Faith Archives | Page 5 of 11 |

Our Halloween Costume Ideas from the Past

October 30, 2010 By Laura 4 Comments

I don’t plan on having a big post on our Halloween/Hallowtide this year. But last night I got to thinking about some of our past Halloween costume ideas we’ve come up with, and I went digging through photos. Putting together costumes, is a creative process of sorts, so we thought this section of the blog was a good place for this.

There is SO much I could share with you from our pre-blogging days, because I have always taken lots of photos. But I haven’t always shot digital. The scanning of old photos, and cleaning up dust particles, etc, is not a process I enjoy. At all. But if I’m inspired enough to share with you some old stuff, I guess I will do it. As I just did!

I thought it would be fun, to share with you some of {A}’s Halloween costume photos from when she was little, as well as the triplet’s second Halloween, but first in costume. Naturally, we think they are all so cute. But then, they are all our kids. Maybe we’re bias. But something tells us you might get a chuckle or 2 as well, looking at these. Or we might at least get a smile out of you, and that’s good enough for us too.

kid-clown-costume
{A} in 1998, as a clown. She was 1 year old. I have to laugh at the ‘very best first walking shoes’ she has on. No, we didn’t do that too, for babies 2, 3 and 4. Turns out they are all walking and running just fine!
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kid-genie-costume
In 1999, as a genie, and 2 years old. Is she not the cutest thing? My sister-in -aw made the costume for us. I helped cut fabric and stuff though. And I also made the bottle. I have to admit, I’m not into allowing my girls to jaunt around with bare midriffs anymore. But I wouldn’t give up this photo of her at 2 year old, in this costume, for anything. What a doll she was.
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kid-pediatrician
In 2000 at 3 years old, she was her own pediatrician, at the time. lol. We have had a new pedi now since I was pregnant with the triplets, and the former one is no longer practicing, that I know of. But she was beyond ecstatic to learn that {A} was her, for Halloween that year. She (the pedi) showed everyone in the office that day, while {A} waited in her paper gown. lol I think this photo is still hanging in the office there.
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kid-indian-girl-costume
In 2001, as an Indian, at 4 years old. I really loved this costume.

But this head shot, is one of my all-time favorite photos of her when she was little.
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baby-farm-animal-costumes-triplets And then we had our little farm animals, in 2003. lol. They were 1 year old. Remember the Tom Armani costumes? The kids were a riot in them. We had so much fun this year. {S}, on the far right, was just on the verge of another hysterical laugh. He would always, get laughing so hard, he couldn’t compose himself. He still does that. He was a happy baby, all of the time, despite all he went through.
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baby-cow-costume
Our big cow. He was as heavy as one too.
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baby-lamb-costume

Our sweet little lamb.
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baby-goat-costume
Our Billy Goat – always smiling.
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{A} (big sister) was their loving farmer, who tended her little farm animals with such care.
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We just had to show them all off, and trick or treating is always out of the question for us (with {S}’s severe peanut allergy)….so we thought we’d take them to the mall, and just pull them around. There was Halloween festivities going on there anyway, and it was warm, light, and safe.

And from that idea, our idea grew….

farmer-and-baby-farm-animals-triplets-big-sister We put a little picket fence around our farm animals, in their ‘choo-choo wagon’. They were the biggest attraction. People just stopped, and watched us, cracking up.

The funniest thing that night, that still gets us hysterical when we think about it, was that {S}, was the billy goat, and every time we looked back as we pulled him, he was chewing on the fence!! I was always laughing too hard, to get a photo.

Then we heard there was a costume parade judging contest at the other end of the mall. So we went down there and pulled them through. There was a big crowd, and then we had to go by this whole panel of judges at a table. They were all so smitten with our farm.

We won 1st Place, for Most Original Costume!

The judges thought our farm yard was very creative. The farmer and her little animals had a fun night, and then they went back to the farm and went fast asleep in their barn.

If you have blogged your kids in some of your favorite Halloween /Hallowtide costumes, leave us a link so we can come see them! If you haven’t, wouldn’t it be a fun post?

