Happy World Down Syndrome Day

March 21st is the designated day that the world celebrates those with Down syndrome. It is on this day, 3/21, because of the three chromosomes (rather than the typical two) on the 21st spot. This is why Down syndrome is also known as Trisomy 21. Happy Down Syndrome Day :)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Saint Paddy's Day is always celebrated, at least in some way, here in our home. This year we sampled oatmeal pancakes (ok,they mostly got a "yuck" response) and took a break from our Lenten fast on sweets, and had some cookies in honor of Saint Patrick. Regardless of how we celebrate, we are always very busy on March 17th, with four Irish dancers in the family. This year the older three girls performed at a local St. Patrick's Day dinner, which is one of their favorite performances. The lighting was very poor, so I was only able to get a couple pictures after the show.

Bridget, Cousin Colleen (holding Erin), Moira and Eileen...




I bind unto myself today the strong name of the trinity,
by invocation of the same, the Three in One, the One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever by power of faith Christ's incarnation,
his baptism in the Jordan river, his death on the cross for my salvation;
his bursting from the spiced tomb, his riding up the heavenly way,
his coming at the day of doom I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay, his ear to harken to my need,
the wisdom of my God to teach, his hand to guide, his shield to ward,
the Word of God to give me speech, his heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me;
Christ to comfort and restore me;
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three,
of whom all nature hath creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word;
praise to the God of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord!
~ Breastplate of Saint Patrick

Spotted in the Front Yard!

We have enjoyed the majority of our record breaking snow fall this year, but honestly, we are very ready for spring! The kids had great excitement over this discovery last weekend...




We had our first 60 degree day this week and the kids waisted no time gathering up the bubbles, sidewalk chalk, scooters and bikes!

Gaelic Storm!!!

On Thursday night, the Celtic band, Gaelic Storm, played at our local performing arts center to a very energetic crowd. They are a local favorite and easily sell-out whenever they play here. This year was super exciting for us because Moira, and three of her friends from our local Irish dance academy, were asked to dance during the show! She was so thrilled to have that experience! Moira has been Irish dancing since she was in kindergarten, and has had many fun performances over the years. This one, however, was her favorite to date, since she is quite a fan of Geltic Storm!

The four girls choreographed and rehearsed two dances. They did this all on their own, outside of class time. Of course their instructor cheered them on and gave them pointers. In the end, they were asked to dance a hard shoe dance, a treble reel, to the song Beggarman. Dancing to live music can be tricky, but they did a great job! Moira said the tempo was just a little bit faster than on the CD, but that was fine, as she said it is actually easier to speed up than it is to slow down.

A bit about their attire, cause so many people often ask...In the video, the girls are each wearing what are called "solo" dresses in the world of Irish dance. Most are made in Ireland and there are no two alike in the whole world. Each is a unique set of colors and patterns. You can buy these dresses new or used. It is traditional for Irish dancers to wear their hair in tight springy curls. You can either curl your own hair (which actually looks great!) or wear a wig. Most all girls now wear wigs because it is soooo much easier, as you can imagine. (With four girls' heads to curl, at 1.5 hours a piece, you can imagine that I could spend all day curling hair!! I say, thank goodness for wigs!). And just how do they get their poodle socks to stay up when their feet are moving so fast? Glue. Yes, they actually glue their socks to their legs. They make a special dancer's glue, but we have found regular ol' Elmers to work just as well. And last, there are two types of shoes that Irish dancers wear: gillies (soft shoes) or hard shoes. In this particular dance that the girls performed they are wearing their hard shoes, which add to the sound and the rhythm of the music.

With Mike and two kids still sick from the flu, we were not able to attend the show. But Eileen, Bridget and cousins Owen, Emmett, and Colleen were there representing our family. Below are some pictures that were taken backstage of the girls and the band. The video of their performance was taken by Bridget from the top section of the theatre, so it's as good as we could get. She did a great job, considering the location of where they were sitting.

The band...

The dancers, Caroline, Moira, Sydney and Maureen, getting ready....wigs on, stage make-up on and just anxious to dance...

Lead singer and "Favre Fan", Patrick Murphy....now Moira likes him even more! They were able to do some Favre talkin'! Another back stage shot. From left: Caroline, Steve, Maureen, Patrick, Moira, Sydney, Ryan, Jessie and Pete

And after the show, Eileen, Bridget and cousins were able to also go back stage to meet the band! Here are Owen, Bridget, Colleen, Emmett, Eileen and Moira...



And here is Bridget's taping of the girls' performance. The beginning is a clip of the girls saying if they are nervous (Moira is the one who says she is not nervous..she certainly does not take after her mother!), then Moira is the third one on the stage for the dance, in the bright pink and green dress, and I believe the first one off stage...

