MOTHER'S DAY

Leave it to Molly & her cousin Tara...they always know how to have a good time. Good thing all bikinis were tied tightly, they had chicken fights shortly after!

Alayna, Devyn, and their cousin Tara goofed around, as always.

As you can see, Dominick LOVED his first time in the pool. He even had his little matching swim shirt and shorts on. Anthony loved it even more so, that I couldn't even get a picture because he was out of the pool before his little butt cheeks even got wet.

My sweet, little, Anthony. He obviously decided that his cup just wasn't quite clean enough, so he rinsed it OVER & OVER & OVER again in the dog's bowl. We figured after the first time, it really wasn't going to matter. He hated the pool water, but loved the dog's! Go figure!

Mother's day was great for me. I had 5 special reasons to celebrate! My day was actually a weekend celebration. On the Friday before, I kissed my family goodbye and sped out of the driveway. No, just kidding! My friend picked me up and we headed for the Hilton (hotel) and got ready for a girls' night out including dinner, jacuzzi, girl talk, and a FULL night's sleep that I haven't had in about 2 years! It was a well needed break from all the daily stresses. We stayed overnight and checked out the next day.


It was an even more glorious stay since we got our room for free due to a housekeeper's oversight. As we checked out, they asked if our stay was perfect and room was clean. As a matter of fact, it was beautiful. We commented that they might want to double check the microwave because we had to wipe it out (to cook our gourmet breakfast of Hot Pockets) but didn't scrub it out. They apologized for the inconvenience, which was no big deal, and said they had a surprise. They ripped our bill in 1/2! So, in the end, it was a relaxing, fun, and FREE weekend.


When I got home on Saturday, I unpacked and repacked for a trip into Chicago. I will mention, that the house was spotless! Everyone must have worked really hard, and quickly. I wasn't even gone 24 hours. I also got all of my beautiful handmade cards from the girls. In Chicago, we had dinner at Jon's parents' house on Saturday evening. On Sunday, we went to his sister's house for a Mom's Day cookout. There's always lots of people and good food. The girls swam with their cousins for about 4 hours and only came out for food and bathroom breaks. The boys kept busy and DID NOT whatsoever like the pool. I think it freaked them out. However, they ate like pigs and got dirty like them too.


This year, Mother's Day was so much fun for me and it was nice to see everyone else having just as much fun. Wouldn't you know it, I didn't even get a picture with any of my kids, my mother, or Jon's mother on Mother's Day. I will have to have Jon take a picture of the kids and myself. Keep your eye out for more photos soon.

FIELD TRIP: MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY

Alayna...our future astronaut!

Inside the "heart": Alayna (R) & her friend Mackenzie (L) give me a quick smile.

This was really cool. Alayna got a chance to experience what a submarine training experience was like. She & her friend had to try to keep the submarine level so they didn't nosedive to the bottom. They failed a few missions, but came back determined to pass...and they did!

This is one of the pictures Alayna didn't want to take, you know, the one with her MOM! Funny thing is that I am not really sure what we're standing in front of because Alayna gave me the OK that we could take a picture, but we had to take it right there because she didn't have time to pose in front of everything! Her infinite patience was in rare form that day.

There you have it! A small glimpse into our exciting day. Our day started with a bus trip beginning at 7:15 am. We arrived at the museum at 9:30am and departed about 2:30. Lucky us, we hit Chicago traffic and didn't get back to the school until about 5:00 pm. It made for a long day, but we had a great time.

Everyone was broken into groups, so it was just Alayna, Mackenzie, & I. Mackenzie is one of her really good friends and lives near us. So, we all knew each other well and goofed off. We saw all exhibits except for the coalmine & the Zephyr train. Maybe next time. The girls made sure that I got my exercise that day. They were in charge of the map and they didn't want to go one floor at a time, just whatever part looked the next coolest thing to do or where they saw some of their friends.

We took a tour of a U-505 German submarine that was captured. I remember seeing it from when I was a kid, but it was even more interesting as an adult. The girls were flabbergasted and just ooooh'd and aaaah'd for awhile after we were finished.

