Catching Up

Well, we've got some catching up to do to close out October 2009 and to ring in November (the most fabulous month of the year in my opinion - and it isn't just because of my birthday...)

The Vocations Chalice
We were honored to be the hosts for our Parish's Vocations Chalice for the week beginning on Priesthood Sunday.  I was amazed to read that the Chalice belonged to a LaSalette Missionary!  (The LaSalette Fathers have a special place in my heart, as I grew up attending LaSalette Parishes, and also since my Grandmother gave me the sermons and writings of Fr. Veillard, a LaSalette priest and former pastor of her parish years ago.  These sermons are over 100 years old, yet still speak to the heart today.)  Throughout the day we kept the Chalice on the Dining Room table and we prayed at mealtimes with the Chalice.  Then at night, I'd bring the Chalice up to the boys room and place it on the dresser between their beds and we'd pray for vocations along with our night time prayers.  The boys loved having "The Holy Grail" in their bedroom at night.  Drew and Elliot said that they slept "super good" having the Chalice in the room with them.

The Vocations Chalice, aka "The Holy Grail"

Hmmm, which one is going to be the Priest?

PumpkinFest
Every year since 1988, my parents have had a little shindig called PumpkinFest.  It had humble beginnings:  gather the family together one Saturday afternoon, carve pumpkins, roast hot dogs, tell ghost stories beside the fire,hang out and go on a hayride.  Judges - who remained anonymous until it was time to judge - would decide whose pumpkin was the best.  The creativity - and competition - was such that we had to expand to include categories for the pumpkins:  Freehand, Pattern, Decorated, Kids w/ no help, Kids pattern & Kids decorated.We did it again the next year and the next, and before we knew it we had a full blown family tradition.  The festivites and crowd grew, and it became one of those things that you look forward to even when it is months and months away.  I'd find myself in the Spring looking at something cool and saying to myself, "this would be a good pumpkin idea for PumpkinFest."

As the years passed, we started scaling back on the invitees, eventually settling in pretty much on immediate family and close friends.  It is still a blast and we can still count on some things that will never change such as the Pumpkin Egg Hunt, the Hayride, and my brother-in-law Glenn winning first place with his pumpkin regardless of what it is!

This year, PumpkinFest was in danger of being cancelled.  Pop had come down with fever the night before, so we opted to remain in Kingwood and not take the chance of passing it on to the kids.  The boys were downright bummed.  Halloween was on Saturday, so we made the decision that we'd have our very first PumpkinFest West on Halloween morning.  It was a simple affair with some tables for carving, some hot dogs for munching and some good friends to share it all with.  Everyone seemed to love it and the boys were so excited to have our very own PumpkinFest, that I foresee this as an annual affair.  I was really proud of the boys, especially Elliot and Drew.  Evan is pretty handy with carving tools, but this year, Elliot and Drew really wanted to be independent with their design and cutting/gutting of the pumpkin, so I let them do it alone.  The results are remarkable.  We had the three designs set up for the trick or treaters to vote on as they came to the house for Halloween.  Don't let the others know, but Elliot's pumpkin won by a landslide.

The first annual PumpkinFest West

Elliot hard at work

Drew concentrates

Evan's Masterpiece

Elliot's hard work pays off

Drew's is really good...and creepy when lit (see below)

Wow, look at those pumpkin-shines!

Later that night, we took to the neighborhood with Anakin Skywalker and two Ninjas to demand candy from our helpless neighbors.  No one can resist a Jedi Mind Trick, and even if they wanted to, they wouldn't dare cross a Jedi when his entourage includes two ninjas!  We had a borrowed Lion costume for Dylan, but he only wore it for the photo op.  The next morning, the boys had their candy laid out and there was some rudimentary trading going on.

You will give us all of your candy!

Roar!

All Saint's Morning

Beer Judging
Kim had gone to the store that morning and came back with a "pick your six" six pack of beers and we had a little beer judging going on.  They were all good for the most part.  The only negative came as result of Kim's Party Foul.

Leinenhugel's Fireside Nutbrown Ale - Thumbs Up!

