Daybook for June 17, 2014

Outside my window... dark.  It's after 10pm, so what do you expect?  No rain this week.  Tomato plants growing tall, blueberries beginning to ripen - yum!

I am thinking... about family and relationships.  I made a very quick one-night trip to Jacksonville, Florida, to visit my grandfather over this past weekend before he passed away.  He went into hospice care after it was determined that he was not strong enough to endure any more procedures to try to correct issues with a feeding tube and internal bleeding.  He was 99 years old.  My brother Mike drove down one day last week to visit him.  Once it was determined that he was entering hospice, my other two brothers, our dad, and I all went down to visit him one last time.

I met my dad and youngest brother, Tim, in Atlanta and rode the rest of the way down with them. It is amazing how some things never change... Tim challenged me to the Alphabet Game a couple times.  I pointed out all the old landmarks and which things were different from when we used to make this drive 20 years ago.  We listened to all my "songs that remind me of Florida" that I have since collected on five CDs.  And we listened to King Crimson, a band my dad liked back in their day and then passed on to us.  I accidentally brought his CD back home with me, whoops.  We were listening to my CD, The Compact King Crimson, and Tim had passed back our dad's CD... and it ended up coming home with me in my pile of CDs.

The Clothing Carnival, one of the long-lasting businesses along I-75 in Georgia.  There are billboards that list some of the clothing brands they sell... I texted this photo to my brother Stephen, who was driving a different route home to SC, telling him that none of the billboards mentioned "Fitzgerald underwear" anymore, an apparent brand they used to sell in the late 80s/early 90s and of course made us laugh as kids...

The "rocket" at Krystal's in Tifton, one of my so-called landmarks.  It is really a missile, but we called it a rocket as kids and our parents never corrected us.  so it is a rocket.  Just like billiards cues are "pool sticks."

It is touching to me to get to spend time with my brothers even though we are all adults.  We still all gather together when there are big changes in the family: weddings, ordinations, vacations, illnesses, funerals.  That we all felt the pull to visit our grandfather says something to me about ourselves as a family.  I want that kind of closeness and commitment in my own children as they grow into adulthood.

I am wondering... about all the little ways God reveals himself to us in the daily things.  When I see little connections, little coincidences, little reminders... I choose to believe that God is allowing these things to touch our hearts.  A few weeks ago, I wore my mom's old charm bracelet to our Little Flowers tea party because it has a charm on it shaped like a teacup.  I happened to think of that, and so I put it on.  She had collected charms on it in her teenage years, and when I was a young teen, she gave the bracelet to me.  I rarely wear it now, but did so that day because of the teacup.  Later that day, I got the call from my mom that Grandaddy was in the hospital, which would lead to the surgery to place the feeding tube that would lead to his failing health up until his passing today (I actually got a call while at the tea party and let it go to voicemail, then called my mom back afterward).  Later that day I was also picking up reprints of old photos to use at the reception following Tim's ordination to the transitional deaconate.  An unrelated photo in one of the sets of negatives pointed out my charm bracelet, drawing attention to it in the photo - the charm bracelet I was wearing that very day.  It was only then that I looked at the bracelet on my wrist and realized that my grandaddy, my mom's mom, had likely given her some of these charms.  One of them is specifically a charm of the Prudential building in Jacksonville where he used to work.  I didn't even make the connection until seeing the charm bracelet so obviously in the old photo, which caused me to pause and think about it.  I felt prompted to wear the bracelet this weekend and show it to Grandaddy when we saw him, specifically the charm shaped like his old building.  Whether he remembered it or not I couldn't tell, as he was getting tired at that point, but I am glad I had that chance of connection, to show him something meaningful from his past that connects me to him through my mother, and to show that I have something that will keep his memory alive into the future.  Perhaps these kinds of things are God's way of using our past in allowing Him to speak to us through it.

Current photos of the charm bracelet - you can see the Prudential building charm hanging down at the bottom.

I am praying... for my grandfather's soul, for his wife (my step-grandmother - he outlived his first two wives!), for my mother and her brother, and for everyone going to the funeral to have safe travels.

