Yard Sale/etc.

We had a very successful yard sale. It was about 10 families contributing and we had a boat load of stuff!! Personally, we came away with a drafting table, a bean bag chair, books and wrapping paper. But, that is the benefit of having it at our house, we get first dibs!! This was a fund raiser for our bible study, to help pay for the childcare for the kids while the moms are at the study.

And the total is over $750!! Yahoo!

Other news this weekend is that we are expecting 2 new priests at our church come July 1st. We have been told that priests are re-assigned about every 5 years or so here, and so we have some new leadership coming soon. We are eager to meet them!

Lots of studying this weekend, but we'll also squeeze in some pool time, since it's supposed to get to the low 90's!! Love having Monday off as an extra day for Anna to get ready for finals.

Busy Days

O Lord, you know how busy I must be this day. If I forget you, do not forget me. ~Sir Jacob Astley, before the Battle of Edgehill, 1642

Busy Days around here...softball games, finals, yard sales, finals, "The Great Gatsby" play, finals, laundry, finals, babies born (Yeah), finals, planning and leaving for a vacation..oh and the kids have finals, did I forget to mention that??

Wondering when I'll sleep....

What Day where you born?

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child born on the Sabbath Day,
Is fair and wise and good in every way.

(How appropriate that Emma Grace was born on a Tuesday!!)

Emma Grace

It seems just yesterday I got a call that Lauren Meghan Weed was born and now here she is having her own baby!

Emma Grace was born today, 5 weeks early, but healthy and well, with her dad there for the big day!!

5 pounds 10 ounces and 19 inches long, I am sure she is a joy to all.

Congratulations!!

Forget me Not

It is that time of year, when I send out numerous teacher thank-you's. I have always tucked in a seed packet of Forget-me-Not flowers. On this year's I enclosed the following

Plant a "forget-me-not" in the garden of your heart for me.

I also love the following excerpt from "Evangeline" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Silently, one by one,
in the infinite meadows of heaven,
blossomed the lovely stars,
the forget-me-nots of the angels...

Mary, Before and After

Our Mary statue was really in need of a washing and re-painting, so we chose the month of May (of course) to honor her and re-paint her. Here's the results.

“Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”
~Charles Schulz

The days are full

Busy with

1) Final Girl Scout meetings
2) Making VBS music CD's for all the kids (70+)
3) Year end parties (Girl Scouts, Rowing, Drama, CCD, etc.)
4) Helping organize Date Night at church
5) Wondering when this cold snap will end (it's been only 50 or so here!)
6) Helping prepare for the annual Bible Study Yard Sale (to help pay for our materials and childcare costs)
7) Making sure everyone has been studying for their finals and getting their projects done
8) Thinking about finally upgrading my Microsoft Office
9) Making plans for our NH trip

Things are wrapping up...

Or winding down, however you see it, the school is coming to a close.

The kids have projects and tests galore. And we are trying to coordinate so that we can leave early for NH and still get all their finals done. We are still waiting to hear from a couple teachers.

Gabriel came in 3rd in the math competition last week and he was pretty happy. Anna is off for a retreat at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Cecilia. She and the other high school girls really love those Dominican nuns and it is good to see them with positive role models.

There was an unfortunate event that happened at the middle school here, a number of kids were arrested and then expelled for both using and selling drugs during school. (In the lunch room no less!) It has been a good springboard for discussion around here.

Mothers

This is not an easy holiday for me, now that my mother has died, but it is a day to remember.

And so, I offer this poem, which has always meant a lot to me.

Praise to the Women on my Journey

To the Women on my journey
Who showed me the ways to go and not to go,
Whose strength and compassion
held up a torch of light and beckoned me to follow...

To the Women on my journey
Who showed me how to live and not to live,
Whose Grace, Success and Gratitude
lifted me into the fullness of surrender to God...

To the Women on my journey
Who showed me what I am and am not,
Whose love and encouragement and confidence
held me tenderly and nudged me gently...

To the Women I say bless you and thank you
from the depths of my heart,
for I have been healed and set free
through your joy and through your sacrifice.

Rev. Melissa M. Bowers

Events of the week

Marian won her first softball game 20-12 and played 2nd base the whole game. She had an RBI and a also hit a double. Great start!

Gabriel goes to Pellissippi State for the final Math Team competition tomorrow. He gets to miss the whole day for it and is very excited about that (mostly excited about missing English--his "favorite" subject)

Anna is engrossed in "The Great Gatsby" rehearsals and having fun. She is also starting work on her Gold Award project for Girl Scouts and will be meeting with her troop leader and project mentor about it soon.

Make-ahead meal club tomorrow, on the menu: Chicken with Orange-Pomegranate Sauce, Asian Pork with Spicy Noodles and Mexican Calzones, to name a few!

Bogdan was chosen as "Scientist in the Classroom" this week at a local elementary school. He proceeded to teach 4th graders about the workings of computers. But, he admitted that he might have gone over their heads a bit, because he noticed a few (actually a lot, he later confessed) dozing off...

Less than a month of school left!!

Divine Mercy Sunday

What is Divine Mercy?

The message of The Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us — all of us. And, he wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy.

The Divine Mercy message is one we can call to mind simply by remembering ABC:

A - Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.

B - Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us.

C - Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.

This message and devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercy is based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, an uneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God's mercy. Even before her death in 1938, the devotion to The Divine Mercy had begun to spread.

Rain, Regatta, etc.

Rain and rain came down here, but no tornadoes. Lots of damage, very close, with egg-sized hail. But, we were spared.

The regatta was great yesterday, with beautiful weather. Gabriel rowed in an 8 and coxed a 4. He had good times, but then didn't get to row in the finals. But, overall, a fun day. He and his teammates collapsed last night. He didn't even make it to the end of his favorite show (MacGyver)