As You Can See, Little Batman.....

.......has graduated to the big table!

And he's pretty happy about it...



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She's Back With the Pack!

What a thrilling day Moira had yesterday! Allow me to brag just a little bit (at least for the grandmas who read our blog :)...

First we need to backtrack. As you know, Moira was hired back in June by the Green Bay Packers to work for the Pro-Shop. She LOVES this job. It has been a dream job, actually. Great employers, environment, coworkers, hours, money, benefits, etc..

Moira was hired as a seasonal worker, which means that as the (football) season comes to an end, so does her job. Sadly, on Tuesday, she was told that this Saturday would be her last day on the job. It was expected.

On Wednesday morning, Moira spent a few of hours calling around Green Bay, asking who was hiring. Out of all those calls (almost 50!), only two businesses were hiring.

Then, on Wednesday afternoon, the exciting call came for Moira from her boss who hired her at the Pro-Shop. She was thrilled to tell Moira that they wanted to keep her on during the off season. Moira had her job back! Her boss explained that when the final list of employees was turned into Kate Hogan, who is the Director of Retail Operations for the GB Packers, Kate asked why Moira was not on the list, and said, "Bring her back". Yahoo! This means that Moira will work the remainder of the school year, the summer before going to college, and during any breaks that she happens to be home from college. It is perfect.

Moira was complimented by her bosses. They spoke of her great work attitude, her responsibility and her engaging personality. I know they love her there, which is no great surprise to her parents (uh, yes, I guess you could say we are a bit biased LOL) We are very proud of you, Moira!

Merry Christmas 2010!!!

We decided to put many of our Christmas photos to music with a montage. We are only missing photos of Kelly and Kelley, who of course were with us for our festivities!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ecce veniet! — He is about to arrive!

Iesus Christus, Deus homo: Jesus Christ, God-man. This is one of "the mighty works of God," which we should reflect upon and thank him for. He has come to bring "peace on earth to men of good Will," to all men who want to unite their wills to the holy will of God — not just the rich, not just the poor, but everyone: all the brethren. We are all brothers in Jesus, children of God, brothers of Christ. His Mother is our mother.
You must look at the Child in the manger. He is our Love. Look at him, realizing that the whole thing is a mystery. We need to accept this mystery on faith and use our faith to explore it very deeply. To do this, we must have the humble attitude of a christian soul. Let us not try to reduce the greatness of God to our own poor ideas and human explanations. Let us try to understand that this mystery, for all its darkness, is a light to guide men's lives. ~ Saint Josemaria Escriva

Christmas Photos...

It's that time of year again...time to organize a busy family into one place at the same time (with the members all slickered-up, of course) in the hopes that we can take the perfect photo for our Christmas card.  Well, that's not quite right; I have long given up on the perfect Christmas card.  Better is the enemy of good, right?   After about a week of trying to organize schedules, I gave up (mostly because Moira was working every night last week).  Instead, I opted for the family collage style card, the kind with individual pictures pieced all together.  It is much easier.  I was able to dig around the computer to find decent pictures, and for those who needed a fresh shot, we took a few in front of the tree that worked out nicely......nicely for most everyone.

There is one rather cute little family member who is a bit tricky to photograph!  Miss Erin has a mind of her own when it comes to photo shoots, and she may or may not be cooperative with the photographer.  May not is the more likely scenario!

Having high hopes, I dressed her in a cute little Christmas dress with a hat; that was the easy part!

After assembling my photography crew, we went to work.  Here are some highlights of our photo sessions.  Yes, that is plural.

Session One:

When we started, she was not overly amused or cooperative.....

Obviously....LOL

Someone has an idea to lighten her mood with a candy cane!  That's a little better. It worked for a second.

 

So, one thing about Erin is she is genuine.  She will only smile if there is something to smile about! Pictures can be hard because she doesn't pose easily for pictures. We kept trying to get her to smile. This is not the easiest thing to teach.  When she finds something worth smiling about, she has a natural smile....but to teach, by saying, SMILE ERIN, uh, this is what we get....

And this.... 

We work a little harder on the smile, exaggerating our own smiles, with hopes that she will mimic us.  This is what we get....

 

Now she's getting bored and wanting the hat off.....

 

Okay, let's try the hat off.  Whoa!  Too much static :)

Not in the mood for a photo shoot, Erin???  Time to hide :)

Session Two:

Let's try this again.

Erin said, I do it! when it was time to put the hat on. 

Good try!

It was time to pull out the big guns.....time to get Molly Grace and Seamus to chase her around the house, which is a sure way to get her laughing! It worked like a charm.  Here she is running away from the camera LOL!

Finally, something to laugh about....

Peak a boo with Seamus...

In the end, we ended up getting some adorable photos...

 

 

Now for the really funny part!  After all that, which photo did we end up choosing for our Christmas card??!!  None of the above!  That's right.  Stop laughing!  When Mike came home from work I asked him to pick a photo and he said, "I really like Erin's three-year photo the best".  After looking at the photos arranged with the card, we all agreed, it just seemed to fit the card best.  Oh well.  Good thing I have a blog so I can show off Erin's Christmas pictures!

Winter Storm Aidan

Yep, this last snow storm to hit the Midwest had a name - Aidan. Although I think it was spelled the other way - Aiden.

Our Aidan did a lot of shoveling to clean up the other Aiden!

Molly Grace and Margaret

Seamus peaking out of the window....

Where's Seamus?

Well, if you cannot find the little guy, you might want to try looking in one of his new hiding spots....the broken cupboard in the kitchen.  One of the drawers needs repair, so we have an open spot, which leaves just the right size for little Seamus to crawl in and hide out.  He climbs in and out so quickly, and with such ease.  It is funny because he has to turn his head just right, to the side, in order to get in and out!

There's never a dull moment around here with this sneeky little guy, that's for sure.  But, do you think his sisters love him much?

Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help

Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Guadalupe......and now, Our Lady of Good Help!  With only 11 Church approved apparitions sites aournd the world since 1900, we now have one right here in our own backyard.  Very exciting!  It is the first approved apparition site in the United States.  The Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin (formally in Robinsonville) has an amazing history.  Click HERE if you are interested in visiting the website.


Here is a beautiful video, explaining much of the history.  OL of Good Help, pray for us!

Does He Look Guilty?

He oughta! He was caught dancing on the kitchen table...

Thanksgiving 2010

With the Delaney family all coming to WI for Grandma D's funeral, we were all able to all celebrate Thanksgiving together...including my parents! We had a fun, full house.



Here is Tim and Suzy's littlest one, sweet Mara...



I think Erin gets credit for teaching her cousin the funny face :)

We celebrated Grandma D's birthday on Thanksgiving as well!  Here's our attempt to get all the grandkiddies with their grandma and grandpa D!  (almost got everybody's face.....except Erin)

Emmett is seriously scoping out what fixins' he's going to pile on his plate. 



Little Joe-boy, keeping us smiling...

The ladies:  Grandma D, Bridget, Colleen and Eileen

Seamus picked a fine time to vacuum the floor.  What a helpful lil guy!

Eileen's home-made pies - yum!

Molly Grace, Aileen, Margaret and Conal take a break on the couch...



Awe, aren't they cute.  Tim and Suzy...




Grandma M, trying to get a moment with Seamus...

Seamus and Moira, both smiling for the camera.

Grandpa M, Moira and Seamus on the move...

Our pro-turkey carver, Grandpa D!!!

MGD and Joe, playing some unknown game.  Looks like fun :)