The best gift you can give a child is a sibling!

This Christmas I took this sweet picture of my two oldest together under the Christmas tree and was reminded of what a blessing it has been to watch them grow up together. It really is true that the best gift you can give a child is a sibling as these pictures show. They are as different in personality as night and day but they are so happy together!

 

I can't believe how quickly the years have flown by!

September Family Update 2013

The summer has passed by and fall is here.  We have much to be thankful for as we'll be spending the winter in a new, permanent home!  For all of you who have been penciling in our many temporary addresses, now you can write this one in ink :-)  This week is moving week.  We formally close on the house Monday morning and then we'll spend the week packing, moving, de-cluttering (again;-), cleaning and getting ready for the big move on Saturday, October 5th. 

The Summer passed by quickly and the we're already 3 weeks in to our new School year.  The kids have been working hard on their school work and I've been keeping busy with homeschooling, caring for the kids, keeping things running smoothly at home and packing.  I can't tell you how excited I am to be moving to a "permanent" home again where we'll be staying for longer than a few months!  Below are some pictures from the last days of summer and beginning of Fall as well as a quick update about our family!

Phil's been really enjoying his work with the diocese in the Office of the New Evangelization working with young adults and spending time at the many different parishes who have asked him to come give a presentation from his "Menu" of options.  He's organized some great events already and is really enjoying the many and varied aspects of his job that allows him to work to his strengths.

We went to a fun "Family Reunion Day" sponsored by the Diocese and the kids all got a turn in the boat with Dad.

Even Thomas had a turn in the boat :-)

Miriam models her new swimsuit Aunt Jenny and I made for her at a trip to White Sands beach on Lake MI :-)

We are excited that William has already begun preparations to receive his 2nd & 3rd Sacraments.  He is enrolled in the CREDO (religious education) program at our new parish and is working hard to get ready to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation (December 7th) and make his 1st Communion (May 4th).  He is a diligent and steady worker in school but his favorite activity is still spending time outside and riding his bike.  We are very excited to have a safe place for him to ride and a yard for him to play in again.  He's also joined a local "Blue Knights group" and is excited to attend his second meeting this week.  Below is a picture of him picking apples at a local orchard.

Miriam has really begun to be quite independent and has been helping out a lot more around the house.  I'm really grateful for her help and she loves taking care of her baby brother Thomas.  She is really enjoying having more formal schoolwork as a kindergartener and has been racing ahead in her workbooks.  She's definitely an eager learner and has already picked up a lot by watching what her brother has been learning!  She's also in Little Flowers this year and had her first meeting with 16 other young ladies.  What a blessing!

Miriam carries her art project, blue sash and badges for Little Flowers

Luke soaks up everything his older two siblings are learning and amazes us with his 3 year-old perspective.  He loves writing his letters and doing his schoolwork :-)  While we were doing the walk-through on Friday he slipped at our new home and landed on his arm.  Four hours later he was really complaining of pain in his elbow and was in tears so Thomas and Luke and I went to the local emergency room and Luke now has a splint on his arm.  Luckily nothing is broken, and while he still says it hurts occasionally, he seems to be able to use his arm just fine. I kept the two kid entertained by letting them take pictures and movies in the hospital room. 

Thomas, is keeping us all on our toes as he is quick to follow the others around and quick to get into mischief.  He loves to be outside and it will be so nice not to be so close to the street and to have some grass for him to walk around on!

Thomas is following in his siblings' footsteps and loves to read :-)

Two families and 11 kids = a ton of fun for Max's 3rd birthday! (2 not pictured - Thomas Lawson & the newest Bacon in the womb:-)

We were blessed to celebrate our godson's 3rd birthday at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary

 
We are grateful for the many blessings God has showered upon us and continue to marvel at His plan and seek to cooperate with it (and hopefully not get in His way:-).
 

Photo editing fun

For Mothers Day Phil took us all out for dinner and found a place that was offering a free family portrait.  It was very sweet of him :-)

They took several shots and gave us two pictures - both pictures were ok but not everyone was looking their best in either picture.

So I decided to apply my amateur photo editing skills (in gimp) and to the best of both pictures to create this one.  I know I'm not going to win any awards for my efforts since I began with a scanned image anyways but it was fun and now everyone is smiling.

June at the Lawsons

June has been a fun and busy month for our family! In Wisconsin - spring comes around the beginning of June, the days get much longer & everyone seems to come alive! Lucky for us, this is the time of year when Phil's job isn't quite as busy & he is able to take some vacation time so the first two weeks of June we had dad at home :-) We began by planting our gardens - we have a vegetable garden, a Jesus, Mary & Joseph Flower garden & a strawberry & pumpkin patch.



Another exciting day for us was our trip to Mt. Olympus Water Park in the WI Dells (we got free tickets from our credit union) so the trip only cost us $5 for parking & gas!

Grandma Lawson came to visit us for a weekend after our trip to the Dells. We realised that Miriam definately takes after Phil's side of the family - she looks just like grandma!


The next big event was the arrival of our new guinea fowl - we picked out 4 from the Nordbergs (unfortunately 1 didn't make it throught the first night). I think Cleo is the most excited person in our family - she's been intently watching the keets grow.


That same weekend was our Parish picnic at St. Peter's, while we didn't win the big raffle prize of $2000, William did win a nice mini raffle prize which included a bubble grill, 2 chairs, 2 butterfly nets & bug catching kits - He and Miriam have been really enjoying this prize!






Friday June 19th, The tritz boys came over to play for the morning and here's a picture of the kids enjoying the new bubble grill.



Saturday June 20th, we had a delightful day at the Milwaukee Zoo with Grandma Lawson (we were lucky to get free tickets from Phil's Aunt Kay). William & Miriam really enjoyed the train ride at the end!

For Father's Day, William & Miriam made a special pencil holer with their pictures on it for Dad's desk and gave dad a new hammock. As the month of June comes to an end, we're just enjoying our summer weather and the fun times together with family & friends! From our family to yours - hope you're having a great summer!