Birthdays: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, dearest Nanna!

Happy, happy birthday Nanna!

We wish we were there to take you to Pancho's.

Hugs, prayers and wishes for a spectacular day tomorrow.

Kids: Amazing what they absorb!

The idea that children are always aware and learning and soaking up really came home to me today with my youngest.

We've been spending lots of time over at dh's new high school, talking about dh's new school and basically revolving our lives around their schedule. We have gone to as many home-games of the various teams as possible; we've been to the dedication and weekly school Masses; we've immersed ourselves in helping to build the culture of life within the new school that opened in August 2008.

Well, seems Bam-Bam (six years old in November) has picked up quite a bit of this and he spent much of today (with us roped right in) deciding the following for our homeschool, St. Athanasius Academy:

1. Mascot: knight eagles – a mascot LegoManiac will draw
2. School colors: black and gold
3. Motto: semper pugna pro iustum (“always fight for what is right” -- we translated it into latin using InterTran so it might not be EXACTLY right, but it looks right!)
4. Prayer for when we win: 3 Our Fathers & 3 Hail Marys
5. Fight song: I couldn't get all the words but I know it ends with “win for Jesus”
6. Administrative staff:
□ Headmaster: dad
□ Lead teacher: mom
□ Athletic Director: Bam-bam
(he’s the head, but he’s made me the “neck” – I can turn the head anyway I want!, and Dad is the heart; String Bean and Lego Maniac are the toes … well, actually the "toes in training" – wait, late breaking news: String Bean has been moved up to “stomach” of the Athletic Dept, while LegoManiac is still “toes in training”... then when Lego Maniac complained, he was promoted to the "shoulders", which is "really close to the head")
Coaching Staff:
□ Football – Mom
□ Soccer – LegoManiac
□ Cheerleading – String Bean
□ Baseball – String Bean
□ Swimming – Kotch
□ Tennis – Kotch
□ Lacrosse – BamBam, Dad - assistant
□ Hockey – BamBam, Dad – assistant
□ Gymnastics – Dad, LegoManiac - assistant
□ Golf – Mom

Bam-Bam is quite proud that he is the AD for the SAA Knight Eagles ... he even dressed up for a "press conference" and kept the attire on for dinner with our newly named chaplain, Fr. Z. (who is also the chaplain at dh's school, so that makes it easy!).

Bam-bam is taking his job a bit seriously: firing the "coaches" who don't do what he wants, creating contracts for them to sign (altho he's signing the contracts for them as many have mutinied), deciding who will play on which teams and when we'll play (don't tell him we only have a total of six people in the house -- he sees us fielding a "real" team). He even made a sign today that "the new teams will be introduced on Friday, Oct 31st at 10:00pm on FOX sports" (he was quite proud he didn't need help spelling FOX!).

I'm thinking this youngest is going to go pretty far in the world of management! As the Young Marines put it, he just "adapts, improvises, overcomes" EVERY obstacle to his imagination and plans.

[BTW, the scratch-looking mark below his lip is from playing "football" with his brother yesterday afternoon and almost biting all the way through to give himself a nice fat lip/bruise and generally look really bad!]

So, we'll probably have a new banner for this blog soon -- once LegoManiac designs the "Knight Eagle" and we get it scanned in!

Mother's Day

As the kids get older, the Mother's Day celebrations become more meaningful and delightful.

Yesterday, Kotch (almost 17) took String Bean and I out for "grown-up girl bonding time" at a wonderful restaurant for brunch. It was the first time one of my children has taken me to a really nice meal and they paid. It was so wonderful sitting outside in our 70+ weather (don't worry, it's supposed to SNOW on Tuesday/Wednesday) with my lovely daughters, all of us dressed up and enjoying the time spent together.

While the girls were busy, dh had the two boys getting treats at the grocery to make a feast fit for a Spring evening -- barbequed hamburgers (dh even let them flip them and take them off the barbie!), homemade baked beans, coleslaw and this beautiful cookie cake that is PERFECT for the younger set:

Just as we were finishing dinner, Brikhead called from Baton Rouge (on break from his pizza job) just to "tell you I love you, Mom" .... from an almost 19-year-old man, that did my heart proud!

We have so much to be thankful of with our families -- dh called his mom and we'd seen my mom on Saturday, we have wonderful kids who know how to "treat mama right" and we had beautiful weather ....

Prayers that your mom's day was as wonderful ....

Magazine: Check this one out!

It seems there is a new entry for Catholic kids magazine ... this one will, God willing, be published this Fall 2008. Billed as a Catholic "Highlights", the magazine is called St. Mary's Messenger. You can download a sample copy ... and believe me, it's worth looking at.

But, the editors need YOUR help.

