Easter Weekend 2016

     How we look forward to the Easter Weekend every year.  This year we added another Easter Egg hunt with Rosies mommy running a day at a local park.  Jackie had a soccer game but Erin and Emily came and joined Rosie and Evelyn and tons of kids at Shedd park where there was plenty of Easter Eggs for all.  Laura and Catherine just love those kids. 



                                                                   





     The Easter Bunny then had to drop off tons of Easter Eggs at our house.  Once again there were tons of Eggs thown all around the house....This years eggs had a lot of money it seems.  Jackie tells me he got 21 dollars from his take.  It was serious business for him this morning....He was up a little after 6am but we would have none of that of course.

     After all the eggs were picked off the ground we made our trip to the spectacular St. Patricks church.  They have renovated the church during the last year and it looks great. 

From church we headed out to get our coffee and donuts and then out to Timmy's house for another Easter Eggs hunt.  Catherine won the big egg prize of the day....She was so excited.  There were three eggs, Each one inside of each other and then the grand prize of about thirty one dollar bills.

We made sure that we made it to Ant Jo's house by 2pm for a great feast.

The kids got to talk to the kids from Ohio on Facetime.

As usual Catherine gets a birthday cake on Easter.  She always has a birthday month.....

That little hippie loves to joke with her grandfather (doe)

This is their fight song....so cute

Fight Song

click on it to see Catherine's class

Globetrotting with James

     James and I headed over to watch the Harlem Glovetrotters the other night and had a splendid night.  He is growing to be as tall as them...but he's done growing according to mom...uh huh....Anywho, it was a grand time and we got to watch Grace do the halftime show too.....Jimmy did a little shooting at the hoop before the game.  He asked me to video him taking the shot and he said he was going to miss it....he certainly missed it...but then the next time he hit nothing but air again...a chip off the old block I must say.......

Cant smile without you

And they know all the words too......Laura has that "oh yes, I love to croon along with a 75 year old" look on her face.....

One more time......again

     I was half joking when i said that i'm sure he'd be back on his latest farewell tour the last time we went to see Barry....
see that here.....http://my-children.blogspot.com/2015/06/looks-like-we-made-it.html

.but, here we were, all bundled and off to Manchester NH for his latest "one more time' concert.  It was a blast.  I could only corral up Laura, Catherine and Jack from our immediate family, but Theresa, Eileen, Penny and Ed came with us to join in the revelry..,...and what a festive night it was.  He wrote the songs, sang the songs and we danced the night away together.  It was such a great time, even if it it was a school night.  But hey, i always say there are no do-overs....and things like Barry Manilow concerts only come around so often.

Patrick was going to come with us too, but he said that he had to perform open heart surgery.  Wow, i didnt even know he was a doctor.  Timmy sent his regrets too, but it was shampoo night....go figure, what were the odds....

      Laura, well, she feigned her excitement at coming.  She said something about going to see a 75 year old guy singing but she was dancing.....it beats sitting at home doesnt it you little hippie!!!  She is a good kid and seemed to enjoy herself.

New England Age groups for Laura

  At BU on Saturday, Laura is the one who finished first....she was flying!!!!

This one was a long time coming......Laura had been trying all year to get a qualifying time to make it to this meet.  It is called the AGE Groups and only the best get to qualify for it.  They have qualifying times.  She had been coming oh so close to making it.  6/10ths of a second one time and 3/10ths another time.  but in swimming, thats a long way away.....so back to the drawing board she went, going at it harder and harder, not only in the practice pool but on dryland.  She would run on days where she wasnt in the pool.  We were driving home from one of the meets and she was calculating how many more practices she had and what she needed to do on days she wasnt practicing.   The girl was in tip top shape.  She had made the Sectionals and it just happens, that the Sectionals was the last meet where she could qualify for the AGE groups.  There is no suspense leading up to it, you know she kicked ass in it and made AGE groups....  It was so exciting for her to get to that point...and one day later she came within 3/100ths of a second to making it on another event, but she was so happy to get that first one , a 50 yard free it would be......
Sooooo, we were on to AGE groups this weekend at BU.  She would face the best 13,14 year olds from New England (She's 13).  What a race she had.  She was thrilled just to be here, but watch this race.....if you cant figure it out, she finished first in this heat.....qualifying for the finals.  First of all, when she finished she looked up at the time and realized that not only was it a personal best (25.71) but she had broken that elusive 26 second mark that had been her nemesis.  Kara had been monitoring the races at home on her racing app and let everyone know that Laura had qualified for the finals that afternoon......Now, you must know, that the finals were never something she had even dreamed about.  After all, she was ranked 49th going in and they only took the top 20 for the finals....The numbers usually dont move too much....She was out of her mind...It was quite an experience for her, She had worked real hard for this and nobody gave it to her, she earned it....
On sunday, She got to come back and compete in the relay finals also and her team came in a very respectable 6th overall.....What a weekend for Laura!!!

Luck of the Irish

     Oh how wonderful the St. Patricks dinner was.....Here, all the goofballs were dressed up in their finest irish garb yelling for more food.  It was a great time.  Our little irishmen and women had a grand old time.

   Rosie posing with Laura and Emily and again with Quinnie and Cat too

      Chalie with Jimmy and Jacob

love those glasses.  this was a tough picture below to take of Jackie