Merry Christmas!

Maria then wore her pjs outside to try out her new stilts before Mass.

Pop gave a serious and glowing art review on Maria's special gift for him.

Thomas is displaying a camp contributions.  All the boys were very excited for the increase in the camp fund today.

Charles helped Joseph build a Lego motorcycle set with 2 "guys".   It didn't leave Joseph's hand all day.

Cecilia's fireboat was a huge hit.

Despite the fact that it wasn't the historic gas mask he wanted, Anthony was ecstatic about this gift.  His adjustment to the region where King Tobacco reigns is now complete.  I just wish I had gotten a picture of him trying to eat his chocolate cigar and wear the gas mask at the same time.

You know your dad's in the Army if...

You ask if the "Kool-Aid" jody is on iTunes.

You wrap Christmas presents with duct tape.

(Please note we used festive red rather than our preferred OD green tape)

Any time you jump from something higher to something lower you yell, "AIRBORNE!"

My Brother is a Superstar!

He's the one celebrating Mass.  (You know how big sisters love to brag.)

Jingle Bell Fun

We are officially a road racing family. Yesterday all of us ran some version of the Southern Pines Jingle Bell Run/Egg Nog Jog in frigidly cold weather.  With snow flakes drifting over the runners at the 9am start, Maria, Anthony, Thomas and Bill took off while the other kids and I cheered them on.  Out of our family, Anthony finished the 5K first in 30 min, and Maria was only about 7 min behind him.  Maria especially worked hard for the race because Bill told her that if she didn't walk at all, she could have a banana split.  Our friend ran with her and encouraged her by saying, "C'mon Banana Split, you can do it!"

Thomas and Bill took longer because they ran the 10K (6.2 miles).  Thomas was one of only 6 kids between 1 and 15 to run it, and his training helped him keep a 10 min mile pace so he finished in just over an hour.  The best part was watching him sprint to the finish line so he could pass the runner ahead of him.

After our hardcore runners had finished their races, it was time for Charles, Cecilia, James and I to line up at the Egg Nog Jog start with our friends.  Sporting adjustable antlers and red noses from the cold, the little kids ran a quick lap and a half around the block--1/2 mile.  James got a sudden fit of nerves once we started, so he dragged his feet, looked worried, and helped me push Joseph in the baby jogger until he saw Bill on the sidelines.  Then his face lit up and he let go and ran as fast as he could to him.  Unfortunately, we were a half a block from the finish line (where I realized that a snow maker was contributing the snowflakes I had seen earlier) so he had a way to go before he was finally done and could slap hands (hooves?) with the Chick-fil-A cow.

Hair DO!

"Queen Crayola"

Another Failure

I love the flavor of pumpkin at Thanksgiving, but no one in our family prefers pumpkin pie.  More often we make a chocolate pecan or an apple pie for after dinner, so I came up with the idea of putting the pumpkin on the breakfast table in the form of empanadas de calabasas, yummy Mexican pumpkin turnovers which most of us enjoy when we are visiting my parents in California.

Unimpressed and even disgusted by last year's attempt, I decided to try another recipe for the empanadas today.  Last year I chose my recipe based on the anise seeds that are found in the bready part of this pan dulce.  I could only find one recipe that used anise, and I didn't look carefully at what else formed the dough to my deep regret.  In my mind, there is no food more disgusting than pie crust.  Flaky, dry and mostly flavorless, it is a revolting packaging in which to place sweet desserts.   The anise flavored recipe was nothing more than pie dough with pumpkin filling.  Yuck.

Today's recipe turned out better.  I looked for a dough which included yeast, hoping that I would avoid the pie dough recipes and find one for the soft, slightly sweet bread surrounding the creamy pumpkin.  With a little tweaking from the original recipe I ended up with creamy pumpkin filling in...a glorified pie crust.

Everyone was satisfied except me, so next year I will be searching out Yucca flour before I try again.
**********************************************************************************

Failure #2 Empanadas de Calabasas

(in case desperation makes me try this again)

Filling  Stir together 1 can of pumpkin, 1/2 C sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp gr. ginger, and 1/8 tsp cloves.

Dough  Stir together 2/3 C water, 1/4 C sugar, 1 tsp salt, 2 pkg dry yeast, 1/8 tsp baking powder, 2 generous pinches cinnamon, and 2 tsp anise seeds.  Blend in 1 1/2 C flour.  Stir in 3/4 C veg shortening and 1/8 C brandy.   Stir in remaining flour and let dough rest.


Preheat oven to 350.  Divide dough into 16 balls and roll into circles about 4" in diameter.  Put filling on one half and fold over, sealing with a fork.  Bake 15-20 min, or until golden brown.  Watch them carefully since they burn quickly.

Yes, he's homeschooled

James had the opportunity to sit right behind me when we went to Food Lion last night.  On the way there he made the most of my being close enough to hear him.

"I turned the light off when I closed the door!"
"I'm sitting near the window that opens."
"Can we get a fire engine cart when we get there?  Can we get one every time?"

On the way home he had less to say, but it was surely a weightier comment than the earlier ones.

"Hey, Mom." he said.  "Hippopotamic means fat."

Practice Run

It sure doesn't look like much!  Some customers came to "buy" Thomas' wares. He's still getting comfortable with salesmanship, but we're working on it.

Photo Finish

If you lack for something better to do, you can watch me cross the finish line of the Army 10 miler again and again over at ASI photo. I'm on the left in a light blue running shirt and one of the few who has the energy to show excitement about being done. Maybe I could have run faster....

Action Sports International

Christmas in November--lists

Why is it so hard to compile Christmas lists?  Here's what we've come up with.

Rachel gives to Michele

• Mass
• From A Monastery Kitchen Cookbook

Bill gives to Juliana

• ping pong paddles (sandpaper kind) and balls
• P90X resistance band workout kit--3 bands, light, med, heavy (amazon.com)

Thomas gives to Alan L.

• $$ for camp
• camera, video camera, lego mindstorms, retro rock cd

Anthony gives to John

• $$ for camp x 4
• WWII gas mask (available on Ebay for a reasonable price)
• See's candy chocolate cigars
• blue/red/white Lego rosary (google etsy memento moose lego rosary)

Maria gives to Theresa

• stilts
• Lego "small car" set
• timex watch with alarm and timer
• blue/white Lego rosary

Charles gives to Doug

• $$ for camp
• baseball cards
• Lego "small car", "king keychain", "Sea Jet"
• stilts
• green Lego rosary (google etsy memento moose lego rosary)

Cecilia gives to Gregory

• roller blades
• timex watch with timer and alarm 
• baseball cards
• Playmobil set with octopus
• stilts
• green and yellow Lego rosary

James gives to Laurence

• roller blades
• Playmobil fire engine
• hotwheels
• Viking Legos
• nerf gun
• blue Lego rosary

Joseph gives to Marc

• Lego police guy
• Any Lego guy
• motorcycle

Trick or Treat

St. Wenceslas and St. Margaret of Scotland

Our Lady of Guadelupe and St. Juan Diego

St. John the Baptist and St. Longinus

St. George

St. Wenceslas' beard

Army 10 miler

I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! 


Or in the words of St. Paul:  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Here is a picture of Christie, Michelle, and me (freshly showered) about to go to the Metro for a 7:00 am train.  Hmmmm, somehow we forgot to take a picture of that.

Ok, here we are about drop off our stuff and head to the start line.  Notice how brightly the moon is shining over the Pentagon.  Oh, yeah, it's illegal to take pictures at the Pentagon.

Well, here is a picture of me on the race route smiling for the camera because every time I thought, "Why did I think this was fun?"  I would see a photographer and smile, and then the smile would grow because I realized that I was really doing this.  Ooops, race pictures won't be available until Wednesday.  

