Camp Ladybug

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A few weekends ago we had a girls weekend in Lake Tahoe for a good friend's baby shower. We planned lots of fun ladybug themed things to do and arts and crafts since the baby-girl-to-be has been nicknamed Ladybug. We took the 2 and under year olds but managed to find time for relaxing mom activities too. The friend who helped plan and I decided a "camp" theme was fitting so we brought back the old school lanyards and friendship bracelets galore - always fun to have an excuse to do arts and crafts but mostly it was a great weekend to celebrate the baby mom to be.



The view - I love Tahoe

Camp Ladybug t-shirts for everyone! even little underwear and boxers for the 2 year olds :) (www.simplycolors.com is the BEST for good quality personalized stuff. I have a 10% off code if you order!)

eerything was ladybugged out

Fiesta dinner and the "itinerary" on chalkboard pages for everyone to keep on schedule :)

My big girl Maisie ready to kayak in her PJ's

Swinging in the shade

Maisie was so into the art projects - she painted six of these canvases and cried when I told her there were none left. We put tape on them in letters or shapes and then after the paint dried we pulled the tape off and it was a 2-year-old work of art :)

more art- making a picture for Anne

My littlest bug

We planned to do a big canvas for "Love for Ladybug" and let the kids do it but since Maisie was the only kid into painting and they all turned a little brown (thanks for the tip R- if you leave out one of three primary colors you won't get brown!) so we made it a moms art project after dinner. Wine and glitter mix well :)

and it wouldn't be summer camp without Tye-Dye'd shirts!

Maisie made some glasses out of pipe cleaners (with a little help but she was very proud)

Sunnyside sunset cocktails and cocktails with the Baby Momma- can't wit for Ladybug to be here!

Janie and Ladybug belly have matching sparkle shirts :) they are sure to be best of friends

Back to Nature Camp

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Francie went back to Redwood Grove Nature Camp for a week! She got to see a lot of the same counselors from last year and re-learned all her old favorite camp songs.

She insisted on going to camp dressed like this one day

I told her she could if she and Minnie both put on camp shirts (Minnie in last year's edition) and she wore shorts under her 2T Minnie costume

Maisie loves to pick up Gagee at camp and steal a slice of watermelon (they went on a dinosaur egg hunt at camp and the watermelon was the dinosaur egg apparently)

and I guess Francie was inspired to get creative at camp because we had Mark, Sarah, Clara and Caroline over for dinner that night and Francie lead the charges on getting down all the "untouchables" art supplies- namely a box of glitter glue tubes and going nuts on the table, walls and themselves

stinkers!

Road Trip Warriors

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Taco Bell burritos in the back seat! We were stopped, of course, to give JJ a breather from her torture-chamber-I-mean-carseat. She's been known to scream for an entire car ride but surprisingly this year on our drive up to Black Butte she was a rock star and barely made a peep! (helps to ride in the front bench of the truck between mom and dad :)

speaking of carseats I forgot to post this picture of all three girls in the backseat of our rental 12 passenger van when we flew down to LA for the day to meet Elise- I secretly (or maybe not so secretly) want a huge passenger van as my car. We test drove Sprinters. True story don't judge ;)

I mean 12 PASSENGER amazngness (but this one is annoying to get in with seatbelts flying everywhere. Sprinters are way cooler.

Izza wanted a turn to get in on the fun. These were the $5 rental carseats too- Francie showed Isabel when we got to her house and she goes "Oh yes Francie those ARE beautiful butterflies on your carseat!"

and after running around the grass area between In-n-Out and the airport = tired girls

flying home easy Southwest flights to and from LAX in one day for the cousins

Dollhouse Redo

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My mom saved this big old dollhouse from the side of the road one day. Someone left it out "for free" on her street and it was in her garage for a year or so. We brought it over here a few months ago and the girls were playing in it a lot climbing in the "stories" and hiding from dad when he got home from work.

