Rub a dub dub

Gotta love the bathtub pics! What cuties, huh? That is Katie, Jackson, and Samuel. Daddy is the silly hair master, isn't he? This weekend was an absolute whirlwind! We had Hailey McInnis' First Communion on Saturday. Here is a picture of her and Owen after the communion at the party.
Below is a picture of our best friends, the Denja's. Maria made her First Communion on Sunday. So we got two days of McInnis' and Denja's. Ironically I met both Leigh Anne (Denja) and Colleen (McInnis) online! Now they have become like family to us. We are so blessed to have them in our lives!
I have a quiet moment because Hannah and Owen took Jackson and Katie to the park around the corner. Equipped with the cell phone and a soccer ball they are off to enjoy the day. Samuel is sleeping after an hour of playing in the water table. Mary Therese is sound asleep in the new swing provided by "grandma Paula" (Denja).

Jackson has been insisting for a while that we have Fr. Casey (from St. Thomas a Becket) over for dinner. So tonight is the night. There's much excitement and Jackson asks about every two minutes when Fr. will be here, LOL.

That's about it from here. The school year is winding down for the younger kids and May arrives tomorrow! I can't believe it!! There's much to look forward to in May - soccer, the daddy/daughter sock hop, homeschool park days will start soon, and spending warm afternoons at Greenfield Village. God is so good and I have to remind myself of that every moment I am awake! I tend to be like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, LOL.

God bless your day!

A few more pictures

Here's Mary Therese flashing her morning smiles. She's always in a good mood in the morning.
Jackson enjoying the beautiful spring weather at Katie's soccer game.
Playing at Katie's soccer game. The kids enjoyed a picnic with daddy before the game. Thanks daddy!!

Saturday Soccer

Spring soccer officially kicked off (no pun intended ;) ) today. We didn't get pictures at Hannah and Owen's games but did manage to snap a few at Katie's. Owen has really improved since last fall. He played defense and had some great saves and some awesome kicks. Hannah's team moved up an age group and she got pretty beat up. She took a ball to the belly and a kick to the ankle. God bless her, she tried to keep a strong face but you could tell she was glad that daddy was there to comfort her. Katie scored two goals and her team won the game! Mommy missed out on that game, unfortunately, but the pictures say it all. ;)

Gammy and Gamps go to Texas

Jackson and cousin Ellie playing on Tuesday.
Hannah and Owen making oatmeal cookies.(above)
Sammy playing in Meghan's back yard (below)

Well, grandma and grandpa Jackson made it Texas safely, praise God! If you're a fan of Seinfeld you'll know where the "gammy" title came from. The kids are already asking when grandma and grandpa will be back.

Today was a beautiful day! The kids got to play for hours in Colleen's back yard while I sat inside drinking coffee, nursing Mary, and eating way too much food! We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends that open their homes to us! I would go nuts without that interaction (maybe I am nuts already?).

Going to try again to go to confession tomorrow. I tried earlier in the week and the priest did not show up. So I'm gearing up again with new sins to add to the list. ;)

Not much else to share tonight. I guess I'm not feeling very creative. Katie (6) has decided that she will be a farmer when she grows up. She claims she thought about being a soccer player or a dancer but has decided on being a farmer, LOL. She said she would be there when she was 20, Jackson would be 18 and Mary Therese would be 14. I asked her if she thought I'd still be having babies then and she replied "I don't know but I won't be there because I'll be on the farm". Gotta love kids!

Have a blessed day!!

Goodness it's been weeks!

Where does the time go? We've been really busy. Soccer has started again and it's insane. I am so not into all this "soccer mom" stuff. I avoid it at all costs, actually. I am very much against the activities that chip away at family time and eliminate family dinners. I really don't like sports that are played on Sunday! I don't want my kids to think that sports are a priority over church, God, or family. Anyway - that's my rant for the month (or two). Haven't decided if we'll sign back up in the fall or not. The kids do really, really enjoy it and it's good exercise. We shall see.

In the meantime we've gone to the Real Life Farm in Canton with the homeschooling group. (See pictures above) That's Jackson in the top picture riding a horse (note the pink gloves, LOL), next is Hannah milking the cow with Farmer Don, and then Sammy feeding the goats. What a great time it is every year. I realized this year that this is the 11th year we've gone! It's amazing how fast time goes.

Baby Mary Therese is doing well. She's 13 lbs already! What a cutie she is. Lots of smiles and cooing. She takes her time in the car and running around in stride. Her favorite passtimes at the moment are sleeping in the baby carrier on daddy, nursing, bathtime, and smiling at her brothers and sisters.

Well - there's more to write but Mary Therese is calling as is the laundry that needs to be folded. Hope to get back here sooner than before.

God Bless your day!

Holy Saturday

Daddy painted Katie's face to look like the Easter Bunny! :)
Sammy at the Easter party for our neighborhood. Mary Therese sporting her new "hair" bow and Easter bib.

Hannah and Jackson coloring Easter eggs.
Grandma Jackson and Brandon taking a break from coloring eggs (see the snow on the deck!).

Not much to report for today. It was an absolute whirlwind! The older girls had choir practice in the wee hours this morning, we made cookies, bread, 80 hardboiled eggs to color, the Easter party for our neighborhood (Jesse was in charge of face painting and did a fabulous job!), I hung out with Colleen at Baby Bliss during the Easter party (thanks Jesse, Hannah, and Brandon!), laundry, laundry, laundry, egg coloring, filling easter baskets, filling easter eggs for the egg hunt tomorrow, colored easter eggs, and still there's more to do but I'm avoiding it, LOL. I can't wait for mass tomorrow! It's such a joyous mass and I couldn't be more proud of the girl's singing. Have a Blessed Easter everyone! He has risen indeed!!!

Musings from the kids

Background : Katie had an eye doctor appt today. Just a regular check up as she had never been to the eye doctor before. The kids were coloring at the table discussing the appt. I was cleaning up nearby.

Katie : I hope the eye doctor tells me I'm blind.

Hannah : Why?

Katie : Because it would be cool if they tell me that.

Owen : They're not going to tell you that you're blind, Katie. If you were blind you'd BE blind, you'd know you were blind because you wouldn't be able to see. That's what blind is.

Katie : I know. I still hope they tell me I'm blind.

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I had to laugh at that one. Here's another :

Hannah : (talking to me) When you have the next baby I hope it's a girl.

Me : The next baby? I just had a baby.

Hannah : I know but I want the next one to be a girl.

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Background : Katie, Jackson, and Samuel were watching TV. A commercial came on. There was a baby that was around 9 months old on the commercial.

Jackson : I wish we had that cute baby at our house don't you?

Katie : Yes, I do wish that was our baby. That baby looks like fun.

Then they both looked at poor Mary Therese with disappointment. I guess they don't get that she's just a newborn. They often ask for a baby "like Mikey" my Godson also (he's 10 months old).

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I hope you all had a blessed Good Friday. We made it to Stations. Jesse and I were in the back with Jackson, Samuel, and Mary but did manage to hear Brandon read his station.

That's all for tonight.

Divine Mercy Novena

Just and FYI. I found the Divine Mercy novena if anyone is interested.

http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/novena.htm

Holy Thursday

Here's a shot of Sammy in the bathrobe Colleen (or "mama" as he likes to call her) got him when he was born. It finally fits and is ADORABLE!

Well, I can't even believe Lent is nearly over. I feel like I've just gotten into it since Mary Therese was born only 6 days before Ash Wednesday. I didn't really start with everything until a few weeks ago. It was so helpful to have recently seen The Passion of the Christ because everytime I wanted to "excuse" myself from my sacrafices (after all, I have newborn, nursing mothers are exempt, ect were the thoughts going through my mind) I would think of Jesus being nailed to the cross. I am a very visual person and seeing that movie really helps me keep things in line. So here we are at Holy Thursday already. I really enjoy the Holy Thursday mass and am hoping that Jackson and Samuel allow me to partake in some of the it. Brandon is reading the 13th Station tomorrow at Stations of the Cross so that will make it extra special. I know the triduum is a sorrowful time in the Church I can't help but enjoy the specialness of the masses that occur in the next few days. It's powerful and really makes me feel on fire for Jesus!

Tomorrow begins the Divine Mercy Novena. I didn't know about the Divine Mercy until a couple of years ago. I LOVE the Divine Mercy! God is so good to let us screw up and still forgives and gives us the grace we need to go on! Yeah for God!

Have a blessed day!

The Stations of the Cross confusion

So, how many Stations of the Cross are there? The kids and I were reading a book that we got and they have a fifteenth station in it. Colleen came over and was looking at the book. She told me there are really only fourteen stations. Makes sense as the fourteenth station is when Jesus dies. What is it about our society that must end everything on a feel good note? The "fifteenth" station talks about the resserection. Yes, Jesus did rise but it's not an official station. The stations end on a sad note. This I did not know. Maybe there's no definative answer to this? I don't know what the official Catholic stance is on the number of stations. However, it's confusing. Hannah, Owen, and Katie are coloring their Stations to make books out of. They want to know why there's only 14 Stations. I'm not sure what the answer is.

The rest of the day went pretty well. I finally got to cleaning Katie, Sammy, and Mary's room. It was quite out of control. Things are back in their proper order now. It won't last through tomorrow but at least I tried.

I should probably put batteries back into the camera. Easter will be here before we know it! And Jackson has vowed he will finally be potty trained on Easter. He believes that the Easter bunny is going to take his diapers and leave candy and underwear. Sounds like a plan to me. I just hope it works that way. Those of you that know how we've struggled with potty training him will understand what a huge relief this would be. Trying to keep in line with our gentle parenting beliefs but being super frustrated by a stubborn four year old has been quite draining. Pray for us!

Have a blessed evening!

Fr. Caropi on Marriage

The last two Sunday evenings I have attended a discussion group with my friend Colleen at St.Gerald's in Farmington. We watch a video lecture by Fr. Corapi (http://www.fathercorapi.com/ ) and then discussed some questions. I had forgotten how very much I love Fr. Corapi! He is usually on at 11 a.m. on Ave Maria radio but I haven't listened recently (and he's not on during Holy Week, FYI). I think every couple wanting to get married should have to watch at least his two part series on marriage. It's really amazing. I wish I had seen or heard it before I got married. He certainly has a way of putting things. I love how he puts things matter of factly but not "in your face".

The kids and I started off Holy week pretty well, I think. We did an at home/children's version of the Stations of the Cross this morning and ended the day with the Resurrection eggs story (Benjamin's Box). We are very much looking forward to Holy Thursday mass, Friday stations, and Easter Sunday mass. We're opting out of the Vigil this year as the older girls are singing in the choir on Easter Sunday. I don't think I could pull off both masses with a newborn. I hope God understands. ;)

Well, I'm off to bed. Prayers and blessings and thanks for reading. :)