The Christmas after Christmas!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas holiday!! We are enjoying ours. Cindy (Mike's mom) is in town visiting for the week and we are just hanging out, doing a little post-xmas shopping and enjoying the time off. Mike's dad got the kids all gift cards to go and get something for themselves and let me tell you, they certainly have enjoyed that little freedom!! Making decisions when you are so little and its your own money to spend is awfully hard to do but they sure are managing alright! Maria decided she wanted to get a couple new games for her new DS and has been enjoying them since the agonizing decision of picking only two. Lillian has her heart set on another fairy doll (Silvermist, the water fairy in particular..) to go with her new Tinkerbell doll but she is proving difficult to find! We are not giving up hope and are going to check out a couple more stores but in the meantime she used part of her gift card to get a baby Cinderella doll that she fell in love with from the moment she spotted it.. And Mikey wanted guns.. I don't know whether to be scared or amused at the pure pleasure he takes in shooting things! He got a cowboy costume and a cap gun set with holster and he has been in heaven! For the past two days he has been running around targeting anyone that moves.. laughing uncontrollably when he shoots you. It was funny at first but getting a teeny, tiny bit disturbing now.. We have told him not to shoot people anymore and that has taken a little of the fun out of it but he still enjoys running around thinking he is the Sheriff of the house! Oh, he insists on wearing eye goggles now when he shoots since a little of the cap smoke blew in his eyes one time.. that's my boy, safety first!

Santa did it again!

I hope everyone had a very happy xmas and Santa treated you all well! He certainly did here! It's amazing how he knows what the perfect gifts are for the kids. All 3 of them received what their hearts most desired.. Mikey a remote control monster truck, which he has been crashing into everything since he opened it.. Lillian a Tinkerbell doll that does not talk or sing.. She had very specific requirements but Santa was able to pull through.. And Maria and her Nintendo DS, pink... The look on her face says it all when she first opened it.. Pure joy! We had a very good day, relaxing and laidback.. Today I need to clean. Mike's Mom comes in tonight and my house is a wreck. Currently Mike is out hunting for truck parts for the green money pit (as I like to call it.. the rest of you know it as the '68 Chevy truck). Not much else going on.. We plan on playing with our new toys and just hanging out for the next couple of days.. Those are the best vacations when you don't have to go anywhere or do anything! Later!

I LOVE dentists...

Why does it seem that whenever we go to the dentist they have good news.. and bad news.. It's like they want to make sure that we keep coming back to give them our money. All three kids had dentist appointments today, it was Mikey's first time! Thankfully they all did great, no fears so far! That may change in the future however. The dentist started out with glowing reports for all 3 kids, great teeth, no cavities, keep up the good work! Then he goes in for the kill and proceeds to tell me that 2 of them are most probably going to need orthodontic work when they get older due to their overbite. BAM! Dollar signs start flying behind my eyes.. I knew Mikey was most likely going to need some sort of work, that kid had the biggest overbite I've ever seen, We're talking Mr. Ed sized.. but Lillian? He then has the audacity to blame it on me.. He looks at me and says, "You have an overbite too, don't you?" Do I? News to me... So I show him my bite and he exclaims "Yes! It is exactly the same as Lillians! She must have gotten it from you!" Well, gee, thanks. Probably why I didn't notice hers since I didn't think I had a problem either! Oh well.. At least I can look forward to the next few orthodontic-free years before the money starts to fly!

Hope you all are enjoying the Holidays!! Stop stressing and have some fun!

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Rock Band Rocks!!!!

YES!!!! It is finally here! We picked up Rockband2 for the Wii yesterday.. It is sooo much fun! Mike and I played it for 4 hours last night! (amazing how time flies when you're having fun!) It is our big joint xmas gift for each other. We have been wanting one for a while now and finally just decided to go for it! Kids like it too! Especially Mikey, I think we have a future drummer in our midsts! Before we had it all hooked up he was behind the drums, sticks in his hands, feet planted and ready to go! We let him have the first turn and "play" along with a song.. I must say I am amazed at how well he kept rhythm and knew what to do immediately!! I think he plays them better than I do (which those of you who know me really well are probably not surprised.. No rhythm here!) Awesome gift and we plan on having a lot of fun with it in the future!

Lillian's concert!

Today was the big concert day at Lillian's preschool!! They actually did quite well, especially for only being four! We were treated to 15 minutes of tamborine jingling, reindeer singing, kid songs! Very special and nice. You will only be treated to 2 minutes of the finest 4 year old concert ever! They had fun and Lillian was very proud after.. As she should be, there were alot of people there watching and all the kids did great! Enjoy!

Twas the night before xmas.. 4 year old style..

