my life...

amelia 2.5

2012-01-27T20:35:00.003-05:00

i would eat her up every day for dinner if i could. or lunch or breakfast or any snack for that matter. she is purely deliciousness. i wish i could put into words, the way i feel when i hear her voice. we all do. she melts everyone she meets.

she is a lover.

her favorite thing to do, hands down.. is to give hugs, and to cuddle.

she has the best crooked smile and little dimple that i kiss 100 times a day.

she LOVES music and loves to dance.

she is a mommys girl and is mildly obsessed with me.

she crawls up on my lap at random times every day, all day and looks into my eyes and says i love you mommy.

and when i start crying because i just love her to pieces she says.. "mommy, do i make you so sad"?

and when i continue to cry and i tell her i'm crying because i love her she says, in that voice that will melt you.. .. "i love to make you so happy!"

sigh...

if todd, or grammy is near.. she crawls on their lap to do the same.

when you ask her to do something she almost always says "sure i can".

every day, more than once a day she will say... "i love you natey". or.. "you're my bess frien natey" or my favorite.. "natey nates, i love that you are my brover!"

she sings and makes up songs all day long.

she will tell todd he is "the best daddy ever"

she will tell you her buddy is "jacky wacks"

but she is lately buddy/buddy with miranda and they play school, dolls, make-overs, house and anything else girly.

she loves dora and pinkalicious

she is FINALLY starting to watch movies and loves hanging with jack and miranda when they are watching tv.

she loves to read and will memorize a book after we have read it to her only one time

her favorite word of the week is "actually"

to be funny, she adds the word "candy" to everything. yes mommy candy. can i watch tv, candy? where are you going daddy candy?

if you talk nicely to her, you can pretty much get whatever you want.

she finally has given up her paci's and if her mommy wasn't such a sucker, i would have had her given them up months ago because it was the easiest thing i've done in a very long time.

she cries every time i leave for work and begs me to stay home

she loves everyone "to the moon and back"

her favorite number is "540" and if you ask her how much she loves you, how long shes been awake, how long the show was, how long she played with nate, or anything else.... the answer is "five forty days"

at night when she goes to bed, wrapping her arms around my neck begging me to lay with her for 540 minutes.

she loves to be outside and always asks if she can "play bikes."

she likes to sing.. "lou lou, skip to my lou, - lou lou, skip to my lou, ha dee dee dee dee darlin'"

like the other kids, she loves when i sing to her and asks for random songs all throughout the day, usually putting her own spin on them with the word "booty" or "candy" thrown in.

christmas cookies

2012-01-26T16:59:00.000-05:00

growing up, making cookies around christmas time was a huge deal. i always looked forward to having christmas music on, getting all of the ingredients out, and for mom, nana and i making cookies together. we have made them almost every year since i have had kids but at their house. this year we made them at my house. we had such a nice time and really look forward to doing it next year again.

cookies part 2!

2012-01-26T16:51:00.000-05:00

santa on the fire truck

2012-01-26T07:41:00.001-05:00

santa comes around on the firetruck every year the week or so before christmas. the kids look forward to it and wait outside for him as soon as they hear the sirens. this year santa blew past our house pretty quick. i told the kids to jump in the car and we went to the beginning of the neighborhood where friends of ours lived. we hung outside their house with them until santa came and he ended up stopping and the kids got to sit with him for a bit. they were in awe!

santa

2012-01-25T22:07:00.000-05:00

the kids loved seeing santa as usual. we always luck out and never have to wait in a long line to see him. last year miranda was talking his ear off. this year amelia wouldn't stop. she hugged him, talked some more, hugged him again, asked him to bring her brover and sister stuff, talked some more and gave him on last hug. santa was awesome.

