"Kid's Say The Darndest Things" #11

I was getting a glass of water in the kitchen when my cell phone rang. The ring tone happened to be the song "Chicken Fried." For those of you who are not familiar with this song, the chorus goes like this, "Oh, you know I like my chicken fried. Cold beer on a Friday night. A pair of jeans that fit just right, and the radio up. Well I've seen the sunrise. See the love in my woman's eyes. Feel the touch of a precious child, and know a mother's love..." So my ring tone played when I hear this voice come from behind me....

Jonathan (with a HUGE smile on his face): Hey!!! My dad like to drink cold beer on a Friday night too!!!!

It was SO funny, especially because I had no idea he came up behind me at all.
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Apparently at lunch time one of the kids spilled their cup of milk all over the floor....

Jonathan: Hey, game fowl!!!!!!!
Miss Becky: Jonathan! Where did you learn that from?
Jonathan: My grandpa.

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As I am changing Josh Neary's diaper... Just another part of my job.

Me: Josh it looks as though either the last person who changed your diaper didn't wipe you enough or you are just starting to poop...
Josh Neary: I am not pooping. Uh-huh.
Me; Well, since I was the one that changed you last I am pretty sure you were trying to, bud.
Josh: No, I'm not starting. I started to on Saturday.

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While we were outside on the playground....

Miss Ingrid: Hey Josh, come over here! I need to tie your shoe.
Josh Neary: Nuh uh!
Me: You know Josh, when you trip and fall because you don't want to have your shoe tied I won't feel so bad for you... just saying.
Josh Neary (yelling as he is running around): That's not gonna happen!!!!

Two minutes later... Josh tripped on his shoe lace and fell......
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Today during circle time we were singing "I'm bringing home a baby bumble-bee." I was trying to see who remembered the song by stopping between each stanza and asking what happens next... there is one line in this song that goes "I'm puking up my baby bumble bee." Don't ask. I didn't write the song. I just sing it... anyway.

Me: What happens to us next?
Josh Lindauer: Puking up the bee.... but we don't actually really puke it, just fake puke it, right?

It made me laugh.

"To Love Another Person Is To See The Face Of God..."

.... That is the final line to the musical "Les Mes" right before the finale song. I have been a fan of the musical "Les Mes" since I was in high school. I have to say that if it were not for an old high school crush of mine who played the lead in a local high school play I never would have thought twice about watching it. I fell in love with this musical from the first night I saw it on the stage at that high school. The cast that year did such an amazing job for a group of high schoolers that I felt a bit spoiled. Anyway, the reason why I am even talking about this is because a few weeks ago I finally talked my mom into watching it with me.

For those of you who have never heard of this musical, it is based of the book by Victor Hugo; "Les Meserables." The setting of this book is during the time of the French Revolution and basically follows the storyline of the different classes of people who lived during that crazy time in France. This musical also happens to have a bit of Catholicism in it as well as a Catholic Bishop challenges the main character to live his life as a gift for God. What really captures my attention about this musical in particular is the lyrics of the music. I have watched this numerous times and each time I watch it I end up bawling like a baby because of the beauty of the storyline and the music and the lyrics. Because of the musical I ended up picking Victor's book to read for a huge English project my senior year of high school and now it is one of my personal favorites to go back and read every so often.

The song that I chose to share on here is called "Bring Him Home." It is a prayer in which the leading role, Jean Valjean, is sending out a prayer to help save the life of one of the men, Marius, who was injured in battle. This happens to have the four most popular men who played Valjean singing together as a quartet and to hear these four voices blend together is truly heavenly....

Words Of Wisdom From Fr. Bill

Some things that I believe will impact your potential of growth and success in life:

1. Learn to accept life as it is. Life is hard. You won't get everything you want, but blaming others and being negative is the road to misery.

2. Maintain a positive attitude about life, especially about others. Look for the good in others. Don't waist time looking for people's faults. We all have them.

