SFG Update!

I finally planted the remaining SFG's this evening. It had been sooo windy all day. While it was still breezy, especially while planting the tiny carrot seeds, it needed to be done. So, I'll have beans and peas at the end of August and into September.

I can honestly say that I have NOT planted THIS late before, but some years are like that. If I want to be done with that first mild frost in September, I'll let it go ... if not, I'll be searching for blankets and sheets to cover up the SFG's.

On Saturday, Eric rototilled around all the SFG boxes & the old fashioned garden to knock down the weeds. I like being able to look out and see it without the weeds. It's also a bit of prep work for laying down canvas or landscape fabric. I eventually hope to cover the walkways with pea gravel or something that won't blow away. One small step at a time.

Progress...

Graham is making great progress on the potty-training front. He still has a few accidents, but the last couple days (even through Achievement Days, which were super busy!) it's only been 2 pair of underwear a day instead of more. He has a whole drawer of undies to choose from and when he is 'trained', he 'gets' to open up his new pack of Diego underwear. We've taken them out of the package to look, but they went right back in to wait for THE DAY.



** Since he actually has started to tell me before the need is imminent, we opened the Diego underwear so they could be washed. He's VERY excited.

Garden Sale!

My MIL informed me a couple days ago that the local greenhouse's 'Box Sale' was today. I offered to drive and we arrived just a few minutes after the opening at 8am this morning. Did we get some great deals!!

Each box of plants is $10 - no stacking, but little six/four packs could half hang over the edge. All of my box plants were perennials in 4" pots. Both my MIL and I purchased two boxes. In case you are wondering what's in my boxes, I found peonies, columbine, daylilies, coral bells, siberian iris, japanese iris, and hosta.





Roses were $5 & Clematis were $4. I found one beautiful rose bush - it's has a red flower, and I picked out two clematis - a white and a dark purple/blue. Neither of us purchased any baskets, but they were also marked down to $5! This is an incredible deal for someone like me who loves perennials, has not a wisp of perennials gardens in her yard (yet!), and is having landscape work done in about 3 weeks.



I want to plant so badly, but know I need to wait till the landscape work is done. Besides, we'll have to cultivate and spray to kill all the weeds that now look like lawn from a distance before the real grass can be sown. So, I'll keep these plants alive on my porch for now and dream about the possibilities. Patience ... I'm working on the virtue of patience.

Achievement Day Summary

Dash and Angelina

have completed their first

4-H Achievement Days!

Tuesday:
Interview judging started at 10:15a for our club and both did well. They received blue ribbons on all their projects after this first step. The whole family went out to eat for lunch, then went home for a nap! Well, Graham and Zeke napped in the car on the way home and I napped at home, in the comfort of my own bed. For some reason I was exhausted.

Static exhibits were open for viewing from 2-8pm later that day. Two tables of champion projects were set up. The kids were both surprised and pleased to find they each had a project at the front of the room. Angelina's childcare (activity bag) and Dash's gardening (container herb garden) both received purple champion ribbons.

We ate at the community sponsored picnic and then headed over the Zeke and Dash's baseball games to finish off the day on Tuesday. Grandma and Grandpa Green Acres joined us to view the projects, eat at the picnic and watch a bit of baseball. Grandma Golden Acres also traveled down to watch baseball and will watch the kids show their rabbits on Wednesday.

Wednesday:

Dash and Angelina show their Mini-Lop rabbits - Checkers and Comet. The rabbits have been cleaned (yes, they needed a bit of a bath) and the kids have been practicing diligently the last couple days on showing and handling their pets. The judging started at 9:30a. They showed their rabbits as 'pets' and then participated in rabbit showmanship. I asked, and the judge was so kind as to go through everything about showmanship with them after their class. Ours were the only rabbits shown. So, both won a blue for their rabbits and received blue ribbons in showmanship. Dash won the purple champion in the 'pets' division.

Rabbit Showmanship - Dash with Comet and Angelina with Checkers

4-H is such a great way to learn. Wish I would've thought to ask her to go through a similar demonstration with poultry so our kids could benefit.

