January 2022 Gratitude Daybook: Christmas & 20th Anniversary! Edition

Outside on our Turkey Ranch- 

I’m grateful that Jesse pulled out one piece of outside Christmas decor- our wooden manger with Baby Jesus because he knows I like to do something, however simple. It is stored away now with the rest of Christmas. Still very dry with cold weather this January.

From the bookshelves- 

I’m grateful for some new books in our midst: 

a Kimbell Art Museum mini-Cookbook (Trust me here- recipes from their amazing little cafe, paired with beautiful artwork from the museum), 

Fancy Nancy & the Nice List gifted by Tessa and read right before Cate asked for her own fuchsia bike, serious book providence at work that I never want to forget :), 

Dreamers of the Day shared by Sara about a lovely, quirky, single school marm Post-WWI, her chance meetings with the power players who parceled land into the modern Middle East, and how that time affected and reflects our own. 

With our hands-

I’m grateful for the watercolor nature journaling Cate, Mary, and I continue to do as part of an on-line class from Wild + Free. The accompanying book is beautiful!

In my head- 

I’m grateful for some practice living the reality that change often requires trust. We can create change or remain comfortable, not usually both at the same time. It has been a long season of checking out/staying in and trusting others to take care of me and help with Cate.

On my heart- I’m grateful for my husband and our abundantly! lived 20 years together...

• 5 beautiful living children: Jude Thomas, John Paul Muller, Mark Ignatius, Mary Constance, & Catherine Therese with her medical special needs and one we miscarried whom we named Gabriel/la and remember with an ornament every Christmas; 2 foster children in San Antonio also remembered with an ornament, 8 godchildren around the country we love to see with their families, some of our closest friends; 

• 6 homes (1 we remodeled ourselves) + 45 acres total (including an orchard briefly!) in/outside 3 cities in Texas; 

• 3 degrees earned together; 

• his medical career (begun with a baby born each of the first two years of his medical school and now a private psych practice where those same boys have both worked for him); 

• my seasons of work practicing probate/guardianship law, in Catholic education, and now writing about marriage and family life,

• his burgeoning quarter horse breeding hobby and side-hustle.

We became friends first while doing youth ministry together in the beginning and teach NFP together still. We are blessed to have many true friends and experience "membership," as Wendell Berry calls it, after choosing to settle in Wichita Falls and at Sacred Heart. Our faith and love of family and each other unite us. We are opposites in so many ways, but better together than separate- when we remember to work together and lean on each other.

Most recent road trip- 

I’m so grateful that we made it back to FtW for a joyful, "Dickens-ian" Second Day of Christmas at our Mimi’s with Tessa and Nathan also along for the first time. We spent good time with my sister and her family and I saw a beloved uncle & aunt I haven’t seen in ages. M & M stayed for a couple nights of extended Mimi/cousin time.

June 2020 Reflections

From writer Emily P. Freeman's monthly e-mail...

1. Where did you see God in June?

    Personally, I saw God in the love of my own parents as I took the kids on mostly outdoor, extended  weekend trips with each of them this month and in the love of my husband who remained home busily working to support our own family both times.  We camped at Lake Murray SP, OK with my dad and visited our beloved Port A on the TX Gulf Coast with my mom.  Some of my kids are not easy to live with but my parents love them as grandparents do and we made great memories both trips.  

    In the world at large, I see God in the more open, honest dialogues between people in our country with different experiences and sufferings, in the reaching out and sharing of those with more public personalities as they articulate the inner dialogues and journeys of many of us.  Despite my own struggles, I have lead and continue to lead a largely privileged life.  And any remnant of racism is a sin, especially in 2020.

 

2. What's one thing you've learned?

   I've learned that maybe the time has come for anti-racism, as well as colorblindness.

    Ok, two things I've learned.  I've learned I'd love for us to have an RV camper so that we can continue to explore and adventure together but especially so I can do that somewhat predictably with and for Cate.

