Organizing and Planning Your Homeschool

A few websites that I find extremely helpful for organizing our life and homeschool. 

Homeschool lesson planning online:
http://www.homeschoolskedtrack.com/

Online family calendar:
http://www.cozi.com/landing/best-family-organizer

A few tips and how to use Google to help you stay on top of your game. People will be like, "Gurl, how do you do it?!"

Google Drive. Upload stuff to Google Drive. If you have a Google account you automatically get 15 gigs.  https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6558?hl=en

...or email digital copies to yourself.

I don't have a whole lot of space to keep hard copies of everything around. Lets face it, stuff gets lost, PCs crash, accidentally thrown away, misfiled or destroyed.  Sometimes I need a document copy in a flash. Its easy to perform a search through email and whip out that puppy like a boss. When your PC crashes (God forbid) you'll still have copies of those so important records. 

Google Calendar. You can add external calendars like the Liturgical Calendar from Universalis (http://www.universalis.com/calendar.htm#0 (Scroll all the way down to add this to your Google Calendar)

If you prefer paper to digital here are a few resources that I have used and still use.

Catholic calendar, planner, lesson planner and menu planner:
http://www.michelequigley.com/store/shop/

...print Lesson Planners, Household Planners, Calendars, Handwriting Lessons, printable worksheets or papers for several subjects. http://donnayoung.org/

The Bullet Journal. For the list-makers, the note-takers, the Post-It note pilots, the track-keepers, and the dabbling doodlers. Bullet journal is for those who feel there are few platforms as powerful as the blank paper page. It’s an analog system for the digital age that will help you organize the present, record the past, and plan for the future. - See more at: 
http://www.bulletjournal.com

Spiral notebook assignment and lesson planning. Find it here. 
http://amongstlovelythings.com/spiral-notebooks/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AmongstLovelyThings+%28Amongst+Lovely+Things%29

I keep a composition book with me at all times. Composition books are small enough to keep in my purse. I always have a place to jot down notes, appointments, phone numbers and project planning. I write start and finish dates on the front cover. When I'm done I file it away.

A blast from the past on making a homeschool schedule,2010. http://brisenobunch.blogspot.com/2010/12/briseno-bunchs-faq.html

My hope is that you find something that works for you. I have used all of these and some of these at different times of our life when it suited our family. 

Have a great day and may He always be your strength for the journey.

Briseno Bunch's FAQ 1 & 2

The first most FAQ is #1"Are these all your children?" And the second is #2, "How do you do it?" I don't mind answering any of these questions. It's mostly the frequency of them that gets to me a little. I typically try to answer them as cheerfully as I can because I love my family and I am proud of them. I wouldn't trade my life for anything.

 #1"Are these all your children?"
 Yes.

 #2, "How do you do it?"

Besides the obvious, it takes much, much planning and tweaking to figure it all out.  Its been a whole lot better since joining CLAA and the results of reworking my schedule around CLAA's model has been an answer to my prayers! My previous schedule was pretty close to CLAA's model but my own schedule was centered around chores and schoolwork. Now we work around our prayer schedule. And that has made a big difference. CLAA's very helpful article on scheduling can be found here by following this link:  How to Create a Schedule

Below is our schedule. It's working. Thank you Jesus! And that's how we do it.

Add caption

FAQs of Large Families

Below is an email that I sent to my husband in 2008. I appologize in advance if some of these are not your style. Apparently the authors blog is no longer active. I did my best to find the source and couldn't find anything. Hope I am not infringing on any copyrights...but I am sure glad I saved this one!

--- On Mon, 12/15/08,
Subject: Large Family Comebacks

To: "B. Giovanni ">

Date: Monday, December 15, 2008, 9:16 AM

Gio when you have a moment to yourself (lunch in your cubicle?) Take a look at the FAQs of Large Families :)

You have your hands full!

Yes, happily so!

Yes, and my heart too.


Don't say anything, just look puzzled at your hands. 
(This does obviously not work if you are carrying a baby :-)

Yes, but I would rather have my hands full than empty!


Are they all yours?

-No, I just went to Rent-a-Brat.

