I heart my Super {Mario} Brothers!

"Let's-a go!"

"It's-a me, Mario and Luigi!"

Mario, Luigi, Luigi, and Princess Peach!

We ran into friends from school... Chris Pelliter and his sister were Luigi and Princess Peach.

Too funny!  The kids LOVED it!

My favorite Super Brothers!

Zoo Boo was a success!  The boys love their costumes, and they look so cute!  We drove right back from Indy straight to the South Bend Zoo.  The boys put on their costumes over their clothes, and boy did we need it!  It is cold!  Windy and temps not making it to 50*.

Aherns in Indy

Another K-Stater at the bar in Indianapolis.

He told us we were waaaaaay older than him.  Ha!  He graduated in 2010.

Cullen, Finn and Seamus having pizza.

 The three boys had a great time playing together!  Seamus will be 3 in December.

They had fun building with legos and being firemen!

Sean and James

me and Tess

We drove down to Indianapolis just after lunch on Saturday to spend some time at Sean's cousin's house. It was fun!  We spent the afternoon with them, all the boys went outside to play football and wrestled in the leaves.  Marion and I hung out and played with cute, baby Tess. 

They had friends over that night to celebrate James' birthday.  Marion arranged a babysitter to come over and stay at the house (while the kids slept) while we watched ND beat Oklahoma at a bar.   It was a great time, the four of us stayed up until 3am catching up and talking.

We hung out for a bit in the morning, before we hit the road back to South Bend to hit up Zoo Boo!

By the way... How awesome is this football season for Sean and me!  KSU #2 and ND #3?!?  Awesome!  Very exciting time to be living here at Notre Dame!  What am I going to do if they play each other!!??
 

Thistleberry Farm

We had a crazy weekend!  Sean and I organized an outing for the ND MBA FLC (Family Life Committee) that we held on Friday night.  We planned a trip to Thistleberry Farm, just south of South Bend.  Cullen took a field trip here in Kindergarten.  There was a ton to do!  Hay-rack rides, pedal cars, cow train, jumping pillow, corn launcher, slides, spider webs to get tangled in, etc....  We also had the FLC fund all children's admission and a campfire.  We went through 2 big bags of marshmallows with all the families and kids that came out.  It was fun!

Finn at the ND football game

Here come the Irish!

Right after this picture, the Leprechaun ran over and gave Cullen a high-five.  Too bad I didn't get a picture of it! :) Cullen wanted me to hurry with this pic, they kept telling everyone to stay off the sidewalk.

Tons of people on campus on game days! (South Quad)

Football game with Daddy!

Cullen and I wandered around the bookstore...

A little nap during the 4th Quarter!

The Irish Guard... they must be 6'2" tall at minimum.

After watching the trumpets play inside the Golden Dome (Main Building).

We took advantage of a lot of the on campus activities before the ND vs BYU game Saturday.  We watched the trumpets play under the Golden Dome.  It was beautiful.  They all stand around the railings on each level of the dome and play the fight song and Notre Dame Hymn.  There many more people commented on Finn's pretty red hair.  :)

Then we watched the cheerleaders, Irish Guard, and the marching band march into the stadium.  Those Irish Guards are so TALL!

Finn enjoyed the day at the game with Sean.  It was a nice day for it, really.  Sean was surprised at how well Finn did.  He cheer[ed], cheer[ed] for 'ole Notre Dame {fight song lyrics} the whole time.  Well... until the 4th Quarter, when he caught a quick nap!  He was wired when he got home, talking a mile a minute.

We can't get over our 2 favorite college football teams this year both undefeated and ranked #4 and #5! Go Cats and Irish!!  It will be fun to take the boys to some KSU football games next year...

angel of a boy

angelic Cullen

Would you believe it, if I told you Cullen got in trouble for chasing girls at recess on Friday?  I don't either.. not my angel!  ;)  HA!  Back to reality... I guess he (along with some other boys) thought it would be fun to chase the girls.  One girl, in particular, did NOT find it fun... she cried.  Ohh, 1st Grade drama.

Cullen is really missing Finn right now.  He's told me numerous times!  It's Finn's turn to go to a football game, so he and Sean are cheering on the Irish! 

Funny things my kids say...

The boys have been pretty funny lately, I want to write this before I forget.

Lately Finn starts most of his sentences as: "listen to this mom, this is going to make you laugh...." But the other day he said: "listen to this mom, this is going to make you think I really am Superman...."

Tonight we went out to eat to celebrate Sean's acceptance into ILE in Leavenworth. We told the boys the good news at dinner, while I was about to tell them where we were moving, Cullen interrupted and said "are we moving to China??!?" With a look of horror on his face.

We were all talking about all the great things the move will bring, how close to family we'll be, etc. then Finn chimed in with we'll be close to Gage Park too! :)

Then Cullen went onto say he is ready to move, we've been in Indiana for a long time. (Yikes, said like a true Army Brat!)

ESPN Gameday on campus

There was a HUGE crowd!

What the ESPN viewers were watching.  See Touchdown Jesus in their background? It was just behind us.

Watching the band play.  Touchdown Jesus in background.

Yay for gameday on campus!

Walking home to meet the babysitter... "Here come the Irish!"

Beautiful trees along Lake Saint Joseph.

The boys with Seamus Ahern.

ESPN setting up on Thursday night.

The main stage.

Last weekend was pretty exciting around here!  ESPN was on campus for College Gameday.  The last time they were on campus was in 2005 (when Sean went to his first ND football game)!  The boys loved all the activities on campus leading up to game time.  It wore them out for the babysitter.  It was a GREAT game with ND beating Stanford in overtime!  It was a crazy game, standing in rain boots and ponchos the WHOLE time... it was cold AND rained pretty much the entire game.

ND Firehouse Tour

For playgroup this week, I organized a visit to the Notre Dame Firehouse.  It was awesome!  The firemen were great, they showed us everything, and taught us about fire safety!  One suited up in full gear, the pulled the firetruck out and turned the lights on, showed us where they sleep, eat, watch tv, one went down the fireman's pole for us.  Then before we left, they gave each kid a hat and sticker.  Finn had the best day ever!

"Catholics vs Convicts" Game in Chi-Town

Ready to hit the road to Chicago...

hot cocoa!

Sean scored two tickets to the ND vs Miami game in Chicago.  He and Cullen had a great night of bonding!  Cullen enjoyed the night of just him and dad.  Sounds like it couldn't have been a better night for them, AND the Irish stomped Miami.

cheetahs

We just finished up Cullen's first "research" project.  He was excited to learn more about his favorite animal, the cheetah.  I love his artwork.  Notice the wildebeest, bird, and rabbit too?  Next he will have to present what he learned to his class next week, via the smart board.

fall

The colors are so beautiful!

 I'm trying to permanently etch this image to my mind.

Feeding the ducks.

Throwing rocks in the water.

It was almost 80* Thursday.  The boys and I headed to our favorite walk around Lake Saint Mary on campus after homework was done.  I had to drag the boys home for dinner, it was so perfect outside.  Those warm days are now behind us, the high is supposed to be around 50* (and cloudy!) for the unforeseeable future...