Year End Review

Wow, this year has flown by (or driven by if you check the odometer on The Beast). It has definitely been a year of progress on the health front of the children.

Bubba was finally diagnosed and treated for his asthma, and has found great relief with his allergy treatment as well. I never thought we could take a camping trip and he not suffer the whole time. While I'm so pleased with his progress, it took a toll on us all this year with the first 9 weeks of the year driving twice a week 50 miles round trip for shots, then we moved to once a week... but thankfully our last appointment, right before Christmas, the doctor moved us to every other week for the duration of the treatment (another 3-4 years). Woohoo, this will make our weekly life and schedule so much easier to manage.

Bobcat went through a lot this year as well, but really has handled it like a champ. At the beginning of the year he went through a battery of tests to check his growth hormone levels. Thankfully that all came back normal... but they found a nutritional marker which led us to a GI. There, after a rather scary biopsy, he was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. While it has been a big adjustment both from the dietary standpoint and the financial standpoint, the success he has already shown in just three months is amazing. He has grown 2 inches!!!! This is huge, and we are expecting still more in the coming months!

Snookie... well, nothing really major has happened to Snookie... he's just Snookie. He's Mommy's little boy, but growing up before our very eyes. I still can't believe how far we've come in just 4 1/2 years. When he first came home to us he said less than a handful of words... now he is reading, and when you aren't watching he's quite bright (ahead of his brothers in many ways at this age).

This year also marked a big shift in our sacramental life. Bobcat received his First Communion in February, and in September Bubba began his lessons with Daddio so that he too may receive his First Holy Communion in the spring of 2009! Wow, every Mass I'm amazed as I watch Bobcat take part in the Eucharist... it's one of those moments when you know that you are attaining the goals set for you in your vocation as a parent!

On the homeschooling front... wow, first - second - third grades! I can't believe that I've been homeschooling for 3 1/2 years already. I have to say that this year really has been the gold star of all the years we've been doing this. All in all, the boys have taken this year on with a much better attitude, and we've been able to tweak the areas where we were struggling. Plus Daddio has taken an even more active role with adding Math tutor to his role along with Sacrament Prep! This has been a big help to me, and the boys love having him more involved (and I have a few more ideas for next year that he can take on :-)!

Traveling... wow, this year we had the opportunity to really enjoy the great outdoors. We camped in several locations with RV's, in tents, and even with a group of friends. Then there was the amazing summer beach trip. This year was really special because we were able to spend it with our dear friends, who were very early on in their pregnancy of our godson (who's due oh so soon!).

In summary, this year was filled with struggles, but ultimately was truly wonderful! And next year... well, we have a godson that is to arrive anytime now which means a trip down to visit and attend a baptism. Bobcat's health is supposed to continue to climb! Bubba will make his First Communion. MORE CAMPING, of course. The sky is the limit, really!

So there you have it people, the Llama household is movin' and shakin'! We hope that your year end review is filled with a since of great progress, and that your coming year is filled with grace and great anticipation!

I'm glad it's over!

I'm a Scrooge... I know this, and I accept this. Well, I'm not a Scrooge about my own immediate family and our celebrating... I'm Scroogish about all the other nonsense we put ourselves through for our extended family's sake... only to be spat on once again.

Okay, Scrooge aside, we had a nice Christmas just the 5 of us. We got up at a reasonable time, attended the 8:00am Mass (which for our church was practically empty), and came home for breakfast and a few gifts! We tried to take some pictures (which didn't go well), but after a hearty meal it was time for the annual shredding of wrapping paper. As usual we had a very modest gift exchange... but the delight was very apparent with the boys... who enjoyed a new set of PJ's (including a homemade fleece robe) and slippers, and LEGO's (their first real set). Also a relative sent them each a horse (which was a huge hit). Nothing needed batteries, nothing had flashing lights or made any noise on their own, and all needed imagination!

Sidenote: I had no idea that the robe would be immediately transformed into a Jedi Robe!

After all was picked up and the boys headed to their rooms for some intense Jedi Lego barn yard antics, Daddio and I headed into the kitchen for several hours of cooking.

On the menu: roasted duck, homemade cornbread dressing, mashed sweet potatoes, dinner biscuits, and spice cake (we always do a birthday cake for Jesus).

That evening we were to have family guests, and were quite excited to try out all these lovely dishes. Unfortunately our guests decided not to show up... and we enjoyed the meal on our own. It was delicious! We have a second duck waiting for another lovely opportunity to enjoy such a tasty meal!

While our time was lovely, dealing with our relations really turned out poorly. I'm glad that portion of our Christmas season is over. Now we get to enjoy our children, our home, and our food in peace.

Well, I couldn't get the knuckleheads to look at the camera and smile normally and keep their eyes opened. One shot of the three of them turned out okay, but none of the attempts with all five of us. Oh well. Hope your Christmas was fun. We still have one more house guest to entertain until this afternoon, and then we're free to relax the rest of the weekend.

Yikes

We had the idea to cook a goose for Christmas. We're not huge turkey fans (it's best fried, and we don't have the equipment for that), and we're burned out on ham. Besides, what's more Christmasy than a Christmas goose? Straight up Bob Cratchet in the hizzouse. And you thought we were grinches.

Anyway, apparently geese are very expensive. At least they are at Central Market, and I wouldn't have any idea where else to find one. 14 lbs at $7.99 per... not gonna happen. So we decided to try another type of bird. The ducklings were just $3.99 per pound. Smaller, so we got two. We shall see how that turns out.

