christmas day

all i can say is 'wow'.  loved having christmas at our house this year.  both sets of grandparents.  all the barrett's.  crazy fun.  probably one of my all time favorite christmas'.  i have always wanted to have christmas at home (like i did growing up) and russ has always wanted to have christmas with family (like he did growing up).  so this year, both of best worlds!!!  everyone was healthy.  everyone was happy.  we were well blessed.

waiting to see if santa came!!!

yep.  lots of good girls and boys this year :)

c loves her joe joe

cousins.  can you believe mickey is only two months older???

j hugging her new pink golf clubs.  she thinks she may give up baseball and focus on golf.  smart choice at 5 years old :)

c lovin' her new train... 

the girls and their pillow pets

post sledding christmas: chillin' around the house

j and grandma practicing her needlepointing

a little toy story kerplunk

the boys and their football cards

christmas eve

we had an early church service on christmas eve and then headed over to grandma and grandpa's with great grandpa for dinner and presents.  it was a great, relaxing evening.  for the first time in several years we headed home (yea!!) to put cookies out for santa and leave reindeer food on the front yard.  loved getting to see my girls do these traditions since in the past they have fallen asleep on the way down to grandma and poppys and miss out on tracking santa, etc. 

we knew the barrett's were coming christmas eve to spend the night but not until late so we put c to bed and told the girls they could fall asleep in mom and dad's room.  even have a little show on.  j gave up pretty quickly and went to sleep - she was exhausted but e, well, the little scrapper stayed awake until everyone got to the house.  i'd say she probably crashed around 10:30.  i was ready to fall asleep around that time also :)

spent some time visiting and then got to sleep asap so that santa could come!!!!

e loves her dip...blue cheese and all.

j diggin' her new watch.  pink is so cool :)

yes, i included a pic of myself (bc i'm lovin' my new wine glasses!!)

j handing out heavy presents...the girls love their great grandpa

c just could not keep those little hands off grandpa's train set...

ready for bed but not falling to sleep for hours. and hours. and hours.

reindeer food!

picking out cookies for santa.  yummy.

Christmas Day Sledding

so i think i am going to have to break up the last week into a few posts...starting with christmas day sledding, not because it was the most important moment of the holidays but because the pics are downloaded off the camera and well, I'm tired :)

to back up a bit, we had christmas at home this year with grandma and poppy, the barrett's, grandma and grandpa and mama moe.  it was great fun and we had the perfect amount of snow to go sledding with the kids.  C lasted through presents and the the big kids hit the awesome hills in the neighborhood!!

snow angels in the making

sledding with daddy

joey successfully sledding downhill :)

now he has to walk back up the hill...

russ attempting snow boarding.  don't ask.

all the fun

jimmy attempting the snowboard.  a little more successfully

e says 'bring it'...she's ready to sled this year!!

Memphis

What a fun weekend.  But lordy is it hard to travel as a family of five.  One hotel room for all of us tight quarters.  Especially when a certain one year old has trouble sleeping in a pack n play :)

We headed down on Thursday.  Russ had meetings Friday morning, so we basically hung out and explored walking distance Memphis.  We stayed at The Peabody so the hotel itself was a big hit.  C loved the ducks and there was so much entertainment.  A local choir singing Christmas carols had J mesmerized for what seemed like forever.  We found a little playground inside Autozone Park (home of the Memphis Redbirds) and had a fun lunch where we got to make our very own s'mores (yum!!)

Friday night was a pasta dinner for the St. Jude heroes...absolutely touching to hear about the millions of dollars raised for the hospital and the personal stories of patients and their families.  Heart wrenching.  If I'm honest, it was frustrating to hear these stories of "what could be" and all you want to do is hug and love and hold your children and instead I have a one year old throwing food and pulling my hair, a three year old that is so exhausted she falls asleep fork in hand, and an almost five year old that has to be coerced into taking x number of bites of her dinner so that she can have the brownies and cookies she is driving me nuts asking for....ggggggrrrrrrrr.  Really makes you realize how we get caught up in the small, mundane moments of parenting when there is really such a bigger picture.  They are healthy.  They are happy (most of the time).  They are the biggest blessings in my life.

We enjoyed being spectators for Saturday's run.  Enjoyed beautiful weather and good friends.  Par for the course we missed seeing Russ run past us, but managed to cheer on all the other JL runners. After a little rest time we headed out to dinner as a big JL group celebrating everyone's accomplishments.  We had 7 running the full marathon and 9 running the half.  WOW.

