A Blessed Christmas Eve to All

"If you look for Me at Christmas,

This sweet little set, made entirely of straw is from a place dear to my heart because my late husband was born there (although raised in Venezuela), Poland.....

Last year's sale at our nearby Monastery, after Christmas and displayed for the first time, is a soapstone nativity from Kenya, Africa (behind it is a capiz shell nativity from the Phillipines).....

Some miscellaneous decorations around our home.....

For a minute, I thought this was one of our nativities but it is one I found online and so is the cute little puppy, wishing all a Merry and Blessed Christmas...

And here is a cute little Christmas test of who you are by how you decorate that I found on the Internet...

"Homemade ornaments: You have lots of children....




Blinking Lights: You have attention deficit disorder....






Multicolored lights: You’re an extrovert....


Strung Popcorn: You have too much time on your hands....

White lights: You ask houseguests to remove their shoes..."

A couple of more batches of cookies, these are IRISH APPLESAUCE COOKIES...

PINEAPPLE RIGHT SIDE UP COOKIES is the name given to these cookies we tried for the first time this year...

And where have I been?? and what have I been doing???, you might well ask...well, there have been some challenges and some excitement, all time consuming....

***the final and fifth visit by people to see the nativities (lots of prep work involved each time from the hot apple cider to the cookies being uncovered etc. etc.)

***Laura, my sweet daughter coming into the Atlanta airport (and getting lost trying to find baggage claim which was WAY behind in off loading baggage)

***a trip to Columbus, Ga to drop off gifts with LOTS of things going wacko from the start when I ended up going all alone as Laura had one of her severe migraines and then the final  'delight' of the backed up and stopped traffic on the way back (gave me plenty of prayer time)

***the septic tank having to be emptied one more time due to the heavy rains (which caused our pockets to be emptied beyond belief as well)

****last minute wrapping of gifts and squeezing in a couple of Christmas movies

***unexpected visitors coming by as well...gosh, where are all of you???...I'd LOVE to have had any of you surprise me!!!

Time for a Ho Ho Ho or two...

My appointment as pastor coincided with the church's appeal for aid for victims of a hurricane. Unfortunately, on my first Sunday in the parish, the center page of the church bulletin was accidentally omitted. So members of the congregation read from the bottom of the second page to the top of the last page: "Welcome to the Rev. Andrew Jensen and his family ... the worst disaster to hit the area in this century. The full extent of the tragedy is not yet known."

*****

Filling in one weekend for a priest at a neighboring parish, I called the church early Saturday to inquire about my Mass schedule. I confess that I was taken aback when the caretaker picked up the phone. "Holy Angels," he answered, "Gabriel speaking."

