A Trip to Lake Winnipesaukee (And My Baby Turns Four!)

We were able to spend half a week up at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.  My parents had given us their timeshare, and we took over that three-bedroom condo like the overwhelmingly large bosses we are.

We arrived on Brendan's 4th birthday, after a breakfast of champions, and opened a few gifts to get the party started!  

Nana and Gramps sent this cool racing car kit:

Brendan, like most preschoolers, loves bubbles, and got a bubble gun and a bubble wand which he enthusiastically explained how they worked to his captured audience :)

I created a photo book for him on Shutterfly, ABC style for my little preschool man.  (You can create your own book for free.  I've done a few of these as bday gifts, and they are well loved!)

He wanted "Old McDonald's with a toy" for dinner.  A very Happy Meal it was!

We had a Stomp Rocket for a long time before it got stomped loved to death, so Brendan was happy to have TWO new stomp rockets to play with.

Not pictured presents included a long-desired slinky, water guns from his godmother, and a gumball machine with gumballs from Gammy and Grandpa.  That was a big hit with everyone :)

On the second day, we visited the lovely town of Meredith, New Hampshire.

7QT: Things Making Me Happy

Linking up with Kelly and the rest for Seven Quick Takes Friday. 

1)

Happy Friday Y'all!  Can I say y'all if I'm born and raised in the North?  Probably not - sorry for having offended any Southerners.  Although, Southerners always seem really nice and generous, so they would probably be ok with me using y'all, right?  I'm glad that's settled y'all.  We had a pizza picnic dinner last weekend at a pretty little spot in a neighboring town, so that's where these pictures come from.  Family time and outside time makes me VERY happy!

Gammy and Grandpa

 2)

For Xander's birthday, he asked for shoe horns after witnessing his cousin and grandpa be able to put their shoes on WITHOUT HAVING TO UNTIE THEM FIRST.  My lazy little boy needed this device in his life STAT.  I have to admit, I have been using it with my sneakers that I always double knot, so lazy must run on the maternal side.

Football

Frisbee

Bits and Pieces on a Summer Sunday

I shared this video over on Instagram, pouring the dirty mop water down the toilet to show how gross my floors were (darn you barefooted kids!) but also to highlight my new best friend.  My new mop.  She has been a game changer for me...I actually love to mop now.  You can find you're own friend right here on Amazon, and let me know if she blesses your mess as well.

Speaking of blessing messes, have you all seen the show "Bless This Mess"?  If you like funny sitcoms that are pretty clean, this one will be right up your alley.  The characters are so great.  Aaaaand I just found out that Season 3 got cancelled.  Urgh.  Brooklyn 99 might not be coming back either.  What will our fall lineup look like?  Is this the part of adulthood where I stop watching tv?  I'm not ready!

We have been going to our favorite beach in Rhode Island this summer, but the governor just closed the border between Rhode Island and Massachusetts (unless you have to commute to your job) and so those big wave beach days are over.  We still have the more calm beaches near our house, which are still great, and I'm not really complaining.

We recently found out that our two highschoolers (and the school where Phil and I work) will be going back with a hybrid model for the month of September.  So the kids will go based on last name; with 50% attending on 3 days one week, then 2 days the next, and the other 50% doing the opposite.  We have not yet found out what our five other school aged children are going to do yet, which will be interesting to try and sort out.  If any of my little kids are home any days, I won't be able to go into work, so looks like I might be working from home and schooling from home like we were last spring?  I really hope that isn't the case because I don't think I can handle that for too long.  We did pretty well with it last spring, knowing that summer was right around the corner, but starting this new year off the same way feels very overwhelming.

Meanwhile, Xander is putting his spy equipment to good use...

And now I'm off to buy school shoes online.  Or maybe I should be getting slippers?  Nah, I'm going to stay optimistic for a school year actually spent in school.  Just call me Pollyanna.

Confirmation During COVID

Stupid COVID has ruined so much of 2020, hasn't it?  One of the biggest blows it dealt was the postponement of the sacraments.  I feel so bad for all those who needed Annointing of the Sick, had a baby but couldn't get them baptized, planned a wedding that couldn't happen, prepared for First Holy Communion or Confirmation and then had to wait and see.  It was especially hard to swallow when huge gatherings of protestors were allowed, but a gathering in a church - that would be too dangerous!  Oy vey.   We need to keep important what's truly important, and that is dying in the state of grace in this life to live eternally in the next.

Geesh Colleen, why you gotta be so morbid?

OK, I'll stop.  Sorry, so much pent up frustration at current events.

Let's focus instead on the beautiful sacrament of Confirmation that Andrew received.

Andrew missed receiving Confirmation with his class while we were away in Ohio in July, and so our pastor was very accommodating and offered us a private Confirmation Mass.  Andrew chose his Uncle Adam to be his sponsor, pictured above...masked in Mass.  Andrew had wanted to pick Uncle Adam as his sponsor since he was a little kid, but Adam wasn't Catholic.  I told Andrew to pray for his conversion so that he could have him as a sponsor one day (never telling Adam this) and Adam converted to Catholicism last Easter!  Just in time for Andrew to start his preparation year for Confirmation.  How great is God?  So great!  How powerful are prayers? So powerful!

John-Paul, Eamon, and Alexander served the Mass and it was beautiful.