WHAT was Santa thinking?

She didn't really knock me over...but she came close!

This gift will no doubt provide us with hours of entertainment on those winter days when it's too chilly to spend alot of time outside.  I have plans for an obstacle course with this ride included :)

Name That Tune

I thought this would be a fun post for the beginning of the year.
See if you can guess what Christmas song Chloe is singing before Mike chimes in at the end...

Jingle

Turkeys



We had a pre-Thanksgiving meal last Sunday. 
Since we were out of town with Mike's family for the actual day,
we decided to have my parents over
for an early Thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving week was very exciting!!!

We got crazy!!

Then we were a bit more composed...

Michael with cousins Riley & Connor

Trying to get a picture of all 5 cousins together...
not easy since Chloe & Liam were just not into it.


We had a fun-filled Turkey Day- Hope you did too :)

Happy Halloween 2011

We ate too much candy, stayed up too late & had a blast!!
Hope you had lots of fun too :)

Hauntingly Festive

Okay, so there's not much haunting around here (unless you count the spooktacular tantrums).

Our front yard decorations

Very, very scary first thing in the morning



We love our pj's!



End of the day: One more photo before bedtime

Easter

(In case you are interested, Jeopardy! answers are posted in the comments section of that post)

Now, then, EASTER!!!

Whew, it was a really tiring day but still fun! I usually really like Easter because it is lower key than Christmas but this year, Easter was exhausting...kind of like a whirlwind.

We started off the day with an indoor egg hunt and candy...then had a quick breakfast, went to church and then right to Easter brunch with my side of the family.  It was a little too much for the kids.  The weather was hot and pretty sticky...unfortunately, I had LONG SLEEVED shirts for the boys :(  I didn't even attempt to put their vests on!

We spent some time at our house, watched the Flyers WIN game 6, got the kids out for a walk and had an easy dinner there.  Then we went over to Mike's cousins house for dessert.

Nothing crazy but good times none-the-less.  A few photos from Easter and from post-bath time tonight...

a combination of dipped and hand-painted eggs.. we had so much fun painting eggs
with the kids that neither mike nor i took one single picture!!!!

the book in the picture is what we read every night with all 3 kids.
it's a nice, simple way to remember to be thankful for the day :)

Irish Eyes

Happy St. Patty's Day!!! 
Hope today brought you the luck o' the Irish!

Happy Hearts

I skipped posting yesterday because what I wrote was completely miserable.  I really enjoy Valentine's Day but I was so, so BLAH yesterday (unrelated to the day).  It's best that I didn't publish that post!

We did have a good day.  Heart shaped sandwiches for lunch, heart-themed paper plates and such for each meal (a Happy Valentine's Day to ME because sorry landfill, I needed a break from all these damn dishes!).  It was a perfectly good day- with the exception of my cruddy attitude problem.  Thankfully, I have stopped fretting for the moment and am back to some semblance of normal.

Chloe had her 15 month well visit yesterday and she is doing great :)  She weighs 20.12lbs and is 31 inches tall.  I can't believe how big she is getting.  I also can't believe that Michael weighed  about 26lbs at the same age and Mr. Liam weighed...wait for it...THIRTY POUNDS at 15 months.  No wonder my arms looked awesome at that time!

Real quick, in relation to comparing babies, can you take a look here and take a guess- I removed one choice but it would be fun to get more guesses if anyone is still reading my tired old blog ;)
I'd like to keep on the light note so here are a few photos of the kiddos from yesterday and this morning :)

December-Part II (aka, the last week of it)

Do you believe I started this post and it blew up in my face?  Maybe I had too many photos?  I don't know but I'll try this again!

We had the chance to do some fun stuff during the week between Christmas and New Years.  We had my brother over on Sunday with his 2 youngest to do gift exchange between the kids and have some lunch.  It was nice and relaxed and the kids liked hanging out together.

It snowed Sunday into Monday so we postponed a day trip and decided to let the boys have some much needed outside time.  I kept Chloe in only because it was so, so windy...here's a short clip of a wind gust...

Most notably, on Tuesday, we took a trip with my parents to Longwood Gardens.  I think the kids will like it even  more when they get a little bit older.  But it was something new for them & they have a children's garden there that was lots of fun!