-No, this is not all of them, my oldest is at home with the triplets.

-No, actually two are the mailman's and I am not sure whose is that one.....

-We always say YES, because they are OURS....but actually 3 bio, 1 niece, 2 adopted and 4 foster!! But ours in our eyes!!

-No, a couple of them starting following us a few minutes ago. -- This is especially funny when you look at your kids and realize that one of them really ISN'T yours -- he had just started following you and you didn't notice before...
-No, I picked up a couple extra in the produce aisle.
-Gee, I never heard that question before!
-Yes they are! And then one of the boys will pipe up and mention the 21 yo and the 18 yo if they are not there and of course the baby on the way!

-Of course they're all mine. Do you think I take six (or fill in your number) kids shopping for fun?

-"Legally" first 3 are his and the last 3 are ours, I feel in my heart they are all ours.....

-Technically, the oldest 2 are his, the next 2 are mine and the youngest 2 are ours, but we are all just one big happy family (most of the time)LOL, because they all live with us.

-YES!

-Yes, they are all ours. We have been married for 22 years, but only have 11 kids to show for it.

-No.......... I have two more at home! (When it fits)

-Well no they are not all " OURS" but in our hearts they are......

-Yes, and they're such good kids!!!!!!!! !!!!!! (the kids love that one!)
-Of course they are..wait..who is that one?Hes not ours.....oh, yeah,#5,I forgot I had him.

-I don't know. How many do you count?

-Yes. But if you have any you don't want, I'll gladly take them, too


(i'm pregnant. I gave this response.)
-Yes, and this one (pointed to my belly) is too.

-No. I've been an avid collector for years and just picked these up in the food court!

-Yes, at least that's what I tell my husband.

-Most of the time I only have my 7 youngest ones with me, so when someone asks this, I say yes and one of the younger ones will say and there are 4 more. Then we wait to see how long it takes to add 7+4. Then you should see the looks we get.


-While I was still in hospital after having our 5th, visiting hours were over and we were all standing near the elevator, I was holding the newest and the others were all crowded around, (they ranged from 2ys to 14y) a young girl (early 20s) was trying to wade through the crowd and said "are they all yours?" to which we responded "yes", she then pointed to my still rather large belly and said "and you are having another one?" less than 24 hours after having given birth! I think not!! anyway we had a good laugh. (cbrouse23)


Are you going to have more?

Yes, we just enjoy sex soooooo much!

Why do you want to know?

Well, not today.

We are trying to get into the Genisus Book of World Records of (add whatever here) most kids, largest family living in one house, etc.

OH YES! I want to have a family bigger then the one in my favorite movie "Yours, Mine & Ours!" only (add a # here) to beat the 19 they had!!

Yes, I always want just one more.

Well, we do have a twelve passenger van.

Check back in nine months and you'll see for yourself.


Don't you know what causes that?


No, please tell me!

Of course, don't you?

Yes, we do know what causes that and we like it very much, thank you.

Oh yes, we finally figured it out and we now keep the tooth brushes in seperate glasses!

Oh yes, I now wash my husband's underwear seperately.

Oh yes, having a great sex life!

Water or sex but I don't want to give up either.

Smile brightly and say with enthusiasm "Yes and we like it!"

You bet I do......love, love, love ( and; sex, sex, sex.....hehehe. ......)

Yes! So don't get too close to me!

It's in the water. Would you like a glass?

Yes and I know WHO causes it! God gave us these children!

Yes I do........cold winter nights...... ...

LOVE! An overabundance of love!!

Yes,and as you only have two kids obviously you dont do it much.

Yes, and it is something I am very good at...

Of course, and the Lord has greatly blessed us!

A strong husband/wife relationship, big hearts, and the Lord's blessing.


Are you going to get fixed?

Nope, I am not broken!

Why do you want to know?

Huh, we thought everything was working fine for us!?!

We didn't know anything was broken.

Don't you only fix things that aren't working properly?

Well as you can see be the size of OUR family everything is in working order. :)(You have to say this last one with the kinda "I'm not to bright so your question seems kinda foolish don't you think?" attitude.


