here we are

Buddy Boy (as Abigail calls him)

2011-04-19T07:03:00.000-05:00

Our little Benedict Joseph is two months old now . . . can you believe that and he is growing more and more like a little boy.

Can anyone guess who does he look like? Most of us think he looks like his Momma.

Have a blessed Holy Week!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T07:03:00.000-05:00

More Pictures Please . . .

2011-03-22T23:46:00.001-05:00

. . . of Benedict Joseph, that is the request from our families, friends and especially Benedict’s godparents.

Sorry, I have been a little bit pre-occupy with some of the changes in our life. Please keep praying for us!

But in the meantime, enjoy looking at some of the latest development of Benedict Joseph Michael . . . and the girls.

Who Does Benedict Look Like?

2011-03-02T07:03:00.000-06:00

Last September I blogged about “Baby Blues” and I included the photos of our girls (below) when they are about 1 or 2 days old. As you can see, they all have some similar faces with cute button noses, little lips and cheeks that you just want to squeeze.

Who do you think Benedict looks like?

We are so blessed! Thanks be to God!

Gabriela	Rebecca
Abigail	Christiana

The Baptism of Benedict Joseph Michael

2011-02-28T22:31:00.001-06:00

One week after he was born, Benedict was baptized (February 26, 2011) by his Priest-Uncle, Fr. Miguel. The ceremony as always was very beautiful and he used the extraordinary form of baptismal rite.

We kept the baptism very small this time due to circumstances.

Thank you to those who came to the baptism especially to our parents and friends.

Thank you to David Biddle for being the photographer. The pictures that you see here were taken by him.

Lastly, thank you to Fr. Miguel for baptizing his nephew.

Benedict Joseph Michael with his Priest-Uncle after the presentation to Our Blessed Mother.

Click here to see more photos of the Baptism.

New Edition: Benedict Joseph Michael

2011-02-19T22:03:00.001-06:00

After a very long pregnancy, our baby boy finally came into this world on Friday, February 18, 2011 at 12:15 PM, 8.3 lbs, 20.25 inches long and we named him Benedict Joseph Michael (We figured since this is our first baby boy, we better cover all bases with the necessary Saints). Both Benedict and Coby are fine. Coby once again was amazing and delivered the baby natural with no medications what so ever.

Just a quick timeline of the delivery on Friday:

7:00 AM – Contractions started

10:00 AM – Left to the hospital

10:20 AM – Arrived at the hospital and shortly after the nurse checked her and she was at 6 cm dilated.

12:08 PM – Water broke

12:15 PM – Benedict was born.

Thanks to everyone for all your prayers during the pregnancy and during labor.

Thank you Lord for the healthy baby and safe delivery!

Benedict 1 day old

Benedict with Grandma

Look Who Turned Two

2011-01-18T07:03:00.000-06:00

Christiana @ 2

VIEW SLIDE SHOW

DOWNLOAD ALL

Surprise Baby Showers

2011-01-17T10:09:00.000-06:00

We are so blessed to have such good friends that gave us (Coby) surprise baby showers. Thank you, thank you and thank you for your kindness and generosity. Now we have a good head start with boy’s outfits. Keep us in your prayers during this final 3 weeks of pregnancy and that we will have a safe delivery and healthy baby.

It all started with Coby’s book club surprise baby shower (no pictures)

Baby shower cake from our Team, Teams of Our Lady

Baby shower cake from our friends at our Parish, Blessed Sacrament.

Thank You Grandma & Grandpa

2010-12-25T15:00:00.000-06:00

We love the gifts of the handmade dresses. Thank you very much, they are beautiful!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T00:01:00.000-06:00

Wishing you the Love, Peace, and Happiness that the true meaning of Christmas brings.

From All of Us in Alabama to all of you across the globe.

The Price Of Wine

2010-12-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

I’m not much of a wine drinker, and I can’t begin to tell you what’s a good wine or a bad wine. Well, I could tell you a bad wine just doesn’t taste good in your mouth versus a good wine will taste smooth in your mouth. Okay, so I guess I can tell between a good and a bad wine.

But what I don’t understand is the price of the wine!

I had the opportunity to go to a great wine store today while in South Carolina. I had to purchase some wine bottles for Christmas gifts. They have all kinds of different wines, from different countries and different prices.

I was surprised when I saw a bottle of wine that cost $89 per bottle but was really shocked when I saw one that cost as high as $1799.00 . . . can you believe that?!

You can purchase 6 iPhone 4 with that money, or a MacBook Air and an iPhone and iPad all together, or 7 months of car payments to some . . . anyway it cost me nothing to take these pictures of very expensive wines!

Greeting Card From Mercedes

2010-12-15T19:32:00.001-06:00

This is the coolest Christmas card from Mercedes. Okay, it is very secular, not religious at all, but at least it says “Merry Christmas”.

Story Of Father Miguel In Mount Sinai

2010-11-28T07:03:00.000-06:00

As some of you may know Father Miguel led a group of pilgrimages to the Holy Land again this year and he shared with us his experienced when he went up to Mount Sinai.

Below is his story . . .

“I had to take several breaks on the way up. My meditation was on the way up while I was huffin' and puffin'; I was thinking that Moses got the Ten Commandments on the very mountain I hiked. It was on All Saints that we went there. When it was difficult going up, I offered my difficulty for reparation for my sins; then the Lord moved me to offer it for all my loved ones and all my spiritual children...for reparation for the times the Ten Commandments were violated. We took a bunch of photos being up there. Then, we came down. And at some point where there's a flat area, we offered Mass on Mt. Sinai with Mt Horeb on the background. That was the First Mass I've ever offered in the midst of several Muslims. At the end, we sang to Jesus Christ, our sovereign King; I was a little concern before I led it, but I figured they probably won't understand to martyr us...and after one full verse was sung, it was safe to continue the rest... ;-)”

Ready For The Winter

2010-11-27T07:03:00.000-06:00

This is what we do in the South preparing for the hard winter (smile). Temperature is dropping today, so we might have a cold winter and with all these wood . . . we are ready for the winter.

