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I am learning humility.

Spring Snow

On Wednesday, I took the comforter off my bed and replaced it with a cotton blanket. I was rewarded for my efforts by shouts from my children, "It's snowing! It's snowing!" While our snow is nothing compared to that found in other states, it is a rare occurrence in the Seattle/Tacoma area, especially in spring. Usually the only place that we see snow at this time of year (or any time of year) is in the mountains.

It rained, hailed, and snowed intermittently, yesterday. Today, we have had only snow and the children are dreaming about making a snowman. Unfortunately, we will probably only receive a dusting of this amazing powder that brings joy to children's hearts.

Attempting the Impossible

The Challenge: Organizing, purging, and generally trying to make more room in our 1800 sq. ft. house (+/- 200 sq. ft.) by the time our baby is born in October.

The Motivation: Alicia, Danielle, Elizabeth, Jessica

The Reading List:
Clutter's Last Stand: It's Time To De-junk Your Life!
Confessions of an Organized Homemaker: The Secrets of Uncluttering Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life
The Hidden Art of Homemaking
Is There Life After Housework
It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff
Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life
Splendor in the Ordinary: Your Home as a Holy Place

The First Step: "Just do it"

The Second Step (begun yesterday): An adapted version of Danielle Bean's simple chore chart (It works much better than telling your children to do something and then forgetting who you told to do it.)

I hope to be able to share my family's progress over the next few months.

Flowers to Brighten Your Day

Jessica of Shower of Roses gave me this beautiful bouquet of flowers.

I am giving this dedicated mother (who I hope to meet in real life at the Northwest Catholic Family Education Conference) the above bouquet and some roses.

These flowers are also a gift to everyone else who reads my blog (Jackie this definitely includes you) and to those mothers who have been an answer to my prayers, motivating me, through their posts, to get my house organized Alicia, Danielle, Elizabeth, and (I have to mention her again) Jessica.

The box of roses are from one of Dover's weekly samples.

Remembering Holy Saturday

On Holy Saturday morning, the children and I enjoyed our tradition of coloring Easter eggs. Patrick surprised us all by embracing our tradition with great zeal. He colored seven eggs all in various shades of green (I would not have expected my little Irish lad to choose any other color).

Next year, in addition to continuing our tradition, I hope to try making pysanky with my three eldest.

Remembering Good Friday

On Good Friday, we participated in a procession and prayer vigil for unborn babies and their mothers.

"Sea Padre" organized and led the procession to Planned Parenthood in West Seattle.

After the prayer vigil, we returned to Holy Family where we started the first day of the Divine Mercy Novena.

Photos were taken by Catherine.

Prayers Needed

Please pray for a man named Gerald. Yesterday morning, as my husband crossed a street, he heard metal crashing. He looked back and saw a man flying through the air. The man hit a tall wire fence and slid down, becoming wedged between the fence and a metal railing. My husband ran over to him and he and an off-duty police officer tried to keep Gerald conscious by talking to him and asking him questions. Gerald's head was bleeding and he said that he felt like he had broken his bones. He was sure that he was going to die, but my husband tried to reassure him that this would not be the case. The medics (summoned by my husband and the officer) arrived shortly after being called. They carefully removed Gerald from between the fence and the railing, and placed him on a board. Gerald was transported to Harbor View Medical Center.

My husband dropped a card off for Gerald, yesterday, but was unable to learn how he was doing (for obvious reasons).

After initially looking like he was going to drive away from hitting a car and then a pedestrian, the driver of the car stopped in the intersection. Please pray for him, too.

Patrick Painting

Yesterday, as Patrick sat painting, I said to him, "Patrick, you don't need to dip your paintbrush in the water if you're not changing colors. Dipping your paintbrush in the water too much can make the paint very wet."

Patrick immediately responded, "Fortunately, the paint dries."

Anxious

"Daddy, please will you pull my tooth out?"