Cranky....you can bet your fatty acids we are....

Imagine the look on the faces...my five year old has taken to telling people that she is deficient in her essential fatty asses. While I don't usually pull punches or talk baby talk to the kids, I am wondering if I may have to make an exception in this case...But the wee one is entirely correct. Most people are deficient in their fatty acids. Studies suggest almost 60% of Americans are deficient...this is particularly bad for the children. "A Purdue University study showed that kids low in Omega-3 essential fatty acids are significantly more likely to be hyperactive, have learning disorders, and to display behavioral problems.  Omega-3 deficiencies have also been tied to dyslexia,  violence, depression, memory problems, weight gain, cancer, heart disease, eczema, allergies, inflammatory diseases, arthritis, diabetes, and many other conditions." We pretty much have all of these problems, so this is one of the area's we are looking at :o) But right now I am just trying to get them to eat!! The hardest problem is that I have to cook...every day. Sometimes more than once. I am starting to feel like a Little House episode and I want to be like Laura but I have to act like Ma...and exactly how long does it take to detox from processed foods!! Behavior has not been so good. Nate spent the day trying to sleep (its the only time he comes home in the summer!!) and he complained that there was too much noise to get any rest!! Its been a bit tense...
         
the baby girls sitting around on their fatty acids before bed :o)

The Weed...

At mass yesterday, the Priest spoke of the Matthew gospel where Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and the tares. In this parable, the farmer sowed good seed in his rows, however, when asleep, the enemy came in and sowed weeds in with the good. When they began to grow, the farmer told the workers to let the the wheat and weed, which had become entangled, alone to grow so they didn't in advertently pull up wheat and kill it. He said after threshing, they would seperate them and burn the bad.

That parable tells us how God only sows, or gives us, good things. We often think that God is making bad things happen to us, but really He never sends bad. Because He allows us free will, sometimes we allow the bad in. Sometimes, we invite it. Heck, sometimes we run after it. Sometimes someone else brings it in. Sometimes, when we are not paying attention, it sneaks in...

God has a plan for each of us that is all good! Sometimes we are unhappy waiting or want something different. With everyone going off and making his or her own plans, sometimes bad things result. These are not sent from God to test us, however, He does allow it. Not because He is enjoying it, but because He is our Father...Do we enjoy when our children are hurting or make mistakes, or do we allow some of it knowing they need it to mature and grow. We don't take enjoyment from their suffering. Neither does God. But the only way we ensure that we have all good is when we are sure we are following His plan.

When my older children are really angry, they refer to their younger brothers and sister as "your children" as if by saying that they can be seperate from them. Yes, adopting 7 children into our family makes things more challenging, but Shawn and I are sure we are following God's plan for our lives. Just as we are sure that adopting the three of them were part of His plan. He has assured us that it will all work for His good. Sometimes, however, it just seems like there is no way to make it better and the good starts to look like a weed...being sure that we are doing what is His will is what keeps us going. Sometimes its so hard to tell the wheat from the tares...

At Mass, Father told us something that I didn't believe. I was shocked actually. He said that the Susan B. Koman foundation supported abortions. I had much respect for the Koman people. If anyone said they were doing a walk and wanted a donation and mentioned the Koman foundation, I had no problem whipping out my checkbook. I had to google it when I got home. Here it is...shocking, no...I mean really, no. I was at first, taken aback, but after the things I have learned in the past two weeks, the Breast Cancer support group supporting an organization that provides abortions which are linked to breast cancer is...well, like the peanut butter manufacturer supporting the organization that supports the allergy kids and hands out their epi pens. It is job security. It is a way to conceal negative research results. It is like the wheat and the tare. Sometimes the Evil is hidden so well in the good that we support it without knowing. We fall asleep like that farmer in Matthew...

the screams...the horror...

"I want chocolate!!!" My 5 year old daughter's cries could be heard throughout Target.
I had just fed her a banana in anticipation of the short trip to the Post Office and then into the store. We needed a few things since we just got back from vacation yesterday and the banana should have held off pangs of, well, anything. What I hadn't taken into account was how long I would wander around just looking for anything that did not contain high fructose corn syrup or soy. I got nothing. I finally picked up some cut fruit and some organic bananas and figured it will just have to "do" until I could figure some of this food mess out...
I just finished this book and was, frankly, horrified. I cannot believe how badly my family has been deceived by the food growers, Monsanto, and big Pharm...the American government!!! Our family is led by my husband who is charged with caring for a wife with Multiple Sclerosis and 11 adopted children with varying degrees of behavioral issues that are likely caused from the food we eat. Nicolette's melt-down was somewhat disappointing as I have been changing her diet for a few days now, and hoped to see less of the withdrawal from the chemicals. I understood, though, having spent the day arguing with more or less clarity depending on the age of the child, this foray into organic..."really, white bread is white bread, even if it comes from Sprouts." Heck, I had even contemplated, way longer than is sane, a disgusting leftover twizzler in my travel bag. I was almost relieved to see the banana still sitting at the table when we got home. She never ate it!! A light at the end of a very long tunnel...

