Five Kernels of Corn....

It is the morning of Thanksgiving and I have stolen away for a quick entry before the craziness of the day begins.  Quiet is never a word you can use on this Thankful day, but at the moment, I have that luxury.  This year, our family is going to try a new tradition.  Let me give you a little background.  Last week, on the radio, I heard about another family's tradition of placing 5 kernels of corn on each plate to signify 5 things to be thankful for as well as to remember that the Pilgrims were thankful, even though they had as little as 5 kernels to eat a day.  Here is a great reference: The Amazing Mess.

I think it will serve well as a reminder for us to be thankful of the things that we have in life. The Amazing mess site shows what each kernel stands for:

Kernel 1: Bounty and beauty of fall
Kernel 2: Love for each other
Kernel 3: Love for family
Kernel 4: Friendship
Kernel 5: Freedom to worship God

I love it!

In honor of the five kernel story, I am going to practice what I will say at the table here.  

Kernel 1: I am thankful for the health of myself, my family and friends
Kernel 2: I am thankful for the love present in my life
Kernel 3: I am thankful for the love of my family and for their undying support
Kernel 4: I am thankful for the great friendships in my life that thankfully include my family
Kernel 5: I am thankful to God for all the blessings He has given me and my loved ones.


I am also thankful that even though having a large family of 7 children can get crazy, it is never boring and there is a lot of love to go around, even though it comes in spurts!!


I am thankful that Gavin is doing great on his missions trip.
I am thankful that Justin is happy in his senior year of school.
I am thankful that Nathan is adjusting to his Freshman year.
I am thankful that Rachael is enjoying Catholic School & is doing well.
I am thankful that Vianne is discovering her talent & doing well in school.
I am thankful that Vincent is excited about participating in sports and has the energy to do well at the sports he chooses.
I am thankful that Gabriella is very self motivated and thoughtful.
I am thankful that I have an amazing husband who supports me in countless ways.
I am thankful that I have a family who loves me.


I am blessed.


Happy Thanksgiving!!


Loudly yours,
Alicia

When its time....

One of the things I do appreciate about having 7 kids is the messages they bring to my life.  I tend to be a normal, selfish human being and I sometimes think God gave me 7 to teach me lessons 7 times over.  I sometimes will tell people that my kids are my greatest teacher and I am a very poor student.  Unfortunately, there is a great shortage of tutors of this "schooling".  

I am lucky to have an inner voice that speaks loudly enough for me to hear and sometimes, my kids set off the inner voice by their actions.  Let me explain.  

Once I was making one of the kids their breakfast and it was oatmeal that day.  I boiled the water and poured it into the bowl of dry oatmeal, all while she whined and moaned; "Mom!! Give it to me! I want it! I'm hungry! C'mon!!!  Please! Mom!!"  I held the bowl up above her head, fully knowing that the oatmeal would burn her if I gave it to her.  "Honey....its too hot! You can't have it yet!" "No! You have to wait!" Of course this would spur her to continue on...."but I'm hunnnnngrrry! I want it now!!"
All of a sudden, the voice came into my head: "See, if I give you what you want now, you will not be able to handle it."

WHAT!?!  Then, all of a sudden, it hit me.  I had been praying to God that he would bless me and make my direct selling business a success and He was telling me that I was not ready.  WAIT?! I had been in the business for so long.  Why would I have to wait longer?   

Who did I sound like?  Just like my child.  I think sometimes we, as Moms, get a little glimpse (just a minuscule sliver) of what God feels like toward us, His children both in love and frustration.  It would just overwhelm me sometimes, to think the God would love me (all of us) more than I could ever love one of my babies in my arms.  I remember adoring my infant babies and sometimes it would feel as if my heart were to burst from the love I was feeling for them.   The feeling is incredible.  

Fast forward to today....I am not as involved in that direct selling business, but God has blessed me with a business that has been able to afford me the successes I was seeking way back when.  I guess God was right after all....I wasn't ready back then.  I am glad I am ready now.

Loudly yours,
Alicia

About last night....

Last night was Tuesday night....a fun night for me.  I had a nice dinner with the family, topped off with a nice glass of wine mixed with crushed frozen fruit....a great way to end a night. I was ready for one more indulgence...Glee!  I have not seen it in a while since they ran a couple of re-runs, but tonight was the night for a new episode....goody!!  I settled on my favorite part of the couch, the chaise lounge, and was ready!   I especially love Glee for its song and dance side, being a "showy" kind of girl.  I just LOVE the musical numbers and how wonderfully they recreate songs as well as the talent that is sooo obvious. It just pulled at my heartstrings to see the under dogs of the show being put down so low and the compassion of the characters to try to make it alright.  While I do love all the "love" that is going around, it would be remiss to ignore the fact that my little girl lost some of her innocence last night when the kissing scene came on in the middle of the show.  I can take that sort of thing and put it into perspective, but I was not ready to have the scene exposed to my 6th grader.  Of course I was scolded by my older kids and spouse for allowing her to view the show, but it has become a popular show for the middle school aged kids in her school and I wanted to give her some fodder for lunch time conversation in the cafeteria.  If I had a clue that locker scene was coming, I would have not had her there to watch.  I struggle with the internal fight of allowing my little girl to grow up and trying my best to preserve her innocence.  I know she will inevitably grow up to be a woman, but I want it on her own time clock, not the time clock that Hollywood is presuming.
I guess that is why I will not be watching Glee at my home anymore without previewing it first.

