He's FOUR!!!

Happy Birthday to my precious little Drew Nicholas.  He had a wonderful Chuck E Cheese party on Sunday and today we are headed back to finish our tokens!  Here's some pics of the event:

He was so THRILLED with all his presents and so glad all his family was there!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY, WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

Questions

It finally came...

She was ready. She was confident. She was happy! 

My precious preemie baby...is growing up!

Really???

I just found out Kate's has to be at school at 7:20am!!  Boo...Yawn!!  How am I going to make it?  Start the coffeepot...now!!!

Milestones

August 6, 2011...ears pierced!!! 

before

during

after

 happy girl!  No tears!!!

AUGUST 14, 2011

SHOE TYING GIRL

AND NOW READY FOR KINDERGARTEN!!!

Busy weekend...again.

Today is sister #1s birthday.  Happy Birthday Sister!!  We love you!  Hope to spend some time with you soon! :-)

Kate has another birthday party today.  It's one of her school friends and it's at the same place her birthday party was held.  The jump house in the mall and she is super excited to spend some time with her friend, Johnny.  This will be the first time taking Drew to one of her friend's parties.  I'm kind of nervous.  I really don't know the etiquette on other family members attending but I've seen other parents bring their child's sister or brother but have just kind of kept them away from the hoopla.  I hope I can do it and I hope it's not rude.  I just don't want to have to keep finding a sitter and be away from him what seems to be almost every Saturday for three or four hours.  So, I'm taking the little guy and just see how it goes.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :-)

We have another birthday party tonight.  It's for my sister-in-laws boyfriend, Chet!  Chet is one of the funniest guys I've ever met.  Great personality and loves kids.  Happy Birthday, Chet!

Yesterday was April Fool's Day.  All day I heard things like, "Your tooth is red mommy.  You have a bug in your hair mommy.  There's a bug in my french fry.  Daddy, there is a spider crawling on you."  So much fun.  And last night we went through a drive-thru and Drew yelled out his window and said, "It's snowing."  She quickly said, "Oh my gosh!" and we said, "April Fools!"  She laughed and said we got her because just a couple of days ago IT DID SNOW!!!  Crazy end of March weather we were having!!

Enjoy your weekend!

He did it!!!

HE DID IT!!!!

Yay!!!  Drew completed his chart for sleeping in his bed!  Not that he ever slept with us.  Nope.  He was a couch sleeper.  He always wanted to stay on the couch and sleep.
One night, his dad carried him into his room after he fell asleep on the couch and he stayed the entire night.  Before he woke up I created a chart to encourage him to continue to sleep in his bed and BOY DID IT EVER WORK!!!!  He sleeps in his room with no prompting from us...and yes, he wanted to fill up that chart! Oh the power of charts (and stickers)! Every morning it was "let's put a sticker on my chart."  Yippee!  So we rewarded him with a well-deserved trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

And he was glad his Dad was able to go with him to celebrate!

And Chuck E Cheese even made an appearance!!  Can it get any better?

Why yes it can...TICKETS!!!

and he even thought of his sister when he turned in his tickets!  One sweetheart of a boy!  Way to go Drew!

We are currently working on another chart with a different objective and so far it's working.  It may take a little longer to reach but the chart system has had an impact!!!

I'm Back

Oh blog how you haunt me!  I lie awake at night thinking why oh why didn't I make time to post.
Doesn't Pioneer Woman say BLOG OFTEN in her Ten Things I've Learned About Blogging?
Isn't that why I started this blog to begin with?  Don't I really want remember every thing this family of four has done?  Yes, oh yes I do!!!
But this mama has been busy.  I mean BUSY.  Like I'm just now starting to recover from the month of March and it's still not over!  There has been SO MUCH going on I can barely see straight.
So I'm going to recap and try to catch up.  If you're not into long posts then I suggest you close it out now and move on with your day.  Because I've got a lot to catch up on...and I'll try not to let it happen again...well, I did say TRY.  Here goes and thanks for checking back...We are still here.