I know our hard winter is nothing like the winter in Minnesota or Canada, but it’s cold enough for us.

I Just Have To

2010-11-26T07:00:00.000-06:00

You know with the problems with TSA (Transportation Security Administration), you just have to laugh about it and stay away from flying. That would be the safest thing to do right now.

Now moving on to laughing at the TSA, here are some funny bumper stickers courtesy of Political Humor:

Red Is My Favorite Color

2010-11-03T22:39:00.001-05:00

How do you know it’s a GREAT day in America?

1. When Pelosi becomes Former Speaker of the House.

2. When the whole nations looks red not because the deficit is so high, but because people starts to understand who Obama really is.

3. When you read headlines like: “Republicans vow to roll back Obama agenda”, or Gay Marriage Judges get boot in Iowa”, or my favorite, “Barrack against the wall!”

Congratulations to all the great conservative candidates across the USA.

Start packing Mr. President, you have two more years to stay in the White House, unless you want to leave early!

The Feast Of All Saints

2010-11-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

Happy feast of All Saints to all!

This year our family is celebrating All Saints two days in a row, on Sunday and Monday.

On Sunday with the homeschool group and on Monday, on the actual Feast Day, we are celebrating it with the community in Hanceville. We skipped Halloween this year!

Children came dressed as their favorite Saints and they had to tell a short story about the Saints while the crowd guessed who the Saints are. Could you guess who our little saints are?

You probably will not be able to guess who Christiana is supposed to be . . . so I’ll give you a hint . . .
She was born in Lourdes.

Christiana didn’t want to wear the veil and she didn’t want to carry the bundle of woods that her sisters had collected . . . what do you expect . . . she is almost 2 years old.

Fun Friday: Job Hunt

2010-09-24T07:03:00.000-05:00

I got this from Fr. Miguel and I thought I would share it . . .

1. My first job was working in an Orange Juice factory, but I got canned. Couldn't concentrate!

2. Then I worked in the woods as a Lumberjack, but just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe.

3. After that, I tried being a Tailor, but wasn't suited for it -- mainly because it was a sew-sew job.

4. Next, I tried working in a Muffler Factory, but that was too exhausting.

5. Then, tried being a Chef - figured it would add a little spice to my life, but just didn't have the thyme.

6. Next, I attempted being a Deli Worker, but any way I sliced it ... couldn't cut the mustard.

7. My best job was a Musician, but eventually found I wasn't noteworthy.

8. I studied a long time to become a Doctor, but
didn't have any patience.

9. Next, was a job in a Shoe Factory. Tried hard but just didn't fit in.

10. I became a Professional Fisherman, but discovered I couldn't live on my net income.

11. Managed to get a good job working for a Pool
Maintenance Company, but the work was just too draining.

12. So then I got a job in a Workout Center, but they said I wasn't fit for the job.

13. After many years of trying to find steady work, I finally got a job as a Historian - until I realized there was no future in it.

14. My last job was working in Starbucks, but had to quit because it was the same old grind.

15. SO, I TRIED Retirement AND FOUND I'M PERFECT FOR THE JOB!

Triumph Of The Holy Cross = Baby Boy

2010-09-14T19:17:00.001-05:00

Today is a very powerful feast day in the Catholic Church, feast of the Triumph of the Cross. This is also a big day in our family, the day that we had our ultra sound and we found out that we are discontinuing the “girl” streak, our next baby will be a BOY!

The news came as a shock, a joyful shock because we don’t know how to raise a boy nor do we have any boy stuff (clothes, toys, etc.) But no need to worry because as usual, when God sends the little ones, He never includes any instructions with it, only graces! Please pray for us!

September Means New School Year

2010-09-02T07:03:00.000-05:00

So, the month of August has came and gone. Where did the time go? Come to think of it, this whole year has been moving rather fast. It is now September, which means a new year for homeschooling. We are following the Northern school year, which starts the day after Labor Day.

Coby came up with some new ideas to reorganize the school room to be a little bit more user friendly. Bookshelf against the wall came from an idea she had found from another blog. I just made it a little bit better. The girls love sitting in front of the books and just picking out books and reading them.

Now our school room is very cozy and roomier and we are ready to start homeschooling.

Our Wind-Up Girls

2010-09-01T07:03:00.000-05:00

The girls and I had fun creating this video using my iPhone 4 and iMovie. Enjoy!

Video: Inspiring Catholics to Vote 2010

2010-08-16T07:03:00.000-05:00

Once again CatholicVote.org is mobilizing and getting ready to encourage all Catholics to vote this coming November. They did a similar video in 2008 (click here). 68 million Catholics in the United States, I just hope this time the Catholics in this country will have better conscience when voting then in 2008. This mid-term election is quite an important one for us, there are many issues at stakes but the most important ones are human life, our faith, family values, foundation of our country and freedom!

Let’s pray that God will guide all Catholics to vote the right conscience in November!

My Latest Favorite

2010-08-13T22:10:00.001-05:00

I have no idea what ‘mi morena’ means, but this song sure have a very soothing beat (if you like Josh Groban that is). Anyone knows what it means?

Enjoy!

My Mid-Life Crisis Toy: Mercedes SLS

2010-07-27T23:12:00.001-05:00

This is an amazing car . . . and of course it is a Mercedes! I’m not sure if this is a real test or not, but it looks pretty good.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-30T07:03:00.002-05:00

Christiana picking blueberries. . .

Vacation 2010

2010-06-29T22:50:00.000-05:00

I created this video on my new iPhone 4. Very easy and simple to do. For those of you who owns an Apple Mac, you are probably familiar with the iMovie. Now you can get an app for iPhone 4 that can do the same thing, video editing right at the palm of your hand and the results will be in HD.

You can get the iMovie app at the app store.

Enjoy our Vacation 2010 video by clicking here (or click on the image below) and let me know what you think.http://gallery.me.com/msoeherman#100139/Vacation%202010&bgcolor=black

Fr Miguel On Life On The Rock – June 18

2010-06-22T07:03:00.000-05:00

As some of you know Fr Miguel was in Rome along with 15,000 other Priests from around the world to be with our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to mark the end of the "Year of the Priest."

The first 11 minutes of Life on the Rock, Fr Miguel and Fr. Mark were sharing their experience while in Rome. Enjoy!

The following article taken from CNN.com: Priest gathering overshadowed by church sex scandal.

Image Courtesy of CNN.com

Are You Listening? (Awesome Video)

2010-06-15T07:03:00.000-05:00

This is an awesome video! Must see it and get yourself ready for 2012. But let’s take care of the midterm election first which is this November 2010! We need the Catholic votes now for this November’s midterm election!

Good Bye Vacation . . . Until Next Time!

2010-06-14T07:03:00.000-05:00

Great vacation this year and we are very grateful that we are able to take such vacation.

We are mostly very grateful to our friends especially the Hills family for allowing us to stay with them while visiting our old stomping grounds and visiting our close friends. Tim, Miki, Abby, Mary, Peter, John, Madeline, Matthew and Julie . . . you guys are the best and very dear to our hearts and you guys will always be in our prayers. Thank you, thank you and thank you for putting up with us for a week! You have a place to stay in Alabama if you ever make it down south to EWTN or anywhere down south.

. . . two weeks later . . . BP oil is still gushing out to the ocean, Barrack Obama is still the worst President than Jimmy Carter, and the liberals are still liberals . . . time didn’t stop but our family stop for each other and had a great vacation!

Thank you God!

Last Day At The Beach

2010-06-13T21:32:00.001-05:00

Our vacation at the beach has ended, we ended with a very high note of fun activities!

First this beautiful sunrise from our hotel balcony.Second, we went to a children kite festival. It was a lot of fun, the girls got to color their own kites and had their faces painted.

We got to fly a kite and also tested some cool ‘power kite’ across the street from where the festival was. Very cool place to fly a kite, to learn to hang glide (which we didn’t do). The weather was perfect, it wasn’t sunny at all and the wind was maybe about 20 to 30 mph . . . I’m guessing!

After that we drove 6 hours to Charlotte North Carolina and spent the night and the next day as suggested by Fr. Miguel, we visited the Poor Clares Nuns. We had a lovely visit with the Sisters. Thank you Mother Dolores and all the Nuns for taking the time to visit with us. God bless all your work and you will be in our prayers!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-09T07:03:00.000-05:00

At The Beach In North Carolina

2010-06-06T23:21:00.001-05:00

We made it to the beach in North Carolina today, a city called Kitty Hawk. The 5 ½ drive was smooth and we only stopped once for half hour and got some ice cream at 7 Eleven. Four girls with ice cream in front of 7 Eleven, life is good!

We got to our hotel, checked in and went straight to the beach for a little wet . . . the water was sooooo cold . . . it must’ve been around 50º. . . but it didn’t seemed to bother the girls at all.

After supper we went to catch some crabs for fun and we let them all go at the end. It was a good day, a lot of laughing and excitement.

First catch

End with these

A Day In The Baltimore Inner Harbor

2010-06-04T15:00:00.000-05:00

What a nice place the Baltimore Inner Harbor is! When we got there we had lunch with Brian and Zoe Saint Paul. Thank you both for taking the time to come out to see us! It was really good to see you two as always.

Thanks to Zoe and Brian, they took us to the water fountain area after lunch. Supposedly new fountain area, but I think in reality, they want to see our children get wet and of course, our girls just could not resist . . . and they got wet . . . soaked as a matter of fact! It is like magnets . . . they see water and it is an automatic invitation. Even though we didn’t bring any change of clothes, they had a blast and because it was so hot, it only took couple of hours until their clothes got dried.

Fun Friday

2010-06-04T07:03:00.001-05:00

Let’s take a break from blogging about our vacations . . . this was sent from our friend in Michigan.

Washington, D.C.
An old priest lay dying in the hospital. For years he had faithfully served the people of the nation's capital. He motioned for his nurse to come near.
"Yes, Father?" said the nurse.
"I would really like to see President Obama and Speaker Pelosi before I die", whispered the priest.
"I'll see what I can do, Father", replied the nurse.
The nurse sent the request to The President and Congress and waited for a response. Soon the word arrived; President Obama and Nancy Pelosi would be delighted to visit the priest.
As they went to the hospital, Obama commented to Pelosi, "I don't know why the old priest wants to see us, but it will certainly help our images and might even get me re-elected. After all, I'm IN IT TO WIN."
Pelosi agreed that it was a good thing.
When they arrived at the priest's room, the priest took Obama's hand in his right hand and Pelosi's hand in his left hand. There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest's face.
Finally President Obama spoke. "Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?"

The old priest slowly replied, "I have always tried to pattern my life after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

"Amen", said Obama. "Amen", said Pelosi.

The old priest continued, "Jesus died between two lying thieves; I would like to do the same."

Image property of peterpaulrubens.org

The Snowball Stand

2010-06-03T07:03:00.000-05:00

It is not just any snowball stand, but ‘The Original Snowball Stand’. There are many, but only one original!

