St. Patrick's Day

I have been blessed with some of the cutest half Irish boys on the planet!! I must really have been given the luck of the Irish since this is who I spend my days with......

Happy Holidays!!!!!

Thankful...

I am thankful for the invention on the telephone without it I would never survive the day.

I am thankful for scarfs the make me feel pulled together even when wearing yoga pants and flip flops.

I am thankful that my fat jeans still fit and that I have not gotten so fat that I need new fat jeans.

I am thankful that my husband still finds me attractive and loves me even if I am wearing my fat jeans.

I am thankful that my boys do not care what I dress them in and most days never give it a second thought.

I am thankful that I have friends that I can give a look to and they know exactly what I am thinking.

I am thankful for Facebook it makes me feel so much closer to those that are far away.

I am thankful for my dishwasher I think it is what makes my marriage a happy relationship.

I am thankful that my boys love music and often bust a move because they feel like it.

I am thankful for Nick Jr and that there is always something on tv for the boys if I need it.

I am thankful for the fact that Noah loves to play in the pack & play most days.

I am thankful that I have been able to breastfeed all three of my boys even if it ment I missed 14 months of cheese and ice cream, your welcome Samuel.

I am thankful for JetBlue direct flights without them I may never see my family and friends.

I am thankful for family traditions and keeping them and adding to them.

I am thankful that my husband works so damn hard and is an honest man.

I am thankful for Skype.

I am thankful that I have family I can call even in the middle of the night if I need them.

I am thankful that I have friendships that don't need daily or even monthly contact but are still special.

I am thankful for the people who love my boys and want to be a part of their lives!

I am thankful that my mother passed on the her love of reading.

I am thankful that my father passed on his love of travel.

I am thankful for my boys and that they make me be a better person and to strive for greatness.

I am thankful that GOD has blessed me with this amazing life that has had a few rough patches but for the most part everyday is DAMN GOOD!!!

This is a tiny list of what I am thankful for, I could go on and on but for now that's just a few.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Halloween 2010

Halloween 2010 was full of parties, crafts, and candy. We have been celebrating Halloween all month long which makes me smile, I love Halloween! Heck, I LOVE any chance to dress up in any fashion. We had a great day that started with Cookie and the boys an their annual pumpkin carving. I love that Elijah and Samuel designed the face and Cookie then cuts it out with the assistance with a power hand saw. The boys were then lucky enough to watch a few Halloween shows while skipping nap. After a power snack/early dinner it was time to transform my boys into Spiderman and Venom. It was a freezing cold night so after several layers of clothing on went the costumes and out came the smiles. Elijah and Samuel LOVED being dressed up. I surprised them each with a glow stick because what kid doesn't love a glow stick and off they went plastic pumpkins in hand to go trick or treating with the world's best dad. Noah the cutest pumpkin and I a stayed home to give out candy. Over two hours later Cookie and two very tired boys returned home with tons of candy half of which they can not eat because it has nuts in it....too bad for them but good for me! It was an awesome Halloween season and I can not wait for next year!!!!

Easter Eggs

I know it has almost been a month since Easter but I really wanted to make sure I got pictures up of our egg decorating adventure with the Cluett family. The night before Easter they were so nice to have us over to decorate eggs, Chinese food, banana splits, & great conversation and company. We had a great night just hanging out, they are an amazing family that always make you feel welcome and loved. Julie was confident that her labor trick of Chinese & banana spits was going to work and it did! Anyways here are a few pictures of the eggs that the boys had a blast decorating with the Cluett kids!

Happy New Year!!!!

WOW, I can not believe that the decade is over. In the past ten years so much has changed in my life but so much has stayed the same. I have been so blessed over the past ten years to have married my best friend after a very long wait, had two beautiful healthy boys & one more baby on the way, made some amazing new friends because of my boys, and been surrounded by my friends and family through a lot!

To ring in the new year Cookie and I stayed home and enjoyed each other company. We worked on getting the soup ready for New Years Day and Cookie enjoyed some very large king crab legs that I surprised him with. I would say it was a perfect way to bring in what I am sure is going to be a wonderful new decade full of greatness!

Merry Christmas!!!

Finally, the morning we had been talking up had arrived! I think this was the first year I actually realized how much work and effort my parents put into making Christmas amazing and I was hoping that Cookie & I were able to do the same for Elijah and Samuel. Well, I think we came pretty close! Elijah's favorite gift was Spike the dinosaur & sadly Samuel hates him and cries whenever he is on but I am sure they will become friends soon. Samuel loved his vacuum and has been cleaning since opening it. Another big hit was the sleds that Uncle Jay got them and now everyone even me is hoping for some snow to test them out. It was an amazing day for the boys and I can not wait till next year when there will be one for Popotte kid opening gifts!

Kids, Cookies, & Craziness!!!

Today was hopefully our 1st annual Christmas Cookie play date! Elijah, Samuel, & I had a few of our friends over to make and decorate cookies in hopes of having some fun, catching a few photos, and getting in the spirit. It worked we had a blast!!!! All together there were four moms (Kimberly, Keri, Tanya, & myself) and nine children (Emma, Ethan, Colin, Landon, Ashton, Lucy, Jack, Elijah, and Samuel). It was so much fun, the kids had blast and were much better than I thought they would be. Emma and Lucy became instant girlfriends, Elijah and Landon thought tools and dinosaurs were great for decorating cookies, Jack climbed on top of the table and stole some cookies, and Samuel was happy to get his hands on whatever sweet he can!

