Christmas In Connecticut

Heartbreaking...

This is a sign I see daily. It is there to greet me four days each week when I drop Nicholas off at pre-school and return to 2 hours and 45 minutes later pick him. The only sense of dread I have ever felt upon seeing it, is the news that maybe he had a bad day and had to go to time out. (only happened once) Anyway, on Friday it looked like this:

 

 

The scene of unfathomable tragedy.  Praise be to God, Nicholas was not there. His class doesn't meet on Fridays and he was with us at Mass watching Francis's class sing. All of his classmates and teachers were spared. Our older boys don't attend Sandy Hook, so they were safe as well. All of our neighbors also got out alive, although not without suffering incredible trauma.

 

We are about as far removed from the devastation as you could be in this town. But life is still hard. We have to decide what to do about Nicholas's schooling. We have to decide how may funerals our kids can stand to see. Seven kids from our Parish died. They will likely all be buried within the next 9 days and they will all take place at the church at the kid's school. Like parents all over this country our world has been shaken. We will never casually wish our kids a good day and drop them off at the school door again. But, we are the lucky ones. Our worries are nothing compared to what the people around us are dealing with.

 

We choose Newtown, in part, because we wanted to be part of a community. We wanted our kids to grow up seeing what it means to share your lives and experiences, serving the people around you. Little did we know the turn that would take, so early into our time here. Now we remember that as followers of Christ, we are called to patiently bear one another's burdens. We know that all of you have been praying for us and we pray we have the courage to come alongside our neighbors and help them to shoulder this terrible cross.

 

Update: Please pray specifically for the family of Olivia E. Her Mom and I taught one of the first grade classes at VBS together this summer and Olivia and Francis were in it together....

 

Well worth reading

Interestingly enough, Casey found this post written by one of his former law professors at Ave Maria. I think he makes some good points, although I can't promise I am not going to try a 'retreat from society to isolation" . Never before has homeschooling looked more tempting...

http://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2012/12/-the-evil-in-sandy-hook.html

Nicholas turns 4!

Our little Nicky is four! We weren't sure if he was quite ready for a party so we just spent the day doing things he likes. In the morning we went to Mass and then had pancakes with St Nicholas. In the afternoon Grandma and Grandpa came up for dinner and cake.  For his cake, he wanted  Mickey Mouse, his favorite character. He had  been admiring that airplane with Mickey in it for months, and was more excited about getting his hands on that then eating the cake. We had his favorite food, cheeseburgers, and he enjoyed playing with his new trampoline and toys.

He is getting to be such a big boy. He goes to preschool four days per week for a few hours each day, and although he got off to a rocky start he seems to be comfortable with it now. His speech is improving dramatically and he has becoming more conversational and social. He loves his brothers and has even found a friend in Maggie. (which was a long time coming...) His teachers always comment on what a "happy little guy" he is as you can see in some of these pictures.

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a great Thanksgiving.

Sarah cooked a fine turkey.

Sarah and Francis prepare mashed potatos.

I carved the roast beast.

 

Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Jim, Aunt Cathy, and Caitlin joined the feast.  God bless us, every one.

 

All Madden Team - Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving Nicky and Francis made our All Madden Team. 

Above is Nicky enjoying his turkey leg next to Grandma and Uncle Jim. 

Francis tears into his turkey leg.

Charmers

Pig Tails

Maggie and her pigtails:

Johnny Appleseed

Nicky's favorite Disney character is the rendering of the legendary Johnny Appleseed.  He carries around a Catholic Missal he calls his Bible with a pot on his head and eats apples daily while singing his favorite song.

 

Here is Nicky's favorite song:

Snow Kids

Jackson is 9!

After not getting a party two years in a row, Jackson was ready to plan something special to kickoff  his last year in single digits. In keeping with his love of baseball, we hosted all his classmates for a party at a local batting cage. Conveniently, his birthday coincided with election day, so he had the day off and we were able to have the party on his actual birthday. They started off with some throwing contests, followed by a home run derby, game of pickle and a wiffle ball game. Then they had pizza and cake and finished up in the batting cages. He had a great time.
 The only mishap was that there was no time to open his gifts, so we loaded them into the back of the van with the leftover cake, etc with the understanding that we would open them at home when I could write down who brought what for thanks yous. How far do you think we got before I started hearing paper tear and oohh and ahhs from the back? By the time we got home there was a huge pile of trash, a huge pile of gifts and cards scatter everywhere. Needless to say his thank you notes were rather vague....

I said, "Let me get a picture" and they all snap into these poses....

He's always been a baseball fan!

Spring and Fall Ball

Back in June 2012, Jackson was named the Most Valuable Player by the coaches of his little league team.  Francis enjoyed a great season of tee-ball.  Nicky loved the diamond dirt.  This fall, Jackson was traded north and he got to pitch his first innings where he threw his first strike out.