V-day prep

A little valentines prep today will make Feb 13th a lot less stressful for this momma! We headed out this morning on errands and I promised if they were good we would go get valentines. Here is one area I forgot someday I would have 4 kids. When there were two we did valentine bags, a card and a favorite treat or two or three. Now all 4 kids have an opinion on what their favorite treat is and what we need to do. I really thought this year we would just do valentine skittles, sign our name to the package and tada done. NOPE! the children were not having any of that! "We have always done treat baggies, we have too!" Obviously by the photo I said yes to bags and this was our assembly line today. PJ got it figured out but Brie was just filling bags happily with lots of everything! She was very proud when she would get one bag completely full and very disappointed when I would dump it out and ask her to start over. At any rate all 79 treat bags are ready to go.

"Grandma Karen"

Pete was out of town last week for a night and requested that I have someone stay. I asked my dear friend Karen to stay and she said yes! The kids absolutely LOVE their grandma Karen and think the world of her. She was with us for 24 hours and I have not had that much productivity in quite a long time. Laundry done, house clean, meetings attended, and happy kids! Thank you so much for all your help with EVERYTHING! It was nice to have her here and we were able to chat and not have to look at the clock. Karen was enlightened to our house and each of the kids' personalities!, good and bad. I think it went okay for her as well because as we said good bye she requested I let her know if there was a need again.

Time with grandma = fun for the girls

So my father is not doing very well over the last couple weeks. He fights with bouts of confusion and exhaustion. I went back to their house this past weekend alone to spend time with them without distraction. My wonderful hubby was single parent from Friday noon until Sunday at 5 pm. PJ had a temp of 104.5 on Friday night but the rest of the weekend went well for them, I think. :~) Anyway it was wonderful too spending precious time with both mom and dad. Though dad is confused he does have times of clarity and we were able to have some good conversations. He too has not lost all of his spark because on more than one occasion he would hit me with a one liner that just left anyone who heard it in stitches! I am not sure if my dad and I will have another face to face conversation, or be able to exchange another hug; but what I do have is the memory of the time from this weekend. It was one of those priceless times and one that I am grateful to have been given. My prayers are now for a quick and peaceful ending for him, one without fear and struggle. My mom is doing as well as expected, his passing though difficult will be a blessing for her as well. She is such an amazing, strong woman who is doing a fantastic job with my dad. Her patience is unmatched and her selfless acts are to numerous to list. If I can be half the mother she has been and is I will consider that great. You know the love you have for your baby, so much love you just want to hug them all the time and shower them with kisses, well folks that is the love I have for my mom!

Okay enough mushy stuff! As I said I went to the folks and took along a project because again my wonderful mother; if you have a vision she has the know how to make it happen! I realize I am a year or two behind the times as far as these large flowers go but we did it. I bought the project pieces and together we were able to create 6 hair pretties for the big girls. My sisters stopped and saw the project and thought they were much too large so I included a photo of each of the girls this morning with their new flowers. I do not think they are too big and the girls totally LOVE them!! A big Thanks! to mom/grandma for making two little girls very happy this morning! ( I feel bad because they are not stellar photos of the girls but it was 6:45 am! poor kids, this momma is always taking a picture, no matter the time of day!)

Brie's mouth

okay I agree not an attractive photo of Brie but if anyone has any idea what the white spots are let me know. She has two white spots on each side of her tongue. Her tongue you say, I thought of that but I do not think it is. She also has some whitish stuff on the back left side as well. She is way to old for thrush. So if anyone has any thoughts please pass them my way. You may have to click on the photo to make them larger so you can see what I am talking about.

last week

We are now the owners of a new refrigerator and rear windshield to the van. I came home after CPR training to find Pete emptying the fridge as it had died. I thought maybe if we just vacuumed it out it may come back to life, no luck! So we played in cyber world of fridges and ordered one on line and it was delivered a week later! The van story is one that I had to laugh at because what else does one do. We tried to load a toy in the back and thought maybe with a little push the door would close. Umm.. nope, the roof of the toy tinked the glass just right that it shattered right there in our hands! Thanks to a mobile glass service it too was fixed just two days later. I am waiting for the third break and holding my breath that maybe we can escape number three this time.

the cat

The cat! she is still alive and as active as ever! she is more like a kitten this past month than she was prior to Christmas. I weighed her the other day and she was 8#2 ounces. Melody is still a joy and each one of us likes her for different reasons! The shedding has begun though and I am not thrilled about this! Someone told me I need to get a Furberizer, definitely going to look into that! The second picture is on a Sunday night after being played with all weekend! poor kitty.