All in all, it was a fun and educational day. It was nice to have a little one on one time with Alayna. She gets mixed up in the shuffle at times and is growing up faster that I can keep up with her. I'm sure that she enjoyed doing some "big kid" stuff. If it were up to her, she & her friend would've liked that I stayed about 20 feet behind them, but I kept bugging them for pictures and assisted in a game plan so we could see a lot of the museum's 3 floors!

That's all for now. Weather's been kind to us lately, so that means many more photo opportunities to come. My quiet time is up, Dominick is banging on the wall. That's how he lets me know that he's awake! Anthony just sits there & smiles until I pick him up.

Happy Mother's Day to all who it may apply...until next time.

P.S.

I'm just checking to see that I did this correctly. I've entered some emails to automatically let you know when I've updated my blogspot. If you receive one, great. If not, and you'd like to, email me and let me know that you would. The email is at the top of the blogspot page. I'll be back soon to post Chicago pictures. Bye for now!

HOLD ON TIGHT, HERE WE GO...

This is how the kids enjoyed one of our 1st nice days of the season. The girls set the playset up as a little waterslide. The boys discovered the hose, with their clothes on, of course! Their diapers weighed more than they did when they were finished.

This was taken on the same day as the water pictures. The boys (L:Dominick & R:Anthony) have been interacting a lot more with each other now. They were sharing drinks and a pacifier. I love this picture!

This is Molly & her Box-a-saurus named Ptara (pronounced Tara) the pterodactyl. She made this mostly out of cardboard and a few accessories. What flying princess wouldn't have zebra sunglasses, a leopard bikini with a sarong, and pink toenails? We went to see the 2nd grade boxasaurus exhibit last weekend that was displayed out at the Rockford Airport. Some even went on a few of the flights. We're hoping that Ptara went to Vegas and will share her winnings! Molly also had to write a story about the flying reptile and if you couldn't guess...she got an A.

Moving on...our next big event was Molly's 1st Communion on April 28th. She looked beautiful! We had a small get together afterwards with family and it was definitely a fun-filled day.

I will also mention that Molly had a life changing event the day before her Communion. She was attempting to grow her hair to donate to Locks of Love, which requires 10 inches in order to donate, but she couldn't stand the really long hair anymore. So, as you'll see in this photo, her hair is 7 inches shorter! No complaints from me because I had to brush and dry her hair.

We're almost done! The day after the Communion was a big day for Devyn. The whole family went to the Rockford Art Museum to see Devyn's artwork that was on display for the 66th Annual Young Artist Show. She was among 4 kids from her school to be chosen. Her best friend was one of the others. Because we were at the musuem, we also looked at the other exhibits. Yeah, not such a great idea. The giggling among the 3 girls echoed through the entire museum. What where they laughing at, you ask? Well, all museums have nude statues and my girls found them. Naked butts and all.

After that, we spent a little time in the Discovery Center which is a children's science museum. Lots of really cool stuff there. The best part about it was the fact that there weren't many other people there.

Last, but certainly not least is Alayna's big day. Alayna & I are going on a field trip tomorrow (May 2nd) to Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry. The entire 4th grade is going and some have never been there before. That includes Alayna. I have not been there in 10+ years. I will download pictures in a few days after I recuperate. We are leaving school at 7:15 am and returning about 4:45 pm. I am grateful that we are taking a charter bus and not a school bus. I think I would've died! After we get back, Alayna will have her 1st softball practice at 6:00pm. I'm guessing that we will be ready to go to bed soon after we get home.

We are definitely keeping busy around here, so feel privileged that you were able to view all of these pictures in one fell swoop. Hope you've enjoyed them! Love to all!

THE END

Another day in paradise, at least it seems like it outside. It is finally warm outside with temperatures reaching almost 80! The kids have been playing outside and getting anxious for school to get over with so they can play all day. Among all of the play, there has been some work going on too. I had a garage sale last week and will have another for only one day this week. I did quite well, but still had a lot of stuff left over. We have also managed to get closets cleaned out and change over the wardrobes for the kids and get the winter clothes stored away. It sort of looks like a bomb went off in here. Hopefully we can pick up the pieces sooner than later. Enough of the boring stuff: Here's some pictures of Anthony, Dominick before & after their new summer cuts. Just for fun, we gave Dominick a mohawk and he posed with Molly and then with Alayna with his buzz. Also, don't forget to look through the slide show too, I will add pictures there as well. Hope everyone had a great Easter. I will add more pictures after Molly's First Communion next weekend. Until next time...

