NEW GRANDSON HAS ARRIVED!!!

Our second grandson was born this morning at 1:32 am April 3rd, 2010!! Patrick James weighed in at 10lbs even, and measured 22 inches long! Patrick has a lot of coal black hair and, of course, is absolutely adorable. Amber and son-in-law Brad are doing fine, big brother Henry is a bit bewildered by it all!!!

Spolied Baby!!

Yesterday evening we watched our grandson Henry, when his mother arrived to pick him up she declared, "Henry you look like a spoiled brat!" :) King Henry was reclined on the sofa with Grandma and Grandpa, he had a rice cake in hand and was being spoonfed applesauce! All was right with little Henry's world that is for sure!

Laundry Shenanigans

Yea!! High in the mid forties today and abundant sunshine. I am washing bedding today and it is so nice to be able to hang it outside to dry. We rarely use our dryer spring, summer, and fall, we hang everything outside to dry. About a month ago our dryer broke, we have had it for years and years, it lasted so long because it wasn't constantly in use. Anyway we had a pile of laundry to do and we were going to take it to the laundromat to dry it. We really didn't want to spend our afternoon hanging out at the laundromat, so decided to hang wash line in our basement and hang the laundry to dry. Well long story short the clothes dried quickly and it has worked well for us, and we still haven't made it over to the parts store to get a new heating element for the dryer. I am anxious to recieve our gas and electric bills this month to see what kind of impact not using the dryer has had. We have been very pleased with our gas bill this winter season, the highest bill we received was just over $90, gas has been cheaper/therm than prior years, but we have also used less by keeping our thermostat set at 62 overnight and when we are away, and at 64 during the day/evening when we are home.

I googled clothes drying rack today and found this website :

www.clothes-drying-rack.com/index.html

I thought the videos were fun, and judging by the second video it appears that
people who hang their laundry to dry have a lot more fun!!

Saturday

Not too much going on around here today, Emily has a jazz band competition a bit later, so we will be going to enjoy that. Weather is supposed to be snowy and rainy for the next couple of days so I imagine the track out to the cows will become muddy, muddy, muddy. The temperatures will be highs of 39, and that is absolutely wonderful - after so much cold 39 will seem balmy!

Ash Wednesday

Today, Ash Wednesday, starts the season of Lent. Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence. Lent lasts for forty days and represents the forty days Jesus spent in the desert after He was baptized by John the Baptist. It is also connected with the forty years the Israelites spent in the dessert.
Lent is a time of preparation, it is time of prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial. Different people do different things during Lent, children will often give up candy as an act of self-denial. During Lent the church offers us many opportunities to spend more time in prayer, parishes usually have The Stations of The Cross each week during Lent, many offer opportunites for Eucharistic Adoration, and all should make an effort to take part in the sacrament of Reconcilliation.
Lent is also the time of final preparation for Catechumen's, those preparing to enter the Church, as Holy Week approaches the Catechumen will participate in several Rites, concluding at the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday, where they will come into full communion with Church, it is a wonderful time. Catechumen's may be baptized, confirmed and receive first communion, or confirmed and received first communion if they were already baptized. The Easter Vigil Mass is a brilliant, vibrant Mass celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior and makes all of our preparation time during Lent well worth it.
Lent is what you want to make of it, it can be a time of prayer and fasting and spiritual growth, or it can be a time of nothing, just griping that you can't eat meat on Friday's.
Our parish bulletin states, "We remind ourselves that the Holy Season of Lent is the time for all of us to search our minds and hearts and make the necessary improvements in our spiritual lives."

May the season of Lent be fruitful for all.

Local newspaper does not report pro life march!

It amazes me that our local newpaper did not report upon the annual march for life rally in Fort Wayne. I guess people who are Christian and believe in the sanctity of life from conception to natural death, are a really scary bunch and must not be reported upon by the local paper.
It makes me wonder just how many things are not reported to us because the newspaper doesn't agree with the objectives of specific groups. It is a form of censorship, and it is wrong!

Annual March for Life

Today was the Annual March for Life in Fort Wayne. The featured speaker was Abby Johnson, a former Director for a Planned Parenthood facility in Bryan, TX. Abby worked for PP for 8 years and then resigned after witnessing an ultrasound of an abortion taking place, and seeing the 13 week old baby fighting for it's life as it was killed. It became apparent to Abby that the babies do feel pain and abortion really does end a human life; she resigned from Planned Parenthood and has become a PRO LIFE advocate, traveling the country giving speeches, and working for 40 Days for Life. The forty days pray and fast begins at the start of Lent, February 17, 2010. Visit the website http://www.fortydaysforlife.com/ for more information.
The Allen County Right for Life Rally was very good. About a 1000 people attended, many city, state, and federal elected officials spoke, and it was wonderful to see just how many are PRO LIFE and do NOT want to see taxpayer dollars support abortion. Many Priests and Pastors were present and opened and closed the event with prayer. After the rally we Marched For Life through downtown Fort Wayne, it was wonderful to see so many people involved, particularily as it was so cold, 13 degrees with a brisk wind!
Everyone speaking at the rally challenged us to get involved in the Right to Life Movement in some way, whether giving a financial donation, volunteering time, praying and holding vigil outside of the abortion clinic, or voting PRO LIFE - we can all do something.
Whether it is the unborn child, the chronically ill, the elderly, or those deemed to have a low quality of life, we MUST respect life at all ages and stages.

"It is a poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.." Mother Theresa.