Summer (so far) Round Up

Cardinals Game

 (Holden's first)

 Renaissance Faire (all that Noella wanted, or talked about, was getting a turkey leg to eat)

 And all Mariel remembered was the dress-up area

 Noella - after a morning of slippery creek hiking and and afternoon of tennis with her brother- fell in the living room for no good reason and ended up with five stitches over her right eye!

 Packing for camping is not quite the same as it used to be...

 Kids by the fire

Patrick and his fire

 Kids roasting marshmallows

 Hiking

 Girls' first Shakespeare festival and play- Henry IV.

 And the latest night out for a while- they had never seen the Art Museum and lake all lit up before!

Spring Round Up

Lots of events since I last updated here (or, apparently, downloaded pictures from my camera!)

Mariel's 8th birthday

 Have a "Movie" night birthday makes entertainment MUCH easier!

 And pizza makes the cooking also pretty light!

 We used cabbage, beets and turmeric to dye Easter eggs this year... nice colors, but the kitchen smelled pretty awful.

 We had friends over for a brunch and Easter egg hunt

 Mariel celebrated her first communion this May, too.

Mariel is "Brave" with her Girl Scout Troop

Here is a link to Mariel's performance at the Avery Talent Show with her Girl Scout Troop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oICccwwy-Aw&feature=youtu.be

Enjoy!

Just a Taste

Just a taste of dinner conversation at our house:
(Mom and kids at dinner)
Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up, Holden?
Holden: What?
Mariel: A singer?
Holden: What?
Mom: A rock star, like Noella?
Noella: No, I want to be a singer.
Holden: Noella can't be a rock!  Rocks don't move.
Mariel: A police officer?  Mom says Noella should be that.
Holden: YEAH.  A POLICE!
Noella: A police?
Holden: POOO.
Mariel: What?
Holden: I have to POOP!

Happy Holidays!

Quotes from Holden

Holden: Mom, here! (puts something in my hand)
Me: What is this.
H: It is a bug.
M: This does not look like a bug. (inspects thing- crusty brownish green clump)
H: Oh.  It is a bug GER.
M: What?  A bugger (still eyeing thing in hand)?
H: (motions to nose) A snot, Mom.  Yeah.  It is big (proud smile).
M:  I am going to put this in the garbage.
H: Good idea.
(please note that I did wash my hands after this)
---
H: Alright baby Mom, I am going to work.  You go in your carseat.
M: OK.  Are you the mommy?
H: Yes.  And I am going to work. Get in your carseat.
M: OK.  I will get in my carseat.  Where is it?
H: Over here!  Get in!
M: What do you do at work?
H: (with the air of resignation of all parents trying to get to work) I WORK at work, baby.  That is why I go. Get in your carseat!
---
(While Patrick drills screws in new storm window frames)
H: (Yelling through the open window)- SCREW IT DADDY, SCREW IT!

Noella's Cookie Decorating Party

Mariel's First Reconciliation

Big Changes, Top to Bottom

There have been many big changes this week at our house.
Noella got her new glasses, which she has been VERY excited about.  Every time that they were mentioned in the past two weeks (while we waited for them to come in) she YELLED IN JOY about her glasses.  Wherever we were.  So many, many people knew of this impending event.  We picked them up tonight and she was thrilled to put them on!

 She does say that things look clearer now, which I suppose they should!

Holden's big news is that he is now heading to school in his underwear!  There has been some extra laundry (both at home and at school, which I  must say makes me adore his teachers even more than before), but he is very proud of himself.  As you can likely tell by the fact that he took all of his clothes off and asked me to take his picture.

Not to be outdone, Mariel also has some big events this week.  She completed her skills in her level of gymnastics on Monday and will start on a higher level next week.  She is also celebrating the sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time tomorrow, which she has been preparing for all fall.  She is feeling very proud and mature, too.

As for Patrick and I, we both already wear glasses and underwear to school/work.  Maybe we should sign up for gymnastics to have something to work on?

Happy Halloween!

Noella is Moving Up! (in Gymnastics, at least)

Noella had her last class in the "little Gym" and is moving up to the "big Gym" at the St. Louis Gymnastics Center.  Next week she will roll (and jump and flip) with the big kids. Or at least try!

Happy Birthday to Patrick

We had a low key family celebration.  I created a fabulous homemade Snickers themed cake (chocolate cake, layer of homemade caramel and chopped peanuts, peanut butter frosting, chocolate chips on top).  Noella decided that Snickers would probably be her favorite candy, if she was ever able to eat one.

A stroll through the Botanical Gardens last weekend...

 Instead of carving pumpkins, the kids decided that they wanted to paint pumpkins this year.  We anticipated that this might be pretty messy, so when the temperature hit 60 degrees late this afternoon we headed outside to begin work.

 Noella went with stripes and glitter.

 Mariel's started all black, but she later added a glitter heart.

 Holden just kept assuring me "I am really good at painting this, Mom."

The pumpkins are drying now.  I have been told that they have to be "finished" tomorrow, so I will see what additions that brings.