MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

it's a little late, but we were having waaaayyyyyyy too much fun to sit on post things on the computer.
christmas was great. really nice. the kids got what they asked for, and are still getting things unwrapped as of last night. of course, EVERYTHING takes batteries this year. EVERYTHING. (and so off to costco we'll go later today)

we have a quiet evening to ourselves on christmas evening, watching toy story and eating a dinner that had no turkey, potatoes or stuffing involved. again, a very wonderful thing.

yesterday was my first ever time out to a mall on boxing day. and i gotta say, with so many sales going on before the holiday started, stores weren't lowering prices much more then they already had.

today is another "holiday" and we just have some eveyday stuff to get done. i welcome it and am happy that we can go out and do it all together. it doesn't happen like that very often, what with the kids having lots to do, school starting up and what not.

so in ending, i hope you and your families had a wonderful christmas holiday season, and from us to you, i wanna wish you a happy new year. i'll so it now, just in case i forget to come on here again in a week ;)

and btw-i know the videos aren't up, they will be before the new year.

slight delay in the videos, i have to figure out a better way to upload vidoes on this thing. bear with me, i will have them up soon :)

it's been a while

wow, almost 2 months without a post!

well, things are busy. very busy. funny how the christmas season is what will slow us down.
the kids are doing great. haley is earning LOTS of badges at brownies, is doing way better in school, and her reading is near perfect.
sarah is still sarah. funny, sweet, with a little bad in her. i guess that's so all the sweet doesn't rot her from the inside out.
matthew is talking up a storm and just being an all around boy. doing what boys do. you know, things like scaring his mother when he tries to climb things and jump off of said things.

school for me is crazy, but fun. i have had the pleasure of making new friends, and managed to pass term 1. only 8 more terms to go! clinical has started and i am loving it! just solidifies my desire to be an RN and having everyone around me rooting for me, makes me want it more.

there is a video coming up soon. of the kids daycare concert. it seems to be taking forever to upload, so i thought i would post this first. there will be another video later tonight or tommorow too. haley has her school christmas concert tonight. our first one ever!

can't wait

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

well.....ok so its a little late, but at least it wasn't weeks ago.
the kids had lots of fun, adn had lots of parties to go to, between school, daycare, the Y and halloween itself, the costumes were well used.
here are a few pictures, some of them aren't the greatest but the kids werw not in a mood to sit still....there was candy to be had!

random pictures for your viewing pleasure

just a few extra pictures we took recently.

girls

haley is 7. she has been for a few weeks now. but....she just had her birthday party last weekend.
her very first all girl party. no boys. the first step to sleepovers, gossip, mall runs and makeup....

she must have wanted to let her "tomboy" years go with a bang because she picked go carting as her activity. it was fun, the girls were perfect and here are a couple pictures of the fun





that last one was my favorite. they give the little caps to wear under the helets(a welcome idea if you ask me)and they were all just thrilled to wear them!!

3 weeks in into fall.

well, technically fall doesn't start for another week, but for the purposes of life fall starts when kids are back in school, and the weather gets colder.

haley Loves her new teacher. she is getting better already in her reading skills and very shortly her math will start to come home too.
ballet has started and swimming starts tonight. and brownies starts in two weeks.

sarah is motoring around, always busy and always trying to keep up with haley. a typical little sister. her ballet has also started and this yar for the first time ever she is also going to learn tap in class. she cannot wait to get tap shoes. i, on the hand, can wait forever.

matthew is doing great with the big kids. little girls are drawn to him when he arrives(makes his daddy proud) and the poor little guy got stung by a wasp this week right in the eye. it was completely swollen shut for 2 days. i regret not taking a picture. not quite sure why i didn't think of it until after he looked completly normal again.

school for me is busy, crazy and an experience that i could neither anticipate, nor fully prepare for. but so far so good.

that is the last few weeks in a nutshell. its my favorite time of year acutally, because as crazy busy as we are, there is structure and i NEED that to get through things.

pictures will follow soon.
haley has her birthday party this weekend, and i want to take somem cute fall pics of the kids in the near future.....

wow!

from this.....



to this...


Happy birthday beautiful girl!!

bye bye summer

well, summer seems to be over at our house.

haley will be in grade 2 as of next week. i have no idea when all that growing happened, but it did, and i cannot believe that we are only two years away from middle school after this year.

matthew and sarah will be spending alot more time together soon, since matthew is moving up to the preschool room with sarah next week. my little baby will be playing with the bigger kids.

i have finally started my nursing program. monday was my first day and it being thursday, i am already busy busy with work. (i think i'll top out the 4 hour mark tonight) it is scary, fun, and everything in between, and i just keep thinking about how great it will be for our family when i am done.

the time will fly by, just as this summer did, and matthew will be starting kindergarten the year i complete my degree. crazy huh?

there is ballet, and brownies, swimming, school functions, and lots more coming in the next couple weeks. all of it means that long and lazy days are over and the real work is about to begin.

family fun!

the girls had a awesome weekend at auntie claudette's house for the second annual fillion campout.
i spent the better part of saturday there and left them to sleepover with their cousins and my dad.

