The Cross

"The measure of our courage in carrying the cross is the measure of our love." - St. Teresa of Avila

20th Anniversary Photo Collection

July 1, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of our marriage. God has blessed us in so many ways over the years, and I thought a few pictures would be nice to put on the blog.

1989. Here we are saying our vows. The color is due to the natural light rather than a flash during the wedding:

1990. Our oldest son, Dominick, came along in April:


1991. The following year brought us our first daughter, Bernadette. She looks very serious in the picture:


1992 is the year we were blessed with Theodore. He slept through the shoot while I had to hold Dominick:


1993. Nathaniel arrived right before the end of 1993. I recall going to the department 'Holiday' party a few days earlier, and everyone kept grabbing Carolyn's belly. It just drove me nuts - I would never do that to someone else's wife! Note a recurrent theme in this picture: sleeping baby and squirming older brother.



1995. Augustine was born in March of that year. Dominick and Theodore were just doing their own thing when this picture was taken. Theodore had a red ball in his hand that we could not get away from him.



1996. San Antonio, Texas. Benedict was just a few months old when we moved to Texas. This was our almost last time getting our picture done at one of those 'studios.'


1997. After four boys in a row, Genevieve joined us in June. She was the first Texas Native, the first Air Force baby(at least on while we were on active duty), and our largest baby to date. The Air Force didn't believe in inducing labor, so she was born on her due date at 11#, 4 oz. No obstetrician has let Carolyn go full term since. Here Genevieve is giving a big Texas Howdy! to all the folks:

1998/1999. This picture is either really late 1998 or early 1999, because Jacinta was born in December of 1998. Also, there is no way we would be wearing jackets in the summer in San Antonio.



1999. One day after our 10th anniversary, we lost our first child when Carolyn had a miscarriage at about two months. We named our little one Anastasia Innocent. This was a painful lesson in realizing just how much our children are a gift from God, whether we have them for years on Earth or just a picture on an ultrasound.

Several months later, our parish started to put together a directory with family photographs. On summer evening we posed for this picture in a sweltering office. The photographer later disappeared with all the money he had collected, leaving just proofs behind. Some of the children were noticeably wilting in the photo:



2000/2001. January, 2001 shows that we learned our lesson, and we now take all family pictures during the cooler Texas months. No more August photo shoots. Cornelius was born in August, 2000. He was the first complete 'civilian' child we had, as I had separated from the Air Force in July, 2000.

2001. September 9, 2001, Marcellinus was born, and he came home on 9/11.



2003. In 2002, we moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. One of our wildest adventures in this neck of the woods was building a house. Here we are posing in front of it with our first Dallas child, Maximilian:




2005. You can barely tell we are posing around one of our tractors in this picture. Our youngest daughter, ZelieLouisa is sitting on Carolyn's lap. Note the brown grass - that is what happens when it doesn't rain for months.



2006. Note the boys are getting bigger in each picture. Our numbers have not grown, despite our prayers for more children.



2007. Once again, the joy of a new life became sadness as we lost another child at just a few weeks after conception. This year we posed by our picture of Divine Mercy, and we took consolation in the prayer which ends with the words "....Your Will, which is love and mercy itself."


2008. In the picture above, Theodore stood by the picture of Divine Mercy, with his head inclined toward it. Theodore died suddenly on April 3, 2008. In the picture below, we included his portrait as a reminder of how much he remains in our hearts.

2009. This photo montage helps explain why for years the customary greeting I would hear was, "how are you? Is Carolyn pregnant?" It appeared that those days were over, but God smiled on us again, and in January of 2009 we were blessed with another son, Bernard. He is a blessing to all of us, and here he is braving the 100+ heat in San Antonio last weekend:

Our life together has been blessed beyond our comprehension with our children and friends, and most importantly our Faith. We have tried to do the Will of God in our marriage, and in particular we have been open to life since the the beginning. Over the years, rather than wishing for this part of our lives to end, we find ourselves praying and begging God for more children. Our children are the only gifts we have on Earth that can follow us to Heaven, and we intend to see all of our children there one day.

I recall a comment from a book on marriage which has stuck with me for years. It said that choosing a good spouse would bring a bit of Heaven into the marriage. I have been blessed with my wife Carolyn. She is my best friend, and she is motivated by the desire to see her husband and all of her children get to Heaven. It helps that she loves God so much, for I can be difficult at times. I thank God for my wife, and I thank Carolyn every day for saying 'I do' to me twenty years ago.

UPDATE, DECEMBER 30, 2009!