I can't believe how you do it, I cannot even handle my two!

Yes, if I had kids like you, I wouldn't have any more either!

Yes, you don't strike me as the type who could handle more kids than that.

I do it like most people, in bed and after the kids are sleeping.

I put knobs on the kids. Makes them easier to handle.

Everyone has 24 hours in a day, it is just how you use it...nt

With lots of patience, patience, patience

go and look at them while they're sleeping. This reminds me of what sweet children of God they are and keeps me going!

Oh, I just do it. Wake up in the morning, do what you have to do all day, go to bed when it's done. nt

Pick your battles carefully. It helps to have selective sight and hearing!

Don't sweat the small stuff.

(this is a good one for chat rooms) Oh, straight jackets and handcuffs!


Are you planning to have any more?

I've been wondering about this and maybe you can explain it to me: I always thought you had to plan NOT to have more.

Before we were married we planned on having 2, but I didn't know that my husband couldn't count!

We didn't plan the first six, I don't think we'll plan the next six, either.


I hope you aren't planning to have anymore?!?

You mean, I just figured out what I'm really, really good at, and you're telling me to stop doing it?

Talk to God about it... it's up to Him.

Well, we do have room in our van for 2 more.

OK, I won't plan my next one. Surprises can be fun!

Yup we are going to keep going till we get an ugly one.


Haven't you heard of birth control?

Yes, and I thank God it doesn't always work!

Yes, I've heard of it, I hope you are using it!

(for dad) Yes, but I just can't find a rubber that will fit me!

Yes, that's great stuff for people with ugly kids!

Oh yes, we do know what birth control is; it's for people who don't want children.


Don't you have a television?


Yes, but we only get X-rated channels

Yes! Did you know there are 28 porn channels in this area?

No, we have much better things to do at night!

Yes 4 of them. Why?


How can you afford having so many?

Lifestyles are expensive not kids.

We're not on welfare, in huge amounts of debt, and no, my husband is not a doctor or lawyer. We just budget well.

I figure you spend what you make, you may as well spend it on more.

" You don't know my financial backer!" (Our God, of course)

I'm still not sure how we do it...but it works!


Look at that double trouble! (for twins)

No, they are double blessings!


I am glad it is you and not me!
Yes, me too!

My kids are glad it's me and not you too! ;-)

Oh me too! I love being a mother! and smile real BIG!


Do you get any time for yourselves?

Obviously we get a little time to ourselves, or we wouldn't have six kids.


Did you give birth to all of them?

Yes, I gave birth to them all. Do you really believe the stork dropped them off?

Yes, in my heart...... (for adoptive parents)


When people just keep staring at your family....

No, we're not Catholic. No, we're not Mormon.

Yes, they all are mine!

No, we don't try to overpopulate the earth, just to outnumber the idiots!


Haven't You Had That Baby YET?!!?

"YES. This is the NEXT ONE!!!!!!!!" See if that don't make their jaws drop!


http://www.plomp.com/largefam/co  mebacks.htm

What I wrote today

Today was a pretty awesome day. Not easy, but awesome. Some glory and disapointment. I just had to share with a yahoo group that I just joined how its been over here since joining the group.

Hello new friends,

For the last week I have been reading through the daily digests from this group and saying my prayers for you all while I read. I am so glad I found this group of brave mothers! I say brave because at the sight of my mounting laundry, screaming babies, popcorn lunches, I think about how all of you just take it all on. I think about how we all get through our days, minute by minute with only the grace of God to keep our heads and our hearts in place. 

For me you have all been an inspiration and a source of comfort that I can do this, and that God has a great plan for our family.

Just the other day after hours of looking for a solution to our home schooling issues and temptations to just put the kids in school because there was little school getting done here, a friend of mine suggested Classical Liberal Arts Academy. At first I just wanted to brush it off because my first thought was, yes its wonderful, yes, we can't afford it. But my friend told me to just look into it and see if it might be a good fit. She also told me that CLAA is not financially motivated and there is financial aid. So after a few hours of researching the website, sending an email asking how their financial aid might help us. I was almost floored at the response I got. I was thinking, yeah right, sure they are just gonna give away this program  *sarcasm is evil*, c'mon who could ever be so trusting?

