T's First Sewing Project

She has had a couple of basic lessons before this, but T just started her first actual sewing project. 

She is sewing a case for her recorder, and she is doing a GREAT job!

Love, Us.

Planting Our City Garden

Truth be told, I don't have a bone in my body that wants to be a gardner. It just isn't something that I enjoy or desire to do with my time. However, I LOVE the results of gardening and HATE paying for certain produce at those times of year when, growing up, I could simply walk outside to get an armful of "free" yumminess. So... I have finally gotten my butt moving this year and planted an (albeit VERY small) garden with the help of Joe and the kids. Our "garden" consists of 3 colorful totes - and that is it! It is a very small start, but it will hopefully be an enjoyable and successful experience so that next year we can eagerly and happily make it a bit larger. It is our small beginnings.

We have probably planted far too much in these containers. The smallest one is just spinach. The blue one contains two onions (one red, one white), some green bean bushes, and two small rows of carrots mixed with radishes. The yellow is our two tomato plants, along with one green pepper plant. It was raining the day that we planted, so the initial watering was 100% natural.

Everybody got their hands in the soil!

I admit, it was totally not planned, but I LOVE the bright colors of our garden! 

Love, Us.

First Communion Dress Options

Over the past year, I have come to realize that even if God does bless us with another daughter at some time in the future, all hand-me-downs from T will be, at minimum, 8 years old when she receives them! So, I had a huge garage sale and got rid of the tubs and tubs of clothes that I had been holding on to "just in case". With the same thought in mind, I wasn't too excited about handing over a  bunch of money for a dress that T would enjoy for a few hours and then no longer have any occasion to wear. However, I DID want her to have a very special outfit for her First Communion. On top of all that - I was being pretty successful at procrastinating my decision and actions on this point of interest... her First Communion was less than 3 weeks off! So, without much hope of success, I timidly inquired at my ladies' group if anyone had a used First Communion dress in T's size that I could maybe borrow for the occasion and return. I immediately had numerous wonderful options at my disposal! 

Here they are, and we are still deciding which will be the one for the special day (May 9th)! 

The first one and the last two are the ones that are really in the running.

Love, Us.

Fire Drills at the New Place

Fire Drills have become a fun tradition, as well as a great lesson in emergency preparedness, at every new home.
Sit back and enjoy the various stages of failure and success that our fire drills went through this time around.

Stage 1: Thérèse can help

Stage 2: Almost Didn't Drop the Baby

Stage 3: Total Fail

Stage 4: Success!

Love, Us.

A Weekend Challenge from Patrick

Our middle guy has a challenge for you this weekend, just in case you were looking for something to fill your time. 

Attempt to duplicate these sweet break dance moves and lip syncing skills, all while not breaking your neck. 

(Technicality - the compete lack of pants is not necessary for participation in this challenge.)

I may be biased, being mom and all, but I think this level of expertise is exemplary. 

He's got SKILLZ!

Love, Us.

A Bed-Making Lesson

David was in need of a Home Ec lesson the other day. 

Somewhere along the way, he had completely forgotten how to make his bed! 

After some coaching, however, he is now able to snuggle in comfort on an orderly bed!

Love, Us.

This Stinker Will Crawl, But Won't Sit!

Romeo is a solid seven months old now! And he sure can get to wherever he pleases on the ground. 

However, he is still unable to sit for any amount of time. He is just too interested in moving! 

Bad boy! Good thing I have an awesome neighbor who lent me this "Babes in Toyland" Bumbo!

Here is your daily dose of our cutie pie. Enjoy!

Love, Us.

A Forced Bike Ride

Got a new battery for the van yesterday. It wasn't planned, but we (thankfully) live very close to our mechanic. So, we simply threw our bikes and stroller in the van while it was being jumped (thankful, as well, for being able to take out the bucket seat!) and went for a stroll/ride while the new battery was put in. It was a beautiful day, and we didn't even get all the way home before getting the call that the van was ready. Overall, it was a nice addition to the day!

Love, Us.

Meals for Mamas - My Homemade Tupperware

Okay - Today's entry is not about the kids or me, but about something that I have been doing at least once a week for the past month - making supper for a friend or acquaintance who is welcoming a newborn home. Everybody is having babies around here! And, fortunately, this community is wonderful about taking care of the mamas so that they can spend their time cuddling. I usually just make a double batch of my Saturday night pizza for the families. But, when Saturday suppers have already been claimed, I find a need to pull out my homemade tupperware. All they consist of is a cleaned out, cut up, old milk jug, folded over and taped shut - but they are perfect! Yes - I can actually say that this is one thing that I not only pinned from Pinterest, but actually followed through with and made. Joe thought they were pretty cool and said I should share the idea - so here you go! The next time you are bringing some yummy peace of mind to a new mama, don't worry about her needing to get you your tupperware back!

