So how was your weekend?

Friday started out like any normal Friday. The kids did their schoolwork; we walked down to noon Mass, and Joseph mowed our front lawn. Friday night, John, Joseph, and Matthew served for Confirmation. Joseph was a Bishop's attendant and got to wear a special cape (on top of his cassock and surplice) to cover his hands while holding the miter. Until just before the Sacrament was conferred, when he was overcome by the heat. He got to the open window in the sacristy in time to avoid fainting and remove the cape, but then he threw up instead. Poor guy! So John helped Joseph clean up the window sill, and Matthew, the lowly boat boy, was promoted to Bishop's attendant for the remainder of the Mass. He was floating on air when he got home.

He came into my room absolutely beaming and said to me, "Did you hear about the catastrophe at church?"

"No. No one has told me anything about it yet," I replied, putting down the laundry I was folding.

"Oh! It was beautiful!"

"Really? what happened?"

"Joseph has to tell you."

Joseph took the whole thing with good humor. He had felt better and returned to the sanctuary during the Liturgy of the Eucharist and partaken of the celebratory cake afterwards.

Saturday, Joseph, who has started a lawn-mowing business in order to pay for Boy Scout summer camp, had his first job at 7 a.m. Friday night's thunderstorm made the grass too wet to mow, so we walked over, met the lady, saw what she needed done, and arranged to have him come back this morning to do the work. Then, we went out to buy him a baseball glove (which was his long-awaited birthday present) and white baseball pants. Matthew also needed pants--black ones. How, with all the white pants and grey pinstriped pants that we have in almost every size, it still ended up that both boys needed uniform pants, I'll never know. Murphy's law. Thankfully, they did already have the right combination of socks (well, almost--Joseph is supposed to have white socks with a black stripe--we have plain white, navy stripe, red stripe, orange stripe, but no black stripe and no striped socks at the sporting goods store or Target. So he's going with plain white), belts, red t-shirts, protective gear, and cleats.

After the sporting goods store, Joseph came home to do chores until 11:00 when it was time to mow Uncle Dan and Aunt Taryn's lawn. He started in on that, intending to spend two hours before his baseball game. While he was working, he got a call that his game was changed to a practice because the game field was too wet. I guess the practice field was not. It saved John about 90 minutes of driving, so no complaints here.

Joseph spent about 3 1/2 hours on the aunt & uncle's lawn, then went to practice for 2 hours, then came home, begged off on weeding Dan and Taryn's garden until Tuesday, finished his home chores, hung out with a friend for a few minutes, ate dinner (glad I made Irish stew so he had something hearty), checked his email, and went to bed.

In between driving Joseph places, John finished Patrick's financial aid application, started putting the polyurethane on the cabinet he's finishing for the art supplies, and went to work on the thousands of dandelions in the yard. We're renting, but we're still supposed to keep the yard looking presentable, and in this neighborhood, that means digging up dandelions.

I also did some driving to pick Joseph up from lawn mowing and drop him off at baseball practice, went to the organic market for milk and to Target for night-light bulbs, batteries, and a failed attempt to find a mesh thingamajig to put over the end of the washing machine hose to reduce the amount of lint going into the basement sink drain. Not that it keeps it from overflowing the sink at least once a month, but, hey, it must be keeping it from overflowing the sink every week, right? Right? Still. Didn't find one. I was sure I got them at Target last time.

Then, I made Irish stew with the leg bones and leftover lamb from our Easter feast. And Irish brown bread. Yummy! While the bread was baking and the stew was, well, stewing, I went out to pull weeds in the garden beds. I did about a one-square yard area before I ran out of time. There are so many weeds here, I can see that it's going to be a daily chore for everyone all summer to keep up with this garden. Good thing we homeschool so we're home and have plenty of extra time every day.

ha!

