celebrations

the “see you later” party

June 3, 2014celebrations, friends

our best friends have set on their way for their summer adventure! before they left they had a “see you later” bbq. it was just perfect! i told nadia… truth was i dreaded going because i didn’t want to say goodbye! i know it’s for a short time and i am so thankful for that. i am so so happy for them and their new adventures ahead! thank you for letting us play one last time together 🙂

we never get a picture with just us and our babies…

the more natural picture, trying to get sienna to get in our picture…

we finally get her and…. its blurry! well maybe we can try again at your welcome back party :). love you so much! take care of those sweet babies!

see you soon sister!

xxoo

blessed indeed….

May 14, 2014celebrations, kids

and spoiled! oh you boys had nothing but treats for me this weekend. balloons, flowers and food, food, food. i think we all gained a few pounds but it was oh so yummy! the best part of this mothers day was just watching you boys work with daddy in the kitchen. jack you were thrilled to say the least, to help out in the kitchen. you get to giggling so hard when you are working on something you are excited about.

{complete with a lovely dinosaur stamp on your forehead}

you guys worked hard on some pretty amazing french toast… for the record i could only eat one slice. i think it expanded in my stomach after i ate it. oh it was so good! we quickly got ready for mass. we made it on time and you boys were pretty good. pretty entertaining at times but good overall. 🙂

we enjoyed a trip to sonic and a late afternoon nap. that evening we got a little play time outside before helping daddy in the kitchen again. daddy made us a yummy 🙂 italian dish and i requested that he help you boys create your own pizza. oh you had so much fun! samuel, we were quiet impressed you followed directions (after trying to spoon the sauce in your mouth). you both did an awesome job and jack you were so proud to eat a pizza you made!

i can’t say it enough, i am so very blessed that god chose me to be your mama. i’m also so blessed to have such a wonderful mama as an example. she raised me to fully appreciate this vocation of motherhood. there isn’t anyone else i’d rather spend my days and nights with than my babies!

thank you for another wonderful weekend!

xxoo

lucas is o n e :)

May 14, 2014celebrations, cousins

little cousin lucas turned o n e this last week! we had so much fun at his first birthday party. too much cuteness with 4 boys, 3 and under 🙂

thank you for letting us share in this special celebration!

happy birthday sweet boy! excited for your year ahead!

xxoo

“Be Not Afraid”

April 29, 2014celebrations, sisters

a phrase that st. john paul II was known to share! one that my sister and i remember especially. we took a pilgrimage to rome for pentecost in 1998. “be not afraid” was on the back of our t-shirts when we made yet another pilgrimage to new york city. we created so many memories on those trips. i was beyond excited to know that she was taking her oldest to rome this easter to celebrate his canonization. from a few of her text i could tell she was experiencing the beauty of the church all over again. this time the magnitude of it all! a lot like what i experienced at world youth day in germany my senior year of college. i had to share her instagram picture and quote. she said it so beautifully!

“Words can’t explain the ora of it all. To have millions from all over the world be so reverent and all participating in the Mass as one body was so beautiful and unforgettable! We were all surprised the canonization took all of 2 minutes … but then reflected on it realizing, these men were instruments. They brought Christ to others all the glory goes to Him! The Mass was the most important part! The focus was on Christ. It was powerful!”

so, so happy that her and gabrielle made the pilgrimage there! also so happy she is back! i’ve missed our coffee/phone dates 🙂

st. john paul II and st. john XXIII pray for us!

xxoo

easter weekend 2014

April 22, 2014celebrations, cousins, kids

alleluia what a beautiful weekend!

i don’t know if it was a good idea to get that new memory card for the camera… another picture overload post. but these boys just look so darn cute hanging on to their baskets 🙂 we headed out to bc on saturday evening and got so busy playing we almost forgot to dye easter eggs! it was okay though because jack, after two eggs you were done and samuel it was bed time for you as you tried to color everything in site.

rise and shine! sunday morning you boys woke up only twenty minutes before go time ( getting in the car to get to mass on time!). you checked out your baskets, ate breakfast and put on your sunday best.

this was the beginning of taylor’s spring break. we were so happy to have her here for easter! it’s been almost four years since she has spent an easter with us!

{jack i just realized you look like you are about to take off in this picture. silly boy}

we missed our neighborhood egg hunt so this was the only one jack was able to do this year. he absolutely loved it! especially because it was just him and joshua and all the eggs they wanted. samuel once you found one you wanted to open it! i have never seen you eat so much candy before. sweet tart jelly beans must be the way to your heart.

we spent almost all day outside. jack i don’t know how you kept going all day. samuel you crashed before we left the neighborhood. we just love days like this, so thankful for the family we have near by! we sure miss those that can’t always be there with us!

happy easter 2014!

xxoo

lordy lordy look who’s forty….

April 15, 2014celebrations, cousins, sisters

so brace yourself for a post with picture overload. we laughed, we cried, we pulled off a great surprise weekend!

it was a weekend full of surprises! dinner on thursday, a birthday party on friday and a girls night out on saturday! we only wished our other sisters could have joined in on the fun! thank you holly for making the long haul! you really made the weekend special for our seester!

dana your girls were such a huge help and i’m sure everyone is relieved to not keep these secrets from you anymore. thank you to michaela for taking over baseball practice so your dad could be there for dinner and to erika and bailey for watching our little ones. dinner was all about the birthday girl and not the kids running around the table 😉

these two were were inseparable and oh so adorable!

we were able to squeeze in a t-ball game saturday afternoon. talk about cuteness overload, as jack would say ” joshua ran super fast!”

saturday evening us girls went to palm sunday mass together. it was so special as always and such a treat to not be distracted by little ones… thank you gramps!! thank you also to granny, gramps and bailey for watching the little ones while we went out for the evening to dinner and find our hidden talents at painting with a twist 😉

so many memories made this weekend! what would we do without our dana?! she is such a blessing to the entire family!

cheers to 4o years beautiful sister!!

xxoo

old friends are the best friends…

April 14, 2014celebrations, friends

not that thirty is old or anything 😉

this month has been a big birthday month! my best friend since i was only a year old turned thirty on april 3!

her sister gave her tickets to the astros vs. yankees game. they played the day of her birthday and we just happened to obsess over a certain player since we were both in our early teen years. obsess may be an understatement. this is his last year to play and it was my first time to see him play! what a fun night it was!

so many laughs that night, we felt like teenagers all over again 🙂

happy birthday stinks! yay for being the same age for just a month :/

xxoo

party animals…

March 30, 2014celebrations, cousins, friends, kids

what a fun weekend you boys had! first weekend of really gorgeous spring weather and two great birthday parties!

saturday we celebrated cousin bailey’s 1 4 th birthday! i don’t know how that baby girl has grown up so fast! we sure do love her! she has always been such a big help to us and hands down, always has been the best go to for sweets galore 🙂 jack you weren’t ready to try out the skates just yet but you and samuel sure loved watching joshua and daddy go super fast. great music and a colorful room, samuel you were in awe!

sunday afternoon, we were invited to a zoo birthday party for our friends charlie and henry! what a great day for a birthday party! the weather couldn’t have been more perfect! both of you boys were so excited you didn’t even take a nap!