{one}

March 19th. Spring?

We were siphoning water from our backyard rink around the 19th of April last year. Old Man Weather got our hopes up a bit with an early thaw and backyard draining in March.

{two}

April 6th. Winter?

Thankfully, this snow lasted just a day or two and we're back to semi-Spring weather. We're supposed to get some teen temperatures this week. Woo!

{three} 

I've been on a bread baking kick (or was when I started this post a few weeks ago - time to start a new batch!). Normally, I bake 4 loaves of whole wheat toast bread every week or so with my KitchenAid, but I wanted something additionally as a special bread. After a failed attempt at making my own sourdough starter and then finding out that Dan didn't really like sourdough flavour anyway, I read Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. Game changer! I make a big batch of dough that sits in the fridge. I can have bread or baguettes ready in an hour or so to add to a supper - and it's literally no work! The flavour improves as it sits in the fridge. It's so, so easy and pretty too!

{four}

We had Emma, the dog, visit four different times (John Paul kept record) during the month of March. We all love Emma so much and would keep her if we didn't live in town. But the kids just love her visiting! I think Emma likes us too.

{five}

Uh, baby bump picture, anyone? 21weeks! I'm feeling pretty big all over, but according to this pic (taken at 19 weeks) don't actually look as huge as I feel. I think it's deceiving... Baby is kicking like crazy and I've felt it for at least 7 weeks already, which is much earlier than I remember with any other pregnancy. I'm thinking it must be the soft belly after 3 kids already ;) The kids are super excited that "mommy's getting fatter!" and keep telling me I'm going to win lots of watermelon stickers for my belly this summer (i.e. they like to put the stickers off the watermelon on me when I look like a watermelon).

 

20 week ultrasound

{six}

My other "baby" is getting lots of big girl hair-dos of french braids and pony tails. She is definitely outgrowing her afternoon nap, but still sometimes takes one because mommy is tired and needs to take a nap. When she doesn't nap she'll sleep through the night in her "bunk bed" as she likes to call her crib, but when she does nap... she climbs into bed with mom sometime in the middle of the night. And sometimes, she falls asleep during supper or an afternoon/evening story...

{seven}

I celebrated my 33rd (!) birthday this month. We had great riblets care of Costco (seriously, so yummy!) and leftover birthday cupcakes frozen after John Paul's birthday. Yay!

                                   

{eight}

Funny kids enjoying the sun after a cold winter. I told them we have to work on smiles again :)

  

{nine}
"Blue Day." Brought to you by new Costco spring clothes and crazy kids with an excuse for nuttiness.

 

{ten}

We are limping? groaning? attempting? our way through Lent. Every year I feel like a failure and every year Dan reminds me that I felt that way the year before too. I guess if I felt like I was nailing Lent then I'd be getting proud and failing anyway. I have plans made for Holy Week and am hoping that we can grow in holiness just a little more during this holiest week of the year.

Almost there!

{eleven}

For your entertainment. 

The Exercise of Lent

Sometimes I throw my tried and true Catholic beliefs aside, put on my Make Heresy Great Again red hat, and try to be a liberal. Like a good liberal, I have the ability to interpret the teachings of popes in the manner which suits me best. Of particular interest to me is St. Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. The body. Let me say that again with greater emphasis... The BODY! *flex, kiss bicep, run to a mirror* You get my drift? The connection between the Theology of the Body and lent is undeniable. Let me flesh this out for you. Let's work out this idea, if you will. We'll gain insight. Flex our ideas. Lunge ahead. Just weight and see.

The Exercise of Lent

First, when working out you should have a proper warm up. The warm up should be a suitable length, and get the muscles primed for the task at hand. Well the Church used to provide a pre-lenten warmup. Septuagesima Sunday brought a pre-lenten transition complete with the removal of the Gloria and Alleluia, and the introduction of the colour violet. This is the equivalent to breaking out a light sweat and having a good dynamic stretch before hitting the weights. Vatican II, of course, removed the warm up for workouts. No more Septuagesima for the non-traddies. Vatican II is clearly against muscle lengthening via muscle spindle activation. So we now begin our lenten exercise by jumping right into the work out. No warm up. Just Ash Wednesday. Show up, hit the bench press and go to it.

