Happy Halloween!! October 31, 2015!

Times have certainly changed around here.   Or maybe it is  because Halloween is on a Saturday, this year, but overall, this Halloween day was a little quiet.  My kids were mostly doing there own thing, while Anna was working on her college applications, and I was helping her.   Instead of going to the Notre Dame Mass down at the Basilica said by the President of Notre Dame, Father Jenkins, I went over her essays.  Oh well....if it helps her get into college!

We go out early usually for trick or treating, but this year, it is all messed up because Chris is going to the Notre Dame/Temple game.  For now, Happy Halloween!

Notre Dame vs. Temple Football Game coming up on 10/31/15!

At least 6 months ago, we got an email from the Philadelphia Notre Dame club asking if we wanted to buy any tickets for the Notre Dame game against Temple which was set for 10/31.   We said yes, and we bought tickets for our family to go (and two for our daughter's Cookie Dad from the Girl Scout troop....I think if you are the Cookie Dad, or Mom, you should get some tickets to your favorite football team).

Shortly after getting them, though, we all kind of realized that 10/31 is Halloween, and of course, Lily didn't want to miss Halloween.  The bigger problem, we soon realized, is that none of my children really wanted to miss Halloween, so we found ourselves with a whole bunch of tickets to get rid of.   Luckily for us, there is no shortage of Notre Dame football fans near us, so we have had no problem getting rid of the tickets.  

What is so strange, though, is that the fever where we live is all about Temple, not the team I really want to win, which is Notre Dame.  I did go to Temple to Law School, but I have been rooting for Notre Dame teams to win since I was 8.  While Temple winning would be really amazing for Temple, and I do think they have a great team, the simple fact is that I really want Notre Dame to win.     Someone pointed out, though, that for Philadelphia Notre Dame fans, we have the best of both worlds....if Temple wins, we are happy, if Notre Dame wins, we will be thrilled!!  

The most stressful day of the year--getting the Christmas picture taken! October 23, 2015

 
                         Waiting for the photo session to begin...

                                       Lily always manages to get into the big picture...

                                     
                                                      Jack....

                                                   
                                                                  Getting placed....

                                         Someone apparently pulled Lily's hair....

                                         This was the goofy photo.....

                       And then, Lily made herself the subject of all of our attention, as always!!

                         
                                                        And, a change of clothes....


Last year, I didn't get our Christmas picture taken until the day after Jack came home for Christmas break (he got in late the night before), which I believe was on December 22nd.   I had to get him out of bed to get his hair cut,  waited for people to come home from school and work, and then we went up to the Picture People, which is where we always get our Christmas photo taken. Unfortunately, even though we had an appointment, we waited for at least two hours.    I worked hard, but the cards didn't go out until December 23rd, which means they were lost by anyone who received them on the 24th (who looks at the mail on Christmas Eve?).

I can't believe that many people wait to get their picture taken.  I used to try to get ours taken by December 1st, but Jack didn't come home for Thanksgiving, and I wasn't thinking about the Christmas picture in mid-October when he came home for Fall Break last year.

This year, though, I was thinking about it.   I told Jack to get his hair cut at Notre Dame in early October, so it wasn't too short for the picture.  I got matching shirts for the boys at the GAP, and Anna and Lily wore Lilly Pulitzer dresses they already had.    And I made an appointment at the Picture People at the Montgomery Mall for Friday night, right after work.  

I say every year, this is the most stressful day of the year, which I guess is a good thing that my stress level is pretty low.  I think I always make a big deal of this, because I have so few photos of me and my siblings as children.  In fact, I think I have about 5 of me.   So, I always said that if something happened to me, I wanted to make sure that my children had good photos of themselves growing up.

To be honest, it is definitely less stressful getting this annual Christmas picture taken than when they were young, because the intricate planning and buying of matching outfits could all go terribly wrong if someone got upset about something and refused to cooperate.  I remember a lot of bribing, which usually involved promising to get them something sweet after the photos were done.  So, it has definitely improved, but the feeling of dread, for some reason, hasn't gone away.  PTSD, perhaps.

