Loving this Life

HUNBABA Mei Tai Baby Carrier Guest Giveawayy

2010-08-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

HUNBABA Mei Tai Baby Carrier Guest Giveawayy

Other things we have been up to...

2008-12-01T12:10:00.001-08:00

The day after halloween is the feast of All Saints, and that is something we celebrated with all of homeschooling friends. We had a big party at our house...there is nothing like seeing 30 kids in your yard running around, fighting with swords. Even Joan of Arc was present. what fun...
here are some pictures of my kids. Paulie was St. Patrick, Sophia was St. Bernadette, Anna was St. Therese, and Joey was St. Hubert.

In other unrelated news, the other day we got wind that the Wienermobile was in town! How exciting! Nothing of that cultural magnitude ever happens here! Can you detect my sarcasm?

I was actually surprised at how excited the kids were. They got to get inside and answer some simple hot dog-related questions and then they got a little wienermobile whistle! what a deal.

Pictures from the yard

2008-12-01T12:05:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pictures from a day we spent raking leaves in our yard.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T11:59:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving, although not one with traditional food. I am tired of force-feeding my kids turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy (I know, what kind of a kid doesn't like mashed potatoes and gravy?), and Paul and I aren't too crazy about turkey either, so we decided to have a ham. I had recently gotten a locally grown, grass raised ham, so I basted it with blackberry jam and mustard and let it cook. Boy it smelled good, and everyone seemed to like it. I also made asparagus, homemade rolls, sweet potatoes, cranberry jello salad, an apple/cheddar pie, and ramekins with hot chocolate cake in them. We had Joey's best friend over with his parents, and we all had a great time. Boy, do we have a lot to be thankful for!

Anna's Birthday...very belated

2008-11-07T14:49:00.000-08:00

Well, Anna's birthday wasn't belated, but this post sure is! I was looking back, and I realized I never posted on her birthday! how did I miss that?! I also haven't gotten to Joey's either, so that will be coming.
Anyway, we got up on the morning of Anna's birthday and had a nice breakfast with Grandpa Sanchirico and Daddy, as Paul was off that week and his dad was visiting. She also opened a few presents that morning. After that, we went to the fair and looked at all the animals and all the booths where they were giving out things. We got free pencils and smoky bear paper clips from the forest service, posters in exchange for pull-ups from the Marines, and a whole box of crayons from the health department if we promised to have the kids vaccinated. Ooops, I guess we shouldn't have taken the crayons!
We came home after having a snow cone and relaxed for a while. Paul had to run a few errands and I played a couple games with the kids in the front yard. We had a few silly prizes for the games. That afternoon we opened the rest of her presents.
For dinner, Anna wanted to go out to her favorite restaurant, and while the boys would never have asked for this, she wanted to be sung to by the servers! As you can see from the pictures, she looked very grown up with her new purse from Grandma and Grandpa Jack, and I think she felt really grown up too.\

Here are the pictures, as well as some others.

I'm so behind in pictures!

2008-11-07T08:19:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone...I apologize for not updated lately. I have lots of pictures, but I just haven't had the time to get them all posted.
Unfortunately, I can't find my camera at the moment, so this is the only picture I have from Halloween/All Saints Day this year. Joey was a Musketeer, Paulie was a vampire and Anna was a princess. Sophia was an elephant, but wasn't in the picture. Our photo studio downtown was taking pictures of kids, so I had one done, just to remember how cute they are! I found some satin fabric on sale for $2 a yard and I make capes for them all, and it worked out well, because they kept them warm.
For All Saints we had a party at our house. There were about 20 kids and we all had a great time. Joey was St. Hubert (costume very similar to his musketeer costume), Paulie was St Patrick, Anna was St. Therese, and Sophia was St. Bernadette. I am going to have to get them all dressed up again when I finally find my camera, so I can get a shot of them.
Well, thats it for now. I hope you are all well. I will post more later!

I hope I win this one!

2008-10-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't make this quilt...but someone whose work I really admire is giving a similar one away. I hope I win!
Here is her shop...I am already making some of the crayon wallets for some kids I know for Christmas!

We can't afford to lose

2008-10-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

Here is something I just sent out to a few people via email. I thought I would post it here, in case anyone wants to take part in this with me. Check out the link at the bottom... I don't agree with McCain on everything...far from it. But the other presidential candidate is so anti-life and pro-death, we have no choice but to vote for what it morally right, especially as Catholics.
Also, please read this article about a Latino actor who is endorsing McCain, and the experience he had when he met the candidate.

here is my recent email...
Hi!
I just got this from my mother-in-law. I actually was going to forward it today anyway, but then she sent it to me before I could get to it! Fr. Corapi is a wonderful priest and this is legit. His website is below and he has a wonderful conversion story that is worth reading.
Anyway, I found this novena to Our Lady of Victory on line. You just say it once a day, for nine days
The Novena Prayer

Let us pray:
Our Lady of Victory, we have unshaken confidence in your influence with your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Humbly we ask your intercession for all of us associated under your title, Our Lady of Victory.
We beg your powerful assistance also for our own personal needs. (Please mention here your special intention in you own words.) In your maternal kindness please ask Jesus to forgive all our sins and failings, and to secure His blessings for us and for all the works of charity dedicated to your name. We implore you to obtain for us the grace of sharing Christ's victory and your forever in the life that knows no ending. May we join you to praise forever the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, on God, for all the ages to come. Amen.

This is a huge election for those who would like to make abortion with out limits possible and legal. We must do all we can to stop it. Please forward this as you see fit.

Lord have mercy on us,

Liz

To My Friends and Family,

My sister-in-law Marge has forwarded this Novena request to me which I am sending unto you. Not all of us are Catholic but I know each of us has a deep respect for human life. I ask that all of you join together in prayer for protection of our babies who are yet unborn and to give them their right to life. Please let our voices be heard by Heaven and by our Congressional leaders.

Thank you for your intercession,

Ann xo

Dear friends,

Tomorrow marks the 9th day before the presidential election. I am forwarding the following note from Fr. John Corapi, who asks all pro-life Catholics (and all Catholics should be pro-life!) to pray a rosary novena for this critical election. We can invoke Mary under her title of Our Lady of Victory and humbly beg her intercession for our country.

Please forward to your Catholic friends. Prayer is our most powerful weapon.

Peace
Marge,
A Call for a Rosary Novena

By Fr. John Corapi

www.fathercorapi.com

Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter's Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it.

Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil. Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception.

This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children.

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

I strongly urge every one of you to make a Novena and pray the Rosary to Our Lady of Victory between October 27th and Election Day, November 4th. Pray that God's will be done and the most innocent and utterly vulnerable of our brothers and sisters will be protected from this barbaric and grossly sinful blight on society that is abortion. No woman, and no man, has the right to choose to murder an innocent human being.

May God grant us the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and counsel to form our conscience in accordance with authentic Catholic teaching, and then vote that well-formed Catholic conscience.

Please copy, email, link and distribute this article freely.

God Bless You

Fr. John Corapi

www.fathercorapi.com

2008-10-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

A letter from Cardinal Egan of NY

2008-10-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

A New Movement...

2008-10-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

I am very excited about these new ideas that are going around. Actually, they are not NEW ideas, they are pretty old! Its the crazy idea that we should know where our food comes from, and even grow a lot of it ourselves! Granted, I am no where near this, but I am trying with little steps...Farmers Market for vegetables, eggs and bread every week, buying meat in bulk from a local butcher who raised the meat himself, etc... It is a good feeling.
Check out this video. I am sure that we don't have much in common with this family as far as political views go, but I do admire what they are doing...

Its not just liberals who are changing, either...Crunchy Cons is a very interesting book I just read about returning to a simple life and how more and more people are choosing to live this way.

what we did yesterday

2008-09-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, while the stock market crashed, we did a few other things...

