Apparantly Princess had a little trouble sleeping. . .

This is what I found in Princess' journal this morning:

9:40 pm Go check out brother cutting cheese.

10:00 pm Fart.

10:01 pm Roll over to left side.

10:02 pm Roll to right.

10:03 pm Lay on back.

10:04 pm Roll to left again.

10:05 pm Turn alarm off.

10:06 pm Write friend letter.

10:34 pm Finish letter to friend.

10:36 pm Toot.

10:38 pm Yawn.

10:39 pm Edit letter.

10:41 pm Finish editing letter.

10:43 pm Go to sleep. . .I think.

So much for my sweet little girl. I guess this is what having a big brother does to a girl. Heck, who am I trying to kid. She has always been a firecracker. Here she is, Princess back in the toddler days.

You should have seen her smite me with the phrase, "Poo Poo Head!" That was when she was just 18 months old, with her blond ringlets and big brown eyes. Oh, what a little turkey she was.

Although not the most lady like, she sure makes me laugh. A LOT!

Thanks for the laughs. I love you Princess.

Vicks, I love you!

Dear Procter & Gamble,

I just wanted to say thank you, thank you, thank you for last night. I smeared your VapoRub all over Bubby's chest, and he slept like a baby. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to find you, but I think you may be my new cold season best friend.

Sincerely,
Bubby's Mommy

Remembering the Sabbath: Part 2

Remember last week when I asked, "What do you do to keep the Sabbath holy?" Apparently I am not the only one grappling with this question. First of all I wanted to thank the brave souls who shared their ideas. I really appreciated your comments.
This past week I've pondered the topic, considering your thoughts and talking with my children. I think the main problem we are having in our household is not starting the day with mass. Going to celebrate mass first thing in the morning, with religious education directly afterward was such a great start to the Sabbath. We were in the word, in communion with God, and learning about our faith right off the bat. Now, the schedule is flip-flopped with mass in the evening and The General going off to his youth meeting afterwards.
I've come to understand, the order of our activities isn't as important as getting centered. God doesn't care if I go to mass at 9am or 5pm, He just wants me to be there at some point in the day. Since God has blessed me with the honor of raising The General, Princess and Bubby, I need to put their spiritual growth at the forefront. We have entered a new season, where it is best for our children to worship at a different time.
I need to be flexible. I need to be okay with the fact that Sunday mornings at the Nomad Pad are going to look a bit different as we find our new way. What I need to remember is this: Sunday is supposed to be a mini-Easter, a day of celebration. A day to be thankful and happy for all God has done for us. Princess suggested starting with the rosary or some other family devotion. Today we tried doing our F.A.I.T.H. (Faith Alive In The Home) study, inviting our neighbors over to join us.
I know we will find a "new normal." God has placed us here, at this point in time for a purpose. Now it is up to us to seek that purpose, and follow God's lead. For it is in doing His will that we find the peace and happiness we seek.

Do you have plans for Advent?

Okay, I will admit I do not like to get the Christmas ball rolling until after Thanksgiving. I refuse to purchase or set out any decorations until after the turkey is put away. Why in the world am I asking you about Advent, which is still a few weeks away?

I want to share with you two great books that make Advent such a special time.

First there is this one,We read this as a family two years ago. It was by far our favorite part of Advent, and the Christmas season. Arnold Ytreeide does such a great job with these books. You read a chapter each night, with the end of the book culminating on Christmas. Although these books have been around awhile, until last year they were out of print. You had to rely on eBay or Amazon, and let me tell you the old supply and demand economics was definitely at work.

You can imagine my joy when they announced the reprint. Although we had to take last year off, I just couldn't justify $100 for a book I knew I could get for less than $15 in a year. I was chomping at the bit to get our copy of Bartholomew's Passage for this season's Advent. I'm happy to announce our copy has safely made it to the Nomad Pad, and is patiently waiting for the first day of Advent to bring us great joy.

