Gemma's First Holy Communion

Gemma's First Holy Communion banner.  All the children get to design and make
their own banners (our last name was along the bottom) and they are
hung in the gathering space of our Church the week of First Communion. 
Gemma did the design all on her own, and we worked together on the actual banner.

Our sweet daughter celebrated her First Holy Communion last weekend.  What a glorious, grace-filled day!  The day started with breakfast and some presents from mom, dad and brothers.  Kolbe picked her out a card all on his own and a Mass/prayer book whose front matched her invitations.  Aaron and I got her a reliquary for her St. Gemma Galgani first-class relic she received several years ago from a priest friend of ours.  Both boys colored/drew her Holy Eucharist pictures, all on their own.  So sweet!

Gemma's dress was the same dress that my flowergirl wore (almost) ten years ago, and it matched my wedding dress, so that was pretty special.  My alterations gal worked her magic on it and it turned out so beautiful.  I found her veil at our Catholic bookstore and it was actually attached to a barrette so that made that end of things so easy-peasy.  Some curled hair and we were good to go!  Mass was at 10am so we had plenty of time to get ready and make it to Church with time to spare.  Our sweet neighbor brought Gemma a bracelet to wear with her dress before Mass (and extra tables and some beautiful flowers with which to decorate)!

This was the extent of our "decorations".  Several pictures and other items from Aaron's and my First Communions, Gemma's baptism items (her prayer book from Kolbe is standing up right by her arm) and some items she made at school in preparation for the sacrament, including a paper altar and priest and her golden clay chalice.  I was so glad Sams had one bouquet of sparkle daisies left (I had spied them a few weeks ago when we were there), and the pretty statue in front of the flowers was painted by our beloved cloistered Carmelite sisters. 

When we got to church we had time to snap a few pictures with friends/teacher and get a family photo.  As you can tell by the family photo, it was taken exactly 3.82 seconds before Clement decided to go on strike and pitch a very long (very.long.) screaming fit to express his dislike downright hate for the fact he had to sit with Grandma and Grandpa during Mass (even though we had talked about this all week and he had been very excited about sitting with them).  Oh. My. Stars.  It was humbling (and a bunch of other things), and I am so grateful to my parents and sister for juggling him during Mass, because the way they did the reserved seating didn't allow us to have siblings in the pew with us. All the first communicants were seated in order in their pews up front, and the parents were in the same order behind all the kids and then went up and joined them for the reception of Holy Communion.  Gemma had the opportunity to receive under both forms and it was so special to get to witness and experience this together with her, just as we did her Baptism.

My sis took some "professional" pictures after Mass that I'll share at a later time, but here is a great shot my dad got on his camera.  At home before Mass I kept on having no idea what to have her do with her hands when I took pictures.  Then I got to Church and saw other people taking pictures and was like, "duh. fold them."  Obviously a first-timer here. 

We had a luncheon at our home (our very small home) afterwards and were so grateful for the gorgeous weather the day held.  We have some great outdoor space in and adjacent to our property and were able to put it to good use!  We were so grateful to celebrate such a special day with so many family and friends.  Almost all our immediate family was able to make it!  The second grade teachers even stopped by for a bit!

The flowers are the ones our neighbor brought (from her yard!) and the Rosary was also made by our dear Carmelites.

Clement's favorite part of the day was the water cooler.  (Because clearly, it was not the Mass.)  Don't be fooled by the fact that he is taking a drink. Our neighbor won't have to water his lawn for the next month after all the cups he dumped out over there.

I don't know what we would have done if had been cold and/or rainy.  Seriously.  So grateful for a beautiful day.

The jumper cables and hedge-trimmer in the background
add such a classy touch, don't you think?!

As I said on Facebook, it was such a grace-filled day.  Experiencing the Sacraments oneself is obviously a very beautiful thing, but watching your children experience the grace and love of God in such a special way is truly a gift.  God is good...all the time!

