Small Successes

"It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that."

1) This past week was one of those when we had numerous doctor, dental, eye, & vehicle repair appointments. I felt like we were CONSTANTLY on the go with no time to breathe. My success is that I did manage to survive & have lived to tell about it! I really think it helps that I have been sticking w/ getting up by 6:15 each morning to have some peaceful prayer & reading time to myself.

2) Casinodad had Monday off for Presidents' Day. We had nothing planned & nowhere to go (& probably couldn't have w/ all the snow, anyway!) We spent the day straightening some of the house, did a couple loads of laundry, had a little school w/ the munchkins, & just enjoyed each other's company. This day was definitely needed after the previous week.

3) This success is bittersweet for me...The Saint has been weaned. Out of all four munchkins, he has gone the longest (18 months). The Prophet & The Princess self-weaned at 6 months & The Archangel (who was never a stronger nurser) stopped himself at 10 months. This was a tough decision, but needed to be done. He wasn't nursing much during the day, maybe once or twice, but he was still waking several times a night. The only way to get him back to sleep was to nurse him. He's now sleeping better (not perfect) & so are we.

So, how's your life been this past week? Inquiring minds want to know over at Faith & Family Live! Check it out & share your successes!

What I'm Thankful For

With Thanksgiving just two days away, I thought I would list some of the things I'm thankful for in my life.

1) Above all else, my Lord & Savior - Despite my shortcomings, blindness, stubbornness, self-centeredness, (need I go on?), He is always there waiting for me to return to Him. I find that the days I start in His presence go much smoother...still not perfect, but better than if I just rush into the day w/out Him.

2) Casinodad - I've said it before & will continue saying it, he is a wonderful man. God has placed this loving, caring, patient man in my life. He's a great father to our munchkins & husband to me.

3) The Prophet - At nine years old, he's grown into such a loving young man. Sure, he has his moments (don't all children?), but he cares about his family & will go out of his way to help out at times.

4) The Archangel - This very loving boy has brightened our lives from the beginning.
He, too, has his moments, but he can be very caring, especially to his siblings. He loves to come up & give us hugs out of the blue.

5) The Princess - This little lady, being the only girl, has the voice of an angel. She loves to sing & dance around the house, play w/ her dolls, & do all sorts of girly things. But don't let that fool you...being surrounded by boys, she can be just as rough & tough!

6) The Saint - He's such a happy toddler & is quite the tease. He has this sly grin & knows how to use it w/ his sneaky ways. Put on some music & he starts wiggling to the beat. He loves to discover the world around him, pointing out all that strikes his fancy.

7) My family & friends - There are so many loving, caring people in my life. I am so thankful that God has placed them there.

8) The many friends I've met in the blogging world - We've shared comments on each other's blogs. I've laughed & cried along w/ many of you in your daily adventures.

9) A roof over our heads & food on the table

10) Our new church family - We changed parishes this past summer & have been so welcomed in our new church.

11) Freedom

12) Coffee

13) Chocolate - especially Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, M&M's, & Nutella

14) Good books, good movies, & good music

There is so much to be thankful for, that this is in no way a complete list. If you're making your thankful list on your blog, let me know in the comments. I'd love to read yours!

I hope you & your families have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving! God bless each of you!

Happy Halloween

We took the munchkins Trick or Treating on Thursday evening. They got a ton of candy for Casinodad & me - LOL!!!

Here is The Saint in our great $5 garage sale find! The costume still had its tags on it & would probably have retailed for about $20 or $30. He'll probably be able to wear it next year too!


The boys wanted to be the Super Mario Brothers. I had a heck of a time finding overalls for boys of their age & finally ended up ordering from Amazon.com. I also ordered their newsboy hats there. For the initials on the hats, I just used a circle of white felt & colored the initials w/ Sharpies.


The Princess decided the day before that she wanted to be a bride. I was going to use an old ivory tablecloth for her costume until I remembered that I had my First Communion dress. She tried it on & it fit her perfectly...at age 4...so I know it won't fit her in 3 1/2 years for her First Communion.

