Our budding artist

David called me on my way home today and said McKenna came bouncing off the bus with 2 letters in her hand - the school had sent them home. At first, I must admit, I thought she had done something wrong. Boy was I WAY off base (thank goodness)!

The letters were from her art teacher. The first one informed us that her art work had been submitted to the VFW Americanism contest and she had won either 1st, 2nd, 3rd or honorable mention out of all the entires submitted for the ENTIRE state of Maryland. Not just our school, or our county, but the entire state. I was amazed! And she is sooooo incredibly proud - it's just so cute.

So this Saturday the VFW is hosting a reception to announce what place each person won and honor them at an award's ceremony for the Americanism contest. Sounds great right?! Well yes....except....we have tickets and a hotel room at Great Wolf Lodge. What to do?! Well we gave her the option and as of now, David & McKenna will be staying home to attend her ceremony (which he will videotape for me to see later) and I will be taking Alyssa & Brennan to the indoor water park with my mom and the rest of the folks scheduled to go with us.

I'm disappointed that I can't attend the ceremony, but at the same time, I can't make Alyssa & Brennan miss out on a weekend they're very excited about. And needless to say, David & I are so very proud of McKenna's accomplishments! The good news is I will get to see the video of it AND she's being honored at another reception on April 24th for the piece that was selected to be on display at the Board of Ed...so I'll at least get to see that!

WAY TO GO MCKENNA...we're so proud of you!

The years go by too fast

How in the world did 5 years (almost) go by so fast? What happened to my baby boy?!!! On April 30, Brennan will turn 5 and for me that's always been when it went from feeling like a "toddler" was in the house to having a "kid" in the house. It just seems like when they hit 5 years old they've crossed a line of sorts - they're more "grown up". While I don't always miss the craziness of him being a baby...who had reflux, colic and sleep apnea (ugh!)... sometimes I wish time would slow down just a little...I guess we all do :-) Here's a look back in time - some of my fave photos of him - from not so long ago.

My dad & Lisa bought this outfit for Brennan-their first grandson- and I have always just LOVED this picture of him. He's about 8 months old here and holding one of my dad's duck calls. He's not a hunter yet, but David hasn't give up on that either!

The hat says "Papa's Little Hunter"

In this next picture, Brennan is 1 1/2 years old. We decided on a whim to go to VA Beach over Labor Day - just the 5 of us - and we had the best time! As you can see, he loves ice cream :-)

Here's my lil man having fun at my brother's rehearsal dinner...he was just barely ONE!

And last but not least, doing one of his most favorite things...EATING! He's 20 months old here.

Thank goodness for pictures and videos. They help me hold onto him as a baby while he continues to grow up right before my very eyes.

A sleepover with cousins

Last Friday Megan & Trevor - our niece and nephew - came over for a slumber party. A month or so ago we had invited them over, but Megan got sick and was unable to stay - Trevor did - but she missed out. SO, we tried again and this time were successful!

Strike a pose!

We had pizza, ice cream sundaes and the kids spent most of the night playing before it was time for a movie and bed. Dress-up was the theme of the night....from Batman to Belle (the princess) to Batgirl....we had a variety of "celebrities" hanging out with us that night!

Brennan (as himself), McKenna (cheetah girl), Megan (Belle),

Alyssa (Batgirl), Trevor (Spidey)

Unfortunately, Saturday morning came WAY too early in our house...they woke up at 7:15 a.m. UGH! Luckily they watched a movie that allowed David & I...along with Brennan who found his way into our room (as usual!) during the middle of the night...a chance to sleep in some. We finished off the slumber party with breakfast, more "celebrity" sightings and lunch before Jimmy came to get them.

Show me your muscles!

I think everyone had fun and they're looking forward to their next sleepover!

Fun at the Circus

Last week, Kerry, David, Jayci, Alyssa, McKenna, Brennan and I went to opening night at Verizon Center to see the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Waiting to go in

This was the 1st time our kids had been and overall, they had a really good time! Brennan got a little antsy towards the end, but he still had fun.

From a parent's perspective - a bit boring at times, ridiculously expensive (think $12 for cotton candy!!!), but fun to watch the looks on the kids faces :-) Of course all of my kids LOVE animals and were delighted to see zebras, horses, dancing dogs, elephants, lions, tigers....along with clowns, gymnasts and dancers. The best part - believe it or not - was the dogs. They were hilarious- dancing in tutus, riding scooters...yes, really riding a scooter and pushing it along with one paw - doing crazy jumps....just all kinds of fun and entertaining stuff.

Pretending to be clowns....or wait, are they pretending?!

Enjoying the confetti that fell at the end - I just love this picture!

Before the show, we got to go down on the floor to interact with the clowns, try on their outfits and supposedly get up close to some of the animals. Well that part never happened - it was way too crowded to even think about that happening! Brennan was scared so him & David headed for our seats - which were surprisingly close - and the rest of held out a bit longer. McKenna was the most willing to participate

Alyssa had to be forced to try on this outfit!