Then I saw an amazing dollhouse makeover on Ohdeedoh and was inspired… this lady has way more patience and attention to detail than I do but here was hers:

supplies and Coors Light

Assortment of random papers and wrapping paper mostly from Paper Source to choose from as I went, the girls helped a little :) The nice ones that were permeable worked way better, the others warped a little when they dried but then flattened out ok

This was still in progress on my camera phone when I finished at 11pm

It's hard to see but the maps on the attic ceiling are my favorite, I had two pieces of world map wrapping paper ($3 at Paper Source) and when they met in the middle it made a continuous world map view- just doubled up!

and now it found a new home in the playroom and the girls actually use it like a dollhouse sometimes - their favorite is "Goldie's Room" an ode to the goldfish :) It's far from perfect and I could probably paint the outside but it's close enough
From JULY girls

Date Night and Bumble

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Heff and I went out to dinner last night to celebrate our 5 year anniversary! (a few days early and with a sidekick of course :) We walked downtown for dinner, had some beers and margaritas and then I showed him all the progress at Bumble.

11 days and counting until construction should be pretty much done and then we start moving in and starting a restaurant.

Janie has been rocking tagging along for my 2-3 times a day job site visits to pick finishes, answer questions and make sure Bumble is going to be the coolest place to hang out ever :)

My prized pick antler chandelier just went up! I found it on Etsy from a guy in Montana who was shocked Etsy worked. He called me and goes "whoa I just got a bunch of money in my account! that internet thing worked!"

coming together- a sand box in the front and benches go around the edge of the yard for moms and dads to sit and have their coffee/lunch/champagne ;)

and a happy baby helping me work at our temporary Bumble office today- I ran in without a diaper bag and of course she has a blowout, got a bath in a sink then pees on my lap! Bumble is down one striped picnic blanket thanks to JJ (not that I was sure where this was going to be useful but it was our colors and on sale)

Awww you forgive me quickly right mom? ;)

Just as long as you forgive me for posting these pictures J ;)

Heff's Workout

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100 pound pack! Heff works out by throwing on this backpack with 100 pounds of rice and beans inside it. He is crazy!!! Practicing for his big Alaska Moose Hunt when he has to pack out an animal. Usually he hikes our back stairs to the creek- up and down for an hour while the girls play but today we all went on a late afternoon family walk/bike ride before dinner. You can see where Francie's bike ended up after about 20 minutes :)

4th of July Camping

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We went camping the night before 4th of July with Kat, Donald and Oliver; Mark, Sarah, Clara and Caroline; Brian and the girls and I and our friends and their 2.5 year old- with 7 kids under 3.5 it was a feat! We decided at the last minute to pack up and head out to the coast to cook a big dinner outside and camp overnight. We hauled my Dad's big BBQ and all the camping gear, got there around 5pm to start the fire and started cooking. It was a late night but pretty good weather and a lot of fun- one night of camping (as in pack up in the morning to head home and clean up!) is perfect for my style ;)

The boys putting up the tents

Sarah and Kat with babies in packs to free up hands for beers

Camping Kids

This was our makeshift salad bowl since we forgot to pack one :) It's a cardboard box cut in half and kindling for the fire both covered in tin foil

Aunt Kat shucking corn

Aunt Sarah cutting potatoes with a swiss army knife

and Oliver pretending he doesn't like his dinner ;)

Peach cobbler contents ready to go into the Lodge pot to bury in the hot ashes for dessert

We made sure to throw in a few 4th of July decorations to spruce up camp :)

More wood in a roaring fire- we burned all we had! Go Big or Go Home as usual.

Crazy Clara, Maisie and Francie taking turns LICKING BUTTER. I know, so gross! They found a half a cube and passed it around licking and maybe even nibbling a stick of butter… they thought they were hilarious.

The girls making friendship bracelets by the fire- we were still cooking dinner at this point, I think we ate around 10:30pm

Roasted potatoes in the giant Lodge Pot, tri-tips, corn and bread for dinner

and Sparklers after dinner of course!

Sweet Caroline out like a light

JJ was supposed to sleep in her bassi but of course would only be happy snuggled up with me in her North Face bear suit INSIDE my sleeping bag. I had a cot thanks to my nice husband but tossing and turning every 30 minutes to feed/put the pacifier back in when you are sleeping on a cot in a mummy bag is not easy ;)

Rise and Shine! Happy 4th of July morning :)

Everyone was up bright and early- we woke to the cows nearby mooing when the sun came up and shared stories of whose babies slept the worst in their tent (surprisingly though no screamers all night!)

