Friday at Park Square

Ahhh!  Friday and 70 degrees in March!  Time to head to Park Square, thanks to my friend Julie, who knows how lousy I am at leaving my house.  :)

First Claire snuck in the water, then Audrey and her friend Connor and so I couldn't really say no when Olivia asked, could I?  :)  After they were done, I insisted they go back in for a dip so I could get some pictures.

NO MOMMY!  It's too cold!!!!!!  

Alright, but I'm going to pose! 

Let's go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's Connor.

And here's Audrey, not posing or trying to
look cute AT ALL.  ;-)

And then, my very favorite photos of the day.  Claire is being potty trained at her school.  I'm not so great at it at home.  So today, when I picked her up and took her straight to Park Square, surprise!  She had an accident.  But she was also playing in the water, so we went to the big girl potty, took off our panties and went about our day.  Claire's favorite thing to do at Park Square is to run as fast as she can around and around this ledge.

But she was wearing a size 3T skirt (one of Olivia's favorites from the year when she would only wear skirts) and it was a WEE big!  








And I couldn't stop snapping!

Love the butt crack.  Such an odd statement, but it's true.  :)










Gotta go run some more!!!!!

Hey Everybody! This is my GrandDad!!!!

Claire, while being the most "two" 2 year old I've ever parented, is also the most chatty and funny 2 year old I've parented when she's not locking the door to my bathroom and causing havoc with my make-up and perfume.  (She's fortunate she's so sweet in between the um, episodes.)

Mick and Tom have been getting all of the girls off the past two days, heading to mass in between getting the big girls to elementary school and the little girls to their "school."  Yesterday, Tom was quite amused by Claire, who LOVES her school and everything and everyone about it, announcing his arrival.

"Hey!  Everybody! This is my Granddad!"  Her friends didn't take much notice at first, so she started calling them out by name.  "Stephanie! Nicholas! Nathan! Giovanni!  THIS IS MY GRANDDAD!  MY GRANDDAD IS HERE!"  To which they gathered to meet the illustrious Granddad. 

I made sure they took the camera this morning.  :)

Oh and on the March Madness front, be a little careful with Mick this morning.  You might want to avoid the words "one and done" and "Texas."  And while I committed a marital sin and had Texas losing the first round in our pool, I took Georgetown to win it all.  A friend told me on Facebook that he appreciated that I was rooting for the Jesuits, but even God goes with KU and Duke at tourney time.  :)

Baseball and Steak

Mick's Dad is visiting us for a Baseball Extravaganza Tour!  They are going to two games today, two games tomorrow, one on Saturday and the final on Sunday. 

Today at the Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays game (in Dunedin, near Clearwater), Mick was gifted a foul ball caught by the 1st base coach because, in Mick's words, "He saw my glove and there were no kids around."  Tom said it was a pretty cheesy way to get a foul ball, but another MLB ball nonetheless!  :-0

They're on their way for steak for dinner (shocking, I know), then tonight will see the Rays at the Yankees (in Tampa).  Tomorrow is the Red Sox at the Pirates (in Bradenton) at 1:05 then the Orioles at the Phillies (in Clearwater) at 7:00.  Some sort of fish in between.  That darn Lent.  :)  Saturday they are taking Audrey to the Phillies at the Tigers (in Lakeland) and then either the two of them or the three of us are going to Bern's, Tampa's greatest restaurant, for some more, you guessed it, steak.  Sunday is the Mets at the Astros (in Kissimmee) and then we're going to have, wait for it, steak for dinner. 

Mick is ALWAYS in charge of Sunday dinner and 9 times out of 10 it is steak, potatoes, bread and salad.  :)  Mary Frances and Judy sent us a big box of Omaha Steaks as a get well gift for Gigi so we'll be breaking those out for Tom.  :)

All in all, I think it's a dream Father/Son weekend! :)  Welcome Granddad!!!!!!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!!!!!

I must admit that twas the night before St Patrick's Day and Mommy was tired and Daddy was drafting his Fantasy March Madness team.  But the girls couldn't be dissuaded and still made two traps!

Here is Olivia's.  Shiny beads and lots of green!

And Audrey made one too.   :)

I was impressed with Audrey for her trap and also her behavior this morning.  We were laying in bed and I told her to get up and get going and she whispered, "I have to pee really bad, but Olivia hasn't seen the green potties."  Good Big Sister Points!!!!!

