Yikes! It has been nearly a month since you've received anything but Joe Updates from us! Sorry!
We HAVE been praying for daddy lots and enjoying our phone conversations and video chats with him, but that is not ALL we have been up to these past few weeks.
Oh... and as a warning... this is going to be VERY picture heavy!
First, the little mama of the house. She has been such a dear making sure that she helps mom get everything ready both for her little brother that is due now in less than a month and for her Gramma and Oma who will be coming to help mom and baby once he arrives. Here she is in her regular get-up, including as many babies as she can carry at once!
Here is a couple shots from "Librandi Family Pizza and Movie Night". This week we enjoyed, along with our pizza and kid wine, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
And a shot of (all of) the kiddos totally vegged out for the Sunday afternoon flick as well.
Therese is always asking to do crafts, and sometimes mom actually has the energy to figure something out that would be fun. Well, this day the craft was wanted about lunch time, so we made and decorated little apple and grape cars! (Oh... and ate them too. I think that was the main event.)
My 29th birthday was on the 14th, and I very last minute put an invitation out for people to drop by for a play date to celebrate. We were very excited that someone actually checked their Facebook in time to respond and come! The Hennigan clan came over in force, and luckily they were as easily entertained by balloons as my kids are!
And the official, even if they are not too great, birthday shots of the little family minus daddy.
David is my little book boy. He LOVES to page through book after book and either tell mom the story or ask mom to clarify exactly who in every picture are the "good guys" and the "bad guys". Here, I found him immersed in a book, obviously distracted suddenly while he was playing "soldier daddy". Oh, I LOVE that boy!
And the kids have really gotten back in to puzzles recently. Here, Therese and her new friend, Jacob the Bear, are enjoying a bit of tangram puzzle time.
The MCCW (Military Council of Catholic Women) had a bake sale the other weekend, and with Joe gone I have suddenly had an overflow of cereal in the house that is usually consumed regularly. So... instead of more yummy quick breads (I did do a few strawberry breads) I ended up making a bunch of rice krispie bars and peanut butter cheerio bars. So... in order to make them more attractive and have the little kids grab for them and ask their mother to buy them, I added fun ribbons. It worked!
Two weekends ago, we added another tradition to our Sundays here at Castellum Librandi. For our Sunday afternoon movie I made home-made popcorn... and it was a hit! Oh, and we had missed our usual Sunday night pizza night, so we had a Kung-Fu Panda marathon with our pizza and kid wine (and popcorn appetizer) on Sunday afternoon. It was great!
We also hit up the "free" box at a neighbor's garage sale and found this great farm animal puzzle with a piece missing...
And after I put together a bit of cardboard, some paper, a marker, and a red push pin...
I'm pretty proud of the result! I don't think the kids even notice the difference when they've put it together since!
My wonderful mother-in-law included in my birthday package a few kids' craft books, and Therese has been pretty avid about trying some of them out. So... we have! Here, Therese is doing an AWESOME job with her first paper weaving project!
David just picked out the colors and mom weaved his, but he still enjoyed coloring it really pretty when it was finished!
It is funny how you can be right next door to something and not realize it is there (like how you never to go the free museums in your own home town!). Well, the kids and I heard that there was a great outdoor pool just down the street, so we actually planned and checked it out a couple times. We really enjoyed it!
And once in a while, just to keep sanity, I find it is better to get out the camera and snap a picture of the messes that little kids make before (or completely instead of) making a big deal out of it! Here: our Kix explosion of mid-August. Clean-up was delicious! (The floors had been recently washed.)
As a means of both bringing order to the toy room, making the kids' costumes more readily available, and making room in the play room for guest beds, the kids helped me hang up "clothes lines" for the costumes. It is definitely not the neatest thing I could imagine, but it suffices, and I definitely have more soldiers, cowboys, ballerinas, and princesses running around the house now that we did it!
Oh, and you need to get a couple hot day popsicle pictures in! We are so glad we have a nice tree to sit under... it makes all the difference in El Paso heat!
I am really excited about this... I don't care if you think I am a bit loony! So, last Sunday I had contacted a post on Craigslist about getting a bunch of various kinds of wooden school chairs to complete our eclectic dining room set. When I got to the location to pick them up, I noticed that they had some wooden church pews. I couldn't resist... especially for the price! Now, we have a bench on one side of the table... and the kids LOVE it!
OK... so I took way too many pictures of this event, but this is the least that I could cut them down to. I think they are so neat! Another "craft" afternoon was fulfilled by finger-painting outside on our new easel. I think the pictures tell the story well enough...
Yesterday we were informed by a friend that Chili's was celebrating the beginning of the school year by offering free meals for kids. Well, as you probably know, I don't say no to free very easily! So... we picked up our friend, Rachel, and headed over for lunch! The kids' great desire was fulfilled when we found out that they did, indeed, have chocolate milk - and that plus come great *free* food made for a very fun time!
Now that our house is finally completely set (as far as I've noticed), and there is a place for everything, and everything in its place, mom has even been able to relax enough to leave the train set out in the living room for a couple days! The kids are LOVING it! Actually, before naps today, I overheard them even playing with the trains like baby dolls. I think Thomas pooped his pants and Mavis (the mom) had to clean up after him and put him to bed. David sure has a lot of patience playing with his always-mothering sister!
Speaking of...
And to finish off this immense entry... some shots of the kids enjoying the outdoors. Here is David on his faithful steed (even if he is pink)!
And Therese on her "scooter". She was quite sad to find out that her tricycle had grown too small for her in the time that we were apart from our stuff over the last years, but she is a people-watcher, and after viewing the kids at the park, she quickly realized that her tricycle makes a GREAT scooter! She even listens to her dad's advice and switches which foot she "scoots" with every now and then so that both legs get an even work-out! Ha!
She LOVES her scooter!
And when we were over having a play date last week, her friends were doing gymnastics. Ever since, Therese has been trying to master "flip-flops" (cart-wheels). Here are some shots of her attempts.
And silly Dave...
On that point...
Have a great day!
Love, Us.