*****

The highlight of our zoo trip was a peacock showing off its plumage. My four-year-old son was particularly taken with it. That evening, he couldn't wait to tell his father: "Dad, guess what! I saw a Christmas tree come out of a chicken!"

~~~Heavenly Father I thank You for the blessings of these fine, kind and loving people that You have sent into my life in blogland, please bless them with a beautiful Christmas, one full of YOU!!

you won't need a special star -

I'm no longer just in Bethlehem,

I'm right there where you are.

You may not be aware of Me

amid the celebrations -

You'll have to look beyond the stores

and all the decorations.

But if you take a moment

from your list of things to do

And listen to your heart, you'll find

I'm waiting there for you.

You're the one I want to be with,

you're the reason that I came,

And you'll find Me in the stillness

as I'm whispering your name.

Love, Jesus "

The poem you've just read was sent to me in an e-mail and I wanted to share it with everyone as I feel it is Jesus' message to each of us!

This nativity is a paper mache that has a certain elegance to it, so I was drawn to buy it many years ago....

Happy Fourth..the gift of freedom!!

These top two pictures just say it all, although sometimes I think it might be better phrased..Under and because of God, this is one Nation...



Hope you enjoy some special treats today!




May we say some prayers of gratitude so that we maintain the proper attitude...

Fly your flag with joy and glee, for we've been blessed with liberty...

Here's something I'd like to share with you, from the Internet:

"The Pledge of Allegiance - by Red Skelton

The following words were spoken by the late Red Skelton on his television program as he related the story of his teacher, Mr. Laswell, who felt his students had come to think of the Pledge of Allegiance as merely something to recite in class each day.
"I've been listening to you boys and girls recite the Pledge of Allegiance all semester and it seems as though it is becoming monotonous to you. If I may, may I recite it and try to explain to you the meaning of each word?"

I -- me, an individual, a committee of one.
PLEDGE -- dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self pity.
ALLEGIANCE -- my love and my devotion.
TO THE FLAG -- our standard, Old Glory, a symbol of freedom. Wherever she waves, there's respect because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts freedom is everybody's job!
UNITED -- that means that we have all come together.
STATES -- individual communities that have united into 48 great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose; all divided with imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common purpose, and that's love for country.
AND TO THE REPUBLIC -- a state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.
FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION -- one nation, meaning "so blessed by God"
INDIVISIBLE -- incapable of being divided.
WITH LIBERTY -- which is freedom -- the right of power to live one's own life without threats, fear or some sort of retaliation.
AND JUSTICE -- the principle or quality of dealing fairly with others.
FOR ALL -- which means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.
And now, boys and girls, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance...
UNDER GOD
Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer and that would be eliminated from schools too? "

May we sparkle inside as we watch the sparklers outside...

Last night all the names were put in a heart shaped bowl (because all of you are such sweethearts) for the top three prizes....

and the winners are:

First place...Wanda

Second place....Jerelene

Third place.....Eileen

Of course two of the top guessers who didn't make this list will also get something so that means Tammy and Angie.

I will need everyone's address so I can mail these things as I get them ready. Remember my e-mail is: motila12@gmail.com

Now for some sweet smiles from jokes by children:

What is Uncle Sam's favorite snack?

Fire crackers!
*****

What's the difference between a duck and George Washington?

One has a bill on his face, the other, his face on a bill!

*****
Where was the Declaration of Independence signed?

At the bottom!

******

What kind of tea did the American colonists crave

Liber-tea!

******

What dance was very popular in 1776?

Indepen-dance!

*****

What would you get if you crossed George Washington with cattle feed?

The Fodder of Our Country!

*****

~~~Thank You Lord for gifting us with freedom, may all nations soon enjoy these blessings and may we cherish and preserve them ourselves.

~*Remembering Memorial Day*~

This day, like all others of course, is a blessing from God. This one differs in that we honor those who gave their lives to make us free to worship our God and enjoy many other freedoms. How hard it must have been for them to be so selfless.

My own dear father fought admirably in World War II and, before meeting my dad, my mother had been engaged to a man who lost his life in this war. My late husband was in Viet Nam twice and got wounded both times. The first time was right before we were due to meet in Hawaii for his R & R (six months after he got to Viet Nam), so when he called me from Japan, one of the first things he sweetly said was that he was sorry that we wouldn't be able to go on R & R( as for me, his being okay and alive was such a blessing, that the mini vacation was then the LAST thing I was thinking about!) The next time Mario went to 'Nam, it only took him three and a half months to get wounded, so I used to tease him that he learned how to get home faster by getting wounded faster...both times were blessings because he did not lose his knee or leg (shrapnel) nor did he lose the use of his right arm (tracer bullet).

My mom got a flag like this when my dad died and then I got one when I lost Mario...it's a flag you never want to get, but which makes you proud for, as well as, of them!!!

Some interesting info on our Pledge of Allegiance:



"While the phrase "under God" was officially incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, it had been in earlier use. The first man to initiate the addition of "under God" to the Pledge was Louis A. Bowman (1872-1959). The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution gave him an Award of Merit as the originator of this idea. He spent his adult life in the Chicago area and was Chaplain of the Illinois Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. At a meeting on February 12, 1948, Lincoln's Birthday, he led the Society in reciting the Pledge with two words added, "under God." He stated that the words came from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. He repeated his revised Pledge at other meetings."

Before I give you the jokes for today, let me tell you a family joke. My mom's brother, Uncle Richard volunteered for the Army when WW II broke out and my Uncle Jim, his younger brother, also desperately wanted to volunteer, but he had had scarlet fever as a child and was refused at first. Finally, the military really got anxious for more volunteers so Uncle Jim said he reported for the 'new and improved' physical which involved two doctors seated on either side of the candidate. They both looked into opposite ears and if they didn't see each other, you were in the Army!!!