More...more...more!!

Ahhhhhh....big sigh of relief as the Halloween raucous settles down.  Halloween on a weekend is such a chore for me as a Mom!  It's just too much craziness as there are several days of Halloween and not just one.  For me, just one day suits me fine.  Why does it seem as if the whole holiday fosters an orgy of unsatisfied people everywhere?  More candy, more houses to cover, more decorations than before, better costume...more leg?!?  I was appalled by the leg on one of the "naughty" costumes that came to my door this year.  She was in high school, for sure, but still!! First of all it was VERY COLD!  Second of all, who was she "treating" when men came to the door in the neighborhood?  Anyway, enough of the Brittany look alike, (just had to get it off my chest!!)

I was mostly in charge of making sure the bowl kept from being empty in between darting in and out of the house to say hello to neighbors, attending an open house next door and bringing the youngest to some neighbors near by.   At first I put out the econo bag of candy....the stuff kids like, but are not crazy over.....then, after those bags all ran out, I put the chocolate out.  I filled the bowl to the top and turned around to go inside for (seriously) one minute...and when I came back out HALF the bowl was GONE!!!!!!  I figured that since the kids had been behaving, for the most part, by taking one piece or two, it was no big deal to leave the bowl by itself....boy was I wrong!!  It was amazing how the behavior changed once the quality of the candy changed.  It was more desirable, (chocolate) and as if our house was the last one they would see for the day, the trick or treaters literally dove in and went crazy; causing us to rein it in for the rest of the night by bringing the bowl in the house.  Give them an inch and they take a mile!  Human behavior is so interesting to me like that.  My husband told me of a study that showed once a town widened its road to relieve traffic woes, it only was filled once again as people were given the gumption to move into the area since there was not as much traffic there; leaving it traffic filled once again!  Sometimes I feel the same way as a Mom.  I give and give and there is just more take and take and take.  That is where I have to put my foot down and administer a little tough love, together with guidance to let the kids know that they are getting out of hand.  I guess what we need are more Moms and Dads who give some more tough love and guidance. Maybe some kids out there would be different. Lord knows I know I am still learning how.

Loudly yours,
Alicia

Make Believe

In honor of Halloween, I thought I would post about make believe.  If you look very closely, some might say that we have Halloween every single day.  No, we don't dress up in costume that are totally out of the ordinary, every day, but there certainly are costumes that we switch on and off on a daily basis.  Every day, there is someone out there who dons clothing that does not define them, whether it be a budding teen that is hiding behind who they think that others think they are, or a corporate executive who just wants to be home with their kids hanging out in jeans!  Sometimes, we feel forced to put the "costumes" on, and others just want to stick out in the crowd.  Some people who dress in their costumes feel as if their costume defines them, which rarely ever does.  If there is one thing that I have found in life, it is that your costume does not define you!  Who you are inside is so much bigger than what you are wearing on the outside.  Take a close look around you and see who really makes a big difference in your life.  Does it matter what they looked like?  Not much.  I think back to the days when I was trick or treating at Grandma's house.  I always tease that the was as wide as she was tall.  She wore house dresses and aprons, but she was one of the most important people in my whole life as a kid.  She had influence on all of her 7 children and her influence helped them to be really great people who made a difference to those who they know.  So does clothes make a person?  Somewhat; in the world of perception, but not really.  It is who you are on the inside that makes the really difference.  Have fun this weekend and remember, its all just an illusion.

Loudly yours,
Alicia

Good things come to those who wait....

