May Crowning

We had our May Crowning this afternoon. I threw out my back so I was in no shape to do our outdoor Mary's. But, we still had an enjoyable ceremony for our blessed mother. Rooster put a small flower crown on one of our Mary statues.


Rooster loves Mary very much:)

I saw a really awesome idea on a blog. (Sorry I can't remember which blog it came from) The idea is that you say a decade on the rosary. For each Hail Mary you give a rose to Mary (it's suppose to be symbolic of sending your prayer to Mary) I cannot croquet pretty roses. But, I saw a rose garland at a local dollar store. There are two roses in each part of the chain. So I cut off ten sets to represent a decade of the rosary. Instead of using our rosary we used the rose garland. As we said a Hail Mary we took one rose, and gave it to Mary. GH took a few roses off the end. Rooster was not pleased. She whined "No Henry those aren't for you. They are for Mary".

Rooster and Mary after praying a decade of the rosary.

Playgroup and potluck

Briana put together a great playgroup this week. We went out to her farm for a pool party and potluck. The kids had a great time and so did the mommies.

Where did Big Dog go?

Random pictures

I took this picture last night. I think I have a pretty good looking family.

We spent some time outside today. Rooster takes sports to the extreme.

I asked Rooster if she could see any stars with her "telescope". She told me "No, it's the daytime." I asked her what she saw. She informed me that she could see birds, yellow warblers to be specific. She is all about Yellow Warblers.

The other day she informed me that Woodstock from the Charlie Brown shows is a yellow warbler. One day about a year ago she told me she wanted a yellow warbler for a pet. I'm still not sure. But, I don't think a yellow warbler would be happy to be domesticated.

See you later partner

Tuesday Night Lights

We went to see Presto's ball game last night. He did great. He had two hits and scored once. He also got to play third base. Which I'm told is a pretty big deal on his team because his team is very good. And they did play great last night. Not to brag or anything (although I'm entitled because he is my nephew and godson) but, they beat the other team 25-1.

Presto is going to be ten years old this summer. I can't beleive it. It doesn't seem that long ago when I saw him in the hospital after he was born.

Here's some pictures with his mom Crystal.

He wanted a funny picture:)

It's time for an old fashion beat down!!!!!

Memorial Day

Captain Awesome actually had Memorial Day off which never ever happens. Captain Awesome asked "What do people do for Memorial Day?" Honest question since he never has it off;) I told him in my family we didn't do the bbq's and shopping sprees. We always decorated graves because we had veterans in our family. So we decided to skip going to Old Navy. (Although their $1 flip-flop sale does sound appealing) We figured this is much more our style anyway. We headed to Milligan, home of the fighting Roosters. Captain Awesome wanted pictures of the flags at the grave yards. They are rather nice, aren't they?



When I was a child I loved to look inside the old church windows. (Of the church in the above picture) The windows were filthy and you couldn't see anything inside. But, it didn't deter me;) It drove my mother nuts:D It was restored about ten years ago. It is very nice inside and you can see through the windows now:) It's the oldest Catholic Church in the county.

While in Milligan we had a picnic at the park and let the kids play for a while. They have an awesome park considering the town is only 300 people.

The tall slide was Big Dog and Roosters favorite piece of equipment.

GH happily explored the park:)

Before we went home we stopped by Aunt Bug's house. The kids enjoyed seeing their cousins and eating popsicles. Yummy!

GH's Bath Time Silliness

These pictures aren't the best. But, the kids were taking a bath. So it's not like I could leave and get the good camera. Anyway, who would want to leave when your kid is doing cute stuff?

GH kept pulling back the curtains and telling me "hi". It was pretty cute!

That was fun but its time to get out.

Pool Time

More dazzling artwork from my kids collection

We did these last night before bed. I suppose for the next week I should be doing Ascension activities with the kids. Not that I totally get it or anything. Good thing for Captain Awesome. He broke it down for me;)

Happy Baptismal Anniversary Big Dog!

I gave Big Dog the choice between a cake or a big cookie for his celebration treat. He chose a cookie. I was actually really glad he chose the cookie. We had so much left over cake from GH's baptismal anniversary celebration that half of it was thrown away. So I wasn't really big on making another cake this week.

Ladies and gentlemen....our little drama queen.

Magic Marker Monday

Crayons are delicious!

Happy Baptismal Anniversary GH

Rooster helped me make a baptismal anniversary cake for GH.


We lit GH's baptismal candle and said a prayer of thanks. Then we ate cake. Yummy!

What is married?

Today we went to Aurora for Nicole's graduation. Before we stopped by the party we drove around town. We decided to show the kids the church Captain Awesome and I got married in. As we drove by I told them "This is the church dad and I got married in. In a few months we will come here. We will get our picture taken here as a family for mom and dads anniversary." Rooster asked, "What is married?" I told her "It's when two people promise God that they will be together forever and that they will have kids together." Rooster said, "That's awesome!"

Great commercial

What do you want to do when you grow up Růženka?

She replied, "I want to grow flowers". I asked her if she wanted me to get her some books about flowers and she shouted "Yes!"

My grandma Irene would have loved Rooster. My grandmother loved flowers. When she still lived in her home she had a double lot. It was full of different kinds of flowers and plants. I loved walking around her yard when I was a little kid. Mostly, because I wanted to stay away from her. She was a total grouch. But, she took really good care of her garden:) We almost named Rooster, Rose of Sharon.Rose of Sharon (pictured above) was a favorite of my grandma. But, we ended up picking Růženka for her name.

Anyway, even after she moved in with us she still loved her flower catalogues. She always wanted to talk about flowers. I was more interested in knowing what they were saying on the Big Joe Polka Show that was playing in the background. My grandma would tell me and quickly change the subject. If I pestered her enough she would teach me a little Czech. But she knew what I was up to. I wanted to learn Czech because I wanted to know what my grandma and mom where talking about. Funny thing about those two. They would be speaking about Christmas in English. Then all of a sudden they would be speaking in Czech. Could they be talking about my gifts? Yeah---that's what they were doing. Pretty messed up if you want my opinion;)

Anyway, what do your kids want to be when they grow up?

Too cool for you......

This picture sums it all up.......;)

GH loves his ocean water bottle.

There are sea shells, rocks and even a shiny purple lobster. I have to keep it realistic;) In hindsight I should have used baby oil instead of vegetable oil. Then it would look more like waves. Oh well....

A Sweet Mothers Day Gift

I received a wonderful Mothers Day gift today. It didn't come in an envelope or with a fancy bow. It came in the form of a story told by my husband. He told me the following story as we drove home from my sister-in-law Shelia's Mothers Day party (which was awesome). A little background before the story......My sister-in-law uses her large outdoor nativity shed as a small playhouse for her kids. (Such an awesome idea) The kids love playing on it and climbing on it. Anyway, on to the story.....

Cousin Presto and Cousin Imes were on the top of the house and wanted Rooster and Big Dog to come up too. The boys tried to pull Rooster up. When they weren't able to pull her up. Big Dog grabbed her left leg then her right and helped push her up to the top of the house. When they couldn't get Big Dog up, Rooster left her older cousins and went down to play with Big Dog. She left the fun even though they wanted her to stay with them.

I cried when my husband told me this story. I thought about how much they love each other. Big Dog helping his big sister get to where she wanted to go. Rooster giving up fun so her brother wouldn't be left out. I seriously, don't know how they got to be so sweet. But, I wouldn't want them any other way:)

New Catholic Vote video

Some stuff I've been working on

I've been working on making altars for the kids rooms. This one is in the boys room.

This one is in Roosters room. I know they aren't really nice. But, I'm making an attempt:)I got the kids fonts too. Now, if I can get in the habit of actually using these everyday.

While I was at the local Catholic book store. I was looking through a box of prints. I found this beautiful print of the Holy Family for $2.00. I put it in a picture frame I got at a thrift store for $1.50. I think it's absolutely beautiful.