Sunday, John and the boys served Mass, and it was our weekend to set up and clean up the  post-Mass social. This is actually not a hard job at all, and we do it with Dan and Taryn, so it turns out to be fun. It takes time, though. We got home at about 1:15, and Joseph helped John cook brunch while I made the fruit salad. John and I went out to look at a couple of houses--nothing spectacular yet, but when we saw a house on a good street that we hadn't even known was for sale and is already under contract, we realized that we really need a realtor.  Lesson learned. When we got home, I sent an email to the realtor Dan and Taryn worked with last winter.

While John and Meghan very industriously went outside to pull more weeds, I snatched an hour to read. For fun. Ahhhhhh! Sunday rest! 0:-D

The boys were at the creek with friends: a well-deserved playtime for Joseph. They stayed down there until almost 6 p.m. when Joseph went off with John to Boy Scout Troop Leader Training at church. I made a simple dinner for the rest of us: leftover fruit salad, a raw veggie plate, leftover tzatziki, and some cheese and crackers. After Meghan and Matthew were in bed, I finished my book. Hooray!

Katie was sick all weekend and pretty much stayed in bed except to do her chores on Saturday and go to Mass on Sunday. She didn't run the neighborhood 5K after all. Her friend and running partner came down with strep throat on Thursday, and by Saturday morning, Katie was feeling horrible too.

Meghan did her chores and hung out at home with Katie. She has had a terrible cold since we got back from Massachusetts last Monday, so she and I opted not to go to Confirmation on Friday. Ordinarily, I might have taken her. Bishops' Masses are exciting (who knew how exciting this one was going to be!?), but it was raining, and I didn't think we should drag her out at bedtime. She was happy to stay at home, which tells me she was tired. Normally, she wants to go everywhere everyone else is going. She did go out with John to help pull weeds in the yard on Sunday afternoon and gave me a minute-by-minute report before dinner.
Back to her old self, I think.

So that was our weekend.

I'm ready for the regular schedule of a regular week now.

Except for the clogged kitchen sink.

Spring snow

Pausing for Tea on a Snowy Morning
(with sincere apology to Robert Frost)

Whose flakes these are I think I know.
His heart is with His children, so
I know He sees me pausing here
To watch His world fill up with snow.

My little children think it queer
To stop and sit at window clear
To gaze in peace and sip my mug
This fifth spring morning of the year.

They give my bathrobe sleeve a tug
And ask for lap and kiss and hug.
The silent morning wakes from sleep
With joyous shrieks and boots pulled snug.

The snow is fluffy, wet, and deep,
But I have school and home to keep,
And hours to go before I sleep,
And hours to go before I sleep.

Our New Home #2

Here are some different views of our Family & School Room.  We think it has everything we need to relax and spend time together...books, piano, pillows, light, books, games (in the cabinet under the windows seat), books, etc.  The only "television" we have is the computer monitor, which is tucked away in the armoire.  We occasionally arrange the pillows to recline and watch a movie together.  There's no end to the activities Matthew and Meghan can find to do in this room.  Every day, Joseph serenades us playing Pachelbel's Kanon and other songs as he practices on the piano.  Meghan sits at the little table for school while Joseph and Matthew share the white desk.  Judy teaches from the window seat.  (Katie does most of her school work at the desk in her room.)

Home, but... (an explanation/apology of sorts)

After we got home last weekend, everyone promptly fell ill.

Okay, maybe it isn't that drastic, but Meghan came home with a cold, which she shared with Matthew and Daddy. And it is a doozy: a feverish, achingly-painful migrane-like headach-y, ending-with-a-horrible-cough type cold. Even Mommy got the horrible headache. And the only two left standing are so tired that I suspect they are fighting it, too. Poor Meghan was better Friday and all weekend, and now she is sick again tonight with a new wrinkle--higher fever and upset tummy. Thanks be to God for children's Ibuprofin.

Then, we had three birthday parties to attend this weekend, which those who were well enough did attend. (not complaining--they were fun, but they did make for an unusually busy first week home from vacation)

And Patrick's financial aid paperwork is due. And a friend asked for help with a last-minute Flat Stanley project (which I love, but it took a little time to put together).

And thanks be to God for the team concept of teaching Confirmation. One of the other team members stepped in and planned the whole of today's class. For which John and I will be forever grateful.

