She's Three!

 

On the heels of a fun, busy weekend away and in the middle of a full week of Vacation Bible School, somewhere in there my spunky little gal turned three years old! I knew her actual birthday would be busy, but we managed to get some good celebrating in. Her brothers made her a crown and wand, and we had donuts for breakfast. Then Grandma came and took her out for ice cream in the afternoon, and we concluded with cupcakes in the evening. Three treats for the three year old! I think she's still coming off that sugar high.

Then on Saturday, when we had a moment to catch our breath, we had her Thomas the Train birthday party. It was low-key, just her cousins and auntie and grandparents, but it was perfect. We had an impromptu water balloon fight (man I love summer birthdays!), Thomas balloons, and a Thomas ice cream cake. (Did I mention I love summer birthdays?) Then Audrey got to open her gifts, which included, to her delight, a stroller for her Baby Owie! She immediately buckled in her baby and took her for three consecutive walks around the block.

Everyone had a wonderful day, especially the Birthday Girl.  Happy, happy birthday, Audrey Therese!

How to decorate a Thomas cake for non-cake-decorators, like me

On The Run

Out of the blue, my husband became a runner. I swear, it happened overnight. He started running to help get his leg back in shape after an injury and he just kept going! Then his friend Ryan invited him to run the Fargo Half-Marathon with him, and the rest is history. I knew it was for real when he used his birthday money at REI for running gear rather than camping equipment... who is this guy?!

Last weekend was the big day, and the whole family decided to go with and cheer him on. I was a little nervous about being in charge of all four kids by myself, but Ryan's wife Maggie assured me there would be plenty of help, so away we went! We were invited to stay with the Norrells at Maggie's sister's house, which we were so grateful to be able to do, especially since the nearest hotel with any openings was 45 minutes away from the race site.

All in all, there were 19 people sleeping in the house Friday night, but Patty and Steve and all their kids graciously shared every available floor and couch to make room for everyone. They grilled a delicious dinner for the whole crew Friday night, and besides the meal I barely saw my children... they were busy playing with all of their friends!

Saturday morning, Race Day, Paul and Ryan left early to head to the Fargo Dome and get ready. That left Maggie and myself to get a pile of kids up, fed, and in the car by 8:00 AM to make it in time to hopefully see our husbands run by. I had no idea what to expect, and frankly I was pretty worried about the whole scenario, but it worked out beautifully! For starters, Maggie's two youngest kids stayed home, and three of Patty's older kids came with, so there were ample hands to hold children and push strollers, leaving me free to snap some photos!

We parked a block from the race course (alleluia!) and walked to a spot around Mile 5 to wait for the runners. The kids started high-fiving any racer that came near, and the smiles we got were priceless! I was so busy watching the kids that I almost missed Paul coming by! He was right in front of us, smiling and giving high fives before I had time to grab my camera... and then off he went again. At least I was ready then when Ryan came by just moments later.

 

 

After Ryan passed, we hightailed it one block over to catch the guys on their way back toward the Dome. We set up near Mile 8 to watch and wait again... and pretty soon there cam that bright orange shirt! This time I was ready.

Paul and Ryan flew by, looking great! It was really exciting to see them run, and they both said that they loved having us there to cheer them on. I have a sneaking suspicion that this won't be our last time cheering them on. In fact, it's probably just the beginning...

We left the race with a bunch of chilly kids shortly after that and went back to the house to wait for the runners. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in Fargo, then we set off for home before dinner. It was a short trip, but we packed in a lot of action!

I know my husband isn't big on sappy stuff, but I have to say how incredibly proud of him I am. If you had asked either of us a year ago if we thought he'd be running a half-marathon this spring, we would have just chuckled. He has always been active, but distance running was never his thing... until suddenly it was! He tends to be pretty successful at whatever he sets his mind to.

Congratulations, honey, I am so proud of you!

Happy Birthday, Isaac!

Cousin Isaac just turned four! We got to celebrate with him last weekend, and the boys were so excited to spend some time, in Lucian's words, "with my best friends!" The party was at "Pump It Up", a place with bouncy houses and inflatable slides, black lights and glow bracelets... the kids were in party heaven. After completing the perfect day with some delicious cake, Max informed me that "This was the best day of my life!"

Edith and Sammy got to hang out on a blanket together for awhile, taking in the craziness around them. Audrey tried the bouncy house with Dad and backed right out again, quaking with nerves. Minutes later she wanted to try a slide with me, so we climbed a big ladder and slid down together! I think she was horrified, but she stayed brave and held it together. After that, she was content to be pushed around by Grandpa in a toy car, her feet safely on the ground. I only saw flashes of Max and Lucian as they ran past, chasing their cousins and climbing out of sight. Eventually they settled at the air hockey table, which brought back vivid memories of my own childhood.