My middle girl...she is a trooper trying to hang with the big kids but not *quite* there :) 

(On a different note, didn't realize my lack of sleep was so apparent until I saw the pics...ugh.)

My C was so happy to see her daddy post-race and have a broad shoulder to lay her sweet head on...she slept like that forever!!

And my big girl....with her new BFF Ashley :)

Headed home Sunday after a quick swim.  Stopping at Lambert's with two other families travelling with us.  Yummy.

Overall, a great getaway.  A perfect way to put the Christmas season into perspective.  We have three beautiful girls who are healthy, growing, happy.  I am blessed in every way imaginable.  But I gotta tell you, next year our plans are for Russ and me to run the half and leave the little ones at home.  I think all the moms and dads agree that it was fun to have the kids participate, but when it comes down to it you are too consumed by all the weekend 'adult events' to have littles along for the ride!!

My Crafty Side...

My craftiness is about non-existant.  LOVE everything I see others do but when it comes down to it, well, I don't have it in me to come up with crafty ideas and if I try and replicate someone else's crafty ideas they usually turn out a little....unusual.  Maybe because I let a 4 and 3 year old participate and they have a way of taking over???  Well, we can put the blame on them regardless :)

I mentioned it in my last post but this weekend we are headed to Memphis for the St. Jude's marathon to watch Russ run.  There are about 10-15 people from JL running and many are bringing their whole families.  Dinner reservations for Saturday night is for 45 people ranging from 1 - 50 years old!  It is bound to be an incredible experience. 

Anyways I'm sure I made some comment in passing to J about supporting daddy with "go daddy go" t-shirts or posters but I should have remembered she has a very focused memory and wouldn't you know it...we are not leaving the Lou without personalized t-shirts.

Cool.  Great idea J.  I'm on it...except there's nothing out there that I like.  And then I realized we are coming up to Christmas and J's birthday and we just don't have the $$ to throw around having shirts embroidered, especially if they are going to wear it for one special day.  Do It Myself????  Is it possible???  Well, I gave it a go and have to say I think they turned out pretty cute - and for less than $10 a shirt!

The girls are so proud of their daddy and I am so excited (and nervous) to take them to see such an amazing event.  Thousands of people running to support an incredible organization.  At the same time, how in the world am I going to explain this to my girls??  How to get across the *good* of St. Jude without exposing them to the *sadness* of cancer...with kids...and the fight for a cure??

We will do it. And they will be better for it. 

Thanksgiving Weekend

Wow...what a great holiday weekend!  Feel like there is still lots to get done but when I look back on the weekend, it was a whirlwind of productivity!

• Tuesday we spent the afternoon making Turkeys for everyone at our Thanksgiving dinner...turned out cute but lots of cutting for mom and lots of gluing for the girls.  Have to say I was pretty impressed that my big girls stayed focused on the project for 2 straight hours.  Never expected all the great help (note a hint of sarcasm??  the did great but well, they're 3 and 4.5)
• Wednesday the big girls went down to Grandma and Poppy's with the Barrett's.  Gotta say life with just one little stinker is pretty sweet  :)
• Thursday we headed down to Terre du Lac to meet up with the family and celebrate all we have to be thankful for.  We had a great day with the Cottle clan.
• Got a little Christmas shopping done late Thursday night and a bit Friday morning (online at night and not CRAZY early...just early enough to get some good deals :))
• Christmas tree and decorations up on Friday!!!!
• Saturday was Michigan v Ohio State day.  Bummer of a game but the girls had fun making signs for daddy.
• We also managed to fit in a little Tangled Friday afternoon.  E's first movie and she says she had fun.  Honestly, we had no idea what she was thinking - the kid was a statue for 1 hour and 52 minutes.  She was either completely enthralled or a deer in headlights.
• Sunday morning we joined St. Lucas UCC.  We are thrilled to become part of our new church family. 
• Outdoor lights up Sunday afternoon!
• Headed up to Jimmy's hockey game Sunday night hoping to see a great game....Turned out to not be a winner, but love our #6 Shark!!!

We've got a few days here in STL and later this week will be heading down to Memphis for the St. Jude Marathon.  Russ is going to have a great run, we are going to support an amazing cause and the girls are going to have a fun "mini holiday" at The Peabody! 

E's Quiet Time...

My little E decided over the summer that naps are completely unnecessary for a big girl like herself.  Not even 3 years old and they were completely boycotted?!?!  Why in the world would a person do that to herself?  Me...I would LOVE someone to tell me it was time to get in bed for a couple of hours each afternoon.  I'll give her one point...sure makes bedtime a lot easier :)  There were many a night this summer E fell asleep at the dinner table. 