Ash Wednesday

Ahh Ash Wednesday. The old familiar feel of hunger. The hunger can also represent our hunger for muscle gains. Once that hunger is lost, as with Rocky in Rocky III, there is no hope. The hunger is good.

Now following this recent Ash Wednesday I noted on Facebook a trend of Ash Selfies. Maybe I should hashtag that, or ashtag it #ashselfie. Complete rookies. Posting a picture of yourself with ashes on your forehead is the equivalent to those people who post pretentious pictures of themselves at the gym. You know the kind. They have to tell the world that they are working out. But their hair is perfect. There is no sweat. And is that a new Under Armour compression shirt? They are true amateurs. They haven't done nothing. No, no, no. One must wait until the end of the workout, with sweat and blood dripping, before taking a selfie. Similarly, Ash Selfies are for amateur Catholics.

The Struggle

But soon after Ash Wednesday the realization kicks in: "Holy Crap this is going to be kind of tough." You soon realize where you're at. "I guess I am sort of addicted to chocolate, and TV, and eating chocolate while watching TV..." This is similar to: "I guess I can't actually lift as much as I thought I could... and I'm out of shape... and this Under Armour compression shirt makes me look fat..." Tough lessons. This can either inspire you, or send you to the showers early. At this point it's mind over matter. No pain, no gain. No fasting, no lasting. No tussle, no muscle.

And don't forget Fridays. Let's be real, if you can't "bring it" on a lenten Friday, you can't bring it period. Extra discipline with food. The stations of the cross. Self-flagellation. Which is comparable to that extra effort on your last set of tricep dips. If you can't bring it on the last set, you can't bring it period.

Take a Break

Ahh, but there are Sundays which don't count for lent! Take a break! A mini-Easter. Not a whole break, mind you. Just a breather. Like taking a break from your workout to go the bathroom. Or check some messages. It's good to get away for a second. Does this help you with your workout? Mmmm, probably not. But you don't want to burn out either. And sometimes we get a solemnity too, like St. Joseph's feast day. This is equivalent to opening a Gatorade during a workout. How sweet. How energizing. "And they say it's good for me! I will show off to the rest of the gym! I hope they notice!" Nah, Catholics never make a big deal to others about solemnities in lent... Never... Now get back to work.

Holy Week

Oh but lent drags on. Some workouts are like this. And if it feels like this, then you are quite possibly not gaining with lent. Just like a lame workout. You're lucky to maintain, not gain. But there is a game-changer at the end! It's there for the taking. The last 5 minutes of your workout! If you bring it, you can win it. No matter how poorly you're doing, the final 5 minutes of a workout can salvage everything. You can still earn that great muscle burn. But it's up to you! Don't give up! And this, my friends, is also what is known as Holy Week. Even if lent has been pathetic, you can make up for lost time. BUT!... if you can't get psyched for Holy Week, you will forfeit your prize at the end.



Most especially you must be psyched for Good Friday. Good Friday is the last gasp. It is the final push. It is what you came here for. To quote Nike: Just do it. And just do your last set. That final burn. That striking pain on your last bicep curl is why you're there. It will all be worth it! Push forward! Nothing else matters! Dig deep!

Roll That Stone Away

And you made it! The reward has been won! Take that Easter Vigil Selfie. Or take that End of Workout Selfie. You are free for another year. Or another 47 hours. Of course, if you don't live right in between that time... you might not be any better off. Ultimately Theology of the Body can only go so far. In the end I guess there needs to be a true conversion of heart and soul. Maybe we ultimately are just dust, and to dust we shall return?