If you live locally in Maryland, you have to visit the snowball stand and purchase from among the many flavors of crushed ice . . . very refreshing and taste delicious too!We visited the Stand today and had a great time. The girls loved it especially when the Hills siblings are working, so thank you Mary, Peter and Madeline.You can find out the flavor of the day by following them in Facebook and Twitter.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-02T07:03:00.000-05:00

Night swimming . . . it’s the best!

We Are In Maryland

2010-06-01T10:55:00.000-05:00

We made it to Maryland on Saturday afternoon around 6 PM. We left at 3 in the morning from Alabama. We stopped several times for fuel, food, restroom breaks . . . and everyone did real well in the car . . . only the last two hours the girls started with . . . “are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet?”

We went to the Basilica of the National Shrine and Franciscan Monastery in DC yesterday with the Landry family and had a blast.

More to come . . . keep checking back.

End Of Junior Master Gardener For Now

2010-05-27T07:03:00.000-05:00

I blogged about Gabriela’s Junior Master Gardener last year <here> and how much she loved it. The homeschool program came to an end today and she received this beautiful ‘Growing a Vegetable Garden’ certificate of completion. Gabriela will still be in JMG, but with a different group and not homeschool and she will only go once a month instead of twice a month.Great job Gabriela!

The teacher, Miss Vasha gave each students a CD of the JMG Journal. You can read below (unfortunately the journal below is not an iPhone, iPod Touch nor iPad compatible, you have to read it the old fashion way . . . computer!)

Gabriela's JMG Journal

The Count Down Begins . . . Vacation Time!

2010-05-25T19:03:00.000-05:00

So it begins . . . 4 more days until we depart for our vacation to the State of Maryland, the State where Coby and I spent our engagement live. We hope to eat a lot of blue crabs and visit the Inner Harbor, visiting friends and much more. I’m hoping the internet connection will cooperate with me so we can keep up the blog while on vacation and post a lot of photos. Keep checking back!

Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)

2010-05-22T07:03:00.000-05:00

This is is a famous poem from thirteenth century the poem describes the day of judgment, the last trumpet summoning souls before the throne of God, where the saved will be delivered and the unsaved cast into eternal flames.

Very intense piece by Karl Jenkins from his album: Requiem, but very beautiful if you read what the poem’s all about (see below)

1. Dies iræ! dies illa Solvet sæclum in favilla: Teste David cum Sibylla!	Day of wrath! O day of mourning! See fulfilled the prophets' warning, Heaven and earth in ashes burning!
2. Quantus tremor est futurus, Quando iudex est venturus, Cuncta stricte discussurus!	Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth, when from heaven the Judge descendeth, on whose sentence all dependeth.
3. Tuba, mirum spargens sonum Per sepulchra regionum, Coget omnes ante thronum.	Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth; through earth's sepulchers it ringeth; all before the throne it bringeth.
4. Mors stupebit, et natura, Cum resurget creatura, Iudicanti responsura.	Death is struck, and nature quaking, all creation is awaking, to its Judge an answer making
5. Liber scriptus proferetur, In quo totum continetur, Unde mundus iudicetur.	Lo! the book, exactly worded, wherein all hath been recorded: thence shall judgment be awarded.
6. Iudex ergo cum sedebit, Quidquid latet, apparebit: Nil inultum remanebit.	When the Judge his seat attaineth, and each hidden deed arraigneth, nothing unavenged remaineth.
7. Quid sum miser tunc dicturus? Quem patronum rogaturus, Cum vix iustus sit securus?	What shall I, frail man, be pleading? Who for me be interceding, when the just are mercy needing?
8. Rex tremendæ maiestatis, Qui salvandos salvas gratis, Salva me, fons pietatis.	King of Majesty tremendous, who dost free salvation send us, Fount of pity, then befriend us!
9. Recordare, Iesu pie, Quod sum causa tuæ viæ: Ne me perdas illa die.	Think, good Jesus, my salvation cost thy wondrous Incarnation; leave me not to reprobation!
10. Quærens me, sedisti lassus: Redemisti Crucem passus: Tantus labor non sit cassus.	Faint and weary, thou hast sought me, on the cross of suffering bought me. shall such grace be vainly brought me?
11. Iuste iudex ultionis, Donum fac remissionis Ante diem rationis.	Righteous Judge! for sin's pollution grant thy gift of absolution, ere the day of retribution.
12. Ingemisco, tamquam reus: Culpa rubet vultus meus: Supplicanti parce, Deus.	Guilty, now I pour my moaning, all my shame with anguish owning; spare, O God, thy suppliant groaning!
13. Qui Mariam absolvisti, Et latronem exaudisti, Mihi quoque spem dedisti.	Thou the sinful woman savedst; thou the dying thief forgavest; and to me a hope vouchsafest.
14. Preces meæ non sunt dignæ: Sed tu bonus fac benigne, Ne perenni cremer igne.	Worthless are my prayers and sighing, yet, good Lord, in grace complying, rescue me from fires undying!
15. Inter oves locum præsta, Et ab hædis me sequestra, Statuens in parte dextra.	With thy favored sheep O place me; nor among the goats abase me; but to thy right hand upraise me.
16. Confutatis maledictis, Flammis acribus addictis: Voca me cum benedictis.	While the wicked are confounded, doomed to flames of woe unbounded call me with thy saints surrounded.
17. Oro supplex et acclinis, Cor contritum quasi cinis: Gere curam mei finis.	Low I kneel, with heart submission, see, like ashes, my contrition; help me in my last condition.
18. Lacrimosa dies illa, qua resurget ex favilla iudicandus homo reus. Huic ergo parce, Deus:	Ah! that day of tears and mourning! From the dust of earth returning man for judgment must prepare him; Spare, O God, in mercy spare him!
19. Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Amen	Lord, all pitying, Jesus blest, grant them thine eternal rest. Amen.