Heff making 2 dozen scrambled eggs and potatoes for breakfast burritos

Playing in the back of the truck- never gets old

Sheriff Oliver lounging around eating breakfast :)

Happy 4th of July! Everyone happy enough to maybe even go camping again soon :)

Elise Maria Heffernan ~ Our Little Angel

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This beautiful baby girl joined the Heffernan family June 27, 2011 and left this earth July 5, 2011 at just 8 days old. Her name is Elise Maria and I love her so much. She was born to Brian's youngest brother Craig and his wife Andrea on a Monday morning at 5:09am, just minutes after arriving at the hospital and weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces. She was 4 weeks early and looked like a perfect and beautiful baby girl. She wasn't breathing on her own when she was born and she was rushed to UCLA Medical Center. In the NICU, an MRI showed Elise had suffered a severe lack of oxygen to her brain two weeks before her birth and despite efforts to stimulate brain activity she could not survive on her own.

There is no silver lining here. It is a tragedy we are struggling to make sense of and it remains a mystery as to why this happened. It has made us all pause and thank God for our family and slow down a little to find more patience for our babies and enjoy the moments we have with them.

What I do know is that I have never been more proud to be a member of the Heffernan family. There is so much love and support and selflessness between the siblings and extended family. Everyone literally stopped what they were doing as soon as this happened just waiting to hear what we could do or how we could help. Everyone mobilized to make it down to LA when Craig and Andrea extended the invitation to meet Elise for the day and we are all so thankful for that time with her and a very sad but very special day together we will never forget. Elise easily won a place in our hearts where she will remain forever.

Craig and Andrea have been incredibly strong and I admire their love so much. They stayed by Elise's bedside for 8 days and nights taking care of her, reading her children's stories and telling her how much she is loved. They made sure her sister Isabel and her brother Thomas got to meet and spend time with her. They opened the NICU room to us all and shared her with us. Craig is so patient, gentle and kind. Elise was so lucky to be held and cared for by his loving strong hands. Andrea is so passionate, nurturing and strong. Whatever or whoever she surrounds herself with she gives 100% to and will go to the ends of the earth for her children- Elise felt that fire and felt that love.

I don't know how to chronicle the experience we've had over the past two weeks but here are a few photos from meeting Elise on that special day and from the services to send her to heaven with our love.

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I felt very privileged to meet my sweet little niece Elise Maria

Craig and Andrea tenderly making an imprint of her hands and feet to match her sibling's framed prints.

Dad assisting in Elise's first bath

and her doting mom Andrea taking good care of her around the clock

Isabel brought Francie in to proudly introduce her to her baby sister Elise

Andrea drove through traffic to get the hand and footprint frame for Elise and picked out a little outfit for her from Janie & Jack - we got to watch her first bath and change into her new clothes for family to meet her

a big Heffernan hand (Mark's I think) on tiny Elise Maria

Thank you for allowing us to come meet her, hold her and love her while she was here Craig and Andrea. It was such a special day and there was so much love in the room.

*************

We went down to LA Monday and Tuesday for a rosary and funeral services for Elise. They were powerful and beautifully planned, down to every last detail- Andrea made this flower arrangement for her daughter with Zinnia's she grew herself in their front garden.

Andrea put some of the pictures of all of us with Elise to this song that was so perfect…

"From Where You Are"

So far away from where you are
These miles have torn us worlds apart
And I miss you, yeah I miss you

So far away from where you are
I'm standing underneath the stars
And I wish you were here

I miss the years that were erased
I miss the way the sunshine would light up your face
I miss all the little things
I never thought that they'd mean everything to me
Yeah I miss you
And I wish you were here

I feel the beating of your heart
I see the shadows of your face
Just know that wherever you are
Yeah I miss you
And I wish you were here

I miss the years that were erased
I miss the way the sunshine would light up your face
I miss all the little things
I never thought that they'd mean everything to me
Yeah I miss you
And I wish you were here

So far away from where you are
These miles have torn us worlds apart
And I miss you, yeah I miss you
And I wish you were here

Craig and Andrea - I so admire them for their strength, love for their children and love for each other. They have such a sweet relationship and the love for one another is evident in the way they are completely there for each other especially through an incredibly hard time and in the sweet gestures they exchange and the thoughtful gifts they have given to each other that fill their home. I'm so glad they have each other to get through this.

