October 2021

October started with a fun night with some 4th grade moms.

Jim's band played at the Webster Groves Porchfest!

The kids and I came to watch.

The band's picture was featured in the Webster-Kirkwood Times the following week.

Maggie has made such good friends on our street. Most days after school you can find them playing with each other.

One Saturday I went to three different soccer games. Maggie's was first.

Next, I saw Charlie play.

He was goalie for part of the game.

Finally, I saw Patrick play soccer.

That evening, Jim and Jack went out to dinner.

Then, Jim took Jack to his first real concert - Nathaniel Rateliff. 
I accompanied my mom to the IWA Hall of Fame.  Here she is with her former teaching partner. They have both been inducted into the HOF. 

Jim and Jack enjoyed a bike ride together.

Jim took Charlie to a Scout event where they made gifts for their mothers.

I attended a bridal shower for a volleyball teammate. 

Jack went to his first high school dance with a friend.

These kiddos all went to grade school together.

The next day, I went back to Forest Park to take pictures of my brother's sweet family.

My friend Nancy and I enjoyed a hike on a warm Fall day.

The day after Patrick turned 12, I took him to get his Covid vaccine.

We celebrated with frozen custard.

The Jambeque party was back this year! It was our turn to host. Due to the rain in the forecast, the band set up on the screen porch.

That evening, Jack went to a dance with another friend.

The next morning, Jack and I went to a mother-son mass and brunch at his school.

We celebrated Patrick's birthday with the family that weekend.

A friend sent me this picture of the divers after a swim meet.

Jack was diving and couldn't join us at Pumpkinland this year.

The kids enjoyed some candy apples after Pumpkinland.

Maggie had fun with lots of 2nd grade girls at Trunk or Treat.

Patrick was a doctor this year.

The day before Halloween, my parents watched our kids while we snuck away for a night with friends.

I'm not sure how this happened, but I didn't take any pictures of our kids on Halloween this year. They ran around with friends and weren't all together at any point, so I don't think I thought to take a picture.

September 2021

In early September, we invited the boys in Charlie's class to a nearby park after school for wiffle ball and cake to celebrate his birthday.

Jack participated in the freshmen tradition of the "Running of the Bills" at his high school.

The freshmen painted themselves blue and ran into the stadium.

Jack's in there somewhere.

Jim and I went to many concerts in the Fall. We saw the Violent Femmes, ...

... followed by Flogging Molly.

On the weekend, we celebrated Charlie's birthday with the family.

Charlie's birthday fell on Labor Day this year. Traditionally, we get donuts on each person's birthday. After going to 4 stores and not finding any vanilla long johns (Charlie's request), I packed the kids in the car and drove to south city by our old house where I knew of several donut shops. All were closed. Who knew donut shops weren't open on Labor Day? We finally found some donuts at a grocery store and took them to Francis Park to eat them.

That afternoon, we went to a Cardinals game.

We celebrated Charlie's birthday once more with just the six of us that evening.

Jim's band played a show on the rooftop garage of the MAC downtown.

We had good friends come to the show.

Maggie got to go to the Cub Scout family campout. She was excited and had fun with her friends.

We celebrated Mass outside.

The scouts had a blast!

 Another concert! This time we saw Dead & Company. 

We went to Notre Dame for a weekend with two other families. It was a Glee Club Reunion weekend so Jim got to catch up with lots of friends. ND played Purdue in football and one of the other Dads that came with us went to Purdue. It was a fun weekend.

The Glee Club sang before the game.

We watched the players march to the stadium.  You can see Charlie with his camera taking pictures as they walked by him.

The boys went to the game. Maggie and I hung out with some friends at the house we rented.