Notre Dame Standing Strong

As many of my friends know, last week the Diocese of Camden issued a decree that our school was closing. The reason was for "lack of funding" and "decreasing enrollment," but our school's bookkeeper and several independent audits show that these are patently false. The Diocese set for strict parameters for an appeal to be launched, and we followed these rules. Unfortunately, they decided to change things mid-way and after agreeing to a meeting have rescinded this opportunity. They have threatened the staff with removal if they attempt to give the children hope and behave in any way other than a manner the Diocese decides is consistent with shutting down the school in June.

The children are, in a word, devastated. They are trying to understand something for which we have no explanation to give. They are stunned that one person can decide the fate of so many without accepting the facts of the situation. They are despondent at losing their friends and the community that they are part of.

People are asking, "What can we do?" First, pray. Pray for the children, who need God's comfort more than ever. Pray for the teachers who have to carry on as if it was a normal school year. Pray for the parents, that they will be able to discern what the right thing is for their children. We are all hurting now. And pray that the Bishop's heart may open and that he will listen.

Second, show the Church how much these children need this school. I know many have issues with the Church hierarchy. Honestly, I do too. But for now, set it aside, and please, write a letter to the Apostolic Nuncio. He is the Papal representative to the United States, and has the power to declare that this be reopened. Write to him and tell him what this school means to the children, to their families, to the Church itself. Ask that he prayerfully consider what is being presented to him. These letters need to be sent the "old-fashioned" way -- on paper and via US Mail, Fed Ex, etc. If you can get to a post office and send it certified or return receipt, even better because it means it must be put directly in someone's hand and signed for. We are hopeful for him to receive about 250 letters by Wednesday, February 2. His mailing address is:

Most Reverend Carlo Vigano

Apostolic Nuncio

Apostolic Nunciature United States of America

3339 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008-3687

If you have a few pennies in your pocket to spare, donate. All monies are being held in a separate account, and will be returned if we are ultimately closed permanently. You can donate via a secure Paypal link at www.notre-dame-standing-strong.com.

I'm posting copies of the children's letters. I'm so proud of what they've written. Each is well thought, in his or her own words, with minimal revision beyond grammar and punctuation. (I know the scans are not the best quality, but I will revise this post when I figure out a better way to do them. If you click on the images, it should bring them up larger on your screen so they are full size and easier to read.) These are proof of the quality of education they are receiving.


When our beloved Dr. Alimenti had to break the news to the children, she told them it was OK to be sad, it was OK to be angry, and it was OK to hurt. We were all hurting. But with the next breath she reminded them who we are -- whether in the school, on the street, in a new high school because we've moved on, or in a new school because we have been moved. She reminded us that we always will be...

NOTRE DAME STANDING STRONG!!

Pay It Forward Project

Luke has asked me to share his letter with my internet friends, in the hopes that some of you will be kind and help him. He is asking for donations to benefit the Outpatient Therapy waiting room at DuPont Hospital. If you can help, please let us know -- we are grateful for donations, but also for prayers for the wonderful therapists who have helped all of the children.

(Please email us at falciani at comcast dot net if you're willing to help us out! Thank you!)

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November 20, 2011

Dear Friends,

As part of our graduation activities, the 8^th grade students of Notre Dame Regional School are participating in a service project entitled the “Pay It Forward Project.” The purpose of this project is to teach my classmates and me the meaning of fully participating in the communities of which we are members. Each student is given a small amount of cash and is expected to find a way to use it to benefit others, without just handing it to a single person. We are expected to find a way to take what we are given and make it grow to help as in as great a way as we are able.

I have chosen the Outpatient Therapy unit of the Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children as beneficiary for my project. The therapists there have been helping my brothers, my sister, and me for nearly 13 years, and I want to give back to this community. When I asked our therapists what I could give them, they all said what would be most welcomed would be books for the waiting room. AIDHC has been undergoing construction for several years now, and the unit was recently relocated. In the move, most of their waiting room books were either purged or relocated. I want to help them replace their library.

I am asking for donations to help me reach my goal of refilling their book case. I am collecting books of all kinds: infant/toddler board books, “early reader” books, and collections of short stories and chapter books for older children. I am asking if you would be able to give a donation of money or books to help me accomplish this. I would like to give our gift to DuPont by late January. While there is an outdoor playground for families, by mid-winter it will be too cold and there will be too much hospital construction going on for it to be a place they can wait for therapy sessions to finish. New books will be a welcome way to pass the time.

