Did you watch that movie?

Well, we can say 20 years from now that we did watch the little controversial movie starring Seth Rogen and James Franco.  It was in a few words, lewd, silly, absurd, and a typical James Franco film. Deserving of controversy?  Hard to say.  Would we react if another country made a film about killing our leader?  I think some would, I think others would still call it art.  Which is what this was, fictional, and completely fabricated.  Do I want to see it again?  No.  Glad I saw it?  Sure.

What's happening?!

Lots of fun presents were exchanged for Christmas.  Marian's idea of a Secret Santa/As Seen on TV gift exchange was a hit.  Marian received a York Peppermint Patty Candle (she loves them).  Anna received a Magic Bullet blender.  Gabriel received a Speed Abs body builder machine.  Bogdan received a Ear Wax Vac (lots of inside jokes on that one).  And Karen received the most watched TV product, a Snuggie!!

Now that Christmas festivities are over, back to somewhat real life.  Gabriel will finish his sessions for driving class and hopefully get his license this week.  Sewing will now start for the spring musical and I'll start making orphan and pick pocket outfits.  Anna will have her wisdom teeth out this week, recovering with lots of movies and cold ice cream.  Marian is busy playing her most recent computer games.  Bogdan is taking the week off, but lately also playing lots of computer games and watching movies.

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing all our friends and family a lovely day and hoping you can take time to enjoy the birth of our Savior.

Last week of Advent

O God of Elizabeth and Mary, 

you visited your servants with news of the world's redemption

in the coming of the Savior. 

Make our hearts leap with joy, 

and fill our mouths with songs of praise, 

that we may announce glad tidings of peace, 

and welcome the Christ in our midst. Amen.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Finally feeling some Christmas spirit around here. Singing lots of Christmas carols and all the decorations are done.

Big news around here is that Marian made the finalist list for the Bijou Awards.  She is one of 5 middle school students who will compete in the singing category in January.  They announced it on TV on the local news tonight (of course, butchering the last name).

Gabriel is now employed and started his part-time job at Aubrey's this weekend.  He is happy.

Gaudete Sunday

On the third Sunday in Advent, Gaudete Sunday, the Church can no longer contain her joyful longing for the coming of the Savior.  We light the rose candle and rejoice that our redemption is so close at hand.  Gaudete comes from the Latin Antiphon, which begins, "Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete.." [Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice...]. On this day, rose-colored vestments are worn, and flowers may decorate the chancel of the church.

We beseech thee to listen to our prayers, O Lord, 

and by the grace of thy coming enlighten our darkened minds: 

Thou who livest and reignest with God the Father 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

one God forever and ever. 

Amen.

Third week of Advent already!

We have our tree up and it's about 8 feet tall!!  It was a feat to decorate and we had to go buy more lights last night as we started decorating.  Bogdan had to get on a chair and use a stick to get the angel on the top, but he did it.  Of course, we listened to "A Christmas Carol" while decorating.  It's the version with Patrick Stewart doing all the voices, each one unique and perfect for the story.  It's been our tradition to listen to that while decorating before the kids were born.  Something to look forward to each year.

Gabriel takes the ACT today and is hoping for a good score, he has been taking practice tests all week.

Marian has her callbacks for the Bijou (talent show) awards and will sing "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Shut De Door".  She is both nervous and happy about it.  Then she has to accomplish her BIG science project--which is a poster about Special Relativity.  (look it up, she chose the topic)

The Christmas Parade is tonight and guaranteed to be a cold one.  My Girl Scout troop will be complaining for sure!

This week

Is busy, is cold, and is halfway thru the holidays.

Anna comes home from school this week after her finals are done.  We have a tree, but still haven't decorated it yet.  Marian was called back for a talent show (The Bijou Awards) and is practicing her songs all the time.  We are looking at more cars, hoping to get one soon (replacing Anna's car that was wrecked).  Christmas parties coming, Christmas parade (hope it isn't too cold!!), and Advent singing in church.  Today, I'm wading thru a mountain of laundry and also a mountain of material for "Oliver!" organizing that.

Second Sunday of Advent

Dear Lord,

Through the darkness, I look for your wisdom.

I want my heart to be open to you.

But sometimes in these days, it seems that 

so many things come between us.

Help me to be awake and aware 

of the radiance you bring to my life.

Help me to be grateful each day

for the blessings of family and friends.

Let me be a peacemaker 

in my own life, and in the world. 

Let me pray especially for this difficult world

and those who are so in need of an end to violence.

My heart begs for this as my Advent prayer today.

Amen.

Favorite decorations

Each year, as we decorate the house for the Christmas season, we take out our favorite decorations. This nativity set was my parents and I inherited it after my mother's death.  I have so many memories of this set.  One time, I remember a cat we had kept on sitting on the window sill practically inside the manger.  

The girls LOVE this Frosty decoration that was given to us by Aunt Marilyn.  It plays "Frosty the Snowman" and I fear that the computer chip will give out someday and no longer play.

Gabriel's favorite is a light up wreath that has a sleeping mouse on it.  He keeps it in his room all year long.

Plans for December

In no particular order...

--having a slower, more peaceful month
--getting a Christmas tree this weekend
--starting to sew LOTS of costumes for "Oliver!"
--seeing if Gabriel will accomplish his goal of making a loft bed
--trying to help Anna find a part time job
--making everyone's favorite cookies during the month

Favorite Quotes

In no particular order, some of my favorite quotes:

God gave himself to thee; give thyself to God. ~St. Robert Southwell

The constant effort to control that which we cannot or should not control is the source of most of the stress, anxiety and unjustified anger in our lives.

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. ~Flannery O'Connor

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.  ~C. S. Lewis

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

Christmas cards

Yearly, we send Christmas cards to seminarians from East TN.  I have each family member write them and then we pray for those seminarians during Advent and Christmas.  When Marian was writing her cards, she asked me how to spell "condolences".  I looked at her oddly and asked who died?  She was unsure of the word, but I told her I thought it wasn't condolences.  Not something you say to someone unless they are grieving a loss of a loved one.  She eventually found her word.

First week of Advent

Bestir, O Lord, Thy might, we pray thee and come; that, defended by Thee, we may deserve rescue from approaching dangers brought on by our sins, and being set free by Thee, obtain our salvation. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

God of all blessings,

source of all life,
giver of all grace:

We thank you for the gift of life:
for the breath
that sustains life,
for the food of this earth
that nurtures life,
for the love of family and friends
without which there would be no life.

We thank you for the mystery of creation:
for the beauty
that the eye can see,
for the joy
that the ear may hear,
for the unknown
that we cannot behold filling the universe with wonder,
for the expanse of space
that draws us beyond the definitions of our selves.

We thank you for setting us in communities:
for families
who nurture our becoming,
for friends
who love us by choice,
for companions at work,
who share our burdens and daily tasks,
for strangers
who welcome us into their midst,
for people from other lands
who call us to grow in understanding,
for children
who lighten our moments with delight,
for the unborn,
who offer us hope for the future.

We thank you for this day:
for life
and one more day to love,
for opportunity
and one more day to work for justice and peace,
for neighbors
and one more person to love
and by whom be loved,
for your grace
and one more experience of your presence,
for your promise:
to be with us,
to be our God,
and to give salvation.

For these, and all blessings,
we give you thanks, eternal, loving God,
through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Winter is here

But, we are still having some sweet weather.  Today it was in the 60's for most of the day.  Weather predictions show it will be colder by the end of the week.

Thanksgiving plans include some friends coming over and we are making all the usual dishes (well usual for us, maybe not for everyone).  Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, popovers, corn, salad, pork pie, beets, cheesecake, and pecan-pumpkin pie.  Anna will be home from college and probably sleeping lots.  The girls and I will sing at Mass on Thanksgiving Day and we are also ushering for a local production of "Cinderella" this weekend.

We have decided our family Secret Santa must be an "As Seen on TV" product this year.  (Marian's suggestion, after seeing countless TV ads for ridiculous products.)  Should make it an interesting Christmas.

Time to breathe

In no particular order...

While the citizens of TN voted in favor of Amendment 1 (Praise GOD!), there has been a lawsuit filed from the opposition.  The proponents of Amendment 1 believe that this lawsuit will not amount to anything, and I hope so.  It was a glorious victory.

The Fall play, "Murder in the Magnolias" has come and gone and by far the easiest production to date.  The costumes were a breeze and no power failures or last minute issues.

Anna is working costumes (of course) at the ETSU fall production of "Oklahoma!" and then she has a break for Thanksgiving.  She is also looking for a seasonal, part-time job while she is on break in December.  She is home for almost a month!  Sometime in there, both she and Gabriel will need their wisdom teeth taken out, what a fun break.

