Blessed to have my 6

Happy Joe's Pizza & Ice Cream Parlor

2010-03-30T16:44:00.007-05:00

Today we had the opprtunity to go on a pizza making tour at Happy Joe's in Rockford! First we had a tour of the restaurant, game room, cash register area and kitchen. Next, the kids were able to make their own pizza for lunch! There was only a charge per pizza making child of $6.50 which included their make your own pizza lunch, a fountain drink, a scoop of ice cream, and 4 game tokens for the game room.

Maple Syrup

2010-03-17T22:46:00.000-05:00

When the nighttime temperatures are below freezing and daytime temperatures are above, the sap begins to flow and maples are ready to be tapped!

This was our third year going to Spring Valley Nature Center for this class. Our activities included a tapping demonstration, boildown and taste test.
We were scheduled to go a week ago but there were thunderstorms so our class was cancelled. Our St. Patrick's Day weather was perfect!

Puppet show

Tasting the sap

Practicing tapping a tree

looking down into the boiling sap

it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup!

To the cabin they go.

When I showed the D'Angelo label to D'Angelo he thought everyone should pay him to get a drink.

Can you taste the difference between real maple syrup and the imitation stuff you buy at the grocerey store?

D'Angelo discovered a caterpillar on the ground.

Botanic Garden - 8/3-8/7

2009-08-08T09:58:00.005-05:00

We spent another week at the Botanic Garden :) D'Angelo got to do a week of Bug Camp and the rest of us spent our time walking around the gardens trying to stay cool and happy.

Here is the fountain that Oliver tossed his shoe into- it landed right in the middle. After trying to convince Adeline or Auggie to go in and get it for me I got to walk in and retrieve it.

D'Angelo on the tram ready for his last day of Bug Camp adventures!

Legoland

2009-08-07T22:41:00.000-05:00

Thursday afternoon we had a great opportunity to go to Legoland for free!

A Big Thank You to Clearbrook :)

The prices are usually- Adult: $19.00 Child: $15.00 Children age 2 and under are free. So you can see why I couldn't resist going. I knew the kids would enjoy it so after spending the morning at the Botanic we headed over to The LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre in The Streets of Woodfield. The kids had fun playing with all the Legos, riding the rides and watching the 4D Bob the Builder movie. Xavier, Oliver & Tia were in serious need of food & a nap by 3:30 so I headed out to the car to hang with them there while Grandma & Josh played inside with Addie, Auggie & D'Angelo. Around 6pm Adeline came out to the car and the boys stayed until the place closed an hour later at 7:00.

Joshua made these cool chairs for the boys.

Xavier's First Haircut

2009-07-30T21:13:00.000-05:00

Xavier James just before his first haircut!

He is 2 years, 4 months, 22 days old!

OR**75,600,000 seconds *OR*1,260,000 minutes *OR*21,000 hours

*OR*125 weeks*OR*875 days

Bye bye curls... Mama will miss you

2009-07-26T18:34:00.001-05:00

Today we all went to Twin Lakes for the One Plus One twins club picnic. The kids looked forward to this picnic for so long. We live close to Twin Lakes and pass it often. Each time we pass by there the kids yell out, "there's our picnic spot!"

Fourth of July

2009-07-26T18:30:00.001-05:00

I use facebook daily and upload lots of pictures there but then I neglect to blog. Sorry to my family & friends who do not use FB. I am trying to be better but my time is limited and a girl has got to sleep sometime. Along with that though I thought I blogged our 4th of July pics here but nooooo, they are only on FB.

we had a nice time at Marisa & Max's party on the 3rd where we were able to watch the Arlington Park fireworks from their backyard.

THE FOURTH OF JULY

Ready to go stake out our spot to watch the parade

Since we arrived a couple hours before the parade began to save our space we had time to enjoy a little lunch at Mrs. P & Me.

Mt. Prospect parade

it's raining, thankfully not pouring

2009-06-19T17:39:00.007-05:00

I have been unable to post since April because my account kept saying I didn't have enough storage even after I bought more. I finally took the time to get it working tonight, so here are some pictures from this week. D'Angelo attended Hidden Treasures camp at the Botanic Garden every morning this week. The other kids and I spent our mornings walking around the gardens. We actually got very lucky with the weather up until today. This morning we had a good storm that included lightening & hail so I didn't even bother getting my wagon off the carrier or taking the kids out of the car. We spent a wonderful 2.5 hours in the car watching DVD's, eating popcorn and driving in circles in hopes that the criers would STOP waiting for D'Angelo while he was enjoying his last day of camp. Let's just say that Oliver & Tia did not enjoy hanging out in their carseats.

Oliver wanted to swim in the water features. At one point he kicked off his shoes and tried to climb in. He also asked me to take his shirt off.

our wagon and our friend's wagon ... we got lots of attention.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-06-19T17:32:00.000-05:00

We went to a bbq at my friend Mike's house Memorial Day weekend. He lives on the water and the beach is just down the block. All of the kids were super excited to go to the beach.

It was the first time at a beach for all of them except D'Angelo, who visited a beach in Evanston and in California as a baby. They loved it and keep asking me when we are going back to Mike & Heather's house :)

Easter 2009

2009-06-19T17:20:00.000-05:00

egg hunt on Good Friday

Easter Sunday at my Dad's house

I never did sit all the kids down to take a picture of them together

little miss wasn't too happy crawling around with her long dress interfearing

Oliver pretending to play

2009-04-09T21:51:00.003-05:00

Sunday we thought winter was trying to return. At D'Angelo's request, Rick took the kids out for a wagon ride and to play at the park for an hour in the 35 degree weather. Brrrr! I stayed nice and warm in the house and finally finished painting the kitchen :) Later in the afternoon Adeline & I ventured out together for a playdate with her friend Violet. The girls had fun playing Barbies and such and afterwards Adeline & I stopped at the store to pick up new shades for our kitchen. Upon leaving the store we were greeted by nasty winds whipping sleety snow into our faces. Yuck! Doesn't mother nature know we want Spring weather?

Monday morning we had a super fun playgroup with some friends of ours. The kids listened to the story Mouse Paint, decorated a rainbow with a bunch of fun materials and enjoyed a rainbow snack. The snack was neat and the kids wanted to have more of it later in the day. Each child was given a dollop of Cool Whip into which a couple drops of different colored food coloring was added. The kids mixed it up to see a rainbow on their plate. Then they got to scoop it up with chocolate chip cookies- Yummy! Thanks Melissa for such a fun morning.

Tuesday morning we attended an Easter celebration with some of

D'Angelo's friends from AWANA.

Here they are hunting for eggs

made a craft

Lamby told the kids all about Easter.

How Christ died for our sins, but that He rose again from the dead, and lives forevermore. Today was actually a nice day and the kids spent most of it playing in our yard. Late this afternoon I Finally took Xavier & Oliver for their 2 year pictures and Tia for her 1 year pictures. A month late for the twins but at least they turned out cute. I won't actually have them until next Friday though so I'll have to post them then.

2009-04-04T00:11:00.015-05:00

Oh where, oh where have we been?

Xavier and Oliver celebrated their 2nd birthday March 8th

Xavier didn't enjoy the singing, but Oliver thought it was fun.

earlier that day D'Angelo was hard at work decorating X & O's cake presents!

Grampy Bill (Rick's Dad) was here visiting us to attend the opening night of the Chicago Flower & Garden Show with Rick as well as celebrate X & O's birthday.

Little Miss Tia celebrated her First birthday March 21st.

On Monday we went back to Spring Valley Nature Center for Maple Sugaring with our homeschool group. here they are looking into the collection bucket from the tree

tasting the dripping sap

trying out the tools of the tradetapping spouts into a log

HOT boling sapD'Angelo & Adeline looking down into the boiling sap. Inside the cabin the kids had the opportunity to taste both store bought syrup and homemade syrup from the nature center. D'Angelo & Adeline preferred the homemade while Auggie liked the store bought better.

This morning we went to visit the Arlington Heights Fire Station # 2. It was Xavier, Oliver & Tia's first visit to a fire station and the second time for the big three. The kids had a great time and were excited that a few calls came in while we were there.

He was showing them the jaws of life

How many preschoolers can you fit into an ambulance?

Early Settler Life

2009-02-20T21:32:00.007-06:00

This past Monday the big kids and I went to Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg with our home school group to participate in a the Early Settlers program. The kids were able to see just how hard the early settlers had to work for their food. They were able to make cornbread, applesauce and butter.

Here is Adeline chopping apples to make applesauce.

There had to be someone churning the cream to make the butter the whole time we were there! All the kids and a few adults took turns.

Use your muscles D'Angelo! Cornbread

They all enjoyed the cornbread. The apples were a bit too chunky for Adeline to enjoy.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T02:09:00.012-06:00

The kids are having lots of Valentine fun this week. We have had pink, heart shaped pancakes every morning this week, done fun crafts, made valentines for their friends, and made pink Rice Krispie treats to take to a Valentine party. Rick left on Wednesday to go up north to Copper Harbor with his buddy Tom for their annual trip. They enjoy roughing it up there in a little cabin; no plumbing, no heat, no electric, and Lake Superior water. The trail into the cabin is not accessible by car in the winter so they also get to enjoy an 8 mile snowshoe, pulling their gear in a sled to the cabin. I sure hope they are having a fun, safe trip.
This afternoon Debbie & Josh came over to hang out with the 3 little guys while I took Adeline, Auggie and D'Angelo to our home school group's Valentine party. The lucky kiddos have another little party to attend tomorrow.

Showing off the window painting -it was 43 degrees outside.

Here they are passing out Valentine's today.

Last Saturday morning I took all 6 kids to the library for a special program about unhuggable animals. The kids thought the funniest part was when the man put his mouse on top of his head. Here is a D'Angelo with a yucky huge roach-eeeeeew!
Afterwards we played in the park for a short while- it was still cold out there. We walked home, had lunch, and put the little 3 down for naps. Daddy came in to watch them while I took the big guys back to the library for the Library's reading celebraation/50th birthday party. The kids played games, had cake & ice cream and won lots of fun little toys.

They each earned a new paperback book and goody bag for completing the winter reading

program as well.

breakfast time

Xman is just too cute. All day long he wanted to play with the blender.

He usually helps Daddy make smoothies in the morning.

Kate Gosselin

2009-02-01T23:04:00.004-06:00

I had the opportunity to see Kate Gosselin of Jon & Kate Plus 8, TLC’s hit reality television show, interviewed during the 5:30 service yesterday evening at Willow Creek. They were concluding their series Families at their Best. I did not attend the other portions of the series but plan to get copies of it. The church was packed full for her interview! I went with a couple girlfriends and arrived near 5:00. The main floor was already full and although I'm sure we could have found seats if we looked hard on the second floor we went directly to the third floor and sat right up front. Even from way up there Kate looked fantastic. We mainly watched on the screens but it was neat to hear her speak in person. She was able to share stories of how she and her family have been blessed by God and how he continues to provide for them. I'm glad I was able to attend.

2009-02-01T14:41:00.001-06:00

Here are a few of the pictures from Thursday at Coco Key.

We're still here

2009-01-27T11:25:00.004-06:00

Almost 4 weeks have passed since I last posted! The kids have all been battling colds since the 18th, coughing and being crabby with fevers here and there. They were couped up in the house up until this Thursday and it was making me and them a little nutty. Adeline went to the doctor last Monday morning because she spiked a fever of 104 Sunday night. She had a double ear infection but is much happier now with her pink medicine :) That's right, she loves to take her pink medicine. She asks me several times a day if it is time for another dose.

We thought the colds were behind us and ventured out to Coco Key water resort on Thursday afternoon with D'Angelo, Auggie and Adeline. My Mom & Darrell came and met us there to play with the kids too. We all enjoyed out time in the water Thursday even though it was on the cold side. Happily the air and water temperatures were warmer Friday morning...the bad news is that Auggie & D'Angelo were getting nasty cold symptoms again. They only wanted to sit in the warm pool and be held by Poppy or Daddy. They both fell asleep shortly after getting into the water. We dried off, got dressed, packed up and went to the immediate care center near my Mom's house to have them seen. The assumption is that they all have a strain of strep; so now, D & Auggie get to have the pink medicine too.

Prior to being sick we visited the Kohl Children's Museum a couple times during the snow storms we had here. Most people decided not to venture out on the roads. The museum was amazingly empty, so we went two days in a row!

January 9 & 10, 2009

Gymnastics

2009-01-05T01:45:00.002-06:00

Here is a little video of Addie & Auggie at gymnastics.
A Team Gymnastics 12-30-2008

Happy New Year 2009!

2009-01-04T00:52:00.003-06:00

This year D, Auggie & Tia went to the farm to celebrate, while X & O spent time with my Dad, Deb & Josh. We have spent the past 6 or 7 years ringing in the New Year with the same wonderful friends. We have moved locations, but most things remain the same. Rick spends many hours, for weeks before, planning our menu. He shops on the 29th at Sunset Foods which is his favorite grocery. He spends ALL DAY on the 30th preparing and prepping for the next day. This year we dropped the twins at my Dad's about 1pm on New Years Eve and headed into the Loop with Adeline. Adeline came with us so she and her good friend Lucy could hang out together. The girls had fun playing together, doing multiple crafts, wearing matching dresses, and fighting over the pink baby!

We had a really nice time visiting and a whole bunch of delicious food & wine. What I love is being able to spend the night there and know we are all safe and sound. New Years Day I slept in :) I started my day with a nice hot shower, a good cup of coffee, and a crepe breakfast prepared by my husband. We didn't head home until after 2pm. When I called to let my Dad know we were on our way to pick up the boys I was surprised to hear that they wanted to keep them another night. We agreed to it and continued home. Once home Adeline fell fast asleep on top of my big, fluffy, red coat and stayed there for just shy of 4 hours! She needed some zzzzzzzzzzz's. The fun part was when she woke, we took a trip to TRU, where she bought a new dress up outfit. She and I played together until almost midnight!

How did you spend New Years Day?

Here is Doctor Adeline... wide awake and still playing with me at 11:45 pm.

Christmas fun with Our Family

2008-12-29T22:04:00.010-06:00

As tradition goes we host Christmas Eve at our house. This year it was our family, Uncle Chuck & Susan, and my Mom & Darrell aka Gaga & Poppy. Auntie Judes & Uncle Denver stopped by for some dessert too. Rick's Dad decided not to come to Chicago this year and that was sad. The kids missed having him. Any time they hear the word Arizona they say, that's where Grampy Bill lives or that's where Daddy's Dad lives, so cute. Anyway, you were missed Grampy Bill.

Rick cooked us a nice meal and afterwards we had lots of goodies from neighbor Deb (my Mom's neighbor) and the creme brulee that Rick made. The kids were a little on the wild side by the time dessert was being served so we decided not to open any more gifts. They had already opened gifts from Uncle Chuck, but they usually open their gifts from Gaga & Poppy on Christmas Eve as well. I love having everyone over and having a little time to catch up and enjoy the company. I am glad the overexcited children didn't scare them away early. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

My Mom & I had the challenging task of waiting for the kids to sleep before we could go out to Rick's office to get gifts wrapped. All I kept doing for weeks was dropping things into Rick's office thinking I would get back out there and get wrapping before Christmas Eve. That never happened, I hadn't wrapped a single gift. D'Angelo wanted to wait up to see Santa even though I assured him no child has ever stayed up late enough to see him because he waits until he KNOWS your sleeping...please go to sleep little ones. Adeline was up the latest. She was so excited that she couldn't fall asleep. It was after 11 when my Mom & I finally snuck out to wrap, but we got the job done, and I was snuggling into my pillow around 3:30am.

Adeline & Uncle Chuck

Cookies for Santa Auggie had already fallen asleep so D'Angelo & Adeline made sure to leave a plate of cookies from Auggie as well. Yep, that's right, there had to be one plate of cookies from each of the big kids this year!

Christmas Morning... D'Angelo was the first to wake just before 7:00. He woke me up exclaiming, It's Christmas, Santa was here! I was so tired that I tried to convince him that we should sleep for a while longer. He then almost started to cry and said, "Mommy, it's Christmas you have to get up!". That made me feel so bad. I got up and let him open up his stocking, just him and I in the quiet house full of sleeping people. He was excited with what he received, but, it didn't have the yellow train, you know, THE TOY he wanted for Christmas. I told him Santa probably left it under the tree somewhere. His next comment was, well then lets dive in and open these presents.

Oliver really getting his teeth into it

Auggie very happy with his new train

I laughed at all the blueberry stained faces from the breakfast of french toast and blueberry sauce Daddy made us.

Xavier enjoying his raisins that were in his stocking

All 6 of our kids playing with the Ball Popper that Tia got for Christmas.

The girls and Poppy with his & Gaga's gift

(thanks to Charlie for taking all the wonderful pictures of our family)

Miss Tia's first Christmas!

Santa delivered some dress-up outfits too Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

naughty, naughty, naughty

2008-12-23T00:58:00.004-06:00

So, is it just my kids or do other kids do things that really make you angry but at the same time give you a giggle?

a small sampling of my crazy hahaha funny life.

Xavier James managed to get this done while I dressed Oliver in the bedroom upstairs. Took him maybe 5 minutes of alone time to get this job done. Very sad for me because this was a brand new jar, just got it the week before, and it was $20.00 swept right into the trash. Okay, maybe it was more like $19.50; Xavier was eating it.

Angry, a little. On the upside his ability to imitate is fantastic :) Thought he was the cutest kid ever. He was sitting on the floor stirring the spice in the pot and eating it. He looked at me, smiled, stirred, tasted some of the spices and said, "mmmmmmmm".

but later that same day Oliver decided he could not let Xavier have all the fun so...

he added Coffee mate to our art projects and then all over the floor.

Auggie- well, Auggie is an interesting kid.

In the past two weeks he has performed plastic surgery on Mickey Mouse.

he also dropped a car into the oven. This is what happens when you heat to 425 degrees!
And I think this was my favorite. Sunday night all I wanted to do was make cookies with the kids. I already had my butter softened on the counter. I came home from the grocery store and my 1# block of butter was missing. Adeline told me Auggie was making a BIG mess with my butter. Panic...run upstairs. He had it across the entire train table top, two of the sides, two walls were decorated, D'Angelo's bed and bedding were a mess and my cookies did not get made. Auggie and I spent lots of time cleaning the bedroom. Ask the kid why he did it. His reply, "cuz it's tasty".

Snow day...

2008-12-23T00:39:00.004-06:00

Friday was a fun filled snow day! The big three headed out to play in the snow with Daddy.

Oliver was running a fever so we had the big guys go out while X & O napped. There is major meltdowns here if the babies can't go out to play when the big guys go. If we so much as mention the word shoe Oliver is quick to grab his boots and unlock the door.

