New Ride!

Finally!  My sister counted. 80 days since our accident and we finally have a new van!  

 It was the first one we test drove, and the price went down as we put in our patience and waited, and kept looking.  When we came back to it, the price went down and Tommy negotiated!  We went out for Slurpees to christen it properly.

I told the kids that we needed to pray to Saint Anthony to find us a new van, Saint Joseph to take care of our family, and Saint Nicholas when it came to money matters.  William says, "Might as well add Saint Jude too, Mom."  Well, when you are right.....

 And 2 days later, we asked Father Noah to bless our ride.  He blessed our last van, and not that we are superstitious, but we did want to be sure.  :)

I feel really spoiled, and it is crazy how much we appreciate sliding doors!  God is good.  All the time!

Winter Odds and Ends

The incorrupt heart of Saint John Vianney came to the John Paul II institute in DC, and we brought the 3 little guys to visit.  It was a true pilgrimage: Mass, confession, relics, and rosary.  I realized we don't often make a trip to such a wealth of tourism and fun in DC, and we will try to fix that over spring break.  But the best plans of mice and men.....

 We also visited National Arboretum, and will try to come back when there is more green on the trees. It was lovely!

 William prepared our home for the birthday of Dr. Seuss.  One of my favorite photos of their time together.

The day after my birthday turned out to be snow day (one of many this winter) for everyone in the family!  Tommy made a cake, we watched Henry V and spent a quiet day together.  Introverted me loves being home with all the family!

Since we live in Virginia, our seasons have such a variety, and sometimes the weatherman is spot on, and other times we are surprised with the result. Our superintendent of schools has been calling a holiday the night before, even when some of the area doesn't get "weather" that has been predicted.  It has made for some interesting "rain" days, but when it is cold and Flu season, there are some days that I think it's okay to keep the kids away from each other.  It has made each school re-evaluate their decision on how to call snow days, so we shall see.  I'm such a chicken that I don't think I would drive on bad days anyway, so we will have to see.

First Confession For James!

The same day James was winning 2nd place in his den in the Pinewood Derby, he was also going to Confession for the very first time!  It was a very busy penance service, and I was super proud that James decided to go to a shorter line instead of trying to visit a certain priest.  He knew he would be going to Confession very often, so he knew he would have many more chances.

Clean soul!

Scout Business For William

The first few months of the year are always busy in the Scout world.  We start with pinewood derby, the last one for William, Lucy getting to participate in the sibling races, and James winning 2nd place.  It was a good day all around!

William then received his Arrow Of Light, reminding us all that he is growing up and finishing Cub Scouts soon! It also came on my birthday, which combined with my grey hair, made me feel extra old.

Crossover to Boy Scouts came later in the month, with an Outdoor camping cake competition, won by the Web 2's.  It was a joy to see all my boys in their uniforms together, and see the excitement from William continue as he came home and started to work on his Boy Scout Requirements as soon as he could.

Time To Catch Up

No, I didn't take time off to catch up.  Heavens, I don't think I will ever feel caught up.  No, I think I need to do a quick catch up on the blog.  And, because I am about chronology, I will try to put things in order.  Mostly pictures which are harder now, as my nice camera officially broke. Very very sad day.

• Lucy is up first, and she began a new adventure: Atrium!  One day a week, and this girl has loved every minute of it.  Don't call it school, just call it Atrium.  My sister teaches the older grades and has poked her head in to watch (Lucy says, "Aunt Jenn sat in the chair and did not talk") and says Lucy has great concentration.  My most favorite thing of all is hearing that sweet voice sing all the songs. 
  
• Tommy turned the big 4-0 in October, and I will do a blog post about that. :)
• Lucy turned 4!  We went all out with her love of unicorns, and I made her a special cake.  I think she liked it.  
  
  
  
  
• Halloween was fun with friends and good creative costumes.  As the kids get older, we have found that going out trick-or-treating is more fun in a group and Emma has found the sweetest girls and we are more than happy when she is able to have some outings with them.  Lucy spent the whole day in her costume.
  
   Emma is Cordelia Biddle from the movie "The Happiest Millionaire", William is a Pokémon trainer, James is Harry Potter, and Lucy is Violet from "The Incredibles."  
• Patrick had his first Homecoming/Enthronement Dance.  He went stag, though he had tried to ask a young lady, but it didn't work out.
  
