Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Poetry

April is poetry month. Did you know that? I didn't until I found out at the school. So in honor of poetry month they are having a poetry contest at school. So I wanted to share with you the poem that Natalie submitted. I am totally not a poet by any stretch of the imagination. I hated poetry in school. So I suppose I'm pretty biased here, but this looks like a winner to me! So without further ado...

Me!!!
I’m so friendly
Don’t you want to be friends with
me?

Do you want to know
about me?

I like to read all kinds of books
Mostly I like when Mommy and Grandma
teach me to cook

Do you want to
know more?

I like to draw with my sketch pad
And take trips with my mom and dad

Do you want to
Know MORE?

My sister and I like to play
Connect Four
And I play peek-a-boo with
My brother and the door

Don’t tell me you
Want to hear MORE!!

I like to go fishing with my dad
The worms really aren’t all that bad

And can you guess
There’s not much I don’t like to do
Especially if I’m playing with YOU!


I typed this up for her yesterday to submit. I have no idea when the winner will be announced. Either way though I'm very proud of her. It's a winning poem in my book.

For homework yesterday she had to write another poem about her principal. He is receiving an award in May for being an outstanding principal. There is going to be a luncheon at the school to honor him and some of the students are going to get to get up and say a few words about him or read him a poem they wrote or something. Thus last nights homework for Natalie. Here's what she wrote for that:

Mr. Audette

Mr. Audette is the best!
He is better than all the rest!

He does not yell at us
or make much of a fuss

Mr. Audette is nice I can tell
He doesn't like to yell

Sometimes he takes us for lunch
We like that a Bunch

I've known him for a lot of years
I think he deserves a lot of cheers!

Mr. Audette is the best!
He is better than all the rest!


I'm so glad she didn't get my poem writing inability. I hope everyone is enjoying Poetry Month! Tomorrow is the last day of it.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

A Rockin' Birthday Party

Natalie had a Rockin' Hannah Montana 10th birthday party yesterday. Everything Hannah Montana a preteen girl could want.

A cake made by mommy...



A game of Hannah Montana Bingo even. And what Hannah Montana birthday party would be complete without singing some Hannah Montana songs...




So tons of fun.

We sang happy birthday to the newly turned 10 year old...


She made a wish...


Waited patiently to open presents...


Then dug in...
A Hannah Montana Journal


A Hannah Montana CD


A beautiful bracelet


A dance mat


A change purse


A new Connect 4 with three ways to play


Earrings


Hannah Montana pencils and pencil sharpener


But wait, there was a big surprise waiting for her downstairs. Couldn't let her see it ahead of time though so come on Natalie keep your eyes closed...


A NEW BIKE!


Trying on her new ride for size. Perfect!


What an awesome party she had. The cake was great. The company was great. And she got everything she wanted. Especially the bike! I don't think it's a birthday she'll be forgetting. The fishing derby, a great birthday party, and a friend sleeping over. What more could a 10 year old want?

Fishing Derby 2009

Yesterday was the annual fishing derby. Joe has been taking the kids every year for the past four years. Only one year they've been lucky and actually won stuff, but still it's fun. And yesterday we couldn't have had more perfect weather for a fishing derby. Even though nothing was caught or won they had a good time. We fished with some friends. They really enjoyed themselves...

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Week In Review: April 19 - April 25, 2009

Here is this weeks Week In Review for April 19 - April 25, 2009

Sunday: Well, maybe CJ is getting back to his normal schedule. I hate to say I wish it wasn't this morning that he decided to be up at 7:30. I guess I needed to get up though. So I got up with him and finished off the laundry from Saturday. Then I woke the girls up to get them started on their rooms. I fed CJ breakfast. I cleaned up his toys in the living room. Then I had the girls get their breakfast. They helped clean up the kitchen (the table and floor is usually covered with their stuff anyways). I gave CJ a bath. Poor kid had a hard stool right after his bath. It was so hard for him to get out :(. I cleaned him up from that though and dressed him. Helped Natalie sweep the kitchen floor and Joe left for work. Then I put CJ down for his nap, vacuumed the living room, and took a shower. When I got out I got dressed, washed the dishes, and cleaned off the counter. Then my parents arrived. They had birthday presents for the girls and Easter presents for all three. CJ woke up from his nap shortly after my parents arrived. He was shy, but quickly warmed up and started playing. Then we had lunch (my parents weren't hungry). It was a nice day so we went outside to play and Natalie finally learned how to ride a two wheeler. We stayed outside until Joe got home from work shortly after 4. Then we went in so my parents could have the pictures of the kids off of my computer. Joe played Wii with the kids and my parents left about an hour later. I made dinner (chicken alfredo). CJ wouldn't eat and had a meltdown. So we got him ready for bed. I gave the girls a shower and sent them to bed along with CJ. Back to school tomorrow.

Monday: It's amazing the girls were up on time this morning. They weren't exactly staying on task though. They did manage to get ready on time. Lucky Natalie gets to start her week back with a field trip. Joe brought them to school and I gave CJ breakfast and did some stuff around the house. I brought Joe to work for 11 and then went to the bank and came home to put CJ down for a nap. Finished cleaning up the living room so Claudia could come over for CJ's PAT visit (Parents As Teachers). Finished that, had lunch, got CJ up, fed him lunch, and then Claudia came over. She was here for an hour reassuring me that even though CJ won't be getting Birth to Three anymore we'll keep on top of things and make sure he's developing normally. Then it was time to go pick the girls up from school. Then I went to the grocery store to do some of my weekly shopping and get stuff for Natalie's party on Saturday. Joe got out of work while I was shopping so he finished up shopping with us and came home and helped unload the groceries from the car. I put the groceries away and then started on dinner. After dinner I got a phone call from the fall fundraiser company we use at the school. Got some questions answered so I could sign with them again for next year. Looking forward to seeing their new dry cookie dough. While I was on the phone CJ apparently dropped his pacifier on the floor and called it Bob. Hmmm, he named his pacifier, interesting. I'm trying to figure out if they are all Bob, or if it's just the one. Before I knew it though it was 8:00 and bedtime so I got everyone in bed. Then I cleaned up the living room again and gave some more thought to Natalie's birthday party and what to get her.

