CCS Dodgeball

Catholic Challenge Sports is a league composed of young adults in the KC Metro area. They offer multiple sports leagues to particpate in. We just finished the Dodgeball season. This was my first experience with CCS, however I think I will continue to play in other sports. Actually, right now I am playing in an indoor soccer league, and in the near future I may commit to playing Ultimate Frisbee. It's a great way to hang out with friends, meet new people, and make time for exercise! Here's a few pics and clips from the season.

Pray.


Play.



Ready...


Go!



I hope I caught this one!

In case you want some live action of young adults playing a childhood game!

These clips are of my roommate Stacy's team...They eventually became the Champions of the season!

I have a few more clips, but I am experiencing technical difficulties!

For more information and photos for CCS Dodgeball, check out:

http://kccatholicchallenge.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=41

My Godsons!

I am now the proud godmother of two!

My first godson is my cousin Ben. Ben just turned 11 the other day, so I have technically been a godmother since I was 14. However, my joy has doubled as of March 10th (well technically before :). My second godson, Isaac Joseph Burton, was born.


Ben and I

Isaac Joseph is the second son of my former roommate Katie and her husband Ryan. Katie was my roommate while I lived in the Alabama house, and of course Ryan became a great friend as well.

Isaac Joseph Burton

I have had the privilege to live close to them and to care for their first son Joachim. I was honored the day they asked me to be the Godmother of their second child.

The proud mom bringing home baby


The proud big brother Joachim with his baby brother Isaac


The proud father of two!

We will be celebrating Isaac's baptism on April 13th.

I feel honored to have a special role in each of these boys lives. I can't wait to see how God works through them!

Ben and Isaac, you hold a special place in my heart!

PHS Dodgeball Tourney

Our sophomore class at PHS hosted a dodgeball tourney as a fundraiser. I would say about 100 students participated. As a staff we composed one team. Word got around my team that I was part of a dodgeball league, so my colleagues thought they had a secret weapon. But once the kids found out, word got around school. The funniest part of the evening was that I was knocked out immediately in both of our games, so I didn't even get to play. However, as a staff member it was a good time to look and be ridiculous in front of the students. I think the most enjoyable part of the evening was warming up with my colleagues, and hanging out with them outside of the world of academia.

Team Photos

Warming up

Approaching the start of the game

Our way of preparing for the next round

O-O-OOO-O-R-E-O, What's in the middle?

Not this weekend, I went home to St. Louis to visit my grandparents. In addition to visting them I got to see my parents, my sister Robyn, and my sister and brother-in law, Ami and Scott, who live in Georgia. Thus I also got some quality time with my niece Ashley and nephew Nathan....Here's a glimpse of the weekend with the kiddos!

A Glimpse of February...

I have not posted any pictures from February besides my adventure outdoors with Jenni. Here are a few more friendly faces that I got to spend some time with...

This is my friend Joachim. He is the son of my old roommate. Any day now he is going to get to meet his new baby brother or sister. He is anxiously awaiting. I went over one day and took this picture of him. He is a very laid back kid and adorable to boot. He thought he would just take a seat on his book box.

What a cutie!

And here is the Burton Family, with the new one soon to arrive. I have the honor of being the Godmother of the next Burton child!!! Don't worry, I will post pictures as soon as the little one arrives!

This is Sr. Susan and I. She is the first of the community called the Apostles of the Interior Life. This is the community connected with the Collaborators of Your Joy that I am involved in. We threw her a surprise 50th birthday party.

This was a picture taken at one of our Collaborator meetings. This is a dynamic group of girls that I have the privelege to call my friends!

Prayers Please

To those dear to my heart, I ask you to please pray for my grandparents. I have one grandfather who passed before I was born and I know he has been up above protecting and watching over his family. I have been fortunate to have known my other grandparents and each one of them has been influential on my life and faith.

I ask you to please pray for God's will for my grandparents' health.

Front and Center: Grandma Fix-it (Regina Dirnberger)


Front and Center: Papa Bob (Robert Emmett Carmody) and Grandma Jean.

I especially ask God to protect my Grandma Dirnberger as she is currently facing some medical/health difficulties.