Marian is auditioning for a "Rising Star" award for middle schoolers in vocal performance.  She is probably the only kid with near perfect pitch in the family.  She has had a busy, but fun fall, keeping busy with Math Club, Girl Scouts and learning her chorus parts perfectly.

Bogdan will start getting busy as the neutrons are starting up again after a longer than normal absence.

My weight loss-cholesterol lowering process has been a success.  My overall cholesterol and my triglycerides are down and my doctor is happy.  Hopefully, I will survive the holidays :)

All Saints and All Souls

"Whatever thou doest, offer it up to God and pray it may be for His honor and glory." 
-- St. Teresa of Avila

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

A popular day to be born

Happy Birthday to Bogdan, and a few others...

Happy Birthday also to Mary, Doris, Pam, Chris and Mike.

The week in review

This week was Fall break, and it seemed to wiz by!

Gabriel did some work at the boathouse, he had a race in Chattanooga, he worked at ORNL, hung out with friends, went dirt biking with Bogdan, and slept some.

Marian spent time with friends, worked a bit on her Science project, finished her new book and started a new one, watched movies and slept some.

Anna was also home for her Fall break, much shorter, and watched movies, saw friends and mostly slept.

Bogdan mostly worked, but also took some time off with Gabriel for dirt biking.

I worked most of the week on campaigning for Amendment 1, a pro-life amendment here in TN.  Early voting started this week, and I am one of those crazy workers outside polling locations that hold up a sign to encourage voters to vote my issue.  It's been a cold week, so I've appreciated when my shift is over and I could take warmth in my house.  I will be busy all the way up until Nov. 4th, our election day.

This was also the weekend of our Fall Festival, and Marian, Anna, and I all make pies for the baking contest.  Anna made a frozen chocolate pie, Marian made a Peanut Butter-Chocolate Swirl Pie and I made a Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie.  Unfortunately, none of us won an award.

The Fall Festival went well and we had good weather.  Hopefully, the church had more income than expenses for this event.  It's the 64th year they've been doing it!

A person of prayer

"Be a Person of Prayer" (St. Bonaventure)

If you would suffer patiently the adversities and miseries of this life, be a person of prayer.

If you would gain power and strength to overcome the temptations of the enemy, be a person of prayer.

If you would put to death the inordinate affections and lusts of your will, be a person of prayer.

If you would understand the cunning devices of Satan, and defend yourself against his deceits, be a person of prayer.

If you would live joyfully, and with sweetness walk in the path of penitence and sorrow, be a person of prayer.

If you would drive out the troublesome gnats of vain thoughts and cares from your soul, be a person of prayer.

If you would sustain your soul with the richness of devotion, and keep it ever full of good thoughts and desires, be a person of prayer.

If you would strengthen and confirm your heart in the pilgrimage with God, be a person of prayer.

Finally, if you would root out from your soul all vices, and in their place plant the virtues, be a person of prayer.  For in this way you obtain the anointing and grace of the Holy Spirit, who teaches all things.

New month, new challenges

October already, and hard to believe it.  The kids have Fall break next week, and it's come too soon for everyone.

Gabriel has his first regatta this weekend, the Chattanooga Head Race.  He would remind me that they are NOT regattas in the fall, but head races.  Anyway, not sure if the weather will cooperate.  It's been very rainy of late and very cold, at least for the south in October.  Usually, we have a much warmer time all the way until November, but we have already turned our heat on.

Early voting starts next week and it will keep me busy with helping with the "Yes on 1" campaign, a ballot amendment for pro-life efforts in TN.  I have been to many Baptist churches this week and 2 more to visit before voting begins.  Keep this amendment in your prayers, we want to support the pro-life causes here as much as we can.

Marian is absorbed with the newest Percy Jackson book "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan, she bought it with her own money and is cherishing every word.  She told us she would like to be a writer, at which point Gabriel tried to talk her out of it.

Anna is coming home this weekend as she has a small Fall break as well, she is excited to come home, sleep in her own room and visit with friends.  The down side is that she doesn't have her car anymore, but that is something we'll deal with when we need to.

Bogdan has had some time off at work, at least some time from being on call, but all of the neutrons start firing again and he will be very busy starting the end of this month until Christmas.

Enjoyed seeing these two items recently, one a bumper sticker, another was on the wall at a church.

Ups and Downs

Lots of stuff happening, but no time to post news.

In no particular order...

Anna's car was totaled, so we are down to 2 cars.  Anna was not driving, it was someone else.  We have settled with the insurance and got a piddly check.  We are enjoying the lower premiums while we shop for another car.

