Guessing Game

I found a picture of Grace this morning from when she was about the same age Bella is now. Grace looked at it and said "Hey! Look at Bella!" She had a hard time believing it was her!

So . . . can you tell who is who?

After a fanastic Thanksgiving with our families and a wonderful long vacation from work, we all collapsed in a sick heap of exhaustion. Blech. I think we wore ourselves out so much that we couldn't even stay healthy any longer. I think we are all better now. Thankfully.

We had a two day Thanksgiving feast filled with family, yummy food, and rousing games of Boggle. Super fun. And now we are all totally addicted to the online version "Scramble" I don't get many chances to play, with children for whom to care. But my mom apperantly has tons of time, because she calls to tell me that Andrew is "ruining" her life by having a higher score than she. Ha! She's not dramatic or anything.

Now it is almost Wednesday and I think we are getting back on track. I had a zillion Advent ideas swimming in my head and haven't started anything! Tomorrow we are (hopefully) going caroling at a nursing home with some friends. I think that will be a nice (re)kickoff of Advent for us. We can start from there!

What Happens When The Kids Stay Up Too Late

A weekend of cuteness overload!

I love dressing up the kids. Being a mother is kind of like the fulfillment of every little girls dream: dressing up a baby doll that is alive!! Wee!! It's so fun. Sunday was my parents anniversary (whoa! 34 years!!) AND the Feast of Christ the King. Major dress up in this house. My mom bought Christopher and PeterXavier super cute dress coats and hats. Now, the down side of treating you children like your very own toy dolls, is that they get older and tend to protest. Christopher refuses to wear his coat. But PeterXavier is totally loving his. Can you tell?

I love this picture because it sums up the boys so well. Christopher is telling a long drawn out story and PeterXavier is completely focused on his food.

My parents took us all out to celebrate their special day, which was super fun. PeterXavier enjoyed licking Anja and stealing her bite sized food. And Gracie liked that last piece of chocolate cake. It sure looked good!

Our parish goes all out in celebration for the Feast of Christ the King. We clebrated the magnificent Feast with trumpets, Vespers, and a Eucharistic Procession through the streets of town. And of course a big feast afterwards!

And NOW Andrew has the rest of the week, through the Thanksgiving holiday, off! Woo! Hooray for Vaca! When we were first married and he worked at the school in Florida (boo), they had this lame policy that you couldn't tack your vacation days onto holidays. So now I think we'll do it all the time, just because we can!

A Weekend Recap

We spent the bulk of our weekend cleaning and organizing our newly emptied basement. Eventually, it will be a cozy place to play games and relax, but it might take a while! My mom went to an auction on Saturday and got us a really nice game table, which fits perfectly! I am very excited to have to LARGE craft room complete with sink and built in cabinets. Grace has already begun stocking it with all of her craft supplies. I am excited to paint and decorate the room, but the challenge is making it not feel like a basement.

Andrew called me Friday from work saying that he had six tickets to a Thai dinner fund raiser for the Wabash Valley Youth Symphony. We scrounged up two "couples" -- my cousin Phillip and his wife and Matt and Jeremy. (Bachelors are always up for a free meal!) The event ended up being a goofy combination of raising funds for the WVYS while also advertising this new restaurant and a travel agency. The presentations were interesting and the music was nice as well. The food was great. It was a really fun night, with an interesting group of people!

Last evening was spent with my hilarious cousin and his wife (among others, more later!). I was telling him about the goofy way my mother broke her foot (she was playing a game with my kids and took a litle jump, which broke her foot). Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Yeah, my mom broke her foot . . . .
Him: I heard! My dad told me, (rolls eyes) Aunt Roseanna broke her foot doing a kartwheel!!

Good old Uncle Johnny. You can always count on him to make a good story better!

Baby Legs from Baby Snazz!!

I LOVE to get a good deal and great product while supporting small family businesses. So when I went searching for a great pair of Baby Legs Iwas thrilled when I also found Baby Snazz. And then when owner, Sara, offered to send me a free pair of Baby Legs to review on my blog, I could barely contain my excitement!

