A Wonderful Christmas!

Well hello again folks after a most wonderful Christmas!!  And hoping that you all had a most joyous and blessed Christmas Season also!

Also, I cant promise that I'll be managing to post as regularly as before Christmas...I've been finding myself swept into a extremely busy couple of weeks here with all kinds of new and exciting projects cropping up...such as making my very first Montessori Preschool activities for my little daughter, plans for switching to making homemade baby food for Vicki, rather than store-bought, and now that I have my Christmas Kitchen Aid - plans to start making large batches of meals to fill and stock the freezer with ready-to-defrost-and-eat homemade meals, renovating the greenhouse with my husband in order to prepare for our very extensive vegetable gardening plans for the New Year in order to live off our own homemade canned goods for at least a portion of the winter.....yeah...LOTS going on around here!...And so I will probably be shifting to posting once a month, rather than once a week.

But at least the good side will be that when I do get around to sitting down here, it will be to compile a really good full post on the activities of the latest few weeks!

God Bless You All Dear Readers!

Your Sister In Christ,

Mrs Allen

Christmas Approaches!

- I just recently snapped this photo of Rose just in from a snowmobile ride!  She's been having a wonderful time out in the snow lately! 

As the days inch closer and closer to Christmas, she now has a very big motivation to always be a good girl and do as she's told - ''Because if I'm a good girl and do what Mama says then Baby Jesus and Santa Claus will be sooo pleased with me, and bring me presents!''  - This is the phrase we've been constantly hearing when Daddy asks her if she's been a good girl today!  Sooo cute!  

And next year, when Vicki is almost two, she'll be able to chime in with this explanation too! *chuckle!*


Wishing you and yours a wonderful Season of Anticipation!


Your Sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

Wrapping, Wrapping, Wrapping Christmas Presents!

 

Well its been a little while since I last posted - I've been 
feeling right on the brink of a really bad winter flu, and a horrible ear-ache the last couple of days, and so, even though we still managed a Christmas Shopping Trip together, I didnt manage to get photos for a christmas shopping post, and then since I've been feeling so sick, I didnt even feel up to doing all the christmas wrapping of all the gifts we'd got (which includes the tremendous challenge of figuring out a way to keep my two little ones distracted for a long enough period of time to even begin to get it somewhat accomplished!), so my husband very kindly wrapped nearly all of them for me, so that has been a huge relief!! - It was a LOT of wrapping!

Speaking of getting colds and flus and winter cold weather - Last week my husband successfully got a pipe built into the house, to fill the house with the heat (and WINTER SMELL!!!) of Wood Stove Heat! 

And when it's working at it's peak - which is very tricky, because we're discovering that different types of wood have very different strengths - its toasty-cozy in here!  I love watching my husband trudging in with his arms full of neatly chopped little logs of wood!  I dont know why, I just think hand-cut little logs of wood look sooo cute and quaint!!!  And so Back-To-The-Land-ish!! *chuckle*

And because seeing that, is such a picture of the Farmer he's going to be in a few years, once we add egg chickens and meat chickens and ducks (and, yes, a Shetland Pony!!) to our vegetable garden!!  I'm sooo looking forward to that! (Only when Rose is big enough to help - in two or three years - because we learnt our lesson last time, about trying to raise farm animals with no children old enough to help! - It was not a success!)

I've included some photos with this post, of the absolutely wonderful day we just had at the childrens' grandparents house.  We had a fabulous time helping to decorate the Christmas Tree and singing Bible Songs from our Wee Sings Bible Songs Book!

Alrightie, I'll wrap up here folks,

Keep WARM!

Your Sister in Christ,

Mrs Allen

Building the Childrens' Library

 This is a picture of one of the original Winnie-The-Pooh books that recently arrived in the mail for Rose and Victoria.  I've been very slowly (painstakingly slowly!!), been able to order a few Childrens' Books, bit by bit, to slowly build up our dream Childrens' Library!  And please keep fingers crossed with me that a few gorgeous Christmas titles, (from the List I posted a little while ago), that I'm ordering in a few days will arrive safely in the mail before Christmas!

Outdoor Nativity Scene!