Thanks for stopping by. We hope you enjoyed seeing our kiddo’s costumes from the past, as mush as we enjoy revisiting these wonderful family memories.

Wishing you all a Happy Halloween / Hallowtide!!

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Just Some Things That Make Me Smile….| In Photos

October 24, 2010 By Laura 4 Comments

Me.

I’m always taking random photos, that I love to have because they made me smile. But they wouldn’t necessarily make a whole post. So I thought I’d try putting them in bunches sometimes, and doing a post now and then, about some of these little things that make me smile. Then I may happen to throw in a couple of others too, that were not random photos, but do indeed make me smile anyway.

Just a photo-happy little post.

So here are just some things, that make me smile……

birthday-pancake This beautiful pancake my husband and kiddos surprised me with on the morning of my birthday, even though they knew I would never eat it in a million years. They made it anyway, because ‘number breakfasts’ are a tradition in our home on birthdays, and they can’t let the tradition go, even on my day. I’m not big on eating much in the morning. That is chocolate frosting they worked with there, by the way. (In the morning?).

This pancake masterpiece sat in the fridge for about…well, the million years.

And then Michael ate it. Really.

I know.
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0021 ….How happy my kids are, whenever they can spend time with their Papa.

Or maybe it’s, ….how happy my father is, whenever he can spend time with his grandkids.

Basically, it works both ways.

And it all makes me smile, because I love them all, and I love to see them all happy.

Anytime. All of the time.
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003 When I can just watch them play…..

tea-and-rosary-time …..or focus on our faith, together……

rosary-and-tea
….over apple-cinnamon tea, and banana bread.
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kitchen-aid-mixer My Kitchen Aid Mixer. And it’s Sender. <3 You just had to have known that was coming.

And oh yes…..we’ve used it lots already. You’ll be seeing!
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0071
How silly my boy gets. Every day. He’s a clown, for sure.
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0082 My new/used lens. We fit like a hand in a glove, Baby.

Or is it hand and a glove?

Well, you know what I mean.

We belong together.
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0092
My God-Daughter. Ohhhh the smiles she has caused on my face. Her expressions of love for me have made me cry, 100 times over. Can you even get over the freckles? When I see her, I try to kiss every one. She’s so precious to me.
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homeschooled-siblings Our Autumn family hikes. The crispness in the air, the crunching of leaves under our feet, appreciating the beauty all around us, that confusing scent in the air (….Old leaves? Or dog poo nearby?….lol)….and just chatting, laughing, and being together, going nowhere in particular.

These are just *some* of the things that make me smile.
I encourage you to ponder the things that make you smile, too. And if you can, take photos of those things! They’ll make you re-smile in later years, when you find them.

Thanks for the visit today, Friends.

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{A} Goes to Witness 2 Hope | Catholic Middle School Retreat

August 23, 2010 By Laura 4 Comments

At last, I have gotten it all together enough, to share with you all a little bit about the purpose behind our prayer request for {A} a couple of weeks ago. We understand that some of you may not view it as that big of a deal, but for us, it was big. So we are thankful for your prayers if you prayed. They went a long way for us!

So here’s the whole scoop, for those who have been waiting:

In early July, when we were on the show This Is The day, there was a young man and woman there also as show guests, named Steven Colella and Danielle Olsen, from The New Evangelization of the Archdiocese of Boston, to promote a new program for middle schoolers, called Witness 2 Hope. A similar program for high schoolers, called Witness 2 Truth, had already been established and had been effective. They decided that instilling such leadership qualities in young people even sooner than high school, would be beneficial, and that is naturally the truth.

So after our segment of the show, and having listened to {A} speak about her faith, they approached us and encouraged her to attend Witness 2 Hope. It did sound like a great program, and we were glad to hear such efforts were being made with our young people today. However, at the time we just did not consider it very seriously for {A}, because the 4 day program was quite a distance away from where we lived, costed more than we could really afford at the time, and also, {A} had only just turned 13. Quite honestly, she has not had much interest in her young life, in being very far from her family, for days at a time. So, it was not something we really thought about very long.

