Annnnnnnd we're off!

Found this quote the other day, " Working mothers are guinea pigs in a modern experiment to study the effects of sleep deprivation". Hmmm, might explain the 'mood' I'm in of late! So why do I push the envelope and stay up tonight trying to get a mega-post up when I must be at work again in the morning? Because I've finally downloaded the pictures for the month of May and if I do not act on my resolution to give my daughters the gift of memories via this blog the whole month may be lost to posterity!!

May is the month for horse races in this house and I feel very much like a thoroughbred with the gate about to open before me! For the reader with ADD you may just want to do a quick scroll down the page to look at all the pictures because this is the beginning of a looooong post! No 1/2 mile sprint here....this will be the full 1 and 3/4 mile race through our month of May.

So I've already covered the Kentucky Derby but my Cinco de Mayo and Mother's Day coverage was a tad skimpy. Here's a slightly beefier accounting of those two events....

Cinco de Mayo would seem a rather unusual holiday to garner so much attention in this family. The plethora of Irish ancestry (more later on my current obsession with Ancestry.com!) that resulted in the Mahoney family would logically lead the reader to assume that a minor Mexican holiday would not rate very highly. No, the two latinas have nothing to do with our love of any reason at all to eat Mexican! They're Guatemalan NOT Mexican!!! We've just developed a passion for the food of our Southern neighbors!!!!

Now get real! We are American after all, so flame seared tortillas come from the gas range not an open cook fire.

Even Grandma adores the Mexican cuisine and joined the crowd for some 'guacamora'...an old Irish ladies adorable merge of two cultures. You know....where guacamole meets Glockamora?!?! 

Baby brother Kelty is always hopeful that he is allowed to join in some burrito or even watermelon rind eating...but alas he must settle for.....

his big sister giving him some loving...in a very "short, wash your hands after, and where's your inhaler" kind of way!

No flan or sopapillas for dessert though...too rich for our stuffed bellies. Instead we willed in summertime with a watermelon!! Andrew has quite the sense of humor and this was how he let us know that his portion was too small for his liking (:

Love this picture of Mari with her piece of watermelon...she begs to differ calling her look "soooo weird"....sigh, how much longer before she gets through this phase??? Biting my lip hard since we seem to have had a veeeeery short stage make-up phase and she's discovered her 'look' and all it entails is a little eye liner!!     

And this is what Mexican food does to a gaggle of cousins!!!



Next up is the answer to my brother on why my wicker basket of hats and gloves is still parked just inside my front door!

[This is also a reminder to my children on why Mom is always begging Auntie Peggy to "come and take pictures'!]  Spring soccer, in May, always involves freezing rain!!!

Now I see Julia out on the soccer field through the drizzle....and decidedly out of focus picture, don't you?

Nope, the focus never did work that day  ): Probably had a lot to do with the camera operator wearing gloves and shivering?!?!?



Then came a 'big' birthday!!!!

Andrew turned 13 on the 8th of May!!! So exciting, yet agonizing as he knows that his 'kidnapping' has been planned but no one would crack and tell him when and where. I began the panic that day as it meant that Mari was bearing down on 13 too quickly for my liking! Funny how your brain can hold two opposing emotions in the same thought...I went to the ends of the Earth to become a Mom but never planned on having a teenager...not yet anyhow!!!

Andrew and Alyssa's painfully shy and camera phobic little brother Ethan loves his big brother more than he hates cameras here! Hey Peggy, getting the hint here???? "Forgetting" your camera isn't allowed anymore!!!


Then we were back at Auntie Peggy's house the next day for Mother's Day!! Uncle Peter was in charge of the turkey......

which also means guarding the skin from the family of addicts we have! Note between the above picture and this one, who managed to snag the first piece of skin?

Once the others saw her munching there was no need to make the call to dinner! 

Today, Kelty took matters into his own paws!! Not content with his usual crumb patrol, he waited for us to get seated at the dining table and then helped himself to what he felt was his fair portion! Luckily it was the less desired dark meat. Bought him time in 'basement jail' as the girls called the confinement behind the closed door.

My sister arrived with her children to visit Grandma. Since their Dad was already on his way to his Mother's house they were only 'supposed' to visit and take off to see the other Grandma....but the pull of turkey aroma coupled with the full compliment of cousins resulted in a 'slight' change in their plans...as became obvious when Daniel arrived at the dining table with a plate full of food and asked where "his chair" was?!?!?

This is my Mom after a day of being loved on by her family....and thus my melancholy of the Mother's Day post below. 


Patrick's birthday followed Mother's Day on May 13th. Review last year's post on the topic of his birthday and you will recall that he's not 'comfortable' with my family's tradition of gathering for cake and tea no matter your age. 

Except that this year, when I had not properly prepared for the day, he asks me "so, is anyone coming over?" Guess he's finally warming up to the attention after 14 years of marriage? [PS. I did manage to pull together a big ham with cabbage and turnip 'comfort food' dinner with guests!!]

Then our talented cousin had her band concert....

.....and there was another horse race. Deirdre inherited the original scrub top as Julia did receive a new one that fits over her head!! Julia's winning streak came to and end with the Preakness....her horse came in SECOND?!?!?


The "end of the year" crunch is now upon us at both of the girls' school! As room mother, I get the honor of organizing and attending the class picnic for Julia's 3rd grade class. It is the same day that Alyssa graduates from 8th grade....

...so in anticipation of being crazy busy and stressed that day I have worked with Julia on some of her 'projects'. These are her pages that will be included in the teacher's gift which is a scrapbook  [to accompany the gift card to a local spa!]. 

Now if I could only get Auntie Peggy to upgrade her camera so I can claim her 'old' one as the feel of it in my hand is so natural...hint?