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!