As we wind down the last days of 2014, I thought I would leave you with a glance at our year in photos. I've taken one photo from each month to sort of represent the month; the only exception is March where you get a bonus photo from John Paul's birth. Some of them you've seen before, some you haven't. 

January
We had a LOT of snow last winter. It was also very cold.

February
LEGO. Nothing more to say. Except that I can't believe how much more hair Joseph has now. And no more chubby baby cheeks.

March
It wouldn't be complete without a pregnancy photo. I'm 6 days overdue in this one. And we waited another 8 more days. Love the little photographer!

John Paul kept us waiting a LONG time. But, as with every other baby in history, he did eventually "jump out" of me, as Joseph likes to recount.

April

Our family Easter photo. This is as good as it got.

May

These boys. I just love them!

June

So happy! And he sure is a happy baby, so long as he's getting lots of attention and Mommy doesn't eat anything he doesn't like.

July

We have a LOT of great pictures from the summer and we actually did more than just concrete in July. But, this would not be an accurate photo collection without a concrete picture and this one just sums up July.

August

What's not to love? Bike helmet, Lightning McQueen pull-up, rubber boots. This is one seriously great super hero, er, post-nap workerman!

September

Our first outdoor fire. Joseph LOVED it. But maybe the marshmallows even more.

October

Riding around in Grandpa Millette's wheel-barrow. We've been getting a peak in the past couple months just how great it's going to be for these two to have a brother in each other.

November

John Paul: "Your toy is WAY better than mine. But I'm definitely competing for best hair! Check out my wings."

 December

Our first time on the ice at Grandpa Millette's "wink."

Just Can't Stop Laughing

This is what happens after some crazy Christmas holiday sleeping when John Paul decides that that self-imposed bedtime at 7pm was actually, just maybe, a nap. Tired baby + Daddy antics = hilarity!

Snippets: Holiday Edition

1. We started our holidays with a project we've been wanting to do since we first moved into the home as renters: painting over the ugly dark brown accent wall. Our house was built in the early 1960s and you can really tell by the drywall. The nails used to put it up were starting to fall out. Dan had to punch in the nails and add some screws to keep it up, then mud it to fix it all up. Joseph and Dan removed 12 ugly round little mirrors (see photo with the resulting holes in the wall) and patched everything up good. Then, 4 coats of paint later and a lot of touch ups from the previous homeowners' bad brown painting job... and we have a beautiful living room wall! It needs some pictures or wall art or something because it's pretty bare.

2. The boys and I scored big time and bought a fake (artificial, they like to call them, I guess) Christmas tree at a rummage sale for $25 in the fall. They even threw in a whole bunch of decorations for free. Dan hauled it upstairs shortly after our final coat of paint was dry-ish. It's huge! Dan will never trust me again when I say I think something will fit in our house. But we squished it in beside the couch and it's looking good.

3. We put a few presents under the tree and voila! our previously only-crawling-backwards baby discovered he can craw forwards. And he loves wrapping paper and electrical cords!

4. Until yesterday, the weather was warmer than winter weather usually is around here. We have snow, but at one point earlier in the month it almost all melted. And at another point we were still outside without much need for toques. Crazy! But now we're back down to -28 and the sun is shining (because it has to be cold for that sun to shine!). Joseph has been loving the snow! We built a little snowman during part of our thaw and it lasted... a whole afternoon. Seriously. 

5. After months of talking about how Grandpa Millette was going to flood his "wink" with water and the water would become ICE, it finally happened and Joseph took to his skates for the first time this year. He was mildly disappointed that it was harder than he remembered and difficult to hold a stick and play hockey while trying to stay up. The end result is that he hasn't been skating since and has opted for just playing hockey in his boots. But we're going to have him skating yet! He was actually pretty good while it lasted.

6. Our boys are hugely photogenic (bah!). And really cute in Christmas outfits (aww!). So here they are, looking their finest!

 7. I am determined to hone my photography skills this coming year. The quality of photos in this post has just increased my determination. And thanks to some nifty new camera stuff we got as a Christmas gift from Fr. D, we can even take family photos (such as the following) by remote control from now on. No more setting a timer and running into the picture!

From our family to yours: A very Merry Christmas! 
  

