Love Birds

Today is our four year wedding anniversary.  No big plans really.  Just peppering the day with reminiscent moments and nostalgic treats.  We are hoping to ship off Luke and Augustine for a good portion of the weekend so that we can do some major painting (basically the whole main floor of the house).  I might be starting the "nesting" phase already or it's obvious that even though painting isn't exactly easy with two little boys running around, it won't get easier by throwing a third child into the mix!  I'm on a bit of a roll today in finally getting some blogs published.  Hopefully there will be more coming soon and I don't overwhelm the readers.  It would, however, be lovely to hear from you out there.  Here's the agenda for this post. I'm most particularly interested in any feedback you have to offer on part "D".

A. Some photos from the wedding
B. Tribute to other lovebirds
C. Mothers' Day
D. Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds

                             A.

 vows and thereabouts

Exiting Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel as Mr. & Mrs.

Awwwwwwww

Brides and Bridegrooms

May 15th is quite the popular day.  Birthday shout out to our guests Scott and Christy and Happy Anniversary to Bill and Helen and Ed and Janet!

Forever Starts Today (Amen. Alleluia!)  The song Pete wrote for us to dance our "first dance".  It was wonderful yet awkward since it was 7 minutes long.  I was going to try and post the MP3 for you all but haven't figured it out yet.

Newlyweds and Oldlyweds

B. Pete and I feel especially blessed because our parents are still married and only married once. My parents celebrated their 32nd anniversary on March 20th and Pete and his siblings organized a big shindig for their parents' 45th anniversary who got married on April 26th.  We started the celebration at 11am Mass at Little Flower Parish where Pete grew up and his parents still attend.  We packed a "picnic" lunch then went to the Akron Rubber Ducks baseball game.  Then we all went to Matt and Debbie's for dinner, cake, and hanging out.  The Mr. and Mrs. we were honoring knew of the festivities but didn't realize the extent of the guest list.  Siblings and friends traveled from afar to join in the fun.  Thank you to everyone that helped honor Matt and Cathy and their commitment to God, the sacrament of marriage, and their family.

Our own party spot in section 1/2

The boys meet the duck

Good food.  Good company.  Good times!

The happy couple displaying the commemorative framed "card" and hopefully viewing this blog from their new laptop computer ;-)

C.  As a combined celebration of my mother-in-law's birthday and Mothers' Day.  We invited Grandma and Grandpa Schafer over for dinner last Friday.  We had nutty stuffed mushrooms, homemade onion breadsticks, a tossed salad, and baked ziti. In lieu of a birthday cake I made a strawberry rhubarb pie, which just so happens to be both mine and my mother-in-law's favorite.  Unfortunately, I have not had much luck with my strawberry-rhubarb pies "setting up" in the past.  They still taste delightful, if you ask me, but they are a mess to serve.  Although I had a HORRIBLE Thursday, the day before the dinner party, the pie seemed to be the only bright spot in the day.  It was a lovely sight coming out of the oven and I wish I would have taken a picture once it was sliced displaying a perfect cross-section devoid of drips.  Oh...and it tasted good too!

Strawberry Rhubarb pie

Still steaming

We did head over to Pete's folk's on Mothers' Day as well after spending a good portion of the day at my parents' for a turkey dinner.  Pete afforded me the opportunity to sleep in by tending to the boys on Sunday morning and making us all breakfast (which is NOT uncommon on weekends).  He also picked out a birdfeeder for our family and birdseed.  Luke was very excited about the gift and asked countless times about when we were going to hang it up.  We made the poor kid wait until Monday- over 24 hours after the present was unwrapped.  The feeder is a pretty basic house-shaped design but it was made from recycled materials in the U.S. of A.  It's nice to be able to share the benefits of "green" with the boys and helps them see the benefits of our recycling efforts.
We hung the birdfeeder in our lone dogwood tree in our front yard so the boys could observe it easily out the front window.  Here it is only Thursday and the vessel is empty.  We're not entirely sure who the primary recipient of the seedy treat was as we witnessed both aviary guests and ornery squirrels partaking of the feast.

