This and that, Boys Choir Concert,

I am so behind on blogging!  Let's see if I can remember where we left off two weeks ago.  The other day Marc was in a huge hurry.  He had his briefcase, coat, lunch and stack of books in his hands and was rushing out the door when Anastasia walked up, stood at his feet and held up a book.  Daddy put everything down and read to baby girl.  First things first!  Baby girl is an irresistible force!

Last week was the Birmingham Boys Choir Christmas Concert- my favorite concert of the year.  This year was Charlie's FIRST concert with the choir as a "junior chorister".  :)  He did great and sang every word- he was on the front row so we could see him well.

Every other year they have the Dads join in on the Christmas concert so big Marc sang too!

Last weekend the children spent one night at BB and Poppy's house so Marc and I could finish our Christmas shopping.  BB and Poppy's farm is a dreamland for children.  They had a ball.  Marc took the boys around the four wheeler and helped Poppy feed the deer. 

After they filled the feeder they had a sack race with the empty sacks. 

 

Deer love this feeder!

They have an awesome flat street- great for bike riding.   Poppy followed them in the golf cart.  :)  Julia and BB drove Annie around in the golf cart as well. 

S'mores!

Reading books-

Movie night with popcorn and blankets.  :)

On Sunday, Father dedicated a brand new chalice for the church made in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It was dedicated to the memory our dear Father Lambert, who passed away last year.    He used the older consecration rite in the 1962 books.  

Among the details on the chalice that symbolize its dedication to the Blessed Mother are the lapis lazuli (blue) cabochons on the node, the Mother of Pearl cabochons on the base, and the inscription around the cup, comprised of the three “vessel” titles for Our Lady from the Litany of Loreto (in Latin): “spiritual vessel”, “vessel of honor”, and “singular vessel of devotion”.


Almighty everlasting God, who instituted the laws of sacrifice, and ordered among other things that the sprinkled wheaten flour should be carried to the altar on plates of gold and silver; be pleased to bless, hallow,  and consecrate this paten, destined for the administration of the Eucharist of Jesus Christ, your Son, who for our salvation and that of all mankind chose to immolate Himself on the gibbet of the cross to you, God the Father, with whom He lives and reigns, forever and ever.

 

 O Lord our God, be pleased to bless  this chalice, made by your devout people for your holy service. Bestow that same blessing which you bestowed on the hallowed chalice of your servant, Melchisedech. And what we cannot make worthy of your altars by our craft and metals, do you nonetheless make worthy by your blessing; through Christ our Lord.

Still waiting for baby Jesus to arrive at Christmas!

 

 

 It is SO HARD to get a picture of Anastasia in her church clothes.  She never stands still!

 

   

 

 

On Monday I took pumpkin for her 18 month checkup!  How did she get so old so fast!  My new baby!  She was 26 lbs 14 oz (91%) and 34 inches long (97%).  Still a tall baby girl, but she is no longer "off the charts".   I forgot to pack any books or anything for her to do so we had to look at the "baby" on the phone to make her happy while we waited. 

 

 Annie you are just an absolute delight at 18 months.  You laugh and smile ALL.DAY.LONG.    We all adore your happy little spirit.  You are delighted by the smallest things and literally squeal with delight even when someone walks in the room.  You call Marky:  Bubba!  Julia:  Sissy!  Tucker:  Tuck Tuck!  and Charlie:  Sharshee!!  I added the exclamation points because you always say their names with delight and a big smile and squeal. 

You are a sponge and already know your letters, shapes and colors, animals, animal sounds and so many songs and games.  You shocked the pediatrician when you started saying the letters on the poster beside us.  You can say two-word phrases like "Mommy read" or "Baby show" or "Bye Bye BB!"  You love to sing and dance and perform.  You blow kisses and give hugs.  You love everybody, but only want to cuddle your family.  You wave and smile at strangers and say "hi!" and "bye bye!" to everybody we come across.  Your favorite thing is to be read a story or to work a puzzle.  You clap after every piece you put in.    You are not too clingy and are happy to walk around and play with toys.  You love all your toys. 

We all fight over who gets to get you out of bed because you are so excited and suck the air out of the room when we walk in.  You then tell us all the names of the animals in your bed.  You seem to love bunnies and sheep more than baby dolls just like your sister did.  You already love horses too- if you see one you start clapping and saying "naay, naay."  Brendan Bunny is your favorite lovey and you call him "My Munny."  You are an excellent sleeper.  You have now moved to one nap most days which lasts usually 3 or sometimes even 4 hours.  Then you sleep 7:30 to 7:30.  You are a dream baby.  We thank God every day for our sweet little cherub.  We didn't think we would have any more babies and then God gave us this precious, happy angel girl.  Thank you, Lord, for our sweetie pie. 

 She loved this chair.  She kept saying "Circle!  Circle!" and spinning it.

And now we've gotten to Christmas Eve!  We got this new Advent Calendar this year that is magnetic and have loved it!  We added Jesus on Christmas Eve!  The boys did this every day. 

And we had this advent calendar with a Bible verse that one of the boys read to us each day. 

And we have always done "The Giving Manger" idea.  This year I got the book to go with it.  And Marc read to us every night from Meditations for Advent.  I will say that this book is really good, but better for older children.  Our children have done the younger books for so many years that they were ready for the meaty stuff.   And Daddy took great care to explain everything. 

And on Christmas Eve the boys put all our baby Jesus figurines back in their mangers.  We had taken them to church to be blessed on Bambinelli Sunday. 

I love my little helper elves!