Christmas Letter 2014

Here is a copy of our family Christmas letter. Please do not be offended if you did not get one. Our intent was just to send it out to immediate family (or give it to you when you come to Nipawin). If you are immediate family and still didn't get one... well... um... 

Page 1

Dear Family and Friends:

    Tradition is a big thing for Millettes. Tradition being defined as anything that is done once, is enjoyable, and therefore must be done again every year. For instance, it is a tradition to eat homemade doughnuts around Christmas. I pity the fool who tries to break such a tradition.

    Allow me to introduce the newest Millette tradition: our Christmas letter! This tradition, born exactly 28 minutes ago, will go down forever and in aeternum as a necessary holiday accomplishment. Why? Hey, because, um, are those doughnuts there!?...

    The Millette family wishes all of you a blessed and safe Christmas; one filled with traditions, joy, food, and more traditions. May the Christ child dwell in your hearts and homes this upcoming year. Now wouldn’t that make a great tradition!

From Dan, Becca, Joseph, and John Paul

Merry Christmas 2014

 Want to keep up with the Millettes? Go to: millettefamily.blogspot.ca

Page 2

Accomplishments this year:

February - May: Dan gets his teeth fixed up real good.

March 26: Dan secures full-time permanent teaching position at Tisdale Elementary School, while Becca moans in labour pains.

March 27: Becca gives birth. John Paul the Fat arrives. 8lbs, 8oz.

April 6: John Paul the Fat sheds his pagan ways and is baptized a Christian by his uncle, Fr. D.

July 1: Our beloved little God daughter, Monica Perpetua Millette, is born.

July 5 – July 12: We take a trip to Ontario and visit Grandpa and Grandma Bear (Mombourquette).

July 15: We take possession of our new/old house.

July 21: Van A/C finally gets fixed. And there was much rejoicing.

July – August: World War III begins on house. Dan vows never to touch concrete again.

September 2: Joseph turns three. The birthday, which dragged on for nearly two months, is affectionately titled: “My front-end loader birthday!”

September 30: Daniel J. Millette earns MA in Theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary.

October 14: Becca changes her 5000^th diaper. A ceremony, featuring chocolate cake that looks like poop, is held in the bathroom to honour the occasion.

Joseph Quotes Joseph: “I’m a boy.” Becca: “How do you know?” Joseph: “Because I work!” Joseph: “Mom, do you need help with the dishes?” Becca: “Are you going to help?” Joseph: “No, Daddy can help!” Gazing at a sticker of the Stanley Cup: "Look, it's the Standing Cup!!" After we told Joseph Father was away and had a replacement to say Mass on Sunday: "Is the Pope coming to say Mass?" As Becca was helping Joseph pull up his gitch and pants in the bathroom: "I'm so proud of you, Mom!" Saying good-night to Jesus: "Have a good night on the cross, Jesus." Joseph, looking through our greeting card box and finding a card with a dog on it: "We'll give this one to a dog!" Joseph, when he enters a room: “There my are!”

John Paul Quotes “Aggeeeeee.” “Ah bobbobbah!” “Waaaahhhhh!!!!!”

Points to Ponder - Concert Edition

Once again life has been way too busy. That means the best I can muster up is a points to ponder post.


1) Concert - Over and Out

The Christmas Concert is over! People show up, have a great time, and then go home. But in reality there is far too much work put into it. For instance, my class performed a five minute song where we took famous songs and made them Christmasy. I had this project in my head since the summer time. I would be jack hammering concrete and thinking about what songs I could use, and how I could transition them with the proper chord progression. We ended up using the following:

Can't Help Falling in Love
I Will Wait
Brown Eyed Girl
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Waving Flag

Anyway, the kids performed extremely well and I'm proud of them. They got to be rock stars for one night, and they enjoyed it tremendously. But it was also great for them to experience just how much work is required to do anything well. A good lesson.


2) You Know You Teach at an Elementary School When...

...the evening concert is delayed by a couple of minutes because one of the kindergartners is going potty.