Sam Adam's Boston Lager - Sideways thumb, uh oh!

Kim's Guinness meets an untimely end...definite thumbs down!

Shiner Cheer - Thumbs up with it's peachy flavor!

Saint Arnold's Christmas Ale - Thumbs up.

(Not shown: Kim had an old favorite, Dos Equis Special Lager, which of course is a big thumbs up in our house!)

...for old time's sake...ah, Florida...

Official PumpkinFest
The next weekend we went to Gran and Pop's house for the re-scheduled Official Pumpkin Fest, so we can now say that PumpkinFest celebrated it's 21st birthday!  Wow, that is so hard to believe!!  It was a little weird having it in November, but all the important elements were there, especially the family, and we had a blast.  On the Hayride, we are always saying that we need to come up with some "pumpkin carols" but we never do.  Back in High School, our Chemistry teacher, Mr. Andreyk, went all out for Halloween including a slew of Pumpkin Carols that were usually set to Christmas Carol melodies.  None of us remember any of them.  So this year, we made one up on the fly called the 12 Days of PumpkinFest.  We made it up by naming all those things that we love about PumpkinFest and sang it as the hayride wound throughout the nieghborhood.

So, without further adieu, I give you the 12 Days of PumpkinFest:
One set of pumpkin carving tools
Two pumpkin seeds
Three hot dogs
Four carving lessons
Five orange pumpkins
Six brownies
Seven miles of hayride
Eight pumpkin eggs
Nine marshmallows
Ten winning prizes
Eleven scarecrows
Twelve Glenn victories

Everyone is hard at it

Creativity abounds

Kim gets it just right

This pumpkin is mine

My baby angel pumpkin darlin' doodle dandy

Drew's pumpkin had a scar like Anakin Skywalker

Another pumpkin egg bites the dust.

The hayride

Evan leads the way

Gran's birthday was October 16th, Kim's Mom's birthday was on October 30th, and mine was November 8th, so we took the time for some birthday celebrations before heading home.

Elliot drawing in the dirt at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Pioneer Day
Saturday November 14th was Pioneer Day at Jesse Jones Park in Humble, so we went there and had a great time seeing how it was way back when.  We missed out last year, so it was nice to get back and check it out. This time, Evan and Elliot both showed off their master skills with the bow and arrow.  Up first, Elliot with his third try shot an arrow through a ring earning himself a handsome Large Red Feather.  Not to be outdone, Evan on his second shot, not only shot his arrow through the ring, but also nailed a turkey!  His prize was to keep the turkey to show off to all his friends and family.

Uh oh, a house divided!  This is a new take...

...on a classic photo.  Oh my, how I love, Love, LOVE this picture!!

Led Zeppelin wasn't available, so they brought in the Fretted Friends

Evan shoots

And Scores!!

Ah, to the victor goes the spoils!

Nice shot!

Elliot's Red Feather

Drew got a blue feather just for being so awesome!

Life is good ya'll!!

Love,

Chad, Kim and the Boys

An Insurance Provider's View of Family Planning

Basically, "We'll give you a deal if you want to prevent pregnancy, but you're on your own if you need help getting pregnant.  Sad.  I yearn for the day when pregnancy is not treated as a "condition."

Right Here, Right Now, There is No Other Place I'd Rather Be

The lunch time prayer run yielded some good thoughts today.  First and foremost is the importance of being present in the moment, and to not let the anxiety of future or past events steal away the focus of being in the here and now.  Sometimes the here and now is work, sometimes its family.  Either way, it is important to be present in every moment of every day, especially on the home front.  Sometimes I let anxieties get in the way of truly enjoying the moment.

So, today, I make a pledge to do my best to be present.

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day". --Matthew 6:34

Footprints

Today's post is another one that was inspired by a lunch time run. (Today was a fantastic run, by the way.)

I caught a glimpse of one of my wet footprints and I coulnd't help but think that my right footprint looks like Africa.  I thought of how cool it would be to have a race to benefit Africa and then on the shirt the logo would be Africa styled like a footprint.  (I really like the idea of making shirts.  Click Here).

