Birthdays: Double-digit and ALL boy!

Lego Maniac turned 10 (!) today and we had a marvelous day: the big boy and I spent a good few hours at our favorite museum, the National Marine Corps Museum, including lunch at Tun's Tavern and a visit to the gift shop to pick out some birthday treats. It was wonderful to actually SEE the museum without the other two as LegoManiac and I really get into it and String Bean and Bam-Bam think the faster the trip through the better.

We then did afternoon Mass (LegoManiac was on the rota for this afternoon) with an absolutely stunning sermon about FOCA and what we can do to fight it. Then a run through Quizno's to pickup up subs for dinner and home again to open gifts, talk to older brother Brikhead AND big sister Volleyballer on the phone, and generally revel in being 10!

Happiest of birthdays, dear Lego Maniac!

The White House Gets it Right ...

... or why I really like Mr. George W. Bush! ==========================================
Here's a proclamation that came out of the White House yesterday (Thursday, 1/15/09 -- my parents' 54th wedding anniversary):

National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2009
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

All human life is a gift from our Creator that is sacred, unique, and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world. We also underscore our dedication to heeding this message of conscience by speaking up for the weak and voiceless among us.

The most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent. My Administration has been committed to building a culture of life by vigorously promoting adoption and parental notification laws, opposing Federal funding for abortions overseas, encouraging teen abstinence, and funding crisis pregnancy programs. In 2002, I was honored to sign into law the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which extends legal protection to children who survive an abortion attempt. I signed legislation in 2003 to ban the cruel practice of partial-birth abortion, and that law represents our commitment to building a culture of life in America. Also, I was proud to sign the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, which allows authorities to charge a person who causes death or injury to a child in the womb with a separate offense in addition to any charges relating to the mother.

America is a caring Nation, and our values should guide us as we harness the gifts of science. In our zeal for new treatments and cures, we must never abandon our fundamental morals. We can achieve the great breakthroughs we all seek with reverence for the gift of life.

The sanctity of life is written in the hearts of all men and women. On this day and throughout the year, we aspire to build a society in which every child is welcome in life and protected in law. We also encourage more of our fellow Americans to join our just and noble cause. History tells us that with a cause rooted in our deepest principles and appealing to the best instincts of our citizens, we will prevail.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 18, 2009, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

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How cool is this as one of the last acts of Mr. Bush's presidency?

I really like this guy. Back in 2001 when he was first inaugurated, we were up in D.C. from North Carolina for the National March for Life (which also coincided with his inauguration and all the hoopla attached to that). This year ... just days after National Sanctity of Human Life Day ... we will inaugurate a new president, one who is not pro-life but is pro-choice ... but we'll be at the March on Thursday and hope that the new president listens to us just a little bit!

Bless you, Mr. Bush, for speaking out and for your service to our country for the past eight years. I may not have agreed with everything you've done, but I do agree with much of what you've done. Blessings and prayers to you and yours ....

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Oh, and how cool is the fact that National Sanctity of Human Life Day 2009 will be on Lego Maniac's 10th birthday!

HT: Rachel Teti

Not only did he survive ...

... the weekend away, he came back a Marine! I think these photos tell the story:

Receiving congratulations from the Training Instructor and the Asst Training Instructor
The "Band of Brothers" -- three brothers and LegoManiac!
Proud family!
Even prouder mama!

Thank YOU, Venerable Fr. Vincent Capodanno

for watching over my Young Marine this weekend!

Today, my 9yo leaves a boy ...

... and, God willing, on Sunday will come home a Marine!

This evening, LegoManiac will spend his first two nights away from kith and kin on what the Young Marines term a Crucible (n, 1 : a vessel of a very refractory material (as porcelain) used for melting and calcining a substance that requires a high degree of heat 2 : a severe test -- from Merriam-Webster's online dictionary). Two nights and three days of living at one of Quanitco's camping sites and enduring physical and mental testing to determine if he's worthy to be a Young Marine.

It's exciting and scary for him.

It's exciting, scary and sad for me -- this will be the first of many times I won't be with him when he meets a challenge head on. This is the first of many times I won't be able to protect him, teach him, prompt him. And that's good and as it should be .... but it's sad, too.

We have turned to Venerable Fr. Vincent Capodanno, also known as the Grunt Padre, who died in Vietnam as a Marine Chaplain, helping his men. Read this guy's story: from the moment he was an adult, he wanted to help others. When Communists were first taking over China, he joined the Maryknolls and became a missionary priest knowing that he would be sent where Catholic priests were not just unwanted, they were killed. He then joined the Chaplain Corps in the Marines to help the men fighting in VietNam. He died helping his men receive absolution under enemy fire. He died for and with his men.

