I am not feeling so hot, like a cold is coming on. I would like to be asleep however a certain baby is awake and together we are listening to the BBC World Service. I think I rather like it!
(I also like my new phone that let’s me write a post and insert pictures without sitting up)
To Kentucky we will go, the Kia knows the way to carry the Facefamily through high and hilly mountains.
We traveled a bit this Thanksgiving weekend, first to Irondale, Alabama. We spent Thanksgiving evening in Birmingham then attended Mass the next morning at the EWTN Chapel. We then went to breakfast with Brother John Paul and Brother Pascale, both of whom Joshua was in the seminary with. After breakfast, Brother John Paul gave us a tour of the EWTN studios and offices, it was pretty neat.
We even got pictures of the kids playing on the sets of some of our favorite shows.
I may or may not have told the story here, that Brother John Paul, before entering the MFVA, was a seminarian for a diocese in Pennsylvania. He and Joshua were at the Pontifical College Josephinum together. He stopped in to visit Joshua, then Brother Joshua, at the Fathers of Mercy, after Joshua had discerned that he was not called to religious life. He and Joshua were talking about Joshua leaving and feeling called to married life. Brother John said “What about Beth Martinâ€. Of course, Joshua said “No, she is discerning her own vocation to religious life.†God was in heaven, laughing.
Two weeks later, Joshua and I were talking marriage!
After leaving EWTN, we headed north to Kentucky. We were not planning on stopping at the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament, however, when I saw the sign for it, I could not pass it up, so we took a bit of a detour and headed over. The Shrine was mostly empty, except for a few souls and Love Himself. Joshua took the older kids around and I found a pew to sit in with a sleeping Benedict. I was only there for fifteen minutes, but they were fifteen wonderful minutes. We walked around a bit more, but it was very cold on that hilltop in Central Alabama, so we headed back out.
The rest of our drive was pretty uneventful and we arrived at our hotel in the early evening. We got things settled in and I nursed Benedict while Joshua ran out to get some dinner for us. We ate for a bit then I fell asleep nursing Benedict a few hours later, in my traveling clothes! I was so tired.
We woke up the next morning with no rush to get out the door, so we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel, best “free†breakfast by far. After changing in to our party clothes for the wedding, we headed off to Bowling Green so Joshua could buy a tie (he forgot his) and possibly a new sport jacket, if he could find one on sale. He struck gold on the whole thing and got two new ties and a sport jacket for himself. He took Karol in with him and bought Karol his first real tie!
We headed over to Russellville and arrived with 10 minutes to spare. The kids were pretty darn good during the Wedding Mass. Benedict and I hung out in the “Fuss Room†for a bit, until he fell asleep. Joshua brought Caecilia back for a bit and the other two were awesome. Karol asked to kneel at the end of the pew so he could see the priests during Mass. He ended up kneeling in the aisle for the best view!
The reception was nice, the number of kids there, amazing. I have no idea how many there were, but I know two of the families alone had 9 or 10 each, another 6 and us with 4, plus so many more. My kids had such a good time running around and playing with all those other kids.
After visiting with friends, we headed back to the hotel for the evening. I set my alarm for seven the next morning but must have done something wrong, as I did not wake up until about 8 am, so we had to rush to get to Mass. We were there with time to spare, thankfully. Karol once again got to see his Priest-Hero and our kids were positively awful during mass! (The Bedard Family was sitting behind us, I hope they didn’t think too ill of us, knowing them though, they probably enjoyed it.)
We visited again after Mass with our friends. We were going to have dinner (mid day meal ;:) with the Vincent Family, but they received an alarm about their chickens, so they had to head out. It was probably better that way, quick goodbyes are better than having time to dwell over not seeing people for a while, so lingering over goodbye.
We hit the road and headed back home. We stopped to get coffee outside of Nashville and swung by Target to pick up some milk for the kids, then traveled along I-24, doing anywhere from 5 mph to 40 mph, and a few pockets of 55, so it was a bit tedious. We were able to stop at the Lodge Cast Iron Factory store to buy a 7 quart Dutch Oven! I have been wanting one for a while and am so excited to have one now. We stopped for dinner in the same town then continued on our way.
We finally made it home at 2 am, got the kids to bed, fed Benedict and put him down, then headed to bed ourselves. Ahhh, my own bed, that was nice.
