Roses and Baby Powder

 

"St. Therese, the Little Flower, please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden and send it to me with a message of love; ask God to grant me the favor I thee implore and tell Him I will love Him each day more and more. Amen."

 

Baby powder?

Roses?

Two of my favorite smells.

Too bad sometimes it takes me awhile to recognize that I am smelling them.

 

Our son Cameron is 14 months old.

Back in March, and again in July, he ran a very high fever

with very high wbc.

After 3 or 4 days he would be fine.

No other symptoms.

No results from any tests.

Viral. (?) That was what I was told.

 

And here we go again.

 

Cami was fine Monday night.

I took our 8 children to Family Eucharistic Adoration.

After, there was a dinner downstairs. Tom met up with us there.

Our children had fun running around chasing each other.

(They are very comfortable at church.)

 

Then at 4:00am I woke up and heard Cami whimpering in his sleep.

I touched his little foot and it was hot.

I quickly picked him up and went downstairs to take his temp and get some Tylenol.

I talked to my pediatrician's office when they opened. Since Cami was acting fine we decided I would watch him for 24 hours then bring him in if he still had a fever with no other symptoms.

 

All day the fever stuck around.

When it was down a little from the medicine, Cami would act happy and play with his toys. But it would go right back up after a few hours. Then Cami and I would cuddle.

 

Last night Cami and I slept on the couch together.

We were up every couple hours.

Cami hasn't wanted to eat food so we've been nursing a lot.

His temp was around 105 at the highest.

So today we are going in to see his doctor.

 

But as I have prayed over Cameron I noticed how sweet he smelled at times.

Then I finally realized he smelled like baby powder to me.

The smell would come and go. Seemed to be around when his fever was high.

I started craving the smell.

I'd cradle Cami and smell all around his head trying to find it.

Sounds silly maybe, but it brought me comfort when I could smell it.

 

Today I smelled the sweet smell and then thought of roses.

I adore Mother Mary and I know that the scent of roses is associated with her.

I was looking on my computer about it.

I found a nice Catholic site that had testimonies of smelling roses.

Mary was mentioned and so was St. Therese, "the little flower."

St. Therese promised to release a scent of roses from Heaven.

So then I wondered about the scent of baby powder.

I looked it up and the scent of baby powder is partially made with rose oil.

 

I believe that St. Therese and Mother Mary are sending me comfort

while I care for Cameron.

 

I just really felt the need - and want - to share this :o)

 



School is in

"An education turns mirrors into windows."

 

School is in!

I am actually not too thrilled about that.

Where did summer go?

 

So far - I am very pleased with the teachers our children got this year.

(Bus driver too!)

Everyone seems to be off to a great start!

I just don't know how long I can last doing the morning routine

and the homework routine in the afternoon.

Getting 6 children out the door is exhausting!

Making sure everything is signed and put back in the right child's folder and in the right child's backpack can be confusing.

At night we get the snacks picked out, the water bottles filled,

and the outfits (including the shoes!) set out for the morning.

I go to bed feeling confident that everything is ready for the morning craziness, but somehow the craziness still finds me.

 

I had to go searching for more pants for our boys and more

shoes for our girls. They all decided to do some growing over the summer.

And it's hard to know that they've grown so much until you put long pants on them and they wear something more than flip flops on their feet.

Thankfully I can go into our basement and find a few

things packed away in bins, but our oldest son and our oldest daughter don't have bins to go through.

 

We really need to find more space for homework.

It usually ends up being done on the floor next to our front door.

It is the one place they can just spread out.

So far our kindergartner is the only one who loves the idea of homework.

She cries if I ask her to wait.

Of course, her homework is fun.

This weekend she needed to make a paper bear that looked like her.

Tom had a great time helping her.

Sarah's bear had Sarah's face (photo) and was wearing a

Dora shirt and a pink tutu.

Cute!

 

Now if I could get our youngest 2 to nap at the same time, I just might get things done around here and maybe have a little time for myself.

So far, that doesn't seem to be in their plans.

Mommy will have to change that :o)

 



Jacob 3

"Celebrate Life."

