Sweet Sunday

Yesterday was a long day. That Mass that we normally attend starts at 7AM. Blase serves for Mass so we try to be there about 20 minutes beforehand. That makes for an early morning. It wasn't so bad over the summer since the sun was already up or just peeking over the trees. Now that the days are shorter the sun is no where to be seen on our way to Mass. The great thing about Mass at 7 AM is that we are home between 8:30 and 9 with the rest of the day free to spend together.

On our way home from 7 AM Mass we decided to drive up to Marquette, MI for the Bishop's 3 PM Latin Mass. We ate breakfast then the boys played a bit. Around 11 we climbed back in the van and headed north. It takes 2 1/2 hours to get to Marquette. We made it in plenty of time. On the way up to church, Blase decided he wanted to serve Mass for the Bishop. He asked and they were grateful for his assistance. Brech and Gianna were a handful during church. I am sure it was because of a long day with little time to burn energy. I took them into a cry room of sorts and we played so that everyone in church could continue to have a nice Sunday. I was trying to fix my camera so took some pictures while we waited for Mass to be over.

Whatcha wanna do? I don't know, whatcha wanna do?

What Mom? No, really - we weren't planning anything.

I gotta dollar! We can't do much with a dollar, silly.

Mom, it was all his idea. I am just the sweet, innocent bystander (or sitter in this case).

I don't want anything to do with whatever you are planning!

Stay on your own side of the chair!!!

Blase is the 4th from the left.

Blase is holding the white towel.

Here he is carrying the Bishop's bursa.

Blase with Bishop Sample and Fr. Boyle.

Rosy Red

When are cheeks this rosy red??

When Baby Girl cuts TWO teeth in one day!! She is the proud owner of two bottom teeth.

Same Dress, Different Redheads

I have saved this dress for over 10 years. Doesn't she look adorable?!

Here is my sister in the same dress almost 11 years ago. She wore it at my wedding.

Gianna and I

Mauri, Great-Grandma Margie, me holding Kaylene, Mom, and Juliana

Kaylene with Gianna when she was born.

A New Trick

This is Take One of Brech's new trick.

This is Take Two.

He is saying something like "a minute", "this don't work", and "one, one more."

This is Take Three.

This time he is saying "Mommy, I don't do it." and "one more and that's it."

This is the final take.

Playing Catch Up

Here is a catch up post from the end of September and beginning of October.

The week that Grandma and Aunt Courtney were visiting we had an exciting weekend. There was a wind storm that came through and we lost power from Thursday night until Saturday morning. It really wasn't so bad. Here are the kids playing downstairs with flashlights.

Here is what it looked like without the flash.

We had to find new homes for our frozen food. Friday night we spent the evening loading the food from the deep freeze and fridge into coolers, then toted it to our friend Joe's house and Darren's sister's house. Long night.
Little Lady sat by the window and light in the living room. She was so good while we were busy.
Gianna fell asleep one afternoon with her phone in her hand. Daddy wonders if its a sign of things to come in the future. Keep an eye on those phone bills Daddy!
She loves sitting the "center pivot". She plays quite a bit in there during the day.
HAPPY 6 MONTHS OLD BABY GIRL!! For her six month birthday Brech Earl tipped her over in the stroller (he's so helpful) and gave her a goose egg. We had to cuddle and give lots of kisses. I put some Arnica on her forehead and it was pretty much gone the next morning.
We have been going to story time at the library the past two weeks. The boys have enjoyed themselves. The first week we went the books were about vehicles.

TOO CUTE!

The first week's craft was driving cars on paper or maps with Matchbox cars dipped in washable paint. They had a great time getting messy.
The second week we attended was about being grouchy. The boys made an Oscar the Grouch out of a paper plate.
I have been using their "Grouch faces" as a mask the past few days. Gets grumpy boys to smile and maybe laugh.
Brech wanted to have a picture of him and me. He's such a sweetie!!
Gianna is getting closer to crawling. She rolls everywhere now. She isn't that fast yet so I don't have to worry about the stairs. She mostly rolls to her toys and maybe a stray book or two. Paper is SOOO yummy. :-)

Its All My Fault

I think I killed the lawn mower today. It won't start. It was working when I was shut it off, though it was making some terrible sounds. It makes those sounds when its low on oil - it wasn't low on oil this time. Yikes. It is currently taking some time off to consider starting for me tomorrow. :-) I am hoping it starts because I don't want to rake the whole yard.

Where Have I Been?

I am certain most of you know where I have been. I've been here working my tail off. It must have worked because last night I couldn't find a tail to speak of. I woke up this morning thinking it must be Friday since I was so tired.

We are moving. We are relocating (sounds better right?) to Fargo, ND. Darren accepted another job with Caterpillar at their Fargo location. It is basically the same thing he is doing here in Menominee. The guys who interviewed him said they could write their job posting off his resume. I think that was a compliment. He is suppose to start November 1st.

