Our little girl with a fierce will

As Faustina grows and matures, her will continues to exert itself in big ways. She knows what she wants and she does not rest until she is either satisfied or silenced by her parents. She is persistent, adamant, and she is very aware...of everything .

A few days ago we were driving and as I turned left she starting yelling at me, "No, Mama. Stop! Stop! Go that way. Don't go this way. Go NORTH!" I had a difficult time quieting her and convincing her that I was going in the right direction. She is already a back seat driver.

Yesterday when one of our friends came over, she ran to do the door and she yelled, "Oh, Mama, Aidric is here! I must go see him!" She went out the front door only to return a few seconds to say, "Mama! Come! Now! You must come outside too! Now!" And she was yelling all these order at me.

This morning as I set breakfast in front of her she ate one bit and then said. "Mama, I am done. I will not eat any more." And then when I did not respond she started yelling, "Mama, I will not eat anymore!" And she was jumping up and down. I started laughing because it was such unnecessary behavior and unsolicited. She looked at me with a frown and and then started yelling. "No, Mama! Stop laughing! It is not funny!" Eventually, she started giggling (since I was laughing so much); she does have a sense of humor. :)

All these instances are quite telling to me because she initiates them and often I do little to encourage her stubborn bouts. It is almost as if she is simply trying to express and exert her will so that I know what she wants and I 'obey' her. It is fascinating how a little one's nature surfaces at such a young age.

Since I am reading a novel about St. Catherine of Siena who also had a will of steel, I am confident that the Lord can use this trait of Faustina's for his good!

Goodbye St. Paul, hello South Bend Indiana

We are excited for John, Mary and the kids to embark on their new stage in life as they move down to South Bend for John's new job position as headmaster at Trinity School; selfishly, we will miss them terribly!

We had a brunch at the Adkins' household on Sunday with everyone. We will all be together briefly tomorrow morning, and then John heads down to their new home. He will come back for Mary and the kids in a few weeks. Everything happened very quickly in the process of John accepting this new position and it hard to wrap my mind around the fact that we will be losing half the Lee family in St. Paul! The cliche is that 'You never know what a new day will bring.' Over the course of this past year, I have come to realize how true this is.

An architect in training?

Faustina ran up to me giddy with giggles and said,"Look, Mamma!" I built a castle for Jude!" She likes to live simply.

Second time is a charm...

And hopefully there is no need for a third time! Wednesday morning Jude had a second surgery on his left kidneys. It was the same procedure that he had done last fall. The doctor said it went well and we'll wait and see how things look in a month or so at his check up.


What else is new with Jude? A lot!!

Our poor little guy who is never (really, it is true!) crabby unless there is something terribly wrong has been writhing in pain as his first little tooth is popping through on the bottom. We are keeping tylenol close at hand! I must admit, I will miss his gum smile. :)

Faustina and I have also begun to call him "Mr. Squirmy" since he is no longer content to be held or stay in the exersaucer; he wants to be crawling and exploring every waking minute. I need to start keeping the floors cleaner now, or else he becomes my human sweeper. Not only is he crawling, but he is now pulling himself up on objects and standing!

And finally, our little dark haired wonder who has always had a full head of hair (the comb over and all) is turning blond. He is actually is very stylish as it looks like he has highlights!


I have said it before, but really, I can't get enough of this little guy - he is so wonderful!

Go, Twins!

Last night, the whole Lee family (we missed Aaron's family in Madison) went to a Twins game at the new stadium compliments Uncle Travis. I must say, the new stadium is very fun; our seats were way up top and you could everything quite nicely. Faustina had a terrific time as she just soaks those events up as she registers all the new experiences and people. She and Audrey are quite the pair. They are very amusing, to say the least.

July 2010 trip - Day 1

On Sunday we got home from our road trip up to Montreal, Canada. With Mike working at a school, our family is fortunate to often be able to take a longer summer trip. We had a great trip; the kids were wonderful in the car and we were able to relax and see many things. A few of our highlights are:
- exploring our new favorite city Montreal
- visiting 723,827 parks since that was always Faustina's choice of activity
- visiting beautiful churches in Montreal (these churches competed with the Churches in Rome, they were AMAZING)
- horse carriage rides
- eating at a terrific Italian restaurant in Ottawa
- walking around downtown Ottawa and checking out the parliament building and grounds
- listening to quality talks in the car from the Catholic Lighthouse Media CDs
- soaking in the country side during our car ride
- taking time for daily prayer times, something that doesn't always happen in our hectic life at home
- relaxing and doing whatever we want!

I'll post pictures from each of our days. Our first day of the trip we drove through Wisconsin and stopped at Nicolet National Park which was absolutely fantastic. We saw a black bear on our way into our camp site, so we made sure to not bring any food in the tent! Faustina was a big fan of our spagetti dinner and she fit right in with her lawn chair.

July 4th with the Lee family

Over the 4th the whole Lee clan was able to gather at Shell Lake in Northern Wisconsin for a camping weekend. Of course, our camera lost battery a few hours into the trip, so unfortunately we didn't get many pictures.

The kids had a fun time with cousins, Ruby is getting so big and is very very cute, and Henry and Liam were riding bikes all over the campsite. As always, we had gourmet food (camp style this time!) and it is fun to relax and chat with everyone.

Within a few minutes of our arrival Grandpa woke up from his nap and his back gave out on him completely. I must say, it actually was frightening, he was in so much pain. John and I took him into the local clinic and they gave him some medication to help relieve the pain. Grandpa spent the weekend in a cottage on the lake where he could be comfortable with his back. We missed him terribly; it will take awhile for him to be 100% again.

We missed Grandpa. And we missed Grandma. Grandma loved camping and she would have loved every minute of it being outdoors and with her grandchildren. As much as things do not always go our way, we continue to thank the Lord for all of our blessings.