Thankful Thursdays

*whew* What a week! Cutting it close this Thursday!

I'm thankful for...

 1.) Friends, family, and work to keep me on my toes!

2.) Having finished N's sweater (it is SO cute on him!) and his hat to match XD

3.) A wonderful husband who brought me out on a very fantastic Valentine's Day date, and all 3 of the fantastic blessed guys in my life. :)

4.) Heat on cold days.

5.) Coworkers with sewing machines who mend my jacket. Yippee! :)

6.) Adorable phone messages left on my voicemail by my 2 1/2 yr old before his bedtime

7.) Delicious dinners

8.) Cuddlesome kittens

9.) This sweater, left for me by my now postulate nun sister who didn't know she was leaving it. I love it.

10.) God's graces in my life...through the sacraments, through my children, through the mere ability to resist temptations that once 'did me in'. :)

Brotherly Love

They were just being cute and I had to share! :) Now for a walk...

Photos of DMN's funeral

It's taken way too long for me to post these, but here are lots of photos of the funeral:

 

My dad helped lower the casket into the grave

 

We were all given the opportunity to cover her grave; here are some of the photos from that.

All the children were given balloons to release in symbolism of DMN's soul going to Heaven. Green for St. Patrick's Day and pink for her.

DMN, we love you.

Our Photographer the Saint

Just got some of the originals from a couple photoshoots with a friend of mine. While going through them, I was blown away by her patience. I think I would have been yelling, "Hold STILL!" by some point!

I thought I would share a typical selection of some of them...

We didn't realize just *how* patient she'd had to be.

Because this is the sort of work that came back to us...

Now we realize how lucky and loved we are.

Thank you, RS, for all of your hard work! We love you!

A Good Time at Mass

Usually, I love bringing the boys to mass on Sundays.

That said, today I was not looking forward to mass.

D just had his work schedule change from 1:30-10pm (M-F) to 10:30am-7:30pm (Th-M). Knowing that he was going to be missing every *other* mass option, we had planned to bring the boys to the earlier 8am mass....

But then life happened. We ended up missing the 8am service and I set out to get the boys to the 10:30 service. Alone. (Yikes!)

We got to mass (5 minutes late... well, we can't do it all...) and I was prepared. I had entertainment and a tippy cup for N and a blanket and Snuggli carrier for T (my very favorite Moby Wrap was in the dirty laundry unfortunately).

N was FABULOUS! He sat in the pew all through mass, barely complained at all, and I only ended up needing the tippy cup. YAY!

After mass, the dad sitting in front of us turned around and complimented N on his good behavior. And then we went down for cocoa and donuts and N enjoyed running around with the other children...

I was worried, I'll be honest, that N would figure that he could get away with more without D there. And we're stick-in-the-mud parents about mass (when he misbehaves, he goes outside for a time-out, not to the cry room to play with toys/other children), so I was really worried about how I was going to be able to handle N during mass with T in the Snuggli.

I am SO proud of his good behavior!

Every week, I think about his baptism. He has always loved mass. It could be the peaceful setting. Could also be the music. He LOVES music.

My little guy. How can 19 months have passed by so quickly? And how is it that they seem to be moving even faster these days?

We're scheduling T's baptism soon...

How do they get so big so fast?

A Meal Planning Mommy

I love my crock pot.

I have had it for years, but only really discovered it recently, thanks to Grandma E and Aunt MH, actually.

But now I know the secret that so many women have already known. The best meal plan involves preparing and freezing meals at the end of the weekend.


Because it's far easier to cut open a frozen bag of stew and slow cook it all day than it is to cut up stew meat, potatoes, celery, onions, carrots, etc, add all of your spices and flavorings, and try to do so in time to have dinner made by the time D walks in the door. Especially on the days when the counter is cluttered, N is screaming, and T is colicky.


My favorite recipes so far include Chicken Paprika, Chicken with apples and lemon, and barbecued meatballs.


Are you a crock pot cooker? Do you have other time cutting secrets? Favorite recipes? Tell me about them!

Forgive me for Gushing

N is getting to the age where pens and paper are some of the most entertaining toys I can produce. So, I thought, what better time to begin introducing him to his letters? The other day, he and I were writing his name (well, he was holding the pen and I was writing, really ^_^). I read the letters out loud to him somewhat slowly. When I finished, he got all excited and went and retrieved his other favorite toy, a stuffed dog named Scout. Scout has a song loaded onto him which consists of saying N's name, spelling it, and then saying it again.
N found the song.

And proudly danced to it.

Yes, I am aware that this does not qualify my son as a genius. But a mom can brag, no?

Apparently I'm Not..

...to do any more paperwork today.

Jack says. Sorry.

Park Days!

We at the Hastings home love our park days! With such b.e.a.utiful weather in the Pacific Northwest lately, it's hard for us to stay inside!

 

...So we didn't!

As you can see, T didn't much like stopping to take a picture... 

...And N is, of course, wearing Daddy's hat. At his insistence.

N's favorite playground activity?

 

Swings!

He practically touched the sky!

I love that I have such an energetic and happy little guy! He just loves seeing other kids, and playing on the swings and slides, and just generally being out of the house!

He jabbered away to me all the way there and all the way home, telling me in his own little language about the trees and flowers and cars and grass.... and who knows what else, really?

 

I guess all that activity took all of his energy right out of him, though, because, poor fellow, he couldn't quite finish his sandwich...

I wish I could have gotten a good photo of him as I laid him down for nap, but laying him down happy is a delicate balance and cameras just don't factor in!

Now it's off to clean and prepare for the second wave of energy... ;)