Snapshots of turning 4

Been so busy celebrating the day I've had no time to "post" it till a few minutes before midnight...  Here are images from Cecilia's big 4 day!  :D

On our way to the zoooo!!

We found out emus nip, unintentionally...

Sheep with horns with cow markings.  Bizarre.

Oh!  Deer!!

"All aboard!  Ladies and gentlemen, please don't be late!" were her words here...

And we, are never, ever, ever, getting off this playground were my thoughts here (trying not to rush them and all)

Adorable.  Hard to photograph.  A complete ham, always pulling a face when she sees a camera...

Except when she forgets.  Then you can see big, blue eyes :)

Love her expression!

Why not high five the rock, huh?

Took castle building very seriously

Aggressive and sweet, very Ce

She likes birthday service:  Here she is waiting for her sisters to plant her bulbs, so she can water them...

This cake had her name and balloons on it and everything.  Until she "decorated" it to her taste...

!

She had a wee bit of trouble sharing at first... it's hard to have birthdays so close together...

But they made up later, because they are best friends.  :)

Linked to Being a Wordsmith, Wordless Wednesdays, and Things I Can't Say

My baby's birthday

The youngest of the kids I have (this side of eternity) turned two today.  It was a sweet day of bubbles, swings, cake, and great friends.

My second youngest turns 4 this Wednesday (yeah, close birthdays, I noticed).  These two birthdays have been making me think of the most maudlin father-daughter dance song ever written, used by Felicity's godmother at her wedding actually...  A song so absurdly sad it makes me smile widely every time I hear it.  Go get 17 tissues just in case.  (snicker sob)

Anyway.  So that's catching you up on the news... I've been asking by several what we actually did on our vacation: well we stayed in Maine, not too far from Santa's Village...

Also in New Hampshire, we shouted while swimming at Lake Echo (enjoyably true to its name!),

gasped at the edge of Cathedral Ledge (you drive up, walk a few feet, and bam the world is in in miniature below you),

then we froze at Jericho Park.  The water was warmer than the air, ya know?

We took a day trip to Montreal where we (poorly) used all the tiny bits of French I'd gleaned from my four years of it in high school,

and... I checked something off my bucket list that was so fun I want to repeat it: I had my maiden zipline trip.  SO fun, once you get past the jumping off a great height bit.  I thought my little ones would be scared to see mom fly over them, but they were enthusiastically yelling "BYE!!" when I flew down the cable and over the river.

Like how they call you a "Loon" as you jump, eh? :)

In other news, I am still (yes, unbelievably, still) getting more blood work results on the events of March.  I had to wait a certain amount of time after my loss to get tests done, so that this past week I was troubled by phone messages like, "Please make an appointment as soon as possible; the results we received need to be discussed in person."  Not willing to add high blood pressure to my list of ills, I called and demanded a "hint" at what was going on.  So I was given the most useful info that (and I quote) I "have certain markers which indicate that I could be susceptible to blood clots, but that doensn't mean I would get blood clots, and even if it did mean, it would not affect my medical care."

Whatever.  I dunno.  The tell-all appointment (such as it is) will be on Tuesday... we will see if any of the results are at all useful.  Thanks for your prayers.

"Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid."  John 14:27

Just saying hi

Just got back from a long day and late night watching Taming of the Shrew outdoors on a rather damp evening.  Hubby's still sick, dishwasher is broken, and the computer is acting up.  Overall, no time to write.  :(  Feel free to reread something here if you like but....  For now... I have five minutes to keep in this blogathon.  I have time tomorrow though...  I think.

Hope you all are well!  God bless you and good night!

A quick thanks

If Blogger is accurate, this blog just crossed 10,000 views.  I hear rumors that some get a half a million people reading each of their posts, but for me... I am so honored and grateful for those of you who've spent time with me here.  Thank you for giving me a reason to write.

Though I can't right now... again.  :S  New Hampshire and back, with two sun-burned, emotional happy-sad kids in tow, and two babies who don't like long car rides... not sure what sort of literature I'd be typing if I did.  Some pictures from the day:

Because it's easier, that's why

Picking up girls from camp tomorrow... been busy all day.  Short post time:

Why?  Because it's easier that way.  If I could, I just might feed all meals in tubs.  I'm very practical. :)

My baby's got an I-Phone

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And she knows how to use it! Sorta...  I give you a story in pictures, courtesy of my two youngest, found while I flipped though my phone later on.  Look for a plot twist between 4 and 5.  :D  Happy weekend!

