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Happy Birthday Mimi!

This is the creche the five Murphy kids grew up with on 14th Street. Mimi asked me to post a picture of it after her last visit here, when we celebrated her last birthday. Do you all remember it?

Hope you have a great birthday, Mimi!

Liberace

Uncle Peter sent us this picture and bio of the newest member of the 'Peter and the Boids" family:





This is Liberace. He is a Male Sun Conure, about 2 1/2 years old. He is fully flighted so that he can fly away from Luigi,Gracie and Lola when they try to "GET" him. I have had Liberace since 10/17/09. Originally, I had been told that the Bird was a Female, named `FIFI`; but a blood DNA test said that the Bird is a Male. He is very tame and likes fruit juice and peanuts after eating his pellet/seed food. I gave him Liberace`s Birthday (5/16). He is colored in various shades of Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue and reminded me of Liberace the piano player.

More Alice Mary

Alice is three days old in these photos. We McLaughlins haven't seen her since then, because of a cruel November cough that's swept through the household. It's over now, though, and the Murphy family is en route to Pelham as we speak.

Paul wants Vivian to come back.

Welcome Alice Mary

Little Alice was born today. 7 lbs, 3 oz. 20 inches. At 4:34pm. Everyone is exhausted but well. Vivian couldn't care less.

Jack in the box

Strangely enough Nadia was not a big fan of doing this every time a trick or treater came to the door so we quickly switched to plan B. Love to all... and good luck Montessa!!!

Here are some quick shots from the day.

Happy Halloween!

Show me your costumes! (If you do, I promise to post a picture of Matt and me as Popeye and Olive Oyle...)

Montessa is coming! Montessa is coming!

Have you guys all heard?? Montessa will be here VERY soon! (Well, by this time next week, for sure). Here's a picture of her playing patty-cake with her big sister and one of her favorite cousins:

Also, have I mentioned that Paul is two now?

He's enjoying being two so far. We're having lots of fun doing fall-type stuff. This is one of my favorite pictures from our adventures this month.

There are a few more of my faves here, if you feel like looking.

This is Viv, Bunny and Miriam circa 1935.

The Nallin Family. Viv is 4th in. I think the older couple just past her is Sade (with dark hair)and Frank. And doesn't the older woman next to Frank look like Miriam? Must be an aunt.

L-R Audrey Nallin (grandmother of Keith Norwood who sent the pictures), Tom Hendricks, Bunny and Viv. Wasn't she gorgeous?

Keith Norwood is a Nallin cousin from Shreveport, LA and very interested in family history. He kindly sent these photos. Audrey, in the bottom photo, is his grandmother. He'd love more photos of the Nallins, Jaye, if you can decipher who is who. I'll send you his email.

And one time? At band camp?

Patrick will be taking trombone lessons in school this year. I guess you can consider this a "before" picture:

It's a shame that my time machine is in the shop.

If I could, I'd hop in my trusty time machine and travel through the decades, grabbing people by the shoulders and shouting, "WRITE something on the back of your pictures!" in my most menacing voice. I've got BOXES of pictures in the attic, and I can't tell you who most of these people are. These first two are "tintypes" -- a quick google search told me that they would've been taken somewhere between 1851 and 1900:

I'll include a few more, about which I know nothing. Just that they're old pictures of old-looking people. Does anyone look familiar to any of you of the current -- ahem -- older generation?

Animal Sounds

Walk like a Canadian

A few weeks ago Nadia and I went out to the front stoop to practice walking. I was pretty good and after a few tries Nadia started to get the hang of it.

Walking from Kieran Del Pasqua on Vimeo.

My first harvest

I grew tomatoes (3 varieties: Cherry, Early Girl and San Marzano's) this year. Here is a visual account of the process.

More Pictures, Set to Music

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Hi all,

I made a slideshow of some of my favorite pictures from our trip. My apologies as there are a LOT, but I just couldn't cut any more -- so many happy memories, happy faces and beautiful things. Believe me when I tell you that I took (and kept) many more than are here, and that I will look at my own longer version of this slideshow with a smile on my face for years to come.

