Week in Review: Home is Where the Hearts Are

Friday evening made this mama's heart so happy.  

JP and Andrew and Grace, JP's girlfriend, flew in from Pittsburgh and the other girlfriends came over for pizza and then we piled in Vanna White to go to Stations of the Cross at our church, and then back home for games and a movie.  That electronic version of Catchphrase gets a lot of use around here.  

Maggie complained that she was the lonely lass because she is not dating yet...but having such sweet girlfriends (maybe potential sisters-in-law) has been what she has always wanted.  I have to admit that the balance of estrogen to our testoster-home was a nice addition.  And my boys sure know how to pick them :)  Lovely ladies!

Lucy got a DIY bath at our local pet store with our eager helper, Declan.  Guys, when people say young kids shouldn't have chores, they must not know young kids.  They love to help until puberty kicks in, from my experience.

On Saturday, after basketball practice and swim lessons, JP and Grace took the littles to see Kung Fu Panda 4 in the theater:

Andrew attended and cheered at Darian's volleyball tournament for 9 hours!!  It must be love:

After the vigil Mass, Phil and I took JP and Grace out to dinner:

The restaurant is located in an old historic home from 1792.

We sat outside in a heated igloo!

I had conjunctivitis this weekend, so excuse my gross eye please.

Don't worry, I made pulled pork sandwiches for the others left behind, and honestly the food at the restaurant was very expensive for such small portions that we won't go back.  You live you learn!

On Sunday, Phil and I took Maggie to her volleyball tournament in Quincy, MA.  She was supposed to be there at 8am so we left at 7am which felt like 6am due to the time change.  No bueno.  Her team only won one game but volleyball is exciting and fun at least.  We drove back home, arriving around 1:30pm and cooked a big dinner for fifteen by 3.  It was the belated birthday dinner that JP and I ask for each year - Chicken Cordon Bleu.  We had my parents and some priests attend, including one from Ireland that was staying at our parish for the Lenten Mission.

Apps in the Living Room

On Monday, JP and Grace headed up on the train to explore Boston:

When in Boston, go to Mike's Pastry :)

Phil, Eamon and I attended our parish's Lenten Mission on two out of the three nights, which was good for our souls.  Andrew and Darian took Declan to a CYO game one of those nights for us:

They lost, as usual.  But Declan got to shoot a foul shot, which he has "always" wanted to do.

Grace headed back to her home in Maryland and left us with a very nice thank you note and gift of Irish chocolates that we are saving for Sunday!!  I haven't decided if I'll share yet.

Daffodils are starting to bloom and all seems right in the world:

My favorite girl leaves these on my phone all the time, so she must want me to post them ;)

Here's a better photo of Maggie with her awesome friend, also Maggie:

They attended a retreat on Wednesday on the Cape for Catholic Athletes for Christ.  Eamon was there too (third from right, back row):

This was an easy throw-things-together-kinda-lunch as we didn't have time to make a big batch of soup this weekend:

I dislike turkey, but those turkey sausage sticks from Aldi's are yummo.  And dipping the fruit into vanilla greek yogurt felt so fancy.

A coworker asked me if I had ever seen this video, which I hadn't and thought it would be a nice little moodsetter for St. Patrick's Day:

 

You better believe that led me down a rabbit hole of playing all of the other Piano Guys songs on Apple Music while I work.  Some people are just SO talented that it makes my eyes leak.  

Maggie and her bestie MG made this wee ditty:

Have a wonderful weekend celebrating St. Patty, and remember:

Slainte!!