3 months and counting....

Three months.... that is how long I have been absent here. And to be quite honest, I have been far from a diligent blogger since the late Winter/ early Spring. I really do not know what happened to me. Things got busy.... the kids got out of school... Todd moved his office home..... and we have been enjoying our summer vacation with lots of trips to the beach and visits from friends and family. We even managed to squeeze in a great vacation with our extended family. And now it is Aug 22 and we are only a week and a day away from the start of school. I can not believe that our summer is almost gone.

We truly have had a wonderful summer break. I am sad to see the kids go back to school. But perhaps I can use some of my time to get "back in the saddle" and bring this blog back to life. I have so many great memories to share here about the past few months and I really want to do it. After all, that was one of the primary reasons that I started this.... I wanted a place to record what was going on in our lives and to share it with those near and dear to our hearts.

So, with those words in mind, I will focus my attention back here as soon as the kids go back to school. I have 8 more days with them at home and I am going to try and squeeze every last drop out of summer before it is gone!

See you soon!

Brenna's First Holy Communion

Brenna celebrated her First Holy Communion today at St. Peter's Church in Plymouth. It was a beautiful day for such a special occasion. She was very excited and has been waiting patiently for this day. Even though she goes to Catholic School, Brenna still had to take a year of CCD at our local parish in order to receive her First Communion. (Sacred Heart is not a Parish School so the students have to receive their Sacraments at their own Church.)

Fortunately, she was placed in a CCD class with five other kids from Sacred Heart (and one boy who had been in her class in Kindergarten). She truly enjoyed going to CCD every week and was sad when it ended. Each of the CCD classes received their First Communion at an assigned Mass. Brenna received hers today with the 11 other kids in her class at 9:00 AM Mass. She was very happy to lead in the procession with her friend Tyler and to have been chosen to read one of the Petitions as well.

Unfortunately, the Church would not allow us to take pictures during Mass. So, my photographs are limited to some group shots before and after Mass.

Brenna and her friends, Tyler and Jonathan. They have been friends since Kindergarten.

Brenna & Jonathan. They are great friends and we were so happy that they could share this day together.

Brenna and Elizabeth, Jonathan's older Sister and Brenna's former "Reading Buddy" at school. She loaned Brenna her gloves to wear today. And Brenna adores Elizabeth so she was thrilled.

Brenna was in Kindergarten with all of these kids.

Brenna and Jonathan after Mass.

Brenna and Andrew

A dramatic re-enactment of Brenna reading the Petitions.

(I have no idea what Andrew is doing in this picture!)

Brenna, Andrew & Grandad.

Brenna and Father Bob after Mass.

It truly was a wonderful and special day. We are so very proud of Brenna.

Brenna's First Communion Pictures

As I mentioned in my last post, my uber crafty friend Michelle recently took a series of photographs of Brenna for her First Communion. Michelle did such a great job. She took Brenna to a handful of local spots around downtown Plymouth one afternoon for the photo shoot. The pictures are solemn, sweet and fun. She was truly able to capture Brenna's personality. I know that I will treasure these always.

I am having so much trouble deciding which ones to develop. (I am going to probably end up printing them all!) But I could not wait to share them with you. So, I have narrowed it down to my favorite 15 (or so) pictures. (And it was hard to do that!)

I've been neglecting my blog....

I knew that it had been ages since I last posted.... I had every intention of getting back in action.... but I was shocked to see that it has been over 3 months since I last posted. It is not that I have had nothing to write about, quite the contrary. Things have been crazy busy (in a very good way) and the result has been that I have neglected my blog.

Well, school will be out in 3 weeks so I decided that I had better get my act together before then. So, I am going to start updating here this coming week. So much has gone on since my last post... Hockey is over, Soccer and baseball have begun. Andrew turned 6!! (OMG, did I really say "6"?). My Sister announced that she is pregnant and we recently found out that she is having a boy. Easter came and went. Oma and Pop Pop came for a visit and Todd and I snuck out for a few days on our own in Mexico. We spent a few days in NYC with the kids over Easter break. Now we are wrapping up the school year and summer vacation will be here before we know it.... I will post some pics of some of these recent highlights over the next few days.

Tomorrow is a big day for Brenna. She is receiving her First Holy Communion. We are very happy that Grandad was able to join us for this big event. She is very excited about it. A few weeks ago a good friend of mine, Michelle (who incidentally is one of the most artistic people I know) kindly took Brenna's 1st Communion pictures. They came out beautiful. I will post a few soon so you can see for yourself.

Where have we been?

I was disappointed when I pulled up the blog today and saw that I had not posted anything in over a week! I have been a little caught up in my "Picture of the Day" and LOAD (Layout of the Day) challenges and have let the blog slide. So sorry.

Truth is, not much has been going on here. Unlike all of my friends back "home", we have not been stuck under piles of snow. School was actually cancelled yesterday in anticipation of snow, but it ended up just being a rainy/ snowy day. Nothing was sticking to the ground until the early evening so there really was no need to cancel school. We did, however, enjoy the benefit of Todd's early return from New York (due to the weather) and the kids had a nice relaxing day in their PJs. We worked a bit on their Valentine's Day cards and Brenna painted a few pictures.

Sunrise

and Sunset.

