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.