Happy Birthday Mr. B!

Brendan and Lawrence circa 2001

So, I called to wish my oldest nephew and godson a very happy birthday today.  Eleven years ago, I received an urgent note during my fifth period class telling me that my sister was in labor.  I rushed out of Robinson Secondary and over to Fairfax Hospital to find Tara just about to deliver.  So I did what any good labor coach would do.  I ran downstairs to the gift shop, bought a disposable camera and captured the very first photos of cute little Brendan.
Brendan is very special to me.  I was there when Tara found out that he was a Brendan and not a Brend-a and he is the only baby besides my own whose birth I witnessed.  He also has a unique relationship with my dad.  There are few people I love more than my dad.  I owe him so much and I guess you could say Brendan and I have that in common.  Brendan is handsome and talented and kind.  He is so good with the little kids that I would hire him to babysit over a girl anytime.  I am definitely a proud godmama and I take complete credit for him :)  Our gift to him this year was a plane ticket to visit us in the Lone Star State.  I'm thinking we'll get him some good boots and go cow tipping...or dancing...or maybe to a rodeo.
We love you Mr. B!!  You are número uno with us!!

A Little Bit of Everything

So, I realized I left a couple of important things out of my Thanksgiving post.  One of the highlights of the day was the Mass we attended before getting down to all the choppin'.  Fr. TJ was the celebrant which means we spent much of the time shushing Ella who reported over and over "There's Father TJ".  She loves Father TJ.  I'm thinking of asking him to make a guest appearance at her birthday party--it would make her day.  Anyway, he gave a great homily about being grateful, saying that if everyone were more thankful, it would change the world.  He got an "Amen" from a man in the crowd and a few claps when he finished.  Well done.

Another thing I left out was our yearly tradition of going around to say what we were most thankful for.  Sophie's contribution was, "this meal" which is funny because she eats enough to feed a cricket.  Madeleine said something interesting. She said that she is grateful for our nightly dinners together.  She has friends who grab a frozen meal and nuke it most nights so she appreciates what she has--good for me to hear as (and I know I've mentioned this before so, sorry to be redundant) I do not love the whole plan the meal, shop for the meal, make the meal process.

And lastly, I forgot to mention my Thanksgiving sweater.  As you may have noticed in our group photo, I was wearing a chunky sweater of the most hideous and bright shade of orange.  I bought it at a boutiquey type store at some point so it was probably pricey which is the only reason it hasn't ended up in the Good Will bag.  Every time I look at it, I wonder exactly what I was thinking.  Oh--I know what I was thinking--that would be perfect for Thanksgiving.  Which is literally the only day of the year I wear it.  This year, as it was a balmy 85 degrees outside, I had it on for about 30 minutes.  I figure at that rate, I need to wear it at least thirty more years to get my money's worth.

OK--on to the photos.  Most of them are of an activity we did with our Little Flowers Club.  Little Flowers is a girls' club that centers around learning about the virtues and growing in them.  I heard about it from my friend Jane who is in a club with five or six other moms at our church.  Because of my teaching schedule, it did not work out for us to join them and as it turns out, that was fortunate because instead, I started a very small club with just our girls and the two girls down the street.  We have a secret handshake and a song and do all of the cool things clubs do.  The goal is to learn and share our faith while having a lot of fun together.  It's one of my favorite things we're doing this year.  I highly recommend the program if you have girls.

 

The cookies were a service project.  We attached a verse about faith to each one and gave them to neighbors, friends etc.

This was Sophie's.  Chris suggested we send it to the CEO of BP

Mia and Grace aren't the only artists.  Sophie's people.  She's on the left, I'm in the middle and Chris is on the right.

We took some photos today for a hypothetical Christmas card.

Will we ever get a photo sans peace sign again?

Happy Advent to all!!

Thanksgiving 2010 at Casa Doyle

A thankful Frodo Seven

So, because of the miscarriage and Chris' crazy travel schedule, we decided to spend Thanksgiving 2010 here at home.  It was truly a first for me.  I have never spent a smaller or quieter Thanksgiving.  And it was wonderful.  It was hands down the best time I've ever had cooking the feast.  We all joined in and Chris kept the work light as we laughed through it all.  There's no one I love more than the ones who gathered round our table this holiday and I felt so rich, so blessed, so thankful.

