First Day of Spring!

It wasn't easy explaining to Mary that today is the first day of spring, and yet our house is half buried in snow!  We had two days of heavy winter weather.

Our mailbox is out there somewhere.

Do you see the trailer in the backyard?  Neither can we!

Daybook: Three Words

Outside my window...  Slush and wind!

I am thinking... dinner smells good.

I am thankful for... my awesome husband!

From the learning rooms... well deserved weekend

From the kitchen... chicken, yam, salad

I am wearing... jeans, sweater, smile

I am reading... Tolkien, Tolstoy, Fitch

I am hoping... spring comes soon.

I am hearing... kids.  Always kids.

One of my favorite things...  I took this.



A few plans for the rest of the week... work, rest, grow

Fashionista

Lucy loves clothes.  On a typical day she goes through more costume changes than a Broadway production.  I decided to keep the camera handy, and today she kept it down to a mere half-dozen outfits.

It's eight in the morning and we are looking fine in purple jammies and bed hair.

By about nine we are accessorizing with winter gear.

Jammies are all the rage this season.

The layered look is also "in".

We go casual (more casual than pajamas?) and suddenly get camera shy.

After a long day of looking fabulous, we go back to our old stand-by, the purple footie jammie, and retire for the evening.

Thomas' Birthday

We had a really nice day for Thomas' birthday.  I am happy that his birthday fell on a Sunday so the kids could relax with extra time to play computer and just goof around.  Thomas was very excited to make his own cake, and he was so proud at how pretty (and delicious!) it turned out.  He wanted me to get pictures of the pizzas we made, but we were too busy eating them!

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake, so bad it's good.

Lucy catching a quick before-dinner nap.

Our Birthday Boy, getting so big!

Brothers and Sisters- the most special gift of all.

Happy Birthday, dear Thomas!  We all love you, and  pray that God will bless you with a year of health and joy!

Ultrasound

Baby's legs.  Knees together to the right, little tootsies on the left.

Baby's face.  His/Her mouth is open and you can just see the tongue.  Baby is using our placenta like a pillow.  I assume the nose won't look like that in person.

Looking pretty darn good for 329 weeks pregnant.

Just for You Know Who

I can't think of a better way to update this ol' blog than with a few pictures of Christmas! Enjoy!

Raechel, relaxing with the fam. Isn't she pretty!

Thomas with his favorite gift: a camping shovel.

Mary is at that perfect age where Christmas is nothing but magic and lights and sweets. Oh, and Jesus. We try to not forget about Him.

Last year, Lucy was just a little baby. She spent Christmas morning lying under the tree, staring at the ornaments and drooling on herself. This year, she is a big baby! Here she is, opening her first present from Santa- a baby doll that she just loves.

We're missing a few kids there, but I assure you, the rest of them are equally photogenic. See, here they are, all together:

L to R, First Row: Mary, 4; Joseph, almost 10; Thomas, 7; Daniel, 12; Robert, 16Back Row: Raechel, 14, holding Lucy, 18 months
I just love how my "big kids" are not too embarrassed to sit for pictures with the "little kids". And lookit all their little bare feet! Too cute!

This picture is out of order, but here's this year's tree. It's beautiful! Thank you, Sweetie, for cutting it down and trimming it and dragging it into the sauna to dry and helping to set it up just perfect. It might have been easier to just buy one, but it wouldn't have been ours.

And I'll close with a picture of me. This one is rare because I look at it and think, "That's actually a decent picture." I'm so vain. ;-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Lucy's First Week slideshow

Here are pictures of Lucy. I stole the good ones from Chuck. ;-) (I hope this works...)



Lucy will be a week old tomorrow, and we are both doing really well. Thank you all for the prayers and well-wishes. :-) God bless!

Half-Baked Baby

This weekend, Baby and I reached the half-way point. Here's the latest picture of us:

My visit with the midwife on Saturday went well. One of the lovely things about her... she comes to me, even on weekends. :-) My blood pressure is staying nice and low, fundus is measuring 23 cm, and I've gained about 13 pounds so far. We couldn't get a good listen to Baby's heartbeat because s/he was rolling around too much. We're talking a lot about whether we think Baby is a boy or girl, and discussing names. I think we've decided a girl's name, and I'm 99% positive we've decided a boy's name. But, since it is always subject to change, we're not telling until it is official. ;-)

That's all the update for now, Happy St. Valentine's Day! God bless!

Here We Grow

It occurred to me that through all my pregnancies, I have exactly three "belly shots". This time around I plan to take pictures regularly, every few weeks at least. This first picture is Baby 'n me three weeks ago, at about 15 weeks...



Next picture is this weekend, at about 18 weeks (not quite 4 months).

The pictures look a little odd because I'm twisting to photograph myself in the mirror. Still, as you can see, I'm carrying quite high so far. I can't remember if that means a boy or girl, according to the old wives. ;-) The e-mails I receive say that at this point Baby is about the length of a bell pepper (5 1/2 inches) and weighing somewhere around 5 ounces. I first felt movement about a week and a half ago, and by now I'm feeling Baby saying "hi" a couple of times a day. I just love being pregnant! (Well, now that I'm over the first trimester I can say I love it!)

Everybody has been doing well... Chuck did end up getting sick on the night of his birthday and into the next day, but that was the end of it. God bless!