I am thankful... for the chance to be able to see Grandaddy one last time.  He is the only grandparent I have visited knowing that he was dying, knowing that we were there in the final days of his earthly life.  We all got to see him and talk to him while he was still responsive and alert.  I am also thankful for his long life that was filled with good health until the end.  My mom says that he commented to her a couple years ago when he was 97 that he didn't have any pain anywhere.  He only took drugs for reflux and nothing else - no chronic problems that are typical of older people.  I always remember him stressing healthy eating when we were kids... he'd bring a jar of sunflower seeds and packages of dried seaweed with him when he visited us, and he would tell us we should chew each bite 100 times.  He owned a juicer back in the day, he was sending my mother articles about concerns in rising numbers of childhood vaccines written by Dr. Mendelssohn, he brought us powdered barley greens to mix with water when I was having stomach issues in high school because it was a natural remedy... all before the "crunchy" era of today.

I am hearing... my dad's King Crimson CD.  Figured I might as well listen while I have it.  We didn't listen to it in the car because he and Tim said it wasn't one of their best ones.  I agree; for some reason The Court of the Crimson King is done to some blues tune and is only 48 seconds long... huh?????  Apparently it is a live album.  Maybe I should listen to the second disc and see if I can endure 45 minutes of 21st Century Schizoid Man...

The Florida Welcome Center - rebuilt in the mid-90s but still a landmark.  And they still give out free orange juice samples.  It is all modern inside, and I couldn't get Tim to stand on the image of the state of Florida on the floor for a photo.  The vending machines are also still tempting, as I passed them and was sad to find I did not have enough change for a Chipwich.  Tim had bought something from the machines when he passed, and then as we were pulling out, my dad decided to pull back into a space and go buy something himself from the machines.  All that willpower of saying no to kids begging for money for junk food on long trips wears off when they have all become adults with their own money, apparently.

Learning at home...I'm trying to get a lot of reading time in with Cecilia.  I have checked out a bunch of good picture books from the library for her.  Caroline has a bunch of good chapter books to work through.  I found a great list at the back of a book I am reading, and it is easy to pull suggested titles from there by age.  I also checked out audio books today of some favorites of Caroline's that Cecilia has not yet heard: Trumpet of the Swan, The Secret Garden, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

From the kitchen... not much, as we prepare to go out of town.  I am thinking I will make some egg "cupcakes" tomorrow to take in the van when we leave Thursday morning, and maybe a batch of lemon-almond biscotti as a snack on the drive.  We had chicken gyros last night, yum!!!

I am reading... A Landscape with Dragons: The Battle for your Child's Mind.  I just finished it today, actually.  Very thought-provoking.  Very good information on a serious topic.  It is the book that has the excellent list of suggested children's literature at the back.  Next I will either go back to Charlotte Mason's homeschool series, or perhaps some lighter reading on the drive: Pope Awesome and Other Stories.  I also just finished an excellent magazine that I never knew existed until finding it a couple weeks ago at the checkout at Wal-Mart!

To live the liturgical year... still slacking on this one.  We went to the Tennessee Aquarium with lunch at Mellow Mushroom to celebrate Pentecost... that makes sense, right?  Right?!?!?  This month is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so maybe we can figure out something special to do for that.

Not part of the liturgical year, specifically, but we will be practicing the corporal and spiritual works of praying for the living and the dead, comforting the sorrowful, and burying the dead in a couple days.  These are important works that leave a powerful impression when lived out during childhood.  Again, all my brothers will be gathering in Florida for my grandfather's funeral.  Being raised Catholic gives you an unexplainable drive to live these things out.  You feel obligated to attend funerals, to visit and pray at the final resting places of those who have gone before you, to light pray candles in memory of deceased family and friends... and it is not a bad thing, this obligation.  It is like a reflex, a second nature thing, that just comes intuitively as the right thing to do.

One of my favorite things... how Lucy says "one."  It is pronounced as "yun."  Very cute when she is counting.  Somehow the kid has one-to-one correspondence down pat yet fails to recognize the urge to eliminate until it is all over the floor.  We are trying the bare-bottomed approach to see if it gives her some awareness, but so far no luck. 

I am creating... a list of stuff to do this summer.  And I will soon be creating next school year's lists and schedules.  I have already started ordering books for next year, and we got several in the mail today!  I love good books!

Around the house... laundry so we can pack a suitcase.  General cleaning and tidying up.

The old-style Y-shaped picnic shelters at Georgia rest areas along the interstates. 

Gonna have to stop and show this to my kids on the drive this time... see if they can guess what it is, ha.

Pondering these words... "True religion is the search of the soul for God in order to surrender itself to him, the search for his will in order to fulfill it, the search for truth in order to conform to it.  False religion is the inverse.  It makes a god out of oneself; it makes one's own will supreme; it attempts to reshape reality to fit one's own desires.  True religion is about surrender, while false religion is about control." -Michael O'Brien

A few plans for the rest of the week...

