The Force Be With Robert

The Altar Gang

The Altar Gang is a wonderful series of audio cd's for kids that helps to explain various parts of the Faith to them.  We've been listening to the series in the car quite often.  My kids love them and I can even appreciate them.  I will admit the series has even caused me to develop an interest in reading Don Quixote. 

But the Altar Gang also has dangerous side effects.  One of the stories mentions something about an altar boy catching his cassock on fire during Mass and, well, that was the only thing I could think about today at Mass when I saw Bryan and Sean heading down the aisle carrying the candles.  Perhaps it was because the were moving somewhat less than slowly.  Perhaps it was because they have a habit of walking around with shoes untied and wearing robes that are just a tad too long.  This is particularly likely when you are the shortest altar boy and all the robes seem too big for you.  Or perhaps it was just because I can't help but laugh and picture the scene every time I hear "and that time the altar boy caught his cassock on fire" and just hope that my kids don't one day do that themselves.  Either way, one look at Alan this morning confirmed that his mind had wandered to the same place as mine.

But don't let your fear of fire keep you away from this wonderful series. They are available from the folks at Holy Heroes and they are guaranteed to provide you with at least 30 minutes of quiet on those long car trips when everyone is asking "are we there yet" and you are getting tempted to toss that annoying toy out the window.

MRE's

Alan unpacked his foot locker today and found a few treasures he had hidden to share with everyone.  One of these treasures was an unopened MRE.

He shared this wonderful treasure with all of the kids.  Yes, it looked much better than the MRE's I remember eating as a child but I still could not quite get as excited over this treat as the kids were.  I mean we did have a kitchen full of food just 2 feet away but I gather there is some special joy you get from drinking chocolate milk out of a bag and watching that super cool bag start steaming the second you add water.  Yup, it was an experience they will remember I'm sure.

Saturday Hike

We are hoping to spend more of our weekends actually getting out of the house and doing something with the kids.  Something inexpensive, fun and hopefully something that will tire at least the little ones out a bit.  So on Saturday we loaded the jogging stroller and a couple baby carriers into the van and headed to the local park for a hike.

Look at that happy face.  Robert rather enjoyed the hike because he didn't have to do anything other than hang out with Mom.  Nothing makes him happier than hanging out with Mom.  Except maybe playing with Dad.  It's a toss up.

Hiking with the other boys seems to involve large amounts of sticks which are constantly swinging precariously close to other people's heads until finally someone is smacked and you must declare that all sticks are to be put down NOW. 

It also seems to involve an amazing knack for finding and jumping in every single mud puddle on the planet.  We did not pick the best day for a hike in the woods since the ground was very mucky, mushy, slippery and gross.  Which means we ended up with lots of mud covered shoes, pants, coats and socks.

And yet I have a feeling we will be out there doing it again next weekend.  If we can't find real volksmarches around here, we'll have to plan a few of our own.

Book Review

This one is for Mom's of boys.  Yes, I think you really have to have more than one boy to truly appreciate this one.  Preferably boys in close age to each other.  Let's be realistic.  One boy can cause problems but several boys can reek havoc in ways that you can't even imagine.  So this one is for mom's who have boys back-to-back.  Truly even having boys spaced out or with girls in the middle is truly not the same thing.  Nothing is quite the same as a houseful of boys close in age to one another.  The feats they dream up, the ideas they try, that funky smell that takes up residence in their bedroom and will likely never be removed until they all move out.  If you can relate to these things, you must read the book How Do You Tuck in a Superhero.  Seriously, I have not read a book in a long time that had me literally laughing out loud.  And it's nice to feel as if there are other people out there who can relate to some of the crazy antics my boys get into.  Yes, I love my boys but they sure must have a huge fleet of guardian angels to come out of their antics unscathed.

Science Museum

We headed to the science museum today so Bryan could participate in a middle school science day.  He had a blast and was able to participate in several hands-on experiments.  While he was doing that, the rest of us were hanging out and attempting to dodge the rest of the middle school kids.  I swear as a collective lot, children in middle school have got to be some of the most clueless, inconsiderate folks on the planet.  Get 2 or 3 of them together and things are ok.  Get large groups of them together coupled with a lack of adult supervision (the adults with these kids were often talking rather than paying attention) and you have chaos.  Yikes.  We eventually retreated to the snack bar where it was quiet.  Gabe watched the elevator go up and down for quite a while and was thrilled.  We checked out the new dino exhibit, dug for bones, played in the sand, all the normal fun stuff.