And here is our Pro-Life Pumpkin. One of the ladies in my homeschool group sent out a link to the pattern. When I pulled it up online, the boys loved it right away & asked if we could do that w/ our pumpkin. I'd never stenciled a pumpkin before. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.


This evening, we went to Mass at my parents' church. Dad (the parish deacon) was doing his homily on the history of Halloween & had invited the children of the parish to come dressed up. Then, he asked the children to come down to the foot of the altar & he directed his homily toward them.

Hope you had a wonderful Halloween!

Small Successes

1) I decided to focus on the visual parts of the kitchen this week. So far I have rearranged the kitchen table to make the space more open, kept up w/ the dishes each evening, cleared off some clutter on the counters, & put up some Halloween decorations. It's all about getting rid of the clutter & opening up space.

2) Got all but a couple fall items up for my decorations. Wow! I could really use some more. The munchkins did help out & created their own pictures to hang around the house - spider webs, ghosts, mice, & pumpkins.

3) Prior to putting up the decorations, I got the living room cleaned up - including going through some files on the computer desk that haven't been touched in ages.

So, what have you been up to the past week? Check out Faith & Family Live to share you successes & see what others have accomplished. Remember, no success is too small! Those are the ones that help me feel like I've accomplished something.

Small Successes

"It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that."

1) It seems like I've been doing a lot of laundry lately. Sunday, I did four loads & put most of them away. Yesterday, I did two loads of the munchkins' clothes AND put them all away!!!

2) I did not freak out when I first heard, then saw a mouse trying to scratch through the kitchen floor near our patio door. I calmly grabbed a mousetrap, put some peanut butter on it (we've since changed to that cheese in a can stuff), & set up a blockade w/ our kitchen chairs to protect little fingers & toes from the trap. It's been about a week & he's not been caught yet. He is still there, though...we've seen sawdust from his scratchings.

3) We got our Halloween & Fall decorations out of the crawlspace. They're not all up yet, but getting them out was a big step for me this week!

What have you succeeded at this week? Share & see others at Faith & Family Live.

Mothers' Day!

I just wanted to wish all mothers a very Happy Mothers' Day today! Hope you're having a great day - whether you're spending it w/ family or enjoying a bit of time by yourself.

Casinodad treated me to breakfast in bed this morning. He made scrambled eggs (w/ chopped green pepper, Mexican Blend shredded cheese, & chopped up kielbasa), toast, coffee, & one Ferrer0 Roche candy. I spent a bit of time in bed reading when I was done eating. Then, I spent about 1/2 hour w/ each of the older three munchkins, individually. With The Prophet & The Archangel, I played several rounds of card games (War, Go Fish, & SNAP!), read each of them a book, then listened while they read to me. With The Princess, I read her a couple of books & played dolls.

After lunch, Casinodad took the older three to Target. I fed The Saint, put him down for a nap, & read for a while. So far, it's been a nice, relaxing day.

Peace & blessings on this Mothers' Day to all my dear readers! God bless you!

Easter Morning 2009 in Pictures (w/ a few captions!)

The Saint - enjoying his new sippy cup

The Princess - among her many treasures from her basket


The Archangel - shows off the bag he decorated at Grandma's house (which she filled, of course!)

The Prophet - enjoys his new Lego Star Wars mini figure

The six of us in front of our church's altar.

From our family to yours - Hope you have a wonderfully, blessed Easter Season 2009!

"Why do you search for the Living One among the dead? He is not here; He has been raised up." (Luke 24:5b-6a)

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Small Successes

1) Saturday was a very productive day for our family! I went to breakfast w/ some girlfriends while Casinodad took his Series 6 Investment test. (He passed!) In the afternoon, we finished cleaning out the garage. I had started on Thurs. We had a shelf falling apart, so I took it down. We threw out a ton of garbage! It looks much better. Afterwards, we relaxed for about an hour then went out to dinner to celebrate Casinodad's test passing & The Archangel's birthday coming up later this month. He chose Pizza Hut.

