God Bless America

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Karate Kids

Plimoth Plantation

We went to Plimoth Plantation and Mayflower II yesterday for FREE, courtesy of The Highland Street Foundation. There are a bunch of places that are free on Fridays, so click the link!
Here are some of my favorite pics from our trip:






The big boys were asked to help put in a couple of planks for a fence that needed repair. They got to break out one of the rotted planks and then put in two new ones.


The day was flawless. Temp and humidity perfectly comfortable. Only a few puffy clouds in the sky. Aaaaaaaaah, summertime!

Graduation

Big T graduated high school this year. We are all very proud of him. He will be taking a couple of college courses this fall while finishing his GED. There were forty other homeschool graduates this year. The ceremony was personal and well done. There was a short bio and a message from the parents read aloud for each graduate, followed by a slide show. It really is amazing to think of all the things these kids have accomplished.
Our graduate alone has been in the church choir since he was nine. He has completed about 40 hours of volunteer work at the church each year. T has been taking karate since he was ten, and earned his Black Belt in Kenpo at thirteen. He is in an "invitation-only" leadership program at the dojo, where he is training to become an instructor. T has also been taking piano lessons since he was ten. He gets sheet music out of the library and practices popular music as well as the great masters. T attends a weekly writing class where he is working on his first novel. It is amazing to see how far our timid, anxious and easily frustrated little boy has come. Good luck, Big T!

Dressing the little Princess

I made this dress for my Princess. Isn't she beautiful? I love being an auntie, does it show?

Blessed and Happy Easter Wishes

Happy Easter! Easter is my favorite holy day. At church this morning, Angus! and Boo each had a solo during the rousing hymn, "He's Not Here!". They were very nervous, but sounded great. Much thanks to Judy, our choir director.
The Easter Bunny visited after Mass, and was kind enough to pose for a picture.

Next we headed out to visit Grandpa and Grandma for a delicious supper. Kudos to the chef, she never disappoints!

The kids had fun playing with their cousin, the little Princess. All in all, a very satisfying day.











And Happy Easter to those absent...Thomas and Karen, hope you enjoyed your day! Much love to our Colorado family! Love you all and miss you, too.

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Thank our Good God for health and for our little family. May God bless you and yours always!

Gingerbread Houses

I "made" gingerbread houses this year out of graham crackers. Cheating, I know, but why waste all that good gingerbread? The children just eat the candy and throw the rest away. I asked them to save some Halloween candy for the houses this year, so I only had to buy two $1 bags of gummy bears. Saved me a bundle! *LOL*

My niece's 1st birthday!

My Godchild, (a.k.a. Princess), has just turned one! She had a great time, tearing paper off her presents, knocking her brother and cousins down, and taking half the frosting off the cake w/her highchair tray.

I made her this outfit. Here she is with the hat!

An Evening at the ...E.R.?!

Life with children...always an adventure. Our current adventure started at 3 pm this afternoon. The kids were all out playing in the backyard, when my 8 yo ran into the house, visibly shaken and near hysterical. I heard words: "blood" "head" "hurt" and ran out of the house to find my youngest lying face down in the dirt. He wasn't moving, but I knew better than to pick him up. It took me a good 3 min. or so to get him to get up, and as any parent knows, that is a very long time!
I took him to the doc, who sent me to the hospital, and a scary trip to "trauma" for a CT scan and Xray.
Who knew a simple fall in the backyard would result in a broken thumb, a concussion, and, instead of stitches, the gash on his head was super-glued! Ah, the wonders of modern medicine.
And my friends all jumped in to help; with supper, rides to and from GS, taking the other kids back home, and even hanging out at the house so JP could come up to the hospital to check up on the little guy.
Thanks to everyone who helped out today! And I must say, everyone at the hospital was super good to us, and made a scary situation less stressful with their professionalism.
Oh, one more thing...God? Remember when I said I was bored? Yeah, well, I take it back...

"Stained Glass"

JP and the three younger children have been busy preparing for Christmas with this project, made with black construction paper, colored tissue paper, and laminate. We are all pleased with the results...

Happy Thanksgiving!

The kids and I had some fun with Thanksgiving this year. Saw this idea on weewonderfuls, and we just had to make some. Blessings from our home to yours!

Hawkumon

Angus! came up with his own version of trading cards. He asked if we could "bring one to life", so to speak.

A Five-year-old's view of the world...

"Foot", a self portrait; study of "Grandpa in Chair";










photo commentary on "Brother's Dirty Foot"; and "Dueling Elbows"