Now here are some jokes, NOT intended to slur the military (esp. since I was a

very proud Army wife and teared up every time we went to the movies and they played the Star Spangled Banner!) in any way as they are our finest, but just to give a chuckle:

Joining the Army

As the family gathered for a big dinner together, the youngest son announced that he had just signed up at an army recruiter's office.
There were audible gasps around the table, then some laughter, as his older brothers shared their disbelief that he could handle this new situation. "Oh, come on, quit joking," snickered one. "You didn't really do that, did you?"
"You would never get through basic training," scoffed another.
The new recruit looked to his mother for help, but she was just gazing at him. When she finally spoke, she simply asked, "Do you really plan to make your own bed every morning?"

~~~~~~

An Army Ranger was on holiday in the depths of Louisiana, where he tried to buy some Alligator shoes. However, he was not prepared to pay the high prices. After failing to haggle the vendor down to a reasonable price level, he ended up shouting "I don't give two hoots for your shoes, man, I'll go and kill my own!" The shopkeeper replied, "By all means. Just watch out for the two Marines who are doing the same. "So the Ranger went out into the Bayou, and after a while saw two men with spears, standing still in the water. "They must be the two Marines," he thought. Just at that point he noticed an alligator moving in the water towards one of them. The Marine stood completely passive, even as the gator came ever closer. Just as the beast was about to swallow him, the Marine struck home with his spear and wrestled the gator up onto the beach, where several already lay. Together the two Marines threw the gator onto its back, whereupon one exclaimed "Damn! This one doesn't have any shoes either!"

~~~~~~~~

The chief of staff of the US Air Force decided that he would personally intervene in the recruiting crisis affecting all of our armed services. He directed a nearby Air Force base that will be opened and that all eligible young men and women be invited. As he and his staff were standing near a brand new F-15 Fighter, a pair of twin brothers who looked like they had just stepped off a Marine Corps recruiting poster walked up to them. The chief of staff walked up to them, stuck out his hand and introduced himself. He looked at the first young man and asked, "Son, what skills can you bring to the Air Force?" The young man looks at him and says, "I'm a pilot!" The general gets all excited, turns to his aide and says, "Get him in today, all the paper work done, everything, do it!" The aide hustles the young man off. The general looks at the second young man and asked, "What skills to you bring to the Air Force?" The young man says, "I chop wood!" "Son," the general replies, "we don't need wood choppers in the Air Force, what do you know how to do?" "I chop wood!" "Young man," huffs the general, "you are not listening to me, we don't need wood choppers, this is the 20th century!" "Well," the young man says, "you hired my brother!" "Of course we did," says the general, "he's a pilot!" The young man rolls his eyes and says, "So what! I have to chop it before he can pile it!"

~~~Lord, I thank you for all the blessings I received while being an Army wife, as well as the blessings showered on our country by the fine men and women who serve and keep our country safe.

May All Who Are Mothers Or Have Mothered, Be Blessed Today

First and foremost I would like to pay tribute to the greatest mother of all, the mother of our Saviour, Jesus...Happiest of Mother's days, Mother Mary!

Yesterday I received a wonderfully loving blessing from my marvelous son, Mario who, along with his lovely wife Brande and two gorgeous children, live in Arizona.

He picked this beautiful floral arrangement that also included the lovely cup and saucer for me and it is so perfect as I have a friend who said that it is important to have a special cup and saucer to have a special drink in, be it tea or hot chocolate (in my case), so I bought one for myself but it wasn't "special". Finally, I have a special one...thank you son, I love you beyond words (not for this but because you are you!).

Next, to all of you wonderful mothers (or women who have mothered any living creature(...hmmm, think even husbands qualify under this) who post and share your love with the rest of us. Thank you for your caring and sharing and forbearing (there is a poet in me, isn't there?)

How about some lovely random pictures of a precious baby hand in the mommy's? Or a little girl loving God's snow? Or even the garden wishing us a Happy Mother's Day (never saw this one before)?

To all of you ladies:

M...is for My mother Kathryn, such sweet, tender memories she brings

O...is for how the love for our children makes us Overdo all things

T...is for the (hopefully many) Times we thanked God above

H...is for all the Happiness that comes from this love

E...is for the Earth, so important to "mother" her too

R...is for all the Rewards and blessings I wish on all of you!

Now, for any of us who have thought maybe we fall short of being the best mother, this humorous (and actually, kinda sad) list below will make you feel like you did a great job (unless, of course one of you wrote one of these...my advice, just shhhhhhh!)

Scary But True (or scary because it's true)

"These are real notes written by parents in a U.S. school district.
Spellings have been left intact.

1. My son is under a doctor's care and should not take PE today. Please execute him.

2. Please exkuce lisa for being absent she was sick and i had her shot..

3. Dear school: please ecsc's john being absent on jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and also 33.

4. Please excuse gloria from jim today.. She is administrating.

5. Please excuse roland from p.e. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip.

6. John has been absent because he had two teeth taken out of his face.

7. Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hurt in the growing part.

8. Megan could not come to school today because she has been bothered by very close veins.

9. Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side.

10. Please excuse ray friday from school. He has very loose vowels.

11. Please excuse Lesli from being absent yesterday. She had dyrea direa the the poops.

12. Please excuse tommy for being absent yesterday. He had diarrhea, and his boots leak.

13. Irving was absent yesterday because he missed his bust.

14. Please excuse jimmy for being. It was his father's fault.

15. I kept Billie home because she had to go Christmas shopping because i don't know what size she wear.

16. Please excuse jennifer for missing school yesterday. We forgot to get the sunday paper off the porch, and when we found it monday. We thought it was sunday.

17. Sally won't be in school a week from friday. We have to attend her funeral.

18. My daughter was absent yesterday because she was tired. She spent a weekend with the marines..

19. Please excuse Jason for being absent yesterday. He had a cold and could not breed well.

20. Please excuse mary for being absent yesterday. She was in bed with gramps.

21. Gloria was absent yesterday as she was having a gangover.

22. Please excuse brenda. She has been sick and under the doctor.

23. Maryann was absent december 11-16, because she had a fever, sorethroat, headache and upset stomach. Her sister was also sick, fever an sore throat, her brother had a low grade fever and ached all over. I wasn't the best either, sore throat and fever. There must be something going around, her father even got hot last night.

Now we know why parents are screaming for better education for our kids.
(The kids are probably screaming for their parents to be educated. ) "

