Haunsperger Family Blog

Joshua's baptism

2012-01-17T19:51:00.003-06:00

Joshua was baptized on the Solemnity of Epiphany, January 8th, during Mass. We were blessed to have many family members and friends present on this special occasion. Doug's vacation ended the next day, which is why it's taken me until now to post pictures!

Joshua's Baptism

A week in pictures

2012-01-06T10:07:00.002-06:00

Happy Epiphany! I'm always a little sad to see the Christmas season drawing to a close, especially this year. It's been really nice having Doug home the last few weeks, but he goes back to work Monday, so my babymoon is almost over. Time to get back to the routine and find a new normal.

Here are some pictures of our adventures the past week: playing at home, raking leaves, a trip to Zilker park, a few trips to my sister's farm, and a play date with cousins.

A week in pictures

Lo how rose e'er blooming

2012-01-06T10:04:00.001-06:00

gingerbread house

2012-01-06T09:48:00.000-06:00

This year the kids got to decorate the gingerbread house all by themselves since I had my hands full. It was demolished within an hour (dropped on the floor, I think), but I thought they did pretty well.

Newest big brother

2011-12-27T16:51:00.001-06:00

I like to take a picture of the new baby with his newest big brother, just to show how huge the previous baby of the family suddenly becomes! The top two are Zachary and Joshua, next is Timmy with Zachary, then Lucas with Timmy.

Definitely some family resemblances here.

Christmas afternoon

2011-12-27T16:48:00.002-06:00

Joshua and I got home from the hospital just in time for the family Christmas celebration at my parent's house.

Family Christmas

Meeting baby brother

2011-12-25T19:31:00.000-06:00

meeting Joshua

Our most precious Christmas gift...

2011-12-25T19:28:00.001-06:00

Park day

2011-12-25T19:26:00.000-06:00

We met some friends at the park on Thursday to enjoy the nice weather and explore.

bounce!

2011-12-25T19:23:00.000-06:00

train building

2011-12-25T19:22:00.000-06:00

The boys have really enjoyed playing with the train they made at the kid's building workshop.

Welcome Joshua!

2011-12-24T10:45:00.001-06:00

Welcome Joshua David Haunsperger!
Born 12/23/11, 11:25pm
9 lbs even, 21"

One more use for ducky

2011-12-16T15:44:00.000-06:00

It's amazing all the things Zachary finds to do with the duck on a string. It was originally a bubble solution necklace. Here he's using it as a thurible to "incense" the CGS altar he brough home from grandma's house. He must really pay attention in Mass!

Nativity play

2011-12-16T15:39:00.000-06:00

Regina Mater has the annual nativity play today. The backdrops were painted by the former art teacher. Timmy was the narrator. All of the little actors (3-5 year olds) did a great job, but didn't hold still long enough for me to get good pictures of them.

Main Street Bethlehem

2011-12-10T12:52:00.002-06:00

After being rained out last Sunday, we drove to Burnet, Texas last night to experience Main Street Bethlehem. It feels a little different trying to navigate the crowded "town" when 38 weeks pregnant. I think we were all a little relieved that the baby didn't try to put in an early appearance.

Main Street Bethlehem

Zoo visit

2011-12-10T12:39:00.001-06:00

I've been meaning to take the kids to the zoo since May, it's just been too hot! We finally went the day before Thanksgiving. Traffic driving there and back again was not fun. Feeding the animals and riding the train were the biggest hits.

Austin Zoo

Too tired to clean

2011-12-10T12:37:00.000-06:00

Rocket fun

2011-12-10T12:35:00.000-06:00

Shooting off a hydrogen powered rocket, just for the fun of it.

Halloween and All Saints

2011-11-07T10:04:00.002-06:00

On Halloween, I finally bought Lucas the bike I promised him for his birthday last June (it's been too hot to ride outside before now). We also went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

The next day the kids wore their saint costumes to Regina Mater to celebrate All Saints Day. Timmy was St. Michael the Archangel (with his flaming light saber, er, sword), Zachary was Joseph with his coat of many colors, and Lucas was St. Frances. I was St. Felicity. Linda Mikula dressed as St. Perpetua, so I had to be her slave for the day.

In the evening we enjoyed the annual All Saints Festival with the other Regina Mater families. I spent most of the time dancing so I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, but here they are...

Halloween and All Saints Day

Fall Festival

2011-10-31T21:42:00.001-05:00

St. Louis had their school fundraiser yesterday. We spent a few hours after Mass enjoying the activities.

Fun Fest

Is there something on my head?

2011-10-29T14:03:00.000-05:00

Icecream

2011-10-29T14:02:00.000-05:00

Regina Mater camping trip

2011-10-22T16:43:00.003-05:00

In honor of Founder's week, Regina Mater has a family camp-out instead of classes the week of October 18th. This year we went to Inks Lake State Park. The weather was perfect and we had a great time enjoying the outdoors with our friends. Here are a few snapshots.

Inks Lake Regina Mater Campout

Pumpkin Festival

2011-10-15T14:47:00.003-05:00

It was such a beautiful day, I took the two (or three) youngest to Elgin for the pumpkin festival. Zachary decided to bring Tigger along too. He's taken a strong liking to the stuffed animal his uncle gave him last Christmas.

My mom and sister were helping there, teaching fiber arts and assisting with sheep dog herding demonstrations. Zachary decided Meemaw had to come home with us too.

Pumpkin Festival

play date

2011-10-15T14:39:00.000-05:00

The boys went to grandma's house to get food for Timmy's meal worms (school project... not my idea). This is how they returned several hours later (after the pre-rinse). At least I had some time to study Latin while they were away!

bed time

2011-10-15T14:36:00.000-05:00

Zachary has been choosing some interesting things to sleep with.

Cub Scout family camp-out

2011-10-10T14:08:00.003-05:00

We had a great time camping at McKinney Falls this past weekend. It was a little wet at times, but Zachary loved being outside, Timmy spent hours riding his bike around, and Lucas earned his whittling chip. Lucas also got a big gash on his knee from a fall, but thankfully Donna came to his rescue with her first aid kit. It didn't slow him down!

Cub Scout fall camp-out

Florida Vacation

2011-09-30T22:31:00.003-05:00

Well, our 10th anniversary cruise celebration had to be postponed because of our newest blessing, but we went to Florida anyway to enjoy some time with family at Disney World and celebrate my mother-in-law's new marriage. This time we drove, which was an adventure in itself. We enjoyed spending time with Doug's sister and her daughters, going out to eat with Great Grammie (she's 94!), seeing all the relatives at the wedding, and going back to Disney with the new bride. We even saw rain! Lots of it. I tried to narrow down the pictures a bit, but there are still about 200 of them, if you feel like wading through them.

Florida trip 2011

On top of the world

2011-09-04T07:48:00.000-05:00

Lucas is enjoying a little adventure without his parents this weekend. It's been very peaceful here at home.

Fullness of Truth Conference

2011-08-29T19:29:00.002-05:00

We had a great time in San Antonio at the Fullness of Truth conference over the weekend. I wasn't sure how many talks I'd get to hear with the kids along, but they behaved very well. The resort hotel had free popcorn and movies every evening, a shady lazy river to swim in, a small sandy beach to play on, and a campfire with s'mores. We saw many friends there and learned more about our faith from some wonderful speakers. May have to do it again next year!

Fullness of Truth Conference

Quiet day at the Museum

2011-08-29T19:25:00.000-05:00

We met some friends at the children's museum today. It was very quiet there with everyone back in school. Zachary enjoyed sampling the plastic food and Timmy tried his hands at making tamales.

Work in progress

2011-08-29T19:11:00.000-05:00

Raising kids is messy work.

3 boys in a box

2011-08-26T11:28:00.000-05:00

The boys love to fill the box with cushions and jump into it off the banister (when they can get away with it).

Don't you love Zachary's nails? My sister, of all people, did that! I was told Zachary did a number on her toes trying to return the favor.