 

They really have kid parties down to an art at this place. Everyone was shepherded through without a hitch, and the birthday boys (Isaac's cousin Linnaeus was celebrating as well) were rewarded with blow-up crowns, glowing light sticks, and an inflatable throne in which to open presents. But if this party taught me one thing, it's that we don't spend nearly enough time with our cousins! The boys were ecstatic to be able to spend some quality time with Alexander and Isaac. Let's make it happen more often!

A Beautiful Easter Weekend

Alleluia! He is risen! We were so blessed to be able to spend Easter with Paul's family in Wisconsin at Monica and Glenn's beautiful new home. Patrick drove to our house from college and rode with us, surviving five-plus hours of Minecraft discussion wedged in between the two booster seats in the back of our minivan. He's a boss.

The visit was just wonderful, in every way. We arrived to big smiles and hugs, and I finally got to hold my newest niece Evelyn! I can't believe this was the first time I have seen her in person. We went for a walk in the woods near their house and discovered a sculpture park that included statues of Jesus, our Blessed Mother, and St. Peter! Oh... and Abraham Lincoln and some gnomes and a wishing well. Quite the spread, I'd say. After our walk we returned home to pray the Stations of the Cross and start the Divine Mercy Novena. It was especially awesome and inspiring to hear about Liam's devotion to Divine Mercy... that kid's not a kid any more. Glenn fried up some fish and Monica served potato soup for dinner; I felt a little guilty for eating such delicious food on Good Friday!

Saturday we were treated to an amazing breakfast of baked French Toast and bacon, and then we all set off to see the lake. It was a quick walk to the shore, and I think the kids would have stayed there all day if we let them! Well, all except Audrey... apparently she's afraid of water. Oh well, there were plenty of arms to hold her. The boys collected several pounds of rocks and loaded them into the wagon to bring home, and Nathaniel had a great time throwing the rocks from the wagon on the way home, sending his big cousins scrambling to pick them up!

The menfolk went on an outing after we got back, and the little ones went down for naps. That left Grandma, Monica, Max, Lucian and myself. Max settled in to read books to Grandma while Lucian baked Resurrection Rolls with Monica. I wandered back and forth, watching and enjoying the time they got to spend together one-on-one.When Patrick got home he set up his slackline (a bit like a tightrope) and got pretty much everyone in the family to try it out, including Audrey! I hope I won't bore you with all my talk of food, but the food that weekend was incredible. Dinner Saturday was no exception; we feasted on Glenn's famous smoked carnitas. Um. Wow. Be jealous, be very jealous.

Easter Sunday was beautiful. Lucian and Max bounced out of the bedroom yelling "Alleluia!" "Jesus is Risen!" "We can finally say Alleluia again!" Incredibly, we were all ready to go and made it on time to 9:00 Mass. Ok, maybe it wasn't incredible for most of the family, but I was very impressed with us! I loved Monica and Glenn's church, the community seems very engaged and the priest is young and on fire. We sang as many Alleluias as we could have hoped for, and by some Easter miracle, both girls were very well-behaved. (Audrey made up for it this Sunday with ballerina twirls in the aisle. Yeesh.) The kids hunted for eggs and found their Easter baskets when we got home. Then they sat around eating candy and playing with their new wares while we drank coffee and enjoyed each others' company.

That night, there were card games (Six-handed five hundred! My brain cannot handle that many cards) and cigars (no, not me.) and lots of laughs. It was bittersweet, knowing we would be leaving the next day. Goodbyes are always hard, but the beauty of a goodbye is that it only happens because there was first a hello! We had a wonderful time breaking-in the new house, and thanks to the wonderful hosts we felt right at home.

Happy Easter to you all!

Painting the Saints

Ever since my reversion to Catholicism back in college, the saints have been my inspiration and my companions. Reading the writings of St. Therese changed my life, and she was the first on an ever-expanding list of my "favorite" saints. I ask for their prayers and try to emulate their lives, and I really feel like they are my true friends. When I started having kids, I wanted to instill in them a love of the saints, but for years I have had no idea how. I can't plunk them down on the couch with a biography of Padre Pio, or guide them through the writings of Pope John Paul II. That day may come, but I don't want them to wait as long as I did to meet all of these great friends. I have tried countless saint stories, videos, paintings, but nothing quite seemed to catch their interest in the way I was hoping.

Then I heard about Saint Peg Dolls. I am not really a crafty person; I love crafts with my kids, but only because the process is more important than the outcome. I am intimidated by "grown-up" crafts, especially if anyone else will ever see them. But for some reason, these dolls kept speaking to me. 