Jesus Loves PJ

So this blog is going to be full of videos. Sorry if your computers do not like these. PJ out of the blue last night just starts belting out Jesus Loves Me! Singing with a jumbo smile and very proudly as loud as he can! I am AMAZED at St. Paul's, he has been there a total of 9 days so far and he is doing this already! granted the camera added a bit of shyness but do not be fooled he knows and can see the whole song!

Of course the others wanted to sing for the blog as well and I could not decide which one to post because Brie is too funny in each of them. Enjoy and remember to keep a little Jesus in your heart and it will make you smile.

Girl Scout Cookies

Our Brownie scout is selling the famous girl scout cookies once again this year. The change is now we have cookies in hand so it is instant satisfaction! In case you do not have a sweet little scout to buy cookies from and are in need let us know and we can fix you right up!

current injuries

Lets start with the Brie, she obviously hit something with her eye Sat. night. It was not until Sunday morning that we saw the consequences! I heard the thud downstairs and one scream and witnessed the breath holding that followed. Her eye looked swollen but I was not expecting a shiner Sunday morning!
Tonight Makayla was helping clear the table and dropped a stone cereal bowl on her third toe. The picture does not do the injury justice, I am not sure she did not break it. So we taped it up, applied ice and sent her to bed. Guess we will see how that looks in the morning!

PJ's eye has been wanting to have what appears to a stye for the past 10 days or so. On and off red with swelling but it appeared fine when the Dr. checked his ears Friday so I did not mention it. Then preschool called today and said it might be bad again. I picked him up and sure enough it is back with a vengeance. Hot packing and we will see how it looks in the morning as well!

I think Maggie has escaped this round of bruises but I am sure hers will be coming in due time!

is this January?

Seriously this is what my thermometer said on Thursday, January 5th! how crazy is this?? I am not complaining, I do not have to scoop snow of mow my lawn!! We are having crazy warm days around here! Each day it is nice I think one more day closer to spring! One more day I do not have to drive on yucky roads either. Makayla told me " I know the adults like the warm days when it supposed to be winter, but it really isn't very much fun for kids!" I guess she is right so maybe a little snow for the kids to play in would be okay but why rush it, maybe in another month some snow would be okay.

"Brie's stuck"

Okay let me set the scene, Thursday, my day off I was busy getting things done and as I am on the phone at 10:15 am PJ comes up from downstairs and says "Brie is stuck in the baby highchair". Since I was on the phone I said it's fine I will come check in a minute. It was 5 minutes or so and no Brie, so I head downstairs and there is Brie happy as can be sitting in the highchair next to the kid table playing. She looks at me and says sweetly, " I stuck!" Still on the phone I grabbed her under the arms thinking she would just lift out, uh nope! Long story made longer I took off her clothes, that did not help. I carried the works upstairs and set her next to the couch and told her to crawl out, "I stuck" was the reply. Okay I will get you, I laid the thing down on the floor and set a pack of fruit snacks just out of reach and told her to go get them, man she tried but once again no luck! As Pete left that morning he said "I have meetings all day(in other words do not call unless you have too). The neighbors dad just had a heart attack and the other one has like a one week old baby. If only I have one more set of hands that were bigger than PJ I thought. Let me tell you Little Tikes builds some incredibly strong toys! This thing would not budge! I admit the thought went through my head do I call the fire department? people call them for stuck cats right? Anyway per PJ's suggestion of "try some tools". We got out the pliers, screwdriver and a few other useless things! Finally after 20 to 25 minutes and a bit of panic internally on my part I mustered up some he-man strength and just pried off the back bolts and got them to break, thus the back of the highchair at least moved a bit. After some strong persuasion and a few intimidating minutes Brie was free. PJ did a happy dance and was thrilled she was out. Brie ended up with a pretty good bruise on her back from the attempts to get her out as well as about 6 in various locations on her legs. As you can tell the chair is not a complete loss but the screws are broke and we will not be ordering new ones! Needless to say Brie has not crawled back in that highchair again, nor will she I think! I feel it is blog worthy as some day I may look back and read this post and be amused:~) Leave it to the last kid to do something like this! Gotta love my Gabriellie!

PJ is in school

My baby boy has now joined Maggie at her school to start preschool. We are very excited for him to start! It was a bit sad how happy he was to be there and told me good-bye and did not even think twice about it! I am hoping he will not challenge them too much!:~) in turn I am hoping they will be able to help mold him into the nice little guy I know he can be. When I asked him how the first day was he just kept telling me that he got to go outside 3 times!! That night after baths he said he wasn't tired, knowing full well he was exhausted I said okay, wait in bed for me I will tuck Brie in and be back. It was literally 2 minutes I returned and he was out! I gave him a kiss and said not tired huh buddy, love you! We had to wake him Wed. to go to school and he jumped out of bed and was all ready to go. That a boy!



