Final Hot Shots class of the Fall

Oh how we'll miss it! Looking forward to the spring session!











The A-team










Coach Rachel really rocks!








Most kids take water breaks, mine takes a reading break.

Brotherly moments and family updates

We're in the final stretch over here...4 more weeks till somebody new joins our clan! We feel pretty ready, whatever that means....but with the Thanksgiving holiday taking a week out of our preparations, we technically only have 3 weeks to tie up our pending house projects. When you move at a snail's pace, this isn't a lot of time. ;) Eh. I have my burp cloths and diapers and car seat. The rest should be cake, right? :)


I feel pretty good...not without my aches and pains of course, but all I prayed for was to be able to keep up with my boys and house, and so far, so good. :) Work is going well for Bronius and it looks like he will be able to take much of December "off" (even though Bronius is never really "off"). I am SO BLESSED to have such a helpful, sweet, dutiful husband, and with a flexible schedule to boot. Thank you, Jesus! I've been fortunate enough to write for About Town the last few months and I really hope this continues into the New Year. I want to keep sharpening my skills and contributing to the family income (even if it's minimal at this point!) Milo is enjoying Hot Shots, music class and his playgroup - and when Milo isn't his sunny, lovable, cuddly self, Mommy and Daddy are trying (or more accurately, being TRIED) to have patience with the sudden storminess of the twos. Wow. It's a purification process for sure. Dominic is enjoying school (although I suspect it is plum tuckering him OUT. My energetic boy comes home very mellow and for all who know Dominic, mellow isn't really one of his modes). Conformity is still an issue as I suspect it will always be, but we're keeping an eye on things. We want to make sure he's happy and well-adjusted, that's all. I'm proud of our son and we always want him to think for himself. Outside of school, he's showing interest in T-ball, and we're hoping violin lessons will appeal to him as well :)

So these days it's all about stopping and smelling the roses. We spend a lot of family time together, usually outdoors since it has been so beautiful. And we make an appoint of not being any busier than we have to be. Just praying now for a safe delivery, good health for my family and for God's graces to help us through the family adjustment, especially for the 2 big brothers. Definitely all I want for Christmas :)

Trick or Treaters

Trick or Treating at Bluebonnet House and Pumpkin carving

We had a great time at Bluebonnet house trick or treating again this year! Here are some shots with most of the group.




Can you spot my ever-so handsome Optimus Prime?




















My adorable god-daughter Melissa as a lady bug.

















The cutest fireman I know.













Pumpkin carving with Pops. I love this man. He really does it all.











And a bonus...Milo and his Hot Shots soccer team.








Jack o lantern is still in the making....photo to appear soon.....

Zin zin zin a violin!

Home organization & Halloween

Here are some of the fruits of our labor. Bronius and I stayed up late last night working together and there is SO much to be done still. Below shows a bin organizer (which will surely be disorganized very shortly), an official art shelf for Dominic (which is riskily within reach of a curious 2 year old, but he's also a very compliant one :), and my "discovery center" as I plan to call it - a shelf of Montessori jobs. I have not yet ordered the tasks according to difficulty, but I'm getting there. I gave the boys mats to roll out today and they did jobs right on the floor there. I'd like to put polishing and pouring jobs on trays for Milo there when he is a little older.

Also featured is Milo the fireman (a sneak peak at his Halloween costume) and the boys enjoying the treat Senele gave them (I had to award a stellar day at school today! ) I had a picture of Dominic in his Optimus Prime costume but it was deleted :( I will have more soon. Friday we are making our annual trip to the nursing home for trick or treating, and we'll carve our pumpkins on Saturday night. Sunday we may just putter around the neighborhood. And sadly the big All Saints Day party falls on a school night, so we will be celebrating from home. We may fly kites since that is a tradition in Central America!

Projects, Science Fest, Hay Maze - must be October!

What a great weekend...and productive too!

Bronius took Dominic to the Science and Engineering Festival on campus (they LOVED it, and Bronius' Dad would have been proud!) while I got some sorting done at home and purged almost ALL the closets - naturally, my nesting has hit the same exact time as a pinched nerve. Luckily, I've felt all right this weekend so I'm pushing forward with projects!

Bronius played in a wedding gig last night and then cantored at Mass early in the morning, and somewhere in between ran to Walmart to get us a bunch of bins so we can start sorting through life around here. He's tired! Today we took the kids to the hay maze and bought some pumpkins at the Farm Patch, had lunch out with Senele and now we're headed for hair cuts and to pick up some furniture from a friend.

Tonight I have more sorting and organizing to look forward (gag me with a spoon). Actually, it's not as torturous as I thought it would be. But I can see why we avoid doing it. Our artistic temperaments can't be bothered with such mundane detail - hah hah!

Can brothers be as close as sisters?

