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Easter Update: Special Visitors!

We had some special visitors over Easter this year.  My niece Hartleigh came to town!  My sister Susan and BIL Joseph-Michael came also, but you'd never know it from the pictures.  The cousins don't get to see each other very often, something we hope to rectify, but you'd never know it!  Hartleigh walked in the door and said, "Where's Norah?"  Followed quickly by "Where's your toys?"  And they were off!  We had a great visit, despite the fact that my plan to take some time off from work didn't quite come to fruition, and both JM and Hartleigh ended up sick.  Hartleigh and Norah are fancy kindred spirits and it didn't take long before all the sequins and flounce outfits were out!

Fancy friends!

Eventually, like around 10p, we tried to get them to calm down, and start getting ready for bed... thinking a kid show might do the trick

Fast friends, hiding from the camera

We generally go to Matt's family's for Easter, mainly because it's relatively closer and we get to see a lot of relatives (including cousin chaos!) all at once.  Well, cousin chaos came to our house this year, as well as some other Matt family traditions such as egg painting, kielbasa fetched from afar and lamb butter.

Sunday, we went to mass after the Easter Bunny loot was processed.  I really liked going to our own church on a special holiday for a change.  The kids cleaned up nicely and actually posed for a couple of pictures for me.

Hi Nanny!  Looking their Easter best!

Awww....

Showing their true, silly selves!

My family on the steps of our "new"house!

My angel munchkins!

or not... :)

We had an egg hunt with the neighbors on Sunday afternoon.  Poor Hartleigh wasn't up to it but the kids were great about sharing their haul with her... really, they did!

Erin, Allie, Norah and Roddie - pre hunt

Processing their loot!

Happy Mother's Day to ME!

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Sad News, but Lovely Ladies

On a sad note that I'll write about more later, my grandmother, Nanny Dot, passed away on the Saturday of Easter weekend.  While her death was not unexpected, it was still very sad.  However, as is often the case with elderly deaths, the coming together to mourn her loss really became more of a celebration of her life.  One of the bright spots, that I'm sure she's smiling about, was that I got to spend some time with my two sisters.  I had just spent the weekend with Susan and her family, and Erin had some big news (BABY!!) to share and I really enjoyed spending time with them away from our everyday lives.  Reminds me of sister weekends we used to do back before life got too busy.  Of course, sleeping in your childhood room in your childhood home with your sister has a way of bringing up memories, but all in all, they were good ones.   We had some good laughs for Nanny Dot, even as we mourned her passing.  

Me with the two lovely ladies otherwise known as my sisters

Norah News: Six Year Old Soccer!

Last night, I took Norah to soccer practice.  What a difference a year makes!  She was having so much fun, and I could not believe how into the game she was!  Last year, she was the kid who was doing pirouettes in the goal and picking dandelions while the game proceeded all around here.  But this year, maybe she’s older, maybe she’s more experienced, but she was totally into it.  After the spring season, I had kind of concluded that soccer just wasn’t her thing – no biggie.  When the fall season came around, she didn’t bring it up, so we let it ride.  When her friends started talking about it and still not a glimmer of interest from her, I figured her soccer days were done for the time being.

But then spring rolled around and a seemingly endless stream of sports fliers started coming home in her backpack – t-ball, lacrosse, basketball, football/cheer, and of course, soccer.  Each time, we discussed her level of interest along with general encouragement to try new things, but nothing seemed to catch her attention. (admittedly, I never offered up cheer!!)  Then, one day, shortly before the deadline, out of the blue she says, “I want to try soccer again”  So we sign her up again, get the right size of (unisex colored this time) cleats and wait for the snow to melt and the season to start.  She was off to a slow start, with bum weather and bad scheduling luck (the first few games coincided with her last few dace classes)  but next thing I hear, she’s scoring goals and knocking over other kids!  

Playing a game of "Clean your Room"

Looking every bit at home on the field...

Who IS this girl?  Kicking the ball all the way to the car!

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