We saw another bird in the store that we had never heard of: "capon". Is that something that everyone else knows? They were fairly large, and a good price, but we weren't feeling that adventurous to buy something we'd never even heard of. Turns out it's just a castrated rooster. Google reveals the following fascinating info:

The bird is fastened on a surface on its left side with the wings held together above the body. The legs are also fastened together and the bird stretched out to its full length in order to expose the rib cage area. Feathers in this rib area must be removed and the skin disinfected with 70% ethanol or another skin disinfectant.
Using a sharp scalpel or knife, a one-inch incision is made through the skin and other tissues between the two posterior ribs. The skin should be moved to one side before making the incision so that skin cut and muscle cut are not aligned afterwards. The incision should be deep enough to expose the abdominal air sac covering the intestines and other abdominal organs. Care must be used to avoid cutting a large vein in the skin that runs diagonally toward the back of the bird. The abdominal air sac is punctured with a sharp hook or probe to expose the internal organs. The testes are located on the dorsal wall at the anterior end of the kidneys, posterior to the lungs. The testes of a three-week-old cockerel are about the size of a large wheat kernel and may be yellowish, white, gray or black in color.
Both testes should be removed from the single incision, the lower or left testes removed first. The testis is grasped with special forceps and then twisted free from its connective tissue while slowly pulled from its attachments. Care must be taken not to rupture large blood vessels located between the two testes. The upper, right testis is then similarly removed. Electrically heated cautery equipment is available for incising the skin and removing the testes. It prevents excessive bleeding and may reduce the incidence of "slips". The rib spreader may now be removed and tension on the bird released, allowing the skin and thigh muscle to slip back into place. Once the bird is released, the incision should close without need for sutures or bandage.

Now, I'm no PETA wacko, but this sounds pretty bizarre to a city boy. I don't think we'll be partaking of capon any time soon.

Five Christmases

This is our fifth Christmas as parents. Hard to believe!

2004

2005

2006

2007

This year's photo will be forthcoming soon. We tried to get a nice photo of the boys in front of the tree after church on Sunday, but Snookie forgot how to smile, and Bubba kept closing his eyes, afraid of the flash... both of them ended up crying when I tried to correct them. We'll try again after church on Christmas, and mom and dad will be better prepared for photos by then anyway (time to get favorite clothes cleaned, and I need a haircut). So, stay tuned for that. I have a really good flash this year, so they should turn out well if these knuckle heads can make halfway normal faces.

An interesting twist...

An interesting twist on the Nativity story. After Jesus was born, the whole gang went for a cruise on the Rescue Heroes' aircraft carrier.

That must be from one of those "other" gospels that the church didn't allow into the canon of scripture. It's a conspiracy. I'm sure Ron Howard and Tom Hanks are working on the movie adaptation.

Church rant

This is going to be boring for the non-Catholics out there. Feel free to skip it.

Sunday morning, Snookie asked if we could go to monk mass. We've talked about monk mass before. Monk mass is a totally different experience than mass at our home parish. It's worth the drive, and we went pretty often earlier this year. But eventually we decided that we liked the earlier time slot available at our home parish, and then when we got Bobcat's diagnosis, we discovered that our home parish could accommodate with a gluten free communion host. We wouldn't expect special treatment from the monks - after all, they are not a parish designed to serve their parishioners. It's really their mass, and regular people are allowed to come. That's my impression anyway. Bobcat could receive the Precious Blood (wine) only, but the monks don't serve that to the lay people. A decision which I totally endorse, by the way. I wish they would serve under the bread alone at our church because it would involve fewer extraordinary ministers (lay people), and because it takes them so much time to cleanse all those chalices when they're done. It's no wonder so many people leave early, I'm always tempted to leave myself. I thought it was very cool that Snookie, age 6, preferred monk mass. Even a child can recognize and enjoy when things are more reverent.

Well, let me tell you, our experience at regular mass this Sunday was very disconcerting and really made us long for the monks. First off, nobody took the pyx with the GF host from the altar (it's supposed to be the deacon, but we had a visiting deacon who clearly hadn't been informed by the church lady in charge of that stuff). So Bobcat and I had to stand there with everyone staring while Father went up to retrieve it. I am seriously considering becoming an EM myself, just so I can serve him myself and be a lot more discreet about it. But, I don't like the idea of lay ministers, and I don't really want to be one. I know a certain number are necessary, but we have way too many, and I don't want to be among them, or to leave my family during the most important part of the week.

Okay, this is getting long, but here's the really weird part. The announcement was made that for Christmas Eve, there would be two "youth masses" (4:00 and 6:00). That's fine. I'm okay with "family masses", I guess, if it means that the homily will be geared towards children, but everything else is still done reverently, and children and parents will remain seated together. But this is definitely going to be one of our new pastor's interesting inventions. Because for these masses, we are invited to bring a blanket! It's going to be in the parish hall, not the church. I hate to criticize a priest, but this new pastor of ours has raised a few eyebrows with his way of doing things lately. I almost want to go, without the kids of course, just to see what it's all about. Morbid curiosity. MommaLlama and I were joking that maybe the blankets are for the kids to wear and then everyone could pretend to be a priest and help consecrate the Eucharist. I just can't imagine what sort of bizarre stuff is going to happen. Santa will probably visit and deliver the homily.

Anyway. Maybe when Bobcat's GI tract is fully healed, he'll be able to tolerate one little communion host per week and we can go back to the monks.