Just Lounging Around

Never mind that you are two.  Such things do not matter when you spot an open seat at a party.  Granted, the child does still technically fit in this seat at least weight wise since it will work for a child up to 30 pounds and he is just barely over 20 pounds.  Yup, we have a light weight here.  Then he figured out how to buckle himself in and his parents left him there to fend for himself.  We are so mean.  Someone else had to rescue him when he managed to knock the seat over backwards.

And someone else thought this was a great idea, too. 

Happy Birthday Robert!

Yes, the little dude is one.  We officially have a one-year-old, two-year-old and three-year-old in the house.  At least until next month.

Robert was lucky enough to share his day with his Great-Grandpa Heim who was celebrating his 87th birthday.  Or maybe Grandpa shared with Robert.  Either way, by the time the cakes were out and everyone was singing, Robert looked a wee bit tired. Until he had a chance to dig into the cake himself.

Here's the neat picture.

And here's the messier one after he realized how yummy the cake was.  The child has learned and never once tossed cake onto the floor. 

He's still taking a few steps here and there but has not yet taken off running.  I'm sure it won't be long before he is taking off on his own. 

Hope you had a great day little dude.

The Tent

The kids are having fun right now playing with this tent in the side yard.  I have to say I love this picture. Not because it is a super incredible picture but rather for what it represents.  This shows a tent that big brother set up all on his own specifically so the younger kids would have something to play in.  It shows just a small portion of our amazing yard.  Yup, some days I don't like living this far away from neighbors but for the most part I realize how incredibly blessed we are to have this much room for the kids to roam, run and explore.  Land to raise our own food and animals.  A place to be ourselves without worrying about crazy rules and nosey neighbors in one of those hellish deed restricted neighborhoods.  We would have gotten into major trouble for setting this tent up in our yard in Florida.

DiGiorno House Party

DiGiorno came out with a new product and we were given the chance to share lots of free samples with our friends.  We had a great group of folks over for the evening.  I love a house full of kids and with over 25 kids here last night, it certainly fit the bill.  My favorite line of the evening was hearing one of the Dad's saying "Don't chase the chickens with a golf club."  Somehow that made me feel as if my kids were a bit more normal.  For some odd reason the chickens are not laying as normal today.  I think perhaps they had the bejeebers scared out of them by golf club wielding children.  But I'm sure they will be back to normal tomorrow.

We also used this party as a chance to celebrate Robert's birthday.  Nothing goes better with pizza, breadsticks and friends than cake.

The little dude is officially one now.  As for the House Party, it is a wonderful chance to get loads of free samples and spend some time enjoying yourself with friends.  Check out their website for information on how you can host a House Party of your own.

The Obligatory Pasta Face

Here is our chub monster enjoying his dinner.  He ate 4 bowls of ziti.  Perhaps this is why he is such a chub. 

More Painting

The last of the kitchen painting is finally done.  Yes, it would have been done much quicker if I had actually worked on prepping the wall while Alan was gone but sometimes the best laid plans just fall flat on their face. 

Can't you just tell how much fun Gabe is having painting this wall?  This particular portion of the job received a lot of extra attention from the children so it took a few extra hours to dry.

Yes, we have decided to stick mostly with darker colors that will hide the errant artistic marks from the wonderful resident artists in the house.  It does not, however, hide fingerprint ink when a small child finds it left laying around and covers an entire section of the wall with it.  In that case, you must repaint.

A Day in the Life of a Priest

Had to share this video.

Signs of Spring

Yes, the snow is melting. Yes, it is warming up.  Yes, the chickens are laying again.  But the best sign of the coming of spring has got to be this:

Gabe was outside playing with the big kids yesterday.  He runs back inside and goes off to dig in the hat/mitten box.  He comes back through the house ready to head outside. Notice the lack of coat.  Notice the lack of shoes.  Notice pink and green mittens and the pink/purple/white hat.  He is prepared for anything.