St. Patrick's Day Celebration - St. Patrick's Church, Lagro

ST. PATRICK'S DAY CELEBRATION - MARCH 17, 2009
HISTORIC ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH - LAGRO, IN

A very special day and event is nearing for all Catholics, and particularly for the people who support the historic St. Patrick's Church in Lagro, IN. Each year, supporters (known as Friends of St. Patrick's - FOSP) of the beautiful old church, host a soup supper, Mass and evening entertainment. The following is the schedule:

4:30 to 7:30 p.m. - Soup supper at Lagro United Methodist Fellowship Hall. Potato soup, Beef Stew, assorted desserts and refreshments will be served. Donation taken at the door.

5:30 p.m. - Mass at Historic St. Patrick Church - Fr. Sextus Don

7:30 p.m. - Friend's Men Quartet entertaining at the church, donation accepted but not required

Plan on coming for a great meal, Mass and entertainment! Attend all three events, or pick and choose what suits you best!

Every time an event takes place at Historic St. Pat's, I hear someone say, "I've lived here my whole life and never been inside this church before." I would like to help erase this problem! If you receive this Blog, please forward it to at least ten people you know who are interested in St. Patrick's, are Catholic, from the Lagro area, interested in the refurbished Erben organ, or like to wear green! We need to get the word out that this Historic church - on the National Register of Historic Places - is a wonderful asset to the Ft. Wayne - South Bend Diocese, to the county of Wabash and to the community of Lagro!

In closing, I share with you St. Patrick's Evening Hymn:

O Christ, Son of the living God

May your Holy Angels guard our sleep,

May they watch us as we rest

And Hover around our beds.

Let them reveal to us in our dreams,

Visions of your glorious truth,

O High Prince of the universe,

O High Priest of the mysteries,May no dreams disturb our rest,

And no nightmares darken our dreams,

May no fears or worries delay our sleep,

Our willing, prompt repose.

May the virtue of our daily work

Hallow our nightly prayers,

May our sleep be deep and soft,

So our work be fresh and hard.

(Pray recited at Friends of St. Patrick's meetings at the close of each meeting.)

HOPE TO SEE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU NEXT TUESDAY, MARCH 17!!!

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Birthdays to You!!!

We had a very busy weekend celebrating Valentine's Day and two very important birthdays! The first picture shows Alison, modeling her "tutu" that she received from Valentine's Day. She asked Jesus for it, and then mommy and daddy told her maybe she should ask Cupid!! Funny!

Picture Number 2 is Madison, our niece who turned 13 on Valentine's Day. Her mom and dad threw her a surprise party (family only) and once she was over her embarrassment at being the center of attention, I think actually enjoyed being celebrated!

Picture Number 3 is Izabielle. She will be 3 on February 17 and her daddy had a party for her at Mcdonald's. What a time that was! Kids everywhere having a great time. Izi was so excited at the presents, the cake, the fun!

It is hard to believe all that has come and gone in our lives in thirteen years, but for sure the most important are Madison (13), Danielle (10), Gabrielle (6), Izabielle (3) and Alison (2).

The End of the Season and Happy New Year

The girls came to visit for a couple of days last week before school started back up. They were so busy with all the presents from Christmas, and a few that were older than that. The first thing they wanted to do was cut the Barbie dolls hair. Gabi (the oldest) has done this before and most of her Barbie dolls look like Skinheads...nearly bald. After the cutting ceremony, the dolls were thrown into the drink and washed off. It was easier for Izi to jump into the tub with them than to sit on the side and bend over!

This is my normally pulled-together TV room. Not on Thursday and Friday! All the toys from Christmas were in there, waiting to be played with by the Grands!

When the new toys lost their initial appeal, it was on to playdough time. I made the dough for them, then let them knead in food color and have at it with cookie cutters. Homemade playdough is mostly flour and salt (3 C. Flour, 1.5 C salt, 3 T. oil, 1 C. water and food color). Once it dries out, it doesn't stick to anything, which is far better than purchased Playdough which has a tendency to harden and stick like glue to solid surfaces!

Why not use child labor when it is handy? After all, we fed them lunch! With that, the ornaments from the porch tree and the inside tree were lovingly removed from the tree and placed in their boxes. Only three ornaments bit the dust on the porch. Papaw was in charge of making the Christmas tree naked and it amazes me how he can have such authority!!!

When the day is over.....the dolls have been sheared, the new ones played with, Playdough is in the trash, the tree is out the door and the kids still have energy left (while Mimi is ready for a nap) we play the age-old and honored game, "Poke Your Sister's Eye Out." Izi won this round!!

Happy New Year everyone! January is officially upon us. Once we have Ryan's birthday (35 big ones on 1-10), the month will begin to drag on and on and on!!!! Only 82 days until April 1, which I officially call spring and flip-flop weather! I'm making my countdown calendar as soon as I log off!!!

