The Burning Love of the Brotherhood

As I have mentioned many times in this blog, Jay is an active member of the Knights of Columbus. He belongs to a particularly vibrant council, and many days of our month are filled with Knights-sponsored social activities for our whole family to enjoy.

Jay feels as if these men are his brothers. He feels secure knowing that if anything ever happened to him that our family would be surrounded by their care and support. The Knights take care of their own; they watch each others backs and those of their loved ones.

Case in point:

At the Knight's family BBQ on Saturday afternoon, Tony had the misfortune of stepping on a red ant hill that had emerged under the kids' swings on the back lot of the Knights' Hall. This was our first outdoor event of the year and, evidently, the ants had really established themselves over the dormant months.

Poor Tony. He had a literal case of ants in his pants. Those things were running up his legs, over and in his diaper, and all over his feet and legs. Now, under normal circumstances, Tony is extremely squeamish about bugs. In this circumstance, he was hysterical. I stripped him, brushed them all off and finally calmed him down. They weren't fire ants, thank goodness, just really large (1/4 inch) and scary looking, so he was back to playing with the other kids before long.

As far I was concerned, the event was over. One of the Knights had put up yellow caution tape around the swing set to keep the kids out and I figured that was about it. But then I noticed the rumbling, the activity, the electricity in the air. Those ants had bothered the WRONG kid. The Knights were mobilizing.

First came the ant poison. One of them marched right up the hill and poured a hefty amount of some toxic powder down the hill. Five or six Knights gathered around to see how effective this was and the general conclusion was that it was not enough. Next came the shovels and spray hose. Again, no satisfaction. Hoards of Knights were now gathered around the ant hill, arguing and gesturing wildly. Finally, out came the gasoline can and the torch. I kid you not.

Those Knights, bless them, poured gasoline down that ant hill and torched it. You should have heard their roar of satisfaction as they crisped the ants that had dared to hurt our Tony. They were men on a mission and they were not going to stop until those ants were obliterated.

Clouds of black, probably toxic smoke poured downwind (away from the rest of us, thank goodness!) straight to the neighboring fire station. We all watched semi-frozen as the door to the fire station opened up and emitted a fire engine. Which, of course, came straight to us.

Now it was back to the shovels. That sand was flying. Before the truck arrived the fire was out, the ants were finished and the Knights were looking innocent, milling around the yard as if nothing had ever happened. The fire truck slowed down, looked at us all suspiciously and then returned to the station.

You have never seen a pack of men more satisfied with themselves. There was back slapping. There was high-fiving. There was, of course, much celebratory drinking.

You've gotta love those guys.

The Good, The Bad and The Burned

It's a good thing when an 8 year old learns to make brownies all by herself, and that's just what Lindsey did yesterday. She did a great job! I supervised, but from a distance, letting her do everything all by herself...no matter how much it made me cringe to see things spill.

It's a bad thing when you think your supervising is done and you step outside to water the garden, convinced that all is well in the oven. After all, when you left the temperature was set properly and the brownies were safely baking away. All you asked was that your 10 year old set the timer for 30 minutes, something he assured you he knew how to do.

It's a burned thing when you return inside 15 minutes later to a horrible smell. A quick check of the oven reveals that someone pushed the self-clean button instead of the timer button. You discover that you are locked out of the oven due to the obscenely high temperature within. There is nothing you can do except turn it off and wait the 20 minutes it takes for the oven to cool enough to release the door lock.

It's a miracle when you discover that, underneath the black crust which is easily peeled off, lie the moistest, most delicious, gooey brownies you have ever tasted.

It's totally predictable when Joey, the oven culprit, claims genius status for discovering this new brownie baking strategy. Everyone can't wait to repeat it. Except me.

To Be Counted Among the Questions I Thought I'd Never Be Asked

In the middle of a lesson on fossils, Joey asks...

"Mom, are there still places where people get slapped with fish?"

Huh?! It provides, I'm afraid, only a hint of how far his mind wanders during our lessons.

