Weeks 35 & 36 In Review

August 22 to September 3rd in pictures: 

School has officially started!  

(Thanks to Angel for taking this picture on our first day of school!)

I've always wanted to have uniforms for our home school "Sancta Familia Academy" and this year it worked out to have them. I'm so excited. I have to admit I just love seeing kids in uniforms. 

 We enjoyed a morning at our local Fairfax Falls with the Gebeau's while they were here.

I was able to attend one of Phil's presentations - it was great to be able to hear his presentation - at least as much of it as John allowed.

 Soccer is in full swing - this was Luke's first evening practice.

 While William was at soccer, Miriam and Luke got to participate in a "spy night" at our local library- they had to break a secret code, make a disguise and get through this tricky obstacle course without setting off the alarms.

Here are some classroom in action shots.  Above is our daily school week schedule.

 Luke and Thomas in their school desks.

The older two hard at work.

Even John has his space in the school room. 

Here is some science in action.  William found a monarch butterfly caterpillar on the milkweed near our home and we dug out our butterfly container to watch the transformation.

Sure enough, within a couple days it formed this chrysalis

We then got to witness the butterfly emerge!

Here's a  picture just before we set if free.   

We've had some beautiful weather - here's a picture of in the woods.  Can you find Luke?

 Here are the youngest two just hanging out in the wagon.

 We have a sunflower in our garden that is 11 feet tall!

William caught a fish while fishing with dad on Saturday.

These little saints are now at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help ready for Mother's Teresa Canonization today. St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!!

What we're up to: 

Our first 2 weeks of school have gone well! We have settled into our new routine - as much as this is possible with 5 small children - and are enjoying the challenges and joys of homeschooling. Now if I can just get the toddler to play quietly all day....

We'll be attending a conference in New York on Sept. 25th - Inspire Called to Love. It's completely free including child care and lunch. I'm really excited because they have some pretty amazing speakers Bishop Robert Barron and George Wiegel and our own Bishop Coyne.  

Just a few short weeks until our trip to San Diego! We are so excited to see family in San Diego in October! 

And the big news: We again stand in awe at God's plan for our family as He guides each step of our way. As many of you know, Phil felt called to discern the diaconate about 6 years ago and entered into formation in La Crosse Diocese.  God then called us out of central Wisconsin and has led us an unexpected but joyful journey which has taught us to surrender completely to His plan and see the beauty of trusting completely in His loving care. Again, in Green Bay, Phil entered into formation just before God called us to move to Vermont where Phil as part of his interview process mentioned to Bishop Coyne that he felt called to the diaconate and asked about formation here. Bishop Coyne, to our surprise, joy, and awe at God's plan, has decided to ordain Phil to the diaconate on February 11, 2017 - the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. He will be receiving the rite of candidacy on September 15th (Our Lady of Sorrows) and then continue with preparations for this holy sacrament which will join the graces of ordination to the ministry God has called him to through his work in the diocese for the Church and her work of evangelization. Praise the Lord for His many blessings! Please pray for our family as we continue this journey of service under Our Lady's guidance. You are each in our daily prayers!  

September in Review

We had a busy September here.  We began homeschooling, Phil entered formation for becoming a deacon with the Diocese of La Crosse and we took a family trip to San Diego for my brother's wedding (which entailed my flying alone with the three kids).  All three were major (and some even life changing) events for our family and required a lot of preparation and time.  Of course every day with three little ones goes by quickly;  I feel like I blinked and September was gone!  Before any more time gets away from me - here's an update from our family:

Major Event #1: We officially began our homeschooling!

Getting ready to go to Mass on our First day of school

William and Miriam began kindergarten and preschool respectively at Sancta Familia Academy (our homeschool) on September 6th.  We began our day with Mass at St. James Catholic Church which is the closest church to our house. I feel like I've been preparing for this day since before William was born so it was so exciting to actually officially begin formal homeschooling though of course the learning never ends.

Miriam in front of the work boxes that help organize our school day.

Look for a post soon that describes a "typical" home school day for us.

Major Event #2: Phil begins formation for the Diaconate for the Diocese of La Crosse

Car packed and ready to go

This one is going to require a separate blog post to explain the discernment journey up to this point but in the mean time you can go here for more details. Technically, Phil began his formation as a deacon aspirant in August.  However, in September we packed the whole family up, including the dog, and went on an overnight trip to La Crosse to participate in a retreat at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe for men in formation to become a deacon and their wives.  It was an exhausting but grace-filled trip for our family and God took care of all the details for us, including helping us find someone to house all of us including the dog and a babysitter to care for the children for part of the retreat.  If God is truly calling Phil to the diaconate now at this stage in our lives-and it sure does seem that way- this is definitely a life changing journey and we are learning to surrender to God's plan for our lives as we walk this path.  

Major Event #3: A Family Trip to San Diego for Uncle Steve's Marriage to Aunt Rosie

Luke traveling in style through the airport

This is Phil's busiest time of the year at work but since my brother was getting married it was time to head to San Diego.  Since I wanted to spend at least a week with my family - who knows when we'll be back again - it meant traveling alone on an airplane with three little kids (ages, 5, 3 and 1).

William puts car stickers on his tray race track

 Thanks to many people's prayers and a little bit of preparation the traveling went very well.  The only major mishap was I lost my drivers license on one of the flights.  We had an amazing time in San Diego.

The kids enjoying Uncle Steve's Pool

  The wedding was beautiful,

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Gomez

and we have some amazing memories from our time with my family.

A huge blessing was spending time with my 101 year old grandfather.

I am so grateful that my children could get to know all their family in San Diego and I hope we'll be able to go back again soon. We miss everyone already!

All the Grand-kids together