104 babies and 1 pre-schooler!

Last summer, we had two amazing encounters with sea turtles.  You can read about our turtle walk when we helped mark new turtle nests here.  And you can read about our experience, later in the summer, of watching the hatching of a turtle nest here.

After watching (and sort of helping) those adorable baby turtles get their start in life we told everyone we knew about it.  Our only disappointment (if you can call it that) was that it was so dark.  We could not see the hatchlings very well and could not take any pictures lest we disorient and confuse the baby turtles.  

Anyway--  My daughter’s best friend wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up.  So when she asked if she could come along for a turtle walk with us this year, we excitedly set up another date with the turtle walkers.  We knew there are never any guarantees of actually seeing turtles but my mom, who is friends with lots of turtle walkers, promised to do all she could to work something out to, at least, give us the chance.  She was successful!

So Saturday evening we arrived at the beach to witness a turtle nest excavation.  The walkers wait a few days after a hatching and then they dig up the nest and remove the marking sticks.  Each egg is examined and counted for the official records.  

We stood back watching intently as the turtle walkers began their work.   It wasn’t long before a live baby hatchling was discovered.  It had been left behind when the nest hatched as sometimes happens and it had been stuck there in the sand trapped without its brothers and sisters to help it dig to the surface.  

We ohhhed and ahhed over the little guy watching it scramble around in a bucket as the rest of the nest was excavated.   Before all was said and done another three hatchlings were found.  We took a ton of pictures of the cute little babies and wished them luck for their release which would come a few hours later after sundown.

 

In addition to the excavation, my mom had set up an early morning turtle walk for the our daughter and her friend.  They would accompany a turtle walker on her rounds to check the beach for evidence of overnight hatchings.  I decided after seeing the hatchlings from the excavation that I would sleep in and miss the morning walk on the beach.  There was more excitement to come though….

Early Sunday morning, before the sun even came up, a nest was found with a tiny turtle head sticking out of it.  They assumed the baby turtle had died and the nest had been drowned out somehow.  But as it turned out it was just a hatching that came too late in the night.  The babies stalled their digging mid-hatch due to the rising temperatures of the sand.  The only thing to do was to dig up the nest and save the babies in a bucket until sundown.  Otherwise they would likely die from dehydration or from an encounter with curious tourists.  So my daughter, her friend, and my mother got to witness a second excavation, this time resulting in the saving of about a hundred baby turtles.
 

Later, since the rest of the family missed the early morning excitement, we got to get a peek at the hatchlings sleeping in their bucket in the turtle walker's garage.  It is awesome to have so many connections in the turtle walking world!

As if all that wasn’t enough—we also celebrated my little one’s fourth birthday over the weekend.  She is officially four years old today!  Pre-school starts a week from now and I am full of mixed emotions as I realize how far from babyhood my baby is really getting.  Mostly, though, I feel incredibly blessed to be her mother and to watch her grow and change.  

My newborn baby back in 2009

And this morning at 4 years old!

One last point- really quick, as I know this post is going on forever- the irony of the situation with the turtles is not lost on me as I celebrate the anniversary of my fifth child’s birth (a child who at one point we feared may have serious health problems).  The lengths that are gone to to protect and save baby sea turtles while allowing and condoning and, at times, even encouraging the murder of thousands of unborn baby humans every day is INSANE.  I cannot help but wonder how things could get so mixed up in this country-- that animal life is valued but human life is disposable.  So, even as I ohhed and ahhed over those baby turtles, I also prayed and mourned the human babies lost to abortion.  Our world really needs it so-please, please, please pray with me!

Struggle

I wrote about success a few weeks ago.  Since then, I have been thinking about something that may seem contrary to success but, I think, is not really not so far away after all…..

I’ve been thinking a lot about struggle.  For much of my life, I sought a way to avoid any and all struggle.  But then, a few years ago, I met my current spiritual director and after sharing my struggle to avoid struggle with her, she informed me that I was going about things all wrong.   My wise, patient, wonderful spiritual director told me then (and has reminded me nearly every time I’ve seen her since) that it is in the struggle that we are made holy.

I’ve since come to understand a few things about the struggles of life—

1.        There is no shame in struggle.  I would love for everyone to see me as perfect.  I would love to be perfect but the reality is: I’m not.  I struggle.  That's just because I care.  I care about being a better, holier person and I am aware there is a lot of room for improvement.  And, through my struggle, s-l-o-w-l-y, I am being made holy.  It is a long process for some of us but it is a process and as I struggle to overcome my weaknesses, my shortcomings, my struggles- I am growing along the way.

2.      Struggles are unavoidable.  No one lives a life void of struggles and if they are-- they are stagnant and too stuck in their comfort zones.  One of the priests I most admire in the world used to say it was his job to “comfort the challenged (read struggling) and challenge the comfortable.”  I love that.  His point was, of course, that we should never rest in comfort but always strive for something better.  Oftentimes that means we must struggle in order to move forward in our faith journey.