Today we celebrated our 7th child's 3rd birthday.
When we asked him what he wanted - "Blueberries!"
Ok.
What do you want with your blueberries? - "Steak!"
Ok.
Is there a certain toy you might like to go with your blueberries and steak?
"Umi Zoomi!"

So our little Jakey woke up to blueberry muffins.
We had a cookout with Tom's mom.
And Jacob got a Team Umi Zoomi remote control car.

We had a very happy 3 year old.
And a wonderful day with family.



Summer - BTR

"Don't count every hour in the day. Make every hour of the day count."

I can't believe it is August!

Where did our summer go?

It was a great summer.

Camp, vacation at the lake, waterpark, lots of friends and family time.

Our daughter Rachel went to her first concert this weekend.

She went with her friend for their birthdays.

Big Time Rush!

Kendall (her favorite) & James (her 2nd favorite) came right up next to her.

How exciting!

My first concert was Donny and Marie Osmond with my friend Dana.

(Dana lived kitty corner across from me just like Rachel's friend does!)

I didn't get to be up close to Donny, but I still remember how exciting it was.

On a side note: I did finally get to be up close to Donny when I saw him in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. Tom and I left the musical and were walking around downtown Chicago when we saw a bunch of people waiting outside by the back door of the theater. I said to Tom "What fools thinking Donny is going to come out that door." Then Tom said "There he is."

I was suddenly 14 years old again and took off running and screaming. Ha ha!

I busted my way through the crowd and got Donny's autograph and touched his hand.

I feel very "giddy" right now. Lol!

So Rachel had a wonderful time and came back with a t-shirt, necklace, and bracelet.

Her friend's mother loved seeing our girls so excited and she made sure they had the

time of their lives that night!

I have been to many Duran Duran concerts and have never come really close to Simon - though I swear John looked right at me at one of them - what an exciting night for Rachel and her friend.

Today my sister and my nephew from Texas are coming to visit.

I am so excited to see them and to spend a few days with them.

Family is the best!



Summer Update

"Stop the Horses!"

(This quote will only be understood by a few - for now.)

It seems that summer and blogging do not mix well for me.

Having 8 children at home - including 2 who love to be on my laptop - makes it hard for me to sit and write when I want.

Right now it is almost midnight and I would love to be in bed, but felt the need to sit and update a little before summer is over.

Our oldest 3 boys went to camp for a week.

They go to a Tourette Syndrome camp and get a chance to meet

other kids from all over the world who have TS and/or OCD.

It is wonderful.

They had a great time!

We picked them up on a Saturday and we were getting

ready to leave for our family vacation the next day.

Made for a busy day.

We decided to go to Lou Malnati's for lunch.

Noah and Rachel had both received certificates for free pizzas

from school for showing great character.

Our kiddos were very excited to be out at a restaurant and

our boys were telling us all about camp while our girls filled them in on what happened at home while they were gone.

Our pizza came - it was the wrong order.

Our waitress came back with the news that our pizza was

given to another table.

Ugh. But they brought us free pasta to satisfy our hungry family

while we waited for our pizza to be remade.

They also gave us a larger pizza than what we had ordered and

didn't charge us at all for it.

Nice.

We decided to go to church that

 evening since we were

planning to leave bright and early Sunday.

While walking in, an older couple held the door for us.

The wife wanted us to sit next to her and her husband.

She loved seeing a big family.

After mass she came up to me and slipped some money

into my hand and told me to take my family out for ice cream.

I told our children.

The next day we made sure to stop while driving to the lake for

some ice cream.

The 4th of July was spent with family at the lake.

We went to Wisconsin and had an incredible time.

Lots of swimming, boating, and hanging with family.

And amazingly enough - I won the adult tennis tournament ;o)

I just might have to take it up.

This week has been a bit stressful.

Little Cameron was hit with a high fever (104.5) for a couple

of days and had a high wbc.

After a couple of tests and lots of prayers - he is doing much better today.

Poor little guy.

He was wiped out from this fever. We are guessing it is a virus.

 He is on an antibiotic until we get the culture back from his UTI test.

And if he still has the fever by Friday they will admit him for tests...but

his wbc is down today and his fever went down to 101.

Praying he is all better soon and that no one else gets it.

So I am definitely sad to know summer break will soon be over.

