Therese Marie's 5th birthday photos :)

It's hard to believe our little girl is 5... time to take some pictures of her before she gets much older on us!!! 

We love you, Therese Marie Faustina!!!  Happy, happy birthday to our ruby-slippered princess!

                                                        

Playing in the Trees - Oct 2010



Ryan's so proud of himself :)



Ok, so these are long overdue... but I've been hoping to share these beauties for awhile. :) These are all from October... some from the beginning, and some from mid-month.  An unusually warm and lengthy summer meant that we still had leaves on the trees - some green leaves at that! - in early October.  (Last year, the trees were completely bare before the end of September.)  We were grateful for the extra opportunities to play outside, especially because "the climbing tree" is one of the kids' favorite play spots.   I've even discovered Timmy eating his lunch up there on quite a few occasions. :)

Of course, now that we in North Country are enjoying our typical sub-zero temperatures, it's hard to believe that this was only 2 months ago... but hey, we count ourselves blessed to be able to enjoy all four seasons - even if some are pretty extreme. ;)

Three in a tree!

He's thinking - Woah... that's a big tree........

Studying leaves

I'm not sure what they were seeing...

This one is pretty cute. :)

Pretty little Therese

After about 20 takes... I FINALLY got him to smile! :P

Wheeeeeeeee!!!!

Sorry, son - this doesn't count as a shower. ;)

Our "spooky old tree." ;)

Catching up... Alamo/Riverwalk pics :)

San Antonio Riverwalk - April 2010

I didn't get a chance to post these pictures when we were in San Antonio this past spring... but some of them are so beautiful that I wanted to share them now. :)   Yes, I am still very much a North Country girl, but even I really do appreciate the Riverwalk area of downtown San Antonio. :)  Since it's below street level, it's always a bit cooler than the surrounding downtown area... and the water, riverboat rides, waterfalls, flowers, etc., provide a relaxing and beautiful environment for an area (southern TX) in which "pretty things" can otherwise be hard to find.   Spring and fall are still the best times to visit, and we were lucky enough to be there for a couple of months in the spring.  It was only in the 90's, so it wasn't too miserably hot yet. :) 

The Alamo- March 25, 2010

We always enjoy visiting the Alamo, too, which is right there in the middle of downtown San Antonio as well.  We've been there several times before, and visited it again 3 more times this spring.  It's always a moving, powerful experience... to say the least.  It's also the first of 5 missions on the "Mission Trail" - missions from the 1700's and 1800's built along the San Antonio River, to provide protection, physical and spiritual nourishment, and a true sense of community for the local peoples - and the only one no longer functioning as a parish.  Of course, it's no longer known by its original name - Mission San Antonio de Valero - but rather, it is honored in memory of the 189 men who died there... and even with the hustle and bustle of tourists, there is always a reverent silence within the actual shrine of the Alamo itself.

Anyway, here are just a few pictures of some of our favorite sights. :)

It's kind of crazy that this old mission/fort now finds itself smack dab in the middle of
busy downtown San Antonio!

Inside the Alamo walls - April 2010

Therese really enjoyed herself! :)

It wouldn't be Texas without lots of cactii :P

This was a very neat old tree... the thing was huge.  The walls in the background
surround the Alamo, and within them lie old barracks, a museum with Davy Crockett's
 rifle and other personal belongings, etc. 

Our favorite little waterfall on the Riverwalk. 

The Riverwalk - seriously, the prettiest part of San Antonio. :)

"Munga" Wagner came to visit, and enjoyed a walk along the Riverwalk with us! :)

A stage in the old "La Villita" section of the Riverwalk

To carry you...

Has it really been 6 years ago today since we learned our little Chiara was not to be held in our arms on this earth?  My emotions were already running high this week, especially because I recently learned that my dearest friend has just lost her own little tiny girl, Claire. I've found myself irritable and restless over the last few days... sad for my friend, missing my own child, and wishing that this never had to happen to anyone.  Then I somehow came across this video...
 The mom who wrote the song is the one in the video - she learned that her daughter would not survive long after birth, even if she made it that far... and so she carried her almost to full-term, before giving birth via c-section and enjoying a precious 2 1/2 hours with her dear daughter before the baby's heart stopped.  Anyway... in some strange, bittersweet, heart-wrenching way... this was exactly what I needed to see today.  I cried for an hour... tears that somehow, eventually, seemed to heal a little hidden piece of my heart that was hurting so much, and just needed to be brought to the surface and dealt with upfront.  I'm too emotionally and physically drained right now to put the whole thing into words... but it was a very powerful, bittersweet time of both grief and healing for me.
So, so many mothers and families have experienced the pain of losing a child... and yet, here is a beautiful example of life... a life oh-so-short, but one which reminds us all that each and every person is a precious, irreplacable gift.......... and the honor of being a mother to an "angel baby" - even one who will never be held in our arms on this earth - is still a gift and a privilege nonetheless.  Sometimes it takes a long time to see that... but that motherhood is something that no one and nothing can ever take away...
Chiara, what I would give to hold you in my arms........ and yet, I have carried you under my heart... where a little part of you will always be.  I am honored to be your mommy, and I can't wait to meet you in the arms of Our Savior someday.  Pray for us, little one... that we be strong in this life, so we can enjoy eternal bliss with you in the next.... We love you, dear baby.