So Lillian's pre-K class put on an impromptu play acting out the story of "Twas the night before Christmas".. Needless to say I do not see many future actors in the bunch! Regardless, it was very cute.. Her teachers are phenomenal and all the kids have alot of fun in their class. Try to bear through the video, Lillian's part is at the end.. I know, it is kind of painful to watch! Hey, what do expect from 4 year olds! Tomorrow they are putting on a Christmas concert.. Stay tuned in for more on that!

Happy Birthday to You!!!!!

Still trying to catch you all up on the past couple weeks!! One MAJOR event that occurred, Mike's Birthday!!! December 12th, to be exact! I know you aren't going to be happy that I posted a pic of you on here babe, but you can't be GQ 24/7! Don't worry, you don't look that bummy... I think he had a good day.. The kids and I were able to surprise him with a few things.. One of the major gifts was from my parents.. Call of Duty game for the Wii.. I got him the gun shooter attachment thingie for it.. He also got a couple things he bought for himself that I wrapped and made him wait to open up for his bday.. And the kids made him a pillow.. Yes, a pillow.. Mike and I are always fighting over this little pillow I got after my c-section with Mikey.. It was to hold on my belly when I coughed and so forth. Anyway, it is just the right size to put in the small of your back for support at bedtime.. He is always trying to steal it from me.. So I had the kids draw pictures on another one and give to him! Very cute. So I hope we made your day special babe.. (even if you didn't like my cake... He threw half of it out.. Mike likes chocolate mint cake.. So every year I try a different recipe, hoping that one of them will be THE one! Still haven't found it.. Maybe next year!) Don't worry, 34 isn't THAT old.. (but it is older than 33, which is what I am!)

Santa has come!

So every year Mike's work puts on a xmas/Santa lunch for the employees and their families. It is very nice, usually very good food, you get to see families you haven't seen for a while, and best of all.. Santa comes and gives each of the kids a present! (provided from Mom and Dad beforehand, of course..) The kids usually are super excited! This year was no exception. All of my kids, naturally, are terrified of Santa (he is a pretty all-powerful big scary guy, after all..), so no pics of sitting on Santa's lap this year or in the near foreseeable future.. I am just lucky they are brave enough to go up within arm's length so I can snap a photo of them snatching their present away before running for dear life! I usually get the kids all something the same to open.. but for some reason I changed course this year.. should have known better! Maria, although very happy and excited about her present, was heartbroken she didn't get what Lillian got.. a FurReal piglet. She had been extremely moody all weekend to begin with so the disappointment was just too much to hide. She is so spoiled, I went out and got her one to open from Santa on xmas day. Who knew she would be into those things too?!

The pics posted are as follows.. First the excitement of waiting patiently for Santa to call their name.. I think Mikey is practicing his Popeye expression, almost has it! The terrifying snatch and run of their presents, and the results of their bravery. Despite the emotional, disappointed breakdown from Maria, it was all in all a pretty good day.

Blue lollipops..

Thought these pics were too cute not to post. The classic hat in the eyes pic. You can see Mikey is giving me a little attitude, I just told him to stay away from the road, silly mommy, who am I to know what's best? You can also see his mouth is blue, thanks to a very yummy, messy, blue lollipop. Whoever invented those were genius, the proof of consumption stays put for hours! Great marketing technique!

I hate sick days...

My two youngest are sick. They have been fighting off some crap going around for about a week now and it finally caught up to them. Needless to say Mike and I have not gotten much sleep! Even the dog was up a zillion times last night wanting to go out! I think Maria is the only one that got some rest last night. Anyway, early bedtimes tonight.. Especially since Mike is flying tonight and I'm doing it solo! Poor Lillian has been throwing up all morning, which by her pic you can't really tell! Thankfully I think it has stopped and now it is time for rest and recovery. Mikey has just had a really bad chest cough and today his nose is constantly running and stuffed up.. at the same time. Now I know I have said this before but it really doesn't make sense how it can be both at the same time! I must say he is very good, almost too good, at letting me know when he needs to blow it.. Literally every 5 minutes, if not sooner, he is coming to me to help him blow his nose. Enough already! I drugged them up pretty good for naptime and thankfully they are taking a very good, long, drug-induced nap!

On another topic, it did ice a little last night, but not bad. Just enough for a 2 hour school delay! Dodged the bullet again! I close this post with a pic of Hoops, who seems to always be within 2 steps of the action. Lillian said he wanted his picture taken as well so who am I to argue?

I'm Here, I'm Here, I'm Here!!!!

