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So, I suddenly found myself doing the very thing for which I frequently chastised my kids. I started drawing on the wall. I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty awesome. Soon my kids found me and started screaming, "MOM'S WRITING ON THE WALL!!!"
Read MoreWhen I had five children in 5 years, there were times when I was exposed to a grotesque symphony of noise and whining that penetrated my brain, causing an internal vibration. Well beyond the phase of yelling or crying, my eyes glazed over, as I stood frozen with my mind throbbing, "MALFUNCTION, MALFUNCTION," over and over again.
Read MoreOne morning as I caught my school bus, I turned back and waved to the little figure standing in my driveway, not realizing that it would be the last time I'd ever see her.
I haven't shared the story of my little sister's death here yet. She was a mischievous four year old, who we called Monkey, and at the time, I was an overly imaginative nine year old...
Read MoreAs I write this and reflect on my "life choices", specifically my "open-to-life" choices, I'm interrupted (true story), by my son apologizing because he just broke my favorite mug and the chorus of this is why I can't have nice stuff is running through my head. I am an introvert. I appreciate silence. I like to have time and space to think. So why would I say heck yeah to filling my house with a verily insane amount of people? At all times. They never leave.
Well, love can make you do some crazy stuff. And believe it or not, I think this may be my path to becoming a contemplative. Hear me out.
Read MoreFrom the time I was twelve, I had ended my prayers with a simple request: "Please bless, strengthen and protect my future husband. Bring us together in such a way that we will both know it was Your will." I wanted clarity. I often told God that He would need to hit me over the head with it, as I knew I couldn't always trust my own feelings. He took me up on it. So without further ado:
How we met... and though highly biased, I think it's a pretty cool story.
Read MoreFor me, Mass can sometimes feel like a war zone. Us verses them. I often spend the time trying to anticipate potential threats that could mean "Mass destruction" at the hands of our 5 under 5: Song books - potential weapons (or casualties), my clothing - potential wardrobe malfunction-in-waiting, the people sitting in front of us - potential victims susceptible to unsolicited back scratches and hair tugging.
Read MoreYou can be an amazing parent with great strategies for motivating, disciplining and forming your children, but then you get that one kid (or two) who makes you feel like you have the parenting skills of a blind, disoriented buffoon.
Read More"I can't believe He's not answering my prayer," I told my husband. My husband's response was, "He always answers our prayers." My eyes were burning with tears at that point.
"But His answer is no, so it doesn't really feel like an 'answered prayer'."
It's almost Mother's Day and I wanted to share some of the ways my husband makes me feel like everyday is Mother's Day. A couple of items he's still working on - he struggles with carrying a diaper bag that could be described as pretty or fashionable, but other than that... totally blessed, so without further ado:
12 Beatitudes for Overachiever Husbands/Dads
Read More...This time around a couple of my daughters had a good dose of this type of pain. My seven year old, who is usually the one to fiercely tighten her lip and "will" her way through painful experiences, was wailing, her eyes flashing panic. It broke my heart to see her in such a state. "I can't take anymore!" she cried, "What can I do?!?" I whispered, "I'm so sorry you're going through this. I wish more than anything that I could take your pain away." I would have even gladly born it for her.
Then she crushed me.
Read MoreThe young woman helping us asked about my colossal belly and I told her it was baby number eleven (eviction notice posted for next month). I witnessed the usual jaw drop and waited for her to regain her composure. "I can't even imagine!!!" she stammered. I fully understood, because there was a time I couldn't ever have imagined. It wasn't before I had children either, because for as long as I can remember I've always wanted a dozen kids! I had the image of me gliding through the meadow followed by my short-statured posse, Von Trapp style - it may or may not have included singing and frolicking... if it did, I'm not quite ready to admit it.
And then I had my first baby. BAM!
Read More"Are you sure you're not having twins?"
It's the question you might think I'd get from a stranger, but I find it's the question I ask myself as I look in the mirror and then I reply... to myself, "Nope, that was the last pregnancy."
It's days like these that I have to do some serious reflecting to pull myself back to the reality of what it is I'm doing.
Read MoreLast Tuesday, I was wearing bright pink, Mini-Mouse head pajama pants for most of the day. In all fairness, I was reupholstering a chair and I knew that would require a lot of bending and squatting, which when performed by a mom, almost seven months pregnant with her 11th, can be somewhat unsightly -flesh toned crescent shapes popping up in all the areas maternity wear had promised to cover. Mini-Mouse offered coverage and I've accepted that sometimes a pregnant girl just has to wear what fits... and what hides things that should be concealed for the good of humanity.
However, on this particular day, I was greeted by one of my enthusiastic sons. "The mayor's here!" I froze while my eyes popped...
Read MoreI just recorded a CRAAAAZAAY video (you can view it here) a couple days ago. I thought it would be all serious, informative and an opportunity to demonstrate my obvious true calling as an engaging TV personality. To achieve this, I had a plan to hide from my kids. I set up my makeshift studio (aka my bedroom) and within minutes nine of my ten kids had bombarded me... all the while, unbeknownst to me, my two year old daughter had slipped into my bathroom and was meticulously caking mascara Lady Gaga style all over her face. Little monster!
At the end of it all, it wasn't what I had in mind. It involved lots of drool, continuous imaginative bed-fainting and braid-slapping, which I learned really is a thing.
Read MoreI admit it. Lent scares me a little. It started when I told a priest that I wasn't sure if I was giving up enough for Lent. I was pregnant and so unable to fast in a way that I wanted to (this is now the fifth year in a row that I've been pregnant during Lent). He assured me that I didn't need to worry too much, that God would probably help me out with that by assigning me the best cross for my sanctification. I looked at him in terror and spent the entire Lent looking over my shoulder - actually it was more in front of me...
Read MoreI looked at my jacket (charcoal-grey navy style). It looked at me. Not really, but in that moment I felt like it did, beckoning me with a promise, "Come on. You know what you have to do. I'll never tell."
Read MoreI'm not kidding. The Holy Spirit honestly sent me a pencil sharpener. It's a heavy duty (Panasonic) plug-in that looks like it could handle the flurry of pencils we somehow manage to go through in the course of only one school day.
Read MoreA priest once told me that there were two types of marriages that he had come across. The first he referred to as "Sandpaper Marriages". He said that in those marriages, the refinement of the couple was to come from extreme friction in the relationship between spouses. Each spouse grinding their rough surface against the other, until slowly, over the years, both of their surfaces become smoother, more ready to soften to the needs of the other.
Read MoreThis past Saturday we went to a wedding for a lovely couple. So lovely were they, that our WHOLE family was invited and so lovely were they, that we were willing to get ten children ready for their blessed event.
Read MoreA few weeks ago, we were at the World Meeting of Families in Philly. We were stared at, stopped and photographed as we wheeled around our four-seater stroller followed by our six other children. We were something of a spectacle. People exclaimed, "Wow! Ten children!" I had a secret though. Unbeknownst to the spectators, we had actually smuggled in an eleventh child to the conference.
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