Please go to the website, download a copy of the sample, and then fill-out the interest form. The form doesn't commit you to subscribe -- it's to show the potential publishers (they want to go with a professional publishing house) that there is "significant national interest" in such a magazine. You can also leave a comment about what you liked/didn't like about the sample.

I'm an ol' cow hand ....

Do you think, just maybe, we've been out West too long?

Locks of Love

My 16 yod finally did it .... here's the before picture:

... and the after:

Pre-camping pleasures

Now that we're out in the Rockies, we figure we'll take the kiddos camping quite a bit this summer; I mean, the scenery is AWESOME (in the true definition of the word!).

But we're also trying to get the little ones all excited while also helping us learn about camping skills before we head out. So where do we turn? The library of course!

Here are some of the books that have really gone over well with our kids:

• Follow the Trail: A Young Person's Guide to the Great Outdoors by Jessica Loy
• The Kids' Campfire Book by Jane Drake and Ann Love
• Kids Camp! Activities for the Backyard or Wilderness by Laurie Winn Carlson

Not to forget the older folks, here are some GREAT books on camping and hiking in Colorado:

• Colorado Camping: The Complete Guide to Tent and RV Camping by Sarah Ryan
• Best Hikes with Children: Colorado by Maureen Keilty
• Family Guide to Colorado's National Parks and Monuments by Carolyn Sutton

Sundays during Lent ...

... are not considered part of Lent, around here anyway. Whatever we've sacrificed during the week, we can have a bit of on Sundays. For instance, our family gave up sweets and desserts, so here are the littles on Sunday evening (craning to see the TV from the dining room -- we gave up TV too!)

Stations of the Cross

An ancient tradition in the Catholic Church is for the faithful to "pray" the Stations of the Cross on Fridays during Lent. This is to remind us of Jesus' sacrifice: we walk in his footsteps to Golgotha, we feel Mary's sorrow when she meets her beloved son, we weep with the women of Jerusalem, we help put Jesus in the tomb and roll the stone not knowing if we will ever see our cherished Brother again ...

For children (and adults), it can be very hard to remember the 14 different stations. A few years ago, I saw this suggestion for symbols of the various stations, and have since incorporated the practice of using these symbols to help my children "pray" the Stations of the Cross.

Station 1 -- Jesus is condemned to die -- string to bind his hands

Station 2 -- Jesus takes up his Cross -- a small wooden cross

Station 3 -- Jesus falls the first time -- a band-aid

Station 4 -- Jesus meets his Mother -- a rosary

Station 5 -- Simon helps Jesus carry the cross -- a heart for charity

Station 6 -- Veronica wipes the face of Jesus -- cloth with Holy Face on it

Station 7 -- Jesus falls a second time -- a band-aid

Station 8 -- Jesus comforts the weeping women of Jerusalem -- tissues

Station 9 -- Jesus falls a third time -- a band-aid

Station 10 -- Jesus is stripped of his garments -- a piece of purple cloak

Station 11 -- Jesus is nailed to the Cross -- a large nail

Station 12 -- Jesus dies on the Cross -- a crucifix

Station 13 -- Jesus is taken down from the Cross -- a picture of the Pieta

Station 14 -- Jesus is laid in the tomb -- a rock or stone

This is what happens ....

... when a home taught child watches the classic TV comedy about life in a German prisoner camp, "Hogan's Heroes" show (courtesy of DVDs from the library):

He builds his own tank, of course!

There are few things nicer ...

... than having a candle-lit (yes, the candle is lit, you just can't tell) breakfast with a brand-new 7 year old!

And, my how she has grown:

Happy, happy 7th birthday to our dear little one!

You bring joy to our hearts everyday!

Kids!

After reading this post that Melissa had on her Lilting House blog, I just had to share my kids' actions yesterday. Must have been something in the air:

Seems that Brikhead (17, 6'2" and lover of "stirring the pot") gave BamBam a penny belonging to LegoManiac.

Yes, a penny!

Lego Maniac, understanding that discretion is ALWAYS the better part of valor, didn't go after his 6'2" brother but after his 3' brother. He started chasing BamBam through the house, demanding the penny back (at the top of his voice as we don't seem to do anything quietly around here). LegoManiac was out to kill if he could only get close enough. BamBam, being 4 and pretty darn fiesty, of course wouldn't give up the penny and kept saying it was his as "Brikhead gave it to me".

Yes, a penny!

When I stepped in -- trying to be the oil on the waters, the calmer of discord -- and offered LegoManiac a penny of mine, I was summarily dismissed. Seems the penny that BamBam had was HIS and HE didn't want ANOTHER STINKY PENNY!

Yes, a penny! And a 17 year-old who loves to cause controversies......