Swim time!

As the weather heats up, we have spent a lot of time at the pool. I am so thankful our pool is open.

Anastasia's First Holy Communion

Anastasia was finally able to make her First Holy Communion on Sunday, about a month later than planned thanks to COVID. We were so excited to finally be able to celebrate this sacrament for her.
After Anastasia tried on her dress, someone else couldn't resist having a turn...

 All ready to go!

Pawpaw and Manah braved mass for the first time so they could be there for Anastasia. But they were quick to arrive and leave, so we missed them in the photos! :/ The best I could do was this one from the parish website.

 

 

 

 

 We had another sweet family join us to celebrate afterwards. Their little girl actually received her First Communion a few weeks before, when public mass first started back up. So we made it a joint celebration! Her sweet momma made this lovely cake for the occasion.

 

 Pinata time!

The ring at the top broke off, so it turned into pitch pinata baseball!

 

And some water fun, of course!

 

 We gave Anastasia a statue of her namesake, St. Anastasia, with a little card about her life and some other details. It is from the Demi-art studio in Italy and the only statue of her saint we could find!

What a beautiful day for our precious girl!

Little helper

This cutie was helping Pawpaw fix one of his tools the other day. She looked so precious in her new watermelon romper.

 

Fishing Trip

Austin, Lito and Mariana all went fishing Saturday at a nearby lake. They had a great time, and Austin caught a couple of keepers!

 

 

First Trip to Dentist and other moments

We have been swamped with finishing up the school year and completing our 4-H record books. So I am doing a little catching up here...

After our first trip to mass, we decided to try it with Cecilia the following week. She did great and only had to be reminded once to keep her mask on.

Some neighbors have twin little girls that they kept tucked away for a few months, but they have been bringing them outside now and letting us hold them occasionally. Anastasia was really excited to have a turn!

We made another visit to Lito and Lita's for Memorial day and also squeezed in some shopping for Allia (newer, more advanced piano and prom dress, neither successful).

 

 

When shelter in place first began I had to go inside Sam's for some items I just couldn't get otherwise and saw this water slide. I bought it and hid it just in case we needed it (no telling if/when our neighborhood pool would open). We got it out last week, and everyone has really enjoyed it!

Cecilia joined the ranks with the older kids and had her first dental cleaning and exam last week. She was SO excited to be big enough. It was really adorable. Here she is anxiously waiting while the hygienist wiped off the chair after Mariana's turn.

And just for fun, Cecilia bike riding, which she does often lately!

We finished off record books this weekend, and turned them in today. Whew! We also received word that our pool is opening with limited hours and numbers of occupants this week. So excited! Hopefully we can find a time when they have room for 8 people (minus Austin who will stay home and work)!

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a beautiful weekend. My family was so incredibly amazing at making me feel loved and serving me. I received so many gifts from them. But even still, the most wonderful gift of all was being able to return to mass! I have missed the Eucharistic celebration so much.

"Flower girl"

Speaking of flowers, I ordered some online, and the girls helped make arrangements for Manah and their Godmothers

In preparation for attending mass, I had to sew masks for the children since the adult size medical masks (gifted to us by a kind neighbor) wouldn't fit their sweet little faces. Cecilia stayed with my parents because we were not sure if she would leave her mask on the whole time and just wanted to scope things out before bringing a germ-absorbing 3 year old along with us. But she insisted I make her a mask anyway, and looked adorable in it!

On our way to the vigil Saturday evening...Stephen opted for the medical mask since I made his Star Wars!

 On Sunday, Austin whisked the younger kids off in the morning to pick up breakfast. So I had some quiet time to enjoy the beautiful morning. I was greeted with giant hugs when they returned, and enjoyed Kolaches and doughnuts for breakfast with them. He also made an amazing fajita lunch, and I was able to just focus on making the Lemon Meringue pie for dessert which we shared with Manah and Pawpaw.

 Allia and Gloria worked for hours making a surprise dessert for me. It turned out to be Tiramisu cupcakes since Tiramisu is my favorite dessert! They were amazing!

They used to treat me to Tiramisu from one of our favorite restaurants in town, but it closed a few years ago. Before she closed, the owner gave Austin her Sangria recipe that I love so much, and he made that yesterday too! Yummy!

Austin made a delicious Bourbon glazed Salmon for dinner, and I made another of our favorite desserts to share, my copycat Razoos bread pudding. 

My amazing hubby reading the kids a book before our family rosary

 I received many sweet cards, words and hugs and felt so loved. I didn't wash one dish or cook any meals and was free to play and ride bikes with the kids. It was really a blessed day!

Little outing

With the shelter in place expired and everyone having been well for a while, we escaped to Lito and Lita's for a little visit yesterday. We really enjoyed spending time with them. And the kids were thrilled to swim. It was very entertaining to see my swimmers in the pool after 2 months of not swimming. They were trying all their strokes and turns and surprised at what they remembered and what they had forgotten! Sebastian even beat Lita in a game of checkers. ;)

Mariana badly sprained her ankle Thursday, so we left her there for a few days to keep Lita company and to rest her ankle from going up and down the stairs here.