Family, Turkey,Crazy, Happy, Urgent Care?

Thanksgiving 2009

I feel this was the BEST Thanksgiving ( well the BEST family get-together) we have had Dad and Terry died in 2005. Everyone was happy, relaxed ,comfortable. The best part is we were ALL together!! Jenny came and brought Teagan and Max. It was absoluetly wonderful to see them and to see them playing with their cousins and having so much fun!!! Jenny even brough her new husband, Eric, and their new daughter, Gabrielle- who is a beautiful little girl! I haven't seen Jenny this happy in many years. She seems so happy and I am so happy for her. Eric blended in with our family easily. He is very laid back and easy going. A great dad! I am sure Terry is smiling and relaxed up in heaven, knowing his family is so well taken care of.

After dinner I drove mom to urgent care!! She had hurt her foot days before and didn't know how. The pain was getting worse. I knew she would never go on her own. I am so glad we went!!!Not only was her foot broken!!! Yes broken!!! Her blood pressure was through the roof!!!! The blood pressure has since gone down with lots of rest ( actual sleep helps!) and medication. Her foot is in a secure boot, and mom is really trying to not walk on it ... much. Well, she is trying as much as she can for the holidays!!! :<)

Lu, Andie, and Brady

The main course.

Bet and Jenny's new baby, Gabrielle

Cousins playing.

Andie and Brady, Max, Teagan, Lucas

Teagan looking at a book of pictures of her dad.

The kids table.

Grammy and Gabrielle

The dinner table: TJ, Tim, Tammy, Mom

TJ and Tim

Me and Mom

Gabrielle and Joey check each other out!

Who is this chick???

Brothers: Brady and Joey

Jenny with her girls

Look at those 2 sillies playing... Lu and Max had the BEST time together!

I... can... almost..... r..e...a..c...h... that .... PACI!!!!!

Teagan and baby sister

COUSINS!!!!

Max 6, Lu 7, Brady 3, Andie Beth 14, Gabrielle, TJ 16, Mac 11, Joey 9 mo.,

Teagan 8 Grammy Margaret's grandkids!!

Aunt Tammy with Terry's kids (plus Gabrielle)

Lu with his 2 favorite cousins.

Pre-teen Sweetness

11.22. 09

Mac reminds us regularly that he is a pre-teen, well he actually announces that he is a "teenager", but we remind him that there is no "teen" in ELEVEN. And in his silliness he becomes "eleventeen." But I never expected my little Maco at the very tender age of 11 to be so interested in those of the opposite sex. Geez- this is just WAAAAYYY to early for me! And the good or bad thing about it, depending when I am thinking about it, is that he LOVES to tell me about it!! :<) "Mom, she is so hot!!" or "Mom, my heart hurts." or "Mom, I want to ask ___ to go to the movies with me!" or "Mom, I'm going to put my arm around her!"

Enough, Enough, Enough I want to scream!! Stop and go back to being my little Maco, who played with little blue trains, could fit comfortably between us in our queen size bed, and made incredible shooting sounds while playing with his 3 inch action figures!!!!

Today was a milestone in Mac's life. He called a girl to ask her "out".

This isn't the first girl Mac has "fallen" for. He is a lover through and through. He has always been our little lover. He falls hard and gives his complete heart and soul. He is the sweetest!

He has been talking about Paige now for a couple months. He has openly told us how much he wants to call her. We had long conversations about how "we" feel about this and how he needs to wait. It's just too soon. He's too young. etc. But we also wanted to respect his feelings. So we talked about him earning this by stepping up and becoming more responsible with many aspects of his life- school, homework, picking up after himself, following through with chores etc. If we saw a pattern of improvement in these areas, he could call Paige and ask her if she wanted to go to the movies with some of her friends and some of his friends and him.

Yesterday he got his opportunity. After several failed attempts to reach her, he spoke to her mother. He was very polite and said all the right things. That was until she asked why he was calling Paige. This took him by surprise- he wasn't expecting this question. He looked at me in shock and panic. I whispered what to say and he did. (I feel like Cyrano de Bergerac!)

Not more than a half hour later the phone rang. I answered it by saying hello. The young voice on the other end said "HI". pause... nothing ... I said sweetly, Who is this? I hear, "Paige." -in a tone that implied "Who ELSE?" Not disrespectfully just simply.

I handed Mac the phone. Mac's first phone call to a girl lasted all of 15 seconds, if that. He said, Hi Paige. pause. Oh, OK. Bye."

Mac said that Paige told him she couldn't go because her grandmother was in town. She assumed he meant tonight and never asked a clarifying question. Mac was flustered by her statement because he hadn't planned for that scenario. So it didn't occur to him to say... Oh I was thinking of Wednesday when we are out of school for Thanksgiving break.

Poor guy! SO determined, SO ready, So excited. Now completely crushed!

I love him so very much. Wish I could fix this for him.

It is SOOOOOO very much harder to watch you children experience life's up and downs than going through them yourself the first time!

Sock Baby Baptism

11.6.09

Sock Baby Baptism is a right of passage for every second grader at St. Brigid. As the students prepare for their first communion this year, they also learn about their own baptism. To help them understand better they each create their own baby ( made out of sock and rice and decorated any way they want.) Once they have their baby, the baby has to be baptised, so they go went over to church where Deacon Frank talked with him all about the whole ceremony, including the vestments the priest or deacon wears, what the baby wears, the baby's name, the symbols of water, oil, candle, etc. The babies even have "godparents"- the seventh grade class! It is so sweet!!

Here are some pics I took of Lu, his baby, and his class.

Mrs. Long- one of the second grade teachers, holding her "baby".

Deacon Frank leads the second graders and their babies in to church.

Lu gazes at his sock baby. So cute!!!

Our Orator

11.5.09

All School Mass St. Brigid of Kildare

Mac was asked to read the introduction at mass. As we practiced he already sounded great. He is a wonderful reader. But we practiced to smooth out any rough spots. The morning of mass, Mac shared that he was a little but nervous. But I was confident he would be great.
But I was blown away by just how good he was! He was tremendous! Many of the teachers and even the principal sought him out to offer him their congratulations. It was really a great experience for him!

From Bobcat to Tiger

11.4.09

Lu decided he wanted to join Cub Scouts this year. At their den meeting tonight they prepared for Lu's move up from Bobcat.Then they shared their "collections" of things that they will be sharing at the pack meeting. The boys had a great time together.

Lu practices the Cub Scout pledge.

Practicing the Cub SCout promise.

In case you are wondering... Lu did not dress "down", the other boy dressed "up". The boys were suipposed to wear their Class B Pack t- shirts, not their class A uniforms.

Seth sharing his "rocks".

Henry sharing his bobbleheads.

Lu sharing his "special" money that he gets from the tooth fairy.

At the end of every den meeting, Mr Owens always play "telephone" with the boys. They LOVE it!!

My Babies Love to Read

and it continues...
Here is Lu is reading at the table at BW3's while we are out with friends watching the Ohio State game! And here we ae waiting for Mac at his guitar lesson. Lu just LOVED those Diary of a Wimpy Kid books He read 4 in a week!! Too bad there aren't any more, yet.

I have "caught" the boys reading so many times. I just couldn't resist capturing a few of these moments.