THAT THERE'S SOME FUNNY STUFF

I'd like to share some funny stuff that happens with the boys. Dominick as you might have heard, is a curious boy. ALL BOY is exactly what he is. Let's put it this way...my VCR now has masking tape across the entire front thanks to him. Within a matter of a few hours, he has managed to SHOVE a gamecube disk and then he "placed" not one or two, but THREE bottles of nailpolish into the apparatus. I will add that to my list of previous finds: pens, toothbrushes, paper, toy linking rings, CD's, food, & other misc. stuff. We have also discovered that Dominick LOVES to be bare naked while being at a birthday party. Nice, huh? He was getting ready for bed and he escaped! He ran into the kitchen (with about 10 people) with nothing on but his socks. He was laughing, giggling, screatching, and celebrating his nudity. Apparently he thought they said to come in your birthday suit!

Moving on...Anthony has decided to turn the tables on us. He could be described as a sweet, quiet, cuddly boy. Much to our surprise, he is currently possessed, so we think. He now stomps his foot, shakes his fist, and scrunches up his nose while he lets out a disgusted grunt. This usually happens when he is caught playing with the computer mouse or pulling out every sheet of paper that we own. He has also grown not too fond of getting his diaper changed. The other night Jon was changing his diaper and he decided to throw a fit. He was throwing anything he could reach and he was aiming for Jon's head. I think he even tried to throw a sticker, but it stuck to his hand. That really ticked him off. So, as he is throwing his tantrum, here comes Dominick. That's a BIG oh, no because he usually steps on his head or steals a toy. Instead, much to our surprise, he picks up Anthony's bottle and shoves it right in his mouth. Apparently, he couldn't take his obnoxious noise anymore either! It was sweet and funny and the same time.

It is unfortunate that I am able to post any new (recent) pictures right now. I have to send my camera in for repair and I have some pictures I'll need to recover. Hope all is well. I must go, there are 2 babies in need of my attention.

CRAZED MANIAC

If you couldn't tell by the title of this blog...I have lost my mind! Between all of the "procedures" for adding to a blog & my dinosaur of a computer that has almost ended up in the front yard, I will now wave my white flag. I hope that all of you enjoy the slide show. The fun part will be when I try to add more photos and the computer will beat me once again. I hope that when my friend reads this, she does not bust a gut since she is the "queen blogger." I will hide my head in shame when she tells me how easy it is. Please feel free to comment, but no wise cracks! Keep checking back...I may defeat this someday! The sad thing is, I am not computer illiterate. Until next time...

Coming up soon...

Keep your eyes peeled for the boys' 1st birthday party pictures. I just need to download them off of my camera. To me, that is more difficult than it sounds. Still working on that technical stuff (ha ha). It's just time consuming. I will also include pictures of the girls as well. The only new thing around here is that we just signed Alayna up for softball. She is very excited and practice starts in May. We'll keep you posted on how she does. That's all for now.

Just hanging out (testing 1,2,3)

It's a miracle...I finally figured out how to load images onto this part! Now, I just need to sort through the millions of pictures that I have on my computer. Enjoy! There will be more to come. These photos are as follows: Anthony vs. Thin Mint & Dominick with his brand new car.

MY VERY 1ST BLOG

Well, how do you like me now? I have FINALLY entered the newest computer crave known as "blogging." As you can see, I decided to take the chance to journal our lives and share a little piece of the crazy place we call home. My friend has her own spot and it made me realize that this was the way to go if you're busy and have a million people to correspond with. I have high hopes for this new "project" of mine. Knowing I haven't done this before, I hope you can bear with me while I figure out all of the features. Here's hoping I will actually figure this out and it will be bigger and better each time you visit. Please enjoy my so-called humor and all of the photos of our midgets. Thank you for following me on this journey. Ya'll come back now, ya hear?