March 2024

Jack went to a dance at Ursuline in early March.

Jim and I went to Jazz St. Louis with friends. It was a fun night!

Jack and I attended the Mother-Son Trivia Night at his school. We didn't win, but had a good time.

Maggie's Girl Scout troop was honored at the Scout Sunday Mass.

Congratulations to the CYC chess champion for the 7th/8th grade division!

Maggie had fun playing basketball with these girls.

We celebrated Pi Day in my class before spring break.

One of my students won a pi shirt in the Set Game tournament. 

Jim's aunt passed away and we made some last-minute adjustments to our spring break plans.  Jim and Jack stayed back for the funeral and I took the other kids as planned. Our first stop was a hotel outside of Nashville for the night. We went out to dinner and then the kids had fun exploring the hotel.

The next day, we drove to the cabin we rented in Hiawassee, GA.

After the funeral, Jim and Jack drove straight through to meet us at the cabin. They arrived very late at night and we were so happy to see them!  The next day, we drove up Bell Mountain and checked out the views.

We did not bring our vehicle beyond this point.  It was a little sketchy to get it even this far up the mountain.

Next, we visited the town of Helen, GA. It was a cute little German town.

Now we don't even have to take our kids to Germany.

We ate at a local establishment. 

We found a few places to hike on the way back to our cabin.

I was taking pictures of Jack as he crossed the river on this thin branch. I thought for sure he was going to fall in, but I was wrong.

Skipping rocks is a favorite activity of all Kellys.

Next, we went to Raleigh for a few days.  We stayed with my aunt and uncle.  We left the younger two with them and took Jack and Patrick to Duke.

It was spring break for Duke, but we were able to take a self-guided tour of campus.

We found some fun hats in the bookstore.

My cousin and his kids came over for dinner one night.  I can't believe I had never met his kids before!

After Raleigh, we drove to Atlanta and spent the night.  The next morning, on Pi Day (!), we toured Georgia Tech.  We found this marker on the ground and I had to text my running group.

After our tour, we visited my cousin Joe in his lab. He introduced us to his wife and she showed us around some of the labs she works with.  Maggie was excited to hold a crab.

We went out to lunch with Joe before driving to Nashville.

The apartment we rented in Nashville had this cool sign.

Jim and I went out to listen to some live music one night.

We found a bench dedicated to Taylor Swift in a nearby park.

We enjoyed some good food at The Stillery after our tour of Vanderbilt. 

We went to Third Man Records.  Jim was able to get his picture wearing his shirt in front of the Automatic Recording Studio. 

Next, we checked out the Gibson Garage. So many guitars!

Patrick was thrilled to try this ukulele. 

Daddy and daughter checked out some guitars.

We stopped in The Gulch for pictures with the angel wings.

Mexican dinner for the win!

We came back to St. Louis in time to go to the Dogtown St. Patrick's Day Parade.

On Easter morning, the kids waited at the top of the stairs (mostly in Christmas pjs) until we said they could come search for Easter eggs.

The eggs were hidden outside this year.

This cutie is wearing earrings she made for Easter Mass.

Family picture with Grandma after Mass.

Happy Easter!

February 2024

In early February, Jim and I went out for dinner and a comedy show.  We sat in the front center, close to the stage.  The show was funny and the comedians didn't tease us too much.  We posed for a picture with them afterwards.

Both Charlie and Patrick represented their classes in the school spelling bee this year.  They both made it through several rounds.

Patrick finished runner up.

Jim was able to join us for Family Lunch Day this year.  The kids chose Culvers.  

One of my favorite things about teaching at the kids' school is getting to play in the 8th grade vs faculty volleyball game.  It is extra special when I get to play against one of my children.

Patrick is in there somewhere.

The 8th graders always wear wacky outfits for the game.

This cutie was supporting me from the stands. She was cheering for both her mom and her brother. 

Maggie celebrated her birthday with a few friends a week after her actual birthday. 

She definitely has her own style!  I love it!

Patrick attended a welcome event at his high school and we saw a family friend.

My running group went out to celebrate Kerry's birthday.

How cute is this igloo?

Charlie played basketball...

...and flag football.  My Dad came to one of Charlie's games.

We celebrated Valentine's Day a day early at school because Valentine's Day was on Ash Wednesday this year.

Maggie rode her bike alongside Jim as he ran on Ash Wednesday. 

Mid-February was a scary time in my family.  My Dad went in for open heart surgery to replace a valve on Valentine's Day (the cardiac cath  the day before showed no blockages so no need to repair anything else).  I went out to the hospital after work and waited with my mom until the surgeon came back to say everything went well and he was in recovery.  We went to see him (he was not yet awake) and then went home for the night.  I planned to be back at the hospital early the next morning to be in the room when the doctors rounded.  When I woke up, I had a text from my mom from the middle of the night asking me to call her. I knew that couldn't be good.  My mom had gotten a call in the middle of the night that my Dad had progressively gotten worse as the night went on. His blood pressure kept dropping. When it reached 30/10, the ICU doctor decided to open him up in the ICU room.  When my mom got to the hospital, there were still bloody instruments on the table and blood on the walls and floor. So scary! Later, that doctor told us he thought they would lose him. My brother Michael got to the hospital early and I came after that.  Dad continued to lose blood throughout the day.  My Dad's sister came. She is a former ICU nurse and we cannot thank her enough for her advice, guidance, and comfort.  After getting 12 units of blood that day, the doctors took him in for another surgery.  It was a super scary day.  I finally called my brother Patrick and told him I thought he should come down. He got on the first plane.  It was so scary.

My Dad was in the ICU for over a week and then moved to a step down unit, and then to rehab.  He finally came home in mid-March.  He has had an amazing recovery and is doing so, so good now!

Our family went to Milwaukee for a weekend.

Jim got to play and sing with his siblings.

Jim and Jack each wore one of Jack's t-shirts.

It was a fun party!

Jack sang along to a few songs.

We got to see cousins!

Even Patrick got up to join the band!

On Sunday, Jim went home for work on Monday and I took the kids to see my brother and his family.  We visited their new building and got to sit on some of the equipment.  Thankfully, no keys were in the vehicles.

My brother Patrick had the kids make paper airplanes in the board room.

The kids took turns flying their paper airplanes from the second story.  Patrick's (my son) airplane went the furthest. 

After dinner, the Patricks played a game of chess. Patrick won. Patrick lost.

Uncle Patrick gave Patrick his high school cross country jacket. Let's hope Patrick runs in the fall!

After visiting Patrick and Ingrid, I took the kids to Madison for an engineering tour.  I had hoped it would be cold so Jack could get a good idea of winter weather in Madison before he makes his college choice.  It was 45 degrees, so not typical of a February day. Oh well!

Jim and Paul played at my parents' church fish fry. My cousin Jack joined them for some songs.

I got to hang with my first and oldest Godson while we listened to the great music. 

We paid off our house and had a special dinner to celebrate!

Many months ago, Jim promised Charlie that we would celebrate paying off the house with cake - Charlie's favorite food.  We picked out this cake from a highly-rated bakery.  Honestly, it was just okay, but we were happy to be celebrating!