3) Concert Reviews

What I hate about the concert are the reviews. You see in Tisdale the concert is a big time show (there's not a lot going on). People are very eager to compare it to the previous concerts. They want to analyze the songs, the production value, the everything. They want to heap praise if it's great, and speak negatively if it isn't. It's a show. While I'm thankful that everything went extremely well, the whole show aspect to me could not be any further from the reality of what Christmas is all about. Christmas is the humblest of events. God becoming man. Born to poor parents. Born in a stable. Born small, and yet infinitely awesome. The whole story is great in part because of the profound humility of God; of how His humility is supposed to hit us straight between the eyes. But with the concert we are left merely to discuss a show, and only a show. Of course I threw in many references into the concert which emphasized the true meaning of Christmas. And obviously there are some who appreciate being able to come together to, in an innocent and youthful way, celebrate the coming of Christmas (which was the intent of the concert). But all in all, what matters in Tisdale is the entertainment value. I guess that's show biz.


4) You Know You Teach at an Elementary School When... (pt. 2)

...the day after an evening concert there are no fewer than 12 "injuries" in my phys ed classes. Also, there are close to 20 different kids I have to deal with who have tear-filled meltdowns (yes even grade 5ers). Tired much?

*Sigh*

Needless to say, they didn't get much sympathy from me.


5) Belated Birthday

Pope Francis had a birthday on the 17th. Off the top of my head... that would make him... 78(?).

Think about that for a moment.

78. I've never been 78, but if I was 78 I bet I'd be doing a whole lot of nothing. I might still be golfing, with a cart. I might even be cutting my own grass. But I certainly wouldn't be doing the most important job on the planet. Heck, I wouldn't even be the most important person in my house.

Anyway, happy birthday. I hope someone made you spring rolls (that's why I'm not the most important person in my house).

6) Rock and Roll Mass

I wonder what they put in the incense here. This is from Father Z's blog. I've heard about such things, but I honestly didn't expect it to be this awful. It was a Rock Mass for Love from March 21st, 1971. It comes from Perth, Australia.

7) Christmas Cheer

Who's ready for Christmas!?!

This guy!

It doesn't hurt that a two week holiday is starting on Friday (at 3:25pm to be exact)

The Millette Boys: JAM session

Dan is out tonight at the TES Christmas concert. He prepares diligently, making sure he has back-up MCs, drummers, etc. but no one can replace Mr. Millette on the guitar. Thankfully, he's not sick or anything, so no one has to!

At home, his boys are jamming, too. Dan used the tune for Waving Flag in part of the Christmas song he wrote for the concert. I think Joseph confuses the words to the real song, which he knows very well, with the words to the Christmas song. But if this isn't just so cute!

(They had no idea I was recording them. Sorry for the fuzzy quality, I was zoomed in by mistake).

JAM Session

A little Saturday morning jamming. Joseph's initials are JAM for a reason!

Big Guy

Ever so long ago, we nicknamed Joseph 'Mose'. It stuck. When John Paul came along, we wondered what we'd end up calling him, especially as we gave him a double name for a first name. We figured he'd eventually be called JP and we're okay with that, but we never made it a habit from the start. We still don't call him JP, except for the odd time I'm sending a text or email and John Paul is just so long to write.

Then John Paul started talking. Until recently, his favourite and only thing to say was: a gee! So Dan started calling him Gee. Either John Paul likes the idea or he just thinks we're speaking his language, because he gives us a grin whenever we call him Gee. 

But, of course, "gee" is only the phonetic for the French name, Guy. Last week, we put two and two together: John Paul just so happens to have an outfit he wears regularly displaying his name. We'll see if it sticks. He sure is BIG Guy.



Now, that's cute. He has a nickname. For now, at least.

And Big Guy has been calling all the shots around here recently. 

Part of me likes to ignore the really bad parts of life in our family and just write the cute stuff and post happy little pictures on this blog. Then there's a part of me that likes to whine. Instead, I want to take the middle ground. I don't want to ignore the elephant in the room, because later (hopefully) we can just laugh remembering how difficult a baby John Paul was.

What?! That cute little Guy, difficult?!

Until very recently, we were having a really difficult month or two months or, I just don't know how long. Ever since he was born John Paul has been really difficult to get to sleep and stay sleeping. The last while it took a turn for the worse: he wouldn't nurse to sleep, he would fall asleep if we rocked/walked/jiggled him only to wake if we stopped or put him down, and he would only sleep at night on my arm, waking every time I moved. But the poor little kid was so, so tired all the time and crying to be held (but only by me) all the time. 

