Things Frank Said Today...

When hearing about a baby shower the girls in the family will be attending this weekend...

"Gus and I will stay home and take a bath."

After tasting Macaroni and Cheese made by Terri and Bernie...

"This is WAY too cheesy. That makes me stay up late cuz it has sugar in it."

Recent questions he's asked:

"How do we get to sleep when we're in Heaven?"

"Why can't I see my nose?"

"How did Jesus go up into Heaven if he didn't have wings?"

This 'n' That

I love this picture that my brother-in-law took of the Irish dancing grandchildren (including three of my girls along with two of their cousins in this shot) providing some entertainment at my in-laws' 50th anniversary celebration last week.

I may get back to regular blogging one of these days, or perhaps not, you never know. :) We're all well, though, but still enjoying the company of cousins in town for just a few more days.

Our summer is starting to (thankfully!) slow down and I'm beginning to mull over organizational and school plans for the coming year. I'm just starting to mess around with Toodledo (which I heard about from the Bookworm) and it looks really good so far!

In the meantime, my brother-in-law, who runs the Catholic Textbook Project, asks for prayers that they can get the funding they need to publish the remaining books of the history series, which are written and basically ready to go.

Happy Anniversary!

Congratulations to my mother-in-law and father-in-law as they begin to celebrate their 50th anniversary (their anniversary is actually next month, but we started the celebration early in order to accomodate the entire family). We are very blessed to be a part of your story! :)

What I've Been Working on the Last Few Weeks

This bulletin board is a lot bigger than it looks., originally uploaded by Chez VH.

My in-laws are celebrating their 50th anniversary and this is the display from the front entrance to the hall they rented for the celebration.

I really enjoy being "forced" into working on something of an artistic nature on occasion - it's very relaxing and refreshing. This was a bit tricky because we were covering a bulletin board, but weren't allowed to take anything down from it. It was enormous too - each of the four picture sections is on an entire piece of foam board. The gold framed picture in the middle is a papal blessing that they received for a wedding present from the priest who officiated at their wedding (my father-in-law's cousin).

I had a lot of help pulling the final product together. There were eight or ten of us (my daughters, a bunch of my nieces and one of my sisters-in-law) involved.

Only a Four Year Old Boy...

DSC_5535, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

would take his sister's pink frilly umbrella and pretend that opening it up was like exploding a bomb.

One more Carmelite-related picture

Great great grandparents, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

I know I've posted these once upon time, but I thought I'd do a re-post for today. These are my great great grandparents dressed in their third-order Carmelite garb.

Happy Feast Day!

St. John of the Cross

DSC_3756, originally uploaded by Dulcis.

I love these two mosaics of Carmelite Saints at the nearby Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians.

Today the Archbishop was there for a beautiful mass to celebrate the feast as well as the 150th anniversary of the placement of the first cross at Holy Hill.

Frank especially loved seeing the huge procession of priests accompanied by the Knights of Columbus in full regalia.

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

DSC_3758, originally uploaded by Dulcis.

This is a beautiful mosaic from our local Discalced Carmelite Monastery and Marian Shrine - Holy Hill.

By the way, "Dulcis", is my new secondary flickr account for photos of art and architecture and such. I'll post a picture of the companion mosaic from the other side of the altar next.

The One Word Meme

Haven't done a meme in a long time, and this one is appealing.

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Faithful
3. Your hair? Brown
4. Your mother? Pioneer
5. Your father? Engineer
6. Your favorite thing? Photos
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? Shake
9. Your dream/goal? Heaven
10. The room you’re in? Dining
11. Your church? Catholic
12. Your fear? Claustrophobia
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
14. Where were you last night? Home
15. What you’re not? Disciplined
16. Muffins? Blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? Sienna
18. Where you grew up? California
19. The last thing you did? Delegate
20. What are you wearing? PJs
21. Your TV? Off
22. Your pets? Neurotic
23. Your computer? Shared
24. Your life? Rich
25. Your mood? Comfortable
26. Missing someone? Lawlesses
27. Your car? Econoline
28. Something you’re not wearing? Socks
29. Favorite store? Trader...
30. Your summer? Packed
31. Like(love) someone? Certainly
32. Your favorite color? Green
33. Last time you laughed? Today
34. Last time you cried? Wedding
35. Who will re post this? Katrina

hat-tip The UK Bookworm

The Happy Couple

The Happy Couple, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

The wedding was absolutely lovely and it was terrific to spend time with lots of family that we don't see nearly often enough.

