Uncle C's Wedding

We have a new Aunt K!

Uncle C's wedding was a joyful family gathering. 

All the cousins were there, from both the older generation

and the new,

which is an impressive feat.

Everyone was dressed to the nines.  Our crew loves to dress up for a celebration.

T and I were so grateful to our kids for their good behavior.  They were complimented on their behavior during the wedding.  They were troopers as we rode to the reception all together.  They sat politely during dinner and listened to the beautiful toasts to Aunt K and Uncle C.  Then, they were rewarded by the band, which played until midnight, and we all danced the night away.

J-Bear especially appreciated the babysitter friends who were available to play during the ceremony and reception.  She was able to join in for most of the day and still get home for a reasonable bedtime.  MoMo had ensured that everybody would be able to have a great time on the wedding day.

This was the event of the year for sure!

No wonder GG had been looking forward to it all winter.
She always wanted to hear about Uncle C's wedding plans when we would go over for lunch.
She was certainly smiling down on her family and celebrating the new couple.  

Our love to Aunt K and Uncle C!

Happily Ever,

Queen B

We could sleep for a week

These

 dudes 

are

exhausted.

Believe me, this is a once in a lifetime sight. But on the other hand, we have had a once in a lifetime week.  Catholic Kids Camp, Uncle C's wedding festivities and a week with our Boston and Seattle cousins have made for an amazing time.  There are many stories to tell, once we wake up from our nap.


Happily Ever,
Queen B

Catholic Kids Camp 2015

This week, leading up to a special family wedding, we "set sail with the Holy Trinity" for Catholic Kids Camp.

We look forward to Catholic Kids Camp, our parish's version of VBS, all year long.

Because Buddy Bear and J-Bear are not quite old enough to attend on their own, I volunteered to host mini-kids camp with a friend for all the 4 and under campers of the parent volunteers.  We attracted a large crowd this year, humbled by the vote of confidence from so many great volunteer parents.  Buddy Bear and J-Bear loved every minute of the week, from the great crafts, circle time, stories, games, outdoor play and snacks.

We certainly couldn't have made it through the week without several wonderful teen volunteers who were eager to shower attention on our young crew.  With 8-10 kids ages 9 months to 5 years old, there are many hands (or bodies) to hold, bathroom times and diaper changes to juggle, and varying ability levels to manage.  Thankfully, my friend, Mrs. N, had secured a wonderful large room for us, brought boxes of miniature toys and Magnetiles to play with, and planned perfect snacks.

Our crafts were simple but engaging and didn't require too much help from the adults.  We made "One God" hand cut-outs for our day celebrating God the Father, decorated Jesus Loves You crosses for our day celebrating God the Son, and taped together Holy Spirit dove kites for our day celebrating God the Holy Spirit.  We also had a coloring page to go with each day.  G-Bear was so impressed with the crafts her little brother and sister were bringing home each day that she said, "do you have any extras for me and E-Bear to do?  We only get to do ONE craft each day."  Boy, was I thrilled to garner G-Bear and E-Bear's admiration!  Buddy Bear and J-Bear were also so proud to show their big sibs their hard work at the end of each day.

Each afternoon, during J-Bear's nap, the big kids would hole up in their room with their CKC music CD and practice their songs and hand motions for the week (while I collapsed in an exhausted heap). The music and dancing are some of my favorite parts of the CKC week, because they stay with us for so long afterwards.  Even J-Bear knows the songs and motions by the end of the week and loves to sing them with her siblings.

The week is always exhausting, but it is one hundred percent worth it once Friday comes around and I get to watch my kids and their friends sing and dance together in the love and joy of the Lord.  We were some of the last to leave the fellowship hall at the end of the performance morning, having stayed to talk and connect with so many friends.  I am overwhelmed with gratefulness for the community we have found here and the friends we have all made.

Happily Ever,
Queen B

Nana's Visit

All the cars have had oil changes.

All the doorbells have new batteries.

T's new birthday tux shirt has been returned for the correct size.