Thank you very much for assisting me. I have included my address below for you to send donations to. The physical, occupational, speech and feeding therapists have done so much for my family that I feel this is the perfect opportunity to show them my gratitude and pay forward their kindness.

Love,

Luke

Celia's Timeline

"How do people keep track of thins that happen on certain days or in certain years? They make a timeline." Celia's homework this week was to create a timeline with pictures of her life.





6/12/2004 - Welcome, Celia!




















God Bless, Celia! Her Baptism Day, with Godparents Alicia and Tom Farren July 2004














Happy 1st Birthday, Little Miss Ladybug!

















Tubey Day, January 2006











Meeting little brother Jude, August 2007














Sun, Sand & Skate, her first competition, August 2008

















1st day of School, September 2008
















1st day of Kindergarten, September 2009

















Happy Valentine's Day, 2010!


















Big Sister to Damien, July 2010









The Three Princesses: Snow White, Cousin Ally, and Celia, December 2010

















Practicing for another competition, February 2011

Proud of Luke...

It's been a good week for Luke.

He's picked up a couple lessons with some different skating coaches. Something just is "clicking" -- maybe it's how they are explaining things? I don't know. But he's doing fantastic. There is a competition next month in Wilmington and he wants to do the dance events. Of course, the two that are on the schedule are the two he hasn't tested yet. Until two weeks ago, he had never seen them before! He's picking them up really quickly, and I think he'll be in good shape. He also is entering the Footwork Event. His program is choreographed to Phineas and Ferb's "Backyard Beach." He's got some great choreography, and it's nice to see him having fun with skating again.

Luke came home today and announced he was invited to be a member of the Quiz Bowl team. Apparently, it's for 6th-8th graders, involves going to The Prep for competitions with other schools, and that's about all he knows. But he's puffier than a peacock...he's saying "This means I'm smart, right?" It's interesting trying to find the balance between saying "It confirms what your mother thinks -- that you're an outright genius," and "Well, at the very least, they think you're smart enough to be an asset to the team and represent the school well."

Yay Luke!

I'm FREE!!!!!

Has anybody else noticed how the "must have" gear list grows over time, and how companies always manage to create "things you can't live without." Yeah, well, maybe life could have been easier (or at least my bank account that much further depleted), but since most of this stuff didn't exist when a) I was a child and b) my own young 'uns were teeny, and somehow we're all still alive, I think the universe is doing fine without the stuff. I mean, we got a perfectly good stroller for half price because the navy fabric on it was LAST YEAR's navy blue. Um...isn't navy blue pretty much "standard?" Whatever. The exception: light-year-caliber strides in breast pump parts. For my last two kids, I have struggled to eek out more than half an ounce at a pumping session. I thought it was the pump, until after three or four different pumps determined it was "me." God bless the engineers at Medela -- they must have gotten a mother of twelve in their department. Who has had her chest expand with each kiddo. Who tried desperately to pump enough to go get her hair colored because her other kids were turning it gray. Who had the brains to say "Let's make parts in multiple sizes. And not just 'average' and 'slightly bigger.' We need one that fits wumbo-boobs." I ordered a pair of pump flanges, in size "wumbo." And when they came, blessed that person for using the brains God gave her, because I got THREE WHOLE OUNCES pumped.

So now that I have the capacity to pump more than three sips of milk, we get a bottle together. Usually we have given first bottles just before baby's Baptism, so we could give a bottle of milk in church if kiddo was really squawking. Jude's Christening was long ago, but hey...he's not starving or anything. Considering he gained 3 pounds in his first month, I think he's not going to starve if I'm stuck in the grocery line for an extra minute. But I'm sure the UPS guy would like me to slow down a little bit. He comes about as often as the US mail...but has to drag bigger boxes. The tradition in our family has the next-youngest giving the first bottle. We settle Damien into Jude's lap, convince Jude the bottle is for Damien, not him, and pop it into Damien's mouth. He slugs down three ounces in about as many minutes. My mother in law proclaims, "You're free!! Leave an extra bottle, and I'll babysit." In case it was a fluke, Luke gave him a bottle in the car one morning on the way to school. Damien drained it before we were out of our driveway. I took a bottle with me to Luke's doctor appointment, and Damien slurped that one down in record time, too. Yahoo!!

In honor of the Mama Engineer...I think I'll go get my roots done.

Welcome to the Church, Damien Neal...

