Sprout Academy Grad

 

Ronan's class had a little end of the year program today at school. He had so much fun at Sprout Academy this spring. When he received his memory book/diploma, Teacher Heidi described him as the "peaceful one".

 

Teacher Andrew's "other" job is a pilot. He flies for Horizon Airlines when they need him otherwise he teaches at Sprout and also in charge of a lot of the youth programs at the community center. He gave all the parents a CD of pics he took of the class during the quarter. Such a sweet kid or I should say young man.

 

Teacher Heidi is the wonderful lead teacher at Sprout. She used to be a neurology nurse then switched to teaching 13 years ago. She really loves teaching and it showed each day! We are so lucky to have had her as Ronan's teacher.

 

My little proud sprout!! You are growing indeed and I love you!

We got a CRAWLER!!

If they could only make microfiber playsuits so when he crawls on the floor he's also cleaning it. He loves crawling all over the kitchen and family room and really enjoying his newfound "freedom".

Mad Scientists

Spring break day 1, our neighbor's son Patrick came over to play. We decided to make some flubber.Lots of glue+water+food coloring+a little borax+ and a little hocus pocus.
Et voila!! some gooey ooey yucky slimy stuff!
That when stuffed and kneaded in a small container--produces the most hilarious fart sounds. Listen closely, I think I caught some on video

Happy climbers

Patrick & Ronan in their first rock climbing class at our local rec center. So glad they offer this class in their age group. Ronan was complaining that the trees in our yard are too hard to climb and that he misses the trees in our front yard in Ocean Springs. I kinda miss seeing them climb those crepe myrtles in the winter too!
This week we had a couple of SUNNY afternoons and we headed to the park by our house. We love this new playground!!

Six Months Old

Oh yeah..that's right--I'm six months old. Where does the time go?" my mom always says. I'm thinking "aw, c'mon i'm ready to crawl and wrestle with my big brothers". We're getting settled here in our new home. There's lots of stuff for my mom to do still--lots of unpacking, uncluttering and putting stuff away to give to Goodwill. But at this time, I kinda want her to myself so she spends a lot of time playing with me, feeding me, changing my diapers, tickling me and cuddling with me. She's always wanting to put me to sleep though and I'm like "lady..I only want to nap two times a day!". Anyway, it's nice to be a little older. I'm eating lots of green peas, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes that my mom makes in her mini food processor. Love that stuff!! I also love stealing the spoon from her when she feeds me. I'm pretty "sturdy" now too--so when my brothers carry me and pass me around, my parents are not so freaked out. Big brother Ronan likes to carry me a lot. He's pretty good at watching me and keeping stuff that I'm not supposed to be chewing on. My brother Patrick is in school most of the day but when he comes home he likes to play with me. I love it when they're both on the floor just hanging out with me. I make them laugh when I make my farting sounds. My mom and I have been taking itsy bitsy yoga classes. It's pretty fun to see other babies in there--Daniel and I are the oldest ones and we manage to stay awake during class. Some of the babies fall asleep in the middle of class. When it gets a little warmer, my mom and I will take a baby and me swim class but for now we'll stick with yoga. I'm pretty good at "downward facing dog" asana. My cousin, Sean will be coming to visit us next month so I've been working on my crawl. He's close to my size so I can wrestle with him easily. My dad is very busy at work but he usually makes it home before I fall asleep at night. I like hanging out with him. He's a pretty good singer y'know. I'm still lucky to get to sleep and snuggle with my mom and dad. They have this thing called "the crib" that I'm supposed to be in but I prefer to be in their bed and frankly I think they like it. The crib however is a pretty good place to keep my toys and blankets. I almost forgot to mention that I think I've got teeth coming out soon. Yeah, they're irritating me so much so that sometimes I accidentally bite my mom while I'm eating. I know because she screams pretty loud when it happens. I'm sure my gums will be better once they're out. Hmm...something smells suspicious, I'm off to get my diaper changed. "Till next time! Hugs, and smooches Gabriel

Check out my precrawling skills and some yoga moves!

My dada helping me with my bath.

My mom's favorite time of the day.

Pine Wood Derby Race I

After creating "Speed King" with his dad, Patrick entered his first cubscout pine derby race. His car came 11th overall out of 48 cars..not bad for his first race. Jim missed the race as he was reporting in Travis for AF reserve assignment. It was a very exciting afternoon. The most creative car (I thought) was the one shaped like a Converse shoe.

The elusive smile

The one who used to be a ham in front of a camera is no longer a fan of the paparazzi. ... he must be in first grade, or maybe it was too early in the morning. I wanted to get a photo of him wearing his uniform and this is what I got.

A Valentine's Day card from Mrs. Grenz

Patrick's 1st grade teacher sent this cute Valentine card to all the kids and parents. The whole class' portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. Pretty cool!

Love to all !!

