Happy Holidays!

I have grown to love the chatter, laughing, crying and occasional quiet moments that are part of a large family. As we take stock of the important things, we feel so blessed to have happiness and health, family and close friends. We wish you and your family the very best at this sacred time of the year.

Holiday Dance Recital

Aidan, Caity and Isabel take dance classes every week through school. They have a dance recital in the winter and spring. Aidan participated last spring but decided this year, as a kindergartner, he was just too old for this type of thing. Caity and Isabel loved the sparkly outfits and had lots of fun.

Our old video camera did not work, so Dan took a few clips with the camera.

Isabel's Somersault

Caity's Cartwheel

The First Nutcracker

Caitlin and Isabel went to their first performance of The Nutcracker. They were escorted by Papi and Mary to the new North Central Performing Arts Center.


Caity liked the ballerinas but did not like that they turned the lights down for the show and spent the entire performance on Papi's lap. Isabel loved the show from start to finish and still tells us her version on the story.

Getting two 3 years olds to cooperate is NOT an easy task.

Okay, girls. Please smile. Then we can do a silly picture.

Happy Birthday, Karen!

Melissa, Jacob, Caity, Karen, Isabel, and Aidan

Turkey Day

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Papi and Mary's house the Saturday after the official day.

Uncle Tom carving the Tom the old-fashioned way.


When most people retire, they downsize. I think Papi and Mary needed to increase their square footage to hold all the grandkids (count is currently at 7).

Caity and David making the most of the front entryway.


After dinner, we lost the kids to the new Media Room that was showing Dumbo.

We celebrated upcoming early December birthdays with dessert. Between Grandma Del and Karen, there were a lot of candles that needed to be put out on the cake.

Celebration Video Clip

Thanksgiving Celebration!

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Trotting for Turkeys.

Early Thanksgiving morning Karen and I took to the streets of Naperville to ride the wave of sweaty, heavy-breathing humanity known as the annual Naperville Noon Lions 5 K Turkey Trot, to raise money, apparently, for "serving":

Karen was going for a PR or, as it's called in the secretive and dangerous world of running: Personal Record. As you can see from her photo above, even before the race she was moving faster than what the lens of the iPhone could capture. She achieved her goal, finishing the race at 28:37, over four minutes faster than what she ran in 2006 (to be fair, she was catering to her slob husband who was doing all he could just to remain upright and breathing), and nearly a minute faster than when she ran it in 2003, just after Aido Potato was born at a time in her life when she considered herself in pretty decent shape, or at least extremely motivated to start moving again after having a baby.

My goal was to complete the race in just around the time the dude who won the Boston Marathon finished. Both Karen and I were pleasantly surprised by my time: 29:18. Check out the picture. Look at that fine specimen of a man. My right thumb became excruciatingly hot right before the race; I was airing it out before getting down to business. I must have done a simultaneous three miles just with that thumb navigating the iTunes function of my phone, trying to get the right running song. With all the commotion of running and dodging kids who were spontaneiously running the opposite way, I somehow managed to get the thing to play Wham, "Wake Me Up Before You Go, Go!" on repeat for the duration of the race. My left eye is still twitching.

Karen and I took part in a training program through CARA called the Six Drumsticks, meeting at various local drinking establishments on Tuesday nights for six weeks prior to Thanksgiving to run between 3 and 5 miles, then come back to the tavern for drinks, appetizers, and a raffle. This was definitely my kind of training program. We liked it so much, we're signing up for the one that helps train for the Shamrock Shuffle in the spring. Beer and gambling always motivate me.

Jacob and Max

Jacob has had a lot of practice being a big brother. Especially when we had the twins, it was all hands on deck and that included him. I think Jacob really enjoyed holding his baby cousin.

Circus 2008

Just to clarify, we went to the circus but we were not an act in the circus. Although it would be funny to try and stuff our entire clan into one of those Mini Cooper-sized cars.

Look at Aidan's face! I dread his rebellious years.

Aidan's buddies Nathaniel and Ethan. In total, there were 11 kids and 6 adults.

Melissa and Isabel.

Baby Max Gets Right With God

On November 9, Maxwell James became a Christian.

In the back of the church were the hoodlums!

Yes, in case you are wondering, Caity was hanging upside down from a pew!

Isabel took Mom's scarf, Dad's hat and Cyndi Lauper's style...

Who do we love? Papi

Green Lightening

Dan and I are sad that the 2008 soccer season has come to a close. We love the sport and enjoy watching our kids play it. Aidan got his first taste of the game with his Kindergarten team through the Lisle Park District and was lucky to have his Dad as a coach.

This fall, Jacob decided to leave his Chicago Fire Juniors travel team and play with his friends on a subdivision team called the Green Lightening. Jacob flourished and really came into his own. He scored many goals for the season in his position as a left striker. His team ended the season in first place, but lost the championship game.

Last night, we went to his end of the season team party, and I was so proud of what the coach said. Coach Fredrick said Jacob was an excellent team player who led by example. He said he had a great head for the game and was a kind player. He used an example where the coaches had pointed out that another player had been open for a cross that may have ended with a better shot on goal. Jacob later went over to the player and said he was sorry that he had not seen him open.

Yeah, we want them to win. Yeah, we want our kids to be great players. But as a parent, I want him to be a good person more than both of those.


Sorry about the bad picture. I had twins hanging off my legs and only my iPhone for a camera.

Yuck E. Cheese

Okay, from the title of my entry today, you already know that I am not a fan of Chuck E. Cheese. *Gasp!* How can any Mom admit that? Especially one that has four kids?

I believed there to be only three redeeming qualities of the experience:
1) Beer. Although, there is a rule that you are only allowed one beer per hour for two hours.
2) Salad Bar. Hey, don't knock this one until you have tried their pizza!
3) Plastic ring thingee. One of the kids is always nice enough to share their tickets to help me expand my jewelry collection.

Recently, my brother Greg's daughter Christina had her birthday party there. Isabel exclaimed very forcefully that Chuck E. Cheese was her friend. When we went to the party, I realized that I needed to give the mouse and his crazy little restaurant a break. If, for no other reason, my sweet girl. Check out the pictures.