Busy Times

The man that we are renting/buying the house from and that has hired David to work a second job has graciously paid for him to attend truck driving school.  So he is now taking classes at a community college.  He goes to that school from 7 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. and then straight to work from 2:00 until 12:30 a.m.  This will last for 10 weeks until he is done with the school.  AND in the midst of all this he is finishing his last class for his degree.

I am packing and running constantly from one practice, lesson, or appointment.  The weather has been really nice but very warm.  It is making me wonder what the winter will be like.  Farmer's Almanac says a very hard and snowy winter.  Great!  Just what I was hoping for....NOT! 

The oldest princess is on her way to a homecoming weekend in Virginia.  I went dress shopping with her and had a blast!  She is going to look beautiful!  I can't wait to see pictures of her in her formal gown.  We had a birthday for Joe....number 9!  Everyone else is busy with school activities.  I actually look forward to the hard winter.  Then no one can expect me to bring my children to anything.  I have an excuse to just sit at home!!!  :-)

We will be moving into the new house the 18th.  Everyone is very excited.  I can't wait to post pictures of the inside.  Now back to packing!!!

Packing It Up

The fun part of moving.....packing.  I feel like I should be on that TV show "Hoarders".  How did this stuff get in my house????  I am giving things away, throwing things away, doing whatever I have to in order for it to disappear!  We are down to 2 weeks and I can hardly wait! 

We have a new member of the family.  Genevieve is 8 weeks old and came into our family today.  We wanted to get a puppy for the kids since we are moving to a house that will be safer for a dog.  This house was too close to the road and Vidalia got a little too close to the garbage truck.  Genevieve is a Great Pryness/Lab mix and is the sweetest most gentle puppy I have ever seen.  She played outside with the children all day and I think is making herself at home.

The weather has turned frosty and very cool.  Fall is officially here with leaves turning gold and red and apples ripe on the tree.  We gave the chicken flock to the sisters and will start over once we get settled in the new house.  T-Bone will be heading to the butcher Tuesday.  We will have some tasty T-bones on the table in our new house.  Brisket needs to be fattened up a little more so he is moving with us.  The ducks will be looking for a new home or they will end up in the freezer. 

Autumn will see many changes for our family.  The next few weeks will be busy but exciting!!!

Children Updates

Homecoming

Homecoming was last weekend.  We had told the Sophomore that she could not go until next year but then Dad changed his mind under certain conditions.  He would bring her and he would chaperon the dance.  Worked great!  Finding a modest appropriate dress was another thing!  But after a weekend of shopping we put together a beautiful dress!  The priests said she was the prettiest and most modest one there!  She is also very busy rehearsing for the school play "Footloose".  The play is at the end of October.

                                          

This was my view most of our shopping day.  I thought this picture was soooooo cute and said so much!  I have no idea why she picked these socks to wear!  We had a nice day of shopping although it almost wore me out.  The little sister went with us and we made it a fun "girls day". 

The baby sister is now in ballet.  Grace is NOT her middle name!!!!  But she is so sweet.  She has the ballerina build.  Now she just needs to work on a few skills.

Ballerina baby sister

I think I am getting hooked on photos of feet...hmmmm.

The little sister, MC, is playing volleyball for the recreational team.  She is having a great time.  She is a great server but we are having a hard time getting her to get under the ball and hit it back over the net.  She is timid, scared of the ball, and needs to work on aggression on the court.  She is having fun though.  She also was elected to the Student Council at school and has the office of secretary.  And she has joined Girl Scouts.  She is keeping me REALLY busy.





That's her, in the front....brown tennys.

The boys are playing soccer every Sunday afternoon.  Joseph has turned out to be an amazing athlete.  He has scored every game and people are always asking us how long he has been playing.  Jerome likes to see how fast his cleats make him run.  He scored the last game although it was for the other team!  But, hey....he is smiling and having a great time!





Ooops, not smiling here.

                                   

The Star...always smiling.

Our little Scottish boy got off to school safe and sound.  He didn't do too much damage to his life over the summer.  He enjoyed a junior class trip to Scotland and Ireland.  He is proud of his souvenir!  He is now a senior!!!!  He is busy playing soccer and hopefully throwing a little school in the mix.  

