Rockettes

For the girls' birthday, my mom treated us all to see the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. They came to Baltimore and we got to go! My Aunt Joan and Cousin Cody joined us and at the last minute, Nicholas joined us too. Everyone loved the precision dancing, the beautiful scenery, the live Nativity and fun music. It was a great way to get into the Christmas Spirit.

The best part of all...when the show was over, we came out to a blanket of snow. It was hilarious to watch all of the children who came out of the show, IMMEDIATELY open up their mouths and stick their tongues out to catch some flakes.


It was a GREAT evening. Thanks MOM!

Christmas Ball Countdown

Last year at this time, I had lost AT LEAST a dozen Christmas Balls. They were casualties of abiding in a home with 2 young boys. In fact, it was such a problem, that my sweet Aunt went out and bought me a box full of PLASTIC Christmas balls with a note wishing me luck in preserving my glass Christmas ornaments.

Well this year, I am happy to announce that we have only lost 3 Christmas balls. One was launched off of the top of the kitchen table while yelling B-A-S-E-B--A--LLLLL.
And, then there were ONLY 2 that were lost when sword fighting pirates took their "swords" (pink, sparkly batons) to the Christmas Tree...yes, ONLY 2!


Now THAT is a Christmas Miracle.

Great Read

I have had a busy/challenging few weeks (you may have noticed a lack of posts). I ran across this link on a blog I read (Stephmodo). I was encouraged by the article and thought I would share.

Thanksgiving

I know, I am quite a bit behind on my blogging and many of you have moved on from Thanksgiving and are fully focused on Christmas now (seeing as how it is only 7 days away...probably appropriate). Nevertheless, I want to share that we had a wonderful Thanksgiving....we were able to visit with ALL of my family and most of Todd's.

We stopped in to see Todd's parents on our way down to NC.
We ate a Thanksgiving dinner and celebrated my sisters' birthday (Laynie turned 6 and I won't mention Suzanne's age :-)) at my dad's
Step sis, Ali, with my boys
Leah and Laynie
My dad
Sisters, Susie and Laynie

We stayed and visited with Todd's brother and his family in Kernersville.
Kids with Aunt Becky
We also visited Todd's grandmother and played with her cute dog, Rocky.
Lunch with MamMaw
Then, on to my mom's. Both of my sister's were there with their children. Oh, how fun. We enjoyed getting to know the newest addition to our family...Baby Sarah.
Everyone wanted to hold Baby Sarah

Christmas pick with my mom and Larry, Mom bought everyone cute Christmas pjs

So much to be thankful for this year!

Thank you

I have been overwhelmed with gratitude for so many things as we have learned about Nicholas' diagnosis.

Let me tell you what I am grateful for today (in NO particular order):
1. AWESOME neighbors who saved the day when I had to go to the ER with Nicholas and Todd was out of town
2. Friends who have helped with the kids while we were in the hospital for 4 days
3. Friends who came to my house and cleaned (now THOSE are some GOOD friends)so that I would have a CLEAN house to come home to because my mind was so CLUTTERED otherwise
4. Friends who have cooked dinners for us
5. Friends who checked in on how we were doing

6. Family who rallied around us
7. My mom came up to be with the kids so Todd and I could focus on learning the things we needed to learn to manage Nick's diabetes
8. My kids who have been awesome in supporting Nicholas and Todd and I as we have had to be away a lot lately - I have much love and admiration for them!
9. My dear hubby who holds me when I cry and ALWAYS makes me laugh when I need it the most. I am just so grateful that I get to be with him forever...

10. For WONDERFUL doctors, nurses, and patient educators at the hospital. Nick still asks about his nurses and wants to go visit them..."but NOT to have another sleepover, just to SEE them." They made the whole stay as enjoyable and comfortable as it could have possibly been under the circumstances. Nicholas had a great time being a "ninja", a "pirate", and "showing his moves" to all of his new friends at the hospital. I hope the dear nurses are able to get some work done now that their little ninja patient has gone home.

11. For one heck of a resilient son who loves to "show his moves" in any situation. He can hardly stop dancing to the music in his head while he is talking to me. That will cheer anyone up :-)

12. And last, I am grateful for the peace and comfort I received as I prayed about this new change in our lives.

We are blessed, indeed!

