Home Alone

Back in June, in anticipation of our new arrival, my in-laws did the unthinkable: took all three of our kids to visit them for a full week! I know my kids are pretty good kids, but even good kids can be exhausting. Thankfully their grandparents are saints, they have an amazing uncle who still lives at home, and they had an auntie, uncle, and cousin visiting at the same time. They were kept busy doing all of the fun things Rapid City has to offer while I stayed home and organized, cleaned, cooked freezer meals, read books, and spent time with my husband alone. We went out to restaurants! We went for walks! We sat at the dinner table and talked to each other!  Aside from my enormous baby belly, I felt like a newlywed again.

Maureen and Monica, wonderful women that they are, made sure to document the trip for me and gave each kid their own photo album from the trip. In the front cover was a day-by-day account of everything they did so I could get a better picture of how they spent their time and so I could ask the right questions. A (very) small part of me wished I could have been there to experience all the fun, but the pictures were more than sufficient.

Months later, we have welcomed a new baby sister and things are beginning to get back to normal. I have cooked my way through all of the freezer meals, the house is turned upside down again, and my life is loud and crazy. But the time of preparation and relaxation while the kids were away was unforgettable. More importantly, my kids got some quality time with their "Grandma and Grandpa Far", as they've nicknamed them. Having grandparents 600 miles away is a bummer, but they all made some amazing memories while I wasn't there to interfere. Thank you, Maureen and Paul! Thank you, Monica and Glenn! Thank you, Liam! You're all amazing.

Abundant Blessings

In July we welcomed our beautiful new baby Edith Clare into our family, and in August we enlisted the help of a pile of friends and family to welcome her into the church! Paul's family came from far and wide (South Dakota and Chicago, to be exact) to celebrate with us, and Edith's Godparents, along with their three children, traveled from the far reaches of North Dakota to stand with us at her baptism. What a blessing, what a joyful time!

My parents opened their home and pool during the visit, so we made good use of it. I can't think of a time when there have been more children piled in that pool! Max and Mara reconnected and became fast friends again, and they've now begun exchanging pictures and letters. Maybe a few too many hearts drawn on the pictures for my liking, but hey, at least they're separated by hundreds of miles!

We shared a baptism day with our dear friends John and Sara, who were baptizing their new twins! It was such a beautiful blessing to be able to share that moment with them. The baptismal font was surrounded by little kids elbowing and jostling to see the action; it was perfect.

Then the celebration continued at a nearby park for brats and hot dogs. The kids played on the playground and the grownups sat around chatting and enjoying the food. For a day that had over a 50% chance of rain, we were amazed that we only had to contend with a few drops right at the end of the day!

We made a point to gather the four CYC couples for a ten year reunion picture. The eight of us met their spouses in the summer of 2004, working as counselors at Catholic Youth Camp in McGregor, MN. We all got married in '06 or '07, and we have remained friends since then. Now, fourteen kids later, we are sharing wonderful- and busy- lives together. All of us ended up in the Twin Cities except for Ryan and Maggie, so when they made it to town we had to seize the opportunity. Pretty stellar work for a decade, if I may say so myself!

It's only been a few months, but I wish I could go back and live this weekend over again! Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate the most important moment in Edith's life so far. And thank you especially to Ryan and Maggie for agreeing to the important role of Godparents. She is blessed to have you.

Major Malfunction

Computer down. 

Blogging from my phone. 

Not ideal. 

I'll see if I can make this work, I have so much to write about! But words are at a premium when one is typing on a three-inch keyboard. So bear with me... You may still have to wait awhile to hear about our awesome summer. 

Welcome, Little One!

On July 27 at 3:00pm, we welcomed Edith Clare into the world. What a joy, what a sweet girl she is! Already a good listener, she waited to arrive until the day after my cousin's wedding. The other three kids were ring bearers and flower girl in the wedding and I really wanted to be there to celebrate with my family. So she waited, and I got to attend the wedding and the reception, plus get a full night's sleep before she decided to make herself known. 