We have moved on from that for the most part.  She has resolved herself (after a couple of really rough "quiet times") that she has to stay upstairs, in her room, quiet, for one hour.  And she does a pretty good job.  She waits for me to come get her most days, except eventually the lack of sleep catches up with her and there are days when she actually falls asleep.  **Yea!!  She will be well-rested and that stubborn little person that takes over my sweet child will disappear for another 4-5 days!**  But she's obstinate and will not admit defeat - which means she won't get in bed and fall asleep comfortably.  We have found her asleep lined up against the wall, in the upstairs hall, she's blocked her bedroom door by falling asleep in positions that prevent us from opening the door and today was the best one by far...the top stair.  Good thing she stayed still.  Rolling down the stairs would NOT have been a good way to wake up!!

So I go check on her tonight and, yep, sound asleep in the hallway...sweet dreams baby girl!!!

Come on Halloween...we've waited for you long enough!!

I enjoy Halloween as much as the next person, but come on already...if feels like we have been waiting FOREVER for this holiday to arrive!  Thankfully we are closer and closer.  This past weekend we headed to the pumpkin patch.  Good times but whoosh...busy with these three little girls.  Guess it didn't help that everyone else in STL had similar thoughts on Sunday afternoon plans :)

This morning was J's Fall party.  We had tons of fun painting pumpkins, playing Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin, Fall Bingo, yak yak.  My most favorite part of the party, by far, was seeing my J in her classroom setting. I can not even begin to express how my heart swelled seeing her so well adjusted and happy at school.  Last year I helped at Fall party and she was attached to my side...today I don't think she even cared who was there :)  She is an absolute hoot. Sooooo chatty.  It cracks me up how comfortable she is in her class - it was so hard for me last year to see this bubbly little girl clam up at school...this year she is shining with personality!! 

Tonight we headed to Grant's Farm for our annual Halloween Dance Party.  Tons of fun although we sure missed the Schwab's {this is the first year they haven't been in STL dancing the night away with us}.  J was by far our rockstar of the evening.  Guess I didn't realize but the kid can do a killer "worm" on the ground :)  E hit a wall early and spent most of the evening resting on me or Grandma.  C was her typical trooper self - clapping and dancing to the beat of the rockin' music.  We wore everyone out and all 3 were asleep before we pulled into the driveway.  And yes, J fell asleep mid-conversation.

Lots of Halloween fun to be had this coming week.  A little trunk or treating at church, a chili dump party at friends and of course neighborhood trick or treating!!  Fingers crossed I will get some pics of our resident Spider Girl, Lady Bug and Little Chick...

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

It's hard for me to believe, but last week my baby girl turned 1.  How is that even possible?!?!  She has been an incredible blessing to our family.  As her parents we know and love her as no one else can...except her two "big" sisters.  Those girls are in LOVE with little miss C and I can not wait to see how their relationships blossom as the years go on :)  She is itching to be one of the big girls (although she doesn't seem to mind that walking is still a foreign concept).  She is a happy, go-with-the-flow girl as long as things go her way - she definitely has a mind of her own but you can almost always turn frustration into belly laughs. 

C has had a rough couple of weeks...ear infections, bronchitis, thow in a little constipation and well, you get the picture.  But, I am happy to say that she is doing so much better.  We had a great day on her birthday.  The girls and I took her to the mall and played on the playground, did Build-a-Bear, snuggled and watched a little dance class.  She got to open a couple presents on her actual birthday.  Have to admit there wasn't anything too exciting since it's hard to find something for the third daughter born in 4 years.

On Saturday we had her little birthday bash with family and some friends.  I think everyone had a good time and we were able to do lots of outdoor playing since the day was beautiful.

She had her 1-year check up today and she is doing great...21.5 lbs., 29.5 inches, 4 shots and what a trooper.  Wish her *almost* 5-year older sister had seen how awesome she was with her shots.  J has been worried about the 1 shot she gets at her check up this winter for the past year...geesh.

How was your weekend?

Well, in a nutshell...fun but busy. 

Friday J got to go with her dad to Summit's homecoming game.  He was planning on taking both the big girls but a certain 3 year old decided to throw one of her famous temper tantrums at quiet time and lost the chance to have a fun night out with dad...bummer.  She had a great time and ran in to all sorts of friends (old and young)

Saturday was full of soccer.  J's game was in the morning so we were able to go so Mickey play his game Saturday afternoon.  Little C is not feeling well so she got to stay home with dad (who also got to watch the Michigan game real time)...isn't she a cutie???

