Testing New Template..

We have a springy new look for our blog....hope you like it.  The old template was a stretch (extra wide) and some people with smaller monitors had to scroll back a forth a bit to read it. Thanks to Tiziano at Delicious Design Studio for helping me find a new template that worked better, but still enabled me to keep my larger photos.  Whew...so glad I didn't have to go in and edit the size of many pictures!

Wassup?

We are really focusing full-time on our schoolwork, in hopes that we can all be done with our school year by the end of May. The end is in sight!  We know life is going to get busier this time of year, so hopefully we can stay on track. Upcoming events are: Aidan's First Holy Communion April 25th, choir recital (Eileen and Bridget) and Irish dance recital (all four older girls) both on May 2nd, at overlapping times (haven't figured that one out yet!) and the sacrament of Confirmation on May 22nd (Moira, Eileen and Bridget).

I'll post some highlights of late...

Let's start with Molly Grace's latest poem.  Kindergarten is the year to memorize several poems by Robert Louis Stevenson.  I love him!

The Moon

by Robert Louis Stevenson

The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;

She shines on thieves on the garden wall,

On streets and fields and harbour quays,

And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.

The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,

The howling dog by the door of the house,

The bat that lies in bed at noon,

All love to be out by the light of the moon.

But all of the things that belong to the day

Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way;

And flowers and children close their eyes

Till up in the morning the sun shall arise.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Scratching oneself with a pencil must help with memory work...Ha! Molly Grace is also the first student to complete a subject for the 09/10 school year.  Math book is done! 

Moira is busy studying medieval European history and just completed a paper on Saint Thomas More.  Besides that, chemistry is getting easier; Algebra 2 is getting harder...

Eileen is plugging along with the most challenging grade in our program - 9th grade! She just completed a paper in oceanography on marine exploration, among other things, and next week will begin her final unit in science, studying weather. 

Bridget is plugging along with math, Latin (with Eileen), earth science, Acts of the Apostles, and the study of Greece, Rome and Shakespeare.  This is the first year that longer papers have been required of her.  She wrote a lengthy paper on the Greek Gods. This is not a problem for Bridget because she has been known to write emails to her sister Eileen that have word counts in excess of 1200.  (Bridget loves to write stories and does so in this format).  At least she's getting her typing lessons in! LOL

Teresa's favorite poem she memorized this year was America For Me, by Henry Van Dyke.  She has been reading, retelling, copying and illustrating Old Testament bible stories (David and Goliath was her latest).  She is also studying birds.  Here is the good ol' robin that thankfully, we are now seeing in our yard on a regular basis ...

Aidan is completing his tasks, although he would much rather play outside, build Indiana Jones adventures with his Legos, get his teeth pulled or read all about whales, dolphins and other sea creatures.  He is learning that life is all about balance : )...work a little, play a little.  His latest memorized poem was Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost.

Erin just keeps us smilin'.  She is such a joy...and a busy bee!  She loves loves loves ousiiii (outside), now that the weather is warmer.  She especially loves the weeeee (swing), and giggles the whole time she is in it as if she is being tickled.  She is saying many words and/or word approximations now, including two word phrases, which is exciting!  She is learning signs to the letters of the alphabet and can say many of them (thank you Signing Time!).  She is walking up steps, rather than climbing.  She goes down the big slide with no hesitation. She could read books all. day. long.  Loves them!  And she is still completely thrilled to see her baby brother Seamus every morning, as if he just joined our family for the first time. After nine months, he's still a novelty to her!

And as for the Seamus....not surprisingly, he's on the move.  Crawling, pulling up, pulling things out of drawers, baskets and bins and all the other busy stuff babies his age do.  As I type, he is trying to scale the book shelf.  He has been nicknamed on a few occasion, Seamus the Shyster. Let's blame that on the teething.  But he is, of course, adorable and everyone finds his big, cheeky grins with the big brown eyes irresistible...even when he's in his big sisters' pink stroller.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

We had such a beautiful day! Saint Patrick must have been praying for us!  The temperature was in the mid 60's, perfect weather for our first annual St. Patrick's Day parade.  We had prepared for sweat pants, turtle necks, gloves, etc..to be worn under the girls' dresses, but none of that was needed. Mike's parents came for the day, which is always a treat!  We all walked along the riverfront for the parade and then met up at the City Deck for a little talk by the major, and others, followed by a dance performance which all the girls participated in.  I'll have to gather some pictures from other people to post because I was too far back to get any good pictures of the dancers. 

As part of our celebration for the day, we made sure to include a few treats :).  This is always very welcomed and remembered by the little ones because St. Paddy's Day usually lands sometime during Lent, which is typically sweet-free for us.

Thanks to a thoughtful client and friend of Mike's, we had extra fun, special treats for the day ....

This is the only picture that turned out at the parade...(I'll get more later)

After the parade we had two more performances.  Moira and Eileen went off to the east side of town to dance at a county club and Bridget and Teresa danced on the west side of town at a Hibernian dinner. Lots of fun!

And last by not least, these picture just say it all, don't they??!!

