Zach's Baptism

I have only one word that best describes Zach's Baptism - Perfect!

Last Sunday was Zach’s Baptism and it was such a glorious day that I was speechless and I am just getting to writing about it now. For several days before Sunday it was rainy and cold here. The forecast for Sunday was sunny and warmer but we were prepared for any kind of weather. I should have known that Zach always brings beautiful weather as he did for Fran’s baby shower. He’s officially invited to all of my parties as our good weather charm.

Zach was baptized outside, in the church garden under a beautiful sunny sky and cool September light breeze. He was dressed in his godfather’s (my son) baptismal outfit and he was a perfect angel. The congregation was all smiles and the family was full of pride as he looked like his hands were clasped in prayer for this picture of him as our Rector baptized him. He continued to cooperate in Church for the Eucharist service and anointing of oil.

This picture of Zach with his parents, Fran and Josh and godparents, Hugh and Sonny and our Rector, Diana is one of my favorites.

I wasted a lot of time cleaning my house the week before the Baptism. The reception was at our house but since the weather was so nice the only time anyone went inside was to the kitchen for food or the bathroom. We had set up tables outside and that’s where we all stayed. Fran and Josh arranged for the cake which was made at Carlos Bakery in Hoboken - the famous "Cake Boss" on TV. (We all love that show.)

It was wonderful that some of Zach’s young cousins were here to help us celebrate and stood up front during the Baptism in the garden. Zach cooperated at the reception also and didn’t mind at all being passed around and held by many people - some of them meeting him for the first time. Zach's other grandmother, Doris, made beautiful favors with tags marked "Bless Zachary Michael 9/13/09" Doris is the crafty grandmother - I am going to have to bring different skills to the table.

I’m finishing this post with a few more pictures to show off – Zach with his parents during the Baptism (notice he still has white socks on – they are soon gone), being shown off by his godparents and being held by our Rector right before he is baptized.

Happy Grandparents Day Everyone!

Wishing all grandparents a Happy Grandparents Day!

Tomorrow is Grandparents Day. I will be having a super day as it is also Zach’s Baptism day. I’ll be reporting on that complete with pictures later in the week. For now here is some information about Grandparents Day.

Jimmy Carter first declared Grandparents Day a national holiday in 1979 and so this is the 30th anniversary of this celebration. Jimmy Carter asked us to reflect on the impact grandparents have on our own lives – and on society. I recommend we do that this Grandparents Day also. I read a statistic that there are 70 million grandparents in the United States. Can that be? Wow.

I remember my grandparents very well. We lived upstairs from my maternal grandparents when I was very young, and I went downstairs for breakfast with them every morning. I remember my grandmother and mother doing a massive amount of baking and cooking at Christmas and the large kitchen table was full with baking preparation. I would “help” and ahhhh....I wish I had some of those recipes today. At Sunday dinner I always sat next to my grandfather - we had a special friendship. My paternal grandfather lived two blocks away. He had a mustache that tickled and we played dominoes together. He was hard of hearing and would visit us to watch a ballgame on Saturday afternoon as we had a TV – but it had to be very loud for him to hear it.

Grandparents create special relationships and impart lessons that last a lifetime. As Carter wrote, "Grandparents are our continuing tie to the near-past, to the events and beliefs and experiences that so strongly affect our lives and the world around us."

Grandparents.com has a major celebration going on. Visit for great articles, activities and more. Check out the groups – I am the moderator of the New Grandparents group – I hope you will join us.

You can also visit Grandparents.com on Facebook


Mommy Bloggers celebrating Grandparents Day on their blogs include:
Hula Hooping Mom

Maria Bailey of Mom Talk Radio

Maria at Saving Queen


On Thursday I had a great time celebrating at a pre-Grandparents Day party on Twitter and I met both of these Mommy Bloggers. There were mothers and grandmothers and super conversation – all 140 characters (That’s the limit on Twitter) at a time. The group is planning a Grandparents Night Out for 2010. Sounds like fun already. But this year I have to get back to party preparations for tomorrow afternoon at my house.

Have a wonderful Grandparents Day.

Getting Ready for Baptism

Zach will be baptized very soon so we are once again in the getting ready for a big party at the house mode. This one is actually trickier than the shower because we will all be at church and then the reception is immediately following at our house. For Fran’s baby shower I put the men to work as the staff but the grandfather, father and godfather should get to enjoy the baptism party and not just be working.

So what to do? First of all cater some of the food rather than prepare all of it myself. I’ve hired one of my son’s friends who is an experienced server to receive the catered food and manage setup while we are at church. My son hopes they will still be friends and she will still like me when she finishes working for me for a day. I have tried to assure him, to no avail, that with her experience as a server she will be fine handling this project. And of course, there won’t be any “activities” like decorating onesies to manage. There is a big surprise planned for the cake that Fran and Josh are planning but I am not writing about that now – I will after the event though.


Here is a great picture of Zach with Aunt Sonny. I love this picture of them both smiling – they seem so happy together. On Tuesday, we had family dinner and read through the Baptism service. That stimulated a lengthy conversation on theology and the choice of words and use of gender references in the service. It was a great way to get ready to become a godparent.

If the weather cooperates, the Baptism will be outside, in the Memorial Garden of our church. Fran, Zach and I visited the church yesterday when we dropped off paperwork and it will be a beautiful place for the Baptism. Zach loves being outdoors - I can picture him looking up at the sky and the beautiful greenery in the garden and being perfectly content to be baptized. He will be wearing the same baptismal outfit that my son, his godfather, wore 25 years ago. Well, that is my vision of his Baptism at this point in time anyway.

I’ll keep that image in my mind as I all working on the preparations – cleaning the house, getting paper products, ordering some catered food, preparing some food myself, checking with Josh’s mother on a few details, arranging flowers – oh and some Mumms for the front porch and patio, getting my son up extra early to set up tables in the yard. Oh well, I actually love entertaining so I’ll just keep focused on the blessings of the day and the fun of having a party. Oh, and God, another beautiful day like we had for Fran’s baby shower would be very much appreciated.