The Little Miracles

Have you ever heard of the Marian apparitions in Garabandal Spain? My mom had a devotion to Garabandal when I was growing up and passed that on to my siblings and I. When I was 20 I went to Spain on a pilgrimage and ended up staying there for a while discerning my vocation with a religious order that has a devotion to Garabandal and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

When the Blessed Mother appeared to the girls in Garabandal she made a point of expressing that God cares about everything in the girls and villagers lives- even their cows! That has always stood out in my mind as just how concerned God is with the details in our lives. As we read in Luke 12:7 (Douay-Rheims), "Yea, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows."

I am always amazed at how God answers the silly request I hold in my heart. He gives me find a parking spot when the entire lot is full and I'm too tired to walk, He blesses me with a call from a friend when I need to hear a loved one's voice and He gives me gifts I know I don't really deserve.

Since before I was pregnant I've looked at pictures online of maternity photo shoots and thought that someday it would be special to have beautiful pictures as a reminder of how amazing it is that God has allowed me to be blessed with the gift of carrying a child- a child I wasn't even sure I'd ever have!

Professional pictures are far from necessary, but I love photography and couldn't help but want to have some nice pictures. I have a brother-in-law, cousin and two uncles who are all photographers, but they all live so far away that it is impossible to have any of them take pictures for us. There was also no way we could afford to have pictures done by a local photographer. But, as I said, God knows the desires of our heart and, sometimes, He allows us to be a little spoiled.

One night I was having really bad heartburn, so I tried to distract myself by looking up baby things on craigslist (I recently freaked out realizing that I'm much less prepared for this baby's arrival than I thought I was!) and I noticed a posting for FREE maternity and newborn packages!!! A young, local photographer was trying to build her portfolio and was offering the first three people to respond to her posting a free maternity photo shoot and, once baby arrived, a free newborn shoot with discs and copyrights (to be able to print at Wal-Mart) of the pictures! My late night heartburn payed off because she emailed me the next day to tell me I had been one of the first to respond!

Last Saturday she drove out to camp and took pictures of Paul, Lil' Man and I around camp. Yesterday we received a package with two discs of pictures. I was so excited to see that the pictures had turned out even better than I had hoped they would.

 Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Isn't God good??? No request is ever too small for Him! I didn't even pray for the pictures, but like a loving spouse God already knew. 

Enjoy a blessed Sunday, friends!

No, baby can't just wear anything!

I have been planning for baby's arrival since that pregnancy test showed up positive. I've thought about baby's birth. I've thought about baby's Baptism. It wasn't until about two weeks ago that it occurred to me that I hadn't thought about baby's baptismal gown!

I mentioned this to my dear husband  responded, "Do we really need one???" !!! ( Good man was just trying to be practical and thrifty. You can't blame a guy for not understand the importance of clothes.)

Does a bride need a wedding gown? No. But, this is a SACRAMENT people! Its an outward sign of an inward truth. It must be celebrated! We want people to recognize through the symbolism the powerful truth of what is taking place!!!

And, heck yeah, I want my baby to look cute!!!

My siblings and I were baptized in the same baptismal gown that my mom and her siblings were baptized in. A thin white gown that was cut from my Grandmother's wedding dress. Beautiful, huh??? I called my mom to ask about using it and she told me that it is so old and delicate that it really is no longer wearable.

I was heartbroken, but decided that we would just have to start a new tradition for our new little family. I wanted something lovely, so I did a quick google search to see what is out there. OH MY GOODNESS! Sweet and lovely is available, but it comes with a serious price tag (some 3x more costly than my wedding dress!)! There were a few less expensive options, but none that seemed right. And I really don't care for buying clothing online. I need to feel the fabric. That's just the way I am. Sadly, there aren't any shops around (that I could find) carrying what I needed. I was told that the closest religious gift shop that might have any was in Minnesota!!!

I was feeling desperate.

