I was hanging curtain rods and my tape measure disappeared.  After looking everywhere, I finally asked Judah if he'd seen it.  

"OH! Yeah, I hung it up over there!"

Such a helper. 

I've heard that if you don't have "flower food," you can add sprite to the water.  I guess that's fairly good advice because this rose that Elijah put in an unrinsed can is still alive from Easter- and the other 23 with the flower food are all dead. 

This precious child is growing way too fast. 

The birds have been relentless in building nests around here. Bryan apparently didn't make this one disappear soon enough and now it has eggs. So now we can't use the porch until they hatch and fly away. Good science lessons,  I suppose. 

Pretty sky last night made me miss that Colorado sky. I was in awe daily out there, but at least we sometimes get a bone over here. 

On Sundays....

We apparently eat chips for breakfast! 

He's having salt and vinegar chips for the first time. And they're making his lips feel funny, but that isn't stopping him from eating them!

We never had chips in the house until Micah was a year or two old. Then they became a staple because it was a safe snack for him. Many a day, did Micah have chips for breakfast while traveling!

I'm not advocating feeding children chips for breakfast (or ever), but everyone else is having donuts and he doesn't like donuts. So he asked for chips, and I figure they can't realistically be worse than donuts, eh? 

First Try!!

Thank you all who have prayed for an easy blood draw! It was miraculous,  they got it on the first try. Less than 5 minutes, I would guess, and the whole thing was over. It wasn't a fun or easy 5 minutes, especially after seeing the nephrologist,  but it was a huge win! 

Judah hates band-aids. He just wanted the band-aid off and wouldn't move or use his arm until it was gone. 

When we got to car to drive between the medical building and the hospital (not far, but it was too cold to walk!) He asked me where we could get him some French fries. 

Not what I would call a healthy lunch, but after the blood draw I was happy to oblige. Especially since he didn't eat breakfast. He ate almost a whole large fry from Burger King! And then a package of Raspberries when we got home. Here's hoping dinner is a bit healthier! 

(Also, I'm pretty sure he was close to falling asleep, hence the wonky head. It was an exhausting morning. They also weighed him and measured him and even listened to his lungs and peeked at his belly! The nerve of these doctors.)

No real news from Nephrology. She reviewed his ultrasound imaging from last month and obviously ordered blood. She was okay with the ultrasound,  assuming the bloodwork is good. The "mildly echogenic" spots in the parenchyma didn't worry her, it really just depends what the creatine and C- Statin levels are in his blood. 

Hopefully unrelated to Prune Belly, we had fevers during the night. He was totally cool and normal by morning with no concerns other than refusing breakfast (eggs, which are his favorite and a rare treat because I'm pretty sure that is what is causing excema on his neck.) In the past, this has often been the first sign of a UTI brewing, so pray if that is the case we can treat it ASAP to avoid hospitalization! 

Favorites

Judah- in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!  Elijah, Jesus is my favorite! You,  too? 

Happy Easter!

On Good Friday, we try to keep it as somber as possible.  So no pictures of anything to share.  We did go to a Veneration of the Cross service and then back for Stations and Tenebrae. Always poignant. 

Holy Saturday was a day of prep. I was blessed with lots of help! Here's a picture of Bryan scooping basil out of the potato salad. He accidentally mistook it for pepper.  Never fear, it was salvageable. And he did a great job on all the other things.  He also set the tables, made bunny napkins, and cleaned up all the Christmas leftovers on the front yard.  😂

We made the trek to church with our baskets of Easter food to be blessed.  This was a new tradition for us and I waited until Saturday morning to look up what it entailed. 

So... the baskets weren't as traditional as they will be next year! It was interesting see that it is a Polish tradition dating back to the 1300s, and people definitely went all out with keeping it traditional! 

Speaking of tradition, I am still trying to weave more heritage into holidays. I have done a lot with the Polish side, but the German side needs work and I know it.  

Here's a first attempt at Kremowka Papieska, aka Papal Cream Cake. It was a favorite of St Pope John Paul II, so we figured it must be good.  It was. 

In the back, we have Apfelkuchen, German apple cake.  The recipes very greatly,  so we borrowed a family recipe from some friends and it was fabulous. Almost like an apple pie, but less sweet with no spices.

In the front,  Noah's choice as it is his last holiday at home(!!!),  White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake.  It tasted as good as it looks. 

On to the kids' favorites! Tomb Cookies. Micah was still at the altar server retreat, and Noah was out with friends, but Jonah joined us!

Jonah lectured Elijah about the potential severity of salmonella poisoning. 

And 2 minutes later... clearly he wasn't super worried.

The Tomb is sealed!

Then these two dyed eggs while I put Judah to bed.  

Finally! Easter morning! Jude liked the cookies!

EJ liked his Nutella.

And then this guy here came over.  And cleaned the top of my fridge! Anything above my eye-level tends to be neglected and I won't share how gross it was!