Audrey's trap was adorable.  The post-it says "Lucky Sticklers Dance Studio" and then there's the dance floor, with a shiny gold arch anchored by some aluminum foil.  There's round scotch tape links around the paper where she can catch him like a kindler, gentler mouse trap and then some glue too.

And here's my Olivia all dressed up.  We love our goose!  (She gets changed every month.)

And here's my naughty Leprechaun, Claire!  :)  Last night we started a sticker (incentive) chart for motivation for her staying in bed because losing my temper and yelling doesn't seem to be working.  She was fired up for it, but it didn't work instantly, to say the least.

I went downstairs to help the Big girls with their traps and she went into our room (I had taped the door handle in her room so she couldn't lock it), locked OUR door (not locking doors is one of the things on the chart), got down my pretty gold plate display of perfume and proceeded to experiment.  At least it smelled pretty!

She was able to put two stickers on her chart this morning (not going downstairs and falling asleep, although it could have been a lot sooner, I gave that one to her), but not four (she missed staying in bed too), so she didn't get a treat this morning.  Perhaps tonight she'll get four?  

Claire with her fabulous teacher Miss Sara, who is  potty training her without much, if any, help from me and her friends Emerson and Stephanie.  It's SO CUTE to see the whole world, and especially a huge bunch of kids, in green!  :)

Claire's class is having a St Patrick's Day party with green grapes, green punch, etc.  :)  I'm looking forward to green poop soon!  ;-0

And here's my sweet Gigi with her green collar.  This is one of her fabulous teachers, Miss Molly.  It is the NICEST daycare I've ever seen and she probably gets held more there than when she is home.  (If you know how much I love to hold my babies, you will know what a LARGE amount of time they must hold her!)  :)

I didn't have makeup on this morning yet, so no pictures of me!

Mick's Dad is coming in tonight and we have quite a feast planned, so more pictures and stories later!  :)

Many, many traps in my office, St Pat's 2009

The Higgins' stayed with us last year over St Patrick's Day while they were househunting for their impending move to Fishhawk and Audrey and Casey set many, many traps up in my messy, messy office!  :)


Casey and Audrey try to trap Paddy

St Patrick's Day 2009 and the Lochness Monster

We had these delightful pictures taken last March.

I had this idea to get these shirts and wanted a picture by the one of the ponds with the Lochness Monster looming in the background.  To which Audrey replied, "MOM!  The Lochness Monster is in Scotland!"

So many cute ones of the girls.  Here's Audrey.  Almost 10 years old.

Here's Olivia.  5 1/2 years old.

And here's Sweet Claire.  (Before she got as ornery as a leprechaun!)  21 months old.

And Mick being so proud of his handsome dog Spike.  He's 5 1/2.  :)

My favorite story of the day is Claire's emerging personality.  She sees Audrey get on her Daddy's shoulders here.

  And then Claire absolutely claws up my body to get on my shoulders as quick as you can say monkey see, monkey do!

But to further clog this blog with pictures demands another story.

Mick proposed to me on December 22nd and we went back to our favorite bar, Barry O's in the Old Market (Omaha), to celebrate with our friends. As I recall, we bought champagne for everyone (even those we didn't know) and they made an announcement and good fun was had by all.

At one point I was behind the bar (days before cell phones) calling my Mom and Dad or someone, telling them the good news.

I was wearing a very festive Christmas sweater (which I adored,as I recall it had ornaments for buttons, very fashionable!) and some guy at the bar asked me "Were you wearing that when he proposed?" When I nodded yes, he replied "HE MUST REALLY LOVE YOU!' :)

I think you'll agree that yes, Mick must really love me! :)

So, Happy St Patrick's Day from the Wagoner Leprechauns!

Ghost of St Patrick's Day Past - 2004

When Audrey was in kindergarten, we learned about the importance of leprechaun traps! 

Our camera only took 30 second videos at the time, so here we go.   I would say only Grandparents and Great Aunts are probably up for viewing all of the videos!  :)

Waking Audrey Up and Having Her Check Out the Trap

Following the Trail of Lucky Charms

I think we just missed him!

The Note Paddy Left

He Turned the Potty Green!!!!!

More Green Water

My favorite is when Audrey yells, "MOM!  THE TOILET IS GREEN AGAIN!" in the last video.  :)

A fond, fond memory of later that morning is having our 5 year old little girl, who doesn't miss a thing, remark that the change that was in the ziploc bag in our bedroom looks like it has less money in it.  And she thinks we went through the Lucky Charms box and took out all of the marshmallows.  And the only thing she thinks is real is the note Paddy left us.  I responded with, "REALLY?  You think I have the time to go through a box of Lucky Charms and take out the marshmallows and make a trail?" 