Here's the huge glow-in-the-dark Outdoor Nativity Scene that my husband just erected in the front garden a few days ago!!  Didn't he do a wonderful job?!  And thats our little Rose gazing in wonder at the Nativity Figures that are almost taller than she is!! (I have such vivid memories of the utter excitement I always experienced, growing up, at seeing our amazingly decorated Nativity Scenes at our parish!)

This is going to make for magical memories, as she grows up!

Wishing you all a continuing Blessed Advent, and may St Nicholas Bless you all in this exciting Season!!


Your Sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

Second Week of Advent

 

Just thought I'd share a picture of Rose's Advent Calendar that her Gramma surprised her with!  She looks forward to her little chocolate suprises so much each day!  

Advent Calendars are such a wonderful way to show children how  exciting it is to be counting down the days towards the Birth of Baby Jesus!  

Like most of you, I have many memories of the exciting anticipation of opening each Little Door of the Calendar each day!  It's truly a not-to-be-missed part of childhood!


We're planning on going out to get our Christmas Tree on the 16th or so.  We have used a real tree each Christmas up to now, but this year we decided to go for a fake one, mainly to eliminate any dangers associated with pine needles and toddlers!  

So look out for our next post when I'm hoping to show you our completely decorated Tree next week!!  

I think the little girls will have lots and lots of fun decorating it with us!  I'm definetly looking forward to this upcoming 'Decorating Season'!

Hope your'e all enjoying a blessed Advent

Your Sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

Books For Advent and Christmas Season!

Greetings in this First Week of Advent, Feast of St Francis Xavier

I have many memories, as a child, of books at particular seasons of the year, that I found so enchanting that they've stayed vividly in my memory...along with the childlike joy, excitement and wonder that were evoked when first discovering each new little world of discovery.  One that especially leaps to mind at this time of year is 'The Night Before Christmas' - almost more for the warm, magical and fuzzy-feelings-paintings than for the actual story!


While recently checking my favorite blogs, I've recently been finding some utterly delightful book titles, that these mothers having been sharing with us mothers.  I've been finding many to save up for, to get for my little girls, that I wanted to share with you all!  Of course the prices for these books on amazon are high right now, since we're in the midst of the Season, so, since I've only just discovered most of these new delights, I'll have to wait until later in the New Year to purchase them..sigh!

Alrightie, here's the List of these utterly lovely Advent and Christmas Season Young Childrens' Books!  The pictures of the front covers are far more exciting to look at, than just the titles - so hop and skip over to Amazon, just to enjoy some window shopping, at least for starters! *chuckle!*

1 Winter Wonderland by National Geographic
2 The Candymaker's Gift
3 The Twelve Days of Christmas by Spirin
4 The Night Before Christmas by Moore
5 Creation by Spirin
6 We Three Kings by Spirin
7 Advent Storybook
8 The Jesse Tree
9 Snowmen At Christmas
10 A Wish To Be A Christmas Tree
11 Lucia Saint of Light
12 St Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend
13 Good King Wenceslas
14 My Penguin Osbert: Midi Edition
15 Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons
16 The Living Nativity
17 The Little Shepard Girl: A Christmas Story
18 Humphrey's First Christmas
19 Kirsten's Surprise: A Christmas Story
20 Lucia, Saint of Light

..If you do succeed in bringing home any of these treasures, I can promise you will find yourselves enjoying an Advent and Christmas every bit as exciting and warming as when we were children!


Enjoy with all your hearts!!


Your Sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

Advent Is Upon Us!

Well firstly, I hope you all celebrated a wonderful week of Thanksgiving!

We celebrated ours by watching The New York Thanksgiving Day Parade together on tv, reading the childrens Thanksgiving Day book together, and then being invited to our relatives to share a truly wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner with them!


 Rose has been talking about the Snoopy Float, the Mickey Mouse Float, The Princess Castle Float, and, most glittering of all, the Santa Claus on his Sleigh Float, from the New York Parade, every single day since Thanksgiving!!  She LOVED the whole thing!

 

..And now we're already swept into the special Season of Advent!

Here are two pictures of our family's Advent Wreath.  (Please forgive the erroneous colors of the candles! I couldn't find any purple or pink ones while we were shopping. I might get lucky on our next trip though, so that I can replace the other three!) After reading the Introductory Prayer that I had put together from our childrens liturgical year book, we finished it with traditional excerpt from the Mass for the 1st Sunday of Advent and then the first verse of the classic Advent Hymn, O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

I've haven't written out our Introductory Prayer here, as its rather lengthy, but the following is the very short prayer we read afterwards, for the 1st Sunday of Advent:

'O Lord, we beseech Thee, stir up Thy power, and come; that by Thy protection we may deserve to be rescued from the threatening dangers of our sins, and to be saved by Thine deliverance.' Amen.

