the cressy chicks take on the key west cocks

just got back from a wonderfully relaxing cressy girls' trip to key west. jeanne got to tag along on her first girls' get together by remaining only faithful to my boobies and not at all to the bottle. lauren, kiernan, jeanne and i left south bend late wednesday night to avoid weather and traffic in the morning on our way to chicago only to immediately get rear-ended before even leaving mishawaka! i had to get out of the car in my silly bright yellow canvas ballet flats, no socks, and a thin white jean jacket and scarf in -10 degree weather and about a foot of snow to talk to the other driver and swap info! what a way to start the trip! we then managed to get to the toll road where responsible lauren decides to call the state police to inquire about road conditions on the toll road... they told her to immediately get off the road due to many major slide-offs and white-out conditions... we naturally kept right on! we did indeed see many major slide-offs and definitely hit COMPLETE white-out conditions while driving 20 mph and having the ice build up on our wipers... BUT we made it safe and sound albeit late to our chicago hotel! i suppose that was a good way to manage having everything else about the trip seem SO relaxing and easy in comparison! we left the bend and it's record breaking -20 degree weather (that's WITHOUT windchill) for "cold" temps in the keys (60s!) we took it gladly. we all had an absolute blast (AND lauren reinvented herself with a beautiful star tattoo on her foot... don't you dare remove that bad boy, honey...), ate AMAZING seafood, drank loads of wine and other goodies, got Michael Kors' autograph at a drag cabaret, and jeanne was just an angel all the while. a big thanks to ALL the ladies (but especially mom) for helping out so much with my little one. can't wait till next year!!!!

Jeanne's First Christmas

2009, here we are! we had such a nice christmas here at home. aunt kimmy came home (we met her at the airport with a huge hand-made sign and got quite a few stares... i think people must have thought kim was home from iraq or something!) we had many family get togethers, baked and ate loads of cookies (the last batch of sandtarts was made yesterday...:( , and spent a lot of time in our pjs. JUST what christmas break should be. enjoy the pix to fill out the picture a bit more... hope you all stayed warm and happy this holiday season as well!

our big boy turns 4!

how is this possible?! part of it has to be that jeanne looks so much like james, and thus i am constantly reminded of james as a baby. but he's all grows up now! mimi and papa got him a hotwheels game that he plays by riding a stationary bike in front of the tv. corey and i sat and watched him from behind the other night in shock of how big our boy looked... shock and awe. he's such a pleasant dude. we often laugh that if there is something we complain about regarding james, it usually involves his high happy energy levels. that kid can just get too happy and excited sometimes... !?

all he had asked for his birthday was a hotwheels themed party. we went to meijer (why pay more!) and he got to pick out his monster truck cake, and while he slept during his nap i decorated for his car par-tay. we (and luckily especially he... and max...) had a blast complete with beer and barnaby's. happy birthday, big boy, james. we love you.

back to boston

there and back. james, jeanne and i headed back to boston for a long weekend. we got to meet little kevin and bridie. what cuties!!! it was SO nice to get in some family time before the holidays. mom and dad had gotten the christmas tree up, and i was more than happy to put up lights and my favorite ornaments (some major weeding was necessary!) cookies were baked, santa was seen at the local movie store, nest was raided (my mom's store), and rocks were thrown in the frozen duck pond. good times were certainly had by all. it was SO wonderful to catch up with my boston sibs. kev is hard at work at the law firm, shan is a mamaste whirlwind, mike is busy studying law, and katie certainly has her hands full (doing what it is she and i should be lauded for- mommying while managing to stay sane... only she looks better while doing it.) john and james were the goofiest peas in a pod, and when lupe was over the 3 of them were the best of pals. the day we were leaving, the monitor in my room let us all listen in on their sad conversation-

lupe: james, i sure am going to miss you when you leave.

james: yeah.

lupe: and you're going to miss john, too.

james: yeah.

amazing the way our little 4 year olds can voice their sweet emotions. another funny conversation (here's some background- james and john were playing in the kitchen and i forget the details, but something got spilled or broken... at least there was a loud noise or something that made katie head in to see what was going on...)-

katie: john, did you spill those?

john: no.

katie: james... did you?

james: no.

(katie walks out of the kitchen but hears this whisper...)

james: (to john) whew! that was close!

jack was also very excited to have such a friend in cars and trucks and construction. he and james naturally had a LOT in common! bridie was just an angel. those eyes! they are so dark and warm, and just make you want to smile. kev is just a little wiggly puppy dog. he reminded me a lot of jackson cressy in the amount that this kid smiled and kicked. he is one happy boy! and they had all been thinking HE was big! well, jeanne put them all to shame with her cheeks and thighs, and ankles,... she and john also tried rice cereal for the first time while we were out there. who knows how it went... that stuff is so messy, and they seem to have more fun spitting it out than swallowing any of it... and maeve is truly cindy loo who. what a sweet cherub face and voice. i think she liked the thought of being jeanne's big girl cousin. they looked pretty cute in their matching plaid dresses (pleasant coincidence!)

and now we're back! the trip was a blast, and james was such a happy and helpful travel companion (put him on a toll road or in an airport and he's in heaven!) jeanne can cross her first flight off her to-do list. she was pretty good, too... and i think i did pretty good, as well!

