Working and living together in a big family

Chaos.
Noise.
Messes.

Those are three words that probably come to mind when you think of living life in a big family.  And, yes, all three do happen from time time.  Okay, okay - daily!  But, and this is the kicker, they are minor in comparison to the love and sharing and caring that happen in the walls of  our home.   There is GRACE that God sends us to not only survive but thrive as we plow through the messes and chaos and noise of large family living.  And while we do that, we grow closer to each other and also to Him.

Yesterday was one of those days where I wish I could just pause time.  Ya can't do that though, so just like our Blessed Mother, I will hold them in my heart and cherish those memories...

**We are a puzzling family.  Last year, we even set up a permanent small card table in our living room as a puzzle table (because we were finding that a puzzle was constantly taking up our eating and school space on our kitchen island or dining room table).  It's so nice to have almost a continuous puzzle being put together there.  But sometimes, a puzzle is too big for that small square table.  And, St Nicholas sent one such puzzle our way on his feast day this year.  So it took over our big kitchen table for the last week and a half.  And yesterday, it finally was completed.  These three - 17 years old, 8 years old, and 4 years old - put the final pieces on (other than the one lost piece - lol!).  A 13 year age difference between the oldest and youngest puzzlers!!  Isn't that the sweetest?!

**Lady was treated to make up as her big sissy, Ariel (12), was getting ready for the day.  Instead of shooing away the interruption and distraction of her baby sister (2), she decided to scoop up little Lady and put some make-up on her.  Lady came running out with the mirror in her hands and just couldn't stop looking at herself in her hand-held mirror.  You could just see the joy she felt and that came from the love from her big sissy.

**We had a special family party to go to last night, and all our kids were excited and getting ready for it.  Melody (14) decided to use her new flat iron from St. Nicholas on her little sister, Rose (6), to curl her hair.  It took well over an hour, but Melody patiently and lovingly continued and made little Rose feel just like a princess.  And the beauty of these two just shone so brightly that night!!

++Thank you, God, for shining your light and love in our family as we do our best to lead them to You among the messes, chaos, and noise that come with large family living!++

A whole lot of sibling LOVE

You know when you go on a vacation with a .......l...o...n...g....... drive and how the kids ask every two minutes that question that drives every parent *W*I*L*D* --- "are we there yet?".  Well, having a new baby with older siblings is somewhat similar.  I bet you can't even guess that question, although completely wonderful and sweet, but asked a zillion times definitely can start to make your head spin --- "can I hold the baby?" -OR- "is it my turn yet?".  Yeah, we've been playing LOTS of baby hot potato around here and what a beautiful blessing it is that our new little guy has ALL these brothers and sisters who love and adore him so much!!  

~~Rose and baby~~

~~Pookey and baby~~

~~Max and baby~~

~~Ariel and baby~~

~~Melody and baby~~

~~Mario and baby~~

~~Fone and baby~~ 

~~All 8 of them~~

Isn't 8 great?!?!

++Thank you, God, for these eight beautiful, wonderful blessings you have sent to us!!++

Father's Day 2014

I have three really great fathers in my life, whom I adore and love and am greatly blessed by....

First, my own daddy!!!  He worked his tail off when I was a little girl and gave his all for us four girls and my mom.  I never saw him enough, but that was because he was working hard and taking overtime hours to feed and support his wife (my momma) so she could stay home and bring us girls up. This was one of the greatest gifts he could have given me.... the gift of a mom who was present to me daily to teach me, love me, correct me, etc... and it meant so much to me, that Neil and I wanted to give this same gift to our own family.  How blessed I am from his great example of working and loving us through this sacrifice that it now affects and blesses our daily life.  I never knew that I would get all this wonderful time with him now!!  He calls me many times a week just to say "hi", jumps when something breaks or needs fixed here, helps do regular work on our Big Red, and just got done remodeling our basement for us with one of his buddies, and so much more!!!  As an adult, I appreciate this time so much more NOW that I ever would have as a child. Happy Father's Day, Dad, and I love you more than you know!!!!

Second, Neil's great dad!!!  I love him for the man he created and the support and love he has given Neil and I and our big bunch of kids.  He taught Neil that he will someday have a family to support and that he needs to get a good degree, good job and work hard to maintain that job.  What a success this has been - all because of his example, support and encouragement.  Neil went to the U of I and graduated with a degree in computer science, works at Deere and Co, and works his tail off now for our kiddos and I.  Neil's Dad also jumps and helps out around our house too, and is our regular donut delivery man - the kids LOVE this part!!  Having only two sons himself, he has graciously accepted the 16 (and growing number) of grandkids that God keeps sending his way and as silly as it seems, I think he is more calm now than when the first few arrived.  Happy Father's Day - love you bunches, Ken!!!