Baby Edith has been a dream baby so far. She loves her sleep; I actually wake her up to feed her during the day, which I never would have dreamed of doing with any of my other kids! Let sleeping babies lie, they always say. But I know that if I wake Edith up, she will likely fall asleep the instant she is done eating. And when she is awake, she's almost always content! My dear girl... if she stays like this, I'll barely notice that I have a fourth child!

Her siblings dote on her; their first thought each morning is of their new sister. They run into our bedroom and crowd around her, waiting for her to move or make a noise. They love to hold her and talk to her, and they love to talk about her. Even Audrey is wonderful with her little "Baby Ediff".

We are so glad to have our little girl out in the world with us. I can't wait for everyone to meet her!

 

It's History

I was never much of a history lover in school. I took the courses, got good grades, and promptly forgot everything I learned. History was just a collection of names and dates, there was no continuity, no hands-on learning, no point. It was said by a foreign ambassador to the U.S. (I don't have the name or direct quote, I so wish I did!) that English is the only language in which "It's history" is synonymous with "It's irrelevant." 

Having been introduced to some fantastic history books since graduation, I have come to realize that I am absolutely a history lover! I was simply never given the tools that interested me along the way. As a homeschooling family we have the freedom to explore history however we choose. In preparation for our trip to Massachusetts, we read up on all things American Revolution, and by the time we left the boys were battling British soldiers in our backyard every day! They learned about Paul Revere, George Washington, the Boston Massacre. We looked at maps of Boston and found out where the tea was dumped into the harbor, followed Paul Revere's famous ride, and made a plan to visit as many historical sites on the Freedom Trail as we could manage. 

During the last week of our trip we picked a day to spend in downtown exploring the sites, beginning with the U.S.S. Constitution. We were able to climb aboard and explore a real ship... the kids were beside themselves with excitement! There were cannons, sails, riggings, hammocks, and they could touch them with their own hands. Talk about history coming alive!

We also visited Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, Copp's Hill Burial Ground, Faneuil Hall, and the Old State House. By the end of it we were thoroughly exhausted, but we had learned so much! Since then, their interest in the American Revolution and American history hasn't even begun to wane. Lucian draws the U.S.S. Constitution every day, they still play Revolution and fire muskets at the British, and they always ask to check out library books about colonial times. It might not always be this easy to make history exciting, but I know that my kids won't soon forget what they learned about our country's early years.

Checking out our direction on the compass

Steep stairs to the lower deck

Each cannon had a name; my favorite was "Prudence".

Soldiers at attention!

U.S.S. Constitution

Inside the Old North Church

Paul Revere's House

The Old State House, and the site of the Boston Massacre

Lake Cabin Living

Kelley and Tim were able to take some time off from work, and Tim's generous friends let us use their lake cabin for a long weekend, so we decided to add a few more miles to our trip and head up to Maine! We stopped along the way for dinner, and Paul and I got to fulfill our goal of eating a whole lobster in Maine. It just seemed like an important thing to do. Let me tell you- it's not easy to eat a whole lobster! Maybe I'm not the most coordinated person, but it was hard work! Totally worth it though.

The area of Maine that we visited reminded me a lot of Northern Minnesota, with the addition of beautiful mountain scenery. It was wonderful and relaxing. The cabin was perfect with a screened back porch, a wood burning stove, a loft and several bedrooms. As was the case for much of our trip, we were threatened by rain almost every morning, but other than a few scattered showers the days all ended up gorgeous and sunny! The lake was freezing cold- it was May after all- but that didn't stop the boys from taking a dip. They also went canoeing, hiking, and fishing; what more could a couple of kids ask for? My only regret is that I didn't pack a single pair of shorts for the boys, I was expecting cold weather and rain for the whole trip! 

The two expectant mommies mostly got to relax on the dock in camp chairs while the men adventured with the kids, but we were right there for both hikes! Even thinking about those hikes now makes me break out into a sweat, but thankfully we timed the trip so that I was still able to walk more than 30 feet without feeling like falling over. 

We drove back to Kelley and Tim's on Sunday afternoon, and we got to continue the leisurely pace of our vacation while our hosts sadly had to go back to work. But thankfully we still had evenings to spend together... and our much-anticipated trip to downtown Boston to look forward to. Coming up next!