Check It Out . . .

2010-05-21T07:03:00.000-05:00

If you have not visited CatholicVoteAction.org . . . you should go there and check it out. They have wealth of information about the current states of the Catholic Church and much more. My favorite is the “Papist Picture of the Day” by American Papist Blog. A blog about “important issues facing Catholic Americans”. And since I’m a fan of the Holy Father and the iPhone, I thought I’d post the Papist Picture of the Day here to share with you.

They are also in facebook!

Photo Credit: AP Photo via American Papist

Benediction May 16: Fr. Miguel Marie

2010-05-20T07:03:00.001-05:00

Technology is truly amazing! You don’t have to watch TV in your living room anymore. Unless of course you are a movie goers or sport fans, nothing like watching a movie or sport on the BIG screen, preferably 52 inches or bigger. But I’m talking about being able to watch something like EWTN right at your finger tips. Either it’d be a computer, an iPad, or an iPhone.

You can now watched various programs of EWTN on your iPhone (or iPad) through various means.YouTube: www.youtube.com/ewtn

Or you can watch it live (online streaming) by going to www.ewtn.mobi on your iPhone or iPad (or any other handheld devices that supports the online streaming).

Above is a YouTube link of Fr. Miguel when he did the Benediction on May 16, 2010.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-19T07:03:00.000-05:00

Tragedy In The Coop

2010-05-18T07:03:00.000-05:00

Some of you may have already heard regarding the invasion in our chicken coop what we think might be the “weasel” on Saturday morning. The picture is pretty gruesome so I’m sorry for posting such a picture, but you have to see the picture to believe it. Half of the chicken’s body is gone, eaten by another animal. We think it’s the weasel, because that is the only animal that could go into the small opening in between the coop and the chicken run. According to the explanation about the “Long-tailed Weasel”, “FEEDING HABITS: . . . the size of the prey does not seem to matter. The weasel has been known to attack full-grown rabbits and will occasionally enter a chicken coop and kill poultry. When prey is plentiful, the long-tailed weasel will store its surplus food. . .”

It was a sad Saturday morning to wake up to something like that. It was Goldie, which is Abigail’s Chicken!

Blessed Sacrament Parish . . . Here We Come!

2010-05-16T23:01:00.001-05:00

The excerpt above is taken from Our Lady of Sorrows parish bulletin today and we are so excited and happy for Fr. Booth. As Father Muller mentioned about his homily, it is very good and it hits the spot every time! You can read some of his past homily by clicking here.

We are looking forward to ‘hopefully’ a weekly Traditional Latin Mass at Blessed Sacrament Parish.

Congratulations Father Booth, we are looking forward to joining you at Blessed Sacrament. We will continue to pray for you and your new assignment.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-12T10:23:00.000-05:00

One rose for our Lady . . .

Mother’s Day At The Botanical Garden

2010-05-09T22:13:00.001-05:00

Visiting the Botanical Garden on Mother’s Day is becoming to be an annual tradition for us, and this year the weather was perfect for us. Not too hot, and cool enough but not too cold. We started the day by going to Mass at Sister Servants in Irondale, and picnic lunch at the botanical garden followed by a walk through the rose garden and the rose show.

Although Coby didn’t get to relax with her book on Mother’s day, it was a very enjoyable day looking at the beautiful roses and just being together as a whole family.

Mother’s day hug from Christiana

Happy Mother’s Day

2010-05-09T09:46:00.001-05:00

To my dear wife, to my Mama, to my mother-in-law, to all the mothers and most of all to our heavenly mother, our Blessed Virgin Mary, happy mother’s day!

Words cannot describe how grateful we are with your existence. We love you and happy mother’s day!

This year mother’s day flower arrangements comes from our own flower garden.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-14T14:53:00.001-05:00

Christiana at 15 months @ the Aldridge Gardens

Jesus Christ, Our King, Is Risen!

2010-04-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

“Exsúltet iam angélica turba cælórum: exsúltent divína mystéria: et pro tanti Regis victória tuba ínsonet salutáris” (Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God's throne! Jesus Christ, our King, is risen! Sound the trumpet of salvation!)

Have a Blessed Easter to all of you,our families,our friends, our colleagues! May the joy of Our Risen Lord brings peace and love to all of us.

. . . “Christians do not “conquer” through the sword, but through the Cross”. - Pope Benedict XVI Image Source: Una Voce

First Cache Location

2010-03-30T07:03:00.000-05:00

My first hidden cache located at N 33°12'49.0212" W 87°17'34.0188". You can enter this coordinates in your GPS and find the hidden cache.

New to the hobby of geocaching? Well, I am very new at it! On this first hide, I didn’t put much thought to it and hid it rather quickly and I hope the coordinates is accurate as I want it to be. I think hiding the cache is more difficult than finding it, because you have to make sure that you are not too close to the next cache that a cacher hid (the rule is you have to be at least 528 feet apart). In our area there are a lot of cache everywhere, you can do a quick errand to a grocery store and on the way back you can try to find a cache or two.

Gabriela and I went out on Saturday for quick errands and we found 4 geocaches on the way there and back. Although what we found were small or micro cache which usually doesn’t take that much space to hide. Could be really hard to find or could be really easy, it all depends! But regardless of the sizes, we enjoy hunting for the cache!A micro cache is hanging on the fence the size of a chap stick.

Missed The Wordless Wednesday . . .

2010-03-26T07:03:00.000-05:00

. . . but TGIF!

Visitors From Canada

2010-03-18T07:03:00.000-05:00

Coby’s brother and his family came down to visit us this week for spring break and we just had a blast. They have 8 children, so as you can imagine, meals are always fun. The preparations, the conversations, the clean up . . . no chaos . . . well behave, and everyone knows what to do. Sixteen people around the table for breakfast, lunch and dinner almost everyday, we just love it!

