Meeting Derek and Madelyn

Evan and I had a great day today visiting the Wheeler's. We were excited to meet the twins, Madelyn and Derek, who were born in February, and excited as always to see Dylan and Michelle. It was a relatively low-key visit...as low-key as it can get with a 2-year old, a one-year old and two 4 month olds. All of the kids were very well-behaved and happy. Michelle and I even had a good chance to catch up while Dylan napped. We will definitely have to plan more play dates and maybe even Daddy and Mike will be able to join us sometime!

Little Helper

Evan loves to help! He likes to be right where we are and will help us do just about anything. Sometimes he doesn't understand why we don't let him help do things like take something out of the oven or use the scissors. Here are a few photos of some of his favorite ways to help us.

Helping daddy touch up paint

Like this, right, Dad?

Helping mommy dust

Helping daddy mow the lawn

Don't be fooled by the photos though...Evan's favorite thing to help with is making a MESS!

What Does a _____ Say?

Evan knows lots of animal sounds and will often perform for us. He knows dog, cat, duck, cow, monkey, pig, and elephant. The problem is that we can never capture it on video. Here are a few attempts.

Attempt #1: Tight lipped and beeping

Attempt #2: Not interested in performing

Attempt #3: Ruff, ruff

Attempt #4: The best performance to date

Attempt #5: Coming soon to a theater near you!

Keaney's Birthday

Today Evan and I went to Keaney's fourth birthday party while Daddy stayed home to get some much needed yard work done. It was a great celebration with a bounce house and a kiddie pool and lots of kids running around the yard. It was fun to watch Evan's independence as he toddled through the yard on his own through a crowd of people he mostly didn't know. I found it difficult to take too many pictures as I had my hands full just keeping track of Evan. Happy birthday, Keaney!

Abby's Four!

Today we went to the birthday party of one special little girl! Abby turned four and had a wonderful party complete with lots of kids, tons of presents, and loads of fun! Happy birthday, Sweetheart!

Among Friends

Five Boys!

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! If there is one thing that the WPI Girls are good at, it is having boys! There are currently six little boys with another one on the way. Today we had a play date with four of these boys. It was fun and full of energy. Imagine what it will be like when the three littlest ones are running around too!!

The Pool is Open!

After a wet, cool spring and a delayed start to summer, the pool is open!! Believe it or not, today was our first day poolside this season...definitely a late start but better late than never! Papa is still busy getting everything completely set up and ready but his yard looks really nice. Let's hope that July and August are especially nice so that we can enjoy all of his hard work! I didn't get any pictures of Evan swimming (not enough hands) but we did have fun both in and out of the pool today.

Daddy and Me!

The preparation for this father's day started earlier in the week with some finger painting. We didn't have any actual finger paint on hand so we made our own with corn syrup and food coloring. Evan painted three beautiful pieces of abstract art and was covered head to toe in corn syrup. Thankfully he was just in a diaper and needed a bath anyway!

We had a lazy morning together with lots of QT for the boys. Evan helped daddy open his gifts and played and laughed while mommy made breakfast (pancakes and bacon...yum!) After that the boys got buzz cuts on the deck. Evan's hair was shorter than I expected it to be but he still looks mighty cute! I know one little guy who loves his daddy and one big guy who is a wonderful daddy! Happy Father's Day, Bruce! We love you!

Father's Day

All of the dad's decided that they would rather go out than cookout today. Even though it was a beautiful cookout kind of day, I guess I can't really blame them. Be waited on or wait on? The choice is an easy one especially on Father's Day. So we all (Papa & Gramma, Grammy, Bumpa, Uncle Dan, Auntie Karin, Danny, Sean and the three of us) went to Fitzy's in Plainville. A perfect place to go, especially with Danny who brought all six of his Fitzy's along! We had a great lunch and then went back to Papa and Gramma's house for some dessert and an afternoon of fun with three little boys. A nice relaxing day for everyone! Happy Father's Day!

Summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime!

Today was a fun (almost) summer day spent with the Cenotti's that included a trip to the playground, lunch on the deck, and some late afternoon swimming! Plus, all three kids napped at once so Amelia and I had over a hour to have an actual conversation!! Such a fun day!

LME

Licensed Master Electrician or Little Man Extraordinaire

Wow! It's so long!

Uh, how come this isn't plugged in?

Maybe if I just tip-toe away no one will notice.

GQ

For some reason, Evan seemed just a little cuter today than some other days. I don't know if it was his outfit or his mood or what. I know I am biased but we have the cutest little boy EVER!

Thirteen Steps!

Evan has been taking a few steps here and there for a couple of weeks but now he is beginning to string them together. Today it was thirteen!! That constitutes walking in my book. A very exciting (and a little bittersweet) milestone in our little man's life! He is already getting too big, too fast! Guess he didn't listen when I told him that wasn't allowed!

Ding, dong...Surprise!

After a busy weekend when Daddy went camping and Mommy and Evan spent time in RI with family, we had a surprise visit from the O'Shea's. We knew they were in town but assumed that we were all too busy to make catching up work out. But much to our surprise, they stopped by for a brief visit on their way back to New Jersey. Luckily, we had just woken up from our hour and a half family nap! We hope to see them (for a longer visit) again soon!

