WHAT?

Maybe if I spit out the binky, my weight will go down???? Holy Moley!

Me Amo Della

I sincerely think that all children are extremely intelligent and in their own way, excel in one way or another. Delaney is different. Besides being an absolute wilderbeast these days (LOL) she has shown me her thirst for knowledge and how much fun it can be. So she's not only cute, but she's also smart. And she's a blonde! So she can sing her entire alphabet, count to 18, knows her shapes and her colors. She loves songs and reads books constantly. So here she is (in action with her fuzzy hair and all) showing me that "orange" is no longer orange. You ask her what color it is and it is now "orange, Auntie's favorite color". She found purple on the front rainbow and told me it was "Purple, grandma's favorite color". She then went on to show me brown. "Brown is the color of Grandma's eyes" "Blue is my eye color" and then she stood up, went to the bathroom and told me to hold her "pantilones" (pants in Italian) while she "had to go to the bano (bathroom in Italian)". She also says "Me Amo Della" (my name is Della). She's a hoot this one!

Pizza, Pizza......

 

Mmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmm. Yeah sure, Kat. He doesn't eat pizza.......
He is too stinkin' cute and all boy isn't he??????

Yeah sure, I don't like pizza

Ok, Catherine & Mike (My cousin and her fab hubby)came over - Cat & Ty Guy came over to visit and Mike came over to check my house for Central AC installation and we had pizza for dinner. They told us Ty Guy doesn't eat pizza.....yeah sure he doesn't.....check this out!


 

Never a dull moment

I've been trying to get in touch with Natalie's allergist now for a few days. So I got hold of them yesterday and they told me to bring her right in. So I brought her in, and they did more allergy testing because her skin was horrendous. The good news is that it is manageable with creams and change in diet. The bad news is that we found a few more allergies! She is now allergic to potato, green bean, plums, peas and MOLD. Great, just great. She is finally at a normal weight (17.6 lbs., 24 3/4 inches long. She has to have an endoscopy soon and hopefully we will get some answers from that.

I'll keep you all posted as I find out more. Here she is eating gluten free, wheat free, pasta. She had a bit of tomato sauce, and she loved it!

Days of Summer

Finally a day of relief after a heatwave! Today it is breezy and in the 70's after such high humidity during the week that we were all miserable.....here are photos of the kids in the "kiddie" pool out front of my house. Natalie just loves the water and the girls just love involving their baby sister in their fun......

A few more pool photos....

I agree with Christy.....Brian definitely has a fetish for these noodles! I also attached a photo of Cindy showing Delaney how to "blow" bubbles in the pool with the noodle and a photo of me and my gorgeous doggy nephew, Apollo...it was a great day!

Fun in the Sun

It has been sweltering hot, high in the 90's and almost 100 here in Braintree the last few days. Christy called us and invited us over and we were sooooo there! Thanks so much Auntie Christy & Cindy for such a fabulous day at the pool....the kids had a great time (so did the adults) and we appreciated cooling off after a long, hot day.....

Here are a few photos from today, one of Samma in the pool, one of Grandma & her two sidekicks Della & LiLi and one of Brian joisting off the pool with a noodle! talk about fun in the sun!

Baseball Season is officially over............

How do you keep kids busy? D-E-M-O

We decided to do the bathroom over and of course, we couldn't for the life of us figure out how to get the ceramic tiles up off the floor. So I call my friend, Jay, who is a jack of all trades and he tells me to smash them with a hammer. Hmmmmmm. Della was tired, Samma was fighting with Della, and they were both crying. So I hand them both a hammer and asked them if they would PLEASE go smash the bathroom tiles.....they were in seventh heaven. Now the bathroom is done, my floor is linoleum and it looks fabulous! I'm so excited. Next up, central AC. Wooooo hooooo.

Merry-Deb Pre-School Class of 2007

Here she is, my beautiful Samma, all decked out in her graduation garb. You do know that she is one of the smartest and sweetest (when she wants to be that is) little girl and I am so proud of her. It truly made my morning that she wanted me to walk her to her graduation (it was held at the Middle School up the street) and we skipped and held hands the entire time. I haven't had that much fun in a long time. We chatted, we talked about kindergarten and she even practiced her songs for me. When we got there, she had to hug her friends (they are wearing red because they graduated from kindergarten). Her friend, Rachel, broke her arm on Kasie's monkey bars a few weeks before (that is Kasie in the photograph as well). So we had a great day and although tired, Samma had a great time as well. Now I only have to keep myself sane for about 8 weeks while they are all home for Summer vacation. *Sigh*

The Smiling Graduate

 

I realized the photo I posted showed Sam with a big frown on her face. She was so tired and bored, and of course, we promised her a present after the graduation. So did we honestly expect her to be patient while we took a ton of photos? You guessed it. Of course not. So I am posting a photo of her from the beginning of the day when she was excited and happy to be walking across that stage!

