Moving On...

Not a beamish boy!

Well, folks, it's been fun, but I can no longer blog on a site called "My Beamish Boys"! We welcomed our little girl Audrey Therese into the world on June 17, and I'm changing my blog address to more accurately reflect our family. To continue following our journey, you can find us here. I hope you follow me to our new address!

Over the River and Through the Woods

Paul's sister Megan graduated from college last weekend! I can NOT believe she is done already. Paul was able to join the rest of his family in North Carolina for the celebration, but alas, I am too pregnant to fly... so the boys and I hunkered down at my parents' house for the weekend. I sure missed being there for the graduation festivities, but it ended up being a fun and relaxing weekend with Grandma and Grandpa.

We dropped Daddy off at the airport on Thursday evening after dinner and then drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house to begin our long weekend away from home. The boys stayed up long enough to read some stories with Grandpa, but the real fun began the next morning with... you guessed it... pirate pancakes! It's become so much of a tradition when the boys sleep over that during bedtime prayers that night Max said he was thankful for "the pirate pancakes Grandpa is going to make tomorrow!" (As if there was any doubt.)

Friday, Max helped Grandma plant some flowers, we went to a few garage sales on a hunt for little girl clothes (success!) and we went on a walk around the neighborhood... cut short by the imminent rain and my inability to walk more than two-tenths of a mile without nearly falling over.

We were greeted Saturday morning by doughnuts from Grandpa, and then Max literally spent the entire day playing in the back yard. For dinner, we grilled hot dogs and cooked marshmallows over the fire pit, then Grandma and Grandpa put the boys to bed so I could have a "sibling date" with Ben. Yeah, believe it or not (I barely do), I was out in downtown Minneapolis on a Saturday night! Crazy, right?

Sunday (Mother's Day) we had a lazy morning, with more pirate pancakes. We went to Mass at 11:00, then in a repeat performance of the day before, Max explored Grandma's beautiful backyard for the entire afternoon. Come evening, my mom and I met up with Ben for dinner and a show, leaving my dad with the boys, some buckets and a hose. Oh my, did they ever have a good time. The show was great, things went smoothly at home, and Grandpa and the boys picked up Daddy from the airport at 8:45. We all met back at our house around 9:00, when I walked in the door to find Max and Lucian with plastic daggers clenched in their teeth! Auntie Kelley had decided to deck out her nephews with pirate goodies, and they were wired!

We said goodbye to my parents, settled the boys down and got ready for bed. It was a great weekend, but it's sure nice to have my husband home. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for taking such good care of us!

Dear Mom

I spy a wonderful Grandma!

I have finally learned that Mother's Day is not just about breakfast in bed, flowers, and nice cards, although those things are all wonderful. It's not just an excuse for moms to take a day off, although that's nice too. I realized that it is a day to think back on all of the amazing things my mother has done for me over the years and to thank her. This year, I want my mom to know what exactly it is I am thanking her for. So here are just a few of the many, many things that come to mind.

Mom,

Thank you for getting up at night with me when I was a baby. For holding me while I cried. For many nights with too few hours of sleep.

Thank you for giving me a childhood of which I have nearly all good memories. I know there were imperfect moments, but the joy of my childhood outweighs them so heavily that I honestly don't remember them.

Thank you for allowing me, but never pressuring me, to try new things. For supporting me in the activities that I loved. For being there in the audience night after night after night, even when I had only a small chorus role.

Thank you for letting me make wrong decisions, and for being a shoulder to cry on when I realized my mistakes. For celebrating with me in the many joys of life: graduations, marriage, children!

Thank you for being there for me as I raise my own kids.  I often wonder how other moms survive without having Grandma just a short drive away... I can't even picture it! The boys are so blessed to have you in their lives, as am I.

Happy Mother's Day!

Thumbs up for Grandma!

Two Cute

My little baby boy just turned two! Poor kid, he was sick with a fever on his birthday, but you wouldn't know it from the pictures. I think our simple celebration with my mom was just enough (but not too much) excitement. Grandma came in the afternoon with an armful of presents, and we tore into those before dinner! Max was a very helpful big brother, offering to assist in opening gifts and playing with the new toys. I mean, come on, what two year old can handle this much fun at one time? 

