Alive and well!

Friends and family,

Many apologies for the long absence; the last few weeks have been very hectic with Lent, Holy Week, a class final, a class paper, and the regular duties of husband and father. Things have finally settled down though, so I hope to post a big more regularly in the coming weeks (no promises, though :)

To recap the last few weeks:

--Holy Week was quite lovely at St. John's. We do liturgy so well here and I was extraordinarily pleased with the music. A lot of singers came together and did a tremendous job for all the Easter Triduum services. I couldn't believe how much work it was though; I felt completely overwhelmed the two weeks leading up to the Triduum. What a relief when it was all over!

--I started playing for an 8 AM Sunday mass at a small parish outside of Champaign last weekend. It seems to be a nice parish and really reminds me of my childhood church; small, rural, gracious parishioners. The instruments there leave much to be desired but I'm sure I can manage. The only negative is the fact that I'll be getting up every Sunday at 6:30 AM for the foreseeable future! What an ungodly hour!

--The kids are doing well, though Cavan's been feeling a bit ill yesterday and today. Cavan is obsessed with starfall.com, a neat little site that helps youngsters learn the alphabet and other foundational things. He's almost to the point where he can move the mouse arrow arrow proficiently by himself; boy, it will be nice when he can since we won't have to sit and listen to animal sounds for half-hour stretches :) His vocabulary is progressing quite well, though he it's still difficult to comprehend his speech at times.

Kellyn is on the verge of walking. Her balance is there, and she's always eager to walk when we're holding her hands; she's just pretty uneasy when we let go of her hand! Just a little confidence and she'll be good to go. She seems to be a bit more verbal than Cavan wa s at her age. She can parrot a few sounds and we're convinced she can say the word "happy."

--Shannon is in the midst of her inaugural Bradley class. She seems to like teaching, though she's felt overwhelmed at times since she has to prepare a weekly 2-3 hour class. It will be much easier when she has one round under her belt.


Hope you are all relishing this weather and enjoying this Easter season!