1-learned about the patron saint of France, St Denis

2-celebrated the feast of St Michael...a powerful being to ask for help!

3-brushed our teeth, made our beds, got dressed

4-Joey memorized the 8 and 9 times tables

5-Pauly got 100% on a spelling test

6-had fun at 'recess' on a beautiful fall day

7-watched Anna and 6 other pink little girls during ballet class

8-ate homemade chicken soup for dinner

9-started what I hope will be a long journey through cub scouts/boy scouts

10-ate cake!

11-organized all my full canning jars

Life goes on! When I look on the web at all the bad news, I only have to look outside to remember that what really matter is here and now.

No fear, I will have Anna's birthday pictures on here soon!

oh, here is blog written by a priest that has a lot of good things on it...

Events of the week, part 2

2008-09-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

Also last week, we took a trip and spent a few nights away from home. While away, we walked around a beautiful little town and went to an amusement park. This really was one of the few amusement parks our kids had been to, as we have never lived anywhere near one. It was fun and while none of our kids are daredevils by any means, they did have fun on the lower speed rides. How do you like Anna's pink camo pop gun? And, no, that is not a real elk with Sophia!

The events of last week...part 1

2008-09-26T14:02:00.001-07:00

Last week we had a visit from Paul's dad. He arrived on a Friday and then stayed all the way through till the next Monday, so we had a nice long visit. We did a lot that week and had a lot of fun! I already posted about the fair, but we also had a second fair visit, a great hike, an overnight trip, a visit to an amusement park, and a 4th birthday to celebrate! What fun!

I will just post about the hike today, and then I will do more in a later post...
We found a nice short hike within 45 minutes from here. We had been wanting to get the kids more into hiking, and this really is a great place to do it. We have been very bad about not seeking out good trails, though, and finally Paul found specifics about one from someone at work, so we were off. It actually was less than 45 minutes to get there, and at the trailhead there is also a campground. We hope to camp there in the future. The hike itself was probably about three miles round trip. The first half was almost all uphill...about 700 vertical feet. It was great and the kids didn't complain once, although I did!
The hike was pretty much all treed, but at the top it opened up to a meadow and a warming hut put there by the forest service. It was a great place to eat lunch. Apparently people do a lot of snowshoeing up there, so they go to the hut to warm up by the wood stove. It was very beautiful, although dry and hazy. I would like to see it in the springtime.
Enjoy the pictures! ps--how do you like Paul's shirt...it is one of my favorites, and it is SO him. tongue in cheek, of course!

Lets go to the fair!

2008-09-21T16:11:00.001-07:00

This is my favorite picture from the day...doesn't Anna just look 4?

The other day...Thursday, to be exact, we went to the fair, bright and early, on opening day. This also happened to be Anna's 4th birthday, but I will write more on that later. We had a nice time and just looked at the livestock and exhibit booths, as the rides and games weren't open yet. Our county fair is just big enough to have a good time, but not so big that you feel exhausted afterwards. The kids got free stuff galore...fake sheriff badge stickers, pencils, crayons, ballons, masks, bookmarks, and in exchange for a few pullups, the a poster from the military branch of your choice. What a deal. We had a great time!

A few words from Sophia

2008-09-16T22:21:00.001-07:00

Camping, 2008

2008-09-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

I don't know how well these pictures are going to come out on the blog, but I thought I would give it a try. I had to scan these, since they were from a film camera and not our digital. I think if you click on these photos, you will be able to zoom in on them. A couple months ago we went camping with the extended family of some of our friends here in town. This was a little wild for us, and I had doubts about going, but I am so glad we went...it was so beautiful in the mountains (we were at 7500') and we can't wait to go back. I am sure you can see in the photos that out of all the kids there, Anna and Sophia were the only two girls. There sure were a lot of little boys running around, as well as a lot of dogs, including our two. What an adventure...hiking, shooting guns and campfires. What more can you want?!

Sophia is Walking!

2008-09-16T21:44:00.000-07:00

Well, she is almost 18 months, and she is finally getting comfortable walking around. It really has opened up a whole new world for her, and she is all of a sudden so much more independent!

What a difference paint makes

2008-09-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well, the time had come to do a little updating in this poor old house. I am not sure when the woodwork, baseboards and crown moulding were painted last, but they had old lead paint that was chipping. Not nice. So, a few weeks ago a painter came and did the whole upstairs...top to bottom. Here are some photos of the three bedrooms. He hasn't finished the hallway yet, but that is going to be soon. I don't think the colors came out very well on these pictures. The girls room is a tan color, the boys is a smoky blue (in these pictures it looks similar to what was there before, but it is a much nicer color), and our room is a dark lavender. We are really happy with all of it. The hall has the most wood, with the banister and everything, so it is going to be quite a contrast when it is done. It is going to be a lighter shade of the tan in the girls' room. I can't wait...it already makes such a big difference and seem so much cleaner. And, yes, the dressers are a mess...I have to put some of that stuff on the walls, and organize the rest...

After Church on Sunday

2008-09-10T11:31:00.001-07:00

Parade!

2008-09-10T10:57:00.001-07:00

We went to a wonderful parade this past weekend...here are some pictures...

My Husband, the fisherman

2008-09-10T10:50:00.001-07:00

Paul went night fishing the other night with some friends. He had a great time, and although he claims not to be the kind of fisherman who can spend hours on the water with little hope of catching a fish, he pretty well. I think the average time to catch a steelhead right now is about 9 hours. Can you imagine? 9 hours of fishing to get just one fish? That average, in our area, can go all the way up to 30 hours or so, which seems like a lot. People (mostly men) do it though!
Paul went out for three hours and caught his fish in only 10 minutes! I guess he is one end of the extreme! Although there are two fish in these pictures, only one was caught by Paul...the other was given to him by a friend. We, in turn, gave the fillets to a neighbor, who invited us over for smoked steelhead the following night. What a deal!
As for the crawfish...one spent the night in the boys fish tank, after which they were all eaten by Paul, although he claims next time he will give them to someone who will enjoy them more.

Sleepytime Bear Nightgown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-09-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful giveaway over at Grosgrain...

Sleepytime Bear Nightgown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Did you catch this?

2008-09-04T22:40:00.000-07:00

My mom told me about this part of the speech...I missed it, but it sure is cute!

Tomatoes

2008-09-02T22:12:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to post a picture of these beautiful tomatoes we got out of our garden. On the left is Mr. Stripy, in the middle is Cherokee Purple (my fav), on the right is Super Fantastic, at the top is Early Girl, and scattered at the top also are yellow pear tomatoes. It is funny to hear the names that farmers came up with through the years for these heirloom varieties. We had a tomato tasting night at dinner a week or so ago, and everyone had a different favorite.

Back to School, 2008

2008-09-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we had being doing school for a couple weeks now, but with our vacation, visiting neighbor children during the day and painting the house, things have gotten a little off track. Today was our official first day of school and I took the obligatory pictures in front of our favorite tree in our yard. I take the pictures here every year so I can see how much the kids change. It was cold this morning, so the kids are a little hunched over!
Anyway, we are off and running, and with the days we did school over the past month, we are already 3 weeks ahead! What a deal!
We are using Seton this year, with plenty of enrichment activities thrown in, depending on the liturgical season, holiday, or whatever we happen upon during our daily life. I also still have our timeline up on the living room wall, so whenever we learn about someone or someone in history, we make a little picture of it and tape it on the appropriate place in time. It really helps to put things in perspective for the kids.
This year, Joey is starting 3rd grade, Paulie is in 2nd, and Anna is doing preschool work. How exciting! Sophia is focusing on playdough and coloring this year.

This lady makes dresses and then just GIVES them away!