* Pack
*Attend out of town funeral
*We were going to see old out of town friends for a local baseball game, but we will be gone then, so we are going to try to catch them when they get into town tomorrow evening and visit for a bit and have dinner together!
*See if I can pick up eggs before we leave

A picture thought I am sharing...

The "airplane on a stick" was one of the old landmarks... this one is an imposter, but at least they replaced the old one with another instead of taking it down altogether and not putting another in its place.  This is near Warner Robins at old exit 45 (I refuse to learn the renumbering system of the exits!).

End of the School Year: 2013-14

Here are our end-of-the-year interviews... something to sum things up and have something to include in their files for each school year.  You know, in case the state comes looking for proof that we have been productive and learning and properly "socialized" and all that sort of thing... ;)

Hoping to celebrate the end of the year with a trip to a frozen yogurt place and then somewhere fun and wet - the fountains or the lake.

Year-End Wrap-up: Extreme Environments Geography Studies

This year my third grader, Caroline, did a geography study that focused on three regions that have extreme climates: desert, jungle, and tundra.  She read three journal-style books about the authors' travels in the Sahara Desert, the Solomon Islands, and the Canadian Arctic.  She also used several supporting resources which I obtained through inter-library loan, and these were used in addition to the three main books to create her own notebook.

The three main books, or "spines," for this geography unit:

52 Days by Camel: My Sahara Adventure by Lawrie Raskin with Deborah Pearson

Jungle Islands: My South Sea Adventure by Maria Coffey and Debora Pearson

By Truck to the North: My Arctic Adventure (Adventure Travel) by Andy Turnbull with Debora Perason

What I loved about this geography study was how I merely had to provide the resource books and the blank page, along with a list of extension topics, and Caroline was on her own to show what she learned and what resonated most with her in the notebook that she created.  I am becoming more and more convinced that starting with a blank page is so much more effective - and less time-consuming on the teacher, an added bonus! - than giving a pre-made worksheet.  And I didn't even have to come up with the additional books and the list of jumping-off ideas for her to use... shoutout to Jill at Our Home on the Range, who shared her plans that she made for this herself, for which I thank her very much  Here are links to her posts with her plans on each environment: Sahara Desert, Solomon Islands, Canadian Arctic.  I found these to be so helpful - I just printed them out, put them in a binder with Caroline's other plans for the year, made sure to reserve the books at the library, and that was that!  Caroline used them as a guide and checked off each one as she completed it.  And now I want to share what she came up with as a result!  Click on any of the images to be able to read them - she draws and writes small, and writes a lot:

front cover - I buy these blank hardback books here

she made her own table of contents on the inside cover

The first book she read/notebooked was 52 Days by Camel: My Sahara Adventure:

Northern Africa Map notebook page.  Assignment: "Read "How I Became a Desert Explorer" (up through p. 5).
Narrate.
Draw a map for your notebook of northern Africa. Be sure to include Fez, Timbuktu, and other major cities, rivers, and ocean names."

Information about the city of Fez.  Assignment: "Read chapter 1, "Fun Times in Fez."
Narrate.
Make a page for your notebook on Fez."

The Atlas Mountains.  Assignment: "Read chapter 2, "Chills 'n' Thrills."
Narrate.
Make a page for your notebook on the Atlas Mountains."

Life in the Sahara.  Assignment: "Read chapter 3, "What a Blast!"
Narrate.
Make a page for your notebook on the Sahara. Use information from the library books."

Information on camels.  Assignment: "Read chapter 4, "A Camel Tale."
Narrate.
Make a page for your notebook on camels."

Bargaining in the markets.  Assignment: "Read chapter 5, "Fun in the Sun," and The Storytellers by Ted Lewin.
Narrate.
Make a page for your notebook on African markets and bargaining."

Mirages.  Assignment: "Read chapter 6, "Midnight Madness."
Narrate.
Make a page for your notebook on mirages."

Niger River Basin (she chose to focus on peanuts as one of the crops grown there).  Assignment: "Read chapter 7, "Almost There..."
Narrate.
You've been given a map of the Niger River Basin.  Make some notes about it on the paper for your notebook."

Timbuktu.  Assignment: "Read chapter 8, "Timbuktu at Last."
Narrate.
Make a notebook page on Timbuktu."

Salt Mining.  Assignment: "Read chapter 9, "In Search of Salt."
Narrate.
Make a notebook page on salt."

