Tony's Day!

Well the boy was patient if nothing else, having your birthday on a week day when you are 4 must be quite the feat, since we celebrated in the evening, so all day long he knew it was his birthday and all day long he had to wait. hahahaha.

We played and had a nice snuggle time, I told him about when he was a baby, showed him a few pictures, of course he has a hard time understanding that he was ever little like Gwena.

When dad came home we had waffles, pancakes, eggs for dinner, then we went to Dairy Queen which wasn't the smartest move.  For one thing we had cake at home, and the icecream cones were huge!  The original plan was to go to McDonalds for the play place but Steve had the idea that Dairy Queen has better icecream and well that idea was born.  We literally came home and sang Happy Birthday but did not eat the cake. haha.  We are going to eat it tomorrow, tonight they had some of the cupcakes.  We opened presents and he kept saying the same thing, kinda calm but kinda amazed, "Wow" each time, "wow"  Each gift got a "wow" hahahaha.

Happy Birthday Tony

Happy Birthday to our Tony.  4 years ago we were having a very difficult time having him, he was stuck up high with his umbilical cord too short and too small.  But after two full long days he was born, we were a little nervous but he was perfect and since that moment he has been nothing but pure fun, excitement and joy!  Can't wait for all his birthday stuff, icecream, cake, play time, we're gonna just have a great day...

A billion...

Too good not to share, because the point is valid, we hear these words so flippantly used in the media...

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending

YOUR tax money.



A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes)

I believe that the original date of this has to be some 25 years ago. It takes some 31 or 32 years for a billion seconds to elapse, so a billion seconds ago takes us back to 1982 or 1983.

A billion minutes is slightly more than 1,900 years, which puts a billion minutes ago from the present day at the turn of the first century A.D.

The message does not lose its impact, however.

One should become even more alarmed, though, when politicians and news reporters throw around the figure of one trillion dollars in debt or spending and do not bat an eye.

For the mathematically challenged, a trillion is a thousand billion. To appreciate the size of a trillion, multiply the above conversions by a thousand. A trillion seconds is over 31,000 years. A trillion minutes is 1,900,000 years.

If you still cannot contemplate the size of these number, let's make it more personal.

If you are given a million dollars and are told that you must spend exactly 1,000 dollars a day, you will exhaust the grant in slightly less than three years.

If you are given a billion dollars and are told you must spend exactly $1,000 a day, it will take almost 3,000 years before running out of money.

If the federal government goes through a billion dollars in eight hours, that works out to $3 billion dollars each day, or, at your personal rate of spending of $1,000 a day, our elected and unelected leaders take a single day to run through what it would take you 9,000 years personally to exhaust.

Does anyone know the value of a dollar anymore?

Summer Project...again

Summertime is my project time, time to do just things, whether it be playing or painting or whatever.  Well I ran past a picture I had done years ago of the three girls dressed up, in black and white, to look old.  I thought, I think I can do that.  The only problem is, that would leave Joe out, so I took a few of his pictures and adjusted the color on them and so I have a whole crew.  What I'll do with the pictures, not sure, maybe I'll make a collage or something, maybe I'll just put them in a special album but they certainly are fun.

Well exactly one year ago right now Gwena was about to enter this world.  She was born at 6:15pm.  Its been a joy to have such a special little baby for the entire family to enjoy.  Having a child at 43 has brought us much happiness and joy.  Because she has siblings of literally ages from adulthood all the way down to three, there is much enjoyment in having her.  The girls adore her and appreciate how fortunate they are, as many kids their age don't have little baby siblings (but since we are Traditional Catholics they do have a few that do), Joe enjoys playing with her, the little girls love having her to cuddle with and everything she does is "so cute" or "adorable" according to them.  Michael and Rose love to sit and play and watch her storm through the toys, while Tony is liking having someone home with him when everyone else is gone.

As for me and Steve a little, we appreciate  how fast our babies have grown and really love watching her and seeing her learn all the new things babies learn as they grow.  She has funny antic's...silly smile, a little growl and gruff talk to make people laugh, she loves to kiss her baby dolls and above all she loves to be carried by anyone whom will carry her!  Its been a great year, while a little sad it went by so fast, enjoying every minute of it!

So as many mom's do, I looked for just that perfect coming home outfit for Gwena and finally with Jackie's help found this really adorable pink with white poka dot dress, didn't even notice that it matched with her blanket until we came home and the pictures came in. haha.

Well while at the consignment shop, we found the same outfit but in Gwena's current size, so here we have first day and first year pic!

A Year of Gwena! Happy First Birthday my princess!

Mary Magdalen

July 22nd is the feast of Mary Magdalen (and yes my Gwena's birthday...)

I love this feast, because really it is the feast of sinners, souls and saints.  It is a reminder that while we breathe it is never too late.  Regardless of what we are, what we've done or where we've been we can go to God in reparation.

So many times, maybe we see someone and think, they are just a lost cause, they'll never see, they'll never come around and that is something we must not do, because God's grace can turn the most hardened hearts.  So this feast is a reminder to pray, to love, to care.  I'm sure all of us at some time in their life can reflect back on something or a time they spent where they were just not on the right road, and something changed in us, whether it was a thought, a person, a word, a prayer... something (God) put us in the right spot at the right time and we were able to turn our life in the right direction.  Let us pray for that...for others.

Mary Magdalen, repented but she also felt sorrow for her sins.  Let us all feel sorrow for that in which we do wrong and let the grace of God enter our hardened hearts and follow the road God wants for us and has put us on.

No person is perfect, we all make mistakes, and this feast reminds me that regardless of our failings, we are precious in His sight and we will leave this world with not one possesion, but we will leave it with the soul He  has given us, its up to us to decide what that soul will be filled with...

Do you love America?

Happy Birthday, how I love you, and must pray for you.  Are you patriotic?  Do you love this country?  Are you teaching your children to?  Are you unhappy with the shape of America?  Its leaders?  The way its heading?  And the biggest question of all... Are you praying for your country?  I encourage you to pray, pray and pray some more for your country!  We must never tire, we must never give up, with our last breath, provide our children with the country they most certainly deserve.  So yes today we had a lot of fun.  We made a cake and we made red, white and blue jello, we dressed up, we had a picnic, we spent time together, we went to the firework show.  But its crucial we pray, we vote, we talk, and we never tire, we never give up and we strive for all the things this great country was founded on.  Freedom!  Freedom to practice our faith, freedom to prosper, freedom to live and love and freedom to raise our children, have our families and to leave America for generation after generation.  God Bless America, its the only way~!  We must ask God to Bless America,  help us persevere, help us and to guide us.  One Nation, UNDER God, indivisable, with liberty and justice for all!