NYC

2012-01-25T18:00:00.002-05:00

my mom and i have been wanting to take the kids to NYC for awhile. todd and i go.. or used to go, often. i wanted to be sure the kids wouldn't whine and complain about all of the walking before i took the chance on bringing them. kristen and i also talked about going so we all planned it for a day todd was off and we left amelia and nate home. grammy was not too happy about it. she thought it was crazy that i would leave amelia home...... until we actually got to new york. she finally understood and said she was actually glad i left her home. in a few years we will take her and i know she will love it just as much as the big kids. i try to make it a point to do different things with the kids and then i feel guilty occasionally. i have to keep reminding myself that they will each get a turn eventually and thats what makes it even more special. the kids loved the train ride, rockerfeller center, bryant park, lunch, a candy store, southstreet seaport.. and possibly most of all ..... the cab ride. i was talking with the cab driver on our way back to manhattan and his cell phone was ringing. naturally i asked him if he wanted me to be his secretary and take the call. he was hysterically laughing, told me his friends name, and said "go for it". i was talking to him for awhile, messing with him, pretending it was my phone he called.. and then eventually pretending i stole the drivers phone. i finally had to give it up because my mom and kristen were having heart failure and are still talking about it..

nyc part 2.

2012-01-25T17:22:00.000-05:00

learning to walk..

2012-01-25T16:44:00.000-05:00

i am so upset by this. i am truly heartbroken!

OUR birthday

2012-01-25T14:34:00.001-05:00

nate and i celebrated the best way possible. with family. we gave nate a few gifts and saved the rest for his party. jack got me a pretty scarf. todd got me a gorgeous ring. miranda got me earrings and the babies got me gum and candy. mom and nana gave me money. i want to eventually have a quilt made for our family with a few pieces of clothing that i have saved from each of the kids when they were babies. i'm saving and will put it towards that. i had a wonderful day and so glad that i am able to share my special day with my littlest babe!

someone REALLY wanted another cupcake!!!

jack's class play

2012-01-25T14:13:00.000-05:00

jack and his class wrote a play and performed it for the parents. it was amazing and so so hysterical. everyone loved it. the kids were so proud and they had so much fun doing it.

getting our tree

2012-01-24T22:16:00.002-05:00

we went to pick out our tree on the crappiest day in december. (at least thats what it felt like) it was raining and muddy, however the positive thing about that was that no one else was there and we had our pick of which tree we wanted to cut down. with todds schedule we dont have many options on when we could go. by the time he gets home from work, its dark, and him working weekends.. well.. it totally stinks!! so we picked a date and we went for it! the kids loved it as usual and were thrilled that we met up with friends this year. we all had such a ball.

christmas at nanas

2012-01-24T21:48:00.000-05:00

santa comes to nanas house too so we go there to celebrate the day after christmas....

christmas

2012-01-24T21:40:00.001-05:00

i don't need to say a whole lot about these photos. they speak for themselves. we had an awesome christmas. amelia was just so excited about everything and made a huge fuss over every single gift. jack and miranda loved their ipod touch's. they were shocked to open jacks gift and see that not only did fredward the elf leave jack a note with his, but fredward was inside the box holding the ipod. and both jack and miranda were shocked that miranda had gotten an ipod touch as well. the look on their faces were awesome. nate's favorite gift was miranda's go-go puppy. he screamed and yelled at it all morning long. so cute.

we did the same thing we do every year. invite all of the family over and whoever wants to come is more than welcome. we have soups and appetizer type foods all day, that way no one is stuck in the kitchen missing each others company and we can all just relax and enjoy being together.

christmas part 2

2012-01-24T21:35:00.000-05:00

christmas eve at nanas

2012-01-24T09:11:00.002-05:00

michael and kristin couldn't come to my house on christmas day, so they wanted to come see nana christmas eve. uncle tom and aunt judy were also here that weekend too. my mom made breakfast (with my help) for everyone and it was nice to just hang out and catch up.

i absolutely love love love love LOVE the random shot of everyone at the kitchen table. this, to me.. is a photo that describes my childhood. it is now the end of january, and as i am blogging about this very morning at nana's, i can remember it like it was yesterday. i stood to bring the eggs over to the table, i stopped and smiled. my heart was happy. i was remembering all of the smells, the memories, the feelings that happened right here. as i went back to the table again to bring the muffins and potatoes over, my immediate thought was: i need to grab my camera. my next thought was: no.. its too chaotic right now. the kids are in the living room eating.. give them their plates and sit down and enjoy breakfast. but no. i needed this moment. i will be glad i have it some day.