However, a few weeks ago they contacted us again, hoping we/she would reconsider. They really just felt that she would be a good witness to others at the program. And then, they offered us a full scholarship, to go. After really looking into it more, {A} decided it was really something she wanted to go to. So then I, as her mother, addressed all of my concerns and questions with Steven Colella, as her mother. He was extremely gracious and more than happy to answer every last one, with detail and re-assurance. So we decided she’d be going, and got packing. She was VERY EXCITED, and grew more so as the time drew near to go.

That is really the bulk of most of your reading in this post. So bare with me! The rest is just photos and short explanations.
** Please note that all of the photos with the black outline are images by George Martel, photographer of the Archdiocese of Boston. The rest were taken by me.

The weekend was Thursday August 12- Sunday August 15th. We drove her, and stopped for a bagel on the way since it was a long way, and through our normal lunch time. The triplets were a little clingy, and didn’t want her to go! (And I knew exactly how they were feeling.)

The weekend was held here, at St. Thecla’s Retreat House, in Billerica, MA. It was a beautiful place, inside and out. When I was younger, I often contemplated and dreamed about living a secluded life as a nun, at a place like this. A quiet prayer life really does speak to me. As much as I love my life with my family, deeply, and know it is my vocation, I still dream about places like this sometimes. I wanted to stay with {A}. lol I knew she was going to have a great, uplifting weekend.

We brought her in, got her registered, a got her settled in her little room, and said our goodbyes! Not easy, Folks! Certainly not for me.

There were 25 middle schoolers attending. The purpose of the program was to build up real leadership skills, teach them to be able to communicate well with people in a group, work well together in creating plans of action, and accomplishing tasks that make a difference in their community, or beyond.

We learned that over the course of the weekends, there were many workshops, assignments, games to demonstrate why the skills they were learning were important, as well as mass, Adoration, and praise and worship. And a lot of fun!! {A} finally saw the movie, the Chronicles of Narnia, which was SO exciting to her, since she has read the whole entire series, many times over. She loved the movie, which they watched outdoors at night, in the courtyard!

On Sunday when the families came, each small group had presentations for us, that showed their demonstration of carrying out a Corporal Work of Mercy. {A}’s group chose ‘clothing the naked’, and they explained and showed their plan, of how they could help with that ministry.

Here is {A} with her small group that she worked closely with through parts of the weekend.
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Fr. Matt. He gave a passionate sermon at the closing mass we all attended. Really great, full of profound points, and humor. He is really great with the young people. I could see they really connected with him, and why.
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Praise and worship at Mass. The music was awesome! I love praisin’ and worshippin’. It was all I could do not to run up there and join them. But I stayed in my pew, and just rocked out there.

See, I do have control of my little self, sometimes.

This is Steve Colella and Danielle Olsen. They designed this whole program for the middle schoolers, as well as the Witness 2 Truth program that is in it’s 2nd year, for high schoolers. They are a great team!
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{A} and Danielle. This young woman has such a joy of God in her, it is hard to miss. She is so blessed, to be so in tune with her faith at such a young age! She was inspiring, and no doubt had some great influence on the kids there. I think God gave her those dimples for life, as some divine compensation blessing, for her work. lol
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I’m going to try not, to go on and on about this boy. But, he could have been mine!! He was adopted by his family from Russia. He stood out to me, right away, because he just carries out such an air of happiness and light. At one point at the closing, we were all in the chapel, waiting for mass to begin. He was in the front row, and I saw him turn around to talk to the kids behind him. {A} was 2 pews behind him, and when he caught glimpse of her, he just popped up and reached through the kids, outstretching his hand, for {A} to touch his. <sniff>. If you just could have seen it….honestly, it was just the sweetest most spontaneous thing. When {A} told me he was adopted, I immediately thought “Darn! I had an opportunity, and I blew it!”. I seriously wanted to take him home. But I am sure his family really wants to keep him.He is another she’ll be keeping in touch with. He is just…..I loved him.
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The whole Witness 2 Hope Team. They all had such a great time together, and {A} came home with more friends, more skills, and more experience.
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She had such a good time, and she was really happy she went.
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All of the kids got a t-shirt from the weekend, and this is on the back of it. It was sort of ironic.