Anyway, I have also learned that I have to be fairly hands-on with the photographers.  These photographers are unbelievably nice, but they do have an agenda, which is to get a few shots, and hope that when presented with a few shots, parents will in desperation buy whatever is presented to them.  But with 5 children, that increases the odds that someone will not be looking, will have his eyes closed (Timmy!!), or just not be smiling.  So, I have learned that I have to keep on pushing for them to take numerous shots and poses (it is just digital now, right?) and we always buy several poses, so I think it is all good.

Anyway, this year, our appointment was at 5:40, and we were out of the place by 6:30.  We always go up to eat while they are developing and printing out the poses, and then, in the old days, Chris and I would go back and order the pictures, which would take up to an hour deciding all the various things we wanted.  It was torture.  There were many years when we would literally be the last people out of the mall.

About 3 years ago, I got smart, and let Chris do it by having him order only 25 cards.  Then, I can go back, look at the shots on the disc, and order the one I like.   He pretty much knows what to do, but f he decides on a pose I don't like (like this year!!), I can go back and order the cards with the pose I like.

So, another year down.  I will show you all the photo we decided on later.  One of the joys of getting your Christmas picture done early, is that you have time to kill before you have to worry about sending out the cards.   But, I have included some of the "behind the scenes" shots while we were waiting to get the shots!!

Timmy's 16th Birthday--October 4, 1999

So, my sadness at Jack turning 20 is compounded by Timmy turning 16 today...it is like someone is laughing...sees I am a little sad, and decided to make it harder for me by having two of my children with back to back birthdays.     Timmy turns 16 today, which is a milestone.  It is the age, I think, when you really start to see your children "growing up", which mostly means growing away.

A 16th Birthday for a girl is a big deal, a little rite of passage.  A sweet 16 for girls.  But not for boys. For boys, it is just the age when he can get a license.  Which means, it is a big deal.  It is the age, I think, when boys start to move on, becoming more what they should be...young men.  For me, that makes it sad, because all I want is my little boy back.

                                                              February 2000--4 months old.

My God...he was so adorable.   A rare photo of Timmy not miserable.....he was a tough baby!!

                                                   Probably my favorite photo of Timmy.


                    And today--well, actually, this was from the first day of school this year:

I didn't feel this way about Anna, and I never really get sad on her birthday...I think it is a little true what they say about girls.   They are with you for your whole life.  I think lots of women have devoted boys--boys who are devoted to their mothers throughout their lives, but it is a little harder, I think.
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For Timmy's birthday, we went out for dinner to Grub last night (which is always a little weird, because it is actually Jack's birthday...but he is not home, so we took advantage of it).   Very simple. And for breakfast, I made his favorite waffles.  We were going to maybe go out again tonight since it is a Sunday, but instead, all he wanted was for me to make his favorite...grilled cheese.  So that is how we will celebrate Timmy's 16th birthday...just what he wants!

Jack's 20th Birthday--October 3, 2015

Jack turned 20 years old today.  I don't like it when people say this, but I can't believe it has been 20 years.  I have mixed feelings, but mostly, honestly, it is sadness, for the time gone by.

This is how I remember Jack...so much fun, always smiling as a little boy, and eager to make friends.

Jack is almost 4 1/2 here.   February 2000.

                                    He was so good to his little sister and brothers, and silly.

                                           He was devoted to me..and used to talk my ear off.

   I love this picture of us...I am holding Timmy, but leaning down, also holding Jack, smiling at him.  

 I can remember so vividly the day he was born, but it is now 20 years ago.  We had the hardest time deciding on a name.  I liked the name Jack, but I was resistant, because I said every Jack I knew had a drinking problem.  But who could deny that Jack Gallagher was a great name for this baby?   He became Jack.  And he  now he is 675 miles away, at Notre Dame, and he is doing what he should be doing--in college, having fun, but all very far away from his family.

Happy Birthday, Jack...we miss you!!