Post-Christmas Wrap-Up

Alison isn't taking any chances! She gives last minute gift ideas to two Santas!!!










I am not sure what the look on Izi's face is from, but obviously Santa didn't do something right. Gabi's expression (left) seems to confirm it: "Yeah, Santa screwed up!"
















Izi (left) and Alison (below) with their new Bitty Baby dolls.

My very favorite Christmas song is "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". In keeping with the song, we certainly had a merry time on Christmas Eve. All our girls, aged 10 and under, makes for a fun time. We had dolls, doll accessories, doll clothes, beauty shop items and other assorted girlie items, all unwrapped and strewn on the rug within five minutes of blast-off.

I had also wanted a "Mary Wagoner" Christmas as part of our Merry Little Christmas. My dear late mother-in-law orchestrated Christmas Eve like a seasoned conductor. First was dinner, then an organized gift event in the living room. Each person had to guess what was in the gift, then unwrap and display to the rest of those assembled. Afterwards, we all took posed pictures for posterity and Grandpa Junior was in charge of cleaning up the wrappings and boxes to make sure nothing of value was thrown away.

I don't know what went wrong, but my Merry Little Mary Wagoner Christmas turned into a Merry Little Griswald Christmas within two seconds. I lost control (my niece suggested that I never HAD control!) , soon after saying "May I have your attention"...... The littlest of the bunch were ripping the paper, trying to open the boxes, perusing the contents and going to the next gift. It made for mass confusion and lots of fun! After all, anyone can have organization....it takes nerves of steel to let the spirit of Christmas take over and not suggest to a child to WAIT!!! I am sure Mary Wagoner was looking down from Heaven with a big smile! After having had 3 sons, she would have absolutely loved all this girlishness we have in our household!!

On Christmas Day we drove to Kitty and Chris' and enjoyed the evening with them. We had a good meal and a great game of Euchre (although Tom and I were beaten severely!). On Friday, we ventured to the mall to return assorted items of Kitty and Chris'. We were the official "Keep Alison Happy" elves while mom and dad stood in the Returns line and then browsed the markdowns for more good deals! Every year, when the season is over and I am revisiting all the moments of the Holiday, I declare that it has been the best Christmas ever. This year was no exception. It truly was the best Christmas ever and all our Grands are at such a wonderful age! Santa is still very real to them and true magic occurs when you look at the wonder of Christmas through the eyes of a child.

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES 2008

We had a great time at Cookie Day. The oldest taught the youngest all about the intricacies of sugar cookies....how to roll them, cut them and ice them. Everyone knew how to eat them!!! In all, about eight dozen cookies were cut and baked, and most of them were decorated and sent home with everyone!

Meet Tom. He turned 64 this week and in two more days, will have been my other half for 42 years. I can't believe how quickly we have spent our time. I am old-fashioned. I still believe in true....smack your face and fall down stupid...love. I met Tom at 16 and just knew he was "the one." For me, Tom's humor and zest for living (especially Ball State Football) keep me going. He sees humor in absolutely everything and that is important in this world....and sometimes even more so in our life. Thanks, hon, for just being you.

Gabi, age 6 and in Kindergarten, is absolutely thrilled to be learning to read. Here, she is
reading to Uncle Chris.



We are now down to the final few days before Christmas. It's the best week of the year for many of us. Family, memories, and one moment at some time on Christmas Eve when the world seems peaceful.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Sleep in heavenly peace.....

The Christmas Tree and the Christmas Card

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Eight years ago we built an "Indiana Room" on our house. I call it that because I was inspired to want this room after visiting my aunt Velva in Florida and enjoying her Florida Room so much. Our Indiana Room is knotty-pine paneled, with skylights and a cathedral ceiling. The first year the room was built, we envisioned a living tree in the room and sought out one that would reach to the ceiling. We eventually found it and enjoyed it immensely that year.
Since then, the kids have come to look forward to the "big tree on the back porch". (Call it Indiana Room if you want....to a kid it is the back porch and a Frazier Fir is just one hunkin' big tree). We always go for a 9-footer. It is always sub-freezing when it is time to put on the lights and the decorations. But when finished, the effect is always breathtaking. This year, I went solely with colored balls on the tree. I raided my mom's attic to gather balls from when I was a kid. I also found glass ornaments of animals. I don't really remember these as a kid but mom assures me they were on our tree....a dog, a deer, a cat.....totally secular Christmas ornaments for sure!! The tree is once again beautiful. It totally takes over the Indiana Room.
I asked my Grands what they thought of the tree the first time they saw it and the answer was so childlike that it made me laugh. "Mimi, that tree is just so BIG and so pretty." I have to agree. I love the smell, the grandeur and wish that I could keep it up until spring!

