Halloween 2013

Just your typical gnome! Christopher rocks Halloween, finally, after two cancelled years due to Superstorm sandy and other weather events! Eat on christo!

Cassie in her Halloween outfit, and her first costume, Candy Corn Princess! For the evening trick or treat run we moved on to the larger princess dress that went on right over her jacket!

The gang is ready to head out, we have Prof. Mcgonegal, A blessing in Disguise, Dorothy, and our Princess!

Jake wore his uniform and enjoyed taking Cassie around. Jerry went with them and took photos and I stayed at the house and passed out candy. I only had 20 kids but they sure were cute!

The Rahillys and Denny were so happy to see jake and Cassie.

Mama Laura let's Cassie have her choice of candy!

Danny raked it in, as did molly and Charlotte. They started sorting and trading as soon as they got home.

Danny's Fall Band Concert

What a musical treat tonight! Jake,Molly,Charlotte and I had the pleasure of attending Danny's fall band concert at Scranton Middle School. The place was packed and the 7th and 8th grades bands put on a great show. The 7th graders played 2 songs to open up, then the 8th grade jazz band played 4 tunes, and then the 8th grade symphony band played 2 songs. Then the bands joined together to play and then retire a patriotic melody that was introduced at the fall concert in 2001 to honor the victims of 9/11. Mrs. Evans explained that since the kids in the band today were small babies when the tragedy occured, they don't have the same emotional connection to the music and she will retire it and start a new tradition. We all sang along to Battle Hymn of the Republic and America the Beautiful. They also introduced all the band officers and so Danny, as elected librarian, got to stand up and be recognized. Yeah, we are proud!!

TUBAS!!!

Sophie loves when i take her picture!

proud Mom

Tubas in action

Danny proudly standing-he is librarian, section leader and first chair!

Boy Scout Court of Honor

I will add some photos tomorrow so you can see handsome Dan get his rank advancement. He is now a Boy Scout second class! He also earned three merit badges, swimming, space exploration and rifle shooting. Danny's troop gives the moms a small black velvet fabric pin and a new gold pin each time their son advances in rank. Today when I was getting ready to go I pinned on two of dad's medals so he could be there with us as we celebrate scouting and Danny. I know dad is very proud of him as indeed the whole family is. We all enjoyed a tasty potluck dinner before the ceremony. go Danny!

The parents are asked to stand up in support of their scout-Danny is a scout-second class!

danny moving his name up to the next spot on the rank chart

the plaque holds all the names of the scouts in rank order

Don't you love Sundays?

Our Sundays are so great I almost hate to go away for the weekend. (invite me anyway, if it's somewhere like Hawaii or HongKong I'm there!) Sitting on the sun porch drinking coffee while an 8 point buck wanders around in the lower back yard and our hawk slowly circles looking for field mice. The girls and Jerry arriving back from our awesome Title Boxing Club sweaty and happy. Attending mass at Saint Patrick, sitting in our seats, listening to the kids sing (Danny sounds just like my Dad!),praying, feeling blessed, visiting with so many people after mass and watching the girls enjoy these encounters,feeling filled and inspired by Father Karl. Then heading to Leo's diner for a late lunch-having all the waitresses greet us as long lost friends, having the kids know what they want right away,(especially Charlotte-it's always the Polish omelette =no green peppers!), blowing straw papers at each other, having our toast,with our toast! walking the dog, raking leaves, talking to my Mom and my sister. Serving the weeks leftovers for dinner and chatting about the week ahead, making lunches and tidying the kitchen. Having a Wii bowling tourney suggested by Charlotte and laughing with the kids in the basement. This is a great Sunday in my book!
I hope you have a great week ahead :)

Poly Hockey POWER!

 

The girls had a Special Olympics Poly Hockey tournament in Romulus on Saturday. And boy did they play well. They ended up splitting the two games and earning a third place with their team, but the scoring---Molly 4 goals and Charlotte 2! Jerry had a great time watching them play. I worked at the library and Danny stayed home to mush. It was super windy out with rain in the late afternoon so there was hardly anyone in the library. Not my favourite type of shift, I prefer to be busy. I did get to read a bunch of new picture books and even bring a couple home to share with Cassie next weekend.

Halloween starts now!

Molly and Charlotte were invited to their friend Heather's Halloween party! What fun! They are not invited to many parties so it was quite an exciting invite. And because of huge time of year, the dress code was costumes. Molly decided to be Dorothy again this year, with her long brown braids she is a natural. Charlotte was inspired by the awesome $1.50 Professor McGonagall hat I found at Sally's and wanted to complete the costume and dress as her. I found the emerald cape at the Halloween store, but the skirt and top I procured at Sally's today. Charlottes eyes lit up when she got home from school and saw her costume.she really feels like she is the Prof. And she carries herself like Dame Maggie herself. The party looked great and everyone's costumes were super!

Jerry had a light load for FNB, just Leah and Danny. Even so, he took them to Leo's so they had a ball.

Jake and his friend mike are happily in the basement playing video games after finishing up the leftover stuffed cabbage and bowls of chilli. The weekend begins!

I manage to stay in for the night! Yippee!

On the schedule was the BHS choir concert, and you know what a huge fan I am. We love the choirs and it is a lovely evening of song. BUT....Monday=Poly hockey/Boy Scoutsbook club! Tuesday = band concert! Wednesday=quiz bowl/CCD/parent meeting for science Olympiad! Thursday=after school crosscountry final practice and party and awards. Danny had a great time, finishing the season with a PR in the final meet of 13:11 on the varsity team. Truth be told he is happy that it has wound up, I think he is ready for a change. Jake was waiting outside Scranton and spirited Danny away for a quick 9 holes of disc golf before the sun went down and I headed home. When I walked in the door molly asked if she could put on her pj's. What about choir I asked? But the girls wanted to stay home and relax and that was just fine with me...I think I almost trampled them in my rush to get upstairs and get MY pj's on! We all enjoyed the chilli I had in the crockpot and the comfort of having no where to go!