Rest in Peace Grandfather Abbot

If you know my brother Chrysostom or of him, please take a moment to pray for his community and the respose of the soul of abbot emeritus Fr. Parker who died on Jan 3.  When I first came to know the Norbertines, St. Michael's was only a priory and Fr. Abbot Parker was the abbot.  I remember him as a strong and quiet man in person and as an orator with a strong voice and a firm purpose at Mass.  When he retired, we sometimes jokingly referred to him as "Grandfather Abbot" which I just loved because of the affection that inspired it.  Here is a link to the story about his passing and there is a more complete one on  EWTN.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord...

Do you see what I see?

Kansas... Kansas...so funny. After hearing a variety of opinions of it, Thomas and I went and took pictures to try to capture the spirit of Kansas, but I don't feel that photo essays are my gift. Let's see....imagine this....as you leave the interstate and drive towards Leavenworth on a sunny July day, you wind your way down a 2 lane road through fields of corn which bring to mind "South Pacific" and the line "I'm as corny as Kansas in August..." Past Victorian houses on 10 acres of land backed by woods and mountains and over the train tracks where you've just heard the Atchison-Topeka-Santa Fe engine blow its horn as it pulled 72 cars of oil by--as counted by your enthusiastic 6 year old. You wind back and forth between Missouri and Kansas, crossing and recrossing the Platte River, until you finally drive over a blue trestle bridge and see the gate for Ft. Leavenworth on your right.

To the left, only a few blocks away is the epicenter of the First City in Kansas. It has a downtown of about 3 streets by 5 and then it begins to spread into older housing until finally, far enough off not to ruin the charm, newer housing.

There is no Starbucks here. No Barnes and Noble. But if you want some bad coffee, Christa at the bike shop will make you some while she helps you figure out where to buy supplies for your homeschool. And Bob at the Book Barn will dress up as Burl Ives and sing songs to your kids, or just compose a song using the words of a picture book your daughter bought so she can go home and sing it to Daddy.  At Old St. Joseph's, site of the old cathedral for the diocese, daily Mass swells with 30 people including the sisters from the nearby convent. No matter how many tugs she gets on her veil, Sr. Magdalene will still tell you how wonderful your children were.   And when you are out on a date with your son, you can take him to the soda fountain and order a cherry phosphate like your mom used to do with you.

On post, some sage has decided to renovate old housing instead of razing it and starting over. This means that your paint-is-still-wet-duplex-made-over-into-five-bedroom-and-office-large-family house sits on a cul-de-sac surrounded by enough big trees to support multiple swings. When you step out for a family walk each evening, paved walking trails invite you to roam towards the commissary, past the cemetery or even through a little wilderness which leads towards the prison with the field of bison in front of it.

Yes, there are the obligatory tattoo parlors in town with signs like "Prison City Tattoo" in western font, but there is also the diner with its name emblazoned in the same style.  In this converted train station you can still experience a bit of history from signs for the men's and women's waiting rooms and where the ticket counter was located.

Less than a mile from my house I have stopped my bike to watch deer nurse their fawns, and I have ridden my bike through enough grasshoppers to get a pretty good idea of what the Ingall's experienced in Plum Creek. The streets here are crawling with children--sometimes with crawling children--and they are all friends since EVERY ONE OF THEM moved in during the same week.   Now that winter has arrived, the slopes on the far side of the field known as your back yard are a popular hangout for sledders while the front yard is best for snowball fights.

The pace is confortable, even an hour away in Kansas City where they have not yet discovered that daily parking at the museum can't be paid for on the honor system. There is a very nice shopping district close by--about 45 min drive--and the parking is free except where the parking meters collect change for charity. There are still free nature centers and art museums and history galore. In many ways, it's not so much different from DC. But there are very few cars on the road, always plenty of room for a big van to park, and fewer homeless people.  

Think what you like.  We see it as the Army's best hometown.

December--Christmas

I don't feel particularly organized about Christmas or even like I have improved it much this year.  But here are some of my notes to self:

1.  Compile and beg for lists by early Nov.  Shop Thanksgiving weekend and wrap immediately.  Then Advent can really be Advent.
2.  Use the Christmas spread sheet which lists those people--like godchildren--who I don't want to forget (but did mostly).  It also lists Christmas and Jan birthdays.
3.  Allow self to buy one piece of decor.  This year I decorated an old doll house with a garland and made it a home for MY new Playmobil nativity set. All kids may play.  None may take it out of the dollhouse.  All the pieces made it back into the box for next year.  Hooray!
4.  Do these Christmas cards to make the picture taking easier.

