On the Homefront

Katie Lang (pregnant with number two), Irene Tsikitas, Lori McGovern and Leah Mercado

We met in 1998 at a camp Catholic University put together for inner city children.  Little did we know that by serving as couselors we would have an amazing introduction to life in Washington, DC, and Catholic University.  We were even more surprised at the bonds we formed in that one special week.  The four of us hung out and remained great friends all four years at CUA.  We capped off the experience by living together senior year.  We cooked and laughed and dreamed and cried together.  Here we are today- still getting together (not as often as we would like), still keeping in touch (not as well as we would like), still loving and supporting each other.  I love these ladies and am so blessed by their friendship.  They have made me a better woman and I hope and pray that we will have another photo to share eleven years from now.

Brendan in a bonnet

This hat gives excellent sun coverage for my Irish skinned baby.  It is big and floppy and covers ALL of his large head and sweet face.  I realized it looked a little feminine when Therese put it on her head and pretended to be Laura from The Little House on the Prairie.  “Where is Brendan’s bonnet?”  she asked the other day.

We spent the day with the Riehman-Murphy’s last Sunday.  It was a blistering 98 degrees outside and since it is too early for their trees to have leaves,  we decided the only way to survive was to get out the kiddie pool.  Christina and I watched longingly while the kids cooled off and had a blast in this old school pool.  Brendan slept through most of the visit, so he missed the water fest.  Thanks, Christina, for being a fun and flexible hostess!

Tim decided to do some work on the house last weekend and I would have loved to help him, but I knew it would not be possible to get much done with the three beautiful children dancing around the house.  So I took all of them to Philadelphia to hang out with their Nan and their uncles.  It was a lovely weekend and these pictures are just a glimpse of all the fun we had.  Their favorite park near Nan’s house has a miniature town and where they played hide and seek with their uncles.  It is every child’s dream play place with lots of space for their imaginations to run free.  The weather was gorgeous so of course we had to break out the hose, bathing suits and popsciles.  Every time we spend a weekend in Philadelphia our only regret is that it takes us three house to get there!

Ready for the show!

Therese had to have her picture taken with her dance class this week and she was very excited to try on her costume for the first time.  Her recital in June 11th- this will be her first performance on a big stage.  Although she was learning tap and ballet this year, she will only be performing a tap number in the recital.  If anyone would like to attend her show (Grandparents, aunts, uncles?), let me know and I can purchase tickets for you.

One of the best things about Grandma and Grandpa’s house is that we are able to have a fire in the backyard. The girls love it and we had a fire on Easter Vigil as well as Easter Sunday. Lot of s’mores and hanging out added to the great weekend!

We stopped at a Cracker Barrel for dinner on the way to my parents house and it was a lovely break from the minivan. Therese insisted on completing every game on the children’s menu while Myriam played happily with the little wooden games they keep on the tables. Brendan (yes, that is a baby with an ear infection!) was a bundle of joy and ate half of Myriam’s macaroni and cheese. Daddy couldn’t resist the fun of the Cracker Barrel store and returned to the van with treats for mom. This could become “our place” for these ten hour drives (at least the ones we do during the day… we like the all night routine as well).

Myriam

Brendan

Therese

Despite a few setbacks (Brendan up all night with an ear infection before we departed, a run to the doctor and the pharmacy before leaving about 9 hours later than planned), we made it to the great state of Indiana to celebrate Easter with Grandma and Grandpa. It was SO MUCH FUN and well worth the drive. My parents were surprised we came even with a sick baby. Tim put it this way- “Brendan at his worst is never as difficult as Myriam in the best of circumstances.” Myriam is a love, but she is very three these days and Brendan is just a happy camper along for the ride. I think the long car ride gave him time to rest and recuperate. He is doing much better this week!

The girls were very excited to go to Grandma and Grandpa’s church. When asked what the best thing about Easter is they said, “We can sing Alleluia again!” I am not kidding… they really missed it during Lent. (We use Alleluia alot during family prayer and when Lent came around Therese informed Myriam very matter of factly that we DO NOT sing Alleluia during Lent.) So- it is back. They are right- ALLELUIA!

Alleluia!