Uncle Woo-cas

Dinner and Entertainment

NU vs. CO

Luke and I took a date day to the Nebraska vs. Colorado game in Boulder. The only picture we got was in the car, because Luke wouldn't let me take the camera with us to the stadium--you know those CO fans. :) Despite the fact that CO fans are known to be less than model citizens, we survived the day with no incidents--tires intact and few cuss words thrown our way.
It had probably been a year since Luke and I had had a much deserved and needed day away. It was quite a treat and we were so gracious to Luke's parents for watching the littles for us!

Santa

Jackson and Patrick-
You got to see Santa for the first time a few weeks ago. Our Parents of Multiples Group had a Christmas Potluck and Santa came and brought books for all the kids. The photo session was chaotic, but it's important for mommy and daddy to put you through that kind of torture for the memories. Santa was very cooperative, though!



Love,
Mommy

Spelling Protegy

Setting: We'd just returned home from a birthday party. Tessa and Tyler turned eight! All the kids were ready for naps, so we took a piece of cake home for Dominic. Upon arriving home...

Luke: Did you bring in the C - A - K - E ?
Me: No, it's still in the car.
Dominic: Where's my cake?

The kid can spell, apparently.

Happy Day!

Patrick Michael-
Happy feast day, precious Patrick! Today is the memorial of Blessed Miguel Pro, a 20th century Martyr. Blessed Miguel Pro had a big personality (kind of like we think you have) and a great sense of humor. His last words were "Long Live Christ the King!" Your dad and I pray that he will be a great example to you of how to live a Christian life, even when it isn't popular or even allowed! We Love you so much, Patrick!

Love,
Mommy

You Rock

Dominic, You are a rockstar.


Love,
Mommy

Eve of All Saints Day

Dear D, Packa and Jasson-

This year was the first time you really "got" trick-or-treating, D. We practiced around the house, knocking on the bathroom door and any other door we could find in the house. You got pretty good about saying "Thank you," often forgetting the "Trick-or-treat" part :) We tried to pump you up all week about being a farmer. The twins as cows just wouldn't have been as cute. You were so excited that the Wednesday before Halloween, we had to wear the farmer costume all day long.

We didn't last too long trick-or-treating, but had a good time. And Patrick and Jackson, you did awesome sitting in the stroller and looking cute.

After trick-or-treating with some of your older friends (who were maybe a little advanced in the ways of trick-or-treating for us to really trick-or-treat with), we saw Katie and Paul and Grady and their extended family. You all did great!

Love,
Mommy

Smile for the day

I was pretty upset at D today. He threw a huge temper tantrum at the restaurant and wouldn't take a nap for me. Then, while I was cleaning up the mess he made when he missed the toilet (I wasn't mad about this...but needed to take care of it before the babies got to the bathroom), Dominic was running around the house naked. He had to have a pull-up; a regular diaper would not do. By the time I got to him, he had pooped on the floor in our bedroom. I was scolding him a bit while I was getting him cleaned up. "Mommy--we need to be happy," he said to me. You are right, D, we do need to be happy.

Indy or Bust

This past weekend, Luke and I took the twins to Indianapolis, IN for my cousin Meghan's wedding. Meghan and I are six months apart and basically grew up together, so it was fun to be there for the beginning of this new chapter in her life.

We left Dominic with the Guenthers for the weekend on Thursday night and flew out of Denver on Friday morning. Traveling with two little ones was quite the adventure (read: very stressful), but actually, the boys were great the whole weekend.

They didn't really cry at all on the plane, but keeping them sitting for two hours was a challenge!

After flying in, we went to the rehearsal dinner at a cute little bar and grill in Indy. The twins were a big hit. This is Meghan with Jackson and John in the background is holding Patrick.

Somehow, this was the only picture I got of Meghan with her new husband, John. The wedding was BEAUTIFUL! The Church was amazing and I had the privlege of singing at the wedding. It was probably the best singing experience I've ever had--GREAT acoustics. The reception was also very elegant and classy, complete with a live band and dancing.

One of the bridesmaid's sister watched the boys at our hotel, so Luke and I enjoyed the reception as a date night!

Myself and Meghan, the beautiful bride!

Yes, we did fit four bags, two car seats, a stroller, two pack n' plays and two adults in the rental Yaris.

We arrived at the airport pretty early before flying home, so we played in the terminal for about an hour. The boys were on cloud nine with lots of space to crawl around. We've never seen them so excited and happy!!