 

3. What is the best thing that could happen in July?

    The best thing that could realistically happen is that I could truly embrace this home-centered, more contemplative pace of life for the long-run, in such a way that there was life, Melissa's rhythm of life, our rhythm of life before COVID and there is now a personal and family rhythm since COVID that will not be set aside when school and sports and other activities resume.  Jesse has more naturally been drawn to a less-busy schedule than I at times but I have resisted doing it from a negative perspective.  Now, I truly see this as a choice for a more abundant life personally and for the family.  

    

    

Spring 2020 Daybook: Hiking & Books! Also COVID-19

Outside on our Turkey Ranch...

the Bradford Pear blossoms and tulips have already blown away but the Indian Blanket & irises appeared this week. We also have a mobility van for #catethegreat now parked on the driveway.

From the bookshelves...

I read two books this past winter that really spoke to my heart, Undone and Be Brave in the Scared. Both memoirs of moms with children with special needs. The grace-given yet hard-fought honest insights they each shared were really a balm to my momma heart.  And I also always enjoy anything of Christopher West's.

I’m currently reading a couple good books with the middle kids. One of the blessings of more family time during the Quarantine.

With our hands...

I prepared a web page concept for my consulting project with CCL/Live the Love, FAB Coaching. So excited- we did a soft launch of our fertility awareness coaching pilot program in the last couple weeks! In the kitchen, soup dinners have transitioned to grilling this early spring for my hungry brood.

All four big kids kids helped Jesse construct a room in our horse barn (that he is now living in to protect catethegreat, more on that later) and have started some woodworking projects of their own.  MI has been adding to his origami animal collection and MC has continued cross-stitching, moving on to patterns of saints.

In my head...

the life of Catherine of Siena as imagined by Louis de Wohl, in Lay Siege to Heaven which I just finished.  Also Life from Our Land, perfect for spring, and how to keep myself/us slowed down and outside on our land like we have been so much.

On my heart...

union with God and all I'm learning from some people in my life about that and from a book about St. Therese’s middle sister, called Leonie: A Difficult Life.  I read it with the pair above about special needs families. It fit there well as she was a difficult child emotionally. So, so real. A breath of fresh air when it comes to biographical writing about saintly lives and especially that family out of history.  God's faithfulness does not depend on our good or even best behavior.

Most recent road trip was...

finally back to the Wichita Mountains for an afternoon of hiking in gorgeous weather during the first week of this extended Spring Break!  And Cate’s first time to go! So beautiful- I had missed that geography so much.  We hope to get back there soon and more regularly.

Of holidays & holy days... 

Lent has been an exceptional one this year, hasn't it?  Much given up but much received in its place.  I have realized anew how distracted I can get, how hard it is to embrace the moments and savor them when we are always rushing on to the next thing.  But case in point- these photos from winter holidays & holy days I've never shared here or on Instagram.

Cate enjoying her work at PT in her birthday crown.

 Cate's first snow!  Several days off school that seem like ages ago and 

that haven't kept us from a good break for the Holy Triduum.

Sissy and Daddy headed to the annual Father-Daughter Dance in their Valentine Best.

 We had potato soup on St. Paddy’s Day and baked little loaves of bread on the Feast of St. Joe, the Holy Family’s “breadwinner.” It was our first attempt at gluten free from scratch and while they looked good... 

Made a baked oatmeal pan cake and waffles (here) for beloved 16 yr old healthiest-son’s b-day.

A Prayer...

from the priest and preacher to the papal household during the pontificate of JPII and on, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa:

Come, Holy Spirit.

Come now.

Come as You wish.