Off to Kindergarten She Goes!

 

Here is Samma with her proud family after celebrating her Pre-School Graduation today. She did absolutely great and had so much fun up on that stage! We had an absolutely faboulous day and we had a little pizza party for her at the end of the night. She was so excited and is so proud that she will be going off to kindergarten at the Hollis School (the same school Brendan goes to. We are so looking forward to have two children whining about finishing their homework! We just cannot wait! Until then though, she does look cute in her cap & gown- now doesn't she????

Giving up some Sisterly Love

Yes, Robin, I have been reading your blog, but every second I get seems to be pulled away these days. I wanted to comment, but someone started screaming and well, I just never got back onto the blog. So I wanted to say Congratulations on your new job! I am so excited for you. Taking a leap of faith regarding employment is hard- I remember being in the same position when Brian and I first got married and I got an offer to go for the money at a private law firm or take a job with the D.A.'s office- I would have had to take a pay cut for that one! So I went against what my heart was telling me and took the money (actually it was because Brian told me the money was too hard to pass up at the private law firm). Anyway, I jumped, I took the leap. It wasn't a good leap for me, and I ended up working in the D.A.'s office after all, but the point is, I took the leap! It's an important stepping stone in life I guess. So good luck with the new job and I just know you will be just fine. Change is always hard at first, but I've met many new friends along my journey as everything happens for a reason. And the money doesn't hurt either right?????

So while we are on sisters, I had a rough day with Delaney yesterday.....this girl just figured out that she's no longer the baby and that if she does something to Natalie I will give her some attention- even if it is negative attention. I thought Samantha was bad. This girl is brutal. I was driving and she decides she's going to take Natalie's pacifier and throw it out the window on the highway! Are you kidding me? Thank GOD I had a spare. Then as I was running around in the afternoon, Della opened her window yet again (I have to utilize those darned window locks) and she decided she was going to chuck Natalie's bottle out the window! I turned around, and dropped the kids off with Brian, and went to my destination SOLO. Brian was so mad he took her beloved blankey and put it in time-out- she was hysterical. Hopefully she'll learn soon that I love all my babies to pieces and that if she just asks me for attention (without saying "mama mama mama mama mama" 5 times in one sentence) that I will be more than happy to oblige. I honestly don't see that happening anytime soon as we are at that horrendous toddler stage where the testing begins.

So in the spirit of sisters today, I am putting on a few photos of my girls getting along. Although I do have to say, keep looking out for my "oldie but goody" blog where I'm going to post some older photos just for some laughs....I had this great one of Robin & I playing Barbie's together, but I cannot quite get it as clear as I want it on the blog......hmmmmm. I'll figure it out. Someday.

Dontcha wish your girlfriend was H-O-T like me?

Ha! Here is lil' Lainey Kate with her static electricity hairdo!

Giving her big brother some lovin'

Here's a precious photo of Lili giving her big brother, Brendan a smooch on the cheek! I think he's enjoying it, dontcha think? I can honestly say, this kid is the best big brother in the entire world. He is so good to his sisters and every day I am so thankful that I have such a wonderful son who is always there for me and the girls.....we are lucky!

A day at the park.....

Samantha had a baseball game tonight so I took her and the rest of the brood to watch while Brian stayed home and painted the bathroom. What a surprise they had when my mom showed up and played with the girls....they just love "nonnie".....so here is Della playing Ring-Around-The-Rosie with Natalie, a photo of Della with her "wild" hair after coming down the slide, and one of Natalie trying to climb up the slide to get to Samma......





And who could forget my cute little guy with his new "summer" haircut....isn't he just so precious?

To remember is sweet.......

Sometimes it comes in waves. You just sit there watching something and you feel as if you have done it before. Or you just get a sense of calmness and you laugh about a distant memory. These photos were taken on Father's Day when we took the kids and Brian's brother's family (Billy, Aaron & Lacey) to Sunset Lake before we went to Christy's for the cookout. The boys (and Lace) were in the water playing water football and I looked at the scenery around me. It was then I laughed and couldn't stop for a little bit. Mom & Auntie Diane: Do you remember the time we were in Mema's living room and we were laughing at her family photo that was taken on the beach and she got mad because it reminded us of a Huey Lewis video? Well, that was my moment. The beach, the scenery, the other people around. It just cracked me up. But someone please tell me, did we ever figure out the name of that song????