Buttons are sewn back on.

The living room is vacuumed and the laundry is folded.

And it is not even lunch time.

Nana must be in town.

We are so excited to host Nana for a week in preparation for Uncle C's wedding.

We'll play plenty of Sequence and board games, enjoy outings and meals.  

What a blessing it is to have Nana with us!

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Saying Goodbye to May

Its time to say good-bye to May.  

So, this weekend....

~

I went to the MN Catholic Homeschoolers conference.  It was like a huge shot of encouragement in the arm.  My kids love our parish school, but that doesn't change the fact that I am a homeschooler at heart.  As parents, we are our children's primary educators, and I love the encouragement of the speakers and the resources to make our home and family a place of learning, enrichment and witness of faith.

~

I said good-bye to my 4 and 5 year old Liturgy of the Word preschoolers during our last Sunday School.  I have loved participating in this ministry this year.  Young children have not always come naturally to me, but years of motherhood are paying off and bearing fruit.  My soul now finds great joy in being with toddlers and preschoolers, even if they still totally wear me out.  This ministry was also great for Buddy Bear this year, because although technically too young to participate, he could come with me to Liturgy of the Word on the Sundays when I was the teacher.  He loved every opportunity to leave Mass and join in with the older preschoolers.  Next fall, Buddy, you'll be off to Liturgy of the Word on your own each week!  Unless of course, I get to join in as a teacher again :)

~

We picked up a pizza, strapped our bikes onto the back of the car, and rode down to a bike path next to the Mississippi River.  After a picnic pizza dinner, we all hoped on our bikes for an evening ride.  G-Bear is doing great on her pink birthday bike, E-Bear is cool and confident on his, Buddy Bear is trying out the monkey bar seat on the Mundo and J-Bear is trying out the peanut shell in the back by Buddy Bear.  The evening was truly beautiful as we wound our way along the river bluffs.  

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Final Days of School

We are charging through the final days of school.

I can hardly wait.

I am ready to be done.

A homeschooler at heart, I look forward to the last day of school all year.  This is not because I don't like our parish school or because I dislike learning.  I just love having my kids home, teaching them myself and learning alongside them, soaking up a routine that works best for our family, beholden to fewer outside demands. Plus, by the end of the year, we are all in need of some School of the Home. We may have forgotten a few of our manners, we may need some time to focus on our treatment of others (hello, Fruits of the Spirit), our chores may need some brushing up, and we may just need a bit more space to explore other activities, other interests.  Yes, the Summer School of the Home is a blessing.

But before we get there, we have to get through these last two weeks, and let me tell you, I am sliding across the End-of-the-Year-Finishline on the fumes of Grace.  Recently, a friend sent me this archived blog piece by Jen Hatmaker entitled, "Worst End of School Year Mom Ever," and I found myself on the floor with laughter because it hit a little too close to home.  The school schedule is bursting with end of the year celebrations, field trips, out of uniform days, cold lunch demands, full days for E-Bear, special requests and chaos in general.  The normal routine is totally discarded, uniforms are out grown, and each day there are about a dozen out of the ordinary things that must be remembered for each child.  To top it all off, my body is just not able to keep it all together, currently gestating at 34 weeks.  So recently, when my sweet G-Bear came to me and confessed that her tennis shoes had holes in them and the laces had snapped so that she could no longer tie them, all I could muster was a pathetic, "Do you think you could get through 2 more days of gym with them?  I promise you can wear your sandals everyday in the summer."  Because really, holes or no holes, laces or no laces, when are we going to find time in this gauntlet schedule to buy new tennis shoes, which are sure to be outgrown when she puts them on again in the fall?  

Please, Lord, by a miracle, get us to the end of school!

But, be encouraged, time marches on.  The end of school is in sight.  No one stays pregnant forever.  Bring it on!

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Pentacost Celebrations 2015

Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth!