And Katie had two home soccer games!! Yay!! The first ones of the season, which has to start in Tokyo because we always have too much snow here at the beginning of the season. But, you must realize that this means....

THE SNOW IS GONE!!!

Except for the gigantic piles that make hills of empty lots and fields where it was dumped by dump trucks that had been filled by shovel trucks that were clearing out parking lots and city streets all winter. But the soccer field off-base where the Eagles play is clear.

And so is the "train park" across from the city offices. They have installed a new play structure, and if we ever get well, and if the weather warms up just a little bit more, we plan to go there and check it out. They even set up the cherry blossom festival lanterns this week. No blossoms yet, but the lanterns give us hope.

So please understand that this is why we have not even finished taking the photos from Thailand and Korea off our cameras yet, let alone shared any here. We're sorry (especially to our parents, who are waiting to see all the fun). And we will post pictures as soon as we can. Maybe later this week.

Lent: a happier post

So instead of wallowing in failure, I thought I would make a list of the things that are blessing us in the way I hoped they would this Lent--or at least the ones we feel successful at. ;-)

1. Friday Stations of the Cross. I love this devotion, and our parish has a wonderful tradition of offering a soup and bread supper (and many yummy meatless casseroles) afterwards. My favorite thing about this is the chance to visit with fellow Catholics during dinner. We don't get much time to chat on Sunday mornings as we all run off to Religious Ed.with the kids.

2. Daily Mass. Well, three days a week, which is when it is offered at our parish. We have gotten there almost every day of Lent, and only  missed when one of the kids was sick. Sometimes the pastor is sick, and this week when that happened, the regulars read the readings together in the chapel. A nice sense of community is building between us, which I love.

3. Lenten Adventure. A friend (from women's Bible study and daily Mass--see how these things work?) just told me about this website (thanks to my mom, we have many of their Glory Stories CDs and a few coloring books, but I never knew about the website). We are playing catch-up with Lenten Adventure, but it seems well-designed, and the kids are having fun with it. Since we are joining so late and our mail takes so long (weeks and weeks sometimes) to get here, I didn't think I could order now and hope to receive their pre-printed calendars before the end of Lent, so I made some for the kids to fill in. 

My version of the calendar is not pretty, but serviceable.

Next year, we will know about this before Lent is half over and can buy the professional-looking one that they sell in 10-packs. Maybe I can even order in time to share with cousins or friends, since we might be back in the USA and have normal mail service. :D

 

Their free stuff (daily videos online and printable coloring and activity pages) is entertaining and gently catechetical. The Sunday "Mass Quiz" reinforces some of the things we talk about at the brunch table: "What were the readings about today? What did Father say about them in his homily? How do they relate to us?" So for kids who like workbook-y things, as mine do, this is fun stuff.

4. First Communion preparation. Thankfully. Because it has been lovely to work with Catholic Heritage Curricula's program again. Goodness. Beauty. Truth.  Deo Gratias!

5. Confession. Once a month. This is working for us. Yay!

6. Nota bene: John is doing much better than I am. He has a beautiful daily prayer routine that is a great example for me. Not that you were thinking this, but I wanted you know that my failures aren't due to a lack of spiritual leadership in our home. It's my sloth. And overscheduling. ;-)

Lent

This has been a challenging Lent for me. Last year, I was totally prepared, to the point of having done two weeks of preparatory work to set up my spiritual reading and action before Lent started. On Ash Wednesday, I was good to go, and I started directly into a new prayer routine as well as the usual sacrifices. Then, on the first Friday of Lent, we had a 9.0 earthquake. The kids and I ended up taking one of the Voluntary Departure flights home to my parents' house and driving up to South Bend, IN, where Patrick is at school and my sister and her family live. We stayed at their house and shared in their beautiful Lenten practices of nightly family rosary, abstaining from meat for the whole season, Sunday Mass at their cathedral. We continued our school work in their home.

