Easter weekend 2010

Easter weekend wasn't much different from other weekends. We had sport events to attend!

Carmen and Sarai played in their first tournament for Shamrocks. Thankfully, they were both in the same tournament. Carmen also had her last indoor soccer game. She played three sessions (each are about 6 weeks long) of indoor soccer this winter. For the last session, her coach purchased new shirts for them.

Here you can see her coaches and teammates behind a short wall. Carmen has a great kick and speed; all of which are vital for indoor soccer. There will be a separate post just about this team and how much she enjoyed indoor soccer.



Carmen uses her speed in basketball to steal often from the opponent. She is never afraid to cover a taller player.



Here she sees the opportunity to move the ball forward once she stole it. This was her first time playing competitive basketball. Her skills from soccer and being an athlete enabled her to adapt to this new sport.

Saturday morning was filled with basketball. Carmen's soccer was in the late evening. At the last moment Abram suggested we go to Easter Vigil mass. We've never taken the kids to the vigil before. I hadn't thought of dinner, nor had I finished much for Easter baskets. But despite all of this, we managed to get ready and go to mass. It was an amazing mass and very long! I couldn't believe arrived before 7 and left after 10.

We all slept in and enjoyed a relaxing Easter. As I looked back on these pictures I realized that so many of them are of the cats! Easter day was beautiful! We let the cats come outside with us to play and as you will see, they enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed them.

Zori is relaxing under the slide.

Cappi loves to sit on top of the edges of the swing set and watch for creatures and birds.

Isaac, Jenna and Aidan came over in the morning to say hi and play with us a bit. It was wonderful to be able to run outside and play without having to go anywhere. Such a blessing.

The favorite red ball game was back in play.

Isaac is trying to get his son to hang on the monkey bars. Don't worry, he didn't let go (for much time!).

Aidan loved climbing up the ladder on our jungle gym.



Here's the family picture I took of Isaac, Jenna and Aidan.

Zori loves to climb the apple tree in the back yard. Aidan and Isaac are watching her in the tree.

Aidan is giving Cappi a good rub. I am impressed that Cappi is so tolerant with Aidan. Cappi has never hissed nor done any negative or aggressive behavior towards Aidan. Even when Aidan grabs a lot of fur!

Ok, here's my cat lady. She and Zori are always together and have meow conversations.

Cappi pillow.

Hanging with Zori.

Rachel is playing with Cappi and a rope. The cats love chasing rods and ropes in circles while we are outside with them.

My mom and Lawrence came over in the afternoon for Easter dinner. Cappi hung out with them too.

Now these two are just plain silly.


Easter day was beautiful and relaxing.

Hiking Mt. Wachusett

Monday, April 19 Tobin, Rachel, Abram and I went for a hike. It was the beginning of Massachusetts' April vacation and marathon Monday. We hiked for 6 miles. We began at the Audubon Society and hiked to the summit of Mt. Wachusett.

The hike was relatively flat for much of the way. It was a beautifully warm day; perfect for hiking.



We have hiked a number of different trails. I always enjoy good looking trail markers. As a backpacker, I really appreciate this marker.


Water break. We brought a camel pack for our water. Rachel loves being able to drink while hiking. The long hose allows her to drink while walking next to me (I was the one carrying the water).




A small snapshot of the tranquility we witnessed. I love the peace and quiet in the woods.



Ok, the hike started to get a bit steeper now!

A small break for a cute picture.

Rachel left her mark in the woods in a trail friendly way!

We made it to the summit!

There is a small pond near the summit. In it I spotted numerous goldfish. It reminded me of Marie's pond at home.

We can see Boston's silhouette along the horizon.

I like how Abram framed Rachel between Tobin and myself.

Rachel got tired after awhile and decided that Tobin had to carry her for a bit. What a great big brother!

More tranquility. I also enjoy taking pictures of nature that we encounter on our hikes.

As we hiked we encountered two huge wind mills. They were loud and amazing.

It is a rare experience to be able to hike for several hours during spring sports. I am glad we had this beautiful opportunity.

Spring League Basketball

Sarai and Carmen are playing spring basketball. They are playing through the Shamrocks league. Sarai has played for this league for 3 years now. Carmen decided she wanted to play more competitive basketball than was offered through our town.

Spring basketball is played by tournaments only. When each team is entered in a tournament there are 4 games on the weekend; 2 Saturday and 2 Sunday. It does become a challenge when Sarai's team is entered into a different tournament than Carmen. Carmen is also playing travel soccer this spring as well! We have many days where we are traveling the whole state for sports!