January birthdays 2015

Our oldest two have birthdays five days apart from each other.  Less than three weeks after Christmas.  We have struggled to find a good balance when it comes to birthday celebrating.  We've tried the big birthday parties with cousins and everything and it is just...a lot.  Especially right on the heels of the holidays.  Not that it's my kids' fault for being born in January, but even so...  Then the past two years they were both sick on their birthdays and that kind of torpedoed or at least postponed any plans we had.  This year we sat down with Gemma not long after Christmas and discussed birthday options.  We decided for this year (and probably years to come) we would choose a weekend evening around both birthdays and invite grandparents (both sides) over for dinner and the evening.  Then on their actual birthday, each kid gets to choose what they want for dinner, has a special cake or brownies made for them, and gets to open their presents from mom and dad.  This worked out really well and hopefully we'll settle into a nice birthday routine in years to come.  As the kids get older, birthdays will probably be a good opportunity for them to do something with a small group of friends from school as well.  

So "birthday week" started off with dinner with the grandparents.

We served pulled pork, baked beans, steamed veggies and tater-puffs.  Strawberry shortcake and apple crisp were the birthday desserts of choice.  A good time was had by all.

 

Then we have Gemma's actual birthday.  The kids always get cake or brownies for breakfast on their birthdays.  And then Gemma had a donut after Mass since her birthday fell on a Sunday.  OH sugar!

Opening gifts, she got a Calico Critters bunny family, a Clifford stuffed dog and DVD, the Samantha American Girl books and a perler bead pattern book.

Gemma's godmother and her husband joined us for a sushi dinner (Gemma's request) that evening.  Gemma got more books from her godmother!

 

One down, one to go.

Kolbe's birthday started with birthday brownies that had chocolate chips in the shape of a "5" on top.

Since it was a weekday, he got to open two presents at breakfast and one at each other meal.  That way at least mommy and daddy could be around to watch him (sis had school).  At breakfast he got a "5" shirt, which he requested since he liked his "4" one so much.  He also got a Lego car set and and some Lego wheels to go with his big tub.  Cars are his favorite thing to build.  He also got his "save" "spend" and "give" jars since he will start getting an allowance.

At lunch Koble got a Ninja Turtle night light and toy.  The toy actually ended up kind of being a bust though, and so I told him he could pick something else (and I would return the other one).  He picked this slingshot, stuffed animal thing that had actually been what I originally wanted to get him but couldn't find it locally.  As luck would have it, the Target on the other side of town ended up having ONE, so we made a special trip out there.  He was one happy kid, and I was happy to get to do something special and out of the ordinary that I wouldn't normally do (driving to the other side of town) for him.

He had requested to open his gifts in order from smallest to biggest, which worked out really well because I wanted to wait and give him the hopper ball in the evening.  I was four for four, he was thrilled with it (!!!), which was great, you never know with Kolbe.

And yet another "birthday week" is in the books.  We have a couple Baptism anniversaries this week, and then celebrations should slow down for awhile.  Whew!  Happy #7 and #5 to my beautiful (growing) babies.

Journal: Bible School

We just finished off a busy week of VBS.  WHEW!  So here I am, better late than never.

TODAY

Out my window:  Maybe some rain moving in?  It has been so mild.  VBS was outdoors and the weather was just perfect.  We have spent some quality time on walks and at the neighborhood park or just playing in the yard lately.  I am so grateful for the beautiful (albeit a bit late) Spring we are having.  Hopefully summer will keep itself in check and we can keep on with this mild, rainy pattern we've been in since February.

Clothing myself in: jammies now, but I wanted to share... I ordered a couple pairs of these capris on a whim because they were on sale earlier this week (they still are, just not quite as good a price) and they are everything I dreamed they would be and more.  It is funny how excited a $10 pair of "bum around" capris can make me these days.  Yup.  True story.  Buy me a new t-shirt that fits well and it may just send me over the moon.

