Happy birthday, Maddie and Audrey!

Our friends, Maddie and Audrey, invited us to their birthday party last month and it was held at a gymnastics facility.  Ben was a little wary, but Mairead and Jack LOVED it!  When we first arrived, the instructors gathered the kids to have them stretch, and then went through the rules and the plan for using the equipment.  It looked like they were not paying that much attention, but when the activities started, Jack ran through each activity in the exact order that the instructor had suggested.  He had no fear, and completed a few things that I wasn't sure he could do.  I was impressed!  These pictures were taken with my phone and the kids were constantly in motion, so they are a little blurry, but I think you can see how much fun they were having!

Jen's Bridal Shower

I am so behind in my blogging, so I'm backing up to Jen's shower that was held at our house. We planned an evening affair with a 'perfect pair' theme and lots of shoe-themed accents.  Jessica made a fabulous cake, and our family helped out by making some amazing food.  Thank you to Jean, Beth, Jessica, and Judy for your help.  Thanks to McCabe and Sugar for your help, And, a huge thank you to McCabe and Flynnie for manning the ovens on a very warm night!

Nana stayed up way past her bed time, and then Jimmy took her (and her purse) home.  Not a lot of bridal showers end with people watching the Celtics, but we always do things a little differently around here.

Mairead LOVED the shower.  She was bouncing all over the place, talking to people and drinking punch.  There was a close call with her trying to drink the 'grown up' punch, though!  She stayed for the whole thing and did not go to bed until about 10pm.  She had such a great time.  I swear, she thinks every party we have here is for her.

                                                                           Sisters

The wedding is only about 7 weeks away now, and we can't wait!  We are so excited for Jen and Mike!

Emily's Graduation

Back in May, my cousin, Emily, graduated from law school and her family celebrated with a great family get together.  The weather was perfect and it was a lot of fun to see everyone.  The kids spent a lot of time playing together and playing with the aunts and uncles, of course.

Congratulations, Emily!

                                                                       The cousins!

This was the scene when we arrived home from our afternoon!  Having a great time certainly wears you out!

Visiting Kellan

When Kellan was two days old, we took Mairead to meet him.  She has been waiting a long time for him, and she knew that he was going to "pop out" on June 4, so she just had to see him in the hospital (or hopsital, as Jack says).  She was happier about this than probably anything I have seen before.  She was just so proud and amazed and loved everything about him.  She was very good with him and is definitely loving her role as the 'big cousin.'  She was just so sweet with the baby- I told Dave we should get her one, but that might be an extreme measure.  She'll just have to spend a lot of time with Kellan!

Kellan came home on a Friday, and on Sunday, Katie and Steve were nice/crazy enough to let us bring all the kids to visit at their house.  The kids were all excited to see Lily's house and to visit their new cousin.  Mairead and Jack, especially, loved being with him.  Ben would run over, look at him, and maybe touch his blanket, but when I asked, "Do you want to hold him?", he would just say, "No, thanks," and run back to playing.

Kellan started to fuss a bit and Jack kept stroking his foot and saying,'Oh, it's ok buddy.  Don't worry."  How sweet?

This is the first picture of the five grandchildren together.  Wrangling all of them for pictures is definitely going to be a challenge for the next few years!

Lily is a very proud big sister and is very sweet to her brother.  After our visit, she came home with us to have a sleepover so that her mom and dad could try to get a little rest.

Jack had some very important calls to make.  He said things like, "I will call you back.  Ok, talk to you later.  Hey, what's up?"