Wahooligans

ABC party... a bit of genius Frosted cupcakes - delicious Chicken chasing - hilarious

Playdoh creations - amusing

Time with good friends - our favorite

Thanks for a great time Anne, Max, Ben, & Sebastian!

One year down...

Andrew celebrated completing a great year of preschool with a picnic at the park. He loves his teacher; she's awesome at what she does!

Here are all the MWF kids from both the morning & afternoon classes.

Good buddies Sam & Tyme

I love this picture of him with Matt!

We all had a marvelous time! I was really hesitant about preschool at first but it turned out being good for all of us. Andrew learned a lot about how to be a friend, make friends, follow directions, be away from me, & be excited about learning. Rebecca was able to keep up napping for a few months longer than if Andrew had been around every afternoon & we had some great times together "just us girls". Teresa was amused by all his classmates being constantly amused by her. They often would hop in & out of our van just to catch of glimpse of her cuteness; I can't blame 'em. ;) Overall, I think it was a smart decision. It will be really different having him gone all day everyday next year, but I'm sure there will be unexpected blessings from it as well. Onward to Kindergarten!

Old friends, still friends

Happy Birthday, Cris!

We were so glad to celebrate with you. It's so nice to have you around... well at least in the same continent!... again. ;) You are always in our prayers.

Thanks to all the old friends who joined in the fun. I'm always in awe of how God put such a fantastic group of people in my life, the fact that we grew up in our Faith together at the Newman Center, & the joy of seeing those wonderful faces still around our kitchen table. What a gift!

"I'm not little girl, I BIG!"

Rebecca is growing up. She's doing so many more things by herself now & imitating EVERYTHING her brother does. It's fun to hear her rhyme whatever goofy thing pops into her head & rattle off about 20 random things she plans on dreaming about at night.

"I'm gonna dream about popsicles & soup & Grandma & babies & angels & tigers & socks & pudding...etc."
One of my favorite breakthroughs is that she actually WANTS me to fix her hair... versus screaming everytime she sees a hairbrush. Here are her lovely locks post-braids.
Her coloring has gotten amazingly better. She did this completely by herself. A couple of weeks ago I don't think she even knew what the lines were for & here she is almost completely inside of them. I was flabbergasted!Thanks to our generous friends lending us a little bike, she has become a pro at riding as well.She & Andrew are ready to go head-to-head.

Birdie Antagonist

(Enjoying the view from the firetruck at the Farmer's Market)

This afternoon we were playing birdies. Andrew was the baby hatching from his egg, then (to his disgust) being fed pretend pre-mushed worm from his mom, then checking out his nest, then learning to fly... it all climaxed with him running away from me in a game of birdie tag waving his fingers from his ears saying in his tweety lingo,

"Twana twana too too,

twou twan't twatch twe!"

Flimits?

Me: Rebecca, you can't hide behind the refrigerator.

Rebecca: Why not, Mom?

Me: You'll get stuck. It's off limits.

Andrew: Yeah, Becca. ... What is "flimits" anyway?

New Favorite

The other night as I went to make dinner, I realized that my last shopping trip had been rather distracted. Instead of buying everything that was on my meticulously planned menu & shopping list, I must have... um... forgot a few things. (Crazy how three goofball kiddos can do that!)

So, I went to make Mexican Lasagna. Pantry check: no tortillas. "Okay," I thought, "I'll just substitute with cornbread & make Mexican Cornbread." Cupboard check: no cornbread mix. "Hmm. Well, I could just make the Chicken Wellington on the menu for tomorrow night." Fridge check: no cream cheese. So, I had to improvise. But you know what they say; necessity is the mother of invention. Here's what I came up with... I think it's a new favorite!

Cordon Bleu Casserole

-Preheat oven to 350*. Grease square pan.
-Spread bite size pieces of 2-3 uncooked chicken breasts on the bottom of the pan.
-Pour 1/4 C milk over chicken then sprinkle with salt, pepper, minced onion, & 1 C shredded mozzarella cheese.
-Add layer of 1/2 C diced ham.
-Finish with layer of crescent roll dough to cover.
-Bake 40 minutes & voila! Yumminess.

Mother's Day

Andrew making toast for the first time EVER... what a thrill. Thanks, Darren, for the tasty breakfast & doing the dishes! Woohoo! My sunflower cake...

you can't go wrong with chocolate & Twinkies.

I feel so unbelievably blest to have three beautiful children on loan from God. They make me so full of joy, sadness, laughter, frustration, empathy, exhaustion, & love. I never knew I could feel so much. I've never appreciated the endless sacrifices of my own Mom more. Motherhood is quite an amazing gift & I'm so glad I can share these blessings with my best friend. I know they are helping us to help each other on our journey to Heaven!

7 months

My sweet Teresa Rose,

You are such a joy in our lives. Your big grin just melts my heart! Now that you're seven months old, you've learned all kinds of tricks.

