Ash Wednesday...

So today is the official first day of Lent...40 days until Easter. It's a beginning of a big time for Christians...a time of reflection and sacrifice. I became Catholic 5 years ago, right after Kurt & I were married. We were married in a Catholic Church and you sign this piece of paper that says you will raise your children Catholic if you get married in a Catholic Church. I thought that it was sort of wrong that I raise my kids in one faith, while i was another. Also, Kurt was probably unlikely to become something else, as being Catholic is like being Italian...you are what you are. Plus Catholics always sort of seemed cool...the rituals, the statues, the candles....it was sort of mystical to me.

I was raised Baptist. We went to church every Sunday and my family was (and still is) very active in their church. Lent for me growing up was like a party for the whole 40 days. There were potlucks every Thursday at church (got to love the Potluck) and the anticipation of Easter was exciting. The Catholics have a different take on Lent and it is all about sacrifice and reflection. There are no parties. There are no potlucks. There is just prayer and prayer and mass. Catholics give up something during Lent typically, but I don't. I use the time during Lent to really go above and beyond and do good for others...random acts of kindness. I am reminded as I do these good deeds of the sacrifices that were made for me to live this awesome life. Is it right that I don't deny myself something like Coke, Candy, Sweets or whatever? I don't think so...it's all about being a good Christian.

I don't think that I will ever be FULL ON Catholic. I will always have my strong foundation as a Baptist that grounds me and is the core of my being. I love that I know the Bible forwards and backwards, unlike many of my Catholic friends. Thank you Sunday School and Camp Lael! I do like the ritual of being Catholic. I like the ritual of mass.

Also, being Catholic has helped me (hopefully) make my husband a little more aware of his religion. He is typical...perhaps didn't pay attention (like most) in CCD. Today, as I was making his lunch, he said - "What, we're out of lunch meat?"....me: "It's Ash Wednesday, remember eating packzi yesterday?" I think he rolled his eyes. The no meat thing gets him and he HATES following it. I think only because I found out that the real reason why there is Meatless Fridays and on holy days is because back in the day (Middle Ages) they wanted to promote the fishing industry and going meatless was a way to do that. It is pretty wrong. But foregoing meat can be a sacrifice by eating less and using the extra money to donate to a good cause or ones in need. Kurt will do it...grumbling. Hey, it's his sacrifice...he feels it more than most.

So today we'll go get Ashes on our foreheads...pray at mass and start Lent. I am looking forward to my 40 days of good deeds....what will I do today?

Happy Birthday Aunt Lib & Aunt Marcy!

This past weekend we went to my mom's to celebrate a few birthdays.

Mom & Lib checking out the cards I made for her

Julia, Olivia & Jimmy...too cool for themselves.
Again...the sunglasses.

..And more

The kids were climbing all over Aunt Marcy...it was pretty funny. As I was watching them do it...i remembered doing the same thing as a kid on Aunt Marcy. She's my mom's kid sister (15 years younger), and when we were kids, she was a kid herself. She was always the highlight of going to my grandparent's house or if they were coming to visit. It's still the same with our kids. They love her...and I think she love them. Now let's see if she needs some chiropractic work after this...

Jimmy cracking up...

She is so my daughter....

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Julia last week. I didn't realize until I looked at it, just how much like me she really is. Okay, she mostly looks like Kurt, but she is so innately me...it is uncanny. She is my daughter and I am sure that as the year's pass, she'll try to NOT be like me, but will find that there is no way around it. She is me.

She loves to read. She hates to pick up stuff. She loves having her hair done. She loves to put on makeup. She loves to watch TV. She loves to eat. She loves to cuddle. She is a girly girl. She loves to do art and draw. She is creative. She is imaginative. She is emotional. She is into clothes. She is helpful. She is wise beyond her years. She is creepy smart. She is me.

Do I need another Baby?

Jimmy loves babies. Real ones especially, but in a pinch Bitty Baby will do. Last week, the kids were "babysitting" this baby and taking it all over the house. The baby had to eat with us at that table (Jimmy gave her his booster chair). It really was sweet.

Jimmy has been saying a lot lately. Speaking in paragraphs and it all makes sense. Really it is a language explosion. Girls and Boys are so different. By 18 months Julia was speaking pretty clearly, speaking in sentences and it was a natural progression from there. Jimmy on the other hand at that age, had a few words he'd say, he'd understand you, he just didn't say a ton like his sister did at that age. Well, Jimmy must have been saving it all up for the winter when were were bored. The kid doesn't shut up. He talks and talks. When you get a moment alone with him, he just wants to chat about the colors of all of his favorite cars and about whatever else is on his mind. As of this week, his obsession is our old neighbor's baby, Emily. He found some old sippy cups that were from when he and Julia were babies and he totally out of the blue told me that we needed to give them to baby Emily. We haven't seen them in over a month! How he remembered her, I have no idea. Now at every meal, like groundhog day, Jimmy tells me that Baby Emily needs his old sippy cups and diapers. If you don't repeat what he has said to you, he'll keep saying it until you do. Hearing his voice that has no volume control yell "Baby Emily needs my dia-ar-puhs! Juss one." makes me just chuckle, sometimes I don't repeat after him so I can hear him say it again and again. It's pretty cute.

But for the record...I don't need another baby...Bitty Baby is about all I can handle right now.

They are Eaters...

These kids can sure eat. You wouldn't know it if you saw them, because they are so thin, but they eat. Most mornings they eat 2 breakfasts. Today was no exception. Julia ate 2 bowls of cereal and a waffle and Jimmy ate 1 bowl and a waffle at 8am. Then at 9:30, they helped themselves to the snack cabinet...which I forgot to lock and were eating chips. I was on the computer, but I could hear them and they thought they were so sneaky. At least they know to come to the tile and stay out of the living room.

