Boy, life has been craziness.  I’ve been trying to focus on my four year old over the last couple of days to get him potty trained.  I’m using a reward system with a chart up in his bathroom to get him an incentive to not have accidents.  It’s hard to say if it’s working yet or not.  He still soils his pants and has number one accidents daily.  I’m doing tons of laundry, and he must be potty-trained for school this fall… so I’m getting a little anxious and frustrated.  I’m open to suggestions if anyone has any!  We’ve been trying to potty train on and off for about two years, so I’m ready for solutions!  To top that off, our employee was out on Monday, my husband had a dentist appointment today, so basically we’ve been a man short for the last two days.  Craziness!  I’m just trying to stay a float if you know what I mean!  

I gave Anna, my baby, sweet potatoes yesterday.  Boy that’s a winner.  She loves them, and they are so easy to make.  Just put them in the oven like a baked potato on 400 for about 35-45 minutes.  Use a fork to check for doneness.  Make sure they are really soft but not burnt.  Let cool, spoon out the meat, and blend!  Easy!  

I’m getting up early tomorrow to go to my CRHP accountability group.   This week we are discussing the second chapter from “The 7 Secrets of the Eucharist.”  So far it’s a really good read, and it’s very informative.  If you looking to drive deeper into the church’s teaching on the Eucharist, I’d highly recommend it.  It has good solid teaching (at least the part of it I’ve read so far) and it quotes good, solid sources such as the Diary of St. Faustina and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  

On another note, my four year old is going to a Protestant vacation bible school this week.  I normally wouldn’t do that, but I know the school/church well since he has attended preschool there for two years.  He is very comfortable there because he knows the other kids and the teachers so it works out best (he’s really shy).  I sat in on the last 15 minutes or so of the hour and a half session today.  Interesting, I have to say.  They were very enthusiastic about teaching the kids about Jesus’s love for us and really got the kids involved which is more than I can say for some of the Catholic programs I’ve seen (some not all!)  But I admit it lacked substance besides that.  Maybe it’s because I only saw 15 minutes.  Nevertheless, my son has a great time and comes home excited about God which is always a good thing.  But the moral of the story is that I am 100% grateful for many blessings and depth of the Catholic faith.  It’s really like a diamond with many facets.

Well, that’s all for now.  God love you. 

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I thought it might be appropriate to consider the promises of the Rosary since we had been exploring devotion to Our Lady in our Rosary Experiment lately.  There are lots of them given in several apparitions.  You can easily find lists of them by googling “Promises of the Rosary,” but I thought I might just pick out a couple and discuss those that really stuck me.

* “The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.” I love how Our Lady describes the Rosary as armor! It’s a reflection of Ephesians 6 where Paul tells us to put on our spiritual armor.  As I struggle with my vices and imperfections, it makes me so hopeful to know the Rosary destroys vice!! Yeppee!!  Seriously?!  Don’t you need something in your life to weed out the junk?!  I do at least.  :)  And I definitely know there are pretty of heresies in our world that need to be defeated.  

*”The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.” Wow!  What an amazing grace that the Rosary obtains God’s mercy for souls!  Not just for the person praying, but for other souls as well. I know in my life there are some souls that need mercy, and I’m sure you can say the same.  That alone is reason enough to love the Rosary.  I can definitely say I have seen this promise since I have started the Rosary Experiment.  

*”Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.” What I love about this promise is the phrase “never be conquered by misfortune.”  Do you ever have moments where you just feel like a situation to going to crush you, bury you, just leave you for dead?  Those thoughts of I just can’t take it anymore, those lies that say nothing will ever change… To that Our Lady says that if we are devoted to her in the Rosary, devoted to the mysteries of Christ her Son, Our Lord, that we will NOT be conquered by misfortune.  If you are praying the Rosary, you can have confidence that you will not be conquered by those tough situations!  Isn’t that huge?!  You will remain in the grace of God.  Think about the peace, that love, that is being in the grace of God.    

*”You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.” Again, another HUGE promise.  It doesn’t say you shall obtain some of the things you pray for… Our Lady says she will give you all you ask… That’s right everything!!  The conversion of your husband, the end of abortion, freedom of your debt, the potty training of your three year old, a release from your illness you name it!! Have confidence!  Pray the Rosary knowing in your heart that Our Lady will intercede and obtain all you ask.  Remember the wedding feast of Cana.  There she interceded for the simplest of things, wine. There is no request too large or too small for Our Mother, for your Mother.    

If these promises don’t make you want to pray the Rosary daily, I don’t what will.  I know I read them and was humbled and floored.  I can testify that there has been huge changes in my life just in the short time since I started the Rosary Experiment.  I have seen a huge change in myself, an increased desire for holiness, prayer, and the sacraments.  My husband who wouldn’t pray with me much at all in the beginning of the experiment, now asks me “Can we pray the Rosary together tonight?”  My desire to splurge and buy unnecessary things has decreased so much!  I have a desire to pray much more often and more consistently than want I began.  I have the desire to get back that “first love” that the Book of Revelations chapter 2 refers to.  I have been so much more at peace than I normally am and when bad things happen, I turn to automatically turn to prayer before anything else.  Praise God!  I don’t know about you, but I am so thankful for the Infinite Wisdom of God to give us a mother.  Our Lady truly is our soft place to fall, our refuge, and our way to Jesus.

