Yesterday we had our co-op concert and art show. This was our final art project: a mosaic of our newly restored cathedral, each tile done by a student. The one above is the High Schol, below is the Junior High. I will be sending these to the diocesan newspaper.
My Rosary this morning went to the royal couple, may their marriage be long and happy, may God bless them with many children. And may this wedding mark the end of the strapless wedding dress! 
Flora's Very Windy Day, by Jeanne Birdsall, illustrated by Matt Phelan, 2010 Clarion Books.
Easter brought milder temperatures... we are actually above 50 F today. We found some signs of life outside... but have not gotten out in the garden yet. Too much rain.
Born in the glorious weather we had for one day on Easter Sunday, the four new additions to our acreage were a gift to animal-loving Number Seven, and duly named Gloria, Hosanna, Jubilate and Excelsis!
...not much to report yet. We have had rainy, wet weather, and frosty, foggy mornings... but I did get an order of seeds in! Thsi time I ordered from Baker's Creek, using a gift certificate my friend Linda T. gave me last year. Thanks, Linda!
Easter Vigil last night at church was moving... from the blessing of the fire outside, though the candle it procession into the dark building, the Gloria in Excelsis with lights and bells rung by the numerous pontifical servers who surrounded the faithful, through the reception of the new members of Christ' Church, through the bishop's words, down to the final hymn. Lord, how can I be ever more grateful for all You have done for me?
Nocturn II, Breviarium Romanum (1962)From the Treatise of St Augustine, Bishop (of Hippo)
Upon the Psalms liv. 1.
Give ear to my prayer, O God, and despise not my supplication : attend unto me and hear me. These are the words of a man travailing, anxious, and troubled. He prayeth in the midst of much suffering, longing to be rid of his affliction. Our part is to see what that his affliction was, and when he hath told us, to acknowledge that we also suffer therefrom; that so, partaking in his trouble, we may take part also in his prayer. He saith : I mourn in my exercise, and am troubled. Wherein mourned he? Wherein was he troubled? He saith : In my exericise. In the next words he giveth us to know that his affliction was the oppression of the wicked, ( Because of the voice of the enemy, and because of the oppression of the wicked,) and this suffering which came upon him at the hands of wicked men, he hath called his exercise. Think not that wicked men are in this world for nothing, or that God doth no good with them. Every wicked man liveth, either to repent, or to exercise the righteous.
Would to God that they which now exercise us were converted and exercised with us! Yet, while they are as they are, and exercise us, we will not hate them : for we know not of any one of them whether he will endure to the end in his sin. Yea, oftentimes, when thou deemest that thou hatest thine enemy, he whom thou hatest is thy brother, and thou knowest it not. The Holy Scriptures show us that the devil and his angels are already damned unto everlasting fire, and therefore of their repentance it behoveth us to despair; but of theirs only. These are they against whom we wrestle within; to the which wrestling the Apostle stirreth us up where he saith : We wrestle not against flesh and blood, (that is, not against men whom we see,) but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Eph. vi. 12. He saith not the rulers of this world, lest perchance thou shouldest deem that devils are the lords of heaven and earth; what he doth say is, rulers of the darkness of this world, of that world which they love who love the world, of that world wherein the ungodly and unrighteous do prosper, of that world, in fine, of which the Gospel saith : And the world knew Him not.
We have seen iniquity and strife in A the city. v. 10. Behold, the glory of the Cross. That Cross which was the object of the insults of God's enemies, is established now above the brows of kings. The end hath shown the measure of its power : it hath conquered the world, not by the sword, but by its wood. The enemies of God thought the Cross a meet object of insult and ridicule, yea, they stood before it, wagging their heads and saying : If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the Cross! Matth. xxvii. 39, 40. And He stretched forth His Hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Rom. x. 21. If he is just which liveth by faith, Rom. i. 17; Hab. ii. 4, he is unjust that hath not faith. Therefore where is written iniquity we may understand unbelief. The Lord therefore saith that He saw iniquity and strife in the city, and that He stretched forth His Hands unto that disobedient and gainsaying people, and, disobedient and gainsaying as they were, He was hungry for their salvation, and said : Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Luke xxiii. 34.
Number Six has learned to sprout her own sandwich-mix seeds.... easy and yummy. 
A bad photo, but a sweetness reigns in my heart as Number One arrived just before dinner. Few things bring more gladness to a mother's heart. Ours is a happy home this evening, preparing for the great holy feast. Number Six is playing piano, and we will have a special dessert together soon, with coffee. Then on to read more of the Pope's book. It has been very interesting!
Number Two sent an email saying this cornbread turned out delicious! She substituted all of the dairy for rice milk and coconut milk so it would be also dairy free for her.
Inspired by our good Bishop's excellent homily during the gorgeous chanted Palm Sunday Mass, Husband read half of the first chapter aloud last night. We are privileged to have a pope who can bring into our home such intelligent, beautiful reflections! We will be reading it throughout this holiest of all weeks in the year! Alicia, from whom I received the gift of this book, has posted a review of the book on Love2Learn.
Friend and fellow blogger Jannell just posted this on her blog... Number Four with friend A. and younger siblings.... too cute!
I received this yesterday in my inbox... M. K. is the artist, and the big sister of my foster-goddaughter and namesake A. K. 
Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow, retold by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by E. B. Lewis, 201o Orchard Books
The weather today has taken a turn for the worse again and snow is predicted for Friday. Yesterday was a rare beautiful day and we enjoyed it fully by being at the park after our classes at Tutoring Center. As Number Six is now old enough to play Frisbee, I think this will happen more often. Number Seven even got to enjoy playing a little tennis! My friend Nancy and I walked around and I discovered beautiful new things in a familiar park! A thank you to my friend for showing me that we can discover new sights and interesting things without traveling far!
Number Two wrote a note to the kids and we read it to them last night, so it makes it official. The girls went to bed saying, "Wow, we have an engaged sister!" She attached this nice recent photo of the newly engaged couple. Seems like we are going back about 35 years with the seventies look and the flowers! :-) 
Yesterday afternoon we were privileged to attend Number Six's first organ recital. The organ is a massive, gorgeous Bedient instrument in a church in downtown Sioux Falls where she is fortunate to receive weekly lessons! She was the youngest of Mrs. K.'s students and the first to play, and her Adoro te Devote sounded like heavenly music to our ears. 
I just watched this amazing video on this blog. In my comment there, I wrote: What a wonderful video, thank you. Last year I was fortunate to attend a diocesan ordination with my sister in Petropolis, Brazil. She is a professor at their major seminary and we were able to have nice seats in a huge cathedral that was literally bursting at the seams! The number of people and the general pride they took in their newly ordained priests was similar to the one in this video. My experience last year was one I will never forget.
She has a beautiful name as well: Tereza d'Avila. She has asked me to help with putting together a business card and I am having fun with a photo she had taken earlier today! She is a professional translator and interpreter in the Dallas/FW area. Love you, Sis!
