Easter Season

*** Blogging isn't really happening in my life right now...I've been working on this post for some time, so just ignore any time references, or adjust accordingly  :)

Easter did happen.  I just don't have any photo-documentation of it.  A man put in charge of photographing our parish egg hunt snapped the one and only almost-family photo we got.  Seven of the nine kids and one of two parents. I'll take it!

Missing myself, Galadriel, and Bilbo

 So, since Easter is all about the Resurrection and New Life, I figure pictures of my new niece and the little chicks that arrived at "Aunt Buffy's" farm will do:

First, my sweet niece was born during Holy Week and was baptized on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Then the fuzzy chicks that arrived the Thursday before Easter?, or was it after? :

Back at home, the Easter Bunny delivered us some pretty new friends.  We have had such great luck with keeping Beta fish.  It is absolutely crazy how much we love fish, but my kids love watching them and feeding them.  They really last years if you don't do something to kill them, like overfeed them.  Our last fish was about 3 years old when my toddler dumped a ton of food in.  I didn't catch it early enough, so it died, and we were all bummed.  So, this Easter seemed like a good time to get another.

Typical of me, I saw this super cool waterfall effect aquarium for Beta, with three separate tanks.  So, I justified buying three Betas.  My kids divided them up as their personal fish and named them.  I'll get more pictures soon--there are rocks and plants in the tanks now.  All still alive and happy.  Cheerful little friends.  I guess you'd have to be a fish person to understand.

In my next post I'm going to write about Arwen's Confirmation this week!  But I'm totally out of time.  Odd post, perhaps, but: I posted!

Six!

When I was One I had just begun...

I always tell my kids the stories of their births on their birthdays.  You all know why Legolas's is so much fun to tell!  I love remembering.  He came after a long day of contractions that I had written off as "Braxton Hicks" and ignored.  

 My brothers and sister and brother-in-law had come to hang out.  At 10pm my wise younger sister sent me to bed with a promise that she'd get the boys to leave soon.

Labor really began once I made it upstairs, but I wasn't a pro at reading the signs.  I got into bed and thought I'd wait to see what happened with the contractions.

When my husband came to bed about 30 minutes later, I told him I thought I might be in labor but wasn't sure.  About 5 minutes later I had a monster contraction and was sure!

We called the midwife and convinced her to come NOW!  We called my mom at 11pm to tell her I was in labor, just to be on call.

I tried a warm bath, but didn't find it comfortable.  I went to lay on my bed and...my water broke, and with it, I felt my baby's head!  My husband called the midwife, who was 20 minutes away.  She talked him through the delivery: head, check for cord, catch the baby.  

Legolas came out pink and screaming!  I knew he was just fine!  We snuggled until the midwife came.  I called my Mom at 11:30 to tell her it was a boy!  And what a boy he is!

Legolas, my little Light, Happy Birthday!  He's Six!!

...I think I'll stay Six for ever and ever!

Road Trip

When your sister decides to breed her golden retriever, you really can't pass up the opportunity to visit!

 One puppy for each child, Arwen is holding Sam's (who wasn't really having it).

Each of the puppies got a different colored collar.  Even in the 24 hours we were there, we were able to tell them all apart and pick our favorite, which was really all of them.

 Legolas with "Bert" and "Jip" (Bert is in yellow--he's the pick of the litter--but Jip in green totally stole my heart!

 Rosie fell in love with "Snitch"

 "Reuben" (in the red collar above) was another of my favorites--I would take him home in a heartbeat!

So, did we get one? No.  They were all reserved before we ever came.  I really am not up for a shedding dog, but I'm sure I would have forgotten that and taken one if I could have!

Dogs aside, it was a delight and a joy to spend the time with my sister, brother-in-law, nieces and nephew!

 Must,

 Love

 my nephew!!

couch time!

cousins!

BFFs

You know what? I don't even mind growing old if I get to do it in this girl's company!

Thanks for the visit Aunt Ann!

Friday! 7 Quick Takes

 1) It absolutely rained and poured all Tuesday.  The river and pond flooded at the park.  Luckily the rain subsided before there was damage to many homes.  And then it got COLD.  Everything turned to ice!  I was in the shower (probably Wed or Thurs morning) when Galadriel came into my bathroom looking for me to see something.  I peeked out, and she was holding this:

 A huge sheet of ice.  Of course, my first response was to tell her to take it outside immediately before it broke and made a huge mess inside.  As she left, I recovered from my shock and shouted that "It is really cool and beautiful!"