The two oldest are busy with their lives.  My oldest princess is working as a CNA at Madonna Hospital!  And my oldest blessing is busy being a husband and father....at least I hope he is! 

Dave is one class away from graduating!  I am busy packing to move.  I am also staying busy reading and studying what autism resources are available to us.  I post those updates on Joseph's blog if you are interested. 



Change of Venue

A change is never easy but sometimes it is for the best and only good can come from it.  That is the change we find ourselves in as we change venues for the daily struggle of life.  Terra Benedicta is moving to another and better piece of land with a much bigger house.  These changes were forced on us by our mortgage company, Citimortgage.  When the pay cut was made a year and half ago we took a reduced monthly payment.  But the mortgage company filed with the government as if it was a default loan, got a bunch of bail out money, and then turned and foreclosed on the property.  The comforting thing is that we are not alone and it has been done to many people and by a few different BIG banks.  The horrible part is that it has been done to so many people and nothing is done to these companies.  BEWARE!  I have no fears in saying we are a borderline communistic country.  If you have any interest in reading the sad stories regarding just Citimortgage (and this is just a 10th of the stories) go to http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Citi+Mortgage?&mes=comment 

On a happier note, the house is on 100s of acres of land with no neighbors as far as the eye can see.  It is so much bigger than what we have now.   It has a big barn, a front and back porch, and is far off the road which will be better for the kids and the dust.  The owners will also do a lease purchase with us!  It was a total work of God the way the whole thing happened.  The location will make life more simple as it is between the two schools and yet closer to the city.  I can not wait to get into it!!!!!  Packing is taking place at the moment. 

Front view of the new house

We will keep the title of Terra Benedicta with us no matter where we go as it describes more our family's story then it does an actual place.  Updates will be made more often to the blog.  Over the next few days I have a lot to catch up on, lots of pictures to share, and many funny stories to share.  We have been very busy with our little autistic one not to mention the running, running, running between volleyball, soccer, play rehearsals, homecoming, etc.  Please keep praying for us!!!!  We are coasting on the wind of your prayers and only staying airborne by the grace of God!!!  Thank you Jesus for Your unending love.  And to the Holy Queen for her constant prayers and love.

The back view of the new house

Barn at new house

Summer Days

Here we are...June!  We put the pool up and the kids are shivering and turning purple but they are celebrating summer!  It's been a busy few weeks around here with ordinations and a few rounds of company.  But I think we are going to be settling into our typical summer schedule starting next week.  We were able to squeeze one warm and sunny day in at the lake.  Here are the kiddos doing the traditional burial in the sand. 

Bernadette and Jerome

We have a new addition to the farm.  His name is Brisket.  We bought this four day old beauty with another family for beef....hence the name Brisket!  So T-Bone and Brisket are getting to know one another.  I think it will be nice for them to have one another.  T-Bone was getting lonely in the pasture by himself. 

We also hatched our first duck eggs.  Momma duck, Genevieve, hatched 14 of them but we are now down to 6.  We could not figure out what was killing them until today.  The villain....daddy duck! 

Jeffrey is in Scotland and will be home a week from today.  I can't wait to have him home.  Mattie is enjoying her month off and then she will be starting her detasseling job with Jeffrey.  The other kids are just doing what kids do during the summer months.  And I will leave that to you! 

T-Bone

Dave and T-Bone, best buddies

Life is good on Terra.  God has bless us with so much.  The greatest thing about living here are the wonderful friends that come enjoy our acreage with us.  Yep....life is good!

Birthdays

I can't believe it!  I'm a grandmother!!!!!  Natalie was born Friday, the 7th, weighing in at 7 pounds and 10 ounces.  She is simply beautiful!  Mom is doing well and Dad is very proud.  They are a beautiful little family.  I pray that God blesses their life together!

It was Bernadette's birthday on Mothers Day.  I can't think of a better thing for me to celebrate on that day than one of my children's birthdays....the very thing that made me a mother!  I can't believe she is 7 already!

 

Mothers Day was wonderful.  We had a great cook out with a wonderful family!  The men did the burgers and the girls did the other foods.  It was a perfect day kicked back visiting with a friend and being served.  Now I have to get back to reality tomorrow.  I have a test Tuesday to make sure that everything is healed from the surgery last year.  Prayers greatly appreciated!!!!

