{PHFR}

Hello! Since I can't sync my phone anymore I decided to start just emailing my pictures to myself. It will take forever, but I've got to get these off my phone before it dies for good. 

Today my {PHFR} is a belated Holy Week and Easter edition. This year we added new traditions that I pray will become a part of our family history. I also want to really celebrate Easter, not let it be just a period punctuation to Lent.  I hope that we can look on the Easter season with joy and happiness. 

{real}

One tradition we began is a Holy Thursday Passover remembrance meal. That is quite a long title, but I don't know what else to call it! I made up a program for us to follow along and the kids had sparkling juice while Lee and I got wine. That was a treat itself because we'd given it up for Lent!

The program was simple we read and prayed before and after we ate and the menu was made to be significant to passover. This is not us trying to re-create a Seder meal at all, I just wanted it to be a memorial. We had lamb, salad, a haroset type of mixture made with apples and
raisins and some matzoh crackers.

{happy}

The dessert was this lamb cake. This is my first attempt ever at a lamb cake. They're supposed to be standing up, but mine didn't quite work. It still turned out so cute though. MaryClare LOVES to help in the kitchen. She helped decorate with the marshmallows.

{fun}

On Good Friday we tried to keep quiet from noon until 3, tried being the operative word here! Then we headed to our parish and did the outdoor stations of the cross together. Later we made these easy treats from an idea from Catholic Icing. Aren't they cute?

{pretty}

On Saturday we went to my in-laws for a family Easter gathering and the kids had an egg hunt with their cousins. On Easter we went to mass at 8:15 where the boys served and then came home and spent the day eating and hanging out with good friends!

Thanks for checking out my {PHFR}! 

Josephine is 1!

One year ago today I met my sweet Josephine.  This little darling had been worried about, loved and prayed over for the whole of her existence and finally I got to meet her! 

{seconds out of the womb}

As you can see she was itty bitty, that's because she was just 36 weeks old. For medical reasons she was an early c-section. Her birth story is pretty short: I showed up at the hospital early in the morning, got numbed up and a scant hour or so later, here was this sweetie!

My little trooper was tiny, but healthy and she needed extra helps or anything and stayed with me in my room.

{that weight is in grams I think, for the math challenged like myself that's 4lb11oz.}

This precious little girl has been such a wonderful addition to our family. She is easy going and sweet and a happy cuddler. There is not anything much more heart melting than watching your older children get goofy and ga-ga over a baby sister.

{now she is a finger sucker gal, but she liked the thumb first}