Happy Mother's Day!

The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral--a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby's body . . . The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God's creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation . . . What on God's good earth is more glorious than this; to be a mother?

Joszef Cardinal Mindzenty (borrowed from my mother's blog)

Today's blog post is dedicated to my mother, Mary Ann Kreitzer and to my two grandmothers, Margaret Roselia Kreitzer and Margaret Grace Schneider.  Everything that I value in my life was handed on to me by you.  I love you and thank God for you.

 Alice & Mom celebrating one year

My wish today for everyone reading Frodo Seven is that you can say, "I have the best Mom in the whole world.  Thank you God!"  For those of you who honestly can't say that, please remember that one of Christ's greatest gifts to us was the gift of His mother.  Mary is our perfect mother who prays and intercedes for us.  May is her month and at the Doyle house, before sending off gifts to grandmothers or mothers, we gave our first flowers to her.

I am blessed to say that I have the best mom in the world.  I wouldn't have always said that.  I felt as misunderstood and unappreciated as most teenagers.  And when I looked around, the grass was always greener.  I wished for the "shopping" mom or the "best friend" mom.  As I grew older though, I began to appreciate my mom for exactly who she is and coincidentally, I do shop with my mom now and we are friends.  

There are a hundred and one things I love about my mom but I'll stick to these:

#1  My mom loves the little things.  If you go on a walk with her, she will point out every kind of bird and tree she sees by name.  I have no idea how she remembers them all but she gets it from her mother.  One of my favorite memories of my grandmother is of her sitting at the kitchen table a week before she died.  She was in a lot of pain but still took delight in watching the birds--which she could also name--at one of the many trays my parents put out around the house in the winter.  

My mom loves a good book and is the most well-read person I know.  She likes camping and hiking but most of all she loves home, a beautiful, three story "retreat center" that she and my dad bought so they could host their ten kids and kids-in-law as well as their 18 (and counting) grandchildren. 

#2  Mom is the master of food for a crowd.  Every meal at her table feels like a feast and my kids think Grandma is the best cook in the whole world.  I've often joked that my mom should have her own reality TV show called, "What's For Dinner?"  She can literally go into the fridge and assemble whatever hodgepodge is in there into a wonderful meal.  She hates to waste and will reuse everything until it's gone.  She's also comfortable inviting people to a meal on the spur of the moment and we constantly had guests at our table growing up.  There is no doubt that I get my love of entertaining and fellowship from her.

And #3  My mom knows her faith and lives it.  Growing up, she taught us bible stories and carried on Catholic traditions.  I love tradition and ceremony and at CD, we have a lot of both, thanks to my mom.

Most importantly though, Mom is courageous.  She stands and fights for what she believes.  For part of her life, that meant opening our home to unwed mothers and going to jail for defending babies.  Now, she writes a newsletter and a blog in defense of orthodox Catholicism (there's a link to her blog "Les Femmes" on the side of Frodo Seven).  I continue to learn a lot from her.  

Recently, when Madeleine and I were working on the questions for our mother-daughter book club, she told me that she wants to be like Grandma Kreitzer when she grows up.  She wants to fight for the babies.  The truth is she already does--in her classroom and with her friends who have never known a time when abortion wasn't legal.  She's a credit to her grandmother and I couldn't be more proud.

So, Mom--here's to you (I'm raising my glass--don't worry, it's 5 o'clock somewhere!).  More than anything, I am proud to be your daughter.  Happy Mother's Day!

__________________________________________________________________

P.S. BREAKING NEWS!  Here's a special insert that the author didn't know about!  Madeleine surprised her Mom by sneaking this into her latest post without her knowledge.  We hope you enjoy Madeleine's tribute to her mother and a very happy day to mother's everywhere!  -CED

Hey everyone! Madeleine Doyle here. As most of you know today is MOTHER’S DAY! For all you people who forgot, well, good luck to you. Anyway, today I am highjacking my mom’s blog and writing about her.

            I’m not very good with words, but there are some things that need to be said about my mom, and who can say them better than her oldest daughter. We’ll just go through five things I love about her.

Five Things I Love About My Mother by Madeleine Doyle

1.     She is quick to laugh. I know, I know...most people are wondering, why did she put that as number one when there are so many more important things in a mother?However, I think that laughter is a great quality, one I inherited from both of my parents. Going through life with a smile on your face is an awesome gift to share with the world.

2.     She is always ready to help others. My mom has this big thing on never saying "never" and "always", but I think that this is an exception. She always thinks of others before herself and is very quick to help those in need.

3.     She is a WORSHIPER. Meaning she worships the one true God. Not some voodoo golden cow. She is very pro-life, thanks to her mother, and is very involved in the church. A couple of years ago she did an ACTS retreat and she recently helped with Grace’s CCD class. Go Mom!

