Happy New Year's!!!!

Happy New Year's everyone! I hope you have had a wonderful year!

Jesus Christ, please fill us with peace and clear our minds to prepare for a new year. Help us enjoy our friends and families. Unite us with Your grace and love. Please, Jesus, make this year one we will not forget.

Amen.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you all had a holly jolly, super merry Christmas!!!

I haven't posted much lately, and that is because we got sick and Gabriela, Bethany and I went on a "sleep-over" to our sister's house! We did baking and shopping and had a wonderful time! And then we all came home on Christmas Eve!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

xoxoxo

Anna

Our Advent Wreath

I just had to share a picture of our Advent Wreath! My mum made it! Now is it pretty or what?

As you can see, we only have white candles! But we didn't order any actual Advent candles in time! It's still really nice, though.

It only has one candle lit in this picture, but today we light the third candle!

Another Two Birthdays!!

Yesterday I made a cake for my friend Taylor, who is now 15! And for his twin, Tyler, and for a girl named Cassie, who will be 15 tomorrow!! HAPPY BRIDTHDAY!!!!

Cool things that happened this week:

• I went Christmas Caroling with a lot of friends last night! It was really fun.
• This makes my 13th post this month! Yay! I broke my record!
  
• I went Christmas shoping for my "person" (The person I'm Christmas angel to... some one who I give candy and secret, tiny presents to during Advent, and then give a BIG present to on Christmas day! I wish I could say who I'm Christmas Angle to and what I got them, but they just, just might see this!)
• I got a present finally for one of my best friends! (Kateri!)
• I had a just plain silly, good time! =)
• I cleaned my room finally!!
• We lit the 3rd Advent candle!
  
• We are only 7 days away from CHRISTMAS! Is that crazy or what?

Happy Birthday to One of the Best Sisters EVER!!!!

Happy Birthday Aimee! Have a piece of cake and a mug of hot-chocolate on me! =)

Love you!!!!!

Baking Day!

Yesterday I baked 68 mollases cookies! And I had Bethany Rose, my little sister, to help me. I looove baking with Benty, we always have such fun! But yesterday, as I think my mother would agree, we had a little too much fun...

Have you ever had a Flour Fight? If you have not, you have no idea how delightful it can be. If you have not, all I can say is, you should. A Flour Fight is when you throw flour at somebody. Benty and I always have flour fights when we bake. Yesterday though, we didn't just have a flour fight. We had a flour war! And you should have seen the house afterwards. We had be-floured the house. And you should have seen us! There was flour in our hair, all over our clothing. There was even flour covering poor defenseless bystanders who had been caught in the combat.

Of course when our mum saw that, we got in trouble. We then had to de-flour the house. We vacuumed up the kitchen tiles floor and (somehow the flour had wandered all over the house!) the dining room wood floor. We vacuumed up each other and we vacuumed up our clothes! And, thank heavens, our mum was there to help us.

She is always there to help us. Whenever we are in trouble, she is there to help. Whenever we are worried, she is there to help. No matter what, she will always be there to help.

Thank you God for my mum!

Feast of St. John ofthe Cross

I'm afraid I missed two feast days already (Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Lucia) So I decided I must not miss another one.

St. John of the Cross, pray for us!

Saint John of the Cross, in the darkness of your worst moments, when you were alone and persecuted, you found God.
Help me to have faith that God is there especially in the times when God seems absent and far away.
Amen

Being an older sister means....

Reading books ten times over to eager ears.
Making billions of sandwhiches for many little fellas.
Watching Chicken Run and other favorites...
huuuundreds of times.
Having your room torn apart by small hands.
Having your treats snacked on... and not by you.
Getting all kinds of cute pictures and scribbles and cards.
Dancing all sorts of silly, wiggly dances, just for fun.
Hearing little voices laugh and sing.
Being hugged more times than it is possible to count.
Being kissed till your face is wet.
Having "I love you more" contests all day long.
Being followed around by tiny little patting feet.
Cuddling whenever you want it.
Being loved.

Second Week of Advent

Baruch 5: 1 - 9 5:1 Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. 2 Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting; 3 for God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven. 4 For God will give you evermore the name, "Righteous Peace, Godly Glory." 5 Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. 6 For they went out from you on foot, led away by their enemies; but God will bring them back to you, carried in glory, as on a royal throne. 7 For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God. 8 The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God's command. 9 For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.

Christmas Facts!