The "really, truly" tornado

So yesterday afternoon, a thunderstorm rolled in from the north... this happens relatively frequently, and generally means a lot of rushing around to lift the screen windows, pull down the storm windows behind them, and then close the main windows... while accompanied by the dulcet tones of my two youngest children screaming in terror.  No, it's not the thunder that scares them... it's seeing Mommy hurry to shut all the windows while being buffetted by strong winds and rain (which always seem to come out of nowhere), especially on the back porch/sun room.  Therese, in particular, is always convinced there is going to be a tornado... shrieking and sobbing words to that effect, while refusing to go into the basement without Mommy.  A few weeks ago a particularly strong storm shook the whole house, and I did find her downstairs, sobbing under the computer desk. All my words to comfort her and tell her that it was just a big storm, not a tornado, were of little help. 
Once again, yesterday's storm came swiftly upon us, and I had already shut a few windows where I thought the rain might come hardest.  The winds picked up quite suddenly and very strongly, so I quickly ran into the sun room to shut the windows... a bit trickier than usual, because the winds were so strong that they were pushing me away from the very windows I was trying to close.  Therese began her usual screaming about a tornado coming, and I told her everything was going to be fine... but she could go into the basement if she wanted, while I shut the other windows in the house.  "No, Mommy, I'm not going without you!!!!!!" 
Just then, a faint noise began that I couldn't quite place... it didn't really sound like the "train" sound people say accompanies a tornado, but there was something eerie about that distant roar... and I didn't like it.  Hail began to pummel the house as I ran back onto the porch to grab our huge Rubbermaid container of love letters that we'd had out there (my husband and I spent a little while on Sunday reminiscing over several of these special letters, which number in the hundreds at least, and we still had the box out on the porch.) 
"Why are you getting that, Mommy???" 
I did some quick thinking before I replied, "Oh, because I think it would be better to keep this in the basement, you know." 
"So no one steals it?" 
"Right, right."
But then I remembered I hadn't finished shutting the windows in the bedrooms.  I set the heavy box down in the kitchen, and ran off to shut the windows in the rest of the house... accompanied by the sounds of a still-screaming toddler, and the jumbled sounds of very heavy wind, thunder, rain, and hail all at once.  By the time I'd finished with the windows, though, the storm had begun to lessen in intensity and the kids felt safe enough upstairs anyway.  For another hour we watched the thunderstorm slowly roll toward the south... and just as slowly, Therese's fears abated. 
Well... unbeknownst to us at the time, there really was a tornado that touched down just about a mile from here. It took out power to the north of us, and blew the roof off the local speedway (about the only thing this little town of 500 people has, commerce-wise), doing at least $100,000 in damage... not counting money lost from having to cancel the upcoming weekly events.  Some people had trees blown over into their yards, but minimal house and car damage seemed to be done, and apparently no one was injured - thank God! :)  Our baby wading pool was lost into oblivion, but other than that, just a few bushes and leaves were damaged... no big deal at all.
This morning, Therese exclaimed, "So there really WAS a tornado?"
"Yes..."
"Really, truly?"
"Yes, close by... not right on top of us, but we were ok!  See, I told you we would be ok."
Thoughtfully, she replied, "Our angels protected us..." and went on her way to play with her older brother. 



These are pictures that a few local folks took of the storm and some of their damages.

About a mile to the north of our house

Speedway roof gone

Local hail

Trees were uprooted in various towns around the area

Summertime!

Unfortunately, computer problems and a very slow internet connection have limited my ability to post recently... but I couldn't resist sharing some pictures from the last few days. :)  It's actually hot up here in the North Country - surprisingly so, since we were wearing sweaters much of the time until last week!  The nights are still cool and comfortable, though, and we are thoroughly enjoying our incredible view of the night sky. :)  You haven't seen the Milky Way until you've seen it without any city or street lights to dim it!
Anyway, here are a few pictures of the beautiful fireworks we saw from an old battlefield over Lake Ontario, and a couple of pics of the kids enjoying the warm weather.

Lake Ontario from the battlefield at Sackets Harbor

I love growing lavender :)

My pretty girl

This is Timmy's favorite summer lunch spot :)

Ryan doing pushups... he really took the whole "on your toes" thing to heart. ;)

Daddy's taking us to the zoo tomorrow...

The San Antonio River at the zoo entrance, flooding over into a picnic area, bridge, road, etc.

Well, ok... so this happened about 3 weeks ago. :) The San Antonio Zoo is one of the best, most enjoyable zoos we've ever visited, especially if you catch it on a day when it's not 100+ degrees outside. :) From getting to see thousands of cool animals, to the unexpected event of seeing the headwaters of the San Antonio River flooding into the road, bridges, etc. (uncommonly massive amounts of rain the day before turned empty riverbeds into 10-feet-high rivers within 2 hours!) ... it was a great day!  We saw so many neat animals (and plants)... but here are just a few.  

Ryan watches apprehensively...

The aquarium was beautiful!

Pink flamingoes were a big hit with all the kids. :)

They spent about 10 minutes watching an anteater - thought he
was the coolest thing.

Yes, it's Texas.  They decorate their zoos with cactii.
Seriously, though, the landscaping at the zoo is great. Lots of tropical plants, which they keep well-watered.

This was a neat, mostly-underwater shot. :)

The river was still flooding on our way out... that WAS a picnic area. ;)