Good-bye Pope Benedict! Pray for us!

Thinking today about our trip to Rome in the summer of 2012.  I do recall wondering if we will ever see our beloved Pope Benedict XVI.  So on Pope Benedict's second to last day, we pray for our dear Pope and with great excitement look forward to the conclave to begin in March 2013.

Midway Through Homeschool Year

We are now midway through our homeschool year.  However, we will be homeschooling all through the summer except for vacation time.  This has been probably the most productive school year, but also one of the most difficult due to my mom being so sick.  The reason that it has been the most productive is that we have really had to use our time wisely.  That means when we are doing our schooling we really get down to business.  Although the kids have not complained, I am not sure that our schooling has been very "fun" this year.  I do try to add in liturgical elements so that the kids remember what time of the year it is in the Church.

On the other extreme, it has been the most difficult year for homeschooling.  JP is behind in some of his subjects since I pulled him out of a a school in the middle of the year when he was in first grade.  I saw so many gaps in his education, we decided to start first grade over from the beginning of the year.  So we have been plugging away, but a half year behind.  I had hoped that we would catch up during the summer of 2012, but with my mom getting sick we drove daily an hour away to be with my mom and dad.   Our thoughts were not on school at all  this summer.

So here we are nearing the end of February and still struggling to keep our homeschool on track.  My mom is still hanging in there and at a nice rehab center which is a little closer to our home about 30 minutes away.. On top of her lung cancer, she has miraculously survived pneumonia and  MRSA, numerous urinary tract infections and sepsis.  My dad who has also not been well is recovering from his bout with pneumonia.  We may not have gotten to all our formal lessons this year, but we certainly have had a lots of life lessons.  Our children have learned to love more, be compassionate and to be thankful for the gift of life.

First Day of School September 17, 2012

We are starting school very late this year due to my mom having stage 4 lung cancer.  Most of our summer we spent with my mom being with her at the hospital, rehab center and hospice.  So our summer was very different than usual.  Our children have grown ever closer to their grandparents since my mom was first diagnosed with cancer on July 1, 2012.  Most of the month of July and August we were visiting with grandma and grandpa every day!

So back to the first day of school!  We began our day with attending Holy Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes.  John-Paul is always so happy to be able to receive our Lord in Holy Communion.  Since making his first holy communion in June of this year, he has been so reverent and really pays attention at Holy Mass.  Hannah on the other hand has become a squirm worm.  She is all over the pew and under at times too!  After a little reminder, she will quickly fold her hands in prayer and seem like she is going to be attentive, but after a few seconds she is back to her antics!

After Holy Mass, we stopped by Dunkin Donuts to get a little treat to celebrate our first official day back to school.  Pumpkin muffins are back and that is just what I needed with a good cup of coffee to kick start my first day back to teaching.  After arriving home, we went into our schoolroom and began our day with our usual prayers, songs and Pledge of Allegiance.

I had all these great plans for the first day, but shortly into the beginning of teaching John-Paul, the phone rang.  It was my sister calling to tell me that mom was having a very bad day.  Mom wanted to leave the rehab center that she was in and  wanted to go home.  I don't blame mom, but she is not ready to go home yet.  So after a 45 minute conversation with my sister about what to do with mom, we started back to school.  We got a few minutes into our religion lesson, when the phone rang again.  It was my sister again who was exasperated about how to explain to the nurses at the rehab center what has been going on in the last two months. 

So the first day did not go as planned, but both children did see how important it is to take care of your family when they need your help.

Little Flowers Catholic Girl's Club

Hannah is now old enough to be part of a Little Flower's group.  What is Little Flowers?  It is a Catholic girl's club that works on badges related to various virtues.  St. Therese the Little Flower is the patron saint fot the club.  This was Hannah's second meeting, but the first time that I could go and be there with her.  Her first meeting was held at a Jill's house and I had to drop Hannah off so that I could pick Jenna up from the airport.  Jenna was flying in from New York to be with my mom for a couple of weeks.

So at the Little Flower's meeting, the girls all got into a circle and prayed together a special prayer to the Little Flower, St. Theresa.  They are also working on a prayer that the angel taught the children of Fatima.  After prayers, Mrs. B explained to them about the virtue they are learning about and then the girls did a cute craft.  The girls made sunflowers.  The significance of the sunflower is that it follows every movement of the sun - like we should follow every movement of the Son!  After the meeting was over, the girls had a special treat a lady came to give them a demonstration of Highland Dancing.  The girls got to try a few steps too!  Then came snack and play time on the playground.  John-Paul liked that part the best of Little Flowers!

Whew!  The first day of school was now done.  On to the second day....

So it is off to Germany in one day! We are headed to Munich Airport on Wednesday, May 22. Jenna will be meeting us at Atlanta Airport and then the five of us will be flying together. Our first stop will be in Munich for Mass at the Cathedral. That is the plan at this moment. After Mass we are going to head to Marktl, the birth place of Pope Benedict.

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Pilgrimage to Europe

We are a little over a week away from the beginning of our pilgrimage to Europe. Bob, Jenna, John-Paul, Hannah and I leave will be traveling to Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, Spain and Italy. Bob would like a quick stop in Monaco too! I don't know if there is a pilgrimage site there or not, but if there is I will find one! Eric is staying home to guard the home with our guard cats, Dakota, Sierra and Koka. This is Eric's busiest season with his wedding videography company. Planning for this trip actually started back in 2003, when Bob and I found out that we were expecting a little baby. We waited seventeen years for this little one! Jenna, our oldest was born in 1984 and then our son, Eric was born in 1987. It seemed that God had decided that our family was complete and that we would not have any more children. Many years before John-Paul was born, I told my husband if we were ever blessed with another boy, I wanted to name him after Pope John Paul II. The big day of the ultrasound came and the technition announce that, "It's a boy!" Bob and I were both surprised as we had thought that it was surely a little girl since our oldest daughter had consecrated her life to God. We thought since we have our oldest daughter to God, he would give us another daughter! "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD." Isaih 55:8 From that day on, we called our little boy "John-Paul!" The desire to have our little John-Paul receive his first holy communion in Rome started while he was growing in my womb! So when our friend, Dianne landed a job as the office manager at the US Embassy tothe Vatican in 2008, we thought she might be able to help us in getting Johnl-Paul to receive his First Holy Communion in Rome. Also, one of Jenna's consecrated companions was the sister-in-law to the Ambassador to the Holy See (our friend Dianne's new boss!) So both Dianne and Cathy checked into what needed to be done for the first communion in Rome. Then a few months ago, I was writing on facebbook to a friend who's brother is a priest. Fr. John Doyle had been in California and was now back in Rome! Fr. John helped us to write a request to the Holy See asking permission for John-Paul to receive his First Holy Communion in Rome. Although we knew it was a one in a million, or possibly more, that it would happen we sent our request.