Lest I Forget

This week found me working on three different projects, which is very atypical for me. However, I find it is working out just fine. First up, I am knitting a new sweater for an old bunny. I might have swiped the too-small sweater off Jack's bunny to put on the elephant I just finished. He is much tinier and it fits him just right. Jack picked the color and it is the perfect piece of knitting to have at the school desk while giving spelling tests and such. Second is the baby blanket for my niece's new baby. Since she knows what the first blanket looks like and since she picked the colors of this new one, I do not feel the need to hide it from her. This is the perfect car knitting. And by that I mean that the pattern is easily memorized, and I don't have to watch my husband drive. And that is all that I have to say about that. Third is my new shawl for me. Tortured by all the choices, I just picked one and cast on. I had read a review of this yarn saying tha...

I love this time of year. Winter is a distant memory. Everything is bursting into new life in vibrant shades of green. But mostly I love spring because of all the new little souls receiving Jesus for the first time in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Jack is one of those little souls. Oh, he looked so sweet in his slightly too big suit with his hands folded solemnly, looking up at the priest and whispering "Amen". My heart was filled with joy as I gazed at this little boy, who somehow went from a tiny babe in arms to a young boy, enthusiastically anticipating his first time receiving Jesus. He wrote me a letter earlier this week. Full of misspellings, yet full of love, expressing his excitement. Anna got him a card and wrapped up one of our prayer books. I asked Barbara if she would make a rosary for him. It is absolutely beautiful, as I knew it would be. Jack had our priest bless it right after Mass. My dear friend Misha's son also received his First Holy Communion at ...

From the warmth of my house, I stared out the window at the cold wind blowing, swirling leaves up and around and spreading them hither and yon. I felt like one of those leaves. I am caught up in the winds of a huge move and I don't have a lot of say about which way I am blown. Today, for instance, I will be packing up the kids again so that the property manager can show the house. We did this yesterday too. So much for organizing our things. On New Year's Day, though, I stood firm against that mighty wind and chose to get in the car yet again to take one almost seven year old to the Lego store two hours away for a birthday surprise. I walked behind him and his siblings. As the store came into view, he grabbed Anna's hand, gave it a good squeeze, and began walking faster. There may have even been a little jig in his steps. Before going inside, he paused outside to look at all the displays in the store window. Then, after giving me one of the biggest grins ever, he stepped ...

At the ripe old age of six and a half, Jack lost his first tooth this week. Following tradition, we promptly lost the tooth! Thinking I was being smart, I had him put it in an envelope and address it to the Tooth Fairy. He didn't lick and seal it, which I really didn't think I needed to tell him, since he seals empty, very usable envelopes all the time. Well, it fell out of that envelope and onto the floor of his room. Which is carpeted. With Berber. With white flecks. Ack! While searching for that tooth, which we did find (praise God!), we also found Therese's missing juice cup. Just how long had it been MIA, you ask? Let's just say that the phrase of the day around here is: 'Chuck the cup'. If we have survived this long without the cup, I have no desire to investigate the contents remaining in it.

On the way to an early morning appointment, Jack and Anna were musing over what their future careers might be. Anna: I want to be either a worker at Busch Gardens or a Mythbuster. Jack: I want to be a veter-tarian or... Me: You mean a veterinarian? As in someone who works with animals? Jack: That's what I said, a veter-tarian. Either that or a blimp driver.

I didn't have the heart to tell him he was supposed to wear the earmuffs like a headband and not under his chin. I also was too chicken to go outside so the pictures are grainy.

Recent funny quotes from my Jack... ...during Mass last week, "Mom, next year I think I'll give up Mass for Lent." ...at dinner, when the chicken was brought to the table, " Mom, you know I gave up meat for Lent." "But Jack," I said, " You have been eating hot dogs for lunch all through Lent." With a look of surprise, Jack said, " That's meat?" ...during an especially competitive game of Candyland yesterday, after the card let him move only one space, "Well, now, that wasn't really very helpful".

Planning a birthday party right after Christmas can prove to be challenging. We only had a few days to come up with an idea after returning from Tennessee. Jack and I browsed the internet looking at "birthday party themes for boys". There were so many clever ideas, but we were short on time and most of them started out by stating that you should allow yourself 4 weeks to pull these parties together! Yikes! Then we saw one where the fire department actually came to their house. Jack was hooked. I called our local fire department and they do not do that, but they said we were welcome to come take a tour of the fire station. We called his friends and planned for Saturday afternoon. They did warn us that it would be cut short if they happened to get a call.  We started out seeing where they ate, slept, and gathered before heading out to see the engines. Just as the firefighters started telling the kids about the engine, the alert sounded and they were called to help someone ...