Here are some very interesting facts about Christmas, and Christmasy things!

Holly
The sharply pointed leaves were to symbolize the thorns in Christ's crown and the red berries drops of his blood. Holly became a nativity tradition.

Presents
The tradition of gifts seems to have started with the gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus. The exchanging of gifts between people started in about the 1800's.

Reindeer
The reindeer probably came from stories of the Norse God Woden who rode through the sky with reindeer and 42 ghostly huntsmen. Clement Moore's famous poem A Visit from St. Nicholas (T'was the Night Before Christmas) sealed the image of Santa Claus, his reindeer and the magical flying sleigh loaded with sacks of presents.

Santa Claus
The original Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, was born in Turkey in the 4th century. He was very pious from an early age, devoting his life to Christianity. He became widely known for his generosity for the poor. At the time, the Romans held him in contempt. He was imprisoned and tortured. When Constantine became emperor of Rome, he allowed Nicholas to go free. Constantine became a Christian and convened the Council of Nicaea in 325. Nicholas was delegate to the council. He is especially noted for his love of children and for his generosity. He is the patron saint of sailors. He is also of course, the patron saint of children. The Dutch kept the legend of St. Nicholas alive. In the 16th century Holland, Dutch children would place their wooden shoes by the hearth in hopes that they would be filled with a treat. The Dutch spelled St. Nicholas as Sint Nikolaas, which became corrupted to Sinterklaas, and finally, in Anglican, to Santa Claus. The image of Santa was originally a man in a long brown robe and furs carrying a cross and wine flask with a holly crown on his head. In 1885, a Boston printer, Louis Prang, first devised the red-suited Santa and this theme was later developed by the Coca Cola advertising artist Haddon Sundblom in the 1930'sThis produced the modern image of a jolly character in a red suit trimmed with white fur.

Stockings hanging on your mantel...
According to tradition, Saint Nicholas left his very first gifts of gold coins in the stockings of three poor girls who needed the money for their wedding dowries. The girls had hung their stockings by the fire to dry. The tradition has modified itself, from gag gifts , to small inexpensive but useful gifts.

The Candy Cane
In the late 1800's, a candy maker in Indiana wanted to express the meaning of Christmas through a symbol made of candy. He invented the idea of bending one of his white candy sticks into the shape of a Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols of Christ's love and sacrifice through the Candy Cane. First, he used a plain white peppermint stick. The color white symbolizes the purity and sinless nature of Jesus. Next, he added three small stripes to symbolize the pain inflicted upon Jesus before His death on the cross. There are three of them to represent the Holy Trinity. He added a bold stripe to represent the blood Jesus shed for mankind. When looked at with the crook on top, it looks like a shepherd's staff because Jesus is the shepherd of man. If you turn it upside down, it becomes the letter J symbolizing the first letter in Jesus' name. The candy maker made these Candy Canes for Christmas, so everyone would remember what Christmas is all about.

"Silent Night"
In 1818, an Austrian priest Joseph Mohr, was told the day before Christmas, that the church organ was broken and would not be prepared in time for Christmas Eve. He was saddened by this and could not think of Christmas without music. He wanted to write a carol that could be sung by a choir to guitar music. He sat down and wrote three stanzas. Later that night, the people in the little Austrian Church sang "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night) for the first time.

Lump of Coal
According to tradition, giving a lump of coal in the stockings of naughty children comes from Italy.

More Christmasy Facts!

Cookies, Books, Movies, and Advent

Lately I have been busy making Christmasy treats! Today I'm hoping to make sugar cookies, and lemon icing for the little ones to decorate them with! I might even make mollases cookies, with M&Ms! Yum...

Lately I have been reading some really great books! Here are some of them:

• The Count of Monte Cristo
• Julious Caeser
• A Man for All Seasons
• Plautus Four Comedies
• And of course, The Christmas Carrol!
  

And I've been reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to my little brother Tanny.

Of course, during the Advent season, we have been watching a LOT of Christmas movies! We don't have Cable, so we watched tapes! We have watched The Grinch (The one with people!) Frosty the Snowman, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (The cartoon!) Blue Toes, The Nutcracker (The cartoon) The Christmas Carrol, and many, many more.

The best time of all, is when we all sit around the couch with our parent, eating candy-canes and sipping hot chocolate, and watch the merry movies together!

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

The Magnificat

Luke 1: 46-55 (Douay translation) My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.
Because he hath regarded the humility of
his handmaid; for behold from henceforth
all generations shall call me blessed.
Because he that is mighty hath done great
things to me, and holy is his name.
And his mercy is from generation unto
generations, to them that fear him.
He hath shewed might with his arm; he
hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their
seat, and hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good
things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel his servant, being
mindful of his mercy:
As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham
and to his seed for ever.

Happy Birthday Mama!

Today is my most-suberb-wonderful-super-magical-best-mum's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

I hope you had a good day. I am working on the birthday cake now. =) The icing should be good. Too bad my first made-from-scratch cake was not good. The easy-to-make-because-it-comes-out-of-a-box-cake is pretty good too, anyhow. =)

Love love love,

Your Children.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Today is St. Nicholas's feast day! We awoke to new mugs and candy-canes and chocolates and. . . The Polar Express!! Yay!

Have a wonderful St. Nicholas Day!!


PS. I almost forgot, here is a link about the real Santa Clause! =)

Setting up the Christmas Tree!

A few days ago, Jenny, my older sister, surprised us with a beautiful Christmas tree! We had a lovely Christmas tree decorating party!

The Christmas tree, at starting point.

Everyone pitched in to fix up our big tree!

Emma, who is four, worked really hard prettying up the tree.

Here is sweetie pie Elsa, helping decorate! Talk about cute!

You might be able to tell -- Emma had a fabulous time. =)

Yes, Advent is one special time of year! Our tree looked wonderful when we were done. I wish I had a picture of the finished project! Now we just need to try and make sure Elsa doesn't steal all the decorations off before Christmas Day at least! =)

I hope everyone is having a splendid First Week of Avent.

PS. I'm sorry I haven't posted any pictures of Thanksgiving! They are not on our camera!

First Sunday of Advent

Stir up thy power, O Lord, and come, that by thy protection we may be rescued from the dangers that beset us through our sins; and be a Redeemer to deliver us; Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end.
Amen

Thanksgiving

thanks·giv·ing (thngks-gvng)

1. An act of giving thanks; an expression of gratitude, especially to God: a hymn of thanksgiving.
2. Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Day.

thanksgiving

n 1: fourth Thursday in November in the United States; second Monday in October in Canada; commemorates a feast held in 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag [syn: Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day] 2: a short prayer of thanks before a meal [syn: grace, blessing]

Poems

How to observe Thanksgiving

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.

The Pilgrims came

The Pilgrims came across the sea,
And never thought of you and me;
And yet it's very strange the way
We think of them Thanksgiving day.

We tell their story, old and true
Of how they sailed across the blue,
And found a new land to be free
And built their homes quite near the sea.

Every child knows well the tale
Of how they bravely turned the sail
And journeyed many a day and night,
To worship God as they thought right.

Twas the night of Thanksgiving

'Twas the night of Thanksgiving,
but I just couldn't sleep...
I tried counting backwards,
I tried counting sheep.
The leftovers beckoned...the dark meat and white,
but I fought the temptation with all of my might.
Tossing and turning with anticipation,
the thought of a snack became infatuation.
So, I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door
and gazed at the fridge, full of goodies galore.
I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
stuffing with gravy, green beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
till all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.
I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky
with a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie
But, I managed to yell as I soared past the trees...
Happy eating to all -- pass the cranberries, please.

Quotes

Anne Frank: "I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek happiness in yourself and in God. Think of the beauty that again and again discharges itself within and without you and be happy."

William Shakespeare: "O Lord that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness."

Theodore Roosevelt: "Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds."—1901

Thanksgiving...tomorrow!

Thanksgiving is practically here! My oldest sister Aimee and her boyfriend Jeff were supposed to get here right around now (ten o'clock). But because of floods and such their train has had to stop for a while. They're are only two hours away, but they aren't going to get here till tomorrow! Boohoo!

But I'm sooo looking forward to meeting Jeff, seeing Aimee, Jenny, John, and Jonathan, and having a really special day! I can't wait! I love the turkey, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and all that yummy food, but most of all, I love having my whole family around me! Tomorrow there will be 16 people here! Yay!!

I hope you all have a super Thanksgiving!

Oh, and I'll put up some pictures of tomorrow when I can! =) I'm definitely going to take loads of pictures!

Also, I think I'll re-post last years Thanksgiving post. Haha.

God bless!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

St. Augustine of Hippo

St Augustine has always been one of my favorites saints! I thought it might be nice to share a few of his prayers and quotes with you!

