LOOK!  I'M ON TIME ~ IT'S THURSDAY AND THE PICTURES ARE UP!
(Only because I skipped yoga this morning . . .)


{Pretty}

(Yes, indeed, there's not much prettier than one's children setting up a luncheon tea.  Just because.)



{Happy}

(Big boy is happy being big enough to Push and baby boy is happy being small enough to Be Pushed.  Are you, dear Reader, happy to see the messy room behind them?  Good.)




{Funny}

(Is this acceptable?  Our 4 year old friend is not sure and not taking any chances, thankyouverymuch.)




{Real}

(Yes, I allow my 4 year old in a dirty shirt two sizes too large to stir stuff on the stove.  And yes, my husband still surprises me with flowers occasionally.  And yes, I keep them until they're slimy.)


Hosted by these these lovely ladies,
Warmly,
Allison

Pro-life angle

Boy, I have been working on this hideous anniversary post for days and just cannot seem to get a good flow going ; one-liners are all I seem to be able to muster up.  Except for this Facebook posting from Friday :

I'm working on a blog post for Monday's Roe vs. Wade anniversary about our own pro-life journey and came across the worst phrasing ever : "After amniocentisis proved positive for cystic fibrosis, the parents interrupted the pregnancy." INTERRUPTED THE PREGNANCY? How about POISONED AND RIPPED THEIR CHILD LIMB FROM LIMB? Because of CF. That degree of ugly selfishness and arrogance is a much worse disability than CF and lessens their quality of life as well as everyone around them.


Oh, and I did visit Planned Parenthood's SinceRoe.com site and left a message :

Since Roe, millions of people will never have the chance to make the world a better place.
Not the kind of quote they were looking for, of course, but Barbara Curtis had the idea to flood their account.  Felt good to hit Submit.  A little something.


Our pro-life angle is the suffering angle.  The angle of parents faced with a prenatal diagnosis and the quality of life question.  As Catholics, we believe that the proper end of marriage is to welcome the children that marriage creates.  For six pregnancies now, we've been viewed askance for having our babies.  "Why would you bring a child into the world only to suffer and die?"  Here are some of those one-liners :

*Every single person is born to a life of joys and sufferings.  And then death. There have been a few examples of saintly folks who did not technically die, but don't plan on that.

*Life can be difficult and messy and complicated.

*I don't have all the answers and guarantees, but I do know that killing children in the womb is not the answer.

*If my child dies, it will not be by my hand.

*Everyone suffers, not only those with health problems.  Here I would like to add a bit about another one of my children.  One with a defiant streak that would curl your toenails.  And lazy.  And who will not work on school lessons.  Tough life.  No CF.  Could be the kind of life that leads to an early grave.  I think I may beg God more for that life than my CFer...

*People today have issues (Loaded word, aye?).  Demands, even.  COMFORT.  ENTITLEMENTS.  PAINLESS.  GUARANTEES.  PERFECTION.  A little one that requires extra work or forces social embarrassment or causes constricted hearts will just not do. 

*Mother Teresa's famous words : "It is a poverty to decide that a child may die so that you may live as you wish."

*Our Catholic belief of redemptive suffering does not wipe away the pain and tears, but it does soften the sharp edges and allow glimmers of goodness.  From the Catechism :

"Moved by so much suffering, Christ not only allows Himself to be touched by the sick, but He makes their miseries His own : "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases." (Isaiah 53:4).  But He did not heal all the sick.  His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. . .By His passion and death on the cross, Christ has given a new meaning to suffering.  It was henceforth to configure us to Him and unite us with His redemptive Passion."  (Section 1505)

"But even the most intense prayers do not always obtain the healing of an illness.  Thus St. Paul must learn from the Lord that "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness" (II Corinthians 12:9) and that "in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the Church." (Colossians 1:24).  (Section 1508)


"His compassion toward all who suffer goes so far that He identifies Himself with them : "I was sick and you visited me." (Matthew 25:36).  His preferential love for the sick has not ceased through the centuries."  (Section 1503)


So what would I say to a lady who has received a scary prenatal diagnosis?  Choose life  (Then all this other good stuff.) for we are greater than the sum of our parts ~ 

 "We are a soul ; we have a body." ~ C.S. Lewis
 "Luminous beings we are, not just this crude matter." ~ Return of the Jedi book


What a blessing and a gift it is for Ken and me to be able to point our suffering children to these words of truth.  And ourselves.

Love, love, love,
Allison

One year Blogiversary!