With the cold Indiana winter setting in (ugh) I needed something to help keep my little monkeys warm. And I hate when I get them all bundled up, but then when I pick them up their pants get pulled up to their knees and their sweet little skin is exposed to the freezing cold air. Baby Legs solves this problem. They are trim enough to be worn comfortably under pants and stay put when the child is picked up.






And have I mentioned how cute they are?? There are tons of patterns and prints to choose -- I had a really hard time picking my favorites!


When I got them out this morning, the striped pair that Grace is wearing was intended for Isabella, but Grace was so excited that she snagged them claiming that she and Bella would share them -- but she would wear them first! Needless to say, Baby Legs were a hit in this house. Head on over the Baby Snazz and get your own. Support Sara, her home business, and her four princesses! Use coupon code "blogreview5" to get 5% off order over $40 AND make sure to sign up for her latest giveaway to win TWENTY PAIRS of babylegs!!!

ETA: My kids did this nerdy posing all on their own!! I was going for a more natural look . . . .

Reading with Oompa

My kids are currently enjoying the wonderful Roald Dahl book "BFG" read so marvelously by my dad. He really gets into the vioces and bizzare Dahl language, making it the perfect bedtime read aloud!

Big Weekend

Wow. What a weekend. We just kind of partied our way right through it. Saturday was John and Elisabeth's beautiful wedding. The ceremony was fabulous and the party afterwards great fun. I am always so pleased with the group of friends we have at Church. We have about four times the children that anyone else has, but everyone is always so nice to them. It is so nice to be able to give our children such a friendly and happy vision of the Catholic Church.



One Sunday, after Andrew steam cleaned every carpet in our house (that's a lot of nasty carpet!) we wento the Annie's to celebrate Anja's first birthday!! Woo!! I can't believe she is ONE! Annie made her the cutest shirt -- it was just a onsie that said "I am ONE today!" and the date. The whole point was for her to get it covered with chocolate cake and make a nice souvenier. Of course, Anja was neat and tidy with her cake eating and got nothing on her cute shirt. (Probably the only time she's ever done that!) It was a great party and Anja scored a lot of loot!

And now back to the grind. But at least my carpets are clean!

And now back to our regularly scheduled broadcasting.

I finished with political rants.

Today . . . . I am tired from staying up so late, but that is beside the point. The kids had their first "gym class" today. We met up with our friends for a picinic beforehand (I am LOVING Indian Summer) on the lawn in front of Lambert. "Gym Class" is actually the Purdue Ed students learning to teach PE and using our little homeschool kids as practice. (Ok, I was going to call the kids that giant rodent that is kind of like an overgrown rat that twisted parents let their kids have as pets ** pigs, but how do you spell that word??) Anyway, the kids love it and it gives them a chance to hang out with their friends and learn to follow directions! And it gives the mothers a chance to chat. It's a bit chaotic because the little kiddies can't participate, but it's not too bad.

After gym, I was going to take the kids to Hobby Lobby to get some craft supplies. We got all the way out there (after much whining from the back seat) and then one person started complaining that I wasn't buying him anything, another person tried to sufficate the sleeping baby with love and made her scream, and yet another person had kicked his shoes off AND had somehow gotten himself entirely covered in melted chocolate. I turned right around and came home.

A Turning Point in Our History

Tomorrow marks a turning point in the history of our country. Never before have we as Americans faced such a crucial election. Never before have lives literally been at stake to the degree that they are right now. We have to opportunity tomorrow to place our country into the hands of a killer, a socialist, a man not worthy of holding the important seat of Commander in Chief of this land. This country founded on the very principle of freedom and the right to life. Is is Freedom or Free-dumb? I am a bit fearful to find out.

As Deal Hudson points out, one man here claims he will "save the world" and another knows, that is humanly impossible. But McCain will do everything he can to keep this nation and all of its citizen -- even the most defenseless -- safe. One man claims to be the Messiah, the other a humble servant of this country. We need to ask Christ to accompany us into the voting booth tomorrow. Beg Him to be with every Free American as he walks into that booth that he may cast his vote for the silent, the innocent, the one quietly begging for a chance to exercise his freedom.

