new beds

We are officially moved in. Here are the boys in their new quarters...

ish wish dish

Who am I?
My name is Ish.
On my hand I have a dish.

I have this dish
to help me wish.

When I wish to make a wish
I wave my hand with a big swish swish.
Then I say, "I wish for fish!"
And I get fish right on my dish.

So...
if you wish to wish a wish,
you may swish for fish
with my Ish wish dish.

-Dr. Seuss
One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

similes

quiet like a mouse
swinging like a monkey
jumping like a wabbit
swimming like a whale

smurf

more good news

We closed on our house today!!!

good news

We went to the hospital Saturday. The girl's are so supported and encouraged by the outpouring of prayers on their behalf-there have been many miracles already. Andrea has been released from the hospital already and it looks like Kristin will be soon as well. Ashley is still in the ICU and sedated, but has been responsive, opening one eye (the other is swollen shut) and wiggling her toes. Here is a link to her Caring Bridge page for further updates from her family and fiance, Brad.

Some people have asked about making donations, there is a fund set up at Union Bank, cash donations can be made at any branch. An on-line gift can be made via the Newman Center website-a special fund has been created, if it does not appear choose other and include a comment to direct the funds.

Thank you once more for your kind thoughts and prayers!

manger

Jude's cousin Amy invited us to their church's living Nativity scene. Joseph loves reading "two bible stories" before bed and recognized the soldiers, shepherds, Jesus, Mary and Joseph. He was looking for an angel too. His favorite animal was the camel.

ho ho

"Ho Ho" is Joseph's name for Santa, and our doctor, who also has a white beard. Although he wouldn't tell Santa, every time we ask what he wants for Christmas, Joseph replies, "Pumpkins and gourds!"

Leo looks a bit like Santa himself :)

The boys

I did not have as much luck...Joseph was done sitting still!

crab

Jude's Pla-Doh crab creation had a nuclear reactor tinge from Joseph's fingerprints on the lens.

It was quite a sculptural masterpiece though!

update

Thank you all for your outpouring of prayers! I just got off the phone with an update from Jude. Their car collided with a semi. Ashley and Kristin are the two that were life-flighted. Brigid, Andrea and Tonya were taken by ambulance to UNMC. Four of the women have been stabilized but Ashley is in critical condition and is undergoing surgery right now. I will keep you posted.
Our Lady of Guadalupe...Pray for us!

urgent prayer request

Jude just called and said a car full of female FOCUS campus missionaries was in a bad accident on the way to their staff day of reflection. I don't know a lot of details but two of them were life flighted to Omaha. Fr. Matya administered the sacraments. Any and all prayers are greatly appreciated!

chunk-a-lunk

Leo had his four month appointment today. He has flip-flopped percentages since his last visit and is now weighing in at 17.16 lbs. (90%) and stretching out to 27 1/2" (97%)! He is a healthy, happy kid, full of smiles :)

Joseph is at my parents today and it fun to have Leo all to myself. I just put him down for a nap, cuddling his cuteness and just staring, trying to burn the moment into my memory. His warmth, the smell of milk on his breath, his triple chins! Usually this time is interrupted by me shooing and shushing Joseph or unappreciated in the utter exhaustion of the end of the day.

It is hard to believe that just twelve months ago we just learned of his existence, via the positive pregnancy test on the eve of Mary's feast day.

Mother of all mothers, pray for us!

finale

This evening was our last Godteen meeting in this house, so we took photos to commemorate.

Erica and Jamie

Leo

Joseph (shirtless because BBQ wings were the snack)

A MESS!

notre dame de lourdes

As we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception today, I want to share with you this link to shrine in Lourdes, France where Mary revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception to St. Bernadette. You can leave a prayer petition to be place at the grotto here or visit via webcam. My first year French students always watched The Song of Bernadette to learn about the full history of the apparitions and Bernadette's life, it is long but well worth the time!

on the road

This weekend brought us to Columbus for Jude's extended family Christmas celebration.

On the way back home we stopped at the farm near David City to check on the tractors and get some squirrel food!

The peace and quiet of the country!

st. nick

We were invited to a St. Nicholas Eve party with our soon to be neighbors! We really like our new house but are even more excited to be within walking distance of friends, to raise our kids in the midst of this great community. The moms and kids got together for pizza, a video and craft (the bishop's miters). Everyone found something special in there shoes too! Happy feast day to our godson Collin (the Scottish form of Nicholas)!

store

This evening, as I was on the corded phone with my sister-in-law, Joseph began to take out the contents of the refrigerator door. I was not surprised, he will get out lemon and lime juice to add to his water. But he kept getting things out and lining them up in a row. I asked he was doing. He said, "It's my store," as matter-of-factly as could be. I decided to see how much he would get out if left to his own devices...I needed to wipe down the shelves anyway. He got everything he could possibly reach...