January 21, 2011 :  The first day I wrote a little beginning and began.  To celebrate, I updated the family pictures on the sidebar this morning, added a sentence regarding Rees on the About page, and will post Rees' current favorite snack, from this book ~


CHUNKY KERNEL SPREAD


11 oz can whole kernel corn, drained
5 oz can sliced black olives, drained
4 oz jar chopped mild green chilis, drained
1 oz package ranch dressing
2, 8oz packages cream cheese
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 package thick corn chips


Mash the dressing mix into the cream cheese until blended.  Mix in all other ingredients except corn chips.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  Serve with chips  (Our favorite are those large, Frito scoops.).


For those of us who would rather not eat so much cream cheese, I make a second bowl with fat free cream cheese.  Sometimes.


Mmmm,
Allison

Late for Thursday ~

I'm going to attempt one of these weekly thingies because I really enjoy them on others' blogs and because my dear friend asked . . .


{Pretty}

Our favorite family hiking place ~ Akrose Ridge

{Funny}

                                            Clare and Joseph with . . . backsides.

{Happy}

                                                              All of us at a friend's lake.

{Real}

                                             Rees isn't always Mr. Perfectly Serious.

Hosted by these lovely ladies.

Warmly,
Allison

Hospital Mode

Rees spent a week at Providence Hospital and has now been home with a PICC line for IVs almost two weeks.  He learned some important things this time around :

* Pushups with a PICC line results in a misplaced catheter that needs to be shifted away from the clavicle.  The remedy requires a solid eight hours back at the hospital.

* Barn chores at 20 degrees below zero with a med running results in frozen tubing, a red-lit pump, and beeping alarms.  The remedy requires just ten minutes back in the house (Whew.).


And Ken and I were reminded of a few things this time around :

* Pre-adolescents will not accept that hospital admissions are serious and do not inspire happiness.  Some of our smaller set even say things like I hope Rees has to stay at Providence.  This is because they love hospital mode, which involves rotating parents and kids and visits, which involves playroom toys, elevator rides, cafeteria yogurt, and video games.

* We eat a lot of Cheerios and bananas for supper during hospital mode.


But Wednesday will be a Good Day, for the PICC will be removed, the IV pumps returned, and our family will relish dinner with dear friends  (Whose lady is very smart and began a new blog.).


Warmly,
Allison

                                            The barn at warmer temps, because it's snowing ...

Shhh.

For the past few days, I've been slipping a handful of fresh spinach into Rees' mocha shakes and his only remark has been that the Nesquik must be a different formula because the shakes are not as dark brown as usual.  Maybe I'll 'fess up tomorrow . . .

Hail and Blessed

                                           Hail and blessed be the hour and moment
                                            In which the Son of God was born
                                            Of the most pure Virgin Mary
                                            At midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold.

                                            In that hour, vouchsafe O my God
                                            To hear my prayers and grant my desires
                                            Through the merits of our Savior Jesus Christ
                                            And His Blessed Mother.
                                           Amen.


You know how I know I'm really Catholic?  Come Thanksgiving clean-up, I begin anticipating the recitation of this prayer every day of Advent.  I now have a history with it ~ memories of deciding my desires to mention, of focusing on hailing the moment of Jesus' birth, of sitting quietly all alone in the early mornings with the Christmas tree glowing and whispering my prayers.  Several requests remain each year and several requests have been affirmatively answered.

One Advent, with a brand-new positive pregnancy test, my only desire was that the child would live, sparing us another miscarriage.  He is now a jolly toddler named Joseph  (Not the girl we were going to name Mary after all the prayers!).

Last Advent, I focused upon four different desires, one of which was a baby girl.  She is now growing beneath my heart and I lumber around until joyously await late February.

This is the second year of praying for "a better job for Ken", kept ambiguous purposefully, knowing that what I presume better may not truly be so.  I leave it in the hands of God.  Mary and I leave it in the hands of God. 

When I first learned of this devotion  (Maybe four years ago, from Elizabeth Foss.) and shared it with the children during our morning prayers,  John quietly told me afterward that he was going to ask for "no more CF for Rees".  Oooohh Boy.  I kept my composure and managed a small smile and nod.  Maybe. 

Months later, when he voiced his disappointment over Rees' lack of healing, we had a good talk about prayers, desires, good people and bad things, suffering, heaven. . . Thank God for His Church, the pillar and foundation of truth (I Timothy 3:15), that guides us into all truth  (John 16:13).

So we pray the old words and we voice our desires in that most holy moment, for Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever  (Hebrews 13:8) ~ the significance of His Incarnation just as effecacious now.  Perhaps the answers will be granted exactly how we want.  Perhaps we'll die asking.  But we hail the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary.  It is blessed.

And either answer ; this side of heaven or the other ; so are we.

Warmly,
Allison


P.S ~ I know that the birth of Jesus was not really "in the piercing cold".  It's poetry, folks.