Odds & Ends

Phew...even though this is the first post you'll read, this is the last of 4! I think I've made up for my lack of updating. I suppose I will learn my lesson and update a little more often. I'm getting there! Here's some odds & ends photos that I've accumulated recently! This is just some fun moments that I get the chance to share with you. There's always a story behind each one. Enjoy!

Devyn's BFF, Ally and her new little brother. Devyn was honored because she was the only friend that got to see him in the hospital. He's a cutie.

The view from inside my room after the boys opened a brand new box of Q-tips from under the bathroom sink! Notice the empty box of evidence to the right.

Just a really cute picture of Molly & her natural beauty.

I got home from exercise class one night and noticed Jake nowhere to be found. The girls said he went up to rock Dominick, and this is how I found them. I guess about an hour had passed and he was MIA.

I think the shirt says it all!

Dominick sporting a new pair of Diego sunglasses.

My other cool dude and his Spiderman glasses.

Well, I should start by saying, this was not staged. This is in honor of our friend who we call "Mr.Safety". Dominick rolled out of the garage and this is what we saw...

I snuck into their room during naptime. I just couldn't resist! He loves his woobie!

Just needed to show everyone that Dominick still loves his little socks.

Another year older, still a dork!

Anthony showing his cute little personality. He's so sweet.

Anthony enjoying his peace & quiet and the very rare occasion that he has control of the remote.

Well, there you have it. Come back & visit soon. Please feel free to send a comment if you want. I get them emailed to me. Just post it as a guest or whatever option it gives you. Bye for now!

4th of July & Alayna's 11th birthday

The celebration of our independence also means time to party until the cows come home (or the fireworks are over) for Alayna's 11th birthday bash. We went to my sister-in-law's house again where we ate A LOT and watched the fireworks at the nearby school. The kids had a lot of fun on the slip n slide, lit fireworks (the legal ones, of course) and had a silly string fight.

Alayna chose to not to have a cake or cupcakes this year, so she had a plate of brownies. Who doesn't love brownies? She was the recipient of lots of clothes, gift cards, jewelry, and some ITunes for her IPOD. She was in hog heaven. She's already used her gift cards and has worn every outfit. Her grandma also got her another piece to add to her Willow Tree collection.

Not much else to say, I think that the following pictures pretty much says it all...

Birthday brownies



Anthony away from all the crazies shooting water and no one knew it was him. There was water flying everywhere.



Dominick in his "cool dude" Spiderman glasses. He wore them all day long.

Devyn & her Poppy.

SILLY STRING QUEENS
L to R: Molly, Olivia, Laura, Devyn, Alayna, & Grace

Strike a pose.

Everyone squirt the birthday girl!

Paybacks...

Alayna with her twin cousins, Grace & Olivia

A "sunny" hello from Molly!

And that, my friends, is how we spent the 4th of July, 2008.

Devyn's 8th birthday 200

My little baby girl who's now the ripe 'ol age of 8!

Devyn celebrated her 8th birthday twice this year. Once for the family party, June 21st, and also on her actual birthday of June 24th. She received lots of clothes with accessories, which she never minds, $ towards a Nintendo DS and some games for it. On her birthday, she purchased a white Nintendo DS and loves it. Not to mention the fact that her sisters (& brothers) all want to play with it and she is the "boss" of it and can tell them when they can play and for how long. She enjoys that thoroughly, especially with Alayna, who put restrictions on Devyn while listening to her IPOD. It was a victorious day for Devyn, she made everyone wait until she was ready to let them use it, even when she wasn't. Fun for her to see them sweat a little bit! Paybacks are well-deserved when you're the youngest.

Since my camera was MIA for about a week (found it 2 days after her birthday) I unfortunately don't have any pictures of her party. They are on video camera and I don't think I have a cord to connect to the computer. So, in a valiant effort, I included a picture of her that was taken 2 days after her Bday. She's still 8, so I think I'm safe!

I am also including some photos of the person who loves her video game more than she does...

