Blessing

On Sunday, the boys and I attended the Bless the Baby Jesus service at the Cathedral. The Archbishop of Philadelphia was there, Cardinal Justin Rigali. The Cathedral is beautiful and the service was very nice. Each child brought the baby Jesus from their nativity set and Cardinal Rigali blessed them one by one. The kids loved it and afterward we were able to meet the Archbishop and receive a blessing. We took a picture, which came out horrible, but I will include here for the sake of Mama ReRe and my grandmother, who would both love to see us with the Archbishop no matter how bad the picture! By the way, the picture of Francis and I was taken by Jackson, who is becoming quite the photographer.

SNOW!!!

Here are the kids playing in this year's first snowfall. We only got about 2 inches and it was gone by the next day, which is just the way I like it! Not enough for sledding, but we did make some snow angels.

St. Nicholas

The other day (Dec. 6th) we celebrated the feast day of St. Nicholas. During Advent we try to keep the tone in our house one of joyful anticipation. This means we try to limit the parties, decorations, present etc. until Christmas Day, but St. Nicholas Day is an exception. In the spirit of St. Nicholas, the kid's day began with a small gift for each of them left by their shoes and it ended with a big dinner and chocolate cake. We even had the year's first snow to play in! What could be better? Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the day. St. Nicholas pray for us!

Sons of Liberty

For his birthday Jackson received Johnny Tremain and Davy Crockett DVDs. I wasn't sure he would understand the plot, but he was really excited about them so we sat down and watched Johnny Tremain. He became totally obsessed with it. After the second viewing he had it memorized and kept talking about "beating the Redcoats". One day I walked into their room and Jackson and Francis were throwing paper bags off the bunk beds. When I asked what they were doing Jackson said they were dumping tea into the harbor! Anyway, here is their Johnny Tremain inspired photo. BTW- For anyone concerned that is a toy musket.

Trip into the Old City

A few weeks ago we took the train into the city to attend a Ron Paul rally on
Independence Mall. It was freezing and miserable, but about 5,000 people came out. We had the opportunity to meet him before the rally and get a picture. Afterward, we took a horse and carriage tour of the city. The kids loved the horse and it sure beat walking! Here are some pictures:

L E A V E S !

It is definitely fall here, as you can see. The kids are enjoying the leaves, although it has been so rainy we haven't been able to go out much. Yesterday we had a little reprieve from the cold, wet weather so we ventured out to the park. Within 20 minutes Jackson slipped and knocked out another tooth! He is now missing three of his front four teeth, all casualties of playground falls. From now on he is wearing a mouthgaurd! He is doing fine and luckily with it being a baby tooth it is not that bad, but it did make for a traumatic morning....

The Birthday Boy!

4 years old! It is hard to believe. Jackson had a wonderful birthday. He started the day off by hoping out of bed and immediately asking if he was taller. Then he went downstairs where he was greeted by the pirate ship he had been wanting and he has been busy playing with it ever since. He had a party with his friends yesterday, pirate themed of course. Fun was had by all, although, encouraging a group of four year olds to act like pirates may have been poor planning on my part! Thank you all for the cards, gifts, and birthday wishes!