{A} has ALWAYS spoke of this quote by Pope John Paul II, and pondered what she could do, in her own big or small way, to help bring his dream to light. So it was not only ironic that the shirts quoted JPII, but it shows you how much this program was right up her alley!

It was a great weekend, and a new milestone for all of us as a family. One that will present itself more and more as time goes on. But for this Sunday, we were happy to pick up our girl, and bring her home with us again!

We stopped to celebrate on the way home, with a wonderful Mexican meal at this restaurant, Margarita’s. While we gather around the table as a family every evening, we had a new appreciation and gratitude this day, of being all together again.

Thanks again for the prayers! They helped us a lot!

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{A}’s 13th Birthday | 4th of July Weekend 2010 | Final Part at CatholicTV

August 1, 2010 By Laura 4 Comments

{A}’s birthday wish, was to visit the CatholicTV station, in Watertown, MA. Now, some of you may or may not know, that we are a little familiar with CatholicTV, by having become friends with Fr. Bob Reed, who is the director of CatholicTV, and who also helps out with presiding over Masses at several parishes, including our own.

{A} was the first to develop a real friendship with Fr. Reed, as a result of the frequent masses she served, and the time spent with Fr. Reed in the sacristy. That led to Fr. Reed asking us to be part of the pilot episode of a new show at CatholicTV called House & Home, which was filmed in the fall of 2008, and aired in the summer of 2009. (It was a new show; they had a lot of ducks to get in a row. So we embraced our last bit of anonymity in those months. lol) Since then, Fr. Reed has remained a treasured friend of our family. He’s such a cool guy. So, when {A} e-mailed him (as she does on occasion), to request a tour of the CatholicTV station for her birthday wish, Fr. Reed responded quite quickly with her granted wish. He also said he would personally give us the ’25 cent tour’ himself. He said that the actual 5th would not work, but the 6th would be great. He also asked that we be there in time for the ‘This Is The Day’ morning show taping. We soon realized (when he called us later) that he wanted us to be part of the show too. Oh. lol. Now, one might think I’d be getting used to this being taped for television business, but no so much. A little racing heart comes along with knowing your children will be taped for live TV….you know? As we said, we really are not like that mylar balloon family. But..anything for Fr. Reed.

As a side note, {A} and Fr. Reed have had another special connection, in that her actual birthday is his anniversary of ordination into the priesthood. This would be his 25th year!! So, we were happy to go the day after, or whatever day worked for them. The 5th was a legal holiday anyway.

On the set of ‘This Is The Day’. Now….I had never been on the set before, but I had watched the show. I assumed, (and you know how that goes…), that there was a small audience whom we would be part of. You know, maybe a few rows of those seats like at the movies.

No. Six folding chairs, set up just for us. Oh my. Right next to the cameras, lights, and overhead microphones recording the live show. As I sat there next to my 4, occasionally spontaneous children. Yes, I had given them a brief pre-chat in the car on the way. But looking around, and as I heard the director countdown to the live taping “6…..5…..4…..3…..2……1…..<point of finger>”…..it warranted a moment of eye contact with my little blessings, that said “This is alllll business, Kiddos, but go ahead and enjoy it too! <wink>”….without saying a spoken word.

Here is Jay Fadden, host of the show, and side-kick of Fr. Reed (or is the other way around?)……who is as smooth as ice, with cameras rolling, just like his side-kick. I tried to listen, observe, and learn all I could through the first few segments, before WE were up there. No, I hadn’t necessarily learned all I needed to know (or would be nice to know!), the first time around, with all of this TV business.

But I digress. (Or..did I? I forget now.) But see the Mayflower on the side table there? They put that out in honor of us being there on the show that day! How sweet is that? I’m not sure what it meant, that it continued to be there for several following shows but….still!

