Last Sunday our big boy received his first Holy Communion, and it was a great day full of memorable moments. He was thoroughly spoilt by our extended family, including his godmother who made a wonderful cake (pictured).

Everyone in our family tends to bring food when we have something on at our place – which means I don’t have to worry about what we’ll all eat, which is a massive help. I didn’t mean for the Saturday to be taken up with tidying and cleaning but it kind of was. The house is so guest-worthy now as a result that I want to ask someone else over soon while it’s still in such good shape!

It’s not likely to last long though; the kids’ three-week winter school holidays have begun. The three boys were off at preschool and sports camp yesterday, so the girls and I went to the movies to see Wonder Woman. I slightly freaked out after buying the tickets and noticing it was rated M because they’re 11 and 13 and I’m still mentally in G-rated land with my kids, but the movie was awesome. It gave us great dinner-time conversation material. If I get a chance I’ll write more about it in another post, but there is a review on Aleteia which is pretty good.

The next three weeks will see a mix of holiday camps, play dates, outings, and finding things to do at home that don’t involve too much staring at screens. Oh, and our eldest still needs to have her promised 13th birthday celebration with a few friends. Her birthday was in April and I’ve no reason to put it off at the moment. I’m thinking of taking her and few friends to a Sherlock Holmes exhibition in the city’s Powerhouse Museum, but it requires a bit of extra planning and she’s not sure all her friends will be as keen. We’ve reached a bit of an impasse on this up until now. Have you got any tips for me for 13-year-old birthday parties?