Our Walk on Sunday

We went on a walk on Sunday and were finally able to breathe in the warm spring air. Lovely!

Here are a couple of pictures of what we saw while we were out.

The first thing we saw were some kids who desperately needed to get outside and blow off some steam.

Our attention was then drawn to a little two-year-old who plopped herself down on the ground out of frustration because she was having a hard time blowing her bubbles.

Next, we saw a puddle...a really big puddle....and some sticks...lots of sticks.

We thought this moss covered log was pretty neat.

We thought this little monkey was cute.

Speaking of monkeys. After our walk, when we were in the car, Aidan told us that he saw some "monkey-like" thing hanging in a tree. "It was brown and looked like it had fur", he told us. So, Brett turned the car around not really expecting to see anything. However, this little guy was making his way up a tree. I got out of the car to get a better shot. It's a porcupine!

Great movie

I don't usually recommend movies on my blog because I know everyone has their own tastes, but I'm breaking my own rule to make the simple statement that after all the hype in November (?) about this movie, Brett and I finally watched it last night and now we understand what all the hype was about.

"Bella"

I can't even describe this movie except for that it is truly a must see!!! It was so beautiful and so moving...wow! Thank God for people who use their power and money to make a difference in this world! Looking forward to the next project these film-makers produce.

alter-ego

I'm sure some of you remember when Emma had a long list of alter-egos. Well, the time has arrived for Gigi to pick that up. Two-year-olds can be so demanding about what they are called...for instance, Gianna is "Mommy". Two-year-old logic tells her that if she is "mommy" then I can't be "mommy" therefore everyone else in the house must refer to me as "Meghan Jones". So I hear a little voice calling for me "Meggie Dones. Meggie Dones", and I have to respond, "Yes, mommy?" It's getting a bit ridiculous, but just too cute to complain about.

School's Out For the Summer!

It is our last day of school today, hurray, hurray! One major upside to homeschooling is that I get to set our school year, and I declare our last day today!!!
The kids have worked really hard all year and we are going to take a good break while Brett is off and the sun is out. I am actually more in favor of schooling year round and we will be doing a short "summer session" this summer, and Emma will continue with her reading, and Aidan will be keeping up on his Math, but for all essential purposes we're finished with school. The kids have a guest teacher today...the parent who teaches as a career, and they are thrilled! :-)
We will be going to Mass this morning as a family, Gianna and I are going to go shopping for fun car stuff for our monster trip down South (we can't wait!!!!), and then we are going to get out in the woods. Nature study will once again be in full force (see, I told you we do school year round) and we are anxious to see what the nearby forests look like during this early springtime.

My Mother's Day

My Mother's Day started at 5:30am with two sweet and excited children standing by my bedside (and one snuggling in bed with me). Aidan and Emma woke up with the sun, organized their gifts and headed in to wish me a happy Mother's Day. I was presented with a wonderful homemade card, a box of M&Ms from Emma, and a package of different colored pens from Aidan. Both gifts were purchased by the kids with their own money.
Brett then took me over to the "lookout tower window" which is the window at the top of our stairs looking out over the backyard. I was extremely surprised to see a lovely statue of Mary in my Mary garden. My non-gift-giving husband did great this time! :-) My Lady's Mantle, and Bleeding Hearts are the only plants that have come back, but it is early yet. I have a few rose bushes and a couple other "Mary plants" waiting for some real spring weather before they show up.
We spent the whole day outside planting flowers (after going to Mass of course). The breeze was chilly as it blew off the lake, but if ya don't get out when the weather is like that you'll never see the sun.
We ended the evening with dinner at a friend's and a bonfire afterwards. The kids were exhausted and we failed to leave before the "Great MeltDown" happened, but by the end of the night all kids were sleeping soundly and this mom was exhausted. It was a great day!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

I think I've rubbed off on Gianna, and I'm not sure that's a good thing.
Emma came into our room this morning to see if her little sister was ready to play with her yet. We had been chatting and contemplating getting up, but when Emma mentioned getting up to play her Gianna said, "No, me sleeping Emma, me sleeping" as she re-snuggled under the covers and pretended to close her eyes!

Deal of the Day!

I just bought a roll of "Forever" stamps online. Gotta hurry ya know before postage goes up 1 cent on Monday. Yep, I got myself a great deal...100 stamps for 41 cents a piece and $1.00 shipping and handling! Can't beat that savings...yahoo!!!!! (sarcasm, sarcasm)

Great Accomplishment

I would just like to announce to everyone out there that it has been officially 35 days since this little family has eaten out. That includes cheap $5 hot-and-sometimes-ready-pizzas, any drive-through fast-but-not-as-cheap-as-it-used-to-be-food, and sit-down, you-want-me-to-pay-how-much-for-that establishments. Maybe, just maybe, our grocery budget will get us through the month. It's looking good so far!

Cute stuff

Gianna was quietly playing by herself the other day and this is what I happened upon when I went up to check on her.

My Sharp Shooter

This year Brett has been taking part of a shooting league that meets once a week in the basement of Old Main on campus (yes, a shooting range...like, guns...in the basement of a building on campus). A friend of his told him about it and I have always suspected that he thought he was going to be taking Brett under his wing and showing him the ropes of shooting. Well, I don't think that will be necessary. This is what Brett brought home this week after the final shooting tournament of the season:

He won first place in the "Class A" division. The only division that is higher that "A" is "Master Class" and Brett actually had the same score as the man who won first place in that class. So, yeah, I would say he did pretty well.