Family Talent

Meet my lil' brother!

Strike Illustrated

I'd like you to meet...

our little gift.


Just 10 weeks and growing. Please keep this little one in your prayers. We'll be back to see this tiny one in 5 weeks. Pray that the fibroids (you can see one on the lower right hand corner) that surround it do not invade it's space and that they degenerate or just stay out of the way! Mother of Perpetual Help, Pray for Us!

It's been 8 years since my siblings and I have had the opportunity to be together. This was the last time. My sister and lil' big (he's younger than me, but older than my other brother) brother came to visit with all the kids. This pic is of the boy cousins. Now my youngest brother has a little boy to throw in the mix, but who knows when we'll be together again. My lil' big bro is in Afghanistan, his family is in Germany..my sis and her family are thousands of miles away on the west coast and my lil' baby bro is up north. It was good to be able to spend that time with them.

If you could, please keep a special intention of mine in your prayers. I appreciate it so very much!

Organize!

This week is all about organization! I finally broke down and bought new desks and chairs for the schoolroom. Recycled a pantry cabinet into a bookshelf and cleaned out last years books/work/art projects.

I took the doors off one of those wal-mart type pantry cabinets. Painted it black. Whatever those shelves are made of, they do not take paint well. I used an entire quart of paint to get it somewhat black. The kids think it looks cool. I think they were tired of painting. We were gonna put chalkboard paint on the doors and re-install them, but decided to turn them into wall shelves instead. Hubby will get some brackets and install them for us. We can use all the storage we can get. I'll post up pics this afternoon.

Today we'll work on downstairs closets. They tend to become black holes of who knows what. I have on closet full of plastic and paper grocery bags. Ugh. Got to get that in order. The spare room closet is a mish mash of everything we don't know what to do with and hubby's computer parts. This is the hardest one to do.

Then filing of the school paperwork from last year.

Oh..and my washer broke last night. One of the wires that works the door magnet came loose. The man will have to solder it and clean up the corrosion. I hope he does it tonight. Laundry is one of those things I don't like to do..however, I'd rather do it at home than have to lug it to the laundry mat.

Pics to come later today.

Return to paradise...

The drive home from the islands (I just love calling them that, it makes me feel like I went on an exotic vacation) was long, hot and tiring. Temps reached 105 on Friday and my poor car a/c was pushing hard to keep us all cool.

15 minutes from home I called the hubby to let him know we were almost home. He says to me "oh, so...what's for dinner?" Flabbergasted, hot and even more tired, I calmly reminded him that the queen and princesses were returning and that we expected the red carpet treatment. Grapes, fans and all! He just chuckled. Ha ha ha.

Well, we pull into the drive, I raised the garage door (this usually brings the boys out to see what's up). No one. I could hear the dog barking. I know they knew we were home. The girls, I mean princesses, and I gathered all the suitcases and bags and pillows and trudged to the front door. Locked. Ugh..I didn't want to fumble for the keys so I rang the door bell. I could see and hear t-bone going nuts! No answer! Come on, now I'm getting p.o'd. It's hot people! Open the dern do....!

The door is thrown open..before me on the foyer floor are two red sheets, the boys ( those pesky boys) are standing on either side with my brooms frantically waving them up and down and laughing hysterically. I walk past the "fans" and hubby is standing there with a tupperware bowl full of grapes..he pops one in my mouth and then does the same to the girls. By this time we are all laughing hysterically. What a return!

Thanks hubby. You always manage to make me smile. Ya got me!

Summer Days..

It's slow out there in blog land.

12 years ago today, my first daughter made her appearance. I barely made it to the hospital on time. She was born 20 minutes after I walked in the door and the nurse hadn't even turned all the lights on. It was comical..she was delivered by the emergency room doc and and when my doc arrived, frazzled and in a t-shirt and shorts, he was quite upset that the room lights were not on. It was funny.

I am so happy to have her, she is one special young lady.

Well It's A Hot One..

and it sure will feel like we are 7 inches from the midday sun. Another day in the high 90's. I love it. There may be some scattered t-storms this evening..good for the plants.

I went ahead and made the switch to Geometry, for both boys, next year. The original schedule had one doing Advanced Math I and the other, Algebra II. We have had a hard time with the last few sections of Algebra II. My options were to continue on as planned, take the Geometry course, or re-do Algebra II. I didn't want him to repeat Alg II just for those last few sections, he did well for 3/4 of the course. I haven't been able to find a tutor I can afford for Advanced Math, and both Hubby and I did well in Geometry so we will be able to guide the learning.

