Christmas Day

After giving up on the idea of getting a nice picture for our Christmas cards, we were able to get a rather nice one on Christmas morning after Mass at our church.  Hooray for spontaneous pictures!

The kids went to say hello to Baby Jesus. 

Our Christmas ham dinner.

Dessert was a lemon pound cake.

In the afternoon it was time to try out all the new Christmas toys. 

Daddy helped Anne get her balance on her new roller skates.

There was some of this as well!

Catherine is already pretty good on her skates.

Anthony figured out how to blow some bubbles.

Dominic tried out the scooter.

Joseph took his zoom copter for some test flights outside.

Anthony had a talk with St. Joseph.

Hey, Mom, he's about my size!

Christmas Eve Again

So, we left off waiting for Christmas presents.

Anthony, being the youngest, got to go first.  He was thrilled with his new puzzles and spent the next 15 minutes or so oblivious to anything else.

Which left the other kids to open some presents in peace!

Anne loves My Little Ponies.

The twins both got roller skates.

Anthony finally realized that everybody else was opening presents and his inner present-opening monster was revealed.  We had to keep throwing presents at him to open, so the other kids could open theirs. 

Catherine was very excited to get a new watch.

Sit 'n Spin, a blast from the past. 

Our Superhero-loving boy got a Superhero cartoon DVD.  Hooray!

Joseph shows off our family gift:  a microscope set for school.

I actually got to open this one.  It was in a bag, that's why.

Anne and Dominic play with their new toys.

Joseph and his Zoom Copter.

Christmas Eve

The packages silently waited under the tree.

On Christmas Eve morning, the children were allowed to look in their stockings.  Anthony was at first more interested in jumping and leaping.

Then he discovered there were things in his stocking!

Oh, wait, we have to pause to whack something!

Once Anthony realized there was chocolate, the game was over.

Our Christmas Eve dinner:  Beef and Vegetable Soup with Homemade Bread.  We ate by candlelight and Daddy read the Christmas story from the Bible.

These were dessert.  Yum!

After dinner, it was time for more fun.

Anthony on Christmas Eve.

Catherine, Dominic, Anne, and Joseph eagerly await the opening of presents!

Celebrating A Life and A Recommendation

Today we are celebrating and remembering the life of our sweet little Mary Joseph, who was miscarried 3 years ago this very day.  Though her life was very short, we keep her memory alive by asking her for prayers every day, and talking about her, and looking forward to the time when we will get to see her again.   

I also have a book recommendation.  It is titled After Miscarriage: A Catholic Woman's Companion to Healing and Hope. The author is Karen Edmisten, a talented writer whose blog I follow.  She has herself suffered multiple miscarriages and has written about the subject on her blog.  Although I have not yet read the book (due to be released Feb. 13), I just know it will be great.  There has been a definite lack of Catholic reading material concerning miscarriage.  Here is the description from Amazon:

After Miscarriage: A Catholic Woman's Companion to Healing and Hope is a book about grief, healing, and hope after miscarriage. Not afraid to examine the raw emotions that accompany such an experience, the author tells women that they are not alone in reacting strongly, even frighteningly, to their loss and reassures them that hope and healing will come. Having experienced multiple miscarriages herself, Karen shares excerpts from her personal journals, as well as other women's stories, rich quotes about grieving and the healing process, and practical advice. A helpful resource section includes a wide variety of information from both Catholic and secular sources.

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Mary Joseph, pray for us!

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To Grandmother's House We Go

Although we did not travel in a sleigh, there was lots of snow when we got to Grandma's house a few days before Christmas.  Here we have only had a quarter of an inch, so the kids were extremely excited to see all the snow.

Watch out!  I'm making snowballs!

Anne makes a snow angel.

Dominic after a ride down the hill.

Daddy gives Catherine a big push.

The kids were happily waiting to open some presents.

Dan's mom with Catherine.

Oh, what fun!

Our resident Superhero is thrilled with Spiderman pajamas.

That evening Dan and I took Anthony over to visit with Dan's sister and family.  She is Anthony's godmother. 

I can't let them see I like it, so I'd better just stick my hands in my pockets!

A visit to the outdoor nativity at the church.

Inside St. Fidelis Church.

Anthony checks out the nativity.

Water and Mud

In December we had a lot of rain, which seemed strange after a very dry year.

Flooding in the back yard.

A flood stream going down to the pond.  We haven't seen this in a long time.

After the flood, comes the mud.  And what boy (or girl, for that matter!) doesn't like to play in the mud?

Look at those clothes!  They were so muddy, they left the washer dirty after I ran the load.  I had to wash the load three times in a row to get them and the washer clean!

Those boots are actually yellow. 

If You Got A Somewhat Mangled Gift From Us This Year...

...this is why...

...and this is the culprit.

Pre-Christmas Party

Time to eat!

Table #2

Girl cousins

Boy cousins

I Found It Funny

Earlier today I stopped to do some shopping with all five kids at Sam's Club.  I got a cart, put Anthony in the seat and made all the kids hold onto the cart so we could go inside.  As we walked up the parking lot aisle, I noticed a woman sitting in the passenger seat of a car staring at us.  Her eyes were opened wide and as we passed by, I could plainly seeing her counting...one...two...three...four...and then her head whipped around to see if there were any more.  She looked quite silly and I had to laugh to myself.