Olivia's First Communion

The first Sunday in May was a big one for Miss Olivia - she got to celebrate her First Communion!  It was a lovely day filled with many memories.

The school had done such an amazing job helping the kids prepare.  I was lucky enough to attend their "First Communion Retreat."  I spent the whole day at school.  In the morning there was a teaching mass with Father Phil; later, we made banners with their names and symbols of communion on it - these hung in the church on First Communion Sunday; and, we spent the afternoon doing various activities that helped them understand the significance of the sacrament.  The day was just another that reinforced my happiness with St. Ben's as the right school for the kids - I just love the focus they can put on helping students understand and develop in their faith while at the same time teaching them all the regular school material.

So many parts of Mass were special for the kids on First Communion Sunday.  To start, it was a student-lead Mass. All of the 2nd graders processed in in the beginning - each student followed by his/her parents.  The way it worked, we ended up sitting in the front pew which was actually great for viewing!  (Grace and Grady sat with Pat and Roger.)  Olivia shared the second reading with one of her classmates - we were so proud of her!  She did really great and read so clearly!  During the blessing of the Eucharist, all the students got to gather around the altar...they watched Father bless the bread and wine and then joined hands around the altar for the "Our Father."  When it was time for Communion, each student and his/her parents went up the stairs to be up by the altar where Father stood.  It was neat how the experience was both private and personal while also being public.  I loved getting to stand behind Olivia and watch a significant moment/milestone in her life - I definitely had tears in my eyes.  First Communion was one more event to remind me how much she has grown up!  At the end of Mass, all the 2nd graders sang a song together.

After Mass and many pictures, we gathered at our house for brunch, gifts, and cake.  Olivia was so excited to have Father Phil over for brunch, too!  :)  As everything was finishing up, we realized we all had missed calls from Tara...  FaceTime opened up to Tony in a room that didn't look like it belonged in their house - he was at the hospital, and Tara had just had the baby - Alexa Louise!  Extra special news for an already special day.  I'm so glad the day turned out as it did - Olivia was pretty proud of herself and thought it was really awesome to have so much love and attention showered upon her!  Thanks to all our family and close friends who helped her celebrate!

 So glad I talked her into the veil!  :)  On her right wrist is a special bracelet from her godparents - Beth and Chris.  She also wore my cross necklace.

 A quick "selfie" before Mass.

 Classic Olivia - love this expression.

And classic Grace....Gracie had a hard time watching her big sis get all the attention.  She kept it together though and informed me the other day that when it's her First Communion, she's wearing that dress all day because it is sooo cute!  :)

The First Communion Class - 

11 of these students attend St. Ben's with Olivia (2 in her class attended and had greeting roles, but they are not Catholic so didn't fully participate).

Olivia though this cupcake-cake was pretty sweet!

Happy 6th Birthday Grace Elizabeth!

Dear Gracie,

I don't think I know a single kid who has ever been more excited for their birthday than you.  To be honest, you just about drove me nuts this year - you began planning your party back in July (after Olivia's party)....yes, 6 months of listening to you plan and say "I'm not going to invite you to my birthday party" every time you got mad.  Actually, you did stop with that horrible phrase after we apparently scared you with our threat to cancel your birthday party if we heard that one more time!

Your birthday was doubly cool because your class was in charge of Mass at school, so, for the first time, you got to read - you read a petition.  Dad, Grady, and I all came to Mass.Then, at the end of Mass, all the January birthdays came up for a song, and Father Phil told everyone it was your exact birthday.  Your smile was so big - I wish the picture showed it better!  Later in the day, Grady and I came to have lunch with you.  You requested chicken alfredo for dinner; then we opened a few family presents and watched a movie together before bed.

Grady sat by you all of Mass - he thought he was pretty cool. 

January birthday blessing and song

We settled on a gymnastics birthday this year, and you had a fantastic time as all these pictures show. We invited all the girls in your class and a few of Olivia's friends too.  You loved being the center of attention and getting to be first on all equipment.  Your friends are so sweet, and I loved watching all of you play together - I hope your class stays intact because it'll guarantee that you have a solid group of friends!  Other highlights of your party were your Minion cupcakes, and of course, opening a million and one presents.

It wasn't too long ago that I did a little update on you, but I do have a few things to add.

1.  You love school!  You just moved up to the C level of reading books - like your sister, sometimes you like to guess instead of use your phonics skills, but you're improving daily!  At conferences tonight, your teachers were so positive about your independence, ability to stay on track, and kind and caring nature to your friends.  I am so proud of you!

2.  Unlike at school, at home you really want to be enabled...this is not my favorite characteristic by the way!  :)  Pretty much, you want to see what you can get away without doing and figuring out for yourself.  For example, you ask every day of the week what day it is...you ask every day of the week if you're getting cold lunch (even though you know that only happens on Wednesdays), and you ask on Saturdays if you have to go to school.  Of course you know the answer to all these questions!  You also like me to tie your shoes, pack your folder and bag, re-fold all your clothes you throw on the floor, and do whatever else you can get me to do before I realize I shouldn't be doing it!  Maybe I give in because you're just so darn charming whiney!

3.  But really, Grace, you're pretty sweet.  You're so creative and imaginative.  You love playing babies, dollhouse, school, doctor, church, you name it.  You love drawing and coloring and are very detailed with what you make.  You're super good at playing with Grady, and you and Olivia get along nearly always (although you sure can get mad at her sometimes!).

