Aunt Fran may you rest in peace.

When Aunt Fran entered the room everyone knew it! She had an infectious laugh that at times made me wonder why I was laughing along with her. But I couldn't help but laugh with my Aunt Fran.

In my world Aunt Fran enjoyed sharing her secrets and was good at keeping mine. She was brave, always spoke her mind, yet had a soft heart. She gave the best hugs, made the best cookies, and always had a candy dish filled with mints by the door. She even had a few tricks up her sleeve (along with her handkerchief which if I remember correctly, wasn't exactly up her sleeve)! In fact, for years she had me convinced that she could actually pop her teeth out with her tongue and put them back in! Ha! Aunt Fran always had a story to tell. (At times it would be a story that I heard many times, but that didn't matter.)

I thought it was the greatest that my Aunt Fran owned a country store. I adored spending time with her there. It was a safe place to study people from afar and feel warm when I really needed a safe place to feel warm.

One Christmas, Aunt Fran suggested that I go Christmas shopping there. Wow! I felt so proud to have bought my family gifts. Funny thing is...I only remember one of the presents. I picked a back scratcher for my Uncle Cliff. Aunt Fran lovingly devoted that afternoon teaching me how to properly wrap each of the gifts. I wasn't the best student, but she didn't seem to mind.

My Aunt Fran could juggle mixing spoons, crack eggs and yell at the dog all at the same time! As a young girl, I marveled at how her hands didn't hurt when she touched something hot, and how she swiftly traveled on her crutch after Shadow (the dog) when he misbehaved. I didn't want to be on the receiving end of that crutch. I never was, however, she knew how to keep me in line. Her facial expressions and tone of voice were a clear indication that she somehow knew when I snuck a snack, or slipped out of church early. (How did she do that?) If she called me, "Kelly-Ann," I knew I was in for it. But she wouldn’t be cross for long, and I always knew that she loved me, and I loved her too.

I cherish the days that we shared. Just thinking about her gigantic hugs and her cunning smile as she recited (yet again) the famous story of how she wouldn't let me turn three unless I stopped wearing diapers makes my heart ache a little. But I am truly grateful to have spent these moments with my Aunt Fran. And each time that I wrap a present or eat a mint, or even slip out of church early, I will think of her and hope that she is still laughing and telling her stories.
　

Easter

Here is our annual "Easter Picture." We had a wonderful day! The weather was glorious and the kids didn't bicker at mass. Spending the day with Neil's family was fantastic too! Although Zach decided to declare that the chicken (it was turkey) was dry!! I almost died of embarrassment right there on the spot. Hopefully your Easter went well too.

Fooling Around

Emily got a new camera and was taking some funny shots of the kids. I thought I would share.

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

Where has the time gone? My smile is brighter just thinking of you and your dazzling persona. I can’t imagine my day without your hugs and conversations. It simply wouldn’t be complete with out a glimpse of the adoring look in your eye as we snuggle for reading time, or watching you tend to Allyson during play, listening to your stories (I am amazed at how in tune you are with others.).
Overhearing you and Ryan discuss schoolwork, witnessing you and Emily practice dance moves, and even playing board games with Zach (minus the bickering!)are all wonderful gifts that you share with us. Thank you for being you!

Happy Seventh Birthday Lulu!

~I love you~

Sisters

I was going through the computer and found this picture that Emmy took on Christmas using her new camera. Nice job Em!

Gotta Lover Her!

Before bed this evening, (that sounds fancy doesn't it?). How about...

At nightfall, prior to retiring for the evening, Allyson and I were engaged in discussion.

Nah, let me tell it in my voice...

After story time and teeth brushing, Allyson and I were reviewing what we read about (bugs) and discussing our plans for tomorrow. As we wrapped it up (or concluded our conversation) I asked our sweet little three year old, "Today is Thursday Allyson, so what is tomorrow?" With a blink of an eye she replied, "Tomorrow."

Zach's First Holy Communion

(getting ready)



Here is my sweet boy in his "lucky socks." (I pick my battles...God loves him regardless of his footwear.)





Doesn't he look absolutely thrilled? LOL





Here is Lindsey practicing for her day in a couple of years...



And sweet Ally (waiting for her hair to be braided) wondering what is going on?






