Mega Mom's Day Out

 I had the incredible blessing to meet up with 3 amazing moms.  On the left is a mother of 10, in the middle a mother of 9 and on the right a mother of 15-going-on-16.  With me rounding out the day with 12... we were mothers of a combined 46 children plus the 1 wee one of 11 weeks pre-born.  Totally mega-mom's day out.

 My morning started out with a google maps direction session with my husband who was sure I would get lost.  He reminded me not to look for the trees with leaves as there aren't any leaves. I understood that to mean that I was not to call if I didn't find trees with leaves.  Apparently he didn't trust my ability to get places. But I did find my way.

 First we spent 4-1/2 hours eating our lunch at Panera. I'm a "pick 2" fan of the sierra turkey, salad and of course... baguette.

 Then we went over to the absolutely gorgeous Holy Hill.

 There is an absolutely amazing outdoor Stations of the Cross which we didn't have the time to do because of said 4-1/2 hour lunch...!

 Infant of Prague

 Infant of Prague with mom of soon-to-be 16 children!

 This is a replica of Holy Hill.

 This is a replica of the original Holy Hill.

 St. Therese the Little Flower chapel.

 There is an amazing project in the works of putting in stained glass windows of the life of St. Therese of Lisieux.  They still have a few left to do. They are absolutely beautiful.

 The stations of the cross in the chapel were beautiful

 I do love stained glass windows.

 Here is one of St. Therese playing the part of St. Joan of Arc in a play.

 Our Lord in the tomb and the picture of the saint is escaping me St. Juan Diego.

 Entering into the Upper Church and Shrine.

 It was quite windy if you can't tell from the hair!

 3 beautiful moms of many!

 The Blessed Trinity with Mary and Joseph and the apostles.  Do you ever think how wonderful Heaven is going to be meeting all these great saints?

 Most beautiful stained glass. I do love beautiful stained glass... as much as I abhor ugly stained glass.

 A beautiful May tribute to Our Blessed Mother.  May is the month we honor Our Lady in a special way.

 St. Michael weighing the souls... don't want to mess with St. Michael, it's a good idea to stay on his good side!

 Crutches from people who have been healed.

 A rather grand organ!

 The 4 faces on this column cracked me up.... I'm sure they are of my children.

 A sample stained glass of St. Therese approaching the Holy Father about joining the convent at a young age.

 2 of us climbed the 178 stairs in the tower.

 Up... up... up we go.

 The final steps were spiral. It might be noted at this point that I have a fear of heights. I was feeling a bit ill by this point. When I got to the spiral I was not sure I could continue but when you see the top 10 feet above your head you just can't stand there foolish-like.  So I crawled my way up.  Pathetic.

 Almost there....

 It was so beautiful.

 It was at this opportune moment that the 6:00 pm bells began to ring.  When you are standing right across the from the bell tower when the bells ring, it is rather loud.... albeit is a splendid loud.

 Afterwards we went to a sushi restraunt.

 Calamari with spicy mayo.

 Salad

 Sushi - I had the California and the Spicy Tuna.

 Mom of 16 had the lobster cigars.... with eel sauce...!

 Fresh wabasi vs the wabasi clay.  I tried neither not having a taste for ammonia.

This meal was on fire but didn't show well in the picture.  Soon after this the waitress said "If you are mothers I would like to wish you a Happy Mothers Day."  To which we mentioned that we have a combined 46 children with one on the way.  I will admit wishing I had taken a picture of her face when we mentioned that.  To which I believe she went into the kitchen to take some heart medication. *snicker*  I really do enjoy the reactions.

It was a wonderful day.

Babies, Bottles, Band, Blue Box

 Kili likes to drink his bottles rolling around on the floor. I kid you not.  Sometimes he'll fall asleep sometimes he'll just keep rolling.  I don't ask questions... then again, he couldn't answer anyway.

 I celebrated a birthday last week and found some lovely gifts with my name on them. A lovely hand drawn picture of St. Mary Magdalen, other drawing, cards and.... a blue box pencil box.  Bow ties and blue boxes are cool.

 My sister-in-law's sheep are having their lambies.  They are soooooo cute!

 Kili entertaining us with a peanut butter jar routine.  I'm glad he doesn't talk as I probably really don't want to know!

 The kittens are getting bigger.  Anyone want a kitten?

 Frodo had a band concert last night, prior to the big homeschooling group's play.

 Kili was playing the part of an angel in the audience.

 But really had evil designs to get a bad case of ants-in-his-pants.

 Marigold just wants to show you that she got her hand stamped, too.

 The band did a great job!

I wasn't sure whether the dark or the light was better since neither are very good.  So I posted both

Bummer.... I couldn't get the play picture to save correctly. *snap*

I only got to say a short bit of the play before 3 certain tots got rambunctious and we sat in the car the rest of the evening.  Welcome to my world! :D

More Pelicans

 I went to take a look at the Pelicans that are in the area again.... since 1880!  And they are still there.

 I know.  One of my blurry pictures might have been enough. But I can't resist sharing.  I mean really, when was the last time you saw an American White Pelican  in my area? If you have... you are mighty elderly!

See that one starting to span his wings? Really, God's creations really do thrill me!

Pelicans

I had a great interest in pelicans when I was little because I found them fascinating. Then we starting singing a hymn in our choir called "Pie Pellicane" and found the meaning most beautiful.  It is as follows:

The symbolism of the mother pelican feeding her little baby pelicans is rooted in an ancient legend which preceded Christianity. The legend was that in time of famine, the mother pelican wounded herself, striking her breast with the beak to feed her young with her blood, to prevent starvation. Another version of the legend was that the mother fed her dying young with her blood to revive
them from death, but in turn lost her own life. The early Christians adapted this tradition to symbolize our Lord, Jesus Christ. The pelican symbolizes Jesus our Redeemer, who gave His life for our redemption, and the atonement He made through His passion and death. We were dead to sin and have found new life through the  Blood of Christ. Moreover, Jesus continues to feed us on  our pilgrim way, with His body and blood in the Holy Eucharist. The pelican became part of our liturgical tradition. The image of the pelican feeding its baby pelicans was a popular artwork on altar frontals. In early times, when tabernacles were sometimes suspended over the altar, they were shaped like pelicans.
"The Symbolism of the Pelican" by Fr. William Saunders

(picture from one of our local chambers of commerce)

I was in town the other day when I saw (this very sight) of a flock of pelicans.  They are huge! Apparently they are about 5 feet tall and have a 9 foot wingspan!  That is amazing.  I'm hoping they will still be there tomorrow when I go into town again.