Williamsburg...

Last week we headed down to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA for what may have been the best vacation time the boys have ever had.
They are all old enough to really enjoy the park with little supervision, and so many of their friends were there, that it made for a really special trip.
Several of our Homeschooling families went at the same time, and it was the perfect combination.
Our friends the Watkins allowed us to "adopt" their two boys, Liam and Henry, and they are just wonderful kids. The Watkins and the Hoppel families were there, along with the Baldwins, the McCarty Gibsons, and the McClanahans.
I love all these families, and I also love the fact that the Great Wolf is a place that is safe and allows all the boys to just go do what boys do.
This is the third time that we have made the trip to a Lodge, and I am thinking we will do it again next year. Even the parents seemed to be having a great time!
We are so blest with so many good friends.

A few Hoppels...

Watkins love...

My guys!

Off they go!

John? and Liam

Happy Watkins going with the Flow

So much fun!

Tim and the boys climbing to the slides

 Here's Brendan and Paul on the Flowrider!

It's the Truth...

Some Lighthearted Thoughts...

I love Mark Steyn, because he makes even the most dreary and discouraging geopolitical forecasts downright enjoyable. His book "After America" is a look at the decline of our great nation, if we don't change direction and go back to the founding principles that we started with. I think he is brilliant, but I really hope he's wrong. If he's not, then we are in for...
well, I just hope he's on the wrong track.

Mark Steyn

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December 10, 2011 4:00 A.M.

Statist Delusions
The bill for cradle-to-grave welfare has come due.

The president of the United States came to Osawatomie, Kan., last week to deliver a speech of such fascinating awfulness archeologists of the future sifting through the rubble of our civilization will surely doubt whether it could really have been delivered by the chief executive of the global superpower in the year 2011.

“This isn’t about class warfare,” declared President Obama. Really? As his fellow Democrat Dale Bumpers testified at the Clinton impeachment trial, “When you hear somebody say, ‘This is not about sex,’ it’s about sex.” The president understands that “Wall Street,” “banks,” “fat cats,” etc. remain the most inviting target and he figures that he can ride the twin steeds of Resentment and Envy to reelection and four more years of even bigger Big Government. His opponents, he told us, “want to return to the same practices that got us into this mess . . . . And their philosophy is simple: We are better off when everybody is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules . . . . It doesn’t work. It has never worked.” He blamed our present fix on “this brand of ‘you’re on your own’ economics.”
Read the rest here...

Ave Maria...

Feast of The Immaculate Conception

 Immaculate Mary,
your praises we sing.
You reign now in Heaven
with Jesus our King.
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!
In Heaven the blessed
your glory proclaim;
On earth we your children
invoke your sweet name.
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!
We pray for our Mother,
the Church upon earth,
And bless, Holy Mary,
the land of our birth.
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!
We pray you, O Mother,
may God's will be done
We pray for His glory,
may his Kingdom come.
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!
Lourdes Hymn

It can't be a whole week since I posted! Where have the days gone?
Last weekend is a blur, as we were still sick, but able to go out and do things.
We went to Mass Saturday, because the boys had to serve, and we all made it through without coughing.
Sunday Tim took the boys out for the afternoon, while John hung out with his friend Kevin.
They all had a Squires meeting that night, and I had to catch up on Bible Study stuff.
We are all really excited about the upcoming Christmas break.
Monday night I went to a meeting with some of the other parents in our co-op, regarding the upcoming Shakespeare experience. The kids have chosen "King Lear", which presents some rather major challenges in the casting dept. There are not as many roles, there are only 3 female parts, and there are a LOT of kids that are hoping to be given large parts. Paula has some great ideas for dealing with these issues, and we are all working hard to help her.
We have a great team working on the play this year and I love that there is such an interest on the part of the kids.
John is preparing his monologue for the audition, and I think he will do well. He has made great progress since the first one, and he did well that time!
Yesterday we were home slogging away at school. We are trying to get as much done as possible before the break. I want to put the books away for three weeks knowing that we are on track for an end to school in May. It will be a challenge in some subjects, but I think we can do it.
The kids are almost halfway through their math books and that is the subject that I use to determine where we are. John is really working hard in Algebra. Can I just say that we are really not a math family?
John is my hero.
Tomorrow being the feast of the Immaculate Conception, when Mary was conceived without sin in her mother's womb, we are heading down to DC to attend the noon Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, my all time favorite church.
It will be awesome to celebrate with Our Lady, and make a special pilgrimage.
We are also going on a tour at the Franciscan Monastery nearby.
I'll be sure and update with pictures tomorrow night!

Just a Hopeful Thought

I am really hoping that we are just getting all the health issues out of the way before a new and extremely healthy New Year!
I will stop coughing before 2012.
Paul will  stop coughing before 2012.
Laura will be delivered from colitis.
Nina will be spared any more hives/ allergy problems.
I can do anything for a month.

St Pio...Pray for us!