Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Happy Birthday Dan!!!

Thanking God today for the blessing of my dear husband... not just a blessing to me, but to so many who love him! Have a great day, Dan

The weekend in pictures

It was a very full weekend here. Dan, Ben, and our dear friend Joe hiked up Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. They left Friday and returned early Sunday evening, just in time to enjoy the end of the ninth annual Friar Supplier picnic. Friday night I hosted our family Rosary here and Saturday I spent the second half of the day at a friend''s block party. Sunday began with 8AM Mass then preparing for the picnic. I baked plain brownies, pecan brownies, apple crisp, and I made keilbasa and sauerkraut in the crockpot. The picnic for us ended after the last dish was dried and chair stacked! We got home around nine!  Lots of fun and food with lots of great people!

First some pictures from the hike. I am jealous because they got to see scenery like this:

 

 

This reminds me of the first moonwalk . They got to plant a flag at the top of Mt. Washington?

 

After a loooong hike (over nine hours round trip!)

 

On to the picnic.  Brother Mariano entertained the children with an Oreo cookie game.

 

It involved sticking the cream side of the oreo on your forehead and attempting to get it in your mouth without using your hands!  That's why it was a game for the kids!

 

Here is Fr. Luke introducing the nine new postulants. They came from all over the country... California, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey, Nebraska.  What a great bunch of guys! Pray for them as they pursue their vocations! They just arrived last week.

 

Brother Mariano entertaining again. He must have been a street performer in his life before joining the Friars!

 

My friend Kim (#6 on the way!) with two of the Sisters of the Renewal.  Such joy!

 

More joy!

 

Did I mention there was music?  I have to say, this was the part of the day I was dreading. In past years, Ryan Barrett would be accompanying the Friars on his guitar. His absence this year left a huge void for those of us who love and miss him.

 

 

I love this picture. Three sisters enjoying the music.

 

The fun went on after dark as the teens were playing a game. It looks weird, but they love it.. I think it's called Ninja.

 

I'll end with this shot. My daughter Becky in the middle of her two buddies. Getting punchy at the end of the day.

One Halloween costume decided...

I think I'll paint her orange and she'll go as a jack-o-lantern!

We've been celebrating again!!!

The month of June is always a busy one around here.  It begins on the sixteenth with my birthday (29 again!) and then  we have Jessie's birthday on the 17th, Father's Day in there somewhere, and on the 21st, our wedding anniversary (23 years ) Of course I know the math doesn't work out there, what with me being 29 and all, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

This weekend we have a few things planned. Continuing work on one of my birthday gifts (details in an upcoming post ).  On Saturday we will be heading down to the beach, to the town where Dan grew up.  His mom, Claire was a Third Order Franciscan, and her community has purchased a statue of St. Francis which they will be dedicating tomorrow afternoon outside the convent of our old parish.  We are planning to attend with all six of our kids; Dan's sister will be there with her two little ones; and my sister will also be there.  A simple ceremony followed by coffee and cake and hopefully sharing some fond memories of a truly wonderful and holy woman whose life was cut short at age 62 by an aneurism. She is greatly missed, but we are honored to be included in this kind gesture by her former community.

Saturday morning Jessie and Hannah are due at the dress rehearsal for their ballet.  Big sister will drive little sister to the statue commemoration afterward and we will all have dinner with my newlywed niece and her husband who live in that neck of the woods.

Sunday will start, of course, with Mass. Then its back to work on that gift! We break at two for the ballet, but I suspect work resumes after the ballet. I am so exicted to see this performance. Jess has been rehearsing like mad. She is either working or rehearsing these days. I can't wait to see the results of all that hard work.  Hannah will be dancing as well. Her group is supposed to  be dolls... cute with pigtails and pinafores.  The director of the ballet school they attend creates an original performance every year... especially geared to the abilities of her students. It is a very special, one-of-kind show. Not so much a "recital" as one continuous production with a loose plot and beautiful classical music throughout. I can't wait!

In addition to the special events of this past month, we've kept up with the usuals... track (Thomas's relay team took a silver and a gold in the regional championship); ballet; homeschool stuff; new job for Ben; summer plans (we are taking a trip this year);  and somehow we need to plan next year's schooling!

Happy 19th to my amazing girl!!

 

And Happy Father's Day/Anniversary to the best Dad/Husband I could have ever hoped for!

 

A Birthday in the House

I always thought five years old was one of my favorite ages for our kids.  It is time where you really see  grown-up ideas taking shape  by their thought provoking questions. Yet, they are still young enough to be silly and goofy, and giggle under the covers in the morning, and get scared by a bad dream, and need hugs in the middle of the night.

So far, six is alot of fun, too.  I may have to change up my favorite age! (Of course this may also have something to do with having no more fifth brithdays to celebrate here, since Hannah is the youngest and God has yet to bless us with another) So this morning, she makes a grand entrance into the kitchen at 6:30, expecting some kind of fanfare.  Yes, we decorated the kitchen with balloons and streamers late last night, so we delivered there. Then come the questions:

"Does Daddy have to work on my birthday?" (yes)

"Does Becky have school today, on my birthday?" (yes, again)

"What am I having for my birthday breakfast?"  ( ummm, cinnamon toast, again?)