Anna is enjoying college and has come back once already--with laundry in tow.  She left refreshed and full of groceries.  She has joined an a cappella group on campus called Note Worthy.  She is making friends, going to classes, enjoying all the typical college stuff.

Gabriel turns 16 tomorrow and while he is not getting his driver's license, he is still excited.  He has been busy with rowing, internship (ORNL), classes and thinking about college.

Marian is busy with 6th grade, more homework, chorus instead of band, Math Club, heaving her heavy backpack to school and hanging out with friends. She is somewhat an oddity among her friends, as she doesn't like football nor does she want to hang out at the football games.  Remember that football is a religion in the fall in TN.

Bogdan has a bit of a respite at work, by a stroke of bad luck.  Some very technical piece of measuring machinery broke and it will be down for 5 weeks.  So, the neutrons are "down" and he is not on call for 5 weeks.  Karen says "yeah" for no late night calls!  He also had time to fix the broken dishwasher (well, since he broke it, it was only fair that he also fixed it.)

I am busy with Yes on 1, a pro-life campaign to pass a ballot amendment in TN.  Lots of phone calls and emails, and hopefully, we will pass it!

Marian made the following:

Anna off to College

We dropped off Anna to college on Thursday for the new student orientation.  It's an intensive 3 day experience, and she's having a great time.  We are all visiting her today and going to Mass and a welcome dinner at the Catholic Center on campus.

So far, she is loving ETSU (East TN State University) and she has a really nice roommate (Sunny).  We will all get to see her dorm and more of the campus today.

The other kids are busy with school already and Marian has taken over Anna's chores at home.  (We'll see how that goes?!)

Will try to post pictures of ETSU when we get back.

Camping Trip to Indiana

Bogdan and Gabriel had a weekend camping trip to Indiana and met up with Tony and Pedro Quintanilla. 

Here are some pictures from hiking with them.

What's happening here

In no particular order....

School has begun and kids are getting used to the schedule, not liking the early wake up call, but adjusting nonetheless.  Marian is happy to see her friends and likes her new teachers.  They have a new (and cute) French teacher at her school who is also teaching an Intro to Culture class and she likes that best. 

We are having our annual yard sale this weekend, we start sorting and pricing today.  There are about 10-12 families who donate to this sale every year.  All the proceeds help pay for childcare workers for the bible study at church.  We always make a good amount of $$.  Anna will help me as the others are headed for a short weekend camping trip.

Anna is getting ready for college, she leaves next week.  She is both excited and nervous.  Nervous about classes, about finding friends, about her new roommate.  Excited about all the same things.

The Neutrons start firing this weekend and Bogdan's work schedule will be getting busy again.  They take the instrument off-line during the summer (necessary) and then they start it up again in mid-August (oddly enough, about the same time school starts). 

Rest in Peace

School begins

That time of year when kids are both sad and happy.  Sad summer is over, but happy to see more of their friends.  Sad school work begins, happy recess is still in place.  Parents are happy and sad as well.  Happy that school begins and kids are more occupied (no more "I'm bored") and sad that the crazy schedules begin. 

Gabriel has a full schedule this year and is busily finishing his summer reading (nothing like waiting until the last day...).  Marian hasn't found out her schedule yet, but excited about seeing friends.

Pictures from Japanese Exchange

Lots of photos from this week, but here are some to enjoy.

 Eating S'mores at Camp Tanasi

 A Scout's Own Ceremony at Camp Tanasi

 Dolls for Daisy Service Project at the Oak Ridge Library

 Entering the Great Smoky Mountains

 Fun at lunch time in the water!

Official photo in Girl Scout uniforms, at the Welcome Ceremony.

Visit from Naka Girl Scouts

We are busy with a visit from the Girl Scouts from Naka, Japan.  There are 7 girl and 5 leaders visiting and they are on a whirlwind tour of East TN. 

We have already visited the American Museum of Science and Energy, the Children's Museum, and today we are headed to GS Council offices.  Then we bring them Girl Scout camp, another great tradition.  Along the way, we are feeding them typical American fare of pizza, Pulled pork BBQ, s'mores, Girl Scout cookies, Mexican takeout and a Chinese buffet (They loved that!)

