Happy Feast Day Kiddo #2!

Today is the feast day of St. John Neumann. There are many St. Johns, but our kiddo #2 picked the saintly bishop from Philadelphia to be his patron since we live right outside of Philadelphia and Mommy was born and raised there. :-) His special request was Mommy's chocolate cake with homemade vanilla icing.

If you can see the photos on the table, the one in costume was my son in his Saints' pageant back in 1st grade. (he's in 4th now). He made the St. John on the right as part of a project last year.

Saint John Neumann, pray for us!

New Year's Eve

As another year comes and goes, I find myself getting a bit melancholy. I always laughed inside at midnight on New Year's Eve when I would see the adults get teary-eyed, while the kids were just jumping up and down screaming. I wondered how they possibly could be sad during such a fun time.

As I get older, I realize the reason for their mixed emotions: another year of our short lives is gone and we do not know how many more we have left. For many, there are more years behind them than they have in front of them. Our children are growing up and although we have wonderful memories, they are just that: memories. We will never get those times back.

So, even though we celebrate and welcome a new year tonight, let us not forget to be grateful for the year that has past. Yes, for many, it has been a difficult year. We all have our problems, whether they be financial or health, emotional or physical, but let us not be like society as a whole and wish this year never happened. I read in the headlines people saying that they can't wait for this "horrible" year to be over with. There are far more things to be grateful for and remember with joy than to regret. Let us remember our childrens' smiles rather than their tears. Let us remember the babies born, the marriage covenants made, the lessons learned, the special times we all shared together with friends and family. If we wish the year away, it is like wishing away everything good that happened, as well.

God always brings good out of bad. So, if we take just a moment at the stroke of midnight tonight, let us thank Him for all of the good that happened to us this year and pray that we may be so undeservedly blessed in the next.

Happy New Year.

Christmas Preparations

Although it is the day after Christmas, I wanted to post some photos of the kids' Christmas preparations. The most memorable for me was taking them to "Five and Below" and allowing them to "shop" for each of their siblings, their parents and grandparents. They really chose gifts that showed they were thinking about each person and what they liked. They were so excited yesterday to give away their presents. I think they got the message that some of the greatest joys are in giving, not receiving....

The first photo is of kiddo #3's Advent calendar. He tore off a ring every day until he reached his "Star of Bethlehem" on Christmas.

























Second are some photos of the kids helping to decorate the Christmas tree.






















The kids also helped me in some of my Christmas baking.

The last two photos are of kiddo #4's gingerbread castle and of kiddo #3's handmade Nativity that he put on the kitchen table.



A Blessed Christmas season to all! I will try to get Christmas photos up in the next few days! :-)

Christmas Quote

Just came across this quote and wanted to share it:

Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world - stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death - and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas.
--Henry Van Dyke


Happy week before Christmas!

Kiddo #4's birthday party

Last Friday, Kiddo #4 had her birthday party with her friends at the Little Gym. What a fun time! The leaders had the kids play all kinds of interactive games with lots of free-time in between. All of the parents seemed to be grateful that their children were being run ragged right before bedtime! LOL.



Now you see them,

















now you don't! :-)










The time in the gym was followed by pizza, cupcakes and balloons, much to the delight of all 15 of them! :-)




Happy 5th Birthday again, Princess! We love you!

Disney Pics!

We had a wonderful time in Disney for Thanksgiving week. Seeing the whole park decorated for Christmas was unlike anything we have ever seen.















We all got special treats- kiddo #4 got to spend her birthday in Disney and had a special dinner with Mickey and Friends to celebrate.

For Thanksgiving dinner, we had a special dinner at Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends! My mom got the special treat of actually sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner without having to cook it all and serve it!

The weather was so unbelievably beautiful! Not a rainy day the whole week (except for the day we left, which we assumed was Florida crying to see us go! :-)) It was in the 60s-70s and sunny the whole time, with a few days toward the end of the week hitting in the 80s.

We went to Epcot for the first time and it has quickly become one of our favorite places! "Soarin" is beyond words and Spaceship Earth became a quick hit among the kids and had to go on it twice. With exhibits like that, you could probably go on them a half a dozen times and still not see and appreciate all of its intricacies. Our 3 visits to Epcot over the course of the week weren't even enough. I don't think we saw half of what was there. Well, there's always next time! That's what makes repeated visits so much fun-- you see your "old-time favorites" and always get to see something new.

Of course, kiddo #3 was beside himself in Animal Kingdom. The safari was incredible. The animals were coming right up to our truck and made for some great pics. The kids enjoyed the train ride and petting zoo there, as well.

The memories of our trip will last a lifetime.

Largest Model Train Display in the World!

The weekend before last, we ventured out to go to "Northlandz." What an amazing sight! It literally took 2 hours to go through the display. There are trains everywhere! There are bridges overhead, beneath and beside you. Words and the pictures cannot do it much justice, but suffice it to say, it is something to behold. From what we are told, it took years to build.



The kids had a great time. Luckilly, the bad weather stopped just long enough for them to ride the outdoor train, as well.


Another fun family day together! That's what it's all about, right? :-)