  

Lucian was interested in every toy but his new sit 'n' spin... as soon as we set him on it, he informed us that he was "all done!" So Max took over the job of breaking it in.

 After presents, we sat down to dinner. Since Lucian has no favorite foods (besides mac 'n' cheese), I made beef stew because I like it. Then Paul made an amazing dessert- a double-layered German pancake with blueberry syrup inside and powdered sugar on top. It ... was... incredible. And the great thing is, it can double as a breakfast food! It has officially been added to the future brunch lineup.

He looks sad, but he was actually just practicing blowing out the candles!

Louie mustered the strength to blow out his candles, then he cuddled in Grandma's arms for the rest of the evening. Even though he was feeling awful, everything was right in the world when snuggling with Grandma! And what a trooper, he stayed awake almost until his normal bedtime even though he could barely move. I guess even when you're sick, you don't want your birthday to end.

Happy birthday, little man. I can't believe it's been two whole years already! On the other hand... I can barely remember life without you. Thank you for bringing me so much joy!

Still Partying Like Pirates

Remember Max's birthday last year? Remember that comment at the end where I mentioned that I was ready to retire from the life of a pirate? Well here we are a year later, and First Mate McGraw is still firmly entrenched in the world of pirates, thanks to my dear Captain Max Salty! I gave him all kinds of ideas for birthday party celebrations, but there would be no swaying him: we would again be celebrating in true pirate fashion. The invitations went out, the goodies were bought, the house was decorated and our pirate partying commenced once again!

Having as much practice as I do, the party was pretty easy to put together. For snacks we offered lime-flavored chips, skulls (pretzel crisps) with hummus, hard-tack X's (made from Pillsbury breadstick dough), cannonballs (of the malted milk variety), Pirate's Booty (a brand of puffed popcorn, courtesy of Angela and Lachlan), and chocolate gold coins.

Upon arrival, everyone was asked to choose a pirate name by drawing a word from each one of three bags and putting them together in order. The first bag contained mostly adjectives, the second contained pirate-y articles of clothing or body parts, and the third contained "common" pirate first names. This translated into such names as Blind Eye Deb, Calico Tooth Bruce and Limp Patch Sal! Captain Max Salty, of course, was not required to draw a name, seeing as he's had his for over a year and a half now. He responds to "Salty" just as readily as "Max"!

Then it was time for the treasure hunt! This year, there were even more kids who were old enough to participate in the games, and it was such a riot watching them. Ellie and Max led the charge, followed by Addy, Lachlan and Louie... with Will bringing up the rear. The hunt led them around our main floor, asking them to complete certain activities at different points along the way. They had to hop like bunnies through a doorway, spin in a circle three times, sing "Twinkle, Twinkle", give someone a hug, and jump up and yell "Happy Birthday!" all before they were able to find the treasure chest filled with goodies.

When given the choice between cake and another game, the kids chose to play another game! Can you believe it? So we played "Musical Islands"- identical in every way to Musical Chairs, except that the chairs are replaced by islands (pillows) and the person who gets out has to walk the plank! I don't think anyone minded getting out when that was the "punishment".

Waiting for the music to stop...

Louie walks the plank

Captain Salty swords himself off the plank

Addy jumps off the plank, assisted by Salty's cutlass

After a round of Musical Islands, we brought out the cake. I must say, I'm much happier with my decorating job this year than last, and it helped that I decided against trying to frost any words on the cake... just a plain old Jolly Roger. I did have a near nervous breakdown when I went to frost the cake (which was still a little soft) with chocolate frosting (which was still a little hard). The cake began to come off in chunks, and the frosting would not frost! I called Paul in a panic, and as usual he calmly told me how to deal with it. I heated up the frosting for a few seconds and it spread like a dream. Crisis averted.

