Kids and their dog

 It has been a while since I posted any photos of Wrigley - and he has definitely grown!  He is really a part of the family now, and the kids just adore him.

Run Wrigley Run!!

 

Aren't they beautiful?  Can't help but love 'em.  Even the dog.

Wrigley recently got a haircut that has changed his appearance drastically!  Gone is our muppet/fraggle dog... for the time being, anyway.

Wrigley post-haircut

Family Trip to Ireland - June 2011

Yes, yes, I know I'm running about six months behind on posting, but better late than never - right?  

This summer we took a wonderful trip to Ireland with our family, my parents, my sister Gemma and her family and my sister Sarah.  Unfortunately, Alan and his family couldn't make it, but I hope that someday we will all make the trip together.  

We spent the first week in Dublin, sharing a few apartments in a wonderful location near St. Stephen's Green.   One of the main events was a family gathering at the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Ireland.

Nanny Rose with six of her seven sons.  Only Billy, who lives in Australia, was missing.

Colin enjoys his first pint of Guinness.  (They start 'em young in Ireland.)

Carey and Jeremiah enjoy some time with my Dad and his brothers Vincent and Stephen.

Being so close to St. Stephen's Green was a blessing, whenever the weather was good enough, we took the kids over there to play.  There was a playground, a pond with ducks and swans, and plenty of green area to play in.

Little Amelia enjoys running through the daisies.

St. Stephen's Green served as the meeting place for our family with my Mam's brother and his family (including my cousin Suzanne who lives in Australia, and whom I hadn't seen in over ten years), and with my Mam's best friend Pat and her family.

No trip to Dublin is complete without a visit to Nanny Rose in Ballyfermot.  Here are the Waugh girls in Nanny Rose's back garden.  I wish Courtney and Dorothy-Rose could have joined us!

We took a day trip to Powerscourt.  I know it looks like a green screen, but that is actually the real gardens of Powerscourt and the mountains in the background!

One of the joys of Dublin is eating a 99 (whipped ice cream cone with a Flake bar) even in the rain and cold.  Here is Sarah enjoying one.

After a week in Dublin, our family spent a week with my cousin Anita, her husband Alan and their little boy Nathan.  It was a relaxing change after the craziness of our time in Dublin, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Alison & Anita

Cousin Nathan.  He had his first birthday while we were visiting, and he is one of the happiest, sweet tempered babies I've ever met!

We relaxed most of the week with Anita and Alan, but we did take a short road trip to Glendalough.  The mountain roads were a bit frightening, but Glendalough was amazing.   It was well worth the trip.

Spring Sports

Okay, I know it is July and a bit late to be posting about anything happening in the spring, but I've been meaning to do this for months and am just getting around to it.  This spring was probably the busiest spring we've had as a family.  This was most as a result of all the games and practices the children had.  This spring, Fiona was playing academy soccer (basically a junior travel team), Fiona and Bella were playing softball, and Colin was playing soccer.  Most evenings included a practice or two, and most Saturdays involved juggling several different games.  It was exhausting but also fun.

Fiona pitching in a softball game.  Her team was the "Riptide."  They had a good coach, but unfortunately they did not win a game all season.  It was pretty rough.

Bella played for team "Magic."  Her best friend Isabella was on the team, and she had a great time.  

Colin was psyched to play on his very first soccer team - the "Pickles."  He loved playing games  and was really disappointed when the season was over.

Here is Colin showing off his "sweet moves" (his words).  U5 soccer games are a treat to watch. Three kids from each side are on the field at once, and there are no goalies.   Some kids basically stand and watch, but others seem to score a goal every time they touch the ball.  The Pickles won some games by 10 or more goals and lost some games by 10 or more goals.  

Fiona played soccer for the Zionsville Youth Soccer Association U9  Academy team.    She felt pretty burnt out over the winter training season, but once the weather got better and they played games again, her enthusiasm returned - and so did mine!  It was terrific to watch her team play in the spring.  We finally knew all the girls' names, and the team played fantastically.  We also loved Fiona's coach, Coach Mo, and are looking forward to next season!

We're enjoying a break this summer, but in the fall, all the kids will be playing soccer and I'm actually looking forward to the season starting.   We'll keep you posted!

Final House Photos

I know, I know, we moved in almost seven months ago and I am only posting photos now.  I don't have any good excuses, but I am finally ready to show everyone (who hasn't gotten to see it in person) our new house.  We've settled in really well, and I really love the house.  Given that the kids and I have been stuck inside the house for the last three days because of an ice storm, I guess it's a good thing that we like it so much.

I didn't get photos of all the rooms, but these are the highlights.  When spring comes and we aren't surrounded by snow and ice, I may even take a photo or two of the outside.

Family room (view from breakfast nook).  The fireplace wall and cabinets might be my favorite feature in the house.  We can keep tons of games, toys, and all our electronics hidden away.

Kitchen.  This is probably the busiest room in the house.  

Master Bedroom.  I love this room.

Colin's room, with Cubs theme.
I'm sorry to say that the girls' room was too messy to take a photo of.

Kid's bathroom.  This room is not usually very clean,
so I'm happy to have a photo of how I think it should always look.

Preschool Christmas Show

Every school puts on some sort of winter show.  Colin's preschool was no exception.  Theirs was an unabashadly Christmas-themed event, which even included a visit from Santa Claus.  It is generally pretty difficult to get any decent photos during these shows, but I wanted to share these photos of Colin exhibiting his enthusiasm...  He is quite the little performer.

Birthdays

We celebrated each of the kids' birthdays this fall in the same way.  By their request, we had a family party at home for each of them.  We invited grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins over to celebrate.  Jeremiah cooked three wonderful dinners, and then we had cake.  It was so wonderful to be able to celebrate their birthdays with our extended families!  Here are a few quick photos from their birthdays.

Colin turns 4.

Bella blows out seven candles.

Our oldest turns nine.  Fiona requested a homemade "pastel imposible" (aka chocoflan) instead of store-bought cake.

Our Goldendoodle, Wrigley

I have been really delinquent in keeping this blog updated over the past few months.  I have no excuse, but I will try to be better and post a few things over the next couple of weeks.

Back in March, I posted about getting a goldendoodle puppy.  Well, our puppy was born at the end of July and we brought Wrigley home in September when he was about 8 weeks old.  He has been growing at an unbelievable pace since then!  He is now almost 5 months old and is losing his baby teeth (who knew that dogs lost their baby teeth?  I certainly didn't).

Here is Wrigley when we first met him.  He was only about a month old.

This is Wrigley shortly after we brought him home.  He was 2 months old.

Wrigley with Colin.  Just over 3 months old.

Wrigley at almost 4 months old.

Wrigley at 4 months, with Fiona.

Wrigley, the snow dog, at 4 months and one week old.

Wrigley is everything we hoped he would be.  Of course, house training was not a lot of fun, and I don't enjoy taking him outside to pee when we have a windchill of -5 degrees, but he is a sweet dog and a welcome addition to the family.