Valentine's Day!

We had a great Valentine's Day. Kurt let me sleep in after having a night out with the neighbor girls playing Left. Right. Center. We made a trek to my hometown to see my mom after having some surgery and then picked up my grandma. See my sister's blog here for some cute pictures of the kids watching Wizard of Oz.

I'll wear my sunglasses all day...

Today was a very sunny day, giving us a glimpse of spring. Days like today are the only way people who live in Michigan can get through the next 2 long months. Because it was so sunny, the kids wore their sunglasses while we went out to run our errands. Jimmy insisted on wearing his sunglasses once we got in Costco. Insisted on wearing them while we ate lunch. Insisted on wearing them while he fell asleep in the car. Insisted on wearing them while he watched some TV in the afternoon. Insisted on wearing them at the gym. I only convinced him to take them off once he got to the gym, by telling him that he may lose them there. He got a little freaked out whenever they'd slide off his face. He'd run around and shout - "My Glasses! My Glasses!" practically in tears. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it, but I am sure there will be other times.

It will NEVER be the Same...

Dawn is gone. We knew it was coming, we said our goodbyes over several days. The moving Semi was in front of my house, I watched their stuff come out. But you know, it never felt real to me until I saw them loading up in their car after the moving van left. It was for real. There wasn't going to be another run across the street, another load of garbage, another box of fertilizer...they were really leaving. Now, I know that I will see them again soon, since they will be living only mere miles away from Jim & Patty (Kurt's brother). But still...not to see her on a daily basis will be hard. Not to see her light on at all hours of the night will make me lonely (we were the neighborhood watch after 11pm). I am not sure how much value people put on their neighbors these days. I know that our neighborhood is rare. We are all so close and really look out for each other. We see each other everyday. We raise our kids together and for each other. We are like family. I think the fact that we all stay home with our families makes it even more noticeable, since our world is our neighborhood. Now a link is missing. Ellen and I will just have to lean more on each other and continue to bring Debbie and Kim into our fray to take up the absence that will surely be felt over the months to come.

Just a few pictures of the kids from Tuesday when it was warm enough to play outside before the winds started to blow.

Happy 40th Debbie!

2 weeks ago, the kids went to My mom's for the weekend and we helped to celebrate our neighbor Debbie's 40th birthday. Her husband and friend set up the perfect night for her. They had a limo bus set up to take us from the house to the hotel where they were staying for the night. We hung out there for a few drinks and then headed to a bar where a band that Debbie and Scott used to listen to alot when they were first dating. Then the limo bus took us back to our house. It was great. We all had a great time!

Kate, Debbie & Ellen

Kate & Ellen

The Party Limo Bus

Tim & Ellen

Kate & Kurt

At the Pool!

About a week ago, we took the kids to the gym pool. They want to go swimming all the time, but it is kind of a production to go in the winter. It was worth it...the kids had a blast!

Preschool Fun

Just a few pictures from January of Julia at school. She just loves it so much! I am so proud of how much she has learned and how she has my excitement about learning.

The picture below was taken on a field trip. We went to a hospital that has a museum in it. She has been there before and she just gets a kick out of it every time. This time her favorite was the nose...it would sneeze.

I know...where have we been?

Things have been crazy around here. i have been bad about updating the blog. I guess life just gets in the way. If it's not one thing it's another around here.

If you're in the "know" you probably know about this social networking site called Facebook. Well, I have been on it for about a year and in the past few months, a ton of my friends both current and from the past are on it now. It's fun to reconnect with people and really get to know some of my other friends better too. The only problem is that it totally sucks you in and after a while you realize that you've been on it for a few hours. I took 5 days off of it last week and totally felt like I had my life back. I won't be spending as much time on facebook from now on. I'd rather update the blog with my time - but it is fun.

I am also in the thick of the mom2mom sale planning. If you have no idea what that is...you are probably lucky. I organize a huge sale for moms to sell their gently used kids clothes, toys, baby stuff, etc at our church each spring. We usually have about 50 sellers and over 400 shoppers. It's fun for the moms to make money and for people to get some good deals on nice stuff. I wish I had shopped them when Julia was a baby. Anyway, we've about sold the sale out and I am in the middle of doing the layouts of the tables and stuff. It's alot of work, but it raises money for the church and helps the moms make some money. And in this economy we all need that.

I have also really been focusing on scrapbooking the past month. I really want to finish Jimmy's baby book. Poor guy. he loves looking at pictures and I know that he'd enjoy his book as much as Julia enjoys hers. Plus, I just love scrapbooking. Something about starting with just pictures and some paper just makes me feel so creative. I also just finished a small book for my neighbor who is moving this week. It was fun putting it together for her, really made me think about how blessed I am to live in such a great area.

We are also trying to figure out where Julia will go to school next year. She will be old enough to go to Kindergarten, but just barely. We've decided that we'd rather her attend a young 5 program next year and then enter kindergarten as a 5 year old versus 4 year old. Finding a program that I like, that I can afford, that isn't too hardcore, that isn't too far away has proved to be a little crazy. Fortunately, we have options and I am weighing all of those and trying to find what is best for her. I am taking her a little too seriously I think. Poor Jimmy...i can't decide what to do with him next year until i figure out what is going on with Julia. He gets so shafted.

Jimmy has transitioned to his car bed from the crib. So far, it has not been too bad. He sleeps in it pretty well at night, naptime is another story. I am NOT ready for him to give up napping. Julia was about the same age when she stopped napping.

I am sure that there are another million things that are going on in our lives that I failed to mention...but in reality...do you really want to read about how much of a slob Jimmy is when he eats and there is more food on the floor than in his belly?