4.     She loves her family. During the recent Presidential elections, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-pres in-running,  said that the only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull was lipstick. My mom can be the same way. She loves us to death. (Okay mom, let go now. People are looking…Mom!) And if someone tried to harm us, she would definitely go all ninja on him.

5.     She loves Life. My mom has to be one of the most exciting people to be around. It’s like playing with a tornado. One day she’ll be all calm and the next day she will be a category five. She loves holidays and planning parties. She is always there for my sisters and me whether it’s a piano recital or a swim meet in the front row cheering. Or taking pictures and drinking Diet Coke. 

Well, there you have it. It's funny I had a draft all written up, but when I started typing, it sort of just wrote itself. That’s what’s good about writing, you can never go wrong with it.  Okay, even in blogging I can rattle on. One last thing. I am truly blest that God has given me a mother who cares enough about me to share her faith and spirit with me. Oh, and her computer.  I got the Lottery of moms, the jackpot as some might say.  So once again God, thanks because my mom is just so COOL!

Love,

Your Minney!

P.S. Happy Mother’s Day everybody!

Parting Gift

Tonight, I taught my last class of the semester.  I still have to give my final exam and figure my grades but most of the work of teaching is behind me.  Time for my favorite time of year--summer!

I find something to like about every class I teach.  It always amazes me to watch as we go from a group of individuals to a true community, pulling together to accomplish our goal.  This group was extra special though.  It may be because they struggled a little more than some classes I've taught. For whatever reason, I am proud of them all.  They have managed to work full time, deal with the drama of life and learn Spanish all at the same time.  So I made them a parting gift.  I researched quotes by Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quijote, the first modern novel), chose one and put it on a book mark.  I added a chocolate bar and told them it was their diploma for passing Spanish 1411.  

I thought I'd share some of the quotes I found with you.  And if you've never read Don Quijote, put it on your summer reading list--it truly has something for everyone, not the least of which is wisdom.

Tell me thy company and I'll tell thee what thou art.

He had a face like a blessing.  (I like this one because it is exactly how I feel when I look into the faces of my sweet girls.)

Good actions ennoble us and we are the sons of our deeds.

In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd.  (This is the one I chose for the book mark--sometimes learning a foreign language may seem impossible and sound absurd!)

It is one thing to praise discipline and another to submit to it.  (So true--I need to put this one on my mirror.)

Go Fly a Kite

Sophie shows off her masterpiece

To make your own Sled kite, go to www.kitesonaroll.com/sledkites

Today, my pupils and I took our new Sled kites for a trial run.  We made them at our monthly craft day in April but this was our first attempt at flight.  We had a slight breeze and the kites got an occasional lift but mostly they were like lead zeppelins, dragging along in the dirt behind the girls.  Grace was the most persistent.  She ran in circles over and over, determined to get her kite airborne.  We may try again on a windier day but in the end, I think we'll conclude that poster board was a poor choice for the bodies even though it was fun to decorate.  I've put together a unit study to do with the girls on the geography, history and science of kites which we'll complete before we visit Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers' Memorial in July.  The plan is to learn about all of the uses of kites including the people like Ben Franklin and Alexander Graham Bell who used them for scientific experiments.  I plan to make more kites, experimenting with designs and materials.  The Sled kite, for example, would probably fly better if we made it from a plastic shopping bag (not nearly as pretty as the ones we have now though!)  We may finish our study with a trip to Kitty Hawk Kites, a specialty store in Nags Head, NC that sells all kinds of fun kites for the amateur as well as the more experienced kite aficionado.  

Who knew there was so much to know and love about kiting?

Mia's one, half-hearted attempt.

Mia did a great job decorating her kite.  

As you may imagine, her message made my heart happy.

(It says "I love Jesus")

Girl kiting

If I just run a little faster....

Or lift the string a little higher....

It's flying...sort of

Grace decorated her kite with a "4" and "Ella"

My friend Kim and her boys were at the park with us

Here, Evan has better luck with our diamond kite--incredibly,

the girls chose Spidey over Elmo and Barbie at the store!

Shadows of Joy

The artist, beside herself

Yesterday, our family had the privilege of attending the opening of our friend Hope Gonsoulin's show Shadows of Joy.  It is the result of years of hard work and I am more proud of her than I can say.  Hope is not only an amazing artist, she is a true one-of-a-kind, an amazing woman who has triumphed over adversity and done pretty much everything she has set her mind to.

