Mama-luia

It's been almost a year since my most recent "What's New" post. Anna wasn't even born back then! I'm giving it another go because it gives me a simple and fun format to report on each member of the family. (The reason I *keep* a blog is for that purpose, so it's worth doing. I love looking back at old posts and remembering what we were like a several years ago. {Did you know I have been blogging now for 5 1/2 years?! Good grief...!}) Anna My darling baby will be eight months old this week. Time has flown and flown! She is a baby full of smiles and laughter. Today the boys were taking turns making her giggle after her afternoon nap, and I felt my hurt feel very full with joy, indeed. She has a remarkably calm temperament. I am surprised how much she will happily sit in her exersaucer, exploring her little world. In a crown Noah made with the help of a babysitter She is also a tremendously cuddly baby. Her head nestles just so on my sho...

Something terrible took place this week, a tragedy so awful, I can hardly fathom it. A friend of mine, a priest, was murdered in his rectory on Wednesday night. "Kenny" as we called him, 2005 We went to university together ten years ago and he was a great friend to me back then.  He was an exceptionally pious young man, which made him almost child-like. It was impossible not to be endeared to him, because he was so kind, so joyful and completely without pretence. He was hard-working in his studies, deeply devoted to the Mass and his prayer life, and poured so much zeal into everything he did, even moving; dear Kenny seemed to live by the motto, "why walk when you can sprint?" From our yearbook, 2004 I enjoyed our conversations immensely. Because he was such a rare mix of reverent and yet light-hearted, it was easy to open up to him about anything. I suppose that is a mark of a good priest, being warm and disarming so that souls...

Happy belated birthday to Isaiah! Our little ray of sunshine turned three in May and we had the pleasure of celebrating the day with his grandparents and godparents in Nova Scotia. First off, cereal with his beloved Gooey. Gooey takes his cereal very seriously, and is happy to shower his grandchildren with it (figuratively, of course), because they lead dull lives, being forced to eat such mundane things as oatmeal, pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast. A birthday greeting from cousins back in Ontario His godparents provided the MOUTH-WATERING cake If you can believe it, it was made without gluten, dairy, cane sugar or soy. My dad, the hater of food-restricted diets, had a second slice that night and said "you would never know" that it was made with substitutions. He has a fierce love of dress-up so the fireman suit was a big hit As was the cowboy costume... He asked to wear his chaps over his jammies. Isaiah...