Preschool Picnic

          Rolo finished his second year with Mrs. H from St. Matthew's Weekday School.  She is such a great teacher.  She was also Christopher's teacher when he was 4.  Honey met up with her son in the mess hall one day in Afghanistan.  It sure is a small world.  It has been nice to have someone else who is doing the deployment at the same time.  I feel like I am not alone since we have seen each other so much with school.  

          Today the school had their annual end of year  family picnic.  I had an extra little person with me since C--'s mom could not make it.   I am used to being with her since I have been taking her to school once a week all year.*  She is a very happy little girl and a great addition to a picnic.  Here  are a few pictures from the picnic.  It's Pirate Day if you couldn't already guess.

*(Her mom's legally blind and can't drive.) 

Keener sliding & Swinging.

   

 Christopher is on the phone with Daddy.    Pirate Rolo.

  

  My girls unbalanced.

       

70 & 69

Today was a special day for two very special people in my life, my step father and my father-in- law. Today was my Stepfather's 69th Birthday and the day that my Father in Law (aka Granfer) celebrated his 70th birthday. (His Birthday was last week).

I have known my stepfather for almost 25 years now. It is hard to imagine my life before he was a part of it. Of course we have had our ups and downs, but the thing I truly love about him is that he loves me for me. He knows I'm crazy and sometimes messy and disorganized, he knows that I have a bad temper, but he never judges me. It is hard to find someone who can love you for yourself, the good and the bad. It is amazing that it happens to be my stepfather. So rather than wish him a happy birthday, I think I'll wish him "Happy Birthdays!" I hope to spend another 25 years with him as a part of my life.

My father in law is special because he is the father of Honey, but I know I'd like him even if I wasn't related. He is has so many interests and talents that you can always have a good conversation with him. Also, He truly loves his family and both my mother -in-law and he make family a priority. This devotion and love to their family is a character trait that I hope that my children learn from them. Happy Birthday Granfer!. May you have many more!

Every family needs good examples to follow and I am very blessed to have these two great men in my life.

The two photos are from Granfer's party.

Next year I'll have to be with my Stepfather for his big 7-0!

Shame on you.

      Now that the deed is done, I want to voice my disgust over Notre Dame and the Obama situation.  I am very disappointed in the administration of Notre Dame.  They had a moral obligation to their students, staff, alumni  and fellow Catholics to stand behind the values that they purport to represent.  I have a big problem with any religious institution that does not hold firm on its values.  That is the whole point of a religious institution, to provide moral guidance.  What is a religion if not a moral compass for your life?  It is necessary for the leaders of a religion to stand firm on questions of morality.  It is especially annoying since it is my religion that is not holding firm.  I had a huge problem with the Episcopalian Church over this very issue of being fickle and it was part of why I converted to Catholicism.  It makes little difference what moral decision the school is not representing, it is the mere fact that Notre Dame did not have the guts to say, "We're wrong, We are proud of what you have accomplished Mr. Obama, but we can not bestow an honorary degree to you since your values are so different from ours."  Why would it have been so hard to do this?  

       Of course Mr Obama is also to blame.  An honorable man would have had the courage to say, "Notre Dame, I do not wish to be the cause of friction within the school on what is supposed to be a joyful day for the students.  I will speak, but decline to accept the degree."  Did he really "need" this honorary degree?   I would call it greed.  Of course it was not really fair of Notre Dame to leave him with that choice.  Nonetheless, a courageous and honorable man would have done the right thing and not worried about the consequences.  Not to mention the fact that it would have made the administration of Notre Dame look like the fools the are.

  Whatever happened to courage and honor?

   I am reminded of the story that Randy Pausch tells about his father.  After his father died, his mother found a  Bronze Star for Valor (56 minutes into lecture).  One of the highest military honors.  He never told his family.   He did not need a list of awards.  He lived his life as an honorable man, he did not need proof of his accomplishments.  He knew how he lived his life.  As the saying goes, "You can't take it with you."  Shame on you Notre Dame.  I am sure that I echo the sentiments of many Catholics,  my children will NOT be attending your school.  

Here is the Randy Pausch video if you have never seen it before.  It is well worth the hour of your life to watch it. 

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous. 

Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, 

for the LORD your God goes with you; 

he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Proof of a REAL Lacrosse Player

Honey will come home with these horrible bruises after lacrosse games.  I have gotten used to them but at first they were shocking.  They apparently come with the territory.  You can actually tell where the lacrosse pads  stop based on how severe the bruising is.  It is one tough sport!  So Christopher started getting his own share of bruises this year.  Here is one from this week.My poor "baby", I think it hurts me more than him.

Boys will be boys

          The boys had one of their homeschooling friends S-- come over to play yesterday.  They spent the entire 3 hours outside playing.  They built a fort, created slingshots, fought with swords, played baseball and lacrosse and many other adventures.  It brings me great joy to watch the boys enjoying the outside.  Here is a picture of them about to wrestle (boys will be boys after all!!).

  This is the boys standing in their fort.  They used the bushes and some sticks to build the walls and some extra shingles as their floor.  Very nice.  

Diva Fashion

Keener is starting to choose her own clothes and gets VERY upset when she does not get her way.  Here is the latest in toddler fashions.  Notice how nicely the sweater goes with the bikini top.  The pièce de ré·sis·tance is her size 6 months pants that she is wearing as capri's.Here is her latest in hair fashions.

At least she has figured out that you are never fully dressed without a smile!

I told you so

This one's for you Honey.  "I told you so!"  I told you to take your lacrosse sticks with you, but nooooooo, you didn't think you would be able to use them.  Instead I got the pleasure of sending this REALLY long, skinny,  and heavy box to you with the sticks.  It was more difficult to find boxes to use than anything else.   I ended up creating one out of two other boxes.  Trying to cut and tape boxes into shape was not an easy task.   I think there is more tape on that Box than there is cardboard.  I used a whole roll of packing tape!  It probably didn't help that I added Gatoraid, snack mix, lacrosse balls, stuff from the kids, a camera and Easter eggs to the box.  It was VERY Heavy and awkward in the end.  Yes, I did say Easter eggs.  We dyed raw eggs and blew out the yolks.  The kids thought it was interesting to blow out the yolks, but very hard.   I hoped that none would break, so Honey could have fun smashing them.  We made them for Honey to break, not for safekeeping. They all arrived safely. (Unfortunately, because now Honey says I'm in charge of packing everything breakable!) Honey says he thinks he'll use them for target practice.  I told him he had to take a video or picture for us to see.  Sounds like a fun target.  I guess it puts a whole new spin on hunting an egg when you take a gun...   

A Day at the beach with Sharks

I decided that since the weather was nice, I should take the kids to the beach for the day.  What better way to learn about sealife?  I called Nana and Granfer to have them meet us, packed up the kids, got my fellow homeschooling neighbor to join in and we were off to the beach.  It's only an hour away.  We went to the same beach that Christopher and Rolo had gone to with Boy Scouts (Brownie Beach/Bay Front Park). We saw lots of small jellyfish in the waves at the shore.  This is typical of the Chesapeake Bay.  We found a good amount of sharks teeth.  The beach is filled with them.  I don't quite know why the teeth hunting is so good there, but you can find them easily any day.  I prepared the kids for the trip with a little mini lesson on sharks.  I think it was a good diversion and a great way to spend the day.

The A's are Elizabeth's, the B's are Rolo's and the C's are Christopher's.  The other extra is Keener's.  Of course I "helped" them find a lot of them.  It is funny how once you get the hang of it, shark teeth are very easy to find.  Granfer was the teacher to all the kids.  
Here's Rolo with one that he found.  He was being shy for the camera, he was not being squemish about the tooth.

Granfer used to take Honey and Honey's brothers shark teeth hunting when they were kids.  What a great way to let the family fun continue with the next generation. Here's a picture of the kids at the end of their adventures. Happy faces are my reward from them for the day.

After our beach fun, Nana and Granfer rewarded me with a late lunch/early dinner.  Yeah!  I didn't have to cook!  Here's Nana with Rolo.

Here's Keener trying to steal a Lobster!  Gotcha!Here are the kids humoring me by posing for a picture after a long day.

What is it about water that makes kids want to get in it or throw stuff in it?

We had a lot of fun and it is nice to have a rewarding day like this.

Quality Assurance?

