Deogratias

More Prayers Please

My mom had to be hospitalized again today for the third time in the past month or so.  She is having difficulty breathing again and they're not sure the reason.  I spoke with her nurse tonight and she is going down for a CAT Scan tonight to rule out a blood clot in her lungs, although the nurse said they don't think she has one.  She is getting oxygen from a mask and this is helping quite a bit.

Here she is with the boys during our visit last summer.

Here are some prayers I found at this website.

Prayer for the Sick
Omnipotent and eternal God, the everlasting Salvation of those who believe, hear us on behalf of Thy sick servant, Madeline, for whom we beg the aid of Thy pitying mercy, that, with her bodily health restored, she may give thanks to Thee in Thy church. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for Doctors and Nurses
O merciful Father, who have wonderfully fashioned man in your own image, and have made his body to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, sanctify, we pray you, our doctors and nurses and all those whom you have called to study and practice the arts of healing the sick and the prevention of disease and pain. Strengthen them in body and soul, and bless their work, that they may give comfort to those for whose salvation your Son became Man, lived on this earth, healed the sick, and suffered and died on the Cross. Amen.

Trying to Sell a House

After what seems like months and months of running around like a crazy person, I finally have a moment to breathe.  I think that is because I decided to skip cooking tonight.  My house is clean, pretty much, and the kids are quiet and there is NOTHING going on!

We have decided to homeschool on Monday, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and then take Thursdays and Fridays to clean house so that it will be ready for any potential buyer to stop by and look at it over the weekend.  I kind of like this schedule and wish we could keep it up year round.  But unfortunately 3 x 52 doesn't add up to 180, and even if it did we would have to take some weeks off sometime. 

I'm going to keep doing the math until I can find something like this that will work though because I'm really enjoying it right now.  There's nothing like lying around relaxing in a clean house!

Yesterday a Real Estate Broker came by to sign some paperwork so we can finally get our house listed on the MLS.  She is doing it for a flat fee so we won't have to pay her a commission - but we will pay the buying agent 3 percent.  The agent suggested that I send her 12 photos so we can draw potential buyers in, so that is what I did.  And I'm so proud of my clean house that I can't resist putting a few of them  here.

First of all, here is my very clean office:

This is where I am sitting right now - it does look a bit messier now though!

The office is a sitting room between our master bedroom and bath.  I really love that and am going to miss that.

Here is our bed where I just got finished taking a nap.  I was able to lie on the bed and listen to all the kids in the neighborhood play in the front yard.  I am going to miss that too (sometimes).

Here's our kitchen which is vacant at dinner time - for once.

And here is my little garden.  I'm sad because it is so small and I had to put it in pots this year. 

When we moved here exactly 7 years ago, I actually thought that we would stay here until the kids were grown.  Although they have done quite a bit of growing here, they'll grow up even more at the new house.

The other night I cried when I realized that when we moved here Jacob was Andrew's age.  It's amazing that in 7 short years our little boy went from a little 5 year old to a big teenager!  It will all fly by before we know it so it's time to enjoy it!