Last week, Andrew and I -- total crazies that we are -- took the two littles and drove down south to see Sarah Palin! It was GREAT! The crowd was huge, which gave me a renewed hope for this election. No pictures, but she was wearing some killer boots=)



The kidders wore the requisit red shirts on which I wrote 'World's Cutest "Punishment"' and on the back of Bella's it said "Vote For Life!" They were super cute!

Fun Times

Every year for the past few years, my Uncle has had a "Fall Party" at his big "farm" (which is really a fabulous, giant piece of hunting property. It's beautiful!). The kids now see it as the kick off of Fall and anticipate it greatly. On the drive out to the farm, the kids kept cheering "We Love Uncle Johnny!" Once again, the party lived up to their expectations. There was fire, hiking, hay rides, and pumpkin carving. A little piece of heaven for children. Pictures say it better than words.

Thanks to Annie for letting me hijack some photos!

I love how big the older kids of the family have gotten and now they are holding our babies!!

Reaching for the Stars!

Yesterday we got a chance to take the kids to Star Lab. Remeber Star Lab??? Fun times. It was great. Although, when I was seven, sitting in St. Mary's social hall, looking at Star Lab, I never though I would be in one of those bubble things nursing an infant and trying to prevent a two year old from deflating the whole darn thing! Wow. What an adventure. The "bigger" kids had a great time and I really think they learned a lot. It was funny though -- the constalations are all based in Greek Mythology which you don't realize is REALLY risque when told to young kids! Yikes! Luckily I think most of it was over their heads. It was quite an adventure!

Learning, learning.

Just when you think you have a handle on things, God sends you a monkey-wrench. Just to keep life exciting. For years, we have been trying to figure out the source of Christopher's skin problems, constant runny nose, etc. We finally figured it out -- it's a "horray" and "boo" moment all in one. While I am very excited to have it all figured out, it is taking a bit of adjustment. I pretty much have to throw my culinary skill out the window and start from stratch. I have to learn to cook without wheat / gluten, eggs, dairy, corn, yeast, and a few other minor things.

I have a new respect for people with serious food allergies -- and even more respect for their parents. Thankfully, even though he has these problems, nothing is deadly by any means. I don't have to shudder at the fact that something may possibly have brushed a peanut or been with in three feet of an egg. I have to be careful, but not fearful.

I am not complaining -- things could be much worse. And we have the answers we have been seeking. I actually had no intention of posting this as I didn't want to be whiney. But then I though of all of the people I know who have dealt with these same things and though maybe some people could offer some advice. Anyone?

Taking home the gold!

We spent the day watching Christopher battle for the gold at his Tae Kwon Do Tournament. He had such a great time breaking boards, sparring his friends, and watching the talented black belts.

He took home two gigantic first place trophies!! He won first in both sparring and breaking. It was quite a proud day for him!

In this picture, he is in the front row, all the way to the right, proudly displaying his two trophies.

Last night was a beautiful evening to be living downtown. At the Church, was the visitation and Vespers for a good and holy priest who past away earlier this week. Unfortunetly, we didn't attend. After a long and difficult day, I simply didn't have the energy to dress the kids up and corral them during Vespers. I was sorry to miss it, but I guess it is just one of the sacrifices of parenthood. Even though we didn't get to go, we did get a lovely visit from a priest friend who had gone to the Church. One of the main perks of living downtown and so close to Church is unexpected visitors stopping by!

After Father left, we took a nice family walk downtown and put the kids to sleep. It was a perfect evening for a walk. Shortly after we got home and tucked everyone away, I was sitting in the playroom with a window open. There was a cool breeze and outside was dark silence, occasionally broken by the solomn tolling to the church bell. It was such a mournful atmosphere, perfect for the remeberance of the holy man who has now gone Home.

Hooray for Being FIVE!

