Friday, April 5, 2013

Always better...

with cousins!

 We were so thrilled to enjoy some time with our out-of-state cousins last week.  Didn't get many photos, too busy playing.

 Love it when I can be with my sisters!  And look at Clara,
Joe, & Michael... these kids were like my first babies before I had babies & now they are so grown up.  Amazing.  So glad we were able to get together!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Fun with cousins

 Andrew loves these boys like brothers.  They came to play at our house while Katie & Brad were house hunting.  Andrew played & played & played with Logan AND took care of little Ryder the whole time.  So hope they can soon be our neighbors!
We all had a lot of fun.  Yay for cousins!

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Alleluia! He is risen!

 Happy Easter!
The kids awoke (early) to a house that had blossomed into spring.  It's a lot of work, but I love making it such a drastic change between them going to bed & waking up in the morning.  Seeing their faces light up makes it all worth it for me.  :)  Teresa insisted in getting all dressed up BEFORE looking for her Easter basket.  Priorities, I tell ya.

 Yes, that is beef jerky: Andrew's favorite treat.  Seems to end up in crazy places like Christmas stockings & Easter baskets...
 After Mass
I love this statue of the Risen Christ.  I've looked all over the place for one we could have in our home with no luck.  If you ever see (a smaller) one, please let me know! 




 After Mass we headed up to Darren's parents.  All the aunts, uncles, & cousins... even Great Grandma & her sister were there!  Later even more extended family showed up.  I think it was easily the largest group we've ever had there for a holiday.  I was almost emotional seeing all of these big guys at "the cousins table".  They were just chatting it up & eating away... they are growing up so fast.  I have such fond memories of the cousins table.  It's so fun to see them really becoming friends.
 Then, because we can never get enough, it was time for another egg hunt with more candy.  Anybody want some???



 The gorgeous afternoon weather was a perfect opportunity to shoot of Andrew's model rocket, too.  Three launches & only one resulting in a 3 mile walk to retrieve it.  (The LAST one, if you hadn't guessed.)  Quite the thrill for all!
What a beautiful day with wonderful family & a fantastic celebration of the most important event of our Catholic faith.  We are so blest!

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Holy Saturday

 After a seemingly longer than usual Lent, we were happy to get a jump on celebrating the Resurrection on Holy Saturday.  We kicked it off with the annual Easter Egg Hunt at our parish sponsored by the GodTeens.  A little rain in the morning called for some modifications, but it still was a great time. 
Teresa was terribly hesitant to touch anything during the supposedly less intimidating hunt for littler kids in the gym.  I finally convinced her to pick up one... ONE.  But, it doesn't matter because the eggs are empty!  They all turn them in for the same cute little bunny bag of candy.  Ingenious.
 Andrew & buddy Grayson bunny hopping
The big kid hunt outside... Andrew got a whole bucketful!  Rebecca found about 8 & shared a few with Teresa who ran full force into it outside.  Guess she's not "little" anymore.  ;)

 
 After a stop at home to gorge on candy & for this big mama to lay down for a while after we ate lunch, it was off to Orscheln's for their egg hunt.
 Because of the earlier rain, they set it up inside the store!  The littles had a few different spots among the clothing & the big kids actually searched in the aisles.  Hilarious to watch!
 Then it was time for the real reason we go... to see the baby bunnies, chickies, turkeys, & other birds.  Always a highlight.

 That afternoon we colored Easter Eggs.
I tried a few fun ideas that I saw on Pinterest... didn't quite turn out as the photos.  :P  The two middle ones on the far left were "volcano eggs" painted with baking soda paint & then bubbled over with vinegar.  Novel but not very bright.  The far right corner was  "marbled egg" using melted margarine in the die to make an automatic resist.  The dye was so light though that we decided to leave it in longer & it pretty much all just turned blue.
The best were our tried & true method:  crayons & dye.


Fun was had by all!  Then we got out all of the Easter decorations for the morning & prayed our Divine Mercy Novena together.  It was a good day full of all of our traditions.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Steps to Jesus

Rebecca is such a little artist.  But lately, she's been surprising us with her writing as well.  She's not one of those that has to know exactly how to spell everything to give it a try & I LOVE her phonetic spelling.  :) 
Playing outside one afternoon she saw the different sections of sidewalk as a perfect layout to writing some "Fasx abowt Jesus".
 #1 Steps to Jesus
#2 I love Jesus
 #3 God is love
 #4 Jesus love me yes I no
 #5 Jesus baptis (baptizes) us
 #6 Jesus paras (prays) for us
 
#7 Jesus is osum (awesome)
#8 the End

Friday, March 15, 2013

Come on spring!

 When it's 65 degrees in Nebraska, you can't stay inside.  We enjoyed the whole afternoon in the sunshine!  I finally remembered to take some pictures as the sun started to set.
 While Andrew spent most of his time playing football & Teresa riding her bike, Rebecca used lots and LOTS of sidewalk chalk.
 "fishes swimming in the ocean with numbered bubbles"
"a flamingo"
& my favorite was "Fasx about Jesus", but that deserves it's own post.
Come on spring!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Habemus Papam!

 We have a new pope!
Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina will now be Pope Francis leading Our Church in the world. He appears to be a kind, holy, humble, & wise man.  So excited! 
The big kids watched it at school; we watched it at home around 1:30 p.m.  To celebrate when they arrived home we colored papal miters & ate some brownies!
Oh, & made fishy lips.  Hey, we are the "Fish Eaters" after all. 
Long live Pope Francis!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Light of Christ

 One extra activity that Andrew did this year for Cub Scouts was earn his Light of Christ award.  They had a special Mass for Scouts all over the diocese at the Cathedral.
Each of them were able to go up personally to our new bishop & receive their award.  It was definitely an exciting accomplishment.  Good job, Andrew!