Sarai is a versatile player. She can play any position, although she prefers wing. When her coach asks her to play she steps up! He really appreciates that in her. The team played a tournament on April 9 and 10th and won every game. this is what the coach wrote about Sarai when he commented on how everyone helped the team: "versatility, down low and on the wing, taking the ball out, flashing to the middle, dribbling, passing".

She is playing with many of the same girls as she did in the past two years. They are from Northboro, Westboro, Shrewsbury and Worcester. Sarai's team is very good this year. Their record is 5-1.

Here's a picture of her coach and the team. Make note of the contrast when you see Carmen's team!

Sarai's defense:

Carmen plays a wing player too. In her last game she had two great steals! Here's steal number one. Carmen's team is made up of all 6th graders. They are a great team. I believe their record is 5-1.

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This is steal number 2. Carmen was able to get between the other players trying to pass it over the half court line and get the ball. Carmen is being fouled here, but the ref never called it.

Carmen's got control and command of this steal.

In the clear and no one is close to her. She uses her great speed to push the ball down the court on her fast breaks.

This is part of Carmen's team. Her coach and the players she played with last Sunday. Carmen's tournament was on April 17th, and 18th. I loved how the girls sat up on the top of the bleachers while the other half of the team played.

There will be more pictures to come as both girls have 4 more tournaments before the season is over.

Sing Out Play and Costumes

Carmen and I were involved in a play last weekend. The play was called Switching Channels.

Sing Out is a play program offered only to the 5th and 6th graders in our town. Any student who tries out is somehow involved in the play. Each student is given a minor role exposing them to theatre in a fun way. Linda Gadilauskus, a mother who grew up in Shrewsbury, participated in Sing Out as a kid herself. When her children were of the age she began the tradition again. She writes the plays herself and gives all the proceeds back Sherwood middle school (our 5th and 6th grade). Tobin participated in Sing Out in 6th grade, but I have been involved in these plays since Sarai was in 5th grade. For four years I have made/created costumes for the play. I had also been involved as the costume director. This year, life is much busier and asked that someone else step up to organize the costumes. I was still asked to create some costumes!

My job with costumes this year was to create ones for particular commercials used in the play. I had to create the Fruit of the Loom guys:

Here is the apple: I made an inner shirt so I could stuff fiber fill between the red shirt and the inner one.

Here is the fig character. Here is cut out leaves from felt and sewed them all over the shirt. I only sewed the top of the leaves so they would move freely.

and the grapes. As you can see they are covered in balloons. Each character had a hat to match their costume. My mother had made me a pumpkin costume when I was 8. Somehow, that hat is now in my possession. I used that hat and created my own pattern from which I made these hats.

a Toothbrush costume and a toothpaste costume.

Pepsodine is a made up toothpaste name. Yes, it is similar to Pepsidine, which is for sore gums. The director wrote the name into the play thinking it was a toothpaste from the 50s. The name was wrong, but we kept it this way since most people wouldn't realize the mix-up.

These took planning, searching for ideas on the web and late nights to finish them. The toothbrush is made with 500 straws shoved into a shoe box that I spray painted and covered with white fabric left over from the toothpaste costume. The long pole for the brush is a tube from wrapping paper. The girl who played the toothbrush loved her prop. She was also the fig for the Fruit of the Loom.

Here is Carmen in her announcer outfit. She is wearing a jacket I recently bought for myself.

Tobin is 16!

Yesterday, March 16th was Tobin's golden birthday. He turned 16 on the 16th.

We had a small, but nice celebration. Chip and Marita came down. Isaac, Jenna and Aidan came over for dinner and dessert. Dinner was spaghetti and meatballs, a runners dream dinner! Dessert was chocolate cake with mousse filling.

Happy birthday Tobin!

Presents time:

When I asked Tobin what he wanted for his birthday, he responded "socks"!

Tobin and his running buddies began a tradition of wearing their running shirts as bandannas over the summer during runs. Jenna was so happy to have given him a new bandanna for his birthday.

Aidan doesn't like to eat much dinner at my house. But boy did he love the cake. Whose son is he? I think he had plenty of chocolate in utero and has a love for it.

Oak Basketball Team

Sarai's Oak Basketball season is over. They had an amazing season. Their record was 9 and 3.

I have many great pictures of her that I will get to soon, but I wanted to post the best picture of the team. The week after vacation all the girls got together for one last fun practice and to celebrate a wonderful season. It was actually the first time, in the whole season, that everyone made it to practice! I was able to rush over and take this photo of the team. No one is wearing their uniform, but who they are and how each individual acts is captured in this photo. It is a great shot and I'm so glad I was able to capture it.



Coach Steve has been Sarai's basketball coach for years. This year he was hired to be the Oak Middle School coach. The 7th graders and 8th graders all worked together as a team. They all became close friends and encouraged each other throughout the season. It has been an amazing year in basketball for Sarai.