More random cuteness

2011-08-26T11:26:00.000-05:00

Zachary tries to use the train track as a hula-hoop

We ordered pizza on Monday, and in the few minutes I was gone to pick it up, Zachary cried himself to sleep by the front door waiting for me.

Family Retreat

2011-08-26T11:23:00.002-05:00

Our Regina Mater family retreat had a great theme this year... a joyful "yes!" Unfortunately Timmy came down with a stomach bug just before it started, then we all missed the second day when Lucas caught it too. We said a joy "yes" to trying to keep others from getting ill. Didn't Kim do a great job on the cake?

Jet Skiing at City Park

2011-08-26T11:16:00.002-05:00

Our good friend Lucy took us out on her Jet Ski last week. We had fun, although I am sad to report one casualty... my wedding/engagement ring is now at the bottom of Lake Austin.

City Park

Random silliness

2011-08-02T21:10:00.000-05:00

Marble Mania

2011-08-02T21:07:00.000-05:00

This morning we had some friends over to play, and Lucas and Dominic started building this marble run. Lucas finally finished it just before dinner, without any adult assistance. I was very impressed.

flour power

2011-07-27T21:30:00.000-05:00

Zachary has a lot of fun with flour today. First he was helping me bake, then he was trying to leaven the dough in Meemaw's atrium.

Random shot

2011-07-26T14:08:00.001-05:00

Here's a random picture of Timmy from park day today.

We enjoyed joining another family for daily Mass this morning. One of the two visiting priests is deaf, so the Mass was celebrated in both verbal and sign language. The congregation was a little fidgety, with only two moms and seven kids in attendance (the oldest child being 8). I was thinking what a blessing it was that the deaf priest wasn't bothered by the protests of a preschooler who didn't want to hold still!

Symphony Square

2011-07-23T21:26:00.000-05:00

We finally made it out to Symphony Square this summer to see the Biscuit Brothers. The kids enjoyed playing with the instruments. Zachary wasn't always sure which end to play!

Day fifteen: Grandpa Helm's house

2011-07-20T15:08:00.000-05:00

We had an enjoyable visit with Great Grandpa Helms. My brother Michael played Life with the boys. I enjoyed walking around his property picking rasberries and dewberries. Zachary found a cattail in the pond to play with. We also helped burn a brush pile and used it to make s'mores.

We left around lunchtime (leaving grandma behind... which Zachary didn't like!) to drive back to Chicago. The drive went well except the last 5 miles, which took an hour to drive because the lights were out due to a strong storm system that had passed through that morning, knocking down hundreds of trees. Thankfully Aunt Jacky and Uncle Kent had a generator so they had power.

Day sixteen we left around 6 am and drove and drove and drove until we reached Austin (about 1 am Wednesday morning). It was good to be home!

Day fourteen: Niagara Falls

2011-07-20T14:50:00.003-05:00

We drove to Niagara Falls and picked up Adventure Passes to explore the major attraction: Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, Discovery Center, Legends of Adventure Theater, and the Niagara Aquarium. I should also mention the trolly, which the kids enjoyed riding. We spent most of the day exploring, took lots of pictures, had ice cream for lunch, and left about 3 pm to drive to Akron, OH (where my mom grew up) to spend the night at her dad's house.

Niagara Falls

Day thirteen: Zachary's birthday

2011-07-20T14:38:00.004-05:00

Saturday was Zachary's birthday. We had to check out of the cottage by 10 am, so we had cake early... coffee cake. We packed up and left by 9 am, drove to Syracuse to drop Doug off at the airport, and made it to our hotel near Buffalo by noon (a bit earlier than we expected). We had a picnic lunch at a nearby park and went to the 4 pm vigil Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians. We had dinner at Denny's, intending to get some ice cream for Zachary, but he was not cooperative. He was definitely acting two!

Zachary's birthday

Day twelve: last day at Fair Wind

2011-07-20T14:32:00.001-05:00

We took it easy on Friday: fishing, swimming, boat watching and starting to pack. We made have made one last trip to the ice cream parlor too.

