Happy Belated Birthday to the BOYS!

Wow, it's been a while since I've made a post to our blog! It's not been because we've been bored :).Rather, I've been busy sending off assignments and grades from LAST school year and then preparing for THIS school year, all in a two week span. In those two weeks we've had two birthdays - Mike and Aidan. Our computer has been acting up as well as my camera, so I'll be trying to download some pictures on a later post. Mike turned 45 on the 18th and Aidan turned seven on the 21st! We had some great celebrations. Moira made Aidan's "mud cake" with (gummy) worms and all. He especially loved his Webkins dog and his Lego seaport and ship set.

Yesterday Aidan had his first cast removed and his second cast put on. He was able to choose his color. He chose green for Brett Favre. Now he can move his elbow, and in two more weeks and he'll have this cast removed as well!

Here's a picture of our great little seven year old, fashioning his sister's sun glasses.(I'll be sure to post his b-day pictures when I can!). He sure has made our lives better with him in it! We love you, Aidan!

Family Night

We always attend the first Packer scrimmage, called Family Night, which always fully packs Lambeau Field. Amazing. Even though it rained, had a delay, and was filled with controversy, the kids enjoyed it.

Here's our friend, Debbi, gazing at the fireworks
Cousin Aileen at the picnic before the game



Debbi, Bridget, Colleen, Madison, Emmett and Eileen
You'll have to click on this one to see the sign...
The fireworks were great!
Emmett giving a smile for the camera

Family Fun

Every summer we look forward to our many family gatherings. Mike's family was here for a week, starting the end of July. As always, we packed in a lot of fun and had a great time. Here are some memories in the making...

We met in Milwaukee to visit Mike's Grandma Dillon. Here she is with Suzy, Tim, Aileen and Joe.
Grandma loved seeing Erin. The last time she saw her was the night before Erin's open-heart surgery (the surgery that she has in common with Great-Grandma) last September.
Erin and Joe have fun in the kiddie pool


The princesses, looking quite enchanting (even with big black leather gloves)...
We took the monkeys to the zoo (yes, that is Mike peeking through the baby penguin head)...











And we went to Bay Beach. Some friends of ours were with us as well. Here's their little three, Cecilia, Isabella and Gabriel.
Molly Grace and Margaret
Joe
Aidan, Margaret, Molly Grace and Aileen
Gabriel, Cecilia and Isabella

Erin and Mike
The whole gang of cousins

Singin' In the Rain!

This post is for you, Debbie! It is providential that we have great neighbors! As you can see, my kids are not the ONLY kids on the block who, rather than staying inside where it's nice and safe and warm when it rains, run outside!! Playing outside in the rain with neighbors is like going to Great America. Such simple pleasures...

Irish Twins?

Well, not really. I think kids need to be 12 months apart, or less, to qualify as Irish twins. But we do get asked all the time if Aidan and Teresa are twins. They are almost the same height, even though they are 26 months apart. The other day one of the older kids put their faces together and wrapped up their hair to see how alike they look. Yep, they do really resemble each other, don't they?!

Oh Bugga!

A week ago Sunday I took the younger five kids, along with cousins Margaret and Conal, to the neighborhood park. The kids ran up ahead while I waited to walk down the street with my neighbor, Amy, and her two boys. In the two minutes it took me to get down the street, Aidan had already climbed the monkey bars, fallen off the monkey bars, and broken his arm. As I learned later, just as Aidan let go of the monkey bar with his right arm, he yelled, "Oh Bugga!" (They were playing pirates, in costume and all. If you know the character, Captain Jack Sparrow, then you'll know where Aidan got the line, "Oh, Bugga", which means, "OH NO!!!") He was exactly right about the oh bugga. He caught all of his weight on his left arm as he hit the ground. As we walked up, Bridget said that Aidan had fallen and had a "dent" in his arm. Oh dear. Even though Aidan was not crying (but whimpering a little bit), I knew it was most likely broken. So off to the ER we went. Since Mike was in Milwaukee at a Brewer game with Eileen, and Moira was off performing in her Shakespeare play, Bridget got her first taste of babysitting the other four kids (I took Erin with me). She did great and even made everybody pizza. Good job, Bridge! My neighbor, Amy, was so kind to check on them and leave Bridget her phone number.

As we soon found out, Aidan broke both bones between the elbow and wrist. He had his arm set the following Tuesday with no complications. In just a day, he was back to his usual busy self, just in time to welcome his cousins, Joe and Aileen, for their annual visit to WI!

Today Aidan had a second x-ray and all is healing well. He was able to pick his blue wrap today. In another two weeks, he'll get a smaller waterproof cast. Then by mid-September, he'll get the second cast off and be all healed.

Here's his original cast, which comes up above the elbow


Here's the same cast with his new blue wrap

Niagara Falls

I keep finding more pictures! On the way home from Boston we stopped at Niagara Falls, on both the US side and the Canadian side.




After going through eight states and one country, we were back in the USA and one state away from home. I just love the Great Lakes. Look how blue Lake Huron is here.

The Template Shuffle

As you can see, Brett is not the only one who waffles! We're testing new templates again and haven't decided on which one we like. It's a good thing we have a little more time in the summer to fool around with the blog because it's kind of fun! We should settle on one soon, at least temporarily.....or, at least I think we will...but then again, maybe not. We'll see. Ha Ha.

National Down Syndrome Convention

On the last day of our vacation, we attended the NDSC. It was amazing. The people we met came from all different backgrounds and from all parts of the country, and yet they were like family. It was as if everyone was saying, "Welcome to the club of Down Syndrome, we've been waiting for you to join our party!!" We came home with books, information and new friendships. Next time we'll stay for the whole weekend and participate in some of the sibling events, as it was clear that the kids enjoyed it as much as we did. Friday night we met for dinner with a smaller gathering of some friends of mine who I have "met" on Down syndrome online forums. These people have walked the journey of DS with us and prayed us through Erin's open-heart surgery, so they truly are friends. We had so much fun meeting them in real-life.


Friend Ciarra caught making funny faces, Teresa and Erin
Erin with her buddy Emlyn
Group shop of our dinner Friday night. Don't they look like a fun bunch?!