Lord Jesus, Let Me Know Myself

Lord Jesus, let me know myself and know You,
And desire nothing save only You.
Let me hate myself and love You.
Let me do everything for the sake of You.
Let me humble myself and exalt You.
Let me think of nothing except You.
Let me die to myself and live in You.
Let me accept whatever happens as from You.
Let me banish self and follow You,
And ever desire to follow You.
Let me fly from myself and take refuge in You,
That I may deserve to be defended by You.
Let me fear for myself, let me fear You,
And let me be among those who are chosen by You.
Let me distrust myself and put my trust in You.
Let me be willing to obey for the sake of You.
Let me cling to nothing save only to You,
And let me be poor because of You.
Look upon me, that I may love You.
Call me that I may see You,
And for ever enjoy You. Amen.

Saint Augustine of Hippo, Bishop, Writer, Doctor

Prayer to Seek God Continually

O Lord my God, I believe in you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Insofar as I can, insofar as you have given me the power, I have sought you. I became weary and I loabored.

O Lord my God, my sole hope, help me to believe and never ro cease seeking you. Grant that I may always and ardently seek out your countenance. Give me the strength to seek you, for you help me to find you and you have more and more given me the hope of finding you.

Here I am before you with my firmness and my infirmity. Preserve the first and heal the second.

Here I am before you with my stregnth and my ignorance. Where you have opened the door to me, welcome me at the entrance; where you have closed the door to me, open to my cry; enable me to remember you, to understand you, and to love you. Amen.

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Quotes

God has no need of your money, but the poor have. You give it to the poor, and God receives it.

The love of worldly possessions is a sort of bird line, which entangles the soul, and prevents it flying to God.

Conquer yourself and the world lies at your feet.

God does not command impossibilities, but by commanding admonishes you do what you can and to pray for what you cannot, and aids you that you may be able.

St. Augustine of Hippo

Dear St. Augustine,
help me to love God as you do, to obey him as you do, to know him as you do. Help me to follow your wonderful example. I wish to be like you!

St. Augustine's Site!

And Some More Strange and Interesting Facts

And today we have a special addition on....BUGS!!! =)

• A butterfly has to have a body temperature greater than 86 degrees to be able to fly.
• A cockroach can change directions up to 25 times in a second.
• A colony of bees have to fly almost fifty-five thousand miles and tap two million flowers to make one pound of honey.
• A flea can jump 150 times its size. That is the same as a person able to jump up 1,000 feet in the air.
• A butterfly's taste sensors are located below their feet.
• A house fly's feet are 10 million times more sensitive than a human tongue.
• A scorpion can have up to 12 eyes.
• Bees can communicate with other bees by dancing. Their dance can alert other bees as to which direction and the distance nectar and pollen is located.
• A butterfly can see the colors red, green, and yellow.
• Cricket chirping can tell the temperature outside. Counting how many times a cricket chirps in 15 seconds and then adding 40 to that number will approximately tell you what the temperature is in Fahrenheit.
• For every human in the world there are one million ants.
• In a lifetime, on average a honey bee produces 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey.
• Lady Bugs really are not bugs. They are actually beetles and their correct name is The Ladybird Beetle.
• Mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue more than any other color.
• And Finally..........Fried spiders taste like nuts. (Blahhhh)
  

Phew, this one is a long list!! :-D Heheh!

-x-x-x-

And Finally.......

More interesting and strange facts!

• Cows sweat through their noses.
• Deer sleep only 5 minutes a day.
• Dolphins can look in different directions with each eye. They can sleep with one eye open.
• Coffee was first known in Europe as Arabian Wine.
• Dogs can't decipher size. That's why little dogs are mean.

Sorry it had been sooo long, I ran out of facts a long time ago, so I had to search for these! Hahaha! =)


-x-x-x-

The Beatiful, Most Holy, Eucharist

God in his omnipotence could not give more, in His wisdom He knew not how to give more, in His riches He had not more to give, than the Eucharist.

- St Augustine

"It is there in His Eucharist that He says to me: 'I thirst, thirst for your love, your sacrifices, your sufferings. I thirst for your happiness, for it was to save you that I came into the world, that I suffered and died on the Cross, and in order to console and strengthen you I left you the Eucharist. So you have there all my life, all my tenderness.'"

- Mother Mary of Jesus, the Foundress of the Sisters of Marie Reparatrice

"When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence."

