Bases Loaded with One on Deck

Food, Feet, and First Lego League

   

   

 

 

It may come as a surprise to some of you that we have been involved in other activities besides taking pictures of Catherine.  In fact one of the things that has occupied much of our time over the past 7 or 8 months has been Michael and Matthew's involvement in First Lego League (FLL).  This past Saturday they competed in the state competition that was held at Georgia Tech.  They did not place in any of the events, but to make it to State you had to get through qualifiers (where they placed 1st for research and 2nd overall), and regionals.   So the fact that they made it to State as a rookie team is a huge accomplishment in itself.  Their team was called the "Lego Crusaders" and they did an absolutely amazing job!  Way to go guys!

I have to add some personal feelings on this whole experience.  When the boys were asked to join this team we had no idea that Kent would be looking into the job in Milwaukee, let alone accepting it, but they let Michael and Matthew remain on the team even though they might not be able to finish out the year.  Then when I had Catherine and it turned out Kent wasn't going to be here as much as we had hoped, and Catherine kept having doctors appointments and I couldn't always keep up with the practice schedule or help the boys keep up with their work and research, they still allowed the boys to remain on the team.  The other families we were involved with picked up the boys for practice, took them on the field trips, took them to and from tournaments, sat down and helped them with their work so that they could catch up.  They did EVERYTHING for me when I could do nothing because our life circumstances at the time.  These families gave my boys an experience of a lifetime.  Priya, Marjorie, and Debbie, I can't thank you or your families enough for the wonderful gift you have given us.  You are an amazing group of women and you have blessed our lives more than you will ever know.  THANK YOU!

Smitten!

To say that the boys just absolutely adore their little sister would be the understatement of the year.  Never has a child been so doted over like our sweet little Catherine has over these past few weeks.   They are all constantly hovering over her, cooing at her, kissing her face and holding her hands.  There are daily fights over who gets to hold her first or next and who gets to sit by her in the car or at church.

Matthew got a camera for his birthday, and I fear Catherine will go blind from the hundreds of times a day the flash goes off in her face.  If she doesn't go blind she will certainly become deaf if James doesn't stop talking so loudly to her, for some reason he thinks babies are hard of hearing.

Catherine is certainly the boys new favorite thing.  They run to her bedside at the littlest peep to see if she's waking up, they line up at the kitchen counter to watch her at bath time, and they narrate her every possible thought that might run through her head as her big blue  eyes move around the room discovering the world around her.  Even when she's sleeping she has a constant audience.

Yes, no doubt about it, Catherine is loved and adored by four amazing boys which makes her one truly blessed little girl!

All Star Summer

Last night at around 9:30 PM, Matthew's baseball season, which began the last weekend of January, officially ended.  Usually baseball ends for us the last week of May.  I was very much looking forward to the end of the season this year.  My mind was filled with glorious summer visions of school planning, baby shopping, catching up on blogging, and lazy evenings by the pool with the boys, but with a week left to go the coach from one of the all star teams approached us and asked us if Matthew would like to play ball for him this summer.  Matthew's eyes grew wide and gleamed with excitement, Kent's heart filled with fatherly pride, and my plans quickly vanished into the thick, muggy, Atlanta air.

Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled for Matthew.  He's a great baseball player and has been wanting to play on all stars for quite awhile, but we wouldn't allow it until he got to the 9-10 year old age bracket.  We've known several kids who start playing all stars when they are 6 and are just burned out by the time they are 9.   It's a HUGE commitment, and to be honest it was much more time consuming than I anticipated (and I was anticipating A LOT!)  One of the kids on Matthew's team has an older brother that plays on a traveling team.  The family is never together.  The mom's birthday was last month, she and her son went out to celebrate because there wasn't any night that everyone in the family could be at the same place at the same time.  I guess I'm just not that committed.  Matthew was able to make every practice and only missed one game so Kent and I could attend a 40th birthday party for one of our best friends.  Call us crazy, but some things are just more important than baseball.

All in all it was a great experience for him.  He was the starting 3rd baseman, which is not a position he's used to playing.  He did an amazing job, and we are extremely proud of him!  They lost more than they won, but that never got them down, and they always had fun.  He did complain about the heat quite a bit, but we were quick to remind him that it certainly could be worse .... he could be playing in Arizona!

The Story of a Name

Today is the feast day of Saint Catherine of Siena.  Catherine Siena happens to be the name our daughter will be given when she is born.  This is not the name we had picked out in the past, in case any of the boys would have been a girl.  This name was selected over two years ago by her brother Matthew, who when finding out that his Aunt Bryan, after having 8 boys was finally going to have her first girl, decided that God was going to give us a girl too and we were going to name her after the church we go to; Saint Catherine's of Siena.  Now he had already been praying on a regular basis for a sister, and since he picked out such a beautiful name for her we told him to start asking for St. Catherine's intercession as well, which he did, every single day. 

A few months after he had chosen the name, Matthew made his first communion.  The church he made it at was of course St. Catherine's of Siena, and the date; April 29th, same day as today, her actual feast day.

As each month, then each year went by, we all remained hopeful that God would add to our family, but it did not seem to be happening a quickly as we would have liked and most of us started to think that God had only four children in mind for us.  Matthew was the only one who never, ever doubted.  When we would go through the basement each year, there were certain toys we had to hang onto, even though nobody played with them anymore, because Catherine would certainly want to play with them.  We couldn't get rid of furniture, because where would Catherine sleep.  The only thing that could be given away were the boys clothes, because Catherine wouldn't need those.

When we found out I was pregnant, Matthew was sure it was a girl, but he humored us and decided to play along with the decision to pick out a boy's name as well.  He took out his saints book and decided upon Dominic.  It just so happens Saint Catherine had her first vision while walking past the church of the Dominican Friars in Siena, and later on entered a Dominican convent and took the black and white habit of the Sisters of Penance of St. Dominic. 

So....... it's a very good thing Kent and I happen to love the name just as much as Matthew, and her other brothers do, because after all the prayer Matthew has put in on her behalf, there really is no other name she should have.

There's a New Pet in Town

A few days ago while eating breakfast around the kitchen table, I read an article in the newspaper that stated goats were becoming popular as pets here in Georgia.  I shared this information with the boys.

Michael said that was the silliest pet he'd ever heard of. 

Matthew, wanting to be funny replied, "I don't know if that's the silliest pet I've ever heard of, but it sure is the horniest!" 

Now we all got a good laugh from what he said, but I'm pretty sure I was laughing for a very different reason.  Thank goodness I didn't have to explain myself!