In Holy week, we learned that it was safe for us to return to Misawa. Just in time for Easter. :D We were supposed to arrive home on Holy Thursday, but flight delays brought us here on Good Friday. Grateful as I was for our safety, for the joyful, peaceful, restorative time with my family, and to return to John in time for Easter, I missed the Lent I had planned for myself.

So this year, I decided that I would go back to last year's plans and complete them this year. Easy to do, I thought. For hadn't I already gotten all set up last year? I could just fall right in where I had left off.

Ha.

Unlike last year, when Meghan had not started preschool and Katie was not yet in high school, my daily schedule has been a bit out of my control. Katie played indoor soccer, then joined the Edgren HS soccer club, and now their girls' soccer team. Joseph joined Boy Scouts and is playing basketball. John and I are teaching Confirmation along with leading the mens' and women's groups at church. Okay, I was leading the women's group last year, too, but you get the picture.

How can I have gotten too busy for God? Well, I haven't, really. I just don't have the same spaces in my day as I had last year. My worship time is more tied to my time at daily Mass and in the quiet moments afterwards, while my morning prayer takes place in whatever tiny space falls between making John's lunch and wishing him a good day and Meghan calling down the stairs to ask about breakfast. Usually, that means I have time to do my women's Bible study homework, but not much else, and sometimes it is at the breakfast table. At lunchtime, the children and I go to Mass and pray the Angelus together. After school, I drive Katie and a friend to soccer practice and try to get in a Divine Mercy chaplet on the drive home. We have lamely attempted nightly family rosary. I am determined to make that happen every evening between now and Easter, and hopefully beyond. We used to be so good at that one, but schedule changes pushed it right out. I miss it too much to let it be gone anymore.

But no Mother's Rule of Life for me this year. :[ One of these years, probably when I don't have any children left at home, I'm going to get through that book and bring "order to my home and peace to my soul." It isn't too late to start, I guess, but ugh! I wanted to do it during Lent to be finished before we start gearing up for our PCS pack-outs, which we hope will be in June. Serious de-cluttering will be needed before then.

Which brings me to 40 bags in 40 days. Another thing I am doing for Lent. Sort of. I haven't been keeping very good track. Just trying to get rid of as much stuff as possible. Again, no order to this. Just stabs here and there at various closets and bedrooms as they get annoying enough to make me want to attack and clean them out.

I think I need to pray to St. Josemaria Escriva, who said, "If you don't have a plan of life, you'll never have order." He's right. But I need time in my day to make the plan.

Season ender

Joseph's last basketball game for the season was today. The team has done fairly well, winning 4 of 7 games. Matthew and Meghan helped me out with photos. :)

Photo credit: Meghan

Photo credit: Matthew

Photo credit: Matthew

So. far. behind.

I don't even know where to begin to catch up. We went to see so many awesome things this summer and fall. Should I go back and post about them? Does anyone care when the events are so far in the past? Is the purpose of the blog to update family and friends about current events or to keep a diary of our time in Japan or both? What to do? What to do?

I know I want to be writing more again. I am trying to get my life in order. Everything has been so scattered for almost a year. I guess I would like to blame that on the 3/11 earthquake. It is partially that. And other things. Like Facebook. What a distraction with almost no substance!

I fell completely off the wagon on exercise and healthful diet and home baking over the past few months and am barely keeping to my daily prayer plan. And God is tapping me on the shoulder saying, "Hey, remember me?"  And I do. So He comes first. Then the laundry. lol! the life of a mom. :)

Speaking of laundry (or more specifically, the laundry room), I have found the "Happy Home: The Reasonable Clean House!" posts on Like Mother, Like Daughter very helpful. Who knew there was an actual, do-able method of deep cleaning a room? John and I tried it in the laundry room over Christmas break. Nothing like starting with the smallest room in the house. ;-) BUT...what a breath of fresh air that room is now. Laundry seems much less like drudgery in a clean room. Katie laughingly suggests doing schoolwork in there, since it is so clean. As if we could all fit--lol! But truthfully, she is my best encourager when it comes to cleaning and organizing the house. Thanks be to God for daughters. :-D

I would still ALWAYS rather read a book than clean my house, but I definitely see the advantages of deep cleaning. The feeling of clean is so peaceful! And I suspect we will work better as we bring things into order, even if we can only manage to clean one space at a time.