Third, is this great man - my husband and father of our children!!!  How can I tell of this man and his greatness as a father?  I know I will never come close!  Sweet Bridget did a great job describing the job of a father of many and almost everything she said applies to Neil as well - thanks Bridget for all your help!  ;-)    What a sacrifice these dads must make when they have more than the average number of kids - what is that - 2 kids?? Come October, we are going to be four times that amount!!  Neil loves his job as a father of many and does it so beautifully and gracefully. Like Bridget mentioned, most large family fathers - just like Neil give up a nice family vacation every other year for a hospital stay to bring home the next bundle of joy God has sent our way.  He comes home from work and doesn't sit on the couch with his feet kicked up and favorite sports team playing, shooing kids away - instead, he comes home and helps a little girl with her phonics lesson or changes a dirty diaper or whips up a fast easy dinner to feed us (instead of asking and demanding "what's for dinner").  Of course, that meal is always lukewarm - feeding kids always comes first which means the two of us get to eat lukewarm meals on a regular basis.  His "activities" always revolve around his family - he takes TKD lessons with all 5 big kids and earned his black belt with our two oldest last year, gets to go fishing and enjoy that hobby with his family and if he's lucky, gets to throw his own pole in the lake a few times, enjoys the outdoors and goes on walks with all of us, wrestles little kids and almost always loses, reads kids books to kids, watches his sports programs very rarely and always with all kinds of noises and questions and interruptions (he was so sweet and patient last night watching the USA win their most recent game in the World Cup), takes us all to Mass every weekend and helps feed and dress kids to get us there on time, and his list truly never ends...  His life IS his kids and family and faith!!!  Neil, I love you so much and fall in love with you more and more daily as you give your all for our children and I!!  Thank you, dear!!

Why I am not a very good blogger...

Because my schedule revolves around these 7 little birds who are the light of my life and keep me busy-as-ever, and even when I am not busy-as-ever, I may just want some downtime with them and my wonderful hubby!!  I've tried the blogging schedules and blogging weekly on certain days, but always seem to get caught up in what-matters-most and this place seems to get neglected first. So, I admit it and place *all* the blame on these gorgeous kiddos, whom I am mothering and loving and snuggling and feeding and cleaning up after and running them around and teaching and on and on and on...  

...happily and gladly and super blessed!!!  :)

My 7 little birds and I on Mother's Day - 2014

GiTar Dan sings for our clan

Last April, we were super blessed to have spent an amazing vacation in Disney World.  However, right now we are stuck in the midst of another blast of arctic air and are hibernating in our house, and are in desperate need of a little reminder of warmer days.  So, I finally uploaded this video of GiTar Dan singing a song he made up for our family.  He used to hang out in Camp Minnie Mickey in Animal Kingdom, and makes up and sings songs for people.  It was funny because we broke a record for him - having had the most kids he has sung about!  And, he quoted how blessed we are to have such awesome kids - "the coolest kids in Illinois".  Awwwww, how did he know?!! 

(with all the renovations in Animal Kingdom and Camp Minnie Mickey now gone, it sounds like you can find GiTar Dan by the Conservation Station instead)

2013/2014 school pictures

Here are pictures of each kiddo and our family that we had taken at the end of last year.  I think out of all the pictures we've ever had taken, these are my most absolute favorite!!  I'm sure many of you will notice what the background is of the kids' picture and the background of the family picture - both very meaningful parts of our life!!  Who will be the first to guess right??  

  

Rose ~ 1 year old ~ pre-pre-school

 

Pookey ~ 4 years old ~ pre-school

Max ~ 5 years old ~ Kindergarten

Ariel ~ 7 years old ~ 2nd grade

Melody ~ 9 years old ~ 4th grade

Mario ~ 10 years old ~ 5th grade

Fone ~ 12 years old ~ 7th grade

My Dad found these real arrows, made in the 60's, at an auction for our big boys.  When thinking about poses and ideas for pictures, I knew we had to get those arrows out for this picture....

++Thank you, God, for my goofey, beautiful, sweet arrows!!++

Wordless Wednesday

Years of hard work REALLY DO pay off

I have said it many times since Rose was born that "having 7 kids is much easier than when I had 2 or 3 or 4".  Seriously!  I have awesome helpers right now, and the hard work of teaching and correcting and disciplining is really starting to pay off.  My kids work, most of the time, with happy hearts and do it willingly because they know they *have* to and that's just part of being a family.  So, today is one of those "proud mom" days.  We are in the midst of a winter storm and probably already have 6 inches on the ground (in less than 8 hours!).  Neil is at work, and would have a hard time making in the drive and into the garage without getting stuck.  So...  what do I do?  Send out my 11 year old and 10 year old and put their muscles to work, of course!!  Little did I know, they would become creative and save all the snow to play in later.  Love it!!!!  And, love you boys.... thanks SO much, Mario and Fone, for all your hard work today!!! 