CLAA's response was, (and I am paraphrasing here) just to go ahead and enroll the kids, we would be happy to have all 7 of your school aged children, don't worry about the financial part, God will provide, all that is required is that we trust and obey him. 

For me this was HUGE. This meant that we are doing the right thing and NOT having any money, NOT having any time, plain old NOT having of anything, is NOT a reason Not to CATHOLIC home school :) 

I am so grateful for this opportunity. So now the plan is to pray, trust, and obey :)

I just wanted to share this with you. (thanks MJ)

The10 Second Tidy

Remember the Big Comfy Couch show? If there was one lesson I learned from that annoying show, it was the 10 Second Tidy. It is just that, 10 seconds of mad dash cleaning and picking up scattered toys, shoes, and clothes.

My then 5 year old ds1, would love to sit and watch that show. I hated it because it looked like a low budget production and I wasn't impressed by the cheap looking props. But what we discovered that there was something sort of what you might call a little treasure. It worked so well, that we have kept the 10 Second Tidy in our home long after the show was cancelled. The great thing is that everyone can do it, even 2 year olds! So I am please to share the following You Tube clip.

Old Routine Re-Vamped

The old AM routine was like this.

1.Wake up, say Morning Offering.
2. Make your bed.
3. 10 second tidy in your room.
4. Grooming and get dressed w/shoes.
5. Morning family prayers. The Angeles & Grace.
6. Breakfast.
7. Chores/Zones (including pet care)
8. School

This worked out really great for a while, but there were some missing components and we had not added our PM routine since the twins were born. But now that Apollo, (our new high energy puppy) is here we have to kick it up a whole lot.

So now it looks like this.

1.Wake up, say Morning Offering.

2. Make your bed.

3. 10 second tidy in your room.

4. Grooming and get dressed w/shoes.

5. Take dogs outside.

6. Feed & water dogs.

7. Morning family prayers. The Angeles & Grace.

8. Breakfast.

9. Chores/Zones.

10. Walk dogs and outdoor play.

11. DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read) 30 minutes

12. Nap time for little kids.

13. School.

I have stayed away from a timed schedule for a long time because with a large family, stuff always seems to come up. If I expect interruptions, its less frustrating for me to allow time to roll with the punches. 

So at some point this week I have to add our PM routine. Otherwise, I will end up with wandering kids.

If you don't already know, I am a huge fan of Supper Nanny, Jo Frost. Here is a link to her website with very helpful information about why routines matter and how to set up your family's routine.

http://www.supernanny.com/Advice/-/Your-child/-/Child-care/Why-routines-matter-.aspx

http://www.supernanny.com/Advice/-/Supernanny-techniques/-/Routine-and-teamwork/Family-routine.aspx

Have a blessed and grace-filled day!

Setting the Mood in My Home With Music

My mother used to play classical music for us when we were small children in the evenings. It was something her father would do for his children at night. My grandfather was a poor uneducated farmer in Mexico, who had the common sense to fill his 9 children's hears with beautiful sounds. His wisdom is evidence for me that knowledge doesn't only come from books.

You have probably heard that classical music calms the mind. It's not hard to believe that idea because I myself find that I rest better if I fall asleep listening to classical music. And for my babies, classical music seems to contribute to easier transitions and longer naps. I have also discovered that classical music seems to calm everyone in the home especially during that morning rush or when I feel tense and overwhelmed.

I have also used other genres of music for different times during the day. For instance, if I we are working on Math subjects or Math drills, we will listen to Rock n' Roll and Metal. This idea came from my son's therapist, who suggested to us that listening to this kind of music stimulates cognitive function. So far, yes it does seem to help, but we are very careful that we play positive music and most of the time its Christian Rock.

Another time when I use music to set a mood in our home is when we are cleaning. Dance music seems to really motivate us and makes time go by faster. We house clean to any kind of dance music from Disco to Cumbia.