 The sisters work together choppin' cel-er-y

 Sophie helped with the green bean casserole

 No cryin' here

 Dressed for dinner

We all wore a funny hat or scarf except Mia who came as Marion the librarian

 Parading the meat.

Chris tells me that at Marine Corps Mess Nights, they parade the beef around the room before eating it while singing some sort of patriotic song.  I really want to see that in real life.  We did our own version here at Casa Doyle and sang Yankee Doodle Dandy.

 Feasting

 Mia said she was most thankful for big sis' Madeleine

 The pirates made an appearance

 My helper with the apple pie

A good one of Grace but this was all of us after the meal.

Zzzzzzzz.....

Frances Doyle

So, as many of you faithful readers of Frodo Seven already know, our family recently experienced the loss of another baby.  When I found out I was pregnant earlier this fall, I wasn't surprised but I also wasn't completely prepared.  And though it didn't take long to get very excited about the thought of another Doyle babe, I had a feeling from the beginning that things would end the way they did.  Interestingly, I don't think that intuition had anything to do with the other two miscarriages we've been through.  Both of those occurred at about twelve weeks and were uncannily similar in how things unfolded.
Mia was only four months old when we found out we were expecting Ethan.  Not the best timing perhaps but Chris and I decided early on to take life--and babies--as God sends them.  And I was excited.  I don't remember if we had picked out a girl's name but for a boy, it was Ethan Michael.  I had no idea that morning, a few days before Thanksgiving 2002 that anything was wrong.  But the doctor couldn't find a heart beat.  First on the wand and then on the ultrasound.  I'll never forget his tone and his words.  "This is not what I would like to have seen today."  I was alone in his office.  Thinking it would be just a routine appointment, Chris was in meetings at Quantico, getting ready to take time off for the holiday.  I don't remember driving home.  I do remember that when I got there, I called Chris and then Jes, who immediately made the hour drive to be with Madeleine and Mia while Chris and I went for another ultrasound, just to be sure.  Even after getting confirmation, I could not bear to schedule the DNC the doctor recommended.  I did not want to undergo the same procedure done to abort a living baby.  I couldn't bear the thought of it.  So I waited, and a few days later, miscarried Ethan at home.  We held him, which is why we know for sure that he was a boy.  He was perfect.  Tiny, but otherwise like any other baby.
I cut off a piece of my old baby blanket to wrap him in.  It was blue.   We had a short ceremony and buried Ethan under the pine trees at Camp Kreitzer in a small wooden box my grandmother gave me when I was ten.
I don't remember a lot of specifics about the days and weeks around the miscarriage.  I do know that I mourned Ethan for a long time.  I made the whole thing much worse by deciding that God had taken Ethan from me either because of past sin or because I wasn't a good enough mother to deserve him--or both.  I caused myself a lot of what I now know was unnecessary suffering and I felt angry at God and scared of Him.
Fast forward a year and I was pregnant again.  I walked into the same doctor's office at about twelve weeks and once again, he couldn't find a heartbeat.  This time though, I had Madeleine with me and had driven myself all the way from Woodstock to Fredericksburg for the appointment.  At the time, we were just weeks away from moving to Beaumont.  The girls and I were staying at Camp Kreitzer until we closed on our new house and until my sister Tara got married.  So, once again, I heard Dr. Hamilton's matter of fact rendition of the facts and his advice to have a DNC (I had ended up having an emergency DNC with Ethan after a middle of the night trip to the ER--pretty horrible).  This time, I scheduled the DNC, half-hoped the miscarriage would happen on its own before then but was also relieved when it didn't.  So, we are not certain of the second baby's sex but we named "her" Julia anyway.  Chris still wonders if there's a Doyle boy up in heaven being teased by his buddies whenever he's called "Julia" in his sisters' prayers.  Julia is also buried under the pine trees.  My mother planted flowers on both graves and has a statue of the Blessed Mother and an angel there.  The site is just steps away from the apple trees and the fire pit and it overlooks the pool so the babies are never far from our thoughts when we are home.
A few months after we lost Julia, we found out we were pregnant again.  Of course, we were anxious, but nine months later, Baby G, Margaret Grace Doyle, came screaming into our lives.  I'm sure I don't have to tell you what a blessing she is to all of us.
Our recent miscarriage was easier to deal with than the others.  It happened earlier, at six weeks, so I didn't have all the drama of a DNC and I decided not to follow the advice of the nurse at my OBGYN's office.  I did not go to the emergency room.  Chris was overseas so I was alone with the girls.  I called Jes (every girl should have a Jes in her life), and asked her what her nurse friend, Traci, would say.  As I already knew, there was absolutely nothing they could do at the ER other than run tests to tell what was happening.  I opted to stay at home and let things unfold there.  It was a lot more peaceful.  And since I have a different understanding about God and His hand in all of this, I refrained from torturing myself as well.
So, now, as we prepare to celebrate another Thanksgiving, I still have the beginnings of a pregnant belly, the longing to hold my baby and the certainty of having been handed way more this year than I was ever made to handle.  It reminds me of something that happened last weekend while my brother Neil and family were here.  The guys took the kids to the field to play kickball, kick the can and other games while Martina and I prepared a party for three year old Drew.  During their play, Neil looked over at Sophie and teased, "I'm going to tackle you".  Little Sophie looked way up at her uncle, weighed her options and laid down flat on the ground.  Sometimes it's just easier--and safer--to take things lying down.  But then there's life.  And people to take care of and other people who are dealing with their own sufferings.  Personally, I don't like trite responses to that suffering like, "God has a reason for this".  I don't know that I even believe that.  I do believe that God is good, He is in charge and He has promised us "hope and a future".  Maybe for me and Chris, that means we'll be blessed with another firecracker baby.  I hope so.  In the meantime, I'm still in the race and my theme song today is "Here Comes the Sun (Son)" (Colbie Caillat's version is good--check it out).