Ghost of St Patrick's Day Past - 2001

This is such a fun holiday!  I love St Patrick's Day.  Maybe it's because I'm married to a real live Mick and maybe it's the years of hanging out at Barry O's, but I think this is one of the most fun holidays!  :)

 One of my fondest memories is St Patrick's Day 2001 in Camp Pendleton.  Mick came home from work and we had corned beef and cabbage and we played Irish music and he danced with our little girl and I remember thinking I was so happy that my heart could quite possibly burst.  I went to bed early that night (tax season) and was awakened around 9:30 or so (it was a Friday) by bagpipes.  A few friends had been at the Officers' Club, 3 doors down (they should name a band that) and had enlisted the help of a few of their friends who played the bagpipes and marched through "Snobby Acres" (the Major/Lt Col/Col housing area that we lived in).  I came out in my robe and watched giggling while our two friends, who had had a few Guinness that evening, stood wavering at attention while the bagpipers played the Marine Corps Hymn.

Mick hopped on the bagpipe bandwagon and I went to back to bed and I could hear them, in the distance, for the next several hours, stopping to play the Marine Corps Hymn each time someone came out of the house.  Such a great memory!

Marine Corps Hymn on Bagpipes

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Winefest was this weekend at Park Square Wine Cellar here in Fabulous Fishhawk.  We made the most of it and went both days.

Mick is always hard for me to find when we get separated.  I mean, there are so many people with a fez on.

I'm wearing my wine glass necklace that Amy gave us Burnet Commons Babes for our girls' weekend a few years ago.  It is such a conversation starter.  I wish I knew where to buy them!  People LOVE it!

We'll miss this when we move!

Fun St Patrick's Day Crafts and Recipes

Family Fun is the best place when you want fun ideas, crafts and recipes for holidays.

St Patrick's Day Fun Ideas from Family Fun

And here's several pictures of Leprechaun traps if you need some inspiration!  :)

Leprechaun Trap Photos

Leprechaun Traps

All of the kindergarteners were assigned the task of making leprechaun traps!  Leprechauns like shiny things, green things and gold things and Olivia, Mick and I put hers together this weekend. 

He will be enticed by the beautiful rainbow and gold coins atop the shiny package and will climb up the ladder that leads to the trap door, disguised with tissue paper!  :)

Olivia's friend Lauren made hers very sparkly and used a toilet paper roll as faux slide lure.

I hope they catch one!!!!!!!!  :)

Mick sees Skynyrd

Mick got to be the third wheel on a Higgins date night to the Plant City Strawberry Festival which is basically a county fair but the diff was legendary native Florida and legendary Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd was playing. To see Skynyrd in "rural" Florida is about as cracker as you can get so I thought I should see this extravaganza. It was quite the show on many levels.  On the good side, one can forget how many famous songs these guys, or the original guys plus 46 years, yes 46 years later this band is still going with one "original" member have put out. The encore of course was Freebird, and they actually rocked it pretty hard and it was pretty good on the guitar part.  Now the reasons why I probably won't see them again.

  It started when they invited the crowd to join them in Orlando in a month or so when they host a fund raiser for the troops with special friends Sean Hannity and Oliver North. This was quickly followed by their newest single, "God and Guns" hint, they like both. Then during "Gimme three steps" the lead singer went backstage for what I thought was a beer, I was wrong, he came back with a confederate battle flag on his mic and then the battle flag game up on the background for Sweet Home Alabama.

Hey I get it, they are from the south, but as an American, it was over the top. I think I was the only person in the crowd who voted for Obama. I'm a bit surprised they didn't call me out in the crowd of 6000 or so, that and the only person of color I saw was a Plant City cop, who I don't think volunteered to work the show.

I can say I heard Freebird but I don't need another encore.

Claire, Little Big Sister Extraordinare

We worried TERRIBLY about Claire being dethroned as the baby before Gigi was born, but she has really embraced her new role.

If she hears her crying in her crib, she will fly up the stairs, knock open the door and climb into her crib, all the while yelling, "MY BABY SISTER IS CRYING!!!!!!!!" As you can imagine, this is a big help to her Mother. 

But who can resist such a pretty sister?  :)

Not Claire!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gigi - 4 1/2 months

A few weeks ago, when my Mom and Dad were here, we got the crib moved into our room and Gigi was able to graduate from the pack 'n' play into her real bed!  :)

We even bought her a new mobile, which she loves!  :)  When she was in the Children's Hospital a few weeks ago, they put a similar mobile in her hospital crib and she was just captivated.

