Shecklet #3’s First Communion

The cold and rain couldn’t take the joy out of today – Shecklet #3’s First Communion day!

Her godfather drove up from St. Louis to concelebrate her First Communion mass and presented her and her classmates with the Precious Blood. It was a gift to have him with us to celebrate this special day!

It’s been a long time since we had both godparents with us at the same time.

After mass, we returned to our house for brunch, cake and ice cream. My friends and mother-in-law were a big help in the kitchen, which was greatly appreciated 💗

We hated to see him go, but his trip to MN was a quick one. He wasn’t even in MN for 24 hours!  We made sure to capture our usual two photo poses – regular and crazy!

The last photo we have of us was right before I was wheeled back for surgery. I’m happy to have a new one of the three of us together.

The first communicant received some very special cards and gifts today, including a book, her own Bible, and her great grandma Sheck’s rosary – she used it during her bedtime prayers tonight. ❤️

God bless you, sweet girl!  Jesus loves you and so do we!

Birthday party with a piñata

We celebrated the birthday of our friends’ daughter this afternoon.  Pizza, cake & ice cream and TWO piñatas! Breaking open the piñata and collecting candy is always a thrill for the kids. Thankfully the weather was nice enough for us to be outside.

Celebrating 11 with friends 🥳🎂🎉

Shecklet #2 is turning 11 tomorrow and he asked to have a friend birthday party this year. He did all of the planning – video games and nerf battles, complete with brackets and a trophy.

We ordered pizza, had pie and ice cream and just let the boys hang out and be boys.

Oh and Jake ordered 1000 darts in an effort to make sure they didn’t run out of ammo 🤣

5th grade b-ball league tourney 2019 🧨🏀

This guy’s 5th grade basketball team played their hearts out this weekend! 3rd place out of 17 teams!

I had two parents come up to me at two different times today to say how they wished they were playing us for the championship tomorrow night because they were so impressed with our boys’ sportsmanship. Those moms didn’t need to give those compliments – they did so completely on their own.

So proud of his guy and his teammates!

Budding artist

An over-sized art kit was one of the great presents that Shecklet #4 received for her 6th birthday. She put many of the art supplies to good use today, including the acrylic paints, brushes, and a fresh canvas.

Another trip around the sun

I got to celebrate my birthday with this great group of family and friends. Michelle and Angelo hosted us for dinner and an amazingly delicious pumpkin layered cake.

Gift opening (on the 24th) was full of fun surprises from Jake, the kids, my in-laws, and my aunt Deb, who made a cathedral pane lap quilt using pieces that my Grandma Fran had intended to use for quilting, but was unable to due to her failing eyesight.

Thanksgiving 2018

We hosted two families for Thanksgiving dinner this evening – 6 adults and 10 kids! Once again, I didn’t get pictures of everyone – next time!
Good food + great company = fantastic holiday!

Pre-Thanksgiving 2018

Our good friends from KC came to visit for a few days. Many laughs and fun memories were made and we captured a couple of pictures to document how much the kids have grown 😊

This kid loves her godparents so much!

Trip to the local ninja gym for some exercise.

Rare mom selfie!

B-ball for Shecklet #3

It was Shecklet #3’s first b-ball game day today! The girls played two games and improved so much between game one and game two! So proud of them!

The new big brothers

My friend, Michelle, just had a new baby and I got to spend some time with the two big brothers while their dad was at the hospital.