Now, I have no idea if I'm right or not. But last week I checked out the back of the cereal box that I'd been putting very, very small bits of into my oatmeal in the morning, just to add a little crunch. Way down the list of ingredients was corn. Now corn has always been pretty hard on our babies' tummies, so I figured I'd stop eating that particular cereal. What do you know?! Our sad baby started laughing again! Only then did I realize that I hadn't heard him laugh in a long time. 

If this connection seems ridiculous to you, well, I think so too. But, honestly, I'll take a happier baby any day. 

Lest I leave you thinking that that's it and he's just a happy, well-sleeping baby... no, he's not. But things are much better than they were. He still sleeps mostly on my arm at night and wakes a lot to nurse. But it's way better. Only takes a few weeks of something way worse to make you appreciate the somewhat bad in life!

No, he's not a bad baby. No baby is a bad baby. He's oh-so-cute and chubby, but definitely working on getting his parents to Heaven!

Hail Mary, FULL of Grace

There is a story about a young 6 year old boy, a protestant, who was given a prayer card with a Hail Mary on it. The boy took great delight in this prayer, but when his mom discovered that he was praying it she got very upset. She told him the prayer was superstitious Catholic Mary-worshiping nonsense, and that he must stop immediately. Well that was that. However, some time after this the boy came excitedly to his mom. He exclaimed that he was reading the bible and that the Gospel of Luke had the Hail Mary in it! The story goes that boy returned to saying the Hail Mary everyday. When he grew older he became Catholic, and was later ordained a priest.


There is another story about the Cure of Ars, St. Jean Marie Vianney. When he was a boy Vianney used to work out in the field. To make himself work faster in the rows, he would place a statue of Our Lady at the end of a row. Working towards the statue inspired him greatly, and he became tremendous at his work.


How fortunate we are to have the glorious Mother of God as our mother also! I have nothing to add to these stories.

"Catholic"

Catchy title? Let me begin by going off topic, sort of.

What would your ideal job be?

Well in teacher's college the thought of teaching high school religion didn't seem too bad. And then I began a 6 week stint at Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School in Ancaster, ON. Bishop Tonnos (BT) is, from what I hear, like many Catholic secondary schools in Ontario. And teaching there was even cushier than I could ever have imagined. We were expected to teach three 71 minute classes per day. Add in the three minute breaks between classes and that translates into a daily 74 minute prep, and a daily 74 minute lunch break. Unbelievable! Furthermore, most teachers would teach just one class three times, e.g. three grade 11 religion classes. So very little prep work needed. Then they would have a three week chunk where students would research for a special project. Following this there'd be a one month chunk where students would present their projects (and the teachers would grade them during class). There was no extracurricular requirements. Virtually no supervision. And when the closing bell rang everyday at 2:47pm I can guarantee you there would hardly be a teacher left by 2:50pm. The pay for some of these senior teachers was rather staggering too.

I remember when I was approaching the end of my 6 week stint I asked myself a question: if I was offered a full-time permanent job at this school, would I take it? Or would I rather hit the open (and way too crowded and uncertain) job market? My answer: I would never take a job at Bishop Tonnos Secondary.

The only word to describe the atmosphere at BT is toxic. There were many teachers living with boyfriends/girlfriends, and even a female teacher who would proudly introduce her girlfriend to others at the school. The religion department was run by a woman who seemed to have a bone to pick with anything orthodox. The other teachers in the religion department would spend their non-teaching time swearing, telling inappropriate jokes, surfing TMZ. The police were at the school pretty well every day. I saw them multiple times hauling students away. The students themselves loved to cause trouble, swear, dress inappropriately, and, if they were at all paying attention in class, try to argue against fundamental Catholic teachings such as the Eucharist. There were scandals like you wouldn't believe too. One in particular involving a made up story about some students in the chapel... but we'll leave it at that. I have many stories I could tell, involving drugs, nepotism, and so forth, but you get the point. Once again, I only spent 6 weeks at this school.

