November 2013

November is so fun! The weather starts to get a little cooler, Fall festivals pop up everywhere, Lia's birthday comes along, then Thanksgiving, and then the excitement of planning for Christmas. 

It never fails though that one of the kids will come down with something. I am so thankful that I have this time with them. When they are sick and not feeling well my empathy kicks into full gear. Extra cuddles, more attentiveness, and letting them get whatever they ask for - tv, certain foods, or even just to have me sit with them. When I was working I always had a feeling of annoyance when they got sick. Annoyed because it kept me from doing my work efficiently. Now I can focus on them. And hopefully that's what they'll remember. 

Here is my little Lia finally feeling better enough to shower and eat some eggs (her request) after a couple of sick days. 

Team pictures for Ava's cheer team. With her best friend. 

Love this little project to help spruce up my laundry room...more like a closet. Feeling thankful for cousin Johnny. He's always willing to help Anthony with projects. And he's so talented. Good thing he lives right down the street. 

Finished!!! New cabinet, rod to dry clothes and shelf on the wall. So much better than that wire shelf that came when the house was built. 

These girls are practicing their poses for our family portrait session. 

Lia is another year older! How is she already FIVE?!?!  

Aside from her party birthday when she turned one, Lia has not had a big birthday celebration with friends.  Now that she's in Pre-K, she has friends in her class to invite. She really wanted a sleepover, but I compromised with a "Pancakes and Pajamas" party.  It was on a Saturday morning and we asked her friends to come in their pajamas.  We had a yummy breakfast feast, make bead/cereal necklaces, decorated pillow cases, and even had time for a pancake toss in the backyard.  I loved the simplicity of this party - and the fact that when it was over, we still had the rest of the day to ourselves.  

Typical Lia with a grumpy face right before her party started. She'll probably win an Oscar some day with all of her drama

Look at this delicious breakfast...I can still taste the pancakes.  

This pancake toss was even more fun than it looks like.

 Decorating pillow cases.

 Let's hear it for Daddy - who had chef duty for the entire party. Cooking for all of these ladies and little girls...what a sport.

Birthday girl in her new "Anna" dress. 

Like I said, we hosted Thanksgiving and I was on my feet from dawn until bedtime. My feet literally ached at the end of the night, but we had a great day with family. Wish we had gotten a big group picture...

Here we are at our first viewing of Frozen!!! (We've seen it so many times we know every word to every song)  This is our new favorite Disney movie. I may have shed a tear when I first saw it. During the song "do you want to build a snowman?" of course. 

October 2013

One night after we said goodnight to the girls and kissed their foreheads, Anthony and I waited a few minutes to check on them. I went back in to find this. Lia had crawled into Ava's bed. I mean, could this be any sweeter??

Joey loves playing with his sisters. And usually they are generous enough to play with him. Teaching him how to build block towers and jump on the trampoline. Other times they close their bedroom door and won't let him in, but we won't focus on that...

We made it to a fun Fall Festival one night with friends.  

Happy to run free...

 Somebody knows how to get Daddy to let her get her face painted...

Here is a sneak peek at our homemade costumes...this is a tedious project. 

Lia still has her moments of frustration and fits. It's like she can't control her emotions. One morning before school she just could NOT get happy. I posted this on Facebook and the quotes are exactly what came out of her mouth, along with wails and whines: "I want more cereal. That's not enough milk. That's too much milk. I need more strawberries in my cereal. Now it's too soggy to eat. I'm hungry. My milk spilled. I need a washcloth. This washcloth isn't wet enough!"  And then she ended up on the floor. 

Fortunately she's always a super good girl at school. Here she is watching and listening to the policemen and firemen that came to her school. 

Really, sometimes it's all I can do to get them dressed, fed, packed and in the car on time for school drop off. 

Back to a more positive note...playing outside in the beatiful weather. Football with Daddy and Johnny. 

Spending some time with Lucky. 

This girl lost another tooth!!! And she wanted to try out the hair rollers from Mimi. 

Before and after sleeping on them all night. 

The day before Halloween deserved a jack-o-lantern meatloaf for dinner. My little helper. 

During the day, Lia and Joey had a superhero day at school. 

Love our preschool! They took this photo and sent it to me. 

And finally...here are our costumes!!!  The CareBear family. We had so much fun trick or treating together. It was a long process, but I felt so proud to make these costumes. I'm definitely doing something crafty again next year. 

September 2013

I am enjoying this back-to-school schedule. And the faintest excitement for the Fall season (which means Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes). 

Lucky has officially moved into his cozy home on our lanai. He loves when we go out and pet him.

Spa night for the girls. We did a foot soak in my big bathtub and then put fun mud masks on our faces. 

One day Anthony, Joey and I got to spend an afternoon/evening out shopping while the girls were spending time with Mimi. It's such a strange feeling to have only one child with you when you're used to having three. Don't these boys look like they are enjoying their dinner???

Tuesday afternoons are my special times with Lia. I pick her up from school at 12, and we have 3 hours together before we have to pick up Ava and then Joey. One of her favorite things to do: go eat at Firehouse Subs. Can't believe she's going to be 5 in a couple of months. She's doing so well at school. 

Little weekend mornings at the park. He kept saying "Mommy, I swing!"  

These are our new lunchboxes that we have for the girls. I started with only one (for Ava). Lia only takes lunch to school one day a week, but after packing Ava's for a couple of weeks I was hooked. Had to get one for Lia too. It is perfectly portioned and I love filling these compartments with yummy food. 

Look at my basil plants! They are huge! Lots of tomato and basil pasta in this house lately. :)  

And my boy loves playing outside and getting messy (and spraying himself with the hose). 

Speaking of getting messy, he also does a great job of it at dinner time. This kid needs a haircut, quick. 

Ava is off her training wheels! Still getting some help from dad. ;)

I just love how sweet and cuddly these girls are at bedtime. The pink room, dim lighting, and lullabies on the iPod make me want to fall asleep with them...zzzzz

Finally got this boy to Ms. Terri for his haircut. Is it me or does he look older now? :(

On the first day of Fall we started taking out our decorations (my favorite season to decorate for). I had to make this little comparison of how big they have gotten since Halloween two years ago. Speaking of Halloween, wait until you see what I'm doing this year...it will be my first try at homemade costumes.