So I joined a Saint Doll Exchange through a friend of mine. Each of us painted 19 wooden pegs in the likeness of a saint of our choosing, then we sent them off to her to organize and send back one of each saint to each participant. I was a little terrified at the prospect of painting something that a bunch of strangers with unknown artistic ability would be seeing, but I did it anyways. I painted 19 St. Lucian of Antioch dolls and mailed them away.

Before Easter a package arrived in the mail. I snuck up to my bedroom to examine the saints I had received, and I was blown away! They were beautiful. There was a wide range of artistic talent, from simple (like mine) to extremely elaborate and complex, but each one was stunning in its own way. It took every ounce of self-control to save them until Easter... but I managed, and the kids each received a group of saints in their baskets. 

It has been amazing. Every day since Easter, they have played with these dolls. They keep bringing them to me to ask about their lives, and even I am learning things I never knew! St. Perpetua is a current favorite; we read all about her life and her martyrdom, and the next thing I knew, there was a duplo arena in our living room with St. Perpetua facing the wild animals. They also love to know which saints knew each other or lived at the same time. We have some great pairs, including John Paul II and Mother Teresa, Francis and Clare, and Edith Stein and Maximilian Kolbe. 

We ended up with a great mix of ancient (St. Joesph, St. Philomena, St. Perpetua, St. Lucian) and modern (Bl. Pier Giorgio, St. Maximilian, St. John Paul), and everything in between. Max has taken to snatching my phone whenever he sees it lying around and snapping pictures of his pals. Now that they have met 19 new friends, we only have about 10,000 more to go! Let's get painting!

Chef Louie

 

 For Christmas, Lucian received a set of cooking utensils, an apron and two cook books. He had been showing some interest in cooking and we thought he would love to have some of his own tools. He loved them. He cooked with Grandma while we were in Rapid, and he used his tools to make granola with Daddy at home. But I was disappointed because I never seemed to be able to make room in my schedule to let him help me cook. He started out asking all the time, but I said no so many times that he stopped trying. Having to time dinner prep between baby naps and feedings while fending off a toddler kept me near enough the end of my rope that I couldn't handle a child sous-chef.

On Saturday I had just entered the kitchen to make dinner. Paul and the kids were reading in the living room and Edith was napping. Soon, Lucian peeked in. "Mom? Can I help you make dinner?" Fighting off the urge to send him away, I realized that I had no good reason not to let him help today. "Sure, hun, let's get your apron." He broke out in a grin and requested his own cooking tools.

As we prepared the meal, we chatted. He told me all about the restaurant he was going to open someday, "Chef Louie's", and I listened with both ears, undistracted by other kids or other thoughts. He did as much of the meal on his own as he possibly could, and I simply stepped in to do things like turn on the burner, pour from a heavy bowl, and place the finished casserole in the oven. It was a wonderful half hour with a wonderful chef. 

By the end of the dinner prep, I had officially become Lucian's sous-chef, and he had renamed his future restaurant "Chef Louie and Mom's". I think the evening was a success.

Sneaky Sneaky

I've never had a two-year-old quite like my current two-year-old. Max was a little spacey, but he never deliberately disobeyed me... he mostly just forgot what he was supposed to be doing. Lucian had a little sly streak in him, but he quickly decided that getting in trouble was too stressful. But Audrey...

Oh Audrey.

Around age 2, we always make a rule that pacifiers need to stay in beds, with the intention of weaning our kids from their paci's by age 3. It worked like a charm for the other two, but as soon as we instituted this rule for Audrey we began to see her true colors shine through. Multiple times a day, she sneaks up to her room to lay on her bed with paci and blankie, then when the spirit moves her she heads downstairs incognito.

 

In the above photo, everything seems just fine, right? Well underneath that unassuming blankie is a stowaway! Audrey has taken to walking down the stairs with her head covered in order to hide the fact that she has not left her paci in her room like she knows full well she is supposed to do. No accidental mistakes here, this is 100% intentional. Paul even caught her once coming downstairs wearing a Darth Vader mask to hide her guilt.

Yesterday she came downstairs with her blankie bundled into a ball. When she saw me, she jumped. "Turn around, Mommy!" she said. I obliged, and out of the corner of my eye, I watched her sneak under the boys' Lego table, behind a bin of railroad tracks, and bury her head in her blankie so I couldn't see her put her paci in her mouth. Oh my, oh my.

It would actually be a little bit cute and endearing if my attempts to remove said paci didn't end in bloodcurdling screams and full-blown on-the-floor tantrums. It's like she knows my noise tolerance is at an all-time low right now, and she thinks that if she just keeps it up long enough I'll give in to preserve my sanity. Sadly for her, the tantrums actually land her in her room without her paci, which continues to shock her no matter how many times it happens!

My mother-in-law likes to remind me that often the kids that are hardest to deal with end up doing the biggest things someday. If that is truly the case, I have very high expectations for Audrey someday. We shall see...