Three Cheers for Plastic Wine Glasses

The other day, we augmented our goblet supply with some plastic wine glasses. As tacky as it may sound, they actually look and feel really great. The reason, of course, was to empower indiscriminate drinking in the presence of little hands and feet (that sometimes bump over wine glasses). There are two downsides: the glasses are so big that you can empty half a bottle of wine into a glass almost unknowingly; they don't make a regal chink at toast time. Otherwise, we have been loving our classy/plastic wine glasses!

Did You Know Killer EU Cucumbers Were Organic

In article, 'Killer Cucumber' Bug From Spain Hits Britain, reporters chronicle the killer E.Coli strain found throughout Europe. Hundreds have been hospitalized and a handful of people have even died. The article does note, however, that the product in question was organic.

Schwinging and Bikes in the Backyard

The glorious days of spring:

Do You Ever Wonder What Madge Looks Like When She is Talking to You on the Phone?

Wonder no more. Behold.

Pita Post

Pita,
Here is a special post just for you! Mom and and Dad love you so much! You bring so much joy to our life. Thanks for being our almost-three year old. Recently, you have been enjoying the fact that your hair is growing. You love massages, especially foot massages. You have been learning colors and numbers recently (you can even do 1-10 in Portuguese now).
Love and prayers,
Dad and Mom

May Crowning

Lest the month of May expire before I get this up, here goes:

On Friday, May 6, our family joined a dozen or so other families from our homeschooling group to pray the rosary and hold a procession in honor of Our Lady. Our family was blessed to lead one of the decades. Cupcakes in the shape of a rosary literally sweetened the morning.

Planting. Painting. Living Spring.

This past weekend we had a wonderful time getting our seeds in the ground for a summer garden. We planted a variety of flowers, marigolds, being one of them, while Daddy read aloud the story of the Marigold from Mary's Flowers. We also planted beans and tomatoes, and zinnias! The girls continue to love reading Zinnia's Garden. One new book that we just read a couple of days ago, before using watercolors to illustrate what was held in our art memory box, was Mortimer's First Garden. It was a great little book: one that will go on our garden book list! We loved how it talked about patience and how sometimes waiting for some miracles from God ask us to be patient. A good read! Before getting bitten by too many mosquitoes, we managed to get almost all of our seeds planted, bikes ridden on the patio, swings swung in, and moments shared together watching the earthworms churn our soil for a healthy garden to come! Another Sunday to be treasured in our family memory box!

Madge and Pita Singing "Ave Maria"

Our girls, ever the actresses, give their Sunday-afternoon rendition of "Ave Maria." As you can probably notice from the video, Pita loves to hold music books in hand while singing. Enjoy!

Mr. 10 Months!

Our little man of many wonders continues to put smiles on each of our faces. Now, Calsee, you are sitting, attempting (again and again) to craw, pulling yourself up and standing, while holding on to a bed or anything that helps you achieve your standing goal! You have 6. Meio! Seis dentes! You smile a ton, laugh a lot, especially when you see your sisters. Like today, you and I went in to wake Madge from her nap, and you glanced over, saw your biggest sister and got really excited. You love your girls. They love you! What a joy your life is and what beauty it has added to our own. I cannot imagine life any other way. And yet, I know, we know, you are a gift. You are not ours. Your are God's. May you always go to where He calls you, and we pray that we will always listen to His direction so that we can gently direct you toward Him, your true Happiness.

All our love, Sweets. Nos te amamos mais do que voce jamais saber!

Visit to Michigan over the Weekend

Given our upcoming move, I traveled to Michigan over the weekend to spend some special time visiting and bonding with my parents and siblings (all five of us came together from four different states for the weekend). Mares was so kind and generous as to watch the kids during this time so that I could make the trip. Thanks, Mares, you're the best! Your generosity and efficiency around the house is ever an inspiration!

Highlights from the visit included celebrating my parents' wedding anniversary, playing board games as a family, having lunch with my folks, Mary Theresa and Joseph, and Grandma Gertie at Panera, playing Scrabble with Mom, Dad, and Micah at Panera (the next day...do you see a pattern here?), getting in two games of tennis, Divine Mercy Sunday Mass at a St. Stephen's Parish (a Polish parish that celebrates Divine Mercy in style), a family forum, frisbee with Joe, trampoline time and playing with the nieces and nephews, special breakfast date with Dad and Mary Theresa. The list goes on. Thanks to all for such a nice weekend.

Planes, Planes and More Planes

On Sunday, the family came to pick me up from the airport. I was flying in from Detroit from visiting my folks and siblings. (Awesome visit, BTW.) Mares took the kids to early Mass so that they could spend some time at a park right next to the airport to provide time for the kids to watch the planes take off and land. While the girls are in some ways girly-girls, in other ways not so much. Both of them love trucks, trains, planes and especially motorcycles. (To quote someone famous: Who knew?) Anyhow, it was a great idea. With each passing plane (basically one per minute), Madge and Peach got excited all over again. A big holler for planes!

Briaaaaaaan Regan!

On Sunday night, May 1, Mares and I went on a date to see Brian Regan live in Baltimore. Thanks to our friends Nicky and Dave, we were able to get out on the town. It was so enjoyable to spend such time together. Brian Regan was a lot of fun as well. My favorites were his lines about the royal wedding, only two days after it occurred! You've got to love it. We joined our friends Tom and Rebekah, Chris, and Catherine.

Date Time

On Monday night, we split up for some special dates. Maddy and I went out on a date to ColdStone Creameries. Mary and Pita went to Ikea. We all had ice-cream. It was nice to enjoy special time with our kids. We love them so much! Thanks, Madge, for our date. Pita, you'll be my date next time.

Newseum Visit

On Friday, Mary and the kids visited the Newseum with our local Catholic homeschooling group (a group that is now 80+ families strong!). They had a nice time. Iconic memories of the Berlin Wall, among other sites.




















(This pic is in honor of Pita's godfather, Uncle Dan, a life-long Peanuts' fan.)

An Afternoon at the Park

Easter Day

Easter beckoned new life. We had our family Easter egg hunt in the morning before breakfast and Mass. It was so much fun to watch Maddy and Pita scurrying about in search of the eggs. Every now and then, Maddy would check on Pita and point out the locations of more eggs. They loved it, of course, and enjoyed some chocolate morsels before our special Easter breakfast of cinnamon rolls and eggs.

We attended 9:30am Mass at our Parish afterwards.















































We spent the afternoon with friends Nicky and Dave and their family. The girls were able to partake in yet another egg hunt. All in all, it was a wonderful Easter day.

Easter Cinnamon Rolls!

Watch out Cinnabun. You've got some serious competition. Mary made some awesome cinnamon rolls for Easter morning. We enjoyed the breakfast treat before hitting Mass on Easter morn.

Easter Egg Dying and Easter Nest Cookies

We dyed our Easter Eggs on Good Friday afternoon after Stations at church. Late we made Easter nest cookies. They were delicious!

Holy Thursday Dinner

On Holy Thursday, we were able to join up with some friends to celebrate a (not last) supper of our own. Here are some pics of the ceder celebration and the kids' theatrical performance that followed.