Only one bit of sadness on our trip. While Joshua was in the store with Karol, I was nursing Benedict in the van. I realized that the SNS was leaking all over the place and saw that the tube had broken. It was the last tubing I had in the large size and the only one I brought with me. So I had to give Benedict a bottle. Broke.My.Heart. I think it broke his too, the look on his face said “what is this!?!â€. He took just a bit from the bottle and was content at the breast for the little I had there. At the reception Joshua got him to take a bottle. Back at the hotel, I tried the SNS again, with the little bit of tubing I had left, as I just could not bring myself to give him a bottle. We managed it, but it wasn’t easy, with all the moving around he does while nursing now anyway, he pulled the tube out a bunch of times. Today, I ordered more tubing in that size so we can go back to the way things were.
This weekend…was wonderful, just wonderful. I will do a whole blog post with more details of our trip, but I will touch on the highlights here. Thursday we made a traditional Thanksgiving dinner then headed out to Mass in Moultrie then on to Birmingham, Alabama for the night. We caught a few hours of sleep then headed over to EWTN for Mass and a visit with our friend, Brother John Paul. We had a personal tour of EWTN, on a day when tours were cancelled (they do that for the Thanksgiving weekend). We hit the road shortly after noon, made a quick pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, then headed on to Franklin, KY where we were spending the weekend.
We were in Kentucky to attend the wedding of a friend of ours and catching up with friends we know from the Fathers of Mercy. Karol was one excited little boy when he saw his Priest-Hero, Fr. Wade. Sunday we were able to assist at Mass with the Fathers of Mercy in their Divine Mercy Chapel, it was a great treat. I was able to go to Confession after Mass, something I had hoped to do BEFORE Mass, but when one doesn’t know who to set her alarm clock and hotel blackout curtains, one tends to run late for Mass!
We had such a great time this weekend, it was hard to say good bye!
Some plans for the week…work on finances, organise** a few things, work on a plan of the O Antiphons and oh yeah, celebrate Caecilia’s Second Birthday!!!
If I can find time for myself, I want to…clean off my desk and set up and area for sewing and my laptop.
Some prayer intentions for the week: For a renewal for those in the Church, to grow more in love with Love Himself this weekend.
Something that makes me smile: Hearing my son say he wants to pray like a priest. Here is a picture from this past Palm Sunday, wearing his Priest-Hero’s collar:
**Spell check to British English and I am a bit too lazy to change it ;))
You too can participate in Monday Morning Musings with Nadja, check her out!
I am so excited for our dinner tomorrow, I want to cook it today. I figured that living in the south, we are going to try to eat like southerners tomorrow, so I have picked recipes from my two favourite** southern cooks, Alton Brown and Paula Deen. (I love those guys!)
Our menu will be:
Roasted Turkey (unstuffed)
Paula Deen’s Southern Cornbread Stuffing.
Alton Brown’s Best Ever Green Been Casserole
Pecan Pie – minus the chocolate, Joshua would rebel. The pie is done and is made with fresh South Georgia pecans!
What will be on your table tomorrow?
Right now…it is 9:24 am, sunny and 62 degrees! Today promises to be a beautiful day, the house is mostly clean, so I can spend the day relaxing a bit before I head in to a baking frenzy tomorrow!
This weekend…sigh, was good and frustrating. Joshua and I are both nursing colds. They aren’t bad, just annoying. Friday evening started out well, I made Alton Brown’s fish tacos and Joshua loved them.
Joshua’s parents were coming for a visit this weekend, just passing through to and from a visit to family in Florida. We weren’t sure when they were going to arrive, so some plans were up in the air. We found out that they wouldn’t be arriving until around 430, so I headed out to Target, the Pecan store and the produce market. I had Margaret and Benedict with me and that was great! I put Benedict in the sling and he stays so happy and content there. The pecan store was AWESOME. I put in an order for shelled pecans and they were only $6.99/lb! Awesome.
We came home to wait for the in laws to arrive and all the kids took naps, at the same time! When Joshua’s parents arrived, he and I headed out to pick up dinner. After dinner was a spirited conversation about politics. I am pretty sure that my inlaws think I am a liberal who voted for Obama. Nope, but I also don’t worship at the feet of Fox News. I listen to NPR too. 😉
Saturday night was hard, Caecilia did not want to sleep and Benedict was up all night too.
Sunday was Mass and lovely. We had a quick lunch out, well, C fell asleep in the van between church and the restaurant and Benedict needed to eat, so I sat in the van. Believe me, I was fine with that. We came home, took some impromptu pictures of the kids in the back yard, rested and folded five baskets of laundry! Then we discovered one more. Oh well. I can get that done today during nap time.
Some plans for this week…preparing the church bake sale items and baking for my family for Thanksgiving. Packing for our trip to KY (a wedding ;)). Keeping on top of the clean house, as I let it fall apart pretty badly a few weeks ago. Of course, schooling for the kids. Today we are celebrating Caecilia’s feast day! For dinner tonight, I am making a beef brisket and we are having left over cheesecake bars, yum!
