Thank you!

Thank you so much for all your kind comments in response to our happy announcement! We are so excited to welcome another new life! We have been so blessed! We've been wanting to share the news for a while but decided to wait until after our first ultrasound. What a glorious sight to see that little one, heart beating strongly!

I know I'm terribly behind in blogging and don't even know how to begin catching up, but I'm working on posting a ton of pictures from our fourth of July weekend spent in Albuquerque. It was loads of fun, and I have loads of pictures to show for it! Hopefully by tonight I'll have them up. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this one adorable video of Kristen. She was absolutely in love with my sister-in-law's dog (as were all my other children!) and I just had to capture her happy chatter when she caught sight of her while swinging! Too cute!

Blessed

My growing girl

I can't believe how fast my little girl is growing up! It was just a couple of weeks ago that she discovered her first loose tooth, and by yesterday it was barely hanging on. I was afraid she might swallow it, so I convinced her to let me try pulling it out, and with very little effort, it slipped right from her mouth and into my prodding fingers! I was stunned as I sat there for a second just looking at that tiny little tooth. She, of course, was beyond thrilled, and ran to examine her new smile in the mirror. So how could such tiny little thing make me so very sad?

The Time Traveler's Wife

My best friend has this incredible knack for discovering the most awesome books, so when I asked her a few years ago if she'd recently read any good ones and she mentioned her current captivating page-turner, I knew I'd want to borrow it. I was spellbound from the moment she loaned it to me a short while later. I could not put it down! I've since bought my own copy and read it multiple times, and even made Darren read it once or twice, too.

And now. Oh my goodness, now...it's being released as a movie and I cannot wait to see it! My sister-in-law alerted me to the trailer she saw this morning and it looks amazing. Watching it gave me goosebumps and made me cry so much I had to re-apply my make-up before leaving the house!

Really, even if you've never read the book, I think you'll agree that this is a must see movie. I am counting my calendar days until August 14!

Trinity Sunday

I was feeling particularly motivated one day last week and decided to start a liturgical planning guide in the notebook I use to organize my thoughts.*

I made it only so far as July, but I was excited to have a few definite plans in place, first being for Trinity Sunday...today. I just love the Women for Faith & Family website, and really liked some of their celebratory dinner suggestions. But, when I realized that Darren wouldn't even be here to dine with us, I decided to scrap the whole idea. I mope a lot when he's gone, and the thought of all that work no longer really appealed to me. However, while we were at the grocery store yesterday afternoon, I impulsively decided that I would go ahead with my plans; the children and I still had every reason to celebrate!

So today we reviewed our catechism lesson on the Holy Trinity (Dylan and Caitlyn needed little review, but Meghan was really cute with some of her responses!) and we spent a lot of time in the kitchen on dinner prep.

Our theme was three, for the Holy Trinity, so, with our barbecue chicken, we had three bean salad and clover leaf rolls, and for dessert, we had triple berry shortcakes. It was all so yummy, and I'm so glad I changed my mind. The kids kept saying how delicious it all was, and they had so much fun helping me make the rolls and shortcakes! :)

*And, okay, so I just have to share this story, too: While I've thought for a while that a liturgical planner would be a great idea, I never took the time to think one through until very recently; until Pentecost, actually. Because, in the days preceding Pentecost, I had actually considered making this lovely cake (can't say it enough--love that Women for Faith & Family!) but then forgot to check if I actually had any of the necessary ingredients. At around 4:00 that Sunday afternoon, I finally decided that I would see what we had, and, sure enough, it wasn't enough. But, with stubborn determination, I decided I would make that cake, and just used what was on hand! Hahahaha! I didn't have nearly enough powdered sugar for the frosting, so I just poured the soupy mixture over the top after spreading a thin layer between the cakes, and my candles were all wrong. I didn't have red frosting, so cherries were our hearts. But, you know, it still tasted divine, and, in fact, it really was rather lovely in it's own charming way. Dylan said it looked like "a vintage birthday cake" and thought it was just the most beautiful thing ever. Really, it was quite nice. But I decided that day that from then on, I'd be a little more prepared for upcoming feasts. :)

A birthday, in black and white

A backyard camp out, a morning spent at the farmer's market and bookstore, a rich chocolate made from scratch birthday cake, and phone conversations with both his mom and dad...Darren declared it a wonderful birthday yesterday!

I'm so sad he had to leave this morning for five days!