But then, it occurred to me that my footprint also resembles a pork chop....(hey, it was lunch and I hadn't eaten yet!)

Deep thoughts, I know...

So, you be the judge:

Mark 9:24

I've been thinking about this post since last week, when Casa Doyle (minus one) came to join us for dinner.  While the kids were playing, Alice, Kim and I were discussing Faith.  I don't recall the exact train of thought that this caboose was on, but somehow we got on to the subject of the "Gospel of Prosperity" that we sometimes hear today.  "God wants you to be successful.  God wants you to be financially well off." 

This sort of "preaching" also usually refuses to acknowledge suffering of any sort.  Suffering should be avoided at all costs.  Suffering is not something to deal with.  In fact, if you just have enough faith, all of your ailments will be healed.  And that is what our conversation zeroed in on.

I listen to KSBJ every day during my commute, and one day the morning DJ mentioned that his daughter is suffering with multiple issues, but they are praying every day for a complete and total healing.  Callers were calling in expressing their prayers, and others to say that they had this or that ailment, but God healed them completely.  The DJ asked one girl who had been struggling with an illness for some time if she could pinpoint when exactly she was healed.  The girl replied that when she really believed that God would heal her, that's when the healing came.

There is something about that statement that really strikes a chord with me.  There's a song on KSBJ right now by Addison Road called "What Do I Know of Holy" that puts it well in the second verse:

"I guess I thought that I had figured You out,
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about,
How You were mighty to save,
But those were only empty words on a page..."

We have all heard stories of out of miraculous healings happening, and as Christians, we believe that God, the Creator of all things, has power over His creation, including the power to cure the incurable disease.  The question then becomes, "why doesn't God heal everyone?"  Is it really, as the girl on the radio said, tied to our faith?

The title of this post is from Mark, and Mark speaks a lot about our faith.  It is here that we find that Jesus is unable to perform any miracles in Nazareth because of the lack of peoples' faith (Mark 6:1-6).  So, it seems there is some scriptural evidence to the young woman's claim.

So, does that mean that if you are praying for a healing and it doesn't come, that your faith is lacking?  I don't believe that, and I turn to the story of Lazarus in the Gospel of John for my reasoning.  When Jesus hears that Lazarus is sick, he doesn't immediately go to him.  Instead Jesus waits for two days before leaving to go be with Lazarus, and by the time Christ was in Bethany, Lazarus was dead.  Jesus loved Lazarus (John 11:3), so why would he wait?  Because He was going to use the situation to Glorify the Father (John 11:4), and strengthen the disciples' belief (John 11:15).

How many times have we said with Martha and Mary, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died"?  Brother, Sister, Son, Daughter, Father, Mother, Husband, Wife?  But He IS with us, and He will not forsake us.

So what is my point to this whole post?  I fall into the category of believers that maintain God can perform miracles, but usually chooses not to, not based on our lack of faith, but on the good that will be born of suffering.  God will not leave us.  His hand is always leaving fingerprints on our situations.  But, basically, "don't expect a miracle."  It bothers me that I fall into this category.  I feel like I've mailed in the chance for my faith to move mountains (Matthew 17:20.) 

So I say along with the boy's father in Mark 9:24, "Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief!"

Pack 1727 Fall Campout 2009

This past weekend Evan, Elliot, Drew, Pop and I braved the rainy/cold forecast to attend the Pack 1727 Fall Campout and boy, was it great!

We arrived Friday evening around 5:30pm.  It had rained on us pretty much the entire time, but by the time we got there, it was reduced to a slight drizzle.  It was pretty chilly, however, which was a pleasant change from the unseasonably warm October we've had thus far.