Good Friday Tradition

An annual Good Friday tradition here is to make the Passion scene out of Lego. Of course that's Judas hanging out on the side. John Paul built a boat with canons and guns besides everything. When I asked him what he was doing he said: "This is a boat that the soldiers catch Judas with."

The waters of strife

Equilibrium. Symmetry. Balance of the universe, and all that jazz. It's a big thing to some. I'm sure it's why mosquitoes haven't been poisoned to oblivion yet. "Think of the harmony of nature!!!" I can't even go out in nature in the summer because of them. Where's my harmony?

So there's a certain balance to everything. Because God made it so. And we have to work within this Logos-ical framework. The struggle is real.

This Lent, as always, we've given up sweets. I've tried to do a little extra with that this year. The result is that I should be feeling great! I'm eating well. Exercising. Sugar is at an all time low. Aaaand, I've had absolutely no energy. I could just blame it on having three little kids. However, I decided I needed to increase my water intake. Simple. What could go wrong? All that I'm messing with is the balance of the universe here.

You see, for the past number of years while teaching I've had everything down to a science. I drink the exact same amount of water and coffee while at school, at the exact same time, every single day. Subsequently, I use the facilities at the exact same time every day. They say people used to set their clocks to philosopher Immanuel Kant. He would go for a walk at the exact same time each day, and pass by people's houses with temporal precision that would make NASA blush. Well Kant is but a raw bumbling rookie in comparison to what I've developed. There is a harmony and precision to my day. It is science. When I stop and think about it, my bathroom break exactitude is a beautiful thing.

And then I decided to double my water consumption throughout the day.

I teach mainly phys ed. To leave the students in the gym alone unsupervised is like wearing a large sign around my neck saying: "Please sue me." I can't leave them. And yet... what's going on? I, I,... I need to go! Bahh! "Yes students, I'm just here dancing. I love teaching gym so much." As with phys ed, I hear this seemingly 43 million times a day, or maybe it just seems like that lately: "Mr. Millette, can I get some water?" "I need a drink Mr. Millette." "Mr. Millette, have you ever seen Niagara Falls? There's so much water there! Just gallons and gallons of water. Water like you've never seen. Have you ever seen Niagara Falls? With all its water?"

The balance of nature. Mess with it and nature will always win. Victory is as certain as the waters of Niagara Falls are wet.

Now if you excuse me. I gotta go.

Music Mondays: Favourite Lent Hymns

We were singing some lenten hymns yesterday at home. You see, to hear such hymns in these parts we have to sing them ourselves on our own time. Well, our priest here does pick one traditional hymn for Mass on Saturday night, usually Lord Who Throughout These Forty Days, and that's as good as it gets. Forty minutes north of here in Nipawin they're still getting Though the Mountains May Fall mingled in with the latest hip Dan Schutte songs. Whatever the case, we usually have to make our own music.

So Becca asked me: "What's your favourite lent hymn?" Hmm. You see, there's some touching Palestrina and Byrd compositions that send chills straight through my soul. But I can't say I've ever heard them at Mass. O Sacred Head Surrounded is maybe as good as it gets for Mass, especially when sung solemnly and with multiple parts. The Stabat Mater is always nice, as is the Pange Lingua (though good luck finding a place that sings it properly on Holy Thursday). I really like Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?, especially when sung at double time with an 80+ year old choir (lol).

No, I think my favourite might be a specific Good Friday selection: The Reproaches by Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611). I can say I've heard them sung because, well, my sisters and I have done this for the Good Friday liturgy before. "Popule meus quid fecit tibi?" (O my people, what have I done to you?).

I would've preferred to have a copy of this in a liturgical setting, but the sound quality wasn't great. Nevertheless, here is a selection of the Good Friday Reproaches:

What's your favourite lenten song?

Rejooooice and be glad: Lenten Penance

Lent is upon us. I have a few bags of chips and candy to plow through first, but tomorrow will be the start. The other day I stumbled upon a Canadian bishop's blog. That should be all you need to know. In it the bishop was talking about how for lent instead of giving up things, we should give up being fearful. I hear more and more of this. Catholics are like: "I'm going to give up yelling at my kids this lent," or, "I'm going to give up swearing for lent." So what, you're going to give up a certain sin for lent, but not the others? You can just give up a sin, but you've been waiting until now to do it? You're going to take up swearing and yelling at your kids as soon as Easter Sunday comes by?

I think such ideas are muddled and ill-thought out. They seem to be lacking in trust of the traditions of Catholics too. Or perhaps they signify arrogance? Either way, are people really looking for different lenten penances? So be it. I have an idea. Something that will either purify you straight to the unitive way, or break you into leaving the faith all together. But "if you never try you'll never know."

Presenting, straight from the Three-Days of Darkness (credit Fr. Z) religious education conference in L.A., here's Friday's concert celebrating the music of David Haas, Marty Haugen, and Michael Joncas. Dust off your hippy clothes. Take out your Breaking Bread hymnal. And, above all, pull out a pail to keep beside you always. I recommend no more than a few minutes a day. Any more might make you dream of felt banners and Dan Schutte. Or at the very least make you desire to learn how to play three chords on the guitar. Two to three minutes max. If you survive, well, rejoice and be glad... yours is the kingdom of God (1:28:00).

Happy lent.

I'll stick with my traditional penances, thank you. I'm only man.

The Week Off

My winter "break" is winding down. I use the word "break" with the scare quotes because this break is usually quite busy. Here are some of the things we've been up to.

Hockey

Joseph had a full slate of hockey. Along with a few practices, we just got back a few minutes ago from a game in Bjorkdale (25 minutes away).

There he is on the face off. He was cheating a bit by hanging over the other team's side.

Every kid gets a stint or two in net. Thankfully Joseph doesn't like playing goalie. I couldn't afford the equipment. On the other hand, he'd never have to pay for playing in any beer league when he's older.

The crowd. If you've never watched a game in small town SK, it's the equivalent to sitting in a freezer. But we love it! Joseph scored twice, and had five assists. He played great.

We talkin 'bout practice here.

S'toon

We took a day trip to Saskatoon for some much needed shopping.  It went smoothly, and we were able to visit with my sister and her family. The trip is tiring though. John Paul fell asleep on the way home with his juice straw still attached to his mouth.

Moving Day

My brother and his family finished their house. By finish I mean it's just good enough for them to move in. That's exciting! I'm sure it'll take years before everything is finished completely. So I took a day trip to Humboldt to help them move.

One of many trips.

Stuff starts piling in.

Their lovely kitchen. I hope Becca isn't jealous for it.

The day was very inspiring for me. After making dozens and dozens and dozens of trips carrying boxes up and down stairs I came home late and announced to Becca that we had to start throwing stuff out. It's too exhausting to move it all.


Hair-a-see

I finally gave Joseph a haircut. That means tub time after! Rub-a-dub-dub...

Yes, you can tell by the above picture that our tub needs new caulking. I was planning on doing it over the break, but something else came up...

Basement Renovation

A couple of weeks ago we were hanging out in Nipawin. We were talking with my brother Stephen and he was mentioning how he had a few days available with nothing much to do. Becca then opened her mouth and said: "Like doing our basement?" "Sure!" he replied. Huh? What? You mean our basement reno that we were planning on tackling this summer? Our ugly basement with water damage (it's all good), lousy painting, and 60s wet bar? As we drove home that night we talked about it. I usually like to plan, and over plan, such projects. But, the whole thing was pretty straightforward... And, I had an upcoming week off to finish things... And it sure would be nice to free up some time this summer for things I want to do like building knick knacks and things... and a trip to the beach.. and.. why not!

So we prepped and cleared things during our evenings. Then Stephen came and started doing the dirty work of ripping out carpets, cabinets, and removing our old wet bar area (the old carpets that were glued down... better him than me). We chipped in at night time, and of course when my week off finally came. We all worked together.