Last day at Fair Wind

Day eleven: Pontoon boat

2011-07-16T08:06:00.005-05:00

On Thursday my dad wanted to do something special in honor of his parent's anniversary. We rented a pontoon boat for the day and explored the St. Lawrence Seaway. WE each adopted boat names: Uncle Dave was Captain Peg-Leg, Lucas was First-Mate Chocolate Mustache (still wearing the hot chocolate he'd had from breakfast), Doug was Second-Mate Wet Pants (Tsunami Timmy drove into a big wave and soaked his daddy with chilly water), and my aunts were the Sister of the Sea.

Our first stop was Rock Island. That is where my grandparents asked their ashed to be scattered (almost a year previously). We explored the island, which is actually a park, and took lots of pictures. The flowers were beautiful, I can see why that was a special place for them.

Next we went to Picnic Point Park and ate lunch in a little harbor. A pair of loons swam around the boat with their little one and we watched each other. My mom and the kids did a lot of fishing and caught a few perch big enough to cook for Friday's dinner. The boys drifted out in their little inflatable boat tethered to the pontoon boat and Doug took a brief dip in the chilly water. Zachary talked me into swimming too, but didn't stay in the water long himself. We drove into Canada, just because we could, then stopped briefly at a park on Wellesley Island where my dad lost his glasses in the water. Thankfully Captain Peg-Leg spotted them in the clear water and I only had to dive a few feet down to get them. It would have been a long drive home if our primary driver couldn't drive! We stayed out all day then came back and grilled Bratwurst for dinner. The sunset that night was spectacular (too bad my camera was still recovering from the soaking it got on the boat).

Boating on St. Lawrence

Day ten: Coyote Moon Winery

2011-07-16T07:46:00.002-05:00

We took it easy on Wednesday, except for a breif trip down the road to Coyote Moon Winery. They explained to the kids how wine was made and Grandma and I took them out to explore the vinyard while the other adults had a wine-tasting. Doug was very impressed by several of the sweet wines, so we joined their club and agreed to buy a few bottles every quarter. I look forward to having some in another six months. Most of the plants in the vinyard were still very young, some of them newly planted with green protectors around them. It was a fun outing. We stopped for icecream on the way back (Lucas and Zachary were asleep) and tried some fun flavors like "Panda Paws" and "Muddy Sneakers." It was very good and not very expensive. Timmy ordered a large and shared half of it with Lucas when he woke up.

Judy, Jill, and Dave taught us how to play Farkle, a dice game, and even made a set for the kids to take home with them. It was fun just hanging out. We had barbecued steaks for dinner. When Doug cooked the pork chops on the grill, there was fire coming out of places it shouldn't have (like the adjustment knobs) so they brought us a different grill to use the rest of the week.

When if finally got dark Uncle Dave built a campfire and Aunt Judy lit it. The kids made s'mores but soone the mosquitoes chased most everyone back inside. Aunt Jill and I stayed up until 11pm watching for shooting stars and satellites and talking. Good memories.

Day nine: Lake Ontario Beach

2011-07-16T07:17:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday we drove to Southwick Beach State Park. When we arrived no one was swimming, but we waded out quite a ways on the sand bar. Zachary didn't like it when the waves were bigger than he was. It reminded me so much of beaches in Texas that I kept expecting the water to be salty. After awhile a lifeguard told us that we were only allowed to swim in the designated swimming area and only when the lifeguards were on duty (they had not yet arrived when we started). They had several other interesting rules too, like no inflatables and no throwing anything on the beach (including Frisbees). I guess they do things differently in New York. By that time we were chilled so we spent the late morning digging in the sand and playing on the playground.

When we got back to Fair Wind, the boys tried again to find the lost Frisbee, but instead they found lots of mud which made them happy too. Grandma threw them in the St. Lawrence to pre-rinse before I gave them a shower.

