Our little Irish Superstar

Molly has been taking a competition class at Griffith since this fall and we finally got around to signing her up for her very first Feis.She was a little bit nervous but her best friend, Vanessa, was doing it with her so she took a deep breath and dug in! I know I'm her mom but she was truly amazing.her kicks were high, her toes were pointed,her arms were straight and she smiled like only Molly can. The entire time she danced she had a big grin on her face and looked like there was no other place on earth she would rather be! I loved watching her.

Molly and Vanessa headed off to their very first feis!

The girls were so excited!

Just before the girls went out to dance they got some last minute pointers from one of their teachers,Miss Jaimie! Let me tell you - at the feis - the teachers are more popular than New Direction!

Lining up for their dance!

My little Irish dancer!

Look at her beautiful smile - this is why we gladly spend the time and money for lessons, dresses and the feis. She gets so much joy from dancing!

The medal winners.Molly got two third place wins in the Slip jig and the Treble jig. The treble jig was the dance that Molly was most nervous about so the fact that she placed is pretty amazing!

I am so proud of Molly - as much as she loves dancing she was very unsure about competeing but she got out there and did her dances like a pro and she loved every minute of it.I love being Molly's mom!

We were at the feis until after 5 but we still managed to have some Superbowl fun with the family!

Papa has his hands full!

Daddy and Molly!

Papa and Ellie watching the game!

Kk and Brian in their matching sweatshirst! So cute!

It has been an exhausting day so I am off to bed but we have a few fun weekends coming up so stay tuned!

GNM- ILY!



Just some updates!

I'm having trouble getting motivated to blog lately - we have defintely hit the doldrums of winter where we have to work hard to find things that make us want to even go outside the house. The kids have had a few early release days which is always a nice way for us to get some extra time with them. Unfortunately it was more ice than snow so the little girls didn't get to play outside much but we made do. Thanks to some advice from a friend we "rewarded" the kids by taking the cable out of our house. We had always had the policy of no TV or electronics during the week but somewhere along the way we lost track of that so Bob and I took the reigns back and decided we need more family time and les time in front of the TV. We have spent lots of time playing games, playing cards and sitting in front of the fire doign crafts. I could not be happier but the kids are dying for cable back

Daddy brought home tinker toys that someone at Haiti's Back Porch gave him and they loved them. Bob lit a nice big fire and we spread them out and built.....well, we didn't really build anything because we stunk at making things but we had fun!

My beautiful girl - everytime I look over at Molly it seems like she has grown up even more!

Our friend, Alicia, does Ellie's hair and she got a brand new style this week with barrettes and pony tails - she loved it and so did I!

My beautiful girl ready for some snow!

We ended up heading down to Ikea on Sunday afternoon and then using Bob's soda can money to have dinner at Friendly's - we had a blast!

My almost teenager son!

ON Monday after having an early dismissal day the girls got dressed up for a fashion show and some "mommy" time! They love their babies!

The twins dancing - I love those smiles!

Ellie was dressed as a Daddy -Molly took care of her costume!

Annie was dressed in a "ball gown" although her hair looks like a rats nest - she needs some Grammy TLC on that mop!

Annie Bananie taking care of the hair thing!

Ellie's mad Daddy face - Bob did not love this one!

Lizzie loves getting into her dance clothes and picking out what she is going to wear on Wednesdays for dance class!

Mommy and Daddy kissing goodnight!

I love Lizzie's face in this one!

The joys of having four girls - non stop fashion shows, dance parties and house playing -sometimes all at the same time!

Annie wanted to be the Daddy but then her baby needed to nurse!

Sweetest face in the world.

Ellie got out of her Daddy garb and posed for me for a while - she was so cute!

Silly girl

Molly is competing in the Shamrock Dance Academy feis this weekend and we finally made it to Farmington to pick up her Griffith Academy dress. She looks beautiful in it even though she refused to put her gillies on so we could see the full affect!

Can you tell that Molly was annoyed to be posing for me??

The cape is the finishing touch!

Happiness is having Katie every Tuesday - Lizzie and Ellie could not be happier!

Cousins!!

I promise to write more the next time but for now I am having trouble keeping my eyes open!

GNM - ILY!

