Confirmation

On Saturday, we celebrated our nephew, Myles', rite of confirmation, which is about inviting and accepting the Holy Spirit into your lives.

I was honored to be chosen as Myles' sponsor for this beautiful and touching ceremony, especially since he chose "Daniel" for his saint name. I think I shed a tear every time I looked at his name tag!

I posted his dedication on the blog before, but wanted to post it again since Saturday was so meaningful for our family. This was written by Myles about choosing his saint name:

The name I have chosen for my confirmation is Daniel, in memory of my little cousin and God brother Daniel. In February, my aunt (who is my sponsor) and uncle adopted a two year old boy who they named Daniel. He had a heart condition and needed surgery to correct it. The surgery was a complete success but there were complications during his recovery. After being in the hospital for almost a month, he passed away. 

St. Daniel was known for his ability to interpret dreams. Daniel and his three friends were taken to Babylon. He was given the name Belteshazzar. Daniel was the first of the three presidents of the empire under the reign of Darius the Mede. His ministry began late in his life. His date and time of death were not recorded. His feast day is December 17^th. 

I have chosen to take Daniel as my confirmation name, in memory of my cousin who I miss very much. This is one way I can think of to keep him in my heart.


After the ceremony, we celebrated over a delicious brunch at Mizner Park. In typical fashion, Charlie became a bit antsy after being restrained for a while. Murphy was kind enough to walk the kids outside to the fountain.

After about ten minutes, Madi came running in to say that Charlie fell in and got wet. Well, we never expected this!  He was drenched! He had lost his balance and fell in the fountain while reaching for a feather.

Thank God, Murphy was right on it, and plucked Charlie from the water. I was also thankful for having a spare diaper, though we did not have an extra set of clothes. We drove home with the heat on in the car!  And the kind restaurant staff gave Murphy a tee-shirt for being such a life-saver--literally!

No, Charlie. This was not your baptism. You already had that!

Field Trip!

Can you spot Madi?  She would be the cute little Chinese one in the top row:)

Often referred to as a "hover mother," you can imagine how thrilled I was to have the opportunity to help with her first class field trip.  It gave me a chance to be right there to watch Madi interact with her new little buddies and enjoy a very fun day with them.

We went to a place called Bedner's Farm, located in Boynton Beach. We took a hayride led by a John Deere tractor and spotted plenty of wildlife as we learned all about their farm. This place made me really want to buy local fruits and veggies!  Farmer David shaved fresh raw corn right off the cob (with his pocketknife) for us to taste. It was amazing!

The kids all got to choose their own little pumpkin from the patch to take with them. I loved watching Madi scurry around in search of the "perfect" one.

Of course, Mommy played second fiddle to the ever-popular Ms. Maldonado (or as Madi says, "Miss Mulldonado"). Many of the kids (Madi included) insisted on sitting on her lap during the hayride. She is so loving to all of them. We are still feeling very blessed to be in her classroom this year.

Daisy

Madi is officially a Daisy. It's part of the Girl Scouts. I think, back in my day, it may have been called the Bluebirds.

She is very excited about all this. Last weekend, during a torrential downpour, she coerced me to bring her to the store to purchase her Daisy vest and t-shirt. We got totally soaked, but our mission was accomplished.

Our first meeting is in a couple of weeks. Madi somehow thinks we're going to the zoo. The concept of "meetings" is all new to her.

She has one goal and one goal only for this venture--she wants to sell the cookies. Badly.  She's so enterprising...

Our little Daisy

There's the smile I was looking for. Daddy "made it happen"
by pulling Mommy's pants down (skip the visual please)

Growth Update!

Welcome to the 50th percentile, Charlie Murphy!

We had Charlie's well visit at the pediatrician today. It amazes me that in the six months he's been a Murphy, he's gained about 9 lbs. and grown about 4 inches!

Now that's what I call playing catch-up:)  Way to go, big boy!!!

Cat Care

There is only one person in this household so diligent about
making sure the cats have their bowls.

He just forgot to put the food in it...

Nice try, Charlie:)

Happy Birthday Babies!

Madi and Charlie's birthdays are three days apart.

We celebrated some big milestones this weekend. 

Charlie turned two on Friday. 

Madi turned six yesterday.

Double happiness:)

 I surprised Madi yesterday and showed up at school to have lunch with her. 

The look on her face brought tears to my eyes.

 Charlie gets cuter everyday. 

He has no idea what this whole birthday thing's about, 

but I think he likes it!

Trouble.

 

With a capital "T".

I knew the Little Mister was quiet for just a little too long back there.

I went back to his bedroom and peeked in. No Charlie.

When I turned around, I found him standing on multiple cases of Capri Sun juice boxes (four to be exact) to access all of the "mystery items" on our desk.

Okay...let me clarify that the boxes were already there, BUT the little stinker actually made a staircase and climbed up them!

So, do 'ya think we're in a little trouble with this one??

Bubba and Grandpa--fair warning--I hope you're taking your Juice Plus. This little guy's gonna keep you on your toes come December;)