Play Day

So very strange – the night we had - (glad the day wasn't as rocky as the night!) If you didn't see the comment on last night's blog - we had horrible storms come through last night - while we were watching them on the radar and watching the news coverage of them, there was strong rotation in one storm heading towards us... then they start reporting earthquakes being felt in the area... seriously!! There were 2 earthquakes last night north of Little Rock that were felt up here - we have a lot of friends that felt it - we didn't. But just wild... today was cold and windy but we headed out to play after getting Nora from school... yay, to have a swing set that's no longer broken!!!

We set up Rose's swing too...

Ya think she likes it?! :o)

Out to get Emily, off to piano... then home again for a quick dinner before getting ready for Emily's 3rd grade play. They did a play about Black History month - she had two speaking parts (one she only found out about when she got there to fill in for someone) and had so much fun! (Nora at home had a blast too - she had her favorite buddy come play.. MEG!! She was so excited about her coming so I let her pick out an extra book for them to read at bedtime!) We learned something to - do you know what it means to "follow the drinking gourd?"
After the play was over, we went to get some ice cream... good way to end a good night!

Here are a few videos from the play...

Getting Things Done

After an interesting night with Nora last night- we had a busy morning getting ready for church - to PRE, Mass then the Stewardship Fair afterwards. We left church at 12:30 to grab some lunch and then get outside while Rose finally took a nap.

Morgan worked on the swing set while the girls played and then Rose, Emily and I headed to our Brownie meeting so that he could keep working with little helper Nora.

And just a quick follow up on yesterday's party - my friend posted pictures from Isaac's party yesterday... just had to share a couple ...

Things to Do

Things to Do Things to Do... always seems like something huh?!

This morning was car stuff - Morgan was gone all morning with the van... oil change (we need to replace gaskets but we're getting estimates elsewhere - the dealership said it would be $60.00 for supplies but $300.00 for labor!) then off to Sam's to get our new tires... good tires too! We shouldn't have to get another set on the van ever!!

A quick lunch and back out to Home Depot.... getting supplies to fix the playset - the tarp is ruined and the ladder is broken.. so that's the project for tomorrow..

Then from there to Rose's buddy Isaac's birthday party. He has now reached the big "1 year old" milestone. It was a fun time of food, laughter and lots of little ones going in every direction. There were only 4 families there but the big kids were off playing hide and seek most of the time and the babies (ranging from 9 months to 1 year) were just busy busy busy! So cute though!

The story of the Road

The Story of the Road ...

Many of you have asked or commented on the road in the new blog header. I've always loved St. Patrick's Day - memories of corned beef and cabbage dinners... the music... one particular memory stands out with Grandpa sitting in my parent's living room, tapping his fingers, humming/singing along to the music while a very small Kellianne was dancing around the living room on a St. Patrick's Day gathering... love family!

So ... the road... the road in the picture is family... it's a part of our family long long ago - it's the road in Shrule, Ireland out front of "The Greaney House" still occupied in Ireland by family. A road I hope to see one day and travel in the footsteps of family past and present...

Where did I get it? Well, I started researching our family's history about 20 some odd years ago. Writing letters to Ireland and Poland - collecting what info. I could. In writing to a priest in Ireland, he forwarded my name onto Denis (my grandfather's cousin) who forwarded my note onto his sister, Mary (in Canada - we actually met Mary when we lived in NC and drove up there to see her). After many correspondences between Mary and Denis, I came up with the idea of how I could see the Ireland where my grandfather's family came from. I sent Denis a throw away camera - Mary helped him on a visit over there and they went and took pictures of the area and family stuff and labeled every picture so that I would know what they were. I cherish these pictures ...

And I love that I have them to pass onto my girls as they get older to see where a part of their family came from..