Update

I just wanted to give everyone a little update on Annie's big appointment with the ENT. Bob and I have been very concerned about Annie because we are noticing and getting reports that she appears to not hear well. We have been going back and forth with the ENT trying our hardest to clear out the infection so we could decide what to do but even when her ears are not infected poor Annie has so much fluid behind her ear drums that she has almost a complete hearing loss in one ear and a partical hearing loss in the other ear.

We finally had our audiologist appointment on friday and they discovered that although the messages get from her ears to her brains there is a lack of sound getting through to her ear. Easily fixed by putting tubes in her ears. This is all kind of funny because Annie was scheduled twice for tubes in her ears and both times the ENT said it was a no go because of the shape of her eustacian tubes. The difference now is that the tubes won't be used to get rid of infections but instead to act as a drain for the fluid build up. The bad news is Annie needs more surgery. The amazing news is that the second she awakes from surgery she will hear 100% better. The surgery is as painful as getting your ears pierced so it is really the anesthesia that presents any danger and since Annie has been under general anesthesia once before we feel confident that she will do just great. She earned herself a couple of days home from school and alot of ice cream - not because she will need the ice cream but because she is such an easy going kid about everything. The doctor was going on and on trying to explain to her how it doesn't hurt and it wouldn't take long and Mommy can be with you the whole time and Annie held up her hand and asked if she could have ice cream after. When he said yes she said, "Okay - let's do it!" In the car she had lots more questions about who might come and visit her after and how long she could be out of school and if Papa and Grammy could come with us to the hospital. She's a trooper this kid but she certainly isn't going to let the chance for some extra attention get past her!

February 25th is the scheduled surgery date and we love Dr. Grindle. I would love to take a picture of him because he legitimately looks like he is 15 years old. He was very good with Annie and all we care about is whether he knows ears!

We had a couple of hours free this morning so we decided to take a family trip down to see the beach house. Papa has sent us pictures and told us how much sand there was but we still hadn't seen for ourselves. There's a LOT of sand!

The kids thought it was great fun to be at the beach house in the winter. When we were walking back to the car along the beach Annie came running back to Bob and I and asked "What are we going to do next year?" We both asked what she meant and she quickly replied, "What are we going to next year when you run out of the most fun ideas to do on the weekends?" Even our little princess with the sensitive ears just loved being on the beach, running around and seeing a bit of the sun!

Luckily we were able to park in the public beach parking lot because you can't get in the driveway. The kids were amazed to see all the sand and the beach is almost gone. You can now look stright from the porch and see the water.

King of the hill. When we got home Peter had a basketball game and did awesome. He is finally getting the hang of playing defense so he had a bunch of blocks, 10 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists. He plays on the best team ever - made of wonderful coaches (Patrick is one of them) and really great kids who are encouraging and loving. I am always amazed at how affirming the kids are when they could easily be out for themselves. I'm so happy for Peter that he got to play this year and with this particular team!

Peter wanted me to take a picture of them jumping - I siggested next time they stand on something more than 5 inches offf the ground but anytime I get my five critters in a picture I'm okay with it!

Guess who did NOT love the cold?? Ellie could not get past the fact that she was freezing. Then when she figured out that we weren't going into the beach house and Grammy was NOT there either she was just MAD! I guess we should have been clearer with her but it was kind of funny to see the realization come over her - then she stood and pouted until our neighbor came over with his dog and offered them all hard candy!

The sand on the beach is packed hard so we could walk all along the shoreline no problem. Lizzie did ask at one point if I brought their bathing suits but I didn't feel the need to answer.

It was 20 degrees on the beach with a pretty strong wind coming off the ocean but the littles could not stop running and playing. They love the beach no matter what the weather is!

When we were getting in the car Lizzie asked if I was going to make them take a shower because they always take a shower after they play on the beach!! Love it!

This is just a random picture of Lizzie after she came into the kitchen and asked if she looked beautiful. Bob and I said that of course she did and she left saying - "I know but it took me alot of work to make my hair look this beautiful." 10 minutes later the three little girls were back in dress up clothes and changing hairstyles again - I'm pretty sure this is our life from now on! Hair, Make-up, clothes, perfume, lip gloss, bubble baths - I love every minute of it!

GNM - ILY!