happy birthday, hubby

it was chris' birthday a week ago saturday.
 the kids and i had big plans to make him breakfast in bed, but since john was asleep in our bed we decided to do breakfast at the bar.
everyone helped, it was great - ella made everyone fruit salad cups as a starter...

andrew unloaded the dishwasher and christopher shredded the potatoes for the hash browns.
 i made open faced egg sandwiches on french bread with avocado and tomato...

we went to watch ella's baseball game and then grabbed lunch.
chris and i  got to go out to dinner just the two of us.
it was so nice, we really had a lovely evening.

on our way out to dinner

then we had dessert back at his parents' house with his family.

it was a fun day and i am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband 

and father to our children.  

i do love this man.

feliz cumpleanos, mi amor.

st. patty's day - a little late...

here are some pics of the kids on st. patrick's day.
it is a big day at their school since the school was started by the loreto sisters - an order of nuns from ireland.
they have a carnival for the second half of the school day and all the $$ raised goes back to the order of nuns who started the school.
the kids have a blast.

this year ella made a leprechaun trap...

at the end of the carnival the entire school goes into the gym to watch irish dancing and sing classic irish songs they've learned in music class - it's awesome.

this is the school gathered in the cafeteria last year...

ella danced in the show last year...

it is a fun and festive day and we always look forward to it.

feliz cumpleanos, tio pat

today is my brother pat's birthday.  we celebrated last night.  here he is dancing with john john as we are singing to him...

i noticed a picture of my brothers' and i from when we were  young in my mom's dinning room as we were eating dessert.  i picked it up to look at it and started laughing uncontrollably...to the point of tears.   i couldn't even say what i thought was so funny about the picture as i was laughing/crying so hard for like two minutes straight.

i tend to laugh like this around my brother pat.  we would get silly and giddy like this often growing up, and still to this day just the smallest comment, look, gesture, etc. involving this younger brother of mine can really get me cracking up.  it's some special bond we have and i am so thankful for it because it really feels good to laugh like that.

happy birthday, tio pat - have a good one, and thanks for all the good laughs!!!

milestone morning

on a recent morning john john wrote his name all by himself...

he has been able to write a 'j' for awhile, but we really haven't worked on anything else.

i decided to show him the other letters in his name.  i wrote each one first at the top of the board and he then copied them to make his name.  we were both pretty happy with it...

its been a few weeks, so i guess we should practice again soon!  we'll get to it again eventually...

biztown

is a mock town run by 5th graders.
they have been preparing for it for 6 weeks.
they had to write resumes and apply for jobs a few weeks ago.
they went through an interview process and were selected for a job position.
they have learned how to write checks, apply for loans, and keep track of money.

yesterday was the big day.
the field trip to biztown.
christopher was the sports shop manager (his first choice).

the kids worked in their assigned positions for the day.
there were all kinds of jobs and businesses.
each one had a ceo and a cfo.

here is christopher with his ceo.

they received paychecks.
and had to go to the bank to deposit them.
they were responsible for keeping track of their time and money.
they had job duties they had to fulfill and meetings to attend.

merchandise was donated by businesses who sponsor this program and the kids were able to go around on their breaks and purchase items from businesses by writing checks from their checkbooks.
they had to keep a check register and log of their checks and deposits.

parent volunteers were there to help, but the kids really did it all themselves.

there was a town mayor, christopher's good friend matthew (pictured below).

and at this morning meeting all the ceo's had to get up and give a speech promoting their business.

i was assigned to help in the tv/news station.
there were reporters, and photographers, editors, and a camerman.
the kids could purchase tv & news ads.
here is a reporter interviewing a customer on whether she likes justin bieber...

it was pretty funny.
these aired live on flat screens throughout biztown.

ashlyn was the dj...

and these boys started dancing to the cha-cha slide as it was playing during their lunch break...

it was such a great learning experience for these 5th graders.
and so neat to see them so hard at work doing their jobs.
man, they are growing up.
hard to believe but awesome to watch how wonderfully they are maturing.

basketball champions

yep.
they did it.
they won the championship game on thursday night.
by 2 points, another nailbiter of a game.

i couldn't sit for the last three quarters.  i cheered like i have never cheered before.
it was intense, again.
but, they won, again.
and now they are the champions of the league!!

they put up special red, white and blue nets for the championship game.
since they won, they each got to take turns cutting down the net.

then, right after christopher got to play in the all star game...

we had a party at our house last night for the team.

the boys would have played basketball 'till midnight if we let them.

it was so fun to have a front yard party.
i haven't had one in years.  used to do it when the kids were little.
all these boys need is a basketball hoop and they are happy for hours.
thus, the front yard party.
such a great group of kids, this team was.

and the coach was pretty awesome too...

it was a great season and we're sad to see it end.  but the weather is nice and baseball is calling.

semi-final game win

last night. by 4 points.  it was an awesome game, so exciting - the last two minutes were intense.

chris is the head coach of christopher's team.  it has been so fun for both of them.

our team has such a fun mix of private and public school kids in the area.  i love that my kids know so many kids at so many different schools and are friends with all of them.

i saw christopher make the sign of the cross at half time which brought me to tears.  the game was close the whole way through which is why i thought he did this.  

but when i asked him about it as i tucked him in he said, 'mom, i always pray at half time.  i always say an our father and pray that we have a good game.'  this made me so proud. 

this is a very competitive league, and it has been so fun to watch the growth of the team.  and listen to chris' coaching strategies.  and win last night's game:)

wish them luck thursday night - they're playing in the finals!!!