Happy Birthday Teresa!!!

Teresa turned 11 years old yesterday, June 25th.  Isn't it great that she has her birthday on Jesus' half birthday?!  We always remember on Teresa's birthday that we have exactly six months until Christmas.

Teresa, you are such a joy to our family!  We love how you always make us smile with your bright personality.  God has blessed you so much.  We love you dearly!  Happy Birthday!!!


Teresa wanted to make her own cake for her birthday...so she did!  Here is her strawberry cheesecake.  The two little candles that make her eleven are kind of pathetic, but it's all we had to work with.  I always forget to buy the candles we need!

Smile for the camera!

Erin just learned how to blow out candles and Teresa was so kind to let her give it a try.  Here she is waiting...

Birthday parties are so much fun!

Here's Teresa giving Erin a lesson on how to blow out candles...

And just because we need more cuteness in this post, here's little Seamus who thinks birthday parties are pretty awesome too...

Fun in the Sun!

I Have a Voice!

Beautiful photography.  Beautiful children.  Beautiful message.

A Mind of His Own

Dear Little Seamus,

I know you are very new to this world and all, and I don't expect you to know all the basic rules of life quite yet.  But seriously, why must you go against the grain in so many circumstances?

Take yesterday at the grocery store, for example.  While most one-year-olds do get a little fussy after sitting in a cart for a long while, most do not caw like a crow at the top of their lungs, gathering the glances of all who pass within three isles of them.

Then, when your determined mother breaks down from the cawing and gives you a Dum-Dum sucker, why do you take great pleasure in sucking on the stick rather than the sucker part?  Just strange.  But I'm not complaining.  I can certainly clean your sticky little paw when the stick wears down and the only thing left is the sticky sucker.  We'll just throw that part away.  I'm sure your future dentist won't mind.

Now let's talk about rain.  When we leave the grocery store in a downpour, and you get soaked to the bone in about 30 seconds, why must you then squeal with delight?  Perhaps I should spray you with water while I'm shopping rather than give you an upside down Dum-Dum? Also, most people do not look straight up into the sky with their eyes and mouths wide open during a downpour, hoping to get as wet as possible, laughing the whole time. And finally, most folks are usually happy to be safe in their cars after being caught in a downpour.  They do not arch their backs, screaming in displeasure, because they are taken out of the rain. 

Here you are after you dried off, still a little sticky from holding that Dum-Dum

Let's see....one more little item comes to mind.  Refrigerator magnets are for the refrigerator, not the toilet.  There is absolutely no use for a magnet in a toilet.  Got that?  That should be a rule of life.

Oh, but you sure are cute....even with all your idiosyncrasies (I had to look up how to spell that word...hope I got it right!); you still tend to melt our hearts :)

Moira's New Job

Being 17, we all thought it was a great idea for Moira to seek full-time employment this summer. Mike suggested a flower shop. I suggested Festival Foods. However, Moira had other ideas and requested to go straight to Lambeau Field to see if anyone there was hiring. If you know Moira, you also know her love for the Packers :). So, I dropped her off one afternoon and waited in the parking lot. She came out with three applications. The first, the ice cream shop, wanted to hire her on the spot. As it turned out, the manager for the ice cream shop didn't know that the very next day the decision was made to close the shop down. Then Curly's offered her a job, however, the hours were not great and besides, she preferred waiting to see about the third job, the Packer Pro Shop. After three interviews and a long two week wait, she received the exciting news that she got the job! I'm sure she will very much enjoy this summer job which has the option of some hours during the entire football season as well. We are very proud of her first experience in the interviewing/hiring process. We may just have to take advantage of the shopping discount too!



She loved seeing her name on the envelope that came in the mail :)

Spotted in the Woods...

You might think this heap of brush seen in the woods behind our house is just a pile of branches that needs to be burned or carried away. It does look that way at first glance...

But, if you observe it more closely, you might soon discover that it is actually a home.  But it is not just any home.  It is a home for an eight year old boy who lives in magical lands by day.

Here's a closer look...

Do you recognize it? It is obviously the home of Yoda.  It may be the case that you are not familiar with Yoda, so I will fill you in... 

Yoda, the ancient and revered Jedi Master, lived his final years hiding on the swamp planet of Dagobah. Nine hundred years old, Yoda had trained Jedi for eight centuries, and was very powerful in the Force. Among his last pupils were the most important (and reckless) Jedi in recent history, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker. 

