Packing my life away

Summer time is always a time I look forward too. We get to kiss the frigid weather that winter brings goodbye for a few months and welcome warm days and shorts to our lives. But with Summer comes Summer vacation, another bonus to the season however the packing is what I loathe. So to kick my packing blues I decided to get a head of the game and devise a plan to make sure we wouldn't leave anything behind that we would need.

Before I started to pack my life away for our summer getaway to the lake, I decided to make a vacation packing list. I figured if I wrote down everything that was on my mind to pack it would get it out of my mind and on to paper. Once I made lists, it was super easy to pack because I wasn't constantly second guessing myself and wondering if I had forgotten anything. Besides, does anyone else feel it to be super satisfying to put a little checkmark next to the completed task? It's the small things, people.

 

Once all of the essentials were packed, I knew the next challenge would be packing the diaper bag. Our road trip was going to be almost 6 hours long so I knew I needed to pack a bag better than Mary Poppins could. (Sorry, we've been watching a ton of Mary Poppins lately and the kids do think her bag is pretty awesome. Who doesn't?) My kids can easily entertain themselves at home but when it comes to being in the car...you better have some ear plugs. They get so, SO antsy if they are in their car seats for more than an hour and they are not the best sleepers while out on the road. Like I said above, I knew this was going to be a challenge but I think I found the perfect items for a successful road trip:

 

I know in this household Goldfish is the snack of choice and the Aquadoodle is amazing. With the Aquadoodle you fill up a pen with water and then the kids can draw all over the mat. As the mat gets wet, the color comes out. When mat starts to dry, the drawing disappears and the kids can use the mat over and over and over again. Since the pen is just water, there's never a mess! A major win in my book. I usually try to save fruit snacks for special occasions just because let's be real...fruit snacks are better than candy and kids know it. So, the fruit snacks are for when we get desperate and need some quiet out on the road. Books and DVDs are kind of a must have and last but not least, the classic Etch and Sketch. I got an Etch and Sketch for the same reason I got the Aquadoodle, no mess! That was key to this road trip, to find things for the kids to do that wouldn't cause a major mess.

 

Any tips you use while packing for a road trip? I'd love to hear what you all do when you are about to hit the road with your kids!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foundation Friday

Welcome to Foundation Fridays! Each Friday I will be posting a sort of update on what is going on with the foundation. This will be an intimate look into different projects the foundation is working on, information on fundraising events to fun trips the foundation is taking! Basically, each Friday will just be an overview of what the foundation is up to and gives you a better idea of the foundations goals. Hopefully one of these projects that the foundation is working on will speak directly to your heart and may even inspire you to help us out!

Currently, the foundation is focusing on three programs:

•  The first is Brother's Keeper Medical Missionaries, which is the premier program for the foundation. BKMM will provide health care services for people in poverty-stricken third world countries who would otherwise have no health care. We will be raising funds to gather a team which will consist of a doctor, nurse and a technician/driver. The team will be providing anything from x-rays to ultrasounds or other essential health care equipment and supplies needed directly to these severely ill patients in remote areas. Our first mobile medical team is working out of St. Benedict Joseph Medical Center in Comayagua, Honduras. This small, rural hospital, co-founded by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, serves over 3,000 poor patients every month. Our Brother’s Keeper team will make it possible to reach the thousands of others in the surrounding area who are unable to get to the medical center on their own.

• The next program is focusing on funding for St. Anthony's Homeless Shelter.
  The Live Greater Foundation is raising funds for St. Anthony's Homeless Shelter in New York City.  The Shelter is in great need of improvements for the shelter, along with food and daily necessities for the men that stay there.  The funds we raise will go directly to the shelter, to be used for whatever they are in need of most at this time. Currently, we are raising $2,500 to buy fans for the shelter. You can go to http://www.gofundme.com/bycaxo to help with the cause! Anything helps and is greatly appreciated.

 

• Exodus Experience is a program under our Live Greater Recovery initiative. This program is designed to respond to the needs of men who have experienced the hardships of homelessness and/or addiction in New York City by providing housing and work in rural America. These men will make a one year commitment to go to Buffalo,WY and work in the wool mill for the Mountain Meadow Wool Company. The men will live in community at a large home we have in the city. "The EXODUS Experience" will provide the men with fellowship, job skills, and spiritual formation that will renew their lives.

