A Joyous Day!

One of our goals before starting school this year was to get Ms 16 yo's braces off. We spent a lot of time praying that it would actually happen (I must say that her teeth are actually more stubborn than she is!) and finally, two months ago, the orthodontist proclaimed those marvelous words:

"After almost 4 years, I do believe her braces are ready to come off! We'll de-band in two months!"

So here is the beautiful product of all of those years of hard work:
She had them on so long (and she had a sensitivity to the metal) that her gums are swollen, but they said to give it a month and all should be back to normal. We go back tomorrow for the retainer!

Movie, Market, Camp out and Seminary

We had quite a busy weekend this past weekend. We started it Friday night with a viewing of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" with Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour. Well, I will admit that I wasn't feeling well on Friday, so that might have tainted my opinion of this movie. Overall I would say that it was quite goofy. I did laugh a number of times, but it still was quite goofy. I was told that I need to watch it again when I am feeling better. We'll see. For those of you who have seen this old "classic".....Sink Me!

We then moved into Saturday and a very slow Farmer's Market. The weather was on the cooler side (finally) so my hubby did great with his Mystic Monk coffee sales. Soap wasn't too bad, but unfortunately the kids had a slow day (which really is too bad since they are now in the black and get to keep all their profits :)

Saturday afternoon/evening brought one of my favorite events of the year...the annual Blue Knights' camp out. We've hosted this event in our yard for the past couple of years and it is always great to watch the dad's and their sons get together and put up their tents, play a ball game or two and then separate into two groups...the dads who cook dinner and sit around the campfire and shoot the breeze and the boys who run around in the dark chasing each other and yelling.

This year the mosquitoes were so bad that even with bug spray, Mr 5 yo had 30 bites just on his neck and face! I heard that the campfire rosary was interesting...dads swatting at the bugs through the whole things while the boys marched and danced around to keep the bugs from landing. I think they voted on cold-weather camping next year!

Sunday brought us to a wonderful event - the going away get-together for the son of one of our friends. He will be leaving this week to begin Seminary in Minnesota. He has wanted to become a priest since he was young so it is such a joy to be sending him off to begin his adventure into the priesthood.

Even though he knew for a long time that he wanted to become a priest, this past year saw him in a battle over his decision. It was hard to watch him struggle with this decision, but God is good and once he got through it and felt certain that his vocation is to the priesthood, you could see his whole countenance change. It was like seeing a huge weight get lifted off his back. I'm sure this isn't the last of his struggles, so if you could add him (his name is David) to your list of people to pray for, that would be wonderful.

Hope your weekend was a good one. It looks like the weather here is going to be beautiful this week (I know...so why am I sitting here typing on the computer????)

An Emily Update

I just love it when I get good news in my email in-box, don't you??? Many of you may remember all of the posts I did before about Emily, our friend who was near death from tongue cancer. Well, her mom sent us an update that is filled with all kinds of exciting news. Here, I'll let her tell you...

The old saying no news is good news applies with our family. Emily is doing wonderful. I wanted to take this opportunity to update everyone. We just got the results of her latest CAT scan and it was perfect. No cancer anywhere. I cried as usual. I still cannot believe that we have been so blessed. How great God truly is. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati society is aware of her miracle. I was told that Rome is also aware. Her 1 year anniversary will be in October and then we can proceed to make this awesome Blessed a Saint. Please pray that they can use this miracle for his sainthood. Emily's story has been such an inspiration to so many of us.

What has little Emily been up to since her miracle. Well, she graduated college with a 3.8 out of 4.0 magnum cum laude. She received the first ever overcoming adversity award in her field of study, sociology. She received a standing ovation for that. She currently is working at a Mental Health clinic as a job coach and moved into her first apartment. She celebrated her 23rd birthday.

Her book is still in the works. She told me she is hoping to finish up sometime this winter. I've had the privilege to read some of it and she is definitely a better writer than me. Her literary tone is warm, funny and inspirational. Just like the author.

I would like to express my sincerest thanks to everyone for your continued prayers. "Every day is a great day." That is Emily's saying. Her faith is still amazing and her courage is to. Emily still endures some minor discomforts from all the radiation, so please forward any prayer intentions and I'll make sure she gets them. She is still offering all of her suffering for the holy souls in purgatory and will gladly offer them for any intentions you have.

God Bless and have a safe Fall.

Good luck to all new and returning students!

Theresa, John and Emily

God is SSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO Good! Have a great day!

A Reminder about Hell...

God often speaks to us through other people, right? So today when, in the span of two hours, I heard the same message twice from random people, I thought I should probably take notice.

1st time: At Mass this morning, the priest told us a story about another priest who, during one very hot Sunday Mass in a church that had no air conditioning, got up for his homily and said, "You think it is hot in here? It's hotter in Hell", and then sat down.

2nd time: A short while later I was walking out of the grocery store and a woman, who I don't know, was walking out with me and said, "Sure is hot out here. I think it's a reminder of how hot Hell is going to be if we don't straighten up", and then she walked away.

I really can't take the heat; maybe I should go to confession soon!

Just thought I'd share that with y'all :)

What We've Been Up To

Wow, it's been over a week since I've been here! Time is flying by way too fast. I wish I could say that we've been out having tons of summer fun, but it has been very hot here and when it isn't hot, the mosquitoes have been so bad that it takes all the fun out of being outside.

Last weekend we did venture out to our annual Cast and Crew party for the Girls Club that our girls are in. It was great fun as always. We watched the girls dance and perform some skits, played some games (including moms jumping rope and dads hula-hooping) and ate lots of good food.

Mr. 9 yo became Mr 10 yo this past week. He was very excited to finally enter into the double digit mode!

We've been busy with our various business ventures, too. We're still working on getting up a website for our soap and I just finished my next Catholic unit study on St. Ignatius. The Farmer's Market is going well and we are still really enjoying it!

Tomorrow night we have a wedding to attend. Thankfully the church is air conditioned but the reception is going to be outside. We're praying hard for a nice breeze to cool things off and drive the mosquitoes away.

Yes, thoughts of school keep popping into my head. The older girls are set on their classes so they will be starting soon. Now that I've finished St. Ignatius, we can get started soon, too. That is going to be our main focus (okay, besides math) for the first month of our school year. We also got our books for the big county fair that is near our house. It occurs during the week of Labor Day and every year we all try to enter a few projects. It is a great time - both educational and enjoyable - just the way school should be!

Hope your summer is wrapping up on a good note.

Orientation Day

Yesterday my husband, daughter and I went to her new college for orientation day. What an incredible difference from when my husband and I went to school! Let's see, when we went to school it went something like this:

1. Decide to go to big state university
2. Get accepted to big state university
3. Get moved into dorm room by parents a few days before classes start.
4. Figure out who your roommate is, how to buy books, where to buy books, navigate through all the ins and outs of being away from home, etc. ALL BY YOURSELF. Maybe if you were lucky enough to have an older friend or an RA who was helpful, you might have had some guidance.

Nowadays, what a difference. We had talks yesterday that were about commuter life, student life, academic life, how the business office works, what technology is like on campus, how to support a successful college student, as well as breakfast, lunch and a dessert buffet at the end of the day!

The students had many of the same talks, but were also able to meet with their advisor (I don't even know if I had one of those in college), figure out their schedule and then learn how to use the computer system to register.

I understand that this is pretty common at colleges now. I haven't heard about the universities, though. How do they pull off such in-depth orientations for 50,000 students? Ms. 18 yo is in the biggest class so far at the college - about 600 students.

I have been freaking the kids out, however, when I tell them that I was 18 when I met their father. "You never know," I tell them, "your sister may be months away from meeting her future husband!" I love watching them look horrified!!!