Finally, the whole family sings the Advent Hymn, 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel':

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lowly exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel

- While my husband and I were reading these Advent prayers together, both our little girls were gazing so intently at the candle that we managed to recite the prayers with fewer interruptions than we had anticipated!

- From our family to yours - May you and yours enjoy a most blessed and fruitful Holy Season of Advent!

Your Sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

My Lemon-Yellow Kitchen!!!

(I was hoping to have had this post completed before today's post, so the theme of this post is probably already old news to my main readers, but, better late than never!)

Hi All!

BIG NEWS! We finally got our Kitchen painted and new cabinets installed, to go with our brand new sink, so that the kitchen now finally has the complete effect we'd been working and saving towards, all summer long!

I wasn't quite sure exactly how the color yellow would come out, but, when I stepped into the newly painted kitchen I nearly fell over with disbelief!!  I was over the moon!!  The end result was just breathtaking!  I'm just sooo HAPPY!!!!

As you can see from the pictures, I've decided to go with a Tea Set Kitchen Theme, as British Tea Time Rituals are something I have a deep love for, and very feminine and lady-like!

May our dear Lord Jesus shower His Choicest Blessings on you all!

Your Sister in Christ,

Mrs Allen

A Two Year Old's Day

I thought it would be fun to share an example of a usual day for my little two year old...

She usually starts off the day completely full of beans...Miss Rose is very, very much a Morning Person!  In comparison, her little sister always needs just a little while to get fully awake! (As does Mama!  Though usually my Vitamin C drink really wakes me up and freshens me up like nothing else!)

I dont have an exact set time for getting her out of PJs and into day clothes b/c often little sister will still be sleeping when she first wakes, and any attempts to get her clothes out usually wakes up Vicki..

Anyways, then its Morning Prayers (Since she's only 2, its just 'Good Morning Jesus', in front of our little Sacred Heart shrine.), and then breakfast: She loooves Tomato Ketchup, so daddy and I will mix it in with her scrambled eggs and toast to make a yummy nutritious start to the day.

Then she will help me clear off the breakfast table and then start the Day's Activities. 

We go to her Learning Basket and she decides what she'd like to start with best:

- Her basket of plastic fruit to play Grocery Store or Cooking,
 

- Tea Set with dollies,
 

- Art activities with her art supplies,
 

- Her Wash-Off learning-to-write-letters book, 

- Coloring with either washable pens or crayons, 

- Toy Money,
 

- Painting,
 

- Her favourite pretend game of painting her nails with her colorful pens!,
 

- Playing with her toy jewelry, etc, etc..

Then she can be happily occupied with a selected activity while I'm getting little sister up and giving Vicki her usual breakfast of a mix of Kefir Milk and Baby Rice or eggs..yum yum says Vicki!

Then when Vicki is full of energy and ready for the day's fun, we'll put on their CD of lively Bible Songs, and then we all have fun for an hour or two dancing around the house and singing along!

Lunch is usually a little portion of whatever I've briefly whipped that morning, eg, salad sandwiches, soup, mac n' cheese, etc.

Then she really loves to help me out with the dishwasher, and then she'll 'wash' her plastic veggies up at the kitchen sink, and I pull her up a chair for her to splash around..

The late afternoon is always her nap time. She drinks her bottle of kefir milk, enjoying her Mickey Mouse programme or one of her other cartoons..and soon she's in dreamland..

For dinner, she'll have pizza with daddy, or whatever he's having, with Vicki always enjoying the fun of joining in!

Then she's off to her gramma and grandpa's house, or else we'll choose another activity out of her Learning Basket, or we'll have a lovely long Story Time Session...I looove these times together! 

All of these various activities keep little sister so entertained - she's already often at a loss of what to do when Rose isn't here!

And then last thing before bed, when Daddy comes in (always with great excitement!), he'll lie on the sofa or the floor and either play a family game of ball all together, or read the little girls a few stories, or best of all, tickling and rough-and-tumble games!