Dash competed in the tractor driving (lawn tractor, that is) this afternoon. He hadn't practiced all the skills that needed, so it was an dventure and fun to watch, as well! His participation was a bit of a last minute decision, but why not?? An even more last minute decision was that Angelina also participated! I don't believe she's ever driven anything. Both did well, in my opinion. Angelina is a bit light and small, so someone had to push down on the seat (the lawn tractor will not run if the seat isn't weighted down enought), so that she could sit forward to reach the forward and reverse pedals.

At 3pm, all the static exhibits needed to be picked up (or packed) and a final decision as to their entry at the state level decided. We had planned to send just a few, but Eric decided that he'll make a run up to Minot to enter them. Grandma Golden Acres has agreed to pick up the exhibits at the end of the ND State Fair.

Dash, Angelina, and Zeke stayed to watch the large animal show tonight, with their Dad. He wanted them to see what it's all about. We hope to have the kids show a larger variety of animals in the future ... I grew up showing sheep, rabbits, and chickens for the most part, but also tried equine halter showmanship and beef. Eric showed hogs and chickens.

Showing is a lot of fun, but there's also a LOT of work on the backside. We aren't set up for larger animals, yet, but I've been so wanting a few chickens! Am I ready for this??? Sure, on this side of our first Achievement Days ... bring it on!!

Angelina withe her projects and ribbons, above.

Dash with his projects and ribbons, above.

Replanting

Grandma Green Acres went to the greenhouse this morning with Angelina in tow and found nearly all that we both needed to re-establish our gardens. At least with the SFG's I can get to them and replant today. She'll have to wait until the her garden dries out a bit before putting plants in the ground.

Eric, my hubby, will be picking up the remainder of the tomato plants I needed - the Roma variety I use to do virtually all my canning. I'm so thankful he was able to find everything else we needed.

The darn weeds came back better than my veggies ... how's that for a sense of humor!

Science Fair

Dash and Angelina participated in a local science fair yesterday. The sponsoring couple is a homeschool family and they've really put a lot of work and thought into the planning for this first year. While the participation wasn't as great as they hoped, I think it really has the potential to turn into something wonderful for our homeschool group and anyone else who wants to participate.

Computers make it so much easier to create displays and allow a younger child to have an easy to read display. I helped the kids format thier text on the computer and I used the paper cutter (I don't let any of the kids use the paper cutter ... it's my fun toy and in my opinion, none are old enough to use it properly, yet!). The kids were in charge of creating the text, using rubber cement to attach the text to the background paper, and placing the text on their display board. The foam-board displays were even gridded, aiding placement greatly.

Angelina did a simple experiment that showed the effects of calcium loss in chicken leg bones. It's a simple experiment, but perfect for her age. She called her project "Funny Bones". We kept her experimental jars lined up on the kitchen counter and made observations every couple days.





Dash exhibited an electrical device/toy called a Vibrobot*. This hand-made toy is an example of closed circuit electricity, but it's much more fun than the standard light switch mounted on wood.







On this Vibrobot model, one connects the black wires and the bot will start to move around. It's cute and fun.

*I first saw the Vibrobot on a Martha Stewart show. What can I say, it was a weak moment in the early morning when I sat down to have a snack. I've watched the show maybe 5 times in the last 8 years. Anyway, I was definitely meant to watch this particular clip; the Vibrobot is perfect for someone like Dash. It was cool ~ I'm pretty sure any boy in the 12yo age range (and probably a few technic-minded girls) would enjoy this project!

Storms and Hail

I saw the clouds, but didn't do anything. It's been a rainy week and I assumed this would be a similar storm - nice rain, soak the garden and container gardens ... nothing to worry about. I WAS WRONG! It stormed with wind and hail. I was able to get the kids' herb gardens to a safer spot. Thank goodness, as Achievement Days, where they are supposed to be exhibited, is next week. Also managed to pull the large herb containers back closer to the house, but they still were really beaten by hail. Half of me was drenched, but it needed to be done.