Day Nine: Lake Ontario beach

Day eight: 4th of July

2011-07-15T21:58:00.005-05:00

We started the day with morning Mass and played on the amazing wooden playground behind the church. Then we drove to Sackets Harbor and toured this historic War of 1812 battle site.
Back at Fair Wind, Doug was playing Frisbee with the boys and accidentally threw it off the cliff. Although we spent quite a bit of time looking for it, the area was so overgrown and treacherous (with holes, landslides, and bees) that we never did find it (but the boys did find some mud, see tomorrow's pictures). Timmy was very sad, so Uncle Dave got him a new Frisbee.
Later we drove to my dad's cousin Sylvia's house. She lives across Black River Bay from Sackets Harbor. We ate dinner there and took the kayaks out in the harbor to watch the fireworks. The view from the water was awesome. There were several displays going on so we could see fireworks off in the distance all around us, and some fireworks (from the neighbors) were almost directly overhead. It was late when we drove back to the cottage.

4th of July in NY

Day seven: Fair Wind

2011-07-15T21:45:00.003-05:00

After Holy Mass in Clayton at beautiful St. Mary's Church and a trip to the grocery store, we relaxed and enjoyed the amenities at Fair Wind. The kids enjoyed the pool and fishing with grandma, the adults enjoyed visiting and watching for barges on the river. Doug barbecued pork chops for dinner and we ate on picnic tables overlooking the St. Lawrence seaway and watched the sun set over the water. After dinner we drove a few miles down the road back to Clayton and watched the fireworks display over the harbor.

Day Seven: Fair Winds

Day six: MoST in Syracuse

2011-07-15T21:42:00.001-05:00

Doug was flying into Syracuse, NY, but not until the evening, so we spent the morning at the Museum of Science and Technology (MoST). It had great exhibits on the human body, earth science, physics, and astronomy. Timmy loved building with K'Nex and Zachary loved the model train. There was also an awesome multi-level playhouse with a three-story slide that the boys loved (see the look on Zachary's face after coming off the slide- he must have done it two dozen times). We had no trouble spending six hours there. After we picked up Doug, we drove the last hour-and-a-half to Clayton, NY and met my Aunst Jill and Judy and Uncle Dave. We stayed in a cottage at the Fair Winds Lodge, the same place we went 17 years ago to celebrate my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary.

Day five: Driving to New York

2011-07-15T21:32:00.001-05:00

On Friday we left early to drive to New York. We enjoyed playing with out Jelly Belly souveneirs at the rest stops. Lucas is surprisingly good with a frisbee.
Some of the time the boys slept. Our hotel for the night didn't have a pool so we played at a nearby park before bed.

Day four: Jelly Belly

2011-07-15T21:27:00.003-05:00

On Thursday we took a tour of a nearby Jelly Belly warehouse (in Wisconsin), but I forgot to take pictures. Aunt Jackie bought each of the boys a souvenir. Lucas chose an umbrella, Timmy and Zachary chose balls, and she threw in a Frisbee for fun.

My dad took us on a driving tour of the neighborhood where he grew up. Then we stopped to play at the nearby beach on Lake Michigan, but I still didn't have my camera. There were beautiful polished rocks along the shore mixed with the sand. Hard on the feet but easy on the eyes.

In the afternoon we played at Aunt Jackie's house. The boys enjoyed playing croquet on the front lawn and Timmy drew this story in chalk (it's about robots and a volcano). They also enjoyed the game room in the basement.

Day three: Chicago Botanical Gardens

2011-07-13T17:40:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday Aunt Jacky took us to visit the Chicago Botanical Gardens. We started with a tram tour and then visited the model train area. Then we walked through the Bonsai trees to the rose garden and enjoyed some ice cream. While my dad and aunt sat by the waterfall, the rest of us explored the Oriental garden. Lucas and Timmy ran off to join them while Zachary, my mom, and I took a longer way back. While we were exploring the sensory garden Lucas fell off the rock into the waterfall. When we rejoined them a wet, shirtless Lucas was sitting on my aunt's lap getting her pants muddy (she didn't mind).

We had bratwurst for dinner and enjoyed another pleasant evening at their house.

Chicago Botanical Gardens

Day two: St. Louis

2011-07-13T16:51:00.005-05:00

After a great complimentary breakfast, we spent the morning at the Magic House (the St. Louis Children's Museum). We arrive before they opened and enjoyed the outdoor garden sculptures. By noon it was starting to get crowded so we left.

