The Sewing Weekend

Last weekend my parents came for a visit, their first visit since Christmas.  It was great to see them!  It also turned out to be a very good thing, and quite providential, that they chose last weekend to make the trip.  It just so happened that Moira, the sewer (well, sew-er, or I guess seamstress is the proper term?) in our family, volunteered to make new black skirts for their upcoming Irish dance recital.  We needed to make seven black skirts and hem seven more that our friends, and fellow Irish dancers, made.  It also just happens to be that my mom has the most sewing talent this side of the Mississippi (or something like that).  So my mom and dad came, along with their dog, Lacy.  They also brought my mom's sewing machine and serger.  Those machines were both smokin' all weekend long.

On Friday, seven skirts were made that look like this...

Then, seven more were hemmed, and then all fourteen were packed up to be embroidered...

My mom and the girls worked most of the day on Friday getting these done.  All I can say is the serger saved the day!

Worker number one...

Worker number two...

Worker number three's photo is missing.  I think I accidently deleted it from my camera and the computer.  Ooops.  But of course that worker would be Moira. 

Here they all are...

So, while that was a lot of work, they did not stop there.  Oh no!  On Saturday, Moira had a birthday party to attend that included ballroom dancing.  The dress she wore needed alterations.  Done. Then, since the girls' prom is coming up this weekend, they decided to alter those dresses as well. Done. They didn't even stop there.  There was also Moira's friend's dress that needed to be hemmed.  Done. And then there was a dress in Eileen's closet that needed a seam fixed. Done.

I think that was it, but I could be forgetting something.  The machines are probably still warm from all the work they did.  Whew!  It was certanly a productive sewing weekend.  Thanks again Mom!

Prayer Requests

My cousin Mark's very sweet wife, Erin, lost her dad unexpectedly Tuesday night.  Please keep her family in your prayers!

Our friend, Micah, who is recovering from a serious case of Toxic Shock Syndrome could use prayers for a full recovery.  He is doing so much better, but we want him home!

So many people are praying for Chrissie, who is making a miraculous recovery from many serious heart complications. Keep the prayers coming.

There's always so much to pray for....these three are big ones on our list this week.  Thank you for joining us in prayer.

Aidan's First Communion

Congratulations to Aidan on receiving his First Holy Communion on Sunday!  What a beautiful day we had.  We are so thankful for you, and this sacrament, Aidan. You make us so proud! 

I was only able to get two pictures at the church before my camera battery died...

The second picture was a group shot with everyone visable except two...of course one of the two would be Aidan :). (He's directly in front of the woman in the center of the back row)

Notice Anything New?

Two years of braces coming up for Eileen.  Last night they were hurting quite a bit, so she had a fruit smoothie for dinner. She says the pain is a little better today, thankfully.

Sign of the Cross

We have been working with Erin on the sign of the cross since she was old enough to sit in a highchair.  We practice it at every meal when we say grace.  This little practice always brings a smile to her face as she claps when she is finished.  She also practices the sign of the cross whenever we go to church and pass by the holy water font. Slowly but surely she is getting all the little motions in all the right order.  Today we found her practicing all on her own.  In fact, she was not only practicing on herself, but also on her little brother Seamus.  She practiced so much that they were both pretty soaking wet by the time we tracked down the little holy souls. This sounds all wonderful and great, doesn't it?  Well, it is, all except for one little detail.....she used toilet water.  Ewwww.

I now have two sqeaky-clean holy souls who have just come out of the tub : )

Fickle Wisconsin Weather

Within a week's time, we have pretty much experienced all of the seasons in Wisconsin!  Before Easter it was summer-like, with temps in the high 70's.  Easter brought us beautiful, and typical, spring-like weather.

Then came rain...

And then came the sleet, which turned into this (I think it was close to six inches)...

Our poor magnolia blossoms!

Erin's Three Year Check-Up

Erin has taught me not to take "well checks" at the doctor for granted.  Not that she has been sick at all (thank goodness she has been extremely healthy, minus the heart defect).  It's just that her little extra chromosome has made the odds of having some health issues more of a reality.  Each time we pass through a screening test (she has many more than my other kids) with no red flags, we offer a prayer of thanksgiving. Yesterday was one of those days; she had her three-year well checkup.  I'm so happy to report that everything went very well! As a bonus, she did not even cry when she had her blood drawn in a vile as big as her head.  I seriously wondered if she was going to have strength to walk to the car after that much blood left her little body!  I have no idea why she did not scream because my memories of her last blood draw are vivid...we needed three strong adults to hold her down.  And even with three strong adults, it was hard to hold her still.  They missed the vein a few times.  I remember mumbling something about so much for low-tone during the last episode.  Whatever the reason, I'll take the calm, peaceful, child I saw yesterday, laying on the table watching the lab tech poke her little arm.  I explained the procedure to her the best I could, and told her I'd pick her up as soon as they were done.  She understood and was very brave. I was very proud.