Brookfield Zoo Holiday Magic

2008-12-15T09:34:00.005-06:00

We had such nice weather yesterday that we decided that I would take the big three kids to Brookfield Zoo to experience Holiday Magic. We planned to go last weekend as a family but it was too cold! Last night it was still 44 degrees at 9:00pm when were leaving the zoo; very windy and raining but at least it wasn't freezing yet! This morning it is 5 degrees here. Brrrrr, we didn't even venture out to playgroup. They all wanted to see Santa so we waited just about 30 minutes which wasn't too bad. Once it was our turn Auggie ran, really ran, into Santa and Adeline wouldn't even go near him. D'Angelo let him know that he wants the yellow train (Geotracks) and Auggie wants the green train. We tried to get our picture with the reindeer but they switch animals ever hour and we were two familes short of seeing the reindeer... I wasn't paying for a picture with a llama wearing a scarf! All in all it was a good time. The kids wanted to go so that always makes it worth the effort.

This was funny, they were trying not to get bit by the alligator! D'Angelo

Auggie

Adeline

Gingerbread Fun Dec 6th

2008-12-14T09:33:00.006-06:00

We had a fun time decorating gingerbread houses, men, and girls with The Miller's. We were all supposed to go to the zoo and see the lights but the weather was so cold that we decided to stay inside and have a gingerbread party instead. Taylor, Adeline and Debbie worked on one house together while D'Angelo, Auggie and I worked on a house together. There is a reason gingerbread houses are for decoration only! The kids were really enjoying the icing and candies during the decorating. Once our houses were complete the kids each made gingerbread people.

Advent begins

2008-12-01T19:49:00.001-06:00

December 1st already! Get started on your Advent calendars :)

We enjoyed a nice quiet Thanksgiving at home and my Mom made almost all of the food which was so nice. We had such an easy time preparing the few things we did contribute. The big kids went home with Gaga & Poppy and won't be home until tomorrow! They were going to come home today but the weather was not favorable for driving. I'd rather they stay there longer & know they are safe. It seems like the first snowfall triggers an inability in people's driving skills. It always amazes me how people who live here act like they have never driven in snow before. It certainly was slick out there last night though. I had to run out to the store around 9pm and my big car was sliding on the ice. Not so fun.

So, here is what I did yesterday. Instead of getting out the Christmas tree I decided hey, I've got nothing but time, why don't I go through the kids clothes, toys, etc and get rid of what we don't need. This is what I wound up with; Yikes!

The bags are sitting on top of our couch and table -those are not piled high from the floor.

This is what we woke up to this morning. Our first real snowfall of the season.

doorknobs that lock ...with a key

2008-11-25T00:14:00.003-06:00

So, we learned a lesson today. If you have a doorknob that locks, but do not have the key that will open the locked door, you should replace the doorknob!

Now I am not going to say we weren't warned before about this. The boys have locked themselves in their room in the past but have ALWAYS unlocked the door when we have told them to. Until tonight that is. It all started when Auggie was being his stubborn little self and not cooperating and behaving at the dinner table. I sent him up to his room and told him he could come back down and join us when his attitude was better. He screamed, cried and apparently locked the bedroom door. After we finished dinner I went to check on Auggie and discovered the locked door. Rick, Adeline & I sat at the door for 20 minutes trying to console a very upset Auggie while trying to get him to unlock the door; no luck. We (and when I say we I mean Rick was listening to my suggestion of how to fix the problem) wound up destroying the door in the process of opening it up. Do you know what Auggie was doing when we finally got in there? sleeping!

After that I hurried out of the house to make it to my board meeting for the twins club I belong to. The night did get better though. This is what I came home to :) Four sweet babies all snuggled together. Daddy is actually sleeping alongside of D'Angelo but I didn't get him in the picture.

D'Angelo, Adeline, Tia & Auggie

This was our wonderfully calm evening yesterday. Adeline reading to her monkey.

A boy in princess pajama's

2008-11-23T00:18:00.007-06:00

This is just wrong of me isn't it. Oliver needed me to change his pajama's in the middle of the night and this is what I saw in the morning. Great example of why I should not pull pj's from a laundry basket in the dark!

So, why don't I manage to find time to blog?

A few months ago I decided to start selling Usborne books. I was already in love with their books and knew I would be buying lots more for my own kids. I have been very busy the past few weeks doing home shows and holiday bazaars. I am enjoying sharing these great books with my friends and others. Can you believe I was out last Saturday, Sunday afternoon, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night! I know what my kids are getting for Christmas :)

What else have we been up to?

Friday morning we went to a fun playgroup to make fleece hats & pumpkin soup. The kids had a fun time & are wearing their new hats. Auggie ate his whole bowl of soup, D'Angelo ate most of his and Adeline wouldn't even let it touch her lips! I had a small cup of it and it was yummy. Adeline was having so much fun that she didn't want to leave though so she decided to be dramatic and defiant. I wound up having to carry her out without her shoes on to the car. She continued to scream and cry as if I were killing her for another couple of minutes and then she passed out. I knew she was in need of a nap!

Adeline is 3!

2008-11-01T23:51:00.002-05:00

The first thing Adeline asked me when she woke up was, "Who's making my birthday cake"? We usually make birthday cakes together in the morning on their special day. For Adeline's birthday though we headed out of the house early to celebrate up at Gaga & Poppy's. Gaga made the most special pink, sparkly princess cake for Adeline. She absolutely loved it! The cake was pink inside and out! After celebrating, the kids got back into the costumes they wore the day before to go to a Halloween party at one of my Mom's neighbors homes. The kids had so much fun getting to wear their costumes again, jumping in the bounce house and taking a long hay ride.

Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T23:27:00.001-05:00

Our whole family went trick or treating together with our friends the Miller's.
The kids had a wonderful time and Xavier especially loved carrying his pumpkin basket around. Can you believe the Miller's were brave enough to have all of us stay for dinner too!

Autumn weekend fun

2008-10-22T15:27:00.004-05:00

Here are some fun pictures from last weekend up at Gaga & Poppy's farm. The kids had a wonderful time playing in the leaves and running around. The weather was cold enough for coats but not cold enough to require hats & mittens. We celebrated Poppy's 61st birthday weekend too. The kids made him a cake that was quite a site! They added sooooo many farm decorations to it that the icing was almost hidden. They were very proud of thier creation.

Our 9 year anniversary

2008-10-17T11:52:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we celebrated our 9th anniversary. Thanks to my Mom & our friend who babysat last night so we could go out to dinner. Our favorite restaurant to go to is a nice little French place close to home, Le Titi De Paris. We had a fantastic meal paired with some wonderful wines.

Yesterday evening

Our Wedding Day 1999

Yesterday afternoon

a few other pics from our wedding weekend 1999

Jenn & me

me, grandma & my mom

Michelle, Eric & Bailey

Jenn & Rob Rick & me

Cardboard Testimonies

2008-10-13T10:05:00.000-05:00

2008-10-12T22:02:00.002-05:00

You can't see it in this picture but there is a big pile of coats, hats & shoes that these naughty monkeys pulled out of their cubbies! They love to do this and don't understand that they need to leave their stuff hung up.

Augustine's 3rd Birthday (10-10-2008)

2008-10-11T01:05:00.009-05:00

Here is our 3 year old Auggie! We had great weather on Friday so the kids got to play outside and enjoy the day. Auggie wanted an orange cake, so that's what he got. It looks a bit on the pink side but he was happy.
Gaga & Poppy came over to celebrate with us and brought some cool gifts!
---concentration---carefully removing the tape---

Here are a few pictures from last weekend when we went to Didier Farms in the rain. Just after we started loading the kids in the car it started to rain. After telling the kids we were going and getting everything ready I wasn't about to consider NOT going there. I told the kids on the drive over, that because of the rain we may just have donuts & hot cider under the shelter and walking through the store. We had our donuts & cider, took a pony ride & listened to the band that was playing. Thankfully after the first hour+ the rain stopped and the kids got to enjoy running around and the rides.

Apple Picking

2008-09-29T14:51:00.004-05:00

Friday we went to Royal Oaks for our first time apple picking. 83 and sunny is not what I call apple picking weather! Although the weather was not right by my standards for apple picking we went anyway because it was a group outing with our home school group. We got to tour the orchard on an antique tractor drawn wagon. Poppy told the kids he had driven the same type of tractor 45 years ago! Poppy called it a putt-putt tractor. We watched an educational video on pollination, growing and picking apples, picked 5 apples each, and enjoyed a cider donut and 1/2 pint of cider after our tour. The kids had a great time and are enjoying eating the apples. The only downfall was the tired, hot twins. Xavier & Oliver were miserable during the wagon ride back out of the orchard.

here is where it was about to get ugly!

Xavier started to cry, then Oliver, and they cried the whole wagon ride back out of the orchard.

Party

2008-09-23T11:00:00.011-05:00

Sunday afternoon we hosted our first kid party themed knights & princess to celebrate D'Angelo, Augustine & Adeline's birthdays. We had it at Jumps n Jiggles The kids had a great time and loved having all of their friends and family there. It went very well and I was happy with how easy the party attendants at the park district made it for us. They were very helpful with the set-up & clean-up. I had fun getting everything ready for their party and it was fun to see how excited they were to watch me prepare it all.

I made tunics for all the little boys and had crowns for the little girls. Here is D'Angelo wearing the one I made for him. Auggie never wanted to wear his during the party.

these are the fun dollar store shields I purchased for the little boys to take home

Grampy was here to celebrate with us! Back at our house...

