Fun with friends

 Playing "barber shop" with Nikolas

Thrills & chills at Champions with the 1st graders 

Gymnastics fun with the preschoolers 

 & with my best college freshman year Spanish buddy Natalie as a surprise!

Fun at the Farm

For a little extra fun during Spring Break, the kids & I headed up to visit Red Grandma & Grandpa on the farm.  There was a lot of playing, eating goodies, sorting through storage, looking at old photos, & fun with the Reds.  Thanks for having us, Mom & Dad!

They're all goofy & they're all ours.  ;)

Cel-e-brate, part 2

Aarrgggghhh!  The "new & improved" Blogger is driving me bonkers!  Forgive me if these posts look a little goofier than usual.  :P

Happy feast day, Rebecca!

The girls love to paint, I'm just not a big fan of clean-up.  But, I figured St. Rebecca's (St. Rafka) feast day was a good reason to celebrate.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Like the green milk?  Thanks for the idea, Jamie!

Cel-e-brate good times

Looking back at the last two months, I realized that I am way behind on posting all of the celebrations we've had.  So, here's my attempt at catching up! 

Happy St. Valentine's Day!Andrew made this one for the baby.  Clever little guy... he was deciding between "Happy Babytine's Day" or this one.  I like his choice.   :)

Isn't she polite?

Teresa: Thanks for supper, Mommy! (BIG HUG) It was yucky.

In Loving Memory

Two months ago today our tiny baby boy was born into Heaven. We named him Zachary Matthew & we know that he is our little saint watching over us. God has showered us with consolation & love in this time of grief. I'll tell you about it sometime soon.We miss him so terribly much, but yet still hold him in our hearts & know that God has a plan far greater than our own. One consolation that I have found is this prayer that my sister gave to me.

"Dear Saint Catherine of Sweden, patroness of those who have suffered a miscarriage, you know the dangers that await unborn infants. Please, intercede for me that I may receive healing from the loss I have suffered. My soul has been deprived of peace and I have forgotten what true happiness is. As I mourn the loss of my child, I place myself in the hands of God and ask for strength to accept His will in all things, for consolation in my grief, and for peace in my sorrow. Glorious Saint Catherine, hear my prayers and ask that God, in good time, grant me a healthy baby who will become a true child of God. Amen."

+ St. Zachary, pray for us! +

Dream, dream, dream...

Teresa: "I dreamed about purple puppies arfing!"

The next day...

Teresa: "I dreamed about purple puppies eating purple birdies!"

***

Rebecca (in absolute tears): "I forgot to decide what to dream about!"

The next day...

Rebecca: "I dreamed about pink bears having a birthday party! And they were all wearing party hats & hula hoops. And they invited Elizabeth & Jackson... & Elizabeth Star."

***

Andrew: "I just dreamed about black."

Out of season

Just overheard Teresa singing to herself in perfect holiday tune:

Fleece Nabibod... Fleece Nabibod...

Constant refrain

Rebecca (always singing):

You are nice in my heart...

& I love you...

& I hope you go to Heaven!

It's the little things

I recently awoke to the first words out of Teresa's mouth being,

"Thank you for my eyebrows."

Keep on knockin', but you can't come in

Teresa (knocking on the bathroom door):

Mommy? Are you in there?

Me (frustrated by the lack of aloneness): No.

Teresa: Is Daddy in there?

Me: No.

Teresa: Well (pause), then WHO YOU ARE???

When pretty gets ugly

Rebecca is constantly trying to make things more beautiful, both with physical decoration & in verbal description. For example, it's not just "my coat" it's "my pretty purple springtime heart jacket". She can't just wear a headband, it has to be a headband with a flower or a bow awkwardly clipped to it. Usually the product of her flourish ends up being cuter, sweeter, & a greater reflection of her overall joy. Then this morning she said,

"Last one to wash their hands is a ROTTEN BUTTERFLY!"

Ew.

Thoughts on Marriage

Darren & I were blest to enjoy a Lenten couples morning of retreat with guest speaker Deacon James Keating. It was awesome! We started with Mass, a lovely breakfast (complete with biscuits & gravy, egg casserole, & caramel rolls...yum), words from our speaker, time for adoration & meditation, as well as Q & A time. He was both hilarious & very wise. It put a lot into perspective. You should totally go next year! Here are some of my favorite quotes from the morning:

"Be together. Be present to each other. Behold your beloved. Choose your beloved & you are one. Peace is union. Alienation is strife."

"When you find yourself repeating the same sin over & over in the confessional, yes, ask Jesus to heal the sin but also to heal your affection for the sin. Tell him that you are tired of liking your sins. Ask him to help you lose that affection."

"If you went to the doctor & just said, "I hurt. Heal me," but didn't tell him where you hurt or how you hurt, he wouldn't be able to help. The same is true with Jesus. You have to tell Jesus where exactly you hurt. Be specific. He will heal you."

"The most important common interest for the Catholic marriage is SALVATION. Everything else is just activities. The one that counts is salvation."

"Don't waste your suffering. Use it for the holiness of your spouse. Replace the ego with an open, compassionate heart. Suffer one another's conversion."

"To stay in love is to choose to suffer the moral conversion of your spouse in & through the power of Christ loving you."

Looking for a date?

Check this out...
http://wearethatfamily.com/2012/02/wfmw-200-date-night-ideas/

Winter, spring, summer, or fall?

We're not really sure what season it is, but we're sure loving it!

Not quite yet. Keep dreamin', Tootsie.

The "Tower of Cold" created by Andrew & buddy Cadence

Champions

In need of a little family fun time, we ventured out to finally redeem our Catholic Schools Week coupons at Champions. "But can we go there, too? Isn't it just for champions?" Andrew asked. Well, yes we can!We enjoyed a couple of games of bowling. Here's Andrew chasing his ball that went the wrong way instead of down the lane!

We had the bumpers up & the girls used these metal rollers to make it much more effective than Rebecca's prior methods. Andrew broke 100 & Rebecca knocked down 52.

Even more fun was the Adventure Maze, however. They all could have run around in there for hours! Rebecca spent her first 10 minutes collecting all the balls that she could find & putting them back in the ball pit. Likes to clean up everywhere but at home...

It was definitely a fun time! I think we'll go back for the maze again soon. Give us a call if you'd like to join in the fun!

Princess

Teresa has insisted on wearing a fancy dress every single day for the last 3 weeks! Luckily, it's been more amusing than annoying. We hear her dancing around almost every day saying:

Cue the sparkles,

cue the music,

Princess Presto with spelling power!

Any other SuperWhy fans out there?

Apparently pancakes are a meal fit for royalty!

To remember

Teresa loved the song "All through the night" when she was a tiny baby & when we sang it from one of her books a few months ago, she relatched onto it. Though we find her singing quite the variety of songs throughout the day, that's the one she always wants me to sing. It was new to me when she was born.

Sleep my child & peace attend thee

all through the night

Guardian angels God will send thee

all through the night

Soft the drowsy hours are creeping

hill & vale in slumber steeping

I my loving vigil keeping

all through the night

My favorite part is when her little voice tries to stretch for the high notes... too cute! Last night as I was holding her in the rocking chair she just kept repeating the line "Guardian angels God will send thee". I want to remember her sweetness.