Our two oldest were a bit camera shy, but I think I can post a few family ones soon.


It was a glorious day.

God Bless you Zachary. He will always be with you.

The Hike

Our family enjoyed a lovely day together. Neil abandoned his typical “Whatever you want to do,” way of thinking and suggested we spend the day at a local nature museum. I appreciated that I didn’t need to decide on the plan this time. And to my amazement not a single fight over seats or radio station transpired as we traveled to our destination. This may actually work out the way I envisioned it I thought to myself as we pulled into the parking lot. How nice to escape the hustle and bustle of life and simply relax and enjoy beautiful scenery together as a family

We explored and observed for a while, (We all loved watching Allyson’s wide eyes. She found everything fascinating…especially the otter. He was very cute!) Then we decided to go on a mile hike up the mountain. Boy was that an interesting adventure! Ryan (above) climbed up a tree in the middle of the woods! (Which was hilarious because when he reached the top, his cell phone rang and he actually answered it!  Now I couldn't exactly express my amusement at that moment because I didn't want the rest of the crew to attempt a climb too...but it was pretty funny.) And sweet Allyson nearly made it the whole way up the mountain but ran out of steam right before we made it to the top! Em, Zach and Lindsey effortlessly dashed the whole way! ("Oh to be young again!" Ryan said.) I will admit that I became a little unnerved at times when we needed to scale huge rocks with Allyson in tow but luckily Neil was his cool as a cucumber self.

After our enthralling hour long expedition we said farewell to our new friend the otter and ventured back to the car…Where the kids proceeded to bicker over seats and radio stations. Well, at least we had a fleeting period of tranquility.

Miracles Happen

As I frantically scrubbed the floor this morning (I do this when I am stressed out) toiling over an important decision, something unbelievable happened!

Since elementary school, our oldest son has asked to attend a local private school. I am not sure where the idea came from since Neil and I hadn’t planned for our children to go to private school. We merely encourage our children to try their best in school and make it a priority of ours to give them all of the tools necessary to succeed. My guess is a teacher may have planted the seed. (I say this because on more than one occasion his teachers have mentioned in passing that he would be a great candidate for this particular school.) Ryan is entering high school in the fall and he asked if he could take the entrance exam and apply. We agreed that he could, but cautioned him that unless he received a scholarship or some significant financial aid to cover the tuition, he would not be able to go.  I deliberated with myself… What am I setting him up for? Is he mature enough to understand this? But then I thought, How many children do I know beg (and I mean beg!) to attend a specific school?

Wouldn’t you know it, he scored extremely well on the exam. In fact they (school) called him and encouraged him to apply! Oy! All of us were incredibly proud, as well as hopeful that he may have earned a significant scholarship and would have the opportunity to attend. As it turned out, Ryan was awarded an honorable merit scholarship and our family was also given financial aid that we are appreciative. Yet, even with the help, being a large family on one income isn’t conducive to a private school education.

Alas as we toured the school and spoke with students, parents, and faculty, I inadvertently fell in love. I understand the endorsement that Ryan’s teachers offered him, and I completely understand why Ryan would want to be a part of this culture. It is truly amazing!

So this morning I was lamenting and praying about this difficult choice before us. In all honesty, I was about to just give up when something caught my ear on the radio. It was an enthusiastic Jesuit priest discussing
St. Ignatius. My sunken heart skipped a beat. The school that Ryan wishes to attend is a Jesuit school and the scholarship that he earned was named after St. Ignatius of Loyola the very same person that was now being discussed! Needless to say, I got my answer. There has to be another door that I haven't opened yet and I am determined to find it.

Happy New Year!

Sending warm wishes from our family to yours.

The Sweetest Thing Anyone Has Ever Said To Me...

                      "You make my heart feel super happy!"

                                               -Allyson, our sweet 2 and a half year old

                                                      

Thanksgiving

Our family had a lovely Thanksgiving. We ended up having a simple meal with just us. This has never happened before. Each child had special jobs to do in preparation, and despite both mine and Neil's and reservations, it worked out just as I dreamed. The kids enthusiastically helped out and actually enjoyed it! And oh how I did too! Neil spent most of the morning with his mum. (She hasn't been well, and it was very important that he was there. I was very glad that he went to share Allyson with her on such an important day.) When he returned with Allyson, he was delighted by the smoothness of it all.