3. Care for other people. Truly there is no greater road to happiness. A selfish life is a very lonely life.

4. Have a dream, set some goals. Find your purpose. You can change the world just by changing one life.

5. Don't be afraid of hard work, which is another way of saying "give your best." It is truly satisfying.

6. Always have high moral standards for yourself, in particular be honest. Having high standards for your conduct is very freeing. It helps you know what to do in any situation.

7. Develop a relationship with God. There is a restlessness in each of our hearts, and truly it can only be filled by God. Learn that early. A lot of people waste a lot of time chasing after things that they think will fill them - money, prestige, power, achievements. Without God, they are hollow.

Good People, Good Conversations, And Good Food. What More Could A Girl Ask For?

It is so refreshing to me when a group of almost complete strangers happen to come together and once the knowledge of where each one stands as far as their love of God goes end up having some pretty intense or deep conversations. That is just what happened to me today...

Earlier this week a good friend of mine asked me to come with him and some of his other friends to lunch today and it would be his treat. It was a nice surprise and who can turn down free food? Obviously I could not turn down free food, especially after I found out where we were going to lunch; Noodles and Company. Once we were all there it was quickly understood how our friend was buying us all lunch. Really he won a free lunch for him and a group of his friends so he did not have to pay a thing. I felt blessed to be one of the select few invited to this lunch as there were only six of us.

As I sat there with the group I realized the only one I knew very well were two of the people at my group. It was easy to see from the start of our meeting that these people all had a love for God even though not all of us shared the same Catholic faith. I ended up joining in on one conversation as one of the guys at our table was sharing a bit about how his relationship with his girlfriend was going. I always enjoy hearing those kinds of stories... I am kind of girly in that way. He was talking about how he was seriously beginning to think even more seriously about asking this girl to marry him, but there were still things about their relationship he was not sure about. Not bad things, just weather they were really called to be married or if God had other plans for them. There was something he said that really touched me. He said something along the lines of how if God was calling them into marriage he could not wait to see how wonderful their union would help with God's Kingdom. He talked about how he wanted this woman to love God more than him even if that did mean that she ended up feeling called and pulled into another direction other than marriage with him. He also mentioned how he had not told her he loved her. He explained that from the beginning of their relationship he explained to her he would not say "I Love You" unless there was a ring on her finger. My friend and I were impressed by that because as women it is very hard for us not to want to hear those words in a relationship and even harder to be ok with not hearing them. He explained that in his past he had used those words for all the wrong reasons, but now he realized how stupid that was and only wanted to say them when he knew that he would be marrying the person he said it to. He was shocked about the turn of his conversation with all that info as we were for receiving it. Us three had a connection and understanding in that moment as my friend, Stephanie, was expressing everything I was thinking in my head and wanted to say only she beat me to it...

Hearing what he had to say made me think about some things. It affirmed in me about how I feel about my own outlook on what I want a real relationship to be. A relationship with God put first. A relationship where both of us are looking to God and what He wants rather than what we are wanting to be selfish about. What he and his girlfriend are choosing to do is a beautiful example of how I wish more people were in their relationships... It is relationships like this that give me hope.

It is interesting how conversations like that are what stick with a person more than anything else at the end of a day. I hope that whatever happens with this person's relationship will give him peace. I made a new friend even if I will probably never see him again. Who knows, maybe I will....

Audrey Assad "For Love Of You"

Since in my last post I spoke about Audrey Assad I thought I would share a song of hers which I truly love... It is called "For Love of You." :) I hope you enjoy it.

"You Called And You Shouted! Broke Through My Deafness. Now I'm Breathing In And Breathing Out. I'm Alive Again!"

I feel like I must explain my long absence from my blog. I have been completely busy with long meetings and work and so many other things that have kept me pretty occupied and left me without any blogging time. I have been lucky to get any sleep with the crazyiness of my life.