2008-08-27T17:38:00.001-07:00

No, this isn't my child, nor did I make this outfit. It is from a blog called Grosgrain and here's what she does. She creates darling outfits, then posts them on her blog. If you leave a comment or link back to her page from your blog, you are entered to win. So, in case you couldn't tell, I thought it would be nice to win this one!
I really am not sure why she does this, other than spreading joy to people she doesn't know, but maybe you can figure it out by reading her blog.
Maybe you'll win!

Our trip around Oregon

2008-08-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

If you want to see bigger pictures, just click on the slide show above. We just returned from a week around Oregon. The first day we picked up Paul's mother and step-father at the airport and spent the day in Portland. After an early night, we awoke the next morning to drive to Mt. Hood, after stopping first at Multnomah Falls, Bonneville Dam, and Hood River. I had forgotten how beautiful it is there, and how much I love the mountains and rivers. We spent that night at Timberline Lodge. The next morning we got up and drove to Bend. I think we liked that area the best. While we were there we toured Deschutes Brewery, after which Paul swore he would never buy mass produced beer again. It was awesome and I think it might have been the best part of the trip. Also that day we went to Lava Butte and walked around the Old Mill District in Bend.
We actually spent two nights in Bend, so we had a lot of time to see things. The mountains were beautiful and we had good weather.
After that, we hit the road for Newport, which meant driving over the Cascades, through the Willamette Valley and back over the coast range. Unfortunately it was raining and with the curvy, narrow roads, it wasn't a fun drive. It was raining in Newport too, so we didn't do much that day.
The next day, however, was beautiful, thank goodness, and we went and walked on the beach for a while. There were tidepools just down the beach, so we got to look for starfish and fish. After a trip to the Oregon coast aquarium, we went out for lunch in the fishing district of Newport and had a wonderful view from our table of 15 sleeping but noisy sea lions. The kids liked it and no one noticed that our kids were loud, as the sea lions were even louder. We had fresh crab and fish and chips.
the next day we drove up to Tillamook and saw thousands of dairy cows. We toured the cheese factory, and Anna almost got lost. Luckily some people stayed with her until I found her, but she was pretty upset. Scary...
We had a great dinner in Tillamook and the next morning left for Portland. We were planning on driving up the coast more to Cannon Beach, and then over towards Portland, but since we all wanted to go to OMSI, we decided to skip the rest of the coast and just go directly inland. We had another great lunch at our favorite restaurant on the Willamette River downtown, and then played a great game of LIFE before bed.
What a week! We had a great time and we felt lucky that my inlaws decided to spend a vacation with us. It was an adventure, but we had a great time, and I have the pictures to prove it! The kids really enjoyed seeing their grandparents, and they miss them already, as do we. I am sure I forgot details of the trip, but I will post them as I remember.
Now, its back to school and real life!!!

Birds we've seen

2008-08-14T13:35:00.001-07:00

An Osprey! Seen on a recent camping trip...

Sisters

2008-08-14T13:29:00.001-07:00

2008-08-13T09:06:00.001-07:00

How can you say no to this face?

Fishing with Dad

2008-08-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some wonderful pictures of the kids fishing with Paul a few weeks ago. They had such a great time. Also, a friend had some crayfish traps, so look what we got...I only ate one. Honestly, not my favorite!

Paulie is 6!

2008-08-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a wonderful day for Paulie, although it was a few weeks ago. Since we had a big party last year, we decided to have a 'surprise day'. This is an idea my mom came up with when I was little...during the day we would have various games and small wrapped presents for my sister and me, and then we would end up at many different surprising places. she would let us pick whether we wanted a party for our birthdays or a 'surprise day', meanwhile crossing her fingers that we would make the right decision. I did a little finger crossing of my own this year, and Paulie had a 'surprise day'. We had a wonderful time. First we woke up and had a few presents with Paul before he left for work. Then we got dressed and headed out the door...to our first destination. We drove about a half hour to a neighboring town and their science center. We had only been there once before, so it was something new and different. The kids had a great time, especially Paulie, who always loves that kind of thing. There actually was only a couple other families in the whole place, so they did a little science demo about static electricity. The picture you see with Paulie and Anna sitting at a table is the demo, and those were really the only kids in the whole museum. Its very small to say the least, although fun because there are activities for all ages.
After spending a few hours there, we left and went out for lunch, followed by ice cream. Wow...after that, I was tired and ready to go home!
Before dinner, the kids painted some wooden model cars that I had picked up, and the had a good time with that too. We had pizza for dinner, and then foosball cake for dessert.
What a day. Paulie got a couple games, including Whoonu, a cranium game the the whole family really likes. He also got a pair of Crocs, clothes and a great book with experiments, jokes, etc. that he carries everywhere. We got him a nice canvas teepee made by a woman online, as well as a bunch of great picture books.
I can't believe how much he has grown up in the past year. I looked at the blog for his 5th birthday and back then he got a superman cape and still played with trains. That is all in the past now. He loves to play dressup, but he his so much more mature for some reason. He really is such a funny little guy. The other day, I was giving him a hug. He pulled a knock-knock joke out of thin air that he had read in a book and made me really laugh...
knock-knock
who's there?
Butcher
butcher who?
Butcher little arms around me.

He still loves school and reading, but he is getting a lot more coordinated than he ever was and is also getting much more brave. We love you Paulie!!!
ps-I am almost done with his quilt. I will post a picture of him with it when I am done.

Here are some more pictures from his birthday...

Lemonade Stand, 2008

2008-08-12T22:43:00.001-07:00

The kids had been bugging me to let them sell lemonade out on the street for a while now. We had tried this last year, but it didn't really work, so I wasn't expecting much. We even bought cookies and biscotti to sell in addition to the lemonade. Boy, what a surprise...we probably had 5 to 7 cars stop and most of the neighbors stopped by and bought something. It actually was a lot of fun, as many people that I only occasionally see stopped and talked...it was almost a mini block party. All in all, the three older kids each got $7 and change...not bad at all! Most people did let the kids keep the change, but we sold all 20 cookies and went through two batches of strawberry lemonade. The only problem is that the kids want to do this everyday now!

Look what I found today...

2008-08-12T22:38:00.001-07:00

Hmm...Sophia is being so quiet...what in the world could she be doing?
And then I found her. She was painting the floor!
As upset as I was, I had to take a picture...she was too darn cute.

Some random summer pictures

2008-08-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of things we have been doing, as well as some of our garden and some fresh wild blackberries we picked!

Some more...

Learning about Volcanoes

2008-08-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

Something I love about homeschooling is that we are able to find moments in which to learn, at every turn of life. We are going to be visiting Oregon very soon and driving around much of the state. We are going to visit Mt. Hood, Mt. Bachelor, and the mountain formally known as Mt Mazama. For those who don't know, it is also called Crater Lake. We are trying to pick up some information about volcanoes before we start our trip. The other day we made a salt dough volcano, formed around a plastic water bottle. Then, with the magic of vinegar and baking soda, along with some red food coloring, we had an erupting volcano. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed...I was expecting more of an explosion, but I suppose we should be happy with what we get.
It was a fun afternoon!

Joey and baseball

2008-08-09T00:46:00.000-07:00

Joey had a great baseball season. He made new friends and really had a great average. Here are some pictures. We all had great times at the baseball parks too. Most of them have playgrounds nearby, so it was a wonderful way to spend a summer evening. The smaller kids played on the slide and swings, while the older ones played and watched. There is something really wonderful and pure about summer little league, and watching your oldest son play his heart out!

Our Trip to Dayton

2008-08-09T00:03:00.001-07:00

Like I said in the previous post...it has been WAY too long, but hopefully after I catch up, I will be able to keep it up.
Anyway, a few months ago we made the trip to Dayton to visit my in-laws. We had a great time. Paul and I actually got to go on a date to a wonderful musical, Shenandoah. It really was outstanding and we both laughed a cried during the show.
Also while we were there, we walked around downtown Dayton to view all the City Life Statues.
They are very clever and lifelike statues of people doing various things around the downtown area. It really forced us to walk around the city and it was a lot of fun. Joey especially had a great time checking them all off the map, and he and Grandma and Grandpa actually stayed downtown to find a few more, while I took everyone else home for a nap. I've been trying to post pictures from them, but for some reason they aren't working. I will try again later.
Also that week we took in a Dayton Dragons Baseball game, visited Boonshoft Kids Museum, and went to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Museum.
All in all, it was a great trip. I am sure I am forgetting something, since it was three months ago, but it was a lot of fun!

