Joshie's First Communion

Last Sunday Joshie received his First Communion.  It was a beautiful day, he was so excited to receive Jesus into his heart in a new and special way....and wear his new suit.

Congratulations Joshie!
I am praying that you follow in the footsteps of your patron saint, St. Augustine ~:o)

Part of Joshie's class of fellow First Communicants

Our super-cool priest, Father Dave, who Nickles just loves ~

My handsome guys on an absolutely beautiful spring day ~ 

Teamwork

My husband is the best ~ my apologies to all you women out there!

Whenever we have company I get a little uptight.  I want to ensure that everyone likes the meal and the house is clean and the kids are clean and, well, maybe I seek perfection a bit too much.

Unfortunately, things rarely go smoothly on days we are having extra people for dinner.  I have a tendency to believe in my Wonder Woman powers during the planning phase, then reality strikes and I become quite aware of my shortcomings.

As usual, Shannon rises to the occasion.

Shannon typically oversees the after-dinner cleanup, he seems to think I am a bit scattered in this department.  But when the cleanup is extra large, say after a large gathering, he takes over EVERYTHING!

I love it.

I feel so valued ~ it actually alleviates the preparation stress as well.
He reinforces that we are a team....obviously we are....but he makes me really feel it.

Menu

So, this really hasn't been bi-weekly as planned.

Saturday ~ Fish, Roasted Asparagus, Rice, Salad
Sunday ~ Burgers, Oven Fries, Fruit Kabobs
Monday ~ Zucchini Penne, Strawberry Spinach Salad
Tuesday ~ Meatloaf, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans
Wednesday ~ Rotisserie Chic, Broccoli, Fruit Salad
Thursday ~ Salad w/Leftover Chicken, Bread
Friday ~ Pizza!
Saturday ~ Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad (make extra meatballs for freezer)
Sunday ~ Steaks, Caprese, Mashed Potatoes
Monday ~ Tatertot Casserole, Salad
Tuesday ~ Bean Soup, Fruit Slices
Wednesday ~ Waffles & Applesauce
Thursday ~ Potato Soup
Friday ~ Pizza!


Here are pictures of our little chicks.  They have been an unending source of entertainment over the past couple weeks.  Yesterday, one had a bit of an accident when Nickles was playing with it.  Katherine, believing its' leg was broken, made splints with toothpicks and the chickie was as good as new this morning!

Meeting the newest arrivals 

Dom just couldn't get enough of their sweetness ~

~ Neither could Annika

My older boys, on the other hand, kinda treat them like an accessory.

Of course, everyone was rooting for the chicken to, 

well, you know!

When Life Gives Us Lemons ~

By mid-April we are done with snow....at least mentally.
Unfortunately, Montana isn't done dishing it out.  It won't be until June-ish.
What do you do when life hands you lemons?
The kiddos made lemonade!
Or at least, they had a fun day when it felt utterly dreary.
What Montana kid needs sun and hot weather for swim gear anyway?

They weren't just out jumping in the snow because they couldn't take the weather any longer...there was actually a large stock tank filled with hot water and they were cooling down before hopping back in.
Thank you to a thoughtful Daddy for plumbing hot water outside!

Country Creativity

My boys run a trap line in the garage.  It is only for mice, but it is an important job when one lives in the country and does not have a cat around!  Eric & Joshie ensure that nary a mouse is seen unless, well, unless it's dead.  

For that I am grateful.

Over the winter a packrat moved into our shed.  Now if you are a member of PETA or have any sort of affinity for rodents of any ilk....STOP READING!

My boys decided ridding us of this packrat was their mission.  Every morning this past week they emptied the shed in search of the creature, but thus far it eluded them.  This morning they spotted him and promptly put him out of his our misery.  

Of course, we are assuming it was a male.

Now, that wouldn't have been so bad.  But I was returning home from a short errand when I see my wonderful, emotional, caring son racing down the road on his bike trailed by a long string and the rat bouncing behind him.  

The rat was dead so I wasn't too concerned with abuse or anything, but WHAT inspires this sort of behavior?  

I don't get it.  

Then it got worse.  

While glancing out the the window to check on the cherubs I could see (what the heck???) a pack rat tied in a tree and spray painted red.  

Apparently, it was bear bait.

And what they would have done if a bear arrived I am certain they had NO idea.  

It's at moments like these that I breathe a sigh of relief that we don't live in town!

We did spend the afternoon park hopping ~ the next few days are supposed to be cold so we soaked up the sunshine!

Chasing seagulls

It takes a real man to pull off pink sunglasses ~

Easter

Easter was wonderful.  The Vigil was beautiful, as we watched the newest members of our Church family be baptized and confirmed.

Easter morning we didn't get to the church before they turned on the lights, but waiting in the silence of the Cathedral still filled my heart with peace ~ even if there were two little boys jumping all over the pew with excitement.  Certainly their energy kept anyone from wanting to sit too close to us!

