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.  

My Sweet Mom

Isn't she the best??!!!  

     Mom came over for Clare's party, and has come over many times in the past few weeks.  I'm so blessed! 

     Some of my favorite things about my Mom: 

1) She is such a fierce advocate of her family

2) She love me and my family and my siblings SO MUCH

3) She works tirelessly to help hurting people and alleviate their suffering

4) She is good at laughing at herself and staying humble

5) She has a great sense of humor

6) She keeps track of my kids' lives and stays in touch with them

7) She called my kids on their first day of school to see how it went

8) She wants to help each of her children live out their vocations, and she tries to help them however she can

9) She is so prayerful and has petitioned for many miracles that have come true

10) She has a great smile--as you can see! 

Love you, Mom!!

Clare's Back to School Bash!

   Clare got the year off right, having the whole class over to our house for swimming, diving, racing, cannonballing, and lazer tag fighting!

God bless the 5th grade!!  May they have a holy, happy, blessed year!  

Motherhood is a Privilege

     Amid the back to school shuffle, I have been tempted to get exasperated.  So many details--uniforms, school supplies, lunch boxes, parent orientations, carpools--the list goes on.  Last night ended in my tears as I felt that I I would never get to the bottom of my list of things to do for them.
    This morning, I watched the sun come up as I said Morning Prayer with the chant of the Monks of Christ in the Desert playing in the background.  After praising God for our family's many blessings, my mind turned to all that the day had in store: Jacob's first day of high school, errands, cooking for school lunches for the following day.  The thought struck me: "What a privilege.  These days of caring for these precious human beings whom God has placed in my life are priceless.  I do not want to miss a moment."
    Lord, give us mothers the grace to see that caring for our children is the highest vocation we could have.  Though some of the tasks may seem small and trivial, they are in fact the heart of love.  Doing them thoughtfully is one of the primary ways that we send the message to our children that we love them.  Love for our children is divine: it is a participation in the life of the Trinity.  Lord, help us to carry out each task with the poise and awareness that what we are doing is holy, sublime work.  It is the greatest job on earth.

The Final Days in Greece

A monastery --Hosios Lucas--breathtakingly old and beautiful!

 Ron lecturing at the Pnyx

I having lectured at Socrates' Prison

Ron having lectured at the Aereopogos where Paul preached in Athens

Jacob in front of the Acropolis

Having fun in Plaka at night

Nafplion--a beach town and the old capital of Greece.  We hiked up to Agamemnon's Palace nearby.

What a delightful town!

Greece was a joy in every way.  The ancient cities are still preserved, and we got such a rich understanding of the ancient world.  We love Greece!!!!

Our Trip to Greece

    The Summer Rome Program ended with a week in Greece, imitating the Fall and Spring Rome Program's 10 day trip to Greece.  The Summer Program's inaugural Greece trip was a smashing success!
    It began on a little bus, bumbling up the unspoiled, mountainous countryside of Greece's mainland, which looks, I imagine, very much like it did one million years ago!  After several hours plus a gas station pitstop where we grabbed some spinach pie (can you believe they sell that at gas stations??), we arrived in the lovely town of modern Delphi on Mount Parnassos.

     Delphi is the site of the ancient Delphic oracle.  We visited the ruins, which are some of the best preserved ruins in all of Greece.
     What an amazing thing for me to walk in the steps of Socrates, who himself visited the oracle, who said to him, "You are the wisest man in all the world."  He pondered this claim with which he strongly disagreed, since he knew he did NOT KNOW anything.  He finally realized that the oracle must have called him the wisest man in the world because he KNEW that he did not know anything.  Ah, to wash my hands in the same natural spring washing place that visitors have washed in since Socrates' time!

Teaching at the Angelicum

It was once again a great pleasure to get to teach philosophy at the Angelicum, the Pontifical Institute of St. Thomas Aquinas.   What a history!

Our Family

This is such a blessed the for our family!

Leigh has been such a delight.  She really wanted to go see the Shroud of Turin.  We almost did, but then discovered that it is not exposed right now.  So thankfully, we did not trek up there for nothing.  But, we can learn about it this year, and then hopefully see it next year.

Jacob is a true teenager.  He has dances, homecoming parties, and so forth, this next year (and forever thereafter!).  So we got him a few clothes for the occasions. He is such a humble, kind young man.  He has taken car of Sebastian so much, esp. in the mornings.  Thank you, Jacob!!!

Joy Joy Joy!

Seeing Pope Francis

   A highlight!  To pray the Angelus with Pop Francis, and for him to bless us and our religious articles!  It was worth the whole summer for that!
   

Here are 3 of my favorite men: Pope Francis, Jacob and Sebastian!