FOOORK!

yells Mariana about 2 minutes into most of our meals around here. "Please," I respond. I guess it is my fault since I set the table and always forget a fork for her. But she is only 18 months old...she's still a baby. Why does she need a fork? Well, because she thinks she is so big and has to do anything the rest of us do of course. She is constantly trying to climb up on Allia's bike, she swings in the big swing and tries to do pretty much everything else Allia does (except play in the sandbox...a little to messy for her so far). That is probably why she is such a good talker...she just has too keep up! Sigh....they grow up too fast.

Victory!

Hoorah! I was feeling in need of a challenge (and really wanting to check that block..I am a sucker for completion!)again during naptime today. So I drug out that heavy old mower and finally was able to start it (after about 10 tries!!!). Woohoo. I got the whole backyard mowed, showered, and still mustered up the energy to play with the kids a little, cook dinner, and go teach NFP for 2 1/2 hours. Then I finished up just in time to catch the parish penance service. God is SO good!!! What a day!

SO proud

We were so proud of our Allia tonight. We don't let her watch TV yet (except home videos). Tonight, we were up at church with a large group of people including many of Allia's friends who are much older than her. At one point, Austin and I were chatting and all of the kids ventured into the little TV room there in the Student Center (at St. Mary's). Allia sat immediately outside the room with a sad look on her face even as several of the kids beckoned to her to come in and "play." Austin went over to ask her why she looked so sad, and after her explaination we were so proud of her that she got to take two thorns out of Jesus's crown when we came home and a lollypop! That was so awesome for a child her age to do the "right" thing in such a tough situation with "peer pressure" and all! Wow! Yea, Allia!!!

Our budding artist

To the untrained eye, this drawing by Allia might look like trees, flowers, or even people. But no, the title of this masterpiece is "Basketballs." Brilliant.

An eye for an eye?

Last night, as I was kneeling beside Allia's bed after prayers, she started lifting up parts of my hair and letting them fall. As any mother knows, after a long day of dishing out love, such a gentle thing like that can be SO relaxing. Just as I was really starting to melt and thinking how sweet she is, she stopped and said, "Mommy, can you lift my hair for a little while since I was doing yours for a little while?" "Of course, sweetie, I love to do that. All you had to do was ask," I replied. Then I wondered if she was really doing it to be sweet or if it was a clever plan to get me to do the same. Either way, I decided, it was nice and we both felt very loved.

A Confession

Ok, so I did not avoid outside work for as long as I planned after the big fencing extravaganza. I actually built a nice little bed around one of our backyard trees last weekd during the girls' naps. Then, today I had big plans. We need to lay spring fertilizer, so I planned to mow the whole backyard really low. That way Austin has less to do. So I put the girls down for a nap and ran out (literally...so I could mow around Mariana's window before she fell asleep to avoid waking her up) to start mowing. First, my mower (the smaller, lighter one) would not start. Then I finally got it to start, it puttered a few times, made an awful rattling noise, and went out again. Argh! I called hubby who said it could not be fixed by me over the phone. Still very determined, I took out his mower (large, very heavy and difficult for weak little me to start). I tried and tried and finally got it started. I mowed about 1/5 of the yard, hit a mud blob left from our fencing project, and it went out. I checked to make sure it wasn't jammed or anything and tried for another 5 minutes to start it. Finally, very frustrated, I gave up. I came in, enjoyed a nice shower by myself, fixed my hair without interruption, and am playing on the computer. A girl deserves some reward for her effort, right?! Humf!

"Christ"

"Amen"

This is Mariana's new "game" at mealtimes. She actually learned it from Allia. A few months ago, Allia started handing us her sippy cup (with napkin in hand) saying, "The Blood of Christ." We have to respond with an Amen and pretend to drink. Then she wipes the sipper with her napkin. So sweet! Now Mariana has picked up on it. She hands her sippy cup to us and says, "Christ, Amen." It is just too cute. I love that they do this. It totally makes sitting at the front in mass worth it...they really are absorbing what is going on even though sometimes it seems like they aren't paying attention at all!

