New Swingset

About 9 months before we moved out of our old house we purchased a very nice, very big wooden swing set and built it in our backyard. It was a great deal of work and we were very proud of ourselves after completing such a large project. Unfortunately we just didn't like that house or its location so we moved. The swingset was huge and there was no way we could move it, nor did we have the space in our new back (side) yard. The boys have been begging for a new swingset ever since we moved in, but we were dragging our feet. Anyway, we finally gave in and got a smaller one than the previous set, but it still needs putting together. We have been working all week on this "4 hour" project and are nearly finished. The kids are so excited!! All we have left to do is all the bar that holds the swings. The fort part of the set is complete. Here are some pictures of the progress. Hopefully our labor will pay off this weekend and we will be done!!

We had a near miss visit to the ER tonight. Susie called me as I was about to leave work and said "stay there I am on my way!" C decided to throw sand at F using the play shovel and ended up hitting F in the head, cutting him right above his left eye. Susie wasn't sure if it would need stitches or not, so she wanted to bring him down for me to look at him. Thankfully it looks okay and we were all able to turn around and head home. C can be such a sweet kid one moment and a real handful the next. What a challenge!!

Quiet Days

Life is settling down nicely now that school schedules are in full swing. There is a predictability to everyday, which has been kind of nice compared to the on-the-go summer. Aidan continues to love school after his first full week. He even asked if he could go over the weekend because he was having so much fun. I'm sure that attitude will not last for long, so we are really trying to enjoy it! Cian had a more difficult time last week than we were expecting. He is becoming very sad as we drop him off and really having a hard time keeping his emotions in tact. Thursday was much better then Tuesday, so hopefully tomorrow will be even better.
The boys and I spent the weekend at the lake as Susie work all three nights again. (It really stinks when she has to do that!) We had a nice quiet weekend and hung out with my cousin Jared, who was in town for a few days. Jared has decided to join the priesthood and leaves tomorrow to start his journey. He is joining the Legionaries of Christ order. Jared is an amazing person and a joy to be around. He exudes happiness and peacefulness. It is bitter sweet for our family as we know how dedicated and happy he is with his decision, but his family will greatly miss him. During his first two years of training he can have little contact with his family. It will be a tough road for his parents and siblings, but one well worth it in the end. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts!

Service Project

We had a busy day today and a busy/fun weekend all around. Friday night we went over to a friend of mine from high school's house, Serena. She and her husband Brian rececntly had their second daughter and another friend of mine from high school, Carrie, was in town so we all got together. It was great seeing them and I always have a great time around them all. Unfortunately Susie and Fintan we both under the weather so they couldn't make it. At the last minute Aidan was invited to a birthday party that night so he didn't come either. It was just Cian and I, but we had a great time. Some other KC high school friends (Maria & Fred and Kevin & Kristin) also came over. Saturday was kind of a low key day. We did go out and price a wood swing set for our backyard. The kids have been begging for a swing set and we have been dragging our feet. Right before we moved to this house we spent some nice change on a very nice swing set from Costco. It tooks us weeks to put together and we were very upset to have to leave it at our other house. We made the decision that we wouldn't have a swing set at this house because we are surrounded by nice parks and our back yard (side yard) is not very big. BUT, we find that the kids don't have much to do in our yard on the occasions that we want to sit outside on our deck. We have decided to look for a playset, but weren't very hopeful because we remember how expensive our previous one cost. Luckily we found a great set at Sutherland's and it will fit in our yard. I think we are going to buy it this week and hopefully have it up and running just in time for the nice fall weather to set in!

Today we had the Finucane Service Project at Rockhurst University. My great-uncle was a Jesuit priest and spent much of his time at Rockhurst. When he passed away they started a service project and named it after him. It is incorporated into Freshman orientation so all the members of the entering class must participate. It has been going on for about 14 years and my family has been helping out from the beginning. It is a really great thing and a fun thing to do! We did have to duck out of the project just a little early because we decided to have an impromptu gathering of some of our friends for dinner. Susie was off work tonight (which is rare because she works every Saturday and Sunday night) so we decided to have 5 families over for pizza. It was a lot of fun to talk and hang out and the kids had a blast. Makes us wish she was off every Sunday so we could do things like this more often! The above picture is of Aidan two of his buddies...they are all in Kindergarten together.

Cian's turn

Today Cian had his turn to be a big boy and go to school. He will be attending ECLC (early childhood learning center) two days a week. This is part of the same school Aidan attends so that makes it really nice. We have been very happy with the progress we have seen in Aidan the past two years so we are excited to see Cian starting. He did really well today and it was more emotional for Susie than for him. As she was dropping him off, she gave him a big hug goodbye. In the middle of the hug Cian said, "stopping hugging me and leave." I guess he is definately ready to get out of our house. His teacher said he had a good day, but he did ask for "mommy" quite a bit. He didn't have much to say about the day other than he had fun going down the slides at recess. Ahh those were the days!

School Days

Today was Aidan's first day of Kindergarten. It was very exciting for all involved. He did really great. I wish we had on video the difference between today and two years ago. What an improvement. I guess that's what growing up does for you. He had a really great day and told us about how he met two new friends, but of course he doesn't know their names. Names are optional when you are five. It has been a little weird thinking that Aidan has started his school career. Tomorrow is the first day for Cian in preschool and that will be very interesting. Based on his behavior during back to school night, he will be fine. He are the pictures of Aidan this morning. (You can see Finnie crying through the window in the first one because I wouldn't let him come outside in his pajamas while we took the picture!) We will try to take some more tomorrow in his classroom.

Packet Pick-Up Day

This might possibly the most exciting day of the year (not really!). Today we went up to school to pick up the boys school packets. Most importantly we found out what teachers they have. This wasn't too exciting for Cian because there is only one 3-4y/o preschool teacher, but it was fun for him that it was his first packet day. Aidan was put in the "new teacher's" classroom. There are three Kindergarten classrooms and last year two of the teachers left the school. The previous preschool teacher filled one of the spots and then a new teacher was hired. This is the teacher that Aidan will have. We don't know anything about her, but I am sure she is great. We have found out some of his good buddies are also in his class so that will make it better for him. I am very curious to see how these first few days of school turn out. Cian was confused as to what we were doing today and he thought today was the first day of school. He started freaking out and screaming that he wasn't going to go!! Now we are really worried that this might not go as well as we thought for him. Hopefully it will just be a day or two of sadness when we take him. I think Aidan will do fine, though we says he is nervous. One more week of summer for us!!

August Adoption Update

Really nothing new that concerns us, but I will try to mention the adoption stuff atleast once per month as referrals come out. Referrals arrived on 8/2/07 and they covered all the families who were logged-in from 11/15/05-11/21/05. Remember that we are logged-in 5/29/07. So we have a long way to go. Hopefully soon they will start to speed up and give out more than 7 days of log-in dates per month. This is completely out of our hands, so all we can do is wait!