"Pshhhh" 

This is the noise that Joseph makes, along with arcing hand motion, to indicate an airplane.

Yep, we're heading to Ontario again on Sunday. It's been just over a month since Joseph and I returned home and we're finding it too cold here, so we decided to go and take in some of the 40+ weather making the rounds in Southern Ontario.

Ugh, no thanks!

We are actually taking another trip, but not looking forward to the heat -- so it better break before we get there. Hear that, family?! It's an order. I'm hoping The Weather Network isn't lying to me when they tell me the expected highs are around 25 degrees while we're there. Take into account the intense humidity and we'll likely be at 30 degrees.

On the bright side, my family has a cool, refreshing pool that we'll be spending most of our days -- and nights -- hanging out in.

When Dan didn't look like he was getting a job we decided that our hoped-for trip in the summer was a no go. But now that he has a job we're a little more willing to fork out the tremendous amount of money those two 3 hour flights cost.

Or maybe we're just being thrifty. It's our last chance for Joseph to fly for free before he turns 2 in the fall.

So, that, combined with Dan not having visited, combined with decently priced flights, combined with no other intentions of flying anytime soon... well, we decided the time was right.

We are really looking forward to spending some time with my family and just relaxing -- you know, fishing in the pond, swimming, canoeing. We're also hoping to see some of our friends this time around. Sometimes we feel like we have no friends -- well, it's true, we have no friends here (yet). But we do have a few people still in Ontario nice enough to make time to visit with us and whom we like to call friends.

That's our news for the week. Now here's what we've been doing lately -- just playing around with cousins:

The Goofer -- and his goofy vocabulary

Oftentimes, while in public, I find myself calling Joseph by his nickname: Moseph. "How's it going, Mose?" or "C'mon, Mose" just pops out of my mouth before I even think what I'm saying. Then embarrassment ensues. Dan gives me a look or says, "You just called him Mose." I can't help it though. We call him that all the time at home, so it just naturally comes out everywhere. Thankfully, I haven't yet had anyone ask me, "So, his name is Mose?"

Another pet name we have for Joseph is The Goofer. He's a goof-ball! Anyone who's met him can attest to that -- and I blame his father, who is also a goof-ball. At some point, Dan simply dubbed him The Goofer. We regularly tell him, "You're The Goofer." Let me give you some recent examples...

Joseph likes to tell jokes. (Or maybe he just likes the attention he gets when he tells a joke). They always go something like this (word for word):

Joseph: "A gobby gobby go."

Us: *fake or real laugh* "A gobby gobby go."

Joseph: *laugh*

He appreciates a good joke too, as you can see, and somehow this particular joke never gets old. He tried it first on his cousin Catherine a couple months back and when she thought he was hilarious and dubbed him "gobby go"  he got the idea he was a great comedian. The joke is especially effective when he tilts his big head over to look sideways at you while telling you or when he sits in his high chair and bobbles back and forth during his telling. That alone is a funny sight.

Music and singing are a daily occurrence around our house. Joseph recently learned how to turn on our organ by himself. Many times a day he carries his little stool over to the organ, turns it on, picks a wild percussion/drum beat, and plays the keys in toddler fashion. Often he'll bring his guitar stand microphone over as well and sing along with his accompaniment. He calls the organ a "no" (or piano). He never turns it off. He likes it best at its loudest setting. And this entertainment seems his favourite pastime at 7am.

Joseph is constantly singing wherever we go too. He favourites these days are: "Allua" ("Alleluia"), "I wii way" ("I will wait" by Mumford & Sons), and whatever Latin hymn Dan is practicing Mass parts for. We explained to him that after the "Allua" at Mass Father reads the "Gosey" (Gospel). In Joseph's world, this means he should sing the Alleluia sometime during Father's homily. Father doesn't seem to mind, though, and told everyone at Mass last week that this is what Joseph was doing. I think he was a little proud of his favourite little parishioner.

The Goofer has also picked up on the typical line that follows a sneeze: "bess ooo." Sometimes we'll hear his little voice tell us "bess oo" from the other room when he hears us sneeze. But his favourite to is continue coughing long after he's finished choking on a little water and then say "bess oo" for himself. Earlier this week in Mass, after receiving a blessing from Father in the Communion line, Joseph walked the entire way back to our pew, telling me (quite loudly) "bess oo, bess oo" -- I guess Father was giving him a "bess ooo" too.

We've been trying to teach Joseph to say yes for months and months. Until recently, to indicate a he wanted something he would always give a short little fake sounding laugh. But now he's just figured out a way to say what he means: "ses." Granted, I have to tell him to say yes still, but we're getting there slowly. 

My favourite, though, is the newest "ses peas." When he was smaller, I thought it would be great to teach Joseph sign language for please -- but that never happened. Now that he's talking more and more, though, we couldn't just let that piece of manners go unnoticed, so we've been getting him to say please. Now, if you know Joseph remotely well, you'll also know that his favourite veggies are peas, that he eats them almost everyday, and that we don't bother cooking them for him anymore, but just give them to him frozen. You can imagine his merriment when we taught him that when you say "peas" (please) you get what you want. It was a pretty good joke! 