Fall & Beginning of the School Year Daybook

Outside my window... it is a cool, sunny Sunday. I am thankful for... the lazy family time we're enjoying this weekend, thanks to Mary being sick and the rest of us fighting it off. I can't remember the last time we all hung out at home all day. I am hoping for... continued peace & joy about our homeschooling path this year. We are enjoying our new schedule after a long spring & summer of researching, discerning, planning, & some experimenting. A big part of this year is Classical Conversations for us. We are commuting to a community 50 min away in Oklahoma! It is completely worth it and makes for a great day for us. It is very fun while adding a lot of desired structure for us and can serve as a springboard for so much work at home together. On my mind... Jesse's career and next position post-Air Force. He has options and we are so grateful, especially because it looks like God is opening doors for a non-traditional schedule in the near future. Noticing that... 1) Jude is growing up, picking up on adult things about the world & becoming increasingly more responsible, 2) John Paul is in the nine year old broody phase & loving playing soccer again, 3) Mark is loving "kindergarten" this year & playing his first season of soccer, and 4) Mary is her usual perceptive & precocious self, doing her best to keep up with her brothers. A few plans for the month... October will begin with Mary's hernia repair surgery in Ft. Worth. Then, we have two fun trips: Jesse & the boys will finally go on a Father/Son Camp Out again and we will all finally go on our long-awaited Big Bend trip with Mimi. From the bookshelves... Mary is learning her letter names & sounds with Elizabeth Foss' Alphabet Path. Mark is learning to read with Little Stories for Little Folks from CHC. (I really love most of their early elementary stuff and am using a lot of it with the littles this year.) The older two & I have enjoyed re-visiting Redwall this month as part of our Brave Writer language arts curriculum. We're using old copies of BW's "The Arrow" covering some of their favorite books for a fun source of copy work & dictation material, as well as a springboard for our discussions of writing & literary devices. They are each using a different math curriculum this year, still Saxon for one and Oak Meadow for the other. (If I had to use one accredited curriculum to appease my state or my husband- which I don't in either case- I think I would use Oak Meadow. I love their project-based yet still challenging curriculum.) In the kitchen... is our last CSA box of this season, including fresh black-eyed peas that Jesse cooked with bacon as part of dinner last night. I am creating... a healthier me by working out regularly, although my back is really hurting again this weekend for the first time in a few months. I completed my first sprint triathlon a couple weekends ago! The cycling has been a God-send for my back and helps it to feel so much better & stronger. I am also part of a new team at our parish working to create & publish our parish newsletter. On the Church calendar & in our home Church... October will bring some favorite feast days including the feasts of St. Francis and St. Jude. We will host our Catholic Home School Group's meeting on Our Lady of the Rosary so I have some planning to do for that... We will mostly read about, possibly over tea time, these saints on their days and include them in our prayers, asking their intercession. Fridays we focus on catechism lessons this year, although we try to really pray together every day. The older boys are doing Faith & Life on-line and that has been a great choice for them to help keep it more interesting & fun. Mark is narrating his way through The Gospels for Children and Mary has her own little My First Catechism, both published by Ignatius.

Quick Takes

This is another of those forms of blog writing that I am borrowing, without linking up to the original "Quick Takes" blog (like my "Daybook" posts).  Aka. I am not pretending to have created this form of post.

1.

We are on a Spring Break of longish sorts, by plan and by circumstance.  We are learning many things:  listen to your body when it is sick and just rest some more; welcome unexpected family guests; patience while preparing the earth for spring planting when the weather fluctuates as much as it does in north Texas.

2.

Today is the Feast of St. Joseph!  A burst of feast day food and fun in Lent for all of us.  It is an old European Catholic tradition (Italian?)  to bake special bread today.  For the hard-working breadwinner St. Joe in our family,  I am going to make the super-easy bread he loves that is so very appropriate for him: beer bread.  :)

3.

We have a couple new horses: Joker (a blondish POA) and Rocky (another LARGE QHOA, "traded" the one we had for him). 

Men and horse names... not my husband 's names, in these cases.

4. 

We are planning a LEGO birthday party for this weekend.  Need to do some research & send some texts.  And plan for Homeschool Group at our house even sooner.  We want to do something to celebrate the election of Pope Francis!  Habemus Papum!!

5.

Speaking of on-line research, I am obsessed with homeschool research right now.  This is how I think through where we are, where we're going.  We are at a new juncture- everyone home, lots of growth in good ways, honeymoon phase over though.  Ha.  I find myself slowly but surely relaxing, dare I write it- tending toward "tidal schooling," as Melissa Wiley dubbed it.  That seems a natural rhythm to me, one we have already somewhat followed with longer Christmas and Easter breaks than traditional school and more work in the hot summer months.  However, it has been an ebb & flow that I have chosen.  I'm starting, trying to listen to the kids more about schedule, curriculum choices.  I'm starting to stop trying to please the everyone in my head, including the Homeschool Nay-sayers by trying to have the best of both worlds and give over to the sometimes messy, organic life that is homeschooling several children.  And I mean several, Miss Mary wants to DO so much already.  Girls. 

