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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Philip and I were asked by two of our friends to sponsor them as they enter the Catholic Church this Easter.  Of course, this is an honor and a privilege for us - and a very unique experience.  We each have godchildren and we’ve both been Confirmation sponsors, but this is the first time we’ve been godparents/sponsors together.

So the four of us spent pretty much all of last Sunday together participating in the Rite of Sending at our home parish here on base, then at the Rite of Election at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  All I can say is…amazing.

I’d never been to the Basilica, so I was immediately awestruck by the building itself.  The interior rivaled any basilica or cathedral we’ve seen in Europe.  I cannot even begin to do it justice in trying to describe it with words.  I didn’t bring a camera, so I can’t share any pictures, sadly.  Our homeschool group is taking a tour next month, so I’ll get some pictures then.

The Rite itself - again, wow.  There were 5 Bishops in attendance - the Archbishop of DC, 3 of his auxiliary bishops and the Bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services.  Incidentally, ours was the only church that identified itself as being from a military base, so the bishop was probably there just for us!  The sheer number of people being baptized or coming into full communion with the Church was so inspiring, and makes you think that maybe our country really isn’t going to hell in a hand basket after all.  Each of the catechumens who will be baptized at Easter were called by name and were presented by their godparent to the Archbishop.  He seemed to be having quite a good time, shaking hands and smiling the whole time.  They lined up on the in front of the altar, where they answered questions as a group.  After they returned to their seats, the candidates for Confirmation were by parish and went up with their sponsors.  We didn’t get to meet the Archbishop, but we filled the enormous chancel.  We were one of the first parishes called up, so we stood to the very back.  It was an amazing view, looking out over the sea of humanity, and also taking in the beautiful artwork surrounding us. We will probably never again be that close to the altar of the Basilica.

I have to say that it was actually a lot of fun.  Our military men in their uniforms looked quite handsome and distinguished, and we had seats about 5 rows from the front.  I got little crick in my neck from looking up at the Archbishop during his homily, we were that close.  It was fun sharing the experience with the others from our parish, too.

I do have another side story to tell about something that happened as we were leaving.  But it’s a story for another day…

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“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.“

Merry Christmas, from my family to yours.

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However good this life gets, it pales in comparison to heaven.  Five years ago today, we were given a glimpse, just a glimpse of heaven, as our daughter, Rebecca was born.  For just 8 short months, everything was perfect.  We honestly couldn’t ask for anything more.  She was all toothless grins, fat little legs, big brown eyes and deep dimples.  Life just didn’t get better than that.

If life could be that good, imagine what heaven is like.

But we don’t have to just imagine, we’ve already seen a glimpse.

Happy Birthday, dear sweet baby.  Eternity won’t be enough time to hold you again.

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Sorry I’ve been absent again, but I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the season.  Our house is decorated and the last of the presents are on their way.  Pumpkin Girl finished up her first piano book and I’ve been relearning all the Christmas carols I used to know.  Did I ever mention that I was once hired to play Christmas carols at a party?  Best paying job I ever had!  These days though, I play to a smaller, more adoring audience who accompany me with various and sundry percussion instruments.

Yesterday we went on behind the scenes tour of the BX (yes, after 3 years of living on an air force base I’m finally calling it the BX).  The best part?  The gift bags and pizza and drinks they gave us at the end!  Then later we went to church for the feast of the Immaculate Conception.  As on all Marian feasts, we sang “Hail Mary, Gentle Woman” which is Bip’s favorite.  He knows more of the words than he knew in August and he sang out loud and in clear in his sweet toddler voice.  It made up for him being quite the turkey during the readings earlier.

Speaking of Mary, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is on Friday.  In honor of the occassion, our homeschool group made God’s Eye ornaments.  I put a tutorial for these really easy ornaments on the Homeschool Classroom today: Quick Christmas Ornament.

So I promise not to stay away so long.  I’ve got pictures of my holiday decorating to share!

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