Creating playlist is great for us because I can limit our cleanup or Math lessons with music that will fill a certain time period. For instance, if I want to clean the house for 1 hour, then I will play our House Cleaning Boogie playlist that contains 1 hour of dance music and it will automatically stop after 60 minutes.

Happy listening and ROCK ON!!

Music Psychology resources:

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/06/10/05/how_classical_music_can_reduce_crime_benefit_your_mood_and_increase_your_spending.htm

http://cognitive-psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/psychology_of_heavy_metal_music

http://musicouch.com/musicouching/music-and-the-mind/

Music listening websites:

CLAA's Sacred Radio:
http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh182333542409935592

http://www.catholicmusicnetwork.com/

www.grooveshark.com/

www.pandora.com/

http://www.ilike.com/

Add to the Mix, a Labrador Puppy!

As if I didn't have enough to do already, this adorable pup walks into our lives and with him a renewed spirit of energy. It’s kind of a long story and I have a little time before the twins wake up for a night time feeding, so I will tell it to you.

Six days ago, there was a post on an email list that I am a member of, offering a free chocolate Lab puppy. I didn't respond immediately because I was so swamped I missed it. Well a few days later I was reviewing my messages and my eyes just about popped out of my head. Who would give away a Labrador puppy? There can't be something wrong with him, he's a Lab, who wouldn't want a Lab and free?? Well if you have ever had the pleasure of knowing or having a Lab puppy, you know what the answer to that one is. :)  So I just replied that if the puppy was not yet claimed that our family would be interested, and hit the send button. At that moment, I smacked myself on the forehead, and had a hesitation. What did I just do? Did I just say yes to a pet, a huge pet, without consulting with Giovanni? Yes, dodo bird, ya sure did. 

I kinda couldn't help it. See years ago I had an encounter with a charming chocolate Labrador, Zach. He was an old fella, but he was HUGE! I used to work for a freeway bridge construction company as an administrative assistant, when I lived in California. I was probably around 20 years old, young and dumb. Most of the time I was left alone in a dusty construction yard trailer. And Zach, who belonged to a crane operator, kept me company. 

On one particular day, against the wishes of our construction supervisor, I let Zach hang out with me in the office/mobile trailer. Mid morning a stranger walked in asking for a job. I told him that we never hire from the field, and he should contact his local union for more information. He insisted that I give him more information and proceeded to come closer to my desk. I became a little afraid because this dude seemed like his intentions were more than just looking for a job. Zach, who was lying at my feet sprung up from behind my desk, placed his front paws on the desk and was face to face with the stranger. Needless to say the stranger was scared off by Zach, and split. I think it was a close one for me that day. 

That day is when I fell in love with chocolate Labs. So when someone was offering a puppy free, I just kinda acted impulsively. I did say a quick prayer, God, if it be your will, please let me have this puppy, please let Giovanni say that we can have him. If you know that we cannot handle this puppy right now, it’s ok, but I would really, really like this puppy.

When Giovanni came home, I reminded him about that story, and told him that someone was offering this puppy and showed him the email. I didn't tell Giovanni, that I prayed about it, because I didn't want to add unnecessary guilt. His initial reaction was that he couldn't believe it. But he said, "Yes, if it was free, and there were no other problems. Yes, when can we pick him up?" At this point I had not received a response about the puppy. Matter of fact it took 4 days to hear back from the puppy's owner. Someone had already taken the puppy but returned him the next day because it was just not the right fit for them. (I do know that Labrador puppies are a lot of work and they are a large breed. They require lots of attention and will eat anything.) This was great news for me, and so I admitted to my husband and children that I prayed to God for this dog, and what a miracle it was that He heard my prayers! This was a great opportunity to show my children that we can come to our Father, in prayer and love to ask Him for anything. We can pray that it be God's will, because I think that God would never give us something that would interfere with our salvation. If the puppy could not be ours, then that would be ok, because God knows what is and isn't good for us, even if it was a cute little puppy. 

And so he came to us. He was delivered that day, on a Sunday. If I was made to wait just one day, I would have not slept over the excitement that he was mine! Isn't he just adorable?!