LegoManiac really wants to be a real Marine someday; LegoManiac may want to be a Chaplain some day ... or a dad ... but whatever God has planned for my middle son, Venerable Fr. Capodanno is a GREAT role model for him as he embarks on this and many other challenges throughout his life.

Venerable Fr. Vincent Capodanno,
pray for us and all the recruits this weekend!

Please pray for LegoManiac -- and me too -- over this weekend!

And so it starts ...

Today we start our first day of St. Athanasius Academy for the 2008-2009 year. LegoManiac (9), String Bean (8) and Bam-bam (almost 6) will be our "student body" ... with me as there teacher, companion and co-learner. I love homeschooling, especially since I can steep the days ahead in the rich and vibrant Catholic heritage and teachings our Our Church!

We'll start today with Mass -- always a great way to start the day. Our plan is to head to Leeslyvania State Park after for a bit of nature study, playground time and history. They have some great programs at the end of this week (bees and backyard habitat) which will fit in nicely as an introduction to our science program this year.

We'll head home to work on our aprons. Each year at the start of the school year I like the kids to craft something that we'll use all year: fabric lunch bag, canvas field trip bag, etc. This year, we'll fabric-paint canvas aprons for use during cooking, cooking-math, gardening, craft projects, etc. [We did aprons a couple of years back, but all three have out-grown the "kiddie" ones!]

We'll make a fun lunch ... than a read-aloud for quiet time. Today we'll start Cartier Sails the St. Lawrence by Esther Averill, a great story about Cartier's explorations of the Northeast of the continent which will mesh nicely with our American history unit.

After a chapter or two, I'll pull out all their books and ideas for what we'll do this year. This will be the first time the kids see it all laid out and I'm sure they'll be thrilled with some of the changes this year. One thing, I am trying to get them more self-led with some of their work -- so I have worked out weekly assignments for spelling words, math assignments, copy work and memory work which they will do at their own time (as long as they're done by Thursday evening). If they can't finish by Friday morning, rather than having a relaxed, "specials" day, they'll make up the work.

We'll round off our day with one-on-one mom time, 30 minutes each of working on their chosen electives:

• Bam-bam will learn all about the history and strategies of Chess
• String Bean will learn about journalism, creating her own newspaper or magazine (she will also be responsible for this year's family Christmas letter)
• LegoManiac will research American military history, with a particular emphasis on the U.S. Marine Corps (including joining the Young Marines in September).

Looks like a pretty full, fun day for the little tikes (and Mom!).

Family: Lego Maniac turns 9!

Today, Lego-Maniac turns 9 ... and he so enjoyed his day! One of the great things about homeschooling on your birthday is that:

1. throughout the day, you know you're special ('cause your mom keeps hugging and kissing and telling you so!)
2. you can pick the movie to watch on your birthday (even if it's one mom really doesn't care for)
3. you get to have a pajama day - and no one laughs that you're 9 and wearing Spider Man pj's all day ...
4. you get to be around those who love you all day long ...
5. you get to finish the day with lots of seafood, pizza and sugar (his cake was angel food with really thick butter-cream frosting and sprinkles he added) and watch a fantastic family movie!

Art: LegoManiac's entry

Here's LegoManiac's entry for a tshirt contest. We have a dad who runs a print shop and is hosting a contest for t-shirt design for our homeschooling group. This is pretty good for an 8yo isn't it?

World Series: Watching it the old-fashioned way

Last night was game number 2 of what is looking like a pretty tough ride for our Colorado Rockies. After two games in Beantown, the boys are coming home to play here on Saturday and Sunday ... and they'll do just fine up at altitude, thank you very much!

We tried to watch the game on TV .... but the antenna just couldn't pick it up. Very kind and wonderful friends invited us over to watch on their cable-enhanced TV .... but dh was having sinus-issues and my boys were exhausted so we opted to stay home.

Solution?

Put the stereo dial on AM850 and listen to the game the old-fashioned way. And even though our boys lost, my boys (and String Bean calmly knitting away) so enjoyed listening to the game while playing quietly. It was so fun for all! The radio broadcast is much more exciting -- lots of background noise, great "color" by the sportscasters, and no "bad" commercials to mute! What more could you want?

Well, for LegoManiac, he needed a pictorial of the game so he could keep track of hits, outs and overall score: