Ahem...Is this thing still on??

I have finally surfaced, gasping for air, at the ITI's fall 10-day break. I made it here only by the grace of God. Of course, the break isn't really a break. It is just a break from classes so you can write all the papers assigned. I just finished a paper on St. Thomas' proof that God's essence is his being. It is in the Prima pars of the Summa Theologiae, Question 3, Article 4. For those of you unfamiliar with the citation of St. Thomas' works. The first letters designate the work, in this case STh (for Summa Theologiae). Next, the part of the Summa is designated. There is the First Part (prima pars), the Second Part of the First Part (pars secunda prima pars) Second Part (secunda pars), the Second Part of the Second part (pars secunda secunda pars) and the Third Part (tertia pars). These are designated by Roman numerals e.g., STh I-II is the Second Part of the First Part of the Summa. Then, the questions are numbered, and then the articles. So, to cite the text above, one would write STh I.3.4. This proof relates to the proofs of God in STh I.2.3. It is only in STh I.3.3 and and STh I.3.4, cited above, that the proofs of God are complete.

Finished a Latin exam working through passive case and the genitive case (possessive). I think I have more trouble remembering English grammar than I do Latin grammar! I think the last time I studied grammar was like 30 years ago! Scary....

Over the break I will be finishing up a summer course, writing a paper on the Christology of St. Ignatius of Antioch, and starting to think about papers on the habit of faith as understood through faith's act and object and exploring the centrality and implications of the understanding of Church as a communion.

I also plan to have several International Wrestling Championships with my boys, take a long walk with my wife, and take my daughter to coffee. I am looking forward to the next week!

Thank you all for your prayer support and financial support. There is no way we could do this without you. We are blessed by your friendship and love...

Just to Make You Smile

They can make you madder than anyone on the earth. Those darn kids. For instance last night Eli and Zach-Attack decided to make a water slide out of the bathroom and then to cover their tracks they dried up the pond they made in the bathroom with every bath towel we own. Ever seen an entire family drip dry. It ain't a pretty sight. Yet they bring more love, more joy, move laughter, and more smiles than we would ever have the chance to experience without them. Aren't kids just great!!!

I hope these bring a smile to your face today. Have a great day!!!!!

Austria has mutated me - Aghhh!

Over this past year something terrible has happened. I caught Austrian Fever. The first symptoms started with my face turning a odd shade of Green, and I got a hankering for pizza. Kawabunga Dude! My mom says my room is beginning to smell like a sewer.

GO NINJA, GO NINJA, GO NINJA!!!!!!

Then I began to feel faint. Everything got dark and started to spin. Agggghhhhh! Everything is getting out of controlllllll. Help meeeeeeeeeeee!


Howdy Partner, I am Buffalo Bill Cody the meanest, rootinest, tooootinest, man in the Austrian Alps. I will be wrangling wild noch schenekas ( for you American type folks - that's a naked snail or slug in German!) We growem big, long, and red in this here country. You can follow their trails for miles, with the slime they leave in their wakes. I wish I could shake this horrible head ache off like a fly at a cow pie eating contest.
My head it hurts sooooo bad...........
Argh, Matie! I be sending you down to Davie Jones locker all ye land lovers out there. All those who are scared to cross the seven seas and won't come visit the Lee family - They be missing ye Scurby Dogs!!!! Ye should be walkin the plank with my cutlass at yer back.
My stomach is aching.l.. Ye Rum must ave been bad!
I fear it be the dreaded curse of thee head hunters.
Argh! I be shrinking - I be Shrinking
I BE SHRINKING!!! ARGH!

We've gone International

For my birthday Mike and I took a trip to Vienna by train. It was such a great day out. About two weeks later we were blessed once again with another trip to Vienna as a whole family with the ITI. While there we went to an open air international street market, filled with an array of unknown smells, colors, and items. It was fascinating and we loved it. While going through the market I decided what a great home school teaching moment it could be. So we picked out the craziest, wackiest fruits that we had never seen before and brought them back home with us. Then we went to work at finding out where they come from in the world and did a geography class/taste testing party and here are our results.

Our Top Winners Are (Drum Roll Please!):
#1 - The Passion Fruit from South Africa - With its tart tropical flair and its gushy, frog-egg like insides.

#2 - The Cherinoya from Spain - With its lumpy, green exterior and its cool, sweet creamy filling of a smooth tropical custard.

#3 - The Rambutan from Malaysia and Sumatra -With its hairy, scary, horrifying exterior but a interior with a smooth, refreshing white interior much like a Litchi from China.


Our Top Losers of the Bunch:
#1- The Dragon Fruit or Pitaya from Vietnam - With its magenta/blood red flesh and thousands of tiny black seeds it rated pretty low tasting like our old granny's perfume, but it rated high on the humor scale when Mike shot that nasty red flesh clear across the table.

#2 - The Jack Fruit from India -One of our most exciting entries, one of these bad boys can weigh in at 100 lbs and it grows on a tree branch. It also can permanently ruin the knife you use to cut it, due to a latex build up. If we wanted shoot it or make the next new innovative undergarment with it we would have been in business. But its rubbery, stretchy, yellow flesh and giant seeds got the thumbs down at our house.

#3 - The Physalis or mangosteen from S.E. Asia tops out our losers with its slimy, snot like flesh that permanently stains your body for weeks. Yikes, makes you want to try this one doesn't it.

We also tried the Java Apple from Thailand, which was like a watery, no flavored apple, the prickly pear or Indian fig from the Mexico, with its daunting stickers, red flesh and tons of seeds, it turned out to not be a favorite also. We also had a Mango from Malaysia and India, which is still one of our families favorite fruits. Then there were our last entries fresh figs from Greece with their crunchy seeded middles, that we loved. We had a great time tasting, peeling, smelling, and touching all these great fruits from all over and are looking forward to our next culinary, geographic class filled with fun, laughter, and a really big mess to clean up the next morning.