D.  And finally, among our recent views from the public library's collection was Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. Have you seen it?  It made for an interesting discussion on one of our evening walks.  I might just tense up a little now if a bird flies overhead.  Any critics out there have any comments about the ending?
Do you suppose:
     a.) The love birds had anything to do with the whole ordeal?
     b.) The film is meant to be a social commentary on how women pick, peck, and attack others?
     c.) We ought to consider the plot of the movie a likely scenario if we fail to respect nature and other living creatures?
     d.) Bodega Bay is meant to be the only area subject to the plague/attack?  For what reason?

I'm interested to know what you think.  I suppose I ought to sign off and spend the rest of the night with my husband... Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...
   

Gospel According to Luke

From the mouths of babes...  Just wanted to share some of those enlightening conversations/interactions with Mr. Luke Francis.  Hopefully,  I'll remember to recount some more instances as they occur.  Here's a start...

Sunday, August 3rd
Luke: Dad?  When you eat food do you get more energy and grow up more and more?
Pete: I think I am done growing up Luke.  I might grow a different way.
(brief pause- gears turning)
Luke: Are you growing down and down?

Thursday, June 13, 2014
After commending Luke on a job well done in puttingon his PJ's by himself only needing assistance with the buttons.
Luke: Uh, yeah. That's tuz I'm a-yergic
Me: Allergic to what?
Luke: I'm a-yergic to buttons.

Friday, June 6th, 2014
Pete pounding on the ceiling preparing for installation of new ceiling fan.
Luke:  Daddy, what are you doing?
Pete:  I'm trying to find a stud.
A little later Luke returns to say,  "I think you found one.  I hear it knocking back."


Saturday, May 10th, 2014 on the 35 minute ride home from a surprise birthday party for one of my friends Luke talked the entire way.  The last questions circulated around "How do they make cupholders?  How do they make cups?"  I had communicated the idea of using plastic and molds and the conversation continues...
Luke:  How do they make blankets?
Me: Blankets are made out of material and sown together.
Luke:  Mommy?  Did you make my blankets?
Me:  No. We bought your blankets.
L uke: But Mommy, you made Daddy's blankets right?
Me: Yes I made Daddy's blankets.
Luke: Who made my blankets.
Me: I don't know who made your blankets.  We bought them from the store.
Luke: But I know who made my blankets.
Me: Oh, yeah?  Who?
Luke: A Chinese person made my blankets.
I erupt into laughter.
Luke:  Daddy told me that.

...and as an encore.  My Uncle Kenny posted the following image a few days after the blanket conversation:

Early in Lent of 2014 as we were leaving our parish after Stations of the Cross  and our priest was congratulating us and inquiring about our new addition.
Msgr: What are you going to get? A boy or a girl?
Luke:  A sister.  I already have a brother.

Mid-February after returning from a weekend roadtrip to Maryland/DC via the turnpike.
Mom: Hearing, seeing, and smelling Luke as he raced throughout the main floor of the house- Luke, do you have gassers?
Luke:  with a shrug of his shoulders- They are just my rumble strips, mom.

Luke (2.5years): Mommy, why do you have a cross on your back?  (referring to the tattoo I got my sophomore year of college)
Me: Because I love Jesus.
Luke: But I don't like that cross there.
Me: slightly remorseful obviously not considering this conversation when I had the mark made-Well, I'm sorry Luke, but it is permanent.  I cannot get it off.
Luke: turning to run downstairs- Oh. Okay. I will go and get my eraser on my easel.
Luke: returning with eraser in hand rubbing it on my back-  It won't come off!