Notice where I am, though. At the computer writing about cleaning instead of doing it. I still have a long way to go in this area. The Christian life is all about new beginnings, though. Every season, every day. For me sometimes every hour.

So let's get going.

Oh, Katie... remember that little matter of the upstairs linen closet? (We're starting small, remember.) :-)
 

Garden Produce

Today's harvest from the backyard garden--spicy peppers, tomatoes and green beans.  I wish we knew what kind of peppers they are!

Look who's riding!

Matthew is "riding with pedals." This summer, he had become very frustrated by riding with training wheels. They don't work well on our gravel road, often embedding in the gravel, or preventing the regular wheels from touching the ground when he gets to a low spot or pothole. He cannot keep up with the older kids, and he feels left out when they fly out the back road without him.

Last month, my friend mentioned that she and her husband had removed the training wheels and pedals from their kids' bikes to create a homemade version of the balance bike. They were successful in increasing their boys' (ages 5 and 7) confidence enough that they have now learned to ride independently. So we talked it over with Matthew and decided to remove his training wheels, but not his pedals. At first, he was timid and didn't really believe he could ride without the training wheels. He tried on one day, then left the bike in the garage for most of July. No amount of encouragement could get him to try it again.

Until Saturday, when we went to a birthday party down the road, at which the kids were encouraged to bring their bikes. Since we were walking over, Matthew pushed himself along on his bike and discovered that he could push with his feet and balance and go much faster than on training wheels. Best of all, "Katie was right," he didn't get stuck in potholes. He was pleased and excited.

But it was a little hard on his calves. The pedals scraped them slightly, and he was talking about taking the pedals off, but as we walked along, I saw that he was balancing and coasting so well that he was very close to really riding. I told him so and encouraged him to give it a few more days of practice before we took them off.

After we got home from the party, he stayed outside and practiced balancing and coasting.

Sunday afternoon, he came running into the house yelling "Mommy!" at the top of his lungs. I ran out to the front hall expecting to see blood. Instead, I saw a triumphant Matthew who told me, " I am riding my bike. WITH PEDALS!!" He stayed outside for about 20 more minutes, then came in and said nonchalantly, "I haven't been doing much outside, Mommy: just riding my bike WITH PEDALS!"

Exultation!

Where does the time go?

No posts since April. I am so sorry. I guess I could come up with a lot of excuses for never posting anything, but mostly it has been hard to regain our equilibrium since Meghan got to be a toddler. And even worse since I got a Facebook page. I would love to blame the 3-11-2011 earthquake, and Tommy and Tara can attest to the fact that we are definitely out of balance since then, but I think the problem was brewing even before March and came to a head when the earth started shaking down south of here.

All that being said, I want to try to keep this blog going because it contains some lovely memories of our time in Japan, and I have lots to add from the past couple of months. With only about a year left, we are getting into "panic travel" mode, and we had visitors who inspired us to get out and about. So. I am going to try to write a little every week, and we will see how it goes.

Lunar eclipse

Here's what Saturday's lunar eclipse looked like from our back porch in Misawa (well, technically, Oirase-town).

June 26, 2010, 8:00 p.m.

8:25 p.m.
Sorry, this one is a little dark. The eclipse was about at its zenith here.

8:35 p.m.
This one is brighter, but the glare makes the Earth's shadow look like it covers less of the moon than it really did.

For a really cool photo, go to Fr. Z's blog and take a look at an amazing series of photos from Australia that Fr. found on Spaceweather.

Some things about Meghan

1. Meghan, talking on her cell phone (Tommy's old one minus the battery), "Hi, Joshie, how's it doin'? pause "That's great. It's Meghan and Mommy and Matthew in the kitchen." pause "Silver bells and cockle shells and warm and toasties warm..." repeat, repeat, repeat.... so funny.