A Thankful Thanksgiving

wow, wow, wowza. what a weekend! this was an extra special thanksgiving weekend because mom and dad cressy were also celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary!!! thanks for being such fabulous role models, guys. SO, the weekend began on wednesday, picking aunt kimmy up from the airport (always a favorite trip for our transportation-loving boys) and then getting family portaits taken that evening. no need for the photographer to work on getting us to laugh. sean crawling away from the group as fast as he could as soon as everyone was in place had us all in stitches (except sean, of course...) hopefully we managed at least ONE good group shot! thursday was thanksgiving, and we were especially thankful to be a part of lizz and brett's baby son, hugh's, big baptism! he was VERY well behaved. james also was able to take part in the mass by borrowing the microphone during the homily to say that he was thankful for cars and trucks and candy... Dinner was a lovely affair up at the lake with all the Bogumills and Katie, Michael and Claudia. We are so blessed to have some of my family nearby to make me not feel SO outnumbered as a Garvey! Don't misunderstand me, you won't find a prouder Cressy, but this time of year makes one homesick for their own family, too. James, Jeanne and I, in fact, leave tomorrow morning to fly home to Boston for a Garvey fix. Friday morning found us en route to Chicago for an overnight with our immediate Cressy family. First we hit up the planetarium (WHAT a view!) and then headed to the hotel for some fun down time. The adults got to indulge in a fancy dinner while the kids (unbeknownst to us at the time) took full advantage of the new sitters! We came home at midnight to a room full of awake kids and baby! Oh well. After 6 hours of Corey and I failing miserably to get the kids back down, we decided to head back home to the comfort of our Mishawaka house and some well-needed rest. Kiernan and Bill were martyrs that night by offering to watch our kids (as well as their own) while Corey and I got to attend another fancy anniversary dinner celebration for mom and dad AND uncle John and aunt Clare. Sunday Sunday Sunday finally found us back in our groove, with mass, naps, and football. AND now it's advent!!! The decorations are slowly creeping upstairs...

enjoying the final fun days of fall

it is nearly winter (in fact i am writing this while enjoying the view of our snow covered yard... and to think last time i wrote it was sunny and warm!) but we are soaking up the remaining fall time while it's here. after the leaves were raked up, we decided to go have a jump. it was cold and somewhat wet (not a great combination especially for frolicing in the leaf pile) but james certainly was unaware and having a blast. sean... well, we walked through the leaves hand-in-hand once or twice, but he didn't seem to enjoy it when i laid him down in them... oh well, maybe next year. seriously though, no sooner did we get our group shot in the leaves, then the leaf picker-upper came by while we were out! so, we climbed the tree and had front row seats for watching the giant leaf vacuum in action.

i have also captured some more luscious photos of my princess phatty. she is quite the cheerful chubster. james and sean are quickly becoming her favorite entertainment, and they love having an easy laughing audience. she is getting a loud voice, which i hope you can witness on the picasa videos (you'll have to double click on the slideshow to find the movies i made.)

oh! and our eldest is really growing up. he has a girlfriend!!! james and isabel are as close as they come (said his teacher at his PT conference.) i was lucky enough to witness them in action as they played in the snow on the playground (again, you simply MUST check out the videos on picasa!)

happy halloween!

october flew by, and as i am writing this, the windows are all open and i am listening to the birds singing happily in 70 degree weather! you can't beat south bend for curve-ball weather. anyway, halloween was a blast. we had fantastic weather then, too, probably to the detriment of poor seanny's elephant fur... he did seem to get a little overheated about an hour into trick-or-treating and so we headed for home. we were happy to have little tootsie roll, claudia, and her "mad men" parents with us. james really got into the spirit of things this year and was running from house to house and both he and sean seemed to think that they had to finish all their candy as they recieved it! 2 houses into it and sean had chocolate fangs drueling a nice brown onto his elephant chin strap. a week ago i honestly don't think my kids could've given you a straight answer as to what candy is... oh boy, can they now! jeanne was a trooper in her little hand-me-down pea-in-the-pod costume (thanks aunt katie!) just wish i had thought to bring a bjorn or stroller with us. i'd forgottwn how heavy they can be when they're asleep!

the other pictures are of sean and mr. kitty. he is a stray neighborhood cat that is in love with sean and will follow him anywhere. they have a blast together, but, as cute as it is, i still hate cats. mr. kitty has taken to sitting outside our window all night just meowing, wanting to come in, i assume, but, man, does that sound get grating.

oh! and i need lots of props for my pumpkin this year. it is an image of our house and while not the best representation of my work, i did it with freaking salad tongs and nothing else!!!! i thought the boys would help me at least dig out all the goo inside it and help make some yummy pumpkin seeds, but no sooner do i have the paper covering the table, the shirts off the kids and the top of the gourd cut off, then sean takes one look at the mess inside and starts crying and i force james to just at least touch the fun slimy stuff and he, too, says, "i don't think i want to do this, mom" and proceeds straight out of the kitchen. SO, needless to say, i ended up having all the fun by myself at naptime. ENJOY!