We drove just north of Chicago, IL to the house of my Aunt Jackie and Uncle Kent. They treated us to a wonderful dinner. Afterwards the kids played in the basement. They had never been in a basement before. It has a pool table and small putting green with an automatic ball return. Lucas accidentally broke a golfing figurine while playing with the golfing set, but Uncle Kent didn't seem to mind.

The adults enjoyed visiting on the back porch. It overlooks their large bubbling water fountain and a small pond with fish. It was fun to watch the golden finches and red-winged black birds visit the bird feeders while the chipmunks and squirrels played on the wood pile. They had a little fire so the kids could make s'mores. It stays light until after 9 pm and the sun rises by 5 am, so it we often stayed up late. The weather was so beautiful (not like the 100 plus degrees we were escaping in Austin), and everything was so lush and green. I really enjoyed our time there, their house beats any resort, and they are the embodiment of gracious hospitality.

All of these pictures were taken in St. Louis.

Magic House in St. Louis

Day one: Driving to St. Louis

2011-07-13T16:50:00.001-05:00

Day one we drove from Austin to St. Louis, stopping at several interesting rest stops in different states. My favorite was the Route 66 themed rest stop in Missouri. My dad did the driving while my mom and I entertained the kids. The only glitch was finding the hotel. Apparently the roads have moved a bit since the Garmin navigation system was last updated so it became confused and we missed the turn. The kids thought it was great fun wandering the neighborhoods while the Garmin kept saying "recalculating." It was late when we arrived, but we took a swim in the hotel pool to let the kids burn off some energy. Doug opted to skip the drive and flew up to meet us in Syracuse, New York a week into the trip.

Vacation summary

2011-07-13T16:16:00.003-05:00

Just made it back from our 15-day vacation! It was awesome, but it will take many posts to describe it all. Highlights: St. Louis Children's Museum (The Magic House), Chicago Botanical Gardens, Tour of a Jelly Belly factory, going to the beach at Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan, Syracuse Science Museum (MOST), week-long stay in a cottage overlooking the St. Lawrence River (awesome views of sunsets), boating on the St. Lawrence and visiting Rock Island in honor of my grandparent's anniversary (hopefully reunited in heaven now), great New York ice cream and wine (not that I can drink any, but I'll take their word for it), watching fireworks over Clayton Harbor and over War of 1812 battle site at Sackets Harbor (from a kayak), spending the day exploring Niagara Falls, picking raspberries at my grandfather's house in Ohio, and spending time with three of my dad's awesome sisters. I have a lot of pictures to go through (and laundry)! Stay tuned.

On the farm

2011-06-20T13:11:00.002-05:00

On Friday I had to attend VBS training, so my MIL took the kids to see my sister's farm. It's amazing to see how much the farm develops every year.

Family on the Farm

Lucas turned 8!

2011-06-20T13:10:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday we had a great party with the families of Lucas' classmates. What a blessing to be part of such a supportive comunity. After the piniata some kids were giving their candy away to make sure everyone got enough.

Red Robin

2011-06-20T13:05:00.000-05:00

We went to kids night at Red Robin and the kids all enjoyed some balloon art creations.

Locomotion

2011-06-20T13:04:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday we spent the day at Locomotion Inflatables (yeah air conditioning!)

Fun with family

2011-06-20T13:01:00.000-05:00

Doug's mom and neice are visiting this week. We've had a lot of adventures. On Monday we went to Zilker park, rode the train, climbed the rock, and visited the nature center.

Biscuit shoot

2011-06-13T06:47:00.003-05:00

On Saturday the boys helped the Biscuit Brothers make a music video for their next season. It was fun to watch, they are a very creative group!

Houston Trip

2011-06-07T18:47:00.001-05:00

Houston Trip

We had a great extended weekend in Houston watching baseball, catching up with friends, and visiting the Children's Museum and Johnson Space Center.

