Jumping

He finally figured it out...he used to just hang there. :-)

Shed building

It was a family project yesterday!
Daddy's helpers taking a break

Mass funnies

I really almost laughed out lout at mass yesterday. I had Mariana on one side and Gloria on the other. A very old Irish priest came up to give the homily and appeal for donations to his mission in Venezuela. After he introduced himself:

Mariana: Mommy, he said he is Irish! I am Irish too!!! (we call her our little Irish girls with the orange hair and bright blue eyes)

Immediately afterwards, while I am still smiling about Mariana's comment:

Gloria(in a loud, excited whisper): Mommy, Jesus has panties! (I guess she never noticed the loincloth before, but she is so interested in panties right now since she just got new ones)

Right after that...

Mariana: Mommy, the priest lost a tooth just like Allia, look!

It was all I could do to keep from laughing. The presiding priest was looking right at us and I was just sure he must be thinking I am heartless as this poor old priest is pouring out the poverty and injustice in Venezuela, here I am giggling in mass!

Pool fun

Gloria is warming up a little...she swam a bit without me holding her today!

Just for Fun

A game of hopscotch

Random stuff

Here are Mariana and Stephen before our first trip to the pool this summer! We had fun. I was shocked that Gloria did not want to swim though...she was such a little swimmer in her floaty suit last year. I hope she warms up!


Gloria making Stephen laugh


She always asks me to take a picture when she holds him

Rain, rain go away

Actually we really needed it. And although I am a great fan of sunny, breezy spring days, I found a day of hard rain and thunderstorms exhilarating (not so much in the middle of the night though!).

We made the most of it & went for a rain walk in the nearby woods this morning.
Girls in galoshes

More cuteness

Cuties

Her tooth is gone!

Allia let Austin pull her loose tooth at lunch because she was sad she could not eat corn on the cob with us. What a brave girl! She just scored herself a trip to Maggie Moos tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day!

May God bless all mothers around the world and may our Blessed Mother pray for us!

Project Saturday

Today was a day of house projects. I worked on taking up some curtains, Austin worked on what is becoming the neverending shed project, and together (with a little illicit help from Dad) we painted the dining room!

Shed project
Dad was supposed to just be advising, but the combination of his loving eagerness to help when he sees someone in need, his inability to resist a house project in progress, and maybe even a little eagerness to return to normal life led him to disobey orders for R&R. He ended up out there working! This after two weeks in the hospital...and he has only been out two weeks and is still recovering from gall bladder surgery! He amazes me (and scares me a little too ;-) )


Dining room before


In progress


Dining room after


Yay! The whole house is painted in a light beige which is much nicer than white but still drab when it covers the whole house. I just love having a yellow room. It is such a bright, energetic color. But not in a bedroom...I like cooler, more relaxing colors in the bedrooms. In the old house the yellow was in the kitchen/breakfast area. I am so excited to have my yellow back!

Here we go again...

Mariana will be going today for her 3rd dentist appointment. Her first was when she busted her teeth the first time, then she went several months ago for a checkup and cleaning. She has busted her mouth again pretty badly, so we are going in this afternoon!
**Update: It looks like everything is ok. Just a badly bruised gum. Yay! She was very brave but very speechless at the dentist. ;-)