"What about lunch?" ( Mommy can't think that far ahead at 6:30 A.M.!)

"Who is coming over for my birthday?"  (What, a party, too?!! )

It is little harder to deliver on some of these birthday wishes. No, the bank Daddy works at doesn't close for your birthday and schools are open today, too.  I have my work cut out for me for next year: I need to get a banking holiday as well as schools closed. And while I'm at it, I may as well suspend mail delivery next May 29th, too!  If only I could control the weather. You see,  this year it is  pouring rain and I'm quite sure I will be questioned on why it is raining on  this sacred day!

 

People who are shocked at the size of our family obviously don't know Hannah! While our fifth was the icing on the cake, I always say that Hannah is the cherry on top! I couldn't imagine life around here without that smile, could you?

Happy Birthday Sweetie! We Love You!

 

Busy Weekend

We have  had a very busy weekend here, giving new meaning to  the title of this blog! But as the saying goes... it was all good! Very good. 

Friday morning kicked off the weekend on a rather sad note, as I attended the funeral of a dear friend's mother.  It was a truly beautiful Mass and a gathering of faithful friends were in attendance. And although these occasions get more and more difficult as my own losses increase, I left the funeral with a sense of renewal as my mind and heart were again turned toward our true purpose on this Earth: To help each other on our path to Heaven.

We began our weekend with our Friday night family Rosary group.  Each Friday we do a pot luck dinner at the home of one of the families in the group. Since it was Memorial Day weekend, BBQ was the menu.   The hosting family lives in a different parish and  they invited several families they knew of who might be interested in starting up their own local group. What really touched me that night was that many of the new children didn't know how to say a Hail Mary, much less pray a five decade Rosary.  But , they were so eager to participate and learn.  They volunteered to lead prayers and answer questions without fear of forgetting the words or getting something wrong. If only we adults could have this kind of child-like faith  and innocence in our own prayer lives! A truly spirit-filled and beautiful night was had by all.

We left bright and early Saturday morning for the wedding of the oldest daughter of our dear friends, Susan and Paul.  What a beautiful Mass!  It was concelebrated by several priests of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, who also provided some of the music. Bride and groom looked so happy, as you can see from the pictures.  A joyous day with lots of love and time spent with good friends. 

We arrived home mid-afternoon on Sunday after picking up three of the children on the way home who had stayed at my brother's house.  I immediately went into "clean -up -people -are- coming- over " mode to get everything ready for an impromptu barbecue on Monday.  Most of our friends have rather large families, so inviting several families over amounted to sixty-eight people all totalled! Phew! We had a blast... lots of kids, lots of food, lots of good conversation. We ended the night with guitars around the fire as we usually do. Oh, and a spooky story to boot!

So, here are some pictures of the wedding. I am taking notes, as we are now officially less than a year away from our own oldest daughter's big day!

These are for you, Susan! 

Brother and sister of the bride looking handsome and gorgeous!

 

Youngest sister as Flower girl looking like a princess!

 

Paul waking his lovely daughter down the aisle!

 

Getting ready to give away the bride. But not before a few words of wisdom were spoken to the soon -to -be- married couple! I wonder what he said???

 

If you are wearing a grey robe, please come and get in the picture!
 

Dancing with Dad.

 

Dad, what's in the bag?

 

A few tears as Paul produces a glass slipper from the bag!

 

Hugs from his own Cinderella!

 

(And Susan, you did a masterful job dodging the camera! I didn't have any good pictures of you!  Watch out next time, my friend!)

How I finally learned to enjoy Mother's Day...

 

I always thought it was strange that on the days leading up to Mother's Day, I felt a dark cloud gathering over me.  My mood would continue to deteriorate until by the time the day got here, I would  end up in tears in my room.  Please don't think ill of my husband or children for this, for they have always done their best to make the day special for me. But, somehow, I would always find a way to ruin their best efforts.  I had to do some real soul searching to figure out why I couldn't just let myself enjoy the day and accept the cards and gifts graciously. 

For one thing, I discovered that I had not fully healed from losing my own mother many years ago. As a matter of fact, she died five months after I gave birth to our first daughter, back in 1988.  I will never forget that Mother's Day.  It was my first. It was her last.  She had just given me the one and only Mother's Day card I would ever get from her. She said to me  "It's your first Mother's Day. And... " her voice trailed off. We both completed her thought silently.  "This isn't right."  Her eyes welled up and it was the first and only time during her nine month illness that I saw her tears.  She was a pillar of strength for our family to the end.

For the next few Mother's Days when I would be buying cards for Dan's mom I would would torture myself by choosing the card I would send my mom if she were still here.  It is pretty pathetic standing in the Hallmark store crying as you choose a card you have no intention of buying.  But I see this as a behavior that fueled the dark cloud gathering.

