Finally able to talk about the retreat....

So, I show up in this little town south of Sedona for a weekend retreat, not quite sure what to expect, have what appears to be a normal dinner with some nice guys I don't know (turns out only one was from our parish) and I overhear: "So, you guys are getting ready to go silent any minute now, right?"

So, um, yes, turns out this is a *SILENT* retreat. It's Friday night ~6pm and I'm aware that the official dismissal time is 1:30pm on Sunday...So, welcome to my recap of my first Silent retreat! *not to mention, but cell phones didn't work up there anyways (thanks AT&T!)

Led by Father Anthony Bannon (Irish-born priest, former North American Director of Regnum Christi and Legionarie Priest extraordinaire (so I was told later), we engaged in what ultimately were 8 "Meditations" followed by quiet, personal time to reflect, pray and meditate on what we had just been taught. The meditations were primarily centered around the Parables of Jesus as well as His Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection as well as the calling and enlistment of the Apostles and the power of the Holy Spirit in their (and our) lives. Being that it was Pentecostal Sunday, the rushing wind outside for 2 days really helped enliven the atmosphere.

To the outsider, it looked a lot like going to 1-hour lecture sessions in College where there was 40 minutes of lecture and then 20 minutes of personal time spent sitting on the edge of the lake or walking the grounds or what have you, but for us insiders it really was a powerful weekend. I received what may have been one of the best confession sessions in my life; I went through my first "spiritual direction" session; I spent time saying the Rosary and doing the Stations of the Cross with 15 fine, upstanding Catholic Men and I was able to spend time reflecting on my personal deficits and failures and devising a plan to help me address those failures in real-life terms...things I can see, do and plan for every single day.

...It is a practice created by St Ignatius after all, right? so you know the ultimate direction is going to be about using your head instead of your emotions to reason what's right and what's wrong and to do what you can to put your brain in charge of your senses and not the other way around.

Hands down, I came away with a newfound appreciation for the real-world nature of Jesus, the apostles and myself and how I can take actionable, definable steps to be more in-tune with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I have an action plan that calls for more time engaged with God on a daily basis, which was lacking in the past. I feel better about where I've been b/c I know where I'm trying to go now...and I met a dozen gentlemen of very high caliber (at least I think, we didn't end up talking all THAT much, after all) who provided high quality examples of Catholic living in real life who may end up being role models for my own personal development in Christ.

So, that's it in a nutshell. Let me know if you have thoughts or questions. If you get the opportunity, take a chance and try one of these things. Great for removing the distractions of daily life and for improving the quality of time you have with yourself and other high quality people.

Retreat Weekend

Hubby is off on a men's retreat this weekend. He will be learning and practicing the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius under the guidance of a spiritual director. I understand the retreat will be a platform to help find balance in all areas of life through prayer and spiritual exercises and to discern God's will for his life in those areas. I'm very anxious for him to return and share what he's learned. I'm not exactly in a position to disappear for a weekend, so I have to live vicariously through him for now.

I'm very proud of Micah as he continues to make his spiritual life a priority. As he continues on this path it will only benefit our marriage and our children.

Steam Mop

I have a discovered a great product that has opened up a whole new world for me! Since, I have been hearing that a lot of people knew about this long before I did and I'm kicking myself for not finding it sooner.

It all started when we rented a carpet cleaner to deep clean our carpets. We have carpet in the Master bedroom and on the stairs - that's it. The rest of the house is tile, marble and hardwood. That's a lot of mopping (with occasional hands-n-knees scrubbing)! I wondered if there was a machine we could rent that would deep clean the hard floors. I started looking around and found something even better. Oh, the beauty of the Steam Mop!!

After doing my research, I headed over to Bed Bath and Beyond with my 20% off coupon and my SCRIP to look at the options up close. I'll spare you all the boring details of how I agonized over the decision (with three kids and three dogs I was very concerned with getting the product that would do the job I needed it to do). I walked out with the Shark Deluxe Steam Mop System. There are other models and other price ranges for steam mops. I can't compare what I have to them, but I can compare it to regular mopping.

My old routine involved filling a sink or bathtub with Lysol and hot water. Going back and forth with the mop and then waiting forever for it to dry. Then, I got to watch the filthy water go down the drain. It's a very tedious and tiring job in this house full of hard floors.

So, here's the deal with the steam mop. You fill the canister with water, plug it in and mop your floor. It is dry about 10-15 seconds after you finish. Then you throw you mop pad into the washer and you're done. Half the time and half the effort! As if that's not enough, The steam is hot enough to sanitize without the use of chemicals! I wouldn't necessarily call myself "anti-chemical", but if you can do the same job just as well without them, even better. Also, as we continue to deal with asthma and allergies, I'm open to ways of making things more pure in the household.