Retreating

I just returned from a peaceful, reflective, three-day silent (OK, sort of silent) retreat.

I know, I know, Hawaii and a retreat in the same month...it sounds selfish, even to me! But, as Jay so eloquently put it, "Hey, if I don't mind, why should anyone else?!" He certainly did encourage me to go and, although I resisted a bit (only a little bit, mind you), I am so glad I did.

As were the other retreats I have been on, this was offered through Opus Dei. It was a harmonious blend of meditations, talks, mass, reading time and, of course, lots of naps. Throw in a few rosaries, daily benediction and a wonderful, long-time friend for a roommate to chat with in the evening (hey, it was mostly spiritual chatting!) and I was completely happy.

In the past, I have retreated in Northern California, but this time I went to beautiful Thomas Aquinas College in Ojai/Santa Paula, just over an hour from my house. What a beautiful, Catholic college! Just walking the campus felt reverent to me.

While there, I read a book exactly right for where I am in my faith right now (check it out here), and I had a chance to receive some in-depth spiritual direction from a truly wonderful priest.

To those of you who are too busy in the trenches, can't figure out how to get away, I have this advice for you: FIGURE IT OUT. Take a retreat. Reconnect with God. Where there is a will there is a way!

Happy Birthday, Joey!

10 years old. An entire decade. Double digits. It can't be!

Gone is my baby, my toddler, my little boy. Here instead is this fun, smart, amazing person, a person who I can hang out with and talk to about real things. Ten years ago, I couldn't have imagined the joy I would experience from watching my baby turn into a unique and fantastic individual.

Joey, although you already have a decade behind you, your whole life remains in front of you. You are poised to become anything you want. You have it all--intelligence, humor, good looks, but most important of all, a kindness, morality and conscience that can only come from knowing and loving God. Lucky you. Lucky US for having you in our lives.

Happy Birthday, Julia!

Here is Julia, freshly 5 years old, enjoying her roller skating birthday party. She is an amazing girl, just five years into her life. She is ready and eager for kindergarten, already accomplished at sports such as swimming and gymnastics, and showing a love of reading and math. She is nurturing and loving to her younger siblings and is a true help to me around the house. Is there anything this girl can't do? (Please excuse the proud maternal boasting here, but these birthday posts are my big chance...)

Happy birthday, Julia Mae. You light up the world with your presence!

Surprise!

That's what Lindsey got last Thursday when I picked her up from school unexpectedly early and took her to the airport. She had many questions about what we were doing, but I did not answer any of them until we were at the airline counter, at which point she figured out that we were bound for Hawaii--the place she has loudly dreamed of going since she was 4 years old.

Her reaction to the news was worth everything I had put into planning the trip. She started to cry and whispered, "Thank you, mom."

So, off we went to four nights in beautiful Maui where we had mother-daughter time that neither of us will ever forget.

We snorkled, laid around the pool and beach, went to a luau and even took a helicopter over the volcanic crater. We toured a tropical plantation and ate fresh pineapple. We read and ate and watched the Survivor finale. But most of all we hung out, just the two of us. It was a true paradise.

There are many disadvantages to all of Jay's travel, but the airline miles and hotel points are not one of them! We were so blessed to be able to do this for Lindsey at a time when she really seemed to need a little one-on-one time. Because I homeschool Joey, I spend a lot of time with him and know him very well. The preschool kids are home much of the day, so I am good with them too. Lindsey and Sam, because they are at school much of the day, do not spend as much time with me as the others. Therefore, Jay and I are making an extra effort to have one-on-one time with them both. Sam, too, will have some special time before the end of the summer (but perhaps not quite this special!).

At any rate, some photos of our trip are below. It was, quite honestly, the best and most relaxing mother's day I can ever recall. Thanks a million to the grandparents and, of course Jay, who all pitched in, working themselves to exhaustion, to make this possible. You are truly appreciated!

View from our balcony...

A new palm tree growing out of a whole coconut, as seen on our tropical plantation tour...