I ask you to pray for my Grandma Carmody as she is suffering from excruciating back pain that has limited her mobility and has caused immense amount of discomfort.

And I ask you to pray for my Grandpa Carmody for his own well being and as he prays for my Grandma.

I thank you all for your prayers. Please know that I will also hold your prayer intentions close to my heart.

May we forever trust in the Lord, trust in His ways, and trust that His will is what we desire.
These individuals are the joy of my life, and I too entrust them into the Hands of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Snow Days...

Not one, but two snow days! I cannot believe it either. But there are some serious perks of living in southern Kansas City and work in Northern Kansas City when winter weather comes around. Although I must admit that I love every snow day I have had, whether deserved or not, I will probably be tired when June comes around and we will be making up 5+ days of school...but until then, cheers to days off!

Today Jenni and I ventured out to Shawnee Mission Park with Malachi. We hiked the trails, climbed the tower that overlooked the city, climbed upon fallen trees over the streams, and skated on the lake...don't worry, we took some precaution!

Here's a glance! It was great to be outdoors and enjoy the scenic beauty....

we climbed up a tower to overlook the countryside/city....

Titantic?

We came, we saw, we conquered (the tower)

Malachi following the leader


Just chillin'

and of course, we had to take a risk and walk and dance upon the frozen lake...don't worry, we took a few precautions!

Food Signatures! Check this out!

You are what you eat, so eat well.

A stupendous insight of civilizations past has now been confirmed by today's investigative, nutritional sciences. They have shown that what was once called 'The Doctrine of Signatures' was astoundingly correct. It now contends that every whole food has a pattern that resembles a body organ or physiological function and that this pattern acts as a signal or sign as to the benefit the food provides the eater.

Here is just a short list of examples of Whole Food Signatures:

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye…and science shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Eggplant, Avocadoes and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female – they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? .... It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Grapefruits, Oranges, and other citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like body cells. Today's research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

Eat right and live well! This is definitely God's design!

Lenten Reflection: Ash Wednesday

I will try to post after conferences tonight

The Start of Lent begins with a snow day....

Although I didn't expect it to actually occur, and although we will be adding another day to the end of the school year, I must admit I am happy to have another snow day. I can't believe we actually had school cancelled, but I am grateful!

Sorry mom, I guess I am one more up on ya!

With my day off, I plan to get caught up with school work, prep for parent-teacher conferences (which were supposed to start tonight), get caught up on things around the house, and hopefully make it like a retreat day by going to Mass and Adoration since it is the start of Lent.

This Lenten season I have a couple of resolutions. One of my goals is to post some of my Lenten reflections on my blog. My intention is not only to share these, but also to hold myself accountable to Lenten meditation. Hopefully I will begin that today....until then, may the Lord bless you and protect you this Lenten Season.

DODGEBALL!

Nothing like a blast from the past! I just joined a Dodgeball league through Catholic Challenge Sports. CCS is affiliated with the young adult group I am involved in. This past Saturday was the first of a 7 week league. I knew it would be fun, but I didn't realize how much fun it would be.

Playing the game brought me back to middle school. Then the congratulatory high fives afterwards brought me back to high school basketball games.

I guess what surprised me the most was the following two days where I could hardly walk! It is amazing what muscles the game of dodgeball requires!

I had a great time and look forward to the games ahead. I hope to have some action shots of my teammates and friends to post later in the season!

Play ball!

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TEACHER?

Some of these are more true for me than others, but for all those teachers out there....enjoy...this gave me a good laugh on Friday

Jeff Foxworthy's Take on Teachers

1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.

2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.

3. You walk into a store and hear the words 'It's Ms/Mr. _________' and know you have been spotted.

4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time or another.

5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes.

6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and prep period .

7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.

8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.

9. You want to slap the next person who says 'Must be nice to work 7 to 3 and have summers off.'

10. You believe chocolate is a food group.

11. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.

12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, 'Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.'

13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public.

14. You believe in aerial spraying of Ritalin.

15. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

16. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own children.

17. You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least five items!

18. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a 'good choice or a bad choice.'

19. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils

20. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer.