Come, Holy Spirit, Come!!

Our second oldest son, Mario, was Confirmed in Christ a couple weeks ago!  It was such a beautiful Mass and celebration of the sacrament of Confirmation.  We couldn't be more proud of him - he is kind, funny, sweet, helpful, and loving Our Lord and growing in our faith so beautifully!!

Before pictures...

During the Confirmation Mass...

Celebrating with food and fellowship afterwards...

Neil was the sponsor for our nephew who was also confirmed...

Then, as if the day didn't have enough excitement and celebration, I took the four big kids to a Toby Mac concert that night!!  What a great way to end our amazing day of blessings!!

Beautiful Days

We've had some GORGEOUS summer days in spring this past week!!  Like 70's and 80's!!  Yeah, talk about spoiled!!  Not only have the kids been playing outside a TON, but we've also done some eating outside, school outside, cooking outside around the fire ring and watching an outdoor movie too!!  Such a blessing!!!  

 

And some tunes to sing on these lovely days when they come your way...

++Thank you, God, for all these beautiful days!!++

Our Very First D.E.A.R. Moment

Last Tuesday around noon, I called out to the kids and had them all congregate to our dining room.  On the white board, I had the following written...

D - drop

E - everything

A - and

R - read

I got the idea from Read Aloud Revival for doing this, and it was in honor of a special birthday - Beverly Cleary's 100th birthday!!!  So, I gathered all our books written by her that morning and surprised our kids with our very first D.E.A.R. time.  Notice, I say "very first"... it was such a hit, I am hoping to do this quite often.  It was a nice break away from their normal school and a little bit of a reward when they are all working hard!

A First Holy Communicant and a celebration trip

Max's First Holy Communion     May 3, 2015

Max received Jesus for the first time last May!!  (I know, I know, it's almost a year later.  Doh!  Such is the life of a busy mom who has lots to do, but also forgets and lets posts sit in "draft" for way too long)   Anyways, it was a beautiful spring day and he was able to receive Jesus with all the other boys and girls his age at our church, including his cousin!!  After the celebratory Mass, we all went over for a cake/punch reception in the hall (dessert first!), and then the two new First Holy Communicant cousins hosted a picnic lunch at a local park with a playground.  It was a great way to enjoy the weather and enjoy each other in celebrating Jesus coming to live in us in the gift of the Holy Eucharist.

And one thing that we always do to celebrate that joyous occasion is take our new First Communicants on a one-on-one short trip.  Okay, I mean, two-on-one since both Neil and I went.  Actually, I mean two-on-two trip because Yoda got to tag along too since he still relied on da momma for food.  Most importantly, Max got that special attention from both parents so that we can love the Jesus in him and focus on him those couple days, which is SO important in bigger families.  Those middle kids can get lost and forgotten so easily and Neil and I want to do our best to ensure that doesn't happen.  So we make BIG deals out of birthdays and sacrament celebrations.  We did the same thing when Fone, Mario, Melody, and Ariel made their First Holy Communions as well.  Such special trips and memories made!!!

 ~~ Trip to/from ~~

Gotta treat your little guy with Happy Meals and slurpees on the way, right?  We always say "no" when it's the whole clan, but for one lil guy, "why absolutely, YES!!"

~~ Medieval Times ~~

~~ Hotel stay ~~

~~ Legoland ~~

++Thank you, God, for sending your Son who gave himself to us so lovingly and willingly so that we may live in Heaven forever with You someday and also so that He may live in us so that we may be His light to the world right now!  Thank you for coming to Max so beautifully on this special day and also for every Mass thereafter!++