++Thank you God for all the years of hard work (blood, sweat, and tears!!!) and a TON of grace that has made my boys into hardworking, loving, caring disciples of Yours!!!  ++

Almost there!!!

34 weeks pregnant with my 7 favorite little people

 
It truly seems like yesterday that we were announcing this pregnancy, and here we are now in just the last few days of it all.  It has been a pregnancy with many ups and downs, new things and normal things - gestational diabetes for the first time ever and I also dealt with some preterm scare around 19 and 20 weeks caused by kidney stones.  But, my doctor has been amazingly supportive (thank you, God!!) and has been very cautious with this being my 7th c-section.  So, although my actual due date is December 9th, delivery is scheduled for one month early to lessen the risks and scare of the last month since my uterus is already stretched to its max.  Our Pookey was definitely a little miracle and we know that this sweet girl will be as well, as the doctors are already assuming my uterus is already open and ruptured. It's so humbling to be chosen once again to live and share my faith, even though this is a very scary time.  I wouldn't want to have it any other way though.... like I've said MANY times, "what is the point of faith if you aren't going to have faith?". 

So, I'm coming to all you to ask for your prayers for these last few days of pregnancy and then the big arrival as well.  Of course, I will be updating as soon as I can!  Thanks so much for your support and prayers!! 

"Are you done yet?"

or maybe it's....

"Don't you know what causes that?"
"How are you going to pay for their college?"
"Are they are all yours?"
"You must be a saint"

I have felt the nudge by the Holy Spirit months ago to share our background when it comes to these questions and I am finally getting around to it (thanks to a reminder from two wonderful blog articles I have read lately).  I had to laugh when my husband recently suggested an answer that will shut people up to the question - "Don't you know what causes that".  He told me to say, "Yep, and we're pretty darn good at it".  He said it works - it definitely was not what the person expected and shut them up immediately.  Hopefully it planted a few seeds and got them thinking and praying as well.

As you know, we are expecting our 8th child, 6 living with us now and one who has already made it Home. This will be my 7th c-section, which is a big "no-no" and actually was a big "no-no" for the last 3.  But, we trusted and prayed, and God blessed us with Ariel, Max, and Pookey.  At Pookey's delivery, my uterus was not in good shape at all, and again we were suggested to not have any more children.  We used Billings method of watching my fertility cycles and abstained at certain times each month, all the while being open to life and God's plan for our family.  We tried out best and were prudent in using Billings, however, God still decided to step in and bless us with another baby.  I'm so grateful we are guided by faith in God and not the fear that was put on us by medical professionals.

Another comment that I get quite often is when people declare proudly that they "are done".  How do they know that God didn't have more children planned for them?  They truly don't know what they are missing, plus the best gift of all that they are neglecting to give their other children - another sibling.  Not to mention how it puts a strain on their marriage (as they can no longer be "one" anymore and freely give of themselves to their spouse) and even more importantly, the separation they are causing between them and God. 

What is the point of faith if we are not truly going to have faith??

Do we understand the risks when it comes to having 7 c-sections?  Absolutely we do!  But, losing my life or our beautiful baby is the chance we are taking next to losing our soul to a grave sin.  My brother-in-law shared years ago that when it comes to fertility and trusting God versus taking matters into your own hands is truly a grave decision - meaning it will take you to the grave.  You will either be rewarded or will have to answer by your faith or lack of faith.  Heaven is our ultimate goal - I may make it to heaven when I'm 90, or it may happen tomorrow in a car accident, or it may happen in the next 2 months as we await for the arrival of our sweet baby girl or even during the risky delivery.  Only God knows the time and hour and place.  Same with our sweet baby.  She has brought so much JOY to our lives already.  God has a purpose for her - whether her life be short or long.  We are called to give our FIAT, to say "yes" to Him.  Or, we can turn our backs on Him and choose what is best for our lives on our own and rely on sterilization or contraception, when it comes to planning our family.  I would rather risk losing my life (as a martyr of my faith for Him) than to risk my soul and jeopardize the beautiful plans my Heavenly Father has for me, for all of us, to live with Him for all eternity.

Death is not something to fear.  And, if that is what God has planned for me or our sweet baby, then we are ready.  Death is the step we must take to reach our goal of Heaven.

"If you embrace all the things in life as coming from 

the hands of God, and even embrace death to fulfill his 

holy will, you will surely die a saint"

-St. Alphonsus Liguori