Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Little Babe was Baptized

Father John Paul Erickson baptized Veronica Therese on November 23rd, 2014. She was a wee little one -  2 weeks old! She was perfect throughout the whole baptism. Her godparents are absolutely wonderful and Veronica is just about the luckiest gal to have them walk this Christian journey with her and pray for her. We had a small gathering at our place afterwards to celebrate. She is a pagan no more!


Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Baby #5 is here!

Veronica Therese was born on Friday, November 7th.  We have guessed correctly 4/4 times previously on the baby's gender, but this time.... fail!  We thought for sure this was a boy, but Veronica surprised us!

Nov. 7, 2014
6:40 p.m.
8 lbs. 8 oz.










Monday, October 27, 2014

38 weeks and counting

I don't think I've even blogged about the fact that we have little babe #5 on the way! Here he or she comes! I'm excited. Official due date is 11/10/14. November is a good month. Faustina and Jude came a couple weeks early. Benedict and Agatha actually came right now their due dates. It is a waiting game to see when this little person wants to make an appearance!

I'm excited to meet this new personality. We, of course, do not have a name - we surprise ourselves with that in the hospital. We don't know gender. And we really don't know what life will look like with 5 little people in the house - except that it will be busy!

I can't complain - I feel great. Thankfully. Oh, sounds like I better go attend to Benedict and see what he is up to. He.....needs a lot of attention these days being 2 1/2 years old...and just being Benedict!

Here is a picture of baby during the last stretch. I'm not a big 'take picture of the belly/pregnant lady' person. But it is good to document one or two, I suppose. Looks like I need to clean our mirror....

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

The Biker Boy



Benedict absolutely LOVES His bike that Grandpa Lee and Terry got for him. He is very possessive of it and he tells everyone that Grandpa got it for him. He rides it all over the house and he cruises down hills outside.....really fast. I watch him knowing that I am unable to stop him, and I just waiting for him to crash, but he hasn't yet. It, actually, is very amusing to watch him. He has this bike mastered (it is a little bike that has no wheels teaching kids to balance) and he swerves all over the place, stops likes a pro and, again, goes incredibly fast. I must say, it is one of the best gifts our kids have been given. Thanks, Grandpa Lee!

Here is a video of Benedict riding out in front of the house.


Monday, October 6, 2014

Our Business Man

Here is Jude on his first day of school!

Jude's first day of school he walked down the stairs in his uniform and asked, "Do I look like a business man, Mom?!"



I was planning on having Jude at home this year with Benedict and Agatha. I, actually, bought a couple history books and reading books with plans in mind to work with him on some lessons while the two younger kids napped.

Alas, there was something else in store for him!

A friend called and we were presented with an opportunity to send Jude to a Seton Montesorri School. I had already known about the school - we know the founder's family; and I had heard many good things about it. Well, a long story short, it has turned into an incredibly blessing to have Jude there this year. The school is for 3-5 year olds and the second half of the day is only for 5 year olds - so for 3 hours Jude is with 2 other kids basically getting one-on-one tutoring. The montessori style of learning is very hands on which Jude really loves (it is actually very endearing - you walk into the class room and EVERYTHING is only about knee high!).

I can tell that the wheels in his mind are turning differently after having been at the school for a couple of weeks. He asks more specific questions, I can hear him trying to sound out words, he notices numbers more and asks about math, he asks to do more tasks and has even more confidence. One aspect that montessori schools focus on is 'order' - and I can tell that Jude readily puts his things away now as more of a habit and keeps his things more tidy. He came home the other day and rushed to the bathroom sink to do experiments with his toys about 'sinking' and 'floating'. He was picking up leaves in our yard and telling me about them.

It really is fun to see the kids learning and witness them explore the world!



Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Porch Furniture!

Holy Smokes! Where have the last couple months gone?! I should start posting again before the whole year is gone.

We've been busy this summer and it is going quickly. We went on our 2 week vacation at the end of June. Since we've come back, we've come back we've been 100% enjoying our house and 50% working on the house. It, fortunately, is all very fun. I am not naturally an early morning person, but it is so unbelievably lovely and peaceful to be awake early in the morning during the summer time that I have been getting up closer to 6am this summer - that is early for me. I am able to water the garden, have a prayer time, enjoy a cup of coffee, and mentally prepare for the day since the kids get up closer to 8am or later. I love it.