- St. Francis de Sales

"Christ held Himself in His hands when He gave His Body to His disciples saying: 'This is My Body.' No one partakes of this Flesh before he has adored it."

- St. Augustine

"Do grant, oh my God, that when my lips approach Yours to kiss You, I may taste the gall that was given to You; when my shoulders lean against Yours, make me feel Your scourging; when my flesh is united with Yours, in the Holy Eucharist, make me feel Your passion; when my head comes near Yours, make me feel Your thorns; when my heart is close to Yours, make me feel Your spear."
- St. Gemma Galgani

"Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you - for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart...don't listen to the demon, laugh at him, and go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love...
"Receive Communion often, very often...there you have the sole remedy, if you want to be cured. Jesus has not put this attraction in your heart for nothing..."
"The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us - that is all He asks."
- St. Therese of Lisieux

"And just as He appeared before the holy Apostles in true flesh, so now He has us see Him in the Sacred Bread. Looking at Him with the eyes of their flesh, they saw only His Flesh, but regarding Him with the eyes of the spirit, they believed that He was God. In like manner, as we see bread and wine with our bodily eyes, let us see and believe firmly that it is His Most Holy Body and Blood, True and Living.
For in this way our Lord is ever present among those who believe in him, according to what He said: "Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world." (Mt. 28, 20)
- St. Francis of Assisi

"What wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility! That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the Son of God, should humble Himself like this under the form of a little bread, for our salvation"

"...In this world I cannot see the Most High Son of God with my own eyes, except for His Most Holy Body and Blood."

- St. Francis of Assisi

Our Father THY WILL BE DONE A Meditation by St. Peter Julian Eymard

Our Father Who are in Heaven

in the heaven of the Eucharist,
to You Who are seated on the throne of grace and love,
be benediction, and honor, and power and glory
for ever and ever!

Hallowed be Your Name

first in ourselves, through the spirit of
Your humility, obedience, and charity.
May we in all humility and zeal
make You known, loved, and adored by all men
in the Holy Eucharist,

Thy Kingdom Come

Thy Eucharistic kingdom.
Rule Thou alone forever over us
for Your greater glory
through the power of Your love,
the triumph of Your virtues,
and the grace of a Eucharistic vocation
in my state as a layman.
Grant us the grace and mission of Your holy love
so that we may be able to effectively extend
Your Eucharistic kingdom everywhere
and realize the desire you expressed:
‘I have come to cast fire on the earth;
and what would I, but that it be kindled?’
Oh! that we might be the incendiaries of this heavenly fire!

Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven

Grant us the grace to find all our joy
in wanting You alone,
in desiring You alone,
and in thinking of You alone.
Grant that by denying of ourselves always
and in all things,
we may find light and life
in obeying Your good, acceptable and perfect Will.
I will what You will.
I will it because You will it.
I will it as You will it.
I will it as long as You will it.
Perish our thoughts and desires
if they are not purely from You, for You and in You.

Give us this day our daily bread

You are our Eucharistic Lord
and You alone will be our food and clothing,
our riches and glory,
our remedy in illness,
and our protection against all evil.
You will be all things to us.

And forgive us our trespasses

Forgive me Jesus, for I am sorry for all my sins
just as they stand in your eyes.

As we forgive those who trespass against us

For anyone who has offended us in any way,
with our whole heart we forgive them
and desire for them the gifts of Your love.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

Deliver us Jesus, from the demon of pride,
impurity, discord and complacency.
Deliver us from the cares and worries of life
so that with a pure heart and a free mind
we may joyfully spend our life
and devote all that we are and all that we have
in the service of our Eucharistic Lord.

Amen.

In You, O Lord Jesus, have I hoped;
let me not be confounded forever.
You alone are good.
You alone are powerful.
You alone are eternal.
To You alone be honor and glory,
love and thanksgiving forever and ever.

A link: The Real Presence

Letters from Long Ago

Yesterday, I walked into the dining room and found two letters scattered on the floor, an envelope lying near by them. I picked up one of the letters. It was written on pretty, flowery paper, in childish cursive. It was address to "Kings" Hmm, I thought, who are the "Kings"? But as I read it it started to make sense. After I was done reading that one I picked up the next letter lying on the floor. It was addressed to "Three Kings" But this one was typed and printed out on blank printing paper. After reading that one I looked around for more --after all, there had to be more then 2. And there was. I found two more letters address to the Three Kings. These last two were written in my mother's handwriting, but dictated by my other siblings. The envelope is addressed to :

"The Three Kings
Virtue St. Heaven"

The stamp was a square, in which was written, "No postage needed if Child of God."