Today we are celebrating the FIFTH birthday of our sweet little Grace! I can't believe she is five -- this whole parenthood thing moves to quickly for my tastes!

Grace requested a cookout for her birthday, so we will be heading out to our old standby, Prophetstown, and letting her daddy grill dogs and brats. I always let the kids pick their cake and my sweet little girl simply requested chocolate cupcakes, which SHE will decorate with everyones favorite candies!



Happy Birthday, Gracie!

While I was sitting here shirking my parental duties in the name of blog cruising, my lovely son -- the one who likes to push my nerves to the brink -- jazzed up the front of the 'fridge with a lovely red shade of Sanford Sharpie. It doesn't exactly fit my kitchen decor. And those "Magic Erasers" aren't so magical after all. (Although, to give them there due, they DID get the marker off of the counter.)

Any suggestions? Short of a new refridgerator, that it. I guess we could squeeze some art time into the schedule today and let it grace the fridge. Or maybe that's what he thought he was doing?

Happy QUARTER OF A CENTURY to my lil' sister!!

This is a seriously horrid picture, but it was all I had!!

FEAST!!!!

Wow. I love the Feast. Yesterday we went out for the "School Fun Day" and it was SO fantastic. I couldn't believe how much we all learned and how nice and informative all of the people were. It was like going to a living history museum. The kids all had such a wonderful time.

Then we went out today for the real event. We wandered around, ate yummy food, and had our picture taken by crazy stalking photographers. Seriously. My mom made Andrew and the kids fabulous indian costumes, so people kept taking their pictures. One girl even had her boyfriend take a picture of her and Andrew together -- weird!! And a little creepy.

Anyway . . . we we nt to the trading post and the kids really liked that. Which surprised me because I always HATED the trading post when I was a kid. Making up stories about why my acorn is better than your acorn was never really my thing. Even now, as an adult, I still can't come up with a good story! And now for your viewing pleasure . . .

Let's NOT go swimming.

Remember my last post when I said PeterXavier wandered away and that he doesn't seem to care that he is going to give me a heart attack?!? Well today, he topped it. He FELL into my parents POND!! Christopher had to pull him out!! Seriously. I was inside talking to my mom when all of a sudden Christopher comes running into the house yelling that PeterXavier "drowned in the pond!" Clearly, he has missed the really definition of "drowned" because there was his little brother sopping wet and grinning. I'm still a little shaken from the whole event. The rest of the evening I was completely paranoid about his whereabouts. I used to make fun of those kid leashes, but now I'm thinking they aren't such a bad idea. Or maybe I'll just rig up one of those running lines that people put their dogs on?? He'd LOVE that!

I hope tomorrow is boring. I've had enough adventures to last me a while.

Pushin' Thirty

As much as Annie would like to convince me that I am still "a quarter of a century", it is not true. Not that I mind all that much. It's been a pretty good 28 years, and I had great people with whom to celebrate the day.

We headed down to Indy for the Irish Fest early enough to get to the Mass as well as get in for free with this entrance fee of donated canned goods!

My parents and Annie's family met us later on. Unfortunetly, Annie and Martin had to leave because Anja Pie was sick. Boo.

Chrisopher LOVE climbing th rock wall and repelling back down. He quickly scaled to the top and pretty much flew back down. Grace gave it a shot as well, but I didn't get to see her. BECAUSE by this time we realized that PeterXavier was missing. He's wandered off before, but this time he was GONE. I was just about the get frantic, when I saw him walking back into the kiddie area with a very nice man who had found him. He was wandering around out in the main area when this man noticed him. He trotted back in like he was thinking"come on guys! What's the big deal? I just needed a little air!" I think his goal in life is to give me a heart attack.
The kids got to try their hands (or feet, rather) at Irish Dancing. They had lots of fun, although I think Christopher enjoys his (hilarious) free style better!

And this is what a long day Festing it up will do to little monkeys! They are so much fun to take places!