I mean everybody...

Most renovations hit a snag. Ours occurred when the bar area was removed. There was a little section that had some 9x9 vinyl tile underneath. This tile may or may not contain asbestos. Floor tile asbestos is safe, unless of course you're trying to remove it. The way it was installed, there was a chunk of plywood over top that couldn't be taken out without disturbing the tile. We had a problem. What to do? Get the tile tested? Nuh uh. Open up that part of the room to the furnace room? Nuh uh, not without moving electrical and furnace stuff. So Becca and I lay in bed awake. Late at night. Talking and talking. There would be little sleep that night. Not without a solution. And then, as sure as Donald Trump is president of the United States of America, it hit us!

That's right. We decided on building a wall using that plywood as part of the base for storage within the wall. To quote someone else: "We're gonna build a wall. I think it's a great idea." The only problem was how to get our neighbours to pay for the wall. Ok, that wasn't a consideration. Nevertheless, we built a wall. Here's where we're at right now:

John Paul's anxious to show you. But first things first. I finally put some decent trim on the one side of the door. Now I can use my chin up bar downstairs instead of hauling it upstairs when needed.

For now it's basically a workout room. Hey, it's what we like to do (yes, even the boys).

 We found an old heavy mirror kicking around in our furnace room. I built a frame for it using wood from my old tree house I built when growing up (clearly the tree house didn't stand the test of time). Now I can stare at myself in between workout sets. That or check my posture from time to time (good excuse, hey).

We still don't have all our books up yet. We bought a heavy duty workout mat from Costco. It's been great. Also, we purchased a google chromecast on sale. This means we can play a workout video from Becca's ipod (which we do frequently) and play it over the TV (my grandpa's old one). It basically works out to be a poor man's version of a smartTV. Pretty nifty.

Finally I get to use my chin up bar!

 The boys love the space for playing ministicks.

 Weights and my punching bag. I want a Rocky poster there, but I gotta ask my wife first.

 And yes, there's our beautiful wall. The plan is to build a sliding barn door in front of it. But first I have to tear down a shed at my parents place, and figure out a DIY rolling system (they're $160 at Home Depot!). At least I'll have something to do this summer.

I built some quick shelving in the room. We'll fill it up when we're done going through our stuff (and hopefully throwing things out).

Long story short, it was a busy week off. It was nice to get the main part of this reno out of the way now, especially before Lent. You know, when renovating your house there is a lot of focus spent on how to make things look nice, do a good job, and have something you're proud of. This is good. But let's be honest, it's not like we end each sentence with "for the greater glory of God." For instance, "I will try and build a farm door to add a rustic touch to our basement.. for the greater glory of God." No, there's a bit of materialism that is hard to avoid with renovations. But we can be done with it for now, and focus on what really matters...

Joseph's hockey.

Just kidding. Time to focus on what really matters.

Have a great Lent.

Points to Ponder: Updates and Such

More ramblings. An update. A rant. And a picture of the boys.

1) The Good Ole Hockey Game

Saturday night my dad, brother and I drove to Prince Albert to watch my cousin Cory play. He's an overage forward for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL. He's actually been doing very well this year. We watched him score his 31st goal of the season. The game was good, though Lethbridge lost 3-2. In fairness to them, they were on the road all week due to their schedule.

Cory going for a skate.

My nephew Andrew was there (as was my niece Marie in the background).


Number 10

2) What are the odds?

A few years ago I went with my dad to Prince Albert to watch Cory play. My dad bought one 50/50 ticket that night and, of course, won it all. This past weekend he won it again there. I'm no mathematician, but I'm pretty sure the odds of that are one in a bazillion.

3) Sold Sold Sold!

