Water fun

We went to a friend's birthday party at the park this weekend. The girls enjoyed themselves SO much (even though it was a "grown up" party). They had a blast at the splash pad except for Gloria who wouldn't go in!





Somehow I missed Allia in the photos. :-( She was having so much fun she didn't even want to eat dinner!

"Baby Brother"

Gloria is now pointing to my round bulging belly and calling it "Baby Buhduh." It is really cute, but there is one problem. She also occasionally points to other round bulges on me and calls them baby brother too. Last night, we were out with friends. While I was chatting with a sweet friend, Gloria pointed to her "round bulges" and called them babies! Silly girl! That could have been really embarrassing, but fortunately the friend knows us well and has a great sense of humor! I am working on correcting this, but she has gotten enough giggles for it that I think she is doing it on purpose now!

Dinner with Fr. Will

Last night we had dinner with our wonderful friend from college who was just ordained a priest in June, Fr. Will Straten, so that several of us families who pitched in to buy him a cassock could present it to him. We all had a great time, and Fr. Will looked great in his new cassock!

And we begin...

our school year today (a little early to allow extra time after baby's brother's birth)! It is a little informal since Pawpaw and Manah were here this morning visiting, but we officially started 1st grade and preschool today. Tomorrow we will formally begin with our pledge and initiation of our new chore charts followed by school work!

Pawpaw and Manah

We had a fun visit this weekend!

The big girls love to help Pawpaw make the coffee in the morning


And Gloria loves to eat Manah's raisin bread toast!


Gloria had a great time stacking blocks with Pawpaw and knocking them down

Happy, happy birthday, Austin!

And happy Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven.

We had a great day including cake for breakfast, a trip to the pool, a lunch date for the two of us courtesy of Pawpaw and Manah, an afternoon ice cream treat and a nice family dinner.

A funny from the day:
After dinner we were admiring the flower bouquet on the table in honor of the celebrations...
Austin: I wonder what this one is called?
Manah: It's a spider mum.
Mariana: NO it's not, it's a flower!

Swim lessons...again!

We completed our second session of swim lessons today! We went ahead and did another 2 weeks since both girls did so well last time. Gloria and I even did the mommy and baby class this time so we didn't have to sit out in the heat!





Elementary back stroke...she worked really hard on this one learning to keep her bottom half from sinking!








Waiting to go across the lilypads






Mariana got to do the lilypads this time too...her first time!


Playing "Wheels on the Bus"




The girls did great. Allia was just missing one skill to advance to the next level. She made great improvements, and we were so proud of her! Mariana did really well too, especially considering that I was not there watching her since I was in my own class with Gloria. Gloria loved our class, especially the ducky and the games!

Face art

We had our annual neighborhood night out last night. The girls patiently waited in line for almost an hour for the clown to paint their faces and make balloon bracelets for them! Here are the results...

Foam shapes or earrings?

You be the judge...

Too good to be true

I should have known...
I had the laundry all caught up today. I mean, all the dirty baskets were empty, nothing in the washer or dryer and only one load left to fold and put away....
Too good to be true.

A certain someone who I will allow to remain nameless (think Anne of Green Gables) went to the restroom this afternoon as we prepared for a trip to the pool and used way too much toilet paper. A certain older sister went in to check that she had flushed and came back quickly to report the potty sounding like a shower and spewing water. She wasn't kidding.

I threw every towel I could find on the floor as I watched the water level in the bathroom quickly rise to an inch and begin seeping into the carpet of the neighboring rooms! I had NO IDEA how to turn the water to the toilet off. I frantically phoned my hubby. Not in his office. Try his cel. Voice mail. Try again...HEEELLP! I finally got him and yelled into the phone, "I am having a major emergency! (he assumed something wrong with me or the baby...oops!) How do I turn the water to the toilet off?!"

Well, it was 4pm, so he graciously came home and helped clear out 4 rooms, vacuum up the extra water, enlisted the initiator of the incident to collect the wet towels (EVERY towel we had in the house!) into a laundry basket, and so it went. Now I have about 3 days worth of laundry to keep me busy.

Too good to be true.

Some visitors

This weekend we had Lito with us...


And then an overnight visit last night from a great friend from college who has become a priest, Father Chris P. Here he is in his new cassock!

What a blessing to have such great visitors!

A Blessed dinner

Last night, we had our new associate pastor, our transitional Deacon, our parish seminarian, a religious sister (in habit and veil, yay!), Lito, and some very sweet friends over to dinner. Gloria was SO cute when the sister arrived. All evening she kept coming to sit in my lap, then she would point to the sister and say, "Momma, it's Mary." It was just so sweet. We all had such a wonderful time.