When You Don't Have Enough Vacuums

Thomas has the job of vacuuming under the table after dinner.  Anna and Patrick love to help, and sometimes they'll get a turn with the vacuum cleaner.  Tonight they found a way to all work together with the help of a toy golf bag and rolling back pack.

Father Daughter Dance

Every year there is a Father Daughter Dance at our church.  It's like a prom for girls of all ages, with their loving fathers as their escorts. Catherine has been going with her dad for years now, and this time we decided Anna was old enough to go, too.  As you can imagine, she was a little excited.  

There is music and snacks and dancing.  Think Macarena, Cotton Eyed Joe, Chicken Dance, Hokey Pokey...for 2 1/2 hours.  This year some dads took some grainy videos on their ipods, so I have gotten to see a sparkly-dressed conga line snaking through the dance floor, Anna walking up to groups of girls she doesn't know and grabbing hands and dancing, dads dancing with great vigor with their daughters, gaggles of girls of all ages hopping and spinning.  It's quite a sight.

Steven, not surprisingly, would never go to such a thing if he didn't love his daughters so much.  So every year he will put on his suit, take his elegantly-dressed girls on his arm, and treat them like the princesses they are for as long as they'll let him do it.

Brotherly Love

Patrick is very affectionate and tackled Thomas with kisses.  As you can see, Thomas is a loving and patient big brother!

On the Phone with Grandma

Anna received a phone call from Grandma recently, and I was thinking, "I wonder if Grandma has a mental picture of Anna as she's on the phone with her."  I'm sure we all unconsciously have some vague image of the person to whom we're speaking.  My guess is that Grandma was not picturing this on the other end of the line:

That's an eighties-looking sparkly hair scrunchie, a Renaissance-style head circlet with attached veil on the back, and a salvage store $5 wedding dress (women's size M).  All worn over a turtleneck.  She was a sight of sequins and sparkles.  I think Anna likes being girly.  

By the way, she was so thrilled to receive a phone call from Grandma that she talked about it for hours.  Now she's hoping to receive a letter from someone because her older siblings have received mail recently and she's feeling a bit left out.  

Karate Advancement

Catherine tested in karate today and is now an advanced yellow belt.  I helped her with her techniques before her test, and I can attest that her punches, kicks, and blocks are strong and sure.    Congratulations, Catherine.

Here are some photos of her belt ceremony.

With her instructor, Brad Linder.

A Fun Weekend

 We had a busy, fun weekend...nothing terribly exciting, but I thought I'd share some photos.

Saturday morning began with weekly housecleaning, then the kids got to play in the backyard.  It's an event to get everyone bundled and all pant- and sleeve-cuffs snow-proofed, so we plan it.  Patrick actually did some solo sledding down our little slope, but I didn't get a picture of it.  Catherine and Thomas worked out a game wherein she pulled him around with a rope.  She got a lot of exercise!

We called everyone in for defrosting and lunch, and after kitchen cleanup the kids busied themselves and while Steven and I worked on the bathroom tiling.  

Pooh Candyland

Making a pouch from a rabbit skin.  She's sewing the hide with an awl she received for Christmas.

Steven has applied thin-set to the floor and is now placing the carefully measured and cut tiles into place.  They're all numbered, and I'm the fetcher.  

Patrick naps peacefully down the hall.

When the tile work got closer to the hallway and thus within reach, Catherine and I took the opportunity to spread some thin-set and place some tiles.  We finished all the tile laying and are now letting it cure before grouting.

 I have to express much gratitude here to our friend Jim who came over Friday afternoon and helped us get the tile placement planned, the odd angles around the toilet flange cut, and the first section of thin-set and tiles set.  It's wonderful to have someone who knows what they're doing teach you.  It allowed us to do the rest of the floor ourselves without any major problems.

So, after we laid the tile we headed over to the Ruiz's for dinner.  We brought some homemade bread and a game called Dixit that's fun for a group with a large age range to play.

Catherine tosses little Iliana in the air.  

Steven and Cesar work on their Latin chant.  Their chant group will be providing music at church the next day.

Dinner!

Patrick and Iliana are buddies and played together a lot.

Playing Dixit.  Catherines Gallaher and Ruiz made their own team.
Anna didn't want to be on my team, but she let me be on hers.  :-)  

Anna and Teresa relax on the couch bed while Patrick brings them drinks.

 The next day we went to Mass in the morning, came home and had lunch and changed clothes and went out sledding.  This time we drove to a park to meet the Ruiz family.  We figured we hadn't seen them enough recently, you know.  The kids really enjoyed sledding with friends.

Huge rocks like these are common around here in the Granite State.  Fun to climb!

Patrick loved being towed around in his little toboggan.

Here Catherine, Thomas and the two eldest Ruiz kids head down the hill at the same time.  Catherine is in the orange jacket, and Thomas is the one who proudly sledded the farthest.  (Remember, you can click on the box in the lower right of the movie frame to make it appear larger on your screen.)

We found a little slope off to the side for Anna to use, as the main hill was too scary for her.  Notice that when she reaches the bottom she -- true to her nature -- decides to eat some snow.  At least it's reasonably clean.

Everyone went to bed tired and ready for sleep tonight.   Tomorrow is the beginning of another home school week, and we've got rain in the forecast so our snow may suffer.  I'm glad we could get some good sledding in this weekend.

Did You Know....?

...that when you use a wet saw in the garage to cut tile

and you go inside to fit some tiles

and come back outside to cut more tiles

that the water in the saw can freeze when it's 20 degrees outside?


When I returned the rented tile saw to Home Depot that night, I told the tool rental guy my story.  We got a laugh out of it.   Even though we've lived here over three years I still have simple New England lessons to learn, like fill your water bucket with WARM water to keep the system from freezing.  The fact that the credit card I handed him to pay for the rental had a big shape of the state of Texas on it made it even better.

**BRRRRR**

We woke up to 1 degree/feels like -12....but I didn't crawl out of bed right away to get to the computer.  I'm sure you understand why!  The house is a bit cool but wearing long sleeves and slippers does the trick.

A Very Nice Snowy Day

We have had no snow on the ground so far this winter.  That's good and bad, of course.  Parking it easier, you can go to the park and use the playground equipment because it's not buried.  But it's just cold...no sledding, no snow fort building, etc.

We are getting some nice snow right now.  I have a few snapshots to share.  The forecast calls for this snow to change to rain later today, so things may look quite different this afternoon.  We're giving the kids the morning off from school to enjoy their snow day.

Anna has always been a snow-eating kid, and she's not outgrowing it yet.  We just insist that it be clean.  

Catherine built a shelter out of sticks and branches.  We'll see if the snow cover on top eventually becomes thick enough that no snow gets through the cracks.  It's already greatly reducing the amount of snow that gets in.
 

Zip line!

Anna sledding on the little slope in our yard.  She could never seem to turn toward the camera no matter how many times she went down.

Patrick fully wrapped and having a great time.

Another child has not outgrown the love of snow eating.  Thomas lay face down in the snow and started eating it, and Catherine came to bury him.

Evergreen branches heavily weighed down.  I can't image the weight of the snow evergreen branches collect and hold.  

Thomas's First Holy Communion

Thomas had a big day today.  He received his First Holy Communion.

He has been preparing for months, studying his catechism and learning about the sacrament and its effects.  Today his friend Matthias Linder also received for the first time.  The little boys in their suits were so cute and so grown up at the same time.  Sharing this day with our dear friends the Linders made it all the more special.  (As a reminder, they are Patrick's godparents.)   Many thanks to the Ruiz family for some really beautiful  photographs, as well as to all those who made the reception so nice by providing food and/or their company.

Before mass Thomas prays, nervous and excited and serious.