Here I shall write what these letters say (I shall write them with the exact same punctuation and spelling as the originals):

From oldest, to youngest;

(The first letter I found, written in cursive)

Dear Kings,

Please do not mind the messy writing, my fingers are still sore.

How have you been? How is the baby Jesus? How is Father B. How is St. Anthony? How is Mr. D.

I would like to make a list of things I would like, to make your job easyer.
That is, if I have been a good girl. I would like movie money, a watch, or a porcelin doll, or the movie
The new one Emma, or Hair stuff or, socks, That is all I can think of, if you can't get me anything that is on this list anything you get me I'm sure I'll love.

Love,
Jenny

Jenny is now 22, and she's going to be married soon!


(The second letter I found, typed.)


Dear Three Kings,

Hello! How are you doing? I hope you are fine! How are the politics in Heaven going?Any new policies? How am I doing?!?! Am I headed in the right direction? I sincerely hope I am!!! Anyway On to the trivial things! My poor suggestions are as follows:


I would like a pair or two of slipper socks, the Robo Master lego set, or the Robo Stalker lego set. Preferably the Robo Master set. I would also like a cap or dart gun ( You can get them at the dollar store!) If you can not get any of these suggestions, Then I would like some more Tolkien books. So much for suggestions, I hope you have a good time!

Cordially Yours Jonathan

Jonathan E. G.

(And at the bottom of this letter is written in handwriting, "P.S. Please write back!!!!!")


Jonathan is 21 now, and in College!


(Third letter I found, dictated my brother Miguel, written by my Mum)


Dear 3 Kings


How are you doing? My father & my mother said I should make a list of ideas for you guys to pick a gift from.

Any action figure will do. Here is my lego list: Do you think maybe I should get some Robo Force, my brother really likes them. I would like some Explorers sets (stingrays) That's it for lego for now. Maybe a few pens & pencils will do and I'm almost out of my 1st bottle of scope. Bye for now.


Love Miguel

P.S. Just about anything will do.


Miguel's now 19!


(Fourth letter I found, written by my mum, dictated by Gabriela)


Dear Three Kings,

How are you doing? How is baby Jesus? What do your camels like to eat? I have been good this year. My daddy said I should make a list of presents for you to pick from. I would like:

Some ballet slippers

a leotard (and tootoo in pink)

May you please pray for me

I would like a calandar -- Christmas Tree one with stickers to hang on the window.

A clock

Some alphabet books

A toy box


Bye bye. I have to eat my candy cane, wash my face and hands, and help clean.


Love Gabriela

P.S. Please kiss baby Jesus and say hi for me.


Gabriela is 15 and in 10th grade!!

I hope you enjoyed these great finds as much as I did! :)

My, my, my!

Well. I haven't posted for a while!

I've started going to Confirmation classes at my church on Sundays! They're pretty interesting. I've been confirmed already, when I was five! but I just wanted to go and listen and stuff. I'm keepin' it fresh! :P

Youth Group is great! We meet every other Saturdays -- 1st, 3rd and 5th Saturdays. 5th Saturdays are going to be best, because on those days the youth group does fun things like go ice skating and stuff! Too bad there aren't many fifths in a year! We're reading this book called a Philadelphia Catholic in King James’s Court. It's very interesting. I'm on the second chapter now. Also, we're helping out with this big, fun thing our Church is doing on the 28th for Halloween! It's going to be so much fun! There'll be bobbing for apples, treasure hunts, candy, a cake walk, and a lot of other stuff! I'm dressing up as Charlie Chaplin! (I know, I know, I'm kinda old to still be dressing up, but heck! It's fun! :) Actually, come to think of it...I think this might actually be the first time I've ever dress up! Whoa!

School's getting on...this week hasn't been too great. I hate science! Blaaah. Oh well.

Oh yeah! Tomorrow I'm going to this great thing called Eucharistic Congress Teen Track. We're going to hear speakers and there'll be a procession, and afterwards there'll be Mass! I think it's going to be a lot of fun! I have a new sweater to wear to it. I had to take out a loan to buy it though...heehee! I'm working on paying you back, Mummy!

Well, I'm just plain starving now.

