Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

"Prepare yourselves in the school of the Heart of Christ to face with confidence the commitments that await you." ~Pope John Paul II

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." ~I Corinthians Chapter 13

"Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, be the Heartbeat of our family; bless us and be with us always."
~ A Year With God, CHC

Hercules, Jason, and Arachne's Escape

Hercules, Jason, and Arachne (I wonder if Matthias had Charlotte's Web in mind when he named this one) our three new little piglets have already escaped twice since we bought them last Saturday. Catching them is always quite an adventure, as you will see.

This morning around eleven, Gwen (our border collie) started to bark wildly. Matthias looked out and yelled, "Pigs out!"

Trouble in the barnyard!

Let's try some feed.

Good luck Lydia!

Here little piggies...

If they would just go back under the chicken barn like last Sunday.

Conveniently the boards are still there to trap them!

I guess we just have to wait until they decide to oblige.

Patience is a virtue!

OK, let's try feed again..

No, not for you chicken!

That's the ticket Laurence. Let's keep those chicken out of the way.

Oh, dear, don't fall in the feed barrel!

Here you go. Good job!

Got them!!!

There is no pictures of the actual catching as I was busy getting my hands on one of those little piggies.

We caught them after they finally decided to crawl under the chicken house.


It is worth noticing that Raphael has the littlest one, and look at Felix's strained face. Really Felix yours isn't that big!

Three little piggies went home...loudly squealing!

Dominique, what are you doing with that shovel? And Matthias would you please hurry and open the gate! The sound is quite deafening!

Raphael is trying.... again... to make the gate piglet proof. Maybe this time it will keep them behind the bars for good.

"Them pigs got feelings..."

"Boys, them pigs are like family to me. They've got feelings just exactly like you and me got... just exactly like you and me." From the movie Rigoletto

The little boys couldn't resist quoting from the movie Rigoletto. At Lydia's request we borrowed the movie from Netflix. Watching it last night was a nice trip down memory lane.

Poetry Friday, two poems

Early this morning, Laurence built this block city on the kitchen floor. Robert Stevenson's poem, Block City, immediately came to my mind.

Block City

What are you able to build with your blocks?
Castles and palaces, temples and docks.
Rain may keep raining, and others go roam,
But I can be happy and building at home.

Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet be sea,
There I'll establish a city for me:
A kirk and a mill and a palace beside,
And a harbour as well where my vessels may ride.

Great is the palace with pillar and wall,
A sort of a tower on the top of it all,
And steps coming down in an orderly way
To where my toy vessels lie safe in the bay.

This one is sailing and that one is moored:
Hark to the song of the sailors aboard!
And see, on the steps of my palace, the kings
Coming and going with presents and things!

Yet as I saw it, I see it again,
The kirk and the palace, the ships and the men,
And as long as I live and where'er I may be,
I'll always remember my town by the sea.

A few nights ago, Lydia was reading The Wind in the Willows to the younger boys. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Children's Hour, resonated through my head as I snapped some pictures.

I recently bought from Chinaberry this copy of The Wind in the Willows, autographed by the illustrator Robert Ingpen. The pictures are plentiful and gorgeous! They convey the English atmosphere so well.

In the last picture she is reading from our very ragged copy of Tove Jansson, Finn Family Moomintroll. We are big fans of the Moomintrolls!

The Children's Hour

Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the Children's Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
O'er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, o blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!

Laurence is seven!

When I asked Laurence what music he wanted for his montage, he promptly replied, "Grieg"!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Joseph Adrian Leo

Joseph Adrian Leo was born May 1st at 11:53 PM. Barely making it for the feast of St Joseph the Worker. He was 8lb 5oz. and 22 inches long. It was a long labor, that started in the wee hours of May 1st, but Kristie did a wonderful job!

Leo, 12 hours old.

The little boys like to call themselves Muncles , a cross between monkey and uncle. I think it suits them well. ;o)

Muncle Matthias

Muncle Dominique
Muncle Laurence, and Maman Kristie.

Muncle Felix

Kristie's little brother and her mother.

Maman Kristie and Papa Augustin.


I finally decided on a grandma's name, Mamie (pronounced "Ma" as in matter and "mie" as in Do Re Mi). Michel used to call is beloved maternal grandmother Mamie. I really like the name, and his grandmother was a saintly woman (mother of 12 and grandma of 60!), a good grandma to emulate!

And grandpa is Papadu (pronounced Papadoo!)!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Music: You Speak the Language of Flowers, Connie Dover

Madalyn and Emma's Baptism, and Michel's birthday!

Madalyn Jane and Emma Louise were baptized last Sunday. It was a beautiful ceremony. Michel and I are the proud godparents of Madalyn, and Augustin and Kristie are delighted to be Emma's.


I baptize you in the name of the Father...

And of the Son...


And of the Holy Spirit...

As Father finished these words Madalyn let out a big "wow"!

I wish we had captured this on video. It was so precious!

On the way home she exclaimed, "God gave me a bath!"



Emma was (is) like a little angel.


It was also Michel's birthday!

Being a special day for Madalyn too, he let her blow the candles.


Chrism oil!!! Michel LOVES chrism oil (this one is not blessed of course). How appropriate to receive some today!

What a blessed day!