Our Home School Philosophy and the World

A few times a year it gets kinda crazy around here and I start to lose focus on why we do this to ourselves. Yes, I am talking about home schooling our 10 kids. 


I could just send the kids off the local public school or the local charter school. Once, (2009) I even tried a k12 program thinking that it would solve the chaos. That was a big mistake. 


So here we go..."Why do we home school?" or better yet, "Why are we Catholic and home schooling?' That silly question comes to visit at least 4-5 times a year, typically just before Spring arrives.


Our philosophical conclusion came down to this; We are not home schooling to shield our children from the ugliness of the world, but to prepare and arm them with their faith to live in this world so that they will one day, through God's grace, be with Him in Heaven forever.


Now I am not saying that I purposely expose my kids to all the ugliness the world has to offer. No, I do my very best to expose them to the beauty of their faith, how to avoid sin, and if they happen to sin, that we have this wonderful church that has this wonderful sacrament called Reconciliation, and most amazingly that Christ not only forgives us, but he waits for us every day to receive Him at the altar, our precious Mass.


When my oldest son was about 7 years old we took a trip to Long Beach, California. On that awesome sunny day we took a walk downtown to a local burger joint. On our way there I noticed two dudes holding hands. I prayed that  my son wouldn't notice, but being the observant kid that he was, he noticed. My mind sprung back in time, like a flash to when my husband's high school Vietnamese friend told us that in Vietnam, some members of the same sex, sometimes hold hands while walking.(It's true, look it up.) Bam! I was saved from having to go into detail right then and there to explain what was going on right in front of us. I simply gave this explanation and he was satisfied. At least this was sufficient for his understanding at 7 years old.


This topic didn't come up again till he was 12. At this time a few of the neighborhood kids started calling each other "gay" or would otherwise use it as an adjective like. "Dude, your shirt looks gay." At this point I felt he was old enough to hear the truth. So I explained that "gay" has two meanings, one to be cheerful and the other was a term used to describe a homosexual person. You can imagine his embarrassment and that word was not heard from again. 


Now, don't get me wrong I am not a homo-phobe, nor do I teach my children to be either. (When I was a teen mother, my only true friend was a homosexual teen, who used to carry all my books for me during my third trimester while I attended high school, David still love ya honey!) I simply want them to speak gracefully, keeping in mind that God is who we should aim to please with our language, our bodies, and how we express ourselves.


Now, of course I don't look forward to these moments when I have to explain how the world works, but its my job. God give me the grace to do it in a pleasing way to Him and I still always pray that my child's innocence is preserved.

Home Schooling Primary Learners

When I home schooled my first kindergartner, my now 12 year old son Giovanni, I was terrified! I didn't know how I was going to get this little kid who didn't even know his alphabet to put letters together and read words. Basically, if your K level child can finish the year knowing the alphabet, numbers -20, colors, shapes, follow directions, you are doing pretty good. If a K level child can finish the year knowing letter sounds and simple addition/subtraction...WOW! you deserve a real pat on the back. No pressure though, some of my kids didn't start reading till they were 6 years old and in first grade, some of them were reading at 3 and 4 years old.  It all depends on their maturity level. 

A preK friend of mine once told me that Kindergarten is to generally teach children how to follow direction. If a child can't do that, then there will be problems later on for sure. 

I have used 100 easy lessons to, but I generally pulled ideas that worked for some of my kids who needed more kenesthetic approach.

Flash cards and games are easy, cheap, and older kids can use them to play/teach little kids. This will make homeschooling a joy because you will get to see your kids virtues in action.