Now I am going to lust after my twizzler...I mean pray for strength!!!!

tips from a cool mom...

I was a new therapist at an agency where I was to do "parent training" or parenting classes. The girl who was training me introduced me to one of the moms who was "graduating." She encouraged the mom to tell me a story about her daughter. Her daughter had a difficult time separating and so it was hard to get her to go to school. One of our local family court judges had recently been sending mothers of truant children to jail in an effort to get them to take it seriously. Our mom took it very seriously and tried everything from hand delivering her to the front door (and she ran out the back door and walked home) to dragging her to car to drive her to school (the neighbors called the cops and said some lady was trying to kidnap a girl). In frustration, the mom parked outside the local jail and told her daughter, "there are some bad people in there...people who rape and murder. They want to put me in there because you won't go to school." They both sobbed and finally the girl looked at her mother and said, tearfully, "I'll miss you..."'

I was a kid, what did I know...I laughed. I tell you this, on a week, years later, that at least one of my children has been hand delivered to the school and then walked out the back or, when I told another if they missed one more day of school the truant officer was going to put me in jail and been told, "I'll take care of the kids..." Karma.

In my defense, I am separated by several generations from many of my kids...its been many decades since I was one of them and I am not quite as up on the lingo or the culture. Still, I was feeling pretty good when my kids started referring to me as cool. It wasn't until earlier this week that one clued me in that cool stands for "constipated overweight old lady." Sigh...So on this, the eve of Mother's Day Weekend (we moms of 11 children have to take the whole weekend) I remind myself of the night that I closed myself in the basement and sobbed and yelled at God for not giving me a child and how He proceeded to Bless me abundantly. I am the mother of 11 amazingly wonderful individual treasures. While it isn't always easy, it is my life, and I love it. These moments will pass all too quickly and then I may no longer be a nerd (never-ending radical dude ;0)

ding dong the witch is dead

Wow, what a difference a day makes. Last week we were all crying about the government and our military guys and gals were justifiably upset because their paychecks were not going to arrive on time or at all. Today everyone is waving the flag and singing God Bless America! How convenient that, on a week when our military casualties were especially high, an almost 10 year operation to find that madman was completed. And why are we, as a country, compelled to give him so much air time. Hasn't he already taken enough from us. We don't need him or news of him to spur us on to remain vigilant; we have forever lost that sense of safety. We don't need him to justify keeping our boys overseas; we have other madmen to hunt. We're still busy. I'm glad there is some tiny bit of closure for Sept. 11, 2001. Yeah, I'm glad they found him but have to think it was just one item on a very long punch list. And I just can't find it in me to find joy in the death of any man who doesn't know the Way ...

A New Look

As you can see, I am revamping my blog...I used it originally as a journal/art dump. I have recently decided I have something to say and began the makeover. Actually, if there is anyone reading this, you might recall I remarked that I was going to write a book about early 20th century Russian martyrs...yeah. That's what everyone said...my husband predicted a best seller. I felt especially compelled to write during a mass where a missionary priest was talking about far east Russia, catholic persecution and the martyrs. I figured He wanted me to write about them. Goes against the little I do know about writing...I know nothing about the martyrs, communism, heck, I didn't even know Russia had a far east, but I was trying to be obedient. That is generally a problem for me but I do try; just ask me some day about why my husband and I have adopted 11 children. The feeling didn't pass though, I began to think that maybe it was the writing and not the topic I was to begin. I am no expert on reading God's Will, though, and so in my imperfect way, I will explore the thought in my blog and try to practice following His Will. How hard could it be...there is a manual, right? So, I decided if I am going to take this writing seriously, first, I have to write...disciplined and routinely. Um, and probably about something I know--though don't hold me to that. Fiction is a viable genre ;o) If you decide to join me for this journey, strap in, and hang on tight. I have no map and only a vague direction...its likely to be a wild ride...

Happy Valentines Day

Today at Mass we talked about Love...loving God enough to obey His commandments. We had a missionary from Russia who gave a riveting talk on Russian Martyrs from the Communist Regime in the early 1900's. Unbelievably sad. I feel compelled to do something, anything, to help build up the Catholic Church in Russia...or here.

Today's post is an Anniversary Card for my BIL and his wife.