On the Homefront

Myriam Elizabeth

Today is the Feast of the Visitation and the feast day of our second daughter- Myriam Elizabeth.  When we meditate upon this mystery while praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, we focus on the virtue of charity.  Mary traveled a long way while VERY pregnant to assist her pregnant cousin, Elizabeth.  This great love on Mary’s part often stops me in my tracks when I am whining during pregnancy. (not that I EVER do that…).  Our Myriam is named for Our Lady and her cousin.  She likes to tell people that she has two saints who love her very much and are watching over her.   Our children love praying to their patron saints and learning about their lives- I love praying to their patron saints and begging for help!

This photo of Myriam was taken this morning during our traditional Feast Day breakfast.  Daddy was very generous and left late for work so he could celebrate with us.  It is also Myriam’s first day of swim practice!  Perhaps I will have feast day swim photo for later.

If you happen to check in today, please pray for our Myriam Elizabeth.  Happy Feast of Charity!

Tim with our first born, Therese Marie

… and more wonderful with the passage of time.   We have only been married eight years.  I have only known him for twelve.  We only dated a few months before getting engaged and the engagement was nine months (too long, in both of our opinions!).  I can say with absolute certainty that he is the best friend I have ever had.  I am pretty sure he is the best friend I ever will have.  He knows how to make me laugh.  He draws me out of myself and pushes me to be the best version of myself.

Tim is always ready for a good time, ready to tease and play and wrestle with the children.  However, few people get to see the sensitive side: how much he loves to hold a newborn baby and just gaze into their eyes and marvel at their tiny perfectness.   The way he likes to sneak up on me in the kitchen, turn up a romantic (usually old country) song on his iPhone and pull me into a slow dance while the kids giggle and dinner burns behind us.  The way he prays with our children before bed, encouraging them to thank Our Lord for all the good in our lives but also to remember those in need.  He is the one who came up with the idea for Therese to be a pen pal for young boy with cancer.  He is the one who decided we would sponsor a child and an aging friend in Africa when we got married.  He is the one who encourages me in my dark moments of doubt and shoves me out the door for a run, a visit to the chapel or coffee with a friend.  Tim is the one who never forgets to pray for our children’s vocation, begging Jesus to call them to the priesthood and religious life.  He is constantly arranging ways for them to be exposed to the beauty of these vocations.  He never worries.  He remembers to smile when things are tough.  He is the sanguine to my melancholic.   He is the reason I am here in Silver Spring, Maryland, living this amazing apostolate of being his wife and mother instead of galavanting off to a third world country to be a life long missionary.

Thank you, Timothy Joseph.  I love you.  Happy Birthday.

Saving us from the snowstorms

Tim with our Godson, Nathaniel Ferry

Another snowy Tim picture

The shoulder carry perfected by Tim

Brotherly love

Sporting the sombreros

Daddy with Brendan, Myriam and Therese (and St. Joseph) on Father's Day 2009

Timothy and Brendan

Tim and Lori

Our little navigator

St. Brendan was a monk who lived in the Middle Ages.  We did not have a deep devotion to this saint when we were pregnant with our Brendan, but we loved the name and the more we read about him, the more we liked this guy!  He had a deep love for God and and he recognized the presence of God in all of creation.  He had a deep desire to know more about the “Unknown” world and decided to sail around the world in search of an earthly “Paradise.”  Stories of his travels have been passed down for ages and legend has it that he discovered North America.  Children in Ireland attribute the discovery of America to St. Brendan- not Columbus.  Although many scholars say there is no hard proof of his discoveries on his famous journey, it is fairly certain he did sail for many years around the world and returned to Ireland to tell his tales.

I thought this picture of our Brendan playing in a very large puddle at Grandma and Grandpa’s house was fitting for this feast of his patron who love the water and nature and the outdoors.  Brendan James loves animals and water and we hope he will be as adventurous as St. Brendan (we are praying he has a religious vocations as well…)

Happy Feast Day, Brendan James!

(St. Brendan setting sail with fellow monks.  Artist unknown.)

Mud is glorious

This book was a lovely Baptism gift Brendan received as an infant.  We have read it many, many times.  This year I bought this book because it is a little longer and has more details about St. Brendan’s life.  Since we are studying the Middle Ages, I wanted to take the girls into more in depth studies of particular saints of that period.  We love them both and highly recommend them for young readers.

Therese with her Godparents and "Godsiblings"

This lovely family prays for our Therese as much as we do.  Cathe and Jeremy are her Godparents and their children love ours like they are related!   We are so grateful as they help our daughter on her journey to heaven.

Other heavy hitters in the prayer department:

Fr. James Moore, O.P. and Fr. Brendan Lupton

Fr. James and Fr. Brendan were able to join us for the Mass and celebration afterward.  We admire these men very much for the zeal with which they live their vocation.  We are very grateful for their friendship, prayers and witness to our family.

Mom and the fab four

Since we were married in April, I have been blessed to celebrate Mother’s Day for all eight years of our marriage.  Granted, Therese was a very, very tiny being inside me for that first Mother’s Day, but I can still remember being thrilled that I was a Mom.  And here we are, eight years later.  Three wonderful girls and one very fun boy.  I hope that eight years from now there are still toddlers and babies in my mother’s day picture.  Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Dad and Mom with Therese

It is hard to believe we have a child old enough to make her First Communion.  God is so good.  The Mass was beautiful.  The day was beautiful.  Our daughter was (and IS) beautiful.

Therese

If any of my family members think the dress looks familiar, they are right.  This is the dress I wore.  My mother saved it and it is in remarkably good condition (it was worn by two of my sisters as well).  It was really special to see it on Therese.  I wore a crown of flowers (which my mother also saved) made of silk, but our neighbors made this crown of real flowers for Therese to wear.  She loved them.

Overheard last week between sisters:

Therese: This Saturday will be the MOST IMPORTANT day of life… on earth.

Myriam: (eyes wide)  Really?  Wow!

Therese:  Well, the most important day of my life is when I go to heaven.  That will be the best day.  That is what we hope for.

(I was not in the room, but observing from a nearby vantage point.  I think Myriam gets better catechesis from her sister than me.)

Dad with daughters and granddaughters

We spent a glorious Easter weekend in Indiana.  My father came into the Church and most of my family was able to be there to celebrate with him.  We were only missing George, Janelle and their two girls.

Mom and Dad

Lori, Monica and Dad

Brendan with the Easter "Nests"

Yes, he is!  And what a glorious day to turn three.  Not only is it always the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, but this year it is Divine Mercy Sunday AND the beatification of John Paul II.  He is too young to realize how special this it, but we are praying for him and begging for extra graces all the same.

Brendan, you are such a bundle of joy and you make us laugh (often when we shouldn’t) and others stop and stare. Your antics are many, but they are never malicious- just boy and joy filled.

We love you and are so happy that God blessed us with you three short (very short!) years ago.

(I promise to post more birthday pictures soon… we had a long day and this mama is sleepy.)

Brendan and Cecilia ready to fly away

Brendan in his flight gear

During our recent trip to the College Park Aviation Museum it became clear that Brendan has a strong desire to fly.  There is a plane you can climb in, but he wanted to try out all the planes on display (and most you are not allowed to touch, never mind sit in).  The girls loved it too, but Brendan was happiest while trying on the flight gear and sitting in the real plane.  Unfortunately I didn’t take too many photos- these are the best two of the bunch.