Thomas receives the Holy Eucharist from Fr. Don Clinton.  

After mass, Fr. Clinton, Thomas and Matthias pose for photographs.  Thomas is still feeling a bit serious.

A little levity between camera shots. Everyone was happy but restrained, and then Thomas did the funniest little 2 second wiggle dance as Matthias just had to share a joyful thought with Father. Then, as though it never happened, everyone faced forward again and smiled with folded hands for more pictures.

We had a reception after mass, and a friend of ours made a beautiful cake to celebrate the event.  

Opening gifts with friends and family at the reception.

This morning was plenty special already, but we had a nice extra surprise.  Our new bishop happened to be visiting the parish for a later mass, and the boys were able to spend a few moments with him beforehand.  He spent a little time with each of them and gave them a special blessing on their big day.

Bp. Libasci crouches low for a good photo with the boys.

Bp. Libasci prepares to bless the boys.

Tonight at prayer time Thomas got out a small crucifix that he received as a gift today and put it on his desk.  As he knelt to pray, Patrick waddled over next to his brother and knelt, too, tiny hands folded.  It was so sweet.  It's funny, though, when someone so short kneels...they really don't get that much closer to the ground!

Christmas - Days 8 through 12

We received so many gifts from thoughtful relatives and gave and received so many gifts between family members.  This is just a sampling of photos to share some of our goings-on.  We opened presents right up through the Twelfth Day (January 5th), and now we're taking down the tree and other decorations.  

Catherine studies the horse photographs in her new calendar.  She loves to draw horses, and she's getting quite good.

Patrick helps Catherine set up some new Playmobil.

Patrick tucks in his new big bear, sings it a lullaby, and reads it a book.

One of the gifts we received was family movie night!  Here everyone is intently  watching, some with Pez candy dispensers firmly clutched in hand.  I see lots of Christmas pajamas and socks.  

Hook 'em Horns!  Thomas wears his hat just about everywhere and is very proud of his Texas heritage.  We're teaching him hat etiquette.

Anna received drawing lessons from Catherine as a gift.  She is practicing coloring inside the lines in preparation for her first lesson.

Thomas gave Mommy house numbers!  He kept reminding Daddy to take him to the store to choose them.

A couple of notes:  Patrick likes to be in photographs and worms his way in whenever possible.  Also, beware of your background when taking a photo.  I look like I'm wearing an evergreen hat, don't I? 

Christmas - Days 4 through 7

The fun continues!  Here are a few photos to share.

Catherine received some really nice blocks of wood for carving--2 pounds of it.  We look forward to seeing what she creates.  The package included an all-important thumb guard.

Patrick has a new puzzle!  The doors on the barn open to reveal magnetic animals that live within.  He's mooing like a cow here to show us what he sees.  The animals have been traveling to the refrigerator lately for field trips.

Here Patrick is cooking with his new stand mixer.  He kept trying to put the cookie cutters and measuring spoons into the mixer, so I cut up bits of orange yarn for him to happily spin.  

Thomas makes his sternest face with full battle gear.

Do you remember Sit N Spin?  You can still get them!  We have one!  Yipee!

Patrick tries to spin his mixer while sitting n' spinning.

The family gathers to watch Thomas try his new radio-controlled car.  It has a helicopter that launches from the top, so it's  fun for all the kids even if they're not running the controls.  Patrick loves to fetch the helicopter and return it to Thomas.

Catherine likes to oil paint, and she's been making due with a makeshift  easel that she sets on the bathroom counter.  Well, now she has a spiffy folding easel.  That's Step One.  Step Two is clearing out some space in the basement to outfit it as a little art studio.    Updates to follow, as that's a larger project!

Anna enjoys her ColorWonder princess book.  

A new pint sized swiffer!  Really!

Thomas studies plans for a new lap desk that  he will help  build.  What's more fun, getting a lap desk or  getting to use a table saw, a miter saw, and hand tools to build your own?  

A purple flowery dress!