Just a little R&R for Anthony

Molly helping Anthony with the tricky part of the Bratz game that most normal 2 year olds can't do.

Yet another priceless moment with the game & Anthony.

Father's Day 2008

Poppy, Jake, & the girls (their #1 fans)

As a tradition, Jake & his dad play a round of golf on Father's Day every year. It varies everytime on who makes up the foursome, but this year it was with 2 of Jake's co-workers. Jake shot an incredible game with the lowest score he's made in awhile. I think it was 76, but don't hold me to that score.

When they got home, he & his dad were greeted by girls with their "I Love Dad" shirts. It was a fun day and we had a great dinner. I sure wish he could get out to golf a little bit more often than his schedule allows him.

Photo Slide w/music (turn speakers on)

DEVY DOODLE BUBBLES

It's that time of year again...the dreaded 2nd grade box-a-saurus project. Devyn chose to replicate a hadrosaur. We found this dinosaur on the internet because there was just one recently discovered and there was a lot of interesting information. She had a choice to write a factual report or make one up. My daughter, the author, made her own. The dino's name is Dakota, like the real one. If you'd like to read a little more on this--just type hadrosaur and search.

Our duck-billed dino had scales made of cupcake liners (1400 of them) and took 4 hours to glue and 1 hour to paint. It's cute and we were quite proud of our efforts.

Introducing...Dakota!

Devyn (the proud creator) & Dakota the hadrosaur.

Next on Devyn's social calendar was her 1st Communion in April. She is not a big fan of having her picture taken, so we have just a couple. We were honored that she chose to take a minute for us (not the best of any of us, but it will have to do.) She was so ready to get the day over with that she walked to the back of the church when the service was over, and pulled her pantyhose off as she was walking. If you know Devyn, you wouldn't be surprised.

The much anticipated jewelry box that each of the girls received from their aunt, uncle, & cousins for 1st Communion.

We have also been informed that Devyn will be a for sure candidate for braces in the future. Her jaw is too small for all of her teeth, therefore, she had to have two of her bottom baby teeth pulled. This was necessary so that the 2 permanent teeth already in would have room to move into position. I will spare you the pictures. She did great and REALLY liked the nitrous. She was a little numb & giddy.

Since she is a little of a clutz, we hope Devyn will stick to walking and not riding her bike over the summer. :) Here's hoping that she will find something that interests her this summer. That's all for now.

MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE

That's exactly what we call Molly. Speaking of monkeys, I had the pleasure of chaperoning yet another field trip this year. We took a coach bus into Madison Zoo in April. Below you will see a photo that Molly was proud of because she took it herself.

A sample of Molly's photography skills.

Molly--the model. I have this same exact picture on the bench when we came here for kindergarten. Brings back memories, my how they grow up.

Molly & I after the trip. We were exhausted from walking all day. Whew!

Our next adventure was the Brownie camping trip in May. They were 2 troops and lots of girls. We did the usual stuff like hiking, swimming, used the outdoor latrines (not Molly's favorite part), cooked over the campfire, and ate smores, of course. Our trips to the zoo and camping were 2 weeks in a row. Molly & I were able to spend a lot of quality time and enjoyed every moment of it like we always do. It's still cool to her to spend time with her mom.

Molly was startled when she knew I caught her sneaking the marshmallows. :)

Molly & one of her best buds, Jessica.

That's about it for Molly. She's still easygoing and doesn't require much attention. She is also looking forward to the summer. She plans to take some swimming lessons & hang out with her friends.

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST!

This will be my first post, but last to read. I guess for Alayna's sake, we'll just say that we saved the best for last. Since it so hard to recap the last 4 to 5 months that have swiftly passed by, we will just give you the highlights.

In May, Alayna took her last field trip of the year. We went to Galena (for those of you who don't know about it, it's a historical city) and did quite a bit of sightseeing. We saw Ulysses S. Grant's home and took a tour of that as well as various other places. I have included some photos for you to see.