You see one of the parishes in my home town was blessed with the opportunity to bring Matt Maher in concert here. I was even more blessed to be asked to be part of the team that was in charge if putting everything together. I knew about this concert since October, but it has been talked about for much longer. As soon as my friend asked me if I would be interested in taking part with a Matt Maher concert I quickly said I would without any hesitation. I have been a fan of his music now for a few years and to see him in concert for free and in the front row was a huge deal to me. It definitely was earned though. Our team put in a lot of hours of planning... My main task was to help with making sure Chic-fil-a would do a Spirit Day for St. Paul's to help raise money for the concert along with making sure that they would be able to be able to sell their food outside of the church before the concert started. Along with that I spent hours helping to sell tickets, first
after Masses at St. Paul's then I spent
hours at my own parish helping sell tickets after two of the Masses... It was frustrating and boring at times, but well worth it in the end.

This past week was a whirlwind of activity as it was the week of the concert. We had meetings both Monday night and Tuesday night that went pretty late as we were going through everything to make sure the whole evening would go smoothly and on time. I took off of work Wednesday, the day of the concert, early to help get everything set-up and last minute details worked-out. It was tiring and I did not get to sit-down hardly that night, except for during the concert when Matt asked everyone to take a seat.

We were an excited bunch as the clock ticked closer and closer to the time that the doors would be opened. We were mentally preparing ourselves for the six hundred people who were going to walk in and kind of take-over the building. We had people come in as far as Cincinnati, Ohio to see this concert. It was crazy to think that everything we had worked for was about to happen.

We were also blessed with this concert because Matt had Audrey Assad open for him. I had never heard of this person before this concert, so I was not sure how I felt about her. Audrey is a convert to Catholicism and I quickly became a fan of hers as soon as I heard her voice. She truly has a voice of an angel, and the lyrics to her songs are so beautiful. I was also blessed to have the chance to talk with her. My friend and I kind of snuck into the meet-and-greet group as both of our tasks were pretty much finished at that point and so we figured, why not? She was down-to-earth and really did not mind answering our stream of never-ending questions about life on the road for an artist. The way our conversation went felt like I was talking to a good friend and I was not quite ready to say good-bye.

That is a night I know I will remember for a long time. It was a blessing to know that I played a role to bring two amazing artists to my hometown.

So after the concert, Thursday night was taken up by Latin Mass at another parish near Bloomington which was beautiful. Last night was my parish's fish-fry fundraiser and so I did not get home till somewhat late, and once I did get home I was beat. So if anyone has been wondering where I have been I hope this post has answered that question for you.

The Power Of Prayer

Facebook Photo Challenge: Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.

The power of prayer is something that makes an impact on my life. The most recent example of this is when my nephew/Godson was so sick just a few weeks ago. It was pretty scary at first. I felt so blessed and touched to know of all the people who I love and care about were praying for my nephew and checking-up on him daily. The majority of my friends had never met Keegan before but were sincerely worried about him. They offered Masses for him, their work-outs, prayed rosaries and a few of them even fasted for the little guy. Now he is up and running as if he had never been sick. I can tell you that it was a very humbling and amazing experience that has left a huge impact on me.

What I Want To Do Before I Die

Facebook Photo Challenge: Day 15 - What I Want To Do Before I Die.

I am a pretty simple girl in so many ways and with that comes some pretty simple thing I want to have accomplished before I day. This quote pretty much sums up everything I hope to have done in my life. I use it as a reminder to myself of what I need to do to keep focused on that goal.

Boss For A Week

It is Spring Break here in b-town and normally I don't mind it at all because we are usually low in numbers with kids and high in numbers with teachers. This Spring Break; however, the staff is at just the right amount and the kid's are mostly here... My boss is one of the people who chose to leave us for the week along with two of the other people who have worked at the daycare the longest. Because of that fact my boss asked me to step-it-up and take his place for the week.

I am not one to ever have wanted to be the boss; especially of a school or daycare. I am not one for drama, but being in charge of a school or really any business you kind of get pushed into being in the middle of drama. So far it has been smooth sailing for me the past few days. I hope that it continues to be just that as I go through this week.

I have to say that I feel great that my boss has so much faith in my abilities to leave me in charge for the week and I am going to make sure I do all that I can to not let him regret that decision. Wish me luck!

The One Thing I Could Not Live A Day Without

Photo Challenge
Day 14

A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without


The one thing I could not live a day without is my God and my Catholic faith. Everywhere I go I know that the one place that will feel most like home is where a Catholic Church is. My faith is the most important part of what makes me who I am. I am nothing without the wonderful people that make up the Church family.

I feel blessed to live in a country where I am able to go to Mass without being told I cannot go... although with what happened in Chicago it is easy to see that Catholics here are still put down for what the Church stands for. I am so saddened every time I think about the fact that the protesters were not stopped by the authorities. I know that is not much compared to what Catholics deal with in China and other communist countries, but it is still sad to know it was allowed to happen here. It is time to still keep my head up and walk tall and not be afraid to say I am a Catholic. I also have the freedom to believe what I do and I will keep those who do not like my faith and what it stands for in my prayers. I can't fight hate with hate. Love is what will win in the end.

That's Music To My Ears

A little after I started my blog I made a post of my all-time favorite songs. Well I have to say that as much as I still have those songs as some of my very favorites, my choices for those songs have changed. It is interesting how after a few years go by the things I once considered my favorites can change. Friends I thought I would never grow apart from somehow end up with a phone call every so often or an e-mail here or there to catch-up. Favorite foods of mine I had a few years ago I got burnt-out on. Television shows I happened to be completely hook-ed on either ended or are no longer as interesting to me as before... Life is like this though. It is filled with different phases and chapters and it never stays the same for long. So for fun I thought I would update my favorite songs list and put it up here... Enjoy. :)




My favorite all-time "love" song: "Here" by Rascal Flatts; "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith; "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars

Favorite "get up and dance" song: "I Like It" by Enrique Iglesias; "Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson; "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz

Favorite "loving life/ blast in the car with the windows down and music blaring" song: "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry; "Tick-Tock" by Ke$ha; "Fast Cars And Freedom" by Rascal Flatts

Favorite "when I'm feeling down" song: "Sweeping The Ashes" by Serena Ryder; "Standing Still" by Jewel; "Crash & Burn" by Savage Garden

Favorite "When I'm angry with the world" song: "Not Ready To Make Nice" by the Dixie Chicks; "King Of Anything" by Sara Barielles; "Don't Waste My Time" by Kelly Clarkson

Favorite "oldies" song: Most definitely "My Girl" by the Temptations. (Yeah, that one hasn't changed, probably won't either.)

Favorite "sweet" song: A tie between "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle and "I Loved Her First" by Heartland.

Songs that always make me cry: "On Eagle's Wings," "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Judy Garland, and "There You'll Be" by Faith Hill, " "To Where You Are" by Josh Groban

Favorite "Friendship" songs: "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts and "I Will Remember You" by Ryan Cabrera, "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" by Taylor Swift.

Favorite "Take on the World" song: "Firework" by Katy Perry; "Unstoppable" by Rascal Flatts; "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi

Favorite "break-up" song: "You Were Meant For Me" by Jewel; "Better In Time" by Leona Lewis; "Love The Way You Lie" by Eminem

Favorite "Patriotic" songs: This is a tie between "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood and "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" by Toby Keith; "If You're Reading This" by Tim McGraw

Favorite "Crush" song: This is a three-way-tie between "Sparks Fly" by Taylor Swift; "Take Me There" by Rascal Flatts and "I Wanna Kiss A Girl" by Keith Urban

Favorite "How I Feel About Relationships" song: A tie between"I Do Not Hook Up" by Kelly Clarkson and "Single" by Natasha Beddingfield

Favorite "Praise and Worship song: A tie between "Draw Me Close," "Here I Am to Worship," "The Heart Of Worship"

Favorite "Christian" song: A tie between "Empty and Beautiful" by Matt Maher and "Beloved" by Tenth Avenue North

And So It Begins....