A tiara for Tia
I'm 4 today!

For my scrappy friends.

The goody bags & the thank you cards I am working on.

D'Angelo is 4

2008-09-19T00:32:00.003-05:00

Happy 4th Birthday to my D'Angelo! I am so excited for him to wake up in the morning and have an awesome day. Four years ago today I didn't know my life was about to undergo a major change. I was unaware of newborn D'Angelo and certainly had no idea I would be meeting him, my firstborn son, in ten short days. Instead, I was thinking, wow...I just turned 30 five days ago. I wasn't unhappy with turning 30, but I also was not overjoyed with turning the big 30! I can happily say now that 30 was the BEST year of my life. It is the year in which I became a parent and fell completely in love with my sweet baby D'Angelo. The love a mother has for her children is like no other. I thank God every day for the opportunity, gift, challenges and great blessing of parenting my children. It has been an awesome experience to watch D'Angelo grow from the precious 10 day old newborn I fell in love with into the sweet little boy he is today.

2008-09-06T01:29:00.004-05:00

Summer is unofficially over & the weather here feels very much like autumn. It's after 2 am and it feels cold outside to me. I'm wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and socks! I think my feet forgot what socks were. It seems to go from sticky hot & humid here to cold! As in, one day the kids are out back splashing in the pool...the next it's time to get out socks & jeans. Don't get me wrong, autumn is my favorite season, it's just that it appears out of nowhere and summer ends so abruptly.
Rick got to enjoy some even cooler weather himself this past week while in Colorado. He & his friend Tom take an annual trip there to hike in the mountains, I can't wait until the kids are a little older so we can all go on a vaca to Colorado. While they were away, the kids and I spent time at my Mom & Darrell's. We did the usual run around all day playing, campfire with marshmallows in the evening, and lots of golf cart rides. The other fun thing is the big guys are having a blast learning to ride their Fisher Price quad all over the farm! Hmmm, what else did we do? We also got over to the Walworth County Fair last week. I roasted 25lbs. or better of Roma tomatoes on Wednesday to make soup & Darrell just brought me another HUGE box of Roma's today! Thankfully with the cooler weather I don't mind having the oven on all day long.
Exciting stuff here, isn't it :)

Silly animals at the fair

Lotsa tomatoes.

roasted tomatoes & garlic
What happens when you allow two toddlers to play with rice??? Lots of fun & a BIG mess.

obviously they didn't get the concept of keeping it in the bins and on the cloth.

2008-08-30T08:40:00.008-05:00

Sharing a photo from Eric's 30th birthday party at The Cubby Bear.

Grandpa, me, Eric, and my Mom.

I don't think there is anything quite like a Chicago block party! I hadn't been to one prior to last week in years and I am so glad that my kids got the opportunity to enjoy one. There was good food, games, face painting for the kids, popcorn, snow cones, and the company of friends. Thanks to Jerry & Tricia for having us over. The Chicago fire dept came and opened the hydrant for the kids to play. This was a first for my kids. When I was little the older kids in my neighborhood used to get out the channel locks to open the hydrant on our corner. We would run through it until the police came to chase us away and close the hydrant. Where else does this go on? I am curious to hear about other block parties & fire hydrant antics. The kids also got a chance to ride on one of the CPD horses, thanks Audrey. Towards the end of the night my friend Harold let the kids get into his squad car. D'Angelo asked to sit in the back seat and H's partner told him that he couldn't because that was where the dirty bad guys sit. D'Angelo is still talking about the bad guys going to jail.

D & Auggie

While my brother was in town he got all nostalgic and took himself on a trip down memory lane. He drove around our old neighborhood and took a few pictures.

Here is the home we grew up in.

I remember the day the little sapling out in front was planted. I went to preschool in the morning and returned in the afternoon to find my new tree. It really has grown.

The school we attended K-8

Sayre Language Academy

Tia Grace is 5 months old!

2008-08-19T09:13:00.005-05:00

It has been a crazy, busy time around our place. I think I say that all too often. We have been in the process of renewing our foster care license. Every 4 years it comes up for renewal. This entails completing paperwork, background checks, completing 16 hours of classes each (Rick & I over the 4 year time period), physicals for all family members (Rick & I both run out the week of home study to get these done), home inspection and another home study. Had our home study on Friday and it went well. Glad to know we should be granted our renewal.

We received the boys' amended birth certificates with their new legal names on them! Yippee Skippy, that thrills me. I am listed as their mama and Rick is listed as their father.

Saturday we attended my friend Ruick's 40th birthday BBQ party. We had a nice time visiting and the kids enjoyed playing and having what else? cake!

My Brother Eric and his family came in from Cali for a nice long visit. My grandfather took the bus from Appleton to visit last Thursday and left yesterday morning. My sister-in-law had a surprise party for Eric's 30th on Sunday at The Cubby Bear. Eric's first suspicion raised when my Dad suggested grabbing a beer at The Cubby Bear with my grandfather who doesn't drink! Eric was surprised though and it was a nice time with a good group of his friends.

Yesterday was his actual birthday so we spent the day together at Coco Key Water Resort . I left the littles home with Grandma Debbie while my mom, Josh & I took the big three to meet up with Eric, Michelle & Bailey. The kids had a blast! We spent more than 6 hours there before my crew was so tired I thought they were going to fall over. My brother took me on the fun, dark, fast water slide. I was so nauseated and lightheaded at the end of it I couldn't stand straight for a few moments. I will not try that again, the affect on me was vertigo like.
Upon entering the car I inform the kids that once we get home we will have a quick dinner then get to sleep. D'Angelo cries out, "What about Uncle Eric's birthday! We did not have cake & a party yet!" Thankfully, I was able to assure him that we would get to sleep in order to make a cake in the morning for a BBQ party tonight. Which is where I am now. I am trying to blog while my kids holler at me about making a crazy birthday cake. Off to make a cake!

2008-08-03T02:13:00.002-05:00

You babies should really stay off of the

kitchen sink & stove!X & O: partners in all things naughty

"Undefeated" sports camp

2008-07-31T15:19:00.008-05:00

D'Angelo had the opportunity to participate in a sports camp this week right down our street at Our Saviour church. Unchartered Waters Sports Ministy lead the camp. This year's theme is "Undefeated" and the theme verse is Romans 8:37-39. I bought the music cd today that contains all the songs used this week during camp. D'Angelo was so excited to show his brothers and sisters how to do some of the moves for the songs. He kept correcting Adeline because she was dancing to the music and did not know the right way to do it. He had a fun time at camp but will miss tomorrow's final day because he and Auggie are headed way up north with Gaga & Poppy.

A few pictures from sports camp

Here's a few pictures from last weekend. We were back up at my mom & Darrell's. The kids ran around and played outside every day, all day long! They were especially happy to have a couple campfires and toasted marshmallows. D'Angelo & Poppy even spent Saturday night out in the tent.

Another new outfit from Ruick-

Please don't make me eat a smore...I just wanted a piece of chocolate
marshmallows are a gooey treat

Oh Poppy you make me laugh!

Look at this! I paid under $4.00!

2008-07-23T12:40:00.002-05:00

My friend Ruick made Independance Day outfits for the kids but I never got to take pictures of them together. We had a BBQ here and the kids stripped their cute clothes to jump into the pool before I got any pics. Yesterday we were up at my Mom & Darrell's so I dressed them up and took some pics.

Oliver
fresh picked zucchini

all together now!

twins on the run

Big brother and baby sister

2008-07-22T23:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was opening day for the Rock County Fair in Janesville, WI . It is the oldest 4-H fair in the United States and remains the largest youth fair to this day. We spent the whole day, noon-8:30pm, there with our friend Ray, my mom and Darrell. The kids had such a fun time at the fair. They were able to pet sheep, cows, and goats. Walking through all the barns and hearing the enthusastic young exhibitors tell us about their animals was really neat, it is always my favorite part of the fair. They are always so willing and happy to allow the little kids to come and pet their animals.

We enjoyed our lunch at one of the church sponsered tents. Burgers, hotdogs, pulled pork, baked potatoes and the Best iced coffee. I like supporting them and they always have good food at much better prices than the carnival food vendors. That is not to say that we did not indulge in any of those other treats though. My mom and I love cotton candy-gross I know - but I do love it at a fair. We also had curly fries, cheese curds, lemonade and ice cream!

Thanks to my Mom and Darrell for such a fun day.

my lil' cowboy

my Mom with Tia & Darrell pushing D'Angelo & Xavier

Annie let the kids pet her sheep and spent lots of time telling my kids about her animals.

She also followed us over to the cow barn to let the kids get up close with her brother's cows.

Adeline loves cows!

This is always a hit with my kids! Xavier and Oliver had their first experience playing in the corn. They spent an hour in the beginning of the day in there and another hour just before we were leaving.

D & Auggie made friends with an older kid who had a great time burying them in the corn and dumping it over their heads. Their laughter was awesome!

they rode this ride multiple times and choose this jeep every time!
Funny since it's the only one they rode in last year too!

