A Shower for Baby Monaghan

As I'm writing this, Baby M is almost ready to make an appearance.  Soon, there will be six cousins, and we are all so excited!  Brian and Christin are going to make wonderful parents and we are all so excited and happy for them as they await Baby M's debut.  I'm guessing boy... maybe 8'13".  We'll see, soon!

 In early April, Christin's mom threw a very nice shower for the parents and baby to be.  The event had a book theme since Christin loves reading and works as a school librarian.  We pitched in with book themed decorations and favors, and everything came together for a great day.

 

Lily may have had some chocolate...

 

Our gift to Baby M had a New Kids on the Block theme since Christin has always liked them.  Each person in the Monaghan family created a unique block to give to the baby. 

Katie and I came up with this banner that included the word 'Congratulations' printed on pages of text from a book.

Kellan charmed everyone, as usual. 

The favors were little boxes of candy fashioned to look like books.  Just out of coincidence, my mom had this minature wooden shelf, and it worked perfectly as a litte bookshelf.  The covers of the books are all images of books that Brian and Christin loved when they were children.

       We are so excited for the newest addition to our family.   Best of luck, Brian and Christin!

Tee-Ball

The boys just ocmpleted a tee-ball class that ran through an organization called www.getyouthmoving.net.  This program is great and offers tons of fun activities for kids.  It was especially helpful in the winter months so that the kids could get some exercise and burn off some energy while stuck inside!

The boys enjoyed tee ball, and they are really quite good!  I'm not just saying that because I am their mother-- they definitely have some skills.  Ben, in particular, has been asking grown ups to pitch to him in the yard, and he connects most of the time, even using the skinny, yellow bat and a regular size ball.  Jack gets very focused and has a pretty swing, but he still prefers the tee to a pitch.

I was very proud of them for being great listeners during tee-ball.  Things could get a little hairy with 15 two-five year olds swinging bats, and the class required a lot of listening and a lot of patience.  They always waited for Coach Michelle to tell them when to hit, and they were very respectful.  Next Spring, they will be old enough for 'real' tee-ball at Shedd, so we are looking forward to that!

 

Ben

Jack always taps the bat on the ground a few times as he steps into the box.  It's pretty cute!

Fake Easter

We love our fake holidays here at The Fairmount, and 'Feaster' is no exception!  We celebrated with a big family dinner on the Sunday before Easter, though the bunny came on the correct day.  Our fake holidays are usually pretty laid back and allow us to spend some quality family time together since no one is rushing off to other festivities.  We were able to get all five grandchildren in a few pictures, with no shortage of funny faces, of course.

When she was born, everyone commented on how much Mairead looked like Dave.  Now, though, it's incredible how much she looks like me when I was young!

The kids had fun painting their Easter eggs.  As they get older, we can do more activities like this (with less mess, lol) and it's fun to do more projects together.  The boys are funny about colors.  I try to dress Ben in blue as much a possible to help people tell them apart.  So, Jack has always worn a lot of red.  When you ask them their favorite colors, Ben always chooses blue and Jack chooses red.  I wonder if those always would have been their favorites, or if they have just been conditioned after wearing them so much!