Europe here she comes!

The tickets have been purchased, and Brian and Audrey are headed to Europe. They will be gone
September 23-October 4. I am so excited for Audrey! This will be her first trip abroad and she will get to spend time in England and France.  She and Brian will fly into Heathrow, spend a week exploring England  seeing some sites from her Dad's childhood, before heading to Paris on the EuroRail and ending their trip there.  What a wonderful opportunity for learning, while creating memories that will last a lifetime!

Audrey

Audrey's girl scout troop made blankets for children less fortunate at their last few meetings. Audrey earned her light green daisy petal patch ("caring" patch) with this activity. Here she is (far right) with her girl scout troop and the two blankets they completed.

finally back on line and updates...

So, the good news is after one month of sharing my husband's laptop (not ideal), we finally have wireless internet in the new house and I can use my own laptop for posts, emails, and the like. I have lots of photos to share and I was able to add photos of my nephew and his new wife  and niece and her new fiance to the post a few days ago of their wedding/proposals! Beautiful.

Audrey's ballet recital was amazing. She attends BalletAZ, which is the premier school here in AZ that feeds into the professional company. This was our first semester there so Brian and I didn't really know what to expect...OH...MY...GOODNESS! It was amazing. The costumes, the venue, the level of dance the students performed. We were blown away with how good the show was and Audrey did great in the two dances she had on stage. We were sooooo proud.

The new house is coming along! Brian has had a helper with the tools (Charlotte) and I am still unpacking boxes, but I am determined to get all boxes out of the dining room today. Baby Steps. And speaking of baby...

Baby Brooke is an angel baby. What an amazing little person God has sent us to raise and love. She is happy all the time, rarely cries, and is so alert for a newborn. It is hard to believe that it has already been two weeks since we brought her home....

Brooke has lots of little caretakers and I have lots of "happy helpers".

We are wrapping up our homeschool year. We should finish in June and plan to start the new school year July 1st.  We already have Audrey's books and supplies ordered and I am now picking out the boys supplies. We are thrilled with how the boys have been thriving since we started homeschooling.
Since the boys are unable to do boy scouts their Dad is going to do the Catholic Heritage "Pilgrims of the Holy Family" alternative scouts program with them. This way we can modify the tasks to their skill level and they can earn badges like their sister. It is always such a great feeling when we can find ways for them to participate.

Brian is working most mornings and home in the afternoons. I love it that he works for himself and that he can be home so much when it is not tax season.   We are bummed that the SUNS are down 0-2 in the series of the Western Conference Playoffs, but we are still ever hopeful.

Wishing you all a blessed weekend! Our weekend will consist of Audrey's end of the year Girl Scout party, seeing Shreck 3, and starting the raised garden construction. 

Happy Spring everyone!

Katie

Our homeschool has grown by two feet...

It is with great love and joy we announce that we have a new addition to our homeschooling family....

Brooke Ashleigh Sullivan arrived this past week on Wednesday, May 5th at 11:35am.  She was 7lb-2 oz and was 20.5 inches long.

She is a content and happy little baby and we are all doing fine.  I wish you all a blessed Mother's Day and happy homeschooling!

Love,
Katie

My Best Mother's Day Yet...

We are so proud to have welcomed our new baby daughter to our family this past week.

Brooke Ashleigh Sullivan arrived on Wednesday, May 5th at 11:35am.  She was 7lb-2 oz and 20.5 inches long. She is not only beautiful but the sweetest and happiest little baby. She has all 6 of us completely wrapped around her little fingers.

Labor and delivery went well with her arriving in about 5 hours. She was well known at the hospital as the baby who practically delivered herself as I went from 6cm to delivery in less than 15 minutes after my water broke  and there wasnt even time to pull a Dr. from the hallway before she made her grand entrance...Guess she was in a hurry to meet us all.  Brian was amazing during delivery and was a great support and help to me--all wives should have a husband so good during the labor and delivery process.

We are all doing well. We have been completely showered and spoiled by gifts from friends and family and it seems like we have friends or new neighbors bringing food by each day. We are looking forward to introducing Brooke in person to our family who are coming to visit (hopefully we are unpacked by then) and feel blessed beyond measure with this amazing baby God has given us.

The boys love her, and as you can guess, Audrey and Charlotte are little mothers. Baby Brooke's arrival to our family has reconfirmed mine and Brian's desire for a large family to raise together and we marvel at the five amazing children we have been given so far. 

Welcome to the world, Baby Brooke! You are loved beyond measure.

Moving Day

 We survived moving day and all went really well. We had an amazing company help us to move our things and even I had to admit everything went very smoothly! The kids love the new house and we are now unpacking everything and making it seem like home. The kitchen ceiling was finished.  Here it was before:

and here it is raised/after!

after....

Last night we had the pool drained and they are coming today to clean it so we will be pool ready for summer. Our weather this week has been amazing, in the 70s, so the kids have gotten alot of outside playtime on the swingset.