I got a phone message today from Master Sergent Jameson today.  He was calling to verify that we were all okay because he was doing his hurricane recall drill.  This happens about once every six months or so.  I am used to asking Honey to call back to "check in."  So what makes this different?  First because  (as usual for the military) he did not leave a call back number,  like I have random military guy on speed dial!  Second, that the military seems to have no idea that Honey is in Afghanistan!  Hmmm.....  talk about quality.  So Honey, if you have Master Sergent Jameson's number, could you call him back!

Helen Keller Effect

No offense to Helen Keller but before she met Annie (Her teacher), I think she probably drove her family nuts.  She was like a big two year old.  The scene from The Miracle Worker (the movie about Helen Keller) that really sticks in my mind happens the day Annie arrives.  The family is sitting down to dinner and Helen is walking around the table eating a little bit of food from everyone's plate.  Annie is appalled that they allow Helen to do this.  I agree with Annie.  It's hard to imagine why they tolerated this.  So in our family, every time someone tries to eat off someone else's plate, we say "Helen, could you please stop!"  Keener constantly will get out of her chair at meals and then tries to climb into my lap and eat my food.  Yesterday she was having a very "Helen" day.  I'm wondering when my "Annie" will show up...  

Happy Mother's Day!-

These are the flowers that Honey sent me for Mother's Day.    The yellow rose is from Elizabeth.  Her team handed them out to the girls to give to their mothers.  Thanks Honey!  Thanks Elizabeth!

            Elizabeth was planning on making me breakfast on Mother's Day, but being her Mother's child, she slept late and didn't get to do it because we had to get to Mass.  That's okay, I am glad that she was at least thinking about making me something.  She gathered an assortment of homemade presents to give me.  Little cards and hearts cut out, very sweet.  She also got me a pin that says #1 Mom.    After Mass we ran off to her second Lacrosse game of the weekend.  My neighbor let the boys stay with her, so I only had Keener to chase.  She was quite the little lunatic running away at this field.

   Luckily for me she was running toward the fence which was somewhat of a barrier...  She climbs remember!!!

I love her adventurous spirit, but it sure is hard to be patient with her while she explores.

          Here is a picture of my chair that wonders why it never gets any use... I wonder why?....

  Poor chair, it must feel like it did something to hurt my feelings.

      I did actually get to sit a little bit, since Keener was getting sick and fell asleep in my arms.  Yes, that's right.  I did say sick!  It wouldn't be Mother's Day without being reminded of how to take care of sick children.    I had assumed Keener was just tired and had gotten sunstroke until Christopher came down with a fever last night and got the stomach bug by midday today.  Oh, Happy Day!  So now Rolo is sick too!  Happy Mother's Day to me.  The best news for me is that this week marks the supposed halfway point for Honey.  It has gone by quickly because of all the activities.  I am glad that we have been busy because it is certainly a distraction from moping.  The nice part of the Day came when Honey called while I was at the Lacrosse game.  It was nice to chat with him for a few minutes. 

 He got to talk with Elizabeth as well, so that made her day extra special.  Here's a photo of her talking with Daddy after her team won the game.  So far they are undefeated.  Yeah Inferno!

  

Another busy Saturday

               Some days I wonder why I just don't drive a real bus for a living.  Drop off here and there and try to watch five minutes of a game before running off to the next one.  Today was like that, a busy Saturday, but enjoyable.  I love seeing the kids having fun and spending time with their friends.  I love watching them succeed in sports.    It makes them happy and brings them joy.

             Today, Rolo played catcher in T-ball and by the end of the inning he was really getting the hang of it.  He had learned to go to home plate and wait for a throw.  Of course when he was trying to get up with all the gear on, he didn't see  the pitcher throw "him" the ball.  So, he got to home plate and waited for a throw while the ball sat in the grass about 5 feet behind him.  It got quite a good-natured chuckle from the parents, myself included.

      

Keener had her own adventures while Rolo played.  She was constantly trying to escape (as Usual).  As I have captured here ===>>>  Doesn't she look all sweet and innocent?

  That's just an act to lure you into thinking that she won't climb the fence, run in the street, run onto the ball field, etc.  Sneaky little devil.....

She also enjoyed the caterpillar that I found.  No, she did not kill it, but once we put "her" caterpillar back in the woods, she was insistent that all other caterpillars were hers and that the other boys and girls needed to give them to her.   Can we say "Diva!!"