2) My faith has really been deepening this Lent. I've been making time in the morning to read the daily readings before the munchkins get up, I've been praying a lot more, & I feel so much more peaceful over all. What a difference this makes in my parenting & marriage, too!

3) Casinodad's birthday was Tuesday. He decided that he wanted me to make him "Breakfast for Dinner." I made pumpkin pancakes, pepper bacon, scrambled eggs, grits, & cinnamon rolls (instead of a cake). We also spent the evening playing a game of Sorry. We had a wonderful evening & he really enjoyed the time spent together for his birthday.

(On a side note, The Princess burnt her lip when I was making the pancakes. She brought the stool over to the stove to see what was in the pan. I told her to be careful so she wouldn't burn her lip. The next morning, I saw a spot on her lip & asked if she'd bitten it. She said no, she burnt it on the pan. Never once did she cry or complain. When I asked why she didn't say anything, she said it was because she was brave. The poor dear was probably too embarrassed to say anything.)

Check out www.faithandfamilylive.com to see more Small Successes & have a wonderfully, blessed Easter!

April Fool's Day Pranks

I'm slightly breaking my Lenten fast from blogs just to post about the April Fool's Day pranks I pulled on the munchkins yesterday. We've never done anything but I thought it would be fun this year.

1) The night before, I told them that I would lay their clothes for the next day at the end of their beds so they could get dressed as soon as they got up. The Princess woke up to find Daddy's camo outfit & the boys woke up to find one of their sister's dresses at the end of their beds.

2) We have two shelves of family photos in frames above the couch in the living room. I turned 1/2 of them around & the others backwards.

3) Both boys took a timed math test - all the problems were 0 + 0.

4) I put food coloring in the downstairs toilet. I tried to make it purple, but it turned into an ugly yellowish brown.

5) Each of them has an Easter bucket from last year in the pantry where they keep their candy. I took all of their candy out. Inside each bucket, I placed a bag of dried beans, a can of tuna, a salt packet, & a bouillon cube.

6) I set my copy of O Henry on the table. When The Prophet asked what it was, I told him it was his next book to read to me!

They really enjoyed these little pranks. In "retaliation" they made our bed for us & put their pillows & comforters on top of ours. I think our first round of April Fool's Day pranks was a success!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Just thought I'd drop in to my own blog for a minute. Things have been crazy busy around here. We had a wonderful Christmas. I can't believe it's been a week already. I plan to post a holiday update soon, but in the meantime, I wish you & yours a wonderfully blessed

Happy New Year!

Twenty Things I'm Thankful For - Part Three (No. 11-15)

11) Doctor's offices that can get all four munchkins in on the afternoon of the day before Thanksgiving.

12) Health Insurance - I'm not quite so thankful about co-pays in the doctor's office for all four munchkins & four pharmacy co-pays, but I am thankful for insurance - it could have cost a lot more, esp. since the antibiotic would have been $83 per child!

13) Coffee - I'm only doing 1/2 regular & 1/2 decaf right now because the full caffeine bothers The Saint. I love the flavored creamers & flavored coffees. Sometimes, if I'm out of flavored coffee or creamers, I'll just sprinkle a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg into the grounds before I brew my coffee & it adds just the right amount of flavor. Bob Evans changed their brew about a year or so ago & it's really good. McDonald's has a good brew, too. This may come as a surprise to many people, but I really am not a big fan of Starbucks coffees. They're okay & I will drink them, but not my favorite.

14) Chocolate - Even the munchkins know that their mom loves, loves, loves chocolate! (Did I mention that I love chocolate?!?) Reese's PB Cups have always been a favorite of mine, as have M&M's. I'm so glad they came out w/ dark chocolate M&M's - much healthier ;)

15) Casinodad has the next two days off of work. We can spend the time together as a family & disinfect the house from all the sinus infection germs floating around!

