Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are just a few of my favorite photos from Christmas....Brendan and daddy rocking out to Rock Band,, Sam excited for her moon sand....Grandma and Mimi with their shirts, and Brendan with his new phone....Della just excited! More to come later, just thought I'd show a few off!

Another snowy day in Braintree..........

Today we had a storm after the storm and the kids were loving it......i cannot even explain watching how funny they were, just tackling each other and having a great time. Of course, the only thing missing was Jolie standing on top of the big ole white mountain barking at everyone she could see....so we took care of that too. Have fun watching!

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ok, it's been snowing out for a few days straight now and we've gotten much more than the anticipated 15" snow fall- however, besides playing in the snow and building forts, the kids decided to warm up after a while so Delaney put on a dancing show for us! It is hilarious and there are quite a few, but this one is my absolute favorite!

Natalie's 1st fun experience in the snow

In 2006, Natalie was only 4 months old and couldn't get to enjoy the snow. Last year she wanted nothing to do with it and kept shutting the door. We didn't expect too much from her this year to be honest, especially when she wacked the snow when I opened the door and said "no- too cold"- somewhere along the line she got the urge to try it anyway..........and fell in love! She kept Brian outside for about an hour, until her face was so raw red she couldn't take it anymore. So here she is, her first snow debut...........enjoy!

A message from mom

Mom looked better on day #2. Day 3 brought another reaction and she was up at night scratchng again and she felt miserable. she wanted me to videotape the jingle bells socks I brought in to her tonight and she wanted to say hello to everyone. Of course, today was supposed to be release day, but i dont think she's coming home. She has some stomach bug and is feeling miserable. Wish her luck & please keep her in your thoughts. She needs some healthy vibes

here is mom hanging out in her hospital attire while waiting this rash out.....she got admitted to the hospital and has been there for 3 days now, getting IV steroids to calm down the reaction. So now she is hoping to be released today, but the dr.'s are truly baffled as to what is causing it. She was a potential "go home" for today, but of course she starting "going and throwing" in the middle of the night and now they don't know what is going on....my poor mama. Here are a few photos from day 2 when Delaney and I visited and brought her sugar free chocolate and sweets. Then Della and mom shared "burn injury" stories and showed off their burn marks.

Hugs for Grandma from all of us. We love you and hope you get better soon!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snooooooooooooooow

Ahhh the first "taste" of snow......got to love it. The kids had so much fun, and even though it was only a "dusting" they were so excited. I love the excitement this time of year.....it makes me smile :)

Is she my kid or what????

I went to go into my bedroom on my cleaning spree and left Natalie watching dora in the living room. Well, she must have changed the channel because when I came back in the room she was dancing and giggling and staring.............I turn the corner to see what is making her so quiet and happy and here she is watching "Ellen" intently staring at the Chippendales dancers! LOL.

The start of the holiday season is here......

Samantha had her Thanksgiving Feast at school today and we were all invited. I dressed Della & Mimi in matching outfits (i love to do that) and we had a great time listening to the music and the poems her class performed.

Here is a photo of the 3 girls together .....

My favorite photo of Sam....."Eat Ham" LOL

And last but not least, here is Sam's class singing "I will survive" a song about a turkey who is about to get axed, but then gets strong.......and survives! check out the moves on my baby girl....she has got some serious rhythm.....

Happy turkey day to all and i'll post more photos of the holiday festivities at my house!

a few ways of remembering Mema

Before Brendan was born Mema made him this beautiful blanket. Of course, she made it multi-colored because we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl. I always put the blanket up because it is so special to me and I don't ever want to lose it or have it get ruined. So the other night, on her birthday, I took the blanket and wrapped my godson, Joey, in it. I snuggled him and smiled because it just so reminded me of her in that moment.....


And then there was my other smile of the day. Brendan came home from travel basketball with his new uniform.......#22. I nearly cried. 22 seems to be Mema' s number (she was born on 11-22-22) and lived at 22 Buttonwood for years and years. So when he came home with this, I just knew in my heart she was telling me she was here.

the only thing I don't have a photo of is the strangest thing of all. I went to go see Katie after she had joey and my foot stepped on something. I looked down and it was a big yellow rose bud. Mema and I LOVED yellow roses and we gave them to each other all the time.

So today I am smiling because I know she is looking down on me. And i love her for that.

what a week!

first of all, Brian had surgery on friday and is doing quite well. He is hopping around and on crutches and now has to go to physical therapy sometime soon to strengthen the knee back up again. Here is a photo of MiMi and Brian the day after his surgery...he is definitely on the road to recovery...

So of course what does a mama do when Daddy is recuperating? I took them bowling of course......they loved it!

Time for hair cuts!

I brought Natalie to the hair dressers today to get a trim and her hair was apparently a mess! They had to cut more than 3-4 inches off as her hair was growing in uneven and her bangs were in her eyes.....so i was so upset when they gave her a bob because she was the one with HAIR. LOL.

Della said she needed a cut too and the hairdresser agreed that she too had some dead hair going on.........

When i grow up I want to be.....either mommy or a circus clown!

Delaney went into the bathroom the other day and comes out giggling. I ask what is so funny and she tells me that she couldn't see her eyebrows.......I instantly think she shaved them off or something so I run into the room only to find her with brown eyeliner and a set of newly made eyebrows.........