Spelling Bee Bingo, excellent game! http://www.boardgames.com/spbeebi.html

The Lady Bug Game: http://www.theladybuggame.com/

Boggle JR: http://www.hasbro.com/shop/details.cfm?guid=8EC0B9CC-6D40-1014-8BF0-9EFBF894F9D4&product_id=8627&src=endeca

As for curriculum, I do have a list of good old standbys that have always worked for us:

Little Stories for Little Folks by CHC 

http://www.chcweb.com/catalog/Exclusives/PreReadingAndPhonics/LittleStoriesforLittleFolksCatholicPhonicsReaders/product_info.html

Primary Phonics readers and workbooks

http://intervention.schoolspecialty.com/search/index.cfm

Spectrum Phonics Series (K-6th grade) (better buy is the e-book versions, you can reproduce these)

http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/Products/CarsonDellosa/PID-0769682901.aspx

Starfall is free. You can download readers and the worksheets free. I especially LOVE the ABC worksheets and online letters and sounds videos. But my kids found the writing journal work sheets a little confusing.

http://www.starfall.com/

More Starfall is also great, and its only $35 for 3 users per year. I REALLY like this one. I like that I can sit for a little while with my primary learners all at once and then let them work independantly while I work with another child.

http://more.starfall.com/

Have fun! These years go by too fast.

My Revisitation With Routine Part 1

Before the twins were born, I had a beautiful routine that worked like a well oiled machine. After the twins were born my mom came to visit and did most of the postpartum care, while my husband spent some time off work to help with the night feedings and mostly deal with the other 8 children. My older children did an outstanding job helping with little ones. This is the point where I think it all went wrong. 

I am not talking about all the help I had. Believe me, I thank God for my wonderful mother, my sweet children and most especially my dear husband  every day. Their help was essential. What did go wrong was that I did not have enough confidence in them to keep up my routine, and so I just let it all go. I felt that keeping up with my routine was going to be too much and I didn't want to overwhelm them with the already daunting task of feeding, cleaning, and discipline of 8 children. I thought that everyone deserved a break from the daily grind of chores and schoolwork. It was only six weeks right? What a HUGE mistake. Those six weeks of lax have turned into 12 months of chaos.

During this past year, I have lost confidence in my ability to be the best mom and wife to my family. A small part of it has to do with my relationship with my mother. Again, not complaining. She is a devoted mother, who loves me very much. Parents aren't perfect, I know...but, there are just some unresolved issues there that are difficult to allow resurface (although I know that if I did deal with them, it would probably make things better for us, I think). Most of all lack of preparation, little sleep, nursing twins, postpartum depression, my own health and ADD issues, also have played a big part in adding to the chaos.

All year long since the birth of my twins, I have struggled to keep up with the old routine. And maybe that's my problem. The routine is old, about 6 years old and it may be time to reformulate a new one. I have been debating that one for a while, it’s just hard to let go of something that worked for so long. 

So now onto Step 1; reassess the needs of my family our priorities and start from there. 

Here goes...remember it’s just a start. 

1. God

2. My husband

3. My children

4. A clean home (maybe this should be #5?)

5. My children's education

6. Outside obligations

Twinkies

This picture was taken on the day Francesca and Pia were baptized. It was a gorgeous day. It was cold and rainy. Just before the ceremony, the sun shine broke through the clouds and two rainbows appeared in the sky! Thank you Lord for your abundant blessings and those miraculous reminders that you will never leave us.

Preparation for Suffering for the Sake of Love

Yesterday afternoon, I was thinking about the old Catholic line, "Offer it up!" at the same time that I was getting myself ready to take on another week of prompting and managing my household of 10 children through the week. I know I am going to have moments of pure craziness, and quenching those small fires with mantras, (a mystical formula of invocation or incantation) sincerely of course consisting of, God please help me or Mary, Mother of God, pray for me. 

Monsignor Nestor's homily at Mass this past Sunday, reminded us all to love our closest neighbors, our spouses and children. The plan for this week is to ask God to give me the GRACES to love my closest neighbors, with every ounce of charity that I can muster. (St. Teresa of the Andes, Patron Saint of Problem Children, please pray for me.) Oh and I almost forgot to mention that I am also supposed to do this with JOY! Yes, joy. 

As David Gregson puts it, "The key to joy in suffering is love. The more we love Our Lord, the more we'll rejoice in whatever brings us closer to Him. Suffering can do that. Christ came to suffer, to atone for the sins of the world, and when we suffer, we become like Him, if we offer our sufferings with His, for the benefit of others. The more like Him we become, the closer we come to Him, and if we love Him, that is what we want most of all."

2 Thess. 1:11-12 "To this end, we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ."

There is Nothing Under the Christmas Tree?!