Yesterday we celebrated a wonderful day. It was Damien's Baptism day. The Lord works in His own way, in His own time. If there was ever proof of that, it was yesterday.

It took us almost until Damien was born to decide on a name for him. We don't have "impossibly high" standards. We're just picky. Names just have to work with the other kids' names/our last name, be traditional sounding but not trendy, be easy to do a Patron Saint project on (my minimum requirement), and have a meaning that we like. (After having meanings of "light," "gift of God," "from heaven, and "praised," something like "tree" wasn't going to work.) We had shortlisted a bunch of names: Noah ("comfort"), Levi ("joined"), Elias and Joel ("the Lord is God"). We just could not decide. And every time we thought "Yeah, that's it," we would think of something else and say "Oh, I like that!" and be back at square one. Then, one night, while chaperoning Luke's school dance, I got a text message from Neal: Damien. Damien? Interesting. Followed by: means Spirit and St. Damien of Molokai, became a saint October 11. More interesting. Meaning works, and October 11 is our wedding anniversary. This has potential. When Luke wandered by I asked him what he thought. He looked at me, and said, "Wait." Then his eyes rolled back into his head -- the kind of look children have when they're trying to read their memory. "I think...no, I'm almost positive...we got our new Catholic IQ homework today, and St. Damien of Molokai is the saint on the back of the handout." Sure enough, when we got home he got it out, and there it was -- St. Damien. What were the odds? Damien this boy was going to be. After months of back-and-forth, he had a name almost within an hour.

Of course, we spent the last few days running like mad trying to organize everything for the Christening. By yesterday morning, neither grown up really wanted to pick our heads off the pillow. Celia wandered in, and asked if she could hold Damien before the others got up and asked. I pried one eye open far enough to settle them, and decided I might as well get the day started. As I started to turn the water on to brush my teeth, I heard her say, "Today is your Baptism day, Damien! Baptism means 'Welcome to the Church,' and is when you become a Child of God..." I know last year in school she started learning about Sacraments, and I could almost hear her kindergarten teacher's voice giving the lesson. It always amazes me the simplicity of a child's faith, and how they simply accept faith as it is -- "the evidence of things unseen."

Yesterday also was my sister's 36th birthday. It was also the anniversary of her death -- Melissa was born, baptized, and died within moments. And yes, the question that has followed for this long time has been "Why?" and nobody has ever had a good answer. It is almost to impossible understand that God has a greater plan when faced with such a huge test of faith. But when we had the opportunity to have another child given to God around the same time, it was obvious that it had to be on this day. Yes, it was a bittersweet day, and both happy and sad tears were shed. But it reminds us that God does have a greater plan -- He took one child back, and gave our family another with his own Guardian Angel. And Aunt Missy could never have been Damien's guardian angel if she was still here -- she had to be in Heaven waiting for him.

So welcome to the Church, Damien Neal. I pray you find a deep faith that understands that God is not only in a Church or a classroom. He is with us in all things, if we only keep our hearts open and patient.

Ever feel like the water in your duck pond is suddenly molasses...

And instead of being a Ming-Ming, you now are a Tuck?

That's kind of how our day went yesterday.

Since I was on "restricted activity" for the last two weeks after Damien was born, we've been taking it pretty easy. Only going where we had to go. Except by the time we got to the end of this week, a "had to go" place was the grocery store. All the food I laid in, thinking the baby would be born around when his brothers/sister was, got eaten. I guess that's what happens when baby comes two weeks later than you expect. You run out of food at the same point on the calendar, but it seems sooner. Plus, school starts in 18 days (not that I am counting or anything) and we needed more school supplies. We had a field trip to Target on Wednesday night and had gotten pens, folders, etc., but left without the mandatory per-kid pallet of hand sanitizer and Chlorox wipes. And oh, yeah, they all still needed school shoes. So like a good little elf, I made my list, checked it twice, herded my ducklings into the car and we were off. Like a herd of turtles.

Part of it was I had forgotten that newborns like to eat so much. After every other stop there was a pause for refreshment, and then we were out long enough to need to feed all the bigger people, too. But mostly everything just took far longer than I thought it would. I don't know WHY -- it wasn't because my herd kept trying to wander. They were all really pretty well behaved, stuck close, etc. They even were pretty helpful at getting things. Just that everything I thought took two or three times longer than I thought. Like I thought the Staples Stop should have been 10 minutes, 15 tops if there was a checkout line. It took close to 35. Shoes usually are an hour of torture. But kiddos needed to try on multiple sizes, and so that ate up more time. But by George, we managed to complete The List. Without adding back onto it. I'd call it a good day. The speedometer was just stuck on Turtle.