Zilker Park visit

2011-05-24T14:56:00.001-05:00

Zilker Gardens

First Communion

2011-05-15T12:37:00.000-05:00

Lucas received his first Holy Communion yesterday, it's been a big week! We went to confession in the morning to prepare him, and he chose to go to Pluckers afterwards to celebrate. We then went to a family dance at St. Williams and enjoyed some wonderful music by L'Angelus.

Chinese caligraphy

2011-05-15T12:30:00.000-05:00

Thursday morning was very exciting, it started hailing when we got to school! The power went out during chapel, so we finished our last chapel of the year by candlelight and did the end-of-year skits under the skylight in the foyer. It was too dark for Timmy to do his demonstration of Chinese caligraphy, but he was able to show us when the power came back. He has learned how to write the numbers 1 - 10, and he does it very well. We adjourned before noon and went to central market to play and eat lunch. School is done, yeah! We look forward to many summer playdates with our friends.

8th grade graduation

2011-05-15T12:23:00.000-05:00

We celebrated the graduation of two wonderful 8th graders last Tuesday evening. Those receiving first holy communion this year were invited to be part of the procession.

Roman Banquet

2011-05-15T12:20:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, we celebrated the end of the school year with a Roman-style lunch. We all had a great time! I sometimes wonder if teaching Latin takes too much time and energy away from my primary vocation as a mom, but I think it allows me to enrich my children's educational experience in ways I wouldn't be able to do if it weren't for all my wonderful students (and their helpful parents).

Fun day at the Family Music Festival

2011-05-07T15:39:00.000-05:00

Family Music Fesival

Crystals

2011-05-05T17:54:00.000-05:00

Lucas' class had fun making crystals with the kit Aunt Dawn gave him for Christmas. Here are some that Timmy grew at home.

Sharing a happy meal

2011-05-04T13:30:00.000-05:00

I caught Zachary sharing a french fry with one of his toddler buddies after school.

Kindergarten Graduation

2011-05-04T13:29:00.000-05:00

Timmy's going into Kindergarten next year, but he'll be moving to his Grandma's class. They had a nice Tea as a celebration.

Dyngus Day

2011-04-27T13:22:00.001-05:00

Dyngus day

The kids celebrated a Polish tradition at Regina Mater and had a great time!

Easter egg hunt

2011-04-27T13:19:00.001-05:00

Backyard Easter egg hunt

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T03:54:00.000-05:00

Wishing everyone a very blessed Easter!

lipstick

2011-04-24T03:52:00.000-05:00

Zachary found my lipstick and thought he'd try it out. He left a trail all over the house!

Farm Field Trip

2011-04-12T07:03:00.000-05:00

Flowers on the farm

A walk in the park

2011-04-04T21:04:00.002-05:00

We planned to go pick strawberries today, but it didn't work out. But it was such a beautiful day that we went to the park after lunch until dinner time. Here are some of the things we did.

Park day

Day at the Ranch

2011-04-02T18:26:00.003-05:00

One of Doug's co-workers graciously opened his ranch for a social gathering today. There were many fun games and activities including ping-pong, horseback riding, basketball, fishing, paddle boats on the pond, and volleyball with water balloons. Timmy had a great time playing together with the host's youngest son, mostly riding around on the power wheels. It was great!

Day at the Ranch

Spring Field Trip

2011-03-30T17:07:00.001-05:00

I love to see the Azaleas at the Zilker Botanical Gardens, so we took another field trip today!

Botanical Garden Spring 2011

Pioneer Farms Homeschool day

2011-03-18T19:24:00.001-05:00

I've been wanting to go for several years, and this time we actually made it! It was a beautiful day and we saw lots of friends!

Pioneer Farms

Post # 1000

2011-03-18T18:45:00.002-05:00

Wow, we're up to a thousand posts now!

Here are pictures from "A day to dye for!"

Day to Dye for

Outside for Spring Break

2011-03-18T18:39:00.002-05:00

My goal this spring break was to spend as little time at home as possible for several reasons
1) it's gorgeous weather now, but summer heat is just around the corner!
2) less wear and tear on the house (and therefore less cleaning for me)
3) there's no TV or Wii outside, so they don't even ask (funny how quickly the boys forget that they were giving up Wii for lent)

Here's the first installment of pictures from our camping trip

Spring Break Camping

Floats

2011-03-13T15:06:00.000-05:00

Here are several of the floats the kids made for Mardi Gras... Timmy chose the Star Wars theme.

