Abbey's First Communion

Back to May, Abbey made her First Communion. She was nervous, but excited. We practiced at home. We went shopping for the dress (which she did not enjoy). We planned the party. Then the weekend arrived! Madgie and Patch came in early on Friday morning, so I picked them up from the airport and we went to the Children's Museum with Matthew.  Matthew loves the car section - it is difficult to get him to leave this area to explore the rest of the museum!

 Playing on instruments.

Then it was time to pick the kids up from school and really get ready for the weekend.  We set up for the party first (the kids love setting up for parties). Here is her Baptismal Candle on display - we lit it for the party.

Her cake - exactly how she wanted it decorated.

We got up early to curl her hair and get ready.  She really looked beautiful!  We had gone shopping for the dress and she was not interested in trying on dresses.  This was the third one she tried on and she said she liked it and was done!  She did not want a veil (neither did I at her age) and instead she wanted to wear the headband that I had worn to my First Communion (thank you Madgie for saving it!).  She wanted sparkly shoes to complete the look.  It was perfect for her!

Processing into the Church.

Abbey receiving the wine.

Singing "The Butterfly" song after Mass  

Her friend Emily had the same dress!

In true Abbey style, she loved the attention, but was also embarrassed by it.  She did not want to take pictures.  We had to snap a few of her though.  She did agree to do some, as long as she could hold Matthew in the pictures.

Abbey and her Godparents, Aunt Domi and Uncle Brandon!

Our family - she would only be in the picture because Paul picked her up!

The girls in front of Church.

Here I am trying to talk Abbey into just a few more pictures.

We had to do one picture with all the grandparents (and Matthew) because our picture taking was limited with Abbey!

And she's done - walking away ready to go home and eat!

Back at the house, Mama Kay read to Matthew while Abbey changed clothes, which she did immediately.

She was more comfortable in this dress for the party, but once the official festivities ended, she changed yet again into some shorts!

Juliette is checking out the feast that Abbey planned.

Abbey wanted sandwiches from Jimmy John's, fruit, chips, Doritos, and Macaroni and Cheese.  I added some dips and veggie tray as well.  

Abbey is ready for cake with her Fairy Godmother.

Another picture with her Godparents.

And her grandparents!

Then after all of the official festivities ended, she was able to relax and play basketball in the backyard with her cousins and siblings!

Matthew scored!

She also got some amazing gifts - THANK YOU!

It was a truly wonderful day for Abbey and I think she loved it.  Thank you all for coming.  The next day was Mother's Day.  We had a nice brunch at our house after Mass and then since it was a beautiful day, we decided to walk over to the Arlington Race Track.  Mama Kay stayed at the house while Matthew napped (thank you!!), so Papa, Madgie, Patch, Aunt Domi, Caroline and our crew went and had a fun time.

 My girl of the weekend and I.

 Cousins!

 Hard to see in this picture, but they had funny animal races as well - here are the ostrich races, which were absolutely hilarious!

 My crew that made me a Mother (minus Matthew).

 My amazing mom and I.

Madgie and Patch. 

 And later I got some cuddles with my baby - a perfect Mother's Day!

A HUGE THANK YOU to all who came up to spend the weekend with us and celebrate Abbey's First Communion.  It meant so much to her (and us) to have you there.  Love you all!

More Spring Fun

In the spring I went to the Heart at Home conference again this year, which I love! It's a "Moms Conference", but you get to hear a lot of great speakers and bond with other moms. It is a lot of fun. This year, it was a bit stressful leading up to the conference and I was feeling like I shouldn't go because it was just getting to be too much. My wonderful husband really insisted that I go and then sent me flowers to my hotel! What a great guy! It was another great experience and I am so glad I went. Thank you Paul!!

We had some fun outside with the great weather.  The boys loved playing soccer together in our back yard, which warms my heart!

And we made a fire in our fire pit and tried out some of the camping gear that Paul got for Christmas this year.  The kids loved the new marshmallow sticks, which were also used to cook hot dogs over the fire - how fun!

Of course we later used those sticks to make smores.  Good job Matthew!

Yum!

Juliette's Daisy troop took a field trip to Feed My Starving Children to do some service.  It is an organization that packs meals and ships them to countries fighting poverty.  When we were there, we packed meals being sent to Haiti.  It was a really great experience.  The girls had a lot of fun, learned a lot, and walked away feeling great.  We will definitely be back!

What a great group of Daisy's!

Selfie with my girls.

Ben drew this amazing picture in school.  They were each assigned a station of the cross during Lent and this is what he did - amazing!

Just a cute picture of my baby relaxing on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - his favorite show!

When the girls were little and Abbey was in a toddler bed and Juliette was in a crib, Abbey used to climb into Juliette's crib so they could sleep together.  I have so many pictures of the two of them asleep in the crib.  They still sleep together!  They would do it a lot more, but we limit them to non-school nights to make sure they are getting good sleep during the week.  Sometimes though, they still sneak into each other's beds after being tucked in to comfort each other and I find them like this when I go to check on them before I go to bed.  It's so sweet.

We went to the spring choir concert to hear Abbey sing!

Matthew just loves to be outside.  He loved to go on walks or play with outside toys.  

Spring Activities

After we got back from spring break, it was time to jump right into spring activities! Abbey has been singing in the school choir all year and they got invited to sing at a Chicago Wolves (minor league hockey) game. Our whole family went (minus Matthew who stayed home with a sitter since the game started right around his bed time) and had so much fun.  Here they are singing "Best Day of My Life".

You can see them on the jumbo-tron!

One of Abbey's friends in her class's Dad played for the Wolves, so after the game he came out to meet them and sign autographs, which was really fun. 

Ben also had an exciting opportunity.  Because his soccer team won their division in the league (and went undefeated, I might add), they were invited to a Chicago Fire (professional soccer) game where they would be recognized on the field for their accomplishment. So again, we took the family (minus Matthew) to a Chicago Fire game!  

We had great seats and got to sit with his team.

Go Arlington Aces!

Hard to see, but there they are on the giant soccer field!

And you can see the Arlington Aces symbol on the Jumbo-tron!

It was a very cool experience.

Just a cute one of Matthew and Mommy time while the kids are at school.

While we prepared for Abbey's First Communion, Juliette tried on my First Communion dress and loved it.  I am not sure she would wear it for hers next year (or if it would even fit her then), but I loved getting this picture of her in it, headband and all.  My little mini-me!

And although all 3 older kids played soccer this spring, I apparently only got a picture of Juliette ready for one of her games.  We spend Saturday's racing between games and often have conflicting games so Paul and I divide and conquer, which means pictures don't get taken I guess.  Too busy living life, but I did want to acknowledge that they all had great spring soccer seasons!