With both boys working on the same subject the teaching comes much easier. The tail end of this year was crazy for me. I'm no mathematician. I had 4 levels of math going at the same time..switching back and forth from basic multiplication/division, to pre Algebra, Algebra I and Algebra II. I look at my kids and am amazed at how they are learning these concepts. How much they are retaining. If I had known then, what I know now..I would have started introducing these concepts when they were babies.

Putting them on the same course at the same time will free up time for all of us and they will be able to use each other as resources. Although, they've already started the competition thing. When I told them what we would be doing, the middle one already made the challenge to my oldest "I bet I'll get a higher grade on the first test"! Here we go! Ahhhhhh..Brotherly Love.

My oldest is inches away from Eagle Scout. He's finished his last merit badge and just has to submit his paperwork and have his Eagle Scout Board of Review. He's very excited. I am very proud.

Out of 100 Scouts: Four of the one hundred will reach Eagle rank, and at least one will later say that he valued his Eagle above his college degree. Many will find their future vocation through merit badge work and Scouting contacts. Seventeen of the one hundred boys will become adult leaders and will give leadership to thousands of additional boys.

My middle son is following close behind. Next year he begins his final push for Eagle.

My daughter is headed to a Call To Holiness retreat the beginning of July. She'll get to spend some time with other girls to learn about vocations. All vocations. She'll meet the sisters from The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. I've had the opportunity to meet some of these sisters and they are the most joy-filled women I have ever met. I think my daughter is going to have a fabulous time at this retreat. Please keep her in prayer, it's the first time she has been away from home for any length of time.

Check out this beautiful video from The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia

The Challenge(s)

I started a self-challenge this week. To run 10 miles in one week. M-Sat. Sunday's are a day off. So far I've logged 4.5 miles. I've had to use the treadmill because it's way too hot, even early in the am, (for me)to run any length of time. I hope to keep updates here, sort of accountability for myself. I never liked running. I used to dread the PT sessions when I was in the Navy, only because of the runs. I was so slow and inevitably ended up last person in and feeling like I was about to keel over.

Recently, however, I've had this weird desire to run. I feel sorta like Forrest Gump, but not.. he kept on run-ning and run-ning..I don't quite feel that good about it, but I don't mind doing it.

My other self-challenge is to cook more "from scratch" dinners. I usually have a box of something or can of this or packet of that. No more. I'm not going 100% organic or anything like that, but just fresher ingredients and less, much less, pre-packaged stuff.

So..that's my self-challenge. I'll keep you updated.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Yep..He's the bomb! Top Dog! Cream of the Crop! Best Dad evah!

Thank you Dad. Thank you for working hard for all of us. Thank you for sacrificing what you wanted so we could have what we wanted. Thank you for you service to our country. Thank you for finding and marrying Mom!(Special Thanks to Mom for saying YES!) Thank you for taking us fishing. Thank you for throwing great parties! Thank you for your discipline. Thank you for your honesty. Thank you for loving us. We love you! Wishing you a blessed and happy Day.
- The Kids

Little Nicky

The Beginning

Cool Car...

Cool Dad!

Christmas in Germany

Me & Kevin with Dad!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas in Hinesville!

Love those fishing shorts!

The Boys!

In The Quiet of The Morning

Dad up early...kids eat heartily...much talk and banter...laughter heard in the kitchen...FIFA on t.v....shouts of urgency...door slams...sudden quiet.

Smells of nourishment linger...evidence on the table, of life. A walk up reveals crumpled sheets and hurried motions. Electricity blares from every room. Frowning then smiling at their forgetfulness..loving them in their absence.

The picture of a moment in time. The love that is shared here. The beauty of family.

The Trip - Part II Baltimore (Bawl-Mer)

Ahhhhhhhh...downtown Baltimore...the sounds (cars driving past, ambulances chasing behind..fire trucks enroute, sirens blaring!) Ahhhhhhhhhh....Hilton Baltimore....Camden Yards...Baseball games...rooftop decks....drunk folks...homeless folks....what a
b-e-a-utiful city.

Seriously, it is a beautiful city, if you can look past the actual "city" of it. We spent a week at the Hilton Downtown Baltimore. Camden Yards, home to the Orioles was in our "back yard". We watched the second of a three game series between the Orioles and the Yankees from the deck on the 4th floor. It was awesome. The Yankees completely decimated The O's all 3 games. Sigh. It rained for the 2nd game so the fans were not out in force.



The traffic was incredible. After living in the South for the last 2 years, I had a hard time getting the car over 65. City driving was obnoxious. You cut me off, I'll cut you off...and so on and so on. It's kinda fun to cut off a bus. Not.

On my way out of Baltimore to visit my brother, in Abingdon, I used my GPS, a little TOMTOM unit. Let me tell ya, wanna take the scenic route? Use your TOMTOM. I don't mean the idyllic scenic route. I mean The Wire scenic route. I think I went down every street and through every neighborhood on that show. The "you don't belong here" streets. Yeah. And I managed to get all screwed up on the roads and ended up driving through alleys at speeds not meant for driving through alleys. It really kinda p'd me off. Why are there neighborhoods where you can't even drive down the street without worrying if you are gonna get carjacked or worse? I'm gonna stop because this is info for a whole 'nother post. Suffice it to say, I made it out of there and back again.

My sister-in-law made us some great lasagna and we were able to visit with my newest nephew Danny. I didn't have the capability to take pics but my youngest did so I have to transfer them from her camera. My little brother, who always did his laundry at my house..let me use his washer. He's so awesome! Thanks Bro!

We were able to visit with some very good friends of ours..more like an extended family. They are so awesome! Mallu Mom & Crucian Dad fed us some incredible Haitian Griot with Black Rice. I even tried her brussel sprouts! My first time. Ummmm..they were...Brussel Sprouts. The kids got to stay over for 2 nights and were really bummed to leave. This is just an awesome family.

We all went to Mass on Wednesday at Fort Meade. It was good to see and talk to folks I knew when I was there. Such good good people.

Thursday was National Zoo day. We made the drive down into D.C. (by this time I was used to driving like a Mario Andretti and cutting in where I need to. That's why we have bumpers right?) Baltimore is crazy driver city, but D.C. is crazy drivers accompanied by construction on every street and lights on the corners not over the road. Ha Ha. I had one eyeball going left and one going right. Maybe that's why that city is so screwy!

We met up with Mau and her kids (another real treat for mine) and spent 4 hours up and down the hills of the National Zoo. Panda's were awesome..


Kids had a great time.. Here are some random pics of the kids..






It was so good to see and visit with these two great ladies!



It was a great trip and we are so blessed to have been able to go. Thanks Be to God!

The Trip - Part 1 The Eucharistic Congress in Atlanta

Just got back from Baltimore! We spent the last week up there with the hubby, he had a conference and we just got to hang out with friends and family. Yay!

We started the trip at the Eucharistic Congress in Atlanta. It was fantastic! If you have one of these in your area GO! You will not regret it. The talks were amazing, Matt Maher played awesome tunes, the kids rocked out, hubby and I wished we had opted for a seat at the back. It was L-O-U-D!



Finally got our Grace Before Meals Cookbook, Fr. Leo signed it for us and the guys spent about half an hour chatting with him. His talks were out of this world, the teen talk had the kids all pumped up, and the general talk had the adults all pumped up! Go Fr. Leo!



Johnette Benkovic finished her talk with a quote from St. Louis de Montfort. She didn't just read it either, she was on fire! I wish I had video of that talk, you could feel the Holy Spirit in that room during her talk. Amazing!



Fr. Mitch Pacwa was a bit more intellectual, but still a great talk and he blessed the new rosaries we picked up from Rosary Army. We watched Greg and Jennifer Willits as they provided live coverage of the Congress on Sirius Satellite radio.



Aside from all the great talks, vendors and Catholic personalities, the whole reason we were there was because of Christ. The Holy Spirit. The Eucharist.



There were at least 50 priests hearing confessions, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel was always full to overflowing. The Knights of Columbus, in all their regalia, guarded the chapel and lead the way during the Eucharistic Processions. The monstrance was beautiful and Christ was breathtakingly present everywhere! I am so thankful we were able to attend.

A couple more random pics from the congress:

The Fruit of the Vine

Here's an update on my topsy turvy's.


The Cherry tomatoes..doing very well.

The strawberries. I have room for 6 more plants on this thing..but the budget did not allow. The green one in the picture is quite red this morning.

This is a beefsteak tomato..it's potted right now because I did not have TT when I planted. Can't wait to see how big they get in the pot. I need to miracle gro them again.

