Zach's First Communion

Yesterday was Zach's first communion. It was a beautiful ceremony and he did great! Since this was my first time witnessing a first communion, I am not sure if they are all done the same. In our parish it is done as part of the Sunday Mass.


Here is Zach, looking snazzy in his fancy clothes.


There were a total of 12 kids receiving communion. The banners were displayed around the church. I was really happy with how Zach's looked.


Zach receiving communion. I was relieved that he did not make a funny face, but when he sat down he wrinkled his nose and said "It still tastes bad" (They were given the opportunity to taste the wine during practice)
Zachary posing with Father Larry.


Here is the only family shot we took. My mom and sister in law brought the younger kids home while we were finishing up at the church. By the time we got home they had already undressed and jumped in the pool. I was (and still am) so upset. Everyone actually looked presentable and I didn't capture it on film. I am seriously considering making everyone get dressed up this weekend just so I can get a picture. That will show them!

Of course I had to include a shot of the cake I made. Laura, I tried your trick with the syrup and it was awesome! It was a box cake but everyone raved about it. I may even start venturing into some homemade cake territory next time. (because I have so much spare time to be doing that)


We celebrated with a pool party in the back yard. The weather cooperated and an awesome time was had by all. Zach made out like a total bandit in the money/gift category as well. Joey is looking forward to his turn next year!

Zach's communion banner

Zachary is making his first communion this Sunday. (Yes, he is in 4th grade and typically that is done in 2nd grade. We got a late start.) One of things the families do in preparation is make a banner that will be hung in the church. I was pretty intimidated about this. As a new Catholic myself, I hadn't seen any made before and really wasn't sure what we were supposed to do. Thankfully, the internet pulled through for me! I just googled it and found examples of them on-line. Whew!


Here is Zachary, working on his banner. Despite the scowl on his face, he did enjoy it!

The finished product. I screwed up the paint at the rim of the chalice, but other than that, I was pretty happy with it.


Zachary with the banner. ( Also, my ridiculously messy house. And you see that row of Easter baskets up on the fireplace? Loaded with candy. Candy that I keep eating. sigh...)

Zachary is so excited about Sunday. Every Sunday when we go up to get communion, he talks about how it is almost his turn. I am excited too. This will be my first time seeing a first communion! I really had a lot of fun picking out something special for him to wear. Honestly, it was as much fun as I imagined it would be to shop for a frilly, white dress. I even got a thumbs up on my choice from Peter, who can be hard to please in the clothes department! I will post pics of the big event on Sunday.

Easter Sunday

Well, this post is a few days late, but I just got my camera back from my mother in law's house. We had an awesome Easter weekend! Saturday night we dyed Easter eggs. I am telling you, I always loved this as a kid. I think my kids could take it or leave it. They will dye a couple, then get bored and want to go watch Sponge Bob. I end up finishing the eggs myself. Hmmph!


Christopher really got into it this year, but you can imagine the mess he made and the number of eggs he cracked!


The Easter bunny leaves a trail of jelly beans out the boys' bedrooms, all through the house, leading them to the hidden baskets. Notice anything about the sliding glass door behind Joey and Vinnie? Like the fact that it is still DARK AS NIGHT out there?! Ugh!

After Mass we headed over to my mother in law's house for our annual brunch and Easter egg hunt.
Here is Christopher, waiting for the hunt to begin!

We do 2 separate hunts, 1 for the younger kids and 1 for the older kids. The younger kids took off first...

...followed by the older kids.


The younger kids stay on the lower half of the property,


...while the older kids went up on the hill!


Joey and Vinnie checking out their loot with their cousins.


Zachary going through his loot. The older kids frequently get a fair amount of money in their eggs. Zach's totaled almost $20!

After the egg hunt and brunch the kids hit the pool. Just one of the many reasons we love living in California!!


I hope everyone had a great Easter!!

And the Contini boy most likely to be a priest is...

Zachary!

On the way to Easter Mass yesterday we had some Top 40 radio station on. I wasn't even paying
attention to what was on, but I guess the word "hell" was being repeated. Zachary was offended and horrified.

Zach: "Mom, I really don't think this song is appropriate to be have on right now. They are saying the "H word"."

I leaned over and changed the station.

