One week awa-y He has not died.
Thus far Philip has not been known for his language skills, however he seems to be making great strides lately. He'll pretty much repeat whatever you ask him to. Last week he started saying his own name, which he had refused to do for a long time. He also now says Samuel and Thomas and Julia has progressed from Ju-ju to ju-a (often yelled). On Sunday, after Julia took a spill on the steps of the church, he told another parishioner about it. All he said was "Fall down!!" with great feeling but luckily the man he told is a grandfather of many and understood what he was saying. Yesterday I asked Philip what he wanted for breakfast. In the past I've never gotten much for an answer until I give him a couple choices but yesterday he looks at me, thinks a little and says, "pizza!" Unfortunately that wasn't an option. He also sings along with the CD we have in the van. Before I know it I'll be wishing he'd keep quiet... :)
Megan, I hope you don't mind, I totally stole your cake design from Jacob's party. I was having serious party theme block! I couldn't come up with something I knew he'd like that wasn't complicated. The train around a cake was easy and fun. He insisted the train not be turned off even after the cake was gone.
It's supposed to look like Budweiser on ice- close enough.
Happy Birthday Jeremy! We love you!
A friend of mind said she'd recently read somewhere something to the effect of "All Christians believe that when God said 'Let there be light' there was light. And yet is it so hard for us to believe that when Jesus [God] said 'This is my Body' at the Last Supper that the bread really became His Body."
One Mass is worth more than anything else we could ever do on earth. We receive more grace by devoutly attending one Mass than anything else we do. God is more ready to forgive sinners at Mass than anywhere else (and that's saying a lot because, of course, He is always ready to forgive us). Attending Mass devoutly changes your soul, gets it ready for Heaven. And yet, even though I know all this, how often do I go? I needed this week to remind me how much my soul needs Mass, how much I need to receive Him into my heart through the Eucharist. Not just a symbol, the real and present Lord, His body, blood, soul and divinity. I needed to be retold how important it is that I make the effort to get to Mass whenever I can. I will never be ready to spend eternity with the Lord in Heaven if I don't.
Homemade mozzarella sticks? Delicious!
Jessica and Robyn, when we have that Boggle/Pedicure L St reunion I'll have to make them for you!
But we still needed hot cocoa when we came in!
Drilling
Trying out some hair accessories
All the cool toddlers are wearing stickers in their hair!
Lego Jet Journey
By Samuel as told to Mom summer 2011
It was summer 2012 in Washington DC. I was about to have my biggest adventure: flying a Lego jet around the world! My trip was a world tour to give kids all over the world books. Books of all sizes, books of all shapes, books in all languages with many stories to tell and share. I packed up my $8,000,000 for books and gas and I headed out around the world to Europe.
My first stop was the Ukraine. I visited my mom’s cousin Michelle and gave books to the orphans she helps. Next I stopped in Norway to give books to needy children there. They all liked my Lego jet. My third stop was China. I gave books to people of all ages. They were short, they were tall, they were big, they were small. For my fourth stop I swung by the border of New Guinea and Indonesia. I gave books to kids who couldn’t buy them and gave their parents money for food and clothes.
My Lego jet stopped in Australia to visit kids there and give them books. At this stop I got gas and more books. I was running out of both!
After I got some books I took off again. This time I headed to Uganda. I wanted to see my mom’s cousin Rachel and her family and give books to the kids they work with. I flew south to South Africa. After I gave kids books there I took off again. But I forgot to look at the gas gauge!
My engines began slowing down when I was over the ocean. I saw an island nearby. After my plane crashed I saw I had no broken bones and no injuries; just a few scrapes. I looked at the map and saw I was in Antarctic Territory. I decided to give away books if there were any people. I didn’t hand out many. There was just one family with two daughters and one son.
I noticed I should call the president for help before my cell phone battery died. The president said he would send some gas as soon as I told him where I was. He said the gas would be there in a week or two. While I was waiting I fixed the jet- there were a lot of Lego propellers to put on! I stayed with the family. They had plenty of food and shelter.
The gas finally arrived a week and a half after I crashed! I was super happy. The only thing was I wasn’t quite done. I had to snap the belts on the propellers.
Now I tried again to get to the main part of Antarctica. I visited some people who were on expeditions and gave them books. The penguins like the books too so I gave them a few too. Now I flew to Brazil, gave out books then headed to Greenland. In Greenland I gave out books and remembered to get gas
It was time for my last flight of the tour, back to DC. There was a gig party and I gave everyone books.
My trip was a huge success!
The end
