My Flower Child and Her Baby

T made a very fitting get-up for EV from random finds 

in the backyard and a peach pit (look for the ring)!

Here is my flower child with "her baby Hector" two days ago.

Oh, how she loves him!

Do know there is a real thing called "cute aggression" where you want to squeeze, 

pinch, or even bite small cute things like babies, kittens, puppies and the like?

It is true, and EV has it BAD towards Hector.

Love, Us.

Romeo's Feast Day

Naming our boys after family and giving all of them the middle name of Joseph 

has sometimes made us be a bit creative picking their patron saints.

We chose Philip Neri for Romeo, because he is awesome and is the patron saint of Rome!

This year his feast day landed on a Sunday that we were visiting family, 

so we ALMOST missed celebrating this little guy's saint.

We remembered just in time to have some sweets and a few small gifts.

Romie was ecstatic!

Love, Us.

Memorial Day Weekend at Adam and Hayli's

We took the arduous trek (this time it took 4.5 hours in traffic) to Salem for the weekend.

It was well worth the trip: a great time with family and we got to see their new place!

I'm frustrated with myself that I didn't take any pictures of their house specifically.

It has a GREAT great room. I truly loved it.

However, I did take some pictures of our time there.

Their yard is the work of a master gardener who lived there before them.

Thérèse reaped the benefits of one of the fallen flowers.

Hector was often a centerpiece in the great room while he snuggled and hung out.

Adam and Joe spent much time doing little projects around the house.

The kids took advantage of a ladder left in the great room to share a Dinotrux together.

And Romeo loved spending time with his godparents!

What a great new picture for his wall!

Lastly, here is a bit of entertainment for you.

I guessed correctly that it was a gift from Aunt T before I was told.

Classic!

Love, Us.

This and That

David did a little science experiment last week.

It had very inconclusive results, but it was still fun.

Romeo thought I was taking a picture of his plate of food.

That was not the reason that I pulled out my camera!

This guy is still cuddly and chubby...just FYI.

Love, Us.

A Milestone Day for Hector

Last Thursday was a HUGE day for the little guy.

First off, he had a good stretch after SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!

Way to go, little man!

Then, he had breakfast and proceeded to have his first real sitting session!

After that, he still had the time on his hands to do his usual

of constantly eating, pooping, napping, and laughing.

No wonder he ended his day fat, tired, and naked in the arms of a beautiful lady!

Love. Us,

The Many Lights of Vegas and Faces of EV

Joe has a quick trip to Vegas for work last week.

He found the city very bright, but sad.

We have continued our daily snuggles.

Here is a day last week where EV was very "colorful" in her facial expressions.

Talk about comfy...can't beat a Hector snuggle in the morning!

Love, Us.

Bad Princess!

The kids were SO excited!

We found teeny tiny chickadee eggs in our yard's tall grass!

Unfortunately, so did our dumb dog.

So sad.

Love, Us.

Rosary Snuggles

Hector has found his hands!

Love, Us.

A New Pick-Up Policy

We've started a new pick-up-or-lose-it policy at bedtime here.

If mom goes upstairs for prayers and story at bedtime and finds toys still not put away,

they become her property and they can only be regained at a price.

Here is my "booty" from two nights ago.

As you can imagine, there were high emotions following this "taking".

However, a night's sleep helped with emotions.

By playtime the next afternoon, the boys had successfully traded a decent quantity 

of old toys they no longer want (for mom to officially get rid of) 

in order to get back their bag of animal figurines and a Lego man.

The legos, backpack of cars, and stuffed animals/babies are still being held. 

Hopefully by the time they are "purchased", our toy room will be much less full!

Love, Us.

Recent Wonderful Acquisitions

 A few wonderful things have been added to our household recently.

First off, something for mom:

I was getting a bit tired of pushing my glasses back up on my nose 

every 5 seconds while exercising.

This little thing is SO great!

And, the CCD year has come to an end.

Both T and D memorized all of their prayers, 

so they each got to pick out a beautiful Marian statue at the church! 

D picked OL of Lourdes. T picked OL of Medjugorje

Nice job, kiddos!

Next year we really need to work on Patrick's speech 

so he can get one of his own, as well.

Love, Us.

This Year's Easter Season "Regular"

The kids are still regularly earning "Librandi Bucks" around here.

In fact, David was recently the first child to successfully save up 

an entire 1,000 bucks and turn them in for $100 in the bank!

Other than saving up for big prizes, though, the kids have decided to regularly use 

their "Family Bucks" for some simple pleasures during the Easter Season.

At least once a week you can find them looking like this:

Fresh home-made cookies (thanks to T!), hot chocolate, and a couple episodes of Ninjago 

seem to be the little celebration that the kids are currently loving.

Love, Us.

Photo Shoot for a Thank You

Joe came home from work with a special gift this week.

So, we had to have a photo shoot!

Love, Us.