            Christopher finally got to play goalie today in Lacrosse.  He was so excited.  He played goalie in 3 of the quarters.  He made a save and didn't allow any points.  Pretty good for a first time at goalie.  I didn't get to see him play because the game was at the far side of the next county (Stafford, VA).  He instead got to ride with his coach.  The coach's son J and Christopher get along great.  They are like two peas in a pod.  So it was a real treat for him to get to spend so much time with J.  

   Christopher also had a baseball game this afternoon.  He managed to get three singles.  They were good solid hits.  It is good to see him doing well in baseball too, but I don't think he will be playing both much longer.  His love is lacrosse. The two sports this spring would be a lot easier to manage if Honey was here, but I had decided last spring to let Christopher play both sports. I thought we'd give it a try, but I think that we have just gotten lucky that the sports have not conflicted more, I don't think we would be that lucky again.

    Elizabeth also had a lacrosse game.  I did not get to see that much of hers since I was with Rolo at his game.  Her team won again.  They are undefeated.  I am amazed at the talent of not only the players but the coaches as well.  This Annandale Lacrosse program is so well run.  I am really lucky that we got referred to this program by Honey's "Bad Backs" lacrosse team friend.

   The only downside of the day was that the last baseball field had ticks. YUCK!!!!

 I found three on Keener.  I have to tell myself that God made them to feed other creatures.  I am enough of a country girl to know how to get rid of them quickly and not scream, but I still don't like them.

    In between all this running around, I had a 40 minute lull with nothing to do, so I went to the camera shop and replaced the camera lens that I broke the other day when I dropped the camera.  It annoys me that it is cheaper to buy a new one than to have the old one repaired.  I would much rather be less wasteful and have it repaired, but it wasn't an option that I had.  So here's a picture of the new lens.  I hope you like it Honey.  I can not wait to have my small camera again.  Obviously I am a little klutzy with the big camera.

Happy Birthday Young Man!

It was Honey's Dad's 70th birthday today. We will be celebrating in two weeks with a family party. Since we were not seeing him today, the kids wanted to call and tell their Granfer Happy Birthday. They were all so sweet, but Rolo's soft voiced rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" was especially sweet. He wanted to sing to Granfer and he did a great job. His voice was filled with love and emotion. It stole my heart, as he usually does. Too bad I didn't have a video camera with me. I sure do love my kids. It's the little moments of sweetness and joy like this that make motherhood's hardships vanish. It helps me remember to enjoy every day with them. I see so many grandmothers in stores that remind me to enjoy the kids because time will pass by fast and I will want it all back. I know they are right, so I am hoping to savor every moment I have now.

Favorite youtube video

So if you saw the last Youtube videos and laughed, then you must see this one for your tears.  One of the most touching videos and a true example of celebrating life.

New attempt

Here's my first attempt at inserting a YouTube video. These are from Tim Hawkins and I could watch his acts for hours. I hope you enjoy two of my favorites

Chik-Fil-A

A Homeschool Family

Make-up Day

Keener kept drawing on herself so I thought I'd pull out my old make-up and let her use that.  Rolo wanted to join in the fun, so I let him too.  I figure there's nothing wrong with letting him put make-up on at this age.  It's all about self expression, not defiance.  So here are two pictures of my "made-up" kids.  Very cute.

This Little Piggy

This little piggy ate Roast beef.  

Doesn't it look yummy?  ....Uh, .. no?  Yeah, that's what I thought too!

           Christopher has decided that he likes to make what I would call a Dagwood sandwich.  I can't tell you all the things he puts on it, but at least he is "cooking" for himself and creating new things.  It is sort of hard to sit next to him while he drips and slurps, but boys will be boys and despite all my trying to understand them, they are alien creatures to me!  

It comes in 3's

Isn't there a saying that trouble comes in 3's? Well I thought it was supposed to be spread out a little bit.  So here's my three: within 24 hours the dryer broke, the car died, and Rolo got an ear infection. My sister "broke" the dryer while drying 1 pair of undies for her child.  Okay, really it was the rollers and the belt, but literally that was all that was in it when it croaked!  I mean really, who knew that a 2 oz pair of underwear could break a dryer!