I can see Mema sneering now.......................

Isn't it sweet?

Sometimes you just have that camera ready at the perfect moment. We all know I sleep with my camera and I always have one eye open so I just happened upon this beautiful photo. It was Father's Day morning and all the kids were playing with daddy on the floor.....it was so nice to see them having fun together and I just love how much the girls love daddy......now if only my B-O-Y was home from Grandma's! I need someone to dropkick right Brendan? I'm gonnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa getcha!

My Husband, My Best Friend

So here we are 18 years later and we're grown responsible adults who are more in love every day. We have been married for 11 years (June 1, 1996) and we have been together for almost 18 years now....we've officially known each other for more than half of our lives. It has been an amazing journey. It is very rare that you meet your soul mate, your true "other" half. Don't get me wrong, we have our share of fights just like anyone else, but it truly makes us stronger. He is my husband, my best friend. Someone I never ever want to live without. Someone who holds me close when all seems lost and makes everything ok in the world even if it isn't. He makes me laugh like no one else can, and he is rational when I am not. He is the glue that holds me together and he is the one person in the world I can turn to at any hour of any day. So on Father's Day, I want to say how much of a wonderful husband you are, what a fabulous father you are, and how much you mean not only to our children, but to me. I love you Brian....and you are soooooooooooo H-O-T!

What a great day!

We had so much fun today with my dad at Christy's pool party....per usual, it was great to see him and hang out with him for the day. It seemed as if he truly enjoyed his day, watching baseball on TV with Cindy's dad and then hanging out in the yard with Brendan & Brian (and Billy & Aaron) playing catch with his new glove Christy & Cindy gave him! He was also holding his sidekick Natalie, who has made herself into papa's girl (she was snuggled into my old spot....papa's shoulder). So it seems as if it was a great day, and it will be an even better week now that papa is on vacation. Brendan is looking forward to spending time with Papa fishing now that we got papa his fishing license as well......have fun this week dad, and if you get some time, stop by. We'd love to see ya! Happy Father's Day to my daddy! We love ya.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Happy Father's Day to the man who made me into the woman I am today. Thank you dad for all of your guidance, all of your love and support. When I was growing up, it was always nice to feel the safety of a dad's love and know that no one, ever, would hurt me without going through you first! You screened my boyfriends and intimidated them (thanks), you loved and accepted my husband as if he were your own son, and then you showed your more "gentle" side when all of my children were born and you simply held them close and loved them unconditionally. So today, on Father's Day, thank you so much for everything. Thank you for being so strong, yet so gentle. So loving and so protective. Thank you for being the best "daddy" a girl could ever ask for. I love you soooooooo much and I hope you know that I am everything I am today because you loved me..........Hugs & Kisses..........
Love,
Stacey

Family Addition Update

No, you freaks, I am N-O-T preggers......unless I gave birth to a critter, which I doubt! So Samma brings home her new buddy "Lightning Cinnamon" which has since gotten a name change to "Sean Paul"....so Brendan, of course, begs for a new hamster as well. So here is his new buddy, "Jet Michael"....isn't he just precious? So now we have two hamsters and a lovely fish. Four kids. Two parents. And weekend teenagers. Geez, I've got quite the house full these days.

What did you just say?

Delaney went to a doctor's appointment I had for Natalie and discovered a Mr. Potato Head. So all day I heard "I need a tato head"....so I took her to Wal-Mart, bought her a Mrs. Potato Head and sat back with the camera. She took all the parts out, played with the eyes, nose and hands, giggled a bit, and whoa, what's this? She opens his "butt" as she calls it and informs me (with a giggle) that her Mrs. Tato Head has "junk in her trunk"........ok, how old is this kid anyway? Here is a shot of her looking into the so called trunk.....god I love the classic toys! Nothing better than a tato head to make the kids (and their moms) giggle!

Peek-A-Boo

Here's the strange part about kids.....you give them toys and they never use them for the way in which they are intended. I guess it means that they have a great imagination, and it's really funny to watch. Natalie and Delaney love to crawl on the floor and play "follow the leader". So here is a great shot of Natalie crawling underneath her exersaucer, with Delaney in tow.....we now have an obstacle course!