One of the moms in my mom's group at church has a children's consignment shop here in town. I messaged here asking if she had any baptismal gowns. She did not, but yesterday she told me she had gotten some in that were brand new and from Ireland! Paul and I love our Irish heritage and I just swoon over anything Irish (especially my husband!)!!!

I raced over this afternoon and found the perfect gown to start a new family tradition with. It is Irish linen, so it has that antique/family heirloom quality that I really wanted. It is beautiful, but is traditional enough that we can have both our boys and our girls wear it.

 

Isn't it lovely and old fashioned?

 The Collar

 

The Sleeve

 The Hem

And (drum roll, please) the beautiful Celtic cross on the skirt that is spotted with shamrocks!

Friends of mine have embroidered the initials and dates, on the inside hem, of each child in their family who has been baptized in their family gown. I think it is a wonderful idea and I hope to do the same.

I'm so happy that I found a gown I love, purchased it at a great price from a friend and have one more thing checked off of my list of things to do before baby arrives! I'm just so excited and happy that the new tradition of wearing this gown in our family will have special meaning because of its Irish beauty!

Did (or will) your children use a family gown? One you purchased? What do you love about it? Does your family have any special baptism traditions?

Day One: It's a long way to Gitchi Gummi

We packed and left early Friday morning for our trip to the Porcupine Mountains on Lake Superior. I was losing my breakfast only minutes before we left our house, so I was worried about how the drive would go. I managed to survive the entire way thanks to prayers and a lot of Tums. We enjoyed a beautiful picnic lunch on a lake in Michigan on the way up and we were very surprised that it had warmed up to 81 degrees even that far North!

A fun post-lunch photo with Nee-Gaw-Nee-Gaw-Bow in Wakefield, MI!

It was a long drive with Lil' Man not napping as much as I would have liked. The girls that were riding with us were saints for patiently handing toys and snacks to him and having him shake them awake when they would try to nap!

When we arrived at the Porcupine Mountains we split up. Paul, Lil' Man and I took the less steep 3 mile trail to Mirror Lake where we were all staying for the next three days. The ranger informed us that we weren't allowed to take the stroller with us (later we found signs that said no motorized wheeled vehicles and I think the woman had misunderstood that it was just a stroller- oh well!), so we had to coax Lil' Man into walking as much as we could.  Not a fun task!

Like Linus from Peanuts, Lil' Man carried his blankie the entire time. After he tripped and scrapped an elbow and his arm, Paul had to carrying him for at least 2 and a half mile along with his 55+lbs pack. Lil' Man is not so little! He currently weighs somewhere over 35 lbs. and had all his weight on Paul's neck, so Paul got him to sit on top of the pack!

 

Lil' Man enjoyed his throne (for the most part!) and was fascinated by the chipmunks!

I wasn't really as prepared as I should have been. In my mind, three miles is nothing and I really didn't think I'd have any trouble, but with my pack and being pregnant I really had to be careful. Even relatively mild inclines left me drained and puffing, so I stopped a lot to make sure I was getting enough oxygen to the baby. When we got to a difficult area, my wonderful hubby insisted on carrying both of our packs! The man is a saint! He had to carry mine across his his chest. He is hard-core. :)

It was such a relief to arrive at our cabin. It was so cute and well off the main path (unlike the two other cabins on the lake). We couldn't believe how nice it was for a rustic cabin! There was a bunk bed, beautiful wooden table with benches and a chair, a wood stove with a supply of firewood, a hatchet, bow saw, buckets, and pots for cooking. We had packed in all those things (well, not the firewood) not knowing that their would be anything in the cabin. It even came with a canoe, paddles and plenty of life jackets- even a tiny one for Lil' Man! 

After unpacking, we paddled out onto the lake to find the rest of our group. We didn't know where they would be, so we just enjoyed paddling until we found several of the girls filtering water out of the lake for dinner.