THE CHRISTMAS CARD

Okay, so I wasn't going to send Christmas cards this year. After all, each card (even cheap ones) cost a minimum of 42 cents to mail. Not being one to ever go cheap, my cards are always pictures of the Grands, which means adding another 9 cents or more to each card. On top of that, my returns have been diminishing in the past few years. Oh yeah, I keep track.....I have a book. It tells me who I get cards from each year.

But, this past year I decided to forget cards. First of all, it had been a bummer of a year (and you all know what I mean). I couldn't write an upbeat little family note about how wonderful everything had been in 2008 because it hadn't been wonderful at all. It had been stressful, heartbreaking and taxing. If it weren't for Beringer's Pino Grigio, I wouldn't have survived. On top of that, my Hallmark program that I used for addresses crashed in mid-June. Yet another good reason to ditch the Christmas card effort this year. I blog. I could send Christmas wishes via blog....except I don't have everyone's e-mail address that I send cards to. Some....many, do not have e-mail addresses because they were born pre-electronic era.

I finally decided about mid-November to send out a few cards this year. I asked my daughter for her wedding address list, which had been my address list six years ago. It was then that my mind was changed. At least 20 people on that list had either moved and left no forwarding address (to us anyways) ....died....divorced...and were no longer a part of our lives. These were people we loved enough to invite to our daughter's wedding and now.....kaput....I hadn't heard from them in years.

The realization that people whom I thought were important enough to be a part of such a special day as our daughter's wedding had simply vanished from our lives, prompted me to reinstitute the Christmas Card List. Forget that half of the ones I send will go to people who never send to me, or never send cards. I don't care. Life is just too short to not send greetings once a year to those you know and love. Of course, many of my email friends won't get a snail mail. But many others will. I don't think they will care one way or the other. They know they are a part of my life and I love them.

As I put pictures of my Grands in card after card, and write a little note here or there, my idea of what Christmas is all about returns to me. For Becki anyway, Christmas isn't about all the presents. It is about the month of December being the one time of the year that I take the time to enjoy all those around me. Granted, I should be doing this all year long, but practicality being what it is, I simply do what has to be done the other eleven months of the year. In December, I wax nostalgic. I cry at Folger Coffee commercials when the soldier is waiting on the stairsteps for his folks to awaken on Christmas Day.....I go to grade school programs and enjoy every chorus of offkey singing....I lovingly wrap each present and envision how it will be received....the kids saying "It's just what I've always wanted" and the adults thinking, "How did she know what I wanted, or Good God! not knitted houseslippers again!"

I have nearly 80 cards to get stamped in the next few days. If you get one it is because you were on the mailing list for Kitty's wedding or else you have an address so easy to remember that I could guesstimate what it was and put it on the card.

Come January, when I am putting my cards from this year up for the next, I will count them as I always do. It makes me feel validated to have lots of cards. If I don't have as many this year as in year's past, then I will know that e-mail has taken over. Next year, I may try to use e-mail only. But for this year, the picture of my darling Grands will have to suffice as our greetings to all of you! And, for me anyway, a tradition of traipsing to the post office with a sackful of cards will be honored for one more year at least.

'TIS THE SEASON

Today is November 25, 2008. It is one month to the "Big Day".....A month full of sending out cards, baking cookies, making candy, freezing dishes ahead for the "Big Night before the Big Day", wrapping gifts and storing them, putting up the tree, the tinsel, the garland, the outdoor lights, the indoor lights, changing the CD player in the car to seasonal music, watching It's a Wonderful Life, Meet Me in St. Louis and White Christmas for the 110th time!
Thursday we leave for a mini-vacation. When we get back we join the frenzied race to prepare for the "Big Day." For this reason, I am sending my Christmas wishes for all of you out very, very early!
If you are sent my Blog, then you don't have to be told that the best gifts I have ever received are my four Grands. I share them with you for the season. Think of them as angelic little elves. Once that thought is in your mind.....remember that all gifts have been shipped to great-mimi's house because there is no trust in the house during the month of December....Dani will surely check out the Blog to see if I gave away any secrets (sorry, kid)....Gabi will beg me to tell her what Santa is bringing, except after last week's episode at Walmart, I think her dad had a 3:00 with Santa last Friday and gifts for Gabi are still in question. Only Izi and Alison can be assured of wonderful presents. They truly are still God's littlest angels sent to our lucky family!
Have a most wonderful holiday season. If you don't have children or grandchildren and would like to experience the joys of Christmas through the eyes of a child, I am sure Dani and Gabi can be persuaded to come to your house for the afternoon and share the delights of childhood!
Tom is now out planting trees this morning (light snow, 22 degrees....the Arbor Society assured us the trees would be sent "in time for planting"). Speaking of trees, I am getting ready to put the artificial one up. When we get back from our little vacation, we will install a nine-footer in the sunroom. Frazier Firs are just gorgeous and it will greet our visitors all month long and then be pulled to the forest to serve as protection from the weather for our furry little friends!
From one year to the next, friends and family are what I treasure most! Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel and MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all!