Word of the day.... "Shit!"

The time has finally arrived. Yes, that is correct. Ashley has blurted her first naughty word. Rob blames it on me, but I stand strong that it is indeed he, who introduced her to the lovely word we all so comfortably use... Shit.

I just got home from Sam's Club with a ton of groceries. The kids helped me bring them in, and Rob was helping us put them away. Mind you, the refrigerator in this rental home is the perfect size for the Smurf's! I always have to re-organize the shelves in order to be able to fit our food in. Well, I was taking some left-overs out and accidentally dropped the container onto Rob's toes. On cue, Rob let out a big holler but didn't say our word of the day. No. You see, I think she has overheard this particular noun in other circumstances similar to this. Thus knowing that now would be a great time to express her ever expanding vocabulary. So Ashley helped Daddy out, and said "NOOOO, SHI-YIT!" It took everything in me not to laugh. Ash kept repeating herself, while Brendan was in the background giggling uncontrollably. Rob told B not to laugh, and then asked Ashley to stop saying that. I think she said it about 6 times!

Now we really need to watch what we say. She proved that her listening skills are up to par, just as well as her vocabulary!

RRROOOAAAHHHHH!!!!

What a nightmare. They continue to come from the trees, creeping onto the lawn and up to the ledge... eating our birdfood. We have finally given up. Those darned squirrels cannot be stopped! It has been going on since last fall. First it was just the one big guy, later dubbed "Psycho Squirrel." We had tried all winter to scare him away, banging Ash's little kitchen pots against the window, running out and hollering at him. Nothing seemed to faze him. It was as though he found it amusing; watching us from our living room screaming and banging on the window. We must have looked like such fools. He spread the word to his fellow squirrel, even expanding the population with some little ones this spring! They have all made their way to our feeder, feasting on it before our eyes. Some would creep up in the wee hours of the night and eat it down to the last specs of seed. I fell for it, thinking we could scare them away. I continued to fill the feeder, as I didn't want to deprive our beautiful collection of birds that had made that their location to feed. Blue Jays, Cardinals, Woodpeckers, Sparrows, it was amazing how many different species had found their way to our window. They were Ashley's birdies. And now the squirrels were trying to take that away from her. I can't have it, no.. I WON'T have it!



We borrowed a gun from Rob's buddy a couple weeks ago. The only problem being that we live in such a visual area. DeVos's in our backyard over the hill, their workers across the street, Brendan's school across the street, the trail running up our street, people driving by, our list goes on and on. How were we going to attack this monster. without being noticed? We decided to just take it in stride, and when the opportunity arose... we would be ready.



The first one we took out was, indeed, "Psycho." He was a fighter. We thought it would send a message to the rest of them. Instead, they seemed to team up and gather their kin. The next day our feeder was empty, and the front lawn was covered in squirrels, big and small! I decided to keep a little pot by my chair so that I could be ready to throw it at the window at any time. Brendan and Ash were always on the look out and would run to the window to yell at them and bang on it to try to scare them, but they were growing less and less fearsome of our antics. Another night we had cooked out on the grill, and there were about 5 of the little monsters in the tree in our backyard. Rob went for it, grabbed the gun and was able to take 2 more out. Again, they came back and ate the feeder down to its last seeds.



And now, here we are. Months and months of squirrels, eating our precious seed. Antagonizing my integrity. Pushing the limits. I have given up. I took down the feeder, and now our poor birds are flying up to the ledge and eating what's left of the seed along it. I can almost hear their tweets, asking us what they did to deserve this. It isn't them... It is those monsters. The squirrels.

1,2,3,4... FIVE!!

Ashley continues to shine in her ever-expanding vocabulary! The latest and greatest with her counting memory. Brendan, Nana and Ash have been conducting a Hide-and-Seek playtime nearly everyday they have been together, which involves counting to 10 when someone is hiding. We were in the car yesterday and Rob was counting to her about taking away the paci. He had gotten to 4, when she burst in with the number 5! It was such a delight, and a great reminder that though our little toddlers may not act as though they are always listening... they really do hear us!

She also loves to count her steps while she is walking down stairs, or jumping. It is a 1, 2, 3, JUMP!! Our future acrobat.

It could go all the way....

Tonight was the night. B-man hit his first home-run, bringing in three runs along with it! The team was definitely playing at the top of their game, which was a great way to end their "official" season. Play-off's start this Saturday according to team seedings.

It was the top of the 5th inning, runners on 1st and 3rd bases. As parents, we were glowing with pride watching our little men show their stuff! Brendan stepped up to the plate, tapped his bat three times, and waited for his pitch. The machine spit the ball out, perfectly set up for B's swing. He followed through, and it was outta here! The ball flew into center field, where the player was daydreaming and awoke to B's ball dropping to his left. That woke him up, but not in enough time to get the ball in. Brendan shifted his speed into high gear and ran those bases like there was no tomorrow.

The ball was thrown in to the catcher, who stood on the base but didn't follow through tagging Brendan. Therefore B's run was counted, making the score 22-1. Three Cheers for the Mighty Dragons!!!

Mrs. Clean

This was too good to pass up catching on the camera... and no I do not force cleaning on my children! They simply have the case of O.C.C.D. Otherwise known as obsessive compulsive cleaning disorder, which seems to run in the our family. ;-)

I have been cleaning all day, and I mean ALL DAY! Brendan and Ash have been the ultimate helpers, and once the mop came out Ashley knew exactly what to do. She wouldn't even share with B-man, it was all hers!