I know! I have been taking a little vacation from my blog.. Sorry, no good excuse, just lazy!! (truth be told I was kinda in a funk for a bit and didn't feel like doing ANYTHING for quite a few days... Thankfully it has passed!) So anyway, I have a LOT of catching up to do so I thought I would start with the most recent and work backwards! It is snowing today. I thought we would have a green xmas this year, and we still may, lots of time for it to melt! But currently it is very pretty.. They say it may turn to sleet and freezing rain overnight so I REALLY hope that doesn't occur, ice is horrible. Anyway, I thought it was so pretty outside that I wanted to share a pic of our lights... which looking at now it has just occurred to me that I forgot to get the candle lights unpacked and in the windows... OK, imagine the lights just as they are with candles in all the windows, a masterpiece! Our pride and joy is the helicopter with moving rotors.. perfect. Later I may post pics of our neighbors and the "island" on our cul de sac.. They really get into the spirit! Keep tuned in for more updates from the past couple weeks!

Who doesn't love Frosty! I can think of one lady...

I have had no lack of holiday music while decorating the house these past few days.. Particularly one specific song... I have heard Frosty the Snowman from the moment I open my eyes in the morning (they wake me up with it..) to the moment they all get tucked snugly in their beds for the night these past few days. They LOVE that singing, dancing snowman!! Myself, not so much, especially at the end of the day. But hey, you gotta let the kids be kids! On the plus side, my decorating is about done, we just have some outside stuff to do which is going to have to wait for the weekend and Mike. In case you're wondering, Lillian has her hand on her head because she is holding her "imaginary" hat just like Frosty. Oh, yeah, and Mikey is wearing his version of Spiderman. Put him in those red pj's and he has to have his red "spiderman" socks going over them. He truly looks like a superhero! Enjoy!

I'm here!!

Yes, I know, I have been neglecting my blog again.. Just a quick update as to what has been going on.. Not much! We got our xmas stuff out and I have been busy putting the decorations up and getting the tree done. Which, by the way, takes freakin' forever! Not only do you have to clean before you put the crap out, but you have to clean afterwards as well because it makes such a dang mess! Anyway, almost done.. I'll post pics tomorrow with a video (hopefully) of what I have been enduring throughout it all! Till next time! Oh, by the way, we had a huge thunderstorm with dime-sized hail blow through today... What the heck? In december?? Then 5 minutes later it was sunny. This weather gets freakier by the year..

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

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Today's shoes are Yesterday's hats..

Haaappy Birthday to meeee!!!! Today I am officially 33. Mike takes great pleasure in the fact that for the next 19 days I am the same age as he. He does so well getting the kids involved and excited about my birthday. Today was no exception! They always help him make me a special breakfast, this morning it was fried potatoes, eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit.. yum! Then they always make a cake for me and decorate it to their liking. I think this year they overdid themselves! Maria was in charge of the purple decorating.. Lillian put the letters on, and Mikey placed the candles perfectly! It was delicous! I got two beautiful rose plants from the girls, some scratch-off tickets from Mikey and a day of freedom from Mike! He took care of the kids and chores for the day while I went shopping for my own gift! What could be better! It was all about the accessories today! I really needed a new purse.. I had a big Mom/diaper bag purse.. I no longer have diapers! Way past time for a new "no babies here, look at me, I'm back!" purse! I also really splurged and got a new fancy hat and leather gloves. Last spring I scored a phenomenal red wool coat on clearance and the hat and gloves will just set it off perfectly! As I was shopping for hats it struck me what a small selection they had. Back in the day the hat is what made the outfit. In modern day times shoes have now taken that role and you very rarely see hats anymore. It's so sad, personally I love hats.. I also love shoes.. Perhaps for the next generation the shoes AND hats will equally share the responsibility as the perfect accessory! Anyway, I had a great day. Thank you Mike for making my birthday so special. I love you!

Snow Fun!

The excitement of it all!! The kids woke up this morning to a winter wonderland. Big, fat, fluffy snow was falling and sticking to everything.. very beautiful. I would consider this our official "first"snow, even though it is almost all melted already. There is nothing like the excitement of a child.. They were so joyeous this morning and wanted to immediately go out and play.. which, of course, they couldn't.. they all had school! Lillian and Mikey were able to throw a few snowballs after class but Maria will have to be satisfied with catching just a few snowflakes on her tongue.. Till the next time anyway! Can I just reiterate how much I love the area where we live? It's beautiful, rural but close to many cities, and we still get winter, but not the 10 feet of snow that northern NY gets! We are so happy here and plan on staying put for many, many years!

Daddy's Boy!