Your chance of a lifetime is gone. You can't be our new neighbours. Ever. Our neighbours sold their house, after just over a week on the market. It was such a bargain. I mean, you could have purchased it, slapped some paint on the walls in the basement, and then sold it again for an easy $5-10 grand profit (on top of realty fees). Well, if a person had $175,000 of free spending money kicking around. That's always the catch. I'm sure if I had a million bucks I could think of easy ways to make 5-10 grand here and there. But I don't. I just have a wife who looks like a million bucks (that's for you dear... awww).

4) Lent Goes On

Every year lent offers new struggles. These struggles are either personal, or universal. One must always realize that the devil tries extra hard to complicate life (i.e. mess it all up) during the preparation for Easter. I hope we all realize this. Are there some things bugging you? Dragging you down? Not sitting right with you? Be aware that the devil is prowling. Especially if you are trying to be faithful to the spirit of your lenten practices.

Universally there hasn't been too much to speak of, yet. Yes there's the usual messed up world. Nuns murdered. Trump, Clinton, Obama, and Trudeau offering their daily words of un-Christian wisdom. Euthanasia lurking (that is a big deal). Yet there haven't been any DaVinci Codes, or secret Jesus tombs, revealed thus far.

Sadly I can't shake the feeling that something will happen yet. Ok, I'm being too vague. I'm more than a little cautious (read: worried) about Pope Francis' report on the synod which may be released later this month. The speculation being on St. Joseph's feast day (March 19th). I just fear that it will be more of the same. Some awesome things said. Some vague things said. And then the two or three confusing statements that blow up the Catholic world, gets misreported by the media, and tear the Catholic blogosphere apart. I know I shouldn't being thinking something like this will happen. I'm just really sick of those situations, and simply fear, perhaps rightfully, it will happen again. All just before Easter. However, how such a scenario affects me (or us) again can be manipulated by the devil (him again). More fasting and praying are needed.


5) Experience

"The baby's not moving much... I rubbed something on my back. The package didn't say a pregnant lady couldn't. That was yesterday. Now I don't feel the baby much..." Yes, that is Becca. I can't relate. I've never had a baby in my belly. It's the Church's fault you know. Old fashioned institution that won't allow men the equal rights of women, and so I can never become a mother, unless perhaps I leave the Church and start my own. Where was I? Oh yes, our baby. He, or she, kicks and bops a lot. Then he, or she, stops. Becca gives me updates quite frequently. Perhaps with a tinge of worry each time. Thankfully I remember that this was the same with John Paul. Some days he was busy in the belly, some days he wasn't. Parenting, in a sense, is easier with each child. Provided you remember past experiences.

For the record, the baby was bopping, last I heard.

Also for the record, I have no desire to ever be a mother.


6) School

In case you were wondering, things are good at the school. I'm finished floor hockey now. Though I am debating starting a quick league for the grade 3ers. Archery is in full training for the provincial team. At this point practices are very boring. Kids shoot. Us coaches offer tips. The good kids use the tips and improve. The clueless kids don't, and never improve. And the practices drag on. Well I had enough last time. Instead of coaching I went another route. I joined them in the shooting. This perked the boys' attention there. Suddenly the competition was on. They just had to try and beat me. So on we went counting up our scores each shooting frame. There's no better motivation for a boy than a little competition. And who knows? Maybe I'll get better too. There's no better motivation than to avoid losing to students.

Oh yeah, and I teach too. But nobody cares to hear about that.


7) The Boys

These boys are quickly becoming inseparable buddies. They do everything together. For instance, Joseph has a lenten calendar that he colours every day. John Paul wanted one too. So Joseph created one for John Paul, and now they both check off the days. They do workouts together, read books together, do "priest-school" work at the kitchen table... Why, even today, since I got home from work, they've been fighting non-stop. How chummy.

Here they are giving their mommy and daddy a break from dishes one evening:

By break I mean we had to wait 15 minutes for them to "help" before cleaning up their mess and then doing the dishes ourselves. But it's the thought that counts. I'm not going to say no to them.

I'm not their mother, after all.