Hope is an LSU grad who married her college sweetheart, Ralph.  They live in Lumberton, TX with their five children.  Their fifth child, Bella, was adopted from China.  I was pregnant with Sophie when Hope and Ralph started the adoption process.  The waiting was difficult for Hope.  She thought about Bella constantly during the time that she guessed her mother was carrying her and especially afterward, when she wondered whether Bella was getting the love and care she needed.  We guessed that her baby was about the same age as Sophie and when she held and rocked goddaughter Sophie, she thought of Bella.  Incredibly, Bella ended up being exactly the same age as Sophie--born just days before her.  Of course, Bella was over a year old before Hope and Ralph were able to bring her home.  The show Shadows of Joy was inspired by Bella but I'll let Hope tell you about that in  her own words:

"A year ago, I was given the opportunity to have my own show and like so many artists, I am highly opinionated--we are not the percentage of people polled with no opinion.  This exhibit was influenced by the special needs of my youngest daughter recently adopted from China and a friend's child who was born with a medical condition known as Trisomy 18.  The doctors that work for insurance companies classify Trisomy 18 as a syndrome incompatible with life.  Therefore insurance will pay only to make the child physically comfortable while allowing her to die.  My friend had the medical savvy not to allow genetic testing and therefore the doctors in charge of her care treated her symptoms.  Not all of them were happy.  Some felt that Mallory's life would serve no purpose and would have preferred not to have intervened.  Happily, I report that she is now 2 1/2 and brings much joy to her family.

Joy--isn't that what we all come into this world seeking?  We simply want to thrive so that we can pursue joy.  As children, we are an on/off switch with great joy most of the time--then, bits of sadness--then, back to joy.  As we grow, we are constantly trying to return to that state of being.  I hope you can find yourself represented in these paintings.  Many of the children featured here have already had to overcome obstacles:  birth defects, disease and detachment from birth families.  They continue to seek joy just as I hope you will."

Hope--you are a source of joy to all who know you.  Thank you for sharing your talent with us.

This painting of Abby and Bella was the work that won Hope her own show

And, yes, Abby is every bit as terrific a big sis' as she appears

Flying peacocks

This is Mallory, the little girl Hope wrote about in her summary of the show.  Hope chose the name of the painting because peacocks, while stunningly beautiful, can't fly.  Mallory and her family are constantly struggling to triumph over the obstacles presented by her disability.  The task may seem impossible but their love and respect for life are dazzlingly beautiful and an inspiration to Hope and all who know them.

This is the first of Hope's paintings that I fell in love with.  The subjects are her four oldest children: Rome, Christian, Sophie and Abby.

Grazing

One of Hope's early works done in colored pencil

Life Coach

Hope dedicated the show to her grandmother, Thelma Buquoi.  In Hope's words:  "She was the mother of twelve children, a frugal pack rat who always made ends meet with the help of her husband William.  At the age of forty, she began to pursue her degree in education at Tulane University in New Orleans.  She went on to attain her Master's degree from Xavier University.  Grandma was 82 when she permanently retired from teaching.  Raising a family during the Great Depression, she knew the value of a dollar, family and prayer.  She was my mentor, mother figure and best friend, a remarkable woman not only for her day but for ours as well.  It is my intention to honor her legacy of perseverance and joy with this show."

Me and my friend

I saw a few other friends at the show as well:  Beth, Tammy, Sandy and Shannon.

Fortunately, I have an excuse to see you again very soon!

Sea Urchins

The story behind this painting:  Hope saw a photo that I've had displayed in my home since Madeleine was about five.  It's a picture of Madeleine with Daniel and David Fay underwater in my parents' pool.  It's not a great photograph in terms of quality--it was taken with a disposable water-proof camera.  I've always loved it though because it captured so perfectly the personalities of the three kids.  In Madeleine you see pure joy and delight.  Daniel is making a scary monster face and David is not really paying attention.  He's just hanging out being himself.  This painting took Hope a long time to paint because of details like the pool tiles and the bubbles.  She used a film canister to make some of the bubbles.  For obvious reasons, this was my favorite painting of the show.

Madeleine and Miss Hope

Endurance

This painting was a gift to Ralph after he ran this year's Houston marathon.  From left to right, it depicts some of his favorite LSU athletes and ends with Ralph himself running.  Hope said he laughed when he realized she'd painted him into the painting.

American Idol

This one was originally titled Little Goodbyes because that was the song that played over and over while Hope was painting it.  The subjects are her brother-in-law Christian who is currently in Iraq and his children.  It belongs to Ralph's sister Maria who loaned it to Hope for the show.  Hope told me it was like having a child return home.  I think this was my second favorite painting in the show.  I never fail to get choked up when I see images of the brave soldiers serving our country.  What a sacrifice.  I pray that those of us at home are worthy of it.

Eye Spy

The subject of this one is Hope's one and only son Christian.

Eye Spy boy, Christian, all grown up

or, as I like to call him,--the lost Beatle

The Mad Hatter

Herbivore

This is a 3 dimensional painting, one of three that Hope painted for Bella's nursery

Sugar

Like Bella, the subject of this painting was adopted.