I wonder how they got the name "Mirror Lake"????  : )

After catching up with the rest of the staff from camp, we paddled back to our cabin to pick up a few things. Paul ran up to the cabin while Lil' Man and I sat in the canoe waiting. Lil' Man had been sitting near the back with Paul and I was in the front. As I looked at the lake, Lil' Man and I chatted about the colors and the water. Before I knew what was happening, I felt the boat rock and turned just in time to see Lil' Man falling into two inches of mucky water that our canoe was sunk into. His feet were still in the canoe, but everything else was wet and covered in old leaves. It was sad and hysterical all at the same time. I took him back to the cabin to change him and find Paul. Paul took this video clip.

The highlight of the entire weekend, in my opinion, was when Paul, Lil' Man and I left the staff camp after dinner to head back to our cabin. There was a new moon on Friday night. It was an inky, pitch black and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Floating in the lake with out a single thing to take away from the celestial view made it the most breathtaking sight I have seen since Paul and I were working on Sequoia Lake in California. The Milky Way was indescribable. The entire night sky looked like the photographs you see in an astronomy book. 

It felt as though we were in the nursery rhyme about Winken, Blinken and Nod because not only were the stars dazzling above us, but it felt as though we were floating through them! The lake was mirroring the heavens! Every so often a huge fish would leap out of the lake startling the stillness and causing the stars to float about in chaos. We drifted in awe on the lake for so long that Lil' Man fell asleep (he swayed this way and that before plopping backwards!).

It is moments like those that make you feel the awesomeness of the power of God. I feel sorry for those who only see a breathtaking sight and have no one to thank for it.

Heart Melting

Husband bought waterproof shoes at Cabellas this week and decided he had to "test" them. He hopped in every puddle he could find on our way to and from mass. Cute, huh?

This morning we are driving through Ohio.

The sun is brightly shining as snow swirls around our truck.



It reminds me of living in Austria.



We are listening to music from the 90's on Sirius.



Both of us sing out loud and slightly off-key.



I am happy to be here in this moment.



I asked Paul if we could listen to music this morning intsead of listening to everyone pick apart the State of the Union Address and I also explained the commitments to loveliness I made for this week. He listened and then gave me a slick grin saying, "You are lovely and I made a commitment to you."



Ahhh...melt my heart!

Commitment to Loveliness

Today I am joining Charming the Birds from the Trees in making A Commitment to Loveliness!

It is almost impossible to decorate and make it feel terribly cozy truck. The key word being almost. I was so happy when we bought new sheets for the truck, matched up our comforter with [gasp] a throw pillow! Paul quickly decided the truck wasn't big enough (it really was crowded) for the two of them- it was either him or the throw pillow. Out went the pillow. So now my goal is to start small and work my way up to the big things (like throw pillows).

We have tried to keep flowers in the truck. Paul surprised me once by tucking over a dozen roses all our the truck. They were in the clothes hamper and my mug. Tucked beside the microwave and the tv. There were several by my seat and one on my pillow. Several times he's bought me a dozen roses and set them in the drink well on the dash. They were always lovely, but would always spill when we'd hit a bump, unhitch a trailer or when the dogs would want to eat (seriously!) them!!! We may have had a few setbacks, but I shall forge away at making our home and our life a little more lovely!

Here are the ways I am striving to make a commitment to loveliness in our little home on wheels this week:

1. Decorate for St. Valentine's Day by changing my blog background. I look at it almost daily and feel uplifted when I see something bright and new! Do you like the change?

2. Turn off the news and listen to more uplifting music... Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Gypsy Kings, Nickel Creek, Edith Pilaf, Billie Holiday, Michael Buble and anything Celtic.

3. Make more of an effort to look my best even if the only people who see me during the day are Paul and the people I pass in the rest areas and gas stations.

4. Add fragrances to the truck either by spritzing on a little Happy Heart in the morning or spraying room spray.

5. Turn on the Christmas twinkle lights in the evening (No, we haven't taken them down yet!) and enjoy a cup of tea and a good book with Hubby instead of turning on the tv.

How will you introduce a little added Loveliness to your life this week? Share your thoughts with me and hop on over to http://www.charmingthebirdsfromthetrees.blogspot.com/ to post your own link and to see some "lovely" ideas!

Have a lovely evening!