It has been quite the holy week for the kids. The boy and his scout troop met with Fr. Joe on Monday. They are working on a Catholic merit badge. The boy is the one standing to the left of Fr. Joe in the top picture.

In even more exciting news, the girl and her friend G were chosen to interview the Bishop. They had their questions prepared beforehand. He was very kind and answered them all. The girls are writing an article, which I will post on the blog once it is published online for the school newspaper.

The girl is on the right side of the picture, next to the Bishop. The other Fr. is our church pastor.

A Member of the Polar Bear Club

Yesterday morning it was a balmy 34 degrees when the girl had a morning race event. We got to the pool at 8:00 and at 8:15 she was in the pool warming up for her three events. Since we live in California, the pools are outdoor. It was interesting seeing frost all over the bleachers, while there was steam coming from the pool. That didn't bother the girl, who was excited to be in the water. Since her events weren't until 10:30-11:30, she was out of the water, in the shade (the buildings were blocking the sun) sitting in her wet bathing suit waiting for her events. She didn't complain, she was just happy to be getting in the water. I had on two jackets, scarf, gloves and boots and I was still cold. The kids Aunt L, who came to cheer her on was also as bundled up as me. Of course, being adults we complained about how cold and wet it was.

The girl swam in the 50 breast stroke, 50 freestyle and 100 IM. Of course, none of her races were next to each other, so she was out of the pool, wet in between each one. She was happy as a clam. Evidently, children who swim don't feel the cold, as her friends were as wet and as happy as her.

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

It has been very wet with near continuous rain for the past week. All of us, especially the dog haven't been outside for a long time. Fortunately, we had a break in the weather with a day where we saw the sun. So hubby and the girl headed off for a hike in the nearby foothills, while the boy and I took the dog for a walk. The boy and I were walking for a few minutes when he turns to me and we have the following conversation: Boy-"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Me-"Probably not." Boy-"If you were a kid you would be thinking it would be fun to walk in the puddles" Me-"Your right, go for it". We both were wearing rain boots. Boy-"This is a lot of fun, you sure you don't want to do it?" Me-"I shouldn't, the dog would follow me in." Boy"Kids have a lot more fun than grown ups do." How true!

Meanwhile... When the girl and hubby had hiked to the top of the foothill and were looking down the valley they have the following conversation: Dad-"Wow, it sure looks pretty nice down there." the girl-"If you were a fancier person you would say it looks picturesque."

Here's to picturesque puddles!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas. The kids are all tucked into bed, awaiting the arrival of Santa and his reindeer. They put out cookies, milk and enough carrots for each reindeer.

May the joy and wonder of the season be with you.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday.  He is no longer with us, but I see him in his grand kids.  My kids get their love of music, especially the Beatles from him.  They also come by their sense of adventure through both of their Grandfathers, who passed it onto their parents and to them.

This is my favorite picture of my Dad as a kid.  He is the middle stair step.  

Here he is on his beloved motorcycle.

Thank you Dad for raising us to be independent and for teaching us it is important in life to take risks.

You are missed.

Saints Alive

The 2nd grade class puts on an annual Saints play.  The boy was St. Leonard.  Each child speaks a few lines about their Saint.

Here is the boy with some of his friends before the play started.  







If you look closely, you can see the boy as he is delivering his lines.  He is in the black hooded robe with the blue "V" neck.

I find it amusing that his Saint's costume is actually a space alien costume I bought him for Halloween next year.  How's that for getting my monies worth. We left the glowing green mask at home :).

This is the boy and his two best friends F and AJ. 

St. Nicholas Day

Today is St. Nicholas day.  It is celebrated at school the traditional way. The primary school kids take off one shoe and leave it in front of their class room first thing in the morning. St. Nicholas comes by and leaves a tangerine and candy cane in each shoe. 

To include some of the elder parishioner's in the fun, the kids in the boy's class made construction paper boots that they filled with candy canes and chocolate kisses.  They put them in the pews to surprise the morning mass parishioner's with. The kids were so excited about surprising the grown ups.