This Month in Girls--The Baby is One!

In theory, I should be writing these posts once a month, but so far that has not happened. I thought that F's birthday would be a good reason to give a look at all three girls.

F, the Birthday Baby: 
- My father is visiting and he sung a song to my girls that his mom sang when his little brother was a baby, Beautiful brown eyes, Beautiful brown, I will never again love blue eyes, Beautiful brown eyes. Even though she is the third child with beautiful, long-lashed brown eyes, I am still enamored with them.

-She still insists on getting around by crawling, pulling herself up only when in the most desperate need of attention, especially on my legs while I am cooking dinner. Standing up against her will is a chore.

-She is working on saying words and things that sound like words: "Ma!", "Da-da.", "Oooooooh!", "Ah-yay-yooo-ya!", and then the high pitched shriek.

-She is happy to play near her sisters and delights in their attention. But mostly prefers to do her own thing near them.

-She is still needing the two naps, but if she misses the morning nap, makes it up in the afternoon. Also, night time sleep has been wonderful with one or two wake ups, and easy to resettle; that is when she has her own room.

-She will look at her "church book" fairly quietly for a 30 minute Mass.

-Her favorite foods are meats, cheese, and clementine oranges.

L, the Acrobat:
-She has a birthday coming up in three weeks. It is hard to believe she is almost three!

-Yesterday, I overheard her say to my father, "You are my favorite!" And then insisted on him sitting next to her at lunch.

-Even after a concussion last month, she can still be found climbing on the back of just about any furniture that she can get on. She can also be found jumping from piece of furniture to piece of furniture.

-She is one of the cutest kids that I know. There is something about her cheeks, eyelashes, and way of expressing herself that makes her pull this off. Even when she is crying her big tears, she is adorable.

-She is thrilled with the snow season's arrival, but also keeps on asking to go swimming outside?

-At Mass she tries to "ride" the back of the pews like a pony or wants to be cuddled. Her little child's missal is usually just held.

-If you ask her what her favorite foods are she will say: "Pancakes, macaroni and cheese, lasagna, and peanut butter jelly and a baseball bat!"

G, the Imagination:
-With my mom and dad visiting, she is getting all the attention she could possibly want, but she is forgetting how to be alone in quiet time.

-I did not realize until this week that most of the games she and L play are play acting everything. G will narrate events and act them out and L will follow. The day is one long elaborate story.

-She is very excited when she makes connections between things she has learned in catechism, reading, and other lessons and her lived life. 

-She is on Lesson 20 in her 100 reading lessons and is doing very well. I knew she had it in her!

-She is trying very hard to sit still and follow her missal at Mass. 

-Said that her favorite dinner was cupcakes, but really will eat anything. Further, I am a bit in awe of how carefully and skillfully she is able to use her fork and spoon after many years struggling to figure them out.

In the Nick of Time...

We woke up to this outside, and the kids are the only ones happy about another six months of Winter:

What is better? Snow in November or snow in April and May?

 But the new finished basement/lower level was also completed today! It was a long four months of waiting from the discovery of our leaky pipe and flooded basement until now. 

More pictures will come soon! I promise!

Dies Irae: The Feast of All Souls

Today is the Feast of All Souls. With M at a conference and my mom visiting, I went to an Extraordinary Form Missa Canta at St. Agnes this morning by myself. The music was Cristobal de Morales' Missa Pro Defunctis (Mass for the Dead).  It was beautiful and haunting in a way, but not as haunting as the Dies Irae chant:

The day of wrath, that day
Will dissolve the world in ashes
As foretold by David and the Sibyl!

How much tremor there will be,
when the Judge will come,
investigating everything strictly!

The trumpet, scattering a wondrous sound
through the sepulchres of the regions,
will summon all before the Throne.

Death and nature will marvel,
when the creature arises,
to respond to the Judge.

The written book will be brought forth,
in which all is contained,
from which the world shall be judged.

When therefore the Judge will sit,
whatever hides will appear:
nothing will remain unpunished.

What am I, miserable, then to say?
Which patron to ask,
when [even] the just may [only] hardly be sure?

King of tremendous majesty,
who freely savest those that have to be saved,
save me, Source of mercy.

Remember, merciful Jesus,
That I am the cause of Thy way:
Lest Thou lose me in that day.

Seeking me, Thou sat tired:
Thou redeemed [me] having suffered the Cross:
let not so much hardship be lost.

Just Judge of revenge,
give the gift of remission
before the day of reckoning.

I sigh, like the guilty one:
my face reddens in guilt:
Spare the supplicating one, God.

Thou who absolved Mary,
and heardest the Robber,
gavest hope to me, too.

My prayers are not worthy:
however, Thou, Good [Lord], do good,
lest I am burned up by eternal fire.

Grant me a place among the sheep,
and take me out from among the goats,
setting me on the right side.

Once the cursed have been rebuked,
sentenced to acrid flames:
Call Thou me with the blessed.

I meekly and humbly pray,
[my] heart is as crushed as the ashes:
perform the healing of mine end.

Tearful will be that day,
on which from the ash arises
the guilty man who is to be judged.
Spare him therefore, God.

Merciful Lord Jesus,
grant them rest. Amen. 

Our pastor, Fr. Moriarty, gave a very beautiful homily. He talked about how death is a mystery, and how we cannot really know where the dead are, whether they have been judged for eternal life or damnation. In fact, the Church does not ever say that specific people have been damned, but unless a person is a canonized Saint, then we should hope and pray for their soul. I always pray for the repose of the souls (when they leave purgatory and enter Heaven) my friends and relatives who have passed away, but especially on the Feast of All Souls. It also gives me hope for myself, when I pray stanzas that say: "Thou who absolved Mary, and heardest the Robber, gavest hope to me, too."

Eternal Rest give unto them, Oh Lord;

And let perpetual light shine upon them.
And may the souls of all the faithful departed,

through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.