They are so funny playing together!

Me and two of my boys!

Congrats, Meghan and John! May you be blessed with many, many years of happiness!

Space Man

Dominic's babysitter taught him to use a box as a spaceship. Today he was playing with it and wanted to take it to bed with him for his nap. I carried the box upstairs for him and put it next to his bed. You can play with this when you get up from your nap, I told him. I went up to check on him a few minutes later. As I poked my head in, quietly, I could see his legs laying still, so I assumed he was asleep. As I peeked my head in a little further, I saw that he was, in fact, laying down on his bed, but had his top half in the "spaceship". I suppose naps in spaceships are better than no naps at all.

Friend or Foe

I can't help but just sit and watch as the twins wrestle with each other. They are always interested in the same toy at the same time and it's just hilarious watching them take it from each other and crawl all over each other fighting for it. It's too funny to break up, unless they are poking each other in the eye, which is usually the end result. Patrick has been asserting himself recently as the more agressive one. Luckly, Jackson is a faster.

Clever...

Dominic had watched about 5 episodes of Hi Five today (yes, I know....some days are just like that, though). Dad said that was enough, which sent D into a tizzy! Luke and I sat down to eat dinner and after a few minutes, Dominic was pushing a stool from the kitchen into the dining room and soon we could hear the TV on. The smart little boy knew the remote was on top of the TV and had devised a way to get to it.

It was easier when he couldn't figure out things like that. :)

D the Science Kid

D put a baby bottle up to each eye, looking into them. "I a sy-kiss, Mommy." What? "A sy-kiss." After some frustration on his end and a few minutes, I realized he was saying "I'm a scientist." Empty toilet rolls serve the same purpose, apparently. He comes up with the craziest things!

Oh, and despite the 45 degree temperatures, he's wearing his "short pants." That, apparently, is going to be a winter long debate.

First Snow Fall

Worst case scenario--3 inches. Instead, we had 11 1/2 inches. From one report, I heard 17. That couldn't be right, could it? This has to be a record for North Platte.
This was Dominic's first real experience with snow. When he looked out the window this morning, he said "it's raining." No, I explained, that's snow! After looking out the window for a few minutes, he decided he wanted to play. I had to search all over the house to find his snow pants and a pair of boots. I squeezed him into his gloves from last winter and his old coat. I didn't have any snow clothes, really, so I put on some old tennis shoes and a pair of thin gloves. We just weren't prepared for winter weather quite yet. While the twins slept, we playing in the snow. Dominic wasn't thrilled when he fell, face first, into the snow and he cried because his gloves were "all dirty." (Oh, isn't he Luke's son) We basically stood outside for 10 minutes before Dominic decided he was cold and ready to go inside. Hopefully we can do some shopping and be more prepared next time we get another storm. I heard that may be next weekend.

Here's a few pictures of our winter wonderland and Dominic and me.

Pumpkin Fest

This weekend is our Parish Pumpkin Festival. Luke is the chair person and he and many, many others have been putting months of work into making it a success. Twelve inches of snow made us refine our definition of "success". It's been moved inside. So, instead of pony rides, hackrack rides and train rides, there will be a raffle, silent aution, one food booth and bake sale. Depressing.... Luke reminded me yesterday that the real goal of this festival, though, is the sactification of all of God's people. If one person is converted or grows in virtue from this whole process, it was all worth it...right? I know Pumpkin Fest is just a speck on the radar, but to our little parish, it is a pretty big deal. Maybe next year we'll have good weather. We should start praying now.

American Idol

A few videos of our budding superstar.

Playing Hooky

We've had a long week of sickness, with no end in sight. On Monday, Luke stayed home from work with a cold. Tuesday, I came home early from work with the flu and mastitis. Wednesday, Luke stayed home with me to watch the littles while I recovered. Today, as I was on my way out the door, Jackson threw up all over me. Not sure if it was a fluke, or real sickness, I went ahead and left for work. Not an hour later, I recieved a call from our sitter, Jackson had a fever of 102.8! I came home as soon as I was able. We snuggled for most of the morning, but by the afternoon, he was feeling much better...

Here's hoping and praying Dominic and Patrick can dodge the bullet...

Fr. Dominic?

Most mornings we do the "Where is ____?" litany. It goes something like this:

Me "Where's Daddy?"

Dominic: "At Work."

"Where's Grandma and Grandpa?"

