Kate can draw, I mean REALLY draw!

We like to watch a show called "Peep and the Big Wide World" on PBS. Kate asked me to draw the three birds on the Magna-doodle. I drew a picture of "Chirp" and then had to help Kelly. When I came back in the room Kate had copied my picture (mine is on the right for all you funny guys!). I'm not bragging, but she just turned 3! I think that's pretty darn good!

Kelly in her "iPood" t-shirt

Afraid to look!

Today I gave Brian and Kate their lunch and then headed into the bathroom to put on my makeup, finally. All of a sudden I can hear them laughing and then laughing louder and then saying, "now do it to me!" I yelled from the bathroom, "What are you doing out there?" To which Kate replied, "We are doing something to each other that we've never done before!" Brian then chimed in, "We're wiggling each other." I had to go see what "wiggling" was, and if it was safe. As I rounded the corner I witnessed Kate tugging on Brian's arm back and forth with all of her might, and then Brian returning the favor to Kate. Did I mention that they sit on booster seats that aren't the most stable things. I hate to ruin fun, but fun like that is bound to end up with someone head first on the floor. I asked them to please stop wiggling each other for the time being, but told them that they could resume wiggling on the living room floor once lunch had ended. There was no arguing. I guess mommy made a great compromise for a change. I was then able to go back to the bathroom and put mascara on both eyes (good thing I remembered only one eye had been beautified!).

That Brian...so funny and he doesn't even know it!

Brian and Kate were upstairs "playing" trains after dinner tonight. The word playing is italicized because it was more like "fighting, screeching and arguing" with some moments of play. After about 10 minutes of "playing" Kate came downstairs alone and Brian followed about 5 minutes later. Brian came up to me and in an, "I think I'm going to be in big trouble for telling mom this" type of voice he said, "Mom, I told Kate to get out of town." I said, "oh?" Then Brian said, "I just can't have two sisters, so I decided to keep the baby one. I told Kate to get out of town." I had all I could do to stop from laughing and keep a very serious face. I said, "That wasn't very nice to say to Kate. You need to love both of your sisters." Brian said, "I know, I changed my mind and she can stay." I then told Brian he needed to apologize to Kate and he said, "I already told her I was sorry for telling her to get out of town." I told him I was proud of him.

He kills me sometimes.

Nine followers!

Who wants to be lucky number 10??!!! Who wants to make a stay-at-home mom feel like a star?!

Just a girl and her dog :-)

Little Miss Blue Eyes

Look, her eyes match the blue chalk she was eating!

They are ALWAYS together!

When I came down the stairs this is how I found Brian and Kate. Looks like a comfortable way to watch some shows...or not!

Guess Who??!!

...Aaaaand the mother of the morning goes to.....

It's been raining for days. It's supposed to end tomorrow, but we still have to get through today. I didn't even send Brian to school today because I was in no mood to get everyone into the car, drop him off, take Kate and Kelly out, put Kate and Kelly back in, pick up Brian, and then take them all out again..NO THANK YOU!
However, I decided to not let the weather get me down, and I also decided that I was NOT going to put the t.v. on all day, just to get through the day. Instead, we built a fort, made sugar cookies (the kids rolled the dough and cut out the shapes and then painted a little glaze on them), Brian and Kate painted the tub (and then took a bath in it), and NOW their eating their lunch in front of the tube. I put Mary Poppins on for them because it's like 5 hours long. Hey, I said I wasn't going to have the t.v. on "all" day, part of the day is still allowed. After Mary is over....I'm at a loss. If I have enough energy maybe we'll have a dance party in the kitchen, if not, there's always PBS! The sun is back tomorrow! God Bless us all!!

The fort


The children snacking on apples in the fort.


The cookies...I made that shamrock without a cookie cutter..not too bad!


Part of the masterpiece!

Words of Wisdom on a serious matter

I've been trying to cut back on desserts, which is very difficult for me, because I am addicted to sugar. I've actually been doing good, so good that the desserts have found a way to enter my dreams. Last night I had a dream that my foot was bothering me (I actually do have plantar fasciitis in both feet), so I went to physical therapy for treatment. When I got there the physical therapist took one look at my foot and said, "Did you know that you have a huge hole in your foot?" I had no idea! Apparently this hole was so big that you could see right through my foot! Her solution for fixing the hole? She stacked up three candy bars (still in their wrappers), and used those to plug up the hole. I don't remember much else from the dream, but I'm sure I ate them at some point, hole or no hole, candy bars that close to my body need to be consumed!