One more big event coming up soon (my in-laws' 50th) and the rest of the summer might actually be on the quiet side!

Water Fun

DSC_5046, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

The new camera (a few months new now) is SO much fun for capturing things quickly - like Gus emerging from the swimming pool at the hotel we stayed at for my nephew's wedding this past weekend.

Cousins and Cousins of Cousins

Michael the Ring Bearer, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

This is my nephew, the ring bearer at our wedding almost 16 years ago. He's getting married this weekend!!!

We're all very excited for him and for our brief family gathering. Not only will our children get to enjoy the company of their cousins (on my side of the family - none of whom live nearby), but they're also looking forward to meeting the cousins of some of their Van Hecke cousins (figure that one out, ha!). My nephew's bride-to-be worked as a nanny for these distant "relatives" this past year - it's a very small world at times!

Seasoned Mommy

I don't know exactly when I crossed over the line to "seasoned mommy", but sometimes it's kind of nice to be there. The other day I went shopping at Target for some odds and ends needed to have everyone prepared for my nephew's upcoming wedding. I went shopping all by myself (a much appreciated luxury made possible with two babysitting aged kids). I made my way to the shoe aisle somewhat unprepared to pick up something for Frank. I vaguely heard a mom in the next aisle over, trying to get her little ones to behave. I whipped out my cell phone (which I don't usually have on me, because I usually forget to charge it, but that's another story) and was soon talking to Terri about finding a pair of Frank's shoes and telling me what size they were (and which pair they were, as I had a sense of how well they fit him).

While I was waiting for her to look, I heard this mom (with a somewhat frustrated, but friendly tone) say: "I am SO jealous of you right now!"). A few minutes later, she showed up at the corner with a smile and a repeat. We struck up a very pleasant conversation. She wanted more kids, but was feeling overwhelmed. I think she left reassured that it does get easier - I usually like to say that it's not mathematically more difficult with each child. The dynamics change, adjustments happen and there are many joys in having a range of kids from little munchkins to mid-teens.

Now, one funny thing about being a seasoned mommy is that when someone else needs reassurance, I'm often able to find the stories and thoughts that may be helpful to them, but I don't always remember them when I'm in a tight spot myself. Just goes to show how much we're meant to encourage each other. :)

So Bad, It's Almost Funny

I think this might be the worst reporting on an issue relating to the Catholic faith that I've ever seen.

Hmmm. Consider the following:

• Scare quotes around the words Body of Christ.
  
• No evidence of death threats (and claims are made by a questionably-motivated source).
  
• A lady who thought this might be a hate crime is labeled as "unforgiving".
  
• Catholics apparently believe that the Eucharist symbolizes the Body of Christ.
  

Oh, yeah, and how exactly did this guy "receive eternal damnation"?

Happy 4th (a little late)!

Random acts of flag waving (circa 2002), originally uploaded by Chez VH.

Been busy working on photos for my in-laws upcoming 50th anniversary party. Here's an appropriate one for the day (though it obviously wasn't taken in July!

More Kid Creativity

I'll buy it (circa 2002), originally uploaded by Chez VH.

Ria is pictured here about eight years ago, playing Monopoly in a little pup-tent with her cousin in order to keep the game safe from the little ones.

Another Old Favorite

Gus doing Montessori Stuff (circa 1999), originally uploaded by Chez VH.

I've been doing some organization on flickr and came across this photo (circa 1999), which I really love. John made wooden baby gates for the stairs and a few other key spots and we decided that that protected area on the stairs was the best place for Gus to play with little Montessori objects without any trouble from his baby sister.

I forgot how ugly the carpeting was. I can almost remember the smell - which was very distinct in our old house, particularly on those stairs (the house was built in the 1890s or so).

Happy Feast Day Fr. Serra!

Ria managed to post about our California Mission visits in honor of today's feast.

Alas, all I have time for is to share a quote of his that was apparently a bit of a motto: "Always go forward and never turn back..."