6.

My thoughts are that there remains so many needs to balance and that remain in tension (creative tension on good days, stressful tension on bad ones): littles/bigs, busy days/quiet days, run-around days/home days, home life/school work, marriage/school work, directed lessons because I do know more of what they need to learn/kid-centered fun learning because, well, they respond to this better.

7. 

For us, Montessori learning has always been an answer to many of the learning tensions.  So, I am researching that again, to incorporate more for the bigs again, too.  I've added several links in the sidebar.  And for the littles, we are slowly using the NAMC Primary Curriculum & materials in-a-box I posted about.  Lots of great stuff there...  Something entirely new to us is an idea from a friend to have the boys lead a couple of our subjects by being the ones to decide what we need to read for discussions, what projects to do, etc.  As I write this, I feel like we already do that with the fun projects for history & science, I guess I'm thinking to do this even more and with even more subjects.  It would be fun to have one of them come to me to tell me to do my reading for tomorrow's discussion.

All Saints Day & Living the Church calendar in Oct., part 2

We will be celebrating the Feast of All Saints a day late, on the Feast of All Souls, with our Catholic homeschool group and a party.  We are excited because it has been a couple years since we dressed up & really celebrated All Saints in style.  All the kids intend to dress up as their patrons: St. Jude, Bl. Pope JPII, St. Mark, and the Blessed Mother Mary.  (We decided for Mary, that is that she would follow the theme. :) )  This will be after they dress up for Halloween as a convict, an Indian, a lion, & a pumpkin princess, respectively.  I'll try to post pics of both sets of costumes.

In the meantime, here's a sweet prayer our DRE used in the RCIC class for All Saints:

The saints were really amazing, God;
their love for you was great.
They prayed and preached and spread your word,
even when faced with hate.
Helping, sharing, spreading grace,
they'd give their last dime.
Now they're blessed with the joy of heaven
until the end of time.

But the saints were still just people, too;
they sometimes did things wrong.
They doubted, worried, and sinned at times,
and didn't always get along.
So maybe there's still hope for me,
to be a named saint, too.
Lord give me strength to try again,
so I can live with you.

Amen.

from Catholic Prayer Book for Children, edited by Julianne M. Will

2012 Birthday Book pics

John Paul's 8th.  He always requests a cookie cake.

Jesse requested Pioneer Woman's brownies w/ mocha icing this year.

Mary celebrated her 2nd early w/ me @ Mimi's in Ft. Worth. 

On her real day, we did strawberry-pink cupcakes w/ cream cheese frosting & pink sprinkles.  This one looks more like the red ones Mark took to his class at nursery school on his real day.

Mimi bought my delicious cake.  Double chocolate.  :)

Mark's 4th- "red American-Spider-Man birthday."  With beloved Anna over to play for the morning.

Only Jude's left to celebrate this year... he usually chooses fall-themed foods for his birthday, including pumpkin pie...

Still catching up: Later Spring & Summer 2012

Mark's trip to the WF Train Museum.

We love CSA- Asian greens were one of the best parts.

A couple of Lubbock pics for you, MJ.  Beautiful Miriam.  We were her Confirmation sponsors.

God-brothers.  Little Man Cerda.



They were loving this year-of-Texas-history outing.





Catching up: Best of Spring 2012

John Paul's First Communion on Easter Day! 



Fruits of Summer 2012

I did this post at the end of last summer, too, but was actually referring some real fruit I had grown.  Lazy way to reflect.  I've always loved summer with its change of pace, new adventures, and opportunity for real learning in the midst of it all...