What sweet justice it is that Mikey is such a Daddy's Boy!! I say this because last night when Mikey was crying out every couple hours, it wasn't Mommy he was yelling.. it was "I want DADDY!!" YES! I know it is kind of sick and twisted that I take such pleasure in this.. but finally my time has come where I can just roll over in bed and go back to sleep and Mike has to be the one to get up a zillion times with the kids! Finally!!!! Now don't get me wrong, Mike did do his part as much as he was capable of when the kids were younger, but he lacked the necessary "equipment" for the nighttime feedings when they were babies and the girls (esp. Lillian..) always wanted mommy for the middle of night wake-ups. Not my boy! It is all Daddy with him! He adores his Dad, always has, and probably always will. Now it is Daddy he wants at all times.. He wants Daddy to be the last face he sees when he goes to sleep and the first face he sees when he wakes up. I am just thankful that Mike got his Captain's course over and done with last winter.. I can't imagine if he had to go away for 6 months now with how Mikey is! Even when he is gone a couple days, Mikey is crying for him all night. So... Mike, you are not allowed to leave for any extended period of time in the future.. OK? I am REALLY enjoying my sleep! Thanks! Love you!

MIA with sick computer...

So I know I have been missing in action for quite a few days now.. but I have a good excuse!! Our laptop's hard drive started to die. So the past few days have been spent taking everything off of the computer, repairing it and reloading it (good thing Mike is tech savvy!). While going through our thousands of pics (yes, literally thousands!) we discovered that quite a few of them were corrupted, and the backups of them were corrupted, and the backups of the backups were corrupted! Can you say panic-time! Anyway, Mike found some old CD's we had copied the pictures to and those were alright.. Whew!! We think we found most if not all of the corrupted pics so I am relieved! I love looking through all the old pictures and videos.. it brings back great memories! I thought I would share a few of my favorites..

The first one is when Mikey was brand new.. Maria was 3 and 1/2 and Lillian was 18 months.. She doesn't know quite what to think yet..

The second one is when Maria fell down and scraped both her knees.. She literally walked around on her tiptoes like that for a week, yes.. a week. She was not quite 3 and 1/2 and Lillian was 16 months.

The third one is Maria singing itsy bitsy spider, she was almost 2 and 1/2...

And the last one is baby Maria and Mike.. Proud papa.

VIOLATED!!!!!!

You hear of it happening but never think it is going to happen to you. That's what I thought anyway, not me.. other people. Yet, no matter how much I denied it, it still happened. I discovered today that some jerk stole my debit card information and decided to go on a shopping spree. Granted, it was a very small shopping spree seeing how it is two days before payday, but still, my money. What's almost worse is that I believe this lowlife must be a very narcissistic lowlife, seeing how they charged something to "bodybuilding.com" and tried (unsuccessfully, thankfully) to buy $800 worth of clothes from J Crew. Now I have much to be thankful for. This could have been sooo much worse if it wasn't for many factors. 1. As I mentioned before, 2 days till payday, we're broke! Sucker!! 2. I have been checking the account balance daily and was able to catch this on the first day of it happening. and 3. Did I mention it's 2 days till payday? If he tried this 2 days later he could have made off with our entire paycheck.. Who needs to pay mortgage, especially when there's J Crew and muscle supplements?!

What bothers me is that I don't know who or how or when my info was stolen. There are so many scenerios with which it could have happened. Was it something I bought online and my info stolen via cyberspace? Was an invoice with my account info left on someone's desk and an employee steal it? Was it the garbage guys going through our trash?! Who knows, but it is very disturbing. What also distresses me is that we have to wait up to a week before we see any of that money back. Apparently the fraud department has to confirm that these were "fraudulent purchases" before they give us our money back. Again, very thankful so little was taken, I can live without $75 for a week, $800 would have been another story!

So, anyway, FYI to all of you out there.. it can happen to you! Please be diligent, check daily for discrepancies, and keep your eye on your finances.. Especially with xmas coming up, there are so many more opportunities for these thieves to take advantage of you!

Great Veteran's Day!

A great big Thank You! to all soldiers, past, present, and future and their families for the service that they provide for us. You are all amazing and invaluable to our country! So thank you.

Today Mike celebrated Veteran's day with Maria at her school. Her school district puts on a Veteran's Breakfast for all students with immediate family who has served or is currently serving in the military. It is also for employees who are veterans or have immediate family serving, and for veterans who live in the district. Mike said it was very nice and I know it was very special to Maria to see how the school honors her father for what he does. He then went into Maria's class at the end of the day to talk about what he does and explain Veteran's Day to her classmates. I can just imagine how super excited she must have been all day today knowing her Dad was coming in later! (it is a very special thing!) I go in tomorrow for my usual couple hours of helping out (once a week) so I am interested to hear what the kids have to say about it.. Sooo, that it how we spent today! Pretty lowkey for me and a great Daddy and Maria time. I am posting some oldies but goodies pics.. One of Mike when he started basic, 18 years old.. Another of the girls visiting Daddy at work.. they loved (and still do) doing that.. And another of the helicopter Mike flies now. Enjoy!