Recently, we've been extremely busy with activities, volunteering, and family illness (on both sides) so Neil and I have been like two ships passing in the wind. I look forward to sharing many more moments like these with our children in the days ahead.


Thank you Ryan, Emily, Zach, Lindsey and Allyson for all that contributed to make our day so special. And Neil, thank you for all that you do daily to make it possible for me to be a mommy to our children. I love you.

Voila!

I absolutely adore the sounds of summer! With that said, I need to admit that at times it can get a bit nuts around here. However, I discovered a way to get away from it all for...well....a little over 45 seconds.

I swim underwater (or just duck under). It's really quiet down there. That is until your five children discover that you can hold your breath for a really long time and decide to play the game, Guess what I just said. Did you know that "I am a dinosaur," sounds a lot like "I have a canker sore?" when you are under water. Believe me, it does.

Can you tell I'm smiling as I type this...I can't help it.

Thinking of my brother

I try not to get too deep here, especially since the title of the blog is On the Brightside. However, this week marks the 30th anniversary of my older brother Kevin's death. I was eight when he died, and to be honest, for the longest time I thought he was away at a camp and would be home again some day. It's funny how a child's mind works? I am mindful of this when dealing with my own children.

Kevin passed away a week before his 11th birthday. He had a brain aneurysm, so it was very sudden. This week, whether I realize it or not, tends to make me extremely heavy hearted. It is amazing how my sub conscious works. What's also peculiar is that my mom and brothers get the same way.

When I was a young girl, I was afraid that I wouldn't make it to 11. I spent two years trying to figure out how to postpone my birthday. (Hmmm, if only I could do that now!) My mom found out and took the three of us to see the doctor that tried to save Kevin's life. He explained that we would be okay. What a great thing to do, even though in my head (no pun intended there) I thought, how do you know that I am okay? You have never looked at my brain? I stopped worrying once I turned 12.

My brother Kevin was a hero. Because of his death my mother found the strength to leave my father (an abusive alcoholic). I know that sounds a bit dramatic, but I honestly believe it. (My mom does too.) My father got even worse after Kevin died, so I am so very grateful for my brother Kevin and to my mom, who saved us all. So I guess there is a bright side after all, huh?


Happy Birthday Kevin...and thanks.

Happy Birthday Emily

Today was Emmy's 12th birthday. Here she is...the speed demon that she is! Thank goodness she isn't quite old enough to have a drivers license yet!

My, what an amazing young woman you have become Miss Em! You inspire me to be a better person almost every single day. (I should probably enjoy this last year before we enter the teen years huh? Just kidding buddy...we will be fine!)

Happy Birthday Em. Oh and I am still taller than you. ;)

xoxoxoxo

Operation Bag

Here is a recent column that I wrote for Zachary's school newsletter...


I knew that I had hit rock bottom when I inadvertently cleaned up the entire waiting room at the kid’s pediatricians office one morning. I am not proud to admit it, but it certainly was a wake up call for me! And considering I wasn’t doing a whole lot of sleeping at that time, it worked much better than the extra super large cup of coffee I drank before I left the house. Luckily our newborn daughter and I were the only two in the waiting room at the time. None the less, when I realized what I had done, my face turned purple with embarrassment.

As I waited for the nurse to call us in, I recognized that I had fallen into a cycle of behavior of constantly picking up after my family instead of letting them do it for themselves. I suppose it happened because it was just easier to do it myself rather than argue or badger. But how could I possibly fit in the family time that I absolutely adored in between nursing a new baby, taking care of four other children, the house and then organizing everyone’s things? Something needed to change and it was up to me to initiate it.

In the past, I found that if I nagged enough, my family would reluctantly put their stuff away. But again, I didn’t sign up to be the worlds biggest nag. (That’s one of my famous mom quotes that I use when I am frustrated, you can use it if you want to.) I also tried to ignore the piles of stuff that accumulated throughout our home, but that became not only annoying, but dangerous. “How many times do I need to trip over this stegosaurus before I break my neck?”