My middle son received his Confirmation this past weekend. We shall see what fruits he yields in God's time.

Some Enchanted Evening...

Spent a wonderful evening with my hubby and his friends from work last night. It was my first spouse's social and I was a bit worried about going. I've been here for 2 years and have yet to meet anyone that he works with. The venue was beautiful, golf course country club, large veranda and a view of the course..the weather was great. Sun shining but not too hot. It made me feel good to be on his arm. He looked perfect in his choker whites. All "An Officer and a Gentleman" stuff. I told him he needed to run through the building and pick me up and carry me off :) We had a good laugh about that.

Some of the couples wanted to go out to eat afterward and we agreed to tag along. I am glad we did, I met some wonderful women at dinner. I am looking forward to seeing them again.

It was just nice to be back in a Navy atmosphere. The Army is great..but..it's difficult to be a Navy family on an Army post. It was nice to be on common ground.

The Project

Here are some pics of my oldest son's Eagle Scout Project. He built a 40X60 4' picket fence for a center for developmentally disabled adults in our city. This fence will allow them to have a recreation area to safely enjoy their surroundings.
The generosity of those who donated funds and their time to help him brought me to tears. God is so! good.

The Center yard on March 9, 2010

Posts up on April 17, 2010

Getting the bracers on..April 23rd, 2010

The first picket..modeled by the lovely Mr. Pinch.

Done! April 23rd, 2010.

There are many more pictures, as he puts his slide show together I will post that when it is done. Thanks to all who prayed for him during this journey and for those who so selflessly donated both money and time. A plaque was placed on the fence to thank those who donated.

Backyard Beautification

I haven't posted recently because we've either been down sick or in the backyard beautifying. The kids were down all week with some sort of weird flu. Fevers, sore throats, cough. It's been fun.

Hubby decided now was the time to landscape the backyard. The weather is beautiful. With temps in the 70's we figured it was a good time to get to work on finishing the walkway to the pool, and get some planting done.

I took some pics to share..

The view from the left side of the yard..we planted all around the deck..liriope, daylilies and iris.


More plants..pool in the back..


My tomato topsy turvy..I sure hope this works!


strawberry topsy turvy..I need more plants!



The walkway hubby put together..


The girls in the pool. They love the new walkway and so do I. Less dirt in the pool!

Love The One Your With

Just stopped by Mary's and she had linked to Ann's. I grabbed my coffee and went bloghopping.

I hadn't visited Ann's for awhile and it was such a refreshing break. As it always is. Her post reminded me to thoroughly love my husband. He works so very hard to provide a good life for his family. He takes good care of us. He loves our children beyond words. He is a Godly man. He is a loving husband. He is principal, provider, disciplinarian and daddy.

Hug your husband today if he is near you. If he is not, email him or send him a something special in the mail. Thank him for all that he has done to keep your family together. To love you and teach your children.

+St. Joseph, you were given the responsibility of caring for Our Blessed Mother and Our Lord and Savior,Jesus Christ. Your sacrifices in this endeavor were never recorded but they are not unknown. Protect and intercede for the fathers and husbands in our lives.+

Give Me One Reason...

Tracy Chapman's Give Me One Reason as covered by M.

I finally did it!

I managed to save $20.00 at the commissary today!!! Turning what would have been a $270 bill into a $250 bill!! Plus, I saved big on the tip for the baggers as I employed my two boys to do the job! Hooray! I am exhausted but so dern happy I had to blog about it!

I even managed to hold off the commissary shopping until we were down to bare bones. No milk for 4 days! No bread for a week! We were being extremely creative in the kitchen this week. I finally broke down today when the kids balked at buckwheat pancakes. (They were a little dry, but a friend had given us the box and there was no cereal and no milk..even so, I won't be buying that one anytime soon)

I am going to start doing the coupon thing in earnest. Although the commissary does not double coupons, I am happy to save as much as possible. I'd love to be able to get stuff for free, but I don't have time to go around to all the neighborhood shops and score the deals. I'll save where I can at the commissary!

Anyhow, long blog post for really just a big ol' slap happy hoorah! I saved a bunch of money on my groceries!

In the meantime...

I will post the pictures from the march this afternoon. They are on my daughters camera and I haven't yet had a chance to upload them. I was busy with catching up yesterday.

In the meantime here's another selection from my big sis M. Enjoy...

Anita Baker's Body & Soul