Opening Day 2011

Baseball season began for this year's Marlins team this past Saturday.
Being the first Spring Season that we have played in our local baseball league, we had no idea exactly what our day had in store for us.

It all began with a 42 team parade, including floats, trailers, decorated trucks, fire trucks, police officers shutting down major streets, and 300 excited baseball players hurling candy at innocent bystanders! It continued with team introductions, singing the National Anthem, a speech by the Mayor and a ceremonial first pitch, and everyone's favorite spring words, "Play Ball!"

Peter just before heading out to the parade. Unfortunately we did not get any action shots of the game, but we did win, already equaling our total wins from last season!

The following comes from the victory party at the local Braum's!

Quote of the day - Peter on the way home states, "It sure is a good feeling being in the car after you win, isn't it Dad? I mean it is OK to lose, but a LOT more fun to win!"

Rangers 10 - Marlins 1

So tonight was Peter's first game of coach pitch baseball! It was an exciting event and all had a good time. Being the head coach I was a little nervous as to what our first game entailed, considering we were up against last seasons first place team, the Rangers.

All of our kids played great, given that 7 of the 9 have never played organized baseball. Despite some untimely bathroom breaks, lots of overthrows, a ton of strikeouts, and an opponent that put 5 runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning, Peter, and the rest of the Marlins, gave it a valiant 5 inning effort, but came up just a few(9) runs short of a win.


Peter played catcher and really enjoyed being behind the plate. He did a great job and is starting to really grasp the concepts of the game.


The team was cheered on by the whole family, including some cousins who came out for the night. We look forward to a wonderful season and many more years to come of little league ball.
It was the first game of the first season for this budding little ball player, who when I tucked him into bed tonight and asked what he thought about baseball, he replied, "Dad, it was the funnest thing ever."

P.S. Peter went 2-3 with 2 singles and the teams only RBI. (Run Batted In for those non-baseball fans)

Reading Before Bed

And no, neither of these pictures were staged, just the wonderful reality I walked into after cleaning up the kitchen a few nights ago.

What a blessing these kiddos are!

A Blessed Mother's Day

The other day Daniel looked at me with a rather serious expression for a three year old. He asked, "Mommy, we are poor, aren't we," and after the third time, I realized this was truly concerning him. Perhaps having to choose only one of the coveted cartons of ice cream because "we didn't want to spend too much money on treats," had left a more lasting impression than mint chocolate chip ever had before. What ever had caused his anxieties, I thought Mother's Day a good opportunity to recount all the blessings that through the years have kept poverty at bay, and filling our sacrifices with sweet joy.

To watch 1 wonderful big brother delight in each new sibling,




To know 2 sisters, who will share, along with their bed, a bond for life,

To enjoy a 3 year old who could make anyone laugh,

To be kissed each day, by 4 little angels,

To have the care of 5 Immortal Souls entrusted to us,
and, to only have to wait 6 months to share this new life with the world,
(SURPRISE!)

To enjoy a Saturday morning bed soon to be filled with 7 cuddly bodies,




And to welcome a baby with 8 little arms eager to embrace it,
This is true wealth.


So yesterday, when Daniel looked at me and with amazement said, "wow Mommy, we really are rich!"


I had to agree; we are far richer than I ever thought possible when 9 years ago the man I love asked me to share his life with him.



We hope all the mothers reading this have come to know all the blessings we have known each time our Lord has given us another set of 10 little toes.

Happy Mother's Day!

Easy as 1, 2, 3....

Recently on a weekday I came home for a few hours so Jen could take Izzy to the doctor and be able to have a conversation without 4 opinions being interjected at every opportunity. As I was dealing with the two boys in another room after lunch and trying to get things cleaned up, I suddenly noticed that the house had became suspiciously quiet. I came back into the kitchen fully expecting Luci to be secretly emptying a cabinet! To my surprise this is what I found....



This happened all in the span of about 5 minutes. When I left the room she was eating and talking like a typical toddler. I returned and found her sound asleep at the table. So asleep in fact that I moved her to her bed and she never woke up.

I have always wondered why Mom's complain that they can't get their kids to take naps. I don't think it is hard at all!!

Earplugs Anyone?

Last weekend Jenny Lynn and Luci made a visit to Uncle Matty in Maryland, so I had to make due from Thursday at 2:30 pm, all the way until Sunday night. Luckily, a strategically placed call to some grandparents helped me get through the weekend with a little more ease.


On Sunday afternoon we made a trek out to the Alliance Air Show in Fort Worth. It was well worth the drive and Ganpa's money as the kids had fun, Ganpa and I had a blast, and Ganma worked on crowd control and toy airplane hunting.

The stroller seemed to be a sought after seat after the first hour.

Daniel enjoying some of the louder fighter jets!

Peter with his earplugs in.

The group inside a C-5 Cargo jet. It can hold 6 school buses.

The main attraction of the day. The Navy Blue Angels!

The most expensive attraction of the day!

Happy Birthday!

On October 10th we celebrated my wonderful wife's 29th birthday, the first of many I am sure. On the night before, I worked on preparing a great meal for a mother who too often eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pasta with no sauce for lunch on a daily basis.


Normally, I would not brag about my cooking, but this meal turned out amazing! I did a little research and ended up grilling fresh lamb and asparagus. I also tossed a fresh salad to go along.


The lamb had a nice rub with lemon and spices, and the asparagus was drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette glaze and fresh Parmesan cheese.


All of this was topped off with a nice Merlot!

What a wonderful and amazing woman, mother and wife, who deserves this kind of meal everyday, and too often ends up with much less!