Discovery

I love the fact that my girls love space... ask about it... wonder about it... and that they love shuttle launches. We could sit there all day on NASA's website watching launches. I am also glad that they have had a chance to watch a launch too (for my non-Florida readers - where we lived you can see the contrails from the launches and hear the sonic booms during re-entry, night launches are amazing and the one that the girls saw one summer we were down, Emily actually saw flames from the rocket boosters)..
So today with Discovery's last launch - we got out the computer (miss NASA TV on our cable lineup) and watched the NASA channel online... of course I had misjudged the time of the launch but we did get to see the rocket booster separation and all... so neat!
My dad had sent out this You Tube video a while ago - it's in my "emails to save" folder but figured it was fitting to post here since it's about Space Shuttle Discovery. The first link is the article about the movie and the 2nd is the actual movie.
http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/Shuttle-Time-Lapse.html#
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=KZrFC988Thc

Beautiful Day

After a rough day yesterday fighting headaches - today totally made up for it... if only all days could go like today... playgroup, playtime time inside...
nap, paid bills, organizing Teacher Appreciation Week stuff, got Nora, played outside... watched the world starting to bloom - pussy willows budding, bluebirds starting to clean up the bird house...
Rose discovered the slide...
for a little girl that can't walk yet... she can sure climb the slide!!
Nora enjoying the sand box...
Then out to get Emily and home again for homework...
watching the clouds go by... such a pretty day!
And more time in the sandbox - Rose enjoyed her first experience with it - ate some of it too!
Wrapped up the day with dinner, bedtime routines, balanced the checkbook, did our federal taxes (still have state to do), and all caught up on emails... now time for bed... and wondering, what kind of diaper does eating sand create?

Outside

Outside Time, right now, is a 3 ring circus - literally! One going this way, one going that way, and then there's Rose trying to crawl away with my phone... on the sidewalk!

Nora was drawing with chalk, riding her bike and talking to everyone and everything that went by... cars, birds, neighbors...

Then there's Emily who has finally taken to riding her bike and really likes it. YAY! She even stayed outside and rode some more while I went inside with the other two!

Playtime

Playtime... seems to mean so many things depending on what's around...

Playtime with just one of them? Lots of exploring, figuring things out... at their own pace... little laughs of excitement when something new happens...

Playtime with two? Toys become "MINE"... space is coveted... boundaries are drawn... but sometimes a hand is offered and a giggle shared...

Playtime with three? We're still working on that one...

Thinking Day 2011

We survived another Thinking Day... Emily had a great time but I am pooped! We headed to church this morning.. PRE, Mass (Nora's 1st time going to Children's Liturgy by herself - well, with Emily).... then a quick lunch... home for a minute and then Emily and I headed out the door.

Off to the Fayetteville Town Center for Thinking Day 2011. The girls did great - selling our snack, selling bindis, stamping passports... it was a very full afternoon (2-5:30!) then home for dinner and bedtime.... whew! :o)

Thinking about thinking day

Busy day...lots of little errands.. started with haircuts - just Morgan and I this time.. with a pit stop by the post office on the way... then onto the camera shop - my new camera is having issues so back it goes... good thing we have a back up... then to pick up our pictures at Penneys.... a quick bite to eat and home again.... out to deliver cookies... back to play out side - more bike riding and scooter fun... then off to school for our extra brownie meeting.. planning for Thinking Day... whew! The girls worked hard and we are all ready now for the big day tomorrow

Need Some Milk?

Cookies Anyone?! Today was our big cookie pick up day. 2500 boxes of cookies... 209 cases of cookies.. can you believe that?! Our girls did great!!!!

It took 2 trucks and our van to bring all the cookies to the house...
We then had to unload them....
We had lots of good helpers... little ones too... :o)


Rose did a great job supervising...

Then we had to sort them all into piles for each of our brownies...
We were done sorting by 1... then right after school the moms came, checked their orders, signed off on their order and took the cookies home.
Again, Rose did a great job supervising... and a great job sampling the cookies...
While the moms and girls were coming and going... my two decided to spend the time riding bikes - it was a beautiful day for it!
Too bad it had to end with a bike collision - they were both ok but I have a feeling that Emily's knee tomorrow is not going to be pretty!!!
So after a quick bite out (too pooped to cook!!!), and then back home for bed for the younger two - Emily and I hit the cookie boxes...sorting out her orders, making "Thank You" labels and then calling it a day...got some milk to go with those cookies?! :o)