Holy Thursday

Lent nearing its end, giving way to the greatest feast of the year.

Preparing to travel, celebrate with friends and family.

Trying to remain focused on the holiness and importance of the next few days while tying up loose ends, cleaning, packing, working around daddy's night-working schedule.

Remembering that a few simple rituals are enough for this year.  Dying eggs, Lentil soup (maybe), attending liturgies...

Lining up socks, shoes and tights for Easter Mass...  Anticipating Easter joy.

Hoping you all have a blessed day!

Jasmine and Joy's Post

             Hi everybody! This is "Jasmine" visiting my dear cousins for the weekend! My awesome aunt allowed Joy and me to write a post (finally). "Joy" speaking! You have no idea how annoying it is having to use a code name. "Jasmine" agrees. Okay just so this doesn't leave you confuzzled, we will write this like a script for a play. Here we go:
Jasmine: So the Best Fernandes family came over this weekend because a few younger brothers had a Karate seminar. While they were beating up other people, the older kids
Joy: Jasmine had to go put her bags, away so-
Jasmine: Go away "Joy." Anyways, the older two children played with Kid 118, Spike, Yo-Yo, and Mr. Smidget (Baby's new codename). Joy was a meanie and went to a birthday party instead of playing with her totally awesome cousins.
Joy: While they did all that, I went to ballet for 10 hours. On Saturday. Its sad, I know. Boy oh Boy, Mom is camera happy. You should see a few Pictures in the following posts.
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Joy: Sorry Mr. Smidget took hold of the wheel :)
Jasmine: So, we have had a pretty entertaining weekend with plenty of fun and family. I can't wait until I am able to return (and I promise I will). We, the Best Fernandi, love our cousins at Half India/ Half Indiana and we will really miss them upon our departure. (P.S. Sorry for "Joy's" novice writing. I need to train her up a bit in the realm of journalism.) See ya!
Joy: And by the way folks, did you know that a dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's?
Jasmine: Enjoy the rest of your week people!

Kids' Gourmet

I may be just a wee bit of a control freak from time to time.  I had apples and peanut butter on the schedule for dinner the other night (daddy's been working nights, so lunch has been our bigger meal), but fortunately I let go of my type-A tendencies for a moment and let the kids plan the menu.

They got out one of their cookbooks and found the yummiest idea, possibly ever.  They even put it all together except for the last step, which required arms long enough to use the cooktop.

So, here it is...

Grilled cheese and peanut butter- honey sandwiches dipped in an egg/cinnamon/milk mixture (just like French toast) and grilled.

Yum.  I promise.  Try it.  And don't count calories.  It's no fun that way.

Pope Francis I

What an exciting week it's been with the election of Pope Francis I!!  We heard the news while gathered around a TV at the YMCA, of all places...  It was during our homeschool swim and gym time, so it was fun to see the white smoke appear with a bunch of our Catholic friends!! 

My kids have been asking about his coat of arms.  Since I was searching for a picture to show them, I thought I would post what I found here, too.  The star is for Mary, the grape-like fruit for Joseph, and the IHS with the sun for Jesus (it's the Jesuit symbol).  So, his seal is emblazened with Jesus, Mary and Joseph - simple and to the point, don't you think? 

Have a great day!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May God give you...

For every storm, a rainbow,

For every tear, a smile,

For every care, a promise,

And a blessing in each trial.

For every problem life sends,

A faithful friend to share,

For every sigh, a sweet song,

And an answer for each prayer.
     (-An Irish Prayer)

Rude Awakening

The other day, first thing in the morning, I discovered Yo-yo had climbed into bed with Baby and was holding his little baby toothbrush.

"Oh, did Baby wake up?" I asked, "and are you brushing his teeth?"

"Yes,  he woked up when the toothbrush went in his mouth."

Vicarious Living

Several days ago, my husband gave me interesting news.  My brother is going to India on business!!  I can't believe he gets to go hang with my peeps.

Whadya mean they're not my peeps?  They're my husband's, and what's his are mine, right?  

Plus, I love Indian food.  That must count for something...

