Birthdays: Double-digit and ALL boy!

Lego Maniac turned 10 (!) today and we had a marvelous day: the big boy and I spent a good few hours at our favorite museum, the National Marine Corps Museum, including lunch at Tun's Tavern and a visit to the gift shop to pick out some birthday treats. It was wonderful to actually SEE the museum without the other two as LegoManiac and I really get into it and String Bean and Bam-Bam think the faster the trip through the better.

We then did afternoon Mass (LegoManiac was on the rota for this afternoon) with an absolutely stunning sermon about FOCA and what we can do to fight it. Then a run through Quizno's to pickup up subs for dinner and home again to open gifts, talk to older brother Brikhead AND big sister Volleyballer on the phone, and generally revel in being 10!

Happiest of birthdays, dear Lego Maniac!

Anniversary: 10 years of bliss and adventure!

10 years ago, on the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25, 1998) a 5-year widow with two children said "I do" to a man with three children of his own. We decided to build a family together, under the patronage of various saints, but particularly under Our Lady! And we've been having adventures ever since:

9 different countries visited
8 years of homeschooling our various children
7 road trips back and forth to the south-east
6 different mailing addresses
5 children with us on most of these adventures
4 houses bought/sold AND 4 schools we've helped to start-up and expand
3 babies born for a total of 8 children in our family
2 different continents lived on
and
1 wonderful, day-long date just us two to celebrate our 10 years of marriage -- morning Mass at our parish church, visit to the Denver Art Museum's Inspiring Impressionism followed by an amazing lunch at the Museum fancy-schmancy restaurant, tour of the historic Byers-Evans house, a tour of two historic churches -- St. Elizabeth of Hungary and Holy Ghost where we were able to participate in the Divine Mercy chaplet -- and capping off with the best Southern Barbeque I've had in a long, long time at Jim & Nick's in Stapleton.

Here's a picture of us last year at the High School Prom where we chaperoned (and my first ever prom!). It was an especially nice anniversary this year as, with Easter so early, we're all on Spring Break this week and so will continue to "party" with the kids thru the rest of the week.