This morning started out like any other. Tousle-headed and in great need of a haircut, Jack shuffled into our room just as I was waking up. I had been hearing Olivia getting ready for a while, but laid there for a little bit, asking for God's guidance this day and relishing the warmth of the blankets. I took Jack's hand and we walked down the steps together to the kitchen and each had a glass of orange juice. From above came the coos and giggles of Therese in her crib. Those are some of the sweetest sounds, by the way. I peeked in her room and saw her sticking her foot out between the slats of the crib. I snuck in and tickled those little toes. She gave me a big grin and I scooped her up and hugged her tight. Back down the steps we went and looked at books while she sat on her potty. No success in that department, I put a nice fresh diaper on her and went to the kitchen again to start breakfast. Anna wandered in about this time. After I got them all fed, I sat down to check my...

We attended a wedding today. I just love weddings. Tony always whispers his vows again in my ear when the groom says his. He gets very romantic at weddings. At the reception, Jack was hungry. Hungry for cake, not the food. I told him that he had to wait for the bride and groom to cut the cake. To which he replied, "That's OK, I've got a knife. I can cut it myself." I tried to explain that it is a tradition for the couple to cut the cake together and then everyone can have a piece. He then said, "Then why did they give me a knife?" I knew at that moment that it was going to be an interesting evening! Oh, I almost forgot! Anna was the flower girl. She loved getting her hair curled, her nails painted, the fancy dress, a kiss of lip gloss, tossing the flower petals....she loved it all!

Jack has been a source of much amusement (mine) this week. Maybe he seems funnier since I haven't been getting much sleep with all the sickly children around here. -at the breakfast table, Jack looked up from his breakfast to inform me that "when I get fur like dad, I'm razoring it off." -After Anna told Jack that she did not want to play chess with him, Jack yelled down the stairs "Mom, Anna hurt my feelings." I asked him to come down so we could talk about it. His reply? "I can't. My heart is broken." -I was inspecting kid's teeth to see if they had indeed been brushed. When I asked to see Jack's, he told me "I gave up brushing teeth."

It's been a big week around here. A particular little girl, pictured below, has issues with loose teeth. As in, they freak her out. She won't let anyone touch them and so they hang there like this.... until she finally allows me to touch it and get it out. Ta-da! I admit that I am sad about this milestone. I think kids look so much older once those big adult teeth start coming in. It seems like part of their childhood has ended. She can't wait to look older though. She keeps asking if the missing tooth makes her appear older. The other milestone is that Jack can write his own name. I was happy to see his signature on his artwork. Not so much when I discovered it on the lamp!

Jack is my Epiphany baby. He also shares a birthday with my husband's oldest brother. Did I ever mention that three of my six kids share birthdays with Tony's siblings? Strange but true. Anyhoo, finding a cake to make for Jack is challenging, considering the fact that I cannot use milk or butter. This year I tried my hand at an angel food cake. I enjoy cooking meals, but desserts are different. Cooking is not so precise. I mean, I can make substitutions or even change things up completely and make it my own. Baking, however, requires strict adherence to the directions, and there were lots of directions for this cake. I don't know if it would still come out good if you didn't fold in 1 cup of sugar, 2 Tbsp. at a time or not, and I was afraid to try. Or what would happen if you added the vanilla, almond extract and salt in the second to last addition of sugar instead of the very last addition? That is why I poured a glass of this! I was getting so stressed. With my apron...

is never dull. This week, he has made me laugh out loud so often. He was watching me change Therese's diaper and was worried about the umbilical cord. I explained that that was how she received food from me while she grew in my tummy. Anna then walked into the room and he wanted to share his new knowledge with her. "Anna, this is the invisible cord." But what really made me giggle was this: (this will probably only happen in your house if your husband's occupation is 'tuba player') Jack put the Boppy pillow around himself and lifted one end to his mouth. He then proceeded to "play" Seventy-six trombones into his own sousaphone while marching around the living room. He's really quite a talented musician and entertainer. I knew I needed to write these little moments down before they were lost forever in my sleep deprived state. But I am joyfully making the sacrifice. Did I mention that we are all in love over here with our little Therese? P.S. I ha...

It may look like she is doing something she shouldn't, but she is actually doing her schoolwork and following directions quite nicely! Jack can't quite believe I am not stopping this madness and am photographing the moment instead. This is the house that Anna drew. This is the magical part when you hold the picture up to the light. Her family appears in the windows! This was art for the day. The idea comes from this lovely series of books . They are so special, these books. Even more so because my dear friend has passed them along to us and I think of her each time I pull one from the shelf.