The O'Shea kids check out Evan's toys

Amy helps Evan make George "pop"

Whale of a Tale

Summer weather has arrived and so has a real kiddie pool. A few of our friends said our previous "pool" was ghetto which maybe it was...just a little bit. I think this new whale is a much nicer way for Evan to stay cool on these hot summer days. He can climb in and out and I can put my feet in to keep cool too. We had a fun afternoon beating the heat!

Wee O! Wee O!

Ever since our most recent sleepover at Papa and Gramma's, Evan has been doing something really cute. While we were out at Longhorn having dinner, Evan was getting a little fussy just before we left and Papa taught him something from the Wizard of Oz. It is the Wicked Witch's Palace Guards chant...O Wee O, Wee O! Evan doesn't quite do the entire thing but it is super cute! Tonight, on his 13 month birthday, we were finally able to catch it on video. (Check out YouTube for other recent attempts.)

Warning: Infectious Laughter Ahead! Proceed with Caution!

A Great, Big Family!

Today we went to the 42nd annual Kavanagh Family Picnic. This is a family reunion for our family that started with the original Daniel James Kavanagh, Evan's great-great-grandfather. Daniel married Theresa Dailey and together they had nine children, each of whom had large families of their own.

I have such great memories of going to the picnic as a child and participating in three-legged, wheel-barrow, and potato sack races. There were always prizes for the kids who participated. As a kid, I remember the adults playing softball. That seems to have been replaced by an egg toss.

Bruce and I went to this picnic for the first time in many years, two years ago for the 40th celebration. Today it was fun to bring Evan and begin sharing those memories with him. Evan was so excited to be there that he took his first consecutive steps today! It was a beautiful day and 132 family members were there, ranging in ages from 93 to 5 weeks old! It is wonderful to see such a large group of people who all share the same values of what family is all about! We look forward to attending many more Family Picnic's and watching the next generation grow up!

Weathering the Storm

I generally try to keep the text in my posts to a minimum because as a good friend told me "I only look at the pictures, I don't read the posts." I know that most people aren't as interested as we are and that is fine. This is one time, however, when I couldn't keep it short. After all, it was a once in a lifetime (I hope) kind of night!

Last night just before 5 o'clock, after I had just moved my blogging inside due to the approaching thunderstorms, Papa called to let us know that there was a tornado warning for our area. Yup, that's right, a tornado warning for southern Worcester County. During extreme thunderstorms, there are occasionally tornado watches and warnings but they rarely amount to much. Evan was just waking up from a nap and Bruce was just finishing up his work day, at home, thankfully! We turned on the news to see what was happening and began closing windows as the storm approached. The news channels were advising southern Worcester County residents to seek shelter in the lowest floor of their homes so we grabbed a few toys for Evan and headed to the basement.

We were able to keep the TV on and watch the storm, which at first was mostly just like a bad thunderstorm, out the window. When we knew we would be down there for a while, Bruce ran up to get some snacks (wine and cheese for us and dinner for Evan) and the phone (my mom had been trying to call and we weren't picking up). We stayed in the basement for a bit and then just when we were thinking we would head upstairs, they extended the warning until 8 pm so we stayed put for a while longer. We were watching the storm out the window and could see the wind carrying debris in one direction and then moments later in the other direction. All the while, the channel 7 meteorologist was saying that the storms were crossing route 146 between Sutton Road and Central Turnpike, about 2 miles south of our house!! It was crazy! I have never seen such torrential rain. While we were watching the storm, Evan kept saying "Wow! Wow!" Scary and amazing all at the same time.

Once the storm was over and we knew we were in the clear, we went outside to see what we could see. There was a river of rain running down our street and while most of the lawn and yard was untouched, there were random bits of leaves and debris scattered all over. We found a piece of red painted wood, two pieces of insulation, a plastic bag and someone's mail from Monson. That piece of paper traveled over thirty miles!

This morning I found a blog post written by someone who lives in Monson and posted a comment to see if I could find out any information about the woman whose mail was on our front lawn. Her nephew later posted another comment stating that her house was completely destroyed but that everyone was ok. My heart breaks for this woman and her family. It is crazy to watch the news and see the devastation so close to home. I plan to do something to help her...although I'm not sure yet what that something is.

Over the course of last evening, I also found out that a tornado went right down the street where my college roommate of four years lives. Thankfully, she and her house were mainly unaffected but there was much destruction outside and across the street from her. It will take many hours to clean up and return to "normal" but everyone (at least that we know personally) appears to be safe!

Situations like this really make you realize just what is important in life. I am so thankful that this happened on a Wednesday when Bruce was working from home so that he wasn't caught driving in such a terrible storm or stuck at work to wait it out while we were at home. I am thankful that we are all safe and sound today and can spend our time thinking of ways to help others rather than to have to rebuild our own home. In a time when we too often get caught up in the (often insignificant) happenings of our daily life, I hope that everyone takes a few minutes after reading this post to reflect on what is really important in life! I urge everyone who reads this post to reach out and help someone who was affected by these terrible (and thankfully rather infrequent) storms!

Ball!

Going through the produce with Evan all you hear is "Ball! Ball! Ball!" I had never really thought about just how many different produce items are ball-like. Here is one that Evan really enjoyed! After all, ball is much easier to say than nectarine!

Taking a big bite

Mmm...juicy!