A Weekend With Grandkids :o)

Nolan ran out of gas after swimming. Cora baked another "Cora Creation" and we had ourselves some before the pic.

Studious granddaughters doing their homework.

Look up and smile, girls!

Sometimes children see how things should be....I have this little bird nest, momma and baby bird sitting on a table. The grandkids come and by weekend's end.....

Momma bird and Baby bird are not next to the nest. That makes no sense. They are IN the nest. I'm not sure who put them there. Could be any one of the three kids, 'cause they all know where those birds should be! :o)

A sign of how Carrie and Tony nurture their kids....before the kids went to bed Friday night, they made a little sleep pallet for their American girl and boy? dolls. (Nolan has one too that Hannah bought him with her birthday money.) Complete with puppy sleeping at their feet. :o)

My prayer for Holy Week this year is "Help me, Lord, to talk less and listen more." I got the idea a few days ago from a little prayer card, and I have been thinking about making this my Holy Week gift to others and to God, in case there is anything He is trying to get through to me.

The weekend could not have been better. Cora, Hannah, and Nolan were here from Friday afternoon til today after mass. They were so well-behaved. I cannot believe how grown-up Cora has become in the last few weeks. She is about to finish 6th grade, and I think I am ready now to think of her at Jr. High next year with those 500 kids and doing alright in that big old building!

Our big outing was for swimming at the Y on Saturday afternoon. All three of them get around well in the water, and I was able to have a little swim/exercise myself. I have stayed out of pools for awhile, thinking the chlorine was an irritant for me. It usually shows up by now if I have a reaction, hyperreactive airway is what they call it. Only a little coughing today, so I hope to go back with them again soon.

Today I accompanied Hannah to a preparation meeting for First Communion. The children baked unleavened bread while the parents listened to Fr. John, Martha, and Mrs. Bick go over all the necessary info for the big day, May 2. Fr. John made me smile when he told about the last time the Bishop was at our parish for Confirmation and he'd made the remark before it began that the crowd sounded more like a ballpark than a church preparing for mass. So we got a little instruction on preparing our hearts and minds by being still and quiet and having the children do the same. Good luck! There are so many people who call themselves Catholic who don't come to mass any more, and when they do, they seem to forget what we used to call "reverent" behavior in church. I am not good at silence myself, but I know I don't act like I'm at the ballpark! Then we listened to a review of what the "Real Presence" in the Eucharist is. Seems we are losing many Catholics to other denominations, particularly evangelical types of worship, and I wonder if these folks ever really learned what the sacraments are and what they mean in our faith lives. I truly enjoyed being there with Hannah.

Blake's team won their game today, but they didn't qualify for the championship of the soccer tournament in Kansas City, so everyone was back home by late afternoon. Time to recuperate and get ready for whatever Monday brings. For me, it will include an hour at our Adoration Chapel. And I will begin to talk less, listen more. Wish me well!

I hope Holy Week is a blessed one for all.