Baptism & Finally Fall

It's finally Fall! Dylan and I are in the backyard during naptime enjoying 70-something weather - woo!

Two weekends ago brought us a family wedding and our Jack's Baptism. Dear Colleen & her youngest, George, were able to make it down from Illinois, and we made the most of our few days together. 

John Joseph's Baptism was Sunday, September 25th at Holy Name of Mary Church. He was baptized by Deacon Dean Herrick, and Mike & Colleen Biver are his (and Paul's!) godparents. We had a lovely ceremony followed by a great reception at the house with friends and family. Welcome to Catholicism, newest little Catholic!

32nd baby baptized in the family gown

And now for the rest of our shenanigans the past 2 weeks! For starters, my physical therapy has been having a tremendous effect! I'm feeling about 95% "back", and I now only notice any back pain when I twist and use pressure to grab, which I can avoid if need be. Before, I couldn't avoid pain but just eased or endured it, but now I can do most things and even forget about it all most of the time - great! This morning we even had a little dance party in the kitchen before Mass, and it felt awesome to play like that with the kids again. Nana & Pappy took P&A back to Houston with them after the Baptism, so JJ and I had a one-on-one week, whoa! He's doing very well, eating and gaining and growing out of clothes! And I was reminded how much work "just one baby" is. Paul and Ada had a ball in Houston, and I got only a few photos; something tells me they were busy. Also, though, Paul keeps falling on his face and busting his lip or scraping his forehead, and Ada keeps falling on her knees, reopening the same ol' scrapes! She, however, is very brave (dare I say braver!) and has no problems with cleaning wounds and using band-aids. Good girl. Dylan, Jack, and I traveled to Houston last weekend to pick them up again - Jack's first time in Texas!! This week has been relaxing and easy, enjoying our family time. Aaah.

Starting to play:

First trip to Tejas:

Friday the 7th was Our Lady of the Rosary's feast day. How to celebrate? With a Froot Loop rosary, of course:

And for the next big news: we're starting school! Paul and Ada are both starting pre-school tomorrow Monday the 10th! We're starting a homeschool curriculum, and I'll be interested in documenting much of the process; that, however, is not the point of this blog, so I've set up another for the sole purpose of schooling. Hop on over to Teaching the Knolls for a look at what the "big kids" are learning in connection with a Letter of the Week. It's a primitive blog, will likely go through some changes, and I'll likely change how we go about things a lot in the coming weeks.