So how and in what way were we part of ‘This Is The Day?’ Well, if you have ever watched the show (because CatholicTV is a nationwide cable television station), you might know about the ‘Catholic Treasure Box’. At the start of this show, that airs Tuesday and Friday mornings, Fr. Reed presents a riddle, to give clues to what answer may be in the Catholic Treasure box.

So this day, the riddle was as follows:

Parents and children, in home secure, we find the church’s most humble form.

The answer is: FAMILY. That would be us….<enter family>. We did not fit in the box. We didn’t even try.

We sat on the couches, did a little segment chit-chat, they took several photos of us, and then we got on with our tour. I’m not going to link you here, because really…..I wouldn’t assume you want to see it. And you shouldn’t assume I want you to, either, lol. But the show itself is a great show! Just as the other is.

This a shot taken in the master control room. Fr. Reed showed us the whole place….no stones left unturned. Well…would we know if there was? Maybe not. But, we saw a whole lot of the place, and it was incredibly interesting. Also, we can’t really express enough, what really wonderful people, work for the CatholicTV station. Seriously….so friendly. A real sense of family there, at that network. I almost longed to go to work there every day, myself. lol (Behind the cameras, of course.)

After seeing so much of the station, what they do where, and how it all works, Fr. Reed let us into this conference room, which I think, he thought, he had planned for {A}’s birthday. However, the joke was somewhat on him……as his CatholicTV family had this celebration planned for him, for his 25th Anniversary of Ordination. You can’t see in the photo, but the room is full of people. Clapping people.

He. Was. Surprised. I think he thought he had the whole day planned in detail, himself,….and this room full of people, for him, was not on his agenda. (Notice the sweet blush.) He said something to the effect of, “Well weren’t we going to sing Happy Birthday to Alexis?”. Jay explained they would, but they wanted to thank him for his many wonderful years of service as a priest, and the difference he has made in everyone’s lives….and he added how, “The Richard Family was in on this the whole time… .”

Ok…horrible shot here…..the camera actually went off by accident as I tried to hurry and GET this shot, where he was saying to our giggling trio, “WHY didn’t you TELL MEEEE???!!!”

So it seemed, he wanted to celebrate {A}’s birthday, and we were all there to celebrate his milestone anniversary. See, after he had made tour plans with us,, we got a phone call from the staff, saying they were planning a surprise celebration for him, and could we keep him in “Studio A” for as long as possible. Of course we were happy to! We were SO HONORED, to have been there with him to celebrate.

It’s just kind of comical, because it seemed he thought he had some special surprises set up for {A} in this room, which none of us knew about at all!! But there was actually a celebration planned for HIM in this room, that HE did not know about at all, but we did. So….in the end, we were all surprised on some level.

Fr. Reed, cutting his 25th Anniversary cake.

Soon enough, the focus turned on {A}, as the room full of people/staff (off camera)….sang her Happy Birthday, ….

….and presented her with these sweet surprises.

I was going to edit the red of her face out of this photo, but I think it is so cute. She was as embarrassed as the dickens. I don’t recall ever, having seen her blush like this. So much attention. But still grinning from ear to ear.

I really loved how the cake was decorated. It seriously was so perfect for her personality.

Cake…fresh flowers, and gifts……really. She just asked for a tour, so she was SO surprised by it all.

So here she is, just before we left, with her dear friend, Fr. Reed. Who incidentally….truly did give her a birthday she will never forget. To be there, for HIS special anniversary, meant more to her in the end, than anything. She really thinks the world and a 1/2, of him. He’s been a powerful and loving influence in her life, in many ways.

{A} made this bracelet for Fr. Reed. It is the branding colors of CatholicTV. She has made him these before in other colors, and he really wears them! He wore a red, white and blue one she made him, for the longest time.

He had a very special personal gift for her too.

Ok first, on a side note, something I have seen on TV happened to me. Someone said to me, (in this case, Fr. Reed), “Would you mind if I had a moment alone to talk to your daughter?”. “Uummmm….Sure! We’ll be at the car.” lol

Then he talked to her, and gave her this unbelievable treasure of a gift, which has been a personal treasure of his own…..