And then she's usually worn out enough to drop right off to sleep, to be ready for another Day of Fun

..Hope you Enjoyed!

My husband and I had a wonderful day out yesterday, while Gramma and Grandpa kindly watched Rose for us, so we just had Vicki with us, and I found a perfect sized Craft Apron for Rose, in the photo above, something I'd been looking out for, for a long time!  And I also found this gorgeous pair of Winter lace-up boots, from a lovely little shoe store that we popped into, which I was very badly in need of, for this up-coming Winter.  And I also got a couple of lovely decorative baskets to keep in the kitchen for wash-cloths, etc.  And when I spotted these adorable artificial potted Yellow Flowers, I was sooo excited to add them to my yellow kitchen!  Dont they look cute?! 

 

Lastly, here's my very first bottle of beautiful Natural Organic Shampoo!

Before I close, Thank-You Girls for all your lovely latest comments to my last posts!  Its such fun getting them!  Although I only have time to post intermitently on this blog, I'm so glad that you all still enjoy it so much!

Your Sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

Scented Carpet Powder!

Don’t you just LOVE a Primrose or Berries Scented Sitting Room ladies?!  As a mother of a very busy girl and toddler, I have to vacuum our carpet every two or three days, and on top of that, our two year old is using her potty in our living room and kitchen, and so I’ve been on the look-out for Scented Carpet Powder, and at the moment I’m finding Oxi Clean deodorizer with Country Fresh Breeze Scent, does the job beautifully!  And then combine that with the wonderfully scented Lavender disposable wipes that come with my beloved Swiffer Sweeper mop - and immediately the whole house is filled with an absolutely refreshing, uplifting, feminine smell to breathe in!! aaaaaah!  

And this is also just one more way that we can lift our moods and spirits during these coming dark, dark days of Winter!

Let me know if any of you ladies have any favourite carpet powder scents, or favourite scents for your kitchens!

Lastly, our little daugher just received her Very First Tea Set!  It’s a very simple porcelaein little Set, and I’m impressed that she or her little sister haven’t broken any of the tiny lids or any other part of it yet!

 Your sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

Treat Your Hair Kindly

I’ve made some very exciting discoveries, ladies, about caring for my hair that I just have to share with you all, as well as a wonderful book on hair care that you might like to check out!

I came upon this link quite unexpectedly, while I was having loads of fun checking out all the home activity ideas to do for preschoolers, from another mother’s blog, and she has a section about caring for her hair, and how much she wants curly hair (same as me!) and one of the most amazing discoveries I learned is that even simple, regular, ‘normal’ shampoo actually contains very, very harsh substances that are actually very drying and damaging to our hair!  It doesn’t matter what brand it is - if its in the regular shampoo isle - its poison!!!  I never knew that before!! I knew that it wasn’t great, but I certainly didn’t know it was literally damaging!  To think of all the years of awful treatment my poor hair has suffered - no wonder its constantly dry.  My smallest consolation is that at least I’ve been using a really wonderful oil blend - on and off - although now after these exciting discoveries about the little-known ways to properly care for hair, I now have tons of motivation to start making that practice more regular!  And the key I learned is that one needs to think: Moisture, moisture, moisture!  So no more drying shampoos, in fact it recommends no shampoo at all(!!! Wow!), though if I find I need it, a completely natural, very mild shampoo, in only very small amounts, will do fine! 

Right now, now that I’ve already started on the Program they recommend - of beginning to reverse the years of damage, and replace it with ‘moisture, moisture, moisture’, I have my hair drenched for 24 hours in Coconut Oil, which is another fabulous tip that I plan to start doing on a very regular basis!  (As well as Olive Oil drench, which I’ll also be making a constant part of my lifestyle, after these discoveries!)

And best of all I’ve even found a dark brown hair color for sale on Amazon - Cruelty Free - completely natural, with natural henna, which regular use will actually (unbelievably!!), greatly improve hair and make it thicker!!

And, while talking about very exciting discoveries, I’ve also started using Burts Bees brand Radiance Creme for my face, because I’ve always had very dry skin and hair so I’ve always had to moisturize very often - ESPECIALLY in the Winter (even more than once a day), and my skin has hugely improved, and its another completely natural product.  Also, scented body lotion to neck, etc, can be a cheaper and better alternative to perfume, especially in the winter when we need so much moisture.

