The Last Week

This past week has been a whirlwind! It seems like things always come in clusters. Anna's First Communion required a lot of preparation, at which I am not particularly adept. Luckily for me, everything came together quite nicely, thanks to the help of my mom and some very good friends!

 Doesn't she look lovely in my dress?

 I see a little nervousness in those eyes.

 A family shot. I would like to point out that my camera is not capturing the true color of the den. Here we all look a little green in my opinion! I would really like to get a new camera, but that is not in the immediate budget. A car to fit us all is.

 My parents and two little kids who are very tired of posing.

A funny little story about my dad....For breakfast he got himself a cup of coffee and a piece of toast. He enjoys sitting outside on the deck with his breakfast. He came right back inside though, stating, "This is NOT apple butter!" You see, my dad is color blind and he had slathered his toast with my homemade ketchup!

 Tony and his mother. I am so glad all Anna's grandparents were able to be there on such a special day. We are so blessed.

 I have also been busy trying out new recipes to make this dairy-free thing a bit more palatable. This was a chick-pea salad with avadado. It was sort of bland. It needed a little kick, though I am not sure exactly what. In the background are the mashed potatoes/parsnips with vegan gravy. Now that was very tasty indeed!

 Therese has been busy learning new skills. Here she is, being oh so independent and getting herself  a cup. She also has been increasing her vocabulary daily. I was getting a little worried that she was closing in on 2 years old and was not talking. Anna was the same way and needed speech therapy for about a year. Therese all of a sudden started trying to tell us what was on her mind. She also walks aroung singing all day long.

 When I was little, we would visit my grandparents every summer. At the time, several of my relatives operated a Wise potato chip business. These owl lights were strung up between my grandparents house and the garage. I remember running under them while chasing cousins and fireflies. My dad was cleaning out my grandmother's basement for her and came across the lights. He brought them to me this past week.



I was so excited that they still worked!

On Friday, we loaded up in the car to pick up Sophie from the airport! She's home! All my kiddos are under one roof for the summer and I am one happy mama.  Saturday, Tony and I took all the little ones on a walk through the neighborhood in the morning to let Sophie sleep off some of the jetlag. And then we took everyone bowling in the afternoon to celebrate her homecoming. Sunday came and we prepared for another long day. It seems all our friends have a child making their First Holy Communion this spring. These particular friends go to Mass at a Latin Rite Parish. I have only been to a Latin Mass one other time, so we were a little like fish out of water trying to follow along. But it was beautiful, I must say. After that, another little friend of the kids was celebrating a birthday and the whole family was invited. By the time we got home, and got dinner on the table, I was exhausted. I fell asleep next to Jack as we finished the next chapter of Five Little Peppers. I woke only once, when I heard poor Olivia come dragging up the stairs at 1:30, her Literature paper finally completed.

As I start the laundry and the schoolwork today, I am thankful for a routine again and hopefully a peaceful day to go along with it.