I’ve been sorting through my YouTube videos, getting ready for the school year (which starts Monday…can you believe it??), and saw that I had favorited this video last year.
It’s dated July 2011, so Atticus was 4 1/2. My parents shot the video and it’s posted on my mom’s account.
There’s a video here of Atticus singing this same song a few months earlier.
My Dad, Danny Ricketts, has a new website that you must see!
Danny’s Artwork currently showcases 186 of his pieces — paintings, drawings, collages and sculptures.
He’s been doing art stuff since he was a kid and even won awards for his paintings in high school.
He did some drawing and diagramming through the years, but he didn’t do much painting until the last year or so when he was recovering from surgery. He said he found some old paints from school and wondered if they were dried out. Well, they weren’t, but he quickly got some new acrylics and has been painting prolifically ever since.
My mom said that he was jonesing to paint while they were on their recent trip to Tulsa. Next time, he needs to take the paints. ๐
Here are a few random pieces from the site:
On a design note, it was a lot of fun working with WPtheming’s Portfolio Press, the WordPress theme I used for the site. The learning curve was pretty short and using the portfolio tags really increases the usability of the site, I think.
What do you think? Any suggestions?
I realized just as Attie and I were leaving for the car to pick up Ryan and bring him back here for an afternoon of Star Wars movies and computer games that I didn’t have my car keys in my purse. Uh-oh!
I had a flash of myself as Kevin and I were sitting in the car outside the motel in Cherokee, where we spent last week. We were going to be doing a lot of walking, and I wouldn’t need my keys. Into the glove compartment they went.
I can even sort of recall Kevin questioning whether that was be a good idea. He was right, as usual. Grrr ๐
Since then, I haven’t had to drive at all because Kevin’s been doing all the driving, both on the trip and since we’ve been back. But Kevin’s working his 12-hour shift today…
So what did I do?
Yeah, I turned to good ol’ Mom and Dad. ๐
I got in touch with my mom and she talked to my dad. And my dad came through for us, as he always has for all of my life. ๐
He drove over and picked up Ryan and brought him to our house.
And all was well. Atticus picked his chin up off the floor and said he was happy now. Yes!
After Ryan got here (and I knew he hadn’t eaten all day), I started to fix some Hamburger Helper (some kind of cheesy hamburger and pasta) and immediately ran into another roadblock. The recipe called for 1-2/3 cup milk, but we were just about out of milk.
We’re running out of quite a few staples, actually, because we were gone for most of last week and haven’t yet replenished the cupboards.
Sweet, sweet Kevin made a grocery list the other day, and I had planned to go to the store this morning. But then I got caught up in trying to set up my new phone like my old one — a long story and a very long process, indeed! — and decided to go in the morning. (Of course, I would have been stuck with no keys anyway…)
So anyway, while the hamburger was defrosting in the microwave (and since I’m not really a cook, just a pretty good directions-follower), I looked online to see if there were something that I could substitute for milk.
Not really. Milk is a pretty good substitute for a lot of other things, but the only thing (other than other kinds of milk) that can sub for it is water, and I was thinking too much water in the mix would probably not work very well.
After the hamburger was cooked and drained, it was time to put that little bit of milk left in the gallon to the test. I was a bit worried (as much as one can be over Hamburger Helper, I guess.) How much would I have to fudge on to make this recipe work?
Well, it turns out…
…not a bit!
Yep, the milk came to right at 1-2/3 cup. Drained.
I couldn’t believe it. It was like the MIRACLE OF THE MILK or something. And then I felt ridiculous for thinking that. And even right now I’m considering deleting this whole post because I’m making something out of nothing. Am I?
The food was good and filling. The movie got half-watched. Both boys are back at the computer playing some kind of pong-like game. And all I’m hearing are giggles.
Last Sunday, May 6, in a special 2 p.m. Mass, Lucas made his First Communion.
He was one of 50-some 7-year-olds all dressed up in suits and ties (or white satin, lace, or taffeta dresses).
It was a beautiful ceremony, and Kevin and I were both in tears before Lucas even made his way up the center aisle with his (and Atticus’) godmother Cindy Jefferson.
You can click on the first picture below to scroll through enlarged versions.
Thanks to the boys’ godfather Charlie Jefferson, the official event photographer, for the pictures in the gallery and allowing us to post them here.
And thanks to Lucas’ Grammy, Carolyn Dalton, for allowing me to use the picture of him at left. ๐
And thanks to the dozen or so family members who were there. It meant so much to Lucas and to all of us. ๐
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We were busy speaking to an old friend and her grandson after Jack and the Beanstalk. Atticus was the one who noticed the outline of the water left from the thunderstorm that wetted the cars: “It’s a boy!”
Of all the games our two younger sons Lucas, 7, and Atticus, 5, love to play at dinnertime, their favorite is religious trivia.
Here’s a random, annotated sampling of tonight’s questions:
1. What is the first book of the Bible? (They both know this one and what it means.)
2. What is the last book of the Bible? (They still can’t remember this one very quickly but as soon as they get a sense of it, they start chanting “Revolution” while pumping their arms in the air. What does it mean??)
3. Who was the first Pope? (They always know this.)
4. What are the five “joyful mysteries” of the rosary? (These are pretty new additions to our trivia, but they did pretty well. They know them all with a clue or two, but not in order.)
5. Who was the only one of Jesus’ original disciples to die a natural death? (They both got this and its follow-up, why? Plus, Lucas got bonus points for remembering that Peter had been crucified upside-down.)
6. What religious order was Blessed John Paul II a part of? (They both got this one immediately. We all have a special love for JP2. :))
7. What religious order is Pope Benedict XVI a part of? (Silence until Kevin prodded them. It’s his chosen title, after all. ;))
8. Where does the Pope live? (They know the city and country, but the country-within-a-country takes a minute.)
9. What is the rulebook of the Catholic Church? (They both got this immediately, and Atticus later coined a new word combining the rulebook with its geographical source from #8: “Vatechism.” Ha!)
10. What is the first book of the New Testament? (Lucas answered “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.” Not bad!)
How many do you know??
I remember seeing this 1956 film back in elementary school. I don’t remember which class, but I remember it was on a film projector, one of those old spooled and threaded machines that would clack-clack-clack when it was over and the tape ran out.
When I found it streaming on Neflix over Christmas break, I had to show it to Lucas and Atticus. They both were captivated by it for the whole time โ quite a feat for a movie with virtually no dialogue.
They could sense that the little boy was lonely, that he needed a friend, and that the red balloon somehow knew this. <3
I was looking through Fourth of July pictures from years past, and this one from 2008 caught my eye … and my heart.
Two people I miss dearly: my aunt Idella, who passed away the month after this picture was taken, and my 18-year-old son Ryan, who is now all grown up … and away.
Love and miss them both so much!
Kevin and Lucas with their rosaries. <3
August 2008