Ho-lee smokes...it's sorta been a while...

Maybe I'll start blogging again. Cause you know, with five kids now (yeppers, Jude's no longer the baby, that role is now being played by Damien), I've got more time than I know what to do with.

On the other hand, I'm thinking that as much as I adore telling funny kid stories to our family and friends, it's probably a whole lot easier for me to write everything down, and they can decide if they want to be amused by the kids' antics or not. I think my darlings are cute and amusing...but then again, I'm their mama, I'm supposed to think that.

I think by way of 'What we've been doing," we'll just leave it as "Since I've last blogged, all heck has broken loose, we've given up on getting it under control and are just going with it, and eventually it'll calm down...when we die."

Kiddos in five sentences or less (per kid! cut me some slack here...)

Luke is starting 7th grade next month, is still skating, and still likes us. But he's only 12, so that'll change soon enough. He's pretty darn smart, but don't just take his mama's word for it -- he's in the Advanced Math program at school (skipped 6th grade Math and hopped up to the equivalent of 7th, so this year will be "8th grade" Math) and was accepted into the National Junior Honor Society. He also won 2nd place in his division (Middle School Chemistry) at the local County-College sponsored Science Fair. He's a good big brother who loves his sibs but not the laundry they create.

Matthew is entering 4th grade...the last year for him at Newfield campus. When did my baby grow up?? *sob* He's ice skating, too. His big interests are video games and Pokemon/anime; a trip to Disney and the Japan Pavillion in Epcot was sort of like dying and going to heaven. Surprisingly, he's almost become my "quiet one."



Celia is...Celia. Not one to let a tubey slow her down, she's starting first grade this year. We survived Pre-K and Kindergarten (or perhaps more likely they survived her). Yep, she's a figure skater too (sense a pattern?) and has no fear. Good for her, bad for mom watching from the stands. We call her "Miss Thang" for a reason.







Jude is making leaps and bounds. His speech still is terrible, but his vocabulary is exploding -- muchas gracias to Miss Ellen and a year of speech therapy. He's happy to be a big brother, I think; at least he's not intentionally clobbering the baby, but just trying to hug him. He's now 3 years old, and I think Miss Ellen is right that "Threes are just twos with experience." He wants to skate like the others; Miss Denise took him out on the ice a few times and created a monster.






And to debut Damien to the blog world. He's our "early Santa gift" -- born on "Christmas Even In July." He does NOT skate...yet. Thankfully, he's a pretty good baby and just goes with the flow. Not like he has much choice.

And this is all of us. The plan is to try to update more than every couple of years. We'll see how this goes. You know what they say about making plans. Make them, and then sit back and watch God laugh. He's laughing pretty dang hard right now, methinks.

Jude's first food

Jude tried pears yesterday. He was not impressed with his first go at them at lunch. He did a little better at dinnertime. We'll see how day two goes.





Waiting for lunch. His bib has an eggplant on it and says "I'm a Good Egg." (Yes, that was for Daddy.)















Princess Celia got to feed Jude his first spoonfuls. She didn't quite understand how he got to eat food when he was NOT four yet. But she enjoyed being the "big sister".










No, Jude wasn't particularly impressed. I'm not sure if it was the food or the technique.












And yes, Luke had to give it a go. I tend to think it was the pears and not the person. Jude wasn't impressed with a different person wielding the spoon.







He seemed to enjoy them a little more at dinnertime...maybe because they weren't so "new." He still had a tough time figuring out what to do with them, but he'll get lots of practice. After pears, we try potatoes. Our ultimate goal---birthday cake.

Another Probe picture

Matthew's pH probe

Jude's new toy

Jude in his new Bouncer-oo seat










Jude doesn't bounce very well. Only about 6 more inches and his tippy toes will hit the floor.

Gap-toothed Kid...

Matthew *finally* lost a tooth.










He was getting a bit concerned that it was never going to happen. About two weeks ago, Mom discovered one tooth was really loose, and the one beside it was slightly wiggly. (They had that "crooked" look to them that suggested "I'm on the move.") It fell out a week later, and yes, the Tooth Fairy paid a visit.