~~~What blessings we have to thank You for Heavenly Father, the incredible gift of caring and nurturing that You instilled in us!

Money isn't the only things that's green

Guess I need to get the St Paddy's day pictures up before they become more questionable than they already are. this decoration is on our front door, but on the outside it says KIss Me, I'm Irish...that one makes Michael scared to answer the front door...hee hee!

You probably will not see these lovely dishes on any Rachel Ray show (did I hear you say "Thank Heavens"?), but they did turn out to be lovely shades of my favorite color. In case you are having trouble identifying them, these are green mashed potatoes...

Next, we have a vision of loveliness with the green fried chicken...

Now, sad to say (maybe only for me), the pears in the green jello stayed white.

The grand finale was the green cream cheese frosting on the home-made carrot cake (since I was called carrot top as a child).

And here it is, almost all put together...in the background, you will see the appetizing green milk and the Irish soda bread with green stripes running through it. Don't you regret missing this meal?

My older daughter is too practical to do this, my next youngest daughter lives on her own and doesn't cook, but my son and daughter-in-law are just loopy (not nearly as loopy as me, for which Brande is probably saying "Whew") enough to hold on to this tradition he grew up with (wow, the English major in me hates ending a sentence with a preposition).

Okay, Michael has come back with the cow manure and top soil, so I gotta go cheer him on and also go get the llama beans (poop) from Mimi.

Thanks be to our gracious God that these wonderful and crazy things are blessings in my life.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!!!

May this day bring a twinkle to your eye and laughter to your heart...I will be adding things all day long as this is a day dear to me...and I do crazy things!

“Christ shield me this day: Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me” (from “The Breastplate of St. Patrick”).

And now for a little humor:

GOTTA LOVE THE IRISH

Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place. Looking up to heaven he said, "Lord, take pity on me! If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish whiskey."Miraculously, a parking place appeared. Paddy looked up again and said, "Never mind, I found one."

Father Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal, and says to the first man he meets, "Do you want to go to heaven?"The man said, "I do, Father."The priest said, "Then stand over there against the wall."Then the priest asked the second man, "Do you want to go to heaven?""Certainly, Father," was the man's reply. "Then stand over there against the wall," said the priest.Then Father Murphy walked up to O' Toole and said, "Do you want to go to heaven?"O' Toole replied, "No, I don't Father."The priest said, "I don't believe this. You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?"O 'Toole retorted, "Oh, when I die, yes! I thought you were gettin' a group together to go right now."

Paddy was in New York . He was patiently waiting and watching the traffic cop on a busy street crossing. The cop stopped the flow of traffic and shouted, "Okay, pedestrians." Then he'd allow the traffic to pass. He'd done this several times, and Paddy still stood on the sidewalk. After the cop had shouted, "Pedestrians!" for the tenth time, Paddy went over to him and said, "Is it not about time ye let the Catholics across?"