2. Katie and I went shopping today. Katie came home with a swirly pink skirt. I came home with some new summer clothes for the girl who is too tall for a lot of her big sister's hand-me-downs. She exclaimed over each item, "Look, a dress, so cute!" "Oh, shirt, cute!" "Look, Daddy, cute!"


3. I tried one of the play dresses on her, along with her new straw hat. She did the "I Have a New Dress" dance.

So little time

I have so many blog posts in my head. Things keep happening that I want to write about, and I can't seem to find the time.

Here I go again with 8 things about us, just to keep you up to date:

1. Tommy and Tara have survived their exams and are back at her parents' home in Philadelphia for the summer.

2. Congratulations to Patrick, who scored a goal in the final soccer game of his senior year. He is with the Edgren Eagles at Iwakuni for the Far East soccer tournament. Go Eagles! 5th place at Far East. It was a mighty struggle, and we are proud that you never gave up!

3. Katie went with us to see Othello last night at the Mokuteki Theater on base. And I had thought Hamlet was a lesson in "the wages of sin is death." Katie and I have lots to talk about, but I am happy that the program notes included excerpts from Dr. Faustus and commentary from the director about Shakespeare's demonstration of the effects of sin on the characters. Context is everything.

4. Joseph continues to plug away at his schoolwork in the hope of finishing the year by July 4. That would give him a month of summer break before we leave for Philadelphia for Tommy and Tara's wedding. Swimming and soccer fill his free time, and he has asked to play baseball when the soccer season ends, so there is no end to my taxi service until at least mid-July.

5. Matthew is learning to read!

6. Meghan has successfully used the potty chair twice this week. But she is now back in diapers. So I am not sure whether her insistence that I retrieve the potty chair from the garage was a passing fancy or not. Next week will tell.

7. John has finished his term as the Troop Committee Chair of Boy Scout Troop 14 on base. He is now merely an Assistant Scoutmaster and the Misawa OA Chair. I think he will stay active in scouting in one way or another while we're here, at least as long as Patrick remains in the Venture Crew, which he joined after turning 18 this winter.

9. I took a walk by myself this morning. Thirty minutes of silence broken only by an occasional "ohio gozaimas" exchange of greeting with passing neighbors. It was foggy and cool as I passed their dewey gardens, paused to watch rushing streams of irrigation flooding the rice fields, and peeked into ghostly greenhouses now partially open to harden the tiny rice shoots for planting. The sun was fairly high at 6:45, but it didn't burn off the fog that rolled in waves over garden and field and road from the Pacific 2 km away. Our sunrise is now around 4 a.m.

I guess I should be grateful that Meghan is still sleeping until 5.

Blessings all.

You know you've lived in Japan a little while when...

...you have the following conversation with your 22-month-old.

"What doin', Mommy?"

"I'm cooking dinner."

"Curry, Mommy?"

"No, it's yaki soba."

"Yaki soba, Mommy?"

"Yes. Yaki soba."

"Oh. I like it, yaki soba, Mommy."

Apology and an update

I am sorry I haven't posted anything since Holy Saturday. Here's a quick update in words only because for some reason, I can't work with the photos on the laptop right now. Not sure what's going on there, but I will have to wait until my network administrator John can take a look at it this evening.

John: getting called in to work after hours a bit, but enjoying his work; at home: clearing out our garage We can park both vans in there again. (woo hoo!!!)

Judy: filled 30 bags during Lent with Katie, Patrick and John's help, working on 10 more in the Easter season. John's garage cleaning will be the biggest contributor there. :); co-directing 4 scenes (plus a little more) of Hamlet for the homeschool drama club; dealing with cold after cold in various family members since mid-March; working on getting the little ones truly healthy again; keeping my head above water--barely--with teaching, grading, turning in grades, for our homeschool; a couple of Japanese grocery-shopping successes to relate soon

Patrick: enjoying senior year; soccer season--playing mostly mid-field; prom coming up this weekend; finished his last scholarship application; waiting for Notre Dame to send him their financial aid offer; college decision d eadline is May 1