Tuesday: Had to drag myself out of bed today. I stayed up way too late the night before. Just couldn't fall asleep. And my punishment for not getting out of bed on time was the girls didn't get ready. We should have been leaving the house, but they were still making their snack. Joe took them while I got CJ dressed. Then he came home and we went out for breakfast at Denny's. Then went to Walmart to look at bikes. Nothing jumped out at us there. We ended up getting some fishing supplies though and wiffle balls. Then we went to the Disney store. I had a coupon which pretty much ended up being useless. You see the coupon was for either 15%, 25%, or 40% off. Mine was for 25% off. But all the stuff I wanted to buy was on sale and you could take an additional 25% off, but you couldn't use the coupon to get another 25% off. That made me mad. Plus, they did not have a lot of Hannah Montana clothes. Now when we went 2 weeks ago for Kaitlyn's birthday we had a hard time finding Tinkerbell stuff. However, today there were tons of things we would have loved to have gotten for her when we were there 2 weeks ago. I found a dress which I'm hoping isn't too big on Natalie. It doesn't look like it will be. We also got her a pencil set and pencil sharpener that will be from CJ to her. Then we went over to Toys R Us and found a nice bike for cheaper than they had them at Walmart so we bought it. I just need to get a few more things to be from Kaitlyn and CJ to give her at her party on Saturday and she's all set. We came home and put CJ down for a nap and I rested before I had to go pick the girls up from school. Washed some dishes after CJ got up from his nap and ate something. Then I picked the girls up at 3 and brought them home where I had to stay for the rest of the night because Joe took the car to work. I cooked dinner and made Natalie's cupcakes for school. Then I washed dishes and made the frosting for Natalie's cupcakes. Watched some of the Mets game while I was doing all of this. Sadly the Mets lost, but the cupcakes came out great.

Wednesday: Another Wednesday. But this isn't just any Wednesday. Today is Natalie's 10th birthday! Happy birthday Natalie! I woke up just before she did so I could be the first to wish her a happy birthday. Hey, I was the first to hold her when she was born I should be the first to wish her a happy birthday ;). She opened one of her presents (a Hannah Montana dress) and of course wanted to wear it to school. So she got dressed and we brought Joe to work. Then we came home and I made her (oh and Kaitlyn and CJ too) scrambled eggs and toast. Then I brought them to school and CJ to playgroup. CJ clung to me most of the time. I had to go with him to whatever he was playing with. He was sitting at the puzzle table and decided to get down off the chair the fast way (since he doesn't know how to get off of chairs) and landed face first on the floor. I thought he had caught himself and was just startled because I was able to distract him with some toys pretty easily. He has a huge welt on his head though. Not that ice would help at all though because he'd never let me put any on him. He was playing fine after that though so I'm sure it's one of those the facial/head injuries tend to look worse than they are. When playgroup was over we went over to my Avon ladies house to pick up some back orders and an exchange from the fundraiser. Then we came home for a few before we had to go back out again. We went to McDonald's to get lunch for Natalie and brought it to school for her. CJ and I got to eat lunch with Natalie who actually thought I forgot about her. She was very quiet. After lunch was over Natalie wanted to come home with me. I told her she had to stay for recess though and I would see her soon. I wished her a happy birthday and gave her a hug and kiss and was back home. CJ fell asleep on the living room floor. I had to wake him at 2:30 to go pick up the girls from school and Joe from work. Then we came home and Joe took the car to go get his tattoo for Kaitlyn done. I stayed home with the kids while they worked on homework. Then I started cooking Natalie's birthday dinner (homemade macaroni and cheese). I played a few games of Connect 4 with Natalie. Joe finally called shortly after 6 to say he was on his way home from getting his tattoo. Perfect timing too because it gave the macaroni and cheese a good cooling time. We had dinner, Natalie talked to my parents, we sang happy birthday to the birthday girl, and before we knew it it was bedtime. And that was Natalie's birthday.

Thursday: Got up and got everyone out the door to bring Joe to work. Then came home for breakfast. Then I brought the girls to school. Came home and fed CJ breakfast. He fell asleep in his high chair. I put him to bed. Then I was trying to figure out how to pay my TN speeding ticket. It's due on the 24th and I need to get a cashier's check, but it doesn't say who to make it out to. Oh yeah and waiting until the last minute is not a good idea either. The post office can't guarantee me overnight delivery. So I had to call them to get answers to my questions since I wasn't finding them on the ticket or online anywhere. Found out who to make it out to and that I have a 2 week grace period. Phew, now I don't have to pay an extra large sum of money to send this. I can just put it in the regular mail and they'll get it in time. So now that I'm feeling better about that I cleaned up in preparation for what possibly could be CJ's final visit with his PT. I had lunch and woke CJ up from his nap to give him lunch. Then his therapist came over. Turns out she can come for another month. She's very pleased with how far he has come and said he could model the gross motor skills because he does them perfectly. That's my boy ;). I went to get the girls from school and we came home for them to do homework. Then we went to pick Joe up from work. Then to I-party for Natalie's party supplies and Walmart for a few odds and ends. Then we went to Blockbuster to rent Wii Sing It for Natalie's party on Saturday. We needed a microphone so we headed over to Game Stop for one and then to Subway for dinner. We came home and ate. The kids got ready for bed. We played with them for a little while before sending them off to bed and Joe and I tried out the game and the microphone to make sure it will work. I think it's going to be fun. Joe then played the game he wanted to rent from Blockbuster while I did some e-mailing.