That night I made an important announcement at dinnertime. “Since my pleas for help around here have gone unanswered, I have decided to take every item that is not put into it’s proper place by the end of the day and put it into a bag to be given to charity at the end of the week. I need more help around here, and this is my only choice. Mom is tired,” (The guilt trip usually works around here.) As I finished my overly dramatic speech, I glanced at everyone’s blank faces hoping to get some sort of an apology…something…anything? But the only response I got was from our then five year old, “What’s a plea?”

After a brief explanation, everyone in the house (over the age of five) was ready for the challenge. Operation BAG was put into place. (Don’t ask me why it was called this, but it stuck ,so we kept it.)

Before bedtime, I annoyingly spotted many violations. And since it was the first day I issued a warning. Everyone, including Neil, jumped up from what they were doing and scrambled to put their stuff away. But the second day, I decided to simply collect my defiant family’s belongings without a word. The BAG contained a camera, Gameboy, two baseball hats, a deck of Pokemon cards, three socks?, a sticker book, a belt, and two Webkinz animals. Oddly, nobody even asked where their beloved belongings were the next day! And as day three closed I hesitantly put even more neglected items in the BAG. I was beginning to think that I would need to change this experiment’s name to Operation DUMPSTER. Finally, on the fourth day, they began to notice.


“Mom! Have you seen my baseball hat? Is it in the BAG?”
“Who took my pack of gum? It didn‘t just vanish…Oh man, the BAG!”
Or my own husband trying to sweet talk me, “Kel, you look very pretty today. Where is the BAG? I need my belt.” And to all, I simply replied “Did you put it where it belongs?” (Since when did I start sounding like my own mother?)

It took a disappointing four days for the littering scoundrels to realize how much stuff they left around the house! I wish I could say that things changed dramatically since then, they didn’t. But they did change a little. You’ll no doubt find piles of clutter decorating our humble home, but at the end of the day we work together to put it all away (usually). And I definitely have more time to enjoy my husband and kids, which is great since my newborn baby girl is now an extremely active toddler who enjoys leaving her toys every where just like her big brothers and sisters!

My Little Blessing

Friday mornings are nuts here. After the oldest three are off to school, I need to get my two little sweeties ready to drop Lindsey off at preschool. It really takes it's toll on Allyson, because normally I try to keep things fairly simple and calm around here. I am not a big fan of dragging children (especially really young children) all around the place, but some days it just can't be helped.

After drop off, errands and chores this morning, I took Allyson for a nice walk to break up the cycle of madness, and then made lunch. The poor love was ready for her nap, but I needed to go back to get Linds at school. I was racing against the clock because Emmy gets dropped off here at home shortly after. So I attempt to cajole Ally out the door and it doesn't go very well. (Need I say more? She is two and tired.) Normally I can distract her, but she had had her fill of being carted around for the morning. We finally make it to the car and she sternly resists going into her car seat. With a deep sigh I begin to pray for patience, "Hail Mary," puzzled Allyson interrupts, "Me no Mary! Me Allyson!"

How do you not laugh at that?

There truly IS a bright side...

Our nation's economy is going down the tubes. (Don't worry, I am done with the finger pointing.) Everywhere you turn we are reminded of bailouts. lay offs and rising taxes! But there is a light at the end of this turbulent tunnel that we are traveling in.

Our personal relationships can and will grow stronger as a result of this. I am hopeful that people will realize how important it is to share your life instead of running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. It doesn't cost a whole lot of money to sit and chat, share a meal (even if it's hot dogs and beans), take a walk, or play a board game with family and friends. (Making love to your spouse doesn't cost anything, and it will bring you even closer. I highly recommend it!) Instead of worrying about where to take a vacation, which car we should buy, or how many minutes we've used on our cell phone, we can focus on the people in our lives that make us truly happy and fulfilled.

Now I understand that some of us are struggling to put food on the table or trying to find a job, but if we are surrounded by people who truly care and love each other and support one another, this journey will be easier than if traveled alone or unhappy.

Our Very Own Peter Pan

Emily switched schools this year. This school is 45 minutes away from us, but a dream come true for Em. My heart felt broken the first day, but I knew we made the right decision. The fact that our sweetie, even though she was the new girl, found the courage to try out for the part of Peter Pan in the school play only confirmed that this was the place for her! Here are a few pictures from the play.









Her biggest fans! (I love Allyson's green lolipop face in this one LOL!)