April highlights: family visits, Nick's birthday, Easter, volleyball!

 1) visiting with my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew! they flew in from Washington state to spend a week with us just before Easter. Greta and Cecilia were absolutely entranced with Milo (we hadn't seen him since he was just a few weeks old). Elizabeth was dubious at first, then figured out it was fun to show him her books and try to pull his socks off, and eventually just ignored him. we had big plans to go to the science center, the park, and maybe even the zoo, but between sickness and (unrelated but gross!!) sewage issues, we ended up staying close to home. we did spend a glorious afternoon outside where Milo got to swing for the first time, and enjoyed a trip to our neighborhood ice cream shop, which just opened up for the season. I do wish we lived closer, but at least we don't have to wait too long to see them again: the entire extended family is coming back here in August, after our new baby joins the cousin crew! 

my auntie heart is exploding!

who needs outside entertainment when you have a baby to play with?


my big girl isn't too old for snuggles with Uncle Colin


Cecilia took it upon herself to be a paparazzo (paparazza?!)

note the braids done by Kelli. the girls beg her to braid their hair whenever she visits
and I don't blame them!!




first Antney's of the year! (with a tired Milo)

seriously the best ice cream I've ever had, outside of Italian gelato


sweetest little family!! I just love them so much! 


2) Nick's birthday. this man deserved a much more fun birthday celebration than he got! his birthday happened to fall during Holy Week, as it often does, and the girls were very concerned that we wouldn't be able to have any treats to celebrate since we gave up sweets for Lent. we decided an exception was justified, and it's a good thing because it was one of the only things in the day that went right! (see photos of our trip to Antney's above). after very heavy rains the week before, we ended up with some rainwater and sewage backing up into our basement (not enough to flood anything but still disgusting). so Nick spent his birthday morning dealing with three different plumbers, all of whom thought that the main pipe leading out from the house was collapsed and that our front yard would need to be dug up (meaning we would likely lose our beautiful magnolia tree), and possibly that we would need to dig up our sidewalk and part of the street, at an estimated cost of up to $10,000. meanwhile, he was also pulling everything together for all the extra musical rehearsals and liturgies of Holy Week. 

the least I could do while he was so busy was to make a delicious birthday dinner. I often cook a German feast with wienerschnitzel, kartoffelsalat, and good German beer to wash it all down -- but Nick had given up alcohol for Lent and stuck to his guns for his birthday (despite a day that truly called for an adult beverage!). so in its place, Nick had requested a homemade deep dish pizza recipe that I used to make all the time when we were married, but haven't made for years. secretly I was relieved because frying wienerschnitzel for a crowd can be tricky and time-consuming. pizza would be easy! Kelli and the girls helped me roll out the dough for a total of three pizzas and the whole house smelled wonderful as the sausage, mushrooms, and tomatoes cooked. then, horror struck when we pulled the pizzas out of the oven and all three had burned solidly to the bottom of the pans (despite the upper crust being a soft golden brown). after some valiant scraping, we had to wave the white flag and order takeout pizza at 7:30 PM. despite all this, Nick was so gracious, loved his handwritten notes from the girls, and that waffle cone from Antney's definitely hit the spot. his gift was a Solo stove smokeless fire pit with a set of roasting sticks -- a somewhat self-serving gift, but hopefully one we'll enjoy together many times as soon as the weather gets nice! 

Uncle Nick in his element

a perfect ending to a very imperfect day

my handsome man on a much happier day in October. how I love him!



3) Holy Week and Easter. see the detailed recap here -- suffice it to say, with the aforementioned plumbing issues, we had an appropriately penitential week. the miracle of the year fittingly occurred on Good Friday, when yet another plumber came out and was able to jet the line so it was completely cleared -- no collapsed pipe and no need to dig, all for a service fee of $50 with the rest covered by water line insurance which Nick suddenly remembered he had signed up for years ago! Easter Sunday was a joyful celebration with Nick's side of the family. He is risen, indeed! 

Cecilia requested this breakfast on Palm Sunday

Happy Easter from all six of us!

watching Daddy play the postlude (he's in the alcove at the top right)





4) Volleyball season for Greta. this is her first time playing volleyball, and it took her a few weeks to switch out of basketball mode (learning how to serve properly, remembering not to jump, etc). now that it's finally clicking for her, she likes it, and her serve makes it over the net 75% of the time, which is basically the goal at the 3rd grade level! 

teaching the mechanics to Cece after an away game

best little cheerleader!



5) general shenanigans. every time we say the St. Michael prayer now, I can't help but think of Elizabeth when we get to the line about prowling about the world, seeking the ruin of souls. just substitute "the state of the house" for "souls" and that's about right. she is climbing on everything (including once when she climbed from couch to end table to countertop in the blink of an eye!), pulling books off of shelves ten at a time, dumping containers of toys out, and in general being a normal toddler -- but Nick and I both are positive that the older girls never caused this much havoc! good thing she's cute! 

I lose track of how many times I say "sit down on your bum" in a day

this happened in literally ten seconds as I was putting food away in the fridge.


so I'm even more grateful for Nick's parents who took the girls overnight so Nick and I could have a rare date night out to the Dyngus Day celebration and parish fundraiser one of our best priest friends throws every year after Easter. it's always a great time, with all-you-can-eat homemade Polish food and drinks. this year he implemented various competitions; participants could test their mettle in horseradish eating, beer stein holding, etc. 

the ultimate winner was at least 60 years old and I just pray he didn't permanently
damage his rotator cuff!


and finally, a few favourite snaps to round things out! 

the girls got these face masks in their Easter baskets


after school fun -- Elizabeth has reached celebrity status with the third grade girls

movie night to watch The Sound of Music! (E thought she was one of the big kids
and had no idea she wasn't actually eating popcorn like they were!)



Comments

  1. Babies are just the best and spending time with cousins - SO FUN! We live a long way from my siblings and nieces/nephews, but it's always incredible how quickly we can pick up where we left off.

    I have to admit I felt my anxiety levels rising when you described your sewer issue. We had something similar happen a week after we moved into our house and ended up having to excavate everything right before Christmas and jackhammer up our basement and it was the WORST THING EVER (not really, but it was so, so awful - my husband was overseas with work, we had just moved, we had company coming to visit, and our sewer line was broken; oh, and it was like - 1 million degrees and my kids were little and sick). Honestly, it has taken me 5 years to recover from that experience!!! I am so glad you ended up with a $50 fix. Praise the Lord <3

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    Replies
    1. Oh no, Elisabeth! I CANNOT imagine dealing with all of that while solo parenting!!! It was stressful enough with both of us here and our "company" being my sister and brother-in-law, who were so understanding and gracious. Not to mention that we didn't have to dig up our basement right before Christmas!! No wonder it still makes you feel anxious to think about it.

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  2. I am so impressed with your husband's willpower! I have a bday that almost always falls in Lent and I cheat every time because "it's not my fault God chose for me to be born during Lent"!

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    Replies
    1. Hahahahaha I love that!!! (I also took full advantage of the fact that I was pregnant this Lent to opt out of almost every penitential opportunity!) He has a few buddies who also give up alcohol and sweets for Lent so I do think the accountability helps. Plus he wants to set a good example for our kids, bless him!

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