Hey - I paid a lot of money for those tickets - I wanted some participation from the kiddies :-)
HA HA!

Jayci showing off her crazy hat and clown nose

Yay - a family shot!

McKenna enjoying the confetti ending

Finally, after a long drive home, we got in bed at 11:30 p.m. Thank goodness it was spring break week for them - and the next day was Friday - they were tired babes!

Hoppy Easter!

WARNING: Long post ahead with lots of pictures!!

We had a fantastic day yesterday. The kids woke up around 7:45 a.m. and were ready to GO! David & I had put together the baskets the night before and as usual, hid them to make it more fun for the kids. Here are the baskets after we finished assembling them.

The girls got yet another Webkinz and Brennan's basket had a bat, ball and glove....plus candy of course. When we came down the stairs Easter morning this is what we saw...yes, Daddy had gone above and beyond AGAIN and bought each of them a set of golf clubs including the bag, headcovers, balls and tees!

They weren't overly thrilled with those...at first...but after awhile they got excited about those.

Brennan's basket was found first - and he was excited.

Then Alyssa found her's

and finally McKenna....

and boy were they thrilled about their Webkinz!!! When I came back into the family room I found Brennan curled up in a bawl, crying his eyes out....and you know why?! Because the Easter Bunny didn't bring him a Webkinz :-) I was like WHAT?!! He was super upset which broke our hearts because we thought for sure he'd love what his basket had in it...not to mention the golf clubs! I calmed him down, the candy brought his spirits back up and the tears subsided....oh and I had to promise him I'd buy him a Webkinz this week too....yea, yea, I'm a sucker :-)

After we got ready a round of pictures ensued

and then we headed to his mom's. Another round of baskets - more candy, an outfit for each and some other goodies. Ham, biscuits, some chit chat and we hit the road running again.

Alyssa, Megan, Alexis, McKenna, Brennan & Trevor

From there we went to his aunt's house right across the street from us and had an absolute fantastic time. She does the best job putting on the Easter party and much to the kids delight, had filled 300....yes 300....eggs for the Easter egg hunt! We hid 100 at a time to prolong the fun...and boy did they have fun! They climbed trees




That's my girl - climbing a tree with a skirt on!

Brennan was right there with her.




(Brennan fell out face first, but he's ok), played on the swings,


slide, tire swings




WHEEEEE!!!!!


and played basketball,


soccer, tag, frisbee and anything else they could think of! Needless to say, they (shoot me) were completely worn out...and yet, our day wasn't over!


We came home and waited for my mom to arrive....for yet another round of baskets!!! Can you say SPOILED?! She found the prettiest baskets for them




and filled them with some neat stuff. A little candy, another Webkinz for the girls (luckily Brennan was occupied with a movie so this didn't send him into another round of tears!), a Spiderman bouncy ball for him...all kinds of fun stuff.


Finally at 9 p.m. they went to bed and I wasn't far behind! Happy Easter everyone :-)

Easter Came Early...

for the kids. My Aunt Julie from Florida ALWAYS remembers them on every holiday and Easter was no different. When we came home from soccer practice Thursday night there was a box waiting for them and they were delighted. Inside were little easter baskets filled with candy and other little goodies.

Checking out the goodies!

As Brennan put it "Aunt Julie sends us the BEST presents!".

Alyssa admires her new bracelet

Showing off their baskets of candy and gifts...thank you Aunt Julie!!!

Included in the basket was lots of bubblegum.

McKenna was VERY excited to blow her 1st bubble :-)

Tomorrow is Easter and the kids are getting very excited. We have a busy day planned....I'll share more of that tomorrow.

HAPPY EASTER!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hello all -

I've been MIA for quite some time now, but I'm back now! Just tired at night and don't feel much like getting on the computer after being on it all day for work. I'll try harder to keep up more often.

We're getting ready to be heavily involved with the kids sports programs again....soccer for the girls and tball for Brennan. I love watching them play - it' s a part of parenthood I have looked forward to for so long. Yes, it gets hectic running the roads all week for practice...and yes, the games at this age aren't quite so entertaining....but it's fun and I love it! I mean where else can you watch the cutest kids ever pick grass than at a tball game :-) ha ha McKenna moved up to a new level of soccer that involves goalies so it should be more competitive and a bigger challenge for her. I'll let you know how it goes this season.

Other than that, not much happening right now. This is a boring time of the year for me - no Skins games. No golf. No sports that I enjoy on TV. BUT it's going to change soon. So for now, it's a downtime for us, but as we get closer to Spring, it'll get more exciting and busy.

Happy St. Patty's Day and to anyone going out for green beer today - BE SAFE!

Here are some pics of the girls actual bday and a few others to catch you up. Enjoy!

McKenna and her Webkinz!

Alexis, McKenna, Megan & Alyssa

The family - Feb. 28

Brennan on hat day