family and I mean all of my family and Jim's family too (and that is a whole lot of people)!
I prayed for our friends and members of our parish and everyone that has asked us to lift
them up in prayer. I thought that I would get sleepy at some point but I kept thinking of
more people to pray for! Before I knew it I could hear the perk, perking of the coffee pot
and the alarm went off! The alarm goes off at 4:00 a.m. on Mondays because Jim and I
have to be at the Adoration Chapel by 5:00 a.m. I was wide awake by then and I jumped
up and went to the kitchen and poured us both a large mug of hot, wonderful coffee! As
we were getting ready to go I was talking ninety to nothing and Jim just gave me one of
those looks that said something like, "It is way to early for you to be so perky. I think I
like it better when you are hard to wake up!" I just ignored the look and kept right on
talking. I was planning out my day and I had been awake for two hours talking to God so
I was already on a roll! I love beginning our week by spending a quiet hour in adoration. I
was getting a little sleepy about fifteen minutes before it was time to go but I opened my
Magnificat back up and read about some of the saints. I perked back up when the cool
breeze hit me as we walked out to the truck. I then exclaimed that I was hungry and I got
another look! And I said, "I've been awake for four hours!" and so my sweet husband
stopped at the Stripes store (or whatever it is called now) and said he would be right
back. He came out with a white paper sack and then ran back in and got some napkins
because he knows how messy I am! He bought these yummy things called, "bun on a
run, or bun on the go, or something like that" anyway, a warm yeast roll with breakfast
sausage and cheese baked inside, is what it is and oh my goodness, it was so good!
Jim didn't say it, but I knew he didn't want me to get "hangry"! I can be a little grouchy
when I'm hungry!
While he was getting ready to go out on a job, I started making up the bed. I grabbed my
pillow and leaned over on the bed. I was thinking about going back to sleep. Jim reminded
me of the many things on my to do list. I made a face at him but stood back up. He
laughed and I gave him a hug and kiss goodbye. He headed off to work and I finished
making the bed, opened the curtains and all that kind of stuff you do in the morning. I
was going to tell you all about our weekend with the grand-kids but sometimes when I sit
down to write a post, another story comes out instead! But I'm going to go ahead and
tell you while it is still fresh on my mind! (Another long post!)
I will share some of the highlights of Saturday:
I spent time with three of our granddaughters on Saturday morning. It was beautiful out-
side so we spent most of our time in the front and backyard. Bird baths were filled with
water and yellow rose petals (from my wilting roses) were scattered around my statue
of Mother Mary and a few were saved for the statue of St. Anthony. Jim had modified
the frame for my cloth canvas painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe and it was hanging
on a wall underneath the carport. Our youngest granddaughter, number ten, who will
be two in March pointed to the picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
She said, "Jesus Mama" and I smiled and said, "That's right, Our Lady of Guadalupe is
Jesus' Mama!" The oldest of the three girls is grandchild number three, and she is a big
helper. She filled the bird baths up, took out the trash, and made lemonade. She is a
wonderful big sister! The middle sister is grandchild number seven. She was the one who
scattered rose petals and then she hugged the statue of Mother Mary and kissed the top of
her head! She also kissed the top of the Saint Anthony statue's head and then she walked
over to the statue of St. Francis and asked, "Now who is he?" I told her who he was and she
gave the St. Francis statue a kiss too. She will be five in April. Being around children makes
you happy. They bring joy to your heart. I love their innocence, their faith, their love of
everyone.
Saturday afternoon, our son and his family came over. They had all been helping with a
brisket dinner fundraiser for some family friends. They all got ready for Mass at our home.
Our son and his wife left to go to the 5:00 p.m. Mass in Ballinger where all
the married couples vows were renewed. A steak dinner and dance followed in the parish hall.
They have five children. Jim took the oldest three to the 5:00 p.m. Mass at our parish,
Sacred Heart. Our oldest grandchild, number one, who is also our oldest grandson, and his
sister, grandchild number four are altar servers and were scheduled for this time.
Jim and our other grandson, grandchild number six, enjoyed the Mass.
I stayed home with the two youngest granddaughters, numbers eight and nine.
Number eight is three and a half and number nine will be two in March. I was going to
the 6:00 p.m. Mass (our regular time) on Sunday. Play time and bath time and water
splashed everywhere! The youngest, number nine, heard me sneeze and said, "Bless you"
I sneezed again and heard her quiet little voice say, "Bless you" again and I picked her
up, gave her a kiss and thanked her. Jim and the three oldest came in the door. They were
all hungry. We still had some brisket left over and I had made a big pot of beans.
Tummies were fed, the little ones were asleep, the two oldest were watching the second
Cars movie, and Jim and our youngest grandson, number six, were outside looking at
the stars with binoculars. I walked outside and looked at the stars with them. Our grandson
told me to look at the (I thought he said monster) in the sky. I told him I saw the monster
and he said, "I didn't say monster, I said "Monstrance" and I looked at him and then looked
back up at the sky and I saw it! He is six and a half and the same sweet little boy that
thought our bird bath was a holy water font when he was not quite three. He told me that
the Monstrance planet was God's planet. That all the planets and stars are God's.
Wow! Do you have your dictionary's out yet? If you are not Catholic I know you are
wondering what in the world I'm talking about.
The definition from "The New American Handy College Dictionary" says -
monstrance - a receptacle in which the host is presented for adoration.
That definition is not complete.
The host that the receptacle holds has been consecrated and the consecrated host is placed
behind a glass in the center of a beautiful gold or silver (precious metal) monstrance that
holds and protects it.
Monstrance is a Latin word that means, "to show".
Children are amazing. They are like little sponges! The soak up everything they see and
hear so fill them with love and faith and joy and wonder and hope and goodness and more
love!
Our son and daughter-in-law had a great time! They don't get many date nights so we were
glad they had such a good time. They picked up the kids close to midnight and Jim and
I stood outside and waved goodbye.
I won't tell you how late we slept on Sunday! It was awesome! Jim made pancakes for
breakfast and I made a really big pot of coffee and we drank it all!
We went to Mass on Sunday evening. Our daughter, son-in-law, and their three girls were
at Mass also. The oldest, grandchild number three, was an altar server, and the middle one,
number seven sat right by me. The youngest of them all, number ten, was close by.
Thank you, God, thank you for our many blessings!
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