Around the house: Oh goodness, trying to find a balance between staying caught up but not being so OCD that I put housework before people.  I've been doing more stuff after the kids are in bed and that helps.  This week I moved the kids beds and vacuumed around/under them (not while they were in bed), and little jobs like that always make me feel good, even though no one probably notices them besides me.

 

The baby: He is so cute, have I mentioned that?  He loves waving at people.  This week I helped in the daycare for VBS, so he and Kolbe were with me and my boys and I had a very fun time.  Clem enjoyed the interaction and the middle school girls who were helping out really doted on him too.  He is a very "go with the flow" kind of kid.  I'm beginning to think that's just the way it has to be with the 3rd, 4th, 5th etc. child.  They just don't really have a choice. It's funny, I never would have volunteered for something like this when Gemma was a baby, or even when Kolbe was, because it would have interfered with naps, meals, etc.  The more kids I have the more I stretch and grow, and for this I am grateful.  Grateful that I have children who put me outside my comfort zone.  Grateful that I have children to help me realize that life is about others, not me.  Now I'm losing focus though.  Moving on...

 

The kiddos:  Gemma had SO much fun at VBS.  And speaking of change, my how she has changed and grown in a year.  Last year she had fun, but there were tears every day when mama left.  This year (I only took her one day since I was helping with the daycare back at Church) it was a wave and a smile, a quick kiss and off to join the fun.  It is a joy watching her grow, if not a bit bittersweet.  We had a very bad day on Tuesday, and several horribleawfulohmygoodnesshowdoIevenhandlethis episodes in the days leading up to that.  Some refocusing on my part, prayer (and a trip to confession for me to re-center) and the rest of the week has been pretty darn good.  Thank you Jesus.

Kolbe also had fun with VBS at the daycare with me.  Next year he will be old enough to attend VBS with big sis so we will see how that goes.  He had fun playing with the other kids, although by the end of the week I was glad we were done because he was starting to get a little too familiar (read: there was a little more fighting/typical kid stuff) once the novelty had worn off.  It was fun to watch him warm up to other kids though, he is often a loner at play when we are in a big group, so it was nice to see him have fun playing together.

In the kitchen: Might as well cover last week and this upcoming one.  I tried to have easy meals last week since I was gone all morning each day, so we had Breakfast Casserole; some enchiladas that I had ingredients for already prepped and frozen; crock pot roasted chicken with green beans and potatoes on the side; Aaron cooked some chicken and sausage on the smoker one day; and baked flounder (a new fave around here) with leafy green salads.  Our neighbors garden is starting to produce and she is sharing with us again.  She told me that back in China, the saying went, "a neighborhood with a garden in it is a happy neighborhood."  I've got to agree with her.  This upcoming week we have minute steaks with probably more salad; homemade pizza; a family dinner and a family wedding on the "menu". 

Crafting: My Bible school t-shirt was too big on me, so I took the sides in and it turned out just to my preference.  I was pretty proud of this accomplishment.  Oh, and I hot glued a broken box together and helped Gemma with a couple bead necklaces.  Namely the one that she threw across the room in a fit of rage since she couldn't find a letter "A" bead.  Yup.  True story.

Learning:  Mainly Bible School.  Oh, and the Unifix Cubes came and the kids just love "playing" with them.  They are pretty awesome.  They came with a little booklet, and the number of hands-on math activities you can do with them is literally endless.  We've been mainly working on patterning, and some counting by 2's, 3's and 5's (with Gemma).  Gemma has also been really enjoying some of the Glory Stories MP3's I've purchased and burned to CD for our van (they are short enough that even though we're never in the car for long we can usually get thru them in an outing).  We currently have Bl. Imelda, St. Juan Diego, St. Therese, St. Anthony and St. Joan of Arc.

Reading: Didn't have as much time to read this week, but still working my way through St. Francis.  I'm reading Charlotte's Web to the kids and Gemma really likes it.  I have a sound recording (from the library) of All of a Kind Family Downtown that we may start listening to at mealtime, instead of me always reading out loud.

