Burning the Candle at Both Ends: June 2008

This past week has been perhaps one of the busiest in recent memory. Starting with Wednesday May28 straight through June 1. We had Becky's Confirmation on the 28th. A beautiful, grace-filled day ending up with a dinner at home with family and close friends. The yummy dinner was provided by my very generous brother, brought in from a local establishment. Here is a picture of Rebecca and her sponsor and one of the whole crew with the Bishop and our pastor.

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The very next day, we had a new roof installed! By 7:30 in the morning the roof was literally crawling with workers ripping off layers of old roof, repairing damage, and laying a lovely new roof. The funny thing about a new roof, especially when you've lived with leaks for a while, is that the homeowner is thrilled, but not one other person notices, or actually cares! For all that money spent, I would love it if just one person would come up to me and say "Wow, who did that beautiful roof? Can I have their number?" Still waitng.

The day of the roof also happened to be Princess Hannah's fifth birthday. Something about turning five makes a child who just the day before seemed like an overgrown toddler suddenly transform into one of the big kids! I find it very sad that as soon as she turned five, talk of what life would be like at six had already begun! We learn too late to savor whatever age we are at. How do you convince a five year old not to wish it all away?

Jessica, who would be graduating on Sunday had what her school calls "Senior Sendoff" this day as well. It is an evening cruise around Manhattan which includes dinner, DJ and danicng as well as socializing with friends and faculty. She looked great in a dress we got very reasonably priced in a store called Forever21. After the cruise, Jessica and a group of eight of her friends came back here to hang out til about 3 A.M. They built a fire in the outdoor fireplace, had soda and snacks and hopefully continued to add to the many great memories they've built over their years together in high school. One of the boys here was to be giving the valedictory address at graduation and he was more than a little nervous. He did an awesome job! Here are some pictures of Jess before and during the cruise. She is posing with our former youth minister, who now teaches Theology at her High School.

With so much else going on that week, I decided to forgo a kiddie party for Hannah and celebrate her birthday the next night at our weekly family Rosary night. It was like a party anyway, and she had a blast with her dearest friends. I can't leave out her Godfather, who makes up for her lack of living grandparents by spoiling her rotten! I mean, who else but a doting grandparent (or Godfather) would get a five-year-old a gumball machine? When I started to express some mild disapproval the response was " That's what Hannah said she wanted". I told him next Christmas she wants a pony! Hannah is so blessed to not only have a Godfather who spoils her and loves her, but who genuinely PRAYS for her. I guess I can put up with a little gum-chewing.

Saturday morning, bright and early, Dan and I finished work on a project for our diocese we've been involved with. One day, I will write more about it...but in a nutshell, it is a DVD for use in pre-cana programs. We were asked to be interviewed and filmed as witnesses for how NFP (Natural Family Planning) can work in marriage. The DVD is very professional and handles the subject matter with dignity. I didn't realize until after filming was done that the hope is that this film will be used on a larger scale than just in our diocese. I'm glad I didn't know that..it would have made me much more nervous than I already was! We just saw the final cut last night, and I think it came out great... hopefully it will be an encouragement to couples to learn more about NFP.

On to Sunday... Jessica's graduation day. It began with a Mass at 9 A.M. It wasn't easy, but all eight of us were dressed and out the door by 8:30. The Mass was such a wonderful way to begin Graduation day. I wept through most of it! We had a bit of time in between Mass and the actual ceremony, so we stopped home. Our thirteen-year-old and her friend babysat for Thomas, Hannah and their two little cousins while the rest of us went back to the arena for Graduation. It was long reading out about 480 names and their accomplishments, but after four years of hard work, I think each and every one of the graduates deserved that moment in the spotlight! Once again, I cried throughout much of this time (except for when I dozed off!)Afterward we picked up the crew who was waiting at home and went out to dinner to cap off a very blessed day. Here is a shot of Jessie and her boyfriend of three years, Tom. They actually look alike. He is a gem!