Kindergarten Oster Frühstück

Hannah's kindergarten had an Easter breakfast for the families on Wednesday. Here is a video clip of one of the songs they sang.

Genna had fun and can hardly wait to start going with her big sis when she turns three in a month! I hope they do well in the same class. It will help me out a lot having just Isaac in the mornings especially while I am playing both mom and dad roles for the year.

Brother Bear

I just love this picture! This is our entry way where all our shoes, coats, mittens, scarves, and hats are stored (during the winter at least.) I had just finished dressing Isaac and the girls were already out the door and on their way to the car when I looked down to find him leaning way over to try to see where big sisters went. So cute! I grabbed my camera out of my purse and caught the moment forever.

Here is Isaac in his pearl snap shirt! Daddy loves pearl snap shirts!

Don't you just want to eat these cheeks up? They're the best! I LOVE this bear hat, and it is so fitting since we call him Brother Bear all the time! His coat barely fits him now, but winter should be over soon! And I still have his full winter bunting suit for the really cold days when the wind would sail right through those holes and chill my baby's tummy.

Not too much going on right now- just getting ready for Holy Week and Easter. I am making resurrection eggs and an Alleluia banner starting tomorrow night when the kids are in bed. We'll have company for Holy Week, so I need to have everything already finished.

Happy Lady Day

We made lilies out of paper and pipe cleaners to decorate our kitchen table today as a craft for the feast of the Annunciation! Over dinner, I quizzed the girls over the Annunciation and they both did very well. We do that during dinner a lot, play trivia, I mean. Sometimes it is Catholic stuff or sometimes it is just things we've been talking about lately or new vocabulary words. The other day during dinner, Genna said, "Mom, let's talk about saints!" I asked which saint she wanted to discuss and she said Mary. Hannah says in reply, "Genna Sweetie, Mary isn't a saint. That's Jesus' mother." She said it very sweet of which I was proud, but I still had to explain that Mary is actually the queen of all the saints. :)

Bust out the glue and scissors and my kids are so there! Genna had already lost interest though by the time I made it to my camera. I was busy helping her and making sure she came away with all her fingers prior to this photo!


We had a good day today! I got to sleep all the way until 6am and the kids were exceptional most of the day too! Isaac seemed back to his normal happy go lucky self (he was in a funk yesterday.) Thank God for good days!

Here's a funny picture of Isaac. What color are his eyes anyway? They are not the same as the girls who's blue eyes would match this shirt. They seem to have a streak of brown in them too. I guess it is hard to tell in a picture. His smile just kills me!

I love these kids!

Genna finally has won Isaac's heart and can make him laugh! Isaac learned to clap and say "Mama!" Hannah is saying more in German everyday! I just love to take pictures of these little ones!

Nothing like fresh OJ

...To get us out of this rut! The girls and I made fresh squeezed orange juice after dinner for a little something fun to change up the routine. They had a blast and loved it! We even used these special Cider cups that my grandmother passed down to me.

The Princess and the Pea

That's Hannah, of course! Every piece of clothing that goes on this child's body, and I quote "doesn't feel right." There are a few things she likes, mostly summer clothes and pajamas, but summer is not long here and PJs won't fly at school. So when this problem first arose I went on the hunt for the softest clothes and the least amount of "puff" which is another common complaint. She wore leggings one day at school because she had had an accident and she forgot I always have extra clothes in her backpack. So she goes on and on about how much she loves them and wants some. I found some on sale online at Old Navy, and I ordered them. She has never liked them and for the life of me I don't know why. She complained about the new socks I got her that were too tall when her old socks started to get too small. So I went and got the softest and shorter socks, but they were not suitable. Can't please this girl!

"Because I broke rule #2."

I have followed the lead of the Super Nanny, and we have 4 main house rules that we posted on the fridge last week. (These will be amended when Dad comes home to include him as well.)

#1 Obey mom.
#2 Be respectful to mom.
#3 Be kind and loving to everyone, especially brother and sister.
#4 Use words, not tears or hands.

The girls have already memorized the rules and their corresponding number. When I ask why they were put in time out, they will say,"Because I broke rule #2. Then they can tell me what rule #2 is. It is very handy because it takes out a lot of the emotion out of the discipline and it removes a lot of misunderstanding as well. Everyone knows what is expected of them from the get go.

After Mass we were in the car, and I was having a talk with Genna about something she did during Mass that was disrespectful to me (i.e. breaking rule #2). Hannah interrupts, "Mom, I didn't even see her do that because I was so busy praying to God!" I smile and think, "If only that were really true!"

Later on today, the girls were having an interesting conversation in the backseat of the car and I was listening in.

Hannah: Genna, you see those red berries on that bush we cannot eat them. Some berries we can eat, but we have to ask mom or dad first. Some berries will make us DIE even!

Genna: Yeah, they'll make us DIE, but not on the cross like Jesus.

Hannah: No, but they'll still make us DIE!

