What are BRILEEN up to now?

Trick or Treater was eaten by our Tree.

2017-10-21T15:11:00.000-05:00

This was a fun Halloween DIY decoration. I have put together a list of supplies and a quick how to.

What You Will Need

Balloon Eye Balls

Pool Noodle

Halloween Pail with Candy

Size 4 Kids Jeans

Size 4 Kids Shoes

Zip Ties

2 Pipes

Newspaper

The eyeballs and pool noodle for the legs were from the Dollar Tree. The shoes and the jeans were from the Goodwill. We used one pool noodle and cut it in half and stuffed the size 4 kids jeans into them.

Filled the sneakers with newspaper to make them fuller. Luckily the shoes were tight enough to stay on the noodle. To get the noodles to stick out of the tree we put pushed pipes into the ground on an angle so it looks like the legs are sticking out.

Used zip ties to keep the eyeballs in the tree. Chicago is WINDY so everything has to be secure or tied down.

Of course when the tree ate the kid he dropped his candy pail. HaHa!!

Uncle Tommy 7/16/2010

2010-07-16T22:57:00.011-05:00

(Standing) Uncle Tommy, Dad, Uncle Pat
(Sitting) Aunt Eileen, Aunt KK, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Mary

Uncle Tommy passed this afternoon. One of the coolest memories from my high school years happened in Ireland when I was 15. My sister and I are big U2 fans and we just had to see Slane Castle where U2 recorded their album. Uncle Tommy and Aunt Nancy along with Aunt Mary drove us to Slane Castle. He drove us all over Ireland and we spent most of the time taking pictures of scenery. He was always fun to be around and always kind to us kids. He will be missed.

Another fond memory happened during one of the last trips I made to Ireland. We were sitting around in Harrington's one night and we came up with the idea to take a picture with all the guys sitting Jacks back. Jack is one of the donkeys. Aunt Nancy has two donkeys from Cork who are retired in her back yard and they are closely monitored by social workers. So we thought it would be really funny to get on the donkeys back and take a picture of it with Aunt Nancy's camera so when she went to develop the pictures after we came back to America she would see the picture. We found the perfect opportunity, Aunt Nancy was away from the house, we got the donkey close to the wall and Dad, Kevin and Tom got on the donkeys back (well, sort of. Kevin and Tom were half on and half standing on a rock so as not to hurt the donkeys back.) We were all set to take the picture, Uncle Tommy was helping the guys get on the donkey but when it was time to take the picture Uncle Tommy ran as fast as he could out of the way so he would not be in the picture. It was Crazy! He came up with the idea the night before but he did not want to be in the picture. No donkeys were harmed in the making of this picture.

2010-06-10T00:16:00.006-05:00

Dad and I went to the park where we are going to be taking pictures between the wedding and reception. This is in the middle of Rosemont, between the reception hall and the Hilton. The swans just had babies and if you look close you can see them under the swan. Dad and I walked over a bridge to get to the other side of the park and we found a wishing well fountain, so he made a wish.

Happy Easter 2010

2010-04-04T19:37:00.004-05:00

Easter in Kenosha. So it looks as if Jimmy was the golfer and Murray was the caddy.

Navy Pier Winter 2010

2010-03-13T18:21:00.004-06:00

PACZKI DAY!!!

2010-02-16T20:31:00.001-06:00

Happy Lent everyone. Today we tried the Paczki's from Reuters Bakery on Grand Ave. AWESOME!!!!

BRIAN PROPOSED!!!!

2010-01-30T02:30:00.002-06:00

UNBELIEVABLE! Right in the middle of Black is the Colour he gets down on his knee and hands me a ring!!! How romantic. I absolutely love this song and now I love it even more.

Brian rehearsing with Powder and Buddy

2010-01-28T17:30:00.002-06:00

Powder was singing along and helping Brian rehearse while she ate, buddy also got into the music by taping his foot. Powder is a soprano cockatiel.

National Dress Up Your Pet Day 2010

2010-01-14T15:28:00.002-06:00

National Dress Up Your Pet Day 2010.

Fritz celebrating the 4th of July in a lovely red white and blue dress. He is totally ok with his sexuality to wear a dress, he knows he rocked it.

Happy Stoutmas

2009-12-25T20:32:00.004-06:00

OUCH! Snake bites hurt. Brian was very happy with his "Craig Ferguson" infused holiday. Wishbone was a little too excited and was attacked by the snake cup but they have since made up and are now friends and they have made plans to spend new years eve together watching the Three Stooges.

Christmas Eve Visit with Santa 2009

2009-12-24T23:30:00.003-06:00

Santa did a wonderful job again this year.

Grandma and Grandpa Heneghan meet Ted

2009-12-20T23:12:00.001-06:00

This was the first time Grandma and Grandpa Heneghan have met Ted since he was born. What a fun time at MaryPat and Joe's. The last video is of Murray singing "You are my sunshine" to Ted to help him stop crying. He was wearing MaryPats apron from when she was little and needed an apron to make cookies. SO CUTE!!!!!

Holiday Cookies from DAMIE 2009

2009-12-15T00:50:00.001-06:00

Its that time of year again when Damon and Aimee make holiday cookies. They make the worlds greatest Chewy Ginger Snaps and adorable Dootson Sugar cookies. Wishbone was so excited he kept getting in Brian's way while he tried to open the box. Yes that is the food network on in the background. Over at Castle Stout it is all decked out for the Holidays.