LATEST FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH:

Front Row: Genevieve(12) holding Bernard(11 months), Marcellinus(8), Cornelius(9), and Maximilian(6)
Middle Row: Carolyn(young), ZelieLouisa(4) held by Bernadette(18), Benedict(13), Jacinta(11), Stephen(old)
Back Row: Augustine(14), Nathaniel(16 today, 12.30.2009!), Dominick(19)

UPDATE: HERE IS OUR VIDEO COMMEMORATING OUR 21ST ANNIVERSARY:



ANOTHER UPDATE: A PICTURE FROM CHRISTMAS, 2010:
...and for good measure, here is a picture of Carolyn and I from over the Summer. Carolyn is so beautiful, and I am so blessed to be her husband.






YET ANOTHER UPDATE:  Here is our latest picture from January, 2013.  Note that the children are getting bigger while we seem to be shrinking.  Also, the photographer neatly arranged it so the Native Texans are all in the front row, while the 'Northerners' are in the back.  Actually, since I was born in California I should be in a row all by myself.

Back Row, Left to Right:  Nathaniel (19), Augustine (18), Carolyn, Stephen, Dominick (22), Bernadette (21), and Benedict (16)

Front Row (The Native Texans): Marcellinus (11), Genevieve (15), Maximilian (10), Bernard (4), ZelieLouisa (7), Jacinta (14), and Cornelius (12)  

Prayer for Priests in this Year of the Priest

Dear Lord,
we pray that the Blessed Mother
wrap her mantle around Your priests
and through her intercession
strengthen them for their ministry.

We pray that Mary will guide Your priests
to follow her own words,
"Do whatever He tells you."

May Your priests have the heart of St. Joseph, Mary's most chaste spouse.
May the Blessed Mother's own pierced heart inspire them to embrace all who suffer
at the foot of the cross.

May Your priests be holy,
filled with the fire of Your love,
seeking nothing but Your greater glory
and the salvation of souls.

Amen.

Volition

Aardvark Update

The Aardvark started the celebration for 190,000 miles a bit early, with a mysterious 'Check Engine' light appearing on the dashboard.

Contingency

Hot blowing wind on a Saturday afternoon
with a bit too much gasoline in the air
I stopped, clearing dirt and grass off the radiator housing
(otherwise the Yamaha engine dies in the far end of the field)
distracted by a glimmer of reflected sunlight
made by gasoline spraying over the muffler
like Asperges only evaporating faster
I did the math, realizing one last leg of the triangle - oxygen, fuel source, spark -
was all that kept me from taking up long term residency at Parkland, complete with debridements, duodenal feeding tubes
and the burning technical question whether Precedex ever replaced ketamine

Birthday Thoughts

Today my second-oldest daughter turns 12 years old, and although I am presently crashing a wedding recwption, my thoughts and prayers are with her. God bless you, sweetheart!

Where is the Sacrifice?

Where is the sacrifice when the menu for tonight's dinner consists of:

Grilled salmon
Grilled Mahi-Mahi Tuna
Grilled yellow squash from our own garden
Homemade macaroni and cheese(for those who do not eat fish)
Fresh fruit

Don't get me wrong. I love meat, especially chicken and beef, and barbecue is one of those things which is done best in Texas. But grilled seafood is what made me realize that there is more to life than tuna fish and fish sticks. Recall that I am still observing a vow which I included in this posting.

For a picture of grilled Mahi-Mahi, look here.

Skyline Drive, Northern Virginia, September 2008.

Squash Anyone

After torrential rains here in North Texas, we harvested a bunch of squash, a few peas(they seem to be dying out), and thinned the carrots and scallions. Praise God for the gifts from the garden of Texas delights!

Garden harvest

I picked some peas, beans, and thinned the carrots this evening. There will be some yellow squash and zucchini ready for picking later this week.

It Smells Like A New Car Around Here.....

Yup. The Aardvark, which is looking at 190,000 miles, has been replaced by another fine product from Ford Motor Company. It will still be kept as a 'short hop' errand car for the youngsters. It was paid for a long time ago, and it still runs well. I just did not want it to suffer a major breakdown while making the 30+ mile trip each way to my work.

The new car, a Ford Escape Limited, satisfied our requirements for a Texas vehicle while also providing better gas mileage for commuting. The only thing I have to do now is finish the owner's manual. The instructions for the instrument panel, with all the interfaces for cell phone and iPod and other things, is a short novel in itself. I told my best beloved that we should go on a road trip so she can read the manual and figure it all out so she can tell me what to do.

By the way, we celebrated the birthday of Wifeofdadwithnoisykids on Tuesday! I cannot thank God enough for the blessing of my wife. I cannot thank her enough for marrying me and being such a wonderful wife and mother of my children.