God love you!  

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Ahhh…. boy, I’m so tired and so frustrated.  You ever just feel like the worst mom ever!?  I try so hard to be perfectly patient and loving with my children, perfectly attentive to them, making sure they are loved and cherished like they deserve.   But sometimes I just get in a rut where I am so short tempered.  Today, Anna has been fussy and wanting to be held while I’m trying to do other things, and I just feel awful putting her down.  But yet, I feel awful not keeping the house up or getting my work done for the business.  It’s such an internal struggle… I feel guilty either way and I just get frustrated at her as I result.  To top it off, my son is exhausted from going to camp this week and thus is not very cooperative come the evening hours.  We’re also still struggling with getting him fully potty trained, and I’m just so frustrated with that whole thing.  What I am doing wrong!??  As much as I try not to, I end up convincing myself that I was just never made for motherhood and I’m horrible at it.  Admittedly, I’ve never really been a “kid-person”.  I never ooggoogled over babies or was much of a babysitter in my younger days.  I’m never one to ask to hold someone else baby or offer to watch people’s kids.  I’m just feeling out of sorts, and it sure doesn’t help it when my kids are upset whether it be about going pooh in the potty or not being nursed even after she just ate!Does anyone else feel like the worst mom ever?  It’s such a lie us women tell ourselves, I know.  Nevertheless, we sit there and tell ourselves, “gee… could I be any worse at this?”  Or “why can’t I just go this?  Everyone can.”  Well, I hope if you are reading this and can agree that you find comfort in the fact that someone else feels the same way, and someone else is praying for you.  If you have any thoughts, feel free to post a comment or use my new contact me form if you just want to share with me privately!God love you! 

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Ahhh… the rosary experiment continues.  I can’t believe it’s already day 20.  I’ve been really down the last few days.  We’ve just had a lot of challenges with a couple of clients lately and with a couple of our ministries at our parish.  It’s just hard to know how to handle bad situations sometimes.  I just get really discouraged especially in ministry when people belittle and mistreat you.  When are just jerks to you in ministry, it just makes me not want to go to church at all anymore…..  I mean really if they aren’t grateful.  But then, this morning I had “accountability group” which is a group of ladies from my CRHP formation team that meet weekly to encourage and edify each other in the faith.  We are reading and discussing the book, “7 Secrets of the Eucharist.”  My accountability group really helped me to see that just as much the people I serve sometimes are not grateful, I am not always grateful for Christ, who He is, and what He has done for us.  It just hit me this morning… it was such a grace to get a bit of the fire that I needed back to continue to seek Christ and serve His people.

I really think my daily rosaries have tremendously helped me to endure the challenges of late.

I’m almost happy to announce that my husband has started saying the rosary with me!!!  I’m so excited!

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I want to start by apologizing for my lack of posts recently. Anna (the baby) is going through a needy stage and Michael’s been sick. Nevertheless, I wanted to report as to the rosary experiment and how it’s going.

I am definitely feeling more and more inclined to pray everyday. It’s really become a habit, a part of my life in a more consistent way than I can ever recall from the past. I am a sense that I’m going closer to God especially in my ability to be more virtuous (especially in my patience!)

There has been some challenges though too. One of our biggest customers is having some re-structuring, so I’m nervous about what that will mean for the business they give us. If anything happens with them, it could be a cut in revenue for us. I’m trying to trust in God, but I do tend to worry about finances constantly even when things are fine. I really think it’s spiritual warfare trying to get to me, but I still struggle with letting God be God and take care of things.

My biggest struggle right now is with my husband. He’s a Catholic, attends Mass with me, goes to confession, and all the fixin’s. My frustration lies in that for some time now, he has not wanted to pray. He’s in a “funk”. I guess he has reasons he’s upset with God. Anyways, I’ve invited him to pray with me a lot lately since being the rosary experiment. I’ve really been feeling a desire for us to pray as a family, but I ask him to pray with me or with us as a family and he declines. He doesn’t get upset; he just says, ” I don’t feel like it” or something to that effect. It makes me really sad and I’m not sure what to do except keep praying for him. I’ve confronted him about it, and he just shrugs and doesn’t really respond to me. I’m open to suggestions. I knew he was in bit of a religious funk before the rosary experiment, but it’s really become very apparent to me these last couple of weeks.

If you have any thoughts, please let me know! Comments are welcome!

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Tonight I made two types of squash for Anna to try. So far so good with my new blender. It makes a nice even blend and is easy to use. The only problem I’ve hadd to that I haven’t been very successful with the pour spout. Hopefully I won’t wear out the motor on this one like I did with my last one! I haven’t tried out my mini food processor yet, but I will when I get to that stage.

