Thanks

Last Thursday Cindy and Michael attended our parish's high school retreat. I personally was not able to help with things but wanted to thank those who had any hand in this wonderful experience. This retreat was not a normal retreat like many go on but was a very unique experience. The title of the retreat was "You matter" and in addition to all of the fun activities,and of course prayer, the thirteen high school age kids who attended and many adult helpers turned things into a wonderful community service project. Between Thursday afternoon and Friday evening they spent quite a bit of time preparing soup, sloppy joe sandwiches, cookies, brownies , and some other foods for distribution at our diocese St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen. Everything was packed up Friday before they left and refrigerated awaiting every one's return in Saturday morning to transport it to , heat it and serve those in need at the soup kitchen. I was in awe that this group did such a wonderful job .

Now a days you can't turn on the news without hearing how some teenagers somewhere have committed some terrible crime, but when do you ever hear about things like this? You rarely do ! This is why I felt the need to applaud these good teenagers. While we are at it I would also like to applaud the parents and advisers of this group and other's like it for proving that Today's teenagers are not all bad .

Thank you for listening . Now I can put my soap box back in the closet for another day !

Easter pictures

The Easter Bunny Came !

( yes in addition to baskets he left socks and underwear. Hopefully by next Easter the kids will not still be craving Rabbit stew :-)
Clancy and Clarissa with their baskets
( The brown ones are made of and filled with rawhide )


Robby shows his goodies

Michael

Cindy

Mike with his gummy bunny teeth

The shirt reads "Almost as good as Chocolate"

No pictures of eggs being colored but one of the finished product

Looks like I had the flu

Though I thought I had a case of food poisoning the other day I am now thinking it had to be the flu. Unfortunately after mass this morning Robby has started showing some of the same symptoms.His sudden onset of illness caused us to have to leave the restaurant where we all went after for breakfast without even ordering. He seems to be doing OK this evening and hopefully the illness will stop with him.It is always nice to see spring come . Too bad that the change of temperature always seems to bring this type of thing.

My Friday morning

Mike has just left for work and the older two children are at their teenage Parish retreat. What does that mean to me? Why get Robby and I ready and go to Morning mass with my Mom , aunts ,and uncles of course.

Since my Grandmother's passing, many friends and family have been having masses said for her at her home church. ( which is a much more an old school Catholic church than I am used to) As many Catholics are aware, these masses were originally intended as a way to make sure that your loved one's soul makes it into eternal rest in Heaven. Though For several reasons( I may get into one in particular in a later post) I have no doubt that Grandma is enjoying God's promised kingdom as I type, it is still respectful to attend these masses. So as for now I am off to church.

Have a great day all !

Easter pictures coming soon

Though we didn't take too many Easter pictures this year we did take a few.I almost cried when I realized that Mike and I had both slept through the kids coloring eggs but that is just how it goes sometimes. Unfortunately we have not had any down time since Easter either. Monday was a meeting of our thirty forty something group. After which Mike could not get the key out of the Aztec when he turned it off. This resulted into a call for AAA to tow it to the garage to get it fixed. ( Mike couldn't do the work because of the computerized keys that he didn't have the machine to reprogram .After this there was karate followed by Tuesday night wings . Now I am not sure if it was the wings, or what but I am down today with what may be the flu . I guess that this is my pathetic way of saying sorry that there are no pictures posted yet. I promise some will appear soon.

Quote of the Day (Thanks Kim )

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."
Sir Winston Churchill

Happy Easter all !

The ham has been pulled to thaw.

The cabbage and carrots shredded awaiting coleslaw dressing to be made in the morning.

The bread is rising.

The pies are made.

The potato and green bean casseroles are assembled in the fridge awaiting oven time.

The eggs are boiled and ready to be colored though it has become our tradition

( due to multiple years with hectic schedules)

to color them Easter day after dinner.

Thank you God for another year that we are healthy enough to prepare and eat dinner together. Thank you that we are fortunate enough have food to prepare and consume.

Thank you for all of the many blessings that you have bestowed on our family.

Please continue to bless and provide for us.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen

A chain letter that I will actually pass on and share (Thanks Kim )

Who Walks into your life ?

God determines who walks into your life....it's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go.

If you'll do this for me, I'll do it for you....

Father bless all my friends in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day.

May their life be full of your peace, prosperity and power as they seek to have a closer relationship with you.

Amen.

Feel free to copy and send this on if you would like.

Within hours you could cause a multitude of people to pray for other people.

Then sit back and watch the power of God work in your life.

Palm Sunday Passion

As before mentioned yesterday was our Parish Palm Sunday Passion. There are about forty people who take part every year, some returning from the very beginning, some new every year. I have personally been doing it for four or five years and my entire family joined in after my first year. I have had a couple roles through the years but have been Mary Magdala for the past few.( my long hair comes in quite handy to anoint Jesus' feet) I love being a part of this dramatization ( It is a dramatization and not a play due to the fact that though we create Drama, we blend in ( all but three, Jesus,The blessed Mother Mary, and Mary Magdala wear all black) so that We the people do not take center stage but yet the Passion of our Lord is the main focus, shining through )

Between the three masses , which we presented this dramatization, and other group and individual pictures that were taken between masses and at Breakfast, which is deliciously prepared by Our own Chef David Bell ,while the great Alvera Bell directs us and polishes us into something presentable to be be seen in church . Thank you, Thank you. Thank you. There were well over two hundred pictures as well as a Video taken. Because I have posted action shots in the past years, this year I think I will post group pictures. After the DVD is edited and out, I will try to make an album with all action shots and include the link here.