If all else fails,

Post some pictures!



Here Allia plays in her sandbox with some of her sweet little friends.



And here is our in house diva. Yes, straight out of the bath and still naked (isn't she cold?!) she finds the nearest pair of shoes, which happen to belong to her big sister, as well as a hat and takes her baby doll for a walk. What else do you do right after a refreshing bath?

These pics are actually a few weeks old because we have still not journeyed into the grand world of digital cameras. But hopefully they are still enjoyable. :-)

"I like my Daddy....

and I don't want him to go back to work," said Allia last night as we talked about the week ahead and spring break being over. My sentiments exactly. It sure is hard to let him go back after having him home for a whole week. We sure enjoyed it!!! We love you, Daddy!!!

WHEW!

Well, I have always enjoyed "man's" work...you know, mowing or doing other things that involve exerting yourself outdoors. I just love to be outside! This week, I have had my fair share of opportunities to do this sort of thing. We had to replace about half of our fence, which is quite a bit in our corner lot. So, this week I have hammered down a fence while Austin ran around town buying the supplies for the new fence. I helped him pile it all up for the garbage collectors. I did leave the posts up for him to take out of the ground when he came home. He conveniently threw out his back (poor husband!!!) on the first post when he tried to carry it, concrete and all, to the pile. So, then I took the other 14 posts out under his loving direction. Then, the lawn was looking hiteous and since everyone who drives by can now see it, it needed to be mowed. So while Austin and Dad fenced, I mowed the front...and the back yards. Then somehow they convinced me to hammer in some nails. So I spent several hours hammering in nails on the boards they had already hung. Wow...I think I have reached my quota, at least for a while...maybe a week or two. Then you just might find me sneaking outside during naptime to mow the back yard again...MAYBE.

"The Poking Page"

We started a new family tradition this lent (which we plan on continuing after lent is over) of reading a bible story from Allia's children's bible at bedtime. This bible has beautiful illustrations which are really good at catching her attention (Way to go Brandon and Helen - Allia's godparents who gave it to her). However she has been fixed on this one, which she lovingly calls "the poking page." We have had several conversations about it and finally jumped ahead to read the story tonight. She is still a little confused about why Abraham wants to poke his son. After we discussed it with her for a while, she decided that I used to poke her too, but I don't anymore. She even demonstrated with little poking gestures all over her back. I just hope she doesn't tell anyone that! It makes you wonder how those CPS workers can really tell what is going on when talking to an imaginative 3 or 4 year old! They must be very skilled. Hopefully the real meaning of the story will sink in eventually...

Allia's first portrait

of Pawpaw. Flattering, huh? I think it is great...she can finally draw people! How fun!!!

Swingset Fun

Mariana loves the backyard, and now it is ever more entertaining than before.

The Saga Continues

After recounting the Mass incident with my hubby, he decided to sit Allia down for a talk. Her 2 favorite sweets are lolly pops and jelly beans, so he delved into the explanation of how a lolly pop can taste like cherry but not be cherry, etc. They talked and talked until he was sure she had it. The Eucharist is Jesus's body and blood even though it does not look like Him and it still tastes like bread and wine. Weeelllll....
At lunch today Allia bursts out with, "It's not really Jesus but it really is...but it really isn't except that it really is." Hmmmmm....
I relayed the conversation to hubby during naps, and he said, "Well at least she ended on IT IS, right?" So I guess we will settle with that for now!

Winter Wonderland

As we enjoy the warm spring weather, I was inspired to post this video of the girls exploring our ice garden after some cold weather just a couple of months ago.

That's not REALLY Jesus...

whispers Allia (3 1/2) in Mass today right after the consecration. Hmmm...
YES it is and SHHHHH was my initial response, but before the words left my lips, the Holy Spirit intervened. I whispered ever so quitely, "Sweetie, that IS Jesus. He is God and He can do anything. So he becomes bread and wine so that we can receive Him into ourselves. He loves us so much!" I responded. She whispered back in that frank childlike way "Oh, Ok." That was it. Whew!