Always a Great Time With Father Eric!

We always appreciate our time with Father Eric. Whenever he can squeeze in a little time in his busy schedule for a visit, we drop what we are doing and enjoy time with this amazing priest and friend. Father is pastor at St. Paul's at UW Madison.

Father Eric with his Godson, Seamus!

Happy 18th Birthday Moira!!!

Moira had a really special 18th birthday celebration!  Ever since she was quite young, we have tried to get together with Father Eric on April 4th, because they share a birthday on this day!  This year, Father Eric turned 50, so it called for a grand party.  Father, Pastor of Saint Paul's at UW Madison, planned a big birthday bash and we celebrated with his friends, our families, many of his students there, and some of our long-time friends from Madison. (I do have more pictures coming...)

The following day, we headed back to Green Bay so Moira could vote for the first time!


It sure is amazing having an 18 year old!  Moira is a fabulous daughter.  She has made us so very proud over the years....and she will continue to share her gifts with the world.  She plans to attend Franciscan University of Steubenville next fall to study nursing.

We love you very much, Moira!!!


Here is blast from the past....Moira and her cousin Owen (who turned 18 in December).  I believe they are age 5 here.  Wow, does time fly!  God bless you both, Moira and Owen!!!

Confirmation

We had a weekend filled with abundant grace!  Our three oldest (Moira, Eileen and Bridget) as well as Kelly and Kelley's three oldest (Owen, Emmett and Colleen) were confirmed on Sunday at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral by Bishop Ricken.

My parents arrived for the weekend and took the kids bowling on Saturday night to celebrate the event.  They hadn't been bowling in a very long time so we had no stellar scores, but lots of fun!

Here are the six kids with Bishop Ricken.  With their confirmation names, from left to right:  Colleen (Perpetua), Bridget (Rose of Lima), Eileen (Mary Magdaline), Moira (Brigid), Owen (Thomas More) and Emmett (Patrick).

Aidan had his name on the cake as well because he made his First Holy Communion a few weeks ago.

Moira

Eileen

I couldn't catch Bridget before she changed out of her confirmation dress : ) 

It was really a beautiful day.  Afterwards we celebrated with both sets of grandparents and Patrick and Anna.  Also, thank you to Father Eric, Suzy and Kelly who were Moira, Eileen and Bridget's sponsors!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday....whatever you want to call it, is here!  For Catholics that means it is the last day for rich sweet-type food before we typically give it up for Lent (except Sundays).  We usually make sure we have a nice big dessert on this day...which reminds me, I need to get to the store to provide that treat!

Wow, I haven't blogged since the the Father-Daughter dance.  I guess we've just been busy.  We are trying to cover a lot of ground with school which makes for long days.  Also, Moira started driver training, which meets every day for three weeks.  Yesterday we were running late to get her there and her dad had to tell her..."Moira, do NOT drive the way I am right now." Oh dear. Additionally, Irish dance is starting to pick up....the girls are adding in little extra practices, getting ready for St. Patrick Day performances.  We already have three performance dates on the calendar and I'm sure there will be more.  Let's see...Moira, Eileen and Bridget are also taking ballroom dance lessons this month.  They will be ready to do the Tango, Mambo or Salsa at their uncle Patrick and Anna's wedding!  Molly Grace started a little class called Little Flowers, which focuses on the virtues of the saints. We are still working on Eileen, Bridget and Teresa's bedroom, doing lots of painting.  It is almost done. Erin will be having her very last therapy session with the Birth to 3 program.  So she's our little graduate....almost three years old!  I am often asked by other moms who have kids with Down syndrome how she is doing developmentally.  Well, she is doing just beautifully. (This must be a whole different post, but I promise I will post some of her many signs and now WORDS that she is saying.  It is all so much fun to see her so eager to learn). And last but not least....little famous Seamus is crawling and getting teeth.  We are also working in his insomnia issues.  This child does not need as much sleep as his parents.  Oy yoy yoy! (Or however you spell it!) I guess February has been a busy month.

