Name Meanings

WOW! I was looking up something else when I accidentally came across this - the meaning for the name Veronica. When we picked Veronica's name we were definitely thinking of Saint Veronica, the woman who wiped the face of Jesus while carrying the cross. But i didn't actually know what it meant. Guess what her name means? True Image.

"When Saint Veronica saw Jesus carrying His cross, she took off her veil and gave it to Him to wipe His face. He handed the veil back to her, and it had an image of His face on it. In this way, Christ gave a special blessing to the practice of wearing a veil. Even Veronica's name comes from this event. She is called vera icon because she had a true icon of Christ, her veil with His face on it. Nearly every Catholic Church has the stations of the Cross with this event at one of the stations."

May my Veronica always have a true icon of Jesus on her heart!!

Other childrens' name meanings:
Isabelle- God is my oath
Anna- grace, favour
Sophia - wisdom
Catherine- Pure
Veronica- true image or icon [of Jesus]

Poor Kolbe. I couldn't find a meaning for his name. probably because its Polish. I need to ask our priest and see if he knows. Either way, he's named after one of the greatest saints of our time.

2010 New Year's Resolutions

I've been thinking about them all week. I want to make them attainable. And I tried to pick both spiritual and practical goals. Here they are:

1. Smile more. It's not that I'm mad. But most of the time I'm just tired (of laundry, messes, whining, etc.) or worried (of not meeting school goals, speech problems, reading issues, etc.). But I've been hearing for months now that my joy should be rooted in being a Daughter of God. And so if I take that one step further, whether there are messes, dirty clothes, average instead of genius kids (LOL) should not rob me of my joy. I should wake up and smile because I've woken up! I should be smiling because I have so many blessings to create laundry chaos and messes. Speech problems are certainly better than other kinds. And I need to smile more because I want my children to remember as happy. I would hate for them to say to their spouses or children one day, "Let's go visit the cranky hag and see what's bothering her today." This is my number one resolution.

2. Grade school work daily. While not as spiritual as smiling, I think this one change will make us all happier and more organized. When I was only schooling Isabelle, I would grade her work right after she was done. Now, I find that I get days behind and both Isabelle and I are frustrated over this one little part of our homeschooling. She can't move on until I've given her feedback. Or, if she does move on, I get frustrated when I finally grade school work to discover that she's been doing days worth of work incorrectly. I think my main problem is two fold: I don't have a specific grading time AND I don't have a specific turn in bin for Anna and Isabelle. I can't tell you how many times we've had to search for completed work. I still haven't figured out whether each child should have a turn in bin and where to place them. But I do know I will grade school work in the evenings while watching t.v. or before getting on the computer.

3. Family prayer time after dinner While we do pray as a family every evening, I think that it would be better if we moved it up to an earlier time so as to have everyone awake and get more participation. Right now we say our prayers right before everyone gets in bed. Problem is, on nights when we are out or we stay up late, the tendency is to tuck everyone in bed and forgo prayers. So, I'm thinking that maybe we could say family prayers right after dinner. Everyone is together and perhaps it can be more meaningful. Also, I would like to start staggering bedtimes. Currently everyone goes to bed at the same time. But I think Catherine needs to go to bed about an hour earlier. And Isabelle has wanted to stay up reading but shares a room with Catherine. I was thinking that Catherine could go to sleep an hour before Belle. So, again, prayer time needs to be at a different time.

4. Laundry. I don't know how much more I can post on this subject. I just need to commit to doing some everyday. My problem is that I do none for days and days. I'm still purging. Maybe if we all had 2 outfits (week day wear and Sunday best) I could stay on top of it. Wouldn't we be a sight by Friday (my kids are still learning the fine art of napkin use). I have a huge laundry room, good machines, able and willing folders, and lots of hampers. If I could pick btwn a nanny, cook, housekeeper and laundress I would pick the laundress, hands down!! But until she comes knocking to offer me her free services, I have to wear a smile and cheerfully do some loads everyday.

5. Do something nice everyday for my family. I want to show tangible signs of my love for my family. And I want to do the things I don't think I have time for. So, I've made a list and I will try to pick at least one everyday. Some of them are easy to do. So I will strive to pick something I don't get to often. Here are some of the items on my list:

Play a card game with kids.
Do a puzzle with kids.
Crochet with girls.
Write a love note to Craig and hide in his luggage (for trips).
Bake cookies and have tea time.
Build tents in living room AND play with them.
Cook their favorite meal, set table beautifully with candles (can you believe I got this as my penance 2 weeks ago ... Sophia said she liked that priest and asked when would I be going to confession again)
Watch a family movie WITH popcorn.
Light a fire in the fireplace and share stories of when they were little.
Watch old movies of when they were babies.
Give praise reports during dinner (I need to do this everyday)
Make special desserts to celebrate Baptism days and Saint Name days.

I could go on and on. I think the key, for me, is having the list to look and pick from. Most of these are focused on the kids. I have plenty for my sweetie but don't feel I should print them! ;-)

And so, these are my five resolutions. I have probably 1000 things I could improve. But these are the five things I'm going to really focus on in 2010. Wish me luck!!! And have a Happy and Healthy New Year!!!!

Merry Christmas

Boy, have I neglected my poor little blog!!

This month we've been battling stomach viruses, coughs, stuffy noses, vommitting, and laundry chaos! This leaves little time for blogging!

Christmas Eve was celebrated with my dad's traditional Puerto Rican dinner. Two days later my mom-in-law made her authentic Gumbo.

In looking back over the year I've noticed that its definitely been a transition year with Baby Veronica. I often feel I'm barely keeping my head above the laundry, dishes, and school work.

At the beginning of December we (Belle, Craig, and I) made an important decision to discontinue club swimming. The commitment was M-F and Sat mornings. She was missing out on family time and it was just too demanding (in my not so humble opinion) and taking the place of valuable family time. I also didn't like some of the "locker room talk" like 6th graders having boyfriends, etc. Craig and I weren't ready for uninformed and perhaps even amoral adolescents to teach our dd about the facts of life.

She really hated the stress of doing school just to have to eat dinner early and go swim. Only to arrive home in time to sleep.

So we stopped the madness. But I'll admit I feel a little bit about taking her out of a sport she was good at. She has no regrets so I'm following her lead and keep reminding myself she's still a little girl, too young for so much stress.

I'm hoping to emerge from all the chaos of sick kids and laundry backlog. Even on healthy days I struggle to keep up. I've contemplated throwing it all out and jsu starting over! LOL!

Also, besides the kids' coughing and stuffy noses, I've been battling nausea. You know, the kind that lasts 12-14 weeks and is contracted from loving husbands!!!

In August, please God, another baby will grace this house and add laundry of its own!!!! The kids are happy and Kolbe has fervently started praying for a brother.

God is good!! My holiness will be found in the laundry and little babies! ;-)

And so, that's why I've been missing from my little blog.

(I knew when we bought the 12 passenger van that seats would quickly start filling!!!)

I'm Still Here

Just busy with my last class of co-op, Sophia's bday party, and Advent prep. I'll be back soon. I promise!