Sneak Preview

for our All Saints party tomorrow...

E.T. or St. Benedict? Stay tuned to find out...

(Austin inherited this mask from Lolo. The girls got a kick out of him emerging from the closet like this, well, except for Gloria. She screamed, ran for me, and said, "Daddy scare me." Poor baby!

Fall Fun

We went on a "nature walk" yesterday morning and collected all sorts of fall goodies off the sidewalks. The girls made fall collages this morning and really enjoyed it!

Other weekend photos

I meant to post these right after I did the shower post, but then I came down with a stomach bug. :-p I am doing a little better now...

So we had some visitors in town for the shower including Aunt Karen (who Mariana was thrilled to see and play with!) and the Posvars, Allia's Goddaddy and Godmommy with their son, Stephen, who is our Godchild. The kids had a ball...well, and so did we grown-ups!

Stephen was attached to Allia's side the whole weekend. It was really cute!




I got a few other really good shots but I must have borrowed Mom's camera to take them. Oh, well, I will have to add them later...

Baby Boy Shower!

Some very sweet, dear friends threw a baby boy shower for us on Saturday. It was beautiful and lots of fun. What a blessing to us!

The awesome decor...




Me with the hostesses (missing one who ended up not being able to make it)




With Manah (who just returned from a 19 day trip to New Jersey on Monday including a side trip to Niagra falls! What a trooper! Anything for those grandbabies...)


With the Auntie


With the Tia


We received many wonderful gifts, especially lots of boy clothes, to welcome our new little man. We are so humbled by the generosity of our family and friends! We can hardly wait to meet this boy!

More soccer

What a beautiful day!

A little confession

Allia will probably be terribly embarrassed that I posted this when she is old enough to care, but here goes...

As the big girls and I were laying down telling a story for naptime yesterday...

Mommy: Who wants to start the story?

Allia and Mariana simultaneously: Meeeeee!

Mommy: Phew! Did somebody have a toot?

Mariana: Not me!

Allia: Not me!

Mommy: Hmmm...ok. Well then whoever tooted gets to start the story... (waiting with a smirk)

Allia (excitedly): It was me! I tooted! Can I start the story?

Mommy: Go ahead.

(Ha! Austin laughed hysterically when I told him this story. Good detective work, Momma!)

Cute moments

I try not to say no if one of the girls asks me to read to them, but I was right in the middle of making eggs for breakfast when Mariana approached me. It turned out to be fortunate because she asked Allia instead, and it was so sweet to see big sister reading to little sister.


We just moved this toy kitchen into the big girl room, and they are enjoying playing restaurant! (Gloria calls it "Hello mem")




Also, the 2 older girls had their first real dentist appointment yesterday. They were so excited, and both of them did really well. No cavities!

Rainy day soccer

We were one of only 3 families (out of 10 I think) to brave the cool, misty weather for soccer this morning. It was actually nice out if you don't mind muddy shoes!

salsa girl

Gloria is quite the salsa girl lately! She requires her own bowl when we go to Mexican restaurants...partly because she double dips but also because she eats the whole thing! Mommy and Daddy are SO proud!

Potty training herself

Yep. My 21 month old Gloria has decided it is time to potty train. Quite a surprise to me (and I am still skeptical as to whether it will really "take" for good) since the other girls potty trained at age 3! However, she has been asking multiple times a day all week to "tee tee potty." And more than half the time she actually goes. Today she pooped for the first time on the potty. It probably helps that she really likes sweets and has discovered a sure fire way to earn herself a gummy worm or some other treat. About the only other time she gets such things is Sunday after mass if she behaves. She has been caught saying, "tee tee potty, mass treat" a few times. ;-) The big girls are tickled and love to follow her to the bathroom!

Weekend fun

Our city had it's annual "safety carnival" as we call it (not sure of the real name!)this weekend. We all had lots of fun, and I was especially thankful for the free lunch so I didn't have to cook when we got home!

Here are Austin and the big girls going up for a ride in the bucket truck




There was a man up in one of the bucket trucks shooting rolled up t-shirts out of a little gun thingy, and all the kids were running around trying to catch them. Allia watched this while we were in line for the bucket truck and decided to take part in the excitement after her ride. Much to all of our surprise (there were lots of big kids and even some adults running around), she caught one! She was SO proud!

St. Thérèse

Today is the feast day of St. Thérèse, one of our favorites and Gloria's namesake (Gloria Mary Thérèse), which is so appropriate since Gloria is our tiny but mighty one. Thérèse is know for her "littleness" both being the youngest of 9 children and her spiritual "littleness" as well, through which she became a great saint!

So, in celebration today we made a paper rose bouquet craft for our table and will enjoy little sweets and treats as we tell stories about St. Thérèse. Gloria was sooo patient while the girls and I worked on the craft which is sooo unlike her! (She usually demands attention the whole time we are trying to homeschool). Just a little extra blessing of the day I guess!






St. Thérèse pray for us!