Katie: is 13!--photos of the party forthcoming; mother's help for a neighbor with a new baby and babysitting; soccer: first game was Saturday, they lost but she played well; playing Claudius in Hamlet; having fun with friends

Joseph: swim lessons continue; first soccer game was this weekend, he was playing forward when I saw him after giving the half-time treats to Katie's team and arranging with her coach to give out the after-game treats so I could see a little of Joseph's game before it ended and we hurried back to pick up Katie; playing Osric in Hamlet; honored to be chosen to serve Mass for Archbishop Broglio when he is at St. Jude's (the on-base chapel) for Confirmation in a few weeks

Matthew: has double pneumonia, if that's what they call it when it's in both lungs; it set off an asthma reaction--his first since November, and typical of his version of asthma that appears when he contracts another respiratory illness in the spring or fall; playing a guard in Hamlet; making up plays every day and begging others to be in them, today it is something about pirates--he made a flag for a prop a little earlier and is wearing a large white shirt, rolled up pants with a sword tucked into the belt, and a purple head scarf; Meghan is involved somehow, too.

Meghan: also has pneumonia, but only in one lung; we are grateful to God for the invention of antibiotics, which are resolving these health issues quickly; the pneumonia battle has only been a week for Meghan and 5 days for Matthew; both are much improved; enough to be working on a pirate play, anyway ;)

Tommy: UDallas production of P layboy of the Western World, in which he played one of the main characters: the father of Pegeen (the female character who gets engaged to the p layboy), went very well: awesome set, authentic, period top-hat for his costume; I'm hoping to post photos if we can have permission; classes are going well, he is especially enjoying Chinese history; wedding plans are progressing--hard to believe that is only three and a half months away now.

Tara: tired, but classes are going okay, Tommy tells us; in set-design class, they are working together on the design for someone's senior studio play, which sounds like a fun thing to do; I love that they share a passion for the arts.

Meghan is calling "Yunch-time. I hear it: bell. Yunch-time!!" I am needed in the kitchen.

I promise to write more regularly and get the photo problem fixed so I can add in some pictures.

Hope all is well in your parts of the world. :) Please comment and let us know.

Animal Crackers

Animal Crackers
by Christopher Morley

Animal crackers and cocoa to drink --
That is the finest of suppers I think;
When I'm grown up and can have what I please
I think I shall always insist upon these.

What do YOU choose when you're offered a treat?
When Mother says, "What would you like best to eat?"
Is it waffles and syrup, or cinnamon toast?
It's cocoa and animals that I love most!

The kitchen's the coziest place that I know;
The kettle is singing, the stove is aglow,
And there in the twilight, how jolly to see
The cocoa and animals waiting for me.

Daddy and Mother dine later in state,
With Mary to cook for them, Susan to wait;
But they don't have nearly as much fun as I
Who eat in the kitchen with Nurse standing by;

And Daddy once said, he would like to be me
Having cocoa and animals once more for tea!

Thank you, Tara. Or in Meghan language: "Yanks." :)

40 bags - Day 9

I had a major slowdown this week. With Meghan sick and clinging to my lap, I had to sit back, slow down, and let go of my plans for the laundry room and Patrick's bedroom and bathroom.

Sometimes God's plan for me isn't what I think it is. Sometimes He reminds me that I need to rest with the baby, to stop and spend long hours on the couch reading books to everyone who wants to listen. To reconnect with the little ones who won't be little for very much longer. When Meghan is well, she is a very busy toddler and doesn't often slow down to cuddle. And that is when I will get back to bagging.

40 Bags - Day 6

Meghan was sick today, so I did a lot of baby holding, but not much clearing out. The baby holding was a precious gift from my oh-so-active toddler, but I do hope she will be more herself by morning. It's hard to see her so limp and tired.

I was able to donate two pairs of old eyeglasses at the hospital when we went to base this afternoon, so we still got rid of something, even if it wasn't a full bag.

Hoping and praying for healthy children tomorrow.

Photos from the infirmary

Still under the weather

Books make me feel better, though.