So here are the memories I'll keep and share with you and hope you can see what I see:

Michelle in a pink shirt and black pants with zippy pink stripes ahead of me with a determined look on her face moving through gaps in the runners.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep up with her.

Christie in her red hat and green shirt calmly jogging up from nowhere to run beside me, looking like this whole thing was so not a big deal.

The fall leaves on the trees around the Kennedy Center which was the last DC sight I remember seeing along the race route.

21000 backsides

Being in a river of people streaming downhill which made my stomach drop when I realized I'd be in the river coming back up at mile 7.

Someone sitting on the side of a bridge offering shots of beer at mile 8.  The smell was nauseating.

The kind face of the grandfather who talked me through when I was at my weariest and then told me to go ahead because I could run faster.  Thank you.

The last steep uphill at mile 9 (an on-ramp?) and how far away the paratrooper balloon at the Pentagon looked and the solid wall of people between me and the finish line.

The excited sound of Bill's voice saying, "Wow, you did it!  I'm so proud of you!  Great job!" when I called him right after I finished.

The happy and tired looks on the faces of my friends when we realized that we had done it.

Official race times here.

Names of Mary Quilt

I started this quilt because I was inspired by the panel of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It grew from a vague piece of an idea; there wasn't a lot of planning involved.  But each fabric ended up with special meaning and suggesting a name of Mary to be embroidered on it.

Maria says it looks like Our Lady standing in a rose garden on an island in the middle of the sea with the stars shining all around.

From the center the names are Our Lady of Guadalupe (not embroidered), Mystical Rose, Rose of Sharon, Star of the Sea, and Queen of Heaven.  This weekend I'll be giving it to our newest goddaughter--Abigail Sharon.

Pictures speak louder than words

Does anyone else think it looks like the guardian angel is going to push him into the river?

Overheard

"...As long as we don't get sent to Ft. Belvoir.  They have all those homeschoolers with, like, 20 kids and those big vans...."

Growing with the Saints

"A" in Socialization

Anthony with his buddy Augustine (Gus).  

Homeschool recess

Joseph calls this "my puddle"

Christmas in September

 

Thank you, John!

Carmen gives to Alan C.

Alan L. gives to Thomas

Victoria gives to Jonathan

Marc gives to Joseph

Chrysostom gives to Patrick

Catherine gives to Stephen

Michele gives to Rachel

Doug gives to Charles

Jonathan gives to Victoria

Monica gives to Isabel

Patrick gives to Chrysostom

John gives to Anthony

Theresa gives to Maria

Alan C. gives to Carmen

Isabel gives to Monica

Gregory gives to Cecilia

Juliana gives to Bill

Stephen gives to Catherine

Laurence gives to James

Paula gives to Naomi

Naomi gives to Paula

Rachel gives to Michele

Bill gives to Juliana

Thomas gives to Alan L.

Anthony gives to John

Maria gives to Theresa

Charles gives to Doug

Cecilia gives to Gregory

James gives to Laurence

Joseph gives to Marc

Untapped Resources

Right now there is a focus on earning enough money for the boys to go to summer camp next year.  All spare income is set aside as seed money for Thomas' apron business.  Anthony has asked all our friends and neighbors to save steel and aluminum cans so he can recycle them for money.  And the 3 boys put all of their allowance into the camp jar as soon as they get it.  They have even talked about letting me cut their hair so that the haircut money could go there too.  There is almost no discretionary spending.

Recently, I walked into the bathroom to find Anthony at the sink with a handkerchief around a loose tooth which he wiggled in earnest.  There was blood all over the sink, counter and mirror.   Concerned, I asked him what he was doing.  Here is his reply:  "Remember how I spent that 50 cents on the snow cone today?  Well, if I get this tooth out, the Tooth Fairy will  bring me 50 cents tonight, and I can put it back in the camp  jar."  

I think I won't share that some people sell their kidneys....

