It's all Good

We have a solution to the game/party problem!! Wise sister-in-law suggested moving the party time back by a couple of hours, which would allow me to go to the playoff game and hubby to be at the party! It still gives us plenty of time to enjoy the potluck and the saintly activities. She's brilliant, I tell ya....

Good News, Bad News

Well, the good news is that teenage son's varsity soccer team won their first-round playoff game last night! Congratulations Stevens Cardinals!!!!
The bad news is that the second round game is on Saturday at 2pm in Hopkinton (1.5 hours from here), which interferes with the Harvest/All Saints Day potluck we are hosting at our house (well, garage).
I guess the plan is to divide and conquer. I will have to miss the game, and hubby and teen son will miss part of the party.....oh dear.

Click here for the article on the soccer game.

Hard words

Apparently, little Princess, age 3, was craving an egg roll after a recent Sunday Mass. After she was buckled into her car seat, she began repeating, "Let's go to BF Say." Astute teenage brother concluded that she wanted to go to East Buffet (a local Chinese buffet). He made many attempts to get her to pronounce the name of the restaurant correctly:

Brother: "Say East"
Sister: "East"
Brother: "Say Buffet"
Sister: "Buffet"
Brother: "Now say it all together."
Sister: "BF Say"

They repeated the above 10 times or so, both brother and sister becoming frustrated. Finally, after a pause, little sister says:

"Let's go to McDonalds."
:)

Vote life!

This is not a graphic video and is safe for all viewers. It is an excellent portrayal of just where these candidates stand on the issue of life. Go. Watch.

Soccer Jamboree 2008

Here are some pix my mother-in-law took at the Soccer Jamboree last Saturday. Great pix, Mom. The boys "helped" me create the slide show and chose the Superstar theme:)

The Big Dogs

Wow, what a Saturday! Two soccer jamborees for the Sweet boys. Youngest Sweet boy, 6, had a K-2 jamboree in the morning. Round Robin play with 4 other teams. They won 3 out of 4. Although young Mr. Sweet is in 1st grade, he is the size of a 3rd grader, plus he has older brothers he plays soccer with and they are merciless. So, the whistle blows and Sammy takes the ball, dribbles through the tiny bodies of teammates and opponents and puts the ball in the net. It was the beginning of a productive day for the Sweet boys! In all, Sammy scored 4 goals. One he kicked so hard that he knocked the goal over! He's a big strong boy! He also came to the aid of a little friend who was, in his opinion, being defended a bit too aggressively by a girl on the opposite team. With concern etched in his features, he grabbed the girl and pulled her away from his friend. She continued being aggressive, and Sam would have tossed the girl to the ground if Daddy hadn't intervened. I think I'm just going to chalk this up to chivalry and pray for the best.:)

There were no altercations in the afternoon jamboree for the 3rd and 4th graders, but there was a HEALTHY dose of competitive juice flowing, both on the field and on the sidelines as two sports-minded dads set their sights on another undefeated team from our town. These dads felt that the other team was a little over-confident, and as our team, St. Mary's, was also undefeated, they were eager to see this matchup. (It won't take long for my tiny audience to know who one of those competitive dads is) Surprisingly, the game quickly became lopsided, as Middle Sweet Son and his friend Austin (son of the OTHER competitive dad) teamed up to pass and score and pass and score and ..... Well, you get the picture. It was a blow out. Each boy ended up with 4 goals in the game (and probably 4 assists each). The final score was 8-1. The coach is usually pretty even-keeled and focuses on improving skills and having fun, downplaying winning sometimes. Apparently, she had been rubbed the wrong way by this team also, because normally she will keep Ethan and Austin up front and let them score a few goals and then she puts them on defense or in the goal to even out the score a little. Well, they never played defense the entire game! As Competitive Dad #1 (Scott) phrased it, "She's keeping the big dogs up front." Middle Sweet Son liked that phrase. A lot.

In other news, oldest Sweet son scored the game winning goal in his street hockey game, which took place simultaneously with the Jamboree. The final score was 1-0. Apparently, he gave all he had to notch that goal, because after he scored he left the court and vomited on the sidelines....hardcore!
To round out the day, Cousin LL scored 2 goals and had one assist for his middle school team's Jamboree the same day! Congratulations, L!
It was a very productive and successful day all around for these sports freaks minded kids!

John McCain, Hysterical!!