Watching:  New season of Pawn Stars!!  I find this show so interesting and fun to watch, even if some of the drama between the people who work there is pretty staged.  

Bringing me joy: Aaron's cousin's wedding we went to last week.  It was so beautiful.  One of those weddings that you left with your heart just bursting with love and joy.  Made me happy.  And the kids had fun (aside from being absolutely and positively horrendous during Mass. Sigh.)  VBS and watching Gemma dance around the house singing all her new songs.  Good friends.  Good, good women in my life.  Oh I am so blessed.  Helping out with VBS.  This was one of the more substantial stewardship things I've done since having kids, and it made me very happy to help out and feel involved and active in the parish.  I am hopeful that having kids in school will continue to guide me to these opportunities, and that we can find a comfortable balance for our family.

Thinking about: School next (well, this I guess) year.  Seeing Gemma at VBS, and hearing about what she learned and experiencing the fun she had and joy it brought her really made me excited for her to start school.  As much as I like doing things at home with her, having her away at VBS made me realize how much (at least at this point in our lives) I need others' help with her education, and I am excited to begin that partnership with our Catholic parish school.  Will it be perfect?  Heck no, I'd be kidding myself if I wanted that.  But I am confident, at least for this coming year, that it is the right thing for her.  The right thing for all of us.  Hard to believe we have just two months and change until the big day. Oh, and respect and discipline.  This was interesting.  And this...was interesting too.  Maybe I should just start a Saturday roundup...

Pictures to share:  

VBS last year (orange) and this (green).  Wow, time flies.

Sunflowers III

And now, for the final post in our sunflower saga.  In mid-June -- when the sunflowers were going to seed -- there were several days we saw a beautiful goldfinch perched atop one of the flowers and nibbling seeds.  Gemma was actually the first to spot it, so that was very exciting.  Try as I might though, I wasn't able to capture a picture.  After a few hundred-degree (ugh) days, Gemma harvested some seeds to save and plant next year, and alas this is the end of our sunflower story.  For this year anyways.  ;-D  We capped everything off by reviewing the plant-cycle in the book Sunflowers from the library, and the sunflower pot is now housing my long-awaited lantana.

Sunflower update II

The sunflowers have continued to grow...taller than Gemma!!  We're hoping to get some seeds from them to plant next spring!!

Family update - April 2012

When I said quarterly I wasn't kidding.  The kids are constantly growing and changing, here are a few things they've been up to and into of late:

GEMMA (4yrs 3months)

• She has quite the imagination.  She'll spend hours with her pretend friends (Hen, Duck, Owl, Cat, Schroeder, Hoots and Bee) and a pile of random household items.  She'll play on the deck with a bucket and a tape measure and a bunch of leaves.  Or in the living room with pillows and plastic eggs and buttons.  If I'm lucky and he's acquiescent, Kolbe will often join in and they really have lots of fun together.  As badly as they can fight (and oooohhhhh sometimes it's bad), they can be very good friends as well.  I am so glad they have each other.
• She makes up songs (and dances all over the house to them) about anything and everything. 
• She has recently given up her nap.  For several months she had been "napping" but not sleeping, and one day she was just playing so nicely on her own (while Kolbe napped) that I just didn't bother to put her down for her nap.  And she kind of liked that.  A lot.  So much that she is pretty adamant about not taking a nap now.  Occasionally I'll make her lie down for a bit, but for the most part she just plays on her own, or we work together on workbooks (we like these as well) or other learning activities that require some one-on-one time.  It's been a nice change.
• She likes making picnics with her toy food in the basement, and is quite elaborate with her table setting.
• She's getting pretty good with scissors (we're currently going through this book), and her drawings are growing more and more intricate all the time.  Kid art is so great.  The front of our fridge is never dull.
• Ohhhh the drama.  Every little cut, scrape, hangnail, etc. has become a big deal recently.  A verrrry biiiiig deeeaaallllll.  Her tantrums can be pretty dramatic as well.  Whew!  Heaven help this mama.
• Gemma is in the 99th %ile for her height at 44.5 inches.  She weighs 36.5 lbs.

