Well, here's making up for lost time!!! These are pictures from the last 6 months! Don't forget you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.







Notice who is blowing out the candles??? It's Veronica's birthday and Maureen blew them out! When everyone was singing her happy birthday, she got "scared" (as she said, but I think she means embarassed) hid her face and didn't want to blow out the candles.



















The things poor Julian goes through with three older sisters!
This was taken in early January of this year.










Back when Julian used to suck his thumb! It's really weird, he hasn't sucked it in about 2 months now, maybe longer.

Well, it's been yet, again, a long time since my last posting. A lot has happened since then: I finished my semester of school (all A's, in five classes) and we moved into a nicer home (with a fenced-in yard in a nice neighborhood). What's been most on my mind, despite all the business going on with unpacking boxes and taking care of four children, is my father. Losing someone you love (an immediate family member, specifically) is an experience like no other, like having a baby/children. People who don't have children won't ever really know what it's like, likewise, with losing a loved one. I think about my father every day and miss him so much, to say the least. When I think about it, it makes all the other piddly stuff that we worry about seem so meaningless. It reminds you what's most important in life and how superficial so much of the world is. It's helped me to prioritize my time and spend more quality time with my own children. It's made me think of the grander things in life, like our purpose, here on earth. As a Catholic, I know what the answer to that question is, it just makes it 'hit home' more.

Say your prayers for my father's soul and my mother. As much as I miss him, I'm sure my Mom misses him ten-fold.

There are two poems that my Mom got from St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church. They are so beautiful I wanted to share them:

God looked around his garden
and he found an empty place,
and saw your tired face.
He put his arms around you
and lifted you to rest.
God's garden must be beautiful,
he always takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering,
he knew that you were in pain.
He knew that you would never
get well on earth again.
He saw that the road was getting rough
and the hills are hard to climb.
So he closed your weary eyelids
and whispered "Peace be thine."
It broke our hearts to lose you
but you didn't go alone.
For you took our love with you
the day God called you home.

Author not listed

When tomorrow starts without me

When tomorrow starts without me
and I'm not there to see,
if the sun should rise and find your eyes
all filled with tears for me

I wish so much you wouldn't cry
the way you did today,
while thinking of the many things
we didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me,
as much as I love you,
and each time you think of me
I know you'll miss me too.

But when tomorrow starts without me
please try to understand,
that an angel came and called my name
and took me by the hand.

And said, my place was ready,
in heaven far above,
and that I'd have to leave behind
all those I dearly loved.

But as I turned to walk away,
a tear fell from my eye
for all my life, I always thought,
I didn't want to die.

I had so much to live for,
and so much yet to do,
it almost seemed impossible
that I was leaving you.

I thought of all the yesterdays,
the good ones and the bad,
I though of all the love we shared
and all the fun we had.

If I could relive yesterday,
just even for a while,
I'd say good-bye and kiss all of you,
and maybe see you smile.

But then, I fully realized
that this could never be
for emptiness and memories,
would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things,
I might miss tomorrow,
for as I thought of you, and when I did
my heart was filled with sorrow.

But as I walked through heaven's gates,
I felt so much at home,
as God looked down and smiled at me,
from his mighty golden throne

And said, "This is eternity,"
and all I promised you.
For today your life on earth is past,
but here life starts anew.

I promise no tomorrows,
for today will always last,
and since each day's the same way
there's no longing for the past.

You all have been so faithful,
so trusting and so true,
for there were times you did some things
you knew you shouldn't do.

But, you all have been forgiven,
and now at last I'm free,
so won't you come and take my hand
and share my life with me?

So when tomorrow starts without me,
don't think we're far apart,
for every time you think of me,
I'm right here, in your heart.

Author unknown

Happy Easter!

Wow. This is been a record for me... four months without posting anything!!! I'm blaming that on me going to school full-time this semester. for those of you who may not have known, I kind of jumped into school this semester (full-time; 5 classes), majoring in nursing (thinking in a 2 1/2 years I'd get a good-paying full-time job). The grass always seems greener on the other side, doesn't it? Until you get there and realize it may not be as green as you thought it was :)

Anyhow, I'd have to say, I love learning. I love my biology classes, especially. I love being in a learning environment (although it's strange being back in school after a 5 year break... I feel like the old lady in all my classes!). I really think I'd love being a nurse. Now that I'm experiencing being away so much, though (I've also kept my two PT jobs, teaching private lessons twice a week and teaching a music appreciation class at Delgado community college) I'm realizing how much I miss my children! Sometimes it's nice to get away, but this is too much, I think! Veronica still cries 99% of the time when I leave (for work or school). Every day she asks me "are you going today?" If I dare say yes, she immediately goes into panic mode and breaks down. Poor Josephine and Maureen I know must be tired of me telling them "no, I can't do that today (be it a craft/game or other) I have homework/studying to do." Julian does OK when I'm gone, although it's been hard to continue breastfeeding (complete with mastitis and antibiotic treatment). I'm still primarily breastfeeding, but he does get one bottle of formula per day... he seems to be fussier with Michael when I'm gone.

Not to mention the state of my house. I don't even want to go there! I've learned to accept a certain level of mess, especially when you have four kids, but this is too much. Michael is busier than normal the past few months, too. He had a new class to teach this semester, which means he has to learn the material (art history), make powerpoint slides and review it enough times to feel confident to teach it. That takes HOURS, just in case you've never created a class before and didn't know!!! Not to mention all the papers that need grading...

