Emily's visit!

"our helper" as we antiqued in Amish Country

Entering Topeka, Indiana.  Life in the PAST Lane.

Topeka, Indiana

Lot's of Amish folk in horse and buggies!

I had a great time showing Emily around.  We got home Sunday night in time to eat dinner then hurry to the rosary at the Grotto with Sunday Vespers immediately following in the Basilica.  So beautiful!  They had Irish music in honor of Saint Patrick's Day.

Monday we went all around campus.  Then watched the movie Pitch Perfect after the boys went to bed.

Tuesday we went to Amish Country.  We went antiquing and went to Topeka, Indiana.  :)  Tuesday night we went out to eat at our favorite restaurant.. Corn Dance.  Yum!

I dropped her off at the bus on campus at 6 am this morning.  It was a great visit!

Saint Patrick's Day in Chicago

Tired boys on the train ride home from Chicago. :)

Girls Night the Musical in Chicago with Emily

Cold boys watching the parade!

On the train on our way to Chicago!

Chicago River dyed green in honor of Saint Patrick's Day. :)

The Bean in Chicago's Millennium Park

Emily on the train on the way back to South Bend

On the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) observation deck.

The Bean.

Very unnatural being that high on a see through floor!

We had a great time celebrating Saint Patrick's Day in Chicago.  We took the early train into Chicago to watch the parade.  It was FREEZING! and snowing a bit.  Our boys sure are tough, they didn't complain much.  The parade is about 3 hours long, we made it about an hour and a half before someone had to go to the bathroom... there was no way we were getting our spots back, so we left.  We had pizza and then Sean and the boys took the train back to South Bend.

I stayed and met my best friend, Emily.  We stayed the night in Chicago.  We watched a musical that night and then did a ton of sight seeing the next day.  We walked to The Bean, then Navy Pier, Willis Tower (Sears Tower), got our bags from our hotel and then walked to Garrett's Popcorn (bought a few bags) then walked to Millennium Station to catch the ride back to South Bend.  I think we walked 8 miles in below 30* temperatures in the WINDY City!  No joke.

The train back home was PACKED.  Many people had to stand.  Unfortunately, as we pulled into South Bend we saw many first responders at the scene of a small plane crash into a house just south of the South Bend airport.  So SAD.

March so far...

 

 

When God gives you snow... make snowmen!  :)

I love Finn's self portrait!  He picked out a nice red for his hair. :)

Playgroup pajama day!  They are working on their "PJ" self portrait.

Last regular season Hockey Game!  :(

Cooking with Kids playgroup.  We made cookie dough bites.  Yum!

First note home for the school year.

Cullen was so disappointed in himself!  The whole way home he told me how he wasn't happy with himself and he'll do better tomorrow.  At least he's getting in trouble for talking... could be a lot worse.  He is his father's son after all
!!  :)

February catch-up!

Sean celebrated his 35th birthday! 

 I made his favorite- cherry pie instead of cake.  ;)

Finn has started soccer.

 He loves it!  And he's doing great!  He scored 2 out of the 3 goals for his team a few weeks ago.

Last week he scored for the other team! :)

Steelhead Trout.  Will be released back to into the St. Joseph River soon.

Baby Steelhead Trout.

We had a playgroup at the local fish hatchery.  It was really interesting and Finn loved feeding the fish!  I learned that the female fish sacrifice their life to donate the eggs, and they donate the dead fish to ND where they study effects of medications on the arteries. (Fish arteries are very close to human)  The rest of the fish is made into pet food.

brave boy

My child? brave boy!

holding a lizard

hahaha!

Thursday (also a surprise dress down day!), someone visited the school with a lizard and snake.  We didn't hear about it until dinner.  BOYS!  You would think that would be exciting enough, that you would talk about it the minute you get in the car.  Nope.  I did hear that he got no smiles taken right away... priorities! 

Cullen told us that if you wanted, you could hold his lizard and snake.  From what little information I gathered... not many kids wanted to hold or touch his animals.  :)  This man also had toads, but didn't let the kids hold them because he thought the kids wouldn't like the way the back/ribs feel.  Cullen laughed and talked about playing with them this summer.  I wonder if he didn't let the kids handle the toads because they will pee all over!?!

Anyway, I'm proud of him for being brave and holding those slimy reptiles!

Fat Tuesday Paczkis

Finn and I made a special trip to the Dainty Maid, in downtown South Bend to pick up some Paczkis. It's been a local tradition for over 100 years! And the line going out the door was worth it! We tried lemon, Bavarian cream, cherry and strawberry. MUCH better than the Martin's (local super market) brand!

Outings around South Bend

Notre Dame has a program called First Fridays for Families. This month they organized a "Dive In". Where we swam at Rolfs Aquatic Center on campus while we watched the movie "Brave". Our friends, the Coulters joined us. We had a great time.

This past Saturday after Cullen's basketball game, we hurried over to our first Cub Scout "See It" at the local fire station. All the boys loved it!

The scout leader tried to trick the scouts by asking, "What color is a red fire engine?" Finn wasn't fooled and yelled "Red!" The scouts thought that was funny that they were tricked, and Cullen's little brother wasn't. :)