Silence

It is unusually quiet right now and I am loving it! Andrew took Christopher, Grace, and PeterXavier to the park and Isabella is just stirring from her nap. She still isn't feeling 100%, so she has kind of been snoozing all day. I just puttered around getting this and that acomplished. It's great to be able to pick something up, put it away, and know it will stay put for more than thirty seconds!

Tomorrow is Indy Irish Fest! Hurray! I think Christopher may be looking forward to it even more than I am. He claims that Irish is his favortie kind of music. What a smart boy.

Blah blah blah.

That's how I feel. Blah. I have had a rotten cold that just refuses to leave me alone. And now poor Isabella has it as well. I just pray that PeterXavier doesn't get it, because he always gets it a zillion times worse than anyone else.

Andrew and the kids are out helping a friend build a pole barn, but the sun set about an hour ago and they still aren't home. Either someone is lost in the woods, or they are gorging themselves on s'mores. Scratch that. They just got home. No one is wandering aimlessly through the woods. But they are quite, so they must have had fun and snoozed on the way home.

I just found this cool web site to make little bows for the girls hair -- super cute! And SO easy. That's my fun little craft for the evening.

Sorry for the totally lame and boring post. I need sleep.

Great Big Weekend of Exhaustion

Well. We survived the weekend, but just barely. Saturday was a beautiful day -- the Country Fair was great. I totally lost the pie baking contest, to my mother no less. Not that her sugar cream pie isn't great, it is, but seriously!

German Fest was . . . enormous. I basically corralled tired children while my husband worked some insane shift in the food tent. Everyone, including me, melted at one point. And I had a beer for dinner. The kids got third place in the Lip Sync contest. I think there were only three entries, but we wont tell them that. They were darn cute.

Can you tell who they are? Grace was supposed to be there (with a red shirt!), but she wasn't feeling well. And PX was in costume, but opted to hang out with Daddy instead.
















The highlights of my evening were finding the long lost Liederhossen and seeing my son look like this. He was great!

On Sunday, through torrential downpours from our pal Ike, we attended the Ivy Tech Homecoming, organized by their totally awesome director of alumni affairs! The noon music was fantabulous, plus allowed us to visit with Nana, Martin, and Anja!

Can you see Belle's hat in this picture? She's her Daddy's Ivy Tech "homey".

Unfortunately, due to rain, the Elephant Rides at Prophetstown were canceled, and I lost all gumption to drive all the way out to Jonah's birthday, so the only big event of the day was Homecoming. But by the end of it all, I was completely exhausted, so my wonderful hubby took us out for dinner. It was totally relaxing and gave everyone a decent meal. It was much needed after surviving on pizza and hot dogs all weekend!

Busy Busy Weekend

Here's what's on tap . . . Country Fair and pie baking contest, 4:00 Mass, GermanFest ALL NIGHT LONG!, Andrew goes to Ivy Tech Homecoming at the crack of dawn, More Country Fair (Elephant Rides!!), Ivy Tech Homecoming for the rest of us, Jonah's birthday while Andrew cleans up homecoming. Monday -- SLEEP.

Homeschooling in this house is going really well. This morning, Grace brought me "My First Book About Space" and said "Read this book called ABC Letters!"

Our Babies Got Bling!

I tried to blog this about ten times yesterday ,but my computer was seriously mad at me. I think we are friends again today, though.

Annie and I took our girlie-girls out Monday night and got their ears pierced!! It was super cute. The girls didn't exactly have a great time . . . but they sure look CUTE now!! And, if they could talk, I am sure they would agree that it was worth it.






I think this picture of Annie is SO PRETTY!

Poor little Anja-Pie was a little upset. When we took Grace to get her ears pierced as a baby, it was so much less traumatic. She hardly even whimpered! We got Anja a cookie and she cheered right up. We have yet to get a picture of both girls together, but I am sure you'll see it when we do!

Musical Fun

Last night we went to the free family concert by the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra out at the amphitheatre. It was GREAT! The music was fantastic -- famous pieces, upbeat enough to keep the kids attention, many things they recognized. Christopher was excited to see his violin teacher in the Orchestra! They also had kids activities on the grass beforehand and a comedy show that was a little silly, but the kids loved it. The newspaper took this picture of PeterXavier, but I don't think they ran it. Boo.