Lotza Greeka Meata ballz!

Last September we had the joy of visiting the Greek Festival here in Dallas. Unfortunately, we did not have the joy of leaving satisfied, as the scales were more heavily weighted on the stroller rider side than the pocket book.

Our solution: homemade Pitas, Greek meatballs and Tzaziki sauce, a pile of tomatoes and feta and a whole lot of fun!

Unfortunately, Daniel did not think the meatballs were as worthy of the "OPAS!" after trying one. This was a call to arms for Daddy, who rallied the troops in a remarkable display of sibling rivalry and competition. Daniel, who normally is as adamant to contradict as he is determined to not lose, could neither be coaxed into submission by taunts for the most meatballs crammed into one child sized mouth, nor a continuous dialogue of his inability to consume meatballs at all.

Peter, being the natural leader he is, stepped up to the challenge beautifully, getting two whole meatballs in his mouth and keeping them there long enough for a photo-op.










Izzie got two in, but there was a minor explosion moments later.

He was unfazed by both the taunts and explosion.

But Luci enjoyed her 67th taste of food.

(We have been informed that the counting will end at 81, she is currently at 77, although I will need to verify with Peter.)

What did she think of them?


OPA!!!
(of course!)

Come here my little pretty!

At various times throughout the day today, the children have burst into the room to declare, "Hey mom, your the scary monster who tries to come eat all the little children safe in their house," or "Oh, mom, now your the mean pirate who wants to steal all the toys on the boat from the little kids," and my favorite, "you're the evil dragon who's vacuuming and trying to suck up all the kids!" I have also had the unintentional privilege of being a hungry lion and some kind of ferocious beast who was forced to fight the sword wielding Peter with nothing more than a stack of laundry.

I am not sure if I should be pleased that none of them were willing to assume the role of such vile characters, or concerned that I was their constant favorite.

Mommy and all her sweet little prey

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Friday! I hoped to have more pictures from our Easter trip, but it seems a mistaken camera identity has left half our pictures on my mom's camera. But for now, this is a bit of what we did.

Luci and Peter after Easter Sunday mass.
(The only picture I have of any of us in our Easter clothes.)

I discovered these pictures when downloading what I thought were family Easter pictures.

Decorating eggs with Gia & Pop-pop's neighbor, Ellen.
(She is practically their Amarillo sister, as our van is not in the drive way more than five minutes before she shows up to play, and the kids love her company!)

They also decorated Easter cookies. Unfortunately I missed all the decorating, on account of my successful nap, but the heart ache of having missed the activities will likely prevent future mid-day slumbers.

We all enjoyed the beautiful weather, especially Peter and Isabelle. Peter moved every bit of dirt from one bucket to the other all day long.

And Isabelle enjoyed her reunion with Ginger, the bouncing horse, although I don't think that was her name when I was a little girl.

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday, and will enjoy the rest of Easter season. We intend to, starting with those homemade Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies I have been dreaming about all of Lent!

Science Experiments

Upon the recommendation of an old home school book, we have been attempting to grow "ferns" from the ends of some of our recent side dishes.

And so, to all those who doubted our little plate of water and carrot tops...

They have sprouted, and Peter and Isabelle are delighted!

We shall wait to see what happens to these little plants in the backyard.

Peter Pie, our eldest, takes his role in the family very seriously, and as one in a position of such obvious authority over the other three children must, has made use of his power to dictate their every move. He has found subjecting Doodle to his rule of particular interest recently, which, aside from causing a two year old to retreat into a mode of absolute opposition to all authority, has brought rise to new questions about the paradigm in which Peter lives. After all, how can you enforce the truth when you hardly understand it?

This week Doodle's insistence upon renaming practically everyone has prompted increasing concern for Peter as to why he and his subjects are not allowed to call certain adults by their first names and yet are allowed to use nothing but other people's first names, despite the explanation of the "Aunt" and "Uncle" preceding the latter set of names. Of equal concern, seems to be the fact that we use no part of some people's names at all, but rather, such obscure words as "mom" and "dad," or "grandmother" and "grandfather." We attempted an explanation of familial ties, and how certain people are closer to our family than others and assumed his world was set right.

Yesterday, after dropping some friends off at their house, Peter, bursting with frustration, demanded, "Why do we have to call them Mr. and Mrs. when they only live five minutes from our house?!"

Mary's Cream Puffs

Here are some pictures from our Cream Puff celebration. It is much easier to take pictures the night of, than to get the post up. A result of celebration side-effects, I think.

Pudding Prep.
(I missed all the puff prep pictures; containing the goo and hot pans won out over the camera)

Peter helped Isabelle with the milk.

A glass of wine helped mommy with the spills.

And after two minutes of stirring, Peter will confirm that you can actually see pudding become solid.

Our Head Chef.

Having discerned that a plate of nachos stood between each of us and the consumption of puffs, she wisely took over bean spreading, as mommy's attentions had necessarily been redirected to puff assembly. I don't think a chip has been more thoroughly, or lovingly, adorned with beans, and the process would have continued all night, that amount of time being necessary to complete four plates at that speed, had I not discovered her de-salting the chips before spreading. A slip of the tongue, it seems. She didn't really understand my concern, as she assured me it was only her own chips stripped of their seasonings.

The Dish Boy.

There was debate over where a pair of two year old hands could be most... useful. In pudding and puffs, or soap and suds.

This picture captured him after he scrubbed his left ear. A few suds remain.




Squeezing an excess of chocolate on their puffs was perhaps their favorite part.

Even though for mom, a heap of Hershey's didn't do the trick, celebrating with the kids was worth every drop.