Mardi Gras parade

2011-03-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

On March 8th Regina Mater had its annual Mardi Gras celebration, where the kids eat way too much candy and have a parade with home-made floats. Lucas' was a little unorthodox this year, he pulled Zachary along in a laundry basket.

Mozart Requiem

2011-03-07T08:17:00.001-06:00

Doug and I had a great time singing in the Mozart Requiem last night. Thank you St. Matthew's Episcopal for organizing the performance and inviting us to participate. It's the first time Doug's worn a tux since we were married!

Going fishing

2011-03-07T08:15:00.000-06:00

candles

2011-03-07T08:14:00.000-06:00

Zachary loves candles!

Big boy

2011-03-07T08:13:00.000-06:00

Zacahry found this stroller at a friends house and headed right out the front door to take the "babies" for a walk. He used to be the one riding in the stroller, now he wants to be in charge.

Regina Mater Cross Fundraiser

2011-03-03T07:38:00.004-06:00

This Devotional Cross, handcrafted by the families of Regina Mater, is an example of our mission to help the home become a place of inner transformation for families.

The cross is a sacramental which serves as a focal point for the Lenten season in the home. Lit on Ash Wednesday and all the Sundays of Lent, it deepens the awareness of Christ’s passion and prepares us for the Easter, when the cross is ablaze with white candles signifying victory.

The full set for Lent comes with the cross, a Lenten prayer guide, and purple and pink candles, all in a nice package for only $20.

You may enrich your cross and your Easter season by adding the Easter prayer guide and 12 white candles for only $10 more.

Quotes from Pope John Paul II:

Catholic education is above all a question of communicating Christ, of helping form Christ in the lives of others.

Through Christ all education, within the family and outside of it, becomes part of God’s own saving pedagogy, which is addressed to individuals and families and culminates in the Paschal Mystery of the Lord’s Death and Resurrection.

Parents are the first and most important educators of their own children, and they also possess a fundamental competence in this area: they are the educators because they are the parents.

“The family is, so to speak, the domestic church. In it parents should, by their word and example, be the first preachers of the faith to their children…” (Lumen Gentium)

Timmy's day on the farm

2011-02-28T14:36:00.002-06:00

As a birthday present from his Aunt, Timmy got to spend some time on the farm. There were two 5 day old goats to play with!

Timmy on the farm

Cub Scouts Blue & Gold banquet

2011-02-28T14:33:00.001-06:00

Lucas entered a cake in the cake competition at his pack's Blue and Gold banquet and won second place! His cake was the chocolate one, the other picture is the cake that won first place.

Cub Scout Cake

Timmy turns 5!

2011-02-23T16:45:00.001-06:00

Thank you Lord for blessing us with Timmy, and for blessing him with so many good friends!

Timmy's 5th Birthday party

Presidential day play date

2011-02-23T16:27:00.001-06:00

We had a seven hour play date with my brother's daughters on President's Day. The cousins had a lot of fun together.

Cousin play date

Big shoes to fill

2011-02-23T16:26:00.000-06:00

Zachary walking around in his daddy's shoes.

Spring

2011-02-23T16:25:00.000-06:00

I love seeing these flowers in the spring, they must be very robust to survive in our yard!

Candid shots

2011-02-23T16:22:00.000-06:00

The boys were playing with camera and took some great pictures!

Bubble fun

2011-02-23T16:21:00.000-06:00

Timmy loves playing with touchable bubbles! He turned 5 years old today!

Happy Valentine's day!

2011-02-14T21:45:00.002-06:00

Valentines date

We had a very nice day. First a party at Zilker park and a train ride, then introducing the boys to the rock outcropping I used to play on as a child (they love it as much as I did... except that Zachary tried to follow his brothers and fell off... ouch!), and finally a Biscuit Brothers concert at Central Market with Doug. I hope your day was wonderful as well!