A Different Type of Halloween

This year we had 3 pirates and one wizard (Hermione Granger from Harry Potter to be exact). You may notice that our usual picture of all four kiddos on our front porch is missing...that is because one of our brave little pirates was in the hospital on Halloween. The Wednesday before Halloween, we were sent to the ER with Nicholas because he had high glucose level in his blood. I had taken him to our pediatrician because he was all of the sudden wetting his bed every night (after months of not) and was literally standing by the fridge begging for "more cold water." Turns out that he has Type I Diabetes. We were in the hospital with a wonderful staff (more on that later) for four days to get his sugar levels stable and for me and Todd to learn how to check his glucose levels and give his insulin shots.

He is a trooper and we are home now and all is going well. We are all getting used to the changes that we have to make to take care of a diabetic child. I have to say, I am so proud of my sweet children and how they have rallied around Nick in encouraging him to be brave when he has to get his shots and also in putting off their own desires for sweets and candy so as not to make Nick feel sad that he does not get any.


Back to Halloween, the other three went trick-or-treating with their neighborhood friends and had a great night. However, as I said earlier, no one has even asked for their candy. Tomorrow I am offering a "buy-out" of the candy and will get it out of the house (because it is still tempting ME, even though my kids have not been eating it)!

Missed

I went out to eat with some friends tonight, and this is what I came home to, neatly folded on my pillow.



I was glad to be missed...even if it WAS not extreme, just a little!

My Daddy is a Rockstar!

The kids are ENAMORED with their dad, a few recent examples:

While playing with mixed-up colors of play-dough (you know, the kind that is the color of poop) the following conversation was sparked:

Noah: EEWWWWW, that is STINKY
Nick Nick: (giggle) EEEWWW, Mommy's Stinky
Me: (giggle) EEEWWWW, Nick Nick is Stinky
Nick Nick: EEEWWW, Noah is Stinky

You get the picture, through the family members we go, UNTIL

Me: EEEWWWW, Daddy's Stinky
Nick Nick: (stops dead in his tracks and looks at me in horror) NO! DADDY IS BOOTIFUL. Mom, don't use potty words please.


Later that same day, Afton starts inquiring about dating. The conversation goes something like this:

Afton: Daddy, when do people start dating...like in middle school?
Todd: No, usually people don't start dating until later on in high school, and you don't want to date just one person, you should go in groups and get to know LOTS of different people.
Afton: (Dramatic sigh) Oh, I wish they could just make robot boys that looked like YOU, dad.
Todd: Why is that?
Afton: Well, you are funny AND cute ENOUGH.

(he took it as a compliment)

Birthday Girl

The premise of the song is that we don't know who he is singing about and are supposed to be guessing...

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

LYRICS:

She's in the 1st Grade at a brand new school
And all of her friends say she's really cool

She always has a smile on her face
And her favorite show is Waverly Place - Wizards that is

She likes to ride her bike up and down the drive
Put a helmet on if you wanna stay alive

Skinned up elbows and skinned up knees
Come on now, won't you slow down please

CHORUS:
Birthday...Birthday...Girl
Who could you ever BE?

She's got 10 fingers and she's got 10 toes
One Big Sister and two little bro's

Word on the street is she's no longer six....
Check out my drummer while he is spinning his sticks

CHORUS:
Birthday...Birthday...Girl
Who could you ever BE?

Happy Birthday to my Toothless Wonder!

On the Eve of her birthday, Leah lost her OTHER front tooth! She got a GOLD dollar from the Tooth Fairy - she was SO excited.

We did not do friend parties this year, so I asked her how she wanted to celebrate. She was adamant about having a "PRINCESS TEA PARTY." So, I busted out the fine china (including the tea cups and saucers that I have NEVER used in the last 10 years) and had a breakfast fit for a princess! She wanted pancakes - of ALL varieties - chocolate chip, blueberry and plain. We had sausage, canteloupe, orange juice and HOT CHOCOLATE as our "tea." She LOVED it. As a matter of fact, SEVERAL times during the day, she would spontaneously hug me and say "thank you so much for my princess breakfast." Oh, how my heart melted.

She then had a soccer game, in which she played AWESOME. She REALLY wanted to score a goal on her birthday...she didn't, but she sure did try hard. We were very proud of her.

We then came home and called our neighbors to see if they wanted to go see "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." After the movie we had a princess castle cake. Not one of my bests, I was in a hurry and the icing was not cooperating. I was muttering about it under my breath, and Leah came up to me and said, "Mom, I love my cake, I think it is beautiful and that is all that really matters." What a sweetheart.


