Happy Birthday Thomas!

My, how fast these 2 years have flown! We had such a nice time celebrating Thomas' 2nd birthday with the Conroys and Uncle Matty last night ("O Matty," as Thomas says it).  Samantha Conroy had given us their old Elmo cake mold, and Thomas was thrilled with the results ("Oh, Elmo's World!" he exclaimed...he never just says "Elmo"...it's always the phrase "Elmo's World!").  Thomas, aka Womas, aka TJ, aka the Teej, is growing by leaps and bounds. He has a new big boy haircut, and has developed a strong throw (maybe he'll have better luck at baseball than his mom and dad?). He's also very verbal and quite the chatterbox.  When he enters a room and encounters someone, he shouts out "Hey, (insert name here)! How are you?!" (or if it's a group of people "Hey everybody! How are you?!").  Last week, I caught some video of Thomas reciting his ABCs for Nora and Caroline at the breakfast table, which I thought you'd enjoy (don't you love how all my kids are shirtless at breakfast?!).

Nora's First Communion

 Nora had a beautiful day for her First Communion this past Saturday.  The weather couldn't have been more beautiful, nor could Nora have looked more beautiful herself.  She was so poised as she read the last prayers in the Prayers of the Faithful, and managed to walk up and down the steps of the altar on high heel sandals without a hitch! We had a wonderful time celebrating with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Matty, Omi and Pop Pop and were so grateful to have them here. Thank you family and friends for your cards, gifts, thoughts and prayers this weekend!

 Nora and Caroline with Ms. Dee Dee, their favorite Sunday school teacher (Nora had her for Kindergarten and 1st grade, and Caroline has her this year). Below, our first of many big family meals around the dining room table over the course of the weekend. 

Thomas entertained everyone by showing off his ABCs after dinner on Friday night.

Uncle Matt's bday, Dad's visit and Easter weekend

 We've had an eventful week or two here...kicked things off with a birthday celebration for Uncle Matty. Best part was that Thomas could say "Happy bird day Unkah Ma-ee!"

 Pop Pop was here for Matt's birthday celebration and had fun hanging out with the kids all weekend. Here he his being a cool-dude with little man TJ while cheering on Caroline at soccer practice.

This past Easter weekend, we had the good fortune to spend time with Mary Lee, George and Joe.  While Mary Lee worked at the Lupus Walk for her company on Saturday morning, George, Joe and our family spent time at the National Zoo.  Here are our little monkeys enjoying a nearby tree as we had a picnic lunch on the zoo grounds...

Sunday morning, we attended the 9:30 Mass together and managed to get through the whole Mass without having to leave because of Thomas' antics (though it was a close call).  I tempted fate, though, when I insisted that we try to get a family picture in front of the altar at the end of Mass.

At least we got a beautiful shot of the girls...

After church, we picked up the Murrays at the train station and came home to have an Easter egg hunt in the backyard and a leisurely mid-afternoon Easter dinner. Caroline and Joe spent the whole afternoon on the trampoline and playing superheroes saving a baby doll in the backyard...

Thomas kept running outside because he wanted to be in on the action too (which meant that Mike spent the afternoon chasing him to keep him out of trouble)!

We were so happy that Nora, Caroline, Thomas and Joe got to spend so much time together this weekend, and grateful for having time to catch up with Mary Lee and George.

International Night @ St. Francis

Last night, we participated in our church's 1st International Night by preparing a table about our Irish heritage, which included a display featuring a map of Ireland and information about St. Patrick, and samples of homemade Irish soda bread (the Mary Van Dien recipe you gave me, Mom) and Colcannon (prepared by our co-volunteer Marianne Bullen). The girls were also the first featured performers at the end of the night (introduced as "The Rudmann sisters"), showing off what they've learned of the jig (as a duo) and the reel (Nora solo). They were followed by an accordion player of Polish background, and a Bolivian dance troupe.  It was a wonderful night - over 20 countries were represented, showing just how diverse our church is  (i.e. Iran, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, The Philippines, Trinidad & Tobago, Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Belarus, Ethiopia). The night concluded with us reciting the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, with each participant reading a line in his/her native language.  I was so impressed to learn that the night was the brain child of a high school senior, Sarah Seyed-Ali, who hopes to major in international affairs in college.  She did such a good job organizing it, I assumed she was in her mid-20s.  A future Katherine Paula in the making?

Fashionistas

Don't have a ton of photos to post as of late, but hope to take more.  The girls have been trying out some new fashions for the camera, which are a riot.  We had fun celebrating the Year of the Horse at our local mall Chinese New Year celebration...and Thomas loves bath time with his big sis. Enjoy!

Celebrating Christmas

Nora, Aunt Katie and Caroline doing the Hokey Pokey @ Blob's Polka Park

Listening to the Alphorns

Zwei Verruckte Deutsche Schwestern

The end of a very fun afternoon (N & C holding the gifts they received from Santa!)

Quick photo op before saying goodbye

Leaving treats for Santa and the reindeer on Christmas Eve

Dad reads 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to the girls (Dad Rudmann's gift way back when)

A sick Thomas trying to enjoy Christmas morning

Happy Birthday Grandma!