Alrightie, if any of you would love to join me in starting the Program of transformation, here’s the name of the fabulous Hair Care book (for Curly and Wavy hair): ‘Curly Girl Handbook’ by Lorraine Massey ‘A Celebration of Curls: How to cut them, care for them, love them and set them free’

Hope you enjoyed these exciting tips ladies! 

Your sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

All Saints Day Party!

Well, Welcome one and all to our new Family Blog Website!!  Complete with makeover!  Which I was able to do for no cost whatsoever since I ended up being able to do it all myself (which is why it still looks a little put-together looking...I'm looking out for ways to upgrade!). ooh, and, the best part!!!  I found a website that offers to print your whole blog so that you can order either a hardcover or softcover beautifully bound printed-out version of all your musings of the past several years!!!!  To either bestow onto our children as a gift, or to keep as an heirloom!!! (I much, much prefer something I can hold in my hand, rather than just on a screen.  Thats why I also so much prefer printed-out photo albums, rather than on-screen collections - there's something sooo much more special about printed-out albums, and on special occasions the whole family can gather round the sofa or table to see them and reminise!) I assumed that this offer was going to be hugely expensive, but to my delight it was a lot cheaper than I thought!  So if any of you are interested in obtaining this treasure trove offer for your families, let me know, and I'll send you the link!)

I hope we will all have as much fun here as we did on my old blog (short as it was)!  And, as you will see below, the old articles (please forgive the very colloquial style grammar - I dont try to make it proper, on here, rather only aiming for the effect that we are chatting!  I'll be saving my proper essays for when I'm teaching my daughter in a few years proper english grammar!) are below this new one, so that everything can be in one place.

I've chatted with most of you on skype a little while ago, about how much fun we had at the little party, but for those of you that I didn't manage to talk to already (as well as any newcomers or old friends here!), I'm eager to tell you how much fun we had! We are truly blessed to be a part of a parish of such lovely warm welcoming families, as I know too well that not many parishes are as fortunate in this way as we are.  Its almost more like one large family!  

One of Rose's little friends was dressed as St Helen, complete with a huge Cross and Crown!  And one little fellow was dressed in an impressive soldier costume, as St Jeorge. And another as St John Bosco...and each child gave a little recitation, or clues, about which Saint they were.  It was just all so much fun, and especially delightful to see how much effort and thought went into each and every costume!! 

Rose and I are hoping to find out the birthdays of her little friends so that we can give them little homemade birthday cards each year!  My own little girls were dressed as Angels. I bought my oldest daughter's little costume, and my sister-in-law made Vicki's little adorable costume.  And our Pastor came up to compliment the little costume-wearer! 

And I think I was even more excited than my girls over the delightful little party bags each child got to bring home, full of all kinds of sweet little surprises!!!

Since I cant share photos of others on a public site, I'm just only including a photo of just our daughter, in her Angel Costume, holding a Pumpkin - doesn't she look cute!

Well, Hope you all had a wonderful All Saints Day with your children, and your parishes, and lets take this occasion to remember what a blessing it is to be part of our parish family!  We are sooo fortunate! God Bless!


Your sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

Freezer Food - Cream of Sweet Potato Soups!

Well firstly, I just wanted to say Thank You so very much for your messages and comments sweet ladies!  
Also I was really, really excited to discover, just yesterday, the website of a lovely lady who has a website describing absolutely cute and beautiful 'Blog Makeovers' ( - Blogs are a really girly-girly thing, aren't they?!! With the description being called, A Makeover, like that?! *'giggle!'*) that she offers as a service, for a low price, for people!  And I wouldn't have to figure any of it out!  Just have her decorate my Blog, add links, and make it all pretty-pretty!!

It will be a few weeks before I get that decoration done, and then I will also be changing the name of this new, different blog to 'Our Family', as this humble little blog was more of a first-time trial.  So I'll be sure to let you all know when my New, Beautiful, Family Blog has been launched!! So that you can keep up with our lives for many, many years to come!! And it will be like an on-going diary for me to look back on!!  And of course I'll copy the posts I've already created here. (And we can still make little lists of gratitude on it =) *sweet smile*

Alrightie, my latest Project, or Goal, has been to try to cook a whole variety of soups with the aim of filling my freezer with instant labeled meals that I can simply take out for a Dinner - minus the labor!!! 

