Halloween 2013: Sad for Leia

With Annie as a black bunny and Leia as Luna Harry Potter we were ready for Halloween! This year we did something different. We went to Jonas neighborhood. Jonah was dressed as a character from clone wars. Almost all of my pictures are blurry because the kids ran so fast from house to house. The sad thing was, it wasn't long before Leia lost her very special wind from Olivanders in the wizarding world. She cried while I went back to search the entire neighborhood with what light was left. We never found it. I talked to lay out all about how I was sure that St Nicholas could find it for Christmas. Leia kept saying, "I love you mom. Thank you so much for talking with me." I took her right to the store to buy her three bags of candy, because she didn't get to trick or treat much. Kind of a hard night, but we salvaged it by gorging ourselves on sweets ... and making costumes for kitties. ;-)

Our Saint Anne on All Saints Day

In order you will see: Saint Anne, Francis/Guadalupe/Claire, Rose/Therese, Mary/Anne, Patrick/Joseph/Mark. What a beautiful Mass and presentation!

Tacky Day!

A Late (Appropriate) Birthday Gift

Jonah's Pumpkin Carving Party

Annie & the St. Anne Project

Today Annie spent the day researching, drawing, & memorizing everything about her patron saint: " I was named after St Anne. St Anne is the mother of Mary. St Anne is the grandma of Jesus. St Anne probably saw the Star of Bethlehem. St Anne was the first lady to have a baby born without sin. St Anne lived in Nazareth in Israel. Her feast day is July 26th. She is the patron of wives, grandmothers, and women giving birth." Annie also prepared "baby Mary" which was very special because Mary was Mamma's special doll when she was little. :-D Annie even used finger weaving to make a belt for Mary. When Annie even wanted to bring Mary to Mass, I cried ... thinking of Toy Story & how happy Mary must be to be loved by TWO! :-D

Happy Eleventh Birthday, Leia!

Today began with Leia opening a few presents (a "realistic looking bunny" and a Fidget or two), ... only a few because her big birthday gift was a laptop. Then it was time for lots of family and friends to arrive: Oma, Papa, Shana, Bob, Harvest, Casey, Tom and Elaine! ... In time to open the BIG gift from Oma and Papa:  a REAL bow and arrow! We played the song from Brave & headed out for Shana and Harvest to show Leia how! It wasn't long before she was hitting the target!  Back inside, Leia opened the Hogwarts Library from Oma & a beautiful Belle (a.k.a "Kimber") & some special, sparkly kitty bookmarks from Shana. Then it was time for dinner and cake! Leia ened the day by coloring page after page of Japanese Kokeshi dolls from Shana.