The picture below is of them last year 7-27-2007

busy hands making braclets

VBS

2008-07-12T23:55:00.004-05:00

D'Angelo went to VBS last week. He had a great time and was sad that he would not be going again next week. I think there is at least one more VBS in the beginning of August I can get him into at a church close to home. I had a tiring week running him back and forth. He was there from 9-noon each day which meant I had to have all 6 kids in the car by 8:30, listen to Adeline cry all the way home about her D'Angelo being gone and how she is old enough to go to Bible school, got back home about 9:30, then had to wake the twins from their much needed nap to be in the car by 11:30 to pick D up. We would get home close to 12:45, eat lunch and then I would try to get these guys to nap but each day just didn't work out well. All I kept telling myself was that it wasn't about me, D'Angelo was enjoying his special week of fun. Yesterday I took all the kids with to the closing celebration. Thankfully Rick was able to come in the begining for the church part. I don't think it would have gone too well for me alone. The rest of the day was enjoyable but we were all exhausted by the time we finally got into the car to go home at 3:00! LONG DAY.

here he is on his way into class Monday morning

closing program on Friday morning Adeline did not want her picture takenAdeline & D'Angelo helping during the magic show
Auggie & Ade showing off their body art
D'Angelo running around playing with the water outside

sharing a bottle of water

2008-07-12T22:39:00.003-05:00

naughty, naughty, I thought Oliver was being a little too quiet!

Last Saturday I went to Ikea to buy Tia a crib but they were oversold, must go back & try again this week. D'Angelo & Adeline went with me and had a fun time checking out all the stuff in the kids area. They especially liked the bunk beds. Adeline actually kicked off her shoes and tried to get under the covers. Here is what the bunk bed looks like in boys' room. I decided to buy it and so glad I did. It has been much easier getting kids to sleep in their own beds! Of course, now Adeline wants a new bed too.

X & O being cute

Adeline showing off her new outfit that Ruick made for her

thanks RuRu

2008-07-05T12:06:00.003-05:00

"God brought us together as a family."

ADOPTION FINALIZATION!

It’s official. On July 1st 2008 D’Angelo & Augustine’s adoption was finalized.

What an exciting and emotional day!! Finalization is the last formal step in the adoption process and the official beginning of our new family. As soon as the judge signs the adoption order, we gained permanent legal custody of our boys.

D’Angelo was placed with us when he was 10 days old on Wednesday, September 29, 2004

It was 1371 days from his placement date to his adoption finalization date!
How else can we count all these days?
3 years, 9 months, 2 days
118,454,400 seconds
1,974,240 minutes
32,904 hours
195 weeks (rounded down)

Augustine was placed with us on

Monday, November 21, 2005

It was 953 days from his placement date to his adoption finalization date!
How else can we count all these days?
2 years, 7 months, 10 days excluding the end date
82,339,200 seconds
1,372,320 minutes
22,872 hours
136 weeks (rounded down)

This is absolutely wonderful, we are so blessed. They melted our hearts the first time they were placed in our arms. It has been a long journey and we thank God for the miracle of creating our family and making it forever.

ART DAY

2008-07-01T08:03:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Kathy who invited up to 30 kids from our Moms group to participate in her Art Day. This semester Kathy is teaching "Creative Arts in Early Childhood" at a local college. Yesterday each of her students presented an art activity for kids (18 mos-6 yrs). The big boys are at my Mom & Darrell's so I was able to make this a special Mommy daughter day for Adeline & me. Adeline had an great time and enjoyed getting really messy!

This was a great idea. I have done a version of this using a small box to roll around marbles or golf balls with paint but I loved how the kids were able to really move around, jump and have fun while holding the pool. Adeline & I are going to do this with D'Angelo & Auggie sosmeday soon.

Mini pinatas were available to decorate.
Glue and jello go well together on paper.Most kids had very bright beautiful creations. Adeline just kept mixing it all up.

2008-06-29T23:47:00.002-05:00

I have been such a slacker when it comes to scrap booking. I have not completed any of the kids first year albums yet. I am the queen of random pages! I just work on whatever strikes me at the time. So, I am now on a mission to get these baby books started and completed. I worked on D'Angelo's album Friday night 7pm-2am and again Saturday from 11:30am-2:00 am. I did take a break to go eat dinner at Noodles though. Thanks to my friend Debbie for opening up her home to me and the other ladies this weekend! I made some good progress but I still have a long way to go. I have so many pictures of D'Angelo's first year I could almost do a page a day. Seriously, it's the typical first child scenario- TONS of pictures. I am supposed to go out scrapping again Tuesday night. Do I ever sleep? Not as much as I should. I will let you know that I was tired this morning and it took effort to get up and get to church.

Here are some photos from the week.

We were supposed to go to the spray park Wednesday morning but it rained and rained. We then decided last minute to meet up with my friend Debbie and her daughter Taylor at Nibbles play cafe. The kids had a great time there.

scuba anyone?
howdy

Xavier was very happy to push, pull and carry the chairs around.

beautiful face painting Adeline

Thursday morning we had a playgroup at Lake Arlington with our friends from MOPS. Then we went to another park a little later on our own.

not a care in the world...how far away from Mom can we wander?

Ahhhh, the great discovery!

Oliver is way too curious! No more pictures-I must get him out of the mud puddle.

I'm smiling, I'm smiling.

2008-06-24T01:31:00.004-05:00

little boys, where are your table manners? With the amount of food these two get on the floor we could feed another set of twins.

Here is a picture of Tia from Saturday... she is 3 months old already!

2008-06-23T23:01:00.000-05:00

A few pictures from the weekend.

It was a bit too chilly for playing in a pool so I didn't dress them for it. Xavier is smart enough to just put his feet into the water while Oliver is ready to jump on in.

This is how the big boys enjoyed the pool Saturday
Oliver
Poster for why young toddler's should not be encouraged to use markers.

Can you see the very blue mouth?

Minnie Pearl is looking for that hat Adeline!

2008-06-23T12:50:00.001-05:00

A D'Angelo funny

We have a grocery store here named Jewel. I rarely shop at Jewel so it doesn't get mentioned often in our house. Yesterday I commented that I needed to go to the grocery store Jewel after running into Walmart. I had taken the big kids to buy flashlights at Walmart because it is something they have been asking for. Well, Adeline started feeling ill while we were in Walmart so I told the kids we were going home. D'Angelo got very upset and kept telling me he wanted to go to Diamond's. I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Until he said, DIAMONDS THE GROCERY STORE! Apparently he forgot the name Jewel but it made him think of a diamond.

2008-06-20T11:36:00.004-05:00

It is a rainy day here and I have a bunch of kids who are tired slow movers today. They should be eating lunch right now but I haven't prepared it yet. I have Tia, X & O napping and the big three watching a video so I decided to check my email and read blogs. I ran across this list today on a friends blog and have seen it a few other times recently. It looked interesting so here it goes.
The ones in bold are the things that pertain to me. What's on your list?

Bought everyone in the bar a drink
Swam with wild dolphin
Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
Been inside the Great Pyramid
Held a tarantula
Taken a candle lit bath
Said I love you and meant it
Hugged a Tree
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightening storm at sea
Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
Seen the Northern Lights
Gone to a huge sports game
Walked the stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Grown and eaten your own vegetables
Touched an iceberg
Slept under the stars
Changed a baby’s diaper
Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
Watched a meteor shower
Gotten drunk on champagne
Given more than you can afford to charity
Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
Had a food fight
Bet on a winning horse
Asked out a stranger
Had a snowball fight
Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
Held a lamb
Seen a total eclipse
Ridden a roller coaster
Hit a home run
Danced like a fool, not caring who watched
Adopted an accent for an entire day
Actually felt happy about your life, even for a moment
Had two hard drives for your computer
Visited all 50 states
Taken care of someone who was too drunk
Had amazing Friends
Danced with a Stranger in a foreign country
Watched wild whales
Stolen a sign
Hitchhiked in Europe
Taken a road-trip
Gone rock climbing
Midnight walk on the beach
Gone sky diving
Visited Ireland
Been heartbroken longer than you were in love
In a restaurant sat at a stranger’s table and ate with them
Visited Japan
Pretended to be a superhero
Sung karaoke
Lounged around in bed all day
Posed nude in front of strangers
Gone scuba diving
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Played in the rain
Gone to a drive-in theater
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
Toured ancient sites
Taken a martial arts class
Played a computer game for more than 6 hours straight
Gotten married
Been in a movie
Crashed a party
Gotten divorced
Gone without food for 5 days
Made cookies from scratch
Won first prize in a costume contest
Ridden a gondola in Venice
Gotten a tattoo
Rafted the Snake River
Been on television news program as an “expert”
Got flowers for no reason
Performed on a stage
Been to Las Vegas
Recorded Music
Eaten shark
Had a one-night stand
Gone to Thailand
Bought a house
Been in a combat zone
Buried one/both of your parents
Been on a cruise ship
Spoken more than one language fluently
Performed in Rocky Horror
Raised children
Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
Picked up and moved to another city
Walked on the Golden Gate Bridge
Sang loudly in the car and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
Had plastic surgery
Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have
Wrote articles for a large publication
Lost over 100 lbs
Held someone while they were having a flashback
Piloted an airplane
Petted a stingray
Broken someone’s heart
Helped an animal give birth
Won money on a TV game show
Broken a bone
Gone on an African safari
Had a body part below the neck pierced
Fired a rifle, shotgun or pistol
Eaten mushrooms gathered in the wild
Ridden a horse
Had major surgery
Had a snake as a pet
Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
Slept for more than 30 hours over 48 consecutive hours
Visited more foreign countries than US States
Visited all 7 continents
Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
Eaten Kangaroo meat
Eaten sushi
Had your picture in the paper
Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
Gone back to school
Parasailed
Petted a cockroach
Eaten fried green tomatoes
Read the Iliad
Selected one important author who you missed school to read
Killed and prepared an animal for eating (fish)
Skipped all of your school reunions
Communicated with someone without sharing a common language
Been elected to public office
Written your own computer language
Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
Had to put someone you love in hospice care
Build your own PC from parts
Sold your own artwork to someone that didn’t know it was yours
Had a booth in a street fair
Dyed your hair
Been a DJ
Shaved your head(only from the top of my ears down)
Caused a car accident
Saved someone’s life

Now I need to go make my kiddos lunch :)

2008-06-18T07:41:00.003-05:00

Monday evening we met our friend Debbie and her daughter Taylor at the park to hear the community band play. My kids think it's neat that their good friend Taylor's daddy plays the drums in the band. Every time we play at Taylor's house my kids peer into Scott's music room & tell me they want to play the drums. What kid doesn't want to play the drums? The music this Monday was great for kids. They played "Tunes from Toons" that included music from The Little Mermaid, Grease!, The Lion King, Ratatouille, and High School Musical to name a few. The kids had a blast dancing and running around. Debbie and I agreed that since the kids did well Monday night and weren't terribly crabby children Tuesday we would make this our weekly outing. We're going to include a picnic dinner and enjoy this series for the next 6 weeks.