I hope we can do this again next year and maybe even a few more of our friends can join us!

Christmas Cards....

Christmas cards make me say BAHUMMM BUGGGG!!!! I tried and tried and tried to get a decent picture of my two beautiful boys and nothing. For days I tried to get the "perfect" picture of the two of them to send to friends and family for the holiday season and nothing except everyday I went to the mail box and pulled out yet another perfect holiday card of someone else's children. I had reached my last straw and today was the deadline to get the pictures I was searching for so I enlisted the help of.....Uncle Jay! Together we tied the boys up in Christmas lights and shut all the house lights off....I just knew this was it & it was going to work! YEAH RIGHT....complete bust nothing first I had my camera on the wrong setting, then they would not stand still, then the wanted to run like crazy people with the lights. For over a half hour we tried to get something but as you may have guessed we did not except for a headache and two over stimulated boys.







I did however meet my deadline and order cards with pictures I already had....Happy Holidays!!!

'O Christmas Tree!!!!!

We finally got around to getting our tree on Friday night which for all who are not local would have been the coldest night of the season so far. Cookie was home on the earlier side so once the boys got up from nap we bundled them up in their snow coats, hats, & gloves and ventured off to Lambert to get our annual Christmas tree. After the short drive across two looking at the lights Elijah was more than excited to get his Christmas tree, so we strapped Samuel into the stroller and away we went. Elijah and Samuel were so surprised at all the trees and Elijah commented more than once how hard it was to pick out a tree. This statement was very strange to me since I had no intentions of letting him picking out the tree, that's my job! While this year I let go a little more of my control and let Elijah pick out the tree. He has told us he picked out the perfect Christmas tree and it looks just like a dragon, I personally do not think it looks like a dragon at all but who am I.

After picking out the tree it was a bit down hill from there suddenly my child who only eats to survive was STARVING and then suddenly freezing to death!!! I brought him & Samuel back to the van but could not get him in fast enough because now he was complaining that he could not feel his fingers and his tears were burning his face and turning to ice!!! I have no idea where in God's name he gets his drama from but it makes me laugh! Finally, after what seemed like forever Cookie was back and we were headed home. We brought the tree up and successfully got it into the stand straight on the second try and without snapping at each other I was so proud of us.

Elijah was anxious to decorate but I explained that we would do it tomorrow and that the tree needed time to warm up before I could put the lights on it. Well, 5 am this morning Elijah was wide awake and ready to decorate the tree! Later, much later as in after nap we did decorate the tree where again I had to let go of my control and let him put this ornaments where he wanted. I love pulling out the ornaments every year and thinking about the friends and family that gave them to us at different milestones in our lives it makes me smile and even sometimes cry. We finished the tree with topping it with our new star that Elijah had the honor of placing and even though it was not exactly straight and the tree was not decorated exactly how I would have wanted I left it as is and took a minute to think about how lucky I am to have Cookie and our awesome boys to share this with!!!!

Maybe the I am getting a little bit of the holiday spirit in me!

Trick or Treat!

The excitement that was in the air the days leading up to Halloween would have made you think that it was Christmas. I am happy to report that the boys love Halloween as much as I do & that Cookie has also learned to love it too!!! We had a busy day carving pumpkins and playing outside in the nice fall weather and then after nap time we headed out to trick or treat the neighborhood with Elijah & Samuel's friends Ava & Micheal. It was so much fun to walk around with Carla and Anthony and share the holiday with good friends, I think I might be getting corny as I get older and have more kids! Here are a few pictures of the evening, ENJOY!!!!

Happy Father's Daddy!

Happy Father's Day to my partner in this crazy family of ours, Cookie! I am so impressed by the dad you are and I think our boys are extremely lucky to have you as an example of the man that they should become. I know I do not tell you it very often but I think you are amazing!






Also Happy Father's Day Daddy & Grandpa I miss you both and hope you each have a fantastic day!!!!

Easter

Better late than never right....

So here is our Easter post. The boys had a fantastic holiday, better than I could have hoped for. Saturday evening Elijah, Daddy, & Uncle Jay colored eggs. Elijah & Cookie were both a bit confused at first since neither one of them had ever colored Easter eggs but they both caught on very quickly.







The next morning the boys were both so thrilled that the Easter bunny had left them each a bucket full of prizes!!! Elijah was very excited that he got the biggest bubble blower ever & Samuel was thrilled with anything he could get in his mouth!







After seeing what the Easter bunny had left we headed out to church. I am proud to say that we have been going to church on Sunday for almost the past month and the boys are so well behaved & make me proud every week! Later that afternoon we had Auntie LN and the in laws over for dinner. Thank goodness for LN and Jay they were a huge help in the kitchen. While we were finishing dinner and Samuel was napping Elijah, Abi, & Nate headed out for an egg hunt. Elijah did really well and had a blast but Nate was by far the true winner!







And here are some final pictures of the family....