"At Work."

"Where's Dominic?"

"I right here."

"Where's Aunt Lizzy?"

"At School"

"Where's Uncle Lucas?"

"At School."

"Where's Uncle Jake?"

"At the sem-er-my" (seminary)

This particular day, Dominic decided that he was going to the sem-er-my, too. He donned his "purse" and glasses, grabbed his set of keys (the twins'), gave me a kiss, said "Love you, I going to the sem-er-my" and walked out the front door. We've been praying for God to bless our family with a vocation to the priesthood...maybe this is a little foreshadowing. :)

We've also been working on our prayers. Dominic is very good at the sign of the cross and the "Pray for us" after asking for the intercession of his patron, St. Dominic Savio. Tonight, I made him dinner, placed it in front of him and went back to unloading the dishwasher. After a moment, I realized he was saying the sign of the cross. By the time I turned around to look at him, he had his head bowed, as if praying, remining me that we had forgotten to pray for our meal. Out of the mouths of babes....

Dominic VanGogh

I was looking for something fun for us to do last week and remembered that our babysitter Linda's birthday present needed to be wrapped. Realizing I was out of wrapping paper, we made our own little gift package.

I made a star and heart stamp with a potato (two shapes Dominic knows), put D in one of my old T-shirts and let him go at it. I was sure he'd lose interest quickly, but he painted for about a half hour.

His new smile for the camera is always with his eyes closed...

And here is his final project. It was pretty fun and we were able to just use everything we had on hand.

Twin happenings

The babies have been pretty busy. A few weeks ago, Patrick began moving up to all fours. He has been rocking back and forth and can crawl a bit before collapsing back to the floor. Jackson is a very proficient little scooter. He can pretty much get anywhere. He often finds a ball to push and then chases it all around the first floor. He also likes to sit in his walker and follow big brother Dominic around. Both boys are eating lots of solids-bananas, carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, nectaries, peaches, apples, potatoes and macaroni and cheese. This week, we moved both of them into their own room and their own cribs (they had been sleeping in the pac 'n' plays). Dominic is sleeping in a big boy bed (the bottom bunk) in the other room. We've just been enjoying the twins more and more every day! Double blessing!

Friends and Family

Dominic loves playing hide and seek. Usually, that entails him counting and looking for Luke or me and then hiding in that exact same spot when it is his turn to hide. He recently found this new hiding spot, though...

If only I could teach him to take the clothes out and fold them, too :)

We took the Guenther's with us to the lake a few weeks ago. Grady enjoyed the last bits of summer outside.

And Luke played with the boys a bit.

Jessica and Dominic are beginning to play together a bit. It will be a madhouse at the lake in a year!

Jessica sporting the binky.

The Guenthers went to the Jelly Belly factory in San Francisco a few months ago and brought back these super sweet souveniers.

Dominic started doing this move and we decided that he was showing off his yoga. Now he walks around the house and volunteers his "go-ga" positions for us.

The Downward Dog.

Healthcare Rally

Luke and I and the kids exercised our democratic rights by going to a Healthcare rally at the park. We took Lizzy, Lucas and Megan, too--a good learning experience for them :)

About 200 people showed up. There was free food and frisbees, too, so everyone was pretty happy.

Summer Visitors

Right before school started, the entire Mach clan took turns coming to visit. We had a super great time and all of them were a really great help with our slew of kids!

Aunt Lizzy got Dominic pretty happy in the water. He'd spent most of the summer scared on the side of the pool ("I scared, mama, I scared"), but was jumping into Lizzy's arms by the end of her visit.

The same day, some of our other friends were at the pool. This is Callie holding Patrick. Callie is in 6th grade a LOVES the babies.

Melissa helped me with School House Rock and Callie was one of the cast members. We've been lucky to get to know some great families through the production.

Uncle Lucas stayed for a whole week. He was great at helping me keep Dominic and the twins occupied during the day. One day we went to Cody Park--a North Platte favorite and fed the ducks and geese and deer.

Lucas feeding Dasher....or maybe this was Dancer.

Jake came and stayed a week later for about 3 days. This is him making me feel like I'm not the short one in the family. Thanks, Jake.

And this is the truth.

Patrick and Daddy playing at the park.

We also took Jake to the Cody Park and rode the rides. It rained while we were there. Dominic and Uncle Jake did some puddle jumping.

We loved having the visitors. Thanks everyone for coming!