It's been way too long...

2008-08-08T23:49:00.000-07:00

It seems like I go for longer and longer between posts. Since I have last written, we have visiting Paul's Mom and Step-father in Dayton, OH, we have made it through baseball season, and we have had a fairly joyful summer. Paulie turned 6 a few weeks ago, and in a couple months, Anna will be 4. It is so hard to believe how big they are getting. Sophia is only just starting to walk (she is 16 months), but we haven't been concerned...she just loves to be carried around!
We have been going to our local farmer's market almost every weekend. It is so nice for the children to see what food is really in season at any given moment and actually meet the people who grow it. I just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and although we obviously wouldn't see eye to eye on many political or moral issues, the author really drives home a great argument for eating locally, as well as providing helpful information to help you do just that. It was an enjoyable book and actually was fairly humorous at many points. Here is a link to the website for the book.

Here is a favorite picture of mine, for the time being. The kids all had an afternoon popsicle, and Paulie went out with a book in his hand (as usual!). When I finally looked out after a minute or so, they all had arranged themselves to look at the book with him. It really was a nice moment.

Piano Recital

2008-06-06T14:47:00.001-07:00

Last night, the boys had their first piano recital. Paul was worried that they weren't going to be able to get up in front of everyone to play, but they did just fine! There were about 18 students there, as well as all their families, so there were quite a few people.
Their teacher is named Millie (they call her Miss Millie), and she is wonderful with the kids. They really like her and enjoy going to lessons. They actually have only had 10 lessons each, and I think they are doing really well for that short of a time!
And now, presenting, Joey and Paulie at the piano!

Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

2008-05-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

Today, in the Roman Catholic Church, is the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the 1600s, Jesus appeared to a nun named Sr. Margaret Mary. Jesus made twelve promises to her telling her how He would help those who honor His Sacred Heart.

Jesus said to her: "Look at this Heart which has loved people so much, and yet they do not want to love Me in return. Through you My Divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on earth."

St. Margaret Mary died in 1690.

Here are the promises, which are in return for devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

12 Promises of the Sacred Heart

I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life.

I will give peace in their families.

I will comfort them in all their afflictions.

I will be their secure refuge in life and especially at the moment of death.

I will bless all their undertakings.

Sinners shall find in My Heart an Ocean of Mercy.

Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.

Fervent souls shall rise to great perfection.

I will bless the homes in which the image of My Heart is enthroned and honoured.

I will give Priests the gift of touching the hardest hearts.

Persons who spread this devotion shall have their names written ineffaceably on My Heart.

Those who communicate on the First Friday of nine consecutive months shall be granted the grace of final repentance; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving the Last Sacraments; and at that hour, My Heart shall be to them a secure Refuge.

My question is...how can you say NO to this?!

Birding

2008-05-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

We have a few bird feeders outside our living room window, as well as a bird bath. Each morning we can see the local birds feeding and it is fun to see what different types of birds will show up. Here are some of the birds that we have recognized. I have posted about this in the past, so if you want to see some other birds that we have seen, just look at my older posts.

Ok, this one wasn't at our feeder, but he was in the top of a tree about 100 yards away from our house. He sat there for a few hours and we all got a good look at him. Bald Eagle

So, we go from the most exciting sighting to probably the most ordinary of birds...European Starling.

California Quail...this wasn't actually at our feeder, but we do have them in our neighborhood.

Red-winged Blackbird. I always liked these birds, and I was surprised to see one at our feeder, as they spend a lot of time in wetlands.

I had never seen a Rufous-Sided Towhee before, and we only saw one at our feeder. He was actually foraging around in the leaves on the ground. We was surprised at how big he was.

more Spring and the garden is in!

2008-05-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

We have been busy working in the yard the past few weeks. It is just such a joy that it is actually spring again. The kids have Nature Journals, in which we try to draw various plants and flowers from around the yard, as well as any insects or other animals we might see. Right now we are just writing the date and drawing, but in the future I would like to be able to add pressed flowers, nature poems, pictures, weather observations, etc, etc. There is no end to the things that the children can do in them. so here is a picture of Paulie sitting quietly and drawing in his journal. Also, one of Anna with her journal under her arm.
We have been busy also putting in our vegetable garden, and the kids have had a good time with that. We had a low point in our yard, which Paul used his trusty pickup to get dirt to fill in. Boy can that truck carry a lot of dirt! So the area was raised up and we planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, pumpkins, carrots, green beans, sugar snap peas, broccoli and sunflowers in the garden. In the pots on the outside we planted lettuce, three types of basil and chamomile. The lettuce is the only thing coming up yet, but we are optimistic. Oh, we also have marigolds and sweet peas in there as well.
Finally, we have been enjoying the blooms around the yard. We have very mature landscaping and we have wysteria that has climbed up a tree, probably 50 feet in the air. It is amazing and the pictures don't do it justice. We also have beautiful dogwoods in the yard, one of which is in my online photo album.
There are a lot more photos there as well.
I hope you are all having a lovely spring!

cute dresses on etsy

2008-05-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

Little Pretties, a shop on etsy.com, is having a give away, because it has been a year since she first posted. We have a couple dresses from there, and we love them. They are just so darling and unique.

This is cool to me

2008-05-06T20:27:00.001-07:00

OK, I don't care much for cell phones (and mine is NEVER charged), I don't want an iPod, I don't see the point to a Blackberry, but this is the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. If they could make more books that I am really interested in available, it would be near perfection. What a great idea!

More pictures of Spring

2008-05-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

Just a few more from around the house...I cut lilacs and put as many as I could around the house. I also like to have a few vases outside. I got the idea to hang a small vase by the front door from a blog that I can't remember. I like to see them hanging there as I go in and out of the door.
The kids had a great time blowing bubbles and the baby crawled up and down our wonderful brick front porch, following bubbles or whatever she deemed important.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Sweet Sophia

2008-05-02T23:24:00.000-07:00

The grass is so lush right now, I could resist sitting Sophia in the middle of it all and getting a few good shots of her with her face clean and nose not running! I think they turned out great! There are a couple of Anna in there too...she loves doing things with Sophia more and more now, and it really is sweet.

Spring has been on its way...

2008-05-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

and it is finally here! Our yard is in full bloom. Today I opened the front door and I could smell the lilacs, even though they are about 50 feet away and around the corner of the house. We have four dogwoods that are absolutely lovely and the wisteria is going to bloom soon too. It is just amazing and it makes us want to spend all day outside. The baby loves it too, and just wants to crawl around in the grass investigating. (By the way, she is laughing in this picture, not crying. Her new thing is to smile with her mouth wide open!) Unfortunately, we have dogs, so we really have to watch where she is going!

We didn't do any formal schooling today. I cleaned a lot of things up, inside and outside the house, and the kids amused themselves with various things. Things homeschoolers like to call 'Nature Study', 'Spacial Reasoning', and of course, the old stand-by, 'Art'. We all learned a lot! More pictures HERE!

Happy May Day!

2008-05-02T23:00:00.001-07:00

This year we decided to bring flowers to peoples' doors for May Day. We made cones with ribbons to hang them and the kids decorated them. Then we cut lilacs and roses from the yard, and went to deliver. Joey brought his to his piano teacher, and loved the idea of ringing the doorbell and running away. Paulie and Annas were delivered to two neighbors. Unfortunately, Paulie refused to have his picture taken with the flowers, so we just have Joey, Anna and Sophia. Oh well...next time!