We shall name the new car after it has been blessed.

First Fruits

The first two green beans from our garden. There is a lot of squash growing up, which I shall photograph later.

Commentary from the Road Without Turning

Roadrunner

Bonfire

First, we made a pile of brush.

This took more than a year; in fact, some of the wood in this pile was cut when we were building the house back in 2003. One pile of wood was left near our neighbor's house, so we had to haul that pile onto the back part of our property so we wouldn't smoke Mr. and Mrs. L. out.

The rest of the wood was collected from various projects on our land, from one end to the other.

Then I waited for the right time. Since this pile was completed in the Summer of 2008, I planned on burning it during the rainy season, some time in November, in North Texas. God had other plans, since we did not have much rain for the remainder of 2008 up until this March. I had to wait for the burn ban to lift.

I also wanted to burn this pile on a day when I had no other obligations(i.e., no call), and the weather consisted of drizzles with not much wind. So after a late start on mowing the grass, we got rained out, and that is when the boys started pushing for a bonfire. I am a pushover for setting things on fire.

To be on the safe side, I called the sheriff's office to verify that the burn ban was lifted. Not only was it lifted, but the nice lady on the phone took my name and number so they could reassure anyone who called to report a fire that it was just a bunch of right wing nut jobs clinging to their guns and religion. More importantly, they would not send the fire/rescue folks unless I called them.

This is probably far more information than you wanted to read about a bonfire in North Texas. So, without further ado, here are three videos of the brush pile/bonfire:




Then today, between torrents of rain, we set fire to said brush pile:



Within a short time, the pile was reduced to coals, which would have been great for a barbecue. All of us were standing around the fire at 3 o'clock, so Max led the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.



When the fire was reduced to a pile about two feet tall and five feet in diameter, the heavens opened up and soaked us(and the fire). It was as if God was telling us that we had had enough fun for the day and it was time to make dinner.

Some of you might think that a better way to eradicate this pile of wood should have been used. I did think about that, and I came to the conclusion that this was the best way to minimize the ecological impact of clearing the brush. Any other way, be it shredding or carting it away, would have used up far more gasoline than what was used here; besides, moving the pile would have just made it someone else's problem.

Now to go hug some trees....


The fire inspired me to write some bad poetry. What could be more romantic than a brush fire in your back yard, and a Haiku to go along with the occasion? Basho would be proud. Read on:

Like this here bonfire
I am consumed with a love
for you, not Haiku.

SMD
5.2.2009

Burning Love

Enkindle my heart
with love for Thy Heart alone
never to die out.

SMD
5.2.2009

Reminiscere

The Default Picture Walrus was looking for the reference to 'Exsurge quare obdormis' and 'Reminiscere.' He found it here.

Good Shepherd Sunday Meditation

This is a selection from the 2008 Midnight Mass Homily of Pope Benedict XVI. Food for thought on Good Shepherd Sunday:

"Let us think of those children who are victims of the industry of pornography and every other appalling form of abuse, and thus are traumatized in the depths of their soul."

"The Child of Bethlehem summons us once again to do everything in our power to put an end to the suffering of these children; to do everything possible to make the light of Bethlehem touch the heart of every man and woman."

"Only through the conversion of hearts, only through a change in the depths of our hearts can the cause of all this evil be overcome, only thus can the power of the evil one be defeated."

"Only if people change will the world change; and in order to change, people need the light that comes from God, the light which so unexpectedly entered into our night."



'The Road Without Turning' is the name of a short story by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, which appears in the book Spies and More Spies, edited by Robert Arthur.

Aardvark at 187 000 miles

The Aardvark rolled past 187,000 miles this week, and the aardvarks had a visitor for the occasion. I think it might be time for the aardvarks to have 'the talk.'

DIVINE MERCY MESSAGE

"No man in the wrong can stand up against a fellow that's in the right and keeps on a-comin'"

Capt. Bill McDonald, Texas Ranger

HAPPY EASTER!

Jesus Christ is Risen!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

I was going to show some pictures of some non-edible things I planted today, but my PDA cell phone is taking forever to synchronize with the computer. Perhaps Monday.

Last Monday night we had a freeze which killed most of the plantings I did the previous weekend. I originally thought all the okra died, but I think some may be pulling through. Some of my children did a jig of mourning when they heard the okra did not survive...

I also made a trellis for the peas to grow on. They are already stretching little vines out to climb into the sky.

And now, in lieu of pictures, I present



A Political Time Out

I got this from a non-political discussion list I subscribe to. Usually they discuss anything but what the discussion list is for. I don't know who wrote this, but come the revolution, they will surely be punished:

I have to admit it. My liberal friends were right.

