Seen and heard

The knight and his princess.

This sword may appear bent, but dragons are no match for it.

Even knights need a snack break.

One of Teresa's many lovely creations from around the house.

David and Rose are adorable playmates these days. Watching them together frequently makes me laugh, and I wish I took the time to write down every funny exchange.  A recent one I happened to record:

David, playing with Rose, with great sadness: "I'm lost for my mother! I just got out of her tummy today, and she got away." You gotta watch those new mothers, they're tricky.

David, Rose and I go to a children's holy hour every Friday. I try to draw their attention to the fact that Jesus is physically there with us. This past Friday was no different. Me: "Rose, did you say hi to Jesus yet? He's right there, looking at you." Rose: "Because I'm so beautiful?" Indeed.

Snow is again falling heavily outside the window, and I hear we're in for 4-6 inches and an additional inch of ice overnight. Frankie and Teresa are at Grandmommy and Pop-pop's house with the cousins, no doubt enjoying the snow day. Not sure about Grandmommy and Pop-pop :) Will call you soon about when we can retrieve them! Hope everyone had a cheery Valentine's Day. 

Giving thanks

We're thanking God for another year filled with his blessings. We celebrated by frying a turkey for the first time. No explosions, and a tasty bird: success! The back-up roasted one (in case of catastrophe) was equally delicious. Aunt Hilary's pies were a hit, especially the pumpkin ginger crunch and coconut cream. And we may have started a new tradition with collard-green dolmades. 

We seem to have begun a yearly tradition of buying our "Advent tree" (which we've renamed to keep our heads on straight that it's not Christmas yet) the day after Thanksgiving. It fits beautifully in our new space. Dave and Lolo spent the rest of the day stringing the huge evergreen tree in our front yard with LED lights. It now stands as a neighborhood beacon, and the spectacle of Dave scaling this mammoth of a tree from within attracted several neighbors. One neighbor, a history buff, informed us that a Civil War skirmish took place in our back yard. Lo and behold, there was indeed a historical event called "Action at Annandale" that took place on the land behind our house, part of which we own. Dave can't wait until next Halloween scare the girls with stories about the ghosts lingering from the skirmish.  

The Advent wreath is ready for lighting tomorrow. We begin the season of expectation, preparing our house and our hearts for the sweet Child who changes hearts and saves souls. Happy Advent!

All Hallows Eve

Boo! Rose's work of art

The crew getting into character for their big night.

We have three princesses (Aurora, Cinderella, and Elsa), a cat, a bat, Dorothy, and a wicked queen. I think Maria could be the tooth fairy with her glittery gold dress?

Rose (on the right) with her look-alike friend Cara, who goes to our church and lives up the street. 

The loot. 

The morning after. See the flying pancake? Uncle Dave's specialty. The "three second rule" is based on science, right?


The cousins had a fun Halloween, trick or treating with our neighbor friends up the road and coming home together for a sleepover. Shout out to Aunt Natalie for leading the pack until Dave could catch up from work. I stayed behind to hand out candy, only to greet one 3 year old princess. I wish I had given her more goodies! Now I know not to buy three bags of candy next year. Aunt Natalie, feel free to post your pictures too. Happy All Saints' and All Souls'!

Alleluia, He is risen!

Happy Easter to all! Congratulations to Jeff and Kate, who are celebrating their first Easter with their new little Easter bunny! We miss you all- sending lots of love your way. The birthday girl has a fever, but feeling the excitement of the day (and having gorged on nutella crepes and jelly beans), she's happy nonetheless.  

Holy Wednesday egg dying...

...to be eaten at our seder meal on Holy Thursday.

Rose's Easter birthday cake! It's nice to turn three on Easter Sunday. You get cake and ice cream, AND chocolate and jelly beans.

The spread. Fried rice not pictured, but included.

That's a big mouth.

Frankie looking elegant with her hair curled.

Love this pale purple dress from the Philippines. They don't make them this cute in the U.S.!

Graham's first Easter! It gets better, little guy. One more year until chocolate eggs.

Christmas Recap Part II

Rose pretending to be a shy little violet before Christmas Eve Mass.

Cookies and milk on the mantle, carrots outside- check.

"O sole mioooo..." Christmas dinner at the Farrs, with live music.

Yay! Grandmommy's nouveau Christmas tree is always a surprise and a joy. 

Aunt Missy and the Grinch

Aunts Nat and Missy in front of the New Mexico chili lights- not quite Christmas without them.

One of Grandmommy's many incredible, handmade Christmas gifts: a hand-painted dough nativity.

Christmas haircut. Bye!

Merry Christmas!

Family photo sans David Jr., who was in a snit nearby, refusing to be part of the merriment.

Natalie, taking the picture: "David! I have a candy cane in my pocket!" Genius.

The best picture of the four of them turned out with Aunt Natalie, fittingly.

Happy birthday Jesus! We're a little shaky and very full of sugar! 

Aunt Kate's gift to me: a cute pair of Toms. Love them!

A labor of love, as Lola would say.

"Can I open one???"

Fried rice and chocolate...seems about right.

The girls spent most of Christmas Eve with Dave helping to decorate the church.  You see the lovely product of much hard work on the part of many! It was a quiet, recollected Christmas Eve, which the dark, rainy weather seemed to encourage. After dinner, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and cookies, milk and carrots set out for St. Nicholas and his entourage, they were in bed far past their usual bedtime. I thought they might sleep in. Oh, silly Mommy. They woke up shortly before 5 am... thank you, husband, for getting up soon after. We've all enjoyed separate nap times (the adults, that is!) squeezed in between Christmas day excitement and present opening. Aunt Natalie is watching Frozen with them downstairs at the moment. We're waiting in anticipation for Lolo and Lola to come join the celebration of our Lord's birth. May the peace, hope and courage of the season permeate everyone's family and home!

Thanksgiving

Bonnie ran away from me every time I brought out the camera. Here she is cowering in fear.

Checkers, with a cheer leader.

Pop-pop, Grandmommy, and their baby, who most resembles the Farr side of the family, in my opinion.

Remember battleship?

Hilary's delectable pies, which were a hit.

Grandmommy's latest Madonna painting- beautiful as always. Now hanging in the Catholic Information Center!

Joyful noise, right Pop pop?

Cheers to another year of blessings. We're counting the ones we have.