Catherine's First Reconciliation

Saturday, Catherine made her First Reconciliation.

For the service, the children had made sashes. Catherine's had a little about her, including her baptismal date.

Gregory turns 4!

Gregory is 4 now!

He's been asking for months, for a Sonic Colors Wii game, so he got that, and he's not done much else. This was definitely THE gift this year.

With his birthday money, he bought a Hot Wheels race track and ramp/loop.

I like to Move it, Move it!

Gregory has a birthday coming in two days, and he received a birthday card from Grannie and Grandpa Johnson.

It sings the song, "Move It!"

Oh how Gregory loves cards that sing, and oh, how he loves this song.

Grannie and Grandpa made his day!

Life with a wild, crazy, and very busy 2 year old.

What a day! And let me just say this wasn't the half of it, but only what I managed to get pictures of.

The morning started with Amelia opening the pantry and eating half a can of cashews. Lots of Cashews=Disgusting Poop! (I'm sure she'll appreciate me saying that one day!)

Then once she had some clothes on, she tortured her brother by taking control of the Wii remote. Clearly he is unhappy and she is saying "What ya gonna do about it?"

After dumping a lot of cinnamon into my oatmeal, she decided to run off, again, with my Vera Bradley purse. Oh, and something else of importance...

Oh look, it's a Blackberry. This girl's got some taste!

After I confiscated both the bag and the Blackberry, she decided that she was pretty mad. She ran into the dining room and proceeded to climb...

...on top of the table!

And once I vetoed the removal of the tablecloth, she decided to play "peek-a-boo."

See, happy Amelia!

Things settled for a while, until lunch, when Amelia decided to aquire her own drink, while covered in peanut butter...

"Um yes, I know I'm in trouble!"

But that didn't stop her! She was determined to fix it.

After lunch, Amelia came out of my room covered in marker and lotion. My word...that was fast. She was only out of my sight for 2 minutes!

That's a lot of lotion...

Not long after that fiasco, Amelia decided to show me her new trick...oh yes, that's the fridge lock, designed to keep her out.

So now not only can she open the doors that have doorknob protectors, but she can open the fridge lock....

Surely tomorrow will hold less fun, or less precociousness!

Some Amelia Cuteness

Amelia was being particularly silly this morning. First, she wouldn't look at the camera.

Then I discovered why she was hiding....she had a pen.

"See Mom?! It's okay for me to have this!"

"Please!!! Let me keep it!"

"Oh well, now I have the Wii Remote!"

Mary Claire's Girl Scout Awards

Mary Claire's meeting this week, centered on World Thinking Day. The theme this year was "Empowering girls will change the world." Not only did we do an awesome positive statements activity, but the girls received their WAGGS pin, and their petals and fun patches that they've earned so far.

Mary Claire has earned her daisy blue Promise Center, the spring green petal for Considerate and Caring, the orange petal for Responsible for What I Say and Do, and the Violet petal for Be A Sister to Every Girl Scout. She also earned a fun patch for Kleenwood, which was a day that our Kingwood community pitches in to clean up!

She's going to look very cute with more color on her tunic!

Valentine's Day

Happy Love Day from the Theut's! Our morning started early. Heart shaped toast and strawberries for the whole crew!

Mary Claire was very happy!

Gregory didn't know quite what to think.

Amelia was a sleepy head.

And Catherine was crabby, because apparently Mary Claire required middle of the night assistance to find a stuffed animal.

I had read about this idea for a centerpiece, and it was cute. Only problem is that I made it early in the day and there was a constant sugar high observed in all the Theut children.

While I was very traditional in my card and gift to Jeff (a Ghirardelli Chocolate Bar, the New Sea Salt Soiree), Jeff got me the coveted 13.1 sticker, in pink. It's love when my hubby specially went to a running store for this gift!

Tradition continued with our Valentine's fondue.

This is probably one of our most fun traditions.

Amelia, before she began to smear the chocolate everywhere.

Gregory, our lone hold out on dinner. He did not want to eat his Pad Thai. We eventually relented, and let him eat fondue.

I love my family!

My Valentine :)

Gregory just made it home from preschool. Today was his Valentine's party.

They made a fridge magnet that is oh so cute.

And in his bag, was a present for me. He could hardly wait for me to open it...

A brooch. A beautiful one that he made, glueing little sparkly jewels and beads, he told me that he knew it would look pretty.

My sweet boy. I can't wait to wear it all the time :)

A very thoughtful gift

My neighbor knitted me a pair of socks! Really, she hand made them! They are so beautiful and I have to say, I've NEVER had a pair of socks this comfortable. Michelle was so sweet, as she brought over a card with the socks tied in twine. The card wished me well on my half marathon and she hoped the socks would help me recover. I really love them, and it's such a thoughful gift!

A fun benefit to being Vegans

Probably one of the coolest things about being a vegan is that when Mom makes chocolate muffins, you CAN lick to bowl!

When Gregory grabbed the spatula, my first impulse was "No!!!! Salmonella!!!" Then of course, I remembered there were no eggs, so I let him keep eating. After all, he never has. He ate too, and loved it so much. So did Amelia. She pitched a huge fit before she got the bowl (look in the picture of Gregory) and then again, when I finally took the bowl away!

A sick baby and silly kids

Today was filled with some yucky sickness. Thankfully Gregory and Mary Claire are on the mend, but Amelia and I both made trips to the doctor. Amelia had a double ear infection and bronchitis. I have bronchitis too.

This picture convinced me to take her to the doctor, as it was the second time in a few hours, that she had fallen asleep like this.

And from one extreme to another. Since starting our elimination diet, which you can see on our food blog, I've been snapping pictures of our food. Having a camera out usually induces silly kids, who want their picture taken. Take Mario aka Gregory for example.


Or the girls who kept saying, "Take our picture too!"

And this food model here. She wanted me to take a picture of how much she was enjoying the cornbread. It was good stuff!