  
  
  
• James  lost a front tooth!  Even pulled it himself.                                                                          
• Our family celebrated Thanksgiving at our home with all the locals on the Gregory side.    I was so happy we could accommodate Joe and his wheels, and everyone else.  :)       
  
• William is officially an altar server, and had been doing an amazing job.  It is a joy to see all the boys serving together some days.
  
•  December brings Saint Nicholas cookie making.  I need to remember to double to batch next year.  I never make enough for all of us to enjoy.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Our family went into DC for a very cold, and muddy ALS walk for my brother and his family.  It was a very different feel this year, as you see the progression of the disease.  It was a joy to see all the love and support of Joe and his family.  Please keep praying for him! 
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Beginning 2019

January has been said to the be the most depressing month of all the year: after Christmas, long holidays, furlough, cold weather, etc.

Oh, did you catch that?  Yep.  My husband was furloughed from work for 5 weeks.  The longest government (partial) shutdown in history.  It began on December 22, right before Christmas, and the same time that our family had another piece of news.  I shall start at the beginning.

(Yes, readers, I know I am very behind in my posts.  My brother mentioned that it was time to update my blog, and with the many snow days we have had, I decided I would give it a try.)

Christmas Eve we decided to go to an early vigil Mass.  4:15 to be exact.  Emma sang with my Mom, and I was super proud of her poise and joy in singing for God.  Our family brought up the gifts and Lucy was able to hold a ciborium and did it SO well!

Because Daddy was furloughed (ahem, or shall we say, my freak out of spending too much at a sit down meal with my parents and other family), we decided to pick up an easy dinner and go home, on a route that we don't normally take.  We are in our van and just down the road a bit, and we have to stop completely, because there is a man in the road. Whatever he is doing, he never sees us, and keeps doing whatever is so important.  As we wait with our hazards on, we feel a big bump/crash.  Lucy and Emma start crying immediately, and it takes me a moment to realize we have been rear-ended. With ALL of my children in the car.  All the boys in the back seat, and please Lord let us all be safe.  

We got creamed.  Called family nearby, who came to get the kids out of the car (Emma was leading the rosary as we waited for the police and my sweet brother-in-law and nephew to come and help) and took us home as Tommy and his dad, who arrived later, came to help.  No injuries at the scene meant no ambulance would come, thankfully.

We came home, made a quick taco dinner, and decided to go to the ER to make sure we are all okay.  I was so pleased to be told that we had a wonderful family and that we are all okay.  Tommy tried to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" on the phone between check ups to make it feel like Christmas Eve.  

Tommy's car has enough seats to fit all of us, very close together, and we found out the van was a total loss.  We only had that Odessey for a short time (this was my most favorite van ever!), and thankfully both insurances helped us during the furlough with 2 paychecks not coming. (We won't talk about the fact that it may happen again...)

The family was able to get through this month of craziness, and Tommy stayed home re-organizing, purging and keeping busy.  The Lord provided for us greatly during those 5 weeks.  Tommy has been driving his Dad's Duallie (truck with big hips).  We hope to get a new car when the tax rebates come through.  Saint Anthony will help us find a new set of wheels.

Tommy went back to work this week, in the middle of judging science fairs at both schools, a polar vortex and snow storms. Lucy asked for Daddy every day.  The kids never got tired of seeing Daddy at pick up and drop off, and he started to get into the groove of the routine.  I miss the help (I hate driving), and the perspective he has on life.  As he told me, sometimes he doesn't realize things are a stress until I tell him it is stressful.  He just sees it, solves it, and moves on.  So, when I say I stress enough for both of us, it's not far from the truth.  LOL

First Days of School 2018

Seton kids go first. 

 

8th grade for Emma!  I don't think she slept the night before school started.  The excitement of new friends and school work makes her happy!

 

Sophomore year for Patrick.  (Oh my goodness)  He wasn't quite as excited, but has the desire to do every single club, play and movie the school is offering.  Schoolwork will be a challenge this year, with a full schedule. 

 

When the big kids have to go, the little ones get up too! 

 

Then, the next First Day of School came!

5th grade!  His teacher is full of energy, and quite an impressive resume.  We are happy to have new friends to choose and help feel welcome.

2nd grade!  2 sacrament this year, a growth spurt over summer, and the joys of old friends. 

 

God bless all the teachers, students, and the parents.  We are so blessed to have this community, both schools, and God has been so good to us.