The Crawl

Here is Isaac's funny crawl! The girls just went straight to crawling on hands and knees, but this guy has found another way to crawl and get where he needs to go.



Isaac has a natural fascination with wheels and will crawl to the stroller and move the wheels around (or try to eat them-Eew!) He is also babbling "Ma ma ma" and "Da da da" as well as other new babbles. He wasn't babbling just a couple of weeks ago at all really, he was just making single sounds. He seems to be going through a little bit of the clingy to mom thing right now, but I think it will pass since he isn't usually like that. Hannah went through the same thing briefly. Genna was a different story, super clingy from 3 months to about 2 years old. Here's a video of Isaac and his ticklish self chuckling.

A gift for Daddy on St. Joseph's Day!

Well, I to confess the title of this post had somewhat of a sarcastic undertone to it! I'll show you the gift and then try to explain myself...

"I do not like wearing sweatshirts or sweaters if you are going to make me wear my puffy coat! It doesn't feel good"

"I also do NOT like to wear socks! They don't feel good!"

So, although many of you are thinking, "How are pictures of really mad Hannah a gift for Brian?" I think it will at the least bring a smile to his much deserving face, and possibly make him content to miss out on Hannah's cranky mornings for a while. So, Daddy count your blessings from afar today on this day that celebrates dads through one of the best dads, St. Joseph! Happy St. Joseph's Day! Now for my sweet daughter after she has come home from Kindergarten and stripped herself of all puffiness! What a transformation!

And here's Genevieve, the late sleeper in the morning, and therefore typically the happiest one in the mornings! She's eating her breakfast which is the favorite meal of the day in this house!

I sadly did not plan well for this feast day. I didn't have any yeast with which to make St. Joseph's bread! I going to Mass this evening with a meal to follow for all the spouses whose better halves are away right now. They even have chilcare so I can have a peaceful Reconcilliation and Mass.

Embroider Your Heart Out!

Okay, so I do have something to show for my free evenings (after the kids are all in bed from 8 to 10pm) at least!

This is for a lady who works with my husband. She just had a baby girl, and her name starts with an "M!" I made the "M" out of ribbon, used an iron on adhesive, and then stitched it on to secure it. I made a matching flower for the hat with the same ribbon and a button. I ironed on the "Little Princess" and the heart on the bottom too. It was all super easy to do!

I did this for Genna. This shirt had a rhinestone butterfly at some point, but it had long fallen off in the wash. So I embroidered another one. Hannah has the same shirt with the same problem, so I will be doing her a complimentary butterfly as well. I also did some iron on's for Genna's undershirts just for fun.

Here is another shirt for Isaac. This is reverse applique. I think it would look good on a bib too, so I may try that next. It didn't take long to do, but I have a stack of things waiting to be embroidered by my bed right now. So we'll see! I also have three quilts waiting for me to be in the mood to mess with my stinker of a sewing machine. (For some reason, I spend more time fixing the machine than I do sewing during any given project.) Plus, of course, I have to find time for this blog too, right?

Bee Hives...

No, skin hives! Hannah had them last Friday for the first time ever as I mentioned on a previous post, but now Isaac has them too! How crazy is that since they are not contagious! My best guess is that the hives came with this cold we all have, and somehow Genna and I were spared the hives even though we have the cold! I had to take him in to the doctor because they had to prescribe me Benadryl and get the correct dosage for an infant. What a pain! So instead of going to library story time like we planned, we headed on over to the ER because they couldn't squeeze him in at the pediatrician's office. (Luckily I have "free" health care so I can afford to do this!) All in all it was a shorter visit than his last well baby appointment!

I am just so very ready for this three week string of ilnesses to be over! I see no end in sight, since the girls are still coughing pretty badly and they started up at least a week before Isaac and I started coughing.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We celebrated with an easy version of Shepherd's Pie (which the kids actually liked with a little ketchup on it) and read a book I purchased from Amazon and another I found at the library! We prayed St. Patrick's prayer too (the long version at dinner and the shortened kid's version below)!

Christ on my left
Christ on my right

Christ above me
Christ below me

Christ in front of me
Christ behind me

Christ everywhere
Everywhere Christ!

Indulge me!

I know it is absolutely ridiculous to be posting every time Isaac even almost does something new! However, I can't help it, it is just so exciting when your own little (or in his case, big) angel learns something new! It's miraculous to watch these babies grow from the tiny peanut that you first see on the ultrasound to a newborn baby that you can hold. Then before you know it, they are smiling and cooing, then laughing and grabbing toys. Then comes crawling and talking and walking and then they're running! It's sad to have them grow up so fast, but it is also so very amazing and exciting!