KOLBE (2yrs 3months)

• His speech has been improving by leaps and bounds.  Still nowhere close to where Gemma was at this age (or probably where most kids are at 2 1/4 yrs) but he's progressing.  He's using more new words every day and starting to form small sentences when communicating.  Some of his "catch phrases"... He is very polite, "peas" is added to almost every request, quickly followed by a "shoont-yoo mammy" (or daddy or whomever) when said request is fulfilled.  It's so cute.  When he wants something it's "ahhshumpeas" (I want some please), which he will repeat over and over very quickly, getting more demanding the more times he says it.  Aaron and I are so amused by this we've started saying it as well.  "Ball hiiiiiiiigh", when he wants to go out on the driveway and play ball with daddy.  He likes it when daddy throws the ball up high in the air.  And when making the Sign of the Cross or blessing himself he says, "Fah-ver, Ahmen."  He pronounces his name "Babby" (short a, as in apple), and will often emphatically state "Babby do, Babby DO," when he wants to do something on his own.  Which is pretty often.
• He seems to be a natural athlete.  He throws and catches well (for a two-year-old), loves to shoot baskets and is trying his darndest to learn how to dribble.
• He has really started to enjoy being read to, and will absolutely pitch a fit if he doesn't get the three stories of his choosing before bed.  Dah-er Seuss and Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb are all-time faves, and he likes to pick a few of his own books out at the library now each week.
• Strong will.  This kid has grown a strong will since turning two.  And mind of his own.  Wow.  I was hoping maybe it would just be Gemma.  Oh well, I'm sure it will serve him well some day, if it doesn't drive me to insanity first.
• He loves doing whatever big sis is doing. 
• He has actually slept through the night, in his own bed, several times in the past month.  Not too regularly, but he's done it nonetheless!  And his nights have really gotten so much better, he often doesn't crawl in bed with us until 5:30 or 6:00 AM.  It works.  We'll see how things go once he starts sharing a room with Gemma (on the "to do"  list here in the near future) and even more so once baby arrives... 
• He recently cut his first 2yr molar.  I'm hoping the others are not too far behind and we can get this teething thing out of the way with him.  Before it's time to do it again with the baby.  Oh teething. 
• Kolbe weighs 29 lbs.

Aaron is doing well.  The nice, early spring has given him a chance to (for the most part) revive the yard after last summer's horribleness, and he has plans to refinish the deck in the coming months.  Next time I do an update there will probably be a third child (outside utero) on whom to update!!  For now, baby is doing well as is mama, although it is beginning to be more and more obvious that I've hit the third trimester.  Time really is flying!!  We are set with cloth diapers and other baby supplies, and I feel like I have enough boy or girl clothes (even though this baby is "off-season") to get us started, so we really are ready.  Just trying to mentally prepare myself for labor and delivery now.  I know it's still several months off, but those thoughts are definitely beginning to creep into my mind.  Like I said, time flies.  I recently did my first sewing project for the baby -- a light-weight receiving blanket -- so I'll end with a picture of that.

Gemma's drawings

I love her pictures.  She has gotten quite detailed recently, her latest additions being bodies, eyebrows and ears.  And sometimes toes.

Baptism Anniversaries 2012

Soon after our January birthdays, we celebrated Baptism anniversaries. When our oldest was Baptized we got a really neat pamphlet from our parish talking about the importance of Baptism and commemorating this special day.  This has been very helpful as we have begun celebrating Baptism anniversaries in our family.  For Gemma, we actually had her renew her Baptismal vows for the first time this year.  She was very enthusiastic with her "I do".  It was sweet.  We said the prescribed prayers, let her blow out her candle, and then she got a small gift, a Holy Water font for her bedroom.  I think she and Kolbe are a little too excited about it, but hopefully the novelty will wear off soon ;-D  And please, don't be fooled by the folded hands and angelic smile...