Recipe

Sunday afternoon, our family had the privilege of seeing Chad, the man my father-in-law, Jack, has been sponsoring in RCIA, receive his sacraments and enter the Church.  We also saw our very first adult baptism.  All very exciting.

After Mass, we went over to the FLC for a reception where I tasted the best punch I think I've ever tried.  A couple of women there were talking about how delicious it was and one of them gave us the recipe.  Madeleine and I are going to make it for Thursday's feast and I thought I'd share it with you in case you want to try it:

1 can pineapple juice

1 bottle apple juice

2 liter bottles of Sprite

Happy shopping, baking, cooking, eating!

See you back here soon!

See It Again Sunday

Since I missed Flashback Friday, I thought I'd do "See It Again Sunday" and post this picture my sister-in-law sent from our beach trip last summer.  As you can tell from Chris' facial hair, it was our last day.  We had just scaled the several hundred steps of the light house.  A kind fellow tourist snapped the photo--the only one of the whole motley crew that was taken during the week.

The Arts

 Mia and Grace have been attending art classes for several months now.  They count down the days until their class, love their teacher (and have made her more cards than any one person needs) and spend a lot of their free time working on extra drawings and other projects.  They have learned a lot and made great improvements and I love that their masterpieces are decorating our home.
Another area that we have seen great improvement is piano.  Madeleine has been taking for five years now and is playing things that I love.  She was recently working on Princess Leia's theme song and I asked her to play it over and over.  (I finally bought it on itunes so as not to wear Madeleine out.  The live version is much better though.)  Mia and Grace are working on Christmas carols and all of the girls will be playing at Randalls in December.  We found out from some friends that there will be a tip basket there so now the girls are extra motivated!  Sophie has been asking for lessons for awhile and Mia has been giving her little instructions here and there but piano lessons will probably be one of her birthday gifts this year.  I'm trying to figure out when I can squeeze in lessons myself!

 Grace's latest masterpiece

"The Happy Dolphin"

(I think those yellow things at the top are happy fish)

Because of craft time at the library, we've also been doing a lot of crafts this year.  The wreath is Ella's creation from a few weeks ago and the pumpkin garland was something we did here for Halloween inspired by my friend Annie's.

This week's craft was really cute and I now have four turkey baskets--what to do with them all?

We'll fill one with the slips of paper for the things we're thankful for, a Thanksgiving tradition.  One of the girls suggested putting candles in them.  Hmmm.....no.

We're looking forward to a fun weekend with my brother and family.

Hope yours is great!

Beautiful Day at the Zoo

We've had a busy week.  We are entertaining my niece Ashley, here from Austin.  She and Madeleine are both home schooling and are in their freshman year of high school.  They've had a fun week of commiserating and studying and tonight, the three of us even snuck away to Starbucks to work on analyzing a short story.  I really enjoyed sharing my love of literature with them.  They aren't thrilled with the writing assignments I gave them but I think they enjoyed the big kid coffee shop time.