It was still snowing when we went to sleep and we woke up early to check out the school delays. In typical Massachusetts form, none of the schools were delayed by us. Unfortunately, Todd had to shovel the drive out so the kids got a little extra sleep and went to school a tad bit late. Brenna was just pleased that she could still go to school on "Crazy Hat Day". The Student Council sponsored this as a fundraiser for the victims in Haiti and she was thrilled to be wearing her "Monster Bride" hat in school all day!

Once the kids were off to school, I was inspired to take a few pictures of our mini-snow storm before it melted. Can you believe that is already melting? As I am sitting here at the computer, I can hear chunks of snow falling off of my roof. So, hopefully, this will not be on the ground too long.

It really is kind of pretty, isn't it?

I promise that it will not be so long before I post again. The kids are on school vacation next week so I am sure we will have lots going on!

Katrina Kenison - The Gift of an Ordinary Day

If you have a moment to yourself, watch this excerpt read by the author of "The Gift of An Ordinary Day". I have had this book on order at the library for ages and I can't wait to get it. It is very thought provoking.

Have a great day! And tell your family that you love them!

Happy Birthday Kaylee!!!!

10 years ago today, this little wonder entered the world... Kaylee Brooke Workman

seen here with Brenna last summer.

It truly has been a joy to watch her grow up. Brenna has always looked up to her, and continues to do so. Even though we do not live as close as we used to, we are thrilled to get to visit with her and the rest of her family when we can. We love and miss you Kaylee!

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY!!!

Love, Brenna, Andrew, Uncle Todd & Aunt Shannon

Vikings Cheer Banquet

Brenna's Cheer Squad had their end of the year banquet on Monday. Brenna had not seen most of the girls since the season had ended in October so she was really looking forward to hanging out with everyone again.

The Coaches had organized a pizza lunch and cupcake decorating party. Gifts of appreciation were given out to all of the Coaches. And, at the end, Brenna was thrilled to learn that she would be receiving her own trophy. Here she is with her head Coach, Miss Lew.

E-Blue and their Jr. Coaches.

We were fortunate to have become good friends with the Hobin family through Cheerleading. Sara (left) and Megan (right) were both on Brenna's squad and they have a younger brother who has become friends with Andrew.

Cheerleading was a great experience for Brenna. She made a lot of new friends, learned a lot and had a ton of fun. Sign ups for next year are in February.... so far, she says she wants to do it again.... we will see.

Andrew's Professional Hockey Debut

Andrew's Learn to Play Hockey Team was invited to play in between periods at a Providence Bruins game this weekend at the Dunkin Donuts Center. The Coaches had done a good job pumping the kids up about it and Andrew was super excited. Everyday this week, he would ask "How many more days?". On Sunday morning, he got up at 7:30 AM, came downstairs and asked when we were leaving. He could hardly contain his excitement.

Brenna has a good friend who plays hockey and he had skated at a P Bruins game before. When they heard that we were going, the decided to join us. We were very excited to have them along and they were super supportive of Andrew.

Ironically, this was the first real hockey game that Andrew (and Brenna) had ever seen. He has watched bits and pieces of games on TV, but he had never even been to a professional arena. So, this was an extra special experience.

When we arrived we were taken down to the locker rooms so the kids could drop off their gear. Then we headed up to our seat and got our first real look at the ice.

It was "Thunderstick" day so Andrew was the lucky recipient of these...

Brenna's friend Adam showed up with his fan gear as well and kindly shared with Brenna.

It was a great arena to watch a game in. Andrew was amazed at how fast the players were skating, and kept asking questions about penalties, etc. Most of his questions I could not answer. (I think I will have to finally learn about the rules of this game!) And he even commented a few times about how he thought that he could skate like the Bruins players if he kept practicing!

His team skated between 2nd and 3rd period. Two of his other friends' teams skated between the 1st and 2nd period so we got to watch them from the stands first. Andrew really got a kick out of seeing his friends out on the ice and the jumbotron.

When it was time, Todd took him down to the locker room and got him suited up. The team got to watch the end of the 2nd period from ice level. (Andrew is the one turned around looking at the camera.)

When the period ended, the doors were opened and on they went. Andrew is #8.

Here are some shots from their game.

As the kids came off the ice, they were each given their own Providence Bruins cap and a pin to commemorate their skate.

He returned to the stands and we watched the remainder of the game.

It really was a great experience. We enjoyed watching the AHL game but, of course, the highlight was seeing our favorite hockey player out their on the ice. As we were driving home later that night (before he fell asleep in the car), Andrew wanted to know when he could do it again!

A backyard what?

A backyard ice rink.... Can you imagine it? I had to move to Massachusetts before I had ever even heard of one. Pretty cool, eh? One of our friends sets one up in their yard each year and they invited us over for a skate party this Saturday. We were joined by 2 other families from school. Andrew has been skating for almost 2 years now but Brenna had never been on skates before. As it turned out, this was the perfect place for a 1st outing for her.

After getting her all suited up in her skates and pads (and borrowing a helmet since she did not want to wear her princess bike helmet) she hit the ice. Todd helped her a long for a bit in the beginning but it was not too long before she was moving around on her own.

Even after a few spills, she was still smiling.

Andrew was in heaven. He got to play hockey with all of the big 2nd Grade boys. They had a blast! (He is the one in the GAP sweatshirt.)

And Brenna even joined in the game for a bit.

It was a pretty warm day and the sun started to melt the ice a bit. After lunch the kids returned to the ice, but this time without their skates. Instead, they wore their snow boots and continued to play hockey for at least another hour. They were having so much fun!

We had sooo much fun. Thanks Brooks family for a great day!