Easter Eggs

Last night, Anna, Mary, Elizabeth and I dyed some easter eggs. We were patient, and they turned out alright.

Change of Command Ceremony

Here are a few pictures from Andrew's change of command ceremony. It was very fun to have the family in town for the ceremony and the weekend.

Water!

Anthony has learned to turn on the hose. During winter I kept thinking that come summer my laundry mass should decrease since everyone will be in short sleeves and shorts. Wrong! How could I forget that my three boys will come in soaked and muddy at least once every day. But they have so much fun and it keeps them busy so I don't really mind.

Day at the Beach

Here are some pictures of Philip playing in the tide pool at Hilton Head Island. And of him sporting his new sunglasses, which he, of course, refused to wear when we got there.

Garage Sale Spoils

This past Saturday Elizabeth and I had our first spring/summer garage sale foray. I've never really garage sale hunted--let's say grunted--much before, but this time I did it in earnest. Having looked up sales the night before, we made it out the door by 7, together with Anna. And let me tell you, of all days to start grunting, this was the best. A massive 1100 acre property development--the "Live Oak Reserve"-was having their spring community garage sale, and there were between 50 and 100 individual sales.

There were many things we could've picked up for a pittance; but in keeping with our itinerant lifestyle, we stuck with the necessities. But we still pulled in a good haul. I got a mandoline, and a few electronic gadgets. Elizabeth got a sleek Shermag rocker (for 10 dollars sans a few screws). And baby-o got a boat load of clothes. All told, we spent a baker's half dozen of Lincolns; and I'm pretty happy with that.

Lent Reading

Hi Family

Do you have any good books to recommend?

On my (theoretical) Lenten reading list are:

A Little Way of Homeschooling by Suzie Andres

Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer by Thomas Dubay

Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week by Pope Benedict

Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament

The only ones I will likely finish before the end of Lent are Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer and A Little Way of Homeschooling. Jesus of Nazareth would be nice but it's pretty dense and might be difficult reading for me. And of course I won't be finishing the New Testament plus commentary before the end of Lent. That is just there so I can flip around and try to learn something once in a while.

I just finished Father Elijah by Michael O'Brien; it was hard to put it down and I finished it quickly.

The boys and I are reading the Book House books which are a combination of fairy tales, folk tales, and poetry from around the world. We have also been reading books about horses and birds since that is what the boys seem to be interested in lately.

Paul has taken a break from the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire to listen to Boys Should Be Boys by Dr. Meg Meeker. And that is good. We both recommend it!

Are you reading anything good?

I wish I could have.... a Honda Odyssey

Hi Everyone

It's been a while since I posted, and I feel like I should post something.

Anyway, I have just stumbled upon a depressing thought... I don't think I am ever going to get a Honda Odyssey :( (I have been dreaming of owning a Honda Odyssey ever since I became a mom!) The year after we moved to Virginia we purchased a 1999 Toyota Sienna from some acquaintances who were the original owners. We've had it for 4 years now and it has 102,000 miles and yes, that makes it 12 years old. Not a new car. But it runs great (too great I might add). And I take it to the car wash a couple of times a year and it comes out pretty clean and kind of new feeling. I don't see it breaking down anytime soon. IF I make it to 6 kids, I suspect it will be a wiser decision to buy a big clunky van instead of a slick Honda Odyssey. Of course many people would just go buy one, if they wanted it. "Why not?" they would say, "we can afford it." But you know, we were not raised that way. [This is not, of course to make any current Honda Odyssey owners feel bad - I know we all have our unique situations.] But if you have a car that works, why buy a new one? (I would really love to have a DVD player in my van, for those long trips to Florida.)

Dad, I really am grateful you raised us this way. I am glad I don't have a huge car payment every month when I don't need one. But sometimes I wonder if I just blow that money on something else. I don't really keep track so I don't know. (I should really keep track so I would know.)

Someday, I will need a new car (or van). Right now my nice Toyota Sienna has 102,000 miles on it. How much longer will it last? It has seven spaces. Right now we fill up 5. So we have two more kids to go before we need a new car. Will it break down next month? Well I guess that would be stressful, so I don't hope for that. So two more kids... and when the third one comes, then we will need a new car. How long will it take me to have 3 more kids? At least 5 more years I am guessing. Will the Sienna last 5 more years? By that time, I expect it will have close to 150,000. But alas, I think it will last.

So you see, I will probably never own a Honda Odyssey.

But I know I must be grateful. And I am grateful for the nice '99 Sienna we were able to get from friends of friends - that worked out really well and it's been a great car. And the shiny blue '04 Honda Civic we were able to buy new - that was really exciting and it's been a great car too. But I guess I can still dream...