 The second book was Jungle Islands: My South Sea Adventure.  Caroline continued making pages in the same book so that all three environments were contained in the same notebook:

Map of the Area.  Assignment: "Create a map of the Solomon Islands for your notebook."

Information about coconuts.  Assignment: "Read chapter 1, "All Aboard!"
Narrate.

Research coconuts or sugar cane. Draw a picture of the life cycle of one of them for your notebook. Taste shredded coconut or make something with coconut milk for dinner."

Eclectus Parrot info.  Assignment: "Read chapter 2, "Jungle Eyes."
Narrate.
Read about wildlife mentioned in the chapter (parrot, bats, sharks, or mudskippers).  Draw an animal for your notebook with notes from your research."

Coral Reefs.  Assignment: "Read Life in a Coral Reef (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) by Wendy Pfeffer, Coral Reefs by Jason Chin, and This Is the Reef by Miriam Moss.
Draw and color a coral reef for your notebook with notes from your research."

War Canoes Built by Native Islanders.  Assignment: "Read chapter 3, "Come On In!"
Narrate.
Draw a picture of the war canoe built by the islanders and a picture of the kayak used by the author and photographer. Note the differences on your notebook page."

 

Crocodile Info.  Assignment: "Read chapter 4, "Crocodiles!"
Narrate.
Draw a picture of a crocodile for your notebook with written notes."

Frigate Birds.  Assignment: "Read chapter 6, "Into the Unknown."
Narrate.
Draw a page on frigate birds for your notebook."

Leatherback Turtles.  Assignment: "Read chapter 7, "Make Way for Giants."
Narrate.
Draw a page on leatherback turtles for your notebook with written notes."

 The third and final book was about the arctic, By Truck to the North: My Arctic Adventure (Adventure Travel) by Andy Turnbull with Debora Perason.  Here are the pages from it that completed Caroline's notebook:

Map of the author's route through Northwestern Canada to Alaska.  Assignment: "Read the introduction and chapter 1. Narrate.
Draw a map for your notebook of western Canada and Alaska. Be sure to include the towns they'll visit."

 

 

Totem Poles/Town of Kitwanga.  Assignment: "Read chapter 4. Narrate.
Make a page for totem poles for your notebook.
Learn a little about Kitwanga on this website."

She wanted to do a watercolor illustration of a totem pole... the bottom got cut off when I scanned it, sorry.  I love her writing style... "Totem Poles - eek! (They are a bit scary, with the faces and whatnot.)"

The Klondike Gold Rush.  Assignment: "Read chapter 5. Narrate.
Make a notebook page on the Klondike Gold Rush (using words and pictures). Use Klondike Gold by Alice Provensen in addition to your book."

The Northern Lights.  Assignment: "Read chapter 6. Narrate.
Make a notebook page on the northern lights. Be sure to include a little about how they form and draw a picture."

Caroline also wanted to use watercolors for this page... I told her if she got them really wet, then they would run together.  I think it looks awesome.  For any watercolor pictures that she made on watercolor paper, we just taped them into the book after they had dried.

Timber Wolves.  Assignment: "Read chapter 7. 

Narrate.
Make a notebook page on timber wolves or other animals of the Arctic."

Sunlight and Darkness in the North.  Assignment: "Read chapter 8. Narrate.
Make a page on the sunlight and darkness in the far north. Use Arctic Lights Arctic Nights."

Polar Bears.  Assignment: "Read chapter 9. Narrate.
Make a page on pingos for your notebook. Be sure to draw one and describe how they are formed. Alternatively, make a page on polar bears for your notebook using A Polar Bear Journey by Debbie S. Miller."

That is a printed out image of a polar bear, by the way.  She requested an image instead of drawing one.  You can see that she prefers writing to drawing when relaying information, so that was fine with me. 

We then used this book to get perspective on the opposite pole... the following pages are of the Antarctic and are based on reading from this book: Antarctic Journal: Four Months at the Bottom of the World by Jennifer Owings Dewey.

Map of Antarctica and Palmer Station.  Assignment: "Read pp. 6-17. Narrate.
Draw a map of Antarctica for your notebook. Be sure to include Palmer Station. Add a few notes about Palmer Station to your page."

Killer Whales.  Assignment: "Read pp. 18-31. Narrate.
Make a page for your notebook about Litchfield Island or any of the animals mentioned in the book."

Blue Whales.  Assignment: "Read pp. 32-45. Narrate.
Make a page for your notebook about blue whales, winter and summer in Antarctica (p. 37), or glaciers in Antarctica."

