Just 'cause she's so stinking cute!

The results of an impromptu photo shoot while waiting at the doctor's office.

Sally Brown and Santa

Last Friday, Áine Clare was Sally Brown in her classroom's presentation of "A Charlie Brown Christmas", hence the pink shirt instead of the red one I sent her to school in. She played her part beautifully.

The festivities were capped off with a visit with Santa Claus.
Santa was very taken with our red-haired girl.

Áine Clare update

Miss Áine Clare will be having revision brain surgery on Thursday, January 19, 2012 at UCLA. Dr. Mathern will be her surgeon again.

Her surgeon will remove a portion of the brain on the right hemisphere close to the brain stem. The surgery has a 50/50 chance of controlling her seizures. The wonderful news is that barring any complications, she will not lose any present skill level.

In the mean time, she will be weaned off one of her anti-convulsant medications and another one will take its place.

I will post more information as I know more and as we get closer to her surgery date.

Better late than never!

Brendan turned 19 on Saturday, December 3rd. Happy birthday, Brendan! We were in the throes of a massive power outage and just in time for my boy's celebration the lights came on. Yay! We enjoyed pizza and "sawad" and cupcakes and a rousing game of "5 Second Rule" with Becky.

Brendan is having a good year at school and is now part of the transition program -- post high school. He works at JoAnn's Fabrics and loves it! It is reported that he is a hard worker and follows directions with a smile on his face. Yay, Brendan! We are so proud of you.

Sweet Shot

Love this photo of my beautiful girl taken by her teacher, Simi.

The Madigan Clan

Our family was asked to participate in a video for our parish for Commitment Sunday. We thought we'd like to share it. Such an honor to be asked and to share a snippet of ourselves.

Commitment Sunday, November 13, 2011 from Holy Family Church on Vimeo.

Birthday Night fun

Here are some shots from Ciara's birthday...

Tide Pools

Brendan went on a field trip to Crystal Cove on Thursday. His class had been studying tide pools. I know he was itching to take off his shoes and wade in the water and the sand. Looks like the kidlets and I will have to plan a trip.

Building Bears

All three kidlets had the day off school today, so Ciara suggested we take Brendan and Áine to Build-a-Bear Workshop. As expected, Brendan and Áine thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They picked out their own bears, chose the sounds, and helped stuff the bears. A fun time was had by all. They each named their bears and off we went. Brendan chose the name "Bear", Ciara chose "Artemis", and Áine Clare chose "Saoirse".

She's been waiting her whole life...

to turn 13. Despite my my every effort to stop the passage of time, Ciara Mairead turns 13 years old today at 5:20pm. This bright-eyed, alert, redhead entered our lives weighing a whopping 5 pounds 3 ounces and was 18 inches short, uh, long.

From that moment on she has graced our lives with smiles, humor, passion, and a compassion I haven't seen anyone else come close to possessing.

Ciara is an exceptional sister, friend, and a beautiful daughter.

Happy, happy birthday CIARA!

Happy Halloween 2011

Brendan was off to school bright and early this morning dressed in the requisite black tee and pants to help out at the Halloween carnival at his school. No picture yet.

Ciara lucked out with not one, but two costumes this year! Nana made her a greek goddess costume (see below). The Fashionista chose the colors.

The Amelia Earheart ensemble was put together by Ciara and Dad. Good job!

And Miss Áine Clare is Jill from the classic nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill".

Happy Halloween from the Madigans!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year... Pumpkin Picking

The Madigan Kidlets do love their pumpkins.

Ciara's pumpkin was so big she couldn't pick it up to put it in the wagon, so she enlisted the help of her primarily non-verbal older brother who muttered under his breath, "We're all screwed." Honestly, he rarely speaks, but when he does it packs a punch, doesn't it?

Love this girl, love these curls!

A Day with the Big Kidlets

Brendan and Ciara both had the day off school, so after dropping off the littlest kidlet we headed to the Arboretum. If you recall this place is what I try to pass off as the "rain forest" to Brendan. I don't think he is buying that anymore, but he did enjoy himself some ducks.


This squirrel shot if for my Mom :o)

Girlies

Not really a blog post per se, just some cute shots I couldn't not post.


Miss Áine Clare went bowling for P.E. last week.

Ciara and Dad went to the Holy Family Fair this past weekend. The $2.00 for hair color was well spent as this is the closest my little lamb chop will get to ever coloring that head of hair ;o)