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We still haven’t celebrated his 50th birthday with family or friends, yet, but hopefully that will happen this weekend! At least Kevin was well enough we could have dinner at my sister and brother-in-law's house this evening. We didn't exactly make it to dessert or singing happy birthday, but just having Kevin present for the family gathering was a major step after this past couple weeks.
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A Moroccan Feast The evening
before my mom’s birthday, which was this week, a dear family friend who is originally from Morocco had us over to her place for a delicious
homemade meal. It was so nice to catch
up with her and her two kids. The food
was every bit as amazing as my mom and sisters had described. There were three candles on the birthday cake
my sister brought in, so our hostess’s son asked Mom how old she was. He got quiet and looked at Mom very confused
when she told him she’s turning three years old. I was reminded of what a wonderful gift it is
to invite people over and make them a delectable meal. Perhaps this weekend, we’ll finish hanging the photos on our Rochester wall, and I’ll finally clean off the dining room table, perchance to have people over for dinner, or at least have a clean flat surface on which to beat my husband at dominoes.
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Ask, Seek, Knock The
Lord knows the deepest desires we have into our hearts, because He put them
there. He knows what we long for and
delights in giving what it is we want and need to fulfill those yearnings. Far better than a genie in a lamp, our Lord
wants to shower us with blessings which He knows will help us grow in love,
compassion, and mercy towards others as well as ourselves. Just as we take great joy in doing things for
the people we love, the Lord trembles with jubilation as He satisfies the
desires of our hearts, the ones He put there to bring us closer to Him…Click here to read the rest of this reflection I wrote on and in honor of the
participants of the Men’s Cursillo Weekend taking place July 25-28, 2013. Please also remember to pray for the
participants of the weekend as they take time out of their busy schedules to
grow closer to the Lord.
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He would have been 58 this year. He passed away only 16 days after he turned 54 once my mom, sisters, and I all came to his side to say our goodbyes. A woman named Marie who’s very active at St. Michael parish said this about my dad after saying that he was one of the ones who inspired her to start a Rosary Prayer Group: “At his funeral people spoke of his love and dedication to the Rosary. I was touched by that and I started praying it on a more regular basis. Then when Mo was ill, a group of us crammed in a class room before Mass and prayed it together. It was so moving and I knew I wanted to do that again. The homily Fr. Dan gave inspired me to ask if I could start a group. The rest is history!” The blue beaded Rosary I carry with me every day is the one my dad used all the time.
.
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High Drama Ensues Scooter looks an awful
lots like an Oompa Loompa when she smothers herself in Chef Boyardee spaghetti sauce. I texted the girls’ mom that maybe we can work
on a low-budget spin-off of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory using at least two Veggie Tales songs: one about working in a chocolate factory and another about eating too many chocolate bunnies and idol worship leading to trouble. Skippy makes a very convincing bunny
face. Sunshine knows most of the words
to both of the songs and is an avid fan of chocolate as well as Veggie Tales. I think we could swing it.
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Book-It! It does my heart good to see the girls sitting down
engrossed in books like my sister and I did when we were little. Both of their parents love to read, and I’m a
book-lover, so the girls are picking up on some of those literary
leanings. 
You may recall the Book-It program that was such a hit when we were kids. You read a certain number of books and get a special certificate for a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. I looked into it, and the Book-It program is alive and well. To check it out, click here. Perhaps they’d be willing to do some sort of program for adults at our favorite pizza place in town. You never know.
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You probably
need a nap...when you fail to do the three steps to make microwave mac
’n’ cheese in the proper order, you leave a dirty diaper under the couch, you put someone’s Onesie on backwards, you take one little one upstairs while another little
one is downstairs unsupervised and free-ranging with the kitchen
gate and the bathroom door open, two young
ones are in the stroller ready to go on a walk and the older one decides to
take forever and a day going potty and putting her shoes on before having a full-out meltdown the second you step outside, you spend five
minutes when all the kids are in bed making a cool train track since they never
let you finish one when they’re awake, you recall that though the water table on the deck is in the shade before noon that the sandbox in the yard is not only later in the evening when noticing you're sunburned, you resort to using
favorite foods as bargaining tools for good behavior…you can fill in the rest
of the blanks, I need a nap.
Check out Jen Fulwiler’s tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday at her tremendously popular blog Conversion Diary.