You can visit the following page to see pictures, look at each day for detailed photos.


http://oakridgesistercity.org/ (Look under the "Naka Shi Girl Scouts visit Oak Ridge" and then look under each day...these are updated daily)

Also, they were on the news and here is the link to that story!


http://www.wbir.com/story/news/local/five-at-four/2014/07/29/girl-scouts-from-japan-visit-oak-ridge/13327751/

They leave on Sunday and we will all be tired and needing a nap by then...

Chopped Challenge!!

Chefs: Jen, Karen, Marian and Tetsi
Judges: Bogdan, Mike and Sean (with Gabriel and Collin eating leftovers...)

Setting up for the night involved cleaning and moving some things around.  Here is what that looked like.

The appetizer round was organized by Sean and he chose for ingredients: marinated artichoke hearts, canned pumpkin, brie cheese and patty pan squash.  Here are some cooking pictures and following them are the creations that were made.

 

Tetsi gave us crostini two ways.  The first was a tomato and artichoke heart with melted brie and the second was a pumpkin puree over patty pan squash.

Jen made a biscuit with the brie cheese and topped it with a spread of pumpkin, artichoke hearts and shredded patty pan squash.

  

Karen's Chopped Salad, with roasted patty pan squash, pumpkin/artichoke vinaigrette and brie cheesy bread on the side.

Marian's appetizer showcased a side salad with pumpkin/brie dressing, chips and salsa with artichoke hearts and fried patty pan squash with sour cream and thyme.

Unfortunately, Marian was chopped after the appetizer round.  But, then she helped babysit Aggie, which was fun :)

The entree round ingredients were chosen by Mike and they included: mahi-mahi fish, shiitake mushrooms, turnip (a very large one) and coconut milk.  Here are the creations!

Karen made pecan and panko encrusted mahi-mahi with roasted carrots and shiitake mushrooms and turnip mash (with coconut milk and garlic).

Tetsi made a mahi-mahi stack with grilled turnip on the bottom and coconut marinated mahi-mahi and a coconut and mushroom sauce.

Jen created a Thai inspired dish with vegetables (including the turnip) in a Thai coconut-curry sauce, with rice and mahi-mahi bites on the top.

Karen was chopped this round which left Jen and Tetsi battling it for the dessert round.

Bogdan chose the ingredients for the dessert round which were: dates, kettle corn flavored popcorn chips, asiago cheese, and pomegranate juice.

 Looking at the ingredients for the final round...what are we gonna make!!

 Jen made a cream sauce (with dates) with a berry sauce (using the pomegranate juice) she sprinkled with with a cheese and popcorn chip crumble.

Tetsi made cookies with the dates and popcorn chips and topped it with a pomegranate sauce and cheese. 

And the winner is....

Jen!!  Congratulations and thanks to all for a fun night!!

Summer, World Cup and Chopped

Summer swimming along, actually lots of swimming, been at the pool 3 days in a row.  Marian loves to swim, especially late at night.  The pool is open until 10pm and we like to go about 9:15 and turn the lights on in the pool and swim then.  No one is usually there, so it's like our own private pool. Speaking of swimming at night, check out the book I just read, an interesting book.  See the link at the right.

So, yes, people have been asking me if Max (our German exchange student) is excited about the World Cup. Yes, he is and I am glad he is home to enjoy it with his family.  He has a lot to cheer about after today.

We are having a Chopped Dinner party this week.  For those of you who don't know what Chopped is, it's a show on The Food Network and a lot of fun to watch.  The premise is that there are 4 chefs who compete against each other and they each get a basket of secret ingredients.  They are the same for each chef.  They must use these ingredients (unusual sometimes) in their dish.  Marian and I have done it alone competing against each other, and it was so fun.  Now, we are enlisting our friends who will do it as well.  Marian is looking up recipes for fish, since she's never cooked fish and wants to be prepared if we get it in the basket.

Pictures of the night will follow, once it's all done.

Room change, Lindsey Stirling, Amendment 1

Anna and Gabriel have changed rooms and not all is organized, but it's getting there.

Below are photos from the Lindsey Stirling concert that Bogdan and Gabriel and Marian went to. They had a great time and were gushing about the show. 

This is the visit to Uncle Gerry and Aunt Marilyn after the concert. They all had a good time visiting and catching up with each other.

Lastly, Amendment 1 in TN is an important pro-life measure before the people of TN.  Spread the word and share this information!!

Patient Trust

Patient Trust

Above all, trust in the slow work of God

We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability --- and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.

Your ideas mature gradually --- let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Don't try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

- By Pierre Teilhard De Chardin SJ