I'm pen-paling with a girl named Kateri! We're also emailing. It's a whole lot of fun! I love writing letters! Also, her cousin Lucia and I have started emailing too! Just so you know, her name is pronounced Loo-see-ah, (She was very particular on that :) She's really funny and neat to email with!

Well, as you can see my life's just great right now! Even with a little problems (ahem....science). And now I shall go eat. :-D

Joy to the World!

Those were the very first words I wrote in my journal today. Can you guess why?

My sister is engaged!!

Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it glorious! I'm so happy! John is the best guy in the world, and my sister Jenny is the best gal! Jenny & John! How perfect!

Dear Jesus, bless this wonderful couple!

xoxox

No! Go away! Don't look!

Today, when I was getting ready for Mass...I did something that at first I couldn't believe.

I was about to blow-dry my hair after washing it, but for some weeks now I've been wondering what I would look like if I had bangs. Every time I asked my mum, she would say no! But finally, this time, she said, "Ah, whatever Anna -- But you'll have to bear the consequences, eh?” Not very encouraging, huh? But I jumped right off, grabbed a pair of safety scissors, and snipped away! When I looked in my bedroom mirror, what I saw horrified me. It was … me! ...But...terrible …looking! There was this big tuff of hair right above my eyebrows...and it was crooked too!

So, nearly petrified, I clipped away, here and there, a bit more. And looked again. And was just horrified …again.

Just then, Noah, my brother, walked by my open bedroom door. Oh nose! I cried desperately that he please not look, and covered my face. He, of course, then walked straight into my room and said, "Ah, c'mon, show me. What'd you do?"
"No! Go away!"
"C'mon Anna..."

And I showed him. And everyone else when I went downstairs. My mum couldn’t help but say ‘I told you so!’ And, I have to admit, it looked so bad that I cried! :-O

So. We were about to leave for Mass. I looked dreadful. And I didn’t know what to do. Luckily my mama isn’t all bad :P
Quickly she cheered me up, and helped me by telling me my hair would look much better if I let it all down instead of up in a ponytail. And it did! Of course, I pinned half of those horrid bangs up with a barrette so that it wasn't so thick, and now, when I look in the mirror -- I may just be getting use to it but -- it actually doesn't look that bad! :) I sort of actually like it. Although, when I let ALL of the bangs down, it looks terrible again.

I suppose that it was…just one of those things. I know I would never have been satisfied if I hadn’t cut my bangs…And now, I must bear the consequences, whether happy…or not :D

God bless!

Anna

School has started! And so has a cold...

+
M

A very sniffily, coughy, sour throaty cold, too. Did it have to start right now? *Sigh* Oh well!

Monday was good, but I didn’t get as much done as I would have liked. I feel a bit better from this old cold already…maybe I can do school tomorrow. Today I was just too sick!

It’s so sad about Steve Irwin! Noah, my brother, said to me the other day that he felt as if he had lost a very good friend. I’m sure lots of people feel that way. He was such a great guy!

I just watched A Little Princess. The more recent one, and that one always makes me want to read the book so badly! I’ve already started it again! I’ve probably read that book 6 or 7 times. It’s definitely one of my favorite books. Talking about books, there are so many I want to read! The Count of Monte Cristo is very high on my list, and so is Belles on their Toes, Anne of Avonlea, Maurice and Therese (I’ve almost read that one, but I had to give the book back to my big bro, so I’m going to buy one online. It’s such a wonderful, magical….remarkable book!) I just can’t wait to get to the library.

I’ve been doing a lot of journaling lately. I use to start a diary every week or so, write a few things in it, and then give up! But when I started this one…it was like I was really talking to Jesus! I start each entrance with “Dear Jesus,” “Dear Father,” "Dear Christ,” or something like that. And I just…talk to him. It’s really wonderful.

Well, I have a headache and it’s getting late! Goodnight world!

Anna

Happy 1st of September!

I hope you all have a wonderful month! :)

My sis has started her own blog! Here is a link: http://godinhisheaven.blogspot.com/
It's going to be a great blog!

Goodness! This post is very out-dated.

Today (the 4th, was my older bro Jonathan's birthday! Happy birthday Jonathan!

We had my sis Jenny, her boyfriend John and, of course, Jonathan over for a Bar-B-Q! It was very good. :)

Tomorrow school's starting for us! I know it's a bit late....but we just moved! We did as best we could! I'm kinda excited. A new year. Getting closer to college! But that's still a loooooong way off, so don't worry, Mummy! :D

Well, off I get!