**Note to parents: The opinions about this book are mine, and mine alone. I first heard about these books on the SL-Catholic forum, where people were praising them. HOWEVER, as with everything, not everyone shares the same opinions. After I purchased the first book, I was scared stiff. One woman came out of her blog silence, and railed on and on about how terrible and awful the book was. She felt it was too dark and scary. Now when we read the first one, The General was 10 and Princess was 7 going on 8. My kiddos are pretty sensitive, and we had no problems. Please do read other reviews if you have concerns. End of warning.

Good luck planning your Advent season. If you do decide to go with Jotham's Journey, the first of the trilogy, you can find them here. Let me know what you think.

Thank you for your service. . .

Though it is not a common greeting, I have heard these kind words from strangers. Mostly when we are moving. It is very apparent by our loaded down vehicles, we are in the middle of a PCS. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I say thank you, climbing back into my car filled with pride. You see, when I really think about those who have sacrificed so much more, I am stopped dead in my tracks. Overcome by tears. I am so incredibly grateful God has not asked that ultimate sacrifice of my family. Although we've been separated, our Daddy has come home to us. Every time. It is our prayer every night he is away, "God, please bring Daddy home, safely and quickly." A prayer He has answered so many, many times over the years.
Others have said those same prayers For some reason, we have no way of understanding, those prayers have not been answered. At least not in a way we, as mere humans would like. So today we took the kiddos to mass, to pray for those veterans and their families. Those who have died, so that I may enjoy the many freedoms too many in our country take for granted. For those who are left behind, trying to fill a hole in their hearts that only God can mend. For those who only know a photo as their parent. My heart aches for each and every one of them.
To all of them I say, "Thank you for your service. I have not forgotten you."

Remember the Sabbath, and Keep it Holy. . .

This is a question I am currently wrangling with. I am continually awed by God's power to speak to us through his word. I've known the Ten Commandments since I was a child. Though I wasn't raised Catholic, I was introduced to the laws of God at VBS so long ago. What strikes me is this, all of a sudden this portion of the word is tugging at my heart.
The kiddos and I have been studying The Two Great Commandments that Jesus gave. First: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. Second: Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself. (Found in The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism circa 1964.) Jesus didn't just throw out the old law that was given to Moses. He said we must keep those commands, IN ADDITION we are to love thy neighbor (Oh, that is a hard one. But not the one God has for me to ponder this day.)
This lesson brought about a deeper discussion of what keeping the Ten Commandments means. Which in turn began my questioning, "Am I remembering the sabbath? Am I teaching my children to keep this day holy for our Lord?" Hmmm. . . My answer came to me. We are not in a Sunday groove.
Since moving back to WA, our Sunday groove is a mess. Mr. Nomad and I have always been Sunday morning mass people. Sure, there are those times when we need to go to the Saturday evening mass, but we really don't feel like it is Sunday without starting the day with mass. Our current schedule is requiring us to attend the LifeTeen mass which is 5pm Sundays, so I'm struggling to organize our Sunday in such a way to bring glory to our Lord.
Please, help me out folks. What are some things your families do to keep the sabbath holy?

Brown Cows

No we haven't moved to the farm. No Bessies or Bossies here at the Nomad Pad. Instead I have a little family tradition to share.

It started when Mr. Nomad was a small boy. His parents used to get the kiddos in their jammies, load them into the station wagon, then drive to the local ice cream place. There they would be treated to the delicious Brown Cow.

What in the world is a Brown Cow? I'm so glad you asked. A Brown Cow is one of the yummiest shakes you could ever ask for. You take a few scoops of chocolate ice cream, pour root beer over it, and stir it all together. Yep, a root beer float with chocolate ice cream. Though not good for your waistline, or any other part of your body for that matter, they are YUM-MEE!!

The tradition of the Brown Cow is carried on with the next generation. Only now we don't load the kiddos up, Grandma & Grandpa make them at home. Here are the kiddos enjoying Brown Cows with Grandpa. I love the memories and traditions my children have with their grandparents. It is such a special relationship. Now we just need to make it until Christmas. . . Grandma & Grandpa will be back, and you can bet this Momma will have the freezer stocked.

Hopefully Bubby will learn how to smile by then. Oh this bad smile phase is so painful. I'm beginning to resort to, "No, no Bubby. You don't need to smile. Just look at Mommy-PLEASE!"