View out our side garage door at the piles of hail (top and bottom photos). Most of the hail was the 1/2 inch size.





Above is the first Marian Herb container garden I planted. It looked so full yesterday morning. Wish I'd have snipped some of the parsley before it was beaten down. I didn't realize the pot in front still had a plug in the bottom! The water spilled over the brim ... I removed the plug and was happy to see that these plants looked pretty good, considering.

Thunderstorms aren't terrible. I do not dread them, but I don't like hail at all. It makes my stomach tense and knotted ... I do, and did, pray for the preservation of gardens, crops, and home. At least the weeds got knocked down, because we won't be able to mow anytime soon! The first storm was the worst (it brought the hail) and the wind blew from the West; about 20 minutes later another storm came blowing from the East. Not a good combination to have rain coming from different directions in such a short time period.



Above is a view is from our front door shortly after the first storm passed through. It was hard to believe how much water was draining into the slough in front of our house. The ground is obviously plenty wet.

I'm not even going to go look at my SFG today. I can be optimistic and believe a few plants have survived, but I know I'll have to replant (especially tomatoes, cukes, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage). Hopefully plants are still available at the greenhouse/nursery.

One of the kids left the garage door open, too. I found out when another child opened the garage-to-house door and the air pressure changed dramatically. That was NOT a nice surprise. We had a lot of boxes in the garage; they are now water logged and will need to be tossed. Just another mess I really didn't want to deal with today. The water (deep for a garage, in my opinion) was swirling around the drain as the garage door lowered. The boys will be cleaning up that mess shortly.

I have no idea, yet, how much rain fell. Hubby hasn't had time to set up his rain gauge ...

That first appt.

Today, I finally had my first doctor appointment for this pregnancy. That meant a trip to Fargo by myself. Grandma and Grandpa Green Acres kept the kids all day. It rained this morning, so they were spared the trip into town for baseball ... I would have appreciated that reprieve, but I suppose going to Fargo by myself is a bigger reprieve from my normal duties!

I scheduled lunch with a friend who can 'do that' because she has older kids who can watch the youngers. We had a great meal at Applebee's and the conversatin is, as always, wonderful. Also had an appointment with the window-covering lady to go over the selections/estimate and made my order. Thankfully there was time before and afterward my appointments to get a few necessary shopping errands done, as well. A productive day in the city.

The appointment went well. Nothing unusual to talk about; although this is the first time I haven't had to restate my entire maternal history at the first OB. That was a nice surprise. I measure normal for this stage - that would be about 20 weeks.

However, there have already been enough comments about being 'big' from non-friends and family to make online shopping very appealing! I'm tired. Tired of creative come-backs and tired of feeling the need to answer. Why do people comment on your size during pregnancy??? I haven't figured that one out, yet. Even if I thought it ... ever.... I would never. ever. mention. it.

So, I know I'm 'big'. I usually have big babies, though; doesn't that count for something!?! I hope that I don't gain as much this time (I did really well in my last pregnancy), so that is my prayer for this pregnancy. I have no other worries and am at peace.

Silent Sunday - Corpus Christi

Beautiful, but maybe risky venture

I planted these daylilies (sorry, they are barely visible ... give them time!) this afternoon. I alternated between Stella de'Oro, with which I'm familiar, and Big Smile, which I know nothing about other than it's leaf size is similar to 'stella'. I'm not even sure what color Big Smile will bloom to be, hopefully it's compatible with yellow and NOT orange!




Stella de'Oro is a wonderful plant. It blooms with bright yellow flowers all summer long, is hardy, and has beautiful green leaves that will spread out to about 1.5ft when mature. It is a perennial and doesn't take much care. The only thing I've had to do, in either the fall or spring, is cut or break off the flower stems, which are taller than the leaves.

These plants are in a high planter just underneath my dining room window on the front of our home. I'd like to say "I'm sure they will survive the winter" ... but I'm not sure, that's the risk involved with my venture.