David and Alvera

The backbone and Brains behind it all

Jesus


sponge and spear
stole carriers

Soldiers
Holy women

some of the Apostles
Judas and the High Priest

The Blessed Mother ( Saturday and Sunday's)
Mary Magdala

Whip carriers
Sign Carriers

Pilate and wife

Hammer and nail carriers

Mother 's and children

Happy St. Patrick's Day !

Michael has created a Leprechaun your selves Card from our family to yours.

JibJab Sendables "The Irish Step" - A Non-Crappy St. Patrick's Day eCard

Happy 41st Birthday Mike

Because Mike had been on bereavement leave following my Grandmother's passing, he did not feel that he should take a vacation day for his birthday . He went back to work today which allowed me alone time. Could it be that I will have a silent day of relaxation ? Nope, not a chance, before he left, he requested a home baked German chocolate cake. I had thought we would pick up a DQ cake but that is OK. I would bake a million cakes if he wished. I know that I don't say it near enough but Mike is such a blessing to not only the kids and me, but to so many. He always fits in the needs of everyone who asks, many times for those who don't even ask but for whom he knows have needs.Many times he is not even thanked, but yet he is not discouraged. He continues to give even though he has medical problems that cause him much pain that he doesn't even mention.

Mike , on your forty first birthday, and always, We love and cherish you !

Hope your birthday is the best ever !

No rest for the wicked

Sunday,being the day after Grandma was buried, I wanted to do nothing more than sleep in, rest and just relax. Too bad that it just happened to be the week before palm Sunday which means Passion Practice. Our parish does a dramatization of the Palm Sunday passion which I have been a part of for a few years now. I have had a few different parts through the years but have portrayed Mary Magdala for the past few. I love being a part of this wonderful experience but today just wasn't a good day. Practice only takes a couple hours which would leave me the rest of the day except that our Parish's mission also started yesterday. Mike video tapes the parish's missions and other events so after Passion practice we ordered some tacos from Taco Bell, ate and got ready to go back. At the end of Monday's mission, all were invited to gather for orderves and fellowship. Our Diocese bishop was also in attendance for the first time since he has been assigned to our area. Mike asked if I would like to stick around , to which I declined. I really just needed some quiet time, Just my family and I to relax. The calendar is full this week and next week is Holy week so there will probably not be much quiet time for awhile . I guess that sometimes that is just how it goes. For now I will just have to take a minute here and a minute there . Please understand if I do not post for a few days or then again being the "backwards" person I am I just may post more.

Yes father I agree !

As The family and I left the house to go to calling hours at the funeral home, it had started to snow. By the time we arrived ( thirty minutes from the house) snow was pouring from the sky. Two hours later as we left to get a bite to eat before the next set of calling hours, the roads were down right dangerous. Four hours and many inches of snow later, As Father Dan entered the funeral home an hour before the prayer vigil was scheduled to start.

" Due to the weather we will be starting early.Marie sure picked a good day to go to heaven didn't she !"

What I accomplished today

*Got up at five AM to get Mike off to work and the kids off to school.

* Called Aunt Donna to get the name of the floral shop that is offering our family fabulous deals.

*Called to reschedule Veterinarian appointments for dogs.

* Called Mom to see if she needed anything.

*Left house for flower shop

* Concluded floral business picking up a couple news papers on my way out

* Took a paper to Mom.

* Visited with Mom , Dad and Brother Jim for awhile.

* Came back home to return phone calls.

* Leave again to find a decent dressy outfit.

*Picked up boys and went to get dress shoes .

*Came home pulled some hot sausage out of the freezer and cooked dinner.

*Got boys ready for karate

*Picked up Mike's suite from store

( Thank you Men's Warehouse for fitting in the extensive alterations that were done in only a few hours.I am so happy that you could accommodate us, I wouldn't even mention your outrageous prices and many attempts to up sell us more that we didn't need ( BTW, Yes we did respect my Grandmother, however Mike wearing a $60 shirt with cuff links( I don't have a clue what they cost ) is not necessarily the ways that we choose to show respect )

* Now I will fall into bed. Tomorrow looks even busier !

It is with a heavy heart that I anounce the passing of my Dear Grandmother.

May the soul of (Helen) Marie Feezle
and the souls of all of the faithfully departed
rest in peace
Amen

Helen Marie McTague - Feezle

March 21, 1917 - March 5, 2008

Mother of eleven

Grandmother of twenty seven ( plus more by marriage)

Great Grandmother of forty eight ( plus some on the way and more by marriage)

Great Great grandmother to six ( I believe)

You will be sadly missed !

Financial aid

Remember all of the financial aid forms that we needed to fill for college out back in the 80's ?

Multiply that by ninety percent and you have today's requirements.

The up side ( or down side depending on how you look at it ) is that it is all done online now !

Please pray for us as we try to navigate through for Cindy.

And the silver goes to.....

Cynthia Parkhurst !
Cindy attended the Skills USA local competitions today at Stark technical college in Canton ,Ohio. She competed against many Emergency Medical technicians, and a couple other Vocational school students in the field of First Aid. First and third place went to two of the EMTs but Cindy captured second.
Congratulations also goes out to Cindy's friend, Shawna who took first place in Nurse's aid skills.
Cindy and Shawna have both advanced to the regional competition which will be held in Columbus this April. Congratulations both of you and good luck in Columbus.

Cindy in her Skills USA red blazer with her award pin