Pilgrimage to The Father's of Mercy Monastery

On Friday the kids and I took a pilgrimage to The Fathers of Mercy Monastery (in Kentucky) with some friends. When we arrived, we were warmly welcomed by Father Sullivan. He gave us a tour of their Chapel of Divine Mercy and recounted the history behind their almost miraculous construction. They credit St. Joseph for helping to make their chapel a reality, so they are very grateful and have a devotion to St. Joseph. In one of their hallways was this lovely statue.

After our tour, Father had a special noon Mass for our group. Once Mass had concluded, he then blessed everyone with the oil of St. Padre Pio. We then ate lunch together in the hall that used to be their old chapel.

I was so busy with the little kids that I was unable to take pictures of the chapel during our tour. However, M and her friend Trinity decided to be our photographers for the day and went back in to snap these pictures of a few of the beautiful statues. They did not get a picture of the whole chapel from the back, but I think you can get a sense of the beauty just from the close-up of the alter, statues, and one of the stain glass windows.

Two Quotes by Father John Hardin

"The main reason for home schooling is that only those who have God's grace are used by Him as channels of grace to others."


~Father John Hardon, S. J.

"So true is this that it is the second and co-equal purpose for Christ instituting the Sacrament of Matrimony, for the procreation and the education of children. By whom? By the parents! That is why Christ instituted the Sacrament of Matrimony. So how do we know that home schooling is necessary? Because the Church has always taught it."

~Father John Hardon, S. J.

My Twin Nieces

Asha

Maya

Maya and Asha

The kids with Maya and Asha.

Paw-paw and the twins, Maya and Asha.

Maya and Asha with their cute little home-made baby booties.

Corpus Christi Procession

The girls were honored to help with the Corpus Christi procession at our parish. They each were able to throw flowers on the ground for the priest to walk upon as he processed the Blessed Sacrament around the grounds of the church. It was the first such procession we have been able to attend as a family. T enjoyed singing the Tantum Ergo and joined in nearly all the other songs. It was wonderful and and so reverent. I think we all are looking forward to next year's procession.

Latest Happenings

So much has been happening and I haven't been able to keep up. One reason is that our computer is still not cooperating with our camera. I am having a very difficult time transferring our pictures to our computer, which in turn, makes it very hard to update this blog. For those waiting on pins and needles to see what we've been up to lately (Joe!), I apologize.

In chronological order, here is what has happened lately...

We celebrated Dear Hubby's 38th birthday and Father's Day. His favorite color is orange, so we made him a very bright orange, chocolate layered cake with 38 hearts all over it. As a combo birthday and Father's Day gift, we bought him a fire pit so that he can burn up all those assorted limb that he keep falling down. It also make a good way to roast marshmallows with the kids. We've already spent a couple of nights out by the fire pit, as if it were a campfire. It also came in very handy when about two days later a very large limb was knocked down in thunder storm. We have since been burning it bit by bit.

Again this year the three oldest kids participated in a two week long theatre workshop. They performed the play "Aladdin". Though they all had rather small parts this time, they really enjoyed themselves. How could you not love this play? The movie was so good that you just couldn't go wrong! I especially loved listening to the kids practice the songs at home and while we drove everywhere in the car. We listened to them so much that by the time the performance rolled around, even the two little girls had the songs memorized.
Grandpa came for another visit and gave M her birthday gifts. She was so happy to receive a CD player and a copy of Tangled. She loves them both so much. It has been really cute how she tells the other kids that they are going to be having music class and so they should go to her room to listen on her boom-box. One day shortly after receiving the CD player, they all decided to spend three hours straight singing and dancing to their kid music. It was a nice break for me, as well. I finally had to call them down for supper and they were all so disappointed that I had broken up their dance party!

I took the kids blueberry picking for the first time. I remember doing this as a kid with my mom and thought it was about time I let my kids experience it for themselves. They all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Especially E who only sat in the stroller and ate whatever anyone would give him. He was in seventh heaven.

On Friday of that week, we had planned on going swimming at a local state park, but happened to be early and decided to check out the nature center. I am so glad we did. We walked up just as a Pond Life demonstration and activity was beginning. The Naturalist on duty invited us to join them and the kids had a blast learning about the pond life cycle, exploring life around their pond, and even making their own pond life viewer out of a coffee can. We later went swimming with their Aunt Olivia and Nana, but I think the highlight of the day was that science activity!