The blanket that she is laying on was her birth gift from Aunt Katy and Uncle Dario and funny enough....it's from a company of a high school friend of Aunt Nico's called http://www.fillintheblankie.com/  They are such beautiful blankies!  :)  LOVE IT!

Just to keep you informed, that little bump that you see above her left eye has been there, growing a bit, since she was a few weeks old and the doctor initially said we should go to a dermatologist sometime, but to wait a bit, and now, at her 4 month check-up, she has said that it will probably need plastic surgery.  Both Gigi's regular pediatrician and the one who saw her in the hospital said that they probably won't want to take it off until she's a year or older, but we are going to have a consult with a plastic surgeon this month.  If they recommend waiting, then we will most likely need to be flown to Hawaii to have it done as they don't do things like that at our base and they would rather have us with American doctors than in the Japanese hospitals out in town.  We will keep you informed, of course!

She is such a sweet, pleasant baby and we, of course, can't imagine life without our little Gigi! :)

Her name is Gigi!

In one of the "Your Baby This Week" e-mails that we received the last week or so we were told that our little four month old will soon know her name.

Enter Mick, about a minute ago, flipping on the light in the dark room while I typed with Gigi on my lap and said, "Gigi, your Mom is trying to make you go blind before you can read." (Which, by the way, is a total wives' tale.  Did they have worse eyesight in the days of candlelight?  I don't think so....not that I actually researched it, but it sounds good.)  And our little babbler looked up at him!  She started to play with my bracelet and he again called her name and she looked up at him again!

Beautiful and a genius! Lucky number four!  :)

Saturday night mass, bunnies and Jesus

Since my most fervent desire right now is to sleep in on the weekends, Audrey, Claire, Gigi and I went to the 4:00 mass today while Mick and Olivia were at a birthday party.

All the girls were really good or as I told Audrey, Claire was really good considering she is two....and Claire.

Waiting to go up for communion, the baby was getting a little fussy and Claire shook her (special) bunny at her and made Gigi smile.  It was really the sweetest thing!  Audrey had been pointing out the word Jesus in the hymnal to Claire and when we stood up to go to communion, Claire, very proud of herself for making her baby sister smile, announced proudly "My bunny talks to Jesus!"

A holy bunny indeed!  We knew it was special, but we had no idea!

Mick's First Half Marathon

Mick ran his first half marathon on Sunday with a bad ankle (sprained in a few weeks ago in a 10K race), but did well.  He ran 2:06.39 for a per mile time of 9:39.  He wants to do another one to break the 2 hour mark.

Way to go, Mick!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOO TEXAS!

Claire is such a funny little girl.  Whenever she sees ANY sport on television and someone gets excited about it she yells "GOOOOOOOO TEXAS!!!!!!!!!  HOOK 'EM HORNS!"

As an example, this weekend we were watching the Olympic gold medal hockey game between USA and Canada.  When Mick shouted in excitement when USA scored a goal with 24 seconds left to tie the game she yelled "GOOOOOOOOOOOOO TEXAS!"

Mick had run his first half marathon that morning and had come home with his "finisher" medal around his neck.  So, further charming us, when the medal ceremony was going on for the hockey game, she yelled excitedly, "DADDY!  THEY GETTING MEDAL LIKE YOU!" and fetched his medal from the table and had him bow down and she put it on his neck.

She's our little girl with the curl.  When she is good, she is very, very good, but she is bad she is horrid!"  Luckily, she's mostly good!  :)

Audrey's Lenten Promise

Audrey called me from the school office this morning and asked me to bring her lunch that was sitting on the counter.  I told her to just eat hot lunch and she said, "I gave it up for Lent." 

This is her first year giving something up and I can thank our friends the Higgins as they have been the ones (mostly) getting her to church on Sunday mornings since, sadly, I have given up sleeping for the time being due to my sweet Gigi and I just cannot seem to get motivated to get out of the rack on Sunday mornings. 

So, I was charmed by her commitment, although still puzzled why hot lunch was an extravagance and went and got her a Taco Bell cheesy bean and rice burrito to secretly replace the jelly sandwich and took it to her. 

I called Mick when I got home and he said that she told him that she was giving it up to save money and she figures she has already saved $60 by now.  But she confessed that one day she was still starving so she had her friend Julia go buy her some French fries.  Which made me laugh hysterically and I'll definitely reimburse Julia's Mom today when I see her. 

Love that little girl and the 10 year old loopholes!