The Pope died at 9:37 pm Vatican time. This article describes the voting process and why there is black and white smoke:

http://people.howstuffworks.com/papacy3.htm

The Neumann News came out this past Sunday. As Kelly thumbed through it in church I spotted this photo of Nicole with her article. She had the inside back cover spread. Later in mass, Kathy and I were very proud to watch Mary Claire read the entire article written by her big sister about helping the poor and sick in Jamaica. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

You can find the February edition of Neumann News on SJNLilburn.org (which Kathy and I are now webmastering… more mysterious ways.)

Ted made the paper, but Kelly made the newsletter in color! I’m helping get the Saint John Neumann website restored after a catastrophic outage. Posting the January Neumann News (512K – big), I spotted Kelly in the CLAY* article (twice!)

*Christ Leading Active Youth

Kathy has been watching a nursery of kids for a Baptist bible study class on Tuesday mornings. She’s saving up for Christmas.

There is one 3 year-old-boy who is particularly bad. He is rude and bullies most of the little kids. Two-year-old Kelly can certainly stand out, but this boy makes Kelly look like an angel.

One morning Kelly was pulling a rocking horse across the floor and the bully boy jumped on it so that she couldn’t pull it. Kelly yelled at him to get off, but he wouldn’t do it. So Kelly stepped up and punched him in the face!

Kathy was shocked. So was the bully. He ran away crying and hasn’t bothered Kelly since.

Kathy did not report the incident.

Kelly Elizabeth was baptized today. She was much better behaved than Thomas Joseph who was also baptized. She contributed her share of noise however, especially when the deacon was paying more attention to what he was reading than his pouring. She got a face full of holy water and did not enjoy having some of it go up her holy nose.

However, she was much quieter than Danny had been at his Baptism in front of the entire congregation at Holy Cross. St. John Neumann’s after-mass Baptism is a much better arrangement. At least you only have to worry about bothering the immediate family.

After the Baptism, Godparents Ted and Bernadette, Mom and Dad, Tom and Jennette, Tom Jr., and assorted tots (Little Bill, Shawn, Eric) and siblings (Nicole an Danny) gathered for a terrific lunch. Kathy worked hard all day Saturday to prepare it. Delicious honey baked ham, fresh fruit salad, pasta salad, a regular salad with some kind of topping, and three desserts: coconut cake, cherry-chocolate-chip cheese cake, and some peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses on top.

Kelly even put in a nice stretch of smiles an cooing for the occasion.

Last night we had an impromptu get together with Ted & Nancy, Elizabeth & Harrison, and Carol. Bob and Eric were home under the weather.

* * *

Today was our first Sunday weekend together as a family. Actually last week was, but there was snow all over the ground.

Kathy quit the Marriott, too hard on her pregnant feet and pregnant sleeping schedule, in favor of working a couple of nights a week at Sports Life’s child care. When I picked up the kids on the way home from work, I saw what looked like a tougher job. But I haven’t said so.

This morning, then, Kathy woke me with a pleasant “It’s time to get up.” I’m not sure that’s happened in our 5 year marriage.

All four of us got up and dressed for 9am mass. It was a designated “children’s mass.” The children’s choir sang with Mom’s choir. Father Ed called all the children up to the front for the sermon.

When he asked the children to tell him something wonderful that was happening in there lives, Nicole told him that her mother was pregnant.

“Does everyone know yet?” Father asked, and then laughed that everyone knew now. He agreed that it was wonderful. The congregation had a good laugh. Kathy and I could not see the kids, so I asked Nicole when she came back if she had made everyone laugh.

“No,” she said. “Father made everyone laugh.”

We then met Mom and Dad for doughnuts as we waited for Sunday school to start. Mom thoroughly enjoyed having us all there to see her sing and being able to brag to her friends about Danny and Nicole being so cute up on the altar.

After leaving for class, Danny and Nicole came back promptly. Danny was visibly upset. Nicole reported that he had cried, upset about there being no Sunday schcool.

On the way to the store with Nicole and Kathy, Danny started thinking.

He asked Kathy why he was born last. Kathy explained that God thought that Nicole would be a better big sister, and he would be a better little brother.

Danny then said that he didn’t like God. Nicole gasped. (She has two years of Sunday school and Danny has none.) Kathy told Danny that she liked and loved God, and that she thanked God every day that he had given her a little boy. And that God had decided to give Dad and Mom a nice little boy, and that was him.

Then Danny asked if God gave him his name. Kathy said no, that God let Dad and Mom pick out his name.

“I don’t like to be called Danny,” he declared.

“Well what do you want to be called?” Kathy asked.

“I want to be called Leaf-Tah-Terrace.”

Nicole cracked up. Kathy was amused, but told Nicole to stop laughing. It was important to take Danny’s thoughts seriously.