here are a few photos of the event. there are lots more to show, but i am waiting to get the pictures since i wasn't the one who took any......

smile of the day brought to you by

the best little monsters in the whole world. and they are all mine

a big party for a big girl

sarah had a fun fun birthday bowling party this afternoon. we celebrated with lots of friends from daycare, auntie jackie and uncle fred, and auntie aleshea, kari and madisson!! (thank you guys so much for driving in to celebrate with sarah today:) )

after bowling there was pizza, cake, presents and loud noisemakers. she had a great time, and cannot wait until haley has her party in a short 3 weeks.
here are some pictures from the party, i can't post them all, but i can show some.

a great night.

we got some great tickets to the goldeyes game tonight. the first game we have ever taken all teh kids to, and actually sat in the lower seats. we were right behind the visitors dugout and the seats were perfect. the kids were able to meet "goldie", watch "elvis" up close, and matty was even given two baseballs at different times by the visting team's players. all in all the kids had tons of fun. and this is something we will definately ahve to do again before summer's end!

she is 4!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GIRL!!

and finally....

a great picture for a future wedding day.

summer time fun

just a few photos showing the kids enjoying a little summer fun. says like this are the best. the house stays clean, we eat lots of things we shouldn't, like smores and freezies, and everyone gets along, most of the time.

sisters rock

without them, this picture would not be possible.

huh......

isn't it funny how the grass is always greener on the other side?

when i was home all day with the kids, i would pray for time alone. time to read, nap, get out and do what i wanted, and eat what i wanted.
fast forward 7 years, and my wish has come true, and yet here i sit, on a friday morning, all alone, wishing i had the kids here to keep me busy......
funny how life can go sometimes....


as for a few updates:
haley spent 2 nights away at her favorite cousin kari's house. after hearing about all the fun she had, i am surprised she even wanted to come home. picking her up yesterday brough back lots of memories of my own childhood, since i spent alot of time in the summer at kari's grandma's house. and i also had so much fun, i was surprised i wanted to ever go home.

sarah is still doing great at "school" and does everything she can to make sure we know she is there. and although they fight all the time, sarah wanted haley to come home so bad because she missed her big sister. awwwwwwwww!

matty is adjusting to daycare like a champ. he is making friends all over the place, taking it all in, and making me so proud to me his mommy.

as the summer starts ticking away, i am hoping to learn to enjoy my free time (since we all know i will soon have none) and spending my time with the kids when i can.

i hope you all enjoy your summer as much as i plan to.

its getting real

well, it's getting official. i will be starting school in 2 months and everything is starting to get very real and very close for me.

today the kids all got their daycare placements for the fall, in fact, they will have to start in the summer to hold their spots for the fall. we were planning on a nanny, but that plan feel through. fortunately, sarah already attends a wonderful preschool/daycare program and a spot for matthew opened up, and they offered it to me right away. there is also a spot for haley in the before and after school program, and haley is thrilled about spending more time with her friends from school then she already does. in fact, she'll get to see lots of them over the course of the summer.
although i am happy that they will all be well cared for in the fall, i am a little sad that they will all be starting sooner than i planned for.
also, i had my orientation for school to go over class info and other things. that made everything more real too.
the countdown is on,and ready or not here it comes!

i think the kids will adjust better to the new situation than mommy will, it seems.

what weekends are all about...

i only wish we could have stayed like that all day!

its official!

my baby is potty trained! completely trained. i am mean for my sanity we are still wearing pull ups at night(come on now, its a new mattress...)but there are no pull ups during the day.

he is surprising me everyday. people told me "don't get your hopes up, he's a boy" "he'll take longer to train" and here we are. 26 months and done! the youngest of all the kids and a boy to boot.

he's small in size but big in brains i guess.

thank heaven for little girls

just like the song........the girls had the end of the year big gala dance recital yesterday, and they were fantastic!!
there was a wonderful mix of classic ballet, hip hop and jazz numbers and the girls were both very cute in their numbers.
they work hard for 10 months before this recital and the results are just heartwarming to watch.
here are some pre show photos, and when the vidoe upload starts workingout for me, i'll post their dances.hopefully in the next few hours.

"I'm a big boy now!"

we have been trying to potty train matty for about a week now and with little success might i add. he is stubborn and will hold it in for hours at a time if it means he won't have to go on the potty.
he simply waits us out until nap time and bedtime and lets loose then........that is until today.

he has finally peed on the potty!!!! not once, but twice in an hour period. WHOO HOO!!

there were high fives, happy dancing, and candy to get, one would have thought we won the superbowl in this house.

hopefully this was a new beginning for all of us, he seems more into it when he knows mommy and daddy will give him candy and make sure he is praised over and over and over again.
i don't mind any of it, as long as it means that i won't have to buy another bag of pullups when this one runs out.

rain rain go away, come again another day.....

beauty

my little boy, beautiful becuase he is so full of love and affection.


sarah, beautiful because she has a sense of humor that could make anyone laugh, and a laugh that is truly a masterpiece.


and haley, beautiful for, well you can see, but also because her heart is in the right place, she is full of curiousity and compassion.

and together they make my life beautiful, no matter what it throws at me!