Habemus Workus

I have a job for next year. I cannot go into much detail about things, but I can say that I have a 0.77 full time teaching position for the 2013-2014 school year. Also, the superintendent twice promised me that he would transfer me more teaching time if anything at all comes up in our school. I will be providing prep-coverage for other teachers, with my main responsibility covering arts ed. and phys ed. for one of the grade 5 classes. I will also be teaching grade 1-3 social studies, and covering all of the kindergarten phys eds. It should be fun!

Thank you to Servant of God Dora del Hoyo of Opus Dei! I'll have more on her another day.

A Quick Commercial

Back in December I missed a day of school because I just couldn't stop throwing up. Then over the Christmas break I became sick once again, and threw up some more.

Teaching is a rough business, especially with first graders. I cannot tell you how many times I've been coughed on, or had some kid's snot on my clothes, or suspiciously seen little boys come back from the washroom in less than 30 seconds... ("did you wash your hands?!"). It's rough. Most of my fellow teachers have missed several days this year because of being sick. Once a sickness hits the school, everyone has to fight it off.

But I have discovered the secret: Melaleuca Vitality! I take just half portions everyday, and I have not missed a day of work in six months! Melaleuca Vitality keeps me healthy and strong so that I can get back to doing what is important to me. Thank you Melaleuca Vitality!

 

On Saying Goodbye and Doing it Right

I may as well break the news to the rest of the world.

I will not be back at Tisdale Elementary School next year. Nor do I have any plans in place for next year. Despite applying for my position again, I simply was not hired back.

It's been quite the year. In late November I was given a grade one class that was the joke of the entire school. Most of the kids in the class, or actually probably all of them, hated school and learning. The other teachers, as they welcomed me in, warned me of what was in store. There is no denying that what was in store was difficult, but it turned out that this class of mine, with all of its many "behaviour problems," and being behind 1-2 months from the other classes in their subjects (despite it only being November), was actually a gem of 20 students who were just needing someone in their life to provide stability and to guide them. They just needed to be disciplined, given a routine, and above all have fun. Nowadays I have kids trying to convince their parents that they are not sick, just so they can come to school. The kids are far ahead of the other grade one classes in reading and math. Why? Because they enjoy it. Six months later dare I say that this class is the model for the entire school. These kids here are incredible.

All of this doesn't matter when it comes time to filling out the teacher positions. I currently have a group of angry parents on facebook angrily bashing the school for not bringing me back. I have one parent, a farming dad, wanting to form some type of a posse. Apparently the entire town knows about what is going on and is bashing the school. I have had many of my fellow teachers and colleagues come to my classroom crying because I was not brought back. Needless to say, my kids are pretty upset by the news.

Somewhere in all of this there is an important message from God for Becca and I. I'll be the first to admit I was too confident in my own abilities, and would've bet my life savings that I would be brought back to the school in a full-time permanent position. I was way too confident. Never put all your trust in yourself! Ever! Thankfully God is teaching a very important message. It will be hard to move again, the 7th time in 3 years of marriage. Quite frankly, the job prospects are not looking good for next year. Worse than last year actually. All the more reason to put our trust and hope in God. As contractor Mike Holmes would say: "this time we're doing it right."

Or, perhaps better, as Psalm 127 says: "If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labour."

The Elder Son

Source

I've been making my way (slowly, very slowly) through Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth series since shortly after Christmas. And today, after reading the section on the Parable of the Prodigal Son or, as Benedict prefers to call it, the Two Brothers, I was stunned and touched by our dear Pope-Emeritus' look at the elder brother. Let me share a little with you...

We all know the story from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15: the younger brother takes his inheritance, squanders it in dissolute living, comes to his senses and returns home to his father. Meanwhile, the elder brother, who has remained home with their father throughout the entire narrative, becomes angry and grudges the forgiveness and feasting the father offers his younger brother when he returns. 

The story ends with the father telling his elder son: "Son, though art always with me, and all that I have is thine. But is was fit that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead and is come to life again; he was lost, and is found" (Luke 15:31-32). 

So often I have identified with the elder brother. I feel as though I too have kept the faith, been mostly obedient, stayed more or less on the narrow path. Shouldn't God be rejoicing over what I've done and rewarding me? Why does it always seem that it is those who leave their faith or sin greatly and then repent who get the bigger reward?

Benedict XVI unlocks what for me was the missing key to the parable: The elder brother does not realize the path to conversion that his younger brother has taken. Rather his sense of justice is betrayed. He must ask, why is he rewarded upon returning home without some kind of penance? 

"He sees only injustice. And this betrays the fact that he too had secretly dreamed of a freedom without limits, that his obedience has made him inwardly bitter, and that he has no awareness of the grace of being at home, of the true freedom that he enjoys as a son [emphasis added]."

Benedict continues: The younger brother's journey has purified him, making him realize the freedom and joy of being his father's son. Meanwhile, the elder brother has an almost "unspoken envy" of the way of life his brother was able to get away with. Although always with his father, he has not seen his obedience as freedom, but slavery and therefore has not "matured into real sonship." There is no love, no freedom in his service. The elder son, simply, has not experienced true conversion.

