Week in Review: Forty-Four, A Snow Day and Violin Twins

Let me just start out with a big THANK YOU for the prayers and shares and donations for my brother-in-law, Will.  He is still in the hospital but they are hoping to get him into a rehab hospital soon, once he's stable enough for therapy.  Will and Maura (my sister) have been together their whole lives.  We all grew up in the same little village on the Cape, and I was friends with Will's sister since elementary school.  Maura and Will officially started dating in high school but he kissed her in preschool, so he's truly more than just my brother-in-law...he is family since way back.  He WILL get through this and you are all making a difference that they feel and appreciate so much.  Thank you.

Last Saturday I turned the big FOUR FOUR which is really not a big deal at all, since I can never remember my age anyway and oftentimes rely on Phil to tell me how old I am.  It's partly because of old age and partly because I still try to lie about my age (29 forever!) that gets me all confused.  Do you not just love Brendan's MOM poem he made for me, with "O" standing for Oldest?  Good thing he's cute.

Birthday Irish Coffees

Phil made me the most delicious pastrami sandwich for lunch.

Lots of my family came over for pizza and cupcakes and ice cream.

I had creme brulee instead - yum!

My new lunch bag!

I also received a personalized tote bag, heated blanket, gift card to a restaurant, gift card to a spa, Willowtree figurine, a book, earrings, a cleaned-out-car, lots of flowers and a new water cup.  Spoiled I am.

On Tuesday, we had our first snow day of the winter.  No work and no school (the high schoolers had a study at home day) and the littles were out in the white stuff at 8am.  I'm glad the boots I bought last year still fit.

He asked to pose this way :)

The Catholic elementary school where my kids go, and where Maura works as the nurse, held a Holy Hour to pray for Will's healing on this snow day, which was very nice.  We cleaned the house and switched out clothing sizes for a couple kids and donated seven bags of clothes.  Success.

Here's a photo of 8 year old Colleen with her violin:

And now 44 year old Colleen with her new (rented!) violin and 8 year old Declan with his.  

Violin Twins!  We played the Irish Washerwoman together.  I am very excited to get back into it and hopefully one day be as good as I was at age 10.  Ha!

Brendan is a little monkey at home, so we decided to let him try gymnastics so he could be a little monkey in a padded room.  We signed him up for Boys Beginner 1.

He absolutely loved it, just smiling the whole time.

At the end the gym owner came up to me and asked if I was Brendan's mom and I thought I was going to get in trouble (why is that always my first thought?) but then she said "He really needs to move up to the next level".  So he'll now be attending Boys Beginner 2!  Brendan doesn't seem to love team sports yet, I know he's only six and that can change, but I'm glad he's finding something to focus on.

I feel like so much more happened this week, but I am really drained today and can't wait for the weekend to start!  I hope you all have a wonderful first weekend in March!