Pop and I put the tent up while the boys kept warm and dry in the car.  Once the tent was up, we let the boys run around inside the tent before we started piling things in.  A concrete picnic table get up would become our kitchen and around this we erected dad's canopy to keep the kitchen as dry and inviting as possible.  As with kitchens in many homes, this was going to be the heart of our campsite and provide a place for great times and great conversations.  As with the Spring Campout Pop was our chef extrordinaire cooking fried fish, shrimp and of course his famous french fries on Friday night.  There weren't nearly the amount if kids around this time due to the weather, but all who ate were satisfied!  Pop cooked all of our meals including eggs, bacon and sausage for breakfast both mornings, hot dogs for lunch on Saturday and Aunt Bessie's Chicken Jambalaya for dinner on Saturday night.  It was fantastic!  Gone are the days of Chef Boy-Yar-D Ravioli out of the can!

--Pop's Kitchen

One great thing about having Pop there is that he lives up to the Eagle Scout billing.  Ever true to the motto of "Be Prepared," Pop had a backup plan for anything that could have (and did) go wrong!  The inverter that he brought to give light to the campsite smoked, snapped, crackled and popped as soon as it was hooked up to the battery.  Not to worry, Pop brought his $1 garage sale Coleman Lantern just to test it out.  It turns out that it was a dollar well spent, as it was our only means of light on the outside!  The lack of an inverter also meant no electricity to blow up our air mattresses (hey, I never said we were roughing it!) but Pop had brought a hand pump.  Luckily it never came to that because our tent neighbors graciously let us borrow thiers.  Also, we were supposed to have a Pack dinner on Saturday night, but Pop decided to bring the stuff to make Jambalaya anyways and again that proved to be a brilliant move because our Pack Dinner cooks backed out due to the weather.  So we were covered everytime something didn't turn out exactly as planned thanks to Pop!  Thank You Pop!  This makes me even more sure that keeping the boys engaged in Scouting is the right thing to do.

Saturday began with den time and pumpkin carving and after lunch the boys learned about alligators and even got to pet a baby alligator.  Evan hiked back to the camp, but after last year's hike Elliot and Drew were more than happy to take Pop's truck back to the camp.

--Evan entertains a Big Daddy Long Legs spider

--Elliot and his Tiger Den

--I love this picture...so joyful!

--The Webelos lead a flag quiz

--Talk about bed head!

--Elliot and Kai.

--Elliot and the Tiger Den wait for the Alligator Lady

--Everyone waits patiently

--Elliot had a great time meeting new friends

--It takes all of Evan's energy to not make a silly face!

Evan's Pumpkin: Paul Stanley of KISS

--Drew's pumpkin: Scary face with a scar on his eye

--Elliot's pumpkin:  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!

--Camp neighbors enjoy the fire

As darkness fell, we moved to the bonfire where each pack performed a skit and told jokes and stories.  After this, they gave some awards out.  Elliot recieved his Bobcat badge and Evan received his Light of Christ medal and badge that he worked so hard to get.  I was so proud!  Elliot was so excited to get his badge, you should have seen the joy beaming from his face.  My little boy is so grown up now.  Also, I was very impressed with Evan on this trip.  He really came out of his shell getting up and telling two jokes around the campfire and really getting into his skit.  It was really neat seeing him and all of the Webelos leading the younger boys in some of the activities.  Again, I'm reminded more and more of how Scouting is such a good character builder.

--Evan receives his Light of Christ medal and badge

--Evan telling jokes

--And another joke!

We were wiped out after such a long day and slept very well Saturday night.  Sunday morning after breakfast we began breaking camp and saying our goodbyes to our tent neighbors.  (Drew has a new best friend in Matthew Farace.)

--Drew and his new best friend, Matthew Farace

On the way home we drove by the giant statue of Sam Houston which was just minutes from the park.  We really enjoyed that.  After seeing this huge statue I asked Evan who Sam Houston was and he said he didn't know.  I mentioned that for someone to have such a big statue, wouldn't that mean he was pretty important?!  Hmmm, I think I have an idea for their next "Mission Impossible Homeschool Task!"

--Elliot kept calling Sam Houston Abraham Lincolon

--After taking these pics I thought one looked like a Beatles album cover...

--The gang stops to pose with Sam (and in Elliot's case...to pick his nose...)

See all of the pictures from the weekend here.