I mentioned my needs are pretty heavy duty with three kids and three dogs. This mop actually does take care of everything. All of the gunk, spots and food came up. The steam was enough to dissolve the mess and the mop pad took it all up. I'm very pleased with the results.

An added bonus....there is an attachment that allows you to run the mop over carpets, rugs and mattresses, etc. While it won't clean them, the steam will sanitize them.

I'm now much less inclined to procrastinate on my floor duties now and my floors feel so much cleaner than they ever have. Over time, I'll save money on the Lysol as well as valuable time and energy.

I love my Steam Mop!!

You can read other rave reviews at Amazon.

Good Habit

#1 has developed the most wonderful habit!!

It all started when we bought her the Taylor Swift CD for her birthday. I don't think I can relay just how much she loves Taylor Swift. Owning this CD makes her life complete.

She started shutting herself in her room to choreograph movements to all of the songs and sing them at the top of her lungs while she danced. (very cute!)

One day, she shut herself in her room, the CD went on and we heard the familiar thumping sounds overhead. We assumed she was just dancing again. About an hour later, she came downstairs and told us she had a surprise for us. I immediately thought "UH OH!", but I was very pleasantly surprised. She had cleaned her entire room spotless WITHOUT BEING TOLD!! I was practically giddy and I had Taylor Swift to thank for the motivating music.

Now, she does this all the time. As I type this, the CD is blasting and she is upstairs putting away her clean clothes and cleaning her room. As the pics show, she decided all of the books in her shelves weren't neat enough, so she took them all out to put them back in correctly.

Seriously, I think I'm going to keel over.

What a Weekend!

This has been a whirlwind of a weekend.....

My brother came into town from the East Coast to visit his youngest niece. She was as in love with him as he was with her. Every time he picked her up, she snuggled into him and didn't move.

On Friday night, the older group of cousins on my mom's side went out dancing. It has been years since we've all been in the same place at the same time, so we had to celebrate. We had tons of fun.

The following morning, #3 was baptized. It was a beautiful and intimate ceremony and we were reminded of our calling to be Christian parents. She was baptized in the same church and by the same priest that married us and baptized our other two children. #1 has been learning about baptism in school, so it was especially exciting for her. She was all too happy to tell us what every little detail of the ceremony was about and what it meant for her littlest sister.

That afternoon, one of my cousins graduated from college. That meant more partying! Family, Friends and Fun as far as the eye could see. We are all so proud of her for working so hard.

And then came Mother's day. All three of my girls slept until after 8:00 AM!!!!!! If that was as good as the day would get, it was beyond PERFECT!! #1 finally let me open the present she made for me at school - she had been bursting at the seams all week with excitement and secrecy. It was "a box full of love" with a little poem attached. We went to the late Mass (thanks to the sleeping in) and I received a Mother's day blessing. A beautiful rendition of "Ave Maria" was sung. That is one of my favorite songs and I always tear up when I hear it. I kept thinking about how much God must have loved Mary to entrust her with Jesus and how much He must love me to entrust me with these three little girls who bring so much joy and purpose to my life. As difficult as my days can be at times, the rewards are infinite.

Now.....grocery shopping a laundry.....my vocation continues without ceasing.

Blob

I was showing #1 some pics today and we had the following short exchange.

Her: "You should put that picture on your blob"

Me (laughing): "My blob?"

Her: "Your glob?...Whatever it is."

Kids are awesome!!

So, per her request, here's the pic she wants on my blob.

Beautiful Day

Today was our last Kids' Activity of the school year for SGC (St. Gerard's Circle - a mom's group at our church). I organized a family hike to close out the year. Saturdays seem to be pretty busy for most families, so only three families came and it turned out to be a great little group. All of the kids did a fantastic job walking the two mile loop. Only occasional rests in Daddys' arms for the little ones and a couple of great battle wounds on some others. Micah always remembers to remind the kids that cuts and scrapes are ways to prove you had a great hike in God's beautiful world.

Not pictured are #3 who was in my front pack and another little boy in a backpack.

After our hike, we came home to do a little spring cleaning and then I took #1 shopping to replace the summer clothes she has outgrown. Busy Day!

As if that weren't enough...#3 rolled from back to front today. All four of us erupted into cheers and applause. It was definitely a family high point. :-) This little one doesn't yet recognize how blessed she is to have two wonderful and loving big sisters, but I know she could never imagine life without them. :-)