The Six Pack

Mark has been a very fussy baby.  So when he smiled for the first time just a couple weeks ago, all the stress and tension that comes with what sometimes seems like constant crying just melted away.  I have had my camera on standby for weeks now so that when a good mood does  come along, I can capture it.  I tried yesterday, and he was just too stubborn for the shutter.  But I fell so in love with his sweet expression and those baby blue eyes that I just had to share! Mark loves his goofball brothers! Seems like overkill, but I couldn't resist all these pictures! And finally , today he hammed it up for the camera.  Oh, little Markie... when I see you smile...

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the popular series of books by Laura Numeroff including If You Give a Mouse a Cookie .  My boys love the hilarious twists and turns each story takes... I suppose it reminds them of their own play--quickly jumping from one activity to the next (while leaving the mess behind!) Alex recently had the opportunity in school to create his own "If You Give a..." book.  While he could take a lesson on neatness, I was pleasantly surprised with his story line and the creative illustrations.  Maybe this kid can get a summer job as a ghost writer...

Today, on his last day of preschool, Samuel came out to the car with a do-rag on his head.  "We were pirates today!" his teacher told me. And my thoughts and memories drifted back to a beautiful day nearly five years ago when my now big, tall, almost-school-aged Sammy was a chubby, round, and  bald  little baby.  That summer we vacationed in the Rocky Mountains.  One morning we hiked the Continental Divide, up to the top of Cottonwood Pass.  As luck would have it, we found ourselves without a hat to protect Sammy's round, hairless, and shiny little scalp.  So we improvised with a burp cloth. Five years later, our Sammy has scaled the heights of his preschool career and is ready to make that daunting transition into kindergarten.  He has grown and changed in so many ways, but he still has his do-rag!

On Saturday morning Joseph (together with about 100 other second-graders at our church) received Jesus in Holy Communion for the very first time!  This has always been a very special day for each of our three oldest, but Joseph in particular was very  excited for his turn to receive the Eucharist!  He's my boy that aspires to someday become a priest, who reads the Bible each night before he goes to bed, who eagerly leads us in prayer and recounts each of the twenty mysteries of the Rosary.  (Make no mistake, however, he still gets in plenty  of trouble when he's not Mr. Goodie Two-Shoes!) And little Joseph really enjoys dressing up, so he insisted we take lots  of pictures in his special occasion suit! Joseph displays his First Communion certificate Waiting in his classroom for mass to start What's with these girls pawing all over him? The mass was beautiful and brought tears to my eyes (darn postpartum hormones!)  We really appreciate those special pe...