She had the following tests: 

Thyroid (TSH and T4)
Celiac screening
CBC
Ear/nose/throat check
blood test for vitamin levels
Neck x-rays to check for Atlantoaxial Instability (AAI)

I think that's all.  The AAI was the big one, as the treatment for abnormal results could mean major surgery.  Thankfully, everything tested great....no problems.  Big sigh of relief. 

Oh, and she is sooo tiny, but growing.  She even gained in the percentiles since age two.  For height she went from 30 " to 32" (up to 18% on Ds chart).  For weight she went from 19.6 lbs to 23 lbs (20% on Ds chart).  So, that's about it!  I'm so glad to have that behind us :)

Star Wars Falcon

It came to my attention that Aidan has added a new Lego set to his "want" list.  It is quite some set!  You can see it by clicking here  Ahem....did you happen to see that price?  If not, just for shock value, I'll put it here:  $584.99. 

The conversation went something like this:

Aidan:  Dad, did you see the falcon set, it's really cool!

Mike:  Aidan, it's over $500

Aidan:  Well, it's on sale...(said very pitifully)

Mike:  For that price, it better fly to the moon and back (or something like that)

Aidan: I guess I could save my own money. (Long pause...) Oh never mind.  By the time I have  enough money to buy it I would be a grown man and I probably wouldn't play with Legos anymore.

Two Peas in a Pod

Awww, aren't they cute? (Eileen 15, Bridget 13)

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday Moira!!!

We hope everyone had a very blessed Easter!  We had a great weekend.  We not only celebrated Easter, but also Moira's birthday on the same day! 

The Easter cake (with a smudged nose)...


Here's the birthday cake, made by the sweet-deprived birthday girl herself.  Yes, it was really that loaded.  After giving up sweets for Lent, Moira thought she'd make up for it by adding every bit of sweetness she could muster up on this cake. It was a bit too much for most of us; even Erin spit it out and made a strange sound.  lol.

And if the Easter cake or birthday cake did not tickle your fancy, most likely this 8 lb chocolate bunny did (this bunny was gift from a generous friend)...

Now, of course our Easter was not all about sweets!  Mike and the older three girls went to the Vigil Mass at the Cathedral on Saturday night.  They said it was beautiful!  The little kids could not have lasted through the two hour mass, so Mike and I took the little kids to mass on Sunday morning.  But even before that celebration, we had a little egg hunt, bright and early Sunday morning....

Our quantity of baskets have grown over the years.....ha!  We're a big stop for the Easter Bunny!

It was a beautiful Easter day!

Erin giving kisses...

We all enjoyed the special day a little extra because it was Moira's 17th birthday!  Happy birthday Moira, we love you and are so very proud of you!!! 

Good Friday

The Agony in the Garden

The Scourging at the Pillar

The Crucifixion by Molly Grace

The Crucifixion by Aidan

The Crucifixion Scene by Aidan

Children's Museum

We are so fortunate to have the best neighbors.  Our neighbors who live two houses down have three children who are such great playmates for our younger kids.  Our older girls have been their babysitters for years. It is charming to see the kids move back and forth between our houses, setting up elaborate pretend play themes.  Sometimes they play house. Many times they produce theatrical productions that seem to have several continuing acts or chapters.  These acts evolve over weeks of play. There is a high comfort level among the kids at each others homes.  Little Tyler will check out our refrigerator to see if there's anything worth snacking on; my kids will wander over to ding their doorbell at the crack of dawn (or at least try to before we catch them in their tracks).

Last Friday we all went to the Appleton's children's museum, The Building For Kids, and had such a great time. 

Here's Teresa, Morgan and Lauren cooking up something in the restaurant...

Aidan, Lauren, Tyler and Morgan manning the air traffic control in the cockpit...

Tyler and Molly Grace

Captain Aidan

Erin was completely enchanted by the entire day.  She went shopping...

She played musical instruments...

She pondered her smallness in contrast to the grand universe....

And when she came up missing, we found her reading books.  (I should have known!)...

Seamus was content in the stroller.....

For about 2.5 seconds.....

In light of Seamus and Erin's needs to run, climb and hide, I corralled them into the toddler jail play area while my friend Debbie took the older kids to various fun places.  The toddler area had short walls surrounding it, which the little two did not even contemplate scaling.  That would be because there was no place on the planet that they would rather be at that moment....

There were big, plush three-dimensional shapes to climb on...

There were chairs set up near tables filled with toys and puzzles...

And last but not least, there was an iiiiiide (slide) for Erin.  At the top of the wide stairs she climbed (in order to reach the slide) was a gigantic carrot.  Erin would sign carrot when she got to that point, which is probably my second most favorite sign she does (it is done by pretending to hold a carrot in your hand while taking a bite.  Erin makes a giant crunchy bite sound when she makes this sign.  It's cute.)  The giant carrot was follwed by the best part of all: sliding down the celery.  I don't know the sign for celery, but Erin enjoyed sliding down it about six dozen times...

It was interesting that with the exception of one cute little boy, we had the toddler area to ourselves.  That one cute little boy's name was Seamus!  Not a common name.  I had a good time talking to the other Seamus' mom.

So, after a few more interesting exhibits and lots of time spent in the art center, we packed up and headed home. Thank you, Pagel gang, for such a fun day!