Tooth Fairy

Anna lost her first tooth yesterday at school. She has been wiggling it like crazy, and it fell out while eating her apple. Too cute!!! She is so excited & so proud!!

Softball Update

My 3rd grade team is pitching now, and we are doing GREAT! We've had 2 games (no pics since I am busy coaching - need to get Pete on that!), and we won one game & lost one on Sunday. The girls were a bit wiped out after camping (me too), but it was a dust bowl at the field. My 2nd/3rd pitchers walked 7 runs each, and our bats were very very quiet. Need runs to win - our fielding was good though. Must focus on the positive! Needless to say, we will be at the cages this week!! Go Chargers - I'm very excited about this team - really good athletes, good listeners & pretty focused.

Anna is also playing on her first softball team, and she loves it too. I am helping with her team, and she is usually my helper during 3rd grade softball practice. She has a darn good arm & is not afraid of any ball thrown to her. She is going to the cages with me today too - I bet she will be the best hitter at her game on Saturday. I missed her first game due to GS camping....

Girl Scout Camping

Super fun weekend with Rosie's Girl Scout troop!!! I have to mention first that Marlene, Carrie & I helped raise $9300 on Friday during the first Music Trivia at St. MM!!! We threw it together at the last minute because we needed one more fundraiser at school with the economy in such despair. We did great & even had an anonymous donor give $4200 with a company match to come over in 6 months. We are so excited!! We made awesome t-shirts for the workers, great music trivia & people are still commenting on how fun it was!! Yeah!

OK - back to Girl Scouts! We camped in Steelville, MO at the Petry "lodge." The lodge is their home away from home (80 acres, beautiful setting, great house), so we were not really "camping" since we slept inside. The girls made the meals (mostly), cleaned up, took a LONG hike, got lots of tics, made God's eyes, practiced knot tying & had fun with each other. The adults had fun too - I am definitely going to make "brown bears" at home - the best cinnamon sugar dessert ever!!!

Can't remember their troop # but here are 9 of the 14 (a few couldn't make the trip). Nicole got them matching bandanas & we needed them - it was a warm weekend plus it kept the tics out of our hair.

You can see that the scenery was amazing, but this patio was incredible! From this vantage point, it looks like the girls are hanging on for dear life! Pretty funny!

On the hike - we made it to the river!

A Moment to Remember

Well, it was amazing! After months of planning, my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration was even better than we could have imagined. A beautiful, touching Mass & then the reception that was absolutely perfect! There are so many moments to mention that I'm not sure my words will do it justice. The theme was "A Moment to Remember" as they danced to this song by the Four Lads 50 years ago.

Here are some "moments":

• Aunt El and cousin Diane making the trip from California (thank you so much!)
• Having the family participate in the Mass & making it so personal
• Rachel & Adam being the best servers & coming over to kiss Mom & Dad
• Tearing up when they renewed their vows
• Lauren & Stephanie who were the best planners & "doers" - amazing invitations & program
• Setting up on Friday night until midnight (all worth it)
• The totally fun "Paul & Carol Bingo" that my brother Tim invented
• The longest speech ever by my Dad - my battery died during it!
• Mary drinking a bottle of Fat Bastard & her & Pat making out in the photo booth!
• The photo booth - it was a total HIT! Thanks Tim!
• Wishing we could have eaten more of the awesome food!
• Josephine drinking cups of Coke & never being tired (I wonder why)
• How many times did Joanie redo the seating arrangement?
• Kay & I cleaning out the chocolate fountain (I'm laughing right now about it)
• My sister, Mary, who did the best job being the planner - she's amazing!
• Bonding with my siblings again during the "planning phase"& seeing our parents so happy & still so in love....

Easter Thoughts

Happy Easter! What a wonderful time of year. During Lent, my kids never ceased to amaze me. They "gave up" and "did positive things" during Lent that made me very proud. They gave up their Nintendo DS and did not cheat once, and I know it was hard for them at times. I never heard them complain even once. They worked on positive Lenten activities like giving away their dessert to a friend (Anna did that) or help a friend in need.

Rosie was most interested in the Triduum as each year she develops a new understanding of the magnitude of Jesus' love for us. We went to all the services as they discuss their meanings in class and of course, ask lots of questions for Pete & me. I love the Holy Thursday & Good Friday services as they really hold so much emotion. If I did not have Sunday Mass, I'm not sure I could make it through the week. I now understand why my mother has attended daily Mass for so many years. It is such a calming force for me. I know He calls me more & I must listen.

The kids & I also helped clean the church before Palm Sunday, and they were troopers because it was hard work. I love my children, and I thank Jesus for them every day.

Easter with Family

In the afternoon, we changed into "comfy clothes" and headed to my parent's for Easter with my family. My mom loves setting up the hunts for the different age groups. Here's how she did it:

• "The babies" - Josephine & Wil - in her front yard with 4 eggs for Jo & 10 for Wil
• The middle kids - Anna, Alison & Jacob - in Skip's front yard - about 12 eggs each
• The bigger kids - Rosie & Caty - in Skip's back yard - much tougher hiding places
• The teenagers - Rachel & Adam - they had to keep the kite up for 10 minutes in the park to get their Easter treat

It was super fun watching Adam & Rachel fly their kites. My parent's backyard backs to a park, so we could watch from the house. Pretty funny!!!