• The only real fruit this year comes in our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box each week.  Lots of yummy produce & fun learning to cook it.  Favorite new recipe: Crunchy Asian Salad.  I didn't try to grow anything but wildflowers, strawberries, & some herbs myself and all but the potted herbs have died.  Didn't even get a single strawberry.
• Renewed love for my husband after watching him work so hard to care for us, for me in the midst of several very crazy months of tons of work for him preparing to deploy, trainings here and away, then cancellation of it all because he re-injured his back at the last, month-long training.  We re-learned never to know what to expect from God and gratitude that He has all things worked out better than we can imagine when we just trust Him.  Learned a lot about horse care during his absences.  And we're both working hard to take care of our backs.  He is still in intense physical therapy.
• Trip to San Antonio with him and the kids for one of his trainings.  Fun with old friends and some homeschool learning: Texas history at the Alamo and rocks & minerals at the Natural Bridge Caverns.  Also a lot of American history from watching Liberty's Kids when we in the hotel room.  Highly recommended, no-guilt TV for your kids.
• Couple of trips to Ft. Worth to see my family, including a week-long one for all the boys.  Big ones went to LEGO Camp at TCU and had a blast, learned some about robotics.
• Biggest boys also did swim team & a boys' book club this summer. 
• They are also working on reading patches from the library.
• Jude will continue with swim team this year and John Paul has started judo with friends.  Trying new sports & different ones for each, rather than soccer this fall.  A little sad for this soccer mom.
• Little pair did pre-school camp at church with fun crafts & games.
• And we all did VBS at church, too.  Cat Chat: Angels & Saints.  Solid & fun program.
• Mark is a fish in the water and swimming well, including in the deep end with a vest & going off the board.  Mary loves the water.
• Mary turned 2 yrs. on the 18th and is talking all the time.  She is sweet again & not as ornery as she had been the last few months, probably from frustration at not being able to express herself.
• New, even homeschooling friends for us all.  One family from book club & another from our CRHP experiences.
• Got some help w/ the problems I had been having w/ this blog and, combined w/ the fact that I have a camera again, I'm hoping to be a more regular poster, especially since we are using it for the CRHP Prayer Book project.
• Last but not least, Jesse & I both finished CRHP Formation and helped put on the Women's & Men's Retreats these past two weekends.  An awesome experience on both the retreatant & team ends.  God really has used it to renew our faith & show His power in our lives and those of our friends.  More on CRHP & the Prayer Book later...

Markie (3 1/2 yrs)

Ahh, Markie... where to begin?  ...Your grin! It is huge and devilish and handsome with irresistible dimples.  That describes your personality, too: huge, somewhat devilish yet irresistible.  You are quite dramatic: from the "tough look" you give from under your eyebrows; to the mournful: "It's all my fault. I'm soo sorry.";  to your "That's SO cool!" we are never at a loss as to what you are thinking.  Your mop of curls has always fit you.  Daddy liked it a lot when your hair was long because you reminded him of strong Samson from the Old Testament-  That strength of spirit has to come from somewhere!

You have big appetites for food and everything life has to offer.  Speaking of food, you are (surprisingly, from one so ornery) a healthy eater- lots of fruits and veggies and yogurt, like John Paul.  You are very smart, too smart, easily bored, seemingly immune to the expectations of adults but still adept at playing very well when you want to with all the "neighborhood" big boys.  You would much rather stir things up to keep them interesting and get in trouble, than allow things to be quiet and well, in your opinion, boring.  You have no interest in potty-training despite that you are totally. capable. and have already earned several short and long term rewards in the process, only to go back to pull-ups as soon as the reward is won.  So, now we're just patiently waiting for you to decide you are ready.  Waiting...and waiting...and... 

What follows are some classic Markie stories I don't want to forget:

• Recently we had one of our parish priests over for dinner.  In the middle of eating Mark disappeared, only to come back to the table with the bowl from his little potty full of pee-pee and without his pants on, proudly displaying his work (that he never wants to do any other time)!  Luckily this priest is from a larger family himself wand was quite comfortable surrounded by our children.  At the end of that visit, Fr. was blessing a space in our home (where we've enthroned an image of the Saced Heart).  Fr. splashed the holy water in Mark's direction only to hear Mark start throwning a mini-fit:  "I don't like the water! Oh, NO, not on my PACK-PACK !"  Then, he dramatically rescued and clutched his backpack. 
• Mark has Christmas and Easter confused.  Every night last Advent, instead of singing "O Come Emmanuel" with us over the lit Advent wreath he sang, "God is not dead. He is alive, He is alive...".  I have no idea where that song came from.  He still sings it whenever we pray a prayer or sing a song he does not know.  (Which is really not all that often, despite that all these stories are Catholic or church-related.  I guess I just remember these more than some of the day-to-day ones.) 
• We try to get to daily Mass once a week with Jesse at the tiny Eucharistic chapel on base, it is a pretty little chapel and always special b/c the kids get to be so close to the altar, basically right next to it.  This means we can see everything but everyone else can also hear us...  One time the priest was distributing communion, Body and Blood, by coming around to us b/c that is simpler in such a small space. After being passed over twice, Mark looked up at me full of self-pity: "I got nothing!"
• Finally, I've always sang a little song to the kids when they are litttle and need extra cuddling.  It goes to the tune of "Frere jacques" (Yes, I had to look that french spelling up!  Did the internet get it right?) and I list all the people in their life who love them.  Only Mark has ever added an extra verse..."And Markie loves himself!"