This morning (when I was awake) I was lying in bed with Brian next to me (we were snuggling). I decided to tell Brian about the dream, thinking he would think it was funny. Brian just looked at me and said, "Mom, you can't just put food in any hole. That is what squirrels do." I know that he was referring to an episode of Curious George, where George thinks it's okay to bury all kinds of food in the ground (sandwiches, apples, a box of cereal etc), just like his friend "Jumpy Squirrel" does with nuts, but his serious tone just cracked me up. He never questioned that fact that I had a huge hole in my foot. He didn't even ask if I ate the candy bars. He just spoke the wise words that George had learned, from the episode he had seen a few months before. He remembers everything and uses all his knowledge whenever given the chance! Gotta love my cutie pa-tootie boy!

Toooo infinity AND Beyond!!!

Thank You Brian

Brian has come up with a few good quotes over the past few days:

"Mom, when I grow up I want to be a chef just like you."

Me: "Brian I'm a little disappointed that you're not sharing with Kate." Brian, "That's okay mom. I forgive you."

Me: "Sometimes I get sad that you guys are not my babies anymore, but I'm glad you're growing up so big and strong." Brian: "You're sad I'm not a baby? Oh mom, I can pretend I'm a baby anytime!"

The other night Jeff was on Brian's case to eat his dinner and realized that he should just leave the room and see what Brian would do. When Jeff came back Brian had eaten quite a bit. Jeff said to Brian, "Wow, you've eaten quite a bit since I left you alone." Brian: "Yeah, you were just distracting me to not eat."

He's quite a kid!

A Special Visit with Great Nana

It was a very special treat for me to be able to take Kate to see her Great Nana. Kate hadn't seen my Nana since before her (Kate's) seizures, and I was able to take her alone (Brian and Kelly were with my parents). I love seeing my children with my Nana. I know that they're too young to realize how special it is that they can visit with her, but I know, and I love every minute of each visit.

It's all semantics I guess!

On the way home from preschool I asked Brian what he would like for lunch, and this is what Brian said, "Do you have tuna?" I said, "yes." Brian said, "Oh good, I loooove tuna. I say I don't like fish but I was just being knocked over. I like tuna fish. I don't like fish without the tuna, it just knocks me over. Fish without tuna feels so yucky on my tongue." Apparently Brian thinks that "tuna" is something you put on fish. Maybe the next time I cook scrod I'll tell him that I've put some "tuna" on it. Maybe he'll eat it??

He's happily eating his tuna sandwich right now. :-) (ps, I... have no idea what "knocked over" means.

Just clownin around :-)

I bought some face paint the other day and let the kids paint their own faces, with the exception of Kelly because I knew she would eat the paint. I guess I should have painted all their faces because both Brian and Kate decided to paint their lips, and of course the paint seeped into their mouths. Brian even decided to paint his teeth when I wasn't looking. At the least the paint was non-toxic, but it was probably made in China! Please pray that nobody asks any of my kids the famous line from Tommy Boy, "Did you eat paint chips as a kid?" I guess in this case it would be, "Did you drink paint as a kid?" They had fun though!

A beautiful day!

March is turning out to be a great month so far! Brian, Kate and Kelly got in some fun swing- time together.

I'M not confused, I'M continuously AMAZED!

Brian's language skills have always amazed me, and today is no exception. We were in the living room together and Kate came in and did something to Kelly, (I can't even remember what) but it wasn't nice. I said to Kate, "Why are you being mean?" Kate replied, "I'm not being mean." To this I replied, "Well, you're not being nice." Then Brian chimed in, "Well, if she's not being mean and she's not being nice, what is she? Confused?" I smiled (and hid my AWE of my son, given the situation) and said, "I think you're right Brian, she must be just confused."

Having a bright kid is a blessing, and a challenge all at the same time, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

It's the thought that counts, right?

This is the "Valentine's Day" card that my dad bought for my mom. I think that once you read the card you'll understand why I posted it.






(PS, I got permission from "B" to post this)

Prepared for Anything

Kate saw the sun and wanted me to put on her pink life jacket. I told her that it wasn't a winter "jacket" but she didn't care. Poor kid, I think she wants warm weather back just as much as the rest of us do. Just look at the joy on her face!



Run Kate, run! Chase down Spring for us!

My little J-Crew Man

Brian at 5 months


At 2 1/2


2 1/2 again


My little man at age 4