Clara's 4th Birthday Party

We celebrated Clara's 4th Birthday with a costume party at our house. We had it in our front yard and front rooms (sometimes it pays to have not bought furniture yet). We had coloring, storytime, a slide and a pinata. This is what our front yard looks like for the party and what Clara's cake looked like (made by Gigi).


Here are some pics of the Birthday girl and her guests.



Here are some pics of Clara blowing out her candles.

Halfway Point in the Season

Connell's CYO Team is halfway through their season bringing their record to 3-1 with a heartbreaking loss to St. Pius. I wanted to update with some of my favorite pictures from the first half of the season. Connell's second game was against his dad's alma mater St. Dominic's. It was a special treat, because Mimi, Joseph, Henry and Aunt Dottie made the trip to watch. Connell was chosen as one of the captains of the game. Here are some pics of him during the coin toss.


The next two pictures are what I like to refer to as the stance and the huddle.


Even Ben has gotten into the action of being a football parent. Here are a couple of pics of him participating at games both as waterboy and chain boy.


The next picture is one I like to call trash tallking. I may never know what he is saying to this St. Ignatius kid, but I can only imagine.


Stay tuned for more exciting adventures in CYO Bantam Football.

Community Helper Week

The past two weeks were Community Helper Week at Connell and Clara's school. One day Connell had to dress up in a costume as a Community Helper. Both Connell and Clara liked the police officer costume the best. Unfortunately when Clara wore the costume she resembled another kind of community helper that we are really hoping she doesn't grow up to be.

Beginning of School Days

August 12th marked Connell's first day as a big first grader. He is loving school and really enjoying being a big first grader. Clara started at her new school on August 14th and has adjusted beautifully. She loves her new teachers and makes sure she gives lots of hugs everyday before she leaves for the day. Here are some pics from their first days.

Jamboree Day--September 6th

September 6th marked the kickoff of Connell's CYO football career. Jamboree Day was held at St. Dominic's school and Connell played two practice games. They beat both St. Dominic's and St. Ignatius. Here are some pictures from those games.

Are you ready for some Football?

Connell had his first official game on September 13th against Corpus Christi. They ended up winning 22-18. He is playing offensive line for the most part. He had to go to weigh in the other day and he weighed in at 60.5 lbs. He is playing for the 2nd grade team even though he is a first grader. Let's just say unfortunately for Auburn his game was much more exciting than their "victory" over MS State. Here is the rest of his schedule for those that might want to come watch.
Sept 20th--9:45 AM--McT Front Field vs. St. Dominics
October 4th--11:00AM--McT Front field vs. St. Pius
October 11th--9:45 AM--McT front field vs. St. Ignatius
October 18th--9:45 AM--McT front field vs. Corpus Christi
October 25th--8:30 AM--McT front field vs. St. Dominics
November 8th--9:45 AM--McT front field vs. St. Pius
November 12th--5:45 PM--at the Lip vs. St. Ignatius.

I will keep everyone updated with all the adventures in football. But for now here are some pics from the game.

Swimming Advances 2

Not to be outdone by big brother, Clara made significant strides in the pool this summer as well. In the beginning of the summer she was barely getting off the steps. Then she got brave and began jumping off the side into the shallow end. By the end of the summer she was jumping off the diving board and swimming to the steps and even a few times the length of the pool.