Luke (2.5 years) to UPS man making a delivery during Grandma Schafer's watch:  I want to be a trut driver when I det bid.
UPS man:  Don't drive a truck kid.  Go to college.
Luke (later in the day after much thoughtful consideration and audibly upset): But dramm-ma.  I don't wanna doe to tollege.  I want to drive a trut.
Sometime in the near future when Grandma Angie and Grandpa Steve were visiting and had heard of the account...
Grandma Angie: Luke, do you want to go to college when you grow up?
Luke (immediately enraged with big tears and red face): I don't want to doe to tollege!  I want to drive a trut! tantrum ensues for another 5 minutes

George in the Jungle

Enjoy the show.  It is nothing spectacular but you do get a glimpse of how these three cousins interact.  I've been watching my nephew George 2-3 days a week while my sister Tess and her husband are at work.  Tess is a preschool teacher so I started in September of 2013 and will get a break over the summer which will work well with the arrival of #3.  It's been interesting to see how the boys reacted to George's presence.  George Angelo was born on July 22nd 2013.  Yes it was the same day that Prince George made his debut as well, but Tess and Adam announced their baby's name first :-) !  Consequently that puts George at about the 10 month mark.  He is a strapping young lad.  I think he was a few ounces lighter than Augustine;s birthweight when he was born but he's not far behind Augustine now in terms of height and weight as you can see in the movie below.  George has been in the 97th to 100th percentile for his height all along.  He's a very active and strong little boy.  He is crafty.  What he can't get to by strategy he makes up for in brute force.

This morning when George arrived Luke and Augustine were still sleeping but George felt inclined to rouse them with an enchanting melody on the keys of the red piano.  These photos are from either February or March but George still entertains us on a regular basis.  His other favorite pastimes include opening the drawers of the end tables, retrieving and hiding toys under the couch, buzzing his lips and tracking down even the smallest piece of paper to hear it crinkle.  George tells us how it's all supposed to be with his long, emphatic chains of DA-DA-DA, NA-NA-NA, or MA-MA-MA while employing his pointer finger to add explanation and effect.  He produced a perfectly timed wave as his mom exited this morning and joins in cheers of joy with happy applause.  He's been enjoying a variety of solid food for the last 4 months or so despite the absence of teeth.  He progressed quickly from the sitting to crawling phase and was pulling himself up into standing position a week or two after he was crawling.  I'm sure that unassisted bipedal motion will be coming soon and I'm sure plenty of wily antics between him and his cousins will ensue.

One day I was feeling adventurous and took all the boys over to my grandparents in Rootstown.  My Aunt Margaret was in town with her son Marcos who was born in November.  These were the four youngest additions to the Francis clan until my cousin Jessica had her son Jaxson in March.

Sorry/ These pictures are surely out of order. At least I finally published the post after having it in my drafts since November.  I think this is the picture that I have of George at his youngest.

Below is my attempt to capture the afternoon stroll configuration for the fall when George was less active on his own- Schafer boys in the stroller and Geor\ge secured in the Moby. Nowadays George and Augustine get the double stroller and Luke tags along beside or helps me push while number three is "strapped in" by the comforting support of my belly band.  I get a lot of "You've got your hands full" comments as we traverse the neighborhood and particularly when we visit the library.  The fresh air and exercise does us all good and I figure it gives me practice for the days to come.

Augustine exhibited a little jealousy early on when I started watching George.  If I was holding George or feeding him his bottle, Augustine would get upset and want me to pick him up.  Of course if Luke noticed me with each of the little guys on opposite hips he would say, "Pick me up to mom!".  I managed the feat once or twice but it's totally out of the question these days with #3's occupancy.  For the most part, Luke was  oblivious to George at first and I had to make sure George was set up in a safe area out of the way of Luke's usual traffic pattern as he practiced his race car skills.  More recently though Luke will talk with George, play peek-a-boo, and sing him songs.  It's been fun to watch as the boys interact more playing follow the leader, exchanging hugs, playing ball, zooming cars, or climbing on the sack.

The photos above and below were taken November 26th 2013 putting Augustine at just over a year old, George at 4 months and Luke at two and a half.

Watch out world!  Who knows what kind of trouble these three are likely to get in to?!?!- and then we'll throw another little person into the mix!  Will these three dashing gentlemen be looking out for a little girl? Or will the fourth boy join the ranks?