These are photos of Mark's most recent birthday, his 3rd birthday, which he calls his "Blue Birthday," b/c he wanted everything to be blue : blue cupcakes (Don't laugh at my homemade icing-it was runny!), blue juiceboxes, blue plates & napkins, and bikes & trikes painted blue as his gift, Thomas blue to be exact, by Daddy.

 At home.

At our chuurch's pre-school.

And, last but certainly not least- This has been your favorite costume for a long time now: Super Mark.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

(We cut your hair shortly after your 3rd b-day but you can't tell in the most recent photos we have b/c your hood was always up.) 

Holidays 2011 & Our 10th Anniversary!

*Just found this in my draft posts list.  Update on my back pain: It is finally feeling significantly better b/c I am going to PT weekly.  I have a bulging disc.  Still lots of progress to be made b/f I will be back to normal...Since spring is almost officially here & this is becoming the only family album/journal that I am keeping up w/, I am putting these memories here...Our Holidays 2011.

We had Thanksgiving at our house. My grandparents even came, which is a special treat b/c they do not travel nearly as much as they used to and I teasure the time we get with them. My mom, our "Mimi" was here, too, which is always so fun and then good friends joined us for dessert. We're hoping to host again in future years, maybe trading out w/ my mom when some of the Ft. Worth family has other plans and the remainder wants a (semi-) "country" Thanksgiving.

Mary's beautiful dress from CM in San Antonio.  Pic doesn't do the beautiful fabric justice.

Table still in progress.



Archery lessons w/ Big D.



Mary w/ the first Mary Constance in the family.

Let's see...Advent was a good one but I think I wrote about that in my last Daybook.  A couple of weeks before Christmas, we finally got our first chickens from our neighbor who was thinning out her flock. We each named one, except for Mary. Five hens so far: Christmas Tree (Mark's), Frosty (John Paul's), Nutmeg (Jude), Josephine (mine), and Chick-ON! (Jesse's).  We got the idea to celebrate "Christmas for the Animals" from Small Things last year and the kids and Jesse, actually, love it so we did it again.  I bought small cans of food for the cats which is a treat from their normal dry food, the dog got a meat bone, the wild birds got their first seed suet of the winter, and the chickens got the finishing touches put on their coop- bedding, etc.

Then, Christmas.  It was frought with injuries and sickness this year so we ended up not traveling to Lubbock the day after Christmas as we had planned.  Jaul Paul fell out of a tree in our yard about two weeks before Christmas and broke both bones in his right arm.  We did not take him to the ER until the next day b/c although he was in pain, he could move the arm and the pain diminished.  But the next morning at Sunday Mass, it started swelling and giving him a lot of pain so Jesse took him in .  Splint on that day.  Casted about a week later.  ER visit #1 for Jesse.  The week or so before Christmas, I started having lower back pain and especially on the right side.  I ran and worked out at some point thinking I was just getting out of shape and needed to strengthen my core, which probably made it worse.  Over the course of five days it continued getting worse, so painful in the mornings I could barely move.  Jesse would half carry me to the shower where the heat would help me be able to move.  The morning I was scheduled to get into the dr., it was excruciatingly painful- worse than childbirth.  Jesse carried me to the shower and helped me in, went to start our coffee, and a few minutes later I blacked out from the pain.  He came back to me still on the floor of the shower, helped me up, and we decided I needed to go to the ER to get the pain under control.  His immediate commander, who is a very kind and gentle man, offered to come to the house to help get me to the car.  It was all I could to move enough to get some clothes on before he got there!  ER visit #2 for Jesse.  Still don't know what has caused the pain, which is lingering but is under control with a lot of medicine at the ER and the week thereafter.  Needless to say, Jesse took off work a couple days early and held down the fort while I was mostly off my feet and I never finished getting ready for Christmas- did not finish our decorations outside or do any baking.  And Jesse eventually finished our shopping for extended family.  I had two follow-up dr appointments and still have two more left.  The back pain is under control w/ daily medicine.  Mary got a bad ear infection after Christmas which really knocked her out for a week and was another dr appointment.  John Paul got his cast off the Fri before Epiphany.  Can we be done with dr appointments for a while?  But thank you, Lord, for modern medicine.