There are all kinds of reasons why I often simply dont manage to cook a homemade dinner on a particular day...a cranky teething toddler (you know, I was just thinking the other day that I couldn't believe that I actually no longer have a baby around the house!  Now that Victoria has progressed to walking, I now have a Toddler, and a Little Girl! =)), a day spent out shopping, a mischevious little girl keeping me constantly on my toes, a day spent tidying the house from one end to the other (which needs doing frequently around here!), or a day spent chatting with my sisters, brothers and family, (now that's a really fun excuse!! *gigggle!!*) or the other many days when I simply feel too exhausted..mothering little ones..*sigh*

Sooo, I'm going to feel very, very pleased with myself the day I see my freezer full of Meals To Go!!

And, last but not least, the Winter Season is coming up, Christmas Preparations are coming up...cooold weather is coming up...all more reasons to encourage you all to turn your thoughts this month to Soups! *chuckle!*

Here's how I made my Cream of Sweet Potato Soup:

I was making quite a large batch so, along with 4 onions, 5 large boiled red potatoes, (I left the skins on) 5 oven-cooked sweet potatoes, milk, I used a whole stick of butter and an 8oz pack of cream cheese:

 And then when everything is blended to the right consistency - your own preference - ladel out a bowl to taste - this is a must after the wonderful smell of sweet potatoes filling your whole house!

Then collect your assortment of Tupperware:

And finally, but very importantly, label each tub to be frozen.


There you have it!  ohhh, this Soup is sooooo yummy!!!

 

..And an Autumn Theme sign-off!

Autumn, Autumn how I love thee! (see picture of my little girl below!)

 

Your sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

Encouragement For Us Mothers!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Encouragement for us Mothers!

 Although I was planning on writing this post over the weekend, I received such a huge gift from my Heavenly Father this past week that I just couldn't wait any longer to share it with you ladies! I received a CD of three messages, recorded live, to a group of mothers - by a most vibrant and radically spiritual mother ever!  She lived in circumstances much harder than mine (living long distance from the rest of my family) and yet her enthusiasm was, unbelievably, quite literally, bouncing off the walls and she had all the women in the audience uplifted and laughing and thrilled to bits!!  And she even had some of her equally radically spiritual children (At least, in comparison to today's catholic children coming from sunday-catholic families) come to the platform to say a few words!  wow!  What a woman!!! She is so Alive, in every sense of the word!  I found myself laughing for pure joy, at listening to her!  I always love the rare opportunities I get, to find role models like this for my life!  And God obviously recognised the way she lives her entire family life from a purposefully joyful level, (and does it show!) (only through the Power of the Holy Spirit - this cannot, cannot be done on our own!) purposefully spiritual level, in the many miracles in her young family that she recounted with such humor.  And her children sounded sooo wonderful!!  

This experience had me excited all over again about the wonderful plans, hopes and dreams I have for my own little children, of them developing into outstanding young catholics! (though, of course, avoiding perfectionism like the plague - both my children and their parents will always have all kinds of tendencies toward particular weaknesses, just like the rest of humanity!  There's nothing more silly than seeing a catholic putting on a pretense of living a blameless life when everyone else around them can see clearly that their lives are just as full of human failures and faults as the rest of us!  I hope to never be accused of being a perfectionist!  Even my role models in life are always completely open and genuine about all the down times, faults and weaknesses in their lives - there's nothing wrong with maintaining a good reputation but as soon as it becomes unreal/above reality, it just becomes silly!  I used to sometimes try too hard to please other people for the wrong reasons, (being thought well of) only to discover that being boldly myself is far better - and people enjoy it sooo much more, (and if they dont, who cares?!! right?!) as this speaker says!!!  This was such a consolation to hear! (Even though I'd already made the resolve some time ago)  I love hearing her voice across the house from my cd player!)     And even though we are all very, very, imperfect, we can, through the power of God Himself - alone -  raise up incredible young men and women for God!   And HE takes all the credit!  And lets fill our homes with praise music of all sorts, to God!   