I really hope so. Because to me, the things that guys do together are pretty foreign. I grew up in a household with a 4:2 female to male ratio :) There was lots of Jane Austen, and heart to heart talks, shopping with my sisters, and musical sessions. Oh, and fighting over clothes. ;)

I am pretty close to my brother, but my 2 sisters and I have been very close growing up. Living in 4 different cities now it is more difficult for my siblings and I to see each other, but I honestly live for the times when we're all together.

Today I asked Bronius what he pictures our 3 boys (and, potentially more than that) doing when they're getting together. First of all, will they be getting together at all, or will they be in different states because of different jobs?! Then what will they be doing....will they be fishing? Having beers and watching a game? Piling into a V.W. van to film a documentary of social importance? Or, will they be playing in a stringed quartet or in some sort of musical ensemble? Our dreams are many. I just hope that by their 20's they are happy, healthy, and most importantly, getting to see each other regularly.

Baby report

Just wanted to let everyone know that today at the doctor we found out that baby's head IS head down...which is not what I expected based on the way I've been feeling the last 2 weeks. So we're celebrating! The reason for all my ridiculous, unprecedented pains are because he is kind of positioned like the number 7 right now...with bottom and feet sticking me in either side.

He probably moved just recently because the side pains are gone...yeah! But they've now been replaced by sciatica pain. It's not like I need to be able to WALK AROUND without wincing and limping while keeping up with 2 boys and a busy household. Sighhh. I definitely need prayers to be more positive and less "poor me." I am just learning how to lower my standards a little earlier than expected. I'm frustrated because usually in my 8th month, I still feel like I could climb Mt. Everest. Whether or not that's actually possible or just delusional of me is a completely different story. Okay, sarcastic "poor me" rant is officially over.

So the aches and pains just make me look forward to his arrival all the more. Fortunately, he is weighing in a little less than average (for our babies) so I might not have a sumo wrestler this time :) Most importantly, he is healthy!!!

Just wanted to keep you updated. Thanks everyone for your prayers! Please continue to pray for me to have a positive, upbeat attitude about the physical challenges, small as they may be, that I have to face until baby comes.

Dewberry Farm

We went to the famous Dewberry Farm this weekend, and met my best friend Jamie and her boys there. Aunt Les also made an appearance with her friends. What a good time! The kids got to ride a train, take a hay ride, run through pumpkin patches, jump off hay stacks, see pig races and pet animals and SO MUCH MORE. We spent the weekend with Papa and Grandma and the kids soaked up the TLC as I soaked up the rest and Bronius got much needed work done. Thanks Mom and Dad for blessing us with that help! I'm so glad we could give the boys this experience. In some ways I feel we're running out of time, and I'm trying to make the most of our last days of "normal" life. :)

An aside....please keep me in your prayers if you could...it seems baby is lying transverse, which is a new (and PAINFUL) experience for me at this point in pregnancy. Usually at 8mths I feel like I can climb Everest, and lately even just a simple sneeze is painful because of the pressure on my ribs and back. I am doing exercises to try to get the baby head down and I will see the doctor later this week so I'll know more then. Thank you for your prayers! :)

Slow Yo' Roll

We heard a rumor that you can see the fall leaves changing color in East Texas during this time of year, and since neither of us had been to East Texas, we thought it sounded like a good way to spend Dominic's school holiday on Monday. Apparently, Palestine got its name because the Dogwood tree, which is indigenous to the Holy Land as well as the Piney Woods region, is the tree which was used to crucify Jesus. The locals desire that people will be reminded of Christ's ultimate sacrifice every time they look around and see a dogwood tree, and in the Davey Dogwood Park (which is pictured above) we saw many dogwoods!

Apparently we were a little early for the "turning of the leaves" but we still saw some beautiful nature. We stayed in a hotel and the kids LOVED the indoor heated swimming pool (as did my aching back) and curling up in a giant, fluffy bed with popcorn and a movie with Mom and Dad. We took the boys to the train depot and even though there weren't any departures, we got to see the train! We thought about coming back to do one of the themed train rides at the end of Oct or Nov but it depends on how big I am and how I feel. :) We stopped in at the lovely Sacred Heart Catholic church for some prayers before treating the kids to some small town baked goods. It was a nice and quiet little trip. I'm kind of glad we didn't opt for San Anton or Austin this time, sometimes you just have to "slow your roll." :)

Storybook dress up day

Can anyone spot my knight in shining armor? He's next to Ariel. :)

The Wizard of Oz

We took Dominic to see his first play this weekend! The Theatre Company put on a great production of the Wizard of Oz. It was fun to see a lot of familiar faces on the stage and in the pit band. We had a great time! :) We came home and made our own pizzas for dinner...Dominic did the sauce, Milo did the cheese and they both took care of the veggies and pepperoni. The boys also got to see a cool classic auto show with Daddy and explore some cool outdoor sculptures. We also enjoyed having lunch at Senele's on Sunday and had the pleasure of playing in the park with this beautiful Fall weather! Weekends go so fast these days! Everyone is healthy and happy (most of the time) and we are blessed and thankful!

