Macy Wants To Be a Teacher

Macy has a little boy in her first grade class this year who is a special needs student. He has a teacher aide with him all day to help him. Julie, a counselor at her school, has explained his situation to Macy.

Last week, they were talking about careers in her classroom, and Macy told her teacher that when she grows up, she wants to open a school for children with special needs. She went to the teacher's aide and asked her if she would be one of the teachers in her school. She, of course, said, "Yes." Last night, she gathered a bunch of her dolls and stuffed animals and put them in a wagon and told Marshall she needed him to help her bus these "students" to their special needs' school. Then she turned to me and said, "Mimi, would you be a parent reader in my school?"

Macy Changes Uncle John's Life

Last night when Macy and Marshall were over here, I got out some old pictures of them to look at. Macy really enjoyed this, and when she came to the picture above, she said, "Mimi, it looks like Uncle John really loves me in this picture." I told her, "Yes, it does...in fact, it was about this time that Uncle John and Aunt Leenie decided to get married and have a little baby of their own!" She smiled a big smile, and said, "SO I CHANGED UNCLE JOHN'S LIFE!!??"

San Fernando Cathedral

I was born in San Antonio, and haved lived here all my life, yet I've never stepped foot in the San Fernando Cathedral. I've heard of it all my life, and I'm embarrassed to say, I really didn't even know where it was. You see, I don't spend a lot of time around the courthouse downtown! It is right there, a stone's throw away from the courthouse, on Main Plaza. My sweet Emmaus Reunion Group planned an outing there yesterday, and little did I know, it would be a day I'd never forget.

We started the day with lunch at Mi Tierra's Restaurant at El Mercado. This is the foyer when you first walk in!

This is the ceiling in the room where we ate. It was covered with icicle lights and silver foil paper doilies. There is a Spanish word for this which I don't know. It was very beautiful.

This cathedral was founded in 1793 when 15 families of 55 people came to San Antonio from the

Canary Islands.

The remains of Crockett, Bowie, and Travis, our Alamo heroes, are buried here.

Here are the "milagros" that people bring to represent prayer requests.

And here are just some of the candles which were in many areas of the cathedral which people light when they pray.

The majesty of this altar just can't be appreciated from this photo. It is a beautiful statue of Jesus surrounded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And yes, that is real gold.

When we finished our tour of the cathedral, the twelve of us received permission to sit in a circle on the side of the sanctuary and visit and pray. We were led by Denise Barker who talked to us about "blessings," how we rarely take the time to realize what a blessing we are to God, and to realize all the blessings in our lives every day. Her words, as always, were beautiful. When Molly Bailey went to Isreal a few months ago, she brought each of us a little box with three bottles: one of holy water, one of holy oil, and one of holy soil. Denise asked us to bring our holy oil that day, so we could all be anointed. Then we went around the circle and each of us put oil on the forehead of the person to our right, and we took turns telling them what a blessing they were to us. It was a very meaningful experience. When we finished, we very softly sang, "Surely the Presence of the Lord is in This Place."

It was a day I won't ever forget. For a link to this song, click here

Surely the Presence of the Lord is in This Place

Marshall and the Chipmunks

One night during the Christmas holidays, it was Marshall's turn to spend the night with us alone. This is always a treat for them and us! I told him after his bath, we'd take him driving around in the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights, which he was very excited about. He put on his Nemo house slippers and yelled, "I'm ready!" and this is what was waiting for us in the hallway! Marshall and his chipmunks! (He had just seen the movie a few days before!)

Macy's Growing Up!

This picture taken of Macy at Christmas shows how fast she's growing up. You can't really see her cute frou-frou skirt that I bought her at the Junior League Ole Marketplace because her hands are sort of holding it down here. I got the black bling-bling t-shirt and sequined scarf in Dallas at Justice For Girls. That's what makes me sad. It's a store for pre-teen girls in sizes 7-14. She's in a 7-8 now (at age 6)! I just wish I could freeze her right at this age!

Ainsley's Funny Surprise!

This video was taken on New Year's Eve when Papa and I were babysitting with Ainsley so her mom and dad could go to a party. She was giggling like crazy at something Larry kept saying and I grabbed my camera and put it on "video." This is the result!

If you didn't see this video before Jan. 7, you missed it. I removed it for the sake of my sweet granddaughter's dignity. :-)