Time To Catch Up

No, I didn't take time off to catch up.  Heavens, I don't think I will ever feel caught up.  No, I think I need to do a quick catch up on the blog.  And, because I am about chronology, I will try to put things in order.  Mostly pictures which are harder now, as my nice camera officially broke. Very very sad day.

• Lucy is up first, and she began a new adventure: Atrium!  One day a week, and this girl has loved every minute of it.  Don't call it school, just call it Atrium.  My sister teaches the older grades and has poked her head in to watch (Lucy says, "Aunt Jenn sat in the chair and did not talk") and says Lucy has great concentration.  My most favorite thing of all is hearing that sweet voice sing all the songs. 
  
• Tommy turned the big 4-0 in October, and I will do a blog post about that. :)
• Lucy turned 4!  We went all out with her love of unicorns, and I made her a special cake.  I think she liked it.  
  
  
  
  
• Halloween was fun with friends and good creative costumes.  As the kids get older, we have found that going out trick-or-treating is more fun in a group and Emma has found the sweetest girls and we are more than happy when she is able to have some outings with them.  Lucy spent the whole day in her costume.
  
   Emma is Cordelia Biddle from the movie "The Happiest Millionaire", William is a Pokémon trainer, James is Harry Potter, and Lucy is Violet from "The Incredibles."  
• Patrick had his first Homecoming/Enthronement Dance.  He went stag, though he had tried to ask a young lady, but it didn't work out.
  
  
  
  
• James  lost a front tooth!  Even pulled it himself.                                                                          
• Our family celebrated Thanksgiving at our home with all the locals on the Gregory side.    I was so happy we could accommodate Joe and his wheels, and everyone else.  :)       
  
• William is officially an altar server, and had been doing an amazing job.  It is a joy to see all the boys serving together some days.
  
•  December brings Saint Nicholas cookie making.  I need to remember to double to batch next year.  I never make enough for all of us to enjoy.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Our family went into DC for a very cold, and muddy ALS walk for my brother and his family.  It was a very different feel this year, as you see the progression of the disease.  It was a joy to see all the love and support of Joe and his family.  Please keep praying for him! 
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Halloween Days 2017

Halloween!  This year was a marathon!  Our weekend began with a Halloween party at the Knights while the big boys camped.  This post is heavy on costumes, and cute kids.  Just forewarned.

 

Batman, the Dark Knight, Sleeping Beauty, Hermoine, and Lego Batman.

 

And, though the Dark Knight isn't happy, Mommy did attempt a lady bug, but determined that I am not the costume type.  Especially since my wings broke after this photo.

 

I love the simplicity of their parties.  Crafts, pumpkin fun, games, breakfast and a goody bag tailor made for each age.  Best part?  Not too much candy! 

 

Even though our next event was a school night, there was no way we were missing Halloween at the White House!  The school was given over 300 tickets, and we put our family name in the lottery to go.  We were picked! and got the last time slot: 7PM.  Great for the mood of Halloween, not so great for photos.

 

 

 

It was cold, and We had different costumes, for some. 

My teen is Error 404, Emma the Cat, Harry Potter, Lego Batman and Aurora!

 

They gave out candy, bandaids, stickers, photos of the White House and POTUS, and even Smokey the Bear.  NASA had a moon rock for everyone to feel!  It was interesting to see the Security wand the kids in costumes.  Even Lucy. Gave me the giggles, but I didn't want to be disrespectful. 

 

 

It was such a fun time, even though I had to do something I said I would never do: drive in DC.  Tommy works there, so it made sense for me to pick him up, but my hope was he would meet us outside of the city.  It didn't work out due to his job busyness, so I had to drive. 

I will admit there was a lot of yelling. 

 

And apologizing.

 

It was very cool experience!  We will definitely try to do it again next year! 

 

 The next day was officially Halloween.  The Penny Bazaar is the way the school celebrates, and we always try to help work a couple games, and enjoy the fun.

 

 

Lucy was warm and cozy in her costume, all day. 

 

And then, the event.  THE event.   

 

 

 

This is our second year with these sweet girls TOTing with us.  The planning that went into these costumes made me giggle.  Even down to the nail polish for "claws."  Love these girls.  Though they didn't share their Milk Duds with me.

 

This year, I decided to join the kids, and Patrick stayed to give out candy.  It was COLD, and I was grateful when Lucy's teeth started chattering.  And it ended up all the little came home with me, so Tommy was with the big kids.  Which means less candy for us to worry about!  :)

7 Quick Takes: Birthday, Halloween, and When The Saints Go Marching In

 

Linking up with Kelly for my sporadic blogging of 7 quick takes.

 

1).  Tommy's birthday was a busy day, but we managed to have cake and sing to him about 7:45 at night.  Great time for extra dose of sugar.  We love our Daddy so much!  

 

 

2). Halloween at school gives the kids a Penny Bazaar.  It's an hour of games, cupcakes, prizes (win or lose the game) and fun.  James went around with his 4th grade "buddy" to help him navigate the games, and I had only Lucy, and helped run the game for James' class, being one of the room liaisons.

 



 

3). Halloween was an extra special event this year.  Emma invited a new girl from school to come out with us along with her cousin.  One of them had never been Trick or Treating before, so it was a treat for us to be part of the excitement that the girls had.

 

 

 

We had Captain America, a sweet Bumble Bee, Linus and Charlie Brown and 3 cowgirls. We got a little bit of a late start since I always insist on taking pictures.  I decided to go around the neighborhood until the little guys got tired (and I got too cold).

 

 

Lucy was fully aware of the joys of candy in the bucket, and held on tightly to the pink bucket she got from her favorite Miss Marjorie.  She is still holding the bucket.  And, when she took a break in the stroller her sweet William kept putting candy in her pumpkin to be sure she had some as well.

 

 

4).  The next day was one of my favorite traditions at All Saints: the Parade of Saints by the 3rd grade at Mass.  Though all through the school are presentations on saints. 

 

William was Saint Stephen, the first martyr.  He chose the Deacon garb, and my talented mother made the costume.  Really, the whole group had some amazing costumes, and it was so impressive to see the details that each child focused on for their saint.  Most were immediately identifiable!

  

 

 

5).  As we have begun the month of the poor souls ("Pray for the dead, and the dead will pray for you" sung to the tune of the funeral march) we have taken time to go visit our big cemetery nearby.  This is the Confederate Cemetery, though I have been visiting it for 30 years and never realized that it had this in the back.  I love the peace of a graveyard, and I love sharing the traditions of the All Saints, All Souls feasts. 

 

My sister Jenn has a great post to help us remember why and what to do, because I forget every year.

 

 

6). We try very hard to say a daily rosary.  Some days are easier than others, but I love the phase that we have begun.  We have 5 children and I couldn't wait until all the kids could lead a decade on their own.  I was one of 7, but one of the younger ones, so I was always more willing to lead and did quite often as I was young.  It's a silly milestone, but one I was eager to reach.

 

All the kids can pray a decade alone.  Lucy volunteers (Me! ME! Me!!!) each time I announce a new mystery and she can say all the prayers.  It's adorable, and just makes my heart melt. 

 

7). I am going to admit something, of which you probably could already figure out because I am not a patient person.  I don't like museums.  They are not fun to go to with a gaggle of kids.  All of the kids are at different stages, all enjoy different things, and all seem to go in all different directions when we get there.  It's the stress of stopping, hurrying, counting, and when we leave, I often feel like I haven't seen anything except the backs of my kid's heads, so when Tommy suggests a museum, I usually put up a bit of a fight.

 

But I think this one changed my views.

 

We stopped at the Marine Corps Museum the other day, all dressed up after going to Mass.  I wasn't sure how it would go, but I just want to say that this place is AWESOME.  Each kid had fun, and each section had something that would capture each child's attention. 

 

I don't often say this, but I would like to go back to that museum.