Weight news

Big Al hit the 70 pound mark! Very exciting! His last appointment at Childrens went pretty well, though they are a bit concerned because his bone age is catching up to his physical age faster than they would like...before he was a bit over 3 years delayed growth, now it is only 2 years.
Hopefully, the HGH shots will start to really kick in... since last April, he has grown about .75 of an inch.....grrrrrrrr!

What has Miss O been up to?

Hard to believe I have not mentioned much about the little Princess! She is doing awesome! Kindergarten is going so well for her! She is down to one hour of speech therapy a week and has made some AWESOME strides!
She is reading in the second from highest reading group - and LOVES it! My hope is that reading will come easily for her (as well as school in general!) She has a few really good little friends and has been having playdates about every other week. I am so glad that we are giving her a gentle push to be more social - because she is quiet and pretty shy, this really gives her a little extra to stay social.

Other than having the much-too-often "O"tomic bomb go off in her room... she is doing amazing with her development and especially her vocabulary! She is such a smart little girl too!

She just weighed in at a whomping 45 pounds!!! She is such a sweetie!

Things they do for fun.....

This totally cracked me up! Big Al really wanted to fly a kite today... the wind was blowing out of the south, instead of the west, so we made him move out to the top field to avoid the power line!

Apparently, the cows find kites VERY entertaining! They just hung out the whole time and watched him! Too funny!

Celebration of Cultures!

Every year at our elementary school, the fifth graders do a special project called Celebration of Cultures. Each student is to pick a or their country of origin. Obviously, Little J chose to do his on Ukraine!
Believe me... this was no easy task for him! It ended up being alot of last minute typing, printing, cutting and pasting... but he scored an "A" for all his hard work! We were able to keep his display board and he is so super proud of it!!

Somebody is ELEVEN today!

Happy Birthday to my Baby BOY! Today he is ELEVEN! I cannot believe how time has flown! Had to believe that he is truly a "tween" now!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today would be my Dad's 71st Birthday. It is so hard to believe that he has been gone for four months. We had a batch of brownies in his honor tonight and the kids (especially Miss O) talked about how much they missed him and some funny Grandpa stories! We sure all miss him! Happy Birthday Dad!

Surviving the month!

So far, this new year has been kinda so-so! Hectic, yes... tiring, yes.... stressful, YES!

Between running both boys to their sports (wrestling for Big Al, Bball for Little J) and other activities... I am starting to feel like a trannsit van! Crazy! I am putting a ton a miles on the car and paying out the yin-yang in gas!

Things will continue to be a little nuts until sports slow down... WHEN'S THAT!!! haha

Big Al will wrestle (for now!)

Well... so far, Big Al is managing to keep just above a "D"... I know that it is going to be a major struggle for him (and us!) to maintain it.. but we have to be hopeful!
He got his official Middle School warm ups and singlets today... so here he is striking a pose!

Little J's first B-ball game

Saturday was Little J's first ever Basketball game! His team in the Rockets (in blue). Apparently, I must need a new camera - my pictures are a blurry mess!

Little J did great in his game! He had fun and really enjoyed himself! He was a little disappointed that he did not get to pick his jersey number though... he wanted to be #22, just like his Grandpa!

Welcoming in a new year!

Well... thankfully, the kids are back in school and the routine in shaping back up! Two weeks off of school is really too long!

Little J has been practicing basketball and is getting prepped for his first game.. he is really excited, yet part of him is sad.. he really wanted his Grandpa to be able to see him play. Gotta love that kid!

Big Al is struggling daily to keep up his grades so that he can start wrestling... Grades... ugh! Our family deal is no "D's" or "F's" in a class, then he can practice AND compete... we'll see what happens!

I took this cute picture of the boys with good ole PJ.. PJ still loves to be involved in whatever they are doing - and thankfully, they love him so much that they will let him lay on the puzzle for awhile before tempting him off with a cookie!

Trying to play catch up!

Alot of things have happened in the last month! I am trying to get back into the swing of things and get to updating the blog!!!

Updates will be up soon!!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Clean up!!!

Happy Gotcha Day to Miss O!

Today marks an OFFICAL four years of Miss O being legally ours!!!!

Her first official birthday party!

I gave in to the pressure!! Miss O wanted to have a birthday party with friends from school. In the past, with her brothers, most parties end up being so crazy, stressful and exhausting, that just the idea makes me cringe!

So, we ended up inviting about 6 other girls that she gets along with, and whose parents I know, over to the house after school for pizza and cupcakes. The girls all had fun being a little crazy and playing, and the birthday girl was THRILLED! She told me it was the best birthday party EVER! Haha - since she has really only had one! She is so excited to be six!!

Somebody is SIX today!

Happy Birthday to my Favorite Princess of all time!!!!

Ahhhh the holidays....

I am so not ready for the Holidays! While I used to just LOVE them... I have grown slowly to start to really dread the season! The Holidays, ok, quite frankly, ANY holiday gives one certain child extreme anxiety issues. He will act up and be a brat when anyone else has a birthday.... be cranky at Valentines Day because he either lost ONE little card, or did not get the "right" kind of candy... Easter - where do I begin... Halloween, a nightmare! Thanksgiving is pretty much a mellow one - no gifts, no sugar and pretty low key (except for this year!)... but the grand-daddy of them all... CHRISTMAS is his arch nemisis!

We have a few simple rules in our house.... one, Holidays are about being together and spending time as a family (easy enough) and #2... on those more "materialistic" holidays, like Easter and Xmas... the particular basket/toy bringer must be believed in to come!

Due to his extreme anxieties, it tends to be a little iffy each year at Christmas... we start prepping him in November... little things are mentioned - like you can't get everything for xmas, Santa brings you things that HE thinks you will like and use, and of course, be thankful what for you have and what you get!

Knowing that each year this issue comes up, adds to some of the dread... while we have a few failsafes in place, sometimes he throws out a curve ball that we are not ready for! Grrrrrr..... so.. since we are getting closer to the big day - we are trying hard to keep our wits in place... but, man is it tough!

Winter Concert

So hard to believe my little Princess is getting so big! Here she is all dressed up for her very first school concert! She was so exicted to wear such a fancy dress! The Kindergarten program is usually the hardest to sit through... since either half the kids don't sing the right song, and the other half scream!! hehe - but she did really well and loved it!


Little J had his final elementary school concert! Whoo hooo! He got to play one of the horrible donging things that I despise!


And here he is all dressed up... still small enough to take a picture with his Mom!

My little reader

This darn Leap Pad is about 10 years old now, but boy, has it been well used! Little J was the last kiddo that "loved it!", now Miss O has really gotten into using it! Thank goodness for the headphones though.... one can only take so much of some of the music!!

Baby it's cold outside!!

While cleaning the kitchen this morning - this was my view! The Guineas have decided to perch in a new spot! It was funny because I am almost 100% positive that they were watching me and waiting for me to come out and feed them! Considering the temps have been in the single digits, they still sleep outside in the elements! Silly birds!

Getting up our tree!

Each year, we set up our good-ole, faithful, made in Korea Christmas Tree! Only a few years have we ever gone with the live tree! Also, since we had our little mischevious kitten, Fester, we knew we had better not go all out with an expensive live tree!
So, we spent last night getting out the ornaments and decorating the tree! The kids really enjoy putting on "their" special ornaments each year - a great reminder of how much they have grown since years past! Let the Holiday Season Begin!