You're also wondering why this info came to me through my spouse?  He's better at texting than I, and more often than not has a jump on knowledge of current events, familial and otherwise...  Basically, if it weren't for him, I'd still be using dial-up and assuming that George W. was president.

But, anyway, I'm so excited that someone closely related to me gets to visit a country near and dear to my heart.  In my mind, I've been there.  In reality, I have not even come close.

Someone who may or not be married to me doubts my ability to handle certain aspects of being there - rats, large insects, etc.  I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to prove him wrong.

So, I'll be taking this opportunity to live vicariously through my little brother.  I'm sure he'll tell me all about it.  I wonder what sport he'll play there.

Performing with the Philharmonic

What a privilege to dance accompanied by professional musicians...

...to a piece specially composed by our conductor and local gifted children...

...in costumes designed by the Ballet Company's extremely talented costumer...

...to choreography by their own director as well as one of the principle professional dancers...

...in a unique community event highlighting the artistic talents of children.

 The theme was Southeast Asia. 

Beautiful. 

I only wish it could have lasted longer!! 

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}

{Pretty}

This was the view from my bedroom window yesterday morning.  A mild January always means a blizzard in March, right?  I feel cheated if we don't get at least a couple really good snowstorms each year.  We've had snow most of the winter, but this was the first deep covering. 

Now I feel we can legitimately move on to Spring! 

{Happy}

 

 

Two of my kiddos particularly love to play in the snow.  Yesterday, they went back out for more 3 times!  Notice the ski mask (or whatever you call it) that Kid118 is wearing above?  That was a clearance snag from Lands End that I had stored away for next year, thinking our snow-playing time was done for the year...  We were happy to dig it out and put it to the test!!  He actually found it to be too warm...  I think that's a sign of success on the part of the manufacturer!

{More Happy}
After roughly 6 months of rehearsals, we pulled off our 3rd Annual 'Shakespeare' production in our basement.  I use these books, which are highly abridged, kid-friendly and fun, fun, fun!!  They do contain several actual Shakespeare lines.  My older kids, and the children of 2 other families who are good friends, are the actors, set designers and costumers. 

The cast of 'Twelfth Night'

 

 

The cakes, designed and decorated by Joy, were embellished with quotes from the play.  Cast (and parent/sibling/ grandparent) parties are quite necessary and must involve cake, I do believe. 

{Funny}

Budding Virtuoso

not-so-happy about the snow

{Real}

 



 Sometimes, the remedy for sniffly noses inclues a little 'Dora the Explorer.'

 

See what's up at Like Mother, Like Daughter today!

Thank You

To all who responded to my plea the other day, thanks so much for your prayers!  The surgery Monday morning went very smoothly.  We won't know he effectiveness of the procedure for several months, but things went fine with the surgery itself.

Parenting a child adopted at an older age (in this case 7) is not an easy thing.  We are so grateful for the continued prayer support of family and friends.

Also, I've decided I just can't do it.  I cannot refer to this kid as 'Lebron.'. It's just too ridiculous on several fronts.  So, I'm changing his code name to 'Spike.'.

Have a great day!

Overheard

A somewhat common conversational thread in our family is the 'what would you do with three wishes' question.  Today, I heard this...

Yo-yo (age 5):  I would want a unicorn, 3 puppies, and to be married.

Kid118 (age 8): I would ask for world peace, no new wars to ever start, and infinity more wishes.

Interesting...

Prayers Appreciated

We have a prayer request.  Tomorrow morning, son #1, now known as 'Lebron', will be having an outpatient surgery.  Please pray for the success of the procedure as well as for a special intention.

Thanks so much!!

God bless you, Pope Benedict XVI!!

With sadness and appreciation, we say goodbye to dear Pope Benedict and wish him well in his retirement. 

We've been reading about his life lately and learning more about the Papal election process.  Pretty cool stuff. 

Did you know you could 'adopt' a cardinal to pray for during the conclave?  Just click here, if you're interested.  Mauro Cardinal Piacenza of Italy is our assignment.  We'll be praying for him through the process.  Hey Uncle Earl - do you know him? 

On a side note, I bristle somewhat at the term 'adoption' when used casually for pets, highways, teddy-bears, etc.  But, for this cause, we'll let it slide...