cousin fun

 My niece Jill and her kiddos came in for an overnight stay. Our kids have not been together here in a very long time so they all had a great time! We attended a church even Friday night and went out to McDonald's for lunch, otherwise we really did not see them. They had a good time getting caught up again. They are getting old enough to play organized games, it was fun to sit back and watch.

 PJ and Gabe found a new way to play with the truck! many turns were taken in the truck.

 Our dishwasher has been not working the greatest for a long time, so the kids were being good, so Jill says "oh I bet we can do it!". Pete jumped online and it was in stock, delivered same day, and tada: We have a new dishwasher!

Saturday afternoon my friends kiddos joined the chaos and fun as well. They were quite excited to return and once again did very well! Their daddy finished round 2 of chemo and is doing great! keep praying that things continue to go well for them.
A big thank you to Jill and the boys for coming to visit. We all had fun!

St. Patty's Day

 St. Patrick's Day is always a special day as that is the day Pete and I got married. We have been married 12 years this year! Makayla is getting good at taking pictures so I included a sample.

The kids with their bit of green for the day. This was not our best picture taking day!

Sisterly love! The previous moment Brie had Makayla in a full on head lock, it was a serious hug! :~)

the Derby's

So these great friends of ours sent a "family movie night" box of fun! The kids were so excited opening it, the box was full of fun tissue paper and looked so pretty. Then under the tissue was a crazy amount of candy and popcorn and a movie! the kids had movie night right away that night with Ms. Lauren. So dido, a big THANK YOU to the Derby's as you really made us smile. We love you too and cannot wait to have you come back to our home! I think next weekend is free:~) thank you thank you ! a completely unnecessary gesture but one that is appreciated.

the famous Ms. Lauren

Our Ms. Lauren was the chosen babysitter for Sat. night while the adults went to trivia night! The poor girl got mobbed at the door! she is soo loved and so missed, even Brie had to get in a hello snuggle! as always Lauren was a great sport with all the excitement and attention! We are forever grateful to her for being our babysitter. I am able to truly relax and enjoy our time away when I know she is in charge. When we got home late that night I hit her with 50 questions, poor thing but she answered all the questions and left smiling :~). Say a prayer or two for Ms. Lauren in the next 8 weeks as she is graduating from college, making some big decisions, job interviewing, and getting ready for a big test! it is an incredibly stressful time for her but I know she will do great things! an amazing girl this one! God has great plans for her!

Granny and Pop

Granny and Pop came into town for a visit. Pete and I had a date on Friday night and slept in on Saturday. Granny and Pop had the kiddos and had it all under control. Then Saturday night we had a date with Granny and Pop to a church Trivia night fundraiser. The four of us had a good time. We were kept busy with trivia questions and other little in between things. I thought we would have a full evening of chatting, instead we spent a lot of time scratching our heads wondering what the correct answer was :~) I am happy to report we did not come in last place :~). Then Sunday after mass we went out to brunch! (the photo above, with some less than cooperative little people!) It was an enjoyable weekend, we SO APPRECIATE all the help from Pete's folks this weekend! THANK YOU THANK YOU to granny and pop for all of your love and support! We LOVE you!

choir

Children's choir changed practice days and so now Makayla can be a part of it again. She is taking piano lessons right now and she seems to be really enjoying singing now. It is surprising to me how quickly she seems to be changing all of the sudden. She is "growing up"!

bouncing...

Maggie had a classmate birthday party at Pump it Up. This is a great place for a party! the kids just run for 90 minutes and are constantly busy, wearing them out entirely! The birthday boy seemed pleased with her gift so she was happy.

 

Climbing the rock wall is a favorite activity!

Taylor Swift

 We won best parents of the year last Thursday! The girls' dream of Taylor Swift came to be reality! It was a very good concert and we all had a great time. This was Maggie's first concert and I think she was a bit overwhelmed by the entire event. We rearranged some seats and then she settled in and enjoyed every minute of Taylor!

 The happiness on their faces was priceless when Taylor finally came out! Their eyes popped and remained fixed on the singer for the two hour event!

 Taylor Swift really puts on a great concert! She uses the whole auditorium, each person feels like they get close up views of her! Her stage is massive and the costume changes were too many to count, we stopped after 12 changes!

 The finale was concluded with confetti, though the camera makes us appear closer than we were, I just wish the girls could have gotten a piece of confetti! That would have totally completed the night. Even without the confetti we all had a great time and my girls are completely spoiled with the concert experience!

7 kids!

 A friend of mine has three little kiddos. Her husband was diagnosed with cancer about 3 weeks ago. They do not have much family support so Pete and I said no problem! happy to help! So we did not have anything up for the weekend and it has turned into one big play date! the kids are having a blast and they are loving the baby!! The baby is being a rock star, just chilly, taking in all the kiddos and hanging out! The extra three have actually made my four easier!!

Maggie and Reece were full of giggles! they are both in kindergarten so they became fast friends!

Makayla and Macie are smiling buddies!

PJ and Brie are LOVING little baby Tarron! They both have to make sure they are each getting equal baby time! I am hearing lots of "my turn!"

I think she is love.

Rollerskating

My niece Abby had her 10th birthday party at the rollerskating rink! We had the whole place to ourselves! The little ones were sick so it was just the big girls and myself. We headed to mom's and had lunch with her and then off to roller skate our hearts out! I have to say it has been a LONG time since I had on a pair of wheels.  The girls tried very hard to get the hang of it, by the end they were able to go a little bit on their own.

A great big thank you to Miss Abby for having invited us to her party. We all had a very good time, certainly a birthday party we will remember for a long time!

My mom, my sister, my niece and my great niece make up a very nice 4 generation picture!

Individual pictures of Maggie, Makayla and my mom having a go at it on their wheels! Maggie ended up with a few good bumps on her knees, Makyala did ok, she was too scared to be darning. My mother did fantastic!! She must have been quite the skater in her day! or dad gave her invisible wings that day as she did very well! love that lady so much!