We sang "Happy Birthday", and all the kids leaned in to blow out the candles together. Then, without warning, Max took his plastic cutlass and chopped the cake in half! I couldn't have planned that pirate moment. We served the cake with root beer floats, and I unapologetically sent the kids home nicely sugar-buzzed!

We had a swashbuckling good time, and I hope all of our guests did too. Here's looking to next year on the Pirate Ship Scallywagg with Captain Max Salty and crew!

Sacraments and Ice Cream Shakes

We just returned from a long weekend in Rapid City to celebrate Patrick's Confirmation! We left Friday morning and after a fairly uneventful drive (minus one emergency potty stop at a no-name fireworks shop/convenience store), we arrived in time to share a pizza dinner with the family. The kids were glad to be out of the car and set out exploring Grandma and Grandpa's house right away, but we were so bummed to find Maureen laid up on the couch with a bad back! She is such a trooper; even though she was in incredible pain she made us feel right at home and even got up off of the couch to give us hugs when we came in. We are all praying for a quick recovery!!

On Saturday morning we attended the Baptism of our newest Goddaughter, Gemma Anastasia Daniel. What a beautiful little girl, and what a beautiful family! We were so honored to be asked to be Godparents- our only disappointment is that we will see her so rarely. If only the Twin Cities and Rapid City weren't 600 miles apart! The baptism was wonderful, and we all went to the Daniels house afterward for a yummy lunch and great conversation. Later in the afternoon, Glenn and Monica arrived from Chicago, so we headed back to the Yantes abode to spend time with them.

Sunday started out with a pancake breakfast at Cathedral, followed by Mass. Maureen's friend Lisa decided to take Lucian back to her house so we could attend Mass with only one kid... and I was amazed that Louie just took her hand, turned around and said, "Bye, bye, Mama!" and proceeded to follow a near-stranger home! Maybe our little introvert is coming out of his shell a bit?

We met up with Al and Bridget after Mass and the whole crew went downtown to check out the new shops, including Dakota Soda, a burger-fry-soda-shake joint. Oh yum. And what an adventure. The four of us, Al and Bridget and their three kids, Monica and Glenn, Paul Sr, Patrick and Liam all crowded into a corner booth and table to enjoy our lunch. I wouldn't say it was relaxing, but it sure was fun! Then while some went to check out the outdoor ice rink, the rest of us had to peek at the new toy store and book store in the same building. Why was this area not built until I moved away? Why?

That evening after dinner, we had a mini Christmas celebration. Max got an awesome dinosaur egg with bones inside that he has to excavate, but the poor kid hasn't been allowed to do it yet even though he has asked me every day. (Mean mom! I'm just afraid of the mess. Tomorrow, I think I'll brave the dino egg dust for his sake...) But the crowning jewel of gift opening was Monica's crocheting. She made hats and scarves for a whole bunch of us, and they looked store-bought! That woman has talent, let me tell you.

Monday was pretty chill until we got ready for Confirmation in the evening. Monica and I even managed to sneak away for some girl time at Dakota Soda in the afternoon for some more of their yummy shakes! The only rule was that we had to bring one back for Paul, Glenn and Maureen. Then Paul's grandparents came into town and we prepared for the Confirmation celebration. I'm really bummed I didn't get a picture of Patrick with the boys that day- he looked awesome, and SO grown up. Yikes, I can't believe he's almost 18!! Quit growing, will you please, Patrick? The boys did great during Mass, and they managed to stay up until almost ten at the reception!

We packed up Tuesday while Patrick ran Max over to school to see the skeleton in his anatomy classroom. Max's latest interest is bones, and he had spent over an hour learning about skeletal anatomy with his uncle earlier in the weekend! His favorite, of course, is the "Maxilla" (one of the bones in your face). So he couldn't pass up the chance to see a life-sized skeleton! Unfortunately the classroom was locked, but he got a look in the window. Now I have a new goal: Find a skeleton for Max to see!

The drive back was pretty quick and painless. We only stopped twice- the kids are such troopers! They both had good long naps, and we arrived home in time for a late dinner before bed. Next trip we make to Rapid will be with three kids, so we'll see how that goes!

