Knowing that we were headed on an official "family reunion", I wanted to create some momento for everyone. I laugh at myself a bit for this, because when we travel, we already stand out a bit. Something about the height factor, coupled with the constant spontaneous singing, and the frequent smiling, people tend to notice us. I'm not sure why I felt the need to wear matching shirts to identify us as something special, but I just couldn't resist.
Crazy enough, it took me all of five minutes to design our shirts. There's a company I've used before (Custom Ink) that does a great job. They are terribly expensive though, but I figured if I spent the money and got a quality product, everyone would feel more comfortable wearing them.
I took the saying on the front from my favorite movie that involves Ireland: Leap Year. In it, Amy Adams is pushed into a bunch of crazy situations where her clothes are destroyed. Her Irish escort continuously responds, "Just throw it in the wash. It'll be grand."
I originally planned on only designing the front, but there was an option to add names to the back. Sending the idea out on the family group text, Rebecca had the brilliant idea to put nicknames on them along with our family placement numbers. No joke, that idea made the shirts the hit they were!
I loved them as soon as I took them out of the box, and I hoped everyone else would too. I can't tell you how happy it made me when I gave Rebecca and Ethan their shirts, and both of them said to me, "Okay, I'm happy with this vacation. I don't need anything more." It was so funny, but so true. The shirts were terrific!
I must admit that I was the most worried about Markie boy wearing his. He has a pretty distinct taste in clothes. However, with Glo being his mini-me, and with her wearing hers to school the morning before we left, I figured it was looking good.
Oh my gosh, it just might go down as my favorite moment of the whole trip. Seeing all of us walking through the airport in our shirts? Since Hannah barely made the flight (and since we obviously didn't have time to take a picture before she got on the flight), we decided to wear them as a family again after Allison arrived. And it was SO MUCH FUN!
That day, we headed to Carrickarede Bridge, always a favorite destination for us. And I do believe Mark took THE picture of the trip on that bridge (coordinated by my awesome picture-thinking mind, thank you very much).
With the exception of the people in the background, I couldn't have asked for a better picture! And kudos to Mark for always taking a great family selfie!
When we got home that day, I set up the camera and tripod to capture the backs of the shirts. Not everyone knew what was going on the back of their shirt, and everyone was very happy...except my honey, John. He was hoping for "Poppie", his granddad name, but I wanted to pay tribute to him and all that he gives us. He likes to say when yet another expense is mentioned, "Yep, I'm just a money tree." He jokes, but in our minds (and prayers), we acknowledge that none of this could happen without his hard work.
I'm sure you're wondering who picked what and who knew what about the names. Like I said, John didn't know, but we all wanted his to say that.
I picked my own of course, and I love it.
Ethan picked his too, although I wanted it to say Cheeser (with an "r").
Mark tossed around "Beloved" and "the Favorite", but let me pick.
Allison's was tricky. I wanted it to be a surprise, but not knowing her well enough, I didn't want to make that call. When I met her the weekend of Mark's recital, I noticed that she remembered every detail of what we said and talked about. When I mentioned that to her, she cutely told me that her family called her "Ears" as a child...because she always paid attention (and maybe eavesdropped a bit) :-) I know though that a lot of people from rowing call her by her last name "Boss". I kept going back and forth. However, I was in a time crunch to get her shirt made since Mark invited her rather last minute. I had submitted "Ears" without final approval, but the company processed the order to get it done in time. Knowing her now, I'm glad it ended up being what it was. And 93? That's the year she was born.
Baby didn't get a hoodie :-( They didn't make them for teeny tiny her. So, I found a wonderful company called Primary that makes basic color clothes (no logos or designs). I ordered her a darling green dress with an orange cardigan. It's funny because I would never order those together, but in all honesty, they looked darling together.
Hannah and I couldn't really come up with anything else for her shirt. She's just soooooo Hannah in every way to all of us. I would have preferred Hanni, because that's what John calls her, and she's John's favorite, but Hannah was perfect.
I chose Glo's shirt name. Mark and I were tossing around all kinds of favorite anime characters, but in the end, I went with Glo's favorite super hero. In fact, Glo and I both love the new televised Supergirl. She's an excellent example to Glo of a strong heroine, and the show is Glo's favorite show for that reason. Plus, Glo is proving that she can do anything. She really is the embodiment of Supergirl herself.
And finally, number 07, Rebecca. She chose the name for her shirt, and I love that she's owning her height just as much as all of us Kennedys do. She's such a good sport anytime we talk about how great it is to be tall (and it comes up in conversation a lot). I do feel bad because she's the only one that I got the size of the shirt wrong, and yet in true Rebecca style, she didn't complain at all. She owned it.
I'm not kidding. It IS grand to be a Kennedy, and I was reminded of this as Glo shared a story as we were driving to the airport. She has a friend in one of her classes who asks about our family a lot; I guess she only has a mom at home. The friend thinks it's pretty cool that we have a family group text (although from what the other kids tell me, people think it's crazy that in one day we can have 100+ texts going on it). When Glo showed up in her shirt at school, the girl was asking about the trip, and as Glo left, the girl looked wistfully after Glo. Tender-hearted Glo could feel that the friend wished she had the chance to be part of a family like ours.