...and smiled proudly for a photo of his accomplishment!

basketball

This evening Jude and I attended UNL's basketball game against Alabama State. The Husker's won (with the help of fourteen 3-pointers) 80-51! It was a fun game to watch. As we were making our way to our seats I apparently was standing right next to Tom Osborne (Jude told me later). I didn't even notice. What I did notice was that that many of the pep band songs were those I played in high school! :) Go band!

cor mariae

After concluding our study on St. Paul, our bible study decided it would be fitting to make a pilgrimage to the Schoenstatt Sister's shrine near Crete, Cor Mariae (Heart of Mary).

We were warmly welcomed, on a very cold and blustery night, to the shrine by Sister Maribel from Puerto Rico. She gave a presentation about the Schoenstatt movement and several beatified members. She challenged all of us to live so that we, along with our husbands and children, could be canonized saints one day. We had the opportunity to place our prayers before Mary, whose heart overflows with grace, and to venerate the relic of Saint Paul and Mother Cabrini! What a blessed way to begin our Advent preparations for the coming of Christ!

conjunction

This photo from flickr shows the triple conjunction of the moon, Venus and Jupiter that appeared this evening. I love that the shot is in the form of a smiley face :)

As we begin the new church year and our Advent preparations for the coming of Christ, an interesting tidbit of trivia from National Geographic:

"...some historians think that a similar conjunction between Jupiter and Venus in 2 B.C. may be the source of the "star of Bethlehem" story related in the Bible.

The stellar pair would have appeared so close together, scholars think, that they might have seemed to meld into one brilliant beacon of light."

May the star of faith guide us always!

more turkey

We headed to Wahoo today for more Thanksgiving festivities with Jude's parents and his sister Autumn home from college. We are looking forward to being with all of his siblings after Christmas!

Super Leo!

"I'm doin' dishes!"

Leo and Aunt Autumn

Leo and Grandma Mary

slumber party

all of 'em

...is one of Joseph's favorite expressions. Whether it is choosing cereal or the animals in his bed, he says this, with a circular wave of his hand for emphasis. Today when Jude put him down for his nap he rejected the dinosaur "too hard" (it has a plastic head and hands) and the chicken, "the chicken is loud!"

leftovers

We modified this white bean chili recipe from Paula Deen at the Food Network for use with turkey leftovers and slightly less zip:

• 1 pound dried navy beans
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 1-2 cloves pressed garlic
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 1 can of green chiles
  
• 1-2 cups turkey finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• Pinch red pepper flakes

Rinse beans well, cover with cool water, and soak for 2 hours. Drain. Place beans in large pot with chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat. In a saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and chiles and saute for 5 minutes. Add chile mixture to pot with beans. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, pepper, white pepper, and red pepper flakes. Lower heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Serve with cornbread, if desired (our favorite quick version is one box jiffy cornbread and one box jiffy yellow cake mix with the respective add ins. 375 for 15-20 minutes-yum!).

thanksgiving

Before breakfast we asked Joseph what he was thankful for.
"Jesus," came the sweet reply. Immediately followed by, "Now let's eat!"

big

As we were getting the boys ready for bed, I noticed that Joseph is becoming less of a toddler and more a little boy. I told him, "I can hardly believe how big you are getting!"
He replied "Believe it!" and ran off!

eccentricities

Some of the current idiosyncrasies of our resident two-year old:
-Wearing sunglasses indoors because it is "too sunny!"
-Incessant reading of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.
-Birthing baby animals from his puppets.
-Insisting on his "apple boots" even when there is no rain in the forecast.
-Identifying the characters in a book with family members. For example, among the sea creatures, Joseph is a shark, Leo a dolphin, Jude a sea turtle and I am a whale!
-Choosing "all of 'em" with a circular wave of the hand, particularly his breakfast cereals. Recently he even put rainbow goldfish crackers in his cereal bowl-I drew the line at milk!
-Wearing his paint shirt, one of Jude's old fraternity t-shirts, all day.
-Putting his animals on their backs for naps.
-Lining up everything.

flip

Leo flipped himself over from his tummy to his back today! He has been digging his heel in for awhile, but this was his first success. Hooray!

brunch

Jude and Joseph always make Sunday brunch.
Today we had blueberry pancakes!

froggy

Today Jude and Joseph were out running errands when Jude pointed out this logo:


and said, "Look Joseph, a frog!"
Joseph replied, "Froggy 998."
"What?!?!"
The logo was on the sign in front of Froggy 98's broadcast house!
"Froggy 998."
"How did you learn about Froggy 98?"
"Go there, eat hot dogs."

Papa strikes again!