Republican National Convention

Did you watch it?? Did you LOVE it?? Do you wish you could have coffee with Sarah Pailn, in hopes that some of her energy and conviction will rub off on you?

Despite the fact that my husband has a degree in Political Science, I have never had one iota of an interest in politics. Until now. Until Sarah Palin. Until someone I could really relate to started fighting for the issues that are really important.

Last night we watched the RNC through our Internet connection, for lack of cable. Last night, for the first time, our nation saw a woman contending for a place in the White House. Sarah Palin is a woman in the truest sense of the word. She is not a woman trying to be a man. She is a woman, embracing her femininity and womanhood as a tool with which to better our society and our nation. That is true Feminism. It is not some pseudo-machismo that unhappy and insecure woman are trying to achieve through "choice" and "empowerment".

Despite all of the truly fabulous things she said in her speech, perhaps her actions and those of her family as they received the applause of the masses told even more of the convictions of Sarah Palin than any words ever could. Her embrace of baby Trig and the presence of Bristol's boyfriend as a member of the family spoke volumes on her incredible pro life stance. She leaned down and listened intently as her young daughter (who has perfected her princess wave!) had something "important"to say. This is not a woman who pawns off her family to daycare and babysitters in pursuit of her own self-gratifying career. She is woman who can be a Mama and a powerful national leader all at the same time!

Feast of the Queenship of Mary

Today we invited over a crew of friends to help us celebrate the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. I have been so inspired by Jessica and her friends "Summer with the Saints", but I just had to rip off some of the great ideas!

We made crowns on honor of Mary being our Queen. This little craft went over way better with the girls than with the boys!!
The boys were much more into making manly bracelets with the colored pipe clearners. Go figure.

The kids all made miniature crowns (and necklaces) out of pipe cleaners and crowned Our Lady of the Backyard. It was a pretty wet day, so the Coronation was a quick one!

After a feast of Mac and Cheese, we each had a yummy slice of crown cake.

The kids had a wonderful time playing, eating, and crafting with their friends. They learned about and celebrated this wonderful feast with such a joyful spirit!

Since Annie found it necessary to publicly ridicule my "stroller", figured I'd entertain you all with a photo of it. Yes, it is the size of a small motor vehicle, but it serves us quite well. I actually walked to the park the day the photo was taken, complete with the watermelon keg (thanks, Jill!), and no one laughed at me! Half way there, (it's a whole two blocks) I did take Belle out to carry her and Grace got it. It gets a little tough to maneuver when all three kids are in it (I don't usually carry watermelon kegs with me), as I figure at full capacity it weighs about 130 pounds. Seriously, with that work out, I should be much more trim than I am!

Anyway, as Annie noted, my dear stroller deserves a name . . . any suggestions?

This past Saturday was the annual St. Boniface Pilgrimage. Although we didn't participate in the entire thing -- it isn't very stroller friendly!-- we did meet the group at Reihle Plaza and joined in the final few blocks of the journey. It is amazing to carry Our Eucharistic Lord through the streets of our town. We are so blessed to have a parish that routinely has Eucharistic Processions! This one was particularly wonderful (to me!) because not only did we walk farther than we usually do, but this time we went right in front of our house!! It was really exciting! There is something beautiful about a throng of people, sweaty and tired, walking through town adoring their Savior. It was wonderful!

**I shamelessly ripped this picture off of Elisabeth's facebook! Thanks!!

Feast of the Assumption

Reason I love the Church #246 -- Infinite reasons to celebrate . . . with food!!

Today we celebrate the day Our Blessed Mother was assumed, body and soul, into Heaven. Over the years, Holy Mother Church has found many fun ways to celebrate this Feast. One tradition is the Blessing of the Herbs. This is fitting, since so many are named after Our Lady. We will celebrate with Herbed (rosemary!) Butter on our bread as well as this yummy Assumpta Salad.

Mary Queen of Heavan, Pray for Us!