In Memoriam

Today is the 6th anniversary of John's dad's death. We remember him in our prayers today. I'm planning to do some reminiscing with the kids: telling a few stories and looking at old photos. We don't have a Mass on base today, but there are stations of the cross tonight, so we'll offer them for the repose of his soul.

We still miss you, Dad! Please pray for us!

Happy St. Joseph's Day!

Here's the last one in our week of feasts: The Solemnity of St. Joseph. This is a big day at our house. Joseph's name day and a break from Lent. (It says so in Canon Law. Who am I to argue?) Happy name day, Joseph!

We read two stories of St. Joseph today. One of which is a favorite book of Joseph's: Good Saint Joseph from the Catholic Book Publishing Co. Then we sang some St. Joseph songs. The old favorite "St. Joseph was a Carpenter" is still a big hit with the preschooler. And we have recently learned a song that goes, "St. Joseph, St. Joseph, teach us how to obey. St. Joseph, St. Joseph, protect us on our way..." It includes verses about each time angels came to St. Joseph and told him what God wanted, emphasizing his obedience and protection of the holy family. Matthew then made a card for John, since St. Joseph is the patron saint of fathers. And I had a little card ready for Joseph, too, since it's his name day. Fun stuff!


Joseph chose the dinner menu: hot dogs, mac & cheese, corn, and strawberries. I made cream puffs for dessert, as I traditionally do. I read about the Italian tradition in The Year and Our Children by Mary Reed Newland (now back in print from Sophia Institute Press). That was one of the first books I read when we started thinking of home schooling, and it has become one of my favorite books about living the liturgical year. Over the years, we have incorporated quite a few of her ideas into our family celebrations.

After dinner, John gave Joseph a Name Day Blessing from the Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers book (USCCB).

Enjoying every bite!

Deliziosa!

Patrick took a couple of cream puffs with him when he left this evening. He's on his way to Tokyo with the soccer team again, this time, for games against Kinnick High School. He'll be back in the wee hours of Sunday morning, take a nap, go to Mass with us, and sleep again for awhile in the afternoon. These trips involve 12-hour bus rides each way, a day on the base where they're playing, and playing at least 2 soccer games, sometimes 3 during the visit. Thankfully, when our snow melts, he'll have some weekends off when the other teams travel up here.

St. Joseph, protect him on his way!

To You O Blessed Joseph (Ad Te, Beate Ioseph)

To you, O blessed Joseph,
do we come in our tribulation,
and having implored the help of your most holy spouse,
we confidently invoke your patronage also.
Through that charity which bound you
to the immaculate Virgin Mother of God
and through the paternal love
with which you embraced the Child Jesus,
we humbly beg you graciously to regard
the inheritance which Jesus Christ
has purchased by his Blood,
and with your power and strength
to aid us in our necessities.

O most watchful Guardian of the Holy Family,
defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ;
O most loving father,
ward off from us
every contagion of error and corrupting influence;
O our most mighty protector,
be propitious to us and from heaven assist us
in our struggle with the power of darkness;
and, as once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril,
so now protect God's Holy Church
from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity;
shield, too, each one of us by your constant protection,
so that, supported by your example and your aid,
we may be able to live piously, to die holily,
and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.
New St. Joseph People's Prayer Book

What did he just say?

Reading and watching the video here.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Breastplate of St. Patrick

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today through the strength of Heaven
the rays of the sun,
the radiance of the moon,
the splendor of fire,
the speed of lightening,
the swiftness of the wind,
the depth of the sea,
the stability of the earth
the firmness of rock.

I arise today through the power of God:
God's might to comfort me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to lead me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's Heavenly Host to save me
from the snares of the devil,
from temptations to sin,
from all who wish me ill,
from near and afar,
alone and with others.
May Christ shield me today
against poison and fire,
against drowning and wounding,
so that I may fulfill my mission
and bear fruit in abundance.

Christ behind and before me,
Christ behind and above me,
Christ with me and in me,
Christ around and about me,
Christ on my right and on my left,
Christ when I lie down at night,
Christ when I rise in the morning,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone that speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

The Breastplate of St. Patrick has been translated in many versions from the original Irish and Latin. I like the version above, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Today is Patrick's name day, so we will take a small break from our Lenten sacrifices and enjoy corned beef, parsley-boiled potatoes, green beans, green salad, and a mint-chocolate chip ice cream pie for dessert. We also usually play Irish music all day. The younger kids often watch this video, and hopefully will help me decorate the table with shamrocks, a green tablecloth, and a statue of St. Patrick. We will pray the Breastplate prayer together after dinner along with night prayer. This is one of our favorite Saint's days, and coming in the midst of Lent, it makes a nice reminder for everyone of the reason why we are working so hard to come closer to Christ.

Happy name day, Patrick (and John Patrick, too)!

This morning

John and I were in our room playing with Meghan when the sounds of an argument rumbled in from Joseph and Matthew's room. We couldn't hear what they were saying until Matthew yelled at the top of his lungs, "NO! Your ideas are not GOOD ideas! Only mine are!"

American political discourse in a nutshell, I commented to John.

"At least he knows what's important," John responded.

Hakkoda

A friend posted this YouTube video on his Facebook page. It was the winning video in a Nature Valley Granola bars contest. It shows a lot of the really fun parts of living in northern Japan. Enjoy!
And please consider a visit. We miss you all!

Nine months

Believe it or not, Meghan is nine months old. With each baby, the first year seems to fly faster and faster, even though I want to cling to each moment and hold them all in my heart.

We went to Meghan's well-child check-up on Friday and the doctor told us, "Developmentally, she's a rock star." You have to love a doctor who confirms your suspicions that your child is simply amazing.

Meghan weighs 18 lbs, 1 oz. and is 27 inches long. She dropped to the 50th percentile for weight but remains in the 97th percentile for height. I failed to write down her head circumference again. I'll have to call and check on that, but it was in the correct range on the growth chart. All in all, she's growing fine.

One nice thing about her being child number six is that I don't worry so much about weight numbers anymore. When Patrick was a baby, he took a similar plunge from 75th to 50th percentile in weight at this same time (between 6 and 9 months). At the time, the doctor had me worried that he was losing too much weight. Now, knowing that he's fine, I'm not worried about Meghan at all. She's following a family pattern. Thankfully, this doctor did not tell me to feed Meghan cookies, which was the helpful advice of the doc who saw Patrick at his 9-month check-up. This doctor said, "She looks great. She is developing well. Her height increase tells me that she's well-nourished. I'm not worried at all about this weight change."

Hooray for Meghan!!

And she's up!

In celebration of her 9-month birthday, Meghan did this on Wednesday:

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The gate is now up at the bottom of the stairs.

*Photo credits: John