Mary's First Communion!

And our 22nd First Communion!

It was previously scheduled 

for the end of April,

but because of Covid 

it had to be rescheduled.

Now look at that banner of hers!
Yes, I'm a proud Momma!

Our last First Communion in May 2019

was with Grace, Jake, Luke, and Joe.

They had "nice" banners

but it seems that the

younger Mom's

had found Pinterest...

before I did.

This is nothing to do with

our kiddos artistic skill,

and everything to do

a slightly outta touch Mom!

So this time we went ALL OUT!

We made up for the 

21 "kinda good" banners, 

with this Pinterest original!

It was a fun family project!

Her day finally came on 

Saturday, July 25th, 2020!

I love that all of her 

older sisters

 helped her get ready!

I should have gotten a pic of 

7 girls crammed into a small bathroom!

With curling irons, 

hairbrushes, 

hairspray,

lip gloss and blush!

Mary has been with us for 15 months

and it feels like forever-

 in a really good way!

She is 100% part of our family!

A blessing everyday!

We arrived at the church...

not early

but

just in time!

That's kind of the way 

we do things 

whether we mean to 

or not! 

It just happens that way...

Whew!

Just thankful we weren't late!

Mary and her very proud parents!

ECCLESIA SANTICIMI NOMINIS

Which means in Latin, 

A Gathering in HIS HOLY NAME!

This is the old church, 

that was built in 1912!

The newer building is connected.

Because of current restrictions

our whole family could 

not attend the service.

It was only Mary, Mom, Dad, Grace 

and Ava that could be there.

It was a beautiful service,

a wonderful sermon

and a very meaningful day

for our girl!

Thank you Father Steve and Father Colin!

You are both such a blessing to us!

And it just so happened that this girl,

one of the hairstylist

and make up artists,

forgot to take off her p.j. bottoms!

The five of us went out to brunch 

after the ceremony

and had a wonderful time!

What a blessed day!

Now our dear daughter, 

the last one of 22 kiddos,

 can receive the body and blood of Christ,

our beautiful savior!

And she understands the transubstantiation!

PRAISE GOD

from Whom ALL

BLESSING FLOW!

PS- sorry for some of the 
irregularities in this post.
Blogger has changed their format
and it's gonna take awhile 
for me to figure it out!

Q and A time!

It's been a long long time since 

I've done a Q and A post!

So here goes,

ask away!

I'll do my best

 to answer your questions!

Keep it appropriate and kind, please!

Thank you!

Terre asked-

hi jean, i have a question. how do you keep all the clothes straight with so many kids the same size? do you use a family closet and they all share ? laundry must be amazing at your house. your kids always look so nice, just wondering how you do it.

terre

Since our kids are older now, it's easier to keep the clothes straight!

They know what's theirs and what's not.

(I don't, but they do! AND it matters to them!)

Around the ages of 11-12, they stopped sharing their clothes.

When they were younger we would have the closet shelves labeled-

Size 8 leggings, size 10 jeans, size 8 long sleeve shirts, etc.

It worked out great and they shared everything!

However, with age and maturity, 

this has changed.

They absolutely do NOT 

want to share clothes, now.

They will borrow some things 

to another sister 

such as shirts and sweaters, 

but that's it.  

As kids grow out of clothes 

we hand them down!

They LOVE hand me downs!

Laundry is NEVER done at our house!

It's ongoing!

We are in the thought process 

of improving this situation!

Some of the older girls enjoy 

doing the laundry while others 

are good at folding. 

We tap into their strengths 

and all work together 

to keep it going!

Our three younger boys 

(Jake 13, Joe 12 and Luke 11) 

still share clothes.

And our two youngest girls 

(Grace 12  and Mary 12)

 share "some" clothes. 

Almost everyone has their own dresser 

and their own shelves in the closet.

They have their own spot for hanging clothes...

unfortunately, some of that space 

happens to be in our closets...

Because we are in MN and 

have very different seasons,

we have to store the off season clothes 

in storage.

It's not my favorite spring and fall task 

but we all work together and 

go through a plethora of clothes!

These kids are absolutely amazing!

We feel so blessed

to be there parents!

Thank you Jesus!

Fourth of July 2020

We are sooooo thankful the pool opened this summer!

If you are looking for us...

this is where we will be!

This is where we spend every summer!

(missing Anna in the photo)

And it's where we spent our 4th of July 

this year

(and every year)!

Some traditions are worth keeping!

Being able to be at the pool 

involves a bit more

nowadays!

We have to make reservations.

We have to request the reservations

right on time or we will miss out.

And they are only for a 2.5 hour time slots.

But, no complaints,

we will take what we can get!

These two girlies are 12 now!

They are growing up too fast,

slow down girls!

The club always does events on the 4th!

First up was limbo!

Jenny is very good at it!

Same with Sam

but he can only go so low!

Melissa rocked it!

Anna has always done well at limbo!

She is very flexible!

However... she is now 

the tallest girl at 5-3.5 

and still growing!

So limbo is getting harder for her!

She was out on this turn.

Ava did well!

She's 5-3 and stayed low!

Back to Jenny!

Wow, that's good!

But this girl, took the grand prize!

Mia got first place!

She rocked at limbo!

And Joe had no fear!

Mia (right) first place!

Melissa (center) second place!

Joey (left) third place!

Way to go kids!

Next up, 

the hula hoop contest!

We have many kiddos 

that are good at this!

So they made it harder and

they had to put their hands in the air!

Then lift one foot!

First place goes to Anna!

Congrats honey!

Next up where the splash contests

with different age brackets!

 Next up where the splash contests

with different age brackets!

Melissa killed it,

but she didn't win.

We thought about appealing the decision

but decided not too...

(Just kidding)!

Ava was awesome!

Jake did great!

Most of the kids gave it a try

and had fun doing it!

Dad participated in the contest

but sorry...

no photo!

Usually we would have dinner at the pool

but not this year.

So we headed home to continue the celebration!

Next was BINGO

in the basement!

Candy bar prizes for everyone!

It was so much fun!

The kids loved it!

Everyone got a chance to win!

The kids are so kind to each other

and would help those that needed it!

But, at the same time 

they are almost all teens/tweens.

so they were competitive!

Abby was the overall #1 winner

in Bingo and choose gum

for her prize!

This is the biggest loser form of bingo...

the one left standing that 

has not had a number called!

It's fun and no one feels bad because 

they actually win!

Cook out dinner on the fourth!

Delicious, FUN and easy!

What more could parents want?!

Everybody pitches in

when it's time to clean up!

And last but not least

SpArKLeRs!

(not fireworks, just sparklers!)

So, it was NOT us 

that frightened 

your poor doggy!

FUN TIMES!

We love being with our kiddos!

They are such a blessing to us!

Mia is in the background

taking a selfie!

 Ellie is having fun!

So thankful that Mary

has joined us!

It's been 14 months now, 

that she has been home!

Melissa and Mary are from 

the same orphanage

and knew each other long ago!

Luke, Madeline and Ava!

Happy Independence Day,

America!

Happy 4th to you and your family!