Ash is notorious for setting/clearing the table with Brendan and Daddy, along with unloading the dishwasher, laundry, loves to mop, and always ready to wipe up a little spill! Ahh. the life of a toddler! Have fun watching. This one's for you Nana!

FOR SALE!

It is time to clean house! If anyone knows of someone in need of an amazing car seat in excellent condition... Give us a call! This is a 2006 Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP car seat, that is accident free and in great condition. With the base being detachable, it allows the car seat to fit into most strollers, greatly easing the stress of having to carry it around.

We are open to offers, so feel free to email me at mmilligan4@hotmail.com.

Great Wolf Lodge 2009

Spring Break 2009 was a SPLASH! Nana Loughlin surprised Brendan and all of us with a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City, MI. We left on a blizzardy, Monday morning packed and ready to hit the waterparks! By the time we got there, all the tummy's were rumbling so first things first... We had lunch in the Lodge restaurant. The setting was super cool, and we later found out that the Magi Quest that Brendan did was connected throughout. He had a wand and was able to make certain animals or pieces react by pointing his wand towards them. Definitely had its pro's and con's, if you know what I mean. ;-)




Thankfully our room was already cleaned and ready for us at noon when we arrived, so we unpacked and left our suits ready for a quick change after lunch. We wasted no time getting down to the water park, and what a BLAST! Brendan was a super helper with Ashley and we all stayed in the munchkin swim area for the first bit to help her accustom to the setting.




Well, it certainly didn't take too long... Ash dove right in and made her splashes!! It was the water slides that she eventually fell for and we couldn't get her away from. That is in the video at the end of this blog. Too cute!

We took a little break when Daddy called and said he was coming. Ash was also needing a nap! The warmth of the room made ya' a little sleepy... so we all took a little breather waiting for Daddy's arrival.

Once he came, everyone seemed to have an energy burst... and it was off to the slides again!

We had one more meal in the Lodge's restaurant, the one where we discovered the Magi wand's
"secret" strengths. The food was yummy, but not nearly as good as the yummy stuff Nana packed for us from home!

Mr. Magi Quest. Brendan and Rob spent some 4 or 5 hours playing this the second day!!! I know, you should have seen how exhausted Rob was when they were done. Out of respect for Rob, I decided not to post that photo shoot! Brendan had so much fun, and would have kept plaing were it not for the fact that it was getting close to bedtime!

And we did not want to miss the bedtime story. The lodge has a special hour set aside for all the kids staying to come out in their jammies and be read a nighttime story by the entryway. They have someone who leads at the end with all the kids up howling like wolves... It got very loud! I added a short video clip of that at the end of the blog too. Enjoy, but adjust the speakers. :D

Here's B-man having a great time with one of his classmates, Maheen, and her brother. We ran into them in the waterpark, which made for some extra fun!

Nana and the kids by the fireplace at the entrance. The Lodge is decorated with lots of stuffed wildlife, which made for a fun adventure walk that night.

We were all getting pretty tired at this point. I don't know if I could have stayed for a whole week. Ashley became pretty water logged by the early afternoon of the second day. She didn't even want to play on the slides anymore! Brendan on the other hand would have been like the Energizer Bunny and kept going, and going, and going....

Brendan was very thankful for his Spring Break surprise, and we all had a spectacular time!

THANK YOU NANA!!!

Definitely a location to check out with the family.

Here's some video of different spots we were at... ENJOY!

May 3, 2009 was the day Brendan made his First Communion. He had been attending Faith Formation on Monday evenings since October at St. Roberts of Newminster, our new parish since moving to the Grand Rapids area. It is a beautiful church, right up the street from our rental in Ada, MI. Even more exciting since Brendan making his First Communion, was learning that we will be getting Fr. Len from St. Mary's in Spring Lake as our new priest in June! If you can remember, I attended St. Mary's from 6th through 8th grade as well as Brendan going there for kindergarten. So we are familiar with him and very much looking forward to him transitioning to our parish.



The mass was done very nicely, with the children sitting together in the first five rows. The parents were then in reserved seats behind them and we were able to follow Brendan up to the altar where he received his first eucharist from Fr. Lou. I think I ended up being more nervous than B, and a bit pre-occuopied making sure I got a few pictures! After the kids are done receiving their communion, we are supposed to get ours off to the side by another catechist... Rob had to remind me as I stood there looking unsure of what to do next. Only me!



Brendan didn't quite like the taste... as you can tell!




Fr. Lou was gracious and told the parents he would stay as long as he was needed... considering there were 75, count 'em, 75 communicants that day who would be wanting there photographs taken with him. Fortunately we snuck right up to the altar, making for a quick and painless process for us!





The day was beautiful! We were worried the rainy weather from earlier in the week would stick around, but thankfully the sun was shining brightly on this special day for Brendan. Here we are outside St. Roberts after the ceremony on a bench that sits along the walking path to the front entrance of the new church.






Brendan was very thankful for all the gifts he received!

He made a deposit into his savings account that week, making for a nice increase of funds. ;D











We ended the day with some yummy cake from Forest Hills Foods. They made delicious cupcakes and cakes, with absolutely delicious frosting. I am not usually one to eat the frosting, but on this cake... everyone makes an acception.

Brendan's First Communion went wonderfully and we couldn't be more thankful that he had such a great experience taking that step in his spiritual life. Now we hope to continue his appreciation of his Faith, and building his relationship with God.

Here's a little treat, with the kids singing a special song they worked on all year for this day!