May Days

It's simply amazing at how fast time passes.  I can not believe it's been two weeks since I last posted.  It has been a busy few weeks.  The weather is still going back and forth between early cool spring and a warm sunny spring.  If we see warm temps it's usually for one day and with 50 MPH winds.  Then it's back to cloudy cool days.  I've mowed the yard two times and was cold on both days.  But it's still fun to know that warmer days are just around the corner.

T-Bone enjoying the green grass!

Terra is beautiful this time of year!!!

The calf is happy now that he is turned out in the pasture with lots of fresh green grass.  He kept getting out and going onto the neighbors land and then would just casually walk back into the front yard.  We discovered where he was getting out.  So far so good.

The children come home everyday from school and let me know how many (or few) days they have left until school is out.  I have tons of activities planned for the summer to keep everyone busy.  They are finishing up swimming lessons.  I am amazed at Bernadette.  She is my little fish.  And Jerome is right behind her.

Bern after swim lessons

Right now I spend my days cleaning and then playing with Jerome.  He is very well known at the YMCA.  They like to see what he is going to wear each day.  He goes back and forth in between cowboy, football player, rugby player, or just ole Jerome.  You never know what you are going to get. 

As a cowboy

As a COOL cowboy.  This is at the Y after one of his play days.

On the other days that I don't go work out and if it is sunny and warm we sit outside together reading books or working in the yard.  I am trying to enjoy each moment I have left with him before he starts school next year.  I am happy for him so that he can have friends and learn and play but I am sad that he will be gone.  We have good times together.  I feel more like a grandmother with him sometimes.

David and I are preparing for a busy month ahead.  We had company from Arkansas last weekend.  In the coming weeks we will have several people staying with us or just visiting during ordination weekend.  That is always the highlight of our year!!!  And the week after that we will host the seminarian party.  We continue to dodge bad weather and pray that it stays far away.  May is the busiest month for tornadoes in Nebraska
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Mothers Day and Bernadette's birthday share the same date this year so we will have a big celebration.  We will be sharing that day with another family.  Should be a fun day. 

Warm Days

Just realized that I forgot to post the "Easter" posting.  So these will run back to back.

It is amazing what a few weeks does to the landscape in Nebraska.  The hills are green, the trees are budding, the tulips are beautiful, the fruit trees are blossoming, and the days are WARM!  Jerome and I had a day at the lake beach.  We tried again yesterday but the wind was totally insane.  So we came home and played "beach" in the backyard.  I called it our "non beach day"!  The picture below is him actually holding my chair trying to keep it from blowing away.  Even the beach in the backyard was windy!  As in hurricane windy!!!!

I got to witness an amazing sight at the lake these past two weeks.  The pelicans are here!  I've discovered bird watching.  I never realized the different birds that would stop in Nebraska on their way north or south, depending on the season.  The pelicans are huge and amazing to watch fly.  It was strange to see because we did not know that you would ever see them here.  Apparently they breed in South Dakota somewhere and stop here for a few weeks. 

The children are getting anxious for school to end and summer to begin.  I can not say I share their enthusiasm but I am planning a very busy summer so that it will go by quickly.  :-)  I need to stay busy with Joseph as boredom can bring on unpleasant behavior.  So we will spend a big chunk of our summer at the pool, at the lake, the zoo and library and anything else we can find to do.

School Days

Terra is blooming like you would not believe.  It gets me excited for the summer but scares me too.  This early in April seems a little too soon for these temps.  I fear a heavy frost and losing all the fruit on the trees.  But it is exciting regardless.

Jeffrey and Jerome skipping rocks at the lake.

Jeffrey preparing for the hills of Ireland!

Easter

What a wonderful Easter!  The weather was so nice.  It was the first spring like pretty Easter we have had since moving here to Nebraska.  We had a difficult Triduum as it was the first one we have not attended as a family.  We have discovered that things are just too difficult with Joseph so we opted to only attend Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  The older kids did the whole Triduum.  Jeffrey served MC for Good Friday and Easter Vigil. 

We had a quiet family dinner (as quiet as it can be here at our house) on Sunday afternoon.  It's been so nice to visit with the older children and some of their friends. 

Justin and Lynlee got off to PA.  Their trip was uneventful, Deo gratias.  He started his new job Monday, the 5th.

