Bishop Piché!

We have a new bishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and it's our former pastor, (then) Father Piché.Here we are with him after Michael's first communion in May of 2007. Father Piché left our parish a year ago to become Archbishop Nienstedt's right hand man, and Pope Benedict XVI named him a bishop this spring. We all miss his great sense of humor and engaging homilies. I hope he can stay in our area for a while, but it won't surprise me if he's whisked off to be the archbishop in a new diocese within a few years.

kid hijinks

At the zoo this past weekend:
And Zach napping, with...2 Lego Stormtrooper heads on his fingers.Also, I forgot to blog a Nicky funny from a few weeks ago. After one of Michael's trombone lessons, he asked "Can we go home and have popsicles? Because it feels sweltering out here to me." It was a proud mom moment for me. Of course, he was exaggerating a little. Don't know where in the world he gets that from...*cough.* Anyway, my pre-kindergarten 5 year old used a fancy word in the right context. Such things almost make up for the kids' constant bickering and violent guttural belches.

blockbuster season

So, I guess the new TF sequel is out. Sounds like the reviews aren't too great. When I saw the first one in the theater 2 years ago, I was bored silly. But, I think that was due in large part to being 7 months preggo with Zach and darned uncomfy. When it came out on DVD and I could watch it in our own home without a bowling ball in my stomach, it improved on me.

Nate sent me a CNN article in which one reviewer's quote is it's "Like watching paint dry while getting hit over the head with a frying pan." Reading between the lines, I suspect he didn't care for it, and I'll go in with low expectations. see article here

Nate's naughty Indian

At work, Nate has a couple Indians under his wing. They are outsourced "offshore partner" employees. One of them called at bloody 3:30 in the morning today to get an access code or some such thing from Nate that he needed before a deadline. The guy (Cuchichakee? Chelaka?) was apologetic and this hasn't happened before, thank goodness. When the phone rings overnight your heart stops in anticipation of finding out which friend or family member just died. Eesh, the hazards of working with people on the other side of the planet.

It's a good thing Nate & I had a restful getaway this past weekend to Grand Casino Mille Lacs while Nana & Papa babysat. We're not big gamblers (well, me - not at all, and Nate's a wanna-be dabbler) but we got a good deal in a silent auction on an overnite stay + 2 buffet coupons (score!) at our church gala in April. On the way up, we stopped at Mille Lacs Kathio State Park and hiked a bit. We climbed the 100 ft "observation/fire tower" which turned out to be a rickety thing held together with chicken wire.













We survived the tower only to expose ourselves to massive amounts of second-hand smoke. Besides the Marlboro man and his posse, casinos sure seem to attract a lot of elderly types, as well as ladies with bad early 90's perms & big bangs. The buffet - yum. The waitress kept calling me honey so I tipped her 5 bucks (of the $10 the casino gave us for signing up for their rewards card).

Otherwise, we've been settling into a summer pattern. The kids are starting to figure out how to sleep past 6:30 a.m. Michael starts a Lego camp next week, and Adrienne has an art camp the week after.

small kid, big instrument

Michael has had 2 trombone lessons so far. During practice at home, he usually creates noises that resemble a certain bodily function (which I'm sure I needn't specify), though in the last few days he has produced sounds that mimic the mournful bellow of a dying cow. Baby steps, right?




Summer = popsicles!