Every Lent, I try to approach it with the attitude of, "I'm not giving up something without gaining from God in return." It's not about what I sacrifice so much as it is what graces I receive for giving something up. Make sense?
Therefore...during Lent, I prayed to St. Joseph for a special intention. We prayed a decade of the rosary and the "Come Holy Spirit" during bedtime prayers. The rosary is for our family, and the Holy Spirit prayer was for the election of our new pope. It's rather exciting that my kids got to witness the election of a pope, especially since the younger ones are being homeschooled now.
Theresa turned 2 on February 14...sniff sniff! She was 21 pounds, 12 ounces, and 31 3/4 inches tall at her checkup. And she just got new, size 5 shoes. Still our teeny little girl!
I lost one of my most-loved gold earrings. They meant a great deal to me. My favorite Aunt (great-Aunt Mary) bought them for me when I graduated from Texas A&M. They weren't valuable...but still...I mourned a little. Still am. Boo hoo.
Update: I FOUND IT! Rather, someone else found it in the choir practice room and I saw it on the work counter. I must have lost it when dropped off the kids one time. I'm so happy!
We make it a point to go to Reconciliation during Lent, and we did one bright, cold Saturday. It never fails to amaze me, how great the love our God has for us, and the graces he bestows with the Sacrament!
My brother is still over in Afghanistan. I was able to chat with him on Facebook for about 1/2 an hour back in February. He asked if I could send him some healthy food. This was quite a challenge, because he wanted low-sodium meals you can heat in the microwave. And...convenience food are definitely more expensive too. But I really wanted to try, since he told me they're down to one hot meal a day. Ugh! He's in the mountains...it's snowing, and therefore COLD...and they only get hot chow once a day! So...I asked my local Kroger if they would donate some healthy, microwavable, and other non-perishable foods. They really came through...a big THANK YOU to Justin, the manager at Kroger, who told me to go get whatever I wanted. Look at all the great meals I was able to get, plus oatmeal, rice, dried fruit, almond milk, popcorn...WHOO HOO! I was so happy!
I started teaching a sewing class in January, and it's been fun. Exhausting, but fun. I couldn't afford a sitter, so I had to work around a busy 2-year-old. Oh the joy!
But look at what the girls made in 8 weeks. Not bad, heh? Tomato pincushions, reversible headbands, gathered skirts. They said "this is really fun!" So happy I finally made the time to teach my older girls how to sew.
I've been sewing things here and there too, like these cute little nightgowns for Theresa. It is a real challenge to find clothes that fit her. Bottoms (like shorts, pants, jeans, skirts) are always too big. I had to take in all her 2-piece pajamas last year. So I remembered this tutorial for a peasant dress, and instead of making long sleeves, I made the sleeves short and used soft cotton flannel (which was 50% off at Joann's!). So each nightgown cost only $3.50 to make. Sweet and cheap! :-) And...they FIT!
One thing we were hopping NOT to do over Lent was get ear tubes place for Theresa. She's had so many ear infections though...poor baby...and all of them have been double ear infections. We'd had her on so many different antibiotics, I lost count. And she'd been getting back-to-back infections since October of last year. After 3 round of antibiotics failed to clear her last infection in February, and three trips to the ENT, we finally threw in the towel and Theresa had the surgery on March 13.
We had to get up at the crack of dawn to get to the surgical center by 6:45 AM. The surgery was scheduled for 7:30, and she was done by 8:00. Thankfully it went without a wrinkle, and our sweet girl was chowing down on cereal and juice in the van on the way home. After all, she'd had to fast since midnight, so she was hungry!
Here is she with Daddy pre-op...he entertained her with his phone.
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4 Trips to the ENT at $55/visit = $210
2 prescriptions for antibiotics (that didn't work), $40 and $10 respectively = $50
Doctor's surgical fee = $285
Little plastic ear plugs to keep water out post-surgery = $10
Surgical center fee (brace yourself) = $1,008.00
Grand total: $1,563.00
Yep. $1,563.00 to get our little one checked out 3 times pre-surgery, once post-op, meds, the surgery itself and ear plugs. Lord have mercy. I can't believe it cost $1,008 for the surgery alone. I mean, I know they had to put her under general anesthesia, but really? I bet those darn tubes cost $2 bucks to manufacture. Sigh. Oh well. I am grateful, believe me...that only one of our kids has needed ear tubes. And we do have medical insurance to cover most of the cost. I don't wanna even think about how much it would be otherwise!
Theresa really did great though...what a brave little girl she was. I handed her over to the nurse, and she didn't fuss one bit. We only waited barely 20 minutes before she was in, out and in recovery. She did cry a good 5 minutes while coming out of the anesthesia, but we held her, and after some juice, she seemed to come around. And gracious, she was hungry. I filled a container with cheerios for her, and had to refill it twice on the way home (no wonder, since she hadn't eaten but a very small dinner the night before). Once home, she was off running around playing with her toys like nothing had ever happened. Praise be to God.
Update: One of the ear tubes (the left one) became clogged with dried blood. So we're on antibiotic eardrops. Only I don't think they're working. Sigh...will this ear saga ever end?!
That same day, we had EWTN turned on nearly all day to watch the announcement of our new pope. Even Joshua was able to watch it live because he was home for Spring Break! Already, I deeply admire and respect our new "papa." He took the name of a poor saint, who was the humblest of men, who listened to God when He said, "Frances, rebuild my church!" The first time he spoke, it was with great humility and he asked the people to pray for him with a moving moment of silence. Wow...I cried tears of joy! The kids were in awe too...how wonderful they were able to listen to our new pope's first words of greeting!
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Image courtesy of music.yahoo.com
We took all the kids to College Station 2 weeks ago for the Aggie Youth Experience with the Texas A&M football team. We had a blast...and it's a whole post of it's own. Read about it here!
David's brother Matt, my SIL Toni, and their kids came into town for a day, and we went to the San Jacinto Monument and the Battleship Texas. The kids loved roaming all around the battleship. Of course, one little boy had to go to the restroom...and we were in the lowest level of the hull! I got a nice, 15 minute trek to and from the bathroom, since the closest one was back on shore!
There's never a dull moment at our house! I hope your Lent was just as eventful as ours. Or not. ;-)
