On the 7th Day of Christmas...

the Blogmaster gave to me...7 jpeg images of the Meloche family Chistmas...

The Good Life...

Dear fellow Christian soldiers,
Before the Christmas Octavive began, the family and I went across the state for a vacation on the Alantic coast. Like Meville's Ishmael, I to am called to the sea...the ocean feels like home. Here are few pics.

The Intellectual Life

friends,
...like others, I am sure you are wondering how a quasi-professional intellectual, who is neither a professional nor an intellectual spends his day. I assure you it is one of active inactivity. To saturate your curiosity allow me to give a sample day.
I hop out of bed at the crack of dawn (not by choice, rather to placate the screams of one of my children who have been screaming for the past half hour). At 6:30 on the nose I have my cup of extra fort coffee, English muffin with BP and a splash of OJ. After brushing my teeth and throwing the kids some crackers I read something light to get the intellectual juices flowing, perhaps on of Plato's dialogues. At 9 I take a nap until noon. Then comes lunch.
I have what ever the kids are eating, normally baby back rips, parsnips and a side of grits. After lunch i take a nap until 2; then I read something medieval - preferably some St. Thomas and if Manuela is busying saving the world, i will either read something from the Reformation period or watch "Judge Judy". After that I brush my teeth and take a nap until 5:30. 5:30 is my favorite time of the day - cocktail hour. We each have a pint of dark lager and discuss how the neighbour hood is going to pot.
At six we have our big meal, apple slices, a cheese stick and 2 saltines. At 6:35 we pray the rosary - all 5 decades on our knees - for the salvation of all our pagan friends. At 7 I have my pipe. At 7:26 I brush my teeth. At 7:30 read something light to the kids...usually some Kant. By eight the kids are sound asleep. At 8:02 me and Manuela stare at each other... At 8:11 I have my second pipe, brush my teeth once more, thank God for the productive day and fly to slumber land, eagerly looking forward to what thrills the next day has in store for me.
And now I must be off...
Oh, and here are some recent pics...

Mila's Birthday

Well, our lil'Mila turned three yesterday. Hard to believe...(wiping away a tear)...it won't be long until she flees the nest too enter some contemplative religious order. Oh, how the time flies.
Here are a few pics of Mila's "princess" party. All the princess' had a grand ol'time, and so to did the dragon, viz., Ezra, who, like a good dragon, felt it his duty to terrorize all the little princess'.

Summer 2008

Dear Friends and family,
We had a busy summer. The highlight being a month long retreat in Canada. Here are a few pictures.

Summer Days

Well, it has been a very long time since my last post. I won't bore you with unnecessary verbage, just give a brief commentary on the videos. As you can see the kids are growing like weeds. Ezra has become a little daredevil - running, climbing and jumping is how he spends his days. Mila, on the other hand, is content 'reading' her books and drawing pictures of horses.

Miscellaneous Pics

Here are some recent shots of Easter, Ezra's par-te, the sous-chef and the Lehigh Acres Fair.

Mila's latest Masterpiece...

This is what happens when Manuela talks on the phone for 10 min. We figure she didn't have any paper on hand so she used Ezra's face instead...poor unsuspecting Ezra.

Birthday Boy

On March 20th we quasi-celebrated Ezra's first birthday. Since his birthday fell on Holy Thursday, the actual 'party' will take place sometime after the Triduum. Nevertheless, since he is still rather young, he was allowed to break his bread and water fast and enjoy a birthday cupcake.

PS. Wishing all a wonderful Easter!

Salt, Salt!

Here a few pics of the family during my spring break which we spent wasting away in Margaritaville, aka the Florida keys.

Homoerectus

Here is a short clip capturing Ezra's new found freedom. He is now fully bipedal - preferring the drunkard swagger to all other modes of locomotion. This was shot weeks before his first birthday!

Milestones...

Now that my boy has these two rudimentary life functions mastered, I figure it is time to move on to his next stage in development, namely, refinement in his use of fine motor skills (i.e. command of the 'pincer grip') and metaphysics. He should be nimbly picking up peas and demonstrating the 5 proofs for the existence of God by his first birthday.

Happy Birthday Me!

Celebrated my 32nd year of existence on the 20th of January. It being my birthday and all, the family was forced, via guilt, to participate in my favorite activities. Consequently, we enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner, christened with a nice glass of red wine, followed by an evening of watching football and eating chocolate cake, but not just any Chocolate Cake: what we have here folks, is Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake...so good it makes you sweat.   It's funny how such small things can make a man so happy.