Friday: Got up and got everyone ready and out the door to bring the girls to school. Then Joe and I went to AC Moore to get some stuff for Natalie's cake. Next we went to Walmart for a few more cake things and gifts to Natalie from Kaitlyn and CJ. Then we came home and had lunch. Joe put together Natalie's bike. Unfortunately he couldn't pump up the tires because our pump was broken. So he'll have to do that tomorrow. Then we had to go to the school to pick up the girls. After that we went to the grocery store for a few odds and ends. We came home and Joe brought the girls fishing and left CJ here with me. CJ got into EVERYTHING. Ripped up some recipes, pulled all of the books off of the bookshelf, and whatever else he could find. I was trying to bake Natalie's cake, but CJ ended up making it fall. Then I had to get dinner started. Joe finally came home from fishing and we ate dinner. The girls were supposed to clean their room without argument as soon as they came home from fishing if we let them go out, but that didn't happen. I baked a second cake which came out great. Then I cleaned the kitchen, washed some laundry, cleaned the bathroom, washed the bathroom and kitchen floors. While the floors dried I wrapped Natalie's birthday presents and finished up the laundry. I went to bed after midnight.

Saturday: Joe woke me at the unGodly hour of 5:15 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Seriously, who's up this early? Anyways, we got ready and went to the fishing derby. It didn't start until 7, but we wanted to get the early to get a good spot. We were there before 6, but didn't get a good spot. We had much nicer weather than we've had in the past for this event, but sadly the kids caught nothing. They weren't disappointed though. They had a good time. It ended at 10 and we left. Went to the grocery store for some pediasure for CJ and then to the dollar store for some boy appropriate goody bag items. Boys that weren't invited were coming. Normally this would have me furious, but it's my friend and her daughter was invited and I guess they all decided to come. So I couldn't say no way to that or get mad because I know and like her kids. We came home and I decorated the cake and got ready for the party. The party began at 2. We had a blast. Watch for pictures and video of all of this stuff. It will probably be coming soon. Natalie got a new bike which she loves. Her friend stayed over after the party. She's spending the night. So they played outside in the lovely 80 degree weather for a little while and then we went up and the kids played Natalie's new Connect 4 game. Then we walked down to the local pizza place for a pizza and came home to eat it. The girls did some more keroke on the Wii and then Joe took them out to let off some balloons with glow sticks on the end of them. After that everyone got ready for bed. The girls were told they could stay up, but had to be quiet in their room. They had a hard time settling down and it's hot in the house. I think they did finally settle down though. I took a nice soothing bath and then went to bed.

Check out more Week In Review posts!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Natalie's Birthday

Well, Natalie's birthday is all over. She had such a good day she didn't want to see it end. Here's how it began...

"I Got Presents!"


"What could it be?"


"It's a Hannah Montana dress!"



"Here I am in my new dress. Even CJ thinks I look pretty."



I brought lunch to her at school. This is the first year she's had school on her birthday. Usually her birthday falls during April vacation week. So she wasn't entirely thrilled to have school on her birthday. So to make it a little more special for her I brought her lunch. We sat and ate together which was nice.

After school and homework we played some Connect 4. I made her a macaroni and cheese dinner. That's what she wanted. Then it was time to sing happy birthday. I had no candles for her cupcakes so she got a sparkler...
Looking scared of her cupcake


Trying to blow out the sparkler


And what birthday would be complete without this...


Daddy, got a tattoo for her sister! It was the only day he could schedule it for. He already has a tattoo for Natalie.

And that was her day yesterday. This morning she says she's not double digits and she's sad that her birthday is already over :(. Only another 364 days until her next birthday ;).

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Happy 10th Birthday to My 1st Born

Dear Natalie,
Wow, 10 years old. How can that be? Where has the time gone? It feels like just yesterday I was bringing you home from the hospital. It has gone by in a flash and I know these next 10 years of your life will go by so fast too. So I just want to tell you now how amazing I think you are.

You have overcome some hurdles in your life. You were slow to talk and with some help you overcame that. Very determined to accomplish what needed to be done. And since then you have truly excelled. You've really begun to come out of your shell. You remind me a lot of myself when I was 10 years old, but you are much braver than I ever was. When you really want to you just take the bull by the horns and do what needs to be done. You might be scared at first, but you try not to let that stop you.

I really see a bright future for you. Whatever you want to do you can do.

You are a great big sister. You might not always get along with your sister, but I know you are always looking out for her. Kaitlyn and CJ really look up to you and I really couldn't ask for a better role model for them. You might not always like that that emulate you so much, but you really should be honored.

I know that I haven't always done right by you. I will forever stride to be better for you. You deserve the best. One thing I hope you always remember though is that I will always love you with all of my heart. You are my mini me. We butt heads a lot, but I always always love you.

I have enjoyed these first 10 years of your life. You have taught me so much. I look forward to many more years of being your mother and learning something new from you everyday.

I love you my sweet baby Natalie!

Love,
Mommy

Ten Years Ago Today...

Today is Natalie's 10th birthday. She was born at 11:17 P.M. on April 22, 1999. That was her due date. She weighed in at 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 21 inches long. Born completely naturally after nearly 2 hours of pushing. The nurse exclaimed, "It's a Boy!" I never found out what her sex was beforehand, but I swore I was having a girl. I remember looking at the nurse like you've gotta be wrong lady and she quickly changed what she said by chuckling and saying, "Oh, that was the umbilical cord, it's a girl!" Okay, much better. I just wanted to take this time to say Happy Birthday to my 1st born. And let everyone know that I have written her a letter which is scheduled to post at 11:17 P.M. so it's exactly the date and time she came screaming into my life.