Last Friday and Saturday we had a visit from one of our favorite friends.  Father Eric (Seamus' Godfather), happened to come to town to give a talk, so we had the pleasure of his company for a nice visit.  We always look forward to his visits.  After a nice dinner and a rosary, we got down to business doing what the kids enjoy most:  playing Hide the Kid.  No, we do not play Hide n Seek, but rather, Hide the Kid.  Father will help hide a kid anywhere in the house and the other kids must find that kid.  And I mean anywhere. Ha!  For all the moms reading this, you know what that means?  Yes, it means I have to clean everywhere, even under beds and in closets :) LOL.  Actually, I should have, but didn't.  Thankfully, Father Eric knows us well; he graciously looks the other way at our messes.  The kids love this game and all the wonderful stories that Father tells them each time he is here.  Yes, a treat indeed. He is a treasure!  Then to top it off, we had Grandma and Grandpa D here for the remainder of the weekend.  We hadn't seen them since Christmas, so it was extra nice.

Here's a little Hide the Kid in action....

Molly Grace on our top shelf of the mud closet...

And Aidan on the top shelf of a book case....

What's Black, White and Holy...With a Little Purple on Top??

....Why it's Father Eric holding Molly Grace on his shoulders! What else?!

After Baptism Pictures

The cake...

Little cherubs, Ana Maria, Maria, Molly Grace and Margaret waiting for the cake....
Father Eric holding Seamus
The whole gang (except Erin who was napping)
"The Boys" (Mike, Father Eric, Aidan, Seamus and Grandpa D)

Seamus' Baptism

Seamus had a beautiful baptism on Sunday! We felt so honored that our friend, Father Eric, a wonderful priest who has blessed so many lives, including our own, was Seamus' Godfather. Moira was thrilled to be Seamus' Godmother and was just glowing. We had the baptism at our parish, Sts. Peter and Paul, with our Pastor Monsignor Klister officiating.






Father Eric and Monsignor Klister


Our Godparents, Father Eric...

......and Moira







A blessing for Mike and me










We had a nice celebration afterwards with family and friends. More pictures to come...

The Cat is Out of the Bag!

For those who know our family well, you know that we have not usually found out the gender of our babies before birth. Mike has been especially firm in his stance on waiting until the birth to be surprised. He really takes great joy in that, and for our first six babies, this has been our experience. Then with Erin, I had a very strong suspicion (90%) that she was a girl (I saw lots of ultrasounds with her), but I kept the secret, even from Mike, because I knew how much he enjoyed the surprise at the end. Last week I had an ultrasound with the new baby. Once again, I was torn between wanting to peek and waiting to be surprised, especially for Mike's sake. Imagine my surprise on the morning of the ultrasound when Mike said he wanted me to find out the gender! So I did find out, thinking we would keep this little secret between us. Then, imagine my shock a few days later when he said he didn't want to keep it a secret from the eager-to-know kids. He wanted to tell them (he has a hard time keeping a secret as fun as this!)and therefore, the world :). I agreed.

This week we were thrilled to have our dear friend, Father Eric, visiting us for a night. After morning Mass on Friday we had brunch with Father Eric and Msgr. Klister (our pastor). It was a perfect time to tell the kids the gender of our new baby! So, thanks to the fact that Moira never is too far from her trusty camera, we caught the whole event on film. It's reality blogging at it's best. So, do you want to know too??!! You'll have to watch the whole video to find out...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Nice Reunion

Last weekend we were able to take a little road trip to visit family and some of our favorite friends on this planet! We had such a great time going out to dinner, and as usual, Moira took tons of pictures!!!


Eileen, Sweet Anna Maria and Bridget



Erin's Godparents, Juan and Erin, holding our little Erin

Bridget with Anna Maria, who is now 2 1/2 years old

Erin with Grandma

The little ones...




Uncle Patrick holding Erin

Erin with Mom and Godmother, Erin

Our favorite priest, Father Eric, who we miss so much!



Grandpa taking care of Molly Grace

A familiar scene when we see Father Eric!

Then it was time to head home to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It only took little miss busy-body a few minutes to discover a treasure in the bottom cupboard.

Recycle bags are lots of fun


Grandma and Grandpa's house always has fun toys.

Do you think Aidan and Teresa are just a little excited to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house?!