In remembrance

 My parents generously gave  us this lovely permanent vase for Zachary's grave. 

We are so grateful! 

 They, too, have suffered the loss of miscarriage.  I have two siblings up in Heaven: Jean & Francis.  We decided to dedicate this special gift to the souls of Jean, Francis, & their nephew Zachary with this special name plate.  Now we all have a place to remember them & ask their intercession.

St. Jean Marie, pray for us!

St. Francis, pray for us!

St. Zachary Matthew, pray for us!

Test run

 The lawn was finally looking a little thirsty, so Darren tested the sprinklers.  The kids had to take the opportunity to throw on their swimsuits & run from station to station full of giggles.

 The pool noodles had to join in the fun... actually they worked pretty well for sword-fighting the spray.  I don't know what happened to Teresa's!  Operator error.

Sunday fun

 Two of my college roommates are now religious sisters.  Our paths don't cross very often, so I jump at the chance to get to be with them!  A few Sundays back Andrew, Rebecca, & I went out for *family* visitation day.  (It's nice to be considered family!)  I didn't get any photos with the sisters. 

:(  But afterwards we stopped by the park to enjoy the buffalo, geese, & playground.  Add in a book on tape so that there was laughter instead of bickering on the long ride & it really ended up being a fun little excursion for us!

Spreading cheer

Andrew & I had a special opportunity to spread some cheer a couple of weeks ago.  Ladies from my Bible Study group (& a few of our bigger kids) have visited a local nursing home 4 or 5 times in the last couple of years.

 We go to chat, give hand massages, give manicures, & bring along photos of our smiling families to share.  The last few times I've also brought pictures that the kids have made.  Teresa created this painting for us to give away.

 This time was a little different because I just brought Andrew along instead.  We sat & chatted with LaVeta & Iva.  While we chatted, he drew them a picture of whatever they requested.  He made a very intricate one of a cardinal that was sitting out by the birdfeeder & then an entire farm scene complete with barn & many animals.  I wish that I would have taken a photo of his drawings!  I think they were very appreciated. 

It's such a great experience to go & spread a little cheer.  I hope we get to do it again soon!  Care to join us next time?

Let's get crackin'

 We discovered these egg shells in our back yard last week.  We even found a new one in the garden today.  There must be a dozen birds living in our little trees!

 The thrill of the find inspired this elaborate door art from Andrew...

& this picture from Rebecca. 

See her holding half of a blue shell next to the tree?  And the mama robin feeding her new baby a worm with the other half of the shell still in the nest?  Too cute!  

Dazzling Divas

 The girls discovered you can simply hang some of my earrings over the top of their ears & be just as fancy as mama.

 Guess who else had to get in on this crazy action. 

Future graduation video material?

If these are the thrills we come up with during the school year, can you just imagine what summer will bring?

Camping anyone?

Mother's Day 2012

 Card from Andrew... a flower pot!

 "you are the best Mom in the hole world."

 Picture from Rebecca... that's us as "heart princesses" with our "loving kittens"

She also made me a lovely necklace out of yarn, beads, & pieces of colored straws.  ;)

 After a not-so-quiet morning at home & Mass, we headed down the road a couple of hours to my nephew Joseph's graduation.  Graduation!  He's only supposed to be this old...

but I guess he didn't get the memo.

 The proud parents

 Andrew with cousin Sam

 Teresa with Red Grandma

 Joe giving his parents a rose & a hug

 Afterwards Melissa & Rich threw a great party back at the house.  The weather was perfect & we had a lovely evening.  Here's Darren with my dad.

 My crazy (matching) sisters Melissa & Cara

 Andrew sampling the chocolate fountain

 Think Rebecca enjoyed it?

 Teresa had a blast the whole time!

 Rebecca with a neighbor's granddaughter

Us with the man of the hour

(You can spy my necklace from Rebecca if you look close.)

Congratulations, Joe! 

We love you & we're so excited to see what God has planned for you!

May Art Club

 For May Art Club we made acrylic paintings on canvas for our moms.  There were some very unique creations & some really similar to their neighbor's (don't think the moms will necessarily be comparing anyway =]  ) but all turned out lovely!

Parenting 101

The girls out enjoying the neighbor's trampoline... a favorite pasttime!

 So, the other day Teresa was being her rather toddlerish-self while demanding to be given the skewers from the drawer in the kitchen.  I just said "no", shut the drawer, & walked away.  Then...

Teresa:  But I WANT it.
Me:  Well, just because you want something, doesn't mean you can always have it.
Rebecca:  Teresa, remember what Daddy said the other day about the Rolling Stones?

Some parents get their bits of wisdom from books... we prefer song lyrics.  ;)

One last blast

 We bid farewell to our GodTeens for the summer at our closing Pizza Party at the Park. I love this shot of Andrew ahead of the 3-legged pack! 

Games, food, friends, fun!

Such a great group!  We will miss you every week this summer.  Hope to see you around soon! 

God bless you all!

Splish splash

 Ninety degree weather in May is definitely a good time to try out the new hand-me-down pool from the neighbors.  So fun!

 Made me realize how slanted our backyard is!  Guess we'll have to try it in the front.

 Andrew of course found a way to shoot water out the pool noodle... such a boy.

Bring on summer!!!