What more could we want?!?!

2008-05-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

Days full of food, baths, dress-up, music and lots and lots of fun!

Joey's First Communion and Confirmation

2008-05-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

Finally, the big day was here. Joey wasn't really nervous about receiving his First Holy Communion, although he did take it very seriously. As you can see from all the pictures, he didn't smile once! Since he was also being confirmed, the bishop was at Mass as well. Joey had asked my mom to be his sponsor, and I think she was really honored. He was really happy that she had said yes!
After Mass, we came back to our house, where my mother and great-aunt were furiously preparing food according to my lists they made me write out! It all turned out wonderfully and a lot of people came. Altogether I think there were about 20 adults, 20 little kids and 10 or so teenagers. I hadn't planned nearly enough food (and none of it was kid-friendly), and luckily Paul realized this just before everyone showed up and went out and got a bunch of pizza. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and luckily it was a beautiful day so we could all sit outside. Joey was so grown up and we are so proud of him!
Here are more pictures, with captions.

What we've been up to...Mid-April

2008-05-02T22:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of what we were up to in the middle of the month. The kids were having a nice time visiting with my parents. Paul dug up a bunch of bushes in the front of the house, and then we all (my parents and us and the kids) put in a little stone wall and some plants. It looks great and really creates a nice entrance to our house. The kids thought it was a lot of fun...Joey is getting so strong...he really liked carrying the stones and helping out.
Also in this set are some of the kids playing with another one of Sophia's birthday presents. It plays music and blows the balls out the top...they all thought it was the best thing ever! Are my kids too sheltered? haha
Since my parents were here, my great-aunt made a trip up to visit us. She has an amazing amount of energy...more than me I think! We had a nice time seeing her...as you can see, Anna thought she was just wonderful!

Catching up...yet again.

2008-05-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I really seem to save all these pictures and stories until I can no longer stand it, and then I finally post volumes and volumes that you all have to read and get through, when it would be so much better if I just posted once a week. Well, I guess I am not that kind of a person and I always have been a terrible procrastinator, so here comes my latest editions...

Sophia turned ONE on April 6...almost a month ago! We had a very low-key day. My parents were here and after we got back from church, we had a nice lunch and then let Sophia open her presents. She got a Radio-Flyer push wagon (which is nice to push, but also nicer to be pushed in!), some fairly large alphabet blocks, clothes, a sesame street couch (you can see it in some of these pictures), a little stuffed duck that is really soft, and some new shoes. As you can see, the other kids loved helping Sophia with her presents, although she was getting the hang of it by the end.
Then we had an ice cream cake, which was enjoyed by all. The rest of the day was spent playing and relaxing. You would think the boys had never seen alphabet blocks before, as they were figuring out all sorts of patterns with them.
I posted some pictures here on the blog, but here is a link with more of them, as well as some captions. Isn't our little baby sweet? We sure think so!

very funny

2008-04-30T21:38:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to compare...

2008-03-30T00:04:00.000-07:00

Compare these pictures from last year (Sophia was two days old) with the ones below from this year. Time sure flies!

He is Risen! Allelulia!!!

2008-03-29T23:53:00.000-07:00

After getting our baskets and candy, we got dressed for Mass and headed out to church. Immediately after that, we took some pictures before anyone could get too dirty. The kids and Paul look great, but I look awful in these. In my own defense, I actually was really sick and went directly inside and slept 4.5 hours following this. Paul took the kids to some friends house where they had all the necessary Easter food and fun, including an Easter Egg hunt. They had a great time, but I stayed home to sleep. I was very sorry to miss out.
Happy Easter everyone!! Allelulia!!

Here is a link to a web album with all the pictures from the past week or so.

Easter Morning

2008-03-29T23:44:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple pictures of the kids getting their Easter baskets and looking for eggs before church. Unfortunately I was sick, so we didn't have an Easter egg hunt outside. Maybe next year.

Grownup Easter Eggs

2008-03-29T23:39:00.000-07:00

The night of Holy Saturday, after the kids had gone to bed, I got out my collection of Easter Eggs that my mother has given to me over the years. Unfortunately, some of them have gotten broken, but I have about 10 now, and they are all different. I clipped some lilac branches (just starting to get a few leaves on them) from our yard and hung the eggs on them as a centerpiece on the dining room table. This year my mom sent me one that had belonged to my oma, with a cutout of our lady glued on it. I love putting these eggs out because they add so much color to the room. I also love the beautiful little leaves on the branches!

Getting ready for Easter!

2008-03-29T23:35:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos of the kids dying eggs. I want to assure you all in the beginning, that despite Paulie's shirt, we are in NO WAY fans of the Mets. Call it an egg-dying uniform, if you will. Something he has been saving for an occasion just like this one.

We dyed eggs in the normal way, then added vegetable oil to the dye and redyed in a different color. Some of the eggs turned out marbleized and looked great. The oil also made them shiny, which was cool. It was a lot of fun!

Pictures from before Easter

2008-03-29T23:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple I have been meaning to post...Anna in her ballet class outfit and Joey in his First Communion suit (and a headless giant). I took the boys clothes shopping before Easter and they were so cute about trying on clothes. Each one took a turn in the dressing room alone (they wanted to dress with no help) and then came out and showed me how they looked. Joey was so proud to wear a real suit and you could tell that he felt pretty cool. Paulie's outfit was a new one for Easter, and you will see it on the Easter post. I had a great time with them...they are really growing up.
Anna is also very cute in her ballet outfit and loves to get dressed up for class and spin around the room.

More pictures and an update

2008-03-14T11:47:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted in so long, so I am going to start by giving you an update on each child, and then an update as to what we all have been up to together.

Joey is still in karate. Sensei actually wanted him to move up to the next class, one that requires twice as much time during the week. He is the youngest in the class, as well as the smallest, but he seems to be doing well with it. there are 3 other boys and 3 girls that he has to get to know now, but they seem to be very encouraging to him and telling him that he is doing a great job. The only problem is that we have had to adjust our dinner time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We now have to eat when he gets home, around 6:45. It is hard for me to make this adjustment, as I see the family dinner time as somewhat sacred. I do believe this is good for him though, so we will stick it out! Joey is also going to start baseball soon. He is in pitching machine this year. Paul took him to the batting cages the other day, and he seems to be hitting pretty well. That all starts in April.
A couple weeks ago, Joey also started piano (can you tell we have been busy lately?). He actually isn't too crazy about it, but I am making him do it for now. I think he needs to have some basic music education, especially since he isn't getting it in school like other kids might be. The teacher seems great, and is just down the street. I take the boys during the day, so it doesn't cut into family time at night. More on that later.
First Communion is coming up soon. We went to mass today and Joey followed along in his missal. he really is growing up so fast. Altogether he is a busy boy with a lot on his mind and a lot to say!
Paulie has been doing great lately. He also started Piano, and he seems to like it more than his brother. The other day, the teacher had him play for almost an hour (she keeps them as long as she thinks they can handle...and doesn't ask any more money!). He likes to practice and do the writing work for his lessons. I mentioned a while ago that Paulie tends to be accident prone...something he is getting embarrassed about lately. The other day, he was dancing. He slipped and hit his head on our radiator in the living room. It swelled up like crazy and even broke the skin. He insisted on having a bandaid for it, but now won't take it off because he doesn't want anyone to see it. Little does he know that the bandaid draws more attention than the actual wound would have! Paulie is going to be in T-ball this year, and has been getting a pretty good swing too. Paul has been pitching to him in the yard and he is definately improving and starting to like it. He is still a quiet kid and always thinking about what is going on. He is very observant and very bright.
Anna started dance class a few weeks ago! She is in a class with other 3-4 year old girls and they all wear pink leotards. It is so funny to see her with other girls and she is very sweet. She doesn't jump or leap like the girls do...I guess she hasn't watched many ballerinas. She runs and jumps like a boy, which I think is very cute and endearing. I am sure she will learn as time goes on. Every week, when the boys have piano, Anna and I go for a walk. The other day I let her choose where to go at each intersection. She thought it was so funny that she got to tell me where to go and it was a beautiful spring day to look at flowers and bugs.
We saw a telephone pole covered in hundreds of bugs that looked similar to this one. I think they had all come out of cracks in the wood because it was so warm. Anna didn't seem to mind seeing so many bugs. (This is a great website, by the way, to find out what bug you are looking at!)
Anna is getting so grown up!

