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.

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

Here is a link to see

Xavier & Oliver 1 year portraits

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.

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!

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:

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!

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.

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

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.

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