Eating fries on our snorkel boat...

Altar of the beautiful church where we went for Sunday mass. They had liturgical dance, which normally doesn't do anything for me, but has a whole new meaning when it is hula dancers. It was beautiful and reverent. I loved the Polynesian statues of Jesus and Mary. Also, the choir was amazing!


Waiting for the luau to start...

Barefoot and pregnant...these are some happy toes!

Splashing in the warm ocean. There was decent snorkeling right here off of our hotel beach.


Our fun rental car, which took us all over the island...

Our helicopter and pilot...

Lindsey on the helicopter ready to take off. This was definitely the trip highlight for her.

Aloha!

Beautiful

This is long overdue (anyone who regularly checks this blog knows that I have experienced a bit of an early-pregnancy slowdown in my posts--yes, that is my excuse and I am sticking with it!).

Nonetheless, the photo still speaks for itself even at three weeks old. Congratulations, Lindsey, on your First Holy Communion. What a beautiful day, beautiful sacrament, beautiful girl. We are so proud.

A Welcome (Para)Site

Yes, it is true! Di Silvestri baby seven is officially under development and looking just perfect for 10 weeks along.

We are delighted to receive this gift and hope you will join us in praying for his/her safe arrival sometime around Thanksgiving.

Naturally, we are referring to the baby as 'Lucky'. Now, don't worry, all you literal folks out there--we aren't actually going to NAME the baby Lucky. It's just too much corny fun for this family to pass up. And you know what I say...if you don't have a solid sense of humor, you DEFINITELY should not have seven kids.

Happily, our humor is in excellent shape, so bring it on! Welcome, Lucky!

My New Definition of "Helpful"

Yesterday Lindsey came home from school and told me she needed to bring in a small bone or shell today for a "fossil" project.

This is the kind of thing that floors me. Things like this, mentioned casually at 4pm on an afternoon when I have no plans to drag six children to the craft store, make me dream of homeschooling them all.

However, Joey came to my rescue in a most wonderful and surprising way. "I know where to get a bone, mom!" he bubbled. "Can Sam and I ride our bikes into the desert together? We'll be right back!"

Off they went, giggling with adventure, into the desert and were back in 15 minutes with two owl pellets, carefully sealed in a ziplock bag. There were dozens of bones from some small mammal neatly bound together in whatever comes out of an owl's digestive system. Words cannot describe their pride. Or my delight that I did not have to go to the store!

Now, don't get me wrong. Dissecting dried owl vomit to retrieve bones for a project is only slightly more appealing than going to the craft store with six kids at 4pm. But the thrill of having my 9 year old save the day and in such a Tom Sawyerish way brought me nothing but joy.

Now, THAT's helpful!

Aftermath

In retrospect, the cornbread we used quite effectively to keep Isabella quiet during our after-mass brunch today may not have been the best choice.

For the busboy, anyway.

Pop Flies and Poppies

We had a perfectly wonderful family day today.

After mass, we went to the Jethawks game (the Jethawks are our local Class A Baseball team, affiliated with the Boston Red Sox). Our team lost badly, but that didn't dampen our moods at all--after all, the season is just beginning and they have plenty of time to get better!

The Jethawks games are ideal entertainment for families. We went today because Sam's Cub Scout Pack presented the flag before the game, so we were there with a number of families from our parish school that we really enjoy hanging out with. Throughout the season, there will be half a dozen more reasons for us to go--the scout sleepover-on-the-field nights, Braceball Day sponsored by Lindsey's orthodontist (and fellow Sacred Heart parent), Quartz Hill Little League day, etc.

The Jethawks have a kid's club that is truly an amazing deal: for $15 each child gets an unlimited season pass to the games, a t-shirt and the ability to participate in special activities with Kaboom (the mascot bird) at nearly every game. They get to run across the field at the 7th inning stretch, and they can run the bases at the end of the game. In addition, there is a fun zone filled with inflatable jumpers and slides that the kids can have unlimited access to during the game for $2. I love the down home atmosphere coupled with really good baseball for the whole family to enjoy. Adult tickets are just $5, so the entire experience really can't be beat. We feel very fortunate to have this franchise literally down the street from our house.

