Memorial Day Peonies

When we were young, my parents would take us to the cemetary on Memorial Day. Early in the day, my mom would go out to the farm where my dad grew up and cut peonies to leave at the grave sites. We plan to continue the tradition with our children, by attending the early Memorial Day Mass at the cemetary tomorrow and visiting the grave site of my maternal and paternal grandparents.
When my grandfather passed away, his farm was sold to developers. Knowing this, the family chose to transplant many of the beautiful flowers that my grandmother (and probably great grandmother!) had planted over the 100 years our family had lived on the land. Blessedly, I have a few of Grandma's peonies bursting into bloom right out side my front door. I am excited to leave a few of her lovely blooms for her tomorrow!

Happy Birthday, Crazy Pants!

There are days I wonder how he has survived three years. There are more days when I wonder how I have survived these last three years. But everyday I am thankful for the little spitfire who has added so much laughter, hair pulling, and crayon marked walls to this family! Our crazy little man turned three this weekend, and there doesn't seem to be any slowing down in our future. On Saturday, we went to Oakdale Inn for dinner, where he ate frog legs and had the entire restaurant sing to him as he grinned away, basking in the attention!
On Sunday, our wonderful friends came up to my parents cottage, where we avoided the river, prayed no one would fly off the edge of the loft, and had a grand old time! As you can see, PeterXavier ditched is pants in favor of football flags and a wonderful balloon hat. He seemed to think that his birthday gave him a free pass to strip.
His daddy made him this fantastic chair for his birthday. I am sure, with a little urging from the resident nagger (ahem), that all of our kids will have one. And that weird thing he is doing -- looking at the sky with his mouth as wide open as humanly possible -- that's his new camera smile. I've stopped wondering what makes him tick and just laugh.
Resting after a very long (and cold) weekend. We needed to soak what little sun we could find on the front porch.

St Isidore the Farmer

The bulk of this entry was originally posted on May 15, 2008, but I feel it bears repeating. I am not sure why old comments are still there, but they are. Sorry!   Life is busy, so this post is a bit late, but better late that never!

Sunday was the Feast of St Isidore the Farmer -- what a great Saint to emulate. He didn't do anything grand, fantastic, or even all that notable. He was just an  honest, hard working man who loved God above all else. The legend surrounding him tell how he would go to Mass each morning before he began his work in the fields. One morning he was running late and the other farm hands were angry. When they went to fields to confront him, he was working away, surrounded by angelic helpers.

St Isidore is a special Saint to our family because my grandfather was not only named Isidore, but he was also a farmer. I always imagine St. Izzy plowing the fields with mules as my grandpa once did, although I am sure farming in twelfth century Spain was much different than early twentieth century America!

Another great legend surrounding St. Isidore is that one day he was returning from the fields with sacks of corn. He looked up into a tree to find hungry birds unable to find food. Having pity on the poor birds, he poured out a bag of corn for them. When he returned to the other farm hands, they were astonished to find that the corn bags were entirely filled and when ground, the corn produced twice as much meal as the rest.




And here is a photo of my other favorite Izzy, pitching horseshoes on his farm. My sources tell me that it was taken in the late 1950's.


Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

God, through the intercession of St. Isidore, the holy Farmer, grant that we may overcome all feelings of pride. May we always serve You with that humility which pleases You, through his merits and example.




And lastly, our other favorite Izzy.  Isn't she cute?

Cowboys, Indians, and a Damsel with Blue Nail Polish

What a long day! Mondays are always a bit long, due to the fact that Andrew has class and doesn't get home until after 10. But today was a particularly long Monday, since Chrisopher was sick and I am not feeling up to par myself. That being the case, we spent a long day inside, with a small respite on the sunny front steps at mid-day.

My parents stopped by in the evening to say goodbye (they are heading overseas for a few weeks. Jealous? why yes, I am!). They were swindled by some big brown eyes and ended up taking the clan out to get cap guns and sparkly nail polish. So they bid fairwell to some happy little campers. And I spent the evening listening to gun shots in my living room.

And now I am here, trying to convince some little people that sleep is, in fact, a wonderful thing. Why don't they believe me??

Happy Mother's Day!

Here are my four favorite reasons to celebrate! Aren't they great? I have decided it is impossible to get four squirrely little kids to smile simultaneously, so this is the best we get!

I met my parents, sister, and her family out at our favorite picnic spot to celebrate the day (and our fantastic Mama!) It was the perfect, simple little celebration. Unfortunately, Andrew had commencement at the college, so he wasn't with us -- boo!
My totally adorable niece was baptised this past Friday. Annie will probably kill me for posting this picture, but I love it! It's like she's saying "woop!" and trying to cheer the poor babe as she is doused with cold water!

And can you say cutie?? I think Grace took this picture. So sweet!

I hope all the Mama's out there had a great day!

We had a super-swingin' weekend . . . how 'bout you?

It was an insanely busy weekend, to say the least. Saturday was the Latino Fest at Ivy Tech, so Andrew was "working", but we got to hang out with him most of the day. The weather was perfect, most surely thanks to the prayers of little children! Fr. Gustavo came to give the opening prayer and then had lunch and walked around a bit with us. I have never really talked to him before -- he is so sweet!

On Sunday, our good friend Will made his first Holy Communion, so we went to the Mass at St. Tom's followed by a terrific party at the Bosma House of Adventure (and Mud).

And now we are starting our ridiculously busy week. Here we go . . .

Clever

Grace walked in the room, broken cell phone perched at her ear as though she is chatting:

This is Daddy. He wants to know if you'll make cookies.