"No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it."

On August 14th we celebrated the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe with unique emphasis. Ezra's middle name is Maximilian and for each child we always try to do something special on the feast day of their namesake. Here are a few things we did (in addition to going to Mass) to celebrate Ezra's Name Day:

1. We listened to his Glory Story. If you have never heard of Glory Stories, they are audio CDs that do a wonderful job bringing to life the story of a particular saint (they are many). Richard and I enjoy them as much as the kids do and this is one instance when I happily "collect them all":)

2. We also colored pictures of this amazing saint.

3. We had Nut Kiffels, a special Polish pastry typical to his native land that happens to popular in Germany, Austria and Hungary as well. Nevertheless, I used this recipe and they turned out like little precious pillows. I will be making these again...yummy!

4. Ezra got dressed up for the entire day! So handsome...

5. I wanted to make this craft but we ended up not having enough time:( At any rate, Ezra had a very special day in honor of a very special saint.

St. Maximilian, perfect Knight of the Immaculate Mary, pray for us...

Nooo, I did not give up blogging for Lent. I just happen to be, as I said before, a bad sort of blogger. I'm the kind of blogger your mother would not want you hanging around.
I'm a random and reckless blogger.

But enough of this self deprecating talk, Christ has Risen...let us REJOICE! ALLELULIA!!

Happy Easter !

April has proven to be a most exciting month! To save on time and mental exertion I've narrowed down the excitement to a "Top 3" (not in chronological order):

#3- Our garden is planted:

We've got Zucchini, Eggplant, Cucumbers, Tomatoes and yellow and green Peppers. What did I tell ya? Exciting times, people.

#2 - We got chicks!

Meet Ginger. I wanted to name her Dolly (as I have always thought the name Dolly would be an incredibly suitable name for a chick). I tried and I tried and I tried to get Mila to name her chick Dolly but she would NOT budge! Insolent daughter. So Richard bought me my very own chick just so I could name her Dolly. At least, somebody loves me.

Of course, barnyard (or in this case, 'garage yard') social etiquette is immediately put into practice. Here is Mila introducing Ginger to Bella, the Top Dog in this joint. They have become fast friends these two.

Heeeeere's Dolly! She's the super cute super fluffy one in the back; the off-white darling keeping a modest distance. She's on the smaller side but definitely makes up for it in her handsome and agile ways.

And here's their new pad. Originally it was the kids' playhouse that my father built. We had to gut the place and put in chicken wire windows and lay down new wood chip flooring.

Freedom!

#1 - The 2014 Easter Celebration

Decorating eggs.

Simon helping Richard who's helping me out by making Apple Fritters.

When they are done, you sprinkle icing sugar on them and stick a feather in your cap! These are delicious. I hated to share them.

Mila helping me make Chocolate Chow Mein Nests. I need all kinds of help these days.

Adorable and edible. Speaking of adorable and edible, let me introduce you all to my peaches...

People...Meet Peaches. Peaches...Meet People. These are Italian Pastry Cream-filled Peaches that I only ever saw at massive Italian weddings. They are divine. A special Easter treat soaked in a Rum/Peach Scnapps mixture. None for the kiddos, hahahahahahaha!

This year we decided to do a Treasure Hunt. One clue led to another...until...you get the idea.

Eureeka!

I remember getting a big chocolate egg for Easter...and that's it.

I adore that little pincer grip of his!

Try not to focus on the neon whale onesie Richard dressed him in. Instead, concentrate on that gorgeous smile or his chunky, down right edible legs or his cute little toes...

Let's take a closer look at some of the goodies:

Every child got one of these bad boys.

For Simon: Felix and the Spider is a great little book that any child would delight in. The illustrations are as delightful as the story itself. With a talking spider and mean soldiers to round out the story,

what's not to love?

The Hungry Caterpillar stickers were just a lucky purchase. I came by them at the Dollar Tree.

I heart The Dollar Tree.

For Ezra: Alexander the Great by Demi (granted, it's not exactly Easter-y, but the unique, vibrant illustrations somehow work) and a fun Easter sticker book that has a reading to go along with each sticker both make for a highly satisfying Easter gift for a boy.