Mr. Magorium's Wisdom

We have begun doing family movie night each Friday night as an event to look forward throughout the long isolated winters. This weekend we watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which was one of the most enjoyable kids movies I have watched in awhile. My oldest picked it out but it quickly became a mommy and daddy movie as it was a little too old for them. Anyway, Mr. Magorium talks about death and how he will be leaving soon. This quote was so nice, and simple, but I really enjoyed it.

“When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He’s written “He dies.” That’s all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is “He dies.” It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with “He dies.” And yet every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it’s only natural to be sad, but not because of the words “He dies.” but because of the life we saw prior to the words.

I’ve lived all five of my acts, Mahoney, and I am not asking you to be happy that I must go. I’m only asking that you turn the page, continue reading… and let the next story begin. And if anyone asks what became of me, you relate my life in all its wonder, and end it with a simple and modest “He died.” ”

~ Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium 2007

Just wanted to share today:)

Ask And It Shall Be Given

God surely has a sense of what we need - and a good dose of humor with that as well.

I was challenged a few weeks ago at a talk to bring a notebook to mass, spend some time before or after praying and asking God what one thing He wanted you to focus on during the week. I can always think of a million I should focus on, but actually just picking one is difficult and easier all in one. It helps me truly focus on the one and not get distracted by the long lists of imperfections I know I have, but it can be difficult to pick one.

(Side note: My husband and I split masses right now so our youngest can stay home and not be exposed to all the germs that comes with being at mass and hopefully keep him healthier in the process).

Anyway, so I was praying while I was waiting for my hubby to come home so I could leave for mass on Saturday since my kiddos were sleeping. I asked God what He wanted me to work on, prayed a bit and then opened my notebook to write. I started to write patience, and then felt like God was shaking his head saying,"Not this week - that one is for later."

I crossed it out, prayed a bit more and then wrote "prudence of speech." That's another one of those I have been working on a lot more the past year. I'm not sure why I used that wording, since I can't remember EVER using the work "prudence" in my life, but whatever.

My husband got home, I headed to mass, took a seat and was marveling how amazing it was to have a mass by myself without little boys when the first reading began.

Reading 1
Wis 7:7-11

I prayed, and prudence was given me;

I seriously started to chuckle. I think that was a sign I wrote down the right thing to focus on this week:). What do you think?

My perfect night

Last weekend it was just me and my little boys all weekend. My mother-in-law and I had arranged a trip for my husband and father-in-law (for my hubby's birthday) so hubby was out of town most of the long weekend. Maybe it's just me, but any time he is out of town, seem especially long and tiring. It's not that I don't love being with my boys, but I have no idea how single moms do it. I am exhausted and waiting for that break on Saturday morning. When I don't get it, I feel like I am just especially exhausted.

So anyway, the weekend was fine and relatively uneventful. We stayed home a bit more because we are really trying to save some money so on Sunday I was aching to get out and do something ... ANYTHING. I just wanted a real conversation with someone older than three.

I promised the boys we would go to this fireworks display if they took good naps. They did so Sunday night we headed out with a blanket and some sweatshirts and waited for the "ka-booms" to begin. It was a bit crowded and I was just ready to head home so I could put them in bed, but figured they were really excited and I had promised them we could go.

They were so excited they were jumping out of their skin when we got there. We had to wait a little bit, but then the show started. Both of them cuddled up next to me. They are both so little we had one twin sized blanket we were sitting on that also fully covered us up. I looked down at them and their eyes were wide with wonder. You know the kind only seen in really young, innocent kids? The older one hugged me really close and said, "Thank you mommy for taking me to the special ka-booms." The younger one's eyes never left the sky.

A million thoughts ran through my head. I thought about how even though the weekend was tiring and long, it was kind of nice just me and my boys hanging out. I thought about how a year ago the same fireworks show would have sent both of them into hysterics and we would have had to leave early. I thought about how blessed I am to have two beautiful boys and how I don't know how I got so lucky, but am so glad they are part of my life.

I barely watched the show, but instead watched them wishing I could stop them from growing up so fast .... at least for a little while.

Thinking of my grandpa

I can't believe it's been six months since my grandpa died. I was just sitting here thinking how much I miss him and thinking what I wouldn't give for kiss on my cheek, a shoulder hug and a chuckle from him. Grandpa, we can't wait to see you again:)

Update on NFP - The Marquette Method

So it's been awhile since I wrote about the Marquette Method NFP we were trying out. I felt compelled to write about it because when we first heard of it, I could find NO information about how it worked for real people ... just the research.

Well, we have decided we are infinitely happier with this method than the sympto-thermal method. Our youngest has continued to have many medical needs, thus really pushing us more to wait to have any additional children and needing a method we had confidence in.

He is now 21 months and older than his brother when he was born, which has helped give us time to devote to both of them and their needs at the present time. We have made it to our initial goal of waiting another winter before we would have another baby. Our new goal is to get through one more winter without getting pregnant, knowing how much it takes out of me and my body and knowing the demands of our baby's medical needs (not to mention two little boys:). If we did we would welcome our baby with open arms, but we also turst in God's perfect timing for us.

I love not adding more "medicines" to my body and making my body believe it is constantly pregnant. After the initial struggle to learn it, my husband and I both agree it has also strengthened our marriage in ways we never could have imagined. We communicate a lot better with each other. Not perfectly, of course, but a lot better and we have a lot more respect for each other.

Plus we have gained confidence in a method that allows us to prayerfully discern if we are called to have more children at the time, while allowing God to make the ultimate decisions. Overall, it has just set our hearts at ease.

You can find my other posts on the Marquette Method here. I am by no means an expert, but am happy to help out others who are looking for information that seemed very challenging at best to find.

The Web site for tracking has also made it very easy for us to figure everything out and has been such a blessing. God bless and good luck!