Buddies

Though I truly appreciate (& NEED) my time alone at Bible Study once a week, I miss having Sarah along to enjoy her without all the crazies drowning her out.  Well, I'm getting my baby fix these days!  We had 3 baby boys at study the last few weeks & they are hilarious!  These two especially were following each other around, giving kisses, & just attacking each other in general.  Reminds me of when Teresa & Ellie were doing the same thing a few years ago.   :)



With the fam

 I feel so blest to have been part of a Bible Study for almost 11 years.  Normally I just get to enjoy these lovely ladies (& tiny babies) once a week, but we gathered the masses for a family picnic at the park.  It's always fun to see the kids together, too.  We're never all able to make it, but this was a pretty good turnout.  What a fabulous gift I have in these friends!

Happy Feet

 Pedicures & Yogurtini with some Bible Study friends...

fabulous!

Bible Study Mass

Now that we wrapped up our latest study, we were blest to have a special Mass for the feast of St. Gianna at our home with Bible study.  It was so nice.  (Andrew was thrilled to have his first time "serving".)  Perks of having a priest for a brother! 

Thank you, Fr. Jon!

Bring the fam

 I am so blest to be a part of a wonderful Bible Study!  I've been with some of these gals for almost 11 years & some of the others for just a few short months... but I am so grateful for each & every one.  We got our families together for some desserts & fun at the park a few weeks ago.  It was great!  We didn't account for how soon the sun would set when planning to take a picture & of course not everyone could make it, but other than that I would say it was a success.  :)

Thanks for a fun night, ladies!

Bible Study Reunion

 10 years

That's how long I've been a part of a young married women's Bible Study.  When we started, there was just one child among us.  Then more & more started to join & more & more children were added into the mix.  Now we can barely fit all of us gals in the same room, much less hubbies & kiddos!

 They have been such amazing friends to me.  I'm so grateful that I've had this group in my life.

 Some I've known since college.  Some I've only met recently.  Some joined after our group got so big we had to split... so I barely know them at all.  But I am confident in their support, advice, & love for our faith. 

 It is a gift to be surrounded with such wonderful women!

 So, to celebrate 10 years since our start, we had a night out together at a local restaurant.  We ate, chatted, played Bunco, chatted some more, & just generally enjoyed each other.

 It was awesome.  Think we gained a few new Bunco fans out of the deal, too.  ;)

So thankful for every one of you! 

You are a blessing to me, to our family, & to our Church.

Special Family

 I've been blest to be a part of a Bible Study since before Andrew was born.  Some of these women I was friends with in college, others I knew through my siblings, some married college friends, & some are newer blessings in my life.  All of them are AWESOME!  They provide such an inspiration for me to be a better wife/mother/woman/Catholic, are a source of encouragement, & bring tremendous joy into my heart.  We were able to get quite a few of us together with our families last week for a picnic at the park.  So fun!

I pray we get to enjoy another 10 years together!

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?

Girls' Night Out

We took a break from our regular Bible Study gathering to head out & see the movie "October Baby" together.  So awesome!  (both the movie & the girl time  ;]  )  If you haven't seen it yet, you should!  It sure changed my outlook & moved my heart in a lot of ways.  And why not spend money on something you actually can feel GOOD supporting?  Glad we did.  =]

Jolly old St. Nicholas

I've always loved the feast of St. Nicholas. My mom has always made it an extra special day for us. So, we got out our stockings & Santa hats, St. Nicholas statues, books, & video, gifts to unwrap from my parents, & hit the hay. We awoke to a jubilant table full of celebrating. After school we celebrated with some neighborhood friends, too.

Teresa FINALLY let Alison hold her...a gift!

Pin the cross on the miter

Hmm... I'll take this one.Christmas cookie decoratingThen we celebrated Mass at our home that evening for Bible Study. My brother came over & let the kids help him set up.We were able to sing some old Newman Center tunes, Andrew rang the bells (huge thrill!), & appreciate the Mass even more after our study of it's Biblical origins. Rebecca helped me earlier in the day to make these chocolate peanut butter balls & Christmas veggie tree. What a fabulous day!

Falling

I am not a prolific pumpkin carver. In general I'm more of a fan of paint, but our friend Anne has generously hosted a Fall Pumpkin Party for the last two years so I had to at least give it a try. Last year I just scraped off the outside layer of the pumpkin into that funny little guy on the left. It turned out cute & I continued to rescrape it out every few days so it stayed nice for a long time. This year I went the more traditional route & carved away. Here's my feline creation! It turned out really cute & the kids loved it. Unfortunately, Halloween is still a week away & I tossed it today because it was totally moldy. We're planning on doing some more carving with the kids; anyone have tips for keeping them nice a little longer?

It was a lovely night with a fun group of ladies...some of whom I haven't more than chatted with for years. Most of us went the carving route, but Annie did some cute painting & Karen was a flourish of turkey feathers. :) I had such a nice time. Thanks for all of the good food, great laughs, & amusing conversation! Hope to see you again next year!

Tuesday

Two of the gals in my Bible Study have husbands that work together. In their travels they happened upon Grandpa Jake's restaurant in Sutton.

It's your standard small town hole-in-the-wall bar with an extra "restaurant" room open on Tuesday nights to serve delicious italian food. The chef owns another place in a Mennonite town nearby where he can't serve alcohol... so he come to Sutton once a week so his pasta can be enjoyed with wine!

So, on a TUESDAY evening seven couples met up with Fr. Holoubek & had a fabulous dinner. Totally worth the drive, especially since driving together was part of the fun!

Thanks for organizing, Steph! We had a great night out.

Things

Ever played The Game of Things? We got together our two Bible Study groups last week just to hang out & after chatting, eating, & chatting some more we decided to break out a game. Here's Staci directing our fun. ;) It was rather amusing & "enlightening"!

To top it off, the pastor at the parish where we held our fun in the basement bought roses for all of us to take home with a note saying something along the lines of: These are for you to thank you for being such holy & awesome mothers. He is such an amazing priest & inspiration for holiness, not too mention sweet! Thanks for a great time, gals!