Sophia is going to be a year next month! she is saying more words than other other kids have at this stage...MAMA, DADA, More, Doll, bye-bye. She waves bye as she is saying byebye. Also, she says doll when she holds her doll. I don't think anyone else was so happy to hold a doll at this early an age. She hugs it and pats it on the back. I will have to get a picture of this. Sophia doesn't show any signs of wanting to walk and doesn't pull herself up on anything yet. She doesn't crawl either, but she sure can get around fast by scooting. It works better for her too, because she can hold something in one hand and just use one had to help her scoot. She loves to make everyone laugh and is at an age that she is getting very good at giving hugs. This is such a sweet age.

We all just got back from a trip to see friends and family. Our friends had a new baby and asked us to be Godparents, so we got to meet little Thomas Jude Paul. I have pictures of the trip here...

I also have more pictures of us at home. Some of them have captions, so check them out!!!

This is Joey lately

2008-02-15T18:49:00.001-08:00

I have always liked For Better or For Worse. Lately, she has been rerunning old strips that had first run when I was about the little boys age, but now I am the mom's age. Amazing!

I like this painting

2008-01-31T11:37:00.000-08:00

This is a painting by Norman Rockwell called The Land of Enchantment. I would love to find it to put in the kids room, but the only place I can find it online is at a protestant homeschool book supplier. You have to order their books in order to get the print...so I guess we will just have to look at it online!

Making Cheese!

2008-01-31T11:34:00.000-08:00

I just ordered a Mozzarella and Ricotta cheese making kit from The New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. I will be sure to post pictures and let you know how it turns out. The kids have been asking how cheese is made. They also have kits to make hard and soft cheeses...maybe we will move on to those if this works out!

A Day for Beatrix Potter

2008-01-25T14:39:00.001-08:00

Since it is Friday, and we have been working hard all week, today was a day I dedicated solely to studying Beatrix Potter. First, we read The Tale of Two Bad Mice, then The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, followed by The Tale of Johnny Town-mouse (this was a new one for me), and finally, The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies. All three kids loved the books, and although we had read some of them before, we hadn't read them together in a group, nor had we talked at any length about Beatrix Potter herself. We talked about where and when she lived, and we put a small picture of her on our timeline we have on our living room wall. (I have found recently that the kids love seeing a timeline in front of them. It really puts history in perspective and then every time we learn about someone new, we can put them where they belong in history. It really puts things into context in a way I couldn't do by just explaining dates.)
I have to say that Jemima Puddleduck was my favorite today, as that story just has a lot of subtle humor. The boys got a lot of it and also thought it was funny.
After lunch, we watched Miss. Potter. It was a magical movie, although the kids though there were a few boring parts. I do think they enoyed it overall, however, especially Joey.
Following the movie, we all sat down to do a little artwork. It is always hard to get the boys to draw, so I am posting their results here. I have an interpretation of Mr Jeremy Fisher by Joey, and one of Peter Rabbit by Paulie. Enjoy and have a lovely day!

Nothing too political

2008-01-24T16:11:00.000-08:00

I told myself when I started this blog that it would merely be about our family, with a few links of interest. Paul said I should stay away from anything confrontational, and besides the occasional link to Ron Paul, I have done that. However, this is something I can't just let go by, without a mention, because it just means too much to me to do so. A few days ago was the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in the US. During that time, something like 46 million babies have been aborted. That is a number that is inconceivable to me...utterly unmentionable. When I look at the smiles on the faces of my 4 children, it becomes even more unmentionable to me. Here is a video from the Pro-life March in Washington DC, with a very passionate speaker, who happens to be named Ron Paul, MD. By the way, he was the only presidential candidate to show up!
I have wished over the last few years that we could go to the march...hopefully one of these years we will be able to make it. Friends who have gone have said it is such an amazing experience. Here is a page with pictures from the march...check out the last picture of the rainbow...how amazing!
Here is another link...pictures from the Pro-life Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in DC...it does give you a sense of optimism to see this many people turning out to support what I believe to be the most important cause of all.
Ok, I will get off my soapbox now...back to your regularly scheduled show of pictures of my children!

Pope John Paul II's Pro-Life Prayer
Oh Mary, we entrust to you the cause of life.
Look down upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born.
Grant all who believe in your Son to proclaim the Gospel of Life.
Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, to bear witness to it resolutely, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and Lover of Life.
Amen.

More fun at home...

2008-01-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

Fun at home...

2008-01-18T11:44:00.000-08:00

This time of year, there isn't much to look forward to...Christmas is over, spring is still months away, and school is starting to get boring. Here are just some random pictures of our daily life over the past week or so. The kids have been having fun at least...maybe it is just me who gets depressed!!

Skiing Pictures

2008-01-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some Pictures!!
A few weeks ago we went skiing for the first time since we had kids. We rented a condo and really had a great time. The snow was beautiful and there was so much of it. It was so nice to just rent a condo and not have to drive home after a day of skiing and the kids really liked having a home base, instead of just the stinky ski lodge!
Joey was the only kid to ski...he took a two hour lesson the first day and decided that he wanted a full day lesson the next day. Well, when Paul went to pick him up afterwards, he had to carry Joey home because he was so tired he could hardly stand. He actually laid down on the couch at the condo and cried. Poor guy! He did have a great time though, and wants to do it again soon. Paul skied the whole first day, but the second day he let me use his boots and skis and I got to go for a few hours. It was wonderful to do it again. Hopefully, we will be able to take another few days to go skiing again before the winter is out.

For those of you who haven't heard...

2008-01-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

Just to keep you all in the loop, Joey is going to be receiving his First Communion in April. We have been working a lot at home, and he also goes to CCD each Sunday morning at church. He just did his first confession a few months ago. We can't believe how quickly he is growing up moving into the age of reason. It really is amazing. Please keep him in your prayers.

This is so funny

2008-01-11T12:59:00.000-08:00

The funniest thing about this is the newscasters reaction...

10 Great Movies of 2007

2008-01-04T21:14:00.000-08:00

I have seen 4 of these...I am adding the other 6 to a list of movies I want to watch soon! This is an interesting blog that I have recently found. Enjoy!