To the Vandenbergs, thank you for the great visit and God’s willing we hope to see you this summer.

Geocaching Anyone?

2010-03-15T07:03:00.000-05:00

We got introduced to Geocaching this weekend by Coby’s family and I’m thinking . . . how come I didn’t know about this before. It involves GPS, outdoors, and internet . . . it is a high-tech treasure hunting and a lot of fun. It’s very inexpensive activity for the family . . . well other than purchasing the GPS (or an iPhone in my case), the rest are pretty cheap. Geocaching activity will get your family outdoors, and some nice weather is coming our way.

We went out several times this weekend to look for some caches (containers that have been hidden by fellow geocachers) and found them all and we log them on the website so the owners of the caches that we found will be able to see the messages that we log. You can read a simple explanation about Geocaching by clicking here.

For those of you who are familiar or a Geocacher, you can add us as a friend: 4SoeCache.

I will update this post once we have a cache of our own to hide.

GCRWDW

GCJFK6

Sick, Sick, Sick . . .

2010-03-12T07:03:00.000-06:00

That's all we have around our house this week, we all got the stomach bug. A very powerful stomach bug that travels very fast from person to person. First it started with Coby’s Father, he got it after he got back from the cruise. Two days later, Rebecca got it, and Christiana, Coby and I got it around the same time. Is not finish yet! We have couple more girls, but hopefully they are immune to this bug.

I don’t wish this on anyone, because it is very painful and nasty. Please pray for us!

Rebecca’s Birthday Party

2010-03-09T07:03:00.000-06:00

We had such a good time with friends and family celebrating Rebecca’s 6th birthday. Thank you to everyone, family, and friends for coming to the party and spending the afternoon with us, we had such a blast and we are still talking about it.

Enjoy looking at the photos and you can check out more photos in the photo gallery by clicking here.

Another Project

2010-03-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

Please forgive my absence from blogging, I’ve been a little preoccupied with some wood working projects. This time I made a birdcage for the bookshelf and I have to say, it came out really nice and the Society finches and Zebra finches are very happy with their new home.

This is might be a start of a new idea which will be announced soon.

UPDATE: I added a little ambiance to the birdcage.

Happy Birthday Rebecca!

2010-03-06T18:33:00.001-06:00

Our little girl is 6 years old today . . . wow, it seemed like it was yesterday when she was born. Six years later she still makes us laugh and melt especially her daddy’s heart.

@ 9 months

@ 1 year old

@ 6 year old

Happy birthday Rebecca, we love you!

The Day After

2010-02-13T08:20:00.001-06:00

It all started when the groundhog, Phil saw his shadow couple of weeks ago and predicted that winter will be six more weeks . . . Just like the rest of 50 other States, Alabama also got some snow yesterday which pretty much paralyzed the whole state.

I saw a headline, “it took 30 inches of snow to paralyzed the Nation’s Capitol, it only took 1 inch in Alabama”

Nevertheless, it’s beautiful, like in New England!

Fun Friday: Crazy Cube Illusion!

2010-01-29T07:03:00.000-06:00

I saw this at Patrick Madrid’s blog and I thought I’d share it with you. Pretty awesome illusion! Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-27T07:03:00.000-06:00

When you see this, need I say more . . . just a big smile!

Finally, An Egg From Goldie!

2010-01-26T09:20:00.000-06:00

We finally got an egg from Goldie today, she was the last one that has not laid any eggs yet since we got the chickens back in October.

Goldie is the chicken that Abigail picked out, so you can imagine how happy she was when she found that that her chicken had laid an egg today. “Daddy, can you take a picture of me and my egg?”, asked Abigail while holding the egg.

Although we are supposed to be getting 4 eggs now, but we’ve only gotten three eggs a day so far.

Fun Friday: Hitler Finds Out Scott Brown Won Massachusetts Senate Seat

2010-01-22T07:03:00.000-06:00

This is a parody from the movie Downfall which I have not seen yet, which is supposed to be a good war movie. (if you get a red box in the middle, ignore & do not click it will disappear in 30 seconds)

Video Source: vodpod.com

Congratulations Senator Brown!

2010-01-19T21:12:00.001-06:00

Thank you God for this gift! The people in Massachusetts have spoken. Yes, Yes, Yes! Time to change it back!

Pelosi, Reid are next and Obama in 2012! Enough is enough we want our country back from these liberal non-sense!

Congratulations Senator Brown!

That’s right President Obama: “You can’t win them all” ( . . . see me smiling . . . what I’m thinking, your health care and tax increases are next to be defeated . . . see me smiling . . .)

D-Day In Massachusetts

2010-01-19T14:08:00.001-06:00

This is it! We are all praying and making sacrifices for Scott Brown to be the next US Senator. If you are in Massachusetts, go out and vote today for Scott Brown, if you live anywhere else, pray, pray and pray for Scott Brown that he will be elected. It’s very important for the conservative base and the future of this country!

Image Source: National Review Online

Massachusetts Miracle – January 19, 2010

2010-01-16T10:32:00.001-06:00

If you live in Massachusetts, go out and vote this Tuesday – January 19, but don’t just go out and waste your vote at what’s her name, vote for Scott Brown. On Tuesday, it will be a step closer to reclaim America the way it supposed to be. A step closer to get rid of the liberals politicians out of office in the November’s election.

If you don’t live in Massachusetts, please pray for Scott Brown and pray that God’s hand will be with the people of Massachusetts.

