Love Life - Our Grand Tour: February 2009

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Ripple Effect

This is serious people. This is going to be haaarrrddd. The first unforseen casualty of this particular Lenten discipline has been the snooze button. Or should I say, the snooze husband. Usually David wakes me up in the morning after he's been up with the kids for a while. It generally takes him several attempts, and a good dose of frustration, to actually get me out of the bed. But today - no hesitation. That does not, unfortunately mean no grumbling or resistence.
Either way, I am already encountering areas of my life where hesitency and resistence to live the life that God has called me to has creeped in unnoticed, and it is clear to me that it will be hard to root it out. And it's only 6:30 am Ash Wednesday. Yikes.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Love Lent 2009

Keep it simple stupid.

This year I have decided to focus on the priorities that my vocation calls for and to simply try to meet them without hesitation. The last bit is italicized because therein lies the sacrifice. I will be focused in on doing things immediately, according to my hierarchy of priorities (you know, the Pierlot stuff - Prayer, Personal, Partner, Parenting and Providing). No more watching a rerun of Law and Order before doing the dishes. No more drinking my coffee slowly, allowing it to cut into my regular prayer time. And most especially, NO MORE putzing around on the internet instead of attending to my children. I am giving up the phrases, "just a minute", "in a bit", "a little later" and "JUST WAIT!" I am anticipating seeing a ripple effect through all aspects of my life and day. How often do I put off doing what needs to be done, and therefore put off doing God's will for my life? So that is Lent for me in 2009.

No hesitation - just abandonment to my vocation, and through that, to God.

Now pardon me while I sit like a slug on my couch watching TV and not doing the dishes or putting the laundry away on this Fat Tuesday.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Peek into my life

I just took a fabric softener dryer sheet and rubbed it on my clothes so that I could pretend that they are clean. And such is the state of my laundry and life. Just thought you'd like to know.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Why the light blogging?

This is the very good reason.

More on my paralyzing excitement about this in a future post.

Brainless Blogging

Photo Meme from Minnesota Mom
Here are the rules, then:

1. Choose the 4th folder where you store pictures on your computer.
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder, and post it on your blog.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag four people to do the same.
5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.)

Need I explain this? It's a Lily (circa Dec. 2007) in her natural habitat.

I'm tagging:
Favorite Aunt
The Mother Load
Rosemary
Lerin

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Kid Glib

Get a load of that. I've been cracking up at this picture all day. I don't know what I like most, the look on her face, the gut or the pants she insisted on rolling up.

I should really post something deep and insightful soon (ha!). It's becoming a little glib around here but I thought that until I have a deep thought worth sharing that I'd just leave you with another Love-child moment - had this morning.

Daddy: Lily, do you want to be a stock-broker?
Lily: Uh huuuhhhhh.
Daddy: Do you want to be a lawyer?
Lily: Uh huuuuhhhhh.
Daddy: Do you want to be a doctor?
Lily: A gocter!
Daddy: Do you want to be a garbage man?
Lily: No!

I don't think that she'll reach any of her lofty goals with revealing pictures of her like this one floating around on the net. She and Michael Phelps - done in at such a young age by the candid camera. Better get used to the stench of garbage, darlin'.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

While You Were Sleeping

More on Moses and the "train movie".
Moses: Mommy, you know the movie, "Peter gets pushed on the tracks"? Well, that lady, I don't remember her name, says that he married a Bumbo and Peter says, "Lucy's not a Bumbo."

Ahhh...the subtle difference between a

Bumbo.... and a..... Bimbo.

Loves and Loveletts

Lex - somewhere in her mid-30's. Homeschooling mom as well as a homeschool graduate. Lives in a little Burg in the Appalachian mountains but will always have a little Michigan inside her. Mother of 6 that were born within 9 years of each other. Lover of audiobooks, praying through singing, birding, asparagus patches, and photographing kids. Grateful for the gift of community - the beauty, the ugly and the mediocre. Follower of Christ.

John - Late 30's Theology Professor, aka The Love Doctor. Always burning the candle at both ends he works hard during the day to form the future of Catholic priests and in the early mornings and evenings he carts children to and from activities and makes his wife mean G&Ts. Evangelization, providing music for Mass and adoration, sharing insights from St. Thomas Aquinas are what he's most known for in his professional life. Doing the dishes every night, dropping everything to meet us in the ER, and fixing the constant rotation of things the kids break are what he's most popular for here at home.

Anthony - Thirteen. Geography and grammar are where he shines academically - both requiring a precision that Anthony has a hard time not overusing. He enjoys playing soccer as often as possible and he stands out on his team as being a guy with his head and his body in the game - attentive and thinking. He works hard on living with equanimity as an introvert in a crowded, loud, busy home.

Rosie - Ten. Leader of "The Tribe": the three loveletts that were born within 2.5 years. She is a hard worker in school and rarely requires my help, just plugs along and gets her stuff done. She takes a lot of art classes and keeps a nature journal and I love what she is able to observe and translate through a pencil. She loves to make up all sorts of games and fun pretends for the younger member of the family. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a Rosie.

Thomas - Nine and all E. Energetic, enthusiastic, eager, excitable, extroverted, exhilarated and engaged. The only trouble we have with Thomas is that it's hard to keep him busy enough - he has an appetite for life that can be overwhelming! He's been this way ever since he mastered crawling. He was off and the rest is history. Anthony wrote this limerick about Thomas this year.

My brother is energetic

His body is super frenetic

He yells and he jumps

and he gives us all bumps

But Thomas is never pathetic.

This is all true.

Cecilia - Eight. Cece is such a great "smack-dabber". Smack-dab in the middle of the family and always wanting to be part of the team. She is generous, inclusive and positive. We often call her excited, positive, can-do presence, "The Power of Positive-Ce". She has none of her older sister's innate sense of fashion and often rollicks around in outfits that make me question her ability to see colors. And patterns. And cleanliness.

Catherine - 5 going on 30. Probably the most thoughtful and caring person in the house. She is totally normal when it comes to wanting to run with the big kids and "do it myself" and other such developmental standards. What sets her apart in our family is that she is so tuned into how other people are feeling and how her actions effect them. When she throws a fit (which she still does occasionally) she is the only child to offer unprompted apologies and amends. She is our sunshine.

Gloria - 3 and THE BABY. She is well ensconced in her role - having no desire or inclination to reliquish her tyrannical hold on all the people older then her. We do her bidding and she entertains us by singing herself little songs, letting us tickle her and having big beautiful eyes and super long eyelashes.

Love Life - Our Grand Tour