God bless!
Anna

Square dancing, rooms, reading, and life.

So, we've started square dancing. I'm not sure if I like it! If there were only more young people going, that would be neat. We go to our church to dance, and it's only old Ladies and gentleman! They're really sweet and nice...but still! I'll just have to kidnap a whole bunch of kids and bring them to church on Thursdays! Hehehe!

My room is so hard to keep clean! I guess it's because all the little kiddos come in and play with things. Gabby and I rearranged everything a week or so ago! It was so fun! I have to take pictures of the whole house and post them! That'd be so fun! I love taking pictures!

I have a whole bunch of books I want to take out of the library. Belles on Their Toes, The Count of Monte Cristo, Borrowers! lol, the borrowers are fun books to read. :) Actually, I've been playing borrowers with my 8 year old sister Benty lately! I guess there's still a lot of kid in me. Hehehe

One of the last books I've read was Arthur: The Seeing Stone. It was a good story line I think. But it had some details on things that weren't so good. They explained about incubuses, which was something I'd much rather not know. There are two more books in the series, but I don't think I'm going to read them.

So all in all, life has been very good! I met two very nice kids at Our Lady of the Highway. Allison and John -- their both 15, and friendly and fun!

God bless!

--
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
~ Rom 13:12
--
"I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek happiness in yourself and in God. Think of the beauty that again and again discharges itself within and without you and be happy."
~Anne Frank

A handful of stuff

Well, I'm babysitting with my sister Gabriela right now, so I'm not going to write for long. But I thought it was time for an update!
My parents are at our old house right now, for the last time!
I want to post some pictures of our house soon, but we don't have the camera here yet, so I'll have to wait for that.
I'm reading a whole bunch of books right now, and will start school in a few weeks. We're starting a little late this year, because of our move. But I unpacked my school books yesterday.
A few weeks ago I started something kinda interesting: "Letters to Your Future Husband".
It's sort of funny, but I enjoy doing it. I wonder if boys write letters to there future wives! Ha ha! That would be funny. Like if on the day they got married the husband said, "I have a present for you, darling."
And his wife said, "Wait, let me give you my present first."
And then they both gave each other a stack of letters! Hahaha!

I've been looking at Catholic beliefs on suicide. A nasty subject! Like, whether it's a sin, and whether or not those who commit it go to hell. I didn't look for whether or not they go to hell, because anything that I could possibly find about that would be wrong. Because no one knows. But I did find this:

"Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being."

The fifth commandment forbids direct and intentional killing as gravely sinful. When some one kills themselves, well, I think it's the same thing. But no one really knows who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, that's between them and God. So we know it's wrong, but we don't, and can't, know where the person goes. That's what I think.

Here is something some one else said;

I don't think it's right because God has a good plan for us all (Jeremiah 29:11). Why do people do it? I think one reason would be that they don't feel as if their lives are worth anything, even after trying various things to fill their Jesus-shaped void. Where do they go? Unfortunately, I have to say hell. One, because they ended what was not theirs to end. Two, because anyone who would commit such a drastic act surely doesn't have a relationship with Christ. Whether that relationship be shallow or deep, I believe they would at least hang on to see what God would do in the future, hopefully resulting in a stronger bond between them and Jesus. I remember someone saying suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and I think that statement is correct.

And what another person said;


But God never gives anyone anything to big, heavy, or hard to handle. And I'm sure that person would be able to trust in God, be strong. It would take prayer and faith, certainly! But I'm sure they could do it with God's help. St. Therese of the Little Flower said,

"If I had no faith, I would have taken my own life without hesitation,"

I think you'd only be able to kill yourself if you had no faith. Look at Therese! She suffered so much! But she trusted in God, and she was rewarded! She trusted in God, even when in her head she heard over and over again, "When you die, you will see, there will not be heaven, there will be nothing," But even with that spiritual pain and physical pain, she was triumphant! She trusted and believed, and followed blindly to wherever God wanted her to go.

But now I have to go!


Anna

Okay then!

Well, I still haven't written in forever. I just can't write. Because no one reads this!! Waahh haha! :(

Well, some interesting stuff.....I found a really cool site a really long time ago. http://www.teenhomeschoolhang.com/

It's really neat. And we're moved! Just a few more trips and we are here for good! :)
Also, I have to go eat dinner.

Pax!