***

You are a proficient roller... we need to put up the gate just to keep you in the living room. You push yourself up but haven't started crawling yet.

***

Your two bottom teeth are being joined by three on top all at once. It makes it hard for you to sleep & nurse, but you are still just a happy kiddo.

***

Your favorite word is still dada & derivations of it. You make a crazy squeal when you are happy that is just hysterical. Giggles abound whenever something strikes you as funny & especially if Daddy is zerberting you. You thump your feet when you are happy, excited, or mad... we've just learned to interpret your different "voices".

***

You've tried almost every babyfood vegetable available & enjoyed them though you are not a fan of fruit except bananas. In the last week you've tried pieces of bread, cheese, avocado, & Cheerios which were all a big hit.
***

If you had your way, I would be holding you all.the.time. while you enjoyed the antics of your crazy brother, sister, & daddy. As a gift for both of us on Mother's Day, we bought you this jumperoo. You love it & so do I!

Love you, Thumper!

Stand By Your Sis

To my big sister

who has always been such a role model for me

of living a joyful, holy life

THANK YOU

I love you, Chris!

Happy Birthday!

He's here!

We had the honor this weekend of meeting our newest nephew: baby Logan Craig.
Now all Rebecca's "babies" are ___ Logan Craig. Yesterday it was "This is Felicity Logan Craig." She is a girl after all. ;)

He is so handsome. Congratulations, Katie & Brad! Our prayers are with you as you start this new adventure!

Chocolate Moose?

Before my parents left on their Minneapolis flight to my niece's First Communion, we enjoyed a nice dinner out together. Afterwards, Uncle Jon invited us back to his place for some delicious & abundant chocolate mousse made by a parishoner. Mom of course couldn't stay out of the kitchen even at the Rectory!

Andrew wouldn't believe me when I told him what we were going to eat.

"You don't put chocolate on a moose & eat it!"

Tastiest moose I ever had. ;)

Thanks for sharing, Fr. Jon!

May Crowning

On this day O Beautiful Mother

on this day we give thee our love

near the Madonna humbly we hover

trusting thy gentle care to prove

***

Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!

Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for us!

Mary, Mother of Our Savior, pray for us!

Recycling

¡Felíz cinco de mayo!

Know where these cards came from?

YeeeeoOW!

Andrew: "Mommy, can you please get me down my Tinkertoys? I need to make a special kind of drill 'cause we're playing doctor & Rebecca is going to have a baby & I need a drill to get the baby out of her tummy."

Priceless Artwork

"Priest Andrew with curly sun"

by Andrew - March 2010
"Our house with a really hot sun"
by Andrew - April 2010

"A super fast tractor"

by Andrew - April 2010

Andrew often amazes me with his drawings. I'm especially impressed by these last two, because he rarely does anything more specific than "designs" with markers. His preferred medium is crayon. ;)

House Party

I hosted my first houseparty.com fiesta last week with our Bible Study gals. It was a combo Rebecca's birthday & St. Gianna's feast day extravaganza. She's our Bible Study's patroness... so of course we had to celebrate! Red Baron supplied this snazzy tablecloth, cheeseshaker, pizza cutters for everybody, "free" music, & some coupons, too. I made the St. Gianna bookmarks for everyone.

They also gave me 3 pan pizzas & 2 pan pastas FOR FREE! Unfortunately, they arrived the day after I hosted the party. ;P So, we had some homemade pasta & regular Red Baron pizzas from Hy-Vee supplemented by some deliciousness from our guests.

Think we were hungry? My favorite potluck surprise was that we had a double dose of chocolate covered strawberries: one as a fruit & one as a dessert!

I haven't had that many bottles in the recycling bin ever! (Like the italian flags? We'll see if you recognize their new purpose on May 5th.)
We had a little contest to see who knew the most about St. Gianna, played some Wii games, & won some prizes.

Overall, I think it was a great success! I hope that I get to host another houseparty.com gathering soon. Great free stuff, good reason to get together, no strings attached. Love it!
***

Prayer of St. Gianna Beretta Molla

Jesus, I promise You to submit myself to all that You permit to befall me, make me only know Your will. My most sweet Jesus, infinitely merciful God, most tender Father of souls, and in a particular way of the most weak, most miserable, most infirm which You carry with special tenderness between Your divine arms, I come to You to ask You, through the love and merits of Your Sacred Heart,the grace to comprehend and to do always Your holy will, the grace to confide in You, the grace to rest securely through time and eternity in Your loving divine arms.

Becca's Birthday

Super-Becca We had a whole day of celebration for Becca's birthday. We went to the library, the park, had a picnic, got ice cream, played Candyland, went for a walk, & threw a big Bible Study party at our house! (more on that later)

We went out to Valentino's last night so that we could celebrate with Darren (who was in Florida most of the week). Her request was "Pizza Hunt" but this was as close as we got. Cheese pizza, crab rangoon, pineapple, ice cream with sprinkles, AND a balloon? What more could a girl ask for?