Family Time

Because we live in Lowell, and in The Purple House, we get to spend a lot of time with family members.  I love that my kids are growing up with cousins and seeing aunts and uncles nearly every day.  We hope that this blog and Facebook help us stay connected to our far away family, too!  Here at home, the kids often ask, 'who is coming over today?' and are confused if I say that no one will be.  On any given day, Brian stops by on his way home from work, or Jen and Mike bring Bean to visit.  Or, Jimmy is here to visit Nana, Judy comes by with library books, etc.  My grandmother has a home health aide named Ruth, and the kids look for her to say hello, too.  There was a lot of commotion at Nana's house recently while she was in rehab; her bathroom needed to be completely gutted and re-done, so there were even more people around than usual.  There are very few dull moments around here, that's for sure!

 

We celebrated Mother's Day in May with a nice family dinner.  I have very few pictures since I was just trying to relax and enjoy the day- Dave did a great job of making things easy for me that day!  The kids all had fun running around together.

In this picture, my mom is opening her gifts while Lily is naked, Mairead is wearing a grass skirt and flowered bikini top, and Ben is being a ninja turtle.  All in a day.

There are many similarities between Jack and my brother at his age.  Jack and Ben also think Brian is pretty cool because he can flip them upside down, and because he is a builder.  Jack often likes to wear his sunglasses on top of his head, "just like Brian does."

The boys both take after their dad, though.  Not just in being cute and looking like he did when he was little, but in their love affair with action figures.  Currently, the ninja turtles top the list and they were ecstatic when they discovered a box in the closet that held some turtle toys from when dad was little.  Jack likes Leonardo (Leo) the best, of course, because he is the leader of the group.  It's a nice coincidence that Brian's middle name is Leo, and my grandfather's name was Leo.  Ben likes Donnie (Donatello) or Michelangelo bet.  Donnie is the least violent turtle, and Mikey is the baby of the group.  It's funny how the boys' personalities show in different ways- even in their choice of ninja turtle.

Nana and all of her grandsons... just hanging out talking about ninja turtles. 

 

In our family, 'Family Time' can also mean 'work time.'  As long as I can remember, we have all pitched in to work on whatever project needed to be done... and there's always a project.  I remember scraping wallpaper at a young age, so it's never to early to get the kids involved!  We want them to know how to do things around the house, and to know the value in hard work.  So, get those kids a scraper!  Ben was the most interested and was genuinely helpful.  He did a great job and it was nice to have someone with easy access to the lower parts of the wall.

We are running out of room at the kitchen island... Mairin is going to have to fight for a spot!

Jack seeks approval from Dave more than the other kids.  He is always saying, "Look, Dad!"  "Did you see that, Dad?"  He even emulates Dave by grabbing a ball and doing some core exercises.

                                         Breakfast at the Owl... definitely good family time!

The boys like to help get Mairead off to school on the bus, or to get her off the bus in the afternoon.  This morning, though, I guess Ben was a little sleepy since he decided to just take a quick rest on the porch while we waited.

Thanks for reading!