c and her bling

C loves her jewelry and dress up stuff and her new pop beads are no exception. She made a ring for every finger. I like the way she thinks.

bowling

New years day bowling was the best. We all had a great time with our great friends. We went out to dinner afterwards, just the 10 of us. heheh People might think we are crazy with all of our kids but it's so fun. Anyway here are a few pics. C insisted on wearing her dress up skirt AA and I made for her. E made bowling a little challenging, but we managed. For awhile he was in Emi's baby jail. hehehh

back home

It's been a great and busy few days. We got home and got right back into the swing of our busy lives. Wednesday when we got home our house was a wreck!!! The painters had been here and were not done. The Christmas tree was in the middle of the room and all my Santas were pilled on the coffee table. With a walking talking monster like E that was not going to fly so we quickly boxed it all up and put it away. (well away means the boxes are in the corner ready to head to the storage unit) It was SO nice to have it all down and out. I love love love love the Christmas tree before Christmas but frankly after Christmas it makes me sad. I hate looking at it and just thinking how excited we all were when we put it up and how fast it all went, again. It's always usually a job just I do and this year I had lots of help so that was so nice. On Thursday the painters were supposed to be here again so we got up and headed to the gym. From there I took the younger two to the grocery and J took Av to hbr. Then that afternoon I took the girls to the movies with hbr friends to see The Muppets. It's so nice we have made such good friends there. I love the other mom's there so much. Their support means the world to me. They more than anyone can truly relate and it's nice to have have my weekly "support" group with them. I need to get together with them more. On Friday again we were dealing with the painters so off to the gym again we went. After I took the kids to C's weekly gymnastics lesson and J worked on the house. All About Kids was a ZOO!!! As much as E loves it he's really hard to manage there too so I had about had it when we left. When we got home we had to hid from the painters (they had taken over the entire first floor of the house and everything was wet). Around dinner time we left for a party for some of J's college friends. They live in NYC so we don't see them often. Their parents had an open house style party for them so everyone could see each other and all the kids. It was so fun!!! The group has just grown so much in the past few years with more sweet babies to come. On Sat we had not one but 2 parties to go to. We got up and I took Av to All About Kids for her gymnastics by myself. I had an hour to sit. It was wonderful. I refused to take all 3 again. hehehe. Then we met the rest of the fam at a U of L vs. UK party. We had the best time there. Av and C were off with the other kids. We didn't see them the whole time. They had the time of their lives. I got to hang with my girls and J got to watch the game. It was perfect. Then home for nap/quite time and then off to party #2. Our New years eve party. We always celebrate with our great friends the Shumans!!! Love them so much. We had planned to have a sleepover at their house as we have done a few times. Sadly though Marci kind of came down with a stomach bug as we were getting there. We stayed for a bit but then ended up heading home. It was VERY disappointing but what can you do. The kids were very sad. Marci is better though so we are heading to bowling and dinner with them soon. Can't wait!!!

warm december!

C and E playing on a warm Dec day. She was blowing bubbles for him and he was stomping on them. It was truly a loving sibling activity!

goodbye old friend

today I said goodbye to a very loyal and trustworthy friend. We were best friends for years and it was hard to part ways. J made me though.

"tomfy toilet"

hehehe C is too funny. When we were in WI over Thanksgiving she was very impressed by J's Aunt's "tomfy toilet." (comfy toilet) It was just a normal toilet with a fuzzy cover over the toilet lid (not the seat so really didn't make it any more "comfy"). As soon as she saw it she got her usual look of wonderment on her face and exclaimed "tomfy toilet!!" Yesterday C became the proud new owner of a "tomfy toilet." Grandma from WI sent her one as a xmas gift. As soon as Av saw it she started cracking up. A true giggle that you can't fake. She thought it was the funniest things she had ever seen. C was not really all the impressed. I don't think she really remembered and didn't get the joke, but Av sure did. Av ran up and put it on all by herself. So here is a pic of their new "tomfy toilet."

Fun in WV

On Wed it was nice enough to play outside. My mom, the kids and I went on a hike! It was so fun and nice to get outside. The girls loved it and walked the whole way. They got so muddy and that was a lot of the fun. After the hike the kids found a mud puddle and splashed away in it. It was the first time E had ever splashed in a puddle. He loved it. He of course fell in a few times and was soaking wet from head to toe but he didn't care. He is all boy. After a warm bath and some hot chocolate we made some cookies. PB blossoms. The girls loved them. We made them during E's nap time so not to tease him with stuff he can't eat yet. That night the kids sat with their Pap and watched a movie.

I had found a craft on Pinterest that I wanted to try but I could not do it on my own. Thank goodness for AA's skills. She took me to a fabric store to pick out some fabric for tutus for the girls. We spent all afternoon making them. I thought my hand would never be the same from all the pinking but it was so worth it. The skirts turned out so cute!!

E loved reading with Grandma. They spent a lot of time snuggling together with a Christmas book. It was a book you could open flaps on and the last page had 25 ornament flaps. By the end of the week most of the 25 flaps were torn off. He's such a rough boy.

Another craft the girls did with AA was glueing ornaments on a Christmas tree. Unfortunately the ACE the elf got into the craft basket durning the night and buried all the gems in lentils. So to decorate the tree the girls had to pick through to find the gems. Bad elf!!!

The kids painted in the bathtub with shaving cream. The was another fun craft. Thanks again AA!!

We went to Pittsburgh on Friday to see my mom's family. We saw my aunt Jenny, Uncle Ron, cousin Mike and Dan, aunt Sally, uncle Chris and cousin Kate. It was so nice to see everyone. We had a blast staying at my aunt Jenny's house. My cousins Mike and Dan spent a lot of time playing with the girls. Dan made a bead necklace with Camille that she is still wearing 5 days later. We played a silly "right/left" gift game and the girls ended up with Tinkerbell coloring books while the rest of us got things like an ugly Christmas purse or huge fruit magnets. We also sang "the 12 days of Christmas" with everyone standing to sing their line. The kids slept great there and the next morning we headed over to aunt Sally's house for breakfast. They made us a yummy fancy breakfast before we headed back to my parents house. Oh and John also met us in Pittsburgh. The kids were sooooooo excited to see him.

They made sugar cookies for santa and made sure to put them out xmas eve. They put out milk and cookies for Santa and sugar and carrots for the reindeer.

Santa's "sleigh" came and even made tracks in the yard!

We were very blessed and had a wonderful Christmas morning. The girls didn't get a big gift from Santa this year so it was a lot of smaller things. We had so much fun after Christmas playing with everything. Such an assortment to keep them busy. Games, books, polly pockets, remote control car, busy ball popper, craft boxes, glow in the dark gears (my fav), tea set, barbies, princess blankets, nail polish (to dad's dismay), dress up clothes, puzzle, E got a backpack the list just goes on and on. Av had shopped for everyone at her snowman shop. She was sooooo proud. Wrapped the gifts and put everyones names on them. She handed them out when everyone was done with everything else. She got me a "mommy and me" cookbook, grandma got a "i love grandma" keychain, pap got a "i love my grandpa" tape measurer, C got a flower with a pop up monkey, E got a green stress reliever ball we had to throw away bc it was not safe for him and J got a "worlds best dad" pen. It was so cute.

We made salt dough ornaments w their handprints. They turned out so cute. I love them and will love them forever.

We also went to a paint a pottery place. I think AA and I had more fun painting there than the girls did. The girls were more impressed with the playroom there.

We had the most special Christmas and I am so thankful for it. My family is the best and we are so blessed. I am a very lucky girl!