So… we lost our good little boy today, and now we have a little atheist named Leaf-Tah-Terrace. (I hope he doesn’t start worshiping crystals.) How am I going to explain this to Leaf-Tah’s grandparents?

Patsy called Friday night to thank us for her Girl Scout cookies that we didn’t need to send her. We ended up talking for an hour covering all the controversy in her life with respect to how Oprah Winfrey would handle it.

Kathy worked Saturday because of Nicole’s first communion Sunday. Danny, Nicole, and I tidied up the house, then dropped Nicole off for first communion practice at church.

Danny helped Mom in the yard, doing damage to any little plant that got in the way of him and his trowel. I helped put batteries in Dad’s primo-ultimate HP calculator. The instructions told him that he had 1 minute to swap batteries before he would risk loosing the client lists he has stored in memory.

“I can’t do anything in one minute,” Dad confessed.

Ted came over to work on a form for his DOT department on Mom’s Mac. Mom had several big calligraphy jobs to work on that she shouldn’t be doing because she has a full time job. She’s pretty tired. Patsy and I, among others, are worried about her.

Kathy and I went to Nancy and Ted’s house for dinner club. We had Shish Kabob that was very good. Kathy spent much of the time complaining to Frank about how I don’t help enough around the house.* I spent most of my time helping around the house, specifically, swapping Ted and Nancy’s green refrigerator for an off-white one in the garage.

Everyone liked Alice’s short hair, who later accused me of being uxorious. I don’t know whether or not she found this to be an admirable trait. Open to interpretation.

Ted showed the guys the new engine he put on his riding mower. Learned how to use a gear pull.

Ted and Nancy have inherited a cute little Sheltie that Kathy and I would both like to have. Maybe we can get one of her puppies.

Stephanie looked tired, but not as tired as she looked standing in line at Pharmore where I had bought Dad’s batteries earlier in the day. It’s strange how life’s threads tie us together.

*[BALDERDASH! The truth is, she set herself up with the big first communion brunch, trying to buy and cook everything in only 3 hours between work and the dinner party. Exactly how am I suppose to learn how to help cook in a pressure situation like that? It’s like when she tries to get dressed and brush her teeth at the same time. Would I ask her to help me program a routine in 3 hours? I cut up some Pineapple, helped tidy up, and made sure the kids got dinner. OK, so maybe I should take out the trash and help clean up more often that I do… But I sure don’t have time to take naps, watch Oprah, or go to the pool on weekdays! These are some of the thoughts I had at the end of the night, when I was not very uxorious.]

The first communion mass was great. I held my breath as Nicole improved a petition of prayer. I was afraid she might pray for her brother Danny who cries. Instead she offered a petition for the poor. Good job. Nicole got to wear a pretty white dress and a veil. I don’t remember my first communion, but then I didn’t get to wear a veil. She got presents from Mom and Dad; Tom and Jennette; Ted; Tommy; Carol and Bob and Eric; and Nancy, Ted, Shaun, and Brittany. She also got the very nice charm bracelet that Kathy had gotten for her own first communion.

Nicole enjoyed her first communion day. As he was leaving, Bob looked at all the presents and said to Nicole, “I bet you can’t wait until your second communion!”

The food was delicious. The cost dear.

Last weekend was packed. Frank’s bachelor’s party at the farm was Friday night and Saturday morning. Steaks on the grill, Liar’s Dice, Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey (!), and shooting guns down by the river were highlights… (only lights?) Frank, Bennett, Harrison, Richard (Mr. B.), Teddy, Jimmy, Ken, Rod, Oliver, and me made ten.

Easter egg hunt and Ted and Nancy’s with hamburgers and hot dogs on Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening. Lots of kids. Frank, Mike Holsey, and I escaped for a while by sitting outside in the rented van.

The rented van was for the women and Stephanie’s bachelorette night out. They had a blast. Ted O. came over and watched the The Name of the Rose with me, sharing a six-pack of Samuel Adams. Good movie.

Kathy got in at 4 am. I only wanted two brief answers:

1. Is everyone o.k.?

2. Did you all do anything you shouldn’t have done?

She answered yes and no respectively.

Then she started laughing and giggling. I was entertained until 6 a.m. with all the details. Wish I could have traded places with Forest, who drove the van.

Sunday featured Eric’s christening. We were late by a few minutes, but made it in time for all the key parts. Seems Bob gave Carol directions to St. John Neumann while Carol was on the phone with Kathy. The directions I ended up getting consisted of 4 street names with no turning information. And of course, their was a key fifth name missing from the middle of the list. Almost missed getting to be THE GODFATHER.

We went to Carol and Bob’s for lunch where we got to talk with Bob, Sr. and Pat.