After the game, we took a drive out to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. For anyone who thinks the desert is an ugly place, take a look at this:



Even with the poor quality (it was taken with my cell phone) you can get an idea of the miles and miles of bright orange rolling hills that are about 10 miles outside of town. You can see this blur of color from the freeway but it doesn't do justice to the closeup view. There are miles of hiking trails running through the reserve and a visitor's center (which we skipped, but looked nice). There were people everywhere, enjoying this incredible display of nature. WOW!

I love the weekends! Coming up next weekend: Lindsey's First Holy Communion. Stay tuned for the full report!

Well, Which Is It?

Normally, I am not one to comment on politics.

I'm not really even going to do that now. You will notice that I do not state my specific personal opinions on the matters which follow (although, for the record, I tend to be fairly but not consistently isolationist where international policy is concerned).

However, I simply can't help myself from ranting just a tiny bit on the inconsistency of international policy that some of the liberal talk show hosts are espousing (I listen to both liberal and conservative talk radio and love alternately getting irritated with both sides).

One the one hand, the liberal hosts hate the war in Iraq. They love to go on and on about how incredibly stupid it was for us to go there in the first place and that everything ever pertaining to our involvement in the war was a giant mistake. To listen to them describe it, we should have kept our noses completely out of what Sadaam Hussein was doing, as it was none of our business to get involved in.

Recently, on the other hand, I have heard from them more and more calls for our country to boycott the Olympic Games in Beijing based, primarily, on China's political entanglement with Tibet. China's human rights violations, in their opinion, should keep us from participating in the activities coming up this summer.

I understand, of course, that boycotting the Olympics is a completely different thing than declaring war and taking out a dictator. I also understand that the road to our involvement in Iraq was quite complicated. However, isn't this point of view a slippery slope of inconsistency?

Do we or do we not take action where human rights violations are taking place? Are we the world's policeman with all the horrors and honors and responsibilities that go along with that, or aren't we? Which is it, people?

If we really believe that China's actions are so abhorrent that we cannot associate with them athletically, how far is that from the view that we should take military action to stop them? How far is that from the very first reasons we got involved with Iraq to begin with?

Don't worry folks, I don't expect any actual answers to this mud. I just thought that today I'd deliver some political food for thought, as a little break from all the cute photos of my kids and stuff... :-)

Pure Joy

For me, total happiness is looking out into the backyard and seeing my family busy and happy on a Sunday afternoon. Gobs of children running around and laughing, my husband carrying tools from here to there, even the dog joyfully galloping amidst all the activity beats any other view I can imagine having from my kitchen sink.

Here is just a sampling of what I saw today:

1. Jay working on building my raised garden beds, carefully and patiently letting Tony help with even some of the funnest and loudest tools.

2. Lindsey, Sam, Julia and Joey playing tug-o-war with an old jump rope until they collapsed in a giggling mass on the lawn.

3. Sam leading "Simon Says" with Julia and Lindsey as willing participants in his completely ridiculous requests.

4. Joey and Sam wrestling like brothers should within the relatively safe confines of the trampoline net.

5. All the children taking turns being the sled dog for another child who rolled along behind, barking orders to go faster and faster.

6. Julia, going around and around the natural race track made by the swimming pool, honing her new two wheel bike skills.

7. An enthusiastic game of kickball.

8. All the kids trying their hand at the new multi-purpose ramp Jay threw together with the scraps from his project.

Nothing in the world could be more beautiful to me. I happily worked at my sink, with Isabella babbling along beside me, and could see every member of my immediate family. Everyone healthy, safe, happy, together. These snapshots are mine to view but for a brief moment in time...but the images will be forever in my mind.

Almost, But Not Quite

Julia (as she watches a pickup truck packed with children pass by) : Wow! Do they have more kids than US?