Our chicks began hatching Saturday evening, finishing up yesterday.  It was fun to greet these little creatures that we had been peering at through shells the last weeks.  New life is so exciting!
The spectacular way in which each creature is formed, every cell molded by our Sculptor absolutely blows me away.  And if a chicken impresses me...suffice to say, human life amazes me even more!

The kiddos had a wonderful morning searching for baskets and eggs.  Daddy spotted a flattened bunny on the road en route to Grandma and Grandpa's and almost convinced the kids that it was the Easter bunny.  They know him too well to believe him for long!

Later on we went to the top of the Pass where there is still ample snow and the daddies and kiddos built the annual Easter snow fort.  It is a fantastic way to burn off the extra Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs.
Well, I wouldn't know from experience, because I don't actually build the snow fort.
I prefer to take a sugar-induced nap and arrive when they are all done to snap pictures!

Holy Week

The week before Easter carries many traditions for our family. Whereas Advent and Christmas celebrations varied from year to year, Lent, Holy Week and Easter were almost always the same ~ watching Jesus of Nazareth, fasting, simple meals, celebrating the Passover dinner, Good Friday service, remaining silent from noon til 3:00 in honor of Our Lord's crucifixion, dying eggs, early morning Mass...and all the conversation that these events inspired.

When Shannon and I married, he jumped right on board.  He loved the infusion of so many traditions in every celebration, as crazy as it can be at times.  We had friends over to celebrate the Passover meal with us this year.  Having experienced a Seder meal at our parish earlier this Lent, Shannon did the best job ever explaining the symbolism-rich celebration.

Last night we dyed eggs with family.  It was absolutely insane with somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 dozen eggs and 13 children.  After we had bleached the last drops of red dye off our floor, Shan and I breathed a deep sigh and sunk into the couch.

While the Easter Vigil has not been a Mass we typically attend, tonight we are welcoming new family into the church!  This evening we will head to the Vigil Mass, but Easter wouldn't be Easter if we didn't go to
7:00 am Mass, so we will be there too.  That is one of my favorites.  We typically are one of the very first families at the church.  The entire Cathedral is completely silent, those of us there at that hour soaking up the complete peace of it all.  It leads me to contemplate the women at the tomb that first Easter morning.  How did it feel to be the first ones to realize that He had risen?
Were they fearful, joy-filled, confused?
Tomorrow cannot arrive soon enough!

The house is filled with the scent of lilies, boiled eggs, and cinnamon rolls in preparation for the Resurrection.
My children are jumping up and down with the anticipation of EVERYTHING, especially baby chicks due to hatch tomorrow!

My heart is filled with a peace that an intentional Lent brings with it every year.

Kath, making "unleavened" bread ~ we just don't allow it to rise 

The little boys helping ~

Dom removing the eggs from the egg turner

Joshie teaching the babies how to play chess...for some reason I don't think they are interested.

 

Waiting for directions from Daddy

"This isn't an assembly line, make sure you make EVERY egg pretty!"

"Uh huh, hurry up please...."

I am makin' it pretty, Daddy ~

Nickels was totally into dying eggs ~

Hannah & Grandma

This one made me laugh ~ Shan is totally into decorating his egg ~ 

Uncle Gabe & Kolby ~

Michaela was in heaven, holding her new baby cousin ~

The Garbage Man

Joshie used to be our garbage man.  He was in charge of emptying all the household garbage into big cans in the garage where Daddy could take it to the dump.

It took a while, like two years, for me to realize that while I was throwing stuff away, Joshie was rescuing it.    
At one point he must have decided that I would spot the valuable goods and place them deep into the garage garbage cans, so he began hiding items beneath his mattress, in drawers, in his treasure box...anywhere that might be safe from discovery.

Finally, I had a revelation ~ pass the job onto someone else.  This would alleviate my anger when I lifted his mattress and found broken antennas, old radio knobs, pieces of long destroyed Sculpey figures, Playmobil people arms, 1/2 a shoelace and other random bits of trash.

So now Dom is our trash man.

Unfortunately, he is ensuring the refuse-rescuing tradition continues.  He takes each bag of garbage to the garage and empties it very carefully into the cans so that no treasure will be missed.
This job is taken very seriously.
Then, knowing what needs to be done to pacify his mother, he runs back inside and places the liners in all the pails before anyone realizes what is stashed in his pockets.

Spring Track Practice

A big event in our homeschooling year is the spring track meet.  It actually isn't that big of a deal, but it is motivation to get out of the house and RUN.  We typically spend the month of April running up and down the road in front of Mom & Dad's house.
This spring there are animals to visit at one end of the road so the older kids cook down there to visit before we bring up the tail with the little kids.
Last night was the first night our family went together.  With the meadowlarks singing, the bluebirds flitting around and not a drop of wind, it was magnificent.

I am not sure what this was about, but it was kinda funny!