Joy in action

Sister Love

An HNG original.  It hangs in le galerie Gonsoulin (or--the dining room at CD).  Hope finished it just weeks before Sophie was born.  We're planning additions to the collection featuring Sophie and Ella.

The original photo

A First for Grace

A winning smile after her first race

Saturday was an important day for the Doyle family as Madeleine, Mia and Grace participated in time trials for the Woodland Hills Wahoos.  Madeleine and Mia swam all four strokes and Grace swam her first-ever 25 meter freestyle!

I wasn't sure what to expect from Grace.  From what I'd seen at practice, she'd done a lot of kicking with the kick board but not much real swimming.  I guess I expected her to take at least five minutes and look like she was drowning.  I was completely surprised when she powered down the lane and finished right along with the other kids.  There was a little confusion at the start when she heard the gun.  She stood there watching the other girls jump in before she finally decided she should go too.  She also spent some time on the lane rope--all of which is good because there's room for improvement.  After this swim, one thing's for sure--she has the aptitude and mental toughness to be an excellent swimmer.  It almost makes me want to cry.

Waiting on the block

More waiting

And she's off

I took a bit of video footage after this but it's only part of the race and not really worth posting.  I'm sure I'll record plenty of races as the swim season moves along.

Incidentally, Madeleine and Mia also had great swims.  I was only able to watch Mia's 25 meter freestyle and Madeleine's 100 meter freestyle.  They both did very well.  Mia's best stroke is back stroke so I look forward to seeing her swim that next time.  Madeleine was in the last heat for the 100 and pulled ahead in the last 25 to win it.  Whether it's running or swimming, Madeleine is an incredible endurance athlete.  She hangs back at the start and somehow has enough left in her tank to kick it in at the end.  She also has a very graceful stroke that's beautiful to watch and makes it look easy.

Remembering The Groogrux King

Cover art for their new album by Dave Matthews

The Groogrux King is a reference to sax player Leroi Moore who died last August

So I just have to say it--I love Dave Matthews.  Maybe not as much as Gregory House but very close.  Not only is Dave a musical genius, he's the master of cool, a family man AND he has roots in Charlottesville, VA.  My favorite part of the show last night was watching Dave dance.  He danced more than I've ever since him dance at a concert.  My BIL Kevin can really dance.  His moves rival John Travolta's in Staying Alive.  I don't aspire to that level of greatness but I would like to dance like Dave.  He has this heel click move that's all his and I love it.

Stefan Lessard was as much fun to watch as always.  He showed up in nerdy attire with a plaid shirt, severe, black glasses and a very, very white baseball cap.  There's nothing nerdy about the way he plays though.  Whenever we see a new band, I always watch the bass player.  I haven't seen one I like as much as Stefan Lessard.  Last night, I commented to Chris that he doesn't look so much like the baby of the band anymore.

Then there's Carter with his perpetual smile.  He must have thrown thirty drum sticks to the crowd at the end of the show.  Of all of the DMB, he always looks like he's having the most fun.

On the way to the show, Chris and I did our yearly "pick the songs" challenge.  We each picked four songs we hoped or thought they might play.  We both picked "Funny How It Is" which they played third--that may have been my favorite song of the night.  Chris was up 2-1 going into the last song of the set.  Just before it, Dave did a lot of conferring with Stefan and Carter and we were wondering what was up.  When they finally started playing, Chris said, "it's Anyone Seen the Bridge into Too Much", a combo we've heard before, and that's how it started but about ten seconds into Too Much, they did a quick transition into Grey Street which was amazing and, coincidentally, tied us at 2-2.  With Rapunzel as the second encore song (I chose it for Madeleine), I pulled ahead and won our contest for the second year in a row.  Very fun.

So I've been thinking-when I was little, I used to ask my mom about heaven, questions like, "will our dog Fancy be there?"  She would always tell me, "If you need Fancy there to be happy, she'll be there.  You'll be completely happy in heaven."  I guess that means the Dave Matthews Band will be playing in heaven.  Just in case though, I think I'll put them on the Doyle family prayer list.  Because really-what would heaven be without the DMB?

Tickets scored by KD through his Warehouse membership

¡muchas gracias!

My new concert T.  I definitely didn't need it but it's a yearly ritual.

I chose the owls to go with my small owl collection--a tribute to my grandma who had a huge one.  I don't know why I like them so much.  They just make me feel so...wise.

Funny The Way It Is

It's that time of year again.  Time to make our yearly pilgrimage to see the Dave Matthews Band.  Chris woke me up to their music this morning and I am smiling in anticipation of a very fun day.  We're looking forward to hearing music from their new album Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King.  More on this later.