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

Birthday Bash

The girls celebrated their 7th birthday (a few days early) at Color Me Mine pottery studio on Saturday...it's a paint your own pottery place.

The theme was puppies, but that was really only for the plates and cups - the cake was pretty traditional. They had such a good time.

Each girl had to pick one piece of pottery to paint....they had a choice of a horse, bunny, starfish, cupcake trinket box, sea turtles or a dog...and I must say the majority of them chose the horse and cupcake. Except for McKenna - she chose the bunny.

Sydney, Hannah, Katie & Alex

All of the girls did such a great job creating their masterpieces - all 13 of them - and really had a good time doing it.

The party crew

After they were done painting, we had ice cream cake (yum!)

Then it was time to open presents! They were so happy - they each got FOUR webkinz (this makes 12 total for each of them!), lots of arts and crafts, gift cards and a few "real" toys.

The loot!

On Thursday - their actual birthday - we will celebrate with family and more cake after dinner. Oh...and let's not forget cupcakes for their class!!!

They've been getting cards and presents in the mail all week - it's the birthday that never ends :-) But they love it and it's fun enjoying it with them.

Happy Birthday (early) Alyssa & McKenna - I simply cannot believe you're almost 7 years old.

Adventures in ice skating

The girls Brownie troop rented out the ice skating rink last weekend and the girls had their first adventure in ice skating! I must say - I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did.

McKenna & Morgan

I can't skate so I figured they'd be better trying it by themselves...and I just watched and took pictures. Both of them took 2 laps around the rink with the assistance of the wall and then they went for it! They took a few spills of course...

but they laughed hysterically which was great.

Towards the end Alyssa took a fall and hit her head on the ice - that ended her adventure for the night - but McKenna hung in there till they kicked them off the ice.

And now they've decided they want ice skates for their birthday - I'm not sure we're quite ready for that just yet! Lessons maybe? We'll see.

No Cavities!

I took all 3 kids to the dentist last week and I'm happy to report that no one has a cavity! I absolutely LOVE this dentist. It's decorated in an "under the sea" theme and it's very bright and cheery. Everyone who works there is incredibly friendly and patient and unfortunately, Dr. Sona, the dentist we've always seen is moving to Greensboro, NC later this summer. We'll be turned over to good hands I'm sure, but we sure will miss her!

One of the "tricks" they use to help kids relax in the chair is sunglasses. Here's Brennan modeling his turn in the chair sporting the adult-sized glasses - too cute!

He did ok - he started gagging during the teeth brushing part, but overall, he did a great job.

Alyssa did awesome - she went first for both her bitewing x-rays and her cleaning. Her teeth are in great shape, x-ray looked great and her 2 top teeth are finally coming in. She got an "A" on her report!

As for McKenna...she was my lil trooper. I was so proud of her at the end I almost cried. Not only did she have bitewing x-rays and a cleaning, but she had to be fitted for a finger sucking appliance....an applicance that is somewhat like a retainer that she'll have to wear until she quits sucking her 2 fingers. She's done this since she was a baby and no matter how many bribes we've tried, she just can't quit. It's not that she won't really - she can't - it's a subconscious habit that she can't break.

So they make the vanilla scented mold, put it in the tray and insert the tray in her mouth. She lasts for about 15 seconds before she vomits on herself. Alyssa begins to gag, Brennan is asking a million questions and I'm about to lose my mind. David makes the kids disappear with him in the waiting room, the nurse cleans up McKenna and gives her a t-shirt from their office....and we start all over. She was a little panicked at that point, but I taught her to breathe in and out her nose and finally on the 3rd try they got a perfect impression so they can make the appliance! She was so patient and worked so hard on her breathing that she made it through without vomiting - and I was so incredibly proud of her. She was able to choose our dinner location for the night as a reward for being so good!

All in all it was a great visit and besides the appliance installation, we don't have to go back for another 6 months.

Say CHEESE!

And the winner is...

DAVID!!!! We completed our weight loss challenge today and he won 1st place. He lost 25.1 pounds during the 6 week program, but he gained much more...$294 to be exact :-) I'm very proud of him and he looks great.

Unfortunately, I didn't do as well - I only lost .6 this week for a total lost of 6.6. I'm not sure what is wrong or why it's taking so long, but I'm determined not to quit. Any suggestions that have worked for you in the past are definitely wanted and welcomed at this point.

I'm off to San Diego tomorrow for work - returning Thursday night - so no posts until then. I have a few to catch up on....our trip to the dentist with the kids and ice skating yesterday so stay tuned.

Have a great week!