My Latest Favorite

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

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

Christiana picking blueberries. . .

Vacation 2010

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

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)

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!

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

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

At The Beach In North Carolina

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

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

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

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

Night swimming . . . it’s the best!

We Are In Maryland

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

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!

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)

 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 . . .

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

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.