Tires, Minivans, and Wind

Virginia has had some crazy weather this year.  Little to no snow in the winter, snow in mid to late March, and some odd days off for cold, threat of snow, and high winds.  Crazy weather.  But.  A gift nonetheless.

 

 

I came out to this on a Thursday morning.  We are no strangers to car troubles, which used to always happen as we were trying to leave for school, and we are so grateful that we have family nearby to help!  My van, the tires, the transmission - all on it's last leg, and now this.  It is done.  Not only was the tire done, the spare was too.  So, we decided it was time.  We knew it was coming, we just weren't sure when.  And when the government and schools closed the next day, we knew it was time. 

 

 

We said Goodbye to our van with over 160K miles, the van that brought home 4 of my kids as babies and got us where we needed to be, many times.

 

But, we traded it in for a new to us van.  Lucy says it is "dark buhlue" and we all fit.  Comfortably.  And the perks are just amazing.  Saint Anthony really helped us to find what we needed that day.

 

(As I write this, I am realizing I don't have a ta-daa photo of the van alone)

 

We did get it blessed!  Father Noah paid special attention to the engine.

And of course, we all got a treat!

 

As I told my sisters, I am like the cool kids now.  A Honda.  :)

 

But.  In true fashion, we have had an adventure.  The new van has automatic doors and so many safety features that we are trying to figure out and some that are so safe they are annoying.  (The kids call it R2D2 with all the beeps it says)  I used to leave the keys in my old van as it was always in the garage.  It was easier, and they weren't in the ignition.  But, I did this just one time accidently in the new van.  And Lucy got into the garage, and into the van.  And OH!  It's a toddler's paradise!  Buttons!  Doors!  Open!  Close!  Oh yes.  She did.  She locked herself in my van with my keys.  And the lock buttons are too tough for her.  And. as I am trying to get her out, she sets off the car alarm. 

Horn.  Blaring.  In the garage.  Oh oh oh my ears!  I admit.  I did some freaking out.  And maybe even a curse word or 2.  But, I am grateful my keys were there, as I yelled at her to push the buttons (between honks) on the key fob and she was able to turn off the alarm and unlock it!  Whew.  It was awful.  My ears were ringing for days!  And, lest you worry, I don't leave my keys in there anymore.  And yes, there IS a child safety handle on the garage door.  Oy.

Be Sealed With the Holy Spirit

Our First Confirmation!  My Patrick Dominic is confirmed!

 

 He chose my Godson, Michael to be his Sponsor.

 This is Patrick and my parents, and his Godfather (would you add a prayer for him?  He's got some health issues that we are praying for good news.  Thank you!).

 This is our AWESOME new bishop.  Bishop Burbidge set up the Confirmation to have a Mass (YES!) and he came and did 2 nights in a row at our parish. 

 

And of course, we had our priests there as well! 

William's First Communion

What a special gift on Mother's Day weekend to celebrate a First Communion! 

We were so excited to be able to share in the joy with my nephew, Robert.  He is the youngest of my sister's 4 boys.  Big day!

 

The Mass was beautiful.  My Tommy's sister-in-law led the young people's choir at the Mass, they sang my favorite "Oh God, Beyond All Praising" which caused me to cry (as usual.  "We'll triumph through our sorrows, and rise to bless you still.  To marvel at your beauty....").  It was lovely. 

  

I am a picture taker.  I take lots, and when it is a special day for my family, I start to worry.  I worry about the food, the photos, the clothes....yes, I worry about silly things.  We were running late before Mass, and didn't take pictures as much as I would have liked.  I started to worry during Mass that we needed propane to cook the meat after, and I made the mistake of sending Tommy home with 2 kids.  Our family split up, and there was no chance of taking any pictures at church.  Okay, we take them at the house. 

 

Well, no, that didn't happen either.  The grill wasn't working, so off came the suits for playtime, firing up the coals.  So things moved along, and we didn't do all that I hoped for.  But we did get some really important ones:

 

William and his Godfather Uncle Paul.

My girls.

His Godmother Aunt Jenn.

Grandma (with her heart doing much better) and Grandpa.

And Mani and Papa.

 

Everyone else.  

 

Not one of all my kids, or the family.  I was trying to "let it go" and not worry so much, but it was eating me up.  I just wanted my family (or my chickens, as my mom would say) in one photo.  Just one. 

Now, really I should laugh.  I should.  I shouldn't be such a worry wart.  The party was lovely, we had family together, and lots of leftovers.  But I like things just so, and I asked just one thing for Mother's Day.  And I got it.  Tired faces, not as nice outfits, but they (sort of) did it for me.

Our sweet friends came to our rescue before Mass, and we managed a little something.  It made the celebration of William's SECOND Communion just as special!  Tommy was the Eucharistic Minister at Mass and made sure he was on our side for William.  We were all smiling, and in truth, that is what it is ALL about!

Lent and it's sputtering start in our home

 Lent started the week after we had a week off of school and sputtered through the following week.  It was a tough start, as it always is, here, but it began perfectly for my William.  He made his first Confession on Tuesday, February 9.  So excited for May and his First Communion!

 Ash Wednesday was the next day, and James very grudgingly got ashes placed on his head, and Lucy was just totally unsure about the whole thing.  (Yes, I am one of the distracted mommies in church who takes a selfie in Mass).  I found that my ashes stayed quite long this year, just like my mom's used to do.  I never understood how she did that.  I still don't know the secret. 

We have been doing stations of the Cross at home, and we have been trying to get the kids more focused on them.  I have wanted to make the little votive candle holders with the stations on them, but I haven't been able to get my act together enough to prepare for that.  So I tried to just put out some little candles, just to see how the kids would do with the candles.  (It's hard to tell, but there are 14 candles)  I really wanted the mood of the candles, but the kids needed to read the station book, so we didn't manage it as much as I'd like.  But the snuffing and the flip chart are a great tool to get them involved.  We used the stations booklet from my sister Jenn's blog.  I need to make a better copy so we all can have one, and William had a box with props for each station.  All in all, except for the occasional fights over who's turn it was to snuff, and how hard it is to share the books, I think it went okay.

 Our favorite Father Juan had a holy hour for children (I called it for kids, and Patrick was indignant. "I'm not a kid" so I clarified.  "Kids and pre-teens.") and I just love the joy and love of Jesus that he reflects in all that he does, and the sweetness of the time with Jesus.  My favorite was the 3x we days, "Jesus, I want to be a saint." 

I have not put out the beans, as I forgot, but there are still 4 (!!) more weeks of Lent left.  Our newest priest, Father Noah, came to our home the weekend before Lent.  I hope he had a nice time, and I think James hugged him a total of 10 times while he was here.  Father was an eagle scout and we hope he will keep up in spending time with our scouts.  We played a version of Clue, and I don't think the noise of our family of 5 kids was too much, as he is coming from a family of 8 kids!