Sunday I kept C home from church since she's got herself a pretty good fever right now.  Russ took the big girls and the Barrett's surprised them and visited St. Lucas.  Apparently the girls were rockin' at choir practice.  We'll see what they do when they are actually supposed to get up in front of everyone and do their thing :) 

In the afternoon we headed up to Grant's Farm to enjoy such an awesome October day.  It's been crazy warm here!!  First thing the girls wanted to do was feed the goats...

Think they enjoyed it?!?!?!?!?!

Luckily the rest of the day we had smiles!!!

Here's to a good night's sleep.  Russ is traveling through Wednesday and we have a busy, busy week ahead.  Let's hope the birthday girl is feeling better soon!



Crack Goes the Clavicle - Or Not...

Last night after dinner I ran up to the store and Russ stayed home with the girls.  Nothing out of the ordinary - they were on a walk when I drove out of the neighborhood.  45 minutes I returned home to find one asleep (like she should have been), one in the tub (like she should have been), and little E crashed out on our bed....huh.?!?!?!  "What happened to her?" I ask.  J lets me know they were doing log rolls down the neighbor's yard when E started crying that her shoulder hurt.  Cried herself to sleep, in fact.  Great.  No biggie.  Already struggling trying to hold down the fort while I recover from my gallbladder surgery.  Sure, we can take on an injured shoulder.

And then she's up half the night crying over a hurt shoulder.  So a quick visit to the Dr. this morning and an order for x-rays looking for a broken clavicle and ..... whew.  All is good.  Just a bad sprain.  She's in a sling as it seems to help with the discomfort but otherwise she should be all good. 

Quite a year I tell ya...it seems like we have had just enough to go wrong to change up some plans, but thankfully nothing bad enough to be of great concern.  Amen.

She's lovin' life today....let's say she gets her grumpy face from her dad :)

Hello Schwab's and Bye Bye Gallbladder...

Two weeks ago Aunt K was a brave, brave mama!!  She packed three little children (4, 3, and 1) and drove all the way up from Atlanta to STL by herself!!  Uncle J was on a medical mission in Africa (cool, I know), two of the three kids had fall break, so Kate decided to brave the 9 hour drive and spend an entire week with us.  Oh My Goodness am I glad she did!  The kids are all so close in age that we have ssssooooo much fun with them.  Of course, the picture taking was limited because, really, who has a hand free when you are chasing 6 kids under the age of 5 around STL???

And while we missed daddy while he was on a business trip, it was kinda nice to know there was no schedule to keep.  No dinners to think about.  It was mom and dad, me and my sis, and all those little cuties.  Our week included park playing, Magic House, Under the Sea lunches, Zoo, Faust Park, the Carousel, the Butterfly House, etc, etc.  And it was super special because their visit just happened to overlap J's VIP night at school (guess who she took) and Ansley got to go to dance class with us.  My least favorite part of the trip....saying good bye on Friday night.  We know they've made their home down South and they love it there, but after a week of having them close...well, it just reminds me how much I love my sister and her beautiful family. 

On a completely different note, this week I got to say "see ya later" to my gallbladder.  Pretty routine surgery on Thursday but just to spice it up a bit Russ left Wednesday for a conference that lasted through Friday.  All went well and we called in the troops to help out.  Grandma L took care of the girls all Friday while Grandpa L hung out with me at the hospital.  Grandma S and Poppy came in late Thursday night to stay with us on Friday until Russ got home.  All in all I would say recovery has been pretty good.  The hardest is my little peanut who just does not understand why her mama isn't snuggling her like usual.  Hopefully I will be back to normal in the next day or two.

One last parting note...ever wonder why SAHM's itch for the day when they can stay in bed all day and let someone else take care of the kids and then when it is imposed on them and you truly just need to rest there are a MILLION things you would rather be doing????  Pumpkin patch, birthday parties, running errands, cleaning windows, anything except lay around!!!

Campfire and Smores...

Russ and I have been talking all summer long about how fun it would be to "camp out" in the backyard one night with the girls.  We decided to give it a go this weekend and I have to say it was a pretty fun night.  We set the tent up, ate hot dogs outside, sat out by the campfire, roasted marshmallows and gobbled up s'mores.  The girls had so much fun!! 

And the best part???  At 9:30 when the thunder and lightning rolled in we moved sleeping bags to the basement and the girls and Russ had a fun camp out in the comfy, dry house.  Life was good.  Nobody woke up until 9:00 the next morning.  Yippee!!!!!!