Twenty Things I'm Thankful For (Part Two - No. 6-10)

6) My Parents - While not perfect, they come pretty close. I think they've done a wonderful job of raising my sister & me, despite all the grief we managed to give them! They were always there for us - & still are! Sure they were tough & sure I did my fair share of "not-so-good" things, but I feel truly blessed to have them as my parents. Towards the end of this last pregnancy, when I was on bedrest, my parents were there to help out a bunch - staying throughout the day to feed us, taking care of the kids & the house, taking The Prophet to Tae Kwon Do, etc. I thank God for blessing me w/ them & pray that I can be the kind of parent to my munchkins as they were for us.

7) My In-Laws - I have great in-laws & feel truly blessed to have them in my life. I don't have any horror stories about them like some people do. They've done a wonderful job in raising Casinodad, shaping him into the person he is today. My MIL was especially helpful when I was on bedrest, too. She came to relieve my mother occasionally, spending time w/ the munchkins & me while Casinodad was at work.

8) Family - I've been blessed w/ a wonderful extended family - my sister, her husband & their five boys, my SIL & her husband, & my other SIL, as well as many aunts, uncles, & cousins. With the exception of a few being out of state, most of our family is near us.

9) Friends - Another wonderful blessing in my life is the countless number of friends I've made through the years. Some have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, some only for a short time. Some have come into my life & stayed, some have come & gone. All have touched my life in a special way.

10) Faith - I went through a slump period about two years ago. I doubted. I questioned. I wondered. After much prayer, talking to others, & reading, I've deepened my faith. I know I still have a long way to go, but I am truly thankful for what I do have & for the support I've received throughout my journey.

Twenty Things I'm Thankful For (Part One)

In honor of Thanksgiving this week, I thought I'd list 20 things I'm thankful for in my life. These are the first five...

1) Casinodad - He's a wonderful, thoughtful, caring, faithful, inspirational, loving father & husband. (These are in no particular order.) Despite all my shortcomings, he loves me for who I am & sticks by me through it all. He's been an inspiration to me in his faith in God. I'm a better person for knowing him & having him in my life.

2) The Prophet - He's grown into such a caring young man. He has these wonderful moments when he generously gives to his siblings & to the poor people, looking forward to our church's yearly donation drive. He's also quick to help his baby brother when crying, giving me a bit of a break.

3) The Archangel - He, too, is growing into a caring boy. He never runs out of loving compliments for us. He's also our sensitive child. His feelings can be hurt easily. Perhaps this is why he's quick to comfort one of his siblings when they need it - he knows what it's like. He loves his baby brother, always telling us how cute he is & how he's so happy to have a baby in the house.

4) The Princess - Ever the girly-girl, she prances around the house singing & dancing to her own music. She's very loving to her baby brother, always gushing over how cute he is. She gives her big brothers a run for their money & won't take any of their teasing & aggravating.

5) The Saint - A wonderful addition to our family, his smiles, squeals, & coos bring such joy to our lives. He gets his little arms & legs swinging, expressing his delight at our faces.

Hallowe'en 2008

Well, due to our wonderful economy this year, I told the munchkins that their costumes had to come from things around the house. Until about 2pm, the day of Trick-or-Treating, I didn't know for sure what each would be.

The Saint just wore a Hallowe'en bib.

The Princess was a Ballerina. She wore her dress-up tu-tu. I put a little of my sparkling make-up on her eyes, blush on her cheeks & lipstick on her lips.

The Archangel was Clone Trooper, using The Prophet's costume from the last two years.

The Prophet went for a play on words - a "Smartie-Pants, Quarterback. " I taped a bunch of Smarties on his pants & put some quarter stickers all over his back.

Casinodad even joined in on the fun - he went as a Bandito. (His Fantasy Football team this year is Los Banditos.)

I stayed home to hand out candy & watch The Saint while they went around the neighborhood. I never know for sure how many trick-or-treaters we'll have. The first few years wehad quite a few & many of the neighbors were handing out candy. Last year was pretty sparce. This was a good year. We had just enough to give out.

