Recovered Pictures

I was certain that I had lost these pictures from Saint Valentine's Day, but I was wrong. Yipee! Is that smirk not the greatest?

This outfit was a gift from my godson who loves to spoil Sweetness with fancy duds. Don't you love how she is filling out?

This was a shot I just couldn't resist. Every part of her, even her backside, is so precious!
One last sentiment. I just LOVE pink, and babies, and clothes, and blah, blah, blah, blah.

The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies

Around this house the dance of the sugar plum fairies refers to the kiddos and a tendency known as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). This only kicks in after the enormous consumption of sugar and it always seems to coincide with a visit from Grandma!No, I am not exaggerating. No, this is not the only thing she brought. No, I am not complaining! Thanks to Grandma, who came to visit last week, our pantry is brimming, the kids are on the ceiling(but staying out of trouble), and I've gained five extra pounds.

To hear her say it, "Sweet kids deserve sweet treats." To hear me say it, "Yes, Mom. Actually I am getting low on milk and eggs. Well, I'm going shopping on Friday, but if you don't mind picking it up and bringing it in, that would be great! Well, I'm low on bread too, but I don't mind whipping up some. Okay, thanks, bread would be great. Salad? No, I only have some celery left. Okay, salad sounds good. Well could you throw in some fruit? Whatever is on sale. Nope, we're good on chips. Wait, we have absolutely no sugar in the house. Yes, could you please bring me lots of empty calories. I'm dying to go up a size in my pants. No, leggings are the in thing this season and the kids haven't had a cavity in a year, so if you don't mind could you please buy out the candy section? Thanks. Okay, see you in a couple of hours. You're the greatest!"

Actually, I just love to give her a hard time. She really made our day. The truly sad part is that there is only a little bit of cereal left and one bottle of soda. Well, there may be two or three Rice Krispies left.

Did I let the kids have any? A little.
Here is everyone outside the Cracker Barrel after a delicious lunch and much anticipated time together. Thanks, Mom (and Dad) for spoiling us.

Boredom is the Mother of all Invention

Bubbles invents a pulley system to alleviate the tedious task of carrying games and snacks up and down the playset. Lazy or genius??
Prez seeks inspiration from a higher source. Mama asks for protection from THE higher source.

Preparing for Confirmation

Bubbles is currently preparing for her Confirmation. There are many good books out there to study, but my ten year old is more of a hands on type. So, I decided to take the necessary information and break it into bite-sized pieces to study using a scrapbook. Some of the pages I have given her graphics to use (like this Confirmation guy below) and other she has created all on her own.

It has definitely been a lot of work, but the information is sticking. That makes me happy. These are not all of them since it will be a year long project, but these are a few of them. I'm proud of her hard work and I hope you will enjoy them.
Confirmation means strengthening. A confirmed person has the obligation to spread and defend the Catholic faith through words and deeds.
A sacrament is an outward sign initiated by Christ to give us grace. There are seven sacraments.
Grace is a free and undeserved gift from God that helps you live as a child of God and helps you fight temptation.
The Bishop is the one who usually administers the sacrament of Confirmation and he uses oil saying, "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit." He will lay hands on her head and bless her with the sacred chrism. We learned that in the old days, the Bishop would give a little slap on the cheek as a reminder that in our duty to share the Gospel we will also share in Christ's cross.

The first outpouring of the Holy Spirit came to the apostles during Pentacost when they were gathered in the Upper Room. Through the gifts given to them, they had the courage and ability to go out and preach the Gospel of Christ--3000 converts were counted that day! That's some good preachin'!

Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

I know that this was days ago, but that's what happens when your backyard gets torn up, your toe gets hurt, and your baby is teething you're me...I'm always behind.

Anyways, this special feast day celebrates the special role of St. Peter in the church. Christ called him out of the apostles, renamed him, and entrusted to him the role of leadership after Christ himself had ascended into heaven. Peter finished his ministry in Rome, the center of the Western World at the time when he was Bishop there and led the growing church. His authority is passed down and has had an unbroken passage since the beginning of the church. We still have a Bishop in Rome and his special name is the Pope. So, naturally we prayed for our current pope, Pope Benedict XVI.

I had super big plans to decorate a table chair, create a chair to represent, and/or play musical chairs, but these all didn't happen. We were able to discuss this great man and his readiness to answer the call of Jesus and put his trust in him again and again. The above picture shows Peter and his friends putting down their nets after a night of hopeless fishing and catching an enormous amount of fish. I helped Prez color some of this, but I love what he decided to have Saint Peter saying when he pulled up his net.

Even though we know that Peter was told by Christ that he would be catching men, not fish (meaning he would be a disciple who would win many souls for God), we still add fish in honor of St. Peter. Every kid's nightmare is to have a tunafish casserole with peas no less, but that is the only fish I had and you just don't run to the store in these parts. So, with a little sacrifice and a lot of complaining, it made it down. Thanks be to God!

Cool Cuts for Kids...a franchise or a mindset?

Last year, during my very sick pregnancy, I took Prez to get his haircut at Cool Cuts for Kids, a franchise salon. The draw is that the kiddos can choose to either watch a movie or play a video game while getting sheared. Prez decided this was way cooler than sitting at home letting me nip his ears. Unfortunately, there is no local Cool cuts for Kids way out here, well, that is until I borrowed Bubbles' DS. Prez is just as happy and I can't believe I never thought of this before.
Showing off his new haircut. It's amazing what you can learn from youtube.


The many faces of Prez, our precocious four year old!

The family that denies personal space is the family that stays together?

Just some recent shots at my aunt's 50th birthday celebration. Sweetness is being loved on by many, many relatives and the kiddos took advantage of my empty lap. I, of course, LOVED it!
Where is Sweetness you ask? Being passed around of course. I couldn't resist this picture opportunity though. It's no secret how very much they love adore their Dad.