Mandatory Photo Session

Here is a slide show from all our fun family Easter celebrations....too many to post...but I will pull out my favs. There are some pretty pics in here of the church and lots of the kiddos...it was so nice to be with all the family and spend the day together!!

The Hartsells

Albert, Our Godson

The Sullivans

Uncle Casey & Michaela - GREAT PIC

The Sturhahn Family

Marmee & Poppy and their Baby-Grands

All the "kids"

Sisters (and yes I am the oldest and shortest!)

My Mama and her girls

Baby's First Easter

The Bean Jar

Easter morning Emma was a bit grumpy (it was EARLY!)...however, that changed really soon when they realized that their bean jar that had been filling up all of Lent with sacrifice beans...had turned into yummy JELLY BEANS! The last picture cracks me up because Angel was all giggles and Emma was begging to at least eat one before church! Of course, Happy Easter!

Confused?!

I think the weather here got very confused a couple weeks ago when it snowed several inches at my parents house!! (Ironically we only live about 15 minutes away and it did not snow at all here!) The girls enjoyed playing in it while it lasted though! Hopefully we will get some next winter and the snowsuits I bought THIS year that never got used might get worn!

Three's a Charm

...at least that is how the saying goes...and that is true for my folks who will welcome three grandbabies in one year!! My sister Megs is pregnant and the new bundle of joy is due November 1st (a great due date!)...little Albert is now a BIG brother!! And I already got to hear his/her heartbeat!

Corporal Works of Mercy

Angelica loved learning the Corporal Works of Mercy and sings the song all the time. Emma well...has caught on too!!

My Little Impatient Baker

Beds are overrated

Lately, Angelica has decided that it is lots of fun to make beds all over the house...using any pillows and blankets she can find. Here she is trying to fool me into thinking she is fast asleep...

...NOT!...

And this is when she is supposed to be taking a nap...in her bed!

Similar

I think they look more alike in this picture...
who do you think Miss Michaela looks like? I think I see her Papa...

Baby ROLLS

And I am talking about the MOVEMENT and not the baby!! (she has been rolling for awhile now but just found the videos!)

Welcome Easter

We finished our Lenten journey...

the girls sacrifices and good deeds made their crosses bloom with flowers
our crown of thorns turned into a crown fit for a King...and they LOVED decorating it!!

and I have been loving my beautiful flowers given to me by my Secret Sister from MOMS group!

Happy Easter!!

St. Patrick's Day & S and G School Day (late)

We had a very busy but fun St. Patrick's Day this year. We had our preschool day and decided to do the letters S and G for green and snakes and St. Patrick. We are still LOVING the letter learning sheets from Handwriting Without Tears...they had fun exercises to learn S like skating, and for G cutting grass.

We made this adorable Snake craft and the girls still have them hanging in their rooms! So easy!

We made Shamrocks to symbolize the Trinity.

I printed out several coloring sheets of St. Patrick including one from my new Faith Keepers Combo Set from Catholic Artworks and also made our own holy cards!

The kids really loved making their Snake Suckers!! This was super easy and they LOVED it. I used skittles instead of TRIX. I had leftover candy melts so I made more candy sticks and tried to make them look like shamrocks.

For lunch, I tried to do an S, G and green St. Patrick's day theme - it was a smorgasbord. We had cheese (shaped like shamrocks) and crackers, Strawberries, Green Grapes, Soup, these delicious and fun Shamrock Pretzels, Green Shamrock shaped jello gigglers, chips with homemade Salsa and Sparkling Cider.

My mom had us over for a delicious Corn Beef dinner (still need to get the new recipe she used) and then the girls helped me make Shamrock Pretzel Sticks that night. A fun day indeed!

Michaela's First St. Patrick's Day

Free and Funny Entertainment

Last year I found this little finger puppet stage at my favorite local consignment shop. For $5 it has provided some fun entertainment for me...and the girls!!

St. Joseph's Day (late post)

Last month we enjoyed celebrating the feast day of St. Joseph. We are hoping that next year we can try our first altar and participate in the many beautiful St. Joseph Altar traditions. The girls enjoyed coloring the St. Joseph the Worker sheet and together we made St. Joseph staff cookies. We used the same recipe, but instead of red for the candy canes we decided to use purple since it was Lent. They were delicious!!

Remember the Chomper?

When I can't find my thumb, the finger will do!

Tea Time

The other day Angelica did not want to nap...so she knows she has to have quiet time in the play room. After a bit, I went in to see what she was up to....and this is what I saw:

A Tea Party with her "friends"
(she loves the store that Aunt Ann gave the girls)

The tea is set (and the big tupperware bowl is the salad)

And the friends are the bunny, the pig, and the angel doll.

Graduated to the Big Tub

Last month Michaela graduated - to the big girl bath tub!! Her older sisters love having her occasionally join them and "help" to bathe her. Michaela was not sure what to think of all the activity at first but LOVED being in the water...the bath tub is running out of room...one day we might have to baths in shifts, but I guess that is a good problem to have!

Chomper

Lately, Michaela has been chewing and putting everything in her mouth!! We call her the Attacker or Chomper. She has some strong gums and sucking reflexes. Every now and then she finds her thumb and is quite proud of herself. We have not had a thumb sucker yet.....but maybe??