The Big Game

The date has been marked on the calendar for weeks. This was the big one. The big soccer game versus the high school from the town we used to live in (the one hubby and I grew up in!) After having to miss the last game against this archrival school, teenage son was especially eager to play this game.
The stakes were higher for this game, though, than the last. This game was for the Bernard Cup. The Bernard Cup trophy travels to the school of the winning team for the year, until the next game. The "cup" game is played in memory of Charles Bernard, a soccer-loving Claremont man who died young. His brother, Ray, coached many seasons of soccer at Stevens high school several years ago. Ray is a personal friend of our family, and this year agreed to step back into his coaching role as Assistant Coach of the Boys Varsity Soccer team, giving this year's "cup" game deeper significance for the boys on the field.
And did they play! Any game between these two high schools tends to be very physical and high intensity. Tonight was no exception. The opposing team tends to get really excited for this game, displaying high adrenaline, strange, colorful haircuts (what does that have to do with soccer?)and much emotion. Our boys met their intensity (without the weird hair...mostly) and raised them an adrenaline rush or two. It was a hard fought, physically demanding battle. In the end, Stevens came out on top 2-1! The Bernard Cup was coming home to Claremont!
Coach Bernard and many family members crowded around the team bench after the game celebrating. Hugs, tears, pictures, more hugs, handshakes, and congratulations abounded. It was an emotional time for the Bernard family and the boys were proud to be able to provide them with that moment.
Teenage son had a great game..."the game of his life"...as one parent said to him. The celebrating continued on the ride home when police cruisers and firetrucks met us at the city limits and led a parade of the team and spectator busses and fans and parents in a long line of cars throughout Claremont with lights flashing and sirens and horns blaring the good news! What a sight! What a great night for the boys! I know it is one they will never forget.

A Visit to Augustus St. Gauden's National Historic Site

My sister-in-law and I have been introducing our children to art and different artists. We were amazed last year at the impact on the children of the little bit of art we gave them, so we knew we needed to continue. The logical place to begin a formal artist study, we concluded, was in our own back yard. My house is 10 minutes from St. Gauden's National Historic Site. How many times have I been there? Well, counting yesterday....two. After introducing the children to Augustus St. Gaudens and his work over the past couple of weeks, and having them try their own hands at sculpting, we visited the National Historic Site in Cornish, NH. This is the only National Historic Site in New Hampshire! On the beautifully manicured grounds were his house, Aspet, the new gallery and atrium (where the kids were fascinated, not by art, but by the frogs in the atrium pool), Augustus St. Gauden's own studio, a visitor's center and the ravine studio, where an artist-in-residence works. She showed us her work and explained the fascinating process of sculpting, molding and casting.
Hedges abounded on the property, creating small outdoor rooms which were adorned with ASG sculptures and beautiful flower beds. My oldest son, who is currently reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, found and photographed ASG's bas-relief sculpture of RLS. Apparently, RLS was a friend to Augustus and probably a member of the Cornish Colony, a group of artists, authors,and other "elite" of the period, who gathered and lived in Cornish in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a great field trip, enhanced by the gorgeous surroundings, perfect autumn weather and "peak" foliage as only New Hampshire can provide!

I'm just glad she's not the pilot!!!

The following are comments made over the mic by a flight attendant on the last leg of my recent trip to Ohio and back. It was an evening flight (landing at 10 p.m.), but I'm not sure the hour had anything to do with it.
"There will be no smoking on this flight....even for medicinal purposes"
Instructions for life vest:
"Pull the toilet seat cover over your head..."
"If the cabin of the aircraft experiences a drop in air pressure, these 'I can't believe it's not butter' cups will fall from above..."
"Free oxygen...one of the perks"
"If you are traveling with kids....we feel sorry for you, but make sure you stabilize yourself first and then attend to your child. If you are traveling with more than one child, strap the mask on the kid you love best."
"If you are afraid of the person sitting next to you, push the button with the hairy lightbulb"
"To enhance the beauty of your flight attendants, we will be dimming the lights"
After lights are dimmed, she whispers into the mic:
"You are getting sleepy...you are not thirsty....you don't want any peanuts...you don't want a pillow or blanket either....you are getting very sleepy...."
After a rough landing (I think we hit the ground at 250 mph...felt like it anyway):
"Whoa, big fella.....smooth as butter."
"Keep your tush to the cush until we come to a screeching halt or turn off the seatbelt light, whichever comes first."
"Thank you for flying Southwest Airlines. It has been a pleasure serving most of you."
"Please be careful opening the overhead compartments. Your stuff may have moved and we don't like paperwork."

Like I said, Thank Goodness she wasn't flying the plane!

I flew out to Steubenville, Ohio last weekend for Parent's weekend. I love being there. The atmosphere on campus was what originally impressed me with the college and it is always a delight to visit. I am so thankful that my daughter has the opportunity to attend Franciscan University. I believe Franciscan University has been given the same charge God gave its namesake, Francis of Assisi...."Go, rebuild my Church."
The feast of St. Francis was celebrated on Saturday with Holy Mass (of course) and a medieval festival. It was even bigger and better than last year. The highlight of the weekend is the Festival of Praise on Saturday night. On Parents' Weekend, it is a Eucharistic Festival of Praise. As the young priest was announcing the order of events for the evening, the crowd started cheering when he mentioned the Eucharist being present. He chuckled and said, "I love this place! There are not many places where, at the mention of Jesus and the Eucharist, the crowd would start cheering "Woot, Woot!" I completely agree with him. I love Franciscan University.
A big thank you to my most wonderful husband for holding down the fort and letting me get away. I love you. Thanks also to my mom and dad, my friend Chris, and my in-laws for their help in watching and transporting kids. God bless you all.