Elephant Seals.  Assignment: "Read pp. 46-63. Narrate.
Make a page for your notebook about elephant seals, blue-eyed shags, icebergs, glacier snow, or Weddell seals."

 

And of course, she made a back cover complete with her own made-up website called "let'slearn.com."

I learned a lot by watching Caroline complete this study... she is a very fast reader, and she would prefer to write about what she has learned than to retell it orally or to draw/map things.  I liked seeing how her pages would contain more written info as she progressed through the year.  She used several animal/natural world encyclopedia books that we own when looking for more info on any animals.  For an excellent list of additional supplementary books, see the posts I mentioned above on Our Home on the Range.  We checked many of them out and found them to be useful in exploring further!

Tim's Ordination to the Transitional Deaconate

My youngest brother was ordained a deacon yesterday, which is a step on his path to the priesthood in the Catholic Church.  It was exciting to get to help with the festivities surrounding it and to attend the ordination Mass as well as his first Mass as a deacon, where he read the gospel and preached the homily.  So here are lots of photos from the weekend!

First, some photos from the ordination itself, which was held at 10:30am at the Cathedral of Christ the King near downtown Atlanta...

Before the Mass began:

too bad they didn't use this beautiful organ - Tim says they use it for ordinations to the priesthood, so we'll get to hear that next year!

(Contrary to what early Nintendo players may assume, the arrows on the floor do not propel you faster toward the altar like they do in ExciteBike...)

In the narthex before the Mass began... I caught these photos as I was walking Lucy around before it started.  Four men were ordained to the transitional deaconate in Atlanta this weekend.

praying together

 

The Mass began with all the deacons and priests and the four candidates processing into the church and Archbishop Gregory incensing the altar.  The thurible is huge - I bet we could stuff Lucy inside it, that's how large it is, ha ha.

A sweet photo of Uncle Stephen with Cecilia standing on the pew so she could see

Tim stood next to our parents after processing in for the Liturgy of the Word before being called forward to be ordained

Jack Knight, an Atlanta seminarian, did one of the readings - we had met him the evening before when he and several other seminarians and priests came over to my parents' house for dinner, and Lucy decided she had a new favorite seminarian!  Sorry, Uncle Tim!

Being called forward

You can see the two auxiliary bishops of our archdiocese in the background here.  The one on the left used to be one of our parish priests at St. Jude, where our family attended and my parents still attend Mass.

 

Here is a view of where Tim sat the rest of the time until he assisted at the altar as a new deacon... the four candidates sat just inside the altar rail, two on each side.  Archbishop Gregory is giving the homily here.  Chris recorded it, and I bet it will be on Youtube soon - I will have to link to it here!

Somebody who is a bigger camera nerd than me took precedence and kept getting in the edges of my shots

prostration before the altar - a sign of reverence

 

Tim is the one with the brown-soled shoes.  Our mom asked him why he didn't write "Hi, Mom!" on them, ha ha.

The laying on of hands

Monsignor Fennessey, the pastor of St. Jude Church, helps Tim put on his new vestments

Receiving the Book of the Gospels (at which point Stephen said, "Hey, he doesn't get to keep it?" when he noticed the Archbishop used the same book for each new deacon and then took it back, ha)

Being welcomed as a new deacon by Archbishop Gregory...

...and his friend Brian, a fellow seminarian at the Josephinum who had recently been ordained to the deaconate in his own diocese.  It is neat to see the other seminarians supporting each other by attending each other's ordinations!

My parents, as well as family members of the other new deacons, brought the gifts forward to the Archbishop.  my dad, of course, carried the wine. ;)

Tim and one of the other new deacons were chosen to assist at the altar in their new role as deacons... Tim was chosen because two of them said they were too nervous, ha.  I guess after you have served Mass for the Pope in St. Peter's Basillica, it's no problem to let them pick you!

Censing the bishops... I was informed that it is not referred to as "incensing the bishops" because you are not trying to get them riled up and angry, ha ha.

Censing the people

assisting with the consecration

first photo after Mass - Deacon Tim with goddaughter Cecilia

There was a little reception there at the cathedral... we mingled around before heading to St. Jude where we had set up a lunch reception for Tim

Deacon Tim with friends Deacon Harry and Deacon Brian, two of his friends from the seminary.  And my left hand.