…a relic of Maria Goretti.

See, St. Maria Goretti is a 12 year old martyr, who was attacked on July 5th, {A}’s birthday, and also Fr. Reed’s 25 Ordination Anniversary. She died on the 6th, and this was her Feast Day. You can read all about St. Maria here, or watch the little video.

Wow, wow, wow. {A} treasures this, so very much, and we know she always will.

(Here is a closer cropped shot. I really love this photo of the 2 of them.)

Thank you Fr. Reed, and everyone at CatholicTV, for making our girl’s birthday so very special, and memorable. We also thank you for how warm and welcoming you always are to our family, and all you do for the Catholic and Christian community. You are a true light to us all, as we continue grow in our faith formation, be it in person, or the glow of our televisions all over the nation.

And one more HaPpY BiRtHdAy to you {A}. You truly carry a light of your own, and we are blessed to have you as such a big part of our life, and our family. We love you, more than you know.

Thanks to all of YOU, our faithful blog readers, for your patience in waiting for this last post! I was SURE I would have it out before July was behind us anyway, but I missed that boat. Nonetheless, we hope you all enjoyed sharing in our celebrations. {A} thanks you all for the thoughtful birthday wishes too!!

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Let Us Rejoice and Be Glad…| Triplets’ First Holy Communion Day

May 15, 2010 By Laura 3 Comments

The triplets’ First Holy Communion Day, was so special.
This day, that they have waited for for so long, finally arrived! I promise, this is the last of the First Holy Communion posts – along with the Simple Lunch Spread for a Celebration Gathering post up right now. We’re hoping someone, somewhere, is still interested, while we indulge in posting about this happy occasion one more time.

Anyway, I wasn’t going to take photos of them actually receiving for the first time, because it just didn’t seem right. But….the other parents were told it was alright, as long as the photos were taken from their seats. So, I decided to do so too, not wanting to regret passing up the opportunity! Even though my angle was awful! All of the other children receiving their Sacrament this day, sat at the end of a pew for their family, and simply stepped out of their pew to receive this first time. But ours stepped out of our pew, and across the whole aisle in a line up, across the back of the 2 lines of kids. (Hope you followed that.) Anyway…..the Mass was really nice, as always, and the kids did great! They were so excited prior to…..then after, so happy and just….beaming. Trust me when I say, they fully understood/understand the significance of this event, and every Mass from here on out.

Some of our family and friends were there at the Mass with us. Some traveled quite a ways, to celebrate this day with us, and it meant a lot to all of us. {JM, O & S} brought up the gifts for the Mass, which was so sweet. They were really happy to do it.

Do you all know Fr. Bob Reed, from CatholicTV? ( Do your kids watch WOW!?) Well, we do, and love him. We were touched to learn that he had put in for presiding the Mass at which they would make this Holy Sacrament. He has become a great friend of ours. Yes, he is giving them rabbit ears in the first photo, still being silly in the second, and finally we get a serious shot in the third! He even has a secret handshake with them. He is, simply put, a really kind, funny, down-to-earth guy, and the work he does to evangelize our Catholic faith through by his vocation, through TV and otherwise, is nothing short of amazing!
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Following Mass, our family and friends came to our home for a continued celebration. Of course, we had decorated our little tree (a.k.a. a branch) for this special Sacrament occasion, and I loved what the kids did on our schooling chalkboard! We served our guests a light lunch, which I shared in the Recipes section.

Before we ate though, we took some more quick photos with the people who love them, and came to be with them on this day:

triplets-first-holy-communion-day-7 Left: The 6 of us. I love that this is small, and you cannot see how absolutely terrible & tired I looked! (Aren’t I clever?) I had been going non-stop for days, to be ready for this day. Can’t imagine how I would have survived, if I didn’t ‘keep it simple’! But I digress. {A} on the other hand, was an absolute doll! She had on the sweetest outfit, and beads! / Right: The trio with their Godparents, (one of my brothers and sister-in-law), the kids Uncle G and Auntie K. As blessed as our kids are with the Godparents they have, we wanted badly to be able to give them each their own set of Godparents. They are individual kids, not a unit, and deserve that like any other kids. But you know how complicated these things can be, and we just couldn’t at that time, give them their own. I feel compelled to say that, only because I do not want to give the impression that we see our triplets, as ONE, and not individual kids. Most know that, but I feel better SAYING it. (So thanks for letting me!) Their Godparents love them very much though, and vice-versa. They are also a wonderful aunt and uncle, and were gracious to accept all 3 as their Godchildren.