Labor Day Letterboxing

Today we took a trip down memory lane. We threw the kids and lunch in the car and drove up to Duke in search of some letterboxes and just to see how things have changed in the last 15 years. In the Duke gardens we had no luck finding the box, but we did have a picnic and some fun feeding the fish and ducks and....

West campus hasn't changed much, but we did enjoy these big swings that they have added outside the Bryan Center.

Don't you want one of those for your backyard? We all do too!

To our delight, James found the Happy Hippo Hitchhiker's Hostel box, his first. He stamped our book, and once again we remembered that we need our own stamp to leave our mark. Any suggestions?

And I promise, I am sending the still camera to get fixed this week.

Therapy fund

James is a kid who is perpetually worried, whether it's time for bed and the monsters might get him while he's upstairs alone or it's time to get up and face the breakfast table.

This morning, in a typical busy mom moment, I absent mindedly said "yes" to some question he asked me, brows knit in anxiety.

Later, I found out that I had said "yes" to "Do pineapples rock?" when he asked me a second time. I took the pineapple from the counter and put it on the table, showing him that the bottom of the pineapple is not even so when I first set it down, it rocks. He drew back in fear, pulling his plate and cup off the table to get as far from this fearsome fruit as possible. Totally confused, I tried over and over to explain how a pineapple rocks, putting it closer and closer to him, but his terror was palpable as he stared wide eyed at the bromeliad's bottom.

Because the real question was, "Do pineapples WALK?"

Charles made his First Holy Communion!

Charles receiving his First Holy Communion from Uncle Chrysostom.

Charles and Gregory

Does Ping have this many cousins?

What a beautiful day.

+ Our Baby

A few weeks ago we found out that our little one had died. Last week I delivered our 3 oz baby boy who was perfect and amazingly small. Since the twins are at camp but wanted to see their little brother, I made this short video before we buried him.

Yesterday's Cuteness

Flashback...Wednesday

I'm cleaning out the photofiles so the computer won't weigh so much when we move it. ;)

Look at what I found from March 2006.

Sustainment Ball--March 2010

Thanks, Catherine, for loaning me the dress!

Feast of SAINT Damien of Moloka'i

Yes, we are celebrating!

I wish I had the camera to show you the lovely display.  Think luau....palm fronds and plumeria....a lei for each of us....a tablecloth with brightly colored hibiscus blooms on the picnic table in the back...Braddah Iz on the stereo...fresh pineapple and coconut...an imu with a delicious smelling pig cooking right now in the back yard (Bill dug the pit before he left).

Well, that's what I'm going to visualize as we eat our crockpot b-b-q beef burgers and coconut-pineapple cake after soccer tonight.

Happy Feast Day, Saint Damien!

PS Due to the fact that my husband is gone and I'm pregnant, I've just realized that yesterday was his feast. 

April showers...

bring May flowers. 

Or actually, March showers bring December flowers.  Or looking at recent history, they could turn out to be January flowers.  Or really just one flower. 

I hope you get the idea.

Crazy Horse

Because one mountain sculpture just isn't enough, on the same day we went to Mt. Rushmore, we also drove to the Crazy Horse Monument.  This sculpture is impressive in a different way than Rushmore.  It is on a much larger scale and is being carved so it can be viewed from 3 sides.  However, after 50 years, this is how finished it is--not very.  It would have been nice to be able to get closer to so we could appreciate the scale.  From this distance, it appeared smaller that Mt. Rushmore, and so for me, a little disappointing.  Maybe it would have compared better if we had seen it first.

The model of the sculpture is on display at the visitor's center, and I enjoyed the movement and energy of it.  Crazy Horse is sitting astride a horse with its neck arched and tossing its mane in the wind, and he is pointing straight ahead.  The markings on the base of the mountain show where the horse's ear, face and eye will be carved.  

