Our newphew., Dan O'Malley, has written a book which will be released early next year.  Our family cannot wait to read The Rook, by Daniel O'Malley.  He is a funny, bright and interesting young man, and I know his book will rock. 

    

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

‎"The body you are wearing used to be mine." So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former ...self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her. She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own. In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined. Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, THE ROOK is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer.

Love, Nonna

Baby Face

                  I can't resist this little face.  Our Clara.  Sweet little girl.

Birthdays

We celebrated my son Tristan's birthday and my birthday last night.  It was so much fun having everyone together.  The littles were very well-behaved. What a joy to have such a beautiful family.

Singing Happy Birthday.  Italian Cream Cake!

Noel and Joseph.

Alana and the Littlest Angel, Patrick

Aunt Karla and Patrick

Uncle Brendan with Clara Rose

Joseph enjoying Italian Cream Cake

Cutie Noel

Paul, Jessica and Karla (Noel's little face in the corner)

Uncle Tristan keeping Noel and Joseph entertained.

Joseph

Noel, my gnocchi boy.

Thank you to my family for such a beautiful celebration.  

Love, Nonna

Thank You

Thank you for your prayers for my daughter and the baby she was carrying.  She had more tests, and she did miscarry the little one.  We are all sad, but know the little one is in heaven. 
Love,  Nonna.

Prayers Please

We are asking for prayers for our daughter K., and her unborn baby.  There was no heartbeat last week at the ultrasound.  It is being redone tomorrow afternoon.  Love, Nonna

Peek-a-Boo

Pizza Friday at Jessica and Paul's home. 

Noel, in his yellow slicker, playing peek-a-boo with Joseph.

Katie, watching Noel and Joseph.

Easter

                                      Easter  Bread

We were blest to have the four grandchildren and their parents over to celebrate Easter.  It was a wonderful day!

                                   Joseph, Clara, Noel and Patrick with Uncle Tristan.


Joseph and Noel (Nonna, too), love gnocchi. 

 Brendan and Nonna made homemade gnocchi, which is both a messy and some what dangerous chore.  (Recipe is here
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Gnocchi-101335

 The main ingredients are  hot, riced potatoes and flour.  First, you risk getting burned removing the skin from the still, hot potatoes.  Then the muscles in your arm get a good workout  ricing said hot potatoes (which tend to fly out of the ricer and land on your skin). 

 After all the ricing, you get to Nonna's favorite ingredient....flour.  (note the sarcasm, here). 

 Nonna and flour are a dangerous combination. (kind of like Nonna and glitter).  We already had flour in every corner of the kitchen, due to Nonna making  the Easter bread pictured at the very top of this post.   Making the gnocchi just pushed Nonna over the limit in the flour department.  Kneading warm, sticking potatoes and flour...well it is a tactile experience everyone should experience. 

 After the dough is well-kneaded, you break off a small hunk and use your hands to work it into a snake or rope shape. 

 You cut little pieces off of your snake, 

and give them a push down the gnocchi board (which give the gnocchi fancy lines). 

 If you don't own an gnocchi board, than you can use a fork or create gnocchi without pretty little lines  on them. 

 All the while you are rolling, shaping and making pretty lines, you  pray that the whole lot of gnocchi don't disolve into a globby mess when you are cooking them in a pot of boiling water. 

This is another great opportunity to get burned.  as you cook and remove a few gnocchi at a time, while standing over the pot of boiling water, fishing them out with a ladle or spider utensil.


All in all, it is a good amount of work, the product of which is gobbled up in thirty seconds. That is ok, though, as Nonna loves seeing The Littles eating their favorite food.



I leave you with a photo of Clara in her Easter dress, and a few photos of Easter decorations.

                              Clara, six-months old