With their ‘Papa’, who often comes for overnights to spend time with them. And then with two uncles.

“It’s all…..for you.” lol.

WITH FR. (Bob) REED

Fr. Bob showed up, so I took the fruit cup in his hand away, and I made him have another photo. Even though, as he said, he didn’t have his priest attire on anymore. But he had PINK on!! I think it’s great when guys wear pink. Don’t you?

We were so done with photos by this point. And hungry. So we all went and ate. Well, I made sure everyone else ate, and tried to keep up with everything going on, and took bites in between!

Family and friends brought, and sent by mail, very thoughtful and unexpected gifts. We wanted to spend as much time with the people who came to celebrate with us, so the kids opened most of them later that night by ourselves. They received so many beautiful and special tokens of this day, that the kids truly already, treasure. They have always had a special fondness for their own religious items-and now they have so much more. The people in our lives are so kind and thoughtful.

The day just seemed to fly by, and I felt like I missed so much. I despise that feeling. I had planned this special day for the kids for so long, and I didn’t want to miss a moment. But I just couldn’t take it all in at once. We had several friends with us that day, that I wanted to get candid photos of, and never got to before they left: A family who good friends of ours, and some folks who have sat near us for so long and have become dear friends, who have watched the kids ‘sit like indians’ while we all went up to receive Communion, and have waited for this day too. It’s really bothering me, still. It’s one of those things…I want to go back and have another chance! I want the kids to have photos of everyone who was there with them that day. Despite my planning, I didn’t get this part done. I wanted to take LOTS of candids all day. But I was so busy with so many things, time got away, people eventually left, and then it was too late.

But to the kids….the day was truly perfect, and joyful. And I too, do have sweet moments of this day, burned into my memory. (But, I don’t have proof of it all in photos, darn it! lol). Sweet moments, like this one…..

….The boys, pushing their Aunt/Godmother on the swing. She, of course, was really being dramatic and making the most of it for their entertainment, and they were just loving it!! They were laughing so hard, and having so much fun. And so was she!! I truly just love the photo of her on the right.

THIS……Is Fr. Ken. The pastor of our church. You know, the one who’s AMAZING homilies I speak so much about?! We were so happy he came over to our house for awhile, too!! He came a little later on, after many had left (even Fr. Bob). But you know what…it was SO NICE. Because we sat with him for a long time on the deck, and just talked. (After he quizzed the kids on important questions. Talk about being put on the spot!) We talked about his homilies, and how he prepares for them. (I had to know the details!) He also shared a whole lot…..about the new church we will be building quite soon.

Here is another photo, that represents more sweet memories of this day….

…..our kids, with some of their cousins. Many could not be with us this day, but these 2 could!! D & M (right behind {A} in the front) are great kids. They all had SO much fun together, playing with Pixel, laughing and talking about random stuff, and playing basketball. It was great to see them all having a great time together, and we’ll be doing it again soon!

It truly was a blessed and beautiful day, for sure. The weather could not have been better, too. Sunny and mid-70’s. Perfect.

O.K. now, aside from the day’s menu over in Vittles, that should wrap up our First Holy Communion posts!! Thank you so much, for letting us share so much of this special occasion with you, and sharing in our joy!! As much hype as we have built up to this day, the kids will tell you, the happiness and excitement only began with this day. They will, and already are, re-living the joy over and over, as they receive Jesus at every Mass of their lives, from this day forward.

Let us continue to rejoice, and be glad.

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We won 1st Place, for Most Original Costume!

Let us continue to rejoice, and be glad.

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