If I can find time for myself, I want to…I get two hours to myself tomorrow night, I am driving to our parish to drop off some baked goods. I will have Benedict with me, but that is just fine! I will probably pick up a coffee and drive slowly, perhaps pray a rosary or two.
Some prayer intentions for the week…for my dear friend Jaime, because I love her and she needs my prayers ;). My uncle Mike, who just completed a second round of treatment for a spot on his lung, this time via CyberKnife. For the soul of my dear friend, Rick Toracita, who passed away 5 years ago, today. Finally, for Emily and Steven as they prepare to be married this weekend.
Something that makes me smile: Benedict sitting up in his Bumbo seat. I really like that thing.
Check out this little Patch o’ Dirt for more Monday Musings.
Deserves the best of the best for Sunday dress!
Today is a good day…all four kids took a nap at the same time!
From the Diocese of Raleigh :
The Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge, Bishop of Raleigh, has requested in a letter that all the Priests, Religious and lay faithful in the Diocese of Raleigh participate in a novena to the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the Diocese, on behalf of Philip Johnson, one of our Diocesan seminarians. The novena will begin on Monday, November 29, and culminate on Wednesday, December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Mr. Johnson, who is currently pursuing his vocation to the Priesthood at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, has been receiving chemotherapy treatments for a brain tumor, which has continued to progress despite these treatments. He expressed “deep gratitude to the priests, religious, and laity of our Diocese for their prayerful support during this difficult time in my life.
“While my treatments can often be physically and emotionally draining,†he said, “it brings me great strength to know that so many prayers are being offered to Almighty God on my behalf. Please be assured of my prayers for our entire Diocese, especially for those who currently suffer in any way, that we may all unite our sufferings to those of Our Lord on the Cross.â€
Links to both the Bishop’s letter and the Novena Prayer in English and Spanish are provided below so that you may forward this request to others who you may wish to invite to pray for a needed cure for Philip. A link to an earlier story on Mr. Johnson provides additional information.
http://www.dioceseofraleigh.org/docs/news/Letter-NovenaforPhilipJohnson-English.pdf
http://www.dioceseofraleigh.org/docs/news/NovenaPrayer-English.pdf
Next week is Thanksgiving! What?! There are still leaves on the tree, the highs are in the 70s, we don’t need jackets to play outside during the day and iced tea still sounds like a good beverage.
However, seeings as it is next week, I headed to the store last night to pick up our turkey bird and a few other things for Thanksgiving Dinner. Butter was on sale too, $2.50 a pound. Butter here is expensive, even for the store brand, so I was thrilled to find it for that price. (Even if it isn’t organic from grass fed cows, I will still enjoy it.) The grocery store was also having BOGO on canned veggies, so I stocked up there too. I don’t think I will have to do much shopping for a while now, except for milk and fresh produce! Sweet.
I also went to Target to pick up a shower curtain liner as the curtain we have is fabric. I have been meaning to do that for a while, but finally got around to it last night. I also picked up a Bumbo seat for Benedict. WOW. I had one with Caecilia and lent it to my sister. Since she still uses it and loves it, I decided to get another one and I am glad I did. I put Benedict in it last night while unloading the groceries and he loved it. He then sat and watched Papa do computer work while I did a few other things. This morning he was in it while I got Caecilia dressed and Karol thought it was the best thing ever. He showed Benedict all sorts of toys then Margaret showed him how to do lacing toy. We know that because we found Benedict holding on to one of the lacing toys and the lace.
Tonight I plan on making Alton Brown’s Fish Taco’s (minus the crema sauce) and I am very excited about it. The recipe seems so simple and I have a bunch of cilantro to use, yum!
Tomorrow Joshua’s parents will be here to spend the night, passing through on the way home from visiting family in Florida. We plan on having getting take out barbeque for dinner, yum. 🙂
Also this weekend I need to squeeze in time to bake a few pies for the parish bake sale and begin to prepare for our trip to KY for a wedding!!!!!! (I am more than just a bit excited about that!) I love going to KY to visit with our friends there, they are such great and wonderful (and so forgiving at our lack of communication!) people.
After KY we have a trip to visit my sister, Mary, in SC for her birthday weekend. I want to do something the week between Christmas and New Years, but can’t really decide. I am thinking Avery Island, LA (home of Tabasco Sauce) with a stop in New Orleans, but we shall see, we might just stay home.
Have a great weekend everyone!
