Christmas by the Historic Shepherdstown Commission

Yesterday Ryan, Ben, Dominic, Leigh and Anna took part in Christmas in Shepherdstown. We had members dressed in costume for storytelling, arts and crafts, cookies and cider and finally a visit with Santa who distributed Christmas poppers. Ben got a kaleidescope key chain and a king crown in his popper. Ryan got marbles and a crown. The event was short and sweet. We had about 25 kids come through. The cookies from the Sharpsburg bakery were so good that I am going to order them for the holidays. See the video of Santa Dunleavy and his helper.

A Happy Thanksgiving

The family got together at mom and dad's house for the traditional turkey. In attendance, The Maiden family including Kim (minus Tom, who got to talk to everyone on the phone from Iraq), the Mollica Family, and the Mike Fallon Family including Melissa and Hayden. The children entertained us with their dancing. We watched and laughed at Mollica video clips. Grandma fed little John jello with whipped cream. Listen for the sounds he made as he thouroughly enjoyed his desert.

Leigh Leigh Girl Got Her Drivers Permit Today

It took Leigh all of 5 minutes to take and pass her test for her driver's permit. I let her drive the van home from the DMV to our house. She was shocked that I allowed her to drive and scared to be driving on the main road. She did okay except stayed way to far to the right hand side of the road and did not know how to turn. She will learn quickly, I am sure!

New York City Pre-Thanksgiving 2008

We just returned last evening from a 2 day trip to NYC. Sherry, Emily and Ashley Leslie took the adventure with Leigh and I. We took the Megabus from Baltimore to Penn Station arriving by 10:15 am. We took the subway a couple stops up to the NYC Hilton on 53rd at the edge of the theatre district. We ate lunch at the Stage Deli and then headed over to the New World Stage to see Rock of Ages featuring Constatine from American Idol. A must see for anyone who lived through the 80's. We headed back to the hotel and got ready for our evening performance of Mamma Mia. I can't get the songs out of my head. We finished up our evening in Times Square at the Bubba Shrimp Company. The next morning we slept till around 9 and headed down to the Chelsea Market to Eleni's and Fat Witch Brownie. We had lunch in a deli for cheap down in the market. We finished up with some gelato from the Italian store and made sure to introduce everyone to Marzipan. After lunch we headed back up town to stroll 5th Avenue, taking in Rockerfeller Center and some of the shops. We were lookers not buyers! We ended up our day in Lindy's with some NY cheesecake (Emily and Ashley) while Sherry and I ate some NY Pizza next store at Ray's. Then back on the doubledecker Megabus with our own private tables in the front of the bus. Overall, this was an A++++ trip. Tired today, though.

Mirren Kathleen Fallon

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Yuma Az. I attended the Marine Corp Ball with John, Shelagh, Karen and Lyle and had a little fun in the Aquarius Casino in Laughlin, NV. Then we headed up to Las Vegas for a day to visit with Uncle Pat, Aunt Bern, Aunt Maureen and Stoney. Aunt Bern cooked a marvelous dinner for all of us. Uncle Pat made some great thick cut grilled pork chops. I spend two days in Yuma with the John, Shelagh and Mirren. I traveled across the border to Mexico and hit the Paradise Casino too. When I arrived home, Benjamin cried out of joy to see me and told me that I had stayed away too long. He was relieved.

Ryan Maiden

This blog is dedicated to Ryan Maiden who is an 8 year old boy who challenging, witty, intellectual, creative, and emotional. What Ryan feels on an emotional level is always magnified. He experiences joy, anger, frustration, excitement, dissappointment but at INTENSE levels. I love many things about Ryan but the attribute that I love most is his completely "out of the box" thought processes. Just yesterday we were at Patrick's football banquet and I was talking to a teacher. I was telling her that Patrick had moved into a Pre-Algebra course and that he had somehow forgot that 2 negatives = a positive. Ryan who was listening piped in - "well that certainly does not apply to life." We gave him a puzzled look and he said, "you know two wrongs don't make a right." Ryan is the image of Tom when he was younger. He has the same eyes and some of the exact same expressions. Ryan is very in tune to his surroudings and he feels other's emotions and sometimes takes them on as his own. He can mimic emotions like some people mimic voices. Ryan is having a great school year. He is getting ready to celebrate his 9th Birthday on December 2nd.

2008 Shepherdstown Cardinals Football Championship Banquet

Tonight we celebrated the 2008 Shepherdstown Cardinals Football Championship with a banquet at SMS. All I can say is you really needed to be there to appreciate these young men and their coaches. There was so much love in that room that we were all emotional as Coach Holmes congratulated and praised all his players on their championship. These kids were loved by their coach and there were more hugs than could ever be imagined. So now, we move from football season to basketball season. Patrick plans on trying out for the JV team this Monday. We hope he makes it!

The Maiden Halloween

If there was perfect weather for Halloween, we had it in Shepherdstown. Ryan was dressed as Darth Vader and Ben JaJa, both from Star Wars. Leigh put herself in cowboy attire and took the boys up and down German Street. They finished up on the floor of Kim's store, eating their loot. Patrick opted to go with his friends Alex, Tucker, and Austin to Chaplain's Choice.