Matthew then went to the dentist (already on the agenda, timing was coincidental.) Dr. John took x-rays since he was a new patient, and on the x-ray he could see that the tooth beneath the hole was close to popping through, and the tooth next to it (under the other loose tooth) wasn't far behind, so that should be coming out soon. The top front grownup teeth are out of alignment with the rest of the others, so they should cause wiggling soon. Matthew is now checking all of them at least daily (seems like "hourly" to Mom!) to see if there's any "improvement".

And, unbeknownst to others, his bottom 6-year-old molars have broken through...one is half in, and the other has just erupted with the points breaking the gum. This could also explain why he's been generally miserable for the last few weeks -- he's been "teething." You think we'd have caught on, since Jude's been miserable (for the same reason).

Now the race is on to see who gets new bottom teeth first, Matthew or Jude.

Our Christmas Update:

Luke is well. He had his first 4^th grade report card, and earned two 97s, two 98s, and a 99. We’re very proud and very impressed. He recently was in the school Nativity play, and had two roles. One was a “walk-on” as a Roman guard sending “each to his place of birth,” while the other was a speaking role as a Wise Man. He was the King who brought the gold to the Baby Jesus. He is still ice skating, and doing very well. He has moved up several levels since last season, and is planning on beginning to take his Moves tests soon. He has learned five single jumps (Salchow, toe loop, loop, Lutz, and flip) and three spins (scratch, back-scratch, and sit). Next up is the granddaddy of all the skills—the Axel. He’s looking forward to mastering it. For his school journal entry on “Who is a good role model to me?” he chose his coach, Roland. Luke thinks he’d like to be a skating coach when he grows up, too.

Matthew is enjoying first grade. He had a good report card as well, and we’re very pleased. He also sang in the Christmas show with his class. We recently went to Disney World for vacation, and one of his schoolmates was there at the same time. Matthew and Carina had a great time going on rides together, and hope that someday we can all go back again. Matthew is following in Luke’s skate tracks, and can successfully land his waltz and toe loop jumps. He enjoys spinning the most, though. He’s discovered how to be popular with the ladies. I volunteer in the cafeteria on Mondays, and after he finishes his lunch, he gets to hold Jude on his lap. Together, they’re “chick magnets.”

Celia is holding her own. We’d love for her to join the boys at Notre Dame in September, and have started talking to the Pre-K teacher to see if her class could make the accommodations Celia needs. We still need to talk to the principal, but when we said, “Celia has a feeding tube,” to the teacher, she didn’t even flinch. We’re taking this as a positive sign. Her one “solid food” is plain cane sugar. During a recent grocery trip, she discovered stretch of aisle ten feet long and filled with different kinds (granulated bulk bags, cubes, packets) and brands. Her response was a slack-jawed, breathless, “Oh. My. Gosh.” I think she’d have preferred to sleep on the bottom shelf than come home. On our trip to Disney World, she got to meet her heroines – Princesses Aurora, Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel. She had a wonderful time with them. Not one to be left on the sidelines, she’s begun ice skating, too. During the Christmas show, she experienced a surprising touch of stage fright. That is, until she saw another parent walk by with an armful of flowers. She said, “I want pretty flowers, too!” and we said, “Then you have to go out and skate.” She was off faster than a camera flash! Medically, she’s been a bit unstable, but we’re hoping we’ve turned a corner. She recently was doing very poorly, and had to have her “stupid old plain tubey” (a g-tube that goes directly to the stomach) changed to a “brand new SUPER tubey” (a gastro-jejunal tube that goes to both her stomach and intestine). It does appear that it is helping, so things are looking up. We’re still trying to outsmart our little thief. We tried locking the cabinets to keep her away from the food, but she’s figured out how they work. Since our house is under construction anyway, we decided to add lockable doors to the kitchen entryways. She’s pretty indignant that we’ve (at least temporarily) outsmarted her.

Jude is not yet up to schoolwork, or ice skating. He’s content working on being cute. He was very well behaved during Celia’s recent hospital stay. He has recently discovered how to work cuteness to his advantage, and saw hanging out at the hospital as an opportunity to polish his flirting skills with the nurses. He’s not doing much else yet, but that’s just fine by us. If he’s anything like his brothers and sister, knowing how to turn cute on and off at will may just be his salvation.

Neal and I are doing well. Thankfully, there’s nothing particularly interesting happening with us, since the children seem to be providing enough excitement. Here’s hoping 2008 is a year full of continued good things for everyone we love!

More pics