Here are a few pics at the playground

Listening to the concert

Dancing together

OLIVER

XAVIER

2008-06-15T23:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Father's Day
Today we enjoyed a laid back day at home with our good friends Jeff & Susan, their daughter Lucy and dog Enzo.

2008-06-15T23:44:00.000-05:00

We have had a fun week.

On Tuesday morning we released our butterflies! The kids were so excited to let them fly into the trees, flowers & clouds. This was a great kit I bought for them. We got 12 itsy bitsy caterpillars that the kids watched rapidly change into big "fluffy" caterpillars. During the metamorphosis stage the kids got anxious waiting for the butterflies to appear. The butterflies emerged over a 3 day time span. We were lucky that all 12 caterpillars survived and became butterflies. The kids enjoyed watching them and feeding them fruit slices. They really enjoyed learning about the life cycle of butterflies. We have a great chart we hung up to refer to, read a whole bunch of books about butterflies, and made lots of art projects that centered on butterflies. I think the kids favorite ones were using the egg cartons to make caterpillars and paining coffee filters to make butterflies. I did make one mistake though. I let the kids use their glitter paint for the butterflies so we have had lots of glitter all over the house. All in all it was a fun learning experience for us and we plan on getting another batch of caterpillars before the weather turns ugly here.

painted lady butterfly

He finally gets one to land on his hand!

D'Angelo is up close with a butterfly

2008-06-15T23:40:00.000-05:00

Wednesday morning we met up with some other friends for a private party at Pump It Up http://www.pumpitupparty.com/. This is the way to go there and play. $10.00 per kid for an hour of bounce around, run around fun. I had all 6 kids with me so the private party is the only way for me to go there and not loose a kid. Seriously, I am so thankful for my Palatine Moms group. They are a great group of ladies with a bunch of fantastic kids. They are the extra eyes and ears I need when I am out "alone" with my 6 pack. Thanks ladies. I forgot to bring my camera but I hope my friend Debbie will email me some pictures that she took. Even Oliver made his way up to the big slide!

Thursday morning I took D'Angelo, Auggie and Adeline to Pirates Cove http://www.elkgroveparks.org/piratesCove.asp?id=492 for the first time. They had a blast. It was really nice too because there weren't too many kids there. I wonder if the 90 degree heat and call for severe afternoon weather deterred many people from venturing out. It is always an advantage when the lines are super short or nonexistent. Thanks to Grandma Debbie & Josh for hanging out at our house to watch the little guys.

The boys are flyin' down the big slide. Adeline has no interest in joining them.

Choo Choo

messy sponge painting

D'Angelo is getting the hang of moving his boat

Ade & Auggie had a fun time turning in circles.

2008-06-10T15:55:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pictures I have taken this past week.

This was Friday morning after playing in the water they decided it was time for a wagon ride.

Tia Grace 11 weeks old

She is getting to be such a smiley girl! D'Angelo is the happiest kid when he can make her smile.

D'Angelo

2008-06-10T14:56:00.003-05:00

I took a little video of Xavier laughing this afternoon. I have been wanting to get him on video for a while because he is so darn cute. Enjoy!

2008-06-09T19:51:00.004-05:00

SO, How was Vegas you ask?

I have been home from Vegas for over a week now and I am finally finding the time to blog. This is the first time I have even gotten onto the computer since last Thursday-my email was super packed! Anyway, I had a great time in Vegas hanging out with Jennifer and it was awesome to have time to visit with my brother, Michelle & Bailey. Jennifer and I spent Wednesday afternoon at the Paris spa which was completely relaxing. I had the best massage followed by a hot cup of tea that I enjoyed while snoozing on the big comfy chaise in the dimly lit relaxation room. Later on we had paraffin hand and foot treatments and spent time in the sauna which I love. We didn't leave the spa until after Eric was already checked into his hotel and ready to meet up with us.

Jenn & I thought our show started at 8:00 that night so when we went to pick up our tickets at 7:00 pm we were surprised that there weren't more people waiting in line at will call-strange? Um yeah- the show started at 7:00. Thank goodness Eric suggested walking down to Treasure Island early to grab our tickets! We had to stand in the back for a few minutes watching and then were able to be seated. We both enjoyed Mystère and would like to see another show by Cirque du Soleil . After seeing Mystère we went out to eat with my brother, Michelle & Bailey. It was late when we were done so Michelle & Bailey went back to their room to crash while the big kids went out to play for a while longer. It amazes me how quickly night becomes early morning in Vegas!

We spent a nice day Thursday at the MGM pools with my brother & family. Our visit ended with them dropping us off at the Venetian so we could see Blue Man and they could get on the road home since Eric had an 8:00 am meeting to attend Friday morning. Blue Man was not that great, we actually thought it was terrible during the first 20 minutes or so. It got better, but I would never pay to go see them again. I wish I would have spent my money to see Stomp! instead. We were so tired after the show that we went straight back to our room. I watched Juno and then fell asleep for the night.

Friday we spent the day poolside at our hotel then went to Spago for a delicious dinner. We headed over to New York New York later on that night to check out the dueling piano bar. Since it was our last night in Vegas we thought we would check out at least one club so we headed over to the Wynn Hotel. That is a gorgeous place. The club we went to was Tryst http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/#entertainment/tryst/ . It was a younger crowd but we stayed for a little while. There is a huge waterfall that separates the club from the rest of the hotel-very cool. If we were single and younger it would have been a great place to be. Saturday morning

Jenn left early for the airport and my friend Ruick picked me up. Ruick & I went out for breakfast and to Joann's to buy material for a new tote bag she is making for me : ) We didn't have a lot of time before I needed to be at the airport so we headed back to her house and went to the pool. It was so nice to be able to see her while I was there. Funny thing is I will see her and my brother again during the same weekend in August! They will both be in Chicago for their big birthday weekends. Eric turns 30 August 18th and Ruick turns 40 August 16th. I must say that as much as I enjoyed my trip I missed the kids like crazy! It was so weird not having them around. Even unnerving at times. If I ever have the opportunity to go away again it will need to be a shorter trip.

Playing the tourist we had to stop and take our picture at the sign.

Jennifer & I spent Thursday at the MGM pools with my brother & his family. It was a great weather day - not too hot! The drinks were yummy too.

My nephew Bailey & brother Eric at the MGM pool.

Jennifer & me

Eric and me

Bailey feelin' a little freezy cold!

That's a very crooked picture of me

Me with the guys who perform with Blue Man

and Jennifer

A Blue Man

2008-05-26T23:54:00.002-05:00

VEGAS BOUND!

I am going to Vegas tomorrow evening to meet up with my best friend Jennifer who has business there this week. I can't believe that I am actually leaving town alone! I know I am going to miss my babies like crazy though! I have a hard time not being with them. The kids will be taken care of btwn my parents (mom & D are taking D, Auggie & Tia and my Dad & Deb are taking Adeline, X & O). Rick will have some or all of the kids Saturday. I return late Saturday night. I am so excited about this trip. We are staying at The Paris hotel and we have some fun things planned.

Wednesday

-Paris spa for massages & parafin treatments.

-going to see Mystère by Cirque du Soleil.

-My brother Eric is driving in from LA to hang out with us

Thursday

-hanging out with my brother

-going to see Blue Man group

-My brother drives back home :(

Friday

Thought about hiking in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area http://www.americansouthwest.net/nevada/red_rock_canyon/nca.html

but we now think we will drive to see the Hoover Dam if the construction traffic isn't too bad.

Saturday

-I am spending the day with my friend Ruick and coming back home to see my babies.

2008-05-24T11:48:00.003-05:00

D'Angelo, Augustine and Adeline left for Michigan yesterday with Grandma Debbie, Grandpa Andy & Josh. They are spending the weekend in a cabin at Owasippe Scout Reservation. They had a great time there last year and were very excited to be going again. The kids were also excited that UPS dropped their new water bottles just before we got them loaded into the car to leave!
What am I doing with just 3 kids? Well, last night after they were asleep I went scrapbooking for a few hours at my friend Fran's house and I am going to go back over there later this afternoon once Rick gets home from work. I am working on an alphabet book for D'Angelo right now. I have decided to start doing everything clean, simple and easy so that I can actually start accomplishing some finished books. My goal is to have D's ABC book complete when I leave Fran's tonight. I'll let you all know how that goes!