Anywho… I made butternut squash and yellow squash. I hoping these go over better than the peas. She wasn’t too fond of them! Here are the recipes:

Butternut Squash: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pull out a cookie sheet and cover with foil (makes for easy clean-up.) Rinse squash off. Cut in half vertically (lengthwise) to that you expose the seed cavity in both halves. Use a tablespoon to scoop out the seeds and “guts” (just like you are carving a pumpkin.) Lay your two halves meat side up on the cookie sheet and bake for 90 minutes for an average to large size squash. (Times may vary depending on the size of the squash. If you have a smaller squash, start checking it at 40 minutes.) The squash is done when it is soft like a well baked potato. I stick a fork tito the meat of the squash to test the softness. If it is not done when the timer goes off I put it back in for 15-20 minutes and check again. Once done, let cook. Scoop out the meat, put in blender, and blend. Mashing with a potato masher works too but it’s more work. Add water to thin out the mix if needed. As with many foods, make it thinner for younger babies and thicker for more experienced ones. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze.

Yellow Squash: Rinse off the squash. For younger babies like mine, it might be wise to peel the skin. For older babies with more eating experience, you can leave the skin after scrubbing it clean as they can digest foods better. Cut the squash into small 1/2 cubes. Boil or steam themuntil very soft and tender. They should be easy to mash with a fork. Retain water in case you want to water down your mix a bit. Put soft, cooked cubes into your blender and blend! Pour your mix into ice cube trays and freeze. Easy huh? I don’t add water to these because after you freeze and thaw you naturally water down quite a bit.

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The Rosary Experiment continues.

I am definitely experiencing a lot of spiritual warfare. It is quite obvious the devil does not want me to do this experiment. My husband and I just got in a little tift with a couple of people from our parish that is causing a lot of stress. It’s something that has been harboring for while now, and it just came to a head in the last 48 hours or so. We head a couple of ministries, so we have deal with a lot of people including the deacons and pastor very often. Sometimes in the midst of everyone’s busy-ness, things get dropped and people get short. Needless to say, we’re working it all out. Besides that, I’m feeling very overwhelmed that my four-year-old just seems to be completely resistant to be completely potty-trained. (He pees in the potty but won’t poo there, and we have to remind him every hour and a half to go to the bathroom.) It feels so huge and I’m frustrated that I can’t get him 100% potty-trained. To top it all off, I started having car issues a couple days ago. My blinkers don’t work! So we’re down to one car as mine is in the shop.

Well, that’s enough attention to the struggles…. as for the good things, I’m seeing in increased desire for prayer in my life. It’s incredible… I find myself praying all the time: when I’m putting my kids in the car or driving along, doing the dishes, or making dinner. My love for the Blessed Mother has developed and grown so much just in the last week. Just the thought of her intercession is so comforting and I have this trust in her like never before. I know she is taking care of me and my family. This feeling and knowledge is such a grace and blessing. Instead of putting off prayer til night, I’ve been finding myself saying my rosary earlier in the day, and it just makes such a huge difference in my day. And it’s only day 7!

I also wanted to let you all know as readers that I’m praying these rosaries for you too! So expect graces in your life!

God love you.

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I’m continuing the Rosary Experiment today, day 4 of 30.  I’m pleased to say I’m finding myself with lots more patience over the last few days, both with my kids and my husband.  Grace from my rosaries, I think so!

One little God-moment today.  I wanted to sign up my 4 year old for camp this summer and registration was today.  I knew I had to go to College Station on business this morning but I thought I would be back in plenty of time for the noon registration. On Sunday I decided it was best to call and ask the teacher to reserve a spot for him just in case.  Sure enough I was late getting back from College Station and when I got to the registration they were all full.  By the grace of God, Michael was on the list because of my phone call!  I know it’s not a terribly moving story, but as promised, I wanted to share all the highlights of my 30 day experiment.

Another blessing… our new employee at my company is working out really well.  In fact, I couldn’t have imagined a better fit for our company.  He happens to be an awesome Catholic and a solid programmer. It is such a blessing to finally have some additional help. Praise be to God for the success of the business and our ability now to expand. I can truly say it has only been by His Grace!

I took a break to put my kids to bed as I wrote this, and I have another answer to prayers from my rosaries in that time!! A bit of background info here… my four year old son has been very challenging to potty train. We have been trying off and on since he turned two and still is not completely potty trained. Today when I was putting him to bed, he was telling me all about putting all his pooh-pooh and pee-pee in the potty and that he is going to ask Mama Mary (the Blessed Mother) for help. I almost cried it was so beautiful and cute! I’ve been praying in my rosaries for help because his potty training has been a huge stress in our family. Not to mention, he is required to be potty trained to enter preschool this fall.

Anyways feel free to comment and share your experience if you are joining me in the rosary experiment! I’m looking forward to hearing your God-moments and stories. I’m going to put up a contact me form soon in case your testamonies are private, and you only want me to see them.

God love you. Good night.

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So I’m on my second day of my thirty day commitment to say the Rosary everyday. So far so good. I’ve seen a lot of grace and blessing in my marriage already. Hubby and I seem to have especially been seeing eye-to-eye and really connected over these last 48 hours.

Hail Mary! Totus Tuus Maria! (All yours, Mary!)

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I’m getting ready to go to adoration at our parish and start my rosary experiment. Nothing to report yet…

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