Now we hear from lifesitenews that the female "chaplain" at BT will be running for a federal liberal nomination. I'm not at all surprised. "But wait," you say, "doesn't Trudeau say you have to vote pro-choice in order to run for the liberals?!" Yes. What does that matter? This lady typifies Bishop Tonnos school's mockery of Catholicism. By the way, she has the support of her director of education.


Let me juxtapose this against the well known case of Michael Voris.


Now Voris is the Catholic personality who speaks out, sometimes too harshly, in order to defend Catholic orthodoxy. Voris is perhaps arrogant at times (in his unknowingly American way), and is anything but a man with perfect hair.

Here is a picture of him a few years ago:

Here is a picture of him now:

Did you notice the difference? No, I'm not talking about the hair. The difference is, of course, that he used to run an apostolate known as RealCatholicTV. But a few years ago the Archbishop of Detroit, for canonical reasons, objected to Voris' use of the word "Catholic" in his apostolate. So now Voris runs ChurchMilitantTV. Same thing. Different name. Whatever. Everybody happy?

No

No I'm not happy.

Hearing the latest news from Bishop Tonnos school makes me not happy. Why is Bishop Tonnos school still allowed to use the name Catholic? Why are they allowed to make a mockery of the faith, live and even teach what is contrary to Catholicism, yet titled a Catholic school? Why is a "chaplain" permitted to seek out a position whereby she will be required to vote to murder 100,000+ unborn children? Why?

Because bishops let them. Because priests and parents let them. Because Catholic taxpayers let them. And shame on this country for doing so.

Imaginary Friends, Lego Inventions, & The Good Apples

I don't remember having imaginary friends, but I sure remember my brother Blaise's. Doyo and Datya lived around our house for a long time. Whether it was Blaise's own perseverance that kept them around or the fact that the rest of us thought it was pretty funny and encouraged it, I don't know, but they sure stuck in my memory.

Enter Joseph, some 17 years later. He has three imaginary friends: Bob (presumably from Bob the Builder books), Dina (from the song "I've been working on the railroad" - "Dina won't you blow your horn"), and Siri (presumably named for the iPhone voice). Sometimes they sleep in our basement, sometimes they sleep through supper and we have to be very quiet, sometimes they drive their truck with us to the grocery store. They hang out here a lot!

"Shhh! My friends are sleeping," Joseph told us again and again at supper last night. He has the gall to tell us to be quiet because, of course, that's just what we tell him when his brother is sleeping. "Why are they sleeping? It's supper time," Dan asked. "Because they're really tired. They'll wake up later. Bob and Siri are waking up a little bit now. But Dina can't wake up."

Joseph simply refers to them as "my friends." He will carry on entire conversations with them, often as we're going out the door and I'm giving him instructions for getting ready to go. And we have entire conversations about them, as if they exist and are hanging out at our house.

"Siri, are you going to drive the police motorcycle?" he asked as we left for the grocery store. "Mom, Siri is going to drive the motorcycle and we'll go in the police car. Bob and Dina are coming in their truck." "Ok. Joseph, did you put on your toque and mittens yet?" "Siri, you have to go carefully so you don't crash." "Joseph, your toque and mittens!" "My friends are going to come, Mom!"

His REAL friend!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We're at the point (already) where we think we have about as many toys as we want! Ha. I say that in the face of Christmas in just a few weeks. But, really, we like the different "sets" we have and like the idea of just adding to them if need be. 

Like Lego. Can you ever really have too much Lego?

Joseph loves Lego. I can't even begin to describe how much he loves Lego. He plays Lego ALL day, EVERY day. Not only do I think it's especially great for him and his imagination and learning to invent stuff or rebuild sets, but it's very welcome for me when all my attention is taken up with John Paul (all day, every day). 

Often he can be found pouring over directions booklets, looking for that one little piece he needs, and, of course, making anything and everything that runs on wheels. Sometimes we think it would be worthwhile to just buy a whole bag of Lego wheels off Ebay. 

The only problem, of course, is when John Paul decides he really likes the Lego that Joseph's carrying around with him everywhere. "JOHN PAUL! No, you can't have Lego. You're too little. Mom, John Paul wants to choke the Lego!" are things I regularly hear from the other room. Despite the fact that we've moved the Lego to Joseph's bedroom, bits and pieces always find their way out because Lego creations are amazing and the proud little builder wants to share his creation.