Celeste's Due Date

My Dearest Celeste,
I have thought more and more about what could have been as your due date drew closer and closer. Today is the day. It's also your oldest sister's 10th birthday. Don't think I have forgotten about you though. I have felt you with me even more over the past few weeks. I want you to know I am not sad though. I miss you terribly, but I embrace the thought that someday we will be together. I do wish I could have had more time with you to actually mother you, but I suppose my time will come.

I have been thinking of ways that I could honor this day for you. And since it is also Earth Day I am going to plant a flower for you. One that I can watch grow as you would have.

I do hope that you have been happy and well cared for in heaven by your Me-ma and Pe-pa as well as your great grandparents. You have lots of wonderful Angels in your family to look after you. I love you my sweet Angel Celeste Alia. Rest In Peace!

Love,
Mommy

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Getting to Know you Quiz

Just a fun way for you to get to know me a little better ;).

1. First thing you wash in the shower? My hair. Must start with your head and work your way down ;). There is a system you know.
2. What color is your favorite hoodie? Gray.
3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Yes, I'm sure I'll kiss my dad again ;).
4. Do you plan outfits? Occasionally for the kids.
5. How are you feeling RIGHT now? Tired and frazzled from a CJ meltdown
6. What's the closest thing to you that's red? A soda bottle.
7. What was the last dream you remember having? I never really remember my dreams.
8. Did you meet anybody new today? Nope.
9. What are you craving right now? Chocolate.
10. Do you floss? Not like I should.
11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? Yuck!
12. Are you emotional? Yes.
13. Have you ever counted to 1,000? Yes.
14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? Depends on the ice cream. If it's on a stick I bite it, a cone or bowl I lick it.
15. Do you like your hair? Since having kids my hair has gotten very flat and unfortunately I never appreciated what I had when I had it. Nice thick red hair.
16. Do you like yourself? Yes.
17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? If the opportunity arose I don't think I'd turn it down, but I am not into politics so I don't know what I'd have to talk to him about.
18. What are you listening to right now? CJ having a meltdown, the TV, and Natalie playing her keyboard.
19. Are your parents strict? Yes and I keep hoping they will finally come around and realize I am 30 years old and they cannot make choices for me.
20. Would you go sky diving? Absolutely NOT!
21. Do you like cottage cheese? No.
22. Have you ever met a celebrity? No.
23. Do you rent movies often? I wouldn't say often. Maybe once or twice a month.
24. Is there anything sparkly in the room in which you are? I'm sure there is. The girls always have some sort of glittery thing.
25. What countries have you visited? Never left the USA.
26. Have you made a prank phone call? Yes.
27. Ever been on a train? Yes. Numerous times going into NY and then I did the auto train one year in college when I was going down to FL.
28. Brown or white eggs? White eggs.
29. Do you have a cell-phone? Yes.
31. Do you use chapstick? When I need it.
32. Do you own a gun? Yes, well not me it's actually Joe's. He had them before we got together.
33. Can you use chopsticks? No, I don't even like Chinese food.
34. Who are you going to be with tonight? Joe and the kids.
35. Are you too forgiving? I don't think so.
36. Ever been in love? Yes, still am.
37. What is your best friend doing tomorrow? Taking the kids to school and going for a walk.
38. Ever have cream puffs? Yes.
39. Last time you cried? Can't remember.
40. What was the last question you asked? Do you want a drink?
41. Favorite time of the year? Fall, I love the changing leaves.
42. Do you have any tattoos? Two.
43. Are you sarcastic? Yes.
44. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect? I don't think so.
45. Ever walked into a wall? Yes, that hurts.
46. Favorite color? Blue.
47. Have you ever slapped someone? Yes, never hard though.
48. Is your hair curly? No, wavy, but not curly.
49. What was the last CD you bought? Joe usually just burns stuff, but I guess the last one we bought was an Eric Clapton CD for Tears in Heaven for Celeste's Memorial Service
50. Do looks matter? I'd love to say no, but I'm afraid they do.
51. Could you ever forgive a cheater? Forgiving and forgetting are two totally different things.
52. Is your phone bill sky high? All of my bills are sky high. I actually need to remove some stuff from my cell phone bill.
53. Do you like your life right now? Yes.
54. Do you sleep with the TV on? One of those things I had to learn to adjust to when Joe and I moved in together. I never used to, now 90% of the time I fall asleep with the TV on. Joe usually turns it off sometime during the night though.
55. Can you handle the truth? Yes, does anyone really want to be lied to?
56. Do you have good vision? No.
57. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people? Hate no, dislike yes for sure.
58. How often do you talk on the phone? Not often. Mostly only talk to Joe on the phone when he calls from work.
59. The last person you held hands with? CJ.
60. What are you wearing? Jeans and a t-shirt.
61. What is your favorite animal? dog
62. Where was your profile picture taken? In a photo studio in West Hartford, CT
63. Can you hula hoop? Nah, I was never good at that.
64. Do you have a job? The most important one in the world. Mom!
65. What was the most recent thing you bought? Food.
66. Have you ever crawled through a window? Yes.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Week In Review: April 12 - April 18, 2009

Here is this weeks Week In Review for April 12 - April 18, 2009

Sunday: Easter! It was a nice day. We invited Joe's sister over, but she didn't come. That's okay, we had a good time without them. You can read all about the day here. After our dinner and a walk we just spent the evening watching our movies. We got Yes Man and Horton Hears a Who. We only got to watch Yes Man. That was okay. I think Joe liked it more than I did.