So, I digress, the point of this post was to tell you all that Isaac, after all the "almosts" has actually crawled! I have thought he was going to crawl everyday for the last month, but these slippery hard floors make it a little more difficult for him than I expected. He had to really work at it! He is carrying around a lot more weight than the average babe his age, you know! We were all in his room (on the carpet). I was skimming over a new book which was laid out on the floor, and Genna had just popped up and ran off leaving behind the Caterpillar book (this book has a finger puppet caterpillar on it). That's when he decided that book was worth the effort! He crawled to it, when he tired of that he crawled a little further to get my book. We kept putting things out for him and cheering him on. I'm sure I'll be posting video of his new feat soon!

I love to record what item motivated each child enough to actually crawl forward directly to it for the very first time. For Hannah, it was a lotion bottle. She was obsessed with them. For Genna, it was crayons. Big sis always had them, and we were always putting them just out of her reach to avoid a colorful mouthful of wax. I don't know why this is so exciting to me, but like I said, "Indulge me!"

Express Yourself!

Well, Hannah sure is today! I laid out a dress with tights for church this morning and she came down like this instead. She picked out these lovely green pants and belt (that she insisted all matched) to go with the dress I chose. So I decided to go with it today! It's an interesting creation to say the least, but I suppose Her Royal Cuteness can pull it off!

Here is Genna ready for church. Fortunately, she is so easy going that I can still choose her clothes without a battle!

She has a cute profile!

Here's the group pic. Isaac wouldn't smile in the group pictures. Maybe he was feeling smothered!

I think all he needs is a fishing rod and he is good to go, right? He got lots of compliments at Mass today on his cute outfit, although so did Hannah with her retro ensemble...

His eyes look almost green with this on. They seem to change color depending on his clothes color.

Where does the time go?

I have not been blogging as much as usual, and I have barely even noticed on top of that! I must have truly been busy this week, but for the life of me I can't come up with a solid list of things that I have actually accomplished! I guess that's the epitome of motherhood, right? Always busy, but never having much proof! Hopefully, one day my kids will be my proof, but I have a long long road ahead of me before I can (Lord willing!) step back and say,"Look what I accomplished!" Speaking of my little master pieces in the making...

Isaac has a talent that I just get a kick out of! He can open any wipes box, any diaper cream tube, or baby lotion bottle (which I sometimes have to work at!) I frequently turn around only to find him tearing all the wipes out of the box or just about to drink baby lotion. I call him Houdini!Hannah has had a rough week. Bless her heart, she's having a lot of trouble with getting dressed in the morning, not to mentioned the new found naughty behavior of kicking her little sister. She's lost too many privileges to count. On top of all that, she came down with a major case of hives. By the way, I have never actually seen hives before so I am sure the doctor was laughing at me the minute he left the room. He was smiling before he even left the office. What do I know, I thought she got Poison Ivy at school or something! She's on a regular dose of Benedryl now, and they get better for a few hours until the meds start to wear off.


Genevieve has also had a tough time. She has just been bursting into tears for no reason (well, I guess she has a reason, just not one worthy of the water works in my opinion.) Tonight at dinner she said, "I don't like beef." I replied that there wasn't any beef on her plate because it is Friday during Lent and we don't eat meat on these days. Hannah proceeds to repeat everything I just said. Genna, poor thing, bursts into tears and says, "I was just saying I don't like beef!" I tried to hide my smile. I don't know what's up with her! She's usually such a sweety and good about using her words to tell me how she feels. Lack of sleep is usually the cause for this kind of behavior for her, but she's been sleeping plenty. I guess it's just one of those things I'll never figure out.

Reading Rainbow!

Here is a video of Hannah reading! Isaac is loud in the background, and at one point I was fooling with him and kind of let the camera drift. Sorry! I'm no cinematographer, but you get to see her reading! We are only half way through the book, but she is doing so great! She begs me to do her lesson even when I am wanting to skip a day.

I kid you not!

I seriously moved this onesie directly from Genna's drawer to Isaac's! Genna wore this under her jammies until she potty trained 2 months ago! And now this big guy is wearing them under his jammies too! He is in the 97th percentile right now.

Look at this sweet smile!

My Angels...

Here are the girls before Mass on Sunday. God bless them! They were so good during Mass for me!

Here's my Hannie! I am really enjoy our conversations these days! She just seems so grown up!

And here's my Vivi! She is still cracking me up everyday! I am a little worried about how spaced out she can be. I mean it takes a good three or more whole seconds for what I say to register. She knows about half of her alphabet recognition, but the rest seems to escape her interest completely. We worked on "M" today and oh my! She couldn't remember this letter to save her life. We drew it, colored it, talked about it all morning and at the end of the day it's just not in there! :)

She has the biggest heart! That's for sure! Hannah and her were playing Go Fish while I cleaned the kitchen. Genna would give Hannah even her pairs if she asked for it. Hannah ended up with every single pair and Genna was happy as a clam because her sister was happy! We had played Hi Ho Cherry-O right before and when picking colors for the baskets, Genna started to pick blue. However, Hannah quickly grabbed it and said she wanted it and Genna just said she would have green instead. May God bless her natural giving heart! God knows Hannah and I don't have it. She got it from her Daddy!

Rain, rain go away!