We also visited the zoo today.  It's been over a year since our last visit and the kids enjoyed themselves tremendously.  We played "Zoo Bingo" and had ice cream treats at home to celebrate everyone's completed cards.  The only thing missing from the day--Daddy.  He got a big hug when we finally arrived back at Casa Doyle.

Ashley's camera shy so you won't find her in the following photos but she was there and had fun completing a photo scavenger hunt with Madeleine.  One of the things they put on their list was an animal that reminded them of me.  They chose a grizzly bear because I fight to protect my babies.  I like that.  And speaking of my babies....

 For the most part, I think bats are creepy.

They look fairly harmless and cute here though.

 In the background, the cheetah Grace swears she could outrun.

 There are two baby elephants at the zoo.

One is two months and one, six months.  So cute.

 Sophie spent about half an hour brushing this goat.

 Grace was very glad to find this coral.  It gave her "Bingo".

Sophie, listening to the jellyfish.

OK that's all for now.  Ciao.

A Nice Surprise

So, as I sit down at the computer tonight, I have enough blog topics to keep me busy until the new year.  I consider that a blessing--frustrating though because I know I'll never get to them all.  I'm going to start by telling you about something that happened last night that really made our week.
A few weeks ago, Chris found out that he would be traveling to Seattle the first week in December.  He has been traveling quite a bit with his new job--the one that is allowing us to move to Virginia--eventually.  Because of all of his trips overseas, Chris has been racking up frequent flyer miles and has been looking for an opportunity for a weekend away for the two of us.  Interestingly, in the course of my research for Culture Day, I came across information about a traveling Picasso exhibit that will be in Seattle during Chris' trip.  It's a special joint collection that is only coming to a few cities in the U.S.  So between that and a special benefit concert being given by Mr. Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, we decided that a trip to Seattle would a be a great Christmas gift to each other.  The way the benefit concert works is that the entire cost of the tickets can be donated to any charity on a specific list.  We assumed the list would be narrow and favor liberal organizations.  We were pleasantly surprised when we checked it out last night and were 100% wrong.  Not only were organizations like The Arlington Catholic Herald and Catholic Hospice of Florida listed but we actually found the small crisis pregnancy center in Manassas, VA where my mom and I have volunteered.  So now, we are going to hear Dave and Tim in a 2900 seat opera theatre and all of the money we paid for our tickets is going to help mothers and save babies.  Oh--and we get the tax deduct too.  I am incredibly impressed by Dave's generosity and respect for his fans.  It blows me away really.  I put "write Dave Matthews a thank you note" on my to-do list.
In other news--and in the pics that follow--Saturday morning, we surprised the kids with a trip to see Disney Princesses on Ice.  The guessing where we were going may have been the best part.  Chris kept them in suspense till the very last minute.  It was great family fun.

Meeting Cinderella

 I'm not a big fan of Ariel as my girls know well.  I mean really--what's the take-away from her story?  Be stubbornly disobedient and make a deal with the devil and you'll get a prince?  I think a spanking would be more appropriate.  And her poor father--first, a pitiful creature in the witch's garden and then having to turn his favorite daughter into a human and lose her forever.  Not my idea of a happy ending.  (And I didn't even get into her wardrobe issues...)

Waving to her favorite...

 M-I-C-K-E-Y  M-O-U-S-E

I liked the skating silverware.

 Daddy's princesses

 My "best part"

Ella thought it was scary.

Sleeping Beauty, 

Sophie's favorite princess

 So cool

What girl wouldn't want to go for a ride in that?

 Pretty pretty princess

 The kick-butt "princess"

I'm glad the girls like her.

Back at home, Princess Grace practices balancing a banana muffin on her forehead.

 Random photo

This is the wishbone from a chicken we enjoyed.

 The moment before Grace realized she lost.

Four of the babes of TEAM 8

Good friends, good sports--

all that and...gorgeous!

Our husbands are lucky men :)

And on that self-inflated note, I'll sign off for now.

See you here next time.

We Are Family

We spent time with a lot of extended family today.  I took many photos and will hopefully have time to edit and post them when we get home.  For now, a couple of photos of me with five of my nine Schadegg cousins, my mom's sister Peggy's kids.  I grew up with Marty and Jenny and spent a lot of time with the whole family on beach trips, retreats and school vacations.  Lots of good memories.  It was great to see them.

From left:  Marty, Jen, Alice, Reed, Susan and Emily