in the kitchen, hanging out at the table with family and friends. squeezing through to get to the back of the table. wondering how you were going to get out to get anything you might need. sucking it all in and pushing your chair in close to let those pass behind you, waiting for someone else to stand up so that they could grab it for you, but feeling guilty at the same time for asking them to grab it as their food was getting cold. so many hours were spent at this table, laughing, arguing, crying about the food we HAD to eat, and just sitting gabbing and catching up on ... life. when i was little and mom and nana would have friends or family over, we would eat and then mom would put the coffee on and get the dessert out. that guaranteed another 40 minutes just sitting around, hanging out in the kitchen. i thought i was so cool, being able to sit with the adults. then i became a teenager and when i had friends over, we would play games and hang out in the kitchen doing the same things. and then i became an adult and sat with my kids at the same table for sunday meals... now, we usually eat in the living room with trays, or on our laps so that we can eat together because its hard for nana to get out to the kitchen and sit on the chairs which are uncomfortable for her back. however.. its still nice to look back on photos and have all these wonderful memories from childhood..

christmas caroling

2012-01-24T08:53:00.000-05:00

the third graders at fallsington elementary had the option to go christmas caroling with the music teacher this year. i was shocked when jack said he really wanted to go. we walked around old fallsington caroling house to house, and then we went back to the school for hot chocolate afterwards. the kids had such a good time.

christmas pageant at ccd (prep)

2012-01-24T08:49:00.000-05:00

every year at ccd the kids have a holiday pageant. the first grade (miranda's class this year) dresses up and the other grades will all sing a christmas song. miranda's class sang silent night and they signed along with singing. it was so cute. miranda was an angel. she wanted to be mary, or baby jesus.. but apparently she was so much better suited for an angel ;)

signing "holy"

todds birthday

2012-01-22T23:23:00.000-05:00

mirandas card was the hilight of the night. she loves learning to read and write and loves everything about first grade. i made shepherds pie, and we had ice cream cake which the birthday boy requested as usual!

thanksgiving

2012-01-22T23:20:00.000-05:00

was at our house this year and very low key but we had a great time as usual.

nana is 90!

2012-01-22T22:44:00.000-05:00

i wanted to have a big party but no one was really feelin' it. we had the family at our house and had a nice day, as usual. we are so blessed to have nana here with us.

2012-01-22T22:40:00.000-05:00

for nanas birthday, we always try to do something special. its hard figuring out what you can do for someone who has everything. so we decided to just get together to spend some time together and have lunch. just nana, her grand daughters and great grand daughters. we had such a nice afternoon and we all enjoyed ourselves so much.

thanksgiving feast

2012-01-22T22:31:00.000-05:00

miranda was so excited to sing her songs for the parents at her feast. she loved having cornbread with homemade butter from her class, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.

buddies... pals...

2012-01-22T22:29:00.000-05:00

this is a boy who LOVES his "baby" sister.

i remember when i went to grab my camera on this morning. i came downstairs after waking and seeing that amelia wasn't in her crib. i just kept imagining what she was getting into and what my house would look like. instead... i found here here on the couch, laying with jack. he said, "mommy. amelia came downstairs so i told her not to wake you and that we could lay on the couch watching tv until you woke up. i got her a drink and some goldfish to hold her over until we ate breakfast. "

i wanted to stop time and just soak it all in...

longwood gardens

2012-01-22T22:18:00.000-05:00

i took the kids to longwood gardens this year for the first time with my friend and her kids. we walked around outside for quite a while before heading inside. of course we didn't realize it, but we should have went inside first to attempt the the pictures with the kids in front of the trees before they were exhausted from the long day.

lesson learned. next time we will plan better.

snipes

2012-01-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

snipes farm with bridget, dana and our babies!!

castle playground

2012-01-22T09:02:00.000-05:00

i've been wanting to take a trip to doylestown to check out the castle playground. i was waiting till todd was able to come with me bc its a huge 3 story playground and didn't want to chance bringing all 4 kids myself.

one day that todd had off it was so nice out so we surprised the kids by picking them up at school, had snacks all prepared and drove up to doylestown. it was a success. we all loved it and plan to go back.

halloween

2012-01-22T08:57:00.000-05:00

bey blade guy,

hippie,

little miss muffet, and her spider.

amelia was SO much fun this year. she kept squeeling and screeching about how much fun she was having, how she loved it, and how much she wanted to do it again the next night. (oops!) she would run up to the door yelling trick or treat and just kept saying in her adorable, over the top excited voice.. "thank you!! thank you so so so much!!" jack and miranda loved watching her as much as todd and i!

nate wore the spider costume jack wore8 years ago... i still can't believe it.

painting and carving pumpkins..