Birthday Party #1 for Kate.  She turned five.  How special!  My girl is FIVE.  I can't believe it.  I about cried the whole day...I looked at pictures when she was born and the experience that followed.  Crazy.  I could write a whole post on that some day and I probably will.  But not now cause I've got a lot of catching up to do.

This was our family party.  We've had family parties every year...even the day she was brought home we had a party.  I guess you could say we like parties!  hehe

She LOVES RAPUNZEL so this was a gift from mom and dad...huge hit!

She is my precious princess!!!

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Then there was her very first FRIEND birthday party.  Huge success.  I think fifteen friends in all.  Yay!

We had it at a jump house in the mall.  The kids loved it!

and my sister #2 and #3 were there to help (thank you guys)!

Yay FIVE!!!!

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Then it was Drew's time to shine!  His very first basketball banquet to celebrate his participation in the sport!  Awesome!  He was soooo excited.  I mean so excited to get a trophy! 

His two coaches...handing him the trophy and announcing.

Proud mama I am.

Currently on his shelf and he shows everyone who stops by.

Way to go Drew!  You are a great basketball player!

Dad, Mom, and Kate are soooo proud of you!

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Next Mardi Gras at Kate's school.  I decided to make her a mask to show her friends at school and with her help, it turned out great!!  I found the idea online but of course I can't find where now.  Boo!  See what happens when you don't keep up with blogging!

I used materials I had on hand and free handed the actual mask.  The feathers are made from silk flowers I had.  Kate loved it and I made Drew one, too minus the feathers because I only had pink flowers.

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In the middle of all these activities I also have been trying some of Pioneer Woman's recipes. 

Pinto Beans.  How hard can it be, right?  I can never get mine soupy or tasty enough.  So, yes I followed PW's directions to the tee and boy, oh boy...yummy!  Not that you need it, but you can find her recipe here.

Meatloaf.  So good.  Didn't get an after pic because well, we devoured it.  I mean not the first day...but it was gone by the second day!  Tre Bon!  Recipe here.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake.  Steve loved it.  Says I'm stepping up my game.  I love that man and thank you pioneer woman for keeping my husband full and happy.  Recipe here.

I fixed another recipe (twice) but forgot the picture.  It just smelled and tasted too good to stop and take a picture...seriously that good.  I am definitely making it again and I think I can make myself stop and take a pic before it's gone...hehe.

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For two weeks Kate talked about a having a rock star party.  Huh?  Ok.  What's a rock star party and what does it take to have one?  Microphones, rock star outfit and music.  Ok, sounded simple enough.  We went for it.  We invited cousin Karlee and  turned up the volume.  Kiddos had a great time!

Yep, I got the cookie because well dang it, I love those icing filled things.  And it didn't disappoint.  Delicious!

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And of course we can't forget about Super Moon...spectacular!

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and then sister number three and I headed to Jeffersonville, OH for some prime outlet mall shopping and I bought my first Coach purse...80% off...bar-gain!

Yep, we had a trunk full of bags.  So many good deals.  Love going there and hope to go again soon!

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Can't forget about the hail storm...the kiddos loved it.  First time for them...

Oh yeah...we dog sat for my niece Brittney.  We LOVE that dog.  Best dog ever.  and so much fun.  Loves to play.  We are seriously considering getting a puppy for them.  I think I could handle it now...I think!

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We took the kids, along with Pa Pa and Uncle John, to a high school basketball tournament.   What memories that brought back. Drew and Kate both enjoyed it but I think Daddy and PaPa enjoyed seeing them enjoy more. Good family times!

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That about wraps up our March.  Except a weekend trip to a state park with sister #2 where I didn't take one picture and a birthday party for Kate's friend with no pics.  See I told you I was a busy mama.  But, I'm going to really try to keep up with my blogging.  It's too important to me not to...and because PW says I should! ;-)