Happy Birthday, Great-grandpa Nichin!!

On Sunday, the Nichin side of our family got together to celebrate my Grandfather's 80th birthday. It was a beautiful day and everyone had a lovely time.

Faye plays patty cake on Uncle Richie's head.










Then dances to the Hungarian music with my cousin Karen.









Lenny wishes his Great-grandpa a very happy birthday.









Then, tuckered out, he snuggles up with his daddy.

Easter - Part 2

On the Sunday after Easter, my mother's side of the family got together for Easter dinner. It was very nice not to have to split the time up and we had it at our house, so there was no travel time which was very nice. Everyone had a great time.

Here's Nana Boyle with her grand-daughters.







Annika had a great time playing in our massive, hand-me-down toy pile.










Annika and Daddy snuggle up on the couch.









Next year: we hunt for EGGS!!!!!!!!!!

Come on Cubbies!!!

As you all know, our children have inherited our (mostly Ed's) love of the Chicago Cubs. It wasn't hard, as both our families are filled with die-hard Cub fans. But as anyone who's been listening to or watching the games the past couple of days has been sorry to hear that we're in a three game losing streak (can you really call that a streak?), the worst of which was loosing the home opener yesterday. In order to give some moral support to our friends at the Friendly Confines, the kids dressed up in their Cubbie blues (and pinks) today (courtesy of Suzie). It didn't help the Cubs win, unfortunately, but it lent itself to some cute photos, so without further ado . . .

Lenny proudly wears his Cubs gear










Faye tries to play "Take Me Out To The Ballgame," but her xylophone won't let her.









Faye lounges around while listening to the game.









Lenny joins Faye in a relaxing afternoon of baseball.









Did I say relaxing? "Come on, Cubbies!" Faye says, "You're tanking and it's only the first inning! We need some hats, so we can get our rally-caps on!"



"Can you believe this, Lenny?"







"Listen, Faye! It's the bottom of the ninth, but they've finally scored some runs!"





"Oh, well, there's always the next game. See you here tomorrow at 1:20, Lenny!"

Happy Easter - part 1

Happy Easter, everyone! Lenny and Faye had a wonderful first Easter. They enjoyed it so much we'll be doing it again this Sunday with my mother's family! So, here are the pictures from part 1:
Faye and Grandpa Nichin enjoy some time together.









Lenny and Grandma Nichin smile for the camera.









Joey (Lenny and Faye's cousin who's about three weeks older than them) shows off his walking skills while joining the big kids for the Easter egg hunt at Colleen's. Such a big boy!!!







Bannon cousins hit Aunt Colleen's lawn searching for eggs.














Lenny plays with his big cousin Alan who's home for the weekend but soon back on the road with his band, 1997. Their music is fantastic! So here's my shameless plug: check out their CD at www.victoryrecords.com/1997.



Faye thinks her pink bunny is just the funniest thing! Thanks, Grandma Bannon!

Triplets?????

April Fools!!! No of course we don't have triplets, but when our niece, Annika, spent the night with us this weekend, we got to try out what it would have been like. Fortunately for us, all three kids are so wonderful (and self-sufficent) that it was no trouble at all and everyone had a wonderful evening. So, without further ado, the pictures . . .

Lenny gets his hands on a couple of candy filled eggs at the Holy Family Easter Party.









Faye also grabs one of the colorful plastic eggs.










Annika and Grandpa Nichin hang out as Annika shows off her awesome Easter basket!








Heather finds out what staying home with triplets would really have been like: Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!



We desperately tried to get a good photo of all three kids together, but Lenny couldn't keep his hands off Annika's hair and Faye was just fed up with the whole scenario.


Here's a better shot of them playing, even if you can't really see all of their faces.





Isn't Annika a beauty? And she's such a happy baby.







Faye enjoyed having her cousin over for the night, but had to guard some of her favorite toys a little more closely.








Lenny, on the prowl, after Annika and those gorgeous curls!









Annika prefers the gentle minstrations of Uncle Ed. Hey, Aunt Heather, why are you taking my picture when I'm in the middle of getting dressed?!?!?







We took all three kids out for a walk this morning after breakfast. Our kids are pretty early risers, so Annika was a bit tuckered out as you can see.




Annika and Lenny play with Iggy while Faye gets some rest upstairs.