So, our Christmas Day was quiet but nice.  We had gone to the Christmas Eve Children's Mass at our parish, which was actually especially nice b/c so many friends' families were involved in the Mass and not the crazy scene I remember from the big parishes we attended in San Antonio.  I did manage to make a simple dinner for everyone which was the most I had done in days.  It was a quiet day with the kids playing happily together with their new toys, Jesse reading a new book, and me working in the kitchen alone (or w/ Mary happily watching and playing at cooking in her highchair) to try to give him the gift of a break form that since he had been doing so much of it.

We went to Ft. Worth for New Year's Eve Day to finally see my mom and sister's family and celebrate Christmas and the New Year with them.  My brother lives and works in Thailand this year.  It was a great day of fun and good food, including my Mom's famous crab cakes and lots of sweet breads.

We had a brother-in-law and his wife here on New Year's Day for the night with their sweet son as they made their way home from holiday travels.   It is always fun to see them and we opened gifts and just relaxed at our house together.

The highlight of this year was our 10th Anniversary on December 29, 2011!  It was a Thursday and Jesse was still off work.  I mentioned some of this on Facebook but not all the details.  We started the day off with our coffee and wedding album, which was actually Jesse's idea and he brought it back to me with my coffee while I was still in bed.  (I probably wouldn't have thought of this as I had looked at the album recently when he was deployed.)  It was so special to remember the day together, our excitement and joy, and all the special friends and family who were a part of it.  They are why I have finally made some time or maybe I should say treated myself to the time to get on Facebook this holiday season.  I am not great at keeping in touch and some of my closest friends from high school and college are on regularly, as well as some other special friends I want to reconnect with.  It has been fun to take the time to virtual-visit them via it.  Anyway, back to our Anniversary...we went to noon Mass and renewed our vows there.  We had just asked for a blessing but instead got to renew our vows in front of everyone so that was very special.  And they had been prepared by our Pastor who was sick and unable to be there but was present in those vows he had prepared.  The priest who blessed us was our new associate pastor, whom we got to know that day.  We talked to him after Mass about enthroning the Sacred Heart and consecrating our family to the Sacred Heart and, instead of doing it on our own as we had planned, we ended up inviting him to dinner later that day so he could help us "do it right."  After Mass, we went on a lunch date to our favorite restaurant here (the only really nice one in town) and then went home to have dessert with the kids and include them.  We made a simple but nice dinner for our new priest-friend/guest later that day and had a beautiful little enthroning ceremony.  The big boys did so well!  They read & basically did the whole thing b/c Jesse & I were very busy with the little ones the whole time, both of whom injured themselves by falling or getting burned by the candles we were holding!  All in all, it was a beautiful day in a simple way.  Other friends have taken big trips for their 10th and my sister had told me I should have asked for a diamond anniversary band but we were just happy to be together for a simple day.  We had already gone away twice this last year with just the baby and without the boys before his deployment (to a fancy, artsy hotel in Dallas) and after he got back (to a precious, ranch cottage) so we really weren't needing or wanting to do that again.  Not that I won't push for that at another anniversary soon!:)  But I don't plan to ask for any more diamonds after seeing Blood Diamond and I'm more of a Geek Mom anyway who woudl prefer another iProduct to jewels, if I had my choice... which I don't!  :)