3.      Struggles often bring about our greatest lessons and serve as our greatest means to growth.  I guess this point is really just reiterating what I’ve already said.  But like a good workout where no pain means no gain, life’s struggles make us stronger.  Sometimes those struggles strengthen us by knocking us to our knees and revealing where we should rely more on God’s strength.  Either way- on our knees in weakness and surrender or, through God’s grace, finding it within ourselves to stand strong in the face of adversity, we are better when we persevere through the rough spots of life. 

4.      Despite the struggles of life and the hardships that may come our way- we should always face our days with JOY!  Struggle is never an excuse to abandon our faith or to discount the command that we should be joyful unto the Lord.  The devil loves for us to feel discouraged and the struggles of life can certainly threaten to bring us to that point.  If we turn to Our Lord in all things though and give our lives completely to Him, we can experience true and lasting joy even in struggle.   This has been a tough lesson for me and sometimes, I still struggle with it- but I’m learning and I’m growing and in the struggle I am undoubtedly being made holy.

For more on this subject from others much wiser than me :)  Check out this post from Conversion Diary on Survival Mode and this post from Raising Homemakers on Being cheerful!

A Bit Burnt Out

           I had high hopes for this summer and big plans.  Most of them did not come to fruition and the past two months have not been what I expected, but it was still summer.  I have always enjoyed summer break and when I realized the other day that ours is practically over now, I was sadly shocked to realize the time had gone by so quickly.  

We will be starting our 9^th year of home schooling in less than two weeks!   And I hate to admit it but I am feeling a tad bit burnt out.  I had hoped that summer would be refreshing and relaxing and that fall would find me renewed and excited for a new year.  But…. the struggle to keep up with all the different grades and different learning styles and different personalities of my beautiful children while attempting to educate them each properly and patiently is just not always easy.  And after 8 years, home schooling just doesn’t excite me like it used to.  

I still love the family friendliness of it and the flexibility and the wonderful blessing of being able to be together every day.  I still appreciate the opportunity to give my children a truly Catholic education in the loving environment of our home.  But, the thought of the actual work of lesson planning and teaching and grading and record keeping and just plain juggling exhausts me a bit.  

I still feel called to home schooling.  Without a doubt, I know this is still where God wants our family to be.  So, I realize, as I did in our early years, that I must trust that if He calls us to it, He will see us through it.  The more I feel burnt out, the more it is an opportunity to turn it all over to Him and to rely even more on His strength.  Right?!?!?

As a family, we have been praying a nine week novena to St. Martha perpetually for nearly a year now.  We started it last September and at the end of each nine weeks, we start it anew for another intention.  St. Martha has been awesome in interceding for our every intention so far.  So when we realized last night that our next nine weeks was just beginning, we decided to offer this novena up for a successful home school year- for motivation and positive attitudes to make this year a great one.  

I’m still feeling a little unprepared for another year of home schooling but it is nice to know, it doesn’t all rest on my shoulders.  Through St. Martha’s intercession, I know God will see me through.  And maybe this will be our best year yet?!?!?!?!?!?!

St. Martha, pray for us.

Time Flies!

            This afternoon my beautiful nieces were picked up and their weeklong stay with us came to an end.  At least one of my children has been in tears since their departure.  We were all very sad to say good-bye and see the end of our week of cousin fun.  The week was loud and crazy and full of wound up, over-the-top excitement.  It was seven days of non-stop giggles and late night chats and lots and lots and lots of memory-making.  And it went w-a-a-a-a-y too fast.

            We had balance beam contests, fashion shows, a bubble gum blowing contest, kid-directed home-made movies (including the first ever kid “horror” film- a not-really-so-scary take on Frankenstein), craft projects, art projects, water play, an unusual one of a kind picnic, cooking fun, a silly photo contest, an even sillier lullaby (that never seemed to end), bedtime stories, face painting, too much junk food, and just such a good time together!

When I was young, I read Cheaper by the Dozen and for a week or so after that I remember thinking it might be fun to have a dozen children myself someday.  It seems God’s plans for my family are not quite as bounteous as that.  Thankfully, He has blessed me with lots of nieces and nephews, in addition to my own 5 children.  And this week of having the house full of kids was truly as much fun as I envisioned in my youth.  It was a wonderful opportunity to really spend some time with my nieces and to get to know them even better too.  

At one point, I looked at Tim and said, “I know it sounds crazy but I love the chaos because inherent in it is so much joy and love.”  That really sums up our week-- chaotic but full of joy and love.

My sister and brother-in-law (who also had a great week) have suggested maybe making this an annual tradition- I can honestly say- I LOVE that idea and I’m ready to start making the plans for next year’s visit.....