Holy Week and Easter!

What a blessed week is has been! John Paul was able to make it all the way through Holy Thursday Mass (admittedly my FAVORITE Mass of the year) which we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood... I was a basket case. Good Friday was beautiful (and redemptive- the kids were skipping naps and we were on the front row), I hear the Easter Vigil was moving and Easter Morning, we went to the Bishop's Mass. We got our "apostle" on Easter morning!! Sarah and her family came from Colorado, so we have been enjoying them immensely!! Christ is Risen!!



Anna Kate and John Paul (who are cousins, not twins) dying eggs!

Therese Marie in her Easter dress from Granny...


...which was removed once she found the mud!



John Paul Easter Morning!!


The Egg Hunt at Granny and Grandpa's on Easter Sunday... Therese knew egg-sactly what to do. John Paul paid no mind to the reality that some eggs were plastic and some were real, so he was chunking/throwing/splatting his eggs into his train basket... no paquing those eggs! We head to Baton Rouge Thursday to see the Dawson's - can't wait!!

Walking: the proof

The switch is flipped!

Ok, the light switch. You know when babies are learning to walk and they hold fingers and refuse to let go except for a few consecutive steps here and there? Then one day, the light switch it flipped in their little bodies? They begin trying over and over and out of nowhere they can't seem to stop practicing?

That happened in Therese today... at the library... in Moss Bluff. We have never been to this library before and it was a largely attended tea party. She must have seen all the little kids walking around in this small space and decided to give it a go. She even walked to strangers and reached for the story teller before we left. She then proceeded to walk around in circles repeatedly at our friend's house. The switch is flipped. Now, of course, we're home and the ambiance of home has made her gun-shy again, but I wanted to let you know! Could we call her a toddler? I'm pregnant, so it doesn't make me sad. She's almost officially a toddler. WooHoo!

Tell it!!

A wonderful poem a waiting for the one:

Just in case you hadn't seen them lately...

Therese Marie- the cast is off, but these pictures were fast favorites of mine.

Those ARE beads around her neck. She finds them and puts them (all of them) around her neck.




John Paul- my sweet ever-changing little man. He's recently remembered all the fun things he's done in the last few months and uses their memories to manipulate me. For example: I want him to eat one more bite of peas. "Mama, you had fun at the zoo? And uncle Pat's playing baseball?" OR he's climbed half-way out of his bed and it stuck. "Mama, you had fun at the parade?"

Note: He pretty much has no grasp of first person, so he's speaks about himself in second.

The newest addition to the family

This is the new train table...

New to us, from the Chaumont's (Thanks Carrie and Alex). John Paul has been so overjoyed in playing with it, including utilizing the two drawers because goodness knows that with John Paul everything has it's place.

How do we keep Therese from destroying it? We don't. We deal. Got any better ideas? So So happy about this, and grateful that, once again, God has provided.

Mary's message... and a husband's hard work.

Our Lady's message of April 2, 2011 to Mirjana

"Dear children; With motherly love I desire to open the heart of each of you and to teach you personal unity with the Father. To accept this, you must comprehend that you are important to God and that He is calling you individually. You must comprehend that your prayer is a conversation of a child with the Father; that love is the way by which you must set out - love for God and for your neighbour. That is, my children, the love that has no boundaries, that is the love that emanates from truth and goes to the end. Follow me, my children, so that also others, in recognizing the truth and love in you, may follow you. Thank you."

Once again Our Lady called us to pray for our shepherds (priests) and said: "They have a special place in my heart. They represent my Son."

Also, my precious David planted a rose garden for us in the front of our house. They bloomed on the feast of the Annunciation- not a coincidence! Here are a few shots of his great work: Thank you, sweet spouse. I love you and I am so proud of you.