Me: "Sorry Zach"

Zach (still horrified): "I mean, that is really a poor choice for the radio station to make. It is Easter! "

Just the day before, Zachary confessed to me that one of his friends "cusses" on the playground at recess and it really makes Zach uncomfortable. I am happy to know that Zachary has such a good conscience. Let's hope it continues. I am guessing his ability to tolerate cussing will change with age though!

I left my camera at my mother-in-laws house so will have to post Easter pictures tomorrow.

End of an era

I took the kids to the mall the other day to get their pictures taken with the Easter Bunny. For the first time ever, Zachary protested. I knew this day was coming.




To be honest, I am surprised it didn't happen sooner. I begged him to do it one last time. I figured Christopher was going to wig out and I was going to need Zach to hold him (and I was right).


So for me he did it. I promised him I wouldn't make him do it again. I guess that includes Santa as well.


When did my baby grow up?


Of course, after hearing Zachary say he wouldn't do it anymore, Joey decided he didn't want to either.
Joey is only 7! What does this mean for Vincent and Christopher?! Is each one going to stop their "kid things" younger and younger?
At this rate, I am not going to have anyone to dye Easter eggs with by the time Christopher is in kindergarten!
Everyone talks about how time flies; how when you have children the days are long, but the years are short (isn't that the truth!)
I am going to miss these years!

Turns out I married a comedian

Zachary has a science project to do this year. I was surfing the internet, looking for a great and (more importantly) easy project.

Me (to Pete): "Here is one. He can try germinating seeds in different types of liquid, like sugar water and orange juice."

Pete: "hmm.." (clearly not interested)

Me: "How about making rock candy with plain string vs. string rolled in sugar first and see which forms more?"

Pete: "I have a great idea! He can track your menstrual cycle! And correlate it with your bad moods!"

Hilarious.

The politics of baseball

We are up to our eyeballs in little league baseball right now. The older 3 boys are playing this year--Vincent is in T-ball, Joey is in single A, Zachary is in triple A. And if that isn't enough, Peter is coaching Joey and Vinnie.

Between practices and games, we have something almost every night, and frequently we have more than 1 event. They all have games on Saturdays, sometimes spread out, other times overlapping.

Between work and baseball, dinner time has completely fallen apart. The kids are living on PB & J and chicken nuggets. Yes, I know. That is probably not much different then their usual. But at least we used to eat together at the table! Now it is at the ball field or in the car. As crazy as it is, we really do love it.

It is a great family time for us, rooting the boys on.

With Zachary's move up to triple A though, we have also been introduced to the dark side of little league. The draft.

This is the year kids actually have to try out and get picked. I had no idea the politics involved in this. For 9-11 year old boys! The coaches watch all the boys try out, and then they somehow get chosen. There are clear cliques and groups of boys together. Zachary is the only kid from his school on his team, where other teams have many/mostly Graystone kids.

In and of itself, that is not the issue. He has met some nice kids and he likes them. The problem is, unfortunately we are not a great team. Or even a good team. There seems to be a huge discrepancy in the abilities of the teams, with some teams with only 1 loss and others with no wins or only 1. And that is the problem.
A friend of Zach's at school is on a team that is doing even worse than Zach's. Apparently there has been a lot of teasing/bullying going on at school around baseball with boys from the winning teams ganging up on boys (this boy in particular) from the losing teams. Zach has also been a bit of a target, although not as much as his friend. I find this heartbreaking as a mom. I want to go grab these boys and let them have it.
But I can't. Not only do we know most of these boys, but a number of them are actually patients of Peter's ( That is life when you practice in the community you live). I am having a hard time watching what is going on in our school. Is this really the norm?

I feel the way our little league does the draft really lends itself to this behavior and lopsided team ability. Pete mentioned that the draft when he was a kid was a blinded event. Kids were ranked, numbers were drawn out of a hat and the teams were made. You were more likely to get evenly matched teams. Teams would be more mixed and not gangs of boys from the same team together year after year.

Something needs to change. As a mother and as a pediatrician in the community, I feel an obligation to do something. I am going to start with the principal at our school. Let him in on behavior that is clearly against our schools peace builder pledge.

Then Pete and I will write the League President. We will outline the issues. Propose some changes. Maybe even start a petition.

Am I blowing this out of proportion? Is this just part of growing up and the boys have to toughen up and suck it up? That just doesn't sound OK to me.