TRINITY ACRES: January 2008

January 25, 2008

Book Meme

It's a cute one so here goes:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Lord of the Rings (of course!) This is the hardback edition.

The floor was flagged, and strewn with fresh green rushes. There were four deep mattresses, each piled with white blankets, laid on the floor along one side. Against the opposite wall was a long bench laden with wide earthenware basins, and beside it stood brown ewers filled with water, some cold, some steaming hot.

Can you guess whose house this is?

Thanks JoAnna for this cute meme!

January 20, 2008

Happy 8th Birthday Frodo

Frodo turns 8. He was thrilled to finally get out of a car booster seat. One day we had a pizza party with fudgey brownies for dessert. Another day we celebrated with yet more family and had chocolate pies. So on his actual birthday, I opted for good old fashioned Rice Krispie bars. (*not* that anyone is sick of chocolate mind you!)

It must be mentioned our family oddity. With the birth of Bilbo we now have 1 birthday per month (with Aragorn and Pippin sharing a day) from December to September. All the men had birthdays on even days and all the women had birthdays on odd days... Bilbo arrived on the wrong day as he came on an odd day.... messing up our family oddity.. we'll keep him just the same.

Meme - all about me-me-me

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE ? Mom said they thought the name beautiful. However I do have St. Julie Billiart as my patron.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Can't remember, I suppose last week (this week is going alright... it's Sunday LOL)
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Sometimes... when I try I can write to please my 3rd grade teacher but usually I chicken scratch.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Smoked Turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Almost a couple handfuls
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I think so.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Is there another way to talk?
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes, I was so jealous when friends got theirs out and could eat nothing but ice cream and pudding.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No way
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Puffins (the cereal not the bird) and Granola oh and weetabix with butter and jelly
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? I doubt it if I had shoes that laced... I do untie my boot laces though!
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Generally, yes.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Peppermint at Christmas, otherwise Rocky Road... used to be Caravel chocolate with those big globs of marshmallows but I haven't seen that in ages. Oooh, and let's not forget those "trax" ice creams... I'll tell you what I don't like, cheap ice cream that is all crystally *shudder*
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? If they are fake or real.
15. RED OR PINK? RED
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? My temper, impatience and sarcasm.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Fr. Kunz (next would be St. Mary's in Rockford)
18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Tan Skirt and Tanish Slippers
19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? *blushing* Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Silence... children are asleep, DH is at chores.
21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Red
22. FAVORITE SMELLS? Fresh Baked Bread, Lily of the Valley Flowers
23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Can't remember, I don't get phone calls (so someone call me!)
24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Ugh. If I had to choose I'd say Basketball or soccer
25. HAIR COLOR? Dark brown
26. EYE COLOR? Gray-green or something like that
27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Not since children kept coming along
28. FAVORITE FOOD? Golly... Italian... Chinese
29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Why happy endings of course
30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Narnia LWW (though if I had my choice it would be Lord of the Rings of course (though the books are better)
31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Tan
32. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer when it's not too hot and winter when it stays above zero... the real answer is Spring!
33. HUGS OR KISSES? Both
34. FAVORITE DESSERT? Strawberry Shortcake
35. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? On CD we are listening to Robinson Crusoe, on my nightstand there are quite a few... all which are partially neglected.
36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? What mouse pad?
37. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Don't have a TV and lovin' it.
38. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Laughter, Vivaldi, "Ah-goo", "mama"
39. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? *shudder*
40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Europe
41. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Getting into trouble
42. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? St. Paul, MN

CHEESE

CHEEEEEEEESE (face)

January 18, 2008

Snow, Snow and More Snow

Frodo shovels for the first snowstorm.

The first storm brought us 6 beautiful inches of snow. Of course there are no snow days at Sts. Philip Neri and John Vianney Academy.

Howeever there is always a break for "shop". These are the tools Sam needed to repair a *shovel*... I kid you not, when boys are allowed to be boys even the simple repair of a snow shovel is serious business.... just wait til he gets to reading the Dangerous Book for Boys, given to him by my sister!

I took the Sam and Frodo with me into a hardware store to buy a couple more shovels. Have you ever seen the way boys' eyes light up in a hardware store?! Sam saw this beauty of a snow shovel... complete with auger. Sam didn't ask but the look in his eyes told me he most likely could not live without this shovel. Frodo was satisfied with a plain shovel.

Said shovels were the investment of the year and have gotten many miles this year. One would think we lived in Buffalo, NY. As of today we have very "professionally" measured the snow fall at 51 inches!!!

And you ask what our system is... After each snowfall we carefully measure how deep the snow is on the picnic table. Then the table is wiped off and ready for the next snowfall. (We did check ourselves for accuracy when we reached 35". The "real" people who measure at the airport had come up with 34-1/4"

So needless to say it has been a winter wonderland around here... it beats mud! But that is yet to come I'm afraid!

Cross Country Skiing
I found some cross country skiis on Craigslist and children have taken up skiing.

Sam

Eowyn (wearing pink?)

Galadriel (wearing blue?)

The children were given more skiis as a gift... and better yet this included skiing with Bilbo's God Parents. This is Eleanor trying out the skiis. For 4 years old she did really well.

They trekked quite a long ways.

Some faster than others! I stayed in where it was warm.

Bilbo's First Month

Bilbo turned 1 Month Old (biased mother thinks he's so doggone cute)
He gained 3 # 7 oz and grew 1-1/2 inches.
He did eat every 8-1/2 minutes give or take a minute or two so what can we expect? I think this was our biggest baby weight gain for the first month. Most of our babies gained about 2# the first month.
Bilbo will also suck a thumb or finger *and* he's our first who will take a pacifier. He doesn't use it much of course given how often he eats but the girls love playing mommy and give him a nuk.
He smiles now too. Why are babies so cute at 5am when they smile???