It's back!

Soccer season, that is. Allia had her first game today. She played phenomenally! Austin called me a soccer fanatic mom because I was enjoying watching her play so much. I wasn't the only one...her coach let her lead the team cheer at the end of the game, a roll that he reserves for the player he is most impressed by in the game. She did two headers to redirect punts from the other team's goalie and made several really good shots at the goal. She and I were both really disappointed that she didn't score, but they had a really good goalie. She had several assists as well. I was so sad I didn't get photos of the headers, but she really caught me by surprise on those!

It was a gorgeous day to be out on the soccer fields. The whole family went, and the other children had a great time playing in the woods and on the unused fields!

My fruit boys

These guys are both such big fruit eaters. If I put fruit on the table and they don't eat it, I know they must be sick. Manah buys these berry bowls when she goes to the grocery store and gets shrieks and squeals when they see her walking to our house with a grocery bag. So cute! Maybe this is why they don't seem to get sick as much as the others?!

Sleeping Boy

We had a busy week, and Sebastian just hasn't had great naps. He took a good long one today, and when I went to peek at him, this is what I found. Utter relaxation. Precious boy!

Bike Ride

Pawpaw took the children on a bike ride the other day while I took Allia for a quick shopping trip. We came home to see them happily riding together (and Anastasia not listening quite as well as she should have! :/ She has been a hand full lately!).

Little moments

We had a busy Saturday with Gloria making her First Reconciliation (Austin went with her, and I forgot to request a photo! :/ ) and Allia making an all day retreat for youth. The rest of us weren't quite as busy. We went grocery shopping, where the kids won some bubbles. They had such a great time playing with them when we got home. It was sweet to watch. I really appreciate Mariana's child-like ness when she plays with the littler ones.

And here Sebastian was really interested in Gloria's online Spanish lessons. He repeated some of the words back, and his accent is pretty good! :)

Sebastian moments

It is so sweet when the bigger kids read to the little ones (even if it is right when I am trying to get them dressed!).

 This guy loooved the flags for Presidents' Day today. He was dancing around with one like he was in the color guard!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We paused our Lenten observances a bit to celebrate the love of family and friends. The children were so thankful for all the little Valentine's treats they had after "4 whole days" without sweets. Ha! Probably the biggest hit, despite the break from fasting, were these little animals Lito and Lita sent. Sebastian was so excited he danced around the living room with his! They literally played with them almost the entire day!

Happy Baptism Day, Anastasia!

She had a very blessed day! We had our CGS atrium this morning, where we talked about baptism a little bit at the prayer corner and did the Presentation in the Temple infancy narrative since the feast day was just on Tuesday. Her big sister baked several desserts to help us celebrate. She had two masses offered for her today, one from us and one from her Godparents. And we had dessert together after dinner and lit her candle, which she has been looking forward to for months now!

 What a blessed girl she is!

Sebastian cuteness

Pawpaw and Manah treated us to dinner out. The kids always love this big fish tank at the restaurant, but this time Sebastian was totally enamored!

He looooves music. The other night after dinner we were playing music, and he really got into dancing. He has some pretty good moves!