Some other exciting happenings, drum roll please...The Live Greater Foundation brochures are completed! I've seen them first hand and they look great. If you would like more information on how you can get ahold of a brochure please contact: info@livegreaterfoundation.org

 

The website will also be live very soon. We are so excited for everyone to see what the foundation has been working so hard on. When the website is ready, you can click on the 'LGF' tab at the top and it will take you directly to the website.
 

In other news, Brother Angules is making his final vows this Sunday in New York, please keep him in your prayers! We would also like to ask you for your continued prayers for the foundation as it is just getting started and as you can see...there's a lot going on,a lot to be praying about and a lot to be excited about.

 

That's about all for today, tune in for next Friday's update and a have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Church Anxiety

So, have you ever heard of church anxiety? Because I just recently diagnosed myself with the condition. Church anxiety is when you have an irrational fear of going into church with your children and you spend most of the service trying to keep your 4 and 2 year old relatively quiet. Which at times could be considered an Olympic sport. Seriously. Feel free to watch my husband and I with our two children sometime at Mass. Olympic sport I tell ya.

A typical Sunday morning in our household usually looks a little something like this:

1. I try and get up before kids, grab my coffee and toast then head to the bathroom to get ready.
2. Kids wake up at the same time demanding milk. Getting ready will have to wait, so I grab them breakfast and their coveted milk then ask my husband to take over so I can get ready for church.
3. Gavin follows me to the bathroom and so does Sophia. Getting ready has also become an Olympic sport.
4. I am ready as I'll ever be and then proceed to wipe off leftover food from the babes mouths and get them dressed. Depending on their moods, this step is the easiest step of all or my worst nightmare.
5. Husband has been getting ready while I've been getting kids clean and clothes on.
6. Pack the diaper bag, take another sip of my coffee then tell the kids to get "their shoes for mommy" approximately 153 times. Once they get said shoes, we put them on and out the door we go!

Whoa, are you feeling anxious just reading this because I am! (Where's the vino?! Kidding.) I won't even get into the step by step process we go through every...single...Sunday to keep our kids in the pew to get them to behave like the little saints they are because I'm almost sure after reading that you will have a migraine.

So, why do we bring our kids to Mass? Why not just leave the kids at home and trade services with my husband? (Which we have done in the past if the kids are sick or if one of us isn't feeling too hot. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that!) Why do my husband and I put ourselves through all of this? Good question! No, no, I'm kidding. I do it because when the mornings are good, they are really good. My heart fills with joy when I see my son looking at all the statues around us then looking up at me and asking me,"is that Jesus' mommy?" (Love.That.) We bring them because community is important and the families that belong to our church are solid people that will bring good influences into our lives and more importantly our childrens lives. We bring our kids to church because among all the ruckus that can and does ensue they do learn from the Mass.

 There are days where it is a struggle indeed and I feel my heart rate start to rise, my head starts to spin and I have to take a deep breath to get through Mass. But there are the mornings where the church anxiety slowly but surely disappears and I feel little hands placed in mine listening quietly to all that is going on. I look at my family sitting in the pew and I feel comforted. I feel comforted because all four of us are together and I feel grateful to be apart of such a welcoming community. So, while there is chaos there is also beauty and that is why we bring our kids to church.

To avoid getting the dreaded church anxiety, I have listed some practical ways to overcome this condition:

1.  You can get these really cool children's felt bibles at: www.busybibles.com These bibles have quiet activities and bible stories on each page that keep kids engaged. I know I have seen some ideas on Pinterest that give step by step instructions on how to make your own felt bible. So if you're feeling crafty, check that out!

2. I have heard of parents treating the cry room in church like a time out. If the child has to be taken to the cry room they do not get snacks, their sippy cup and they may not play in the cry room. The idea behind making this a sort of time out is that the child begins to realize being in church is way better than the cry room. At least in church they can still get their drink and snack when they behave! Some children cry just so they can be taken to the cry room which creates a problem for the parent. So if the kid wants to throw a tantrum in the middle of church...then they are taken to "time out".

3. Another tip I have been given from family members is to sit in the front. I remember when Gavin was a newborn I definitely slid into Mass in the back row. But as he got older, I realized I should maybe take their advice. As Gavin began to get older he was curious, he wanted to see what was going on in the front. When we sat in the very back row there were many distractions for myself and Gavin. So on to the front we went! I have found since we have made the executive decision to sit up front, the kids are much better during Mass.

Do you have any life saving tips to get you and your family through church? If so, I'd love to hear all about it!

A picture of the kids and their friends after church. Did you read that right? This was taken after church so that means we all survived! Yay!