Good Day Wisconsin

Moira and Eileen were up bright and early for this little promo for our St. Patrick's Day parade.  The dance surface was covered with dew, making it very slippery!  Thankfully, they did just fine, with no falls :)  Moira has a short little intro with the TV correspondent and Eileen is right next to her. (If you want to see it expanded, you have to click the image)

It's Almost St. Patrick's Day...

Here at our house, the fact that it's almost St. Patrick's Day means it's one of our busiest times of year!  It's so busy that we generally refer to it as Saint Patrick's week, not day.  This year it almost seems more appropriate to call it St. Patrick's month. Of course we love Dear Saint Patrick, patron saint of the Irish, but our month-long busyness has much to do with the fact that we have four Irish dancers in the house.

The wigs are ready; the dresses are set; poodle socks are clean and white, bobby pins are bought by the dozens; sock glue is handy; spankies are washed; suspenders are found (in the bottom of a dress-up bin); and Irish music can be heard from all corners of the house, usually accompanied by the bang bang bang of hard-shoes hitting the wooden practice floor in rhythmic patterns. I have become so accustomed to recognizing the sound of hard-shoes hitting the floors that I no longer hear it...sort of like how you don't hear trains when you live next to the railroad tracks.  When visitors come over, they look at me with wide eyes, asking, what is that?! LOL .

The girls already had two fun performances last week.  Moira, Eileen and Bridget perfomed with Different Drums of Ireland in Door County last Friday.  It was a late show so Mike took the girls and I stayed home with the little kids.

Here is a group shot of the girls who perfomed with Different Drums (Moira on the far left, Eileen with the pink and green crown fourth from right, and Bridget and cousin Colleen in black dresses near the right)

All three girls are in the front row (Bridget borrowed a solo dress for this number because she only has the "school dress", which is black, and their instructor preferred the solo dresses)

Then, on Sunday, all the girls were able to perform for the CP (Cerebral Palsy) Center Telethon.  They had three dance numbers which were live performances.  The rest of us were able to watch them on TV, which was fun!  I was unable to get a link to the recording of the dances (sorry mom! I think Kelly and Kelley have it recorded).  This was the first time the dancers participated in the CP telethon, not only by dancing, but also by fundraising for the center. It was inspiring to be a part of it, and the dancers and their families raised over $2000 for the center.  The CP Center is a great resource for those with many different disabilities, not just cerebral palsy. We have not used it much ourselves but we may take advantage of the center when Erin is a bit older (they have a wonderful warm-water therapy pool).

Here is a picture of Moira and Eileen's class giving their check to the CP center.

This week we have a moring performance on Tuesday (it will be on TV locally on WLUK, starting about 8:15 am), three performances on Wednesday and possibly one on Thursday.  Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone, even if you are not Irish :) !!!

More Birthday Pictures

A few months ago Erin went to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese and loved it, so we decided to take her there again for her birthday. Once again, it was a hit. We all enjoyed it....only one of us came home with a small headache!

Here are a few pictures, capturing the fun...

soooo much fun :)

Seamus is clamoring to get out of his sound-proof box here...

I didn't get any pictures of Erin climbing through the tunnels, but that was probably her favoite part of the night.  It was certainly mine.  She is still so tiny. She is only in the 10th percentile on the Down syndrome growth chart, which doesn't even put her on the typical kid growth chart. I really questioned whether or not she'd be able to manage the tunnels, let alone the giant steps and slides. Well, as Erin showed us, when there's a will there's a way!  She quickly managed the tunnels, steps and slides, without hesitation.  And then she turned around and climbed back up the slide.  Yes, she showed us.....once again. And she was having so much fun!   

We finsihed off the night with presents and cake. 

  Last year when Erin turned two, she wouldn't even touch her cake, let along take a bite.  She is not a sweet tooth and never has been.  But this year she gave it a try...

And loved it...

As we were getting ready for bed, she took one last look at her new fridge phonics toy. 

Oh yes, and since Erin refused to wear her Irish princess crown, we had to try it on someone....

Overheard...

This morning the kids had the playdough out bright and early....

Aidan:  Teresa, do you want the pink?

Teresa:  That's not pink, it's fusha.

Aidan:  I'll have the purple.

Tersea:  Aidan, it's not purple, it's magenta.

Aidan:  Nevermind, I'll just take the blue.

Oh, the differences between girls and boys :) 

Happy Birthday Erin!!!

"I'm dwee!" Yes, that's right, in Erin's own words, she is three today! Happy birthday sweet girl. You make us smile, you teach us so much and you make us very proud. We all love you dearly. Thank you, God, for the gift of Erin!

I'll take more pictures after the party....don't you love birthdays during Lent?! Another excuse to have a piece of cake..and it's not even a Sunday :).

Teeth!

Seamus has had teeth for awhile now, but I don't think I've posted a cute picture of his chompers.  He now has two on the bottom and two on the top.  If you look closely you can see the little ones on the bottom (it's certainly not the best pic, but cute :).

And eyelashes! Yup, he's got those too...

(Today is Erin's birthday!....I'll be sure to post some picture later today or tomorrow)