2) There's a back corner to our yard that slopes downward.  It, too, was a sheet of ice.  The "hill" is not really big enough to sled down, but as a sheet of ice, it definitely worked!

Sam watching through the window

I don't know where all of my photos went, because I know I was taking tons of pictures of all of my kids all day...but you can see a couple more of Galadriel.:)

3)  Basketball season is allllmost over.  Last practices were this week.  One more weekend in March before it's officially done.  I'll miss it, but I can't wait!  Most of all, it's a sign that winter is passing and Spring is on it's way.

4) One week into Lent and I realize I am really bad at fasting.  Of course,  I knew this.  I always dreaded Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, just because I'm SUCH a grazer!  But I'm surprised at my efforts at limited fasting this lent and how attached I am to, say, my nighttime snacks.  Or the vanilla latte.  Got a ways to go till Easter, though, so I'll keep on a tryin'!

5) Thinking about rhythms of life and the chaos that can be homeschooling a family of 9 children.  I REALLY need to learn some big lessons in "delegation", and how to administrate those duties with sincerity.  Translation? Chore chart.  Or the verbal equivalent.  And it has to be non-negotiable and time sensitive.  "Go.  Now."  And then I have to call my husband in to make the kids realize I'm serious.

Makes me think this would have gone so much better if I had been a more demanding Mom when I was just getting started.  I think I tried, but little kids are only so capable, so I sort of got used to doing a bunch myself.  Now they ARE capable, but I am inconsistent in demanding chores of them.  Or inconsistent in WHICH chores I demand of any set person.  And that is where it all begins to break down.  I need accountability!  You know what? All those jokes about moms being CEOs? Not really funny.

6) New altar boy cassocks!!

7)  Just for the record, Sundays are not officially part of Lent.  That's why there are 45 days if you count from Ash Wed to Easter, not just 40.  My point? You really ARE supposed to "cheat" on Sunday.  I'm just putting that out there.  

Now, go have an awesome weekend!

Februarying

February is a tricky month.  It's still winter, not quite Spring, but it gets your hopes up.  Luckily, it is short!  March is officially a Spring month!  February can bring a lot of snow and ice and mud, but you also notice a change in the light!  It is brighter, and it lasts longer into the evenings.  Hope, I say!

Legolas and Sam sharing a favorite snack: apples and peanut butter.  So cute to see Sam grow to the point that he can sit and have a snack like a big boy.

 He is 19 months now.

Almost all of his teeth are in.  His favorite past-time is shooting hoops.   He actually "flops" after his shots, rolling onto his back and groaning.  Learning from the big boys.

 Reina patiently gives up her kennel so the little boys can make it a play space.

 They love it in there!

Since we're indoors anyway, it's a good time to tackle indoor tasks.  We've been needing to paint for well over a year now.   This is a bad picture (dark) but the mantle is navy blue.

 The navy matches the accent in the foyer (pictures still dark, sorry!):

And the back mantle and bookshelves are now white:

I'll have to get new pictures, everything looks dingy to me in these.  I do need to work on cleaning the brick above the back fireplace.  I am tempted to milk paint all of the back brick...but my husband is hesitant.

I was getting some work done and Sam was quiet in his highchair after his lunch.  I knew it was nap time, but I wasn't hearing from him, so I kept working...

The kids were all playing with a new play-doe set (and yes, this is what my kitchen table looks like in real life, judge if you will).  You can also get a sneak peek at the "accent" dark-grey wall color in the kitchen.  I'm giving that about three months and it's going to be bright yellow!  I got talked into the grey by the painter.  I'm SO not a dark girl.  Give me my cheerful yellow!

In addition to the painting, we've been finishing out the basketball season.  Arwen had the game-winning 3-pointer buzzer beater last weekend, which was the thrill of a lifetime.  This weekend she is on a retreat for Confirmation.

I am looking forward to the first signs of Spring, but in the meantime, I want to make use of every day of this short month.  Easter comes super early this year, and with it, I have a new niece or nephew  due.  New life is around the corner, but first, Lent!

With every refreshing, every renewal, comes hard work, or even the Cross.  It's learning to love that daily cross that is the key to happiness, I am sure.  And so, February.

Peace and love!:)