For the Beauty of the Earth

LORD of all to Thee we raise this our hymn of thankful praise!

Click here to see more amazing satellite images of God's magnificent creation!

Sigh...

I miss him already.

I tried going back to sleep after Chuck left this morning, but I just couldn't. Now it is after 7:00 and I'm at the computer wondering: Why do the kids sleep later when I get up earlier? And when does it get light here???

Please pray for safe travel for Chuck today; he should make it to Texas sometime in the mid-afternoon.

God bless!

Birthdays and Epiphany

I have a few pictures from the last two days to share. Raechel had brownies and ice cream for her birthday dessert.

Do you think Mary looks like me (except for the dirty face)?

We had banana splits for Joseph's birthday dessert, but I didn't get pictures of that. We had such a fun day, though!

Proud big brother and loving baby sister...

Joseph's birthday is also the traditional day to celebrate the Epiphany. Since the day after Christmas we have been putting figures in a special 12th Night calendar and singing the hymn "We Three Kings" along with our evening prayers. Here, Thomas gets a little help from Daniel with placing the last figure just right.

Here is our completed calendar which we will leave hanging until Lent. The calendar is published by Dumb Ox, and they also have a lovely Advent calendar that is filled in the same way. They are inexpensive so I don't mind buying new ones each year. The kids really enjoy having the figures to color and cut out every year.

After our calendar was completed last night, Chuck led us in a house blessing. Traditionally, the initials for the wise men, enclosed within the year and connected with crosses, is written over the doorways of the home with blessed chalk. This year is written:

+20+G+M+B+09+

The wise men were blessed with the wisdom and courage to seek the Infant Christ and worship Him. In blessing our home on the day in honor of the Epiphany, we ask for the same grace to seek and serve Jesus Christ in the coming year.

I'll close with another picture of all the children, although it didn't turn out great. For one thing, they don't fit so well on this couch any more. Mary is grumpy, the little boys are sleepy, and Daniel looks like he's just about bored to death. One of these days I'm going to get them all dressed up and get some good pictures when we have time to pose and everybody is well rested. In the meantime this will have to do.

God bless!

Happy Birthday, Joseph!!

Today is our dear Jo-Jo's 7th Birthday.

Happy Birthday, darling boy. We love you so much!

Raechel's Birthday Today!

Happy 12th Birthday, Raechel. We all love you very much!

(more pictures to follow...)

About our New Year's Eve

I didn't get as many pictures as I thought, but here are some to share. Here is Mary Mae fulfilling her role as "Mama's Helper". She is very diligent with her job of overseeing the biscuit-making process. Like any good manager, she is very "hands on".


"I give these biscuits full and official approval!"


We spent the afternoon tidying house, at least that's all I remember doing. We had our favorite meal, chicken and rice with gravy, and then cleaned up and got ready to go to Mass. January 1st is still a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics, the feast day in honor of Mary, Mother of God. Traditionally, it is also remembered in honor of the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus. I really enjoy going to Mass on New Year's Eve. It seems like the best possible way to finish the year and begin the next.

After we got home from Mass we all took a nice, hot sauna. If you have never had a traditional steam sauna, you really don't know what you are missing. There is nothing that feels better on a crisp winter's evening! You have to do it the right way, though. After you've been in there a while and you are so hot you don't think you can stand another minute, you go running out naked in the snow and jump in the nearest snow pile. Then you have to run, squealing and laughing, back to the sauna to warm back up! Chuck has tried this, the kids have done this, I will not do this. They assure me that it is not that cold and actually feels really good. I assure them that I am happy taking a sauna the "wrong" way.

So, after the sauna we had your typical snack foods and Chuck beat Robert at Battleship. Then I beat Chuck at Battleship only because I know his strategy too well.

We lost the youngest two by around 10:30. Thomas fell asleep on the couch shortly after locating his pajamas.

Mary was soon to join him. (Remember, she was up early slaving over the biscuits!)

At almost midnight we went outside, admired the beautiful sky for a few minutes, fired a couple of shots into the woods, yelled "HAPPY NEW YEAR", and then went back inside to thaw out. At this time it was -3 degrees, afterall. We prayed our bedtime prayers, brushed teeth, and all the children were in bed by 12:30 (except for Mary who had woken back up).

I pray that God will bless all of you and your families in the year to come!

Merry Christmas!

You're my...

..brown eyed girl!

...sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-a-la-te-da...

Looks almost like winter out there...

Robert took this picture of the "snow clouds" yesterday before it started to snow.

The reason I say it looks "almost" like winter is because you can still see the ground in a few areas! We have a few more inches in the forecast and then it will warm back up a little (40's) early next week. So, this snow is nothing serious, but rather a sign of winter right around the corner.

God bless!

Happy Anniversary

I'm amazed that Chuck and I have been together for 15 years. It seems so long ago, and yet it doesn't. Anyone who is in love will know what I mean. I looked through our photo albums to find a picture of just us, and this is one of the few that I found.

Aren't we so young and cute!? :-D This was taken at his Grandma's house on Thanksgiving Day in 1995.

My prayer for today... Thank you, Lord, for our marriage and our family! Forgive us for our failings, strengthen us in our weakness, and bless us with Your love for many years to come.

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