Winter/Spring 2017

This post is incredibly overdue, but....life.  The semester is over and I find myself with time to take care of things on the back burner.  One of those things was updating this blog, so here we go:

January

Seamus was taking drum lessons this year.  He loved the lessons but didn't love to practice.  We have since decided to "take a break" from lessons, but we will see how that goes.  I'm kind of hoping he will want to pick it back up this summer.

Ok, I want to just say that (although I know it's just a matter of time before this changes) my 5 year old son thinks the only bad words are "shut up" and "oh my god." He whispered them to me. How is this possible?!? To be clear, he knows a lot of bathroom words (e.g., pee, poop, and "nuticles") and knows they are not to be used outside of the bathroom. But he thinks these are the only inappropriate adult phrases. Lol

February

Snow day!  Actually, we had a lot this winter.

March
We busted out Jim's game of Battleship.  Hit!

 St. Patrick's Day means it's Josie's birthday!!!!  Mom and Dad were up for a visit, so we all got decked out for the requisite birthday photo before cake. 

 Science class was in session.

April

Jim is always bugging me to post photos of the quilts I make.  Our dear friend, Erin, was having a baby shower, so I made this for her.  She is so dear to our heart and Eve just loved her so much!

We live in an incredible community that celebrates art.  We spent this weekend celebrating and enjoying this gift.  These three shots are from Mass MoCA (the first two are in the Nick Cave exhibit).  Seamus took the one of Jim.

The next day we went to The Clark (Art Institute).  This museum is my favorite.  It was the last day of a Japanese Art exhibit and they had drawing stations for guests.

In April, MCLA participated in the Dear World Campaign College Tour.  It was a really interesting endeavor and I learned so much about students, friends, and coworkers.  Here is my portrait:

 On April 8th, I began driving again!!!  I drove around the block by myself and cried.  What an emotional and taxing 6 months it had been.  I truly am enjoying my freedom. 

We had a quiet birthday celebration for me.  As always, here is JoJo in a hat:

May
Seamus and I finally finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone together.  To celebrate, we watched the movie together!!  Well, half of the movie...little ones get bored easily.  What did I do wrong!?!?! :)  

At the end of the semester, I was shocked to receive the Faculty Appreciation Award from the graduating class at MCLA.  What an honor!!

 As the weather warms up, it is grill season.  Yesterday, I had one of my dreams come to fruition:  I made a mini meal!!  I've always wanted to do this and have thought what fun it must be for a kid to have a meal in tiny portions.  I started slow and basically made sliders with shoestring french fries. 

 We finished that off with mini cupcakes!!

Well, I am looking forward to a wonderful summer with lots of time with Seamus.  Speaking of him, he comes out with some real gems that keep us laughing.  Here are a few with the dates he said them:

 

4/2 "When I get older I'm going to get a pet mouse and name him Mr. Fatty."

4/14 Overheard from the bathroom, "Daddy, let me do my hair. I'm good at it. I can make it stylish."

5/8 "Mommy, if you quit your job and start a band, call me. I'll be your singer."

Holidays

We had a nicely drawn out holiday season that stretched into January.

On Christmas Eve we went for a hike in Hopkins Forrest with some friends.  It's an annual tradition that just makes my heart so happy.  Additionally, one of Eve's dear friends spent time with Seamus instead of his own friends.  This kid has a heart of gold.  

 Christmas was quiet with just the three of us.

 Jim's folks and Scott came for New Year's weekend.  It was so great for Seamus to spend lots of time with his grandparents and uncle.  They spoiled him rotten!!

 The requisite Hess truck photo:

 Even Josie had a lovely Christmas.

 One of the benefits of having grandparents visit is that they are happy to babysit.  Jim and I were able to sneak out to the movies to see Rogue One. 

 Jim and I rarely go to the movies together, so this was wonderful.  It was particularly emotional following the death of Carrie Fisher.  Here's a photo of me from Halloween in 1979.

 After the new year we were able to drive down to see my parents in NJ.  It was a lovely time and we had lots of fun. 

And now, it's back to work.  My classes started last week, and I'm happy to be back.  I'm teaching a new class this semester (Cinema and the Psyche) that I am very excited about.  I'm also less than 8 weeks away from driving again.  I hope that time goes incredibly swiftly. 

Professional Photos

Here are the photos from our annual photo shoot with Carrie.  As always, she did an amazing job!!!

Ah, where has the time gone?  Things have been quite busy, so I am a bit behind on the blog.  On the whole, we are doing well with small speed bumps along the way.  The seemingly never ending kitchen renno has made lots of progress.  We now have a fully functioning kitchen and Jim is finishing the smaller details and trim work.  I am soooooo happy to be able to cook and bake again.  He has worked very hard on this.  He also replaced the patio door, which was no easy task.  We had a broken outer glass pane, so this really needed to be done before winter set in.  In October, I had a tonic clonic seizure and have since been diagnosed with epilepsy.  I'm not allowed to drive until the spring and have been put on medication to prevent further seizures.  It's working, and I am working on accepting my loss of independence.  I am so grateful for our wonderful friends and community.  People are incredibly helpful and I couldn't do it without them.  I am finding this holiday season incredibly tough.  I guess I mistakenly thought the first would be the worst.  Grief is a tricky thing.  I miss Eve with all of my heart.

Here are some pictures of our Fall and Winter.  I will post kitchen pictures when Jim finishes the trim work.

Here is Seamus in his school picture:

 This is his Halloween costume:

 Here we all are.  I am wearing my Freudian slip. 

 Baking Jim's birthday cake:

 Christmas tree cutting with the Daly family: