Shannon turns 30!
And she did it in style...in Atlantic City.
I made the party favors- matching t-shirts for the ladies!

Shannon's was a big "S" with "30" on the back, and the rest of us had our initial Laverne and Shirley style.
Here we are spelling out "CASH".

All the ladies!
I picked black tshirts because white is very...see through and then you have to worry about special bra and dirt and everything.

Posse walks through.


I made Shannon wish before her 30 birthday began - so this is at ten minutes to 12.

Alicia and Shannon dance at the karaoke bar...
Anyways it was a fantastic birthday party, and we had a great time. Some won big...some lost a little...but my tshirts looked great. And that's what counts.

Happy Birthday, little tomato!

Kate was serious.

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Despite what she says, she was contemplating buying this.
Friends don't let friends buy this kind of vest. Unless you are starring on a certain show on MTV, where everyone is orange.

And yes, I did buy her that hat. And no, I don't think that reflects poorly on me.

Begin Again
Already this January seems to be moving at a brisk pace and I'm forgetting to tell you things. Gail met the ever elusive Ty when Matt and Ty came up after New Years, and they took pictures and giggled together:


That's Missy and Matt and Gail and Ty on Missy's awesome vintage couch, that is a truly sad color but an awesome shape.

Katie and her mom and Joe and I went into the city to sleep over Colleen's apartment so we could go shopping on Sunday!

She took us to an awesome Chinese restaurant that had a koi pond behind us, and I kept pretending they were coming to eat her...
On Sunday, we went to Penelope for breakfast and I would highly HIGHLY recommend it, because it was tiny and sweet and delicious and everybody was super nice.

Then we walked against the wind against the cold into the heart of fun and frolic and profit--Soho.
Along with gabillions of stores, we hit the City Quilter and went back to M & J Trimming
After we drove home, I went over to Gail's house to see...

Luke! Luke Elliot! That's our Luke under all that beard! He came to visit and meet Baby James and we got to meet his girlfriend, Chris!
This weekend: We go to Atlantic City for Shannon's 30th birthday!

Wednesday at the Meaghers

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I believe I was remiss. I didn't tell you how awesome our New Jersey counterparts are. They hosted a wonderful holiday get together with pizza and other delicious treats and singing around the kitchen table, and planning to buy a beach house with Miss Charlotte ("You are all my kids!") and laughing a lot because they are just the funniest crew! And we had a great great time. Because they're awesome!

Lonely Robot

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Just signed up for a new class on Card Making and Paper Printing at FIT. Last year, I took screen printing and I make this Lonely Robot Tshirt.
My professor, who was french and asked me about it said, "Heather...he is not lonely. He has the moon! He has the stars! He is full of nature!" --but say it to yourself in an awesome french accent.
I think I'm going to make some Lonely Robot greeting cards. I'll send one to you, if you want!

Colin!

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This is Baby Colin, or as I call him, Bebe - Big Bebe. He is a smiley little dude. He is giant, as his brother was. He is very nice and rolls over but gets a little stuck on his belly.
He also likes it if you tickle his neck a little bit, but only if he's not hungry. He doesn't like to be hungry. But he likes most anything else!

In a year when I started thinking about Christmas in October, I was still a last minute Annie
Highlights include:
Fabric Spray Paint - the results are too painful to share - and the quest to make the perfect Hawk and Dove Tshirts for my nephews, Loch and Seaniebear. They came out better than expected...but the boys didn't know what the heck they were. I saved my bacon by making them initial shirts (which were awesome gray shirts with blackwatch plaid letters - cuz I roll like that!)
James had his first Christmas, which was very busy, and he tuckered out his mom and dad for sure. He has been crawling all over the place like a mad man.

Seaniebear got some pirate hats from Aunt Gail and Uncle Joe:

We went over to Inez and Tom's for dinner (and it was soooo good!)

and played with James some more!
The next day there was a BATTLE OF THE CLAUSES! Clausi? Clauseys?

"I'm so embarassed! I thought I'd be the only Claus here!"

Lochlain, puppet mastering Superman! Isn't he so grown up looking?

Carter, Loch and Seanie hiding from the monster!

Looking for the scoop!

Self portraits!

Katie and I go into the city and buy uberwarm hats!

The ladies put on a show!

James wore stripes!
So, picture those things along with a gabillion other things and you'll know why I still haven't caught up on sleep!
But, I did get Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Workshop on DVD! I know, don't hate!
One secret of the family:
Gail draws squirrels that look like beavers.

Snow.

My least favorite form of precipitation.
I hate hate hate snow. But the show (or parties!) must go on!

One Wedding and a Thanksgiving...

To sum up many events in one big block of words: me and my pops went to North Carolina for Tgiving to eat with Seaniebear, Lochlain, John and Beannie. It was easy peasy travelling and lots of laughing and a few rousing renditions of "On Top of Spaghetti", and a deeeeelicious dinner and yahtzee and HOBBY LOBBY (oh, sweet Hobby Lobby - you have unfrozen my cold stone heart) - For those of you who don't know HOBBY LOBBY is all the goodness of Michaels + all the wackadoodle cool stuff in Home Goods. And I love love loved it.

Seaniebear sort of sad...really just trying to get his way (!)

Self portraits!

World's Biggest Four Year Old! And what a handsome boy he is. My Loch. My friend.

Helping make "Mom's cookies" which are sugar cookies that you have to beat into submission. Lochlain was pretty good. Seaniebear was...three.

Sits with Peepah, wears Peepah's glasses...

Essentially how my pops looks in them, too.

Maybe my favorite picture of all time and space.

Family play time.

Another awesome pic!

some Meagher Men

A beautiful picture...that I'm sure Johnny will mosaic to contrast and compare...
And we had a Beanie Birthday party - a few months late.
On Saturday me and Pops and Joe and Gail met Johnny in New Jersey for a Meagher family wedding...Sarah Meagher's wedding! And it was super fun and really nice and a great wedding.

Sarah and John Burns!


Gail and Maddie

John and Mary Fran

Meaghers - and Walshs - dance


I know it's fuzzy, but it Nora! Katie! and Tine!
Well, I'll tell you this: We had a great time! We danced, we sang, we chatted! That makes two awesome family weddings this year: First Bill and Lorna and now Sarah and John! I love it when my family gets married!!!!

Tristan and Carter and James - Oh MY!

Last weekend, Richie's friend Steve got married out in Peconic right by Joey's Pop Pops house. So, Rich and Cass go off to rehearse and attend the wedding and Gail, Pops and I took care of the kiddies.
I joined them on Friday after work. Gail and Joe and James and Pops and Carter and Tristan were hanging out eating pizza when I got there. Tristan was having a bit of a hard time, but we went to find a quiet spot and hung out for a while and then we sat on the floor while (her cousin, my nephew) James laughed in her face, trying to get her to enjoy the play. She was...unsure, but the kid was alright.

Then we went into the car to travel out east to Peconic, while Joe and James went home for the evening. Carter and her Grandpa watched a Muppet show collection I had gotten out of the library - Aunt Gee has a TV in her car! But strangely, it only shows VHS! Tristan really dug being in the car. She blew the loudest LOUDEST rasberries for a long time and made me laugh a lot.

On Saturday it was rain rain raining! We made beaded necklaces, we colored (princess) puzzles, James and Uncle Joe came, we played on the floor, we went out for ice cream
we went on the Greenport carousel, we sang in the backseat, we watched some Dora, we ate Aunt Gee's spaghetti and meatballs, we had a special pajama party where we watched "Return to Neverland", and we colored a special princess poster, (Carter suggested that I keep my markers to my own princess- which I totally was), we had fun.




We sort of got to know Baby Tristan a little better, and sort of reached an understanding. Though we are not as great at comforting her as her mama and papa, Grandpa, Gee and I got quite a few smiles and even a giggle or two. She watches you, and she pats you, and she's interested in you.


James did not like sharing his Grandpa, that's for sure...and
wanted to be wherever Grandpa was, and making sure his Gpa was looking at him.


Rich and Cass stayed at Gail and Joe's on Sunday night, and me and Grandpa went, and we brought Katie. Katie and I had gone on the great teacup hunt that day, so she came along for dinner to meet Baby Tristan, and see Carter and James. Carter, Kate, Cass, Rich and I were in a band. But there were a lot of rules about the band, and we eventually broke up. I don't even remember our name. It was sad.
But then we ate chicken had some of Rob's brocolli (Brocolli Rabe) and had a delicious cake for dessert ( and sprinkle cookies)!