Weeks 27 & 28 In Review

The past two weeks in pictures: 

We've had a nice balance of rainy and warm days - it's been a great summer for outdoor fun and for our garden!  Here's a picture of one of the pleasant rainy days.  

The last week of June was our Totus Tuus Week.  William was able to serve for a few of the Masses.

 The kids loved Totus Tuus and had a great week.  

 Thomas and John and I spent a couple mornings at the Library rather than make the 20 minute drive 4 times in a day (Mass was at 11:30am) and the kids were at Totus Tuus from 9am-3pm.

 We had the Totus Tuus team over for dinner on Friday night and the kids had so much fun with them - there were some tears when they had to say goodbye.

 We went to visit Grandpa John's and he gave Phil some rocks to use for our shrine.  

 We also had some fun in Grandpa John's Row boat on their pond. 

 The day of the 4th of July arrived and the kids were super excited to set off our fireworks. All day long they were asking when they could set them off!

Ready for Independence day Mass :-)

 Some of the really large rocks were delivered by tractor - the kids had fun on the tractor. 

 We went to the Fairfax Parade and had great seats and got so much candy that we won't need to do any trick-or-treating this year. The candy jar is stocked! :-)

 We set off the fireworks that evening only to find out it was all smoke....apparently only sparklers and smoke bombs are legal in Vermont.  The kids still had fun but we journeyed over to Smuggler's Notch to watch some real fireworks that night.

 The kids were able to participate in the Chocolate Olympics at our library - they had a lot of fun completing the chocolate challenges our librarian prepared.

 John loves the chickens!

 Phil was in D.C. this week for a conference and got back at 2 am on Saturday morning.  He had to scramble at the last minute to find a flight home as his original flight was cancelled - we were grateful he made it home!

 While Phil was gone The kids decided to climb the pine tree in an effort to free the rocket's parachute from it's top branches - we have retrieved the rest of the rocket.  The attempt was unsuccessful but I was amazed at how high Miriam could climb and relieved that she was able to get down safely. Thankfully she didn't inherit my fear of heights.  

 A beautiful summer day with the playground in use. 

 William's Lego creation - he and Luke are having so much fun with their Legos.   It's great to see their creativity! 

 Sunday morning fun on the rocks that will be made into our family shrine.  

 

In other news:

On the homeschooling front: In happy news, we received our enrollment letters for next year for the 3 oldest so we are all set to homeschool in Vermont.  I now have a system for creating electronic portfolios for each child that should be a lot less work and cost.  I also have our curriculum ready to go and have been working on our lesson plans for next year for the three oldest and getting the school room ready.  

Looking ahead:  William will be taking part in a wood working class next week in Milton. William's summer sessions at the Stern Center are also starting tomorrow -  he'll have five 2 hour sessions. We're looking forward to checking out a new library this week which is across the street from William's woodworking class.  

We will be hosting some Chinese students for the last 2 weeks of July - we are excited to be part of the exchange program here in Fairfax.  I'll be attending a meeting this week to find out more of the details for their stay.

We're also planning a trip to San Diego in October and can't wait to see family and friends there.  It's been 4 years!!  We may also be stopping in Wisconsin on the way if it all works out as Phil and I were honored to be asked to be godparents for the child of good friends in central WI and we'd love to see Grandma, Aunt Jenny and our many friends there.  

These beautiful summer days are such a gift and I am so grateful for the many blessings God has showered on our family!  It is such a joy to spend time together as a family enjoying our beautiful home here in Vermont and getting to know new friends.  Our prayers are with each of you and we are joined in Christ's love through His Sacred Heart!  Please pray for us - that we radiate Christ's love to all who need to encounter Him and are faithful to His plan for our family!  May God bless your week!