While the girls were at the movie, Daddy and the boys composed a Birthday song for Leah. It is so hysterical, that it deserves its own separate post. That will be coming soon (I will try not to make you wait a week for it).

Leah has quite a happy-go-lucky attitude, and I am trying to embrace some of that myself. She is a hard worker, athletic, very affectionate, and I musn't forget...quite stylish. We love our little Leah and enjoyed her celebration - princess style!

On the Road Again

We took the girls out of school for the week, packed up and headed to Florida.

We met Todd's parents there and set out to make some fun memories.We went to the Disney Parks for 4 of the days, went to see my grandmother and cousin,and hung out at the resort playing mini-golf, swimming and just relaxing. It was ANOTHER great vacation.
The girls enjoyed the "big" rides, Nick enjoyed all the characters, and Noah enjoyed every time we actually let him out of the stroller! The lines were minimal and I highly recommend going to Disney in the "off-season" - so Pleasant!



Here are their responses when I asked what was their favorite part of the trip:

Afton - ALL of Disney's Hollywood Studios

Leah - Riding the Rockin' Roller Coaster (this was the first year that she was tall enough to ride, she likes the SPEED of it)

Nicholas - Lighting McQueen

Noah - MILK (that is one of the only words he says clearly these days and he ALWAYS enjoys his milk)

We wore little Noah out (we wore EVERYONE out, for that matter :-) We came back happy, BUT tired!

Three Things

I have noticed on some of the blogs I read, the "top 3 things of the day" are listed. Well, I have had one of "THOSE" days today (to start off, the whole day began at 4:30am - enough said). Thus, I feel compelled to jump on the bandwagon and list three things I am GRATEFUL for today...

1. A Pack 'N' Play with SMOOTH sides, that Noah has NOT figured out how to get out of. AHHHHH. sweet sleep for ALL!


2. A BEAUTIFUL, NEW Patio that has space enough for the boys to ride bikes and scooters while STILL enclosed in the backyard fence.



3. A dear hubby, with a FANTASTIC sense of humor, that helps me laugh through "THESE" kinds of days. Love you!

The Escape Artist

Last week, while I had 5 kids under the age of 4 (2 of them being mine) for the whole day, I was counting down the minutes to naptime! It finally arrived. The three kids that were of napping age were all down - ahhhh, time to relax and work on dinner. THEN, all of the sudden I hear a THU THUMP, THEN a door opening and THEN a pitter patter of small feet. I walked to the stairs and there stood NOAH with the PROUDEST smile on his cute little face. So far, he only shares his "talent" at naptime...I guess he is too worn out by bedtime.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

YUM!

Here is the recipe I promised for the Oreo Ice Cream Cake, it is a yummy one.

OREO ICE CREAM DESSERT

24 Oreos, crushed
1 cup butter
½ gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
2/3 c sugar
1 Baker’s German Chocolate bar
2/3 c evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
Cool Whip or Redi-Whipped Cream

Crust: Layer bottom of pan with oreos and pour ½ cup melted butter on top
Ice Cream Layer: Spread softened ice cream on top of oreos (put in freezer while doing the next step).
Fudge Layer: Melt ½ cup butter, sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla, german chocolate, and salt in saucepan. Boil for 4 minutes and then allow to cool. After mixture is cooled, spread on top of ice cream layer.
Cool Whip Layer: Top with Cool Whip or Redi-Whip and Freeze

You can make and serve this out of a 9x13 pan OR use a springform pan and release the sides after frozen and right before serving.

Happy Birthday Afton!

Our eldest child turned 9 years old!

I can't believe how quickly time flies when you are having fun.
Here are a few cute pics of little one growing up...




She had some great hair in her younger years, don't you think?

Afton is such a joy to parent...she is obedient, thoughtful and compassionate - pretty cool traits for a 9 year old. She LOVES to read...as a matter of fact, she started the Harry Potter series at the beginning of summer (the day we left for our first summer vacation, June 13th to be exact) and here we are three months later and she is almost finished with Book 6... she plowed through those huge books at quite the quick pace. She is enjoying school and is a very diligent student. She does a mean "robot" and loves to ride her new bike (that is what she got for her birthday).

We had one of our friends over last night to share cake - I made an oreo ice cream cake at Afton's request...it was super yummy (I will share the recipe in my next post).



Afty, we love you and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having you as part of our family! Happy Birthday, Sweetie!