Next time, let's all go!

Jaye

Thank you!

The amazing people in these photos gave us a trip that none of us will ever forget. It was absolutely incredible. Thanks, also to Pop, Mimi, Brian and Tara for holding down the fort while we were gone, to Small Paul for living without us for over a week, and to Flat Paul for keeping us company and helping us to miss Small Paul less!

The cake monster

We had a wonderful 1st birthday for the little Noodle. Only thing missing was all of you to help pass around the Guiness. Here are the rest of the pics from the day.

Paul is a great kid (we're watching him while Jaye, Matt, Kate, Patrick and Emmett enjoy their vacation in Italy). He's always happy, eats like a champ and loves to laugh and play. He sleeps a lot, though, and often slurs his words - we cannot figure out why. We and he send our love to the rest of the McLaughlins and a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jaye and Matt.

Sing. sing a song...

A selection of some of our favourite photos. enjoy!

Bird Cuzins

Let us not forget our bird cousins!!! I had the distinct pleasure of meeting some feathered additions to our family on this trip as well. So.... introducing to the blog: Gracie, Lola & Luigi!!!

My Guitar Hero!!!

Family jam rehearsal

Choo choo!!

An Irish Jig...

Orzo, Pine Nut, and Feta Salad

A couple of you have asked me for the recipe to the Orzo Salad I made at Vivian's birthday, so I thought I would post it here.

I also thought it would be a great idea for you guys to share some recipes on here. Please pass along any recipe that you think we would enjoy. I look forward to reading and eating them!


Orzo, Pine Nut, and Feta Salad


Yield: Makes 8 side-dish servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound orzo
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1 1/4 cups feta (6 ounces), crumbled
• 1 cup thinly sliced scallion greens
• 1 small container of grape tomatoes, halved
• Chopped fresh basil

Preparation

Cook orzo in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until tender, then drain well in a colander.

Whisk together lemon juice, oil, and salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl, then add hot orzo and toss. Cool orzo, then toss with pine nuts, feta, and scallion greens. Season with salt and pepper.

Cousins

What a great week, and what a great family. Here are the pictures I promised to share. (Anthony and Teddy are in one, too!)

Anthony's biennium

Happy Birthday O little one! Love, Mom

O Canada in New York

Franma the Enchantress summons a rainbow

More rainbow fun here.

RIP, Michael

This guy does a completely a cappella version of Thriller. I almost posted this a few weeks ago. I'm glad I waited.

Nadia's first trip to NYC

Oooooo, look at that!

Nadia is in love with New York. Despite being snotty and feverish, she totally digs our walks around the city...pointing at everyone and everything.

We had an amazing day with Paul and Janis touring the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. (Sorry about your head Paul!)

Then, on to Brooklyn for dinner with Tara, Monte and Vivian. (Seriously though, how cute is this little blue-eyed babe??? So adorable!)

Cousins Tara, Vivian and Brian in the back

Yesterday and today have been mostly filled with naps.

We'd love to get out to see Jaye, Matt and the beautiful kids as well as Peach...but with this snotosaurus, we may have to wait til the next trip. (I wrote more about our trip so far on my blog.)

Love you all!!!!!

First Steps

Vivian started to take some steps recently, and we caught some wobbly video of it.

The Amazing Two-Headed Boy

Step right up, folks. You won't see this anywhere else. (Except maybe here).

Giggly Girl

I tried

I have tried several attempts at uploading a video of Nadia here but wasn't successful. You can look at my Facebook if you want to see it.
Sorry, Monte, your wonderful directions for how to do this have exited my memory.

Mother's Day

The Spring Sports Season has Begun

Don't you feel bad for that ball?

Vivian is going to be...

A BIG SISTER!!! 

Her sibling is expected 11/08/09. We are so excited and happy to share the news with you all! Love, Brian and Tara

What's up Doc?