2012-01-22T08:50:00.000-05:00

is always a fun time in the evans' household!!!

pokemon and beyblades

2012-01-22T08:48:00.000-05:00

he is 8 1/2.

he loves baseball, basketball, and anything and everything outside.

he is obsessed with pokemon cards, games, figures.. anything.

he is obsessed with beyblade cards, the tv show, and the beyblades themselves.

he loves his sister amelia with everything he has.

and his sister miranda? well... lets just say we are lucky if they EVER get along.

he has a heart the size of the world.

he still loves his sleepovers with grammy and nana

he is still the pickiest eater and refuses to try mostly everything

is always thinking about others and concerned with what every one else wants.

he worries too much about doing the right thing (unless of course, miranda is involved)

jack and his best buddies. anthony and jeffrey.

love

2012-01-22T08:43:00.000-05:00

snow day in oct. really?

2012-01-22T08:40:00.000-05:00

the kids were loving the snow day we had in mid october!!

fighting for nates attention

2012-01-22T08:38:00.000-05:00

seems like the big kids are either fighting for amelias attention or lately.. nates.

and of course, amelia has jumped on the bandwagon!

phillies day

2012-01-22T08:29:00.000-05:00

every fall, the kids have "phillies day" at school.

being big phillies fan, they get so excited and love it!!

this is the "gang" thats at our house in the mornings.

she's finally lost a tooth!

2012-01-22T08:23:00.000-05:00

while crying, whining and over dramitizing everything..

she pulled, she wiggled, she pulled again, she twisted, begged it to come out, wiggled, pulled and twisted (again).....

and it finally came out.

she was a happy girl!

little firecracker

2011-12-21T23:35:00.000-05:00

this little girl is spunky and has a mind of her own. when the kids head out to the bus stop, we usually go and wait out front so we can wave to the bus driver and other friends on the bus. amelias newest "thing" is putting on mirandas socks and miranda's shoes and prancing around outside with them.

another outside kid...

2011-12-21T23:28:00.000-05:00

this kid will sit outside for hours just like his siblings. he sits on the porch in his exersaucer and watches all of the kids play while he is yelling, drooling, laughing and smiling. love this boy.

buddies

2011-12-21T20:57:00.000-05:00

orange hair

2011-12-21T20:50:00.000-05:00

big girl bed

2011-12-21T20:20:00.000-05:00

we don't have one yet. we have been holding off until christmas so that we could get the girls bunk beds. amelia asked to sleep in miranda's bed for her naps awhile ago and she never got out and did so well in it. i felt bad making her wait another 6 months for a bed but she doesn't seem to mind her crib either. this was her first "night" in the bed. miranda was sleeping at grammy and nana's and amelia asked to sleep in mirandas "big gull bed" all night. she did fabulous. i can't stand how grown up she is getting.

letting the bangs grow out..

2011-12-21T20:17:00.000-05:00

is NOT an easy task!

labor day...

2011-12-21T20:14:00.000-05:00

we just had our neighbor joan over, along with nana and grammy over for some swimming and a cook out.

low - key and fabulous!

baby playdates all around

2011-12-17T09:11:00.001-05:00

nate and my cousin bridgets son jacob are a few months apart, as are bridget and i. dana, and aurea - a girl i met through work, both have babies around the same age also. so we try to get together to hang out occasionally. its tough with everyone having different schedules but sometimes it works out!

9 months already

2011-12-17T09:05:00.000-05:00

time is flying by. i hate it. but i do love that the older they get, the more fun he is. the kids love him to pieces. nate and amelia are buddies when the kids are at school. she is convinced he is here just to play with her. she still only calls him natey, chunka munk, or natey nates.

playing together

2011-12-17T09:01:00.000-05:00

its a new thing.

i sure as heck hope it lasts!!