Adeline's waterbottle

2008-05-24T10:21:00.007-05:00

Here are my bathtime helpers on Thursday morning.

The big kids had a playgroup at their friend Lucy's house Tuesday morning. Little Miss Piggytails!

Monday we made our first trip of 2008 to Brookfield zoo.

http://www.czs.org/czs/Brookfield/Zoo-Home

Thanks to Gaga & Poppy for going with us.

Inside the Hamill Family Play Zoo the kids were able to touch a Madagascar hissing cockroach.

TIA at 8 weeks

Lollypops are Yummy!

2008-05-07T11:22:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday April 29th we ventured downtown to the Daley Center to make our appearance in Adoption Court! Everything went very well. We are hopeful that the judge's ambitious goal of being finalized on June 11th will happen. We will keep you posted. It has been a long road to get here and we are so happy. I can't wait to have our boys legally ours forever!

Metra will get you there on time and save the headaches of traffic during construction season.

They have been served! The sheriff officially served the boys and presented each of them a badge.

Marshall Fields State Street lunch
D'Angelo eats noodles

Auggie does too

Chasing sky rats AKA pigeons

The boys and their much anticipated lollypop from the judge.

View from the 17th floor looking down at Daley Plaza

Tuesday was such a long day and the boys did very well . We took the 9:30 train, walked to Daley center, Lunch at Fields (Macy's), back to Daley center where we were the last family called to appear during the 1:30 call, walked back to train station to catch the 4:45. D'Angelo had a bit of a meltdown as we prepared to get off the train. He cried loudly that he didn't want to get off the train. He wanted to stay on the train with the people. It was so out of charecter for him to behave that way. He cried all the way back to the parking garage until he fell asleep in the car. Once home we thought we were okay. Until he woke up that is. Yep, he woke up and started right back into the crying about wanting to go back to the train. At that point we were worried because we were preparing to leave within the hour to go to his family awards night at AWANA. Thankfully he did a 180-got happy and we were able to take him to his last night of AWANA. Thanks to the leaders who did a nice job preparing the kids for the celebration.

They sang a few songs including

I'm in the Lord's Army

(to the tune of 'The Old Grey Mare') Actions are in blue!

I may never march in the Infantry, (march)

Ride in the cavalry, (pretend you're riding a horse)

Shoot the artillery. (clap hands together)

I may never zoom o'er the enemy, (spread arms out and pretend to be a plane)

But I'm in the Lord's Army. (point one finger up to God)

I'm in the Lord's Army, (yes, sir!) (salute)

I'm in the Lord's Army, (yes, sir!)

I may never march in the Infantry,Ride in the cavalry,Shoot the artillery.

I may never zoom o'er the enemy,But I'm in the Lord's Army, (yes, sir!)

2008-04-27T17:11:00.000-05:00

This post is for all my friends who are wondering what Nibbles looks like inside.

Wednesday morning we headed over to a new spot close to our house, http://www.nibblesplaycafe.com/ to meet some friends of ours. I knew a few people who had already visited the cafe and enjoyed their time there so I was willing to check it out. It seemed like a great concept-a cafe where the kids can safely play while moms are able to chat. I had all 6 kids with me and I was very happy with our visit. The kids didn't want to leave when it was time which is always a good sign. They truly enjoyed themselves. If cost were no issue we would go often.

2008-04-23T17:05:00.003-05:00

We went on a tour to the Buffalo Grove Fire Dept. with a group of our friends. The kids thought it was very cool to get into the firetruck. I had taken D'Angelo once before about 6 months ago, but this was the first time Adeline & Auggie got to go.

2008-04-22T01:12:00.002-05:00

Sunday after we got home from church the kids wanted to play out in the yard. I thought it would be a good opportunity to snap a picture of them all together.

Here are the results.

2008-04-17T23:37:00.003-05:00

We have had a full, busy week adjusting to life with our new little one! The big guys are loving Tia up! They are getting better at taking turns holding & feeding her. D'Angelo is the one who questions where I am taking his baby any time I move her!

It really is fun to watch these guys interact.

Our week in a nutshell...

Saturday morning I had a wonderful breakfast with my Godmother Karen. The conversation and company was great. If you can believe it, I did not have any kids with me.

Sunday- We were ten minutes late for church, not too bad if you ask me.

Our Monday playgroup was cancelled so we played out in our yard all day! My Mom was here for an afternoon visit and dinner. Adeline & Auggie also got their hair cut. I cut Auggie's and my Mom trimmed up Adeline's bangs for the first time ever. Monday night I had a Twins Club meeting and took Tia with me to meet my friends.

Auggie's haircut

Adeline not sure if she wants her hair trimmed

2008-04-17T23:36:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, we officially had Tia with us for a whole week! We hung out at home, Grandma Debbie came over. Xavier had PT. Tuesday evening D'Angelo had AWANA.

Wednesday, I took Tia to the doctor. She is a healthy baby girl who weighed in at 8 lbs. 6oz. Grandma Debbie stayed home with everyone else while we went. Wednesday night I took Tia with me to my friend Debbie's house for an ice cream social. We had a nice time and out of the 40 ladies that were there Tia & I left with the last few of them! We were so involved in talking that it was 1:00 am when we got home. I will say that I was extremely tired at MOPS this morning.

2008-04-17T23:29:00.000-05:00

This morning Adeline, Tia and I went to MOPS while the boys hung out at home with Grandma Debbie and Josh. Once we got home Adeline joined her brothers who were playing outside. As soon as she and D'Angelo started running circles around each other I thought I'd better stop her from running in those shoes and that dress! Too late- she fell. Luckily she recovered well and allowed me to clean up her knee. I put a pair of pants on her, different shoes and she was back outside running!

2008-04-11T22:24:00.002-05:00

We have been enjoying having Tia home with us and adjusting to life with a newborn!

The day Tia came home to us X & O were exactly 13 months old.

Tia is only 1 year, 2 weeks and 1 day younger thanX & O.

Papa came by after work yesterday to meet Tia.

D'Angelo is thrilled to have a new little sister.

Auntie Jennifer, Rob & Emma sent us these pretty flowers.

Thanks!

Adeline likes giving Tia kisses too

2008-04-09T08:06:00.004-05:00

BIG NEWS!
We have a new addition to our family.

She is the biological sister of our big boys.
Tia came home last night and the kids are very excited!
She was born on Good Friday March 21, 2008.
Weight: 6# 7 oz.
Length: 20"

2008-03-27T23:58:00.000-05:00

Spring is still not here; we got more snow today! So, we headed over to the mall to play today. Here are my guys with their two friends.

Sadly this mall is closing down in June. I am gonna miss this place!

The kids are going to miss their horsey rides.

2008-03-27T23:29:00.000-05:00

Hey Auggie, can you get any candy?
Let's all take a side
Mommy, I need money to make this thing work!

2008-03-24T00:11:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to see

Xavier & Oliver 1 year portraits

2008-03-23T20:39:00.005-05:00

Happy Easter

We had a wonderful day celebrating. I usually plan to get to church for the 9:30 service so we can actually make it to the 11:00 because my 5 monkeys don't always make it easy to get out the door looking presentable & on time. Well, today we attended the 9:30 service! After church we came home and gave the kids their much anticipated baskets of goodies. Poor D'Angelo had been asking for jelly beans from the moment we picked him up from his Sunday school class. My Dad, Deb & Josh came over soon after for our indoor egg hunt & dinner. Last week I was actually starting to believe that with the warmer weather we would be able to have an outdoor egg hunt! Foolish me. My sarcastic brother called me from sunny California this morning to ask me if we were going to hunt for plain white eggs in our snow filled yard today. Not so funny Eric.

Here are a few pictures from today.

2008-03-14T22:39:00.001-05:00

one tired out little guy

first time letting me put pig tails in her hair-not even, but they're actually still in her hair!

2008-03-14T21:41:00.008-05:00

Well we have had another great day here. It was 56 degrees. I took D'Angelo, Adeline & Auggie to see Seussical the Musical this morning with a few of our friends. Afterwards we went to Red Robin for lunch. We had a nice time especially since it is kid friendly & I never feel like we are bothering any other patrons...our party consisted of 5 adults and eight children. D & Addie went to Gaga and Papa's this afternoon. Auggie was upset that he was being left behind until I reminded him that we would be going to Josh's pancake breakfast tomorrow morning.

On another note, we went to the Flower & Garden show last Sunday so I wanted to post a few pictures:

2008-03-13T12:07:00.006-05:00

We thought we had a great weather day yesterday at 41 but today it is 50 here! Sunny, beautiful and 50 degrees. Yesterday morning Grandma Debbie came over and we all took a nice walk over to the playground where the kids had fun running around and enjoyed the slides.

X & O Turn One!

2008-03-11T17:12:00.005-05:00

Xavier and Oliver turned 1 on Saturday March 8th.

I can't believe how fast the year has gone. They are both anxious to get walking. Xavier is taking 4-5 steps at a time while Oliver gets himself across the room. They are enjoying climbing everything possible. They just laugh out loud when I catch them climbing from the couch onto the windowsill where they bang on the glass. They are not babies anymore....they are on the fast track to toddler hood. I guess I can blame that on them having 3 active siblings. They eat dinner with us and drink regular milk like everyone else. They still have their bottles but are drinking from sippy cups here and there. Amazing how it changes from 1st child to 4th & 5th...D'Angelo never had a bottle after his first birthday; Adeline just gave up her bottle 4 months ago and Auggie will still take one if you give him the opportunity.

