--- 1 ---

To the untrained eye, this might seem like an insignificant pile of dirt... but to anyone who's been following Zachary's Eagle Project for the past few years, you'll understand this is HUGE NEWS:  Zachary broke ground this week on the rectory carport project!  He and Tim hope to meet with the architect and a volunteer builder this weekend to discuss launching the project and make a plan for moving forward.  In other Zac news, he's recruited several of his swim team buddies to give role playing a go.  Their first session (rolling for characters) took place in the bathroom at the pool, and apparently got lots of thumbs' up on someone's Facebook page.  Clever.

--- 2 ---

Tim opened a new music shop this month, and the publicity launch is now in full swing.  Sunday night's Locals Only show on KISM will be sponsored by Checkmate Music, and new store manager's local band will headline the show, giving an extra plug for our new business.  The foot traffic has been slow so far, but the place is packed with instruments and accouterments for musicians of all types.  This new venture brings Tim's total to three businesses: two pawn shops and one music store.  Tim's entrepreneurial genius never ceases to amaze me!

--- 3 ---

With a flair for decorating, a great sense of anticipation for All Hallows' Eve, and a genuine love for holidays, Joseph found the "Halloween" box in the garage and took it upon himself to deck out the house.   His room received special treatment, with blackened windows, a green light bulb, and hanging spiders.  Unfortunately, the dark room made it impossible for him to locate his black dress shoes in time to be an altar server at First Friday Mass today.  The early car, driven my Zac, left before Joseph could make a match, so he wore casual shoes and opted to help me with the twins during Mass instead of serving at the altar (his loss was my gain).

--- 4 ---

Ezra's super fast run at Wednesday's meet landed him in the top 7 on  his varsity cross country team, and put him in a scoring position.  He had a mix-up with his two schools' overlapping schedules this week, causing him to miss classes at the technical school on a day when he didn't actually have any classes at the high school (half day).  His culinary arts teacher called to let us know that to make up the day's absence Ezra needs to do one of two things:

• cook for the family, recording all the recipes & ingredients and providing each member with customer comment cards to review the meal; or
• watch 2.5 hours of cooking shows on TV and write a full report of every ingredient used and all the names of the chefs and their recipes

For the average high school student this would seem to be a reasonable exercise to make up for a missed class (2.5 hrs), but for Ezra the effort required to complete this requirement will  likely equal a missed week of school. 

--- 5 ---

Peter's favorite 6th grade home school course: taking care of the twins.  His assistance with the babies is invaluable; his love for them so tender.  From the early morning diaper changes and breakfast feeds, to walking practice and climbing games, Peter is my best helper ever with the twins.   In other subjects: his math skills are steadily improving, as are his spelling and writing skills; his new schedule has proven to be nearly impossible, but still a great inspiration for accomplishing a full day's academics.  Peter's soccer team hasn't celebrated many victories this season, but they are growing both as athletes and as sportsmen.  Peter's playing goalie on rotation, and has scored and assisted several goals as an offensive player as well.

--- 6 ---

On a whim, Peter and I made a 300+ mile round trip journey to University Place for a weeknight birthday dinner honoring my mom, and Godson/nephew, Niko.  My sister Molly cooked an incredible meal with stuffed pork chops and the yummy dessert featured frosted pumpkin bars.  My grandma was there, with my aunt and uncle; also Peter's cousins, including Lilly, whom we haven't seen for over two years.  Such a great opportunity to be together, if briefly, to celebrate Mom's and Niko's birthdays.  Mom's fabulous holiday decorations never cease to amaze me.  Apparently mom's decorating gene skipped a generation, and Joseph inherited it.

--- 7 ---

I accepted an invitation to launch a new blog at Catholicdaily.com and named it Discerning Daily.  Now I have somewhere special to share the daily joys, trials and amazing gifts of our faith journey.  What a blessing!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!