Montessori moments: pouring and puzzles

Sometimes pouring is a euphemism for dumping if I'm not quick enough! These days I am striving to have prepared, constructive outlets for Jonas' rediscovery of water manipulation :)

5 favorites: Lizards, Wizards, cooking with Mom, a costume party/art camp and a mattress shopping date.

Thank you for hosting, Hallie Lord, at MoxieWife! And thank you visitors, for coming by!

~1~ We went to the library to swap out our books and visit a reptile habitat, featuring snakes, dragons, iguanas and tortoises. Scaly fun for the whole family!

~2~ This week I hosted our first annual summer camp at home. As I was sitting to plan out the summer enrichment for the kids, I was balking at the cost of summer camps and thought to myself "self? maybe you could put together a fun, educational camp for your boys and open it up to friends as well, at a (hopefully) reasonable cost."  And so I did, and I think it went great! The first session was Wizard Camp, and if all goes well I am hosting a Shipwrecked Camp and an Out of This World Camp. We're all excited! As I iron things out I hope to have more assistants and open it up to more people if there is interest! :) 

Here are my 3 grads. Thanks to the city of College Station for supplying us with some great materials for our unit on Energy!

~3~ This wonderful lady came up to help our household this week and took care of a certain adorable (yet suddenly very demanding) 2 year old during Wizard Camp. We enjoyed cooking together, going on walks and keeping busy with the activities each day. Mom got to hang out with a few of my friends this week and loved that time! I wish my iphone lens wasn't so blurry, boo. Time to save up for a real camera!

On this night we transported the family dinner to Spain and made a fresh tomato gazpacho and a shrimp ceviche, with a crostini and an avocado spread. A light, summer dinner to be enjoyed with a crisp white wine and flamenco music! :) 

~4~ Middle son, who wants to be a puppy when he grows up, was invited to a costume party by a preschool friend. He normally needs no excuse to dress up in his puppy costume, but was over the moon to have friends to dress up with, too! He even won the "cutest costume" award. :) Eldest son enjoyed attended Art Camp with some older kiddos this morning. What a great day it was.

   Just a photo op with Grandpa and Grandma :) I'm so thankful for my parents.

~5~ We went mattress shopping on our date tonight. (and a moment to thank our sponsor...our summer dates are graciously provided by my kind and generous Mother in law). We bought a new mattress last summer and thought it was a good fit, but it has proven too squishy over time and has resulting in some achy backs. We are fortunately able to trade it out for a small fee. So we made a fun date of it and stopped next door at Napa Flats for some delicious mediterranean inspired food. We loved the atmosphere at this restaurant, favorite new date night location for sure :) 

And this happened, too.  A gluten-free Ghiradelli brownie with peanut butter gelato on top. Didn't miss the gluten one bit!

So thankful for the joys and the challenges this week held for me. Thank you Lord for the gift of time spent with family, friends and my sweet, wonderful husband!

Five Faves - Shrimp Scampi, She & Him, a Venetian painting, inspiring love and this week's reads

Linking up with Hallie Lord's Five Favorites again this week, thank you for hosting Hallie!

~1~

My sweetheart is a seafood lover, so for Father's Day I made Pioneer Woman's Shrimp Scampi. I love PW recipes because a) they never go wrong and you feel like an accomplished chef (which you are)  b) her recipes are always a few notches above normal food when you want to jazz things up for a special meal and c) butter.  I am not a fan of shrimp but it was scrumptious!

                              
                                                                    photo credit: Pioneer Woman but yours will look this good too!

                               

~2~ 

We ended up on a double date with a most favorite pair at a She & Him concert at Austin City Limits on Father's day. My husband was quite critical, because he listens mostly to classical and sacred music, with the brief detours through dub step when he's working at night and needs motivation to stay awake. We all agreed that we prefer Zooey Deschanel's acting persona over her singing and performance-ship  (I just made up a new word).  There were a number of talented musicians in the band, but on the whole it's just fun and cute music and sometimes that's just what you need.  Here's my new "unload the dishes after dinner" song and the kids know when I turn it up, I'm in a dancing mood.  The band that opened before them was amazing, the Secret Sisters. They alone were worth the drive and the achy feet from standing for 3 hours straight!!! 

                                   

    photo credit: The one, the only, the amazing Lauren Gulde 

                                                                           ~3~ 

This is a painting given to me by my mother from my Grandparents home. They are faithfully departed now, and hopefully dancing together in heaven as I speak. :) Throughout my childhood, I remember seeing this painting in their home, and the vivid colors are as striking as they always were. I don't even know the name, but for some reason this painting was a favorite of theirs, and I am thankful to have it in our home today. 

                       

                                    Painting of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, Italy

                                                                       ~4~ 

I have been seeing a number of anniversary posts this past week, and they have caught my attention since Bronius and I will be celebrating a milestone anniversary in about a month - 10 years! It used to sound like such a long time away. :)  We are hoping to celebrate our anniversary on a family retreat coming up in July. (anyone want to come with?) :)  At any rate, I've been trying to save the marriage posts which have inspired me, and I'm sharing them here for anyone else who might like them as well! I hope to add more as I come across them.

