Big

Oob is officially a Big Guy!

Yes, he is the confident owner of underwear!

As he told me, "Look, Mommy! I'm big feet tall!"

"I'm 10, now!" he elaborated.

I asked if he were sure he might not be 12.

"No..." he turned suddenly shy, "I'm really 3."

What a sweet and delightful 3!

Hail!

So, Choclo and Oob were out for a drive (in the driveway), when suddenly, it started to hail!
It's the most hail I've seen in Maryland!







But it was small hail, so the kids stopped driving and went out in it to play.
Very cool!

Fringe Benefits

from home improvement projects: big boxes!

Choclo and Oob are having a great time with this one.

The only down side is that this has coincided with a can phase they are going through.

Every time I go to move the big box, it barely budges and I hear the tell tale rattle of falling cans.

They love to build towers of cans inside.

I don't know why. I don't even mind, really, except they can't seem to keep all the labels on...

Ode to my Compost

O, giant heap of compost:
How dark and rich you are,
Full of promised green.

On my lawn,
A pile of chocolate cake crumbs.

On my floor,
A smear of chocolate pudding.

Who could resist
Wallowing in you
On a rainy day?

Not Oob.



And many thanks to Mxyl and the Emperor for shoveling assistance!

Gospel Dessert Week 4

This was a tough one: Jesus heals the man born blind by smearing mud on his eyes.

Those are "open eyes" on the cake (marshmallow and chocolate chips). The frosting is the "mud", and the cake itself was pink (strawberry) for Laetare Sunday!

Posaics

Or whatever you'd like to call mosaics made from Post-it notes.

I must say, I had nearly as good a time watching them make these as the artists did!
This is one of those ideas I've been thinking about for a while and put off as too expensive and kind of messy.

I'm glad I finally did it! They used less than I thought they would, so I have enough to do it again once or twice.

On a day when I was busy doing a million things and running home school blocks (they did it during the "fun" section), it was just delightful to look over and enjoy the kids having fun.

And it wasn't that messy!

Novena to the Holy Spirit

Mxyl will be confirmed on April 8th (He's taking the Confirmation name of Michael)! We are going to do this novena to the Holy Spirit for him starting today, and we'd like to invite you to join us in prayer.

You don't have to say the whole novena, of course, any prayers would be appreciated!

We are saying the following prayer each day:

O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before ascending into heaven did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, please grant the same Holy Spirit to us that He may perfect in our souls, the work of Your grace and Your love.

Grant us the Spirit of Wisdom that we may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal,

the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten our minds with the light of Your divine truth,

the Spirit of Counsel that we may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven,

the Spirit of Fortitude that we may bear our cross with You and that we may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose our salvation,

the Spirit of Knowledge that we may know God and know ourselves and grow perfect in the science of the Saints,

the Spirit of Piety that we may find the service of God sweet and amiable,

and the Spirit of Fear that we may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him.

Mark us, dear Lord, with the sign of Your true disciples and animate us in all things with Your Spirit. Amen.

Thanks for your prayers!

Blossoming Adventure

Our adventure this week: the Cherry Blossom Festival!

We hit the blossoms perfectly at peak for the second year in a row!

Last year was 20 degrees warmer, sunny, and very crowded. This year, we dressed warmly, had less blue sky, and had the place to ourselves!


I guess not completely to ourselves, but, really, not crowded at all.




We took the free shuttle from Hains Point (free parking!) to the Jefferson Memorial, and then walked around the Tidal Basin.









The plan had been to go to the FDR Memorial and maybe even the Lincoln if the shuttle went that far. As it was, the shuttle went only as far as the Jefferson.

That worked out fine. We spent more time enjoying the trees and the monuments at a distance. Really beautiful!

Gospel Dessert Week 3

This week's Gospel was "the woman at the well."

Easy peasy!

We did blue jello for the water and built a rice crispy treat "well" around the water.

Angel came over for a visit, bearing gifts of chocolate from her recent trip to Switzerland. One bite made very clear why our Swiss friend had no interest in any local chocolate when he was visiting the US...

We used it to decorate our well, of course, and the whole thing came out rather... well!

Pingu

Am I lthe last person on the planet to have discovered Pingu?

It's a Swedish thing that is right where Choclo is at right now. I like it because Pingu (the boy penguin) is always trying to help, and he takes such great care of Pinga, his little sister. My favorite clip is this one, when he tries to cure Pinga's hiccups: