We’re busy getting ready to move.  Not just move, but retire and buy a house, too.  We’ve gotten rid of a lot of things and yet we still have a ton of stuff.  I took down all the children’s drawings, awards and what-not they had taped to their walls, along with the Mickey Mouse Wall Stickers in the playroom.   I keep crossing things off the list, but it doesn’t seem to get any shorter.

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We’ve been going to family grief counseling for a few weeks.  It’s been helpful for all us, even though poking at the hurty spot is never easy.  The counselor is working with me for PTSD.  It’s weird to think that I have that, I thought I was the healthy one in the family!  But it does explain the strange anxieties that have been creeping into my head lately.  In a way, it feels better to know that they are caused by the trauma of Becca’s death, rather than me starting to go crazy.

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We’re flying to Colorado next week to buy a house.  The children are not as excited as I thought they would be.  They told me that they don’t want to move.  We’ve lived here for 4 years and while they do remember living other places, we’ve all put down some roots here.  Maybe after we have a house, it’ll be easier.

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When I told Pumpkin Girl’s piano teacher that we are moving, he said, “Oh no, not my piano prodigy!” I’m not sure what to make of that.  I had suspected that she is gifted in piano, but I wondered if I was just seeing what I wanted to see.  But then again…she’s got me as her mother.  (toot toot)  (that was me, blowing my own horn).  I told her teacher that when she plays Carnegie Hall, we’ll be sure to invite him.

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Philip’s retirement ceremony is June 10th.  I’m quietly freaking out about it.  We need to choose a design for a cake.   (Remember the cake at his last promotion?)We’re thinking about a big fish, with the words, “So long and thanks for all the fish”.  But we’re not sure if enough people will get it.  Another option is a thumbs up with the words “Well done”.  Or a car driving away with “Outta here”.  What do you think?

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Pumpking Girl reminds me that I have been remiss in showing you all her First Communion banner.  Bad mom!

She had her own ideas of what to include on her banner, but several of them were way beyond my drawing abilities or wouldn’t work well with felt.  We took her basic idea, sketched some figures and while looking for a model of a dove, we found a sticker in her take-home pages from Religious Education that was what she wanted.

I cut, she glued.

We used the same foam letters that we used with Boo’s banner (I’ve blurred her real name out) and she was very pleased with the result.

Oh!  I can’t forget - my mom brought me the class picture from my own First Communion.  Check it out:

I took a picture through the frame instead of scanning it, thus the poor quality and the glare.  But you get the point.

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Pumpkin Girl made her First Communion on the day before Mother’s Day. She and I attended a retreat the weekend before where she did several crafts and we made unleavened bread together.  It was a special treat to spend the afternoon with her.

The big day rolled around and her class and their families gathered together for breakfast at the church and a brief rehearsal.  Then home for several hours and back for mass in the evening.

Boo got to serve mass that day, at his request. Just between you and me, he really does love his sister!

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First Communion time is looming.  We have a dress and shoes and stockings.  I have a gift planned.  The banner is ready.  The only thing really left to take care of is the veil.

I don’t know how it happened, but when I made my first communion I ended up with a rented dress and veil.  There aren’t any pictures of me that day, either.  It’s disappointing, not having anything to pass along to my daughter for her First Communion.

Then I heard about somebody’s tradition of passing along their wedding veil to their daughter for First Communion.  My bridal veil is in two pieces, a circlet of flowers plus a separate veil.  The veil is much too long for an 8 year old, but the circlet of flowers is perfect.

So we went in search of an appropriate veil.  We found the perfect one, a miniature version of the veil I wore when I became her father’s bride.  Mine was edged with pearls, hers is edged with satin.

When it arrived, she tried it on with my head piece.  It - she - is beautiful.

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While watching Star Wars, when someone says, “May the Force be with you,” you have the irresistable urge to reply, “And also with you.”

That’s all I’ve got for today.  Just a quick post to let you know we survived the folklorico performance, and now we need to unpack the various and sundry costumes and accessories.  I’ll be back with a real post as soon as I get all that done.

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” He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.
Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
Matthew 28:6

Have a Blessed Easter, everyone!

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THANK YOU! To everyone who helped or volunteered to help us locate a replacement Wohtee. I had taken a picture of the bottom of the car and was on my blog’s admin site to upload the picture, when I saw I had one comment that was pending approval. That comment was from Phil’s brother and he had left 2 links which correctly identified Wohtee as the Ferrari F40, plus he found a blue one on Amazon.com. ( I think the comment went in the moderation queue as an anti-spam measure since it contained 2 links.) I Googled all morning for a Ferrari F40 in blue and couldn’t find it. So Donald, I bow to your superior search skills.

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We’ve been spending a lot of time in church lately. Last Saturday we participated in the parish’s Seder Service potluck. Lots of yummy food and Boo got to read the part of the youngest child asking the “why” questions.

We attended mass on Holy Thursday and Philip was one of the 12 men to get their feet washed.   When they were finished, they each came down and washed the feet of their families.  The water was COLD!.  Bip thought it was great fun.

Good Friday was just an amazing service.  So beautiful, so stark, so sad, so hopeful.  Boo was an altar server, so he was excited to tell us that he “didn’t do too badly” with all the new things he needed to do for that mass.  Actually, he did quite well and looked rather handsome, too.

And this morning we were in church again for rehearsal for tonight’s Easter Vigil.  I’m excited about this since we are sponsoring our friends into the church.  It’ll be a long  mass ( I counted 7 readings, an epistle and the Gospel) and one I wouldn’t normally take the children to, but it’s going to be well worth it.  I hope Bip hangs in there well, or at least just goes to sleep.

Plus, Boo and I grabbed the opportunity to go to Confession after the rehearsal (Philip and Pumpkin went earlier at a Penance Service) so we are feeling clean and shiny, too.

Replacement Wohtee is on the way, beautiful church services, friends coming into the church and Easter dinner with more friends.  We’re all feeling fine.

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Our Catholic homeschool group took the show on the road Friday with a field trip to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Or just the Basilica, for short.

After getting lost taking the scenic route in the rain, we still managed to get there in time for mass in the crypt chapel, where our group was welcomed - by name- by the officiating priest.  Then lunch in the cafeteria where it looked for a moment that we were not going to be able to find seats for the 22 of us, but by the time we’d gone through the line all sorts of tables had opened up.

After lunch we had a guided tour.  I’d love to say that it was wonderful, but our guide talked sooo fast that he was difficult to understand.  I was trying hard to hear what he had to say, and I know that the children missed most of it.  I got some great pictures, though.

The basilica contains over 70 chapels and oratories dedicated to Our Lady, and they reflect the cultures and traditions of people around the world. This one, to Our Lady of Lourdes, is a replica of the grotto in France.

I’m not sure why it had a gate in front of it.

Bip was on a potty break when we saw the chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  I took him back to see it and asked him if he knew who it was.  “Mary!” he said in that cute preschooler way he has.

I showed him Juan Diego, with the roses spilling out of his tilma.

I thought Our Lady of China was beautiful -

Walking into the main part of the church, this is the ceiling -

And a close up of one of the domes…

When you’re visiting DC, don’t miss the Basilica!  They have free pamphlets available to help you find your way or you can purchase a more in depth guide.  Both are available in the bookstore or gift shop.  There’s free parking, always a plus in DC!

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…leaving the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Philip and I, our friends that we are sponsoring into the Church, our parish priest and one of the members of our church who was there for support.  The three military men were in uniform, looking very handsome indeed.  We were just walking along the front of the basilica when one of the men said, “Newt Gingrich just got into that white car.”

Parked in front of the basilica were two tour buses and in between the two buses was a white car, but from where we were, we couldn’t see who was in it.

After a round of, “Really?”, “That white car up there?” and “No way!”, I said, “Let’s catch up and look.” So we sped up a bit and as we passed the white car, we turned to look at the passenger.

And lo and behold! there was Newt Gingrich himself.

We did what any grown up would do - we grinned and waved.  Newt waved back and one of the guys started to walk closer to the car.  And Newt did what anyone who finds himself being peered at by three guys in uniform, two women and a priest would do - he rolled down the window.

So all three of the guys rushed up to shake his hand.  I would have, too, except I was wearing heels and I would have hand to run to get to the car in a timely manner.  I shook Philip’s hand right afterward, though, so it was almost as good.

Or course, we were all wondering just what he had been doing at the basilica and when we got home, I looked on the internet.  Turns out, Newt Gingrich is becoming Catholic and was participating in the Rite of Election himself.  Cool.

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My blogging friend, Sandy, asked me to help her better understand my post about the Rite of Election.  First, I do have to apologize because I sometimes forget that hello, not everyone is Catholic. Just like everyone is not in the military and will not understand when I tell you that yesterday my husband went to the TMO because we are PCS’ing, but it’s to early to contact the TLF.

So I had another blogging dilema. Let someone else worry about offending the Brits, the growing nanny state and the price of tea in China because I’ve got readers needing answers.  And pretty yarn to knit up. Focus, everyone, focus!

Really, though- I wanted to make sure I explained the Catholic jargon in a way that would still let the original story flow.  I was going to hyper link, I was going to provide a glossary at the end.  And then Sandy said, “um, how about just a website?”

I tend to overthink a bit.

So here you go Sandy, and anyone else I left scratching their heads.  Here is a Glossary of Terms for the Rite of Christian Initiation (RCIA). It’s part of a much larger article about the entire process of RCIA.

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