While out front, I snapped a picture of the bench I snagged at a local antique sale this winter. I do admit the front of the house has been neglected - no sidewalk, so it's beneath my radar! Anyway, one of my projects for summer is to sew a cushion for this bench. Not sure if it'll stay on the front porch, but maybe it'll be more welcoming and draw me out with a cup of tea if it has a cushion and a pot of flowers beside it.

4-H & Science Fair Preparations

Today will be our big push to get all the 4-H projects and Science Fair display boards completed. Both events are in the next two weeks, and we've been slowly working on getting projects done throughout the early winter and spring months. Now, I consider it crunch time ... time to be done with the worry about 'will we get it done in time'.

For 4-H:
Angelina had a sewing project for childcare that needed my help to be finished. Her Activity Bag, which will be given to her only 'girl' cousin, turned out really cute!

Her other projects need explanations written (includes cost, process, and use of finished good) if she intends to exhibit at the state fair. Dash needs to finish up his rocketry and electricity. He also needs to write a few explanations.

Dash's electricity project is made with a breath mint tin and a tiny battery-operated motor. He had a lot of fun with this project, which is called a Vibrobot (more on that later).


Then, of course, the baking for both kids will be completed on the Monday before Achievement Days, which is the grand finale at the county level. Achievement Days will be held June 23 - 24 (thus the 4-H emphasis on my blog). The kids will each be interview judged on their static (non-animal) projects on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, they'll each show a rabbit.

Hopefully rabbit showing will go okay. They haven't had as much time to practice with their rabbits; I don't have a fence perimeter set up to protect run-away bunnies. The rabbits are fairly new residents on our farm, so the kids have just been getting used to feeding and petting while the rabbits stay in their pens. Needless to say, they'll be practicing picking up, holding and setting up the rabbits today.

For the Science Fair:
Both Angelina and Dash need to work on their display boards. We have the boards (thank goodness!), but haven't worked on the lettering, etc. Angelina's experiment is in progress and she's been making observations. Dash built his first Vibrobot a couple weeks ago and will be working on a second today so that we can take progress pictures to illustrate procedure.

The Science Fair comes up first; it's on June 17. It's low-key, but I think it'll be a good experience for the kids.

Excitement in the mail!

I ordered a CD set from the 11th Annual MN Catholic Home Education Conference. This is one of the best conferences ... no, I haven't been to any other homeschool conferences and yes, I am biased! I look forward to this event every year, but have probably only attended three in person. The used book sale is huge, the vendor hall is packed, and the speakers are always great. This year, the conference was on Angelina's sacrament weekend. It's a no-brainer which I attended.

So, for this year, I'll be having my own Catholic Homeschool Retreat - right here on the farm. The kids will be sent out to play (maybe I'll acquiesce to the demands and set up a sprinkler or the POOL!). I can sit out on the porch to observe the fun, but train my ear to the CD and the wonderful speakers and topics that were showcased this year.

Next year is already on my calendar .... hopefully, I'll be there with a baby in stroller or sling.

A Productive Garden Day

Finally! I was able to get all the plants (ie. tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers) into 'real' soil. They'd been looking a little peaked in their plastic containers. I put hot caps over most of the tomatoes because that will help them establish better; it creates a mini greenhouse for each plant and protects from sun, wind, bugs, kids and wildlife.

The black landscape fabric will hopefully help keep the weeds down. As you can see the surrounding area is full of weeds ... mostly dandelions ready to go to seed at the next brush of wind. Dash cannot keep up with the mower! He mows and the next day, new blooms pop up and grow about 8 inches to proclaim their dominance. I've heard that dandelions mean the soil is really fertile ... if only I could harness it for grass and flowers that I enjoy! That day is coming...

Dash also planted his SFG this afternoon. His includes green beans, yellow onions, beets, and romaine lettuce.

Eva's garden is starting to show growth, especially in the lettuce, shown in the above picture, and onion squares. I expect her peas will be up within a week.

This leaves two more SFG beds to plant with sugar snap peas, shell peas, more green beans, and the remaining onion sets. I might also put in more beets if there is room. The picture below is of the Marian herb garden - the first pot I planted. The herbs have grown quite a bit!

**I had planned to have a strawberry bed, but it is late to get that started and the veggies are more important. I'm planning a raised bed, so part of the prep work is already done ... rototilling and landscape fabric. Either this Fall after tomatoes are done or early next Spring, I'll get the bed made and ready for the Strawberries.

Our first sidewalk!!

A week ago, workers started the process of installing a sidewalk for the side garage door to the garage cement pad. I'm so excited to have an actual 'hard' path to walk on from the front of our house to a door.

Framing up the sidewalk

I think the finished product is absolutely beautiful.

The rest of the sidewalks and landscaping in the works. We are on the schedule for early July. In the meantime, I'm just itching to get into the dirt between our newest sidewalk and the house ... oh, the possibilities! Will I do irises, lily of the valley, roses, shrubs, day lilies, peonies, hosta, etc. ???

Today's Doings

The boys have their first home baseball game this morning - this is their second game. Zeke was especially excited to get going this morning! He's real fun to watch, but he wants to make sure you are watching him, if you know what a I mean. I've had to remind him to keep his eye on the ball both at practice and his first game.

This time around, I chose to stay home because I'm still recovering from my bout of hives/angioedema. It's still painful to walk, but the swelling is much, much better today. Some women get morning sickness ... I get to deal with this every pregnancy. In truth, I do deal with hives outside of pregnancy, but pregnancy seems to make it more difficult to handle. Another day or two and I should be 'normal' again.

All the kids went with Eric to the games, so I have a little quiet time. I've been itching (literally, with the hives, and figuratively) to get into my garden to finish planting. The soil is ready... and the tomatoes are getting tired of living in their peat and plastic pots. They need the sun and rain to thrive.

I felt cheated yesterday, because that's the day I had planned to finish up in the garden. It was a beautifully sunny day with little wind, too. But, I was stuck inside. Thank goodness today looks as wonderful.

A Descriptive Wednesday

I found this framed print (it's a reproduction - but beautiful) for Eva's birthday .... the print is called "A Little Shepherdess" and was originally painted by William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1889.

What's Going On Today

The boys had baseball practice today. I was so hoping it would be cancelled because it was wet and raining here at the farm. Well, it wasn't raining in town where practice is held. Thank goodness Eric drove in and waited all morning (he can do work from anywhere, as long as he has his cell!).

At least the house was quieter for the meeting I had with the 'window covering' lady. She drove out from Fargo to talk options and measure windows. I'm thrilled! I had visions (earlier in the year, before I became pregnant) about sewing and creating valances/drapes myself. I even purchased some fabric; I had grand plans, alright. Well, now I just need it done - summer sunlight (yes, I'm optomistic and truly believe the summer sun will be hot!) is hard on woodwork and flooring, especially on the south side of our house. At least that part of the 'job' is done. Now just to decide, order and schedule installation.

Then, this afternoon, hubby and I met a landscaper to talk about the yard - front sidewalk and .... GRASS! This won't be done until July, and the grass will take about a month before mowing is possible. But, we're on the schedule...

Anyway, I consider this a productive day.

Tonight, we teach the third class in our current NFP series. I'm so ready for a break; we're taking the rest of the summer off from teaching. We'll start again in the Fall, of course, because there is demand out here.

A week from today, I have my first dr. appt for 'me & baby'. Still seems like a long ways off.

Old Fashioned Gardening

Square Foot Gardening (SFG) is not ideal for tomatoes, in my opinion. The book recommends 9 square feet per plant!!! That's a 3/4 of each of my SFG's! I'm not willing to give up that much room. Besides when I planted in my old garden, I didn't need that much room. The plants were close together, probably 1.5 to 2 feet apart, but my system for planting still allowed me to harvest easily.

Furthermore, I want a lot (we're talking at least a dozen plants) of fruit to ripen at the same time so I'm able to can. I'm old fashioned and like to pressure can or water bath tomatoes - depending on what I'm preparing. Of course, that might be a bit ambitious this year, as I'll be about 6/7 months pregnant by tomato canning time.

So, this weekend, my hubby is rototilling a plot for me. I'll plant the tomatoes and probably a couple other veggies the 'old-fashioned' way. It's still a raised bed; though not as raised as the pallets used for the SFG's.

Yes, Eric is wearing coveralls to rototill the tomato & strawberry beds. IN. JUNE. Absolutely nuts! The borrowed tiller wasn't working too well, but he got a start. He plans to work it up better this week. After a rain it might be easier anyway; and I can't plant anything until it dries up a little bit.

Graham's Birthday Cake

Proof that you don't have to bake or decorate from scratch to end up with a cute character cake that will please your toddler! I purchased a plain marble cake frosted in white and I was fortunate enough to find Diego on top of a tub of play-doh at the grocery store, too. Thank goodness - otherwise I would have been copying pictures from a coloring book or easy reader to 'frost'/glue on the front (I could have done that, but this was much easier). The rest of the decor were left-overs from previous birthday cakes, including the red frosting which I saved from Dash's birthday cake in April (yes, frosting will keep that long).

Happy Birthday, Angelina!

My darling Angelina is 9 years old today! When I was pregnant and then later in labor, I thought for sure she was a boy; I was never so thrilled (or shocked) to be wrong. I should mention that was my best/easiest/quickest labor and delivery!


Her dance pictures are so darn cute. She started ballet in the fall of 2004, when only four years old. Below, she's dressed as a Baby Bluebird in May, 2005.




Here she is again, in her Flower Pixie costume from May 2009. She's grown up so much, but is still the same in so many ways - determined, poised and beautiful.

Square Foot Gardening Progress

On Wednesday, I helped Angelina plant her SFG (Square Foot Garden). We used nails and jute twine to mark the 12 - 1" square sections.










She planted red onions, carrots, leaf lettuce, and sugar snap peas. After planting I showed her how to water her little plot. We also filled three other SFG's with planting mix.




Then, on Thursday, I planted two more SFG's with assorted peppers (5 plants), broccoli (8 plants - we like broccoli and it freezes well), cauliflower (3 plants), cabbage (4 plants) & cucumbers (4 plants which we will train to grow up a trellis). Angelina & Graham helped mark the sections and water after planting. Now to wait for the sprouts! For now, I'm just covering the gardens with prayer to protect from any voracious wildlife ...

Poor mama rabbit

Well, mama rabbit is all alone, now. Her little brood didn't live long. Next time, we'll be a little more prepared and hopefully the babies will thrive. I think mama was completely overwelmed with the presence of a male rabbit and so many human interrupters, albeit with good intentions, trying to give her a quiet spot to nest with her babies. In the meantime, I want the kids to learn a little bit more about rabbits before another batch arrives - library (or Barnes & Noble), here we come!

Rabbit Breeders, I Guess!

When we took over the rabbits from Grandpa Golden Acres, I sure wasn't expecting to have ANY little babies come our way before November (when I'm due with the next baby Lahlum!). But .... I guess we'll make do. It shouldn't have been a complete surprise because Dash told me there was fur in the hutch Tuesday night, but I didn't make it out to the pens that day. So, imagine my shock and surprise yesterday when I went out to attach the new feeders!

Needless to say I had a lot of work to do ... find something for a nest box, find bedding for the nest box, determine which was the male, separate the male from mama and her babies, find a way to keep the male from jumping over into the hutch area of the pen ... it took me a good hour to get all that done. At which point I went inside to call Grandpa and Grandma Golden Acres and share the news.

The mama rabbit had a large batch, not all survived because she was in the pen with the male rabbit. Male rabbits are sometimes rough and don't really care about a nest. Furthermore, these two are the least tame of all the rabbits and really get anxious when we open the top to feed or care for them (they are getting better, thanks to the attention of Angelina, Zeke, Graham and Dash). The mama rabbit tried to make a nest with her fur, but it was spread all around the hutch by the time I realized it 'was' an attemp at nest making. Now, she has a little nest box with her surviving babies - there were four tonight.

I figured out which was the male and which was the mama and then devised a way to keep them separate. We don't have any extra pens! So, mama gets to be with her babies in the smaller hutch and we'll put her food and water in that area. The male will be staying outside in the caged, but more open area, for now. Don't worry, he still has a good roof over his head and plenty of food and water.

I don't have any pictures of the mama rabbit. She was too scared to pose when I first posted about the rabbits' arrival. She is a grey and white belted - kind of like an oreo cookie. However, I'm sure there will be an update!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday, Graham!

Today, Graham turns three years old! I couldn't resist waking him up at just shortly after 7a to wish him a Happy Birthday and tell him he could open a special present from Grandpa and Grandma Golden Acres. Afterall, I was up half the night laboring to deliver him at 2:35AM! And, who can sleep immediately after delivering....

Such good manners to read the card first, Graham.

He has also been wanting this toy since Christmas, when Zeke received a Helmet Hero.


The 'special' gift for his birthday!

The only thing he asked of me for his birthday was a Diego (of Dora the Explorer) cake. I'll post a pic of that later. We've invited Grandma and Grandpa Green Acres over for cake and ice cream this evening.

Sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist

Very Reverend Chad Wilhelm, Uncle Eric, and Most Reverend Samuel J. Aquila, D.D. (back row) pictured with Angelina in front of the altar at the Cathedral of St. Mary

On Friday, May 29th, 2009, Angelina recieved her sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist. Our diocese gives these sacraments to third graders at the same Mass. Dash was in the first 'only third graders' group to receive his sacraments in this way. While some parents question the wisdom of this decision, it has been an easy adjustment for our family and most of our friends.

Some worry that after receiving both of these sacraments, the child will have no reason to continue religious education; they view Confirmation as 'the carrot' at the end of their child's high school years and 'the carrot' will help them stay involved in religious education through high school. My perspective is that you could think that at whatever point a child or adult has received both of these sacraments. How many parents decide, that after their 7th - 11th grade student has received the sacrament of Confirmation, the student is done with religious education at their parish and no longer needs to attend?? I was confirmed in the 7th grade. The next year, I was the only one to return to religious education classes. The truth is that we are never done learning ... whether we are confirmed in the third grade or as an adult through the RCIA process. It is also my opinion that parents need to take a leadership role in teaching their children the faith and teach that we are NEVER done learning about our Catholic faith.

Back to Friday .... the Mass at St. Mary's was beautiful and the kids were so excited and reverent at the same time. During the homily, the bishop spoke mainly to the kids; it was so fun to see them raise their hands to answer his questions without inhibition. He focused on the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and how each of the gifts can be used in our lives for most of the homily. However, he also touched on the fact that as adults we don't know everything about our faith, and encouraged all of the kids to keep on learning and growing in their faith. Angelina's class at the Cathedral consisted of 21 third graders, and children from other parishes were also in attendance - a total of 41 received the sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist.

Angelina chose her Uncle Eric (my third brother), as her sponsor for Confirmation. He will be a great role model for her as she grows in her faith. And, I am confident that he will be able to help her, if ever she asks for his guidance.

Eva with Uncle Eric, her sponsor

My mom, Angelina's Grandma Golden Acres, made her dress and veil. I had planned to do it myself, but the offer from my mom made my life much simpler. It is a beautiful dress and fit her so wonderfully (unlike store bought on my very thin 8yo). For this special occaission, and since she's my only girl as of right now, I made arrangements for her hair to be styled. It turned out so cute and she really appreciated this special treat.

Angelina with Grandpa and Grandma Golden Acres

My husband, Eric, and I with Angelina

The Mass was at 7p, so it was quite late by the time sponsor pictures and group pictures were taken (parents do not have much say in the scheduling, so we just made the best of it). Therefore, we didn't take many pictures of family at the church after Mass. Eric left shortly after the end of Mass with the boys to return to the hotel. All of our relatives, who were able to attend Mass, came over to our hotel room to hang out and take more pictures with Angelina.