One Year Old

Habemus Papam!

Pope Francis!  

What happy days we have had lately.  Pope Francis is the first new pope I have had as a Catholic, and the whole experience has been fresh and new and wonderful. 

I feel like such an impostor calling this a Catholic blog when really I just post pictures about my children and the messes they make.  It's tough to capture, especially in photographs, the daily rhythm, quiet prayers, unspoken offerings and gentle shepherding.  In those moments, my camera is away and I don't have much of a desire to share that in this space. 

But now we have a new shepherd to guide us, and his picture is all over the internet :) 

The boys enjoyed 'watching history' with me, which I think to them just means watching video clips online. 

Everyone we saw for the rest of the day heard the same thing, twice.  First from William, and then echoed from Thomas:

"We have a new pope.  His name is Francis, just like my middle name.  I am going to pray for him TWO times a day because he needs MY help to be a good leader."

Oh, to have the faith of a child.  And now, the lady at the coffee cart, three young teachers at swimming lessons, and a nice gentleman in the checkout line at the grocery store all know about our new leader. 


The boys went to work making their own sheep to shepherd.

And Katherine, the good baby that she is, stayed happily out of her big brothers' way.

Happy Friday.

3.14

I am married to a mathematician, but we didn't celebrate with pie today.  No, at 5:30 this evening I whipped out some frozen fish fillets set aside for Friday, and now I have to figure out what to do for tomorrow's dinner. The crock pot and I have become better friends lately, and slow cooked meals are alternated with quick cold sandwiches, artisan breads served with cheese and plates of fresh fruit.  

Spring is just around the corner.  

I have not yet mastered 'the dinner hour.'  I'm not sure if that time of day is something that can really be improved upon or not, but I certainly haven't figured it out. I can handle the food part. 

But there's something about the children part that just gets a little bit tricky.  It's that antsy, hungry, mischievous energy that only pops up while I'm chopping and simmering and altogether not paying attention.  The other day it involved ink. 

Caught red-handed

It starts out innocently enough.  Sweet boys who want to make stamped artwork to decorate their walls.  You know how the rest goes. And since that day, I gave up the chopping, the simmering, the stirring, and the ignoring.  I embraced sandwiches and cans of soups and throwing something together at the last minute so that the dinner hour altogether disappeared.  Not forever, of course, but for this sweet season of young children, of inky fingers, of longer spring days with warmer weather.

So maybe tomorrow we'll pick up a take and bake pizza and call it Pi Day, because really, my children don't even know what day it is (or what pi is).  What they do know is my love, my attention and my presence. Choosing my family and children first?  Well that decision is as easy as pie.

Milestones

Today was a day of milestones.  William swam unassisted to the pool wall.  He rode his bike without training wheels.  Katherine took her first steps.  Thomas didn't fall out of his chair.   And I don't have pictures of any of it.  I almost never bring my big camera out of the house, and while I'd like to get a little bit better about that, I love not feeling tied to it.  I love watching my children with my own eyes and not always through a lens.  

I did snap a few of Katherine on her first day of walking.

 

I just love Mondays and today was a great one.  I folded laundry (rare) AND put it away (rarer still).  I childproofed dangerous cupboards.  I finally disposed of old paint that I've been driving around in the back of the van for two months now.  I filled up the gas tank and filled our fridge after a Costco trip.  I love the back-to-the-grind feeling after a weekend where chores slip and routines are lax. 

We've had back-to-back company over the last week, and between Michael's aunt and uncle, my aunt and uncle, and Michael's parents, it was time to stop the party and get back to business. We sure did have fun while it lasted:

Aunt Judy feeding Katherine

Shaving with whipped cream from Michael's birthday cake

 Happy Monday.