All the friends and family who loved Elise for her short 8 days of life and will continue to love her and remember her

A family so full of love

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Aunt Barbara, Aunt Francy, Andrea and Oma spending some time together at Craig and Andrea's house after the funeral services and reception

Janie with Jannie who loves Andrea dearly flew down to be there for the funeral Tuesday (Craig and Andrea used to camp out at Jannie's house when they visit and we lived in our little house) Andrea and Jannie share a love of complicated knitting patterns and projects

Francy and Kat- Katherine wrote a beautiful letter to Elise about how special, quirky and loving her parents, brother and sister are. She did a great job reading it at the Rosary service for Elise

Rock Star Oma. An incredibly selfless and dedicated Mom/mother-in-law/grandmother- she flew down to LA with a moments notice when Elise was born and has been sleeping on an air mattress for two+ weeks cooking meals, cleaning house, taking care of kids, airport shuttling visitors, keeping us updated and helping organize everything without tiring. We love you Oma

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And the cousins… some of them understood the heaviness of the time and what we all lost and some of the littler ones just loved being around their cousins. Francie has been asking lots of questions about why Elise died and they are hard to answer. Maisie is too little to know what happened. The weight of Janie in my arms makes me thank God for a healthy baby but at the same time feel makes me feel so guilty and confused and leaves me asking why. Janie and Caroline were supposed to have another little buddy- the third girl just like I suspected for a trio of 2011 cousins. We will miss you Baby Elise but will always remember you and your cousins know they have an angel in heaven to guide them through life… they might be calling on you a lot in the teenage years! I know your short life serves a very important purpose in all of our lives and I am thankful for that.

The big girls not-wanting-another-picture-Aunt-Mary but looking appropriately somber before the funeral mass Tuesday morning

The two year old clan eating dinner on the grass (Brian just kept bringing plates of food and they devoured their favorites :)

The Monkeys-in-the-Middle three year olds with Kate being silly in the garden

The eldest cousin Ellie taking care of Oliver on the bed

Andrea snuck a picture of the kids playing dress up in Isabel and Thomas' room - there were 6 of them hiding behind the drawers under her bed at one point

Isabel and Francie telling more secrets in Izza's bed (don't ask Isabel who drew on her wall or how "boring" it is to try to clean with Oma and a MagicEraser ;)

Ellie corralling the little kids in a fort on Thomas' bed

Uncle Brian and his godson Thomas perfected the binky stealing game


Cousins at the reception at the mortuary

They never stop playing

Adorable Thomas- I'm lucky to be this little guy's godmother, he gets cuter every time I see him

Outnumbered- the three Heffernan boy grandchildren Oliver, Patrick and Thomas

Jannie holding Janie in her Dragon-state (poor Jannie missed Andrea and Craig's beautiful eulogy for Elise, she took JJ out of church and had to walk the screamer around the parking lot for half an hour)

Three of out of how many kids at the reception smiling for the camera?!

Relaxing in the shade back at Craig and Andrea's - the five little blondies piled in the pool

Andrea's gardens are beautiful!

Elise will always have a place as the 12th grandchild to these kids and will be forever in our hearts. We love you and miss you Elise.

***************
Twinkle Twinkle to Our Little Star by Isabel and Francie

Friday

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Scenes from around the house Friday... Maisie above climbed in Janie's "new" (hand-me-down-thanks-to-the-Farwells) crib we set up. She has yet to sleep in it but we are working on it! I broke down and got the cheapy, plastic baby mobile that projects some images on it or something. It hasn't solved any problems but the big girls think it's cool ;)

and Francie was at Nature Camp this week! Today she insisted on wearing her Minnie Mouse dress from Aunt Kat under her camp shirt and Minnie had to tag along in last year's camp shirt.

Hanging out at home for the afternoon- Double Doll Stroller Trouble

Triple Trouble

I love a baby in a white onesie on a hot summer night, that is until it requires a change 5 minutes later ;)

This was last night. Maisie devoured our appetizers "Slalami and Shhuto" for dinner then woke up at 2am so thirsty she came into our room shouting "Mom! Dad! I need Baa-bee! I shirsty! Need water!" Heff got up with her and had to read books, fell asleep on the couch in their room and then got up at 4:45am and decided to just get up and work. Not a good night thanks to the slalami!!

Nature camp pick up yesterday. Hard to recognize Francie with a ponytail!