Every year we try different ways to teach the real message of Christmas to our children. The last couple of years have been more difficult to fill the void under the tree with the wants and desires of our 10 children. This years wanted things include the latest video game equipment, battery operated hamsters, guitars, bikes, and air soft supplies. All of which would put us in debt of course.

Well its 6 days till Christmas day and not one gift has been placed under the tree. But can you believe it? Not one child has asked why! Has Christmas gone unnoticed?

I don't think so. The kids have spent the days anticipating Christmas day by decorating the tree & house, setting up the outdoor lighted displays, making tree ornaments out of paper, glue and glitter, singing Christmas carols, hot cocoa & cookies, making ginger bread houses, and walks in the neighborhood to see the Christmas lights. So there is no shortage of Christmas cheer in this house for sure!

We of course highlight Advent, the feast day of Saint Nicholas with candy filled shoes, and have even incorporated a Jesse Tree. (More on the Jesse tree later.)

Of course we couldn't just leave the kids empty handed this Christmas. Instead of Christmas gifts under the tree, we bought a gift for the whole family. We are going to the Winter Wonderslam concert with Toby Mac, one of our favorite Christian performers. It was still a hit to the wallet, $36 a pop x's 12, yikes! But we will be rocking it out together and what a memory for all of us!

Yeah, the kids are stoked. Daddy & Mommy are too.

"Chinese and Tibetan dissidents are either locked up in prison, forced into hiding, or silenced by fear of police retaliation against their families. All the happiness about China's economic growth has made many Americans forget that police clubs and guns and the Laogai system keep the Communist Party in power. Moreover, it is still little recognized how American resources help to sustain that power through trade, investments, and the transfer of technology... It is only when the Laogai is abolished in China that real change will come about." -Harry Wu

Just a drop in the ocean.

http://laogai.org/

I Shouldn't Complain

I really hate to complain, at least thats what I tell myself, because I think I complain too much. I should more often stop and count my blessings to thwart off those urges to gripe.

I used to complain about all the negative attention that our family gets when we all venture out. We get some of the rudest comments about the size of our family or our family planning decisions. One day I will tell you all about the worst ones just for giggles.

After some time of prayer and reflection I thought from that moment on, instead of complaining God would be more pleased if I just accept these moments and take them as an opportunity to react in a more positive way. So now, when ever someone says something atrociously stupid, I do my very best to dig deep and say, "I love each and every one of them so much, I couldn't imagine life without them" or "My children are such wonderful human beings, I feel not only blessed, but honored that God chose me to be their mother". Sufficient enough I think.

Have a blessed day friends! @>-->-

Disposable vs. Cloth

Here is an interesting bit from a website that I stumbled upon. It does contain some useful information. http://babyawearness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=59&Itemid=91

I do use both. I use disposable more often now with the twins but I keep the cloth diapers handy. After reading from the above mentioned website, I think I will use my cloth diapers more often.

Rant Moment

I was just thinking about our trip to the ER two weeks ago (when Mikey'a nose met Benny's head while on a tailspin collision on the swings), and ya know somehow the topic of our family size always comes up. So this nurse says "Wow, 10 kids, you're not on welfare or anything like that?"

I hate that, so what if i was? When does anyone complain about people who put their kids in public school, that i have to pay taxes for their kids education, even though my kids r home schooled...the nerve! I was just too frazzeled at the time to catch it and this is my delayed reaction.

Lost Pictures Found, Thank God!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

No, We Are Not Ever Alone

A few years ago, one evening in 2004 I think, I was feeling pretty blue. Being a young mom with a house full of toddlers and babies can feel isolating sometimes, Add to the mix that at the time Giovanni worked 3rd shift. At the time I remember feeling like I needed a good friend, but I was too ashamed to call her.

So I was at my PC, sobbing and praying because I was feeling so lonely. I was asking God to please do something about it. As I was turning into a soppy mess, a little moth started flying about me. I shooed it away once, twice and finally it landed near my mouse pad and just hung out there. I started to laugh because I wasn't alone anymore. God sent that little moth to keep me company!