Yep, it's a blessing indeed.
Crazy enough, it took me all of five minutes to design our shirts. There's a company I've used before (Custom Ink) that does a great job. They are terribly expensive though, but I figured if I spent the money and got a quality product, everyone would feel more comfortable wearing them.
I took the saying on the front from my favorite movie that involves Ireland: Leap Year. In it, Amy Adams is pushed into a bunch of crazy situations where her clothes are destroyed. Her Irish escort continuously responds, "Just throw it in the wash. It'll be grand."
I originally planned on only designing the front, but there was an option to add names to the back. Sending the idea out on the family group text, Rebecca had the brilliant idea to put nicknames on them along with our family placement numbers. No joke, that idea made the shirts the hit they were!
Glo's selfie from school! |
I must admit that I was the most worried about Markie boy wearing his. He has a pretty distinct taste in clothes. However, with Glo being his mini-me, and with her wearing hers to school the morning before we left, I figured it was looking good.
Oh my gosh, it just might go down as my favorite moment of the whole trip. Seeing all of us walking through the airport in our shirts? Since Hannah barely made the flight (and since we obviously didn't have time to take a picture before she got on the flight), we decided to wear them as a family again after Allison arrived. And it was SO MUCH FUN!
That day, we headed to Carrickarede Bridge, always a favorite destination for us. And I do believe Mark took THE picture of the trip on that bridge (coordinated by my awesome picture-thinking mind, thank you very much).
With the exception of the people in the background, I couldn't have asked for a better picture! And kudos to Mark for always taking a great family selfie!
When we got home that day, I set up the camera and tripod to capture the backs of the shirts. Not everyone knew what was going on the back of their shirt, and everyone was very happy...except my honey, John. He was hoping for "Poppie", his granddad name, but I wanted to pay tribute to him and all that he gives us. He likes to say when yet another expense is mentioned, "Yep, I'm just a money tree." He jokes, but in our minds (and prayers), we acknowledge that none of this could happen without his hard work.
01--John (aka Money Tree), 02--Larisa (aka Lollie), 03--Ethan (Cheese), 04--Mark (the Favorite), 93--Allison (Ears), BABY, 05--Hannah (Hannah), 06--Glo (Supergirl), 07--Rebecca (The Short One) |
I'm sure you're wondering who picked what and who knew what about the names. Like I said, John didn't know, but we all wanted his to say that.
I picked my own of course, and I love it.
Ethan picked his too, although I wanted it to say Cheeser (with an "r").
Mark tossed around "Beloved" and "the Favorite", but let me pick.
Allison's was tricky. I wanted it to be a surprise, but not knowing her well enough, I didn't want to make that call. When I met her the weekend of Mark's recital, I noticed that she remembered every detail of what we said and talked about. When I mentioned that to her, she cutely told me that her family called her "Ears" as a child...because she always paid attention (and maybe eavesdropped a bit) :-) I know though that a lot of people from rowing call her by her last name "Boss". I kept going back and forth. However, I was in a time crunch to get her shirt made since Mark invited her rather last minute. I had submitted "Ears" without final approval, but the company processed the order to get it done in time. Knowing her now, I'm glad it ended up being what it was. And 93? That's the year she was born.
Baby didn't get a hoodie :-( They didn't make them for teeny tiny her. So, I found a wonderful company called Primary that makes basic color clothes (no logos or designs). I ordered her a darling green dress with an orange cardigan. It's funny because I would never order those together, but in all honesty, they looked darling together.
Hannah and I couldn't really come up with anything else for her shirt. She's just soooooo Hannah in every way to all of us. I would have preferred Hanni, because that's what John calls her, and she's John's favorite, but Hannah was perfect.
I chose Glo's shirt name. Mark and I were tossing around all kinds of favorite anime characters, but in the end, I went with Glo's favorite super hero. In fact, Glo and I both love the new televised Supergirl. She's an excellent example to Glo of a strong heroine, and the show is Glo's favorite show for that reason. Plus, Glo is proving that she can do anything. She really is the embodiment of Supergirl herself.
And finally, number 07, Rebecca. She chose the name for her shirt, and I love that she's owning her height just as much as all of us Kennedys do. She's such a good sport anytime we talk about how great it is to be tall (and it comes up in conversation a lot). I do feel bad because she's the only one that I got the size of the shirt wrong, and yet in true Rebecca style, she didn't complain at all. She owned it.
I'm not kidding. It IS grand to be a Kennedy, and I was reminded of this as Glo shared a story as we were driving to the airport. She has a friend in one of her classes who asks about our family a lot; I guess she only has a mom at home. The friend thinks it's pretty cool that we have a family group text (although from what the other kids tell me, people think it's crazy that in one day we can have 100+ texts going on it). When Glo showed up in her shirt at school, the girl was asking about the trip, and as Glo left, the girl looked wistfully after Glo. Tender-hearted Glo could feel that the friend wished she had the chance to be part of a family like ours.
Yep, it's a blessing indeed.
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