It is not enough, I realize, to never break a commandment or serve God with disgruntled obedience. Only with true conversion of heart and true love can we find joy in our faith!

Lauda Sion!

Lauda Sion, Salvatorem 

O Sion, praise your Saviour.

The sequence for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi exhorts Sion, the Church, to praise the Eucharistic Presence. The Lauda Sion is not only one of the most beautiful prayers/poems ever written, it also, line for line, dispels all the previous heresies surrounding the Eucharist. Its authour, St. Thomas Aquinas, once known as "the dumb ox," composes one of the greatest texts in the history of the Church. Our Church was created to praise Jesus in the Eucharist. Don't ever forget it.

I was thinking the other day of an older substitute teacher, Mr. V., who periodically comes in to Tisdale Elementary School to help teach music and art. Mr. V. is very musical, as well he excels in clay and modelling art. The children in the school love him. He is talented, yet very patient and kind. We were discussing him in the staff room and one of the teachers was telling us that Mr. V. taught in a high school his entire life and used to get torn apart by the students there. Mr. V. is an immigrant who perhaps could not relate, or handle, the challenging modern day high school student. Mr. V. then told this teacher that coming in to substitute teach elementary school has made him realize something: he missed his calling in life. We all sort of gasped at that. It is unbelievably sad to hear that this older man, as kind and gentle and effective as he is, feels he missed his calling in life by struggling to teach high school versus teaching the more formable younger grades.

I was thinking of this story yesterday as I walked past the local Anglican church. The pastor's wife is a teacher at our school. They are very nice, though perhaps quirky, people. I really appreciate having them in the community. Now I was thinking of how they both have dedicated their lives to Anglican missionary work in Saskatchewan. Then I thought of how, to be quite frank, they don't actually possess the Eucharist in their church. Not to be insensitive, but the fact is they think they have the Real Presence of Jesus, but do not. I thought of what they might think when they die and are confronted by the reality that they spent their entire lives working in a church that (oh I might as well say it) worships bread and wine and not the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. To be honest, they might be confronted with the thought that they missed their calling in life. Their lives were spent doing their best with what they thought was right, and I'm sure much good was done by their efforts, but in the end they will meet the sad truth of a vocation not entirely met.

But Catholics have another reality staring them in the face. Yes, the Church possess the true Eucharist. Aquinas teaches that the Church is called to continuously praise Jesus in the Eucharist. Will we be living our entire lives in praise of this Eucharist? If not, we can say with great regret that we have missed our calling.

Lauda Sion, Salvatorem.

May Roundup

I was going to post this blog a couple days ago, but never quite got it finished. So, here's the May roundup: a few funny and happy moments from this month and some of our best photos we never got a chance to put up. 

Joseph and I came home to a great surprise last week. Dan bought us a barbecue! Now, if you know us even remotely well, you will realize just what an exciting event this is in this Millette household. We have a special day each week devouted to eating burgers and a huge appetite for all things BBQ. We have had a barbecue on the top of our "things we'd like to buy" list for quite some time. Our bed only made the actual shopping list first because we had no where to sleep otherwise. But the barbecue was above a vacuum and, while we now own a BBQ, I am still sweeping all our floors and only periodically borrow the vacuum from the homestead Millettes for our basement. 

But wait, it gets even better, we didn't even buy our BBQ! We decided to cash in some of our Visa points for Canadian Tire gift cards and "reward" ourselves with the treat. For us, it makes way more sense to use Visa points for this than for airmiles because flying two provinces over to Ontario requires double the points -- and we can get flights cheaper much more easily! Now the only question about supper is: "what do you want to BBQ tonight, dear?"

We also came home to some hilarious cute "welcome home" cards from Dan's gr 1 kids. These kids love any excuse to make things for others and when Dan told them they could make some cards if they got their work done quickly, they needed no further enticement. I absolutely love reading their little messages and seeing their artistic expertise -- they remembered my red hair! One sweet little boy decided to tape on his straw from a juice box and a Popsicle stick -- the perfect gift! Another girl, in true gr 1 fashion, wrote: "Welcome home Mrsissi Millette and Joseph" with the "h" from Joseph a line below with an arrow directing it to the above line. Needless to say, we were thrilled with the welcome!

Lovely "welcome home" mail

Since coming home, Joseph has been overly thrilled to play with all his toys. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, I guess. Last Friday, we battled our exhausted bodies and went garage sale hopping. And we're so happy we did! We picked up two huge bags of giant Lego blocks for just $5. They are a huge hit and we have been building massive towers ever since. 

Oooo, wow!

And now we can say winter is officially over! Haha. Although we had to wait until the end of April for all our snow to melt, we didn't actually get the box of winter stuff put in the basement until... yesterday. What with being away and all, it just sat in our front entrance for a few extra weeks. I guess not wearing toques and mittens for a whole month made Joseph miss them, so he had to try them on one last time -- my toque and scarf, that is.

What a model!

And now for a few more pictures...