For Kolbe we just recited the Apostle's Creed together and let him blow out his candle.  He was quick, Aaron couldn't even snap the picture before the candle was out.  Kolbe received the book Baby Come To Church.  I'm hoping it will keep his attention a little more at Mass.  The realist in me says it probably won't.  Nothing ever does.  

Ahhh grace.  Thank you God for the Sacraments, and thank you for my children who are constantly giving me opportunities to grow in grace.

And don't forget to get in on my Lenten Giveaway if you are interested!  Contest closes Tuesday 2/7 at 8PM.

Birthday week 2012

With two January birthdays within five days of each other (closely following Christmas mind you), birthday week really is a big to do after a lot of other big to-do's at our house.  WHEW!  I am looking forward to a July baby and thus a July birthday.

But, without further ado...here you have Birthday Week 2012 in pictures (with *hopefully* limited commentary).

SUNDAY

We had a party to celebrate Gemma and Kolbe and their cousin Cooper's birthdays (yes, yet another January birthday) at my in-laws.

Cake.  It was nothing fancy or complicated, but it was easy to make and functional and the kids liked it.  

 The four-year-olds!!

 CANDLES!!

 Eating cake and ice cream.

WEDNESDAY

Gemma's actually birthday.  We had a spaghetti dinner party at my parents' with aunts and uncles and cousins to celebrate both kids' birthdays.

Birthday brownies for breakfast...daddy had been promising her these for months!!

My mom made some fun cupcakes for the kids to share!!  Gemma got to go shopping with her to help pick out the decorations and colors and such.

Cake time!

THUSRDAY

We had professional pictures taken.  I'll save those for another post though.

FRIDAY

Gemma's godmother came by to wish her a happy birthday.  No pics, but she got her some beads and string to make necklaces.  These have been very entertaining for Gemma.

SATURDAY

Aaron made sushi for dinner since this is one of Kolbe's favorite foods.  Gemma is not a huge sushi fan, but would stuff herself silly on edamame given the chance, so both kids definitely enjoyed the meal.

MONDAY

Kolbe's actual birthday.  He got an apple crisp for breakfast!  One of his favorite desserts.  

We decided to just have a small little celebration with the four of us and give both kids their presents from us the night of Kolbe's birthday.  We had lasagna for dinner and then Gemma and Kolbe gave their gifts to each other (Gemma got Kolbe a ball, and Kolbe got Gemma more beads and string).  After that the kids opened their gifts from us.  Gemma got a SCOOTER!!! and Kolbe a "mote-mote" (remote control) car.  They were both very happy with their presents!

Kolbe really liked the car.  It is a nice simple model for a two-year-old, with just one button.  It doesn't go as well as I had hoped it would on our carpet, but he still seems to really like it so no biggie I guess.  And yes, in the bottom right picture, he is indeed driving it from the toilet.  Told you he liked it.

Gemma was super-thrilled with her scooter.  She has been riding a "pretend scooter" since last summer after seeing so many neighborhood kids on them (real ones, not pretend ones). She is very excited to have her very own now.  And yes, she is riding it in the living room.  HEY, it was dark and cold outside, what else were we supposed to do, give it to her and then make her wait 'til spring?!

If you've hung with us this far that about sums up birthday week I suppose.  Like I said, whew!  Hard to believe we've been parenting for a cumulative six years now.  Wow.  Happy birthday to our big four and two-year-olds!!

And for those of you still interested, I was excited to find a whole stack of really fun birthday books at the library.  Here were a few of our favorites!
Corduroy Makes a Cake
A Little House Birthday
Curious George and the Birthday Surprise
Birthday Zoo
C is for Cake
Birthday Cakes
Otis and Sydney and the Best Birthday Ever