Anyway, we are currently in full house project mode. We are taking advantage of an awesome loan we can get from the city and we're doing some bigger remodeling projects. We'll be able to do our second floor bathroom and a good portion of the kitchen, along with a few other smaller projects. In fact, in a hour we have a designer coming to give us a possible kitchen plan. Pretty exciting.

This wicker couch is something we finished last week. We got it for free from a friend and we refinished it. I really do love it. I am very happy with how it turned out. Mike repainted it, I bought some fabric from the store and recovered the cushion and then I happened to have the blue fabric on hand that matched the flower pattern and I recovered some pillows we had. We already have been using it a lot!


Friday, May 16, 2014

Gardening and more

The last couple weeks I have been spending a lot of time outside in the yard with the kids and doing a lot of gardening. All I can say is: This yard is so much fun. I'm pretty sure in the last couple weeks I have fallen head over heels with gardening. A good friend of mine has been helping me sort through the garden, flowers, and figuring out where to go with everything. The gardens here are extensive, to say the least. It is addicting and I have entered a new world of learning all sorts of different flowers names, being able to identify leaves and flowers. My good friend, Becca, said there are probably about 50+ different perennials in the yard.
This forsythia tree in the front yard was beautiful. Its yellow blooms lasted about 2 weeks.
There are a ton of these quaint, dainty blue flowers over by the pond in the back yard. I
have figured out what they are yet.

This tree in the front is a magnolia tree. These are the first few blossoms I saw and there are more now. Although I've heard magnolia trees are not doing as well this spring with the cool weather. 
I was so excited to see 4 big rhubarb plants on the west side of the house! I  have many memories of my Mom using her rhubarb planst to make rhubarb slush, jam, and other desserts. I love everything rhubarb.

These three white dainty flowers are just the cutest. They are at the base of the climbing rose bushes. They open during the day and then at night time they close!
I think peonies are my absolute favorite. The blossoms don't last super long, but they are so full and gorgeous. There are several peonies out front by the big boulder. It will be fun to see what color they are.  

I spent time on Mother's Day going to Gerten's with Becca. So much fun and it gives so many ideas of what it would be fun to plant. All in good time.... Then the next day another friend called to offer to come over and help in the garden. It was chilly, but we got a lot done. There is much work to be done, and it will just take time - a lot of time! Some of the other things I'm find are Bleeding heart, dianthus, columbine, lots of tulips, a beautiful azealea bush is blooming right now out back, rose bushes, honey suckle, jasmine. I know there is phlox, echenacha (sp), sedum, solomon's seed, hydrangeas, and then many others that I don't recognize yet. Very fun.

All in all, this house continues to be just a huge, tremendous blessing. It really is fun!

Otherwise, life is filled with the kids and other cooking, knitting, quilting, fermenting food, entertaining guests, busy school life at St. Agnes fun. The kids are at such energetic ages and it is fun to see them learning and taking everything in. Probably one of the most rewarding things to see right now is how the kids' relationships grow. They absolutely adore each other (yes, they fight too) but they are so aware of each other and love playing with each other, it is pretty fun to see.
Here is Agatha in her Easter dress. Our happy baby!




Jude and Benedict are hilarious these days. They are SUCH boys. I hear them making a fort in the next room while Jude holds his lego creation and Benedict has a Batman mask on. I hear them making up stories with each other. Jude: "We have to fight the bad guys, Benedict!" in a monster like voice. Benedict, "Yeah! Let's get 'em" followed by battle sounds and antics. It is quite amusing. 

Faustina is drawing. The 3 of them hung out here for about 30 minutes eating a lunch on Saturday. Whereever the most people are convened, Wallace joins the party!

She's my little doll. so stinkin cute. I am pretty sure she is everyone's favorite. And she is so SO easy.

I was inside the house and heard Benedict yell, "Jude I lost my shoe!!". So I watched Jude run over and for the next 5 minutes, he tried to put Benedict's shoe on. In the end, he was successful. 

Jude and Benedict laid out sleeping bags on the lawn and 'were taking a nap'. 

Faustina and Benedict probably have the most similar temperaments (at this stage). They get along super well.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Holy Week

Jude and I have been loving watching this the last couple days - probably about 45 times. It is profoundly beautiful and Jude has many questions about the artwork and happenings in the depictions. Such a good meditation as the Triduum begins.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

"FREEDOM!"

The kids are loving getting on their bikes for the first time since October.