Monday: Got up at the regular time. We ended up going out to bring some stuff back to Walmart and go to the bank. Then we went to get an early lunch. We came home and grabbed some stuff to play with at the park. I called my friend who's daughter we told could come over to play at our house today to set something up. We met her and her four children at the park. We played for a while. Then we took two of her children (the older two) back to our house. They played Nintendo and we had dinner. Then we walked them home and came back to watch Horton Hears a Who which wasn't as long as we thought it would be. I didn't watch the whole thing, but it looked like it was cute. If you want to see pictures and some video from that day check it out here. It was a nice way to start off the April vacation. Joe has to work the rest of the week though so I don't know how much going out we'll actually do. I'm hoping it warms up a little more this week.

Tuesday: Wow, I got to sleep in today. The kids didn't get up until 9. I fed CJ and cleaned up the kitchen and living room. Then I put CJ down for a nap. He woke up just in time for lunch. I fed him lunch and was getting ready for his therapist to come over when I tripped on the step stool and fell into the bath tub. I hurt myself pretty badly. I'm very sore. His therapist came over with a speech therapist and did an evaluation on him. It doesn't look like he qualifies to continue services after May for speech. And the rest of the testing isn't entirely clear yet. His therapist will let me know. He's probably at age level though. I think the therapy is good for him and worry about him falling behind again. Although, it probably would be good if he weren't getting it anymore too. That would mean we fixed everything. But after the therapists left I hung around taking it easy licking my wounds. We had leftovers for dinner. Kaitlyn got too out of hand and wasn't listening after dinner and got sent to bed early. CJ got nice and cozy on Natalie's lap and fell asleep. I couldn't get him up off the floor to put him in his crib though so I left him there until Joe came home from work. We watched TV together and then went to bed.

Wednesday: I'm still very sore from my terrible fall yesterday. CJ was up at usual time. Joe was off to work. The girls slept in. So things were quiet. The girls finally woke up around 9. We laid low all day. Just stayed home and took it easy because of how sore I was. Joe got home around 5. I washed dishes and cooked dinner and then we all watched this recording of the Amazing Race we had from Sunday. Then we put CJ to bed and the girls stayed up and watched House with us. We put them to bed and I ended up falling asleep on the couch. I got up and went to bed, but Joe was having a twitchy night and I had a headache so I took some pain reliever and slept on the couch.

Thursday: Got up when Joe got up to go to work. Sleeping on the couch wasn't my best idea. I woke up all stiff. My bruises feel better. I was going to go back to bed for a few, but I stayed up on the computer and then CJ woke up wailing. So I got him out. He walked into my room and I followed. I picked him up and we had some cuddle time in bed. It's been a while since he's sat still long enough to actually cuddle like that. It didn't last forever though. He got up and was ready to eat. So I fed him breakfast and his sisters got up shortly after. We hung around and CJ took a nap. Joe got home from work while I was in the shower. He fed them lunch and then CJ woke up from his nap. CJ and I ate and everyone got dressed and we went for a walk. When we got back the girls wanted to play outside. So we left them out there to play. And they played outside nicely for about 2 hours. Then we went to get something to eat and then went to the carnival. That was lots of fun for the kids. We were there for 2 hours. We went to the dollar store to buy some glow sticks and came home and filled some balloons with helium and let them go outside in the dark. I haven't heard of any plane crashes so I guess we didn't cause any problems. I called my mom to tell her this weekend wasn't going to work for them to have the girls all weekend, but they can still come up for lunch on Sunday. She wasn't too pleased, but at least we did not fight and so far they are still coming over on Sunday. Then we sent the girls to bed (CJ was already asleep after the carnival) and Joe and I relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Friday: I guess we really wore the kids out at the carnival because everyone slept in until 9. I was woken up as usual by my alarm known as CJ. So I got up and fed everyone breakfast. Then I was trying to figure out what to do for Natalie's birthday party invitations. I came up with what I wanted to do and Natalie agreed with it. So I took Natalie out shopping with me to get a few things we needed. I found a guitar shaped cake pan at AC Moore so I went there to get that. Then we went to Walmart for some glitter glue and gel pens and Hannah Montana stickers. Next to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for lunch on Sunday and tonight's dinner of a Pizza Bubble Ring. Came home and put everything away. CJ got up from his nap. So I fed everyone lunch. Joe got called into work early so he'll be leaving at a little before 3 instead of a little before 5 now. After everyone was fed including myself I got to work on those invitations. Joe left for work and I washed dishes and cooked dinner. It took a little longer to make than I anticipated, but it doesn't help when you have a 17 month old at your feet. He actually ended up falling asleep on my feet while I was cooking. Everyone ate and I cleaned up after dinner. My mom called to find out what size the girls wear so I told her. Looks like they are still planning on coming over on Sunday. I'm shocked. My brother called me drunk and at the bar like usual. That's the only time he ever calls me is when he's completely wasted. Then again he's probably always completely wasted. Joe got home from work, the girls went to bed, and I watched the end of the Mets game. They won it in the bottom of the 9th 5-4.

Saturday: Another day where I wasn't up at 7 a.m. I hope I don't get too used to this. CJ was the first one up at 8:30. Joe got up with him, but I got up shortly after too. Then the girls got up. We fed them breakfast and I sent the girls to clean their room. Then I started on the two weeks of laundry I haven't been doing. Meanwhile CJ fell back to sleep on Joe's shoulder. So after half an hour of him dozing on Joe he was getting a little uncomfortable so I had to get the girls out of their room so I could put CJ down for a nap. I continued working on the laundry and put the finishing touches on Natalie's invitations. Had lunch and surprisingly CJ still napped. We had to wake him up. He wasn't too interested in eating. I'm getting a little worried that he's coming down with something. He's walking around and playing though. I continued with my loads and loads of laundry and watched the last two innings of the Mets game. Very pleased to see another Mets win. I got dishes washed and dinner started (just leftovers) and fed the kids. Did some more of that laundry. Put the kids to bed. Cleaned the bathroom and dishes again. Did more laundry. Joe came home from work and we watched a little TV together.