Here's a picture of the culprit. 

 I know you're asking, why would I put something as boring as a dryer onto the blog.  Well, because it's MY blog, not yours!  Okay, really it's because I actually really like this dryer and am willing to get it repaired until I no longer can.  Thankfully I got to see my appliance repair buddy, who fixed the dryer 4 years ago when the motor died and fixed the washer last year when I cracked the plastic cylinder that holds ALL the water for the washer.  Now THAT was a mess when that cracked!  

   The car died in the Krispy Kreme Drive through, thankfully I was at the window and already had my doughnuts!  I can think of worse places to have the car die.  Thank goodness we have USAA, it is so easy to get the car towed with them.  They got the car to my mechanic, my friend picked me up and all was well.  My mechanic told me today that it was the alternator that was broken.  Apparently it was the original one and the car is 16 years old and has over 200K miles on it.  I was especially lucky since the last trip in the car was to downtown Baltimore.  Thank God I did not break down there!  

     I love my mechanic because he tries to prevent things like this from happening to me and I had literally just gotten the car back from him last week.  We had a nice laugh today about how he missed this one!  Apparently my car did not create the typical signs of a failing alternator.  When he was recreating the situation  in the car by driving it (it was randomly starting and working in short bursts), he too had to call a tow truck because he got stuck when it died. He luckily figured out the problem in his time waiting for the tow truck.  I think I still had a better wait than he did though,  I got to eat fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts!

                 I like seeing my repairmen to catch up on their lives, but it sure is always quite an expensive conversation!  Maybe I should just start calling them once a month to prevent my seeing them.

   

1st Communion

Christopher had his first communion today.  He was SOOO excited.  He has been looking forward to this for a long time.  Literally since he was 4.  He was such a good little boy.  He followed the directions exactly and was a good example to others of how to behave during Mass.  I am so proud of my little baby.  He is growing up so fast.  It seems like yesterday that I was holding my newborn in my arms.

Here's Christopher looking great in his first suit!  Compare to his Baptism picture.
     

Christopher and our priest Father F. after the mass.

 

Here's the group photo in the smallest space possible for a group photo, but construction and rain were against an easier backdrop.

.

   We celebrated afterward with a small party at the house with his Godparents, my mom, my sister and her family, and my in laws.  There was definitely enough food.  We basically grazed our way from lunch through dinner, with a short break for Grandma to spoil all 7 of the grandkids with ice cream from the Good humor man.  With gorgeous weather (after the morning rain) and good company, the only thing missing was Honey.  But I solved that with a surprise "Skype" visit from Honey.  I think his parents were especially glad to see him, as was Christopher.  It was a great addition to a tiring, yet fun filled day.

While waiting for Christopher's Godfather to arrive before the mass, I snapped this photo of my precious Keener.  She was having  a great time dancing around.

Orioles and dreams

Tickets and Group Photo

 

Today we went on a field trip to Camden Yards to see the Orioles play.  Nana and Granfer have season tickets and treated the kids and I to a game.  The kids had a great time.  Keener loved dancing whenever music was played. 

 Rolo, Elizabeth, and Christopher enjoyed everything from the food to the music  and occasionally watched the game.

  

    

          Yes, this is a picture of Christopher with the big Oriole.  He's a nut!  The funniest part of the game was when a foul ball came very close to us and he offered the man who caught the ball all of his money for the ball.  He probably had $5 in quarters in his pockets!  The man said no, but it was funny nonetheless.

          Unfortunately the Orioles lost, but it was a great time anyway.  It also happened to be field trip day at the stadium, so at least my kids were not the only kids there for the afternoon game.  It made the cheering a lot higher in pitch, but at least the atmosphere was energetic.

          Elizabeth wanted to know why a school would have a field trip to a baseball game. I don't think she quite realized how funny it was that she was asking, since she was on a school field trip.  I replied that even though we were watching people play a game, we were watching professionals.  They represent hard work, determination, skill and perseverance of a dream.  Not many people can play a professional sport, but all can learn how to dream and persevere.  Sometimes school lessons are not about facts and figures, but about how we can live a better life for ourselves and about fulfilling our own dreams.  It reminds me of one of my favorite poems.  Here it is.

Dreams

     - by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly

Hold fast to dreams 

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.