Hope you had a great one!

6th Picture

I saw this on several other blogs & it looks like fun. Go to the sixth picture folder on your computer & pick the sixth picture in it to post.

How timely... this is me carving one of our pumpkins last year. We did two pumpkins & decorated them w/ Mr. Potato Head pieces. (see the finished products below)

Here we have a "Storm Pumpkin" & "Darth Pumpkin" ready to save our household from the evil clutches of the candy snatchers!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Advent Happenings

The Christmas shopping is just about done & most of the presents are wrapped. The cards are sitting on the kitchen table just about ready to be mailed. (I just realized that I bought twice as many stamps as I needed. For some reason I was thinking they came in books of 10 not 20.) The house is simply decorated this year. We put up a smaller tree & just had the kids put their ornaments on this year. It looks really nice. My handpainted village is on top of the piano & the snowmen take up the bookshelves in the family room & the stove backing in the kitchen. Now to clean & get ready for Casinodad's dad who is coming to visit us for a few days next week. We are also hosting Christmas dinner here w/ his family.

In addition to the normal hustle & bustle of the Christmas Season, we've just finished up a round of colds in our household! It started w/ The Archangel & The Princess, then The Prophet & I got it, & finally Casinodad is just getting over his. It took a total of almost two weeks to go around completely. I knew that I was bound to end up w/ it after many sleepless nights w/ the muchkins & also cuddling w/ them. They've really had cabin fever between being sick & it being so cold here. We had a great snow a few weeks ago (about 4 inches) but they were unable to go play because they were sick. I'm just thankful that we got the colds out of the way before Christmas this year. We've missed many things in the past years because of being sick the week of Christmas.

So, I go from a cold straight into the morning sickness phase. Yes, I am pregnant w/ #4. I took a home pregnancy test the first Sunday of Advent, right before church. What could be better that starting out Advent w/ the expectation of another blessed miracle to come! A couple months ago, Casinodad looked at me & said that he was thinking about another one. I said that I was also. After much prayer, thought, & discussion, we decided to give it a go. Our baby is due Aug. 9 - the same weeked as our family reunion! I had pregnancy induced hypertension w/ all three of the munchkins & had to be induced early each time (2 weeks w/ the boys & 3 weeks w/ the Princess). So, most likely that will happen again. It does make it kind of nice since I don't have to wonder if it's time to go to the hospital. Although the induced contractions can be quite painful!

So far, I'm feeling pretty well - just very tired. It doesn't help that the past three weeks I've been working until at least 11pm at Target & we've all been sick. My tummy doesn't feel upset at the moment, but of course it is still early.

Have a truly blessed Christmas & a wonderful New Year!
Peace, munchesmom

Happy Belated 4th of July!

What a busy week it's been! Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! Because of my working & The Princess being scared of the firework noise, we didn't go to any displays this year. Actually, we haven't gone in years. I think the last time was before The Prophet was born. We can see several of the local fireworks from our bedroom windows.

I had my first day of working at Target on Mon. evening & it went very well. I spent the first hour or so running through a training manual on the register, took a break then shadowed another team member at her register. After watching about four transactions I took over for her. She was there to help out if needed. When she left at 9pm, they put me on my own register. It was quite easy & I picked up on everything quickly. Last night I was on sales floor training -- straightening merchandise, moving things that were out of place, etc. Friday night I'll be training in the fitting room & as operator, which will be my official position.

It feels different, being back in the working world after staying home for four years. It's nice to be able to help out w/ some of the bills & to be around other adults. But, it's also very tiring.

We've been eating outside a lot lately. The weather had been great until yesterday's storms, so we had picnics in the backyard. Casinodad (DH as he will be referred to from now on) grilled out some hot dogs & angus burgers for us. Because of the storms yesterday, he grilled inside using the George Foreman grill he'd gotten me for Christmas. Those angus burgers (Kroger's Private Selection brand) were delicious.

Peace,
munchesmom