Jeffrey will be here until Saturday and we are enjoying every moment we get with him.  He is not giving us very much between the text messaging of friends and hanging out with a few others.  I get to spend quality time with him at the Y as we sweat riding the exercise bikes.  Nice!  What more can a mom ask for???  :-)

Skipping rocks at the lake.

We had another visitor during Easter.  It was very nice to see him again and share some great conversation.  Looking forward to doing it again during ordination weekend, God willing.

See Joseph's blog for updated news on him.  The other children are just trying to get the candy out of their system and get back to "normal"....whatever that is.  Would someone remind me next year to put bubbles, fruit and nuts, and maybe some granola bars in their Easter basket?????  PLEASE!

Dave continues to slave for us.  I will not be able to call him Big Dave much longer.  He is melting before my eyes.  Way to go, Dave!!!!!  I'm so proud of you!

So here we are in April.  And true to it's title we have had shower after shower after shower.  Everything is turning so green.  It happens literally overnight.  It never ceases to amaze me.  We are talking about doing a small garden this year.  A SMALL one.  The summers here are just to unpredictable.  I would honestly rather spend my money and time going to the Haymarket on Saturday mornings and shopping at the farmer's market.  Seems much less of a hassle to me. 

The calf is getting bigger.  The chickens are laying again.  The ducks are as cute as ever....and giving us lots of eggs.  I am not sure I'm even doing the layers this year.  The feed has gone up so much that I feel too bad charging people enough money for me to cover my expenses and profit anything.  I think I would have to charge $10 a bird which, organically speaking, is not alot but I don't know if people are serious enough about it for me to spend my summer dealing with it.  Besides, with all the therapies we will have in dealing with Joseph I really don't have the time to deal with much more.

Pictures coming soon.  Spring is awesome at Terra!  Can't wait for the next wave of company at the end of April.  It should be beautiful by then!!!  God bless and happy blessed Easter!

Holy Week

Here we are.  Holy Week again.  It seems the time went so quickly.  And it appears to really be spring!  Such beautiful weather this week....in the upper 70s!!!! 

We celebrating MC's birthday due to her's being during Lent and this year during Holy Week.  She turns 10 on the 31st!

Happy birthday dear Mary.....

And her wish came true...an MP3 player!

We also attended a baby shower for Lynlee and little Natalie.  I hope that she DOES have a girl or my grandson will be dressed in pink for a LONG time!  There were lots of awesome gifts.  Lynlee's favorite one was the LSU diaper cover that NeeNee sent.  Ok...maybe that is wishful thinking on my part but she looks happy, doesn't she????

First Days of Spring

The first days of spring are not giving one the feeling of spring.  Instead it feels like fall.  We had a snowfall Friday gathering 1-3 inches.  It is melted now but still chilly.  However, the sun is out in full force without a cloud in the sky.  So with the fire blazing indoors it feels like fall.  I liked the picture above as you really "feel" the idea of spring by the fact that the wood pile is down to almost nothing now.   The picture of the crab apple blossoms are from last spring.  It gives me something to look forward to.

We had parent teacher conferences last week.  Good reports on everyone.  We have straight A and honor roll students.  The thing that is most pleasing is how well they are liked by the teachers.  Jeffrey had his first rugby game today and we are waiting for his phone call to report his results.  Mattie had her honor choir concert yesterday at Boys Town.  It was VERY impressive.  Bishop Neumann was recognized for their overall GPA. 

We took the kids to see Alice in Wonderland last weekend.  It was okay but I was not that impressed.  Joseph had a hard time sitting for the whole thing.  And Jerome just wanted to know where they got that "big TV".

Speaking of Jerome, he asked me the other day if dad really got a head injury when he was playing football.  I said yes, referring to a concussion.  He asked "so....is that why he's crazy????"  I laughed and asked him if he thought dad was crazy and he said, "yes!!!  when he gets mad he is REAL crazy!"  Out of the mouth of babes.

The eagles are down at the lake.  I mean the birds....not the band!  I'm heading down there today....or tomorrow....or the next day....hoping for pictures.  We had to get rid of the dog.  She would not stay on the property no matter what we did.  The neighbors were always complaining.  Then she was shedding all over the house and there are a few that live here who have allergies.  Also got rid of my fish tank and fish.  Life is just a little more simple....NICE!

Happy spring!