Hello from the Other Side

We had such a dismal week last week - between the gray rainy days, the cough and cold that spread through the house, and the kid's school project deadlines that consumed our evenings - the weekend couldn't come soon enough!  And what a wonderful weekend it was!

On Saturday, I dropped off the older boys to musical rehearsal (JP is the director's assistant and Andrew is backstage crew) and then continued on to the Cape for Maggie's first Feis (an Irish Step competition).  She did great, scoring two 1st place medals and a 2nd place one.  Her cousins both racked up the medals as well and everybody had a grand time.  I loved seeing all the Irish people at this event...the judges, the piano players, the teachers.  It was brogue heaven.  

Here's a couple snippets from her dances.  My phone's storage was full, so it kept closing when I was trying to videotape, but you get the idea.

When I was growing up on the Cape, the economy in Ireland was really rough, and every summer, tons of college students would come over from Ireland to Cape Cod to work.  My family owned a busy ice cream shop and we would always hire some Irish kids and even rent out an apartment behind the shop to them.  I just thought it was totally normal to be surrounded by Irish people all the time.  My Dad was from Ireland, my mom's parents were from Ireland, almost every family we knew was Irish.  Then I went away to college and came out of that bubble and realized there was more than one heritage in the world ;)  Now it feels like nobody around here is Irish anymore, the majority is Portuguese, and it was nice to feel a bit of my culture again.

While we were doing that, Phil took Xander to soccer, where he said he actually improved since the fall because instead of picking flowers/pretending to be Star Wars guys, he was running with the swarm of kids around the ball.  Progress!

On Mother's Day, I feigned sleeping in as I heard the hustle and bustle from the kitchen and emerged to a big breakfast  and lots of cute cards and homemade gifts.  

See the counter top that was finally delivered?  It's not the right size, and it's a whole long story for another day.  Moving on.

I think his teacher did most of this painting, because it was like looking in a mirror :)

There are the reasons I'm a mom!

Oh wait, the teenager is missing.  Somebody go wake him up.  Hey there sleepy head.

The spread included crepes, strawberries, whipped cream, nutella, eggs, bacon, and bowls of coffee.  Yummo.

After gorging ourselves, we went on a 3.5 mile family walk.  

Then we came home and I plopped down and watched some cooking shows, then took a nap, and Phil cooked a wonderful dinner of Pistachio Chicken and my parents came over to celebrate it with us.  Phil and I snuck out for another walk after dinner, and the day was as perfect as perfect can be.  I had told Phil that I honestly didn't want any presents this year (the kitchen remodel was enough!) but I did want a stress-free day that was laid back and unplanned.  We went to Mass the night before to just have a carefree day at home, and it was really great.  Whenever I expect too much from Mother's Day, I am bound to be disappointed, but just asking for a do-nothing day was a recipe for success.  Note to self.  I hope all you moms felt loved and encouraged yesterday and everyday.  Slainte!