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:)

"See that you despise not one of these little ones... 

their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father." Matthew 18:10

A song and dance

It is hot.  This is short.  Love to you all. :)

Two short videos

Today is a theme day (all together now: ooooooo!) at Word Count Blogathon 2013: posting videos.

A perfect opportunity for me to showcase my mastery of the I-Phone camcorder... is it even called a camcorder anymore?  Dunno.

It is also an opportunity for me to practice writing shorter posts before I am diagnosed as "morbidly verbose."

Enjoy.

And proof my daughter has inherited her mother's talents.

"For I have written to you in a few words." Hebrews 13:22

(snicker snicker)

("But just wait till tomorrow.")

(Yes, thank you, I am enjoying myself...)

Okay fine

Us, in kids' caps.  But the photo quality is awful... really, we looked much better in person. 

Really we did.  :D

A Pope, a Grotto, and lots of ice

So I woke up this morning, as I often do, and sleepily grabbed my good friend the I-Phone while I stumbled from bed.  (I wish I could say I made a morning offering first... I used to, daily.  After I became a mom, I made a morning offering and said, "Dear Lord, I make this morning offering for all the rest of my days.  Please apply it forward, because I'm going to forget otherwise.  Amen."  I hope this was efficacious...)

Anyway, I start scrolling down the Facebook feed wall (where were we before such technology?  I mean really... the 80's were the Dark Ages.) And immediately I see The News of the Day: Pope Benedict XVI retires at the end of the month. 

Yes, I found this information surprising.  But I read his statement, and it makes sense: he's getting on in years, he doesn't feel physically equal to the ginormous task anymore, and--while it hasn't been done since the Middle Ages--he is legitimately allowed to abdicate.  God bless him.  A great man, a brilliant philosopher, a worthy pontiff. 

What I found more surprising was the shock, horror, and disbelief of my fellow Catholic friends.  Tales of how the news ruined their day, and how they are having trouble functioning puzzles me.

Maybe I'm just being cold and detached, and am numb with the duties of motherhood--and okay, maybe I had a "thing" for the charismatic figure of John Paul--but it seems there is a plan to elect a new pope.  He will be given the same graces as all the popes since Peter, and--as Mark Shea mentioned in his blog today--he likely won't take the name "Judas I." 

Fellow Catholics, I understand we've been burnt out with elections of unfortunate outcomes, especially here in the US.  I understand there is always a lingering fear that somehow, with every conclave, the cardinals just might manage to find the closest eminence to an antichrist.  That we will be treated to a reincarnation of Pope Alexander VI, and we'll have a power-hungry, immoral Shepherd of Rome who will merrily father illegitimate children.

As exciting as all this is to contemplate, I'm sorry:  I don't think it's going to happen.  And even if we assume the worst case scenario: this is the Church of Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, the first and foremost Shepherd of Souls.  What have we to fear?

Well I'll tell you one thing we really do need to fear around here: ice.  :)  Two and a half feet of snow is greedily drinking in the rain as we speak, in time for a nice freeze tonight.  Brrr....

Here's some pics right after the first day of being dumped upon by the Blizzard of 2013.  Very impressive stuff.  My kids loved it, of course.  Here's 10 year old Annemarie:

3 year old Cecilia, looking at "Yots and YOTS of snow Mom!!"

9 year old Claire trying to shovel out the driveway.  You can see she's standing on three feet of snow as she attempts this:

16 month old Felicity.  Yep, she'd be buried in the snow:

And as a follow-up to my last post, I'm throwing in some recently scanned photos of yours truly, at age three, when I really loved snow.  Here's me with my indoor snowman: I apparently wasn't feeling great and was so upset I couldn't go out that my mom brought snow in.  The snowman's in a pan I still roast chicken in!  :)  (Check out enormous photo of my infant face looming in the background on the massive TV in front of braided rug; I was still an only child at this point, ha ha):

My Mom and me and sleds:

In conclusion to this hodgepodge post: today's the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.  I've been blessed to visit Fatima, Knock, Medjugorje (okay, I'm not canonically counting that, never fear) and Lourdes, and the latter definitely holds a special place in my heart and memory.  To have the actual site of the apparition still there, intact: the grotto of stone, with the miraculous spring flowing from under it, the ability to bottle, drink, and bathe in said water... it was literally a full-immersion experience in the love of the Blessed Mother, and her Son who sent her to look out for us.  I will never forget looking at the burbling spring under the plexiglass, thinking how graces are always flowing towards us.  Surely enough for another Conclave.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!