Love, Us.

Art Project: Praying Hands

This week's art project was drawing "praying hands". I thought that the finished products were awesome! 

David was the inspiration behind adding the rosary to the hands. 

Happy Sunday!

Love, Us.

A Homework-Free Weekend!

Yay! Dad has no extensive studying to do this weekend!

We are so excited to bum around with him today and tomorrow!

These are the small joys of this life.

Love, Us.

What Daddy Looks Like These Days

Joe is in school right now, which is nice in some ways - he is physically home much more often than we are used to. However, although he is here physically, we are definitely talking and interacting with him less. Why? Because he is studying, sometimes literally, 24/7. So, when he is home, this is what he usually looks like - whether it is supper time, early in the morning, or late at night. It is only for a time, though... this, too, shall pass. And the goal is well worth it.

Love, Us.

Posed Pics from the Beach

Here are the best of my posed pics that I made sure to get at the beach while we were all together. 

Unfortunately, we never set one up with a timer to actually get everyone in - kids and adults. Sorry, mom!

Love, Us.

My Time in the Beach House

I had a WONDERFUL time at the beach house! I didn't even touch the beach after that first night... and I was SO thankful that Nancy and Bill and the kids enjoyed it to the fullest while being OK with me doing my own thing.
I was able to be the indoor baby-sitter, the cook, and other than that just enjoy some quiet and get some good reading in with a side of veggies and coffee. It was AWESOME! 

The kiddos did join me for a period on the second day when a storm passed through.

There, of course, was much snuggling with the little guys.

Here they are, keeping me company on the floor.

Yes - Romie took a tumble off of the high bed the first morning. Bad, little crawler! He has since recovered in full.

 What I looked like 90% of my time there. It was AWESOME!

I got some special snuggle/story time with David when he took a break from the sand.

 My view from the house: Pretty Great... and Sand-Free!

Love, Us.

Time on the Beach

So, I am not a big (or even little) beach person. However, I did make it down to the beach our first night there and experienced what a wonderfully nice beach it was! It was very private, tons of "sugary" sand, fun waves, and a very gradual depth increase in the water... Perfect for the kids! Here are just a few pictures of the fun the kids had that first night.

Love, Us.

Romie the Crawler

This video is a week old, but here is just a little bit of Romie's great Army crawl - along with a couple of his awesome smiles. He is still working on being able to sit for much more than a few moments, but he sure can get wherever he wants to on the ground!

Love, Us.

Easter Fun with Friends!

We are back safe and sound from the beach and Dad is back safe and sound from "the field"! 

It is good to be back together enjoying the last days of the high feast of Easter! 

I will soon get up some pictures from the beach. But first, here is a great shot from our Easter Sunday fun with friends. 

We had a great time and ate way too much sugar! 

Happy Easter (and Divine Mercy Sunday)!

Love, Us.

The Fruits of Their Labors

Good thing I snapped a picture of their sacrifice-beans-turned-to-jelly-beans before the kids woke up on Easter.
These containers are now more than half empty!
They sure did do an excellent job showing Jesus love over Lent, but they are now not showing restraint when it comes to choosing food over sugar! But, on the bright side, at this rate they will barely last through the Octave. We will then be able to return to a more stable (sugar level-wise, at least) life around here.

Oh, and just as a practical note - now that we did a full Lent with this new form of a Lenten plan for kids, I would say that it "worked" SO much better for our family than the crown of thorns did in the past. We will definitely stick to the "little act of love" beans in future years with our kiddos! The one aspect that I may add, however, would be to have separate jars for each kiddo as well as a communal one for when they work together on something. This would help reinforce personal responsibility a bit more for those who struggle with it. It would also give us the ability to point out (by taking out beans) when they are not working as a team. On the other hand, they can multiply their beans (by both getting beans in the communal jar) when they are team players.

Love, Us.

Easter Egg Decorating

You may know that I am not one of those "Sure - let's make a craft, which causes chaos in the house and only puts out a mediocre product - which is then forgotten, stepped on ten times, and then eventually thrown away!" type of mom. Since I don't like to clean, I don't like the kids to be unnecessarily messy. However, for certain things I make an exception - and Easter eggs, I guess, are one. We naturally eat boiled eggs like crazy around here anyway, so at least the final product is practical. I guess that is what ultimately sells me on the activity. I know... I am such a lame mom! I really do need to get better about things like this. I think spending some time with my super crafty sister over the next few days (I'm so excited!) will be good for me.

Here are some pictures of our Easter egg fun this year. We kept it super simple - we dyed them, wrapped a few in wraps, and then broke out markers in order to personalize them.

T, not surprisingly, created baby eggs (twins, of course!).

 The finished products!

Love, Us.