Wordless Wednesday: First Day of School 2011

Alexander Blaise gets Baptized!

On Saturday August 27, 2011, our fifth child became a Catholic!

Phil's dad is a Deacon, and he came up to baptize his 11th grandchild.  John-Paul served:

Godparents (Fr. Jay and my sister, Sue) traced a cross on Xander's head:

Anointing with the Chrism (smelled so wonderful!):

Deacon Gramps invited the children (there were 25 in all) to come up to the Baptismal Font to see better:

"I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Fr. Jay had only one role as the Godfather...to light the Baptismal candle.  It was such a hot day that we had two fans set up, and they kept blowing out the flame!  He tried three times, then gave up.  I think God understands :)

This candle was a gift to us from another priest, Fr. Ron, who had bought it in Poland.  It is huge and GORGEOUS:

The blessing over the Mother (that would be moi):

The Blessing over the Father.  This one made me start to cry because that's three generations of Martin men right there...how beautiful!:

We walked over to a statue of our Blessed Mother to consecrate Xander to her, and I told Phil to speak loudly, because I was crying too much to try and talk.  Pathetic, you think I would be used to this ;) 

Final Blessing:

Welcome to the Catholic Church!!

Our picture with the godparents:

Posing with my parents:

Posing with Phil's parents:

Just like we did for Maggie, we hosted the Baptism party in the church hall (basement):

The kids played Duck Duck Goose and ran after each other for the whole time:

It was such a beautiful Baptism and a fun party, and I am glad Alexander has received his first of many Sacraments.  Praise God!

The Aftermath

Well, Hurricane Irene came yesterday, and thankfully just gave us a LOT of wind and a little rain.  We live in a great area when it comes to losing power because we are on a main street and there are lots of businesses nearby, so they tend to turn it back on very quickly.  We only lost electricity for ten minutes, but my parents and three of my siblings are still without power.

We took advantage of the family time and the kids colored a puzzle together.  I was surprised at how well they worked as a team.  

But after that, they were on top of each other the rest of the day... both literally and figuratively.  Let's just say being stuck in the house all day does not serve my kid's temperaments well :)  We are an outdoor and on-the-go type of family.

Today was supposed to be the first day of teaching for Phil, and the first day of school for John-Paul and Andrew but it got CANCELLED due to the storm.  A very rare thing for the first day of school to be cancelled!  We are taking advantage by getting caught up on some errands and cleaning up the messy and wind-blown yard.

And I just wanted to share these pictures of Alexander.  This is how Baby #5 catches a nap...in the midst of chaos on the family room floor:

 (yes that is a dirty diaper on the floor...I told you it was chaotic!)

Since we had power, we had some fun with our new computer and Photo Booth.  The kids think it's so cool (and so do I):

That's all for now folks.  I am off to get Andrew some school uniform shoes.  nothing like waiting 'til the last minute!  

(Speaking of school...we just found out the 3-year-old preschool class has openings if anyone is interested.  You can email me for more info since I don't like to let people know exactly what school my kids go to or where we live.  Thanks!)

7 Quick Takes Friday - Volume 3

1) So on Tuesday morning, I went to put my contacts in...and there was no left contact in the case!  I half-blindly searched around for it, but to no avail.  I put in a new contact and figured one of the kids must have played around with my case.  Imagine my surprise when later that evening, as I was taking out my contacts and cleaning them, I found the missing contact!

Do you see it?

How about now?

It must have stuck to my finger and then to the bottle when I was taking it out the night before!  Ha!

2) On Wednesday night, we had an Opening of School meeting for the kids school.  I am just so grateful that my kids get to go to the best school in the area (in my proud opinion) and have such wonderful and caring teachers who definitely don't do it for the money...just for the love.

3) Speaking of school, I can't believe it will be starting next week!  Well, that is if Hurricane Irene doesn't delay things around here....

4) We just discovered a Wading Pool in a State Forest around here.  The kids love it, and it's free.  I only wish I had known about it when all the kids were younger, as it's much safer to go to than a pool or ocean by myself.  At least Alexander will grow up with the pleasure of playing there frequently.

5) Xander is one month old today!

So far, he is a GREAT and cuddly baby.  He has been on the same sleep schedule since we've come home from the hospital.  He goes to bed at 9, after a bath and a feeding, and doesn't wake up until about 2 and then sleeps again until about 5.  After that feeding, he sometimes is awake for a bit before falling back asleep once the other kids wake up.  If I had to complain about one thing (and I shouldn't...but I'm keeping it real) it's that he eats a LOT during his waking hours.  Most of my kids ate about every two hours, but this guy can easily eat every hour.  I am happy to oblige while I'm at home, but I'm not sure how it's going to translate when I'm pumping at work everyday...we'll see.

6) We have been visiting daycares and finally found one that impresses us.  We need to make our decision soon as spaces are filling up, but I think we may have found a great place!  Thank God!  

7) John-Paul and I celebrated our half-birthdays yesterday.  He is now officially 8 and a half, and I am 29 and a half...again ;)