The Water Horse

2008-01-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

New Years Day we thought about taking the kids to a movie. We drove by and saw what was playing...of course, everyone wanted to see something different. Paulie and I both wanted to see The Water Horse, and since no one else could really make up their minds, Paul and I thought it might be neat if I took him myself, along with Sophia of course.
It was really nice to go out alone with Paulie...I am going to try to do it with Joey one of these days too. He sat there the whole time, mesmerized. It was a good movie too...nothing objectionable and full of things that little boys like.
Paulie...oops, PAULY is how he likes to spell his name now. Pauly seems to be getting so big, but in front of that big movie screen he looked so little. He is so different from Joey, who wears his feelings on his sleeve. There were a few sad parts in the movie, and afterwards I asked him how he liked it. "Good," he said. "Did you think it was sad?" I asked. "Yes," he said. "What parts?" "Not telling," was his answer. A boy of few words, but I could tell the whole movie was in his mind, waiting to be replayed as he was falling asleep that night.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2007-12-29T22:15:00.001-08:00

After this post, you will have seen all my pictures and heard all of my stories, at least for the time being. With 6 adults and 6 kids in our house for Christmas, we took a lot of pictures and opened a lot of presents. Here is a link to my final web album for now.
At our house, Santa comes on Christmas eve...usually after dinner. Its amazing how he always times it so well. We had fish and shrimp Christmas Eve, then Paul, Rainer and Krista took the kids upstairs to look out the window for Santa. Amazingly enough, while we were doing dishes, he came! We heard bells, and when we ran out to the living room, there was a pile of packages for all of us. The Nativity scene we had on the piano was now on the floor in front of the tree, complete with the addition of the Baby Jesus. The kids were shocked and we all stood in the living room and sang 'Silent Night' in English and German. Then it was time to open presents!
I had told the boys earlier that they could be responsible for reading tags and handing out presents, but as you can see in the pictures, Joey still felt so sick from our stomach bug that he laid on the ground for much of the time and just watched. Poor guy...what a let down! He did perk up by the end of the evening. I wish I could write everything that we all got, but at the risk of leaving out something important, I will wait and do that at another time. Suffice to say, we all were very happy with all our gifts, and you can see many of them in our photos.
Christmas morning the kids woke up to their stockings full of goodies and we got ready for church. We got some nice pictures of the kids in their new Christmas outfits. We came home from church and started in making Wienerschitzel for Christmas dinner. We have it other times besides Christmas throughout the year, but I try to make it every Christmas anyway, since everyone seems to like it and it is something special. I don't really have a good explanation as to why we are all wearing crowns in the picture, except they were in the box with some Christmas poppers I had bought. I think it is a British thing, although I wouldn't know, since none of us are from Great Britain. A good time was had by all and we are all very grateful that Christmas is here.
Everyone went home at the end of this week, but not before we went to Sears and had family portraits done. I already posted a picture a few posts down, so look for it if you want to see our formal pose. I will be sending some out as soon as I get the prints back.
Merry Christmas, again, to all our friends and family. May God bless you in the New Year.

Catholics for Ron Paul

2007-12-29T16:35:00.001-08:00

click here

Christmas Cake

2007-12-29T11:48:00.000-08:00

I made this cake, in this pan, for Christmas day. It was delicious with some whipped cream and coffee on the side. I would highly recommend it! I didn't put icing on...just some powdered sugar. I also didn't use nearly as much orange zest as they called for, and it was plenty orange-y for us. I used the zest of only two oranges, compared to their 4 large oranges.

Back in Time--Part III (Mid December-December 23)

2007-12-29T10:01:00.000-08:00

What a last few weeks we have had! On 12/16, my parents, Krista and Rainer, and their two kids, Lukas and Maggie, arrived for 2 weeks. The only problem was that while they were here, a stomach bug made its rounds through the house. Luckily (or unluckily for him) Paul was the only adult to get it. It seemed like for a week straight, my kids were carrying big bowls around with them, 'just in case'. I won't talk anymore about that...its best left in the past.
I have yet another web album with a ton of pictures we have taken. In case you are wondering about the kids in the photos, there are our 4 kids, as well as my sister's 2 kids. Luki is 3, 5 days older than Anna, and Maggie is 14 months. They are really cute little kids. Luki is at an age that he loves Thomas the Tank Engine, just like my boys did at that age. Maggie is walking and has a mouth full of teeth, although she has less hair than Sophia does. My sister was like that when she was little too.
Just after they all arrived, my neighbor, Paulette (the lady with the blonde hair in the pictures) arranged for Santa to come visit. He came in, sat in a big chair, and the kids took turns sitting on his lap. He had a small toy for each child, as well as candycanes. It was a complete surprise for the kids and it was very fun for everyone. My sister's son was the bravest of all, and my daughter Anna was definately the most scared. She wouldn't let go of Paul's neck the whole time Santa was here.
There are also some pictures of my birthday, which was on the 22nd. My mom made a nice breakfast for us, and we opened presents. I got a nice Columbia coat from Paul and the kids, a waffle maker and some pottery from my sister and her family, and some more pottery, a chip and dip set, an apron, and some cute little things from my parents. I also got a garlic keeper and the promise of one of these from my mother-in-law and Jack (I can't wait!). I love all the things I got. It was a really nice birthday. I baked some cookies and we had a nice time. Poor Paul was in bed most of the day though...I wonder if he was faking?! :)
I will post some Christmas pictures later. Thanks for reading this much!

Back in Time--Part II (Early December)

2007-12-28T22:20:00.001-08:00

We had some warm weather in early December, and consequently we had time to do some yard work. Paulie had asked to take the camera for a while, and I said yes because I love to see what little kids come back with after having the camera for a while. The first 9 pictures on this web album are from him...things that he deemed important enough to take a picture of.
Then there is a picture of Paulie and Sophia. Joey lost two teeth in one week...one on the top and one right under it...of course we needed a picture of that!
After that, came our party for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe...there were more kids than are in the picture, but they were boys and didn't want to stop their sword fighting to pose with flowers!
Then there is Sophia and one of the dogs, Daisy. It is amazing how dogs can tell that the baby has food and come running in case she drops something, which she usually does!

Going Back in Time--Part 1 (Late November)

2007-12-28T22:01:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to post these pictures, and just haven't gotten around to it, since we now have our photos on our laptop, but do most of our computing and internet stuff on our desktop. It makes it hard to go back and forth.
This web album has a bunch of pictures from late November. A sleeping baby, a baby sitting on the counter (no, I don't do that anymore, now that she will lean forward and try to fall off!--plus I was always in arms reach...don't worry!), lots of playing outside in the leaves during a cold spell here. Paulie was having a great time with Sophia that day, and for some reason he is the one that can always make her laugh. Anna was playing and climbing on our wysteria vines that are probably as old as our house, and have beautiful flowers in the summer. Joey had a stick and was beating the heck out of a rotten birch stump. He actually reduced in in size by about half after working on it for most of the afternoon. Also, there are pictures of Joey going for his third belt in karate. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of his front, but you get the idea. Finally, there are pictures of Joey with his puppets he made, and subsequently put on a puppet show with. He loves using the glue gun and gluing together random art supplies we have around.

Yet another bird.

2007-12-27T10:36:00.000-08:00

Joey has been bugging me to put this one on here. He just saw it out the kitchen window the other day, and ran all the way upstairs to let me know that he found another bird.
Its a mourning dove!

Merry Merry Christmas!

2007-12-27T10:31:00.000-08:00

We have had a wonderful week. My parents, my sister and brother-in-law, and their two kids have been here and we have had a wonderful time. I have a lot of pictures, but again, I don't have time to post them right now. I did want to post this one photo though...we had it taken this week and I am going to send out copies to all (or maybe MOST) of you. If you don't get one, and you would like one, please let me know.
We hope you all enjoy the Christmas season and have a Happy New Year!

So busy lately

2007-12-13T17:11:00.001-08:00

I feel very badly about how I haven't posted many pictures lately. I am sure you all are dying for some news from us! I have been taking pictures, but I just haven't been posting them. I am going to try to get to it tonight or tomorrow, so that you can all see what we have been up to. We have been getting ready for Christmas...I have been doing 90% of shopping online this year. I am sure the UPS man hates us, but it is so nice to be home with the kids, when everyone else is out fighting over things at the stores. The kids hate having to go shopping, so this is much better for them too. We have been reading a lot of Tomie dePaola books, since he has so many Christmas and Saint books. One of our favorites this year is The Legend of the Poinsettia, which we read and then made poinsettia pins out of felt to wear. I have pictures of that to post later.

Also, we have been keeping up with our bird watching. Today we saw about 10 Oregon Juncos and 10 House Finches --I think they like the new bird food I bought recently and there have been a lot of birds out there to look at. Here is a picture of a house finch...

Yesterday we had three other families over for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We made tissue paper roses, and the kids brought them up and laid them in front of a statue of Our Lady that we brought in from our garden. If you don't know the story.. you can read about it here. Tomie DePaola also has a book about this to read, so it has been on our coffee table for the past week.