....Lets all continue in encouraging, encouraging, encouraging one another!  Just as St Paul urges!  We are all in need!  Get your daughters to sing around the house with you, as you all complete your daily chores together, thus infusing the day with joy!  (There are all kinds of joyful christian and catholic songs on cd out there) Even though my two girls are only tiny  - not even three yet - they already both have excitable joyful personalities! Despite toddler temper tantrums!   My littlest daughter, as soon as she hears her favourite songs of praise to God coming on, immediately claps her tiny hands and does her very own little dance!!!  Children are sooo quick to pick up on the atmosphere of your home, dear mothers!  And choose songs that even your littlest girls can pick up the words to!  And then, during quieter times, dont forget the Church's most treasured Music of all - Gregorian Chant!   


oh, and before I forget, thanks, sisters, for another crazy fun video chat and for making me laugh harder than I have in a really long time!  I cant wait till my girls are big enough in a few years to have a sister-friendship like this with them!!  As one of you mothers said exactly, my life will then be Paradise!  And if you dont have daughters - cherish your sisters!


Alrightie, take care ladies, and Be Encouraged!

Your Sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

Today I Am 10 Months Old!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Today Victoria Allen Is 10 Months Old!!
 
And here's her list of milestones this far! (I thought this would be funny to share with you all!) 

*has 2 bottom teeth*

*loves to explore her world*

*Has the very biggest smile*

*grabs at everything within reach*

*loves to eat*

*eats butter and veggies daily*

*Has successfully started cup drinking!! *

*gets upset when Mama takes a bite between her bites**is learning share with Big Sister*
 
now walks and crawls to get to where she wants to go

*thinks her Daddy is the greatest*

*still has a middle-of-the-night snack*

*loves her music radio *

*her fav word to say all day is 'Yes!' *
 
* likes to "talk" and "repeat" sounds*

*babbles noisily when she's happy *

*shows much affection to her Mama & Daddy*

*shakes head like mad when excited! *

*is highly entertained by her sister *

*has the biggest blue eyes you ever did see *

*likes to ''sing'' Bible Songs *

*loves to play Baby Games **is a cute joy and delight*

Wasn't that fun?! *chuckle*  My sister and I have recently been having fun talking (its sooooo fun being able to 'sit together on the sofa' face to face and just chat about anything and everything, and just share our lives!  Thank You dear Jesus!  I sooo empathised with one of you mothers on your blogs who said how frustrating it is trying to talk to your family on the phone b/c of constant, constant interruptions from the children and their noise and stress!  wow!  It was so good to know I've got sister souls out there! *chuckle*  And I think video chat will be so much better for that, b/c at least they can be involved in some way.  And Rose loved reading her Poems to you all!!) about Colleen Hammond, a well-known speaker who travels and gives Talks right across the US on the Catholic issue of Femininity and were just commenting on how reeeeally funny and engaging she is as a Speaker (she also sells DVDs and CDs and I LOVE her funny articles too - she goes into the men-versus-women issues too *knowing chuckle!*, (we're both on the extreme ends of that, so, yeah!) She's also published a book called 'Dressing With Dignity' which I would earnestly recommend to you all!  She's just a wonderful role model for us all, and I love finding out about women I can look up to!

Well toodaloo for now Ladies, and I'm thoroughly enjoying checking in on your blogs, (lives sooo similar to mine, and how you deal with things that come up in your lives) when I wake up each morning!

..9 Months Old and Officially Walking!

From Old Blog:
 

For All Photos: Please click on them to enlarge!  Doesn't she look beautiful?!

Today, the Lord's Day, October 24th, Our Littlest Princess Walked To Me For the Very First Time!!

Although she's been taking tiny steps, she's never walked any actual distance until now! Not only that - she did it for me 4 or 5 times throughout the evening!  Daddy and Big Sister were sleeping so they didnt get to join in the jubilation, but I think Mama alone had her excited enough!!