Tim with other Deacon Brian, Deacon Harry, Deacon Brian, and Father Oxley, a priest from their seminary, the Josephinum

with our parents

I managed to get all the Josephinum attendees together: this one includes Father Becket and almost-deacon Casey (Diocese of Charlotte will ordain him soon)

At the lunch reception at St. Jude:

table for photo board, guest book, gifts and cards, and "save the date" cards for next year's ordination to the priesthood

Crystal, my brother Mike's wife, made the pretty bow on this basket to match our vase centerpieces

the many faces of Cecilia

the cake - there were two of these from Costco

Tim arrives, everyone claps...

...and his fellow seminarians goad him into giving a speech.  I guess he would have spoken anyway.  He led us in the blessing before everyone started toward the buffet line for barbeque.

Lucy wanted to help

The real reason Catholics have so many kids: to have somebody to retrieve beers for them.  I kid, I joke!  It is simply one of children's many useful functions. ;)

as I was assembling Tim's photo board the night before, he asked, "Wait, don't you usually make these for family member's funerals??"  It's true; I have been recruited to do this at family funerals since 1993.

The centerpieces.  We made about 20 of these for the reception.  My mom asked me for ideas, and I said to get some mason jars and burlap and lace and twine and just throw it together; I had seen something along those lines in a picture somewhere.  So she asked me to find some photos online and email them to her.  I did... and then she showed them to Crystal, who helped her pick out supplies and then put together a prototype.  It was perfect - I loved that I could just list off some random stuff and they could take that and make it look good!  Each vase ended up a bit different... one photo I found online had little charms tied on to the jars, so I told my mom that maybe saint medals would be a neat addition.  She got a bunch of St. Jude medals to use.  She also decided to use them as vases with daisies rather than put candles in them, which had been my original idea.

cake time - Caroline loved running around with a tray, serving cake to all the guests!  Looks like I don't have a photo of that.

Back at the house, everyone gets more casual and we continue the celebrating.  Lucy made another friend, Brian, who read her a few books.  I love when our kids get to hang around other seminarians, deacons, priests... it is just a normal part of life for them and I hope it continues to be so.  They have many role models of their faith around them, and they also get to see that clergy are "real people," too.  Caroline had all Tim's classmates from the Josephinum playing "I'm thinking of an animal" and "I'm thinking of a saint" with her.  She was personally offended when Deacon Brian guessed one of her more difficult animals, a capybara, in only three questions (Does it have fur?  Can it swim?  Is it a capybara?), and she was appalled that none of them, not even Father Oxley, had ever heard of St. Zita.  All their combined years of religious studies and they are outsmarted by a 9 year old, ha ha. ;)

   Caroline and Cecilia even got Brian to help them spy on Tim and report back to them so they could compile a report of his doings, which Caroline presented to us on Sunday:

I told Tim that I needed to thank his friends for so sweetly putting up with my children annoying them, and Tim said, "No, they think it's great, really!"  That they gladly would play "I'm thinking of an animal/saint" with them is pretty cool... it will just reinforce to them the idea that priests aren't some distant holier-than-thou people, but that they really have personalities and are just a part of normal life!  So I am grateful that my kids have the opportunity to be around members of the clergy in both formal and informal settings.

I love how angry Caroline looks at Uncle Stephen as she throws the football to him...

Lots of post-ordination fun was had by all... football, watching the dog puke, beers on the deck, eating leftover barbeque, listening to the distant thunder all evening... good times.  The kids all went to bed early that night after such a long day - except Caroline, who stayed up a little bit watching tv until about 9:00.

The next morning - Tim's first Mass as a deacon, at which he proclaimed the Gospel and preached his first-ever homily:

Reading the Gospel - he chanted it, actually, since it was a special occasion.  Afterward, Caroline looked up at me and I said, "He's not going to chant his homily," to which she replied, "Good!"

Our parents and Tim's godparents brought up the gifts

the consecration

Tim distributes the Precious Blood

Tim's fellow deacons and Father Becket from the seminary assisted with distribution of communion as well.  No extraordinary ministers were needed because of all the help they already had there on the altar.

At the end of Mass t St. Jude's, they give a chalice to a family in the parish who has volunteered to keep it in their home for a week as a reminder to pray for more vocations to the priesthood.  Tim presented it to one of the altar boys and his parents.

Tim with his godparents, the Heusingers... the parish held a small reception with muffins and scones and drinks and such right after the Mass.

"Uncle Deacon" with Lucy

Tim with his Josephinum posse

Congratulations to Tim as well as the other three men ordained to the transitional deaconate, and to all our new deacons and priests during this season of the liturgical year.  If this year was this much fun, just think what next year will be like when he is ordained as a priest!  We love you, Timmy! :)