Something something dark side.......

2009-12-06T23:30:00.007-06:00

Brian is a Huge Star Wars fan so since we have been together we have seen all the new installments of the saga and revisited the older films on dvd. Sunday night at the United Center we went to “Star Wars in Concert,” a multimedia spectacular live performance, that beautifully summarized the entire Star Wars saga.

The hook of the show is John Williams’ grandiose music for all six Star Wars films, performed by an 86-piece symphony orchestra. (ONE CLARINET really? ONE!!!! and it was a guy). The enormous ensemble performed Williams’ music and synched it perfectly with the images from the movies projected on a three-story LED screen. During the movies' most intense moments it was easy to get swept up in the soaring space ships and light-saber battles on screen and forget about the fluttering woodwinds, french horns, violins and one clarinet. (really???? only one)

The voice of Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) introduced actor Anthony Daniels (C3-PO), who served as storyteller for the performance, linking the music and montages. Instead of C3-PO's gold suit, he traded his gold droid costume for a black tux with a gold lame vest, and momentarily lapsed into character for laughs. I was hoping he would come out in the costume once during the night but alas he did not. I was also thinking it would of been cool if some of the actors in the hall would walk across the stage but nope.

Most of the fun before a concert is getting nachos and a Mai Tai but before this concert the halls outside were filled with live actors cavorting as Storm Troopers, Bounty Hunters, Darth Vader and Han Solo. Also the movie memorabilia was laid out like a museum and very easy to geek out over.

One thing we noticed was that "Star Wars"really crosses generations, it was like the audience for a Kiss Concert. Fans ages 5 to 65 gathered around costumes on display of Yoda, C3-PO, Chewbacca, Darth Vader and a frozen Han Solo. It was very crowded and Brian did his best to get pictures since he is taller. I did get a picture with Bobba Fett, and a Storm Trooper but really wanted one with Darth Vader but he was always surrounded. Quite a saberific night.

New Moon

2009-11-20T19:50:00.002-06:00

A W E S O M E!!!!!

What a fun night! First we saw Twilight (first time in a theater) then NEW MOON in the fancy theater upstairs in love seats. Muvico is a fabulous theater.

Aunties Party

2009-11-11T10:55:00.005-06:00

Ted, Murray and JJ hanging out at the aunties house. This was the first time Aunt Mary and Aunt Eileen met Ted.

Wishbone vs Captain Weepy Eye

2009-10-28T21:53:00.003-05:00

Wishbone is having a hard time with all the halloween decorations. He keeps having stand offs with the Captain Weepy Eye, The little Grim Reaper Guy and the Green Pumpkin. Brian dosent care much for the Creepy Eye Pirate because at night he bangs his head into him on the way to the bathroom. I love Halloween.

Welcome Ted!

2009-10-16T19:04:00.007-05:00

Welcome TED!

Dan Reed at Hog Head McDunnas

2009-10-01T19:55:00.005-05:00

Dan Reed played acoustic at Hog Head McDunnas. Yes, that Dan Reed who opened for the Rolling Stones. The weird thing about this night was that we were the only two people in the audience of 12 (yes 12 people in the audience I counted) who were not friends or family members of the performers. Two musicians other then Dan Reed performed and they were hanging out in the audience with their friends before they went on stage. It was very intimate and at the same time sort of sad because there wasnt a bigger turn out.

So after Dan Reeds set he was walking around and he walked up to our table and thanked me for coming. Now a perfect girlfriend would of said something like "wow you were great tonight my boyfriend is a huge fan and would love to meet you, he will be back in a second" instead of JURY DUTY, um um great set (DORK!!! I am a huge DORK!!!!) BRIAN MISSED HIM!!!! Why? Why? Why? Unbelievable, Brian is a MUCH bigger fan then me, he even wore one of this vintage Dan Reed Network t-shirts.

Quite a fun night.

Arizona Trip

2009-09-24T17:51:00.009-05:00

Hot Dogs at Cubs Game

2009-09-17T09:19:00.002-05:00

We took Gary and Michael to see the Cubs vs the Brewers at Wrigley. THE HOT DOGS WERE THERE! They hung out across the street for half of the game. Even Bernie Brewer was there. AWESOME! Cubs lost, Gary started cheering for the Brewers, and Michael spent nearly the whole game talking with his neighbor about Australia.

View from the Willis Tower Skydeck

2009-09-16T19:00:00.002-05:00

The boys wanted to go up to the Sears Tower Observation Deck - oops I mean the Willis Tower Observation Deck. Yep. So I am super afraid of heights and looking down was CRAZY! Awesome views but man on man were we high up there. Luckily it was not a windy day.

U2 Day 2

2009-09-13T23:30:00.002-05:00

Day 2 of U2 at Soldier Field. Brian met Gary and Michael on U2.com, they had two extra tickets. Gary and Michael followed U2 around Europe and now they are in the states to see the concerts here. Since they have a few days before the concerts in Boston they decided to stay in Chicago and tour around. Also they need a place to stay so I sort of offered Brians house and they took us up on it. Thank God they were not serial killers.

Happy Birthday MaryKay

2009-09-13T13:00:00.002-05:00

Aunt Robin and JJ hanging out at the park and Murray Dad and Jim celebrating MaryKays Birthday.

U2 Concert

2009-09-12T23:30:00.005-05:00

Day ONE of U2 at Soldier Field. Thanks to Erin for getting the awesome seats.