..Look out for Tuesday's post when our little one turns 10 months old..in imitation of some of you lovely mothers, I may just be inspired with a little Tribute to pay her, to share with you all *'sweet smile'*

..And also look out for a 'Picture Tour of Our Home' post coming up soon...(we have a small little abode, but with some new organizational changes, which have been helping me make the most of what I've got, have helped me keep things a lot more ordered - on a general scale at least - because on a smaller scale, toys being scattered about all over the place, after being put away, every 20 minutes, cant really be overly controlled by any sane mother!!!) and big hopes for a whole new Yellow look to my Kitchen, to complete our new kitchen counters that my man installed earlier in the summer - the kitchen, by the end of this week hopefully - should finally be complete - FINALLY!   And so, when that's complete, I'm hoping to take you on a little picture tour of our dearly loved little, temporary, (we have very exciting plans of extensions come spring) Home.  And if any of you would like to take us on a picture tour of your home too, we'd looove to come *visit*! *'smile'*  

By the way, Sunday Mass was lovely today, though Vicki usually wears me right out on the way home, if she hasn't had a nap!  I'm sure that sounds familiar to many of you!  So unfortunately I didnt manage to get to sunday dinner with my dear family-in-law with our parish priest. Well, its reeeally late (too much coffee), I hope you all had a lovely Sunday and see you again soon!


And Grateful For..


- Our King's overwhelming Display for us of Autumn Color, of reds, yellows, browns, golds..of His Beauty displayed in Nature..(I'm really hoping to get the book 'Winter Poems' in a few months, though I wish I could get it even sooner...nothing lifts the heart to God like poetry!)


- Of how grateful I was to discover a book dedicated to what our world will be like under the Reign of Our Lady's Immaculate Heart: 'The Reign of Jesus Christ' by M.Davies - it will be VERY exciting to envision an idea of it, through this book!  What a Hope to joyfully await in these dark times..


- For my voice being able to soar to joyful Bible Songs while dancing with my little girls!  What a wonderful love, and life, and joy we have, in Christ Our King!!  May He Rule your Hearts and Homes Today!


- For ball games in the kitchen with my 2 year old - Cold weather wont stop us from living each day with overflowing joy!


- For the feel of my husband's protective arms around me..


- ...Thank You, Sweet Jesus, for another wonderful lovely day filled with poured-out Gifts on our homes and kitchens and hearts!

Your Sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen

4th Week In October: Pumpkin Season!

From Old Blog:

Sunday, October 24, 2010

4th Week In October: Pumpkin Season!

List of Things I Am Grateful For Today:

- For the privilege of living in an area in which I can see from my back garden the full view of dawn and dusk, with no obstructions...This is a huge gift from God and His Blessed Mother and always reminds me of people I know who have been miraculously blessed with personally witnessing the Fatima miracle of the sun - which, as you probably know, many people all over the world have been permitted by Our Lady to witness, long after the date that the original miracle first took place - and of a little miracle that Our Lady vouchsafed for me too, along with many other people, of smelling a distinctly heavenly smell of the flowers of the Garden of Eden at the Feet of the world-touring Pilgrim Fatima Statue of Her Heavenly Majesty...I try to live every hour of my life in preparation for the Reign of Her Immaculate Heart.

- The daily delightful gift of my husband's sense of fun and humor!

- The gift of our spiritual father, our wonderful parish priest's spiritual guidance in the spiritual journeys of my husband and I.

- For the recent discovery of how to spend hours of fun chatting and giggling with my far-away sisters, and chatting with my family, via online video chat! yay!

- Playful times with my husband, friend, and companion

 - Gazing into the eyes of my daughters and seeing more lessons of life and depth therein, than could ever be written in a list of gratitude

- For my delightful little dish soap apron in my kitchen, a birthday gift from my sister-in-law

- The sound of Rose's giggles...

- The feel of the Autumn wind against my face as I take walks with my husband..

- For THE GIFT, above all other Gifts - of having been blessed by God with a glorious Father and Mother who passed on the Gift of the Holy Catholic Faith to their daughter, whose attributes and influences and input in my life could cover hundreds of lines of gratitude..

- For the indescribable gift of the best sisters and brothers on earth!

- For the most wonderful parents-in-law on earth!!

- For the gift of sisters-in-law..for what a huge inspiration they've been to me, and for their sweetness in being such wonderful aunts for our children!

- For the gift, in these days of October, of seeing my little princess, Victoria, taking her first little steps..

- For the gift of being able to serve my husband, help, and encourage him, in his life's journey

- For time spent gazing up into a crisp clear autumn sky..

- For my schooling in sanctity, in pacing the floor late at night, soothing my little one to sleep..

- For the delightful refreshment of a mild cup of premium Nescafe Coffee!

Thats all for today, Ladies!  I pray this will make a wonderful Start to your Day!


Your Sister in Christ,
Mrs Allen