I think I felt that I couldn't let myself enjoy Mother's Day and so I allowed my mood to darken to the point that no matter what anyone did for me, I wouldn't let myself accept it.  One year, something happened that really ticked me off.   I barely remember what it was, but I think I trained my family into feeling they couldn't please me on this day, no matter what they did. And maybe for that one year they gave up trying. All I remember is grabbing my purse and the car keys and leaving... like a big crybaby! I didn't even tell them where I was going.

I drove around for a bit and ended up in a big Barnes and Noble bookstore. The kind with the coffee shop and couches everywhere. And music and DVD section.  I let myself wander for a while and get a grip on myself.  I had a nice cup of coffee while reading my favorite magazine. I bought myself a few books.  I kept trying to reconcile myself with this day that was going to haunt me every year for the rest of my life. It finally hit me that there would be no Mother's Day for me to celebrate if it weren't for my husband and children! A light bulb went on and I decided then and there that I could turn this day around and make it a day for me to appreciate them for helping me become the woman and mother I am. I decided to get each of them a small gift. Was it to show them my appreciation or to ease my guilt at my childish outburst?  You decide.

When I got home, Dan was in my garden hooking up a new sprinkler he had gotten me and a new bench was out there beckoning me to sit and just enjoy the serenity of my yet to be planted vegetable garden.  There was stil enough of the day left to salvage and in the end it was the first Mother's Day since 1988 that I actually enjoyed!  It  only took me about  sixteen years , but I had arrived.

I was reading some of this discussion  going on at Faith and Family live and I see I was not alone with having issues over Mother's day.  I pray for all the moms involved in the discussion there and those reading this rather lengthy post, that we can all realize that Mother's Day is but ONE DAY out of a whole year. Keep it in perspective.  If feeling neglected on Mother's Day is a problem, then maybe feeling neglected all year is the problem; or maybe our expectations need some adjusting; or maybe there is something in our past that is hanging us up on this day.  Try and figure it out, because Mother's Day comes back every year. Try and find some joy in it! 

This year, I really soaked in the pampering that came my way.  But even if I didn't get it, I think I would have been fine.  I don't want all this attention on one day out of the year and the rest of the year be left wondering if I am appreciated at all! So I made a mental list of all the unsolicited kindnesses I have received from my family recently.  It wouldn't fill a book, but it was satisfiying nonetheless. From daughters who readily take over driving and babysitting resposibilities, to sons who tidy their rooms without being asked and critique compliment my cooking, to a husband who brings me coffee each morning and prays with me before leaving for work.  I'd say I am pretty appreciated around here. I don't need a Hallmark card to tell me. But they are nice, too!

Wordless Wednesday...Engagement Party Edition

 

 

 

 

Party on...

It seems we just go from one  party to the next in this family. Just when you think it's safe to go back to life as you once knew it before the holidays, your oldest daughter turns 21! How did that happen? On January 4, 1988 we began this amazing journey called "parenthood" when Katie joined the family. Now, twenty-one years later, we are planning her wedding!  Right now, Typepad is being finicky with allowing me to do things like upload a picture of the happy couple, but you can see them here, for now.

Oh, and for the record, not only can't I upload pictures to my blog, I can't seem to change out my Christmas theme either!  So, we may be looking at those red strips , snowflakes, and holly for a bit longer.

UPDATE: Right after I posted this entry I tried one last time (after much wasted time over the weekend) to change my theme and by some miracle it worked! Now I will attempt a photo...

Drumroll please!

Not this time... oh well!

 

Another Contest

Over at  O Night Divine Mary Ellen is having another lapbook giveaway. This one is on The Twelve Days of Christmas. Since I posted on my blog about it, I get to be entered twice!  Yippee! I never win anything, so I need all the help I can get!

Hope everyone had a joyous Christmas!  We had a wonderful couple of days with just the children on Christmas Eve; my brother, sister and their families on Christmas Day; and friends over on Christmas Night. Actually our celebration begins early on Christmas Eve morning when we all go to IHOP for breakfast to mark Ben's birthday. We were there by 8:00 and stuffed ourselves on pancakes, omelettes and hash browns! Up until this year Ben would always order something like chicken tenders and fries for breakfast, but this year he went with the more traditional pancakes and bacon. I guess now that he is sixteen, no more kiddy food for his birthday breakfast. That was sad to me!

 Hannah was an angel in our Christmas Eve children's pageant and she was absolutely adorable. Over forty children particiapted this year, so you can imagine the potential for chaos. But it all went off without a hitch. After Mass we came home to birthday dinner... Ben's choice. This year he chose bacon cheeseburgers and twice-baked potaotes. I felt like the Iron Chef "today's secret ingredient is..... BACON!" (the Iron Chef is a cooking competition show on the Food Network) Well this wouldn't have been my preference for Christmas Eve dinner, but the birthday person traditionally chooses the dinner menu on their special day.  On my birthday the choice is the menu at the cafe down the road from our house!

Well, today I am off to a baby shower for a cousin and it will be nice to visit with some family we don't normally see at the holidays for a change. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!