At Colleen's Apartment

Mary Kate and I made the 7-hr drive to FSU today, and we're staying in Colleen's apartment tonight. MK starts her freshman orientation tomorrow evening, and we came up a day early. We went out to dinner with Colleen and her boyfriend Jimmy, then back to a game of Uno Attack with roommates and friends.

New Tattoos

Tim and Sean were upstairs in Mary Kate's room and called me up to show me their new "tattoos" drawn with dry erase markers.  Sean told Tim they needed to look mean in the picture.

Cupcake Bakery

 Mary Kate and Amanda strike again. They baked two different kinds of cupcakes over the weekend. Friday night it was the whale cupcakes.  Last night it was the cupcakes decorated to look like pies.  MK took the pies into her class today.  Our family gets the "extras" much to the delight of John and Sean...the biggest sugar-addicts in the house.

Office Ladies Reunited

Amanda, Mary Kate, and Rebecca, aka "The Office Ladies" who volunteered together for years in the religious-ed office.....posing after Mass this morning.  Amanda and Rebecca are both home from college for the summer, and the three of them are enjoying time together again.

Soccer Girl

Tessa displaying her medal for playing in the "World Cup" soccer league.  She's had a lot of fun playing in the 4 v 4 games.

Honor Grad

Senior Awards Banquet was tonight, and Mary Kate got two of her cords: Honor Cord for GPA and Service Cord for earning more than 250 service hours. 

Chinese for Dinner

Chinese take-out for dinner, and I braved the Early-Bird packed parking lot in order to pick it up. Dangerous place to drive, for sure.  Sean is not happy, since he wanted pizza.

Beachside Pickup

My stoplight view as I was driving to pick up Mary Kate and friends from their overnight after-prom.

May 13th....Mary Kate's Prom

Prom day for 18yo Mary Kate.  She and her boyfriend Justin went with a large group of friends, and had a great time.  They looked wonderful, too.

Business Trip

Kevin leaving on his first business trip. His expression says it all, "Why are you taking my picture?"  Couldn't help myself .  :-)

Magnolia Blossom

 Outside my kitchen window is a Little Gem Magnolia Tree.  The first blossoms are coming out and they're beautiful.

Happy Mother's Day

 With 7 kids, getting everyone together as they get older is getting difficult. So whenever it happens, I try to get a picture of them. The kids at Tessa's First Holy Communion yesterday.. ....From left back: Tim, Kevin, Colleen, Mary Kate, Clare holding onto Sean, and Tessa in white.

Tessa's Special Day

                                             Tessa received her First Holy Communion today. 

Beauty Shop

Colleen is hairstylist tonight, experimenting with Tessa's hair and veil to see what the best style is for the big day tomorrow. 

Pretzel Factory

 Colleen is making chocolate-dipped pretzels for Tessa's First Holy Communion party on Saturday. They've been sampled by everyone that's home right now and declared delicious.  Note the margaritas in the picture....Cinco de Mayo :-)

Sean and Tessa

At the end of swim lesson, Sean floats on a noodle and tries to squirt mom.

Tessa at her Field Day.

Muffins with Mom

Sean's preK class had a special Mother's Day breakfast this morning. Muffins and juice were served, and then we saw the kids sing some songs for us, present us with a special booklet they made with handprints and some of their favorite things about them and mom.

Home Again

                        Colleen's home for the week, and bunking upstairs with Mary Kate.

Happy, Proud Tears

 Mary Kate with "Aunt" Fran, a life-long close friend and religious-ed teaching mentor to MK, at the Confirmation Banquet tonight. MK made the "Where Do We Go From Here" speech talking about how to continue growing in your faith and become involved in the parish. Listening to her talk, and seeing what a faith-filled, loving, kind, funny, smart young woman she's become brought tears to my eyes.  I'm so proud to be her mom.