Rescued Skink

Truly, I screamed while doing laundry! Not that I am afraid of laundry, but simply because I never expected to find a skink in my basement under a pile of laundry. T was a brave lad and rescued it in his mason "bug" jar that has holes in the lid. We inspected it for a few minutes and did some research on skinks using the Internet and our animal encyclopedia. After finding out that they are helpful in gardens, T set it free near our garden in hopes it will stick around and eat up all the bad bug.

If you are wondering about our praying mantis egg cases, here is an update: they haven't hatched yet. We are hoping any day now, but it could still be another week or two according to the instructions that came with the egg cases. I'll post pictures when anything happens.

A Bit of This a Bit of That

Our friend Jeremy stopped by to visit and had dinner with us on his way back from a wedding. This was the first time he met Dominic. We had a lovely evening and a few wonderful conversations that sparked Dear Hubby and I to now become hooked on Battle Star Galactica the TV series. We are still watching the series and anxiously awaiting its conclusion.

R's Birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, which made celebrating it even easier since we were getting together with family that day anyway. She felt like she had a huge party and feast in her honor, yet I had little to no work to "pull it off". She even chose a very simple cake for me to make. Her tastes are obviously more grown up now because she wanted me to make her a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and Heath Toffee between the layers and on top. Surprisingly she didn't want a cute character cake or even a colorful "Happy Birthday", just this cake with an orange 4 on it. That was easy!

For the first time, we went to see the town square be lit up in preparation for Christmas. We let the kids turn in their Pizza Hut Book-it certificates for free pizza and then went to eat our pizza at the festivities. Live music and a reading of the "Night Before Christmas" were performed before the arrival of Santa. We counted down from 10 to 1 and then Santa threw the switch for the lights. The kids were amazed to see the lights all in the trees and on the lamp posts. We even bought a figurine for our nativity scene at a local tourist gift shop devoted solely to Christmas items.

The three oldest kids were in the play "Annie" at the local high school. M was Tessie, the whiner and most annoying orphan, C was Molly, the youngest Hannigan orphan, and T was Whacky, a marionette puppet and tourist. It was a lot of work for all of us, but the kids enjoyed themselves tremendously.

More Pictures From the Day of the Baptism

More Visitors and Mischief

Aunt Anna and her kids (the cousins) visited us last Saturday and met Dominic for the first time. The kids were so happy to see their cousins again. They enjoyed playing kickball and swinging on the swing set together. The girls also played dress-up with cousin Ava. I think everyone had a nice visit.
Here is the latest result of E's mischief. He got into the markers again and this time decided that Dominic was his canvas. He even managed to color with orange marker all around D's left eye. Poor little guy didn't know what hit him, but he didn't even cry about it. Thank goodness they were washable and most of it came off with baby wipes, although the red stained his "peach fuzz" hair pink for a few days. D had better get used to being picked on, I foresee it happening quite often with mischievous E around the house!

Dominic's First Three Weeks

Hard to believe it has been over three weeks since Dominic was born. Wow! We have seven children! When my parents were here helping it didn't seem like there were seven, because I had three other adults doing my daily chores for me. Since they've left, I'm doing it all again. I have only ventured out of the house once alone with all seven kids...and it was a mixture of success and dismal failure. I fear that our daily Mass routine will have to be put on hold until I get E to behave a little better in church, or get someone from church to help me.

Here are a few pictures that show some of our latest adventures.
First Sunday going to Mass as a family.

One of the proud big sisters.

Grammy and Pa-Pa visit

Celebrating the feast of the Assumption with some of our homeschooling friends at a local Franciscan friary after Mass.

Young Adventurers Program on identifying bones and skulls. Aunt Olivia's 10th Birthday party.

D's first real bath. Yes, that is a tupperware bowl! I had given away our baby bath, mistakenly thinking we might not need it again. D didn't seem to mind and the girls were more than happy to help me hold D's arms to make him feel more secure. T was our photographer for this special moment.

First Few Days at Home

There are few things that I treasure more than the first few days spent bonding with a new baby. Everyone of my babies and everyone of their births has been different and it is good to step back and reflect on those unique qualities and experiences. Taking those first post-partum days to be grateful for this new life is so crucial to my own spiritual life. During those hours of resting on the couch or laying in bed cuddling, holding, and staring at my newborn son or daughter has helped me to appreciate the tiny little miracles that God has entrusted to my care. Being entrusted with the care of another human soul can be overwhelming at times. This time is sort of my mini retreat in which I try to be still and know that He is God and that I need to put all my trust in Him. It is in the whispering of the wind and the smallest of things that we encounter God in the quiet depths of our souls.

Amidst that quiet retreat we've had some visitors at the house to welcome our newest blessing. Here are a few of those precious people.

Dominic's First Visitors

Here are some of the pictures of Dominic's first visitors. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. So grateful for all the well wishes and prayers.