Michael was offered a temporary full-time job at delgado starting this fall - yay!!!! First great news for us in a while! This job offer really made me (and Michael) decide to change my motivation in going to school. His salary will definitely be a help to get us on the path to being stable, although we will have to continue to live frugally. I'm OK with that. I'm alright with shopping at second-hand stores (I actually enjoy finding great clothes/other that look brand new or are brand new for half or more than half off!), using coupons, buying generic brands, telling my kids "no" you can't have that! First on our list of things to buy: a new vehicle!!! We'll see...
Anyhow, I'm going to postpone school once this semester is over. I'm not completely closing the door on going to school... who knows. Maybe one day I'll need to go back, if things don't work out with Michael's job. Hopefully that won't be the case, but I've learned to expect the unexpected!
I am not really the one in control here :)

We've also made the decision to go back to homeschooling. We've thought long and hard about it. Michael and I have talked about the pros and cons of homeschooling and public schools. I could write forever about the pros and cons of each and our reasons why we're going back to homeschooling... but I won't bore you with that! Let's just say, I think it's best for our family. MY number one reason is because I want to raise my children as deep in the Catholic faith as I can, and live our daily lives in our domestic Church, and teach them in little ways what their true purpose is. We have a lot of work to do, a lot of bad habits to break (my own bad habits, too) a lot of positive character building to do; but I'm more motivated than I ever was. There is a website Marie found and has shared with me... once school is over and I have a little extra time over the summer, I will be visiting it frequently to get some ideas to help us in our homeschooling journey. I have already begun a "to do" list to help get organized for the fall, complete with chore charts, rules, good and bad behavior charts, rewards for good behavior, consequences for bad behavior, daily school schedule, ect...

The website is: http://wildflowersandmarbles.blogspot.com/2010/06/refreshing-learning-spaces.html

I LOVE her classroom space - I plan on making a "classroom" in our house, too; one room completely dedicated to homeschooling, with no TV, no toys, etc.,

Well, I think I've gone on long enough. I'm sure I have some pictures to share, but i haven't looked at the pics on our memory card in months. I'll try to get to them sometime this week (while I have Easter break).

Merry Christmas from the Aldana family!!!

Michael took this picture w/ the time delay option... we were already dressed from being at Christmas vigil mass, so decided to take a picture before getting the kids in their pajamas. I'm so glad we did! I was so happy w/ how they came out for being a spur of the moment thing. We took a grand total of 5, and 2 out of the five turned out pretty good!



Pictures of the lunar eclipse. I only stayed up to see a partial lunar eclipse, however Michael watched the whole thing. It what really awesome, to say the least. The pictures really don't do it justice!





Jarod, Jeanne and Jada! Another great picture...

Julian grabbing is little toes - even bandaged up!

We dressed Julian up in one of Louis's old costumes, just to get a picture... the costume will be too little for him next Halloween. Doesn't he make a cute lion?
Julian, following his surgery...poor baby... the surgery only took about an hour, however we were there for 12!!! The surgeon was 3 hours behind schedule... I guess surgery is something that can't be rushed! We waited as patiently as we could, meanwhile, poor little Julian was starving!!! I nursed him last at 7 AM, he didn't nurse again for 7 1/2 hours later, and when he did, he was so drugged, he didn't eat much. Later that night and the next day, he made up for it, though! It took him a long time to recover from the anesthesia... they had to intubate him, too...



This was before his surgery - last picture with 12 toes!

Say your prayers, my Dad was admitted into the hospital today. He is having problems getting out of breath and his oxygen level is getting dangerously low. He had a round of tests done today, so hopefully the doctor will soon find out what is going on.

Wow - a lot has happened in the past month! most recently, Josephine was so sick last weekend, she ended up in the ER on Saturday night w/ a 105 degree fever. She tested positive for strep throat and was given a penicillin shot... Her throat doesn't hurt any more and her fever finally went away (she had a high fever over 101/102 for almost 5 days), although she has a bad cough now (the kind where she coughs so much that it has caused her to throw up, at least three times now), is very lethargic and tired, has a poor appetite and most recently has developed hives. At first, w/ Benadryl, the hives went away (last night and again this morning) however, just a few hours ago, they didn't go away, even w/ the medicine. We'll be taking her to the doctor tomorrow to hopefully get some answers and relief...

On a lighter note, the gallery has officially been open for a couple weeks now... Michael's sign turned out pretty good (click on the picture to see it better). It took him several hours to paint those letters! We haven't had a lot of people come in, although we haven't had the opportunity to advertise properly, because that takes a lot of money, which we don't have any extra of right now!!! He's made an additional sign (not shown in this picture) that says "Now open" and will make another A-frame sign (sandwich board) to go out by the street... hopefully that will help get some more people in here. If anyone has any cost-free or low-cost ideas to advertising, please let us know!


Julian is 4 months now (technically tomorrow, he will be). His surgery is scheduled for Dec. 7th - say your prayers! It should only last 1-2 hours and he'll go home immediately afterwards, as long as there are no complications.

Halloween!




Can you believe my sweet little Josephine was dressed as a zombie?! Michael did the face paint... click on it to see the details of blood vessels!
Maureen's 5th birthday! We celebrated on Halloween, just before all the kids went trick-or-treating.

We went to a free LPO concert at the Mandeville lakefront... Veronica's plugging her ears because it was "too loud!"


It is so hard to take pictures of all three girls (or all 4 children) together.. because you end up w/ about 5 pictures like this one:
...before you finally end up w/ at least 2 out of the 3 girls smiling and looking at the camera, like this one:



Michael's homemade pizzas... so yummy!! He made everything from scratch - including the pizza dough and the sauce.

Maureen came out of the bathroom towards the living room dressed like this, w/out thinking twice, like not a thing in the world was wrong! She was so cute and oblivious!

Julian's shirt says "Mummy loves me."