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We're Going to have a Rockin' Good Time

So now that Kaitlyn's birthday is all over it has been time to focus on Natalie's birthday. That's coming up on Wednesday, but her party is next Saturday. I have been debating all week long on the invitations. She is having a Hannah Montana party. So I originally thought of a guitar. I thought well should I make it in the shape of a guitar or just put a guitar on the invitation. So I asked the birthday girl. She wanted it in the shape of a guitar. I thought okay, I can do that. I brought her shopping yesterday for invitation supplies and her cake pan (a guitar shape). We came home and I was planning out the actual invitation when it occurred to me a Hannah Montana party needs a concert ticket invite. So I asked Natalie and she enthusiastically agreed. So I got right to work on those. Good thing I have my own concert tickets to get an idea of how to make it look somewhat authentic. So here's the final result...



Natalie really likes how they came out. Now if only the glitter glue would dry then I could get them the envelopes and addressed to those who we are inviting to the party. I think this is going to be a really fun party.

Pizza Bubble Ring

Kaitlyn: "Mommy, is that dessert?"

This is what Kaitlyn said as I was pulling dinner out of the oven last night. I chuckled and thought to myself yeah I guess it does look more like a dessert than it does dinner. What do you think?



This was our dinner last night. It's called Pizza Bubble Ring. I really liked it. CJ really liked it. I think Natalie really liked it. Kaitlyn didn't really like it and Joe said it didn't look appealing, but he ate it anyways. I think he liked it, but didn't want to admit it. Here's the recipe if you're interested:


INGREDIENTS
6 to 8 tablespoons LAND O LAKES® Butter, melted
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cans (12 oz each) Pillsbury® Golden Layers® refrigerated original biscuits
40 small slices pepperoni (about 3 oz)
8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into 20 pieces
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/4 cups pizza sauce, heated


DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 12-cup fluted tube pan with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. In small bowl, mix melted butter, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.
2. Separate 1 can of dough into 10 biscuits; press or roll each into 3-inch round. Place 2 pepperoni slices in center of each biscuit round. Top each with piece of mozzarella cheese. Bring dough up around filling; press edge to seal and shape each into ball. Roll in butter mixture; place 10 balls in pan.
3. Sprinkle dough balls with Parmesan cheese. Repeat with remaining can of biscuits, placing balls over balls in pan. Pour remaining butter mixture over top.
4. Bake 33 to 38 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Gently loosen bread from sides of pan. Place large heatproof plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Remove pan. Serve warm with warm pizza sauce for dipping.

*Note: I added a little bit of sauce on the biscuits before I put the pepperoni and cheese on. I also used more cheese and pepperoni than it actually called for. Joe said it needed more garlic. So I might adjust it a little and put some minced garlic into the butter mixture next time. Here's a look at it from the inside:



I thought it came out pretty good.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Carnival 09

Tonight we took the kids to a carnival near our house. It wasn't a very big carnival, but the kids have been bugging us to take them all week long even though it didn't start until yesterday. So tonight we went and it was lots of fun. I took some pictures of them on some of the rides. This is something I was never allowed to do as a child. My parents didn't believe carnival rides were safe so we never went on them.

The Long Climb Up

Getting Ready to Come Down

Determined and Scared

Carosel


This next ride was actually a very funny ride to watch the girls on. Kaitlyn really wanted to ride it, but Natalie didn't. Kaitlyn was going by herself, but at the last minute Natalie decided to go on. However, Kaitlyn was freaking out on the ride. It actually looked like she was going to throw up. Then it looked like she was holding her breath every time the ride came down. Almost as if she was being dunked in a pool and taken back out or something. I couldn't get a picture of that though. Natalie was stone faced the whole time. They wanted nothing to do with it when they got off.
Avalanche

Up on the Avalanche


Dizzy Dragons





Playscape
Natalie running across the bridge

Kaitlyn running across the bridge


Bumper Cars


Natalie on the Twister



So all in all a very fun night. Vacation week is more than halfway over and this was a good way to spend a nice evening.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Wordless Wednesday: My Little Man




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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Brotherly and Sisterly Love



Look at how comfy he is in his big sisters lap. He was sitting there with her for about half an hour watching TV before he finally dozed off. And he was out too. I was able to move him off her lap and put PJ's on him all without him waking up. They are just too cute together.

Monday, April 13, 2009

April Vacation

Today was the first official day of April Vacation. So since Joe was off today we brought the kids to the park. It's still a little chilly outside, but the kids have been dying to get out there. So we brought them to the park for some fun. CJ loves being outdoors and it's great for him to practice walking on the uneven surface of the grass. Natalie loved playing baseball with daddy. And Kaitlyn did a little bit of everything. Here they are:




We had met some friends at the park and we took some of the kids back to our house for a playdate. They played the Nintendo. Here is a video of Natalie and her friend Mikayla playing boxing. I thought it was so funny how Mikayla was playing so I had to get it on video. I guess I shouldn't make fun of her style though because she was undefeated in boxing. So I guess she was doing something right.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Our Easter

What a nice day. We got up this morning and the kids checked out their baskets. They really enjoyed them. Then we watched some old videos of the kids. We went outside in the cold and had our Easter egg hunt. It was freezing. Then we came in and got ready to go out to rent some movies. We did that and came back home. CJ fell asleep in the car so we put him down for a nap and Joe napped too. The girls and I watched some TV. Then I started cooking our ham dinner. We ate. The food was great. Then we took a walk to try to walk off some of that fatty meal. It was still very cold, but we had a nice long walk. We came home and warmed up and relaxed. Here are the pictures from the day:

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Week In Review: April 5 - April 11, 2009

Here is this weeks Week In Review for April 5 - April 11, 2009

Sunday: Woohoo, I got to sleep in until 8:30. I got up and fed CJ. Then Natalie got up and Kaitlyn so I sent them to clean their very messy room. I washed some sheets. Then I started on the weekly laundry. My back still really hurts from last Friday. I need to get things much cleaner for Kaitlyn's birthday party and Easter next Sunday. So I'm working through the pain. I cleaned up the kitchen. We had tacos for dinner. Then CJ had a bath and the girls took a shower and they went to bed.