Good morning Janie shot.

James and Em Get Hitched

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Saturday was the big wedding day for my brother James and his bride Emily. They were married at 2pm at The Church of the Nativity and then celebrated with a rockin reception at Rosewood Sand Hill. Everything was pink and beautiful! We are very excited to finally have Emily officially a Simonson and had a great night with lots of family and friends.

Ann and I getting ready in the morning

Francie was the photographer - obvis

My big girl

Em taking some pictures with her photographer before the wedding

After an event filled few hours (my brother Jerry almost passed out right before leaving for church and my Dad had to call 911! 10 emergency vehicles at Rosewood later he was ok but dehydrated from the heat, not eating enough food and drinking a Rockstar!)... we took pictures at church, settled the girls for a nap with a babysitter at our hotel room and a swim with Uncle Mark and Clara for Francie at the hotel pool. We arrived at the reception and are ready to relax.

Lucky Lady in between Bammer (my brother and our family's good friend/one of the best men) and Heff

Baby Ann and I in our pinks with my brother and best man Jerry-I'll-never-drink-RockStar-energy-again-Simonson

Must have been feeling those Pinkalicious-tini's out in the hot sun by this point ;)

Ann and Pat looking good

Bethy and Greg- the next couple to go down the isle!

Donald (borrowing Heffs wedding tie- my fav :) with Janie, Jill and I. We just need a Jack ;)

Jill might kill me for posting this- I think her sister Beth stole my camera and took these but you look gorgeous Jiller! :)

Bride and Groom cutting the cake

After dinner outside the ballroom turned PINK for dancing, photobooth fun and dessert








my cute godson Oliver made an appearance late night too!

Janie hits the dance floor with Uncle James and the now official Auntie Em!

I love this picture of my parents so much I had to post it again in a non-pink version :) I sent it to them and they both wrote back to me without cc'ing the other- my dad said "Great pic. Jannie is ageless!" and my mom said "what a cute dad :)" It's nice to see after almost 35 years of marriage they are still so cute! we think so too Jannie and Grampa.

Congrats to my brother and new sister-in-law!

Backyard BBQ Rehearsal Dinner

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A happy post in the middle of everything... My brother and Emily got married last weekend- a very joyous event on my side of the family in the midst of sadness on Brian's. We tried to balance celebration and heartache. Friday we flew down to LA and back that afternoon to make the Rehearsal Dinner at my parents house. My parents did a great job planning a festive backyard BBQ on July 1 at their house and we toasted (and roasted) my brother and his bride-to-be.

Janie all decked out in her 4th if July duds

arriving at the Rehearsal Dinner at my parents house from the airport - not the best picture when your camera is on artificial light settings and your eyes are swollen from tears all day

furrowed brow Janie girl- looks a lot like my brother Jerry's baby pictures

Maisie hanging out with Brian and my dad's brothers

Emmy and the JJ

James and Em with their mommas

Such pretty decorations Jannie :)


Mimi, Em, Janie and Claire

Claire having a deep conversation with Francie when she eyes her baby sister… "come here J… I can walk around with you..."

Janie trying to hold her own

Maisie ringing the bell for dinner

cousins looking sharp (love your turquoise dress ABA :)

James and Em at dinner before the toasts

The girls insisted on sitting on Jannie's lap and then Maisie was set on having her PJ"s on but no one else could do it but Jannie. She was a good grandmother and marched the girls upstairs for PJ's but we had to hold the toasts to wait for her!

My Dad stalling by telling inappropriate jokes- i love it :)

Friends & Family enjoying the warm summer night






time for bed.

More Love

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It is amazing how something so sad can make you appreciate your family so much. I know these cousins love each other and are so lucky to have each other and they know this too.

Out for a walk

Ellie the oldest in the front peddling three cousins behind her

Group nap

lots of love to go around...

Best Buds ready to make Friendship Bracelets

Cousins on the ledge - Francie, Maisie, Clara and Isabel

plus one cute Thomas

Izzy has lots of love for her brother

telling secrets

they both picked their favorite boots

always inseparable for awhile when they are reunited

Diva in a blue dress

this pretty much sums up the past week, kids running everywhere in chaos and trying to keep a smile on our face in between tears and sadness. We are appreciating the little rugrats- our own and our sibling's children- more than ever.