I am so bummed this one of Chloe turned out blurry.  I really like the blue flowers behind her. 
Still figuring out my camera and the settings-ugh!

Above- Liam in his natural habitat.

Our gang :)

We did lots of baking during the week too including cookies and pies.  We have spent NYE with the same friends for the past 3? years & it is always lots of fun.  Relaxed with good eats and even better company :)  Of course, I took not ONE picture :(

New Years Day we had dinner at my parents house- the good luck pork & sauerkraut deal- and it was delicious!!!

And I think those are the highlights friends :)  This week, the boys are back in school, Chloe has had some sort of virus thing going on since Sunday, Liam is full swing into potty training (with mixed results) & I am once again climbing Mt. Laundry...and trying to adjust to ordinary time in a sane way.

I've got lots of post ideas twirling around in my head and I am hopeful that this is a sign that my brain has revived itself and that neurotransmitters are once again crossing the synaptic gap.  It IS possible, right?

December 2010 Part I

Where to begin friends?  I've been reading but not writing but that just means I've been busy with real life which isn't a bad thing!

Let's just start with my birthday (Dec. 11th) and go from there, okay?  Okay!

I had a great birthday- starting out with a yummy breakfast and ending with dinner that I didn't have to make!  I find meals/cleanup so, so tedious...for me, this was a gift in itself.  The boys were super cute with cards and presents for me.  And my parents are always so generous (they took us all out for breakfast!) and my brother got me a bookstore gift card.  In fact, I just bought 2 books with it today!

There is a birthday cake in front of us but that got cut out!

So my birthday was fun and I don't really mind being 37 even though that means that 40 is looming.  Age is okay with me- as long as I stay healthy and can keep up with these 3 little fireballs!!  The day after we went to Mike's Mom's house and she cooked a delicious dinner and cake.  I felt extra special for that weekend & that is always a great feeling.

Around that weekend and after, the holiday festivities really got rolling with events at preschool and church, parties, etc.  Here is a quick pic of the boys singing Christmas carols for us...

As you can see, Michael (grey) was involved but Liam was less than thrilled.  Not sure what was up with him that day!

Due to a delay in funds, my Christmas shopping was done in two days, under some degree of stress.  I was hoping to be able to take care of things about 2 weeks in advance.  But no such luck- I ended up running around like a chicken with my head cut off until everything was taken care of.  On the up side, I did NOT leave the wrapping of gifts for the last minute.  I did a little each night and finished up on the 23rd.  Christmas Eve was fun and non stressful as a result.

Christmas Eve- above with my parents, below with my brother and his fiance
BTW, the boys are making reindeer antlers not devil horns- although the latter might be more appropriate.

We went to Christmas Eve mass with my Mom and Mike's Mom.  We had my family plus Mike's Mom at our house for food and treats on Christmas Eve.  It was alot of fun with yummy eats.  Mike's brother and his boyfriend arrived around 9:30 and helped us finish up our Santa-assisting duties (thank heaven for that!).  It was fun to have them here on Christmas morning- they filmed us coming downstairs with the kids and took some pictures for us.  We really never get that- usually Mike or I are doing the film/camera duties.  We had a relaxing morning, waffles and sausage for breakfast, the kids played...we didn't have to be anywhere until late afternoon which was fantastic!

Santa arrived as expected!

The kids got WAY too much stuff but we are grateful to our families for their generosity!  I always feel like so much momentum builds as Christmas approaches and then the actual holiday itself is a blur.  I did feel that way this year but tried to pause here and there to really soak in the moment & enjoy it.

Liam checking to see if Santa had his milk and cookies...indeed, he did!



Chloe in sensory overload!



The first year we had a hard to find gift- Hot Wheels Criss Cross Crash (given by Mommy and Daddy).



Unwinding after all the unwrapping...Chloe in her new Flyers jersey sucking down a much-deserved bottle.
No, I haven't gotten rid of her bottles yet!

I can't seem to get entirely out of the caption mode here but this takes us up to Christmas.  I think I will save the rest of the holiday wrap-up for the next post.  Hope your 2011 is off to a great start!

P.S.: Mike won "Find Jesus 2010"...he is still gloating!