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! 

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!

 

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real: December Posting

Linking up (after a brief break) with Like Mother, Like Daughter.

{Pretty}


I was more excited than the children.  Our local ballet academy offered some tickets to the Nutcracker ballet at the Auction night for the school.  We were able to get tickets at half price, and I was so tickled to bring my oldest 3.  It was the first time my kids had been to any kind of ballet performance.  They had to listen to me tell them the story on the way, and during, as well as try not to sing along to every song.  Some, as you can tell, were more thrilled than others.  I was happy to have a night when we didn't need to have a stroller, or wiggly toddler on my lap. 

It was a beautiful evening, and those kids worked so hard!  It was even better to be able to see so many of my friends' children on stage!
 
(And NO, Emma is NOT taller than me.  Yet.)

{Happy}



This year, we spend Thanksgiving with my side of the family.  We have tried to alternate families, since we are surrounded by so many and have the option to spend different holidays with each.  But with health issues, surgeries, and busy schedules, it seems that we have gotten off the rhythm. I was so happy to be close to home, to be with my parents and some siblings.  Lucy has decided she is ready to walk, and it was so nice to spend time at a family friendly home, where she could wander and be loved in each room, by every person.  As her shirt says, "Everyone is thankful for me." 

(While I feel I should clarify, that Lucy walking doesn't exactly make me happy, her joy at her new found talent makes me happy, and, really, who can't be happy when that sweet face looks up at you?)

{Funny}


The day after Thanksgiving brought Fr. Juan to our home again!  He let us cook for him this time, and we did not have anything even remotely resembling Thanksgiving meal.  (Being from Venezuela, Father didn't have that meal with his family the day before either.)  We played Apples to Apples, the Disney version, and Father beat us all!  He had fun with the kids, when it was their turn to judge, and he would look them in the eye and say, "We are friends, right?"  And they would giggle. 



Yep.  That's us.  :)

{Real}



We tried for a nice shot on the timer setting, and even with the heads cut off, I love the lighting, the smiles and the joy that shows through in this one.  Father always is so "yoyful" and brings it with him.  He always tells the children that there are no "donkey faces" allowed.  Only smiles and love. 

God Bless Our Lucy Margaret

 Godparents: My sister Celeste and Dave, Jenn's husband.

We were thrilled that Father Juan agreed to do our baptism, and give our ceremony a little "Latino flavor" as he called it. 

How many priests does it take to make paella? Just (Fr.) Juan!

We are so blessed to still have Fr. Juan at our parish, and he wanted to come over and make paella for us again, and to visit with us before the baby comes.  Father brings his own paella pan, ingredients and seasoning.  The house smelled fantastic, and it was such a lovely evening.  I love that my kids are able to spend time with the priests in our home!

 

 My kids watched him cook the whole meal!  James kept interrupting and yelling "Hey, Fadder!" (If you have ever seen Going My Way all I could think of was the big choir boys, "Say hello to da fadder.")

 (Post title is Tommy's joke, my dad's words were, "Juan can Cook!")

 I love the concentration. 

 We were joined by my parents, since Tommy's parents came when he made paella for us the first time.  Tommy was a little late because he had some trouble getting home on the train.

 I think Emma had about 5 helpings, Patrick and Emma both ate SALAD with their dinner!

 Emma's words, "This is AMAZING!"  And it's pretty too!

We set the timer for the camera, and unfortunately it is a little crooked, but here we are!  37 weeks and 5 days, final - we hope! - nephrostomy tube change that morning, and baby coming Friday!!  Yep, and I look it.  LOL  

Visit with Fr. Puigbo

We invited one of our parish priests over for dinner, and Fr. Juan said he would come, only if he could cook! I am not one to turn down a night off from cooking and we knew it would be delicious so we happily agreed to the terms. (And, to be honest, it was a good reason to kick start my Christmas cleaning! :)
Father came over and cooked his grandmother's recipe for paella. It was absolutely delicious, and the company was even better!

Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds came and shared the evening with us. It was perfect timing for Emma, as she got to borrow Grandma's hat for school the next day.

Thank you so much, Father! We can't wait to have you over again!