 Hallie Lord, Sole Searching Mama, The Loveliest Hour

                             

                                                                                         Me and my Guy

~5~ 

And this week's picks for fave reads have been:

8 year old: The Tale of Desperaux by Kate de Camillo

5 year old: The Little Red Hen by Heather Forest and Susan Garber

2.5 year old: One Gorilla by Anthony Browne

And Mama Jules (whose age need not be revealed) is tackling Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina with the Bookish Catholics this summer.  Tolstoy always terrified and fascinated me as a child, mostly in the sheer attempt to try to lift one of his heavy novels off of a shelf. My siblings were off playing but I'd be reorganizing one of the family bookshelves. Weird, but true. There's one in every family who is just a bit strange.  

In all seriousness, I really do feel like I'm in a graduate level literature course and my brain is alive again. I never thought I'd tackle a Tolstoy but the translation that was selected has been as smooth as butter. It's so important to make time for the things we love to do. Now we'll see how many renewals the library will let me have. Hah! I'm so old-fashioned about books. 

                                 

And I'd like to close with a quote from C.S. Lewis, which I am sure you have seen before. I feel it especially fits my growing perspective of the way I am striving to understand the world and my purpose in it.

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

C. S. Lewis

VBS 2013

          Just a cool moment for posterity, check out our drummer D at VBS this week!  
Not sure how it sounded in real life but he looks great to me! ;)

Vacation Bible School this summer was entitled "Paul's Dangerous Journey to Share the Truth." It was set in Greece at the time of the Apostles. The program was so cool. The movement and songs were engaging, the skits were powerful, and the lessons were rooted in history, so they were getting a good strong dose of bible stories and history. They had a lot of hands on activities and the kids came home each day with a Greek artifact. The VBS volunteers worked really hard to put together the set designs and so much more. I was only able to help one day myself because I got taken down by a virus, but the boys had a fantastic time. Opa!!!

Five Favorites: Simple and True edition.

I'm linking up with Hallie Lord's Five Favorites this week. Thank you for hosting, Hallie!

So I finally discovered Instagram on my phone, because I've been fevery and sniffly this week and spending a good amount of time just sitting (which is quite a luxury, I must say).  It does make everything look so lovely. Even a dried up rosemary plant. (scroll down to see my poor failing rosemary plant, sigh) This week I am thankful for good health, because being sick puts so much into perspective, and an increase in gratitude is just what the doctor ordered for me. 

And without further adieu, my five favorites for this week, simple and true.

~1~ This sweet orchid that my thoughtful hubby brought for me as a "feel better" gift.  He's a good man! And...orchids only need to be watered every 2 weeks, so I think the two of us will get along just fine!

~2~  This "cool" cup from Target. It was $4.99 which makes me cringe a bit, but, since I keep stealing hubby's "cool" cup for my summer drinks, it was somewhat necessary to buy my own. The swirly straw livens things up, don't you think? (Can you spot the rosemary? Grieve with me!)

~3~ Fancy Shade.  Shade is a precious commodity during a summer in Texas and this handy tent from Academy is keeping our little ones safely shielded as they play and swim. This works well until we find the time and money to add the pergola we're hoping to build!

~4~ Be Careful What You Say About Others.  A beautifully simple and true message from our Holy Father. Takes me back to what my Mom said when we were little "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all." There are many ways to get a message across, but love must always be at the heart of it.

~5~ What I wrote for Austin Catholic New Media last week, Attention! (Please?) It is a bit of a homage to my parents, particularly my Dad on Father's day. I didn't realize the Holy Spirit could speak to us through family videos. (true story!) In the past I don't like including something I wrote as a favorite, but this time I feel okay doing it since this piece is so personal and special for me. :) 

And a bonus shot of the other favorite Father in my life, my husband Bronius. I love how our boys love their Daddy! 

Happy Father's day to all the special men in our lives, may God bless continue to bless them with courage, wisdom, and joy, and draw them in close to His heart for the graces they most need to live out their high calling. Thank you for Fathers! 

First week of summer

We baked our own bread with this group of great kids.

We sat up high in big rigs.

We re-strung our violin and are getting ready for lessons with Daddy.

      We were silly.

  We went to the splashpad with our neighbors.

Mama Jules and Honey B had a date.

Where this disappeared REAL quickly...

And finished it up with a swim at Senele's. 

Looking forward to VBS coming up this week! Thank you Lord for this precious time with our children. 

The fascinating and smelly results of our expedition

We went on our first ever tadpole hunting mission today in a nearby creek with friends today. We captured 4 minnows and 2 tadpoles. It will be fascinating (and smelly) to watch them transform, and exciting to release them back into the world!

End of year moments

Jonas applausing Milo's classmates at their "Enchanted Europe" end of year show. 

The elementary children did a Vienese waltz! I'm still waiting on footage from B of Milo dancing and singing. Coming soon....

Love my little guy. Sometimes we sit in the car a little bit during tennis for a snack and some reading.  That smile lights me up!

Saying goodbye to Ms. Dolan on the last day of school

Saying goodbye to Ms. Banerjee on the last day. He was sad about leaving. Good thing we're coming back for a week of pioneer camp! :)

I came to help out at Dominic's field day at school. I got to moderate the bounce house. I felt right at home ;)

Last morning with Mrs. Hahn.  Oh how we will miss her!

Here's the photo with my Aunt Evita from her whirlwind tour of College Station. We had such a blessed visit with her!

Have you ever seen a rolling dogpile before? Me neither. This is what it looks like.

Good friends invited us for a end of year pizza party, it was such a fun and relaxing evening for the whole family to enjoy together!

This is how I usually feel by the end of the school year. :)  So ready for the summer season of enjoying my boys to myself for a little while!  Good job boys, we're so proud of all your hard work, your learning and your growing this year! We love you so much.