We are doing the school shopping.

I have really enjoyed having my children home with me.

Brandon has been great with his siblings.

We went to the petting zoo last week with friends and he was

such a great help, esp. with Jakey - who adores B.

Ethan has also been great. We have been watching "thriller" movies

together at night after everyone else goes to bed. It's been fun.

Noah is always great to play with. He is a great older brother.

Rachel, Leah, and Sarah have really enjoyed being together.

They have done a lot of fashion shows and singing songs.

School and Talent Show have been the top things to play.

Jacob and Cameron amaze me with how much they have grown over the summer.

Jacob is talking and has such a great personality. He really looks up to his older siblings. Cameron is walking around and babbling a lot.

He really seems to understand what we say to him. Very observant.

Tommy and I are keeping busy and still trying to declutter our home.

That has been an ongoing goal.

Maybe when all of our children are grown :o)

Cameron is 1

"For this child I have prayed, and the Lord has granted the desires of my heart."

Today we celebrated Cameron's 1st birthday.

What an amazing year!

CJ has been a great addition to our family.

He fits right in.

He is a very happy little boy.

Cami loves to babble and has taken a few steps.

I love how he curls his little toes.

I love how he rubs my arm while he is nursing.

His little head is so soft and fuzzy.

His eyes are a beautiful blue.

His smile is very toothy and sweet.

Right now he is snuggled in my arms, on my chest.

He does not sleep in his crib.

He sleeps between me and Tom.

Bad habit?

I don't care.

I know he will be in his own bed one day.

I am very blessed and my family brings me much joy.

I am very thankful for them.

My Cami

Summertime

"What time is it? --- Summertime!"

And summer break begins....

So far so good.

School was done on Friday. Happy to have our children home with me.

Happy to have late nights and late mornings. (If 6:00am can count as late.)

I will miss most of our children's teachers.

We had a couple that I truly hope to spend another year with in the future.

On Saturday we had an amazing day in Chicago.

Go White Sox!

It was a long game - 12 innings - and we ended up losing, but

all in all it was a fun game. Exciting!

The tickets for all of us, the parking pass, and enough Sox Bucks to keep everyone happy were given to us. Wonderful gift! Perfect gift!

On Sunday we spent the day in the front yard playing in the kiddie pool.

The weather has been beautiful!

On Monday we celebrated my husband's birthday.

The rest of this week looks gorgeous and we will spend it

keeping our home picked up and spending time together outside.

Cameron is almost 1 year old!

He is taking a few steps and finally eating food.

He spent the first 11 months only nursing - would not eat baby food!

He has never eaten a jar of food.

A bite or 2 and then he was done. No interest.

But now that I can give him whatever I am eating, he loves to eat!

Certainly been a money saver I guess.

Jacob got his first haircut at 2 1/2 years old.

I went upstairs to take a quick shower when my oldest got home from his finals. When I came down, Jacob announced that he had cut his hair.

I was very upset. I loved his long hair. It was gone.

Later when our other children got home our oldest daughter pointed out to me that our 4 year old Sarah cut her hair too.

That's when I asked Jacob who really cut his hair.

He said, "Sarah."

Sarah hung her head down and cried.

Then Jacob walked over to his toy fire truck, lifted up the seat, and showed us the pile of hair hidden inside.

I will note here that Tom was very happy that Jacob got a haircut.

I took him to the salon I go to and had his haircut fixed.

He was very good. Sat perfectly still. No wonder Sarah was able to cut his hair.

He does look cute, but I will miss his curls.

Oh well. It's only hair right?

Maybe Cameron will have curls.

Our 2nd child got into his school's musical again.

He has made it every year.

I love that he is not shy when it comes to being on a stage.

I'd like for all of our children to have that self-confidence.

I am starting most of them on music lessons this summer.

Some guitar. Some piano. Some vocals.

Leah wrote a song and was "belting" it out.

It is very catchy. I'll have to try and post her singing it.

May our summer continue to go well.

Our daughters are playing very well together.

So glad they have each other.

And our sons are getting along too.

Our oldest, Brandon is spending time with our 3rd, Noah.

He is teaching him how to use a ripstick.

It's great to see them working together.