Christmas Day 2012

On Christmas morning, we went to Mass.  As you can see, it was still very cold out.

After Mass, we went up to the front so the kids could see the Nativity with Baby Jesus.

It's always a bit of a trick to get a good picture of all the kids at the same time.

Sometimes you just take what you can get!

On the way out, we stopped to see the Three Kings.

Toasting with the "kid wine," a.k.a. sparkling grape juice.

Lighting the candles.

I think we're ready to eat our ham and scalloped potatoes dinner!

Dessert was cherry pie.

After dinner, clean-up, and some rest time, the girls got busy with their new Lego set.

Dominic and Daddy worked on building his roller coaster.

The next morning they finished it!

Below is a video of Dominic and his roller coaster:

November Catch-Up

The kids and their cousins waiting for their concert to start.

 

This year the homeschool choir concert was held in mid-November.  The little kids chanted the Our Father, then sang Father, I Adore You and Had a Little Rooster. These were followed by four songs accompanied with either rhythm sticks or egg shakers. The kids loved using the instruments.

The combined little kids' and big kids' choirs.

   Together the choirs sang Oh, Susanna! and How I Love My America.

Close-up of the kids.  Catherine and Dominic are in the second row and Anne is in the front row.  There were 25 kids in the little kids' choir this fall, though not all of them sang in the concert, like our Joseph. 

The weekend before Thanksgiving we were able to visit my parents.  We had a nice visit.

The kids with my mom.

Catherine hugs my dad, thanking him for the birthday present.

Thanksgiving was spent here at our house.

The kids watch Daddy prepare the turkey for the oven.

What fun to rip up lots of bread for the dressing! 

Our Thanksgiving feast!

It Was All Worth It, Or, Sometimes You Just Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

To continue on with the story of the minivan that wouldn't start yesterday (see previous post):

Anthony does not like the 11:30 am Mass.  I spent almost the whole time holding him and walking around in the back of church yesterday, until my fingers grew numb.  And no, I can't stand and just hold him, I have to be moving, or he starts squawking. 

I was rewarded with a sudden feeling of wetness on my left side right before Communion.  Looking at Anthony, I discovered that his diaper was leaking (I probably need to move him up a size, but I'm on the last pack of the current size) and there were wet spots on the front of his pants.  I turned him facing out so my shirt wouldn't get any wetter and tried to cover the wet spots with my arm while I walked up to the front of the church for Communion.  Of course we ended up in the Bishop's line (he happened to be there yesterday), but I was comforted by the thought that he would never notice wet spots on my baby's pants.  Then I walked out to change him and realized that now most of the front of his pants were pretty wet.  And his change of clothes was out in the truck.  Naturally! 

So I got his diaper changed and just left him pantless.  After that we stood out in the gathering space until the procession came out.  Then we made a speedy exit. 

As the gas tank in the truck was running on fumes, I stopped for gas and Anthony did not like that one bit.  Then, we stopped at the auto parts store to pick up a new battery for the minivan, hoping that that would solve the problem.  The woman assisting me asked me questions that I could not answer so I called Dan so he could decide what we needed for sure.  Meanwhile Anthony was violently squirming and being very fussy.  And so, the pregnant cashier carried the battery out to the truck for me as my "hands were very full." 

Was it all worth it? 

Yes, Yes, Yes!!!

Dan replaced the battery (which was 7 years old) and the minivan started up easily!  Wahoo!

And we were very thankful that this did not happen while I was out with the kids somewhere far away from here. 

A Change Of Plans Required Today

See the new picture up at the top?  That was taken only today.  Everyone was ready to go to church this morning and we actually had an extra 10 minutes.  Dan had pointed out last night that I had a Nativity picture still at the top of the blog, so he got us all outside and we took some pictures out front, just like the ones we took last spring.  Then everyone got in the van, buckled up, and we were ready to go to church, with plenty of time to spare. 

Except that the minivan would not start!  Aah!

So we had to make a change of plans, since we can't all fit into the truck.  Dan took the older three to the earlier Mass, and Anthony and I will go to the later one. 

After getting Anthony to sleep I had some time to swap out the picture at the top of the blog and post this, so here you are.

Here is one of the pictures that didn't make the cut, but I thought it was funny:

An Afternoon Of Snowy Fun

The snow is nearly gone now, but a week ago Sunday, the whole family went out to play in the snow.  The kids went sledding, made snow angels, had snow ball fights.  Joseph was ready to launch a snow ball at the photographer (me).



Anthony loved being outside in the snow and lasted for about 30 minutes.  Until he fell over and got a face full of snow.  He didn't like that so much.





When you have a big sister like Catherine to help, even the 10 month old gets to go sledding.




Wheeeee!



I think he liked it!



Help! Another snow ball attack!




Anne was a crazy sledder and would just jump on the sled and ride down.




Oh, trouble is brewing from Mr. Joseph.




I'm sure big brother, Dominic, will be ready to help with that.




Next year, Anthony will be chasing his big brothers in the snow.  For now, he got a ride.  (The girls thought it was funny that he was wearing pink gloves, but that was what I could find when I was bundling him up.) 




A snow day parade!



Little Miss Toothless!

This was Catherine only 3 days ago, with a very loose tooth.

This is later that same day, after a run-in with the stair railing.

And this is today!  The story is that Catherine was pretending to be a dog and grabbed Dominic's Superman cape with her teeth, and he jumped.  Can you tell we've been a little cooped up in here this week?

Rainy Day Party

A while back, when we were going through a rainy stretch, the kids made a party in the basement for all of us. They spent a long time setting it up and then came and invited Daddy, Mommy, and Anthony to the party.

They set up a little "bed" for Anthony on the floor. He lasted in it long enough for a couple of pictures.

Everyone had a drink and a plate of food:

Joseph did not want to sit down at first because he didn't like the food on his plate.

Ah, now it's okay. I've got a donut, some pickles, and a chip. What more could you ask for at a party?

The girls enjoy some tea:

Dominic goes right for the good stuff - ice cream!

An Early Birthday Present

One day, a couple of weeks ago, when the weather was really nice, Daddy came home with a surprise for Catherine in the trunk of his car:

Oh my, look at that. It's a new bicycle!

Catherine is thrilled and immediately tries it out(and Joseph is back there looking to see if there's anything else in the trunk of Daddy's car).

Catherine happily rode around while the other kids watched (yes, there behind her is SuperDom).

She shows everyone the cool pack that attaches to the front handlebars, which came with a water bottle. You can't help but get thirsty when you ride your bike.

Then one day soon after, it was time to get ready for the big transformation: No training wheels!

Ready, Set, Go!!

There were many rides that ended like this:

She is still smiling, though, and so very proud of herself!

For the record, she has ridden all the way from the hill near the pond over to the big shed without falling. With this latest cold spell, the learning has been put on hold, but we hope to resume soon.