Me: No, honey, that's a baseball team.

Bathtub Greenhouse

It is almost planting time! Jay is busy building the raised beds for our new, improved vegetable garden, while I have been starting the seedlings that can readily transfer.

For now, there are no baths in my tub. Only dirt, pots, and a lovely earthy smell that permeates the master bathroom.


The miracle of life is so apparent in a seedling. How amazing that a complete genetic package for a tomato or a cucumber is held inside a tiny seed! Even more amazing is that it grows, with little failure, when you simply add dirt and water it from time to time. How anyone can witness the creation of new life, whether it be human, animal, or plant, and not know for certain there is a God is beyond me.

In my bathtub greenhouse I am growing from seed: two kinds of tomatoes (early girls and grape), broccoli, cantaloupe, two kinds of pepper (bell and cubanelle), basil, Italian parsley, mint, artichoke, strawberries and freakishly giant pumpkin (just for fun, kids' request).

When the beds are done in a few weeks I will directly sow corn, lettuce, carrots, cilantro, dill, watermelon, peas, regular pumpkins, cucumber, yellow squash, pole beans and giant sunflowers.

Sounds like a lot, I know, and some will probably fail in our crazy desert weather and strong wind. But what fun to try!

Horsing Around

I love this photo of Lindsey--she is completely happy because she is on the back of a horse. At long last she has resumed her riding lessons, which were aborted by our move more than two years ago, and she is thrilled.

The ranch where she is riding is a little slice of farm life that completely amused Joey and me while we observed her first lesson. In addition to the horses, there are geese (one of whom protectively pecks you if you get too close to the owner), roosters and hens, and a mischievous goat, shown below eating a magazine.



At first I was worried about him consuming this type of material, but the stable girl quickly assured me that the magazines were actually planted there specifically for the goat to eat, as they kept him from shredding the actually important paperwork. He reminded me of a toddler who had to be corrected and distracted constantly.

Perhaps the high point for me was observing the goat head butt the goose in an attempt to get at its feed. This was not smart, and the goose quickly put him in his place. Later he was seen head butting the feed trailer as it came in for a delivery. In Darwinian terms, this goat will not be long for this world, but he sure is pleasure to watch...since he's not my responsibility and it's not my property, of course!

I would never want to maintain a working ranch. But it sure is fun to visit one. I, for one, am glad Lindsey is riding again!

Total Fluff

I got a new purse today!

This is big news, as I have not bought a purse in about 6 years. I am not a big bag switcher, so it is quite a banner event when I do.

The best part? I had been looking at this bag for a few weeks, but couldn't decide whether to take the plunge. Today when I happened by, it was 25% off plus an additional 20% off that. I would have been a fool if I had passed it by.

Well, I've gotta run now and "move in" to my new purse. What total, girly fun!

The Cat's out of the Bag

There is always a lovely honeymoon period when Jay starts a new job. It's a time when he is learning the software, proving himself to his peers and working hard, but relatively quietly. His co-workers don't really know him yet so he is left pretty much alone to do his thing. Therefore, he is blessedly close to home, not traveling too much, and not too stressed out.

Well, folks, the honeymoon is over.

After being instrumental in closing a few big accounts this month, the cat is out of the bag on Jay. People outside of his immediate circle have figured out how competent he is and he is in high demand. (Forgive the spousal bragging, please, but I can't help it--I am proud of him!)

He is off today, Sunday, to a show in San Diego where the VP of Sales requested him personally, and then straight to Seattle after that, for another demo. He is supposed to be West Coast only, but after they handed him an RFP for Australia this week, I am somehow doubting the long term viability of this scenario.

Ah, well. It was fun while it lasted. (Go, Jay, go!)

Reconciled

Congratulations, Lindsey, on your First Reconciliation! It is my hope and prayer that you will remain close to God through this Sacrament all of your life.

Beautiful music, beautiful prayers, beautiful tears, beautiful girl...inside and out. Your parents are so very proud of you.