He asked me to take a picture of one:

Daddy helped him build this helicopter

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Our Advent is low-key as far as Advent traditions, so far. We don't have an Advent wreath yet, which is something I'd like to begin doing each year. But this year, thanks to my mom, we have a Jesse Tree for the first time. It's a beautifully hand-painted wooden set.

I pruned some wild Saskatoon berry branches in Nipawin last weekend and stuck them in a pot of dirt for our "tree". We discovered Holy Heroes (Seriously, moms, if you aren't already aware of all their cool stuff, you have to go check it out!) this year and although many of the activities are a little old for Joseph, we've been doing their Advent Adventure. Each day Joseph and I watch the little video that tells the Bible story for the new ornament and hang the ornament up! Joseph loves it and asks me all day long if we can watch more "Jesse Tree movies."

After reading, watching, and talking about Adam and Eve and the Fall we put up our ornament with the apple and a serpent. Joseph was intrigued. God said they couldn't eat that apple, but what about ours? I told him ours were okay to eat because they didn't come from the tree in that garden.

The rest of the week Joseph kept telling us, while eating his apples: "God said we can eat these apples" and "God told me to eat this apple."

Points to Ponder - Whiner Edition

1) Grey Cup

The Grey Cup is over. Hamilton got a taste, just a small taste mind you, of what it is like to lose at the very end on a penalty. I mean with 35 seconds to go... they won! And then they lost! Yep. Sucks, doesn't it? We in Ridernation feel your pain.

2) Boo Calgary

Now obviously most Roughrider fans were cheering for Hamilton. Really, anything but Calgary! However, I wonder... if TSN replayed last year's Grey Cup game at the same time as this year's... I'm just wondering... but dare I say the audience for last year's game might've given this year's a run for its money.

And Calgary broke the darn thing too!

3) Blah Blah Blah, Squirrel! Blah Blah Blah, Eucharist!

We were at Mass on the weekend in Nipawin. There is so much talk! 5-6 mini homilies throughout. There's the "good morning" homily. There's the homily homily. There's the prayer intentions homily. There's the "Our Father" homily. Then, of course, there's the end of Mass homily. I'm not yet sure if the "Ecce Agnus Dei" reflection also qualified as a mini-homily. It is quite striking to have all this chatter, yet when it came time for the consecration the elevation of the host is over in literally the blink of an eye. And it's not just to blame the priest on Sunday. It's the same in many many places. The Mass is about ourselves now. Jesus? Yeah, he's alright. But let's talk about ourselves!


4) Oh those Jesuits...

It could be worse. We could have a Jesuit run parish, such as in Vienna. This is what they put up.



I'm not even kidding. Read about it here. Fr. Z explains: "This piece of… thing… is 8 meters high, weighs 700kg, and will stay there until 19 April 2015.  So, rush to Vienna to see it.
It is meant – I am not making this up – to symbolize 'faith and its menacing aspects.'"

I still think it looks like poop.


5) John Paul

Well this is a snarky start to this blog post, isn't it? Blame John Paul. The boy who never sleeps. He makes Joseph's colic seem angelic. He's bawling his head off in the other room at the moment, actually. Poor Becca.

 Now, go ahead and ask me... no really, it's ok, ask me. Let's hear it...

Who is your favourite child?

Joseph! Joseph is my favourite child! Joseph sleeps. I sure do like that Joseph. He's a good kid, that Joseph!

Oooh. But yesterday my mom was quick to remind me of a few things that I used to do as a baby. And just look at how I turned out! So John Paul obviously is going to be pretty special!

Ok ok *grits teeth* I like John Paul as much as Joseph.

I need a nap.


6) Head Case

Besides, there are worse problems going on in the world these days. For instance, many poor NFLers are complaining that the league won't let them wear Beats by Dre headphones during post game interviews. You see, Bose is the official headphone of the NFL, and so it is a 5 digit fine for wearing another type of headphone. It's quite the fuss, really.

My solution? Take your stupid headphones off when giving an interview!


7) Memes

Ahh, it's always good to laugh! Here are some good memes I've seen recently. Enjoy!

Get it?

I'm outta here!