There you have it.  Now, don't be fooled by the past tense of that description of Yoda...as if he is now deceased.  I can assure you that, like Elvis, he lives!  We have proof, right here in our backyard.  If you happen to stop by during these summer days, I'm pretty sure you'd even get a chance to meet him in person.  Lucky you!  If you do stop by for a visit, just be sure to bring your lightsaber!  You never know which enemies may be lurking just around the corner!  Oh, and you all know that Big Foot does live in Wisconsin.  He may find Yoda's home very inviting too!  Just come prepared : )

Happy Birthday Seamus!!!

Our little one-year-old had a birthday on June 8th!  (I'm a little slow getting the pictures on the blog!)  We had a great little celebration.  Seamus is now a full mover and shaker!  Walking (actually close to running now) all over the house and anywhere else he can get his busy little feet to take him.

Happy Birthday Seamus!!!  We sure do love you.  You have brought us so much joy!

The kids made a cool sign for the party

Getting ready for presents...

Erin felt the need to help her little brother out with his presents!

Fun new water balls!

Time for cake and the Happy Birthday song...

He's wondering what the attention of all nine family members, directed to him all at the same time, is all about LOL...

Checking out the cake...

Oh, this is fun!

Having his cake and eating it too...

Summer Fun!

Summer is in full swing even though some of us are still finishing up a few classes with school.  This is the hardest time of year to stay focused on the school tasks that need to be done!  I'm just as bad, if not worse, than the kids; we all need a break.

Moira is very close to being done.  She finished her last paper in history, is just needing a final edit on her final paper for religion and has one last test to take in chemistry.  And then there's Algebra II.....let's just say the goal is to finish that by end of July.  But then, if that's the only subject left, it's not too tough. 

Eileen has one lesson left in Latin, a few in English grammar, and a few in religion.  All of those can be finished next week. And then she has more than a few lessons left in math.  Are you noticing a trend here?

Bridget has a wee bit of religion, one lesson of Latin and just a handful of math.  The end is in sight for her..Woo hoo!

Teresa, Aidan and Molly Grace are done!


Aidan has been thoroughly enjoying his outdoor playtime.  He's fortunate to have some boys right here in our cul-de-sac to play with.  He's also on a baseball team which meets for games and practices twice a week.  Mike is the assistant coach.  This past week Aidan hit a homerun. Unfortunately, Mike was out of town for that game and I had to take the four girls to Irish dance, so no family members were there to cheer him on.  Maybe he'll do it again this week :)

Friends Blake and Mason with Aidan

Here's Little Mister Seamus enjoying his stroller for a time, giving us all a break from chasing him around.  He's all about walking now...and getting fast!

Little Miss Erin thinks the great outdoors is heaven.  We strategically plan when she goes out because once she does, she has a one-track mind, which is to stay out for as long as she can to get as messy as she can.  We hear, "Ousiiiiiiiiiide" a few gazillion times after we bring her in. As you can see, she is tiny, but don't let her size fool you.  This girl has spunk and knows how to get what she wants. 

Erin with cousin Margaret...

I did mention messy, didn't I ?

Erin has rediscovered her love for the Little Tikes car and I have rediscovered that the hose strategically pulled across the driveway prevents her from going past a certain point.  Works like a charm! (See the hose in the background?!)

We have contemplated getting a bigger pool because the little kids are getting bigger.  However, they still  have so much fun with this little toddler pool, I have to wonder why we are thinking of spending more money!  I know, the flippers and goggles that our neighbor friend has on are hilarious!  LOL

Fun times with the cousins!

Door County

We took advantage of the Memorial Day weekend to take a quick trip to Door County.  The day was perfect - sunny, 80 to 85 degrees, and not all that crowded.

We first stopped at Bailey's Harbor...

Here's Molly Grace, missing her two front teeth (she now has three in front gone)

We visited some friends in Sister Bay, then stopped off to get some custard and play at the waterfront park.

I forced a group shot from some kids who were cooperative, but not in the mood for another picture LOL....

We stopped to visit the grazing goats...

On the roof of Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant...

On the way home we stopped for dinner, then climbed the lookout tower at Penisula State Park

A nice man offered to take our picture...

The kids were praying in the back seat that we'd stop one more time, at a sandy beach, on the way home.  So of course we had to stop at Fish Creek to see the sunset on the beach and do some quick shopping!