Monday: Got up and got the kids off to school. Joe brought them in for me. I took a shower and got dressed. Then at 10:00 we had to go to the school to meet with the school psychologist about Kaitlyn. We filled out some paperwork for a parent referral and then scheduled a date for her PPT. We are meeting this Wednesday. I gave the principal the total amount of cash we had from the book fair. Then we left and went to the bank. Then we went to the Salvation Army to look for a table and chairs. We couldn't find anything. So we went to Walmart where we got the basket fillers for the kids Easter baskets. We also picked up some chairs for our table to hopefully accommodate all of our company this weekend. Then we went to Toys R Us to find a Silvermist costume for Kaitlyn. They only had them in one size and it was too small for Kaitlyn. We found some more Tinkerbell stuff for her though that she doesn't have. Then we went to the mall to go to the Disney store. There I was able to find a dress (actually I think it's a nightgown) that she can wear for her party on Saturday. I wasn't about to spend the $40 though that they wanted for the Silvermist costume. I found something that I think she's going to love though for half the price. So that worked. Then we brought all the stuff home to hide before going back to the school to pick the girls up. We got the girls and went to the grocery store to get some things we needed as well as the makings for lasagna (Kaitlyn's birthday dinner). We came home. I put the groceries away and then I worked on my PTA agenda. Got everything all figured out for that and left Joe to feed the kids while I went to my meeting. Had a nice meeting, but found out the teacher I wanted Kaitlyn to have in 2nd grade is retiring. So I am bummed. Came home, ate something, and watched a little TV before going to bed.

Tuesday: Don't you hate when you wake up and have no idea what day it is? That was me today. Another school day though. So I got the kids up and ready for school. Got them there and then worked on cleaning up the apartment. My Avon lady came by to bring me an order she so kindly put in early for me to have for Kaitlyn's birthday. Got her a Tinkerbell clock and Tinkerbell wall clings. So up her alley and will be perfect for her birthday. CJ went down for his nap which made cleaning a little easier at least. Had the living room all picked up and ready to be vacuumed. So I used my brand new vacuum, but it wasn't working. Natalie used it for her room last weekend and I told her not to break it. Turns out she clogged it. I guess that's my fault since I didn't check to make sure her room was ready to be vacuumed. I found out afterwards it definitely was not ready and this clog confirmed it. So Joe had to take the vacuum apart to get the clog out. Once he did all was good though. My vacuum worked again. I vacuumed and finished just in time for CJ's therapist to knock on the door. She was here for an hour and left and my living room was trashed again. And before I knew it, it was time to pick the girls up from school. Got them home and started on homework and Joe went to work. I tried to clean up some more, but everything I cleaned up CJ seemed to be right behind me pulling it back out. Grrr, so I started dinner. While cooking dinner CJ started pushing the garbage can around the kitchen. He then knocked it over along with all of it's contents. So I had to have Natalie distract him so I could clean that up. Somehow I got dinner on the table and everyone enjoyed it. Then I plopped down on the couch in utter exhaustion. Got the kids ready for bed and put them to bed and then vegged in front of the computer. Joe came home from work and we watched some TV. I finished up my laundry and took a shower. I still do not have a clean apartment and am stressing about how it will ever get clean in time for Saturday. This is going to be a loooong week.

Wednesday: Playgroup day. We got up and brought Joe to work. Then I got the kids ready for school and brought them there and CJ and I to playgroup. It was an Easter theme. We made some bunny ears which CJ wouldn't wear. Oh well, I guess he's had enough with stuff on his head. My friend had a doctor's appointment today so she brought her kids to playgroup for me to watch for her. So when playgroup was over I brought them back to my house. They were great. Allowed me to put CJ down for a nap and they played nicely for about 40 minutes before their mom showed up. They each drew me a very nice picture too which I added to my wall of art in the kitchen. They left and we had snow flurries. Ummmm, did the weather not get the memo that it's April and spring? Guess not. I went to pick Joe up from work and we came home and had lunch. Then we went to the school for Kaitlyn's PPT. That went well. When it was done there was only like 15 minutes till the girls got out of school so we stuck around. Got the girls and then went to the store to return bottles and cans and bought the food for Kaitlyn's party on Saturday. Came home, did homework, dinner, dishes, and then I started on Kaitlyn's cupcakes after everyone went off to bed. They are the perfect cupcakes for a little girl who loves Tinkerbell. Chocolate cupcakes with light green frosting (her favorite color) and purple pixie dust (sugar crystals). She's going to love them. I watched bits and pieces of the Mets game while I was making her cupcakes. And I was pleased to see that the Mets pulled out a win in this nail biter and are 2-0 on the season. And Kaitlyn's cupcakes came out Pixie-licious!