Thanksgiving

My friend Michelle's happy post here made me deeply grateful for God's goodness, and that reminded me that I hadn't shared the pictures from our Thanksgiving.  Bill's dad rolled in from New Jersey on Wednesday and his friend Ros who lives in Topeka came to see him.  As is his custom, he arrived with a generous numebr of gifts for everyone and the living room looked like it had exploded in paper.  Joseph especially enjoyed a book Bill brought called "Rap a Tap Tap" about Bill  "Bojangles" Robinson.  He begged for it to be read to him many times for weeks.

As usual Bill took a moment to record the kids and what they are doing.  This time he had told me that he was going to record them reciting the poetry,  but I thought he was bringing the hand held recorder.  This set up gives really nice audio and the kids did pretty well with the mike.

Before we had to say goodbye on Friday, Bill treated us to a yummy breakfast at the Santa Fe Depot Diner


Here's a picture thought I'll share which repeatedly inspires in me a feeling of thankfulness, my Bill's home-made bike racks:

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November--Holidays

Today when James started throwing up, I realized how woefully unprepared I am for the season, Thanksgiving, Christmas or flu.  Since Bill has to make a commissary run for flu supplies anyway, I decided to make a Thanksgiving shopping list too.  But first I had to confirm the menu.  And as a tone of annoyance crept into his voice, I realized what a waste of time it is for us to discuss it.  Not only do we eat basically the same thing every year, I cook it all, so I get to pick!  I sent him to school and wrote down the menu:

Thanksgiving Day:
Breakfast
Empanadas de Calabazas, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Coffee

Lunch
Roast Beef Sandwiches and Fruit

Dinner--5pm
Turkey with Herbed Stuffing and Cranberry Sauce
Grandma Mapson's Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Spinach and Strawberry Salad
Parker House Rolls
Sparkling Cider, Wine and Water
Chocolate Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Pie

Of course, then I had to pull out 4 cookbooks and look at multiple websites to 1. discover this is the menu I already had written in my cookbook and 2. double check recipes and ingredients and make a grocery list.  Once the list was compiled, I had to dig through the kitchen to see what we actually need--my least favorite part.  Why, oh why, haven't we just come up with a master list years ago? 

Here it is, although Bill will fix the order so it's shoppable.
Deli
Roast Beef
Cheese

Produce
onion
celery
3 sweet potatoes
6 oranges
10 potatoes
bag of spinach
lettuce
tomatoes

Dry Goods
White wine vinegar
mustard
mayo
shortening
walnuts 1/2 C
1 1/2 C halved pecans
sugar
flour
dark corn syrup
dark brown sugar
yeast
baking powder
confectioner's sugar
semi sweet choc chips
mini marshmellows
poppy seeds
sesame seeds
paprika
salt
pepper
ginger
gr. cloves
thyme
sage
majoram
basil
cinnamon
vanilla
anise
pumpkin pie mix
evaporated milk
can of pumkin puree
6-8 C chicken broth
saltine crackers
canned chicken soup
ramen
7 up
apple juice
sprarkling cider
liquid tylenol
liquid motrin

Meat
Turkey over 10 lbs
bacon

Frozen Foods (if can't find fresh)
2 pkg cranberries
4 C sliced strawberries

Dairy
Milk
36 eggs
2 lb butter
pint heavy whipping cream

Alcohol
Wine
Brandy

Now I just have to get out my Christmas gift spreadsheet, send out lists, and beg for lists so that I can go shopping this weekend.

Veteran's Day with Our Favorite Vet

  Leavenworth has a huge Veteran's Day Parade every year.  This is a community of 35,000 people and Bill says he thinks they were all in the parade.  He and I and the little boys watched and the other kids marched.

No, you aren't supposed to be able to tell who is in all of these pictures.  My scouts will recognize themselves, though.  You can click on the pictures to enlarge them, and in some that will make the subject clear. 

After the parade, we happily fed ourselves at the Santa Fe Depot Diner, an old train station.

This is Maria, Charles and Anthony

This is Thomas, Bill and Joseph

Before we went to a potluck at church tonight, all of the kids begged me to take their picture with Archbishop of Military Services Timothy Broglio, who is visiting. He kindly and cheerfully took a moment to pose, and some friendly parishoners encouraged me and Bill to jump in too.  Anthony thought "it was pretty amazing to touch the garments of an archbishop."

Quotable

"Jesus is not a cookie."  -- 7 year old explaining transubstantiation to the 1 year old

"Mom, do you lay eggs or are you a mammal?"  --the 8 year old, who is now officially failing science

"This sounds like something that might start reproduction."  --the younger 10 year old to his 8 year old friend on the topic of inappropriate music.