Father's Day at our house.

Robert, the father in question, has already posted about his day here.  (Be sure to check out the BCC meter while your there.) However, out of 3 kids, one of whom got a car just a month ago, Robert only got ONE homemade card (he doesn't like store bought ones) and it wasn't from the car recipient.  So, Andrew needs to get punched in the face.  Ben, who made me miss Mass, because he turned into Satan halfway through, said, "I'm not making a card...I hate to make cards." (Can you feel the love??) Therefore he, too, must get punched in the face. But, and this is a big BUT, at the very least, the girlie pulled through with an adorable homemade card brimming with love and devotion to her Dad. I, the wife, made a giant banner that surrounded the kitchen that said, "Happy Father's Day." What can I say...two of my kids suck!

I guess there is hope at recouping some semblance of love for their dad when we have a family carpet picnic and watch Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy tonite. 

(NOTE:  I, unlike many women, am not big on "Days" .  After my mom died almost 8 years ago, Mother's Day lost it's meaning. I'm not big on birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines.  I see them as important but it's that I just hate the big deal that is made over them.  Robert, on the other hand, loves making a big deal out of things. Oy Vay! (I LOVE CHRISTMAS though!)  I just can't handle events. I just want to hang out and enjoy the day. I pretty much loathe planning parties etc...so I don't. My poor daughter; what is she going to do when she gets married?  Maybe she will be my polar opposite and love planning stuff.  See, I am totally spontaneous. I will call people in the afternoon and say, "Why don't you come over, bring the kids, and we will grill out and watch a movie."   I think being an event planner might be the most frightening job I could ever think of doing.)

~Peace, 

From the wife who is more like a husband when it comes to stuff like this....  

Beautiful Day

Okay, so today is AWESOME! I love Fall (obviously, my daughter's name is Autumn), but, man, when it kicks in there is nothing better. Atlanta is a pretty city, as are it's suburbs, one in which I happen to reside. There are so many trees and garden-y type things here. It is so lush with foliage. So, seeing a few trees with tips of red or gold just gives me tingles. Then there is the weather. The kind that had me just cuddling my hubby this morning with no real urge to leave bed. (And yes, it was G rated cuddling...the door was open and the kids were going in and out...so, alas, just G rated cuddling.) It was in the high 50's when we woke up and, now at 3:45pm is about 74. It is clear, sunny, breezy and wonderful. Thank you God for Autumn!!!

After cuddle time I took Ben and Autumn to the park to play tennis. They are so into it now. At least, if my dad isn't going to be an active grampa and only show up every 4 years (like last week) he did have a great time with the kids and introduced them to a sport they seem to really love. Funny, if Dad could have been more unschoolish with me, maybe I wouldn't have grown up hating tennis. I don't hate it anymore. But, because Dad had Chrissy Evert aspirations for me, which I did NOT have for myself, I spent more time throwing rackets at him over the net, than figuring out if I really liked the game. It's the same ole' story of being introduced to something in a "see if you like this because I love it sort of way" or "because I love this I am going to make you like it by forcing you to get involved". The latter always turns people off. Ever notice that?

So I just watched a really good movie titled "Catch and Release" with Jennifer Garner and Kevin Smith. Robert watched it with me. It was a great little ensemble piece involving love, loss and finding out who people really are. Of course, it took 3 hours to watch a film that was barely 2 hours long. It seems Ben and Autumn can't be without Robert or me for much time at all. Sweet, but annoying. They had me all to themselves for 2 hours playing tennis earlier. Give mama a break, please!!

Well, I am sitting here at my pc as the breeze blows across my arms. So, I think God is trying to lure me back outside. Maybe it's time for a late afternoon coffee on the deck as I watch the kids scream and chase each other around the house.

Can't finish what I start

Okay, so a TON of stuff has happened since I posted last. All very "blog worthy" things, but I can never seem to find the time to write anything down. Geesh!

April: We adopt a rescued Samoyed who we named Ghost. Ghost turns out to be a Ghost when 3 weeks after owning him we have to return him to the rescue place because he doesn't want to get along with the cats. Meanwhile, said Cats are scared sh*tless and we never saw them for the three weeks Ghost was here. There is a happy ending...Ghost got adopted by a law student and is apparently very happy now. He was an awesome dog! We really did love him. But Milo, Toonces and Ginger were here first.

May: We decide that we really are a "cat house" after all and that if we are going to add another pet, it should be a kitten. Since the others were rescued as older kittens/cats, we figured a baby cat would be a great choice. God worked that out by having me visit Jennifer while her pest control guy was there and his cat had just had kittens. Thus, Ninja, at 8 weeks, (cat #4) had entered our lives. After a couple of weeks he was quite accepted and played with by the boy kitties, but Ginger is still very "talk to the tail" about it all.

June: This month brought the joys of our faith and the sorrows of life right into my house. First, I taught CCD for the week at church. Andrew helped coz Claire was helping. They did a great job. This was the first year teaching that I didn't have Ben or Autumn in my class. Come to think of it, I have never had Autumn. So, it was really nice just being with my co-teacher, Bird, and 10 really great 4th graders. We had such a good time and I think they learned the most important things. At the end of the week we did skits based on the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. It was great!

Then we had a fabulous time with good friends over that weekend. The the sad news that my Grammy had passed away. What broke my heart the most was that she was alone when she died and Dad was supposed to be there. Hmmm, Dad, there's a person worthy of his own post.

Grammy was the grandmother I was closest to. She always loved me because I was the "girl" she had been waiting for all her life (since Dad is an only child). I spent alot of time with her over my life and loved her very much. Even though things between dad and I are strained I owed it to Gram to be there when she was laid to rest. Now she can be with Poppy and Mom. May God rest her soul.

So, I made plans to drive to St. Augustine to attend her burial. Low and Behold the Lord sends a helper in my friend, Patricia. She offered to come with me and what a blessing she was to have on the trip. The drive went fast. We even prayed the Rosary before we got to the gravesite. That definitelt put me in a peaceful place.

After the burial, and spending maybe 15 minutes with a Dad I have not seen in 4 years...we left the cemetary. We took a mini-pilgrimage to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. It was so beautiful. I would like to go back and spend more time just studying the paintings on the ceilings, windows, altar. It was a very inspiring place. We went and prayed in the Adoration chapel which was really nice. Then we headed back to the car and saw a sign for a tiny Greek Orthodox chapel and toured it. It was really small and very cavelike. The murals and icons were really prettty.

We drove home and listened to How to Know God's Will for Your Life by Rosalind Moss. I really liked it and highly recommend it.

Father's Day was really wonderful. We had a nice peaceful day. Well, ti was peaceful after our morning with Ben, who darn near exploded in Mass, but we sat near Sara and I whispered to her to "Pray hard for Ben" and I called in the Holy Spirit and all 3 Arch Angels. Well, it worked because he was seething and by 2/3 the way in to the Mass he has calmed down and was actually happy. Praise God!

Robert loves a big deal made for Birthdays and Father's Day so I made him a fabulous dinner that took all afternoon to cook. Roasted herbed Leg of Lamb (I hate lamb, but he loves it, and this was for him), Haricot Verts, Roasted garlic potatoes, homemade butter rolls (they rocked!) and Chocolate souffle with Creme Anglaise. Yum! He was very happy and I am glad, coz he's a fabulous Dad!

Now, all the kids are happily preoccupied and Iam going to steal away to read HP4 . I just love Harry!

Rach