Thursday: Morning came too soon. Especially considering around 10 the night before a certain little boy didn't want to be asleep anymore. I think he finally went back to sleep around midnight which isn't bad, but when you're waiting and listening for him to wake again it makes for a very difficult nights sleep. Kaitlyn is pleased with her cupcakes though. She says they are beautiful. Joe was in work early today so he took the car. I had to walk the girls to school. That's okay, I could use the exercise and the weather wasn't bad. I came home and fed CJ. He fell asleep in his high chair. So I took him out and put him down for a nap. I procrastinated on the computer actually cleaning. I did manage to fold some laundry though. Then I got CJ up from his nap around noon and got him dressed and ready to walk back to the school for an FRC Advisory board meeting. It was a short, but sweet meeting. We came back home and I put the Mets game on. Joe got home from work. I put together a box to ship for an ebay auction and then Joe and I went to the school to pick the girls up. We went to the post office to mail the box and then Iparty and finally Walmart to get the last of the party supply stuff we needed. While we were out I found out the Mets lost their first game of the season. Now they are off to FL who is undefeated so far. Then we came home and Joe cleaned off the porch and I got the boxes out of the kitchen. We went out to get Subway for dinner and came home to eat it. I made the girls clean their room which they argued with me about like always. Then it was time for them to go to bed and I fell asleep on the couch.

Friday: I thought maybe we'd get to sleep in a little today, but that didn't happen. Kaitlyn was up at about the usual time which got CJ up which meant I was up. Natalie was trying to make some oragami for Kaitlyn, but couldn't figure out how so we worked on it together. Then they had breakfast and I took a shower. We went to my hairdresser for 9:30 to get the girls hair cut. It's very cute. Both of them had quite a few inches taken off. We came home and CJ was napping. I checked my e-mail and then went to clean the bathroom and the rest of the house. I put on some music to help me move and apparently it was too loud for my landlord. He came up and asked me to turn it down. Ummm, seriously? This is a man who allows his children to stay up until midnight running around crazy making all sorts of noise shaking the whole house. A man who decides 11 at night is a good time to practice playing the piano and singing. My lease says no excessive noise after 9 p.m. it says nothing about noise during the day. Needless to say that ticked me off, but I did turn it down a little. I got the bulk of the cleaning done. Baked Kaitlyn's cake. Made the wings for pin the wings on Tinkerbell. Wrapped presents. Wrote a letter to Kaitlyn.

Saturday: Kaitlyn officially turned 7 at 2:10 this morning. Happy 7th birthday. Joe ended up having to work even though he asked for it off. So he was up at 7. He had decorated for me Friday night, but he did some final touches. Then we woke Kaitlyn up to give her one of her gifts. It was a dress for her to wear at her party. Joe's boss had given her $20 so Joe also handed that to her. She was more excited about the money. Joe left for work and I made scrambled eggs for the birthday girl. Made frosting and frosted and decorated the cake. Mopped the kitchen and bathroom floors and vacuumed. Showered and made PB&J sandwiches and peanut butter sandwiches. Did some last minute touches before the party began at noon. Kaitlyn had invited 7 friends and four showed up. Although the four were actually two families of siblings. That's okay because they were her best friends anyways. She had a nice party and received lots of nice gifts. After everyone left my mom called to wish Kaitlyn a happy birthday. I chatted with her for a little while and then I started cleaning up after the party mess. I made sauce for Kaitlyn's birthday dinner (lasagna). This is a joint effort between me and Joe. He puts the lasagna together and I make the sauce. We had to go to the store to get our Easter dinner stuff. We were unsure if we were having company so that's why we didn't purchase stuff sooner. We came home and cooked the lasagna. While that cooked we dyed Easter eggs. We ate dinner and had some more cake and then the kids went to bed. I worked on some prep for Easter dinner. And of course I had to put together Easter baskets.

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Easter Eve Birthday



Here is my newly turned 7 year old early in the morning. We woke her up before Joe had to go to work so she could open one of her gifts. She's still a bit sleepy. Very excited though that it's her birthday and the kitchen has been decorated for a fairy tea party.

Opening her 1st gift of the day


The best Fairy Tea Party dress a girl could ask for


So now that she has the decorations up for a fairy tea party and the perfect dress to wear it was time for guests to arrive. She had four friends come all very good friends that we've known for a few years. We sat down for some tea and PB&J sandwiches...

CJ had to have some jelly too


Kaitlyn and her friend Spencer enjoying their tea and PB&J


Natalie and Mia having their tea and PB&J


After a nice polite tea with real tea cups and everything it was time for a game. We played Pin the Wing on Tinkerbell. Here were the final results:



The two older girls were the winner of that game. Hmmm, I wonder if they could see through that blindfold. They all had fun. Time for a group shot.

CJ got away


We got him back


Finally time for cake. Kaitlyn had been checking this out all day long anxious to sink her teeth in. Gee I wonder why...




Oh wait we have to sing and make a wish...




And here's a few pictures of my sweet newly turned 7 year old...




After cake it was present time. Kaitlyn got pretty much all Tinkerbell stuff.

Natalie got me a Froggy book!


CJ got me a Tinkerbell fork and knife!


A Tinkerbell game from Spencer and Mia


A Tinkerbell sticker maker from Spencer and Mia


A Tinkerbell house and fairy figures from Mikayla and Kyle


A card from Mommy and Daddy


"The Tinkerbell clock lights up!!!"


"What's this?"


"You got me a Tinkerbell book, I guess you did buy it at the book fair."


"This is exactly what I wanted."


And that was the party. Everyone left shortly after the gifts were opened. We then had a little family celebration with the birthday girl's dinner choice of lasagna. Then we dyed some Easter eggs. What a fun day!

Here are the girls with their eggs:


And just the eggs:


And just for fun some pictures of the little man:
"I'm not talking to you."


"My bib tastes good."


Playing


And that was Kaitlyn's 7th birthday. All in all I would say she had a good day. This has turned into quite the busy weekend though.

Did anyone happen to notice the girls haircuts???