They told me if I voted for McCain, the nation's hope would deteriorate.

Sure enough, there has been a 20 point drop in the Consumer Confidence Index since the election, reaching a lower point than any time during the Bush administration.

They told me if I voted for McCain, the US would become more deeply embroiled in the Middle East.

Sure enough, tens of thousands of additional troops are scheduled to be deployed into Afghanistan.

They told me if I voted for McCain, that the economy would get worse.

Sure enough, unemployment is approaching 8.8% and climbing , the new stimulus packages implemented recently have sent the stock market lower than at any time since 9-11.


They told me if I voted for McCain, we would see more "crooks" in high ranking positions in Federal government.

Sure enough, several recent cabinet nominees and Senate appointments revealed resumes of bribery and tax fraud.

Well I ignored my Democrat friends in November and voted for McCain.

And they were right.... all of their predictions have come true.


This is very humble of this man to recognize that he was wrong and his Democrat friends were right.

Theodore's Memorial Video

Thanks to Facebook, I am able to embed the video tribute which was played at Theodore's Wake. After this photo montage, we also showed the two videos of Theodore singing:

Garden Progress

Some views of the garden, with some of the vegetables planted: After tilling the soil, we put down this biodegradable barrier which is supposed to limit weed growth, hold moisture, and make your children's teeth straight while they sleep. All we had to do was cut a hole in the barrier and plant our little peat pots into the gumbo - I mean, soil.

That is my shadow running along the fence line. I took the picture while standing up on the tractor.
Another view. We planted beans, peas, zucchini, two types of yellow squash, carrots, tomatoes(Cherry and Roma), and OKRA! We are Texans, you know.

Here are the bones of some unfortunate ram or goat critter which was carried onto our property after dining. There was an empty jar of mint sauce with it....
And finally, here is the ubiquitous Texas brush pile. We were moving some of the wood from the front part of our property and I decided to place it right on top of a large patch of prickly pear cactus. I figured I could eliminate two things with one fire.

I got to thinking about when to burn this brush pile, and then it hit me. St. Patrick lit a bonfire on Easter - rather, at sunset on Holy Saturday. What better time to burn our little patch of flammable Ireland than on this coming Saturday? Of course, several criteria would have to be met: verification that the burn ban for the county is lifted, standby water, minimal wind, and some other issues would all have to fall into place. I am hoping I could start a new Irish tradition on our property, and I am certain I could come up with a pile of brush just as large next year!
Now that I have thrilled you with the photographs, here are a couple of videos of the garden/property work:



Watch little brother almost take out big brother with a stick throw:

Random Thoughts

This has been a busy time at the Noisykid household. Work, extracurricular activities, and just keeping things going has made it harder to blog. Part of it is because I have a Facebook page, and it is really easy to put something on there without much thought. Blogging - believe it or not, is more intellectually challenging than Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, I actually culled a lot of people off my friends list. Nothing personal, but I spent too much time wading through 'bandwidth' produced by various adults putting on a lot of links to things that I found distracting. I had to get back to the original purpose for Facebook: spying on my children.

Also, we are looking to get a garden going. Here are the little peat pots with seeds in them:

Beans, peas, tomatoes, squash(several kinds), cilantro, watermelon, and carrots. We shall see what grows and thrives in North Texas. We tried growing peppers but something ate the little sprouts down to the roots.

I can't think of where my inspiration for starting a garden came from.....



Nope, not there....

Give me a break, or give me a [redacted] break, to quote our Vice-President. The First Lady should change into something a little more grungy before she gets out there turning soil.

Actually, my inspiration was the memory of the fresh vegetables we had in 2007 - the last year we had a garden. I really liked the zucchini, carrots, and cilantro which grew well for months before getting burned up over the late Summer.

Then there is our newest little addition, who has us wrapped around his finger.


I shall post more videos of my little son Bernard soon!

In my absence, the world has continued to turn, and our President has continued his tradition of offending the weak and vulnerable, either through passage of legislation or making jokes on a late-night comedy variety show. Nothing is sacred or Presidential to this man voted in:



Compare and contrast the above video clip with that of this backwoods, backwards country hick from some unpolished state in the Northwest:



Scripted? Perhaps, but then some things are worth thinking about before opening one's mouth. Which of the above people demonstrates the "nobless oblige" one would expect of the president?

President Obama's insult to those in Special Olympics is especially painful coming so close to the first anniversary of Theodore's death, which will be this Friday, April 3.

New House

Some of the Noisykids have built a new house!