Happy Birthday Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!

250 years young today! Seriously.

Thanks for all the great music Wolfy! Here is my all-time favorite. Presenting "Rondo Alla Turka":

embed src="http://www.classicaliscool.com/audio/mozturca.asf" type="video/x-ms-asf">

Happy Birthday Allison Kloska!

Ali is exactly ten times younger than the guy whose birthday is tomorrow. Seriously.

Have you ever read a papal encyclical?

If not, don't be intimidated. They are not as difficult to read as some people think. Just remember, you don't have to understand every single point in order to come away with some beautiful, profound insights. Click on the headline to find Pope Benedict's wonderful new encyclical entitled Deus Caritas Est, God is Love, which was just released in English yesterday.

(By the way, see the altar boy with his hands folded behind Pope Benedict? He's a friend of ours from Arizona. Pretty cool, eh?)

Number Seven

Since word is out and trickling through parts of the family, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be going under the knife again on Monday - this time to remove and biopsy a lymph node under my arm that is cause for concern. I'm not too worried about it, but Margy is a different story. This will be surgery number seven in the past three years for those of you who are keeping score at home. If the verdict is cancer... well, then we've probably got some more extensive chemo to do either in Chicago or Indianapolis. If it turns out to be nothing, then pretend you never saw this.

Happy Birthday Kathy Downey!

Kathy and her moms the day before the wedding.

Happy Birthday Meg Kloska!

Here are two pictures from her baptism last Spring.

Nostalgic Catholic Holy Cards

The headline link has images of old public domain holy cards. A Santa Barbara marketing professor is scouring Europe to find old cards that charge no royalties. She is scanning them and creating high res images so the artwork will be preserved for the next century. These can be used in any graphics you prepare. She has the cards categorized by subject and also by Italian, German, and French cards. Kind of interesting.

Happy Birthday Jenny Nolan!

Jen, the birthday girl and Kathy.

Murphy Family takes a tour of Notre Dame Stadium

One thing is certain: home schooled kids get to go on really cool field trips. Last month, Mike and Cheryl took their kids on a special tour.


Jack and Bonita slap the famous sign on the stairway leading from the varsity locker room to playing field in Rockne's house.


Left: A family pose in front of Darius Walker's locker. Right: Mike shows Jeff and Regina the stairway that their Uncle Tom used when he played linebacker in the early 1980s. Wow, was it really that long ago?


Future Darius Walkers practice their touchdown runs. Will one of them win Notre Dame's eighth Heisman Trophy?


The Murphy's take in the view from the pressbox. What a beautiful family and a nice day together.