You know you have boys when

After dinner entertainment includes watching a captain underpants wrestling match

Habitat for Humanity--I mean the Dolans

On MLK weekend, June and Kiara flew up from SF for a quick visit and to dig me out of these boxes. It's been over 3 years since we've seen them and it was so nice to get together again as if no time has passed between us. Didn't think we'd get much unpacking done but June had a mission...to unpack the boys' stuff (hallelujah!)
I cannot believe how much TOYS we've accumulated over the years! TOOO much! To Goodwill a lot of them will go! Glad they're coming to pick up next week!
The cats were not the only one enamored with Kiara. Little Ronan was quite taken by her. He kept forgetting how to pronounce her name so he called her "the girl with the green shoes". The boys loved having her around especially because she's so great at playing with legos.
I wonder what Ronan was thinking in this photo. Patrick--classic 7 yr old mischief. Love it!


My parents came up also to help take care of Gabriel while we get settled. They've been so incredibly helpful! Keeping me sane amidst all the moving chaos.Gabriel is SOOO LOVING hanging out with them.

Thanks to our first guests on Lancelot Lane--our house is much warmer and feels like home...messy but warm!

Move-In day

Snow is beautiful but not during move-in day! The truck got stuck twice on the hill to get to the house. It took 11 hours for 3 hardworking guys to move everything from the truck to the house. Why they only had 3 people working to unload the stuff is beyond me. I have a lot of respect for the hard work movers do. And I wonder why I have too much stuff that should have been given to Goodwill long long time ago. I pause from unpacking tonight and enjoy watching the snow from the comfort and warmth of my kitchen--which has a built in desk perfect for my MacBook and me.

Adieu OS...for now

When your own husband comes home and says "hey, you haven't updated your blog!"--then it's really time to get back to it. I had been putting it off thinking, gosh..so much has happened, I don't know where to start. So, in the words of my old English teacher in college--just free write--write whatever comes to mind first and don't stop. As most of you know it's been quite an eventful last 3 weeks for my family. After four and a half years in Ocean Springs, we packed up our stuff for the big move. It was incredibly difficult to say goodbye to so many dear dear friends. I'm going to miss them so much-heck I miss them now!. Lila was so kind to open her home and she and Amy hosted a farewell potluck for me. It was an evening I'll remember for a long long time. Unfortunately ,the memory card with all the pictures taken from my camera got misplaced somewhere during the packing. I'll post photos from Cheryl's camera later...unfortunately there's no pix of Amy, Kristen,me and Lila singing Wii American Idol karoake. The actual packing, cleaning, and loading of our stuff went relatively smoothly --thanks to girlfriends again!! Thank you for feeding us, watching the kids and keeping us laughing and offering your homes for us to crash in. Our last evenings in Ocean Springs were happily spent with great friends--bonfire on the beach, backyard bonfire with the Barberis and relaxing at the Kahles and we even had time to lunch with the Browns at The Shed.

Our Christmas Wish

May you have a blessed Christmas and the true spirit of Christmas be with you throughout the new year!! Have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009!!


Holiday photo by Lisa Campbell

Duran Duran still hot hot hot

We counted the days to see Duran Duran live. They gave an awesome show after 20 or so years later since the first time I saw them. Kristen, Daralyn and I had a BLAST! Daralyn just about died everytime John Taylor had a solo while KK and I screamed for Simon. They played about 3 songs from their new album but the rest of the 2 hours, they played the old songs! Simon dedicated "Come Undone" to his mum who came along on this leg of the tour. The encore numbers--"Girls on Film" and of course the song that was played so much on MTV during its salad days -- "RIO!".

RIO !!!! Look closely--you'll see Kristen and Daralyn dancing and singing away.

Please please tell me now!! Is there something I should know!

What a FUN night!! Thank you Kristen and Daralyn! and a big thanks to SARAH for watching the kids!

Friday morning smiles

Can't get tired of waking up to this.

Elves at work

On the second day of advent, three little elves worked on building a gingerbread house. A tasty treat after caroling in a couple of weeks!

God our Father

"God our Father, God our Father, we thank You, we thank You. For our many blessings, for our many blessings. Amen. Amen"
Ronan's favorite meal blessing song just about says it all. So simple yet so profound. We are thankful for the blessings of good health, great friends and awesome families, not just on Thanksgiving but everyday.

A few friends and I got together and decided to have a "cooking strike". Diane organized and ordered turkeys and trimmings from a gourmet market in Mobile. When she picked the meal up on Wednesday, we had a itty bitty moment of panic thinking that there won't be enough food--seeing that we will have tweenies, and teens coming and we all know how much teenagers can eat! So we ended up cooking a little bit of something else. Turns out we had PLENTY of food, even if we didn't cook the extra green beans, potatoes and ham. The meal was delicious!! especially the fried whole turkey. The all time hit however is Diane's peanut butter trifle. It was so fantabulous that I refused to acknowledge exactly how many calories per serving. Jim flew in from Oregon to celebrate the holiday with us. I'm so glad he was here to share the feast with friends--our last big party in our Mississippi home.
As we were washing the dishes, Diane and I noted that she and her family were in our home in our first of many parties throughout the years here in MS. I am reminded of the many times holidays and dinners both planned and impromptu were held here. Friends who came and shared meals and laughter with us. I'm so glad that I took every opportunity to have them in our home. Their spirit linger in the nooks and crannies of this house that I never felt alone even when I'm by myself with the kids.

Hello Mr. Turkey! How are you?

Happy Thanksgiving from the Dolans !

And Ronan's pre-K class and the kiddos from FBEEC

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Dancing with da starz

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