Whiter than snow

Andrew received the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time on the evening of February 27, 2013.  He was very excited!  So excited that he decided to make a list of his sins to bring into the confessional just so he wouldn't forget any.  ;) 

"I only came up with fifteen, Mom.  There's probably more but I can't remember them now.  Do you think that's enough?"

Pictured above with Fr. J, but he actually went to Fr. S.  There was a short service to begin but then a lot of waiting your turn.  He went about halfway through the line up of almost 60 kids!  Afterwards they each went up to light a candle with their name on it, which they were able to bring home.  They also received a nice lapel pin with a lamb that says "Love & Forgiveness" on it.

 The girls were amazingly quiet & patient!  We usually don't bring anything along with us to Church, so they were pretty pumped to have a pile of religious books to browse.  Teresa looked at the Catholic Children's Bible for almost 25 minutes!  Rebecca kept wanting a turn & finally Teresa just looked at her & said, "Patient!!!"

 It was about 8:00 when we were done, but we still had to celebrate.  So, we drove through Wendy's for some Frosties.  We gave him a card with a crucifix pin that he can wear for his 1st Communion in a few weeks.  Very happy time indeed!

Congratulations, Bubba!  You're getting so big!

We got a pet

Beware of the attack chipmunk!

Birthday Party

 Little Flowers had a birthday party for St. Therese!  It was a great turnout.  They played duck, duck, goose...

 & each group presented something that they had learned from their last two meetings.

 Rebecca even joined the another group who was short on gals for the day to sing her memory verse!

 We played "Flower Lava"

 & Saint Bingo

 before singing Happy Birthday & enjoying some delicious treats.

What a celebration!  Thanks to everyone who helped!

Snow Fun!

All the kids thoroughly enjoyed their snow days (well at least the second one WITH snow) & snow weekend outside.  They had such a blast!

This started as a snow wall & then was shaped into some different sculptures.

 

 Rebecca was very excited with her mini-snowgirl that she made all by herself.  It even has snow arms!

Andrew spent HOURS carving this igloo out of the snow at the end of the yard.  He kept adding more & more to the pile.  Then he cleaned it out down to bare grass inside & claims there are 3 rooms!  He put a couple of our walking sticks over the entrance as a gate.  Snow fun!

A birthday celebration

February 15th marked our baby Zachary's first birthday in Heaven.  We miss him so. 

On his birthday we spent lots of family time together: morning Mass, (school for the big kids), watching a show at home, bowling on the Wii, lots of hugs, & going to the first Fish Fry of Lent.  It was good, but still rather quiet.  So, when we had gorgeous weather on Sunday afternoon, we decided to make this day the big celebration.  First we stopped by the cemetery to say a prayer & sing him "Happy Birthday". 

Then we headed out to a beautiful park for some hiking.  We made our first trek out to this old log cabin.

We enjoyed watching all the geese that had gathered on the pond as they went from the ice to the water to the land & back again.

We climbed up the big hill to see the statue & ran down as fast as we could.  Amazingly, no one wiped out!

Then it was fun on the playground time.  Teresa really enjoyed the "noodle slide".

The big kids were collecting coffee bean pods from all around the area & making their own little stash.  Too bad we don't drink coffee...



After a full day in the beautiful February weather, we warmed up with a tasty dinner out.  All of the kids were good!  Whatever version of Muzac they had playing was very pleasing to all.  Rebecca spent almost the entire time dancing in the booth as she ate.

 

Andrew gave in & let me take a picture of him grooving as well.

Teresa of course welcomed all chances for goofy photos.  ;)

 

What a happy day!  So sad that he couldn't be with us to celebrate, but so thankful that we have each other & that he is looking out for us from Heaven. 

Happy birthday, Zachary Matthew!

Cub Scout Banquet

 Every year the Cub Scouts have a Blue & Gold Banquet to celebrate the birthday of scouting.  This is the 50th year for the pack at our Church, so they really went all out this time.  After a special Mass with them all in uniform, we went over for the celebration.  Andrew was part of the company that presented the colors.  He was very excited to do it & very focused.

 We heard from some Eagle scouts & a past Cubmaster about their experiences.  Then we chowed down on some tasty lunch, complete with delicious cupcakes with oh-so-dark-blue frosting.  ;)

 Teresa was giddy & goofy the whole time! 

 Andrew & Grayson with the beads they have earned recently.

 Teresa spent a good chunk of time with two of her favorite people: baby Gus & Mrs. W.

 Andrew was also presented with a plaque for earning the most creative award at the Father/Son Cake Bake competition.

 These boys were each the top popcorn sellers for their dens.  As a reward...

 they could throw a whipped cream pie in their den leader's face!  That means Andrew was able to get his own dad pretty good. 

 They got quite the kick out of it.

So glad that Christine & little Jackson along with Green Grandma & Grandpa could join us for the morning.  Thanks for coming!

St. Valentine's Day parties

 Teresa & I went to school for the afternoon to be a part of all the fun in Andrew & Rebecca's classrooms.  We hopped back & forth between parties. 

Here are the Kindergartners in an intense game of Valentine BINGO.

The 2nd graders decorated their own cookies & then turned their water pink with drink mix before devouring.  Nice face, Andrew.

 We tried some Minute to Win It games with them.  They balanced lemons on a spoon to race, stacked candy hearts, & this one where they had to move conversation hearts from one plate to the other using chopsticks.  These ladies were really working on technique!  Some of the others just slid the plates closer together & "swept" them over.  Those problem-solving skills are fun to see!

 Speaking of problem-solving, watching the Kindergartners play "Heart Lava" was hysterical!  They had to use two hearts to move across the room without falling off & stepping in "the lava".  Some had a very concise & quick pattern moving in small hops across the room.  Others would whip that heart like a frisbee, taking a flying leap to get there, & then have to stretch out on the floor to get the other one.  Hilarious!

 Cheering on their teammate

 Dancing to Rockin' Robin

 After they danced for a while, they had to line up according to the number on their heart necklace.  They counted by fives all the way to 100!

 The last game we tried with the big kids involved smearing their nose with vaseline & then throwing a fuzzy pompom up in the air to try & catch it on the vaseline.  Lots of giggling involved.

So much fun... so much sugar... so many great friends!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Fancy schmancy

Rebecca:  Mommy, you & Mary are my favorite moms ever!

***

Teresa singing in the grocery store:  She's real fine my 409... (repeat 100 times)