Thanks for having us, Paul and Maureen. And congratulations Patrick! St. James, Pray for us!!

Max with Patrick and Joey Trask 

Monica's works of art

New camera for Lucian

Magnetic letter board... this one's a keeper!

Learning about the spine with Uncle Peej

Christmastime is Here

It has been a whirlwind of Christmas celebrations around these parts! As if celebrating the birth of our Savior wasn't enough, we were blessed with a Christmas baby four years ago who deserves some celebration of his own! I think we balanced things pretty well this year, giving Max plenty of time to feel special within the Christmas excitement.

We started out our celebration on Saturday morning at home. Max woke up first and came to bring us downstairs. He stopped short on the landing as soon as he saw his Christmas gift: an easel! "Wow.... Wow! What is that? Wow!" He slowly circled it, examining the whiteboard and the chalkboard, and asked us where the markers were. Thankfully, Louie woke up soon after and Max was able to open his gift from Grandma and Grandpa Yantes: a full art supply set to go with his easel! Markers, paints, chalk, paper, paintbrushes, you name it! He opened the dry erase markers and didn't leave his post in front of the easel until he had to get ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa Radecki's house, several hours later. Louie opened a set of Automoblox, a new book and an indoor hockey set (guess whose idea that was? Oh, and of course Max got a matching one). We ate a leisurely breakfast and slowly got ready to head down to Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas Eve.

We arrived in Burnsville in the midafternoon with a trunk full of goodies: presents, cookies, mulled wine makings. My mom's parents were already there, and after unpacking we quickly settled in to the first of many games of Buck Euchre. The game went so long that we weren't able to finish it before it was time for Mass! We got the kiddos all dressed and headed to the church, where we celebrated Jesus' birth in the best way possible.

After Mass, we went home for our traditional Christmas Eve Clam Chowder, followed by present time... made even sweeter by Paul's addition of Hot Port (a new take on mulled wine, definitely a keeper! Not that I got to have nearly as much as I wanted... I had to get by on one small half-glassful). My mom tried something new this year: wrapping all her presents in reusable or recyclable wrapping! What a great idea; we ended up with only one small bag of garbage among all of us.

Someone had an encounter with some glitter...

Max was so excited for the next day that bedtime took about two hours! As we sat around the table playing cards late into the night, we were visited by a little boy nearly every twenty minutes, claiming to be thirsty or needing help getting the duplos out of his jammies that he had found and "accidentally" stuck in his shirt. Finally my mom went upstairs to tuck him in and later we found them both sound asleep in bed... all it took was snuggling with grandma to finally get him to sleep!

The next morning started way too early; even after his VERY late night, Max was too excited to sleep in, so we were all up at about seven to check stockings and celebrate Max's birthday! We put candles into a hazelnut sweetbread for him to blow out, then on to more presents. (how is this kid ever going to come down from this craziness??)

"Me and Jesus have the same birthday!"

My parents hosted Christmas dinner for my mom's side of the family, all twenty-something of us. Max loved the long table that got set up in the living room, and he posted himself at the place of honor long before dinner was served! Then the rest of the family came and we feasted on a delicious meal, opened more presents, ate more sweets, and then promptly went into a collective food coma. Perfect! 

After dancing off some of their sugar buzz with Grandma and Grandpa, the boys were ready to head home. We decided to do some Christmas light touring on our way home, but Max barely stayed awake long enough to see anything! We pointed out a huge lit-up tree to him as he was drifting off, and he managed to shake himself awake slurring, "What's a tree...." before heading back to dreamland. 

Dancing to Christmas tunes

Yesterday the celebrating continued with my dad's side of the family, where I forgot to bring my camera. Thankfully my aunt got some great pictures and I hope to get a hold of them eventually and share them with you. It was a great time, including a meal of soup and corn bread, more gifts, and an intense game of Bowls (My aunt and I totally rocked it!). 

Today has been a day of decompression, playing with the truckload of new toys that have overtaken our living room. It was a crazy few days, but what joy to be able to spend it with family!

Merry Christmas everyone!