Great meal & lots of time to chitchat & hang out & of course, watch the Masters' Tournament.

Rosie & Caty after their hunt. They are good competitors!

Jo on Grandpa's latest find - to move it you just swivel it - it's actually pretty cool plus Jo could do it on her own!

Easter with Friends

After Mass, we decided to do a group Easter Egg Hunt, so we went over to the Gombas' for a super fun time. We hid at least 75 eggs (from hard-boiled to plastic) & let the kids go crazy. A little chilly on Easter Sunday - Saturday was beautiful & warm but it changed overnight. We still wore our pretty Easter outfits though!
Anna with a skirt, bare legs & her winter coat!

Josephine.... my cutie! She always smiles for me!

"Oh, I see it!" She was a really good hunter - I think better than the older kids. She patiently looked around & spotted them!

Having fun with friends

We hung out on Saturday morning for a few hours with some old friends, the McReynolds. I worked with Allen at my first job, and since then, we married (different people) & had children at the exact same time (except for our third). They had two boys and then a girl and you know what we have (3 adorable girls!). Anyway, we went to the same daycare/preschool, and the kids were great friends. It is actually pretty funny because Rosie had a clique of 3 friends, but she was the only girl (Ethan, Nathan & Rose) while Anna's clique was 2 girls and one boy (Summer, Anna & Josh). They still hang out & our hope is the friendships are maintained into adulthood. How cute would it be to show them pictures at age 1 (and we do have some adorable pictures). Allen's wife, Michelle, is one of my good friends & our optometrist (thank goodness for her with my terrible eyes!)

Nate & Josh, Rosie & Anna (why she decided to wear the biggest t-shirt ever, I'll never know). I don't argue about clothes except for Sunday Mass. They both love their Clemson Soccer shirt that Uncle Paul gave them. Anna will be able to wear her shirt for many many years!

The McReynolds got a trampoline for Christmas, so we needed to "test it out." We live close to each other, but we go to different schools. As everyone knows, people are too busy.... We used to have dinners together weekly almost (take turns at each other's homes), but now there are too many activities. Nate is really into soccer and is very very good! Well, you know us - we are a little involved in activities..... It's all fun though.

Abby & Jo - swinging away! Abby is exactly one year older than Jo.

I love this picture & sent it to everyone at work. I just love that smile - it melts my heart. She recently got a haircut, and we cut off her mullet. It is a little bob now, and I hope to keep it short short!! I love cute short "do's" on little girls. Did I really say "little girl" vs. baby? It's time - she will be 2 years old shortly!

Visit to Purina Farms with Kindergarten Class

I went on the Kindergarten Purina Farms field trip last week, and it was so fun plus it was a gorgeous day! The kids love seeing the animals & just being crazy. I love the pics of the girls swinging from the hay - looks like they are natural "farm" kids! Ha Ha! I think I've been to Purina Farms five times between Rosie & Anna (daycare outings plus school), but I love it each time.

St. Patrick Day's Celebration

We are just a little bit Irish, but St. Louis has a really fun parade & celebration downtown. Rosie's friend, Cara, does Irish dancing & her troupe was walking in the parade. Cara asked Rosie to walk with her, and it was a beautiful sunny day for the parade (for once!)

Cara is the girl waving to the crowd at the end of the row. They had these very curly wigs or buns - they were the only ones not in green so they really stuck out! We then watched them dance at Union Station. They are very impressive!!

Cara's mom, Carolyn, & you can hardly see Rosie to her left. Of course, we were on the wrong side of the street!!

Here we are waiting for Rosie to show up! Jo loved the parade & waving at everyone!

The Wax Museum

Rosie's class put on a "Wax Museum" about two weeks ago. Every student had to pick a famous person, and Rosie chose Mother Theresa. She also had to give a 5 minute presentation & dress the part. Rosie gave this presentation at least 20 times - the first time was in front of her class and teacher. The other 19 times was at an assembly for a few of the classes at school and parents were invited to attend. Each student must sit still until a person walked up to them, and then they came to life & gave a brief presentation about him/herself. They were all so impressive, and we had a great time listening to each person.

Rosie got an A+, and she was so excited with her grade. She worked really hard and read two books on Mother Theresa. She discovered so many interesting things about her, and she really enjoyed "becoming" Mother Theresa. Way to go Ms. Greschner on a great project idea!

Guess who did this to me?

One Saturday morning, I found the following.....

They are just stick on earrings that Anna put on Jo's face, but it is too funny! Look at Anna's smile.... - enough said.

Another picture of these two "peas in a pod." They look alike & Jo LOVES Anna. When she calls for Anna, it's "AAANA, ANNA, ANNA!" Three times in a row. Pretty cute! Unfortunately, Anna is teaching her a couple of her delightful traits too - we call them Trouble 1 & Trouble 2.