UPDATE: We just did our morning prayers and the reading from 2 Peter 1:10-11: “Be solicitous to make your call and election permanent, bothers; surely those who do so will never be lost” …

Visit Our Photo Gallery

2010-01-15T07:03:00.000-06:00

Some of you have been asking if we can email some photos of the girls, or how can we see the latest photos of the girls.

Now you can visit our photo gallery by clicking on the button on

the left hand side of this blog that looks like

Once you are there, you will see the different photo albums as shown below, and you can click on the individual album to see more photos.

Or if you want to get fancy and own an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can subscribe to updates using the RSS feed by clicking on the top right corner inside the gallery. You can get the RSS Reader App (free) from the iTunes Store, and every time we update the photo gallery you can look at it on your iPhone or iPod Touch immediately. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Christiana!

2010-01-12T11:12:00.000-06:00

Our little girl is ONE . . . I can’t believe she is one year old, it seemed like yesterday when she was born, happy birthday my little iPoo’d (a nick name given to her for the Wii character and originated from here).

A very joyful moment for all of us when she came into this world. She is a very happy baby, she makes her sisters laugh all the time, and she laughs when her sisters try to make her laugh.

Future Seamstresses

2010-01-11T07:03:00.000-06:00

All three girls are showing a lot of interest in sewing, they must’ve gotten this gene from their grandmother. So, for Christmas we gave Rebecca a sewing machine and they each got a sewing basket. In the baskets are some basic sewing necessities and some starter materials. Gabriela started sewing some Christmas gift bags before Christmas. And now Rebecca is learning how to sew using the sewing machine, just like her big sister.

Can We Have The Global Warming Now?

2010-01-10T07:03:00.000-06:00

When you don’t have anything else to say in the blog and you feel like blogging, you can always talk about the weather, and how cold it’s been lately.

Today the low was at minus 9⁰Celsius, and when you talk about minus 9⁰Celsius, it’s okay if you live in Canada, Michigan, Iowa, or maybe Alaska. But we are in Alabama, where winter for us used to be 7⁰ to 10⁰ Celsius. I think we’ve been spoiled with the warm weather in Alabama, we used to be able to tolerate the cold a little bit better than this.

So, Mr. Al Gore, can we please have the global warming now?

Celsius

Fahrenheit

I mean it must be really cold when headline like this made it to Drudge Report, “Alabama off to coldest start since 1940”

Despite the below freezing temperatures, our chickens are surviving and still laying three eggs a day. No Frozen chickens yet thanks be to God!

Chickadee & Rusty getting warm in one nest box inside the coop

Fun Friday – Good Painter

2010-01-08T07:03:00.000-06:00

I received these images from my Aunt in California. I don’t know how real this is or nor do I know the man who does these painting.

Collections of “before” and “after” photos of typical concrete & stucco facade wall starts to take on a three dimensional appearance after he does his art work. Simply amazing!

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Inside the Miller Brewery Hallway - Before

Inside the Miller Brewery Hallway - After

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

2010-01-07T19:00:00.001-06:00

Some of you probably know what these characters are all about . . . yes, we now own a Wii game and introducing our family’s Mii characters. Can you figure it out who is who?

We are having so much fun playing tennis, golf, baseball, bowling . . . even ski jumps! “Step On”

MFVA In The Wikipedia

2010-01-04T07:03:00.000-06:00

If you haven’t already knew this, the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word is in the Wikipedia. Great Priests and Brothers!

3 Wise Men: Melchior, Balthasar, & Gaspar

2010-01-03T07:03:00.000-06:00

Epiphany marked the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, In Christian tradition, wise men from the East who came to pay homage to the infant Jesus. According to Matthew 2:1 – 12, they followed a miraculous guiding star to Bethlehem and brought gifts of "gold and frankincense and myrrh."

Just like today, their visit was seen as evidence that the Gentiles as well as the Jews would worship Jesus, and it is celebrated in the feast of Epiphany.

Epiphany falls on Wednesday, January 6, 2010. In most countries, including the United States, the celebration of Epiphany in 2010 is transferred to Sunday, January 3.

Image Source: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

2010 In The Eyes Of An iPhone User

2010-01-02T07:03:00.000-06:00

I couldn’t resist, I had to post this cool 2010 sign using the iPhone app logos. It is one of those image that you have to stare at it for about 5 seconds to be able to see the ‘2010’, it’s quicker if you are an iPhone users. I’m only kidding, I’m sure you can see the 2010 immediately. Happy New Year!Another one of my favorite, I call this one, “Time in iPhone Measurements”

Images source: The iPhone Blog

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

2010-01-01T00:00:00.000-06:00

Dear Families and Friends,

Happy New Year to you and your family on this octave of Christmas and Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

“May the new year which we are confidently beginning today be a time in which to advance in that knowledge of the heart, which is the wisdom of saints.” – Pope Benedict XVI (January 1, 2008)

iPoo’d

2009-12-31T07:05:00.000-06:00

“Change me”, that’s what the t-shirt says. A great Christmas gift from Christiana’s Aunts.

Christiana: “Thank you Aunt Liz & Aunt Maria, now Daddy will be fully motivated to change my poopy diapers. He doesn’t change my poopy diapers that much and this t-shirt will help him. Merry Christmas to you!”

On The 6th Day of Christmas . . .

2009-12-30T09:44:00.000-06:00

. . . My true love gave to me . . . 6 faces of cuties . . . okay, so it’s three girls times two, isn’t technology just great!

Merry Christmas on the Sixth Day of Christmas!

Our Chickens

2009-12-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

Introducing our chickens: Chickadee , Zebree, Goldie, and Rusty in action on Sunday afternoon.

Visit From Fr Miguel On The Feast Of Holy Family

2009-12-27T16:45:00.001-06:00

The girls were so excited when Fr Miguel came and visited us today on the third day of Christmas, which is the feast of Holy Family. Fr. Miguel played a quick puzzles and rode the PlasmaCar with the girls, and also blessed the chickens.