Alayna's partners in crime (Elizabeth & Mackenzie)

Partial view of Galena's neighborhood from Grant Park

Downtown Galena

Next on to more big adventures of her exciting (almost) 11 year old life:

She had the fortunate opportunity to have a scuba diving lesson (in town) for a field trip for Girl Scouts. They used the snorkels, masks, flippers & air tanks. All of the girls had a great time. I was the resident photographer for the group, so it was fun watching everyone.

Alayna all decked out in scuba gear.

Alayna was able to bring her friend Mackenzie, as a guest. They are quite inseparable.

School is almost out and Alayna has big plans to hang out with her friends over the summer. Her bike is all ready to go and hopefully she will have a lot of fun. We have decided that she is old enough to ride her bike around the neighborhood as she pleases. She is smart & very cautious. With the price of gas these days, this might be the only way she can go see her friends. She is probably the most excited out of all of the kids to be out of school. Her birthday is next month and we still haven't decided what big plans we have for her. I guess we'll just wait to see. We always tell her that the fireworks are for her. Isn't that nice of us?

Jake & Alayna are headed off to Girls Scout camp tomorrow. He is spending some "quality" time with his little girl. He will have the pleasure to help chaperone 2 troops (with 3 moms & 2 other dads.) Hopefully, someone might be kind enough to take some pictures for me and I will post them soon. I can't wait to hear how it went.

DECEMBER

Even though this is the 1st post you'll read, this will be the last of the bunch. This month was filled with lots of craziness preparing for the holidays. The kids made out like bandits. The most popular gift (in my opinion) was Devyn's 2 ft. high gumball machine stocked with almost 400 Jumbo gumballs. We had to hide it in the basement because the boys figured out how to turn the knob the 1st day we had it. We didn't realize it until the boys kept coming out with a rainbow assortment of teeth & lips. The whole time we were looking for the markers that we thought they had gotten into. Those little boogers!

Devyn & Molly each had a Christmas program, but unfortunately I only got a few photos of Devyn's. I was trying to use my new Handycam and I looked like a tourist carrying around a video camera & a digital camera. In Devyn's photo, you'll probably see a familiar face (her friend Ally). They do a lot together, and her mom is just like me, WE LOVE TO TAKE PICTURES! You will also see the closest thing I could get to a family "Christmas" photo of the kids. Alayna was her usual uncooperative self since she was not thrilled to be dragged to her sister's school function. If you'd like to keep a copy for yourself, just right click on the photo and go from there.

Devyn, Alayna, Dominick, Molly, & Anthony

Molly was our hero. She wrangled in Dominick during the program so that we could watch Devyn. He was a wild maniac and wouldn't sit still.


Devyn & Ally with their friend from class.

Since the boys are just about done with naptime, I should end here. I hope that everyone is all caught up to speed and looking forward to many other pictures I still need to post. Hoping everyone had a great holiday season and is enjoying the New Year.

NOVEMBER

We did a couple of exciting things this month. For Veteran's Day, Molly's Brownie troop participated in a parade downtown and a dedication ceremony. They threw carnations into the river in memory of the veterans and met the state senator, Brad Burzinski. I have included a few photos.

Molly & her friend Jessica posed in front of Senator Burzinski with Girl Scout & Brownie troops.

Molly in the Veteran's Day parade.

Next came Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday at Jon's sister's house as we do every year. It was very nice since Jon's other sister that lives in Kansas came to visit with her family. The kids usually do their drawing for Christmas grab bag at Thanksgiving, but this year, we actually celebrated Christmas a little early. It was nice for all of the cousins to open their grab bag presents together as opposed to on the phone. We ate a lot as usual and had so much fun. The fun didn't end there...

The day after Thanksgiving, a group of us went to the zoo. I think I laughed more that day than I have in a long time. The cousins were at their prime and weren't afraid to show it. Please note, there were no animals harmed in the making of these photos! :)

The Bilich girls with 4 out of 7 cousins at entrance of the zoo.

My nieces Tara (L) & Mary (R).
Tara rescues Mary from the hand eating wolf.

The girls & the GIANT loon.


My nephew Luke and his new friend the crocodile. Or is it an alligator?