When you move there is SO much you have to do. By a show of hands - who does not like moving?? We are so lucky that Caterpillar takes such great care of those they relocate. My only issue is when it starts - its starts and there is no slowing it down.

Last week was a prime example of it not slowing down.

Tuesday - call at 9 AM from the home inspector - can he come at 11 AM? WHAT?? Well, I said yes because I'm a nice person, but the whole time I'm thinking "NOT NOW!" It turned out ok in the end. Darren was able to come home for the inspection and wrote down a list of things we should probably do before we sell the house.

Wednesday - 2 PM scheduled call with the movers. I walked through each room and told them what we owned. That way they have an idea how long it will take to pack and load our crap. After spending an hour on the phone I decided we have a lot of crap, I am treasures. :-)

4 PM - One of the realtors came to look through the house and put together a plan. Caterpillar sends two realtors and then we pick which one we like. Just in case the other realtor is reading this - you haven't showed up yet and we've already picked the first one. Ha ha ha

Thursday - our niece, Emma came for the day. We had a great time, but that left no time for me to clean. I have started going through one to three rooms a week and getting them show ready. Its very easy to keep our house cleaned up (unless you head to the basement with all the toys!) once its show quality.

Friday - Chiropractor appointment, library story time, visit to the Blessed Sacrament, and home again for more school. We were behind in school from Tuesday's hurried morning. Yawn...

Saturday - Darren gave a vast collection of crap, I mean useful furniture to his sister, Sally. He spent the morning cleaning up the garage and building sides for our little trailer. Then after lunch Sally and he took two loads to her house. We are no longer the owners of one twin bed, two bookcases with dresser bottoms, one Gazelle, one shelving unit, and a weight machine. I worked all day on the school room. I cleaned off the bookcase that went to Sally's and decided not to stop there. I moved one smaller bookcase upstairs and rearranged the room so it looks bigger. I took pictures and magnets down off the walls and cabinets. I also organized this heaping pile of stuff and found a lovely desk underneath. Of course the normal Saturday stuff happened to - vacuumed all rooms, cleaned the kitchen, picked up the basement, gave baths, supper, prayers and bedtime. Long day.

Sunday - we watched four siblings for the day while their parents had a much deserved day out. We had a great time playing with them. We are trying our best to see everyone who wants to see us before we leave. Its going to be hard to see everyone, so hopefully we can have a party or something that will save us the time.

Now this week is going to be fun too. Darren is working this morning and will take 1/2 a vacation day for this afternoon. He hopes to get a few more of the things done on the house. I have school to teach this morning so I can be available to help Darren. Darren, and possibly Blase, will leave in the morning for Fargo. This is the first house hunting trip. We are given two 5 day house hunting trips to locate a new place. On Friday Darren will go pheasant hunting with his normal crew in Eastern South Dakota. He will return on Monday to start another crazy week. I have no plans for this week. I am hoping to work some more on cleaning the house and maybe on some Christmas presents. I was just informed by the second person that they are out of underwear. I think its time to fold clothes. ;-)

Darren will be here the first week of November but after that he will be spending most of November in Fargo. The boys and I will be staying here waiting to move. Let's hope Darren finds a place this trip. The sooner, the better. He may not find anything so we will have to put off moving for another month. We are hoping to move by Thanksgiving.

Anyone want to move the beautiful U.P.?? I have the perfect house for you!! All reasonable offers considered.

Spoiling from Grandma and Aunt Courtney

Darren's mom and his sister, Courtney, came to visit us the last week in September. We had some good times. The four oldest boys, Darren, sisters, niece and mom went to Pictured Rocks and Lake Superior for a day. They had a great time. Here are some pictures from their trip.

Notice that all the kids have their pictures taken with the marker showing their age. Great idea Courtney!! Thanks for sharing the pictures as well!!

Grandma playing Farm-opoly with Blase and Cormac. I'm not sure who won this game.
Aunt Courtney brought along some Christmas crafts to do with the boys. Brech Earl had a blast - and I think Aunt Courtney did too.

Rex was a better craft student than Brech Earl.

Brech Turns Three

Way back when - September 23rd - Brech Earl turned 3 years old. Its hard to believe he is that old already. Not much has changed from him being 2. The only thing he thinks should happen now is school everyday. He's big now. Big boys do school right?? sigh....sigh
We had a nice quiet birthday party for Brech. We even had visitors from afar. I love Skype and web cameras for this very reason. It was great that my family was able to watch him open his presents and blow out the candles.
WHAT A COLLECTION OF PRESENTS! Can anyone say spoiled??

Birthday cake time. He asked for a chocolate birthday cake with fruit snacks. We bought the letters fruit snacks and opened almost two whole boxes of packages to find enough letters. Darren worked his creative magic because we couldn't find H's or P's so he made them from other letters.

He had to get in a couple games before bedtime.

All the presents for a sweet three year old.