Parish Celebration!

My home town parish held the second part of its 175th anniversary on Sunday. Sweet Matthew taking it easy before the parade.

He was so proud that he was able to climb on this big chair. 'Bout gave momma a heart attack that he would fall off but I have nine lives, right?

And so it begins.

My uncle - I should have filmed his crazy walking. I can't believe they trusted him with a gun. :)

My uncle - the only cool guy in jeans.

Precious cargo - my dad in his old car with two of my brothers and the priest.

Candy! Candy! Truth be told - I think I was as excited as they were about all the candy being thrown at us.

One of the best things thrown from an entry - sadly, it was empty. Ha, ha.

One of my uncles and his family came up with this brain child. Have you guessed what it is yet?

Yep, a Griswold Christmas.

The 4-H float - my niece got to ride it and throw candy.

My favorite balloons in the parade.

One of my co-workers performed with his production group at the shin-dig.

Enjoying the show.

Mom with our gin ricky.

We had a great time! Hopefully, I make it to the next celebration in 25 years.

My Parish's 175th Anniversary

My hometown parish is celebrating 175 years of faith this month. Yesterday, the bishop held a special mass and members of the congregation gathered afterwards for fellowship and delicious food. Next Sunday, there is going to be a parade and entertainment will be held on the parish grounds. Side note: the parish grounds belonged to my ancestors, one of the first founders of Rich Fountain. He donated the land for the church and school.

  Sacred Heart School - where I attended grades 1st through 8th.

 My sister-in-law with her son Alex and my Maggie.

My brother, his wife and the oldest member of the parish.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, a sign on our church.

A special place devoted to the innocent victims of abortion.

Fun Outside

 New baby birds - besides in photos, I've never seen baby birds this tiny.

 Momma bird on guard. That poor bird needs some valium.

 Liam on the swing - why do some of the photos I post on blogger look squished these days?

 Slip, sliding away.

 Jackie!

 Matthew looks happy here but is having major allergy issues these days.

Tsk, tsk, running with sticks.

Ready for the Little League

Jack's first T-ball practice was last night. He was so excited he could hardly eat. Every time he caught sight of me he would give me a thumbs up. I almost caught it on camera.

A Look at the Past Week

 The strawberry pie I made for Mother's Day - and for my first attempt, it was pretty tasty...especially with cool whip.

 I love this time of year! We have a couple of bird nests around our house. These guys that I photographed on Sunday have already left their nest. We'll miss them and the Grandma (that's what Jack called it) bird that took care of them.

 Maggie was in a tackling mode this weekend. First, she went after Matthew. These two weigh about the same. It reminded me of the time my mom caught me walking on my younger brother's back. Of course, I was older than Maggie by a few years and heavier. "But mom!" I defended myself. "I let him walk on mine."

Happy Girl.

 And Jack didn't seem to mind. He's a great big brother.

 Our second nest, hoping these babies hatch and fly away soon so the kids leave them alone and stray cats don't find them.They are in the shortest tree, our Charlie Brown Christmas tree, in our yard.

 Nervous bird on standby.

 She didn't nose bomb us but I bet she wanted to.

 Last night we went outside and played on the driveway, lots of concrete for toys with wheels.

 Oh, and chalk. Yum!

 Matthew looks like he's going to crash into Maggie. Thankfully, a crash was averted.

 Lawnmower model boy.

 Another shot of Matthew tearing down the sidewalk followed by Jack. I got plenty of exercise making sure Matthew didn't run too far from home. That boy is fast!

 My lovely flowers. I've worked so hard on them. And they're growing like weeds!

 Jack's self-portrait chalk drawing.

 A shot from last week - the end of spring session at the local therapeutic riding center. Maggie has come a long way and is so much more comfortable with the horses.

 Feeding her horse a carrot.

 Someone charmed his way to a carrot.

 Happy Boy.

Congratulations Maggie! We're so proud of you.