It was a good day for us! Thank you Father Miguel!

On The 3rd Day Of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me . . .

2009-12-27T08:13:00.000-06:00

. . . three Playmobil for the three girls . . .

Rebecca was so happy when she unwrapped one of her gifts and it was a Playmobil, a big hit this year at our house.

Rebecca got the Family Camper. It has storage for bicycles, camping chairs, forks, spoons, cast iron pans . . . and my favorite, cell phone. Even a cell phone cradle in the dashboard.

The German ingenuity . . . incredibly awesome!

Christiana’s First Christmas

2009-12-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

Filled with so much love and joy.

I have not been able to capture any picture of Christiana holding Baby Jesus yet, but she has a special devotion to Baby Jesus, special love.

We could all learn from her, to love like a child!

Thank You Baby Jesus!

2009-12-25T11:52:00.000-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS & Thank You Baby Jesus!

Our Little Red Riding Hoods

2009-12-25T09:25:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas and thank you Grandma! These are beautiful and perfect to wear in the cold weather of Alabama.

Christmas Advertisement

2009-12-25T06:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from the GAP . . . I mean from the Soehermans!

Thank you Uncle Albert, Tante Ira, Matthew, Anthony and Francisca for the gifts. Because of you, now we are in fashion!

This Day Christ Was Born

2009-12-25T02:50:00.001-06:00

Dear Families and Friends,

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones! Thank you for all the prayers and the love you have shown towards our family. May the Peace and Joy of the Holy Family be with you and those you hold dear. “Glory to God in the highest, alleluia.”

“Hodie Christus natus est;
hodie Salvator apparuit; hodie in terra
canunt Angeli,laetantur Archangeli;
hodie exsultant justi, dicentes:
Gloria in excelsis Deo, alleluia.”

Ronald Reagan Christmas Address

2009-12-24T08:26:00.001-06:00

Christmas address from the greatest President!

We miss you Mr. President!

Big Surprise

2009-11-29T10:05:00.000-06:00

I don’t have to do too much traveling anymore for the past few years now, at least not too much traveling to Europe. Every now and then I would do a small trip, a day or two days trip here and there, but not the whole week.

I cannot imagine going for long trip such as being in the military and leaving your family behind, leaving your children behind for a long period of time. Your family miss you and you miss your family especially your children and your children miss you even more. If you have not seen this video, it’s worth watching it, all the emotions this little girl has when she realized the big surprise. A very joyful moment for her and her dad too!

Video Source Viral Footage

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T03:33:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Thank you Lord for the many blessings you have given us!

Christiana In Action

2009-11-25T07:03:00.000-06:00

I was just having fun taking some photos of Christiana at the Aldridge Gardens. Enjoy looking at the full album.

View Full Album

Manhattan Declaration.Org

2009-11-23T11:08:00.001-06:00

“ We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

. . . We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

Click here to download The Manhattan Declaration.

Click here to sign the declaration.

Fun Friday – The Mystery Of 2012

2009-11-20T07:03:00.000-06:00

24

2009-11-18T20:29:00.001-06:00

In case y’all wondering why I have not updated the blog for the past week and a half, I’ve been consumed with the movie “24”. Yes, you can say I’m addicted to 24.

I realized season 7 of 24 was aired maybe over a year ago and I just started watching it last week, and I knew, once I started I can’t just walk away from it. The beauty of DVD, I can keep watching and watching with no commercial.

This time the story is all about government corruptions, conspiracy, bio-chemical weapons, and more government corruptions. It made me think, hhmm, do we have anybody in this country like Jack Bauer that can clean up our current administrations? Clean up the current corruptions?

Eggs . . . We Got Two Eggs!

2009-11-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

Just an update on the chickens, we are so excited in the past couple of days we’ve been getting two eggs a day. We are on our way to be egg farmers . . . LOL.

Chickadee & Zebree laid these two eggs and hopefully the other two will be laying soon.

Write Your Representative - Important

2009-11-05T14:19:00.001-06:00

We need your action to stop PelosiCare before it gets voted on this Saturday. Before it happens, we need to email (Click the word ‘email’ for easy link to write) and call 202-224-3121 our elected representatives to demand that they vote NO on HR 3962.

The problem with this bill:

1. This legislation still funds abortions with our taxpayer dollars. 2. Its price tag is outrageous and will be crippling to our economy.
3. Nationalized health care systems always disadvantage the elderly and the very sick.

Even if you've never contacted your representative before, please do so today. It's really important!

Facts: few more reasons to oppose HR 3962

News Flash: Planned Parenthood Leader Resigns After Watching Ultrasound of Abortion Procedure

2009-11-02T14:15:00.001-06:00

This is great news for the pro-life movement, but much prayers and sacrifices need to be done still on the pro-life issues! Slowly but surely, person by person, one heart at the time, and just remember we are on God’s timing not ours.

The Feast Of All Saints

2009-11-01T02:33:00.000-06:00

A very happy Feast of All Saints to everyone out there. May all the Saints in Heaven intercede for us during these times on earth.

The Chickens Got An Addition

2009-10-31T19:03:00.000-05:00

I made an addition to the chicken coop last week so the chickens will have a little bit more area to roam around. Some would call the addition, the chicken runs. We are calling it the ‘screened in playground’.

Transformers Or iPhone Costumes

2009-10-31T09:51:00.001-05:00

The movie Transformers is one of my favorite movie and if I have to wear a costume, I would have to go as ‘Bumble Bee’s Transformers’

But then, I might have to go as an iPhone!

Which one would you choose?

The Look

2009-10-28T21:40:00.001-05:00

This is Christiana!

This is Christiana being a happy baby!