There aren't any pictures of the end of our trip because it was all in the van.  The day after Rushmore, we  reluctantly drove away and headed west to Wyoming.  We took a quick 2 hour detour north so we could all say that we had been Montana.  In Montana we saw a gas station with very clean bathrooms and a hand made wooden tractor trailer toy with a flat bed and 3 construction vehicles on the back.  James immediately asked for and got it for his birthday at the end of April.   

Two hours south and back into Wyoming we saw a lot of nothing for most of the day.  Once we passed a town which had a sign that read, "Lost Springs, WY  Population:  1".  Mr. One-Man-Show had a nice large farmhouse, barn, outbuildings and a gas pump which was more than many of the towns we saw.  

The weather was much cooler, so our outside picnic plans were changed to inside the rest stops.  We found that less than ideal on a variety of levels.  That night we made it to Nebraska where we were greeted the next morning by SNOW.  It was hard to believe that a few days before we were hiking and wishing for short sleeves.  

The final day was just driving through the snowstorm and arriving fairly late at home, happy to see our own bathrooms and beds.  

Mount Rushmore!

Day 3-  On the most beautiful day we had seen in months, a quick drive from the Air Force Base took us to the world's best art museum for boys--Mount Rushmore.  One piece of art.  Larger than life.  To get a good look at it you take a hike.  Carved by dynamite and guys suspended in midair using jackhammers.  And...

in the museum this fun activity will have all your kids lining up for more.  Choose the video clip of your favorite part of Mount Rushmore being sculpted.  Press down on the dynamite plunger and BOOM!!!! watch part of the mountain explode away and a shower of granite fall to the earth.  We probably could have stayed there all day.

Bill especially enjoyed the sculpture and it was hard for us to leave for lunch.  Bill and Thomas, Anthony and Maria went back to the mostly empty park that evening to see it illuminated.  

Beautiful.  I hope we make it back some day.

The Badlands--Day 2

I had a wonderful time riding next to Bill across South Dakota.  The kids were happily engaged listening to Bud, Not Buddy, and Bill and I could chat and watch the terrain go by.  I thought South Dakota was very interesting...when I looked up.  When I looked ahead or out of a side window, there was flat flat flat as far as the eye could see.  Western Kansas has nothing on South Dakota.  However, if I looked up, there were thousands of birds, migrating in paths like bird interstates.  

When we first saw the birds, they looked like smoke after a candle has been blown out, very black and in defined lines.  On closer inspection we could see the hundreds of individual dots--small birds--which made up the lines of smoke.  And as I followed these lines with my eyes, I could see them extend miles into the  distance like long snaking rivers in the sky.    On the other side of the van were different migrating birds which traveled in small flying Vs like geese, but these Vs twisted and turned like ribbons being blown away in the wind.   

Almost at the end of the day, we came to the Badlands.  Imagine traveling west in a covered wagon, rejoicing over the easy going on the flats of South Dakota and then being confronted with this.  The water erosion here has created colorful, deep and narrow canyons which extend for miles and miles.  The kids were happy to get out of the van to look and then wander through the visitor's center for some wiggle time.  I would love to go back and camp and hike there...when everyone is potty trained.  

Spring Break Trip: Day 1--An Inauspicious Start(er)

ETD:  9:00 am
ATD:  4:45 pm

Super Bowl Sunday

In the interest of having something here besides radio silence, I'm borrowing from Simple Woman's Daybook again....

Outside my window...a limitless supply of fluffy snowflakes has fallen all day, with zero accumulation on the ground

I am thinking...what a fine babysitter Thomas has grown up to be....also how much I dread the emotional side of our next move.  Which friends will I hold on to?  Who will become Christmas card friends?  Who will be my friend and our kids' friends and our family's hanging out together friends in our new house?  Would you guess that Bill's pre-transportation brief (meaning get ready to move your stuff) is on Tues?