And giggling little Natalie decided to turn herself into a lovely looking circus clown. Needless to say, lots of clean up time was needed but it got a good laugh for the day :)

Dora, the Diva and the Dining Room Table

This week has been a bit crazy and today things are calming down a bit more (thank goodness).......these photos were taken yesterday when 1) my dining room table had all my school books all over it, 2) Natalie was hanging out watching Diego and Dora (per usual) and (3) Della was, well, just being a diva.

I had my second nursing exam yesterday and it was hard, but it went good. So this mess you see on my dining room table is going away but not for long. I have my final exam on December 12th and then I'm off until the first week of January when I begin my LAST nursing class. I am so excited. It's been such a long time coming.....

of course, I get a good chunk of studying done at home because of Diego and Dora........LOL. Gotta love those little spaniards.........LOL. When i was at clinical the other night there was a patient that no one could speak with because she only spoke Spanish. So of course, I got by with a little help from my dora/diego knowlege (Hola! gracias......uno, dos, tres.............LOL) it wasn't much, but it helped.

last but not least, is my Della being a dressy diva........she loves dressing in boots and we don't have many pairs of those lying around so I'm off to get her a new "cool" pair on Friday.

we're off to get together with a friend for a play date and some mommy down time. I'll be back later! Hope everyone is well......

Welcome to the world, Joseph Ryan Welch

Joey has finally arrived! He was a few weeks early, but after 4 months of bed rest, he couldn't have come at a better time. On Saturday night Katie's water broke and after being in labor for 4 1/2 hours, my godson arrived at 2:23 a.m.

We went to see him yesterday and he is absolutely perfect. I love his gorgeous hair color (it's an ashy blonde) and he was so alert and was so cuddly. I didn't want to leave, but i had to go study.

So here are a few photos (I went to see him solo in the afternoon and then I brought the kids in last night). So glad that mom and baby are healthy & happy and that my little "dude" is finally here.

Welcome to the world, Joey. we love you.

A much calmer week - I'm giving thanks

this is the time of year where we give thanks for lots of things. This week I am very thankful for my family and thankful that I am in a good place right now. After the week I had last week, I want to sit, close my eyes, and smile.

This week is so much calmer than last week. I am so happy that last week is behind me and I have finally been able to sigh a quick sigh of relief. I love the crisp weather and the sound of the roaring fire today. I am thankful that Delaney, Sam, and Brendan are in school and i'm sitting on my couch with Natalie just cuddling today. I know the calmness isn't going to be for much longer. I have an appointment this afternoon and then i'm back to studying for my next exam which is on Tuesday and is very, very intense with way too much information to know. I will be done with this class in December, however (one month from today to be exact) and then I will be in my last nursing class starting in January. A May graduation (the day before mother's day) is looking like it's right around the corner. I'm finally in the homestretch.

So gone is last week's insane whirlwind.......Delaney fell a week ago Sunday and after crying for hours that her head hurt i took her to the ER to be evaluated. She threw up while there and they gave her some anti-nausea meds and put her in a ct scanner - the results were negative for fractures or bleeding, but she did have a slight concussion. that was scary enough. Thursday my mom came by to visit and I got us both a hot coffee from Dunkin's. Delaney and Natalie decided to fight over who was going to give Grandma the coffee and the cover came off burning Delaney's stomach from her neck to her waist and burning her leg and her left arm. to hear a burned child scream is something one should never have to endure. i took her once again to the ER and i was literally hyperventilating. So much for nursing school-all my knowledge went out the window. All I remember is pulling her shirt off and getting cool water. My car was left running in the ER parking lot. My baby was crying. I was hyterical .........they called pedi stat and took her in immediately, treated her burns and released us. they classified her burns as partial thickness second degree burns so she had to go into Shriner's on Friday to be evaluated. While at the hospital ER she perked up after some pain meds and wanted a popsicle. They wrapped her up and told her she was a candy cane and they were going to hang her from the tree............she started giggling. what took me days to get over, only took a few seconds for her thanks to goofy nurses, purple popsicles, "cool" tape, and the princess movie Rapunzel.

*sigh* I'm enjoying sitting in front of my fire right now. I'm very thankful and very content.

A little bit of Fall fun......

Ahhhhhhhh my favorite time of year. The crisp feeling of Autumn, the roaring fires in the fireplace and the chill in the air.......so refreshing. As I write this, Natalie and Della are sleeping, probably from being outside playing in the leaves all day. They were sleepy little girls tonight.......

We had a lot of fun this morning playing outside after Brendan and his cousin, Aaron, raked up the leaves from the front and back yard.....they made big piles and the kids just kept on jumping. I went and picked up my beautiful goddaughter, Jamie, today, and she hung out and jumped along with us all.

So here are my favorite photos of the day. I hope you like them. i sure do........now bring on the turkey so i can pull out my snowmen!!!! I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS............

Baby Shower for Katie

today we had my sister-in-law, Katie's baby shower and we had it at our house.......it was a fun time with about 25 people and we sooooooooo cannot wait for my nephew to get here already! Katie finally got off bed rest this week (she's 37 weeks, almost 38, and has been on bedrest since week 25!

Special thank you to AnnMarie Brock (my awesome cousin) who made the most beautiful and amazing cake for Joey! I cannot put into words how much it meant to me that she made something so special and her talent is just amazing. I truly think she should quit her job at Shaw's and open her own business.....not only will I back her, but with her know how and my love to decorate anything edible, we could be billionaires.......so thank you again, it meant so much....but don't just take my word for it, look at this cake and judge for yourself :)

Here are a few photos of Katie (and Joey.....LOL).........