Maggie sees PJ at lunch, she asked her friends to save him a seat and they did! They both are thrilled with the idea. Then they head outside together, then PJ naps and Maggie continues with class until 3:30. Then snack, but this one PJ has to sit by new friends and they head outside together again. They end the day together in the childcare area until I arrive to pick them up. They both seem like this is how it has always been, PJ however is not happy that Maggie goes to school on Thursdays and he is home with me. We will have to see how that goes as the semester goes on.
I could not be more proud of each of them as they have done a great job the first week!

Christmas toys in use

So of course all the presents were hits but here are a couple pictures with highlights. Granny and pop got PJ a tool bench. I have to admit it was a bit intimidating however it is a HUGE success. I highly recommend this if anyone is looking! it is by Melissa and Doug. Makayla is just smitten with her new real guitar. We will start lessons soon, cross your fingers it goes well!
PJ also got a few BOY dress up outfits(his daddy wanted these) and here he is putting the clothes and scooter to use!


















Gabriellie got a doll house from granny and pop that is a big hit. It is a neat little set up. One night I left her up later than the others just so I could play dollhouse with her. Brie's godfather takes the cake, he got her this HUGE blow up jump o ring thing! It took one whole day to blow up the three chambers as the pump kept running out of juice and needed to be recharged. This thing takes up and entire room, it is 6 FEET across! At any rate Brie LOVES it and her and PJ have burned off their Christmas calories in the first two days of it being up.

Maggie got an Easy Bake oven and we donned the personalized apron and baked away! Chocolate chip cookies anyone?

Where were all these fun toys when I was a kid? My kids were definitely spoiled this year and Makayla and Maggie have both made comments on how lucky they feel.

Home Christmas

Home Christmas happened for us on new years eve. We awoke in the morning, had a quick breakfast(who can eat when there are presents to open!) and the sorting began. I coded the packages this year with symbols so no one knew who's present was who's! It was great!(thank you to a certain sister-in-law for that idea!:~) )
The girls got new tie blankets that my mom put together for them and Kayla was thrilled! Makayla also received a diary to enter all of her most priceless secrets! it came with 2 keys, however she thinks it has only one!:~)











Maggie got a mason jar that has a butterfly in it, you put your hand on the top and the butterfly flies around. It really looks real, as you can tell from her reaction she loved it. It continues to be a favorite for her. Her game of Operation also struck her funny bone!





















PJ had a pretty good haul. He did a great job this year, very happily opening each gift and acting like it was the best ever and his favorite! His only requested toy was a Buzz scooter, so he was ecstatic with it.





Brie had the present opening thing figured out this year and was not allowing anyone to help her! She still would open a gift and then watch others for awhile and then remember she could open another one as well! She still likes frogs so when she opened this green guy he got a genuine hug as well.

All and all I think home Christmas was equally successful as grandma/grandpas and granny's/pops. The kids were quite happy with all the gifts they received!

Granny and Pop's Christmas!

Here is Christmas in photos. Pete's siblings all came from various parts of the country to granny and pop's. There were 21 of us all staying at the house. It really is such a good time and no one has to leave so conversations and visiting and playing can just happen and does not have to be interrupted. We arrived on Christmas day and quickly we were into rehearsal for caroling, something new for my kiddos. Just before dark we were off and to the neighbors we went singing all the way. It was a nice time and we were quite the crew making our way down the street. We were greeted at doors with warm smiles and words of thanks. My parents also had carolers at their door this year as well, who knows maybe caroling will come back.














I have to include unwrapping gifts. That Granny has the best eye for wrapping paper and a true talent with the bows. We awoke the 26th to Christmas granny and pop style. It is so pretty and such a neat Christmas celebration. Makayla's only gift request this Christmas was a guitar, that was one happy girl!
We were able to sneak in a few gifts for granny and pop as well!

Craft time was a constant activity going on for the week.
PJ and Brie LOVE PJ new truck, even came in the correct colors according to him!
Makyala on the carosel is in the wrong spot, I apologize, however I am not so bright and do not know how to move it! sorry. Anyway, we did a family picture at the mall and it turned out very nice!!! it could be a huge challenge to get 9 kids age 5 and under to look at the camera and not be crying but they all did AWESOME!! a promised carousel ride happened post photo session.
We managed to get in a trip to the ice skating rink, a trip to the pool, out to lunch at a fantastic Mexican restaurant as a group, and we made it to the library. I grabbed a photo of the godparents from Pete's side to compliment the one from my side with the kiddos, my camera did not cooperate this time, sorry for the dark spot.
Ended out the week before our departure we sang a happy birthday to pop who's special day is the 4th. We were able to surprise him with a Notre Dame football ticket for the fall as some of the family is moving there soon!

All of this being said it was a fantastic week and we want to say a HUGE thank you to granny and pop! You both are such wonderful people and we love spending time with you. May God bless you in 2012!