~Psalm 104

Somehow, the Easter season always goes by faster than Lent.  We have feasted and celebrated for over 40 days now: five family birthdays, a First Communion, Divine Mercy Sunday, Mother's Day, Ascension Sunday and many more.  It is always hard to begin to put away the Easter season decorations and celebrations.  But today, we made sure to culminate the season with a grand Holy Spirit celebration to usher in the routine of Ordinary Time.

For breakfast, we enjoyed our traditional Pentecost fare: marshmallow cereal, yogurt and fruit smoothies.  This is the one morning each year when I buy marshmallow cereal, which I love, and it reminds us of the Fruits of the Spirit that the Holy Spirit  brings into our lives.  Then, we headed to a special Mass, met friends to hand out Pentecost roses at an Uptown bus stop, hosted friends for lunch and then celebrated dinner with MoMo and Papa.  Our joyful spirits and schedule were undeterred by the rainy day.

I made T's favorite Strawberry Pizza for dessert, a Grandma Johnson classic treat.  I left the frosting bare in the middle in the shape of a dove to remind us of the Spirit descending.  It was a wonderful way to finish a special day.

It is so fitting that we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit at the end of Easter and the return of Ordinary Time.  Ordinary Time isn't so much about days that are boring, but about finding or returning to an ordered routine for our lives after seasons of fasting and feasting.  During these weeks of Ordinary Time, we strive, with the help of the Spirit, to find a proper place for moments of fasting and feasting and to grow the Fruits of the Spirit in our daily lives.   All this is so that we might know and love God and our neighbor in a deeper, fuller way.

Christ our Lord said it was better for us that He should ascend and send the Spirit to descend into our lives.  So, we've replaced our family Easter prayer with one for the coming months:

Come, Holy Spirit!

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Big sisters are the best

J-Bear doesn't always enjoy holding my hand these days.

She is on the move, she wants to explore, sometimes she feels like I hold her back.

But, thankfully, J-Bear has a big sister and two big brothers.

She loves them all; her eye is always watching them.

And when Mom's hand just won't cut it,

there is a big sister's or brother's hand that she is delighted to hold.

Happily Ever,
Queen B

What Quiet Time Looks Like These Days

While the J-Bear sleeps,

Legos reign supreme.

Thank goodness for quiet time, folks.

We all crave it, 

we all need it, 

that is why I enforce it.

It might not always be as quiet as I would like,
we might not all be reading or resting or praying *everytime*.
After all, who doesn't need a little Lego time each day?

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Afternoon at the Arboretum

Spring sprung early in Minnesota this year.  So, we packed up our bikes and headed out for a day.  The Three Mile Trail at the Minnesota Arboretum sounded perfect for a Saturday ride.

Along the way, we found a field covered in dandelions.  The day was so lovely, so perfect, and  suddenly, the most formidable of weeds appeared like flowers of greatest treasure.  We couldn't resist.    

J-Bear in the dandelions.

G-Bear said she felt like Laura Ingalls running through the field.  

Pretty soon, she had gathered quite the bouquet. 

Even E-Bear and Buddy Bear were impressed.  

They were across the field and nearly out of sight in a minute.

Buddy Bear hunted endlessly for the still-rare white dandelions.  

When he found some, he put Dad in charge of blowing dandelion seeds.

J-Bear barely stopped long enough for a kiss from her dad.  She was just as delighted as her siblings.

G-Bear presented me with her bouquet as an early Mother's Day present. 

We had a to take a picture with it, because I knew it wouldn't last long.  

I was amazed by how a weed that gives me such trouble in our yard could bring me so much joy when presented as a gift from my kids.  

There is a lesson for me there somewhere.

Finally, bouquets picked, clothes covered in yellow pollen, tired from running and exploring, we loaded on the bikes and continued our trek.  We made sure not to miss the hedge maze, the kids' nature play yard or the plant sale.  

For lunch, we snacked on Chick-fil-a under a blooming cherry tree in the nature play yard.  I couldn't have imagined a more perfect, delightful afternoon.

I am all for clearing out the weeds in our lives.  

But today reminded me that even weeds can be turned into something wonderful.

Happily Ever,

Queen B