We didn't have a big party but we did have cake, balloons and gifts. The big guys had been so excited to have the twins birthday party. The kids all went to play with friends Saturday morning for a few hours, then we came home and decorated the house together. Decorating with the help of three little guys is interesting. After dinner we had cake and presents. D, Ade & Aug love singing happy birthday over and over so that I will re-light the candles again and again so that they can help the babies blow them out.

2008-03-11T17:00:00.000-05:00

2008-03-11T16:48:00.000-05:00

ignore the dates on the pictures...the camera can't keep the date set

2008-03-03T21:06:00.002-06:00

It has been a busy week for us. Thursday night Rick, D'Angelo and I went to the preview party for "Sugar from the Sun" at Garfield Park Conservatory . It was an enjoyable evening with the new exhibit looking spectacular! D had lots of fun playing in the children's garden with his friend Steven and eating flowers made out of fruit. The "Sugar from the Sun" exhibit opened to the pubic Saturday March 1st.

With Rick being finished up at Garfield Park there is still no time for slowing down...
Now, it's off to set up his garden Extreme Pools by RickRock - Sugar from the Sun at The Chicagoland Flower & Garden Show. The set up is this week with the show running March 8-16. He hasn't done the show in a couple years so it will be interesting to visit the new venue; Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.

Friday, my Mom came over and hung out with us during the day. The kids love when she is here. Rick came home early so my Mom and I could catch the 4:30 train downtown. I took her to see Jersey Boys http://www.jerseyboysinfo.com/chicago/. We tried to get a table at The Italian Village but the wait was too long so we went over to the Chop House-conveniently located across the street form the theatre. The food was great and my favorite was the awesome pear salad we shared. The show rocked! I saw it at Thanksgiving and it was just as fun the second time. The funniest part of the night was walking back to the train station instead of cabbing it-just because. My mom was not convinced that I knew where I was going...Hello, I used to work at the Board of Trade Mom. We got to the train safely thank you.

Saturday I took the big kids to a super fun 2nd birthday party for their friend Taylor. It was at the US gymnastics center in Lake Zurich. The kids had a blast trying out all the trampolines, hanging from the rings and uneven bars, jumping into the pit, walking the balance beams, and playing in the bounce house.

Today we didn't do too much! We went and played at Taylor's house to meet her new pony Butterscotch. My kids thought it was so neat. I am NOT buying one.

2008-02-25T00:39:00.003-06:00

Thankfully everyone seems to be feeling better. I took Adeline to the doctor Saturday morning to find out the cause of her rash. It was not an allergic reaction. I was told it was from the virus she and the kids were suffering from. The doctor said they've seen lots of rashes with the new spring virus' starting up. Luckily, it is no more contagious than the common cold. (wash hands,wash hands, wash hands)

This morning we met some friends at Garfield Park Conservatory to tour the new exhibit that Rick has been working on there, Sugar from the Sun. Then we spent our afternoon at Lucy's house & the kids had a great time playing with all her toys!

it's my nap time you know

2008-02-22T08:33:00.003-06:00

This is Adeline at 8:30am.

Her spots have turned into more of a blotchy rash now.

Thankfully the ibuprofen is working to control her fever.

2008-02-22T06:42:00.002-06:00

We have had a long night here. Twins were up alot overnight. Augustine is still sleeping. He hasn't been out of bed since I put him down for his nap yesterday afternoon at 1:00. Adeline is still running a 101 fever as of 6am. She is miserable and it has been a chore to get her to drink fluids. She still has no appetite. She has been taking Ibuprofen and has had 4 doses of Benedryl. I am going to call the doctor in a little while. I did find some information that might explain her rash though.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T082900.asp
Viral illness – the most common rash suddenly appearing on your child is rash due to a variety of viruses. Some viruses can be easily identified, including chicken pox, fifth disease, and roseola. Most viruses, however, do not cause their own specific type of rash as chicken pox does. These generic viral rashes can have many different appearances, such as lacy or pimply, raised or flat, bumps, spots, or blotches, and they often (but not always) start on the trunk, and then spread to the extremities.
The most important thing to understand here is that if your child has a fever or is not feeling well, and breaks out in one of these generic rashes, then it is probably a harmless virus and nothing to worry about.

you know your kids are sick when...

2008-02-21T21:51:00.002-06:00

You know your kids are sick when...

You get her water in her sparkly pink cup & milk in her purple cup...but then she doesn't want the purple cup she wants a boy cup (which is anything that isn't pink or purple). Soooo you go back to the kitchen and return with a green cup of milk.
But that is no good either; so, you go back to the kitchen to transfer the milk to yet another cup. Return with the blue, definitely a boy cup, and what does she say in return for this feat?
I want my purple sparkly cup! UGH!

You put your son down for his nap at 1:15 in the afternoon and at 10:00pm he still hasn't wanted to get up yet. All he has had since then was a baba of milk! He must be sick; I gave him a bottle of milk.

Your daughter requests applesauce...you get her a cup of applesauce
She says, "No, I want yogurt".
You get her yogurt she eats 2 bites and then asks for egg & cheese.
You make a cheese omelet and she eats 1 bite and says, "I want water & watch Dora."
You give her, her sparkly pink cup of water and return her to the couch she has been on all day. You turn on the TV, start a Dora video and after a few minutes she asks to go to bed.

You have been up to console her more than once while writing this message.

Allergic reaction?

2008-02-21T14:34:00.003-06:00

We have had some type of illness in this house for what seems like FOREVER! One kid gets healthy and someone else picks up the slack and catches a new yucky virus. We had Adeline with an ear infection Monday 2/11. D'Angelo ear infection 2/13. Days following, everyone gets cough, congestion and irritable! Fevers. Yesterday Rick and I took all 5 to the doctor together.
How many people can you fit in one exam room? We had the seven of us, the doctor, a med student to assist and our double stroller. I think we win-LOL. The conclusion was something viral. Great, good times, let's wait this out. My favorite part of our visit was while 4 out of our 5 were crying/screaming the doc looked at the med student and sighed, "Ahhhh, the joys of becoming a pediatrician". I laughed.

This morning when I went to get Adeline from her bed I found her looking like this. I called the doctor and the nurse thinks it is an allergic reaction to the antibiotics she took for the past 9 days. Benedryl has helped with her facial swelling, but she still has the rash all over her entire body. Two doses down so far. If it hasn't cleared by tomorrow I am taking her in to be seen again.

Happy Valentines Day

2008-02-14T17:58:00.003-06:00

We had a nice Valentine's Day here. The kids had a little playgroup party this morning at their friends Lucy & Cole's house. They were most excited to bring valentines and treats to give to their friends. There were fun crafts to make and little heart shaped cakes for the kids to frost, sprinkle and enjoy. We had a fun time - thanks for hosting the party Jill. Grandma Debbie came and took Adeline home for an overnight visit while Gaga & Papa came to take the boys home for the weekend. It feels very strange to be home with just the twins.

Thanks to my sweet husband for sending me a beautiful dozen of red roses, I was quite surprised. Rick left very early this morning with his buddy Tom to go on their annual trip to the Keweenaw Peninsula located on the northwestern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It is surrounded on three sides by Lake Superior which is where their water supply will come from while roughing it up there. They drive in as far as they can, park the jeep and snowshoe 8 miles, pulling a sled full of their gear to a cabin without electicity or plumbing. Not my idea of winter fun. After I snowshoe I'd like to be in a nice warm place with a hot shower available.

My little valentines

2008-02-08T23:39:00.000-06:00

Oliver stole Adeline's apple... I guess he thinks he's a big kid. I was surprised at how well he actually ate it though.

11 months old

2008-02-08T20:20:00.000-06:00

X and O are 11 months old today. Where does the time go? I ask myself that question quite often. All my kids are growing and changing quickly. It is so neat to see the personalities of Xavier & Oliver developing. Oliver is genuinely a happy baby. He is almost always smiling, but when he's not...Oliver is so much like Adeline with DRAMA! Yep, he is the one that will throw himself down and sob when I take something away from him. He also throws himself back -with great force- when he's upset. I can't count the times he has hit his head on the ground because I didn't catch him in time or someone else was caught off guard by his crazy antics. Xavier reminds me so much of Augustine- the happy, mellow guy. Xavier is turning out to be even tempered and happy. Both X & O love to play peek a boo and have lots of entertainment from D'Angelo and the A Team. I am amazed by these little guys every day.

2008-02-06T15:28:00.000-06:00

Finally Outside! Daddy is going to take them for a nice walk through our yard.

2008-02-06T15:27:00.000-06:00

snow, snow, snow!

2008-02-06T15:14:00.000-06:00

The snow is falling today! The weatherman was not kidding. We are getting a fair amount of white stuff. Not the pretty fluffy kind, it's the very wet, heavy stuff. Schools were cancelled today, the Starbucks as well as an entire shopping mall in a nearby suburb has closed it's doors for the day, churches are cancelling ash wednesday services. It will be interesting to see how much actually accumulates. And I just received a call that my MOPS meeting is cancelled for tomorrow morning. Bummer, I was looking forward to going tomorrow.
I haven't gotten the kids together and outside yet but once Rick gets done with his work I'll bundle the big guys up & get them out there to play. I know they want to be out there very badly but I can't take them out there with the babies. We have tried to stay busy today doing crafts, playing and cooking.