Gallagher opened the morning newspaper and was dumbfounded to read in the obituary column that he had died. He quickly phoned his best friend, Finney. "Did you see the paper?" asked Gallagher. "They say I died!!""Yes, I saw it!" replied Finney. "Where are ye callin' from?"

A Boston Irish priest is driving down to New York and gets stopped for speeding in Connecticut. The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath and then sees an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car. He says, "Father, have you been drinking?""Just water," says the priest.The trooper asks, "Then why do I smell wine?"The priest looks at the bottle and says, "Good Lord! He's done it again!"

Walking into the bar, Mike said to Charlie the bartender, "Pour me a stiff one - just had another fight with the little woman..""Oh yeah?" said Charlie, "and how did this one end?""When it was over," Mike replied, "she came to me on her hands and knees.""Really," said Charles, "Now that's a switch! What did she say?"She said, "Come out from under the bed, you little chicken."

Flynn staggered home very late after another evening with his drinking buddy, Paddy. He took off his shoes to avoid waking his wife, Mary. He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom step. As he caught himself by grabbing the balustrade, his body swung around and he landed heavily on his rump. A whiskey bottle in each back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful. Managing not to yell, Flynn sprung up, pulled down his pants, and looked in the hall mirror to see that his butt cheeks were cut and bleeding. He managed to quietly find a full box of Band-Aids and began putting a Band-Aid as best he could on each place that he saw blood. Then Flynn hid the now almost empty Band-Aid box and shuffled and stumbled his way to bed. In the morning, Flynn woke up with searing pain in both his head and butt and with Mary staring at him from across the room.She remarked, "You were drunk again last night weren't you?"Flynn said, "Why you say such a mean thing, Mary?""Well," Mary replied, "it could be the open front door, it could be the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs, it could be the drops of blood trailing through the house, it could be your bloodshot eyes, but mostly......it's all those Band-Aids stuck on the hall mirror!"

Can't forget to add some favorite blessings as well:

May your neighbors respect you,

Troubles neglect you,

The angels protect you,

And Heaven accept you.
*****
May you have:

A world of wishes at your command

God and his angels close at hand

Friends and family their love impart,

And Irish blessings in your heart.
***********
Well, the carrot cake with green icing is done and the green jello with pears is ready, now I need to go get the chicken and fry it in green stuff, then make the mashed potatoes green, of course the string beans are already green and the milk green........doesn't this sound yummy? Oops, almost forgot about the Irish soda bread and it's super special because my beloved mother gave this recipe to me and I no longer am blessed with her presence here on earth. The soda bread will have green stripes running through it. There will be pictures of all this to delight (or is fright?) you!!

Surprise, it's Christmas..Feliz Navidad..Merry Christmas

Well, here are a few of my nativities.

I thought it would be nice to post them before Spring is completely here!!! These nativities come from all over the world and they are made of paper mache, crystal (Germany...purchased when we, my late husband and I, were stationed there), pewter, wood, plastic (Poland...we brought some back when we went there), straw, bone (Mexico...on a trip there from Arizona), clay(Guatemala...ones that my late husband, Mario brought back when he worked and went there regularly), wax, metal, a geode, etc. etc.. Ironically, I had never been a collector of anything and then, many years ago, I made a small nativity and that started it all and Mario always encouraged me to find more and now my sweet husband Michael encourages me...maybe someone needs to discourage me because I now have close to 400!!

But they're really not for me, but for the open house that we have at Christmas, to help everyone focus their attention on what Christmas REALLY is...all about the enormous love of the Father in sending us Jesus! I always ask people to pick their favorite and it's always difficult and always helps re-open my eyes to the ones they pick.

Michael and Kelly (my sweet step-daughter) painted the one with the piece of Christmas tree in front, this year, no, actually it is now last year. You aren't even seeing half of them here, maybe only a third. Some are out all year long (thank the Good Lord...phew) in curios and on the walls and on the etageres, but there are still a ton to take out and display each year, plus all the cookies we bake until we can't see straight.

Although I treasure each one, some are extra special because they were picked out by my family. Hopefully, I can do individual ones this coming Christmas.

Oh yes, and I need to tell you (Michael said to) that we made it in the newspaper this year (not my idea, but a nice lady from our church asked if she could call the people she knew at the newspaper)...maybe I could scan it and put it in this blog sometime.

This is a blessing that all of us are reminded to keep all year long...be kind to everyone.