4.  At your well-child check the other day you weighed 42.5 pounds (36th percentile), and were 46 inches tall (64th percentile).  You were awesome at your appointment even though you had to get some warts taken off and had to let the doctor look at your eczema - both of which make you quite upset.  I promised you a stuffed animal for your good behavior - you earned it but seemed to have forgotten about it, and I'm not going to remind you about it since you have plenty of stuffed animals already.  I'm guessing that by the time you read this one day, your obsession with stuffed animals will have gone away.  Oh, and the doctor said you have some impressive tonsils - don't know what that means for the future!

5.  You still love to suck your two fingers but only do this right before you fall asleep or if you're watching television right before bed.  You liked going to the dentist and know she wants you to stop this habit (although your teeth look great).  You don't care what blanket you use as long as its fleece.  You insist on wearing the most random pajamas and love to wear Olivia's although this makes her mad.

6.  Speaking of clothes...you lately hate jeans, say everything is too small even when it's not, and can't match very well.  Whatever - your random clothes match you and your spunky personality pretty well!

7.  You got to join jazz!  You've wanted this for the last year and have been begging...Miss Laurie let you in for this next session even though you weren't exactly six.  You've been saying you don't want to do ballet/tap any more, but I have to say I'm going to try to keep you going.  You talk about piano sometimes but don't show much interest in it, so that'll wait for a bit too.  Whatever the activity though, you really get into it once your there and finish up with a big smile on your face!

That's about all the new information I've got for you, Gracie Girl.  You're a pretty special little monkey as we still like to call you, and I just can't believe your six.  In fact, even though I'm excited for all that is to come in your future, I'm sad that your six.  You are just growing up too fast!

Lots of love,
Mom

Vacation!

The last week in January, Brian and I took a trip down to Rivera Mya, Mexico.  We weren't originally planning on a trip this winter, but when the opportunity to go down for a wedding arose, we took advantage!  Thanks to my mom and to Pat and Roger for helping with the kids while we were away - they had a great time with you!

We flew down on Saturday and were home Thursday evening just in time to see the kids for a bit before bedtime.  Ironically, we weren't actually at the resort the day of the wedding - that was Friday, and we wanted to be back for Grace's birthday (plus Brian needed to work).  The first few days we got some nice one-on-one time with Tim and Brynn, the wedding couple, and after that more guests started arriving.  It was great to catch up with them - most were Brian's former players and their parents.

While it wasn't a super hot vacation, we got plenty of time in the sun.  The resort had a really nice beachfront, and that was one of my favorite hangout spots.  I definitely got my reading-fix while I was there!  We enjoyed some nice dinners out, walking along the beach, hanging out at the pool, and doing a tiny bit of swimming in the ocean.  I'm so glad we were able to take this trip - it was really nice to have a little get-away to look forward to, and great for Brian and I to have some quality time together without the normal distractions of life.

Until next time, Mexico!

Our room wasn't a beach view, but this was pretty great too!

These were all over - never got comfortable walking past one!

Beach views

Jono, Brian, Reid, Paul, and Tim

Jono, Reid and Tim all played for Brian...Tim (the groom) also was Brian's assistant coach one year.

Paul helped out all the years Brian was coaching too.

Karen (Paul's wife) and I.

iPhone Update

Copying my sisters-in-law, I've decided to do an iPhone update.  Instead of hauling around my big camera, I rely on my phone so much more these days.  Plus, ever since I decided to join Instagram (thanks, Beth), I find myself taking more pictures of the little events/parts of life.  So, here are a few of those moments!

Grady's favorite activity this fall - throwing sticks.

Turkey Trot 2015...honorary family member Maggie Gavle joined us this year.  Olivia and Grace both completed the mile this year...Brian didn't.  I broke 7 minutes by one second - best run ever.

First snow-fall of the year (early December?).  

The girls were playing by 6:30am.

Grady and his love of basketballs...

First Reconciliation for Olivia - only picture I took, unfortunately.

Christmas party and girls weekend for me

Snuggles before bed

Olivia waiting to play at her Christmas recital.

Cookies!

Big boy haircut!

Bowling with friends over winter break

Messing around - so glad I caught this happy picture!

Olivia and her friends acting out Jesus restoring the vision of the blind man...second grade mass for school.

It got quiet...this happened.

Olivia at Saturday morning basketball - she loves it!

Not wanting to be outdone by his sister...

Grace (far left) and her pals Maggie, Natalie, and Claudia at the variety show for school during Catholic Schools Week.

The End of 2015 and the Beginning of 2016

Back in Decorah after the waterpark, the cousins spent basically every second they could together - two sleepovers at Grandma and Grandpa's and one at ours.  They played so well together and enjoyed the snowfall that we got (finally!).  I'm so glad the kids got to spend such quality time together - they certainly miss and love their cousins!  All this time with family was a fantastic way to end 2015.

Arts and crafts thanks to a great present from Tara!

Lego time!

On the 30th, we traveled with friends (the Gavles) and met many others in Wisconsin Dells.  We rented a big cabin with the Gavles and the Poles - it was awesome sharing a space with good friends.  The kids had a blast at another waterpark!  They were huge fans of the "Family Rides," the wave pool, and, well, pretty much everything!  Both evenings we got together with all the families (6 total including us).  There were too many kids to count, crazy amounts of food, and lots of fun conversations; the kids stayed up way too late, but they slept in and were in great spirits.   It was a really great way to ring in the New Year!

 Taking the transit to the waterpark.

 Grady and his pal Devon playing.

A little dark, but Jamie snapped this pictures of Elsey and Olivia cuddled up after playing hard all day.  So sweet.