I am thankful for... art week!  We bumped our painting day and museum trip from last week to this one, and we're all excited for a February field trip

I am remembering...or trying to...the funny things that Joseph says and does.  When he is in a good mood, he will let James hug him and he will hug back as much as James wants.  When he is taken by surprise, he quite clearly says, "sTOP IT!"

I am hoping... that in the morning, Cecilia's eyes are still shining about getting to read "the Little Red Hen" all by herself

On my mind...what does Charles really think?  Does he get enough attention?

Noticing that...The twins aren't little boys anymore.  Thomas started combing his hair with a little gel this week.  Anthony was grossed out by the Super Bowl cheerleaders. 

Pondering these words..."He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said  to them, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? " --Mark 8

From the kitchen... Super bowl Sunday fare: b-b-q beef burgers, chips, brownies

Around the house... little people, newly perky after a week of high fevers, are starting to leave little eddies of mess behind them as they return to their normal life, and we are so grateful

One of my favorite things...watching kids fight over a good book.  Maria read an entire book this morning while she was home sick from church, and still fought to have a turn for it in the afternoon.

A picture thought:

Image of a modern childhood

Joseph recognized the earbud hanging out of my coat pocket while I stood at the kitchen counter eating a pre-run snack and reading the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum calendar absorbedly.  He immediately put it in his ear and tapped on my leg until I looked down to see him indicate that he wanted me to turn it on.  When next I looked, he and Thomas were eye to eye, enjoying the music together. 

Maria's Birthday

Maria does not eat birthday cake.  It just doesn't appeal to her.  Even at her first birthday, there are pictures of her crying because we had given her cake.  God bless her.  I am relieved of any pastry chef cake-master stress and we all get to enjoy some other scrumptious dessert.  This year she chose California style cheese cake.

For her birthday she got a Rip-stick which, as she recently told me with pride, she can ride around the the basement 104 times.  Her doll received a few pretty outfits and we gave her some books, including Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo. 

Grrrr, blogging

Yes, I know that the layout in the Christmas post is all messed up.  And I know that it is nearly a month late.  And I know that a child has had a birthday since then.  And there is no banner photo.

These frustrations are not what led me to change the background to black however.  I like the contrast against the photos.

And I'm not going to fix anything right now.  I'm going running.  However, later when my little people are snoozing quietly and my husband is writing a history paper, I plan to sneak upstairs to the computer with the keyboard that works and all the pictures on the harddrive and I hope to staighten everything out.

Christmas

Christmas eve morning shone bright and clear as we drove into downtown Leavenworth for Mass. It was our first visit to St. Joseph's, the first Carmelite parish in America and a distractingly beautiful church. The ceiling is painted a rich blue with silver stars so you feel wrapped in Our Lady's mantle the whole time you are there. Fr. Chris had a funny homily reflecting on Charlie Brown Christmas and the Nativity, and the kids all retold it many times.

In the afternoon, an icy snow was beginning to fall during our drive to the Nativity play at the post chapel. The kids all enjoyed their roles as shepherds, angels and a wise man (Thomas) and boomed out the carols with the rest of the congregation.

On Christmas morning I understood for the first time the excellent description "blanket of snow."  When I peered out into the front yard, I could not tell the difference between yards and roads and sidewalks, and even some cars were up covered to the tops of their tires.  In inches it was only a modest 6, but the Kansas wind made deep drifts in many places. 

With the help of a neighbor with a truck and snow-blade, Bill dug us out it time to make it to Mass.  There were about 30 brave souls, most of whom--like us--had people scheduled to help in some ministry that morning.  It was a quiet, anti-climactic experience compared to other years, but I reflected that the first Christmas was probably pretty similar until the angel choirs arrived. :)

The kids had opened their presents before Mass, so when we got home and back into pjs there was Ripstiking and scootering and generally merriment around the basement and board games once people were worn out.   We had some friends over for dessert and cheer in the evening before we all fell gratefully into bed.

Quote of the Day:  Everybody stop micromanging him!  --Anthony, frustrated with all the help Joseph was getting opening his gifts.