Here is a great painting I found when searching for things for our party. We also ate Mexican food, since the apparation took place in Mexico, and was responsible for the conversion of 8 million people there. My sister and I were lucky enough to go to Mexico in high school, and we were able to go to the Basilica where the tilma is still held. I wish I had known then what a miraculous image I was in the presence of.
I will have pictures of our party to post as well. Keep checking back!

Are you tired of the way things in this country are going?

2007-11-30T09:42:00.001-08:00

Come on, you seriously must have 5 minutes to watch this. Just humor me, give it a chance, and if after 5 minutes you don't agree...move on and I won't bother you about it again.

Birds we've seen

2007-11-25T12:05:00.000-08:00

Joey has lately been somewhat interested in the birds in our yard, so I dug out my old bird book from high school to see if we can identify them. We have quite a few Oregon Juncos at our feeder. They are cute little birds that are often in pairs or groups.

A couple weeks ago, Joey heard tapping out in our birch tree, and there he saw a downy woodpecker, who came back to the same tree for three days in a row. He actually made some decent sized holes in our tree.

One day we saw a Northern Flicker...I had never seen one before and it was quite a neat looking bird. He even pecked the ground looking for bugs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Here are a bunch of pictures that I took today, some of dinner and some of things around the house. We had a nice day. Some friends had planned to come down to visit and stay for Thanksgiving dinner. They got sick, however, and couldn't come. Too bad! We missed them! Anyway, we had a nice day...Paul had to go into work a couple times, but we got all the cooking done, the kids played football outside with the neighbors, and we played a few board games! I'd say it was a success. The only problem was that although I didn't make a ton of food, we did have small portions of all the Thanksgiving staples, none of which the kids liked. What kind of children don't like mashed potatoes and gravy? Paul and I ate a lot of everything, but the kids just ate peas and then had pie and ice cream for dessert. At least they ate their vegetables! Here is a link to the pie I made this year...Joey said it was the best he ever had. It might have been because he was so hungry! I actually thought it was delicious too. We miss all our family and friends that we couldn't be with this Thanksgiving. God bless you all!

Recent Fall Pictures

2007-11-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

I have been taking a bunch of pictures, but haven't been able to post them lately. Here is a link to a new album with Fall pictures. The baby is getting so big and complex...she is sitting up alone now and is looking very cute. Everyone else is doing great. I will try to think of cute stories to post but I don't have any at the moment, as I just want to get this on here. There are captions on some of the pictures, so look for them!

Ron Paul

2007-11-22T21:18:00.000-08:00

Fund raising bomb for Ron Paul...

No posts lately :(

2007-11-21T07:41:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted lately...our laptop is in the shop, and so I can't upload pictures at the moment. I have a bunch of great pictures, but you will have to wait till next week! Have a great Thanksgiving!
Oh, for those that are keeping track, Sophia got her first tooth the other day. She didn't seem too upset by it!

Paul went hunting today...

2007-11-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

and he got a buck! The guys he went with said there is about 80-90 lbs of meat, so we will be eating venison for while. Paul is really happy with himself and is going to get the antlers mounted. Very exciting...I hope these pictures don't bother anyone!

Halloween

2007-11-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

Last night we did a little trick or treating in our town. Our downtown area businesses handed out candy for the kids and there turned out to be some great giveaways...at one place, the kids each got a beanie baby, a restaurant was handing out hotdogs right at dinner time (perfect!) along with a coupon for a free kids breakfast, and there was even a dentist handing out toothbrushes. What a deal. Of course, we did get way too much candy.
Here are some pictures. In case you can't tell, Joey was a ninja, Paulie was NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon (his pick, entirely), Anna was a dragon and Sophia was the frog (the fourth in our family to wear this costume). We had a great time.
Today we are off to another All Saints Day party! Here is a link to info about All Saints Day, which is a holy day of obligation. You can't have all that fun and candy without a little bit of sacrifice, you know!

Feast of All Saints--a few days early

2007-10-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

This year, for All Saint's Day, Joey is St George, Paulie is St Peter, and Anna is Mary, Queen of Heaven. Last night we went to some friends' house for a party, and all the kids were dressed up. As you can see in the picture, there were about 20 kids (more weren't in the picture) and Anna was one of only 4 girls. They were all younger than Joey. It was a very busy place!
Anna didn't want to be in the picture, unfortunately, and was crying and crying. We started calling her Our Sorrowful Mother instead. Some adults even dressed up, although Paul and I were not among them. In case you are wondering, the lady in the back is supposed to be the Holy Spirit. As you can see, by the end of the night, Anna was happy again, sitting with Sophia!

someone you should know...

2007-10-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

Visit RonPaul2008.com
Designed by SIRBERUS.

Sophia's new tights...

2007-10-14T20:15:00.001-07:00

I assume she will grow into these!

Happy Birthday Paul!

2007-10-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is the weekend for birthdays! Today Paul is 32. Happy birthday to my kids superhero and my best friend. I couldn't imagine a better person with which to spend my life!
Happy Birthday!

Joey's presents

2007-10-14T19:48:00.001-07:00

Joey has been wanting to learn guitar, so we got him a 1/2 size one for his birthday. He is excited to start learning. He also got a Leapster from Grandma and Grandpa, a remote controlled dragonfly and a light saber from Oma and Opa, and a quilt from me. It is bigger than Anna's and is out of cowboy fabric. Paul used to play guitar, so he is showing Joey a few chords. Joey has such long fingers, and I think they will be helpful as he is learning to play.

In case you haven't heard...

2007-10-14T17:42:00.000-07:00

I posted here a few weeks ago that we were moving to a property we recently made an offer on. Well...things have fallen through and it looks like that isn't happening now. There was a water rights issue with the property (the neighbors had rights to come and drill for water on our land) and we were worried about what would happen if we ever sold or if any of the neighbors sold their property. Would they sell to developers who would come in and take our water, would anyone ever buy our house if we wanted to sell, with something like that going on? Anyway, there were too many concerns with that, so we rescinded our offer. We were disappointed, but it really is probably for the best. We will just take the time we are in this house to make it nice and the right thing will come along eventually.
Just wanted to let you all know!

I just love this thing...

2007-10-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

Little Sophia loves this too...sitting up at the table like a big girl. It is almost as if she is floating there.

a couple more pictures...

2007-10-13T22:20:00.000-07:00

Here is another I just found of Joey. I think he was about two. It was at wedding of a couple of friends of ours...I am sure it looks familiar to some people!

Who is actually blowing out the candles here anyway?

Another birthday for Joey!

2007-10-13T21:37:00.001-07:00

In case you haven't been keeping track, Joey is 7 years old today! It seems like only yesterday that he was born, and now our first child is getting so big, sometimes he seems like he is no longer a child. He is funny, smart, athletic, considerate, and cute. He is also very persistent and stubborn, but at least no one can get him to do something that he knows is wrong.
Here are some pictures. Unfortunately, I don't have any baby pictures of him on my computer. The oldest I have are of him when he was almost 2. I can't believe how he has grown.

We had a nice day today...Paul had to help some friends move, so we were without him for much of the day, but we did some fun things...we went out to lunch to his favorite restaurant and then went to the ice cream store where I let him pick out any ice cream cake he wanted for after dinner. Then, in the afternoon when Paul got home, we opened presents. It was a beautiful day here...so warm and sunny, and the leaves are falling. Joey and Paulie played outside with Joey's best friend. Paulie had gotten a light saber for his birthday, and now Joey got one as well. Their friend already had one, so the three of them were out slaying Darth Vader with their light sabers. They had a wonderful time.
After that, we had pizza and cake, and the boys played some more. I am going to try to invite some other friends for a little party sometime this week at the mini-golf place here in town, since Joey didn't quite get the party that Paulie did for his birthday.
Here are some pictures of the day...