It has been a long month and this weekend, I decided to take off.  A well deserved rest.  It has been fun spending time with my immediate family and some extended, too.  Having this time also allows me to indulge some time with you in my blog.  :0)


Today is the day of the 1st annual Solidarity Walk for my kid's school.  I am not quite sure why they named it that, but I am sure I will hear a reason today from our wonderful Principal.  It is the PERFECT day for the walk and for that I am grateful.  Ok, now that we have the back story set, I was dressing my youngest and helping her with her socks (which she requested) and she pulled away from me and said "Mmmmmph! I want the pink ones!" and crossed her legs in retaliation while she was lying on her back.  I gave her a little pinch and showed her that they were indeed the ones she asked for, when she uncrossed her legs and allowed me to help her.  Now I say allowed, because if you know her, (she is a Leo) she thinks she is the boss, and until you let her  know she is not, she will continue to sit on the throne.  Anyway, as she was pulling away, I could not help but think how God feels when we pull away from Him and the things He is giving us.  We ask for things all the time through intention or prayer and what do we do?  We pull away! "Mmmmmph!  I wanted the (fill in the blank) one!!"  We think we know what's best for us and we get mad or upset or feel a little off when we don't get our way.  We must be so funny to God.  All of us, His children, spoiled (for the most part) and not as grateful as we could be.  It would be so much easier if we could just see Him, but that would be imposing and I don't think He would have wanted it that way.  I can tell you many times in my life when I wasn't getting my way and I was NOT HAPPY about it, only to find that there was something a LOT better was waiting for me, just as God planned.  I will give you an instance.  When I was waiting to hear back from the lending institution about getting the money for a condo we wanted in Morristown, we did not qualify, and I was SOOOO upset. I thought it was wonderful and after we were denied, I thought we were down for the count and we would never move out of the tiny apartment next door to my Mom.  I cried.....lay down on my bed and just let it all out.  What, was God ignoring me?!?  Several days later, another phone call came in.  ANOTHER place was available and guess what?  We qualified for it!!!  DOUBLE the space and brand new! Everything we wanted and more.  God was listening. I just needed to be patient and wait for it.  A lesson I still need to learn day by day.

Loudly yours,

Alicia

A true story......

I am posting this morning to follow up on the last blog where I may or may not have fooled you into thinking that you were in for a scare......well, while I truly do not have many (or any) stories that will scare you, I do have some that can make the skin of some crawl.  I cannot claim myself as a medium or psychic, but I truly have had some experiences that would make you go hmmmm.  Empathic, maybe to some degree, but I definitely do sense things from the "other side"and from time to time have "known" things that I could not have known on my own.  I can tell you many stories, but one that sticks in my mind right this moment is the encounter the a man who passed away and wanted a message sent to his wife, through, a messenger.....me.  Everyday I would drive by the house of this man, I would hear the voice of this man telling me..."tell my wife I love her." EVERY single DAY!!!  It went on for weeks.  Sometimes twice a day, since it was on my way to and from my home.  How was I supposed to go and knock on her door so this man from the other side would leave me alone?!?  What would she say to me?  "YOU ARE INSANE!!"  "GET OFF MY PROPERTY!!"  I dreaded it every single day.  The voice subsided on the day I decided I was going to tell her.....on the very day.  I decided to raise money to be donated to her kids, and when I got the desired amount to give her, I got up the courage, held tight to my little daughter's hand and made the very long trip up the trail to her house, my heart pounding harder with every single step.  Pound, pound...pound, pound.....  My hand lifts to ring the doorbell and I held my breath before the door was opened....by the housekeeper.....phew.  I got to wait a couple of minutes in the foyer that seemed like forever, then down the stairs came the wife, with a smile on her face, no clue about the message I was about to deliver.  She kindly introduced herself to my daughter (we knew each other in passing, but nothing more....she knew me enough to recognize my face) and we got her girls to come and play with her in the basement.  I told her that I was there to give her a donation in behalf of her girls and she gave me a CD that her husband had made that year which was a gift to any donors.  I was grateful to have it as a remembrance in honor of his life and talent.  Truth be told, it was the first time I was "meeting" him, as I did not even know what he looked like!  She invited me in for tea in the brightly lit kitchen and again, I got nervous thinking about how I was going to lay this one on her.

"I know you are going to think I am crazy, but I have something to tell you."  "This is really hard for me to tell you, but for the last couple of weeks, I have been hearing the voice of your husband telling me to tell you that he loves you."  Silence.  A look of disbelief.  "What else has he said?" She asked inquisitively, yet almost demanding.  "Nothing else. Just that he loves you."  Silence again.  "Well ask him why he left!?  We were supposed to go away together!!!" she protested in frustration.  "Tell him yourself.  Talk to him.  He is always with you."  I replied.  I apologized for upsetting her, explaining that he must have loved her very much to come through and give her the message.  She was grateful and expressed how much she missed him, talking about the plans they had made and where they wanted to go on vacation.  We sat in silence for a few moments and she thanked me as I finished my tea and we both went to check on the kids, who thankfully broke the awkwardness of the whole situation.  The girls loved my daughter and gifted her with a toy they were no longer playing with.  We thanked them, and off we went about our day.  I walked out, relieved that I survived the experience, unscathed and happy to have helped this woman financially and hopefully, emotionally.

Loudly yours,

Alicia