The cutest pumpkin pancakes you've EVER seen

I mean, come on, you have to admit it. They're pretty cute, right? I was proud of myself this morning for thinking to pull out the pumpkin cookie cutter and giving it to my kitchen helpers to get to work!

The best part of these pancakes is how healthy and tasty they were...with how little our kiddos eat, every bite has to count. So we made them with brown sugar and flaxseed meal, and the kids actually requested to have honey on top instead of syrup! There's nothing that gives me that satisfied feeling then knowing my kiddos are eating something packed with nutrition. Other than a plate full of pancakes, of course ;)

I imagine you could decorate these with a little powdered sugar/water icing squeezed from a ziplock bag. If you wanted you could dye it yellow to make it look like a bonafide jack o lantern!

Feasts of the Archangels and origins of names

Today is the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. We have tried to incorporate the names of the archangels into our boys names, and we would like to make it a tradition to celebrate this feast day. We'd like to start by reading the scriptural history of these angels to the kids and have a special dinner. Maybe I will add some craftiness to the affair if I can get myself organized in time!

Since we've been discussing the meaning of names for our third son, I've been revisiting the reasons why we chose the names of our other children. I wanted to record that history here. Bear with my lengthy descriptions, word meanings and derivations are a nerdy interest of mine!

Dominic Gabriel - together these names mean "belonging to God" and God's able-bodied one/God is my strength." We couldn't have picked better names for Dominic...it is often traditional to name a child Dominic if they are born on a Sunday as it is the Lord's day (which he was, on God's time not mine, as he was 9 days late!) Also, Dominic is extremely agile and dexterous, and "able-bodied." We like the idea that Dominic will use his special gifts for God's purposes. Dominic was also named after my paternal Grandfather, Walter Dominic Mendonca, as well as his patron saint, St. Dominic of Osma who founded the Dominican Order. St. Dominic was known for his leadership and his preaching, and we see these qualities in Dominic emerging more and more as he grows!

Milo Vincent - Depending on the translation, these names together mean "conquering soldier" or "conquering with love." We loved the name Milo...in the Greek translation it means "love," and in the Germanic it means "soldier." We like to apply both meanings to him as he already conquers with love like a soldier of God! Milo and Michael both mean "soldier," and in some translations Milo is ACTUALLY a derivation of the name Michael. We gave him Vincent as a middle name since we are inspired and wish to emulate the life and work of St. Vincent de Paul in our family. We want to raise children who are conscious of the needs of the less fortunate in our world.

Baby number 3.....his name is still in the creation phase. We put a lot of thought into names. We try to combine family history with our Catholic heritage when we chose names. So right now, I have Jonas Raphael on the table. Jonas is a family name on Bronius' side of the family, it is a form of "John," which means "God's grace." John is my Father's middle name as well. The Hebrew translation of the name Jonas itself is "dove." In Hebrew, Raphael means "God's healer." So these names together would mean "God's grace, God's healer, and dove." I like the imagery of the dove, it seems to fit with the meanings of the name. We haven't decided which St. John would be the baby's patron saint, we're still researching.

This isn't decided yet, but it's the name I see in my mind. :) We were contemplating Leonardo Raphael, but then we decided that was going too much in the direction of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Catholic history, readings, recipes and traditions for the Feast of the Archangels.

A prayer for today

Collect: God our Father, in a wonderful way you guide the work of angels and men. May those who serve you constantly in heaven keep our lives safe from all harm on earth. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

National Night Out Kick Off

Bronius is in Chicago for the weekend and my sister Lesley came to spend some quality time with me and the boys (and help us survive the weekend :) We took the boys to this event which was promoting community safety. Emergency vehicles were out en force and the kids were beside themselves (even though they've seen it all before!)

We've had a fun weekend! I have really enjoyed my time with my sister, it is a rare treat these days as she is a busy grad student AND youth minister. Lesley has a way of bringing fun wherever she goes, and we've been playing games, making treats and doing projects together to stay out of the heat. Thankfully this morning is much cooler...after Lesley returned to minister to her youth group, I took the boys to Mass and treated them to donuts afterwards for having SUPERSTAR model behavior (even the 2 year old who is usually in the nursery, but of course the one time I take them to Mass alone there is NO nursery). Milo was on one side of me playing quietly with his train and Dominic was on the other side coloring. I was expecting a much different outcome. Could a mother be any happier? Not me. :)

Off to the park to ride bikes before the heat creeps up again!

Outdoorsmen

The boys had a super fun nature hike with their bud Eli, who loaned us his awesome bike stroller, and the Daddies took the kiddos to Double Daves afterwards.

































The first session of Hot Shots soccer for Milo. Looks like the cool mists of Brigadoon were surrounding us, but do not be fooled... it was nothing short of the usual sauna.



































And a pictureless update...kinder-g is going great this week so far! I am pleased to report that I have suffered not one panic attack, and more importantly, big fish is getting the hang of lunch room/line expectations. ROCK ON!

Rainy day painting