Lent that is.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the very first day of Lent. I have decided to join a health program very much like weight watchers for Lent. I chose to do this because even though I am not totally overweight, I am not where I should be either. I also chose to do this because it will make me more aware of what I have been putting into my body versus what I really should be putting into my body, as well as the best ways to work-out. It is a lifestyle change for me that I fully intend on keeping up after Lent. To me that is what Lent should be about. Choosing to give up something or do something that will change a person for the better. Doing this will help me keep my body healthy so that I will be able to do my best as I go and follow what God's plan for my life is.

Today while at work, one of my co-workers who is not Catholic was asking me all about Ash Wednesday. She did not really understand the meaning behind receiving ashes. Growing up she was told that Catholics do it to show-off... I had to explain to her that really is the wrong reason why we receive ashes on the forehead. Receiving the ashes is more of a humbling experience. It is not about trying to be "better" than other people. It symbolizes that we are sinners and and in need of conversion... She was more understanding of my answer and happy to hear that it is not supposed to be a showy event. It was a very good conversation.

Prayers For My Nephew, Keegan, Please. :)

Sorry I have been a bit negligent with the blog the past few days. I have been a bit pre-occupied. You see my baby nephew has recently come down with r.s.v.. It is a very serious case and so the doctors had him admitted into the hospital Thursday. R.S.V., for those of you who do not know what it is, is a a respiratory virus. It is very dangerous for children under the age of two. My nephew just turned one a little over a month ago. He also has asthma which makes his case even more serious than others. Add to the fact that he has a double ear infection and you can see how miserable the little guy must be feeling. Right now the doctor told my sister that he wants to keep Keegan in the hospital until he can keep his oxygen level above 88 WITHOUT his oxygen tube. He still needs the tube to keep his level in the nineties, so he will be in the hospital for awhile longer. Please keep him in your prayers. He is so tiny and it just breaks my heart to see him feeling so sick. :(

Because of that I have been spending a lot of my free time with him and my sister at the hospital. Last night the three older boys stayed with us so momma and daddy could be with Keegan all night.

Tonight while I was holding him (he let me hold him for about 20 minutes before he wanted his mom back) my sister took a video of him. We got him to dance a little bit. I would put it up here, but facebook videos just won't work like that for some reason. If you would like to see it just click on here.

I Am One Lucky Girl. :)

Dear Friends,

Try each day to follow Christ's word. Listen to Him as a true friend with whom you can share your path in life. With Him at your side, you will find courage and hope to face difficulties and problems, and even to overcome disappointments and set-backs.
You are constantly being offered easier choices, but you yourselves know that these are ultimately deceptive and cannot bring you serenity and joy.
Only the Word of God can show us the authentic way, and only the faith we have received is the light which shines on our path.
Gratefully accept this spiritual gift which you have received from your families; strive to respond responsibly to God's call and to grow in your faith. Do not believe those who tell you that you don't need others to build up your life! Find support in the faith of those who are dear to you, in the faith of the Church, and thank the Lord that you have received it and have made it your own!

Pope Benedict XVI

Tonight I was given this quote from a dear friend in a little note. He was telling me thank-you for being one of those who help builds up his life. It was a sweet little thing that touched me dearly. I try to let those I love and care about how much I love and care about them and how much they mean to me. I thank God everyday for the AMAZING people he has placed in my life. I really don't know where I would be without these great family members and friends to lean on for support. They are truly the best gifts He has given me.

The Best Verse In The Bible....

Psalm 46:10
'Be Still and Know that I AM GOD'

Sometimes this can be easier said then done.....