The trip to the zoo was a success and we had a great time seeing our family from Kansas. Glad they did the drive and not me! I'm afraid that I would've left a child behind (on purpose).


Moving on...On November 27th, Devyn had a field trip to a local tree farm and it happened to be the coldest day ever. I am not exaggerating! It was windy and FREEZING! We sucked it up and enjoyed watching the people at the farm make a wreath (I had never seen that before) and then had a chance to see a few "rare" animals. For anyone who ever wanted to know, yes, reindeers DO exist. We also had a chance to see a white snow fox. I guess it was perfect weather for them.

Ally & Devyn hanging out as usual.

Well, that about sums it up for November. Look for some misc. pictures throughout the blog to bring you up to speed.

OCTOBER

I'm not sure if I can remember back that far, so I am counting on the pictures to refresh my memory. The kids had a great Halloween this year. The weather wasn't too bad, a little cool, but bearable. We kept the boys in the wagon while we went Trick or Treating. They didn't seem to mind as long as they could "sample" some of their candy. By the time we got back, they each polished off a bag of goldfish, a sucker, a couple pieces of candy, & a juice box. Devyn was kind enough to help collect candy for the boys since I couldn't keep up with the kids running from door to door pulling a wagon.


We did something a little different this year. We split up. As a tradition for the past 5 years, we have gone into a different neighborhood to our friend's house, eat dinner, then go out. Alayna & Molly decided that they wanted to go with their friends this year as opposed to hanging out with their family!

The kid's costumes are as follows:

Alayna & Molly as "LOLA" (Hannah Montana's sidekick)
Their 2 friends were Hannah Montana.

(L to R) Dominick, Devyn, & Anthony
The boys were ghosts.


This is Ally (Devyn's BFF) & Devyn in their 50's poodle skirt ensemble.

All in all, we had a TON of candy and a really good time. They are already planning their costumes for next year.
P.S. The candy is all gone! Jon wasn't too happy this year...not many Snickers in the loot.

TAKE A QUICK PEEK

Aliens have not taken over my body. I am actually posting ANOTHER entry within the same week. There's not too much to report, but I have added the girls new school photos on the slideshow above. I did not order them this year, so they were scanned from proofs that are not that good. We have plans to have a family picture taken soon for the holidays. Keep your eye out for them.

If you are reading this, please send me an email to let me know because I do not have email addresses for everyone since I've switched computers. I'd like to let everyone know when I update, so if you'd like a notice when I do that, please let me know. Plus, I'd like to have all of the addresses I'm missing. My address is: s.bilich@insightbb.com

Thanks & love to all...

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Time has gotten the best of me again! It has been almost a month since my last entry and I am embarrassed to not have written sooner. I have no excuses other than I am busy. My new computer runs a lot faster so it will be less of a "project" for me to add pictures, etc. Backing it up a little bit, I will include the girls 1st day of school (which I meant to add earlier than today's date) and some that I've taken recently.

The girls are getting ready for Halloween. Their costume of choice is...Devyn (50's girl with poodle skirt), Alayna I think this is what she'll be (Lola-Hannah Montana's sidekick), Molly (Lola too!) Both of their friends are going as Hannah Montana and they are tag teaming the trick or treating scene. I'm not quite sure what the boys will be right now because neither of them will wear a costume. They don't even like hats or anything that's not clothes. So, they might just be wearing a Halloween shirt. It depends on the weather too.

Much of my life was taken hostage because I was doing the school directory for Molly & Devyn's schools. I have recently finished and am working on the task of finishing my famiy's newsletter. Nothing else exciting except for...we have a new addition to our family. Oh, I guess I shouldn't phrase it THAT way! Through Jon's work auction, we won a Sony Handycam video camera. I am sooooooo thrilled. Alayna is 10 and I don't have any videos of the kids. I just keep in the back of my mind that this will be good blackmail footage down the road. Ha ha!

Well, enough of me chatting...Onto the pictures!

1st day of school

Dominick & Anthony

Dominick & his brown marker art

Anthony posing with his Binky