Dessert was delicious, as was the picture-less dinner. Of note, the Martins' fabulously decorated carrot cupcakes and all the china rinsed and neatly stacked by, you guessed it- Eric! (He's about to retire and I told him he's welcome here anytime!!)

My personal favorite was definitely the Kremowka Papieska. It was incredible. 

Holy Thursday

Micah spent 14 hours at an altar server retreat and 2 Masses today.  And he's back at it at 730 tomorrow morning. He said it was a good day even though he's exhausted.  

Rose courtesy Elijah. 

Judah and I missed out on the amazing Holy Thursday Mass that Bryan and the middle three went to, but we made it to our church for some adoration and Compline. It was a beautiful way to end the night- especially since he slept through it and I could actually pray uninterrupted!

He's a Go.

Noah's big news is he has joined the Air Force and leaves next month. 

That's two swear-ins in two days.  

Keep him in your prayers! 

It was 70 degrees today.  With torrential rain,  hail, and tornadoes,  of course. 

These 3 weren't put off by the weather.  They are enjoying the lake life. 

Back to making progress.  Sort of. After undoing what we had just done. It's slow and It's best you just don't ask questions! It'll get fine and look amazing when it is. Definitely by Christmas. 

Here's Bryan sawing off the spacer that did not make the cabinets level but couldn't be unscrewed without both cabinets coming off and that left one is not going anywhere. 

Mostly level now! Add in some baseboards and that's a wrap for today!

Remember When...

At 2200, after watching The Passion and Death of Jesus play with Jonathon Roumey that is on Formed-

Mom.  Remember when you used to carry me upstairs when I was too tired to walk?

I wish he was so that little.  It wasn't happening, I made him walk.  

Remember when he used to say he never go back in the Army, he'd rather starve to death? (Okay,  I can't remember his exact words. But if it wasn't these words, they were close.) It took getting that pink ID card when I went back in to make him realize his pride WAS stronger than his hate of the Army. 

I'm kidding. But I'm glad he did it because I know he'd have always regretted not retiring. He had 9 years Active Duty, it's silly to throw that away. 

He's now raised his hand for the last time. This time he's Indefinite. #6YearsAndCounting

Remember when Noah grew his hair long enough to start curling?

He said it makes him look 15. I disagree,  he looks much more grown up. 

Big day tomorrow, stay tuned...



And because what's a day without a Judah sighting...

He got up and the Roomba had gotten stuck. He was terrified into he convinced Micah to make it go home.  

Somehow,  that's 2 days in a row i did not take a picture of Judah.

Lucky for me,  he and Elijah took their own-

Either he was over the picture taking, or he knows his mama loves his feet. 

A Few Oldies

Can you believe it- I took no pictures today! Here's a few throwbacks....

Jonah in an airplane. Age 12 or 13?  I love this picture, he was so in his element. (Say hi to Jenn there in the back!)

Judah, last summer. I may have shared these previously, Bryan took these and they're in a different folder on my phone. 

Judah's baptism. Can you believe how much everyone has grown in 2 years?! (Jonah's still the tallest, and Judah's still the shortest. And Gabe was still here! Oh and the Jenn that was in the plane? She's on the far left. They're still friends. )

Last summer, perhaps? Judah helping Daddy play poker.

And the real old ones...Bryan as a baby! 

The Ocean! in Michigan!

Mom! Look it's the ocean! 

We've had some serious rain. We now have marketable waterfront property. Which will mean mud and mosquitoes shortly. But for now, it means something sort of pretty to look at as I walk down the stairs each morning. I don't know what I'll do when they build a house there. 

Drawing Spiders with Dad. 

And coloring himself. He tried to add some more with that yellow marker you see in his hand and his mother almost had a heart attack. Coloring time was over. (Go Bucks.)

Saturday night game night- Teaching kids to play Euchere. With Judah climbing across the table every 14 seconds. 

Mom...the Roomba isn't scary. It's just a vacuum.  It just cleans the floor! Where is it? Is it sleeping? 

He was either dreaming about it, or woke up and remembered Dad saying it would run while he was asleep because those were the first words out of his mouth. He's rather terrified of it. 

Bryan made turnovers with very little help. They were excellent.

Palm Sunday Mass in Latin is quite long. Celebratung good behavior with popsicles after Mass...and Judah asked Elijah to hold his hand.

Then he asked for his new favorite food- Sunbutter Cups. (They're like peanut butter cups but with sunflower seed butter for the peanut butter.) He seriously thinks these are the greatest thing ever. 

Elijah has been begging for ice cream cookie sandwiches, after seeing a picture recently. Not sure if they tasted good, but they were eaten! 

Noah while doing homework this evening: This German assignment reminds me of you- he doesn't like to eat with her because she always takes pictures of food. 

.....

Fitting comment today.