Our Littlest Angel

Here is Annie in a costume fitting for the Nutcracker.
She was truly made by God as an angel.  It's TYPECASTING!!

Latin Tutorial

  Poor Jake!  Lucky Jake!  I'm not really sure which one!
  He had to memorize 10 lines of Latin from the Aeneid, and he was pronouncing it all wrong.  He did not know about how to scan the lines.  So Ron and I scanned the lines with him, which took hours (I'm rusty)!!  But Jacob went to school the next day with the correct pronunciation and allisions.
    I asked him what his teacher, Father Justin, said, and apparently, he laughed!
    Here is Jacob with Ron, looking at MY EDITION of Virgil, 20 years old!  (Its an excellent edition with a great gloss).

Driving Ministry

  This year I am in the car A.L.O.T.  Driving, carpooling, rushing kids to school, rushing kids to ballet, rushing kids to choir, rushing kids to cross-country meets and jiu-jitsu.
   I've decided to pray.  I pray for my loved ones.  I pray for the sick, the imprisoned, and the dying.  I pray for those who do not yet love God.  I pray for those who do not yet love Jesus.  I pray for war-torn countries, especially moms with infants and children who have to suffer exile, being a refugee, or death of loved ones in war.  They need our prayers.  
  Oh, how I love praying in the car!  Here is my car buddy, Sebastian, who prays with me (I think!).

Big House

   I grew up loving a Christian rock song called, "Its a Big Big House."  The song illustrated "Our Father's House" in heaven, which the songwriter imagines has lots of food, and a big yard where we can play football, hang hammocks, etc.  Well, we were blessed to get to buy a new home that is much like this song.  Here are boys playing soccer:

   In my estimation, mother superiors are always looking for good facilities for their nuns.  They want a boiler, sinks, a place where pipes do not leak and where rats do not run free.  All religious groups want good facilities.
    To me, this new house is like a new convent, a new place for our family ministry to thrive.
    But we had to make lots of changes!
    First, we had to remove the lions in front of the house!

    Then we had to move our things in ourselves, with the exception of the piano:

    But our kids are loving their new rooms, even the kids who are in the "Fun Room" (the room shared by three kids!).  We are cleaning everything ourselves, and living with drapes and light fixtures we don't like. . . actually, everything broke down when we moved in, and we had to replace air conditioners, etc.  But we are slowly making our mark on it!  My big moment was hanging the first pictures.  It took a whole day. going room by room.   It looks great!
     Ron and I are very, very grateful to my wonderful Mom, who has given us gifts that made this move possible.  We are also grateful to my Uncle Ray, whose incredibly hard work and genius has also made those gifts possible.  We love, her, him, and pray for them daily for their generosity.