tradition out there. It is so darn simple, inexpensive and a really special gift to give others.  

Because I think we are living in a time where the spirit or even habit of being thankful is a bit lacking, I am going to try and spread this all over the web and I hope you do too. I really am convinced being thankful, grateful, seeing things as a gift is one of the keys to happiness, so please share this in whatever way you can. Here goes....

1.  I get one of those Dollar Tree clear vases that has a bottom heavy base.

2. Also at the Dollar Tree or any craft store I get 2 bags of those nice little glass or real rocks.  You can make this as natural or fancy as you like (i.e silver painted stones or real stones)

 3.  For branches, look in your yard, take a walk and find some interesting looking ones or if you're looking for a high end look, any craft store has all kinds of branches to buy. 

  4. Snuggle as many as you think look good down into your vase filled with rocks.  Make sure the branches you get have little tiny arms coming out from the main stem so you have lots of places to hang the leaves. 

 5. Next, cut out of construction paper, yellow, red, orange and brown leaves large enough to write on.  Now punch holes in them at one end and tie a circle of gold or brown yarn. I leave a bit of tail on the ties as they look woodsy.  The kids really enjoy helping with this. 

  6.  I put a pretty bowl of blank leaves on the dining table next to the tree and a pen. 

 We invite guests to add to it too. On Thanksgiving everyone reads them. Of course no one waits until then, everyday everyone checks to see who wrote what (and in my home of 6 boys they have to give each other a hard time about what they write....I've been blessed with sons....sigh)!   Guests always go to the tree and start reading. It says a lot to see that kids and families are thankful. People just love it. It makes their day. We as a nation, a family, a couple, or as a person need to start being thankful again even if we have little or are going through hard times....there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for and this little tree reminds us of that.

Find variations of your own but MAKE ONE, you'll love it and it makes Thanksgiving and the whole month leading up to it very special.  It's also a lovely and easy gift to give especially to someone going through a rough time. Buy the few things needed which is only a couple dollars, do all the cutting and tying, get the branches in the vase and give it to a family to get started. 
Voila!



This picture does not do the tree justice and this was one of our more pitiful ones because of a hard medical year, but it really is lovely in person and you can make it beautiful!

This leaf shows one of the children who wrote Make~A~Wish! They write all of their doctor's names, their Grandparents, their favorite priests, that they have food and a house, for their Hotwheels cars, there are wonderful, warm things, funny things, crazy things. It's really fun.  I have kept every single leaf for every single year. I have them all they are priceless.

May you have a blessed and thankful November.

~Blessings~

Lisa