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This is our busy time of year. We have lots more performances, so stay tuned for many more pictures of all the girls!! Also, we are suppose to get some better pics of Gaelic Storm, and when we do, I'll post them :)

Someone asked me...

... if we were giving up blogging for Lent. Well, not exactly, although we are cutting back on our computer use significantly. The real reason for not posting since Erin's birthday can be pretty well summed up by this photo that we took of the little table next to our bed.



We have been hit hard with a flu bug that lasts up to two weeks in adults. Thankfully, the little kids are bouncing back much quicker. It does seem that we have had somebody sick with something since February. I just cannot wait to open up all the windows this spring!!

We are on the mend, finally. Moira was hit the hardest. Mike went to work today, even though he is still feeling pretty down. Although Erin was the lucky one and was only feverish for 12 hours, she has just today started up with fever again. If you think of it, say a little prayer that my sweet Erin doesn't get worse. I always worry a little extra with her (probably because of her heart condition that was so beautifully repaired when she was 6 months old. But still...once a heart baby, always a heart baby :). Thank you!

Happy 2nd Birthday Erin!!!

What an amazing two years it has been since God blessed us with our sweet Erin! We had a great day celebrating with present and pink cake. Here are a lot (and lots and lots) of photos highlighting our day. We love you Erin. Thank you for teaching us so much and bringing us all such joy.


We got ready for church this morning...

...And took some pictures outside before getting in the car. Erin hit the down slope on the driveway and thought that was so cool that she could go so fast down the hill. We could have spent all morning just going up and down the driveway!



After church it was time to open some presents. A new scooter!
This ball popper toy was a big hit. The air blows the balls out the top.





Erin thought that was hilarious!Teresa and Molly Grace picked out a new shiny purse and matching shoes for Erin.
We cannot have too many phones in this house. And if she cannot find a real or pretend phone, there's always the remote.

Time for cake!

I put this picture in because it looks like she is about to blow out the candles...but actually, she is singing Happy Birthday LOL. She doesn't know how to blow out candles yet.


That was fun. We had to sing Happy Birthday one more time just so Erin could clap again.This is as close as Erin came to eating her cake. She poked it a little, took off a few sprinkles, but she never actually attemped a bite! She is the first child in this family to turn down a piece of cake. Doesn't she know it's a Sunday of Lent??!! The other kids, who have given up sweets for Lent, except Sundays, didn't leave any spare cupcakes :).

Thank You Flat Stanley!

And just who is Flat Stanley? Here he is right here...



A friend of ours, Mary Lou, had done a little Flat Stanley project with her granddaughter who was wanting to learn more about the great state of Arizona. Knowing we are home schoolers, she thought to send a copy of this project to our family! We have now read through Flat Stanley's report twice, and did learn very much about Arizona and the Sonoran Desert. We even got to smell the wet creosote bush, which gives the desert its fragrant fresh aroma after a rainfall. Mary Lou included a sample in a Ziploc bag; all we had to do was get it wet. Most of the kids thought it smelled good...others not so :). The timing was perfect because just his week our third grader, Teresa, started a new science unit on The Desert. She was thrilled to be able to recognize some different cactus and the creosote bush in the photos of her text book.

Thank you Flat Stanley, and Mary Lou, for the extra special surprise lesson that came in the mail for our family. We truly did enjoy it very much! Little Jessica is a lucky girl to have a grandma like you!

Signs of Spring??

It never fails that sometime in February, regardless of snowstorms or freezing temperatures, our daffodils start to emerge in our front gardens. We think it is because we have a south facing house and when the sun is bright, it really heats up in the front, right near our house. That is the first place that we see the snow melting as well. At least I like to think that's the reason because otherwise it may mean that we have terrible insulation and the heat is pouring out our windows and siding. Ugh. Moira took these pictures on a morning after a beautiful snowfall.






And another sure sign that spring is just around the corner...the deer are starting to roam around again...

LOL. Just kidding.

Pinewood Derby Time

Aidan participated in his first Pinewood Derby as a cub scout. The process involves cutting out the car, painting it and attaching wheels. He and Mike had a fun time preparing their car with Aidan's friend Timmy, and his dad. At the derby, they quickly learned that the wheels are a major part of the success of your little car. Aidan's little car, Orange Speeder, had a lousy pair of wheels. I'm not sure how many little cars were in the competition....but let's just say that somebody had to come in last place :) That somebody this year was Aidan. It was a learning experience. But fun was had by all, and honestly, he didn't seem to mind!

Here's Aidan getting ready for his event...don't worry, he had a clean mouth upon arrival at the Derby.
The cub scouts watching the race track

Orange Speeder is number three, the third from the left

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