2011-12-17T08:59:00.000-05:00

at 6 years old, she is insisting on wearing dresses and skirts as often as she can. we received a bag of dresses like this from a co worker of grammys. his daughter out grew them. one would think we won the lottery. miranda was BEYOND thrilled.

jacks career project

2011-12-17T08:56:00.000-05:00

was there ever a doubt? not as far as he was concerned!!

porch

2011-12-17T08:54:00.000-05:00

we love to hang outside in the morning. the babies and i kiss the kids goodbye and wait for the bus driver to pass us and wave. amelia screams "goodbye!!!!!!" as the kids get on the bus, and always begs to stay outside for "just one more minute mommy".. i dread the winter months!!

my little pony's

2011-12-17T08:50:00.000-05:00

at 2 1/2 she is finally starting to sit and play with things. barbies, dolls, house, pony's.. whatever it is, she makes up a full story, using the cutest sounds and voice. i could sit and listen to her play all day long. jack would never sit and play. miranda just started getting into it recently. she didnt play that often when little either. i am encouraging it as much as i can and the girls even play together which of course, is the cutest thing ever.

growing out the bangs...

2011-12-16T22:38:00.000-05:00

is torturous.

tyler park

2011-12-15T12:32:00.001-05:00

one hot and muggy night, i got the crazy idea to go to tyler park and take some pics of the kids. myself. what was i thinking??? they were surprisingly good. as promised, if they cooperated, we would head down to the water afterwards. so thats exactly what we did. they were so good and we hung out at the water, fishing, putting our toes in, and keeping cool. when jack asked if they could wade to the other side i said.. sure, why not? pretty soon they were swimming in the disgusting water. they had the time of their life and it was totally worth it. they had so much fun, and it wasnt until afterwards, when we were leaving and i saw the "absolutely no swimming" sign. oops.

more swimming this summer

2011-12-15T11:43:00.001-05:00

sleepover with riley

2011-12-15T11:36:00.000-05:00

miranda and my cousin melanie's daughter riley have had a few sleepovers this summer. they always have so much fun. this particular sleepver, they were so awesome and they were SO good. riley ended up staying 3 days.

amelia goes to school

2011-12-15T11:19:00.000-05:00

amelia found mirandas old school bag and we played school all. day. long.

inside, outside, naptime, lunchtime.. school school school. when the kids got home we didn't stop . she had homework to do and then "recess". we all hung outside until todd got home and we had dinner and got ready for bed.

first day of school

2011-12-15T11:11:00.002-05:00

a new start. its a new school year with a 3rd and 1st grader!!

amelia is DYING to go to school in the worst way. she loves walking to the bus stop with the kids, or waving from the porch. she keeps asking.. "i go to school yesterday mommy??"and jack and miranda LOVE their teachers. what more could i ask for?

first day of school treats. every year we do different ones..

bbq at erin's

2011-12-15T11:02:00.000-05:00

once a summer , erin has a cook out and we all go and hang out for the day. we all have a terrific time and look forward to it.

summer beach days!

2011-12-15T10:56:00.001-05:00

we did a few random beach days this year, as usaul! this time we called a bunch of neighborhood friends and we all decided to head to the beach, totally last minute. it was wonderful!! the big kids loved their boogie boards and all of the kids loved digging, and building things in the sand. we are fortunate to have a 50 minute drive just to get to the beach.

hanging with amelia on the porch...

2011-10-14T11:36:00.003-04:00

one night amelia was laying around, clearly not feeling well. the weather was starting to get a bit cooler so we went out on the porch and i sat and sang to her for at least 45 minute. todd finally came outside too and wanted his turn with her. reluctantly i handed her over and ran for my camera...

my big kids and an 8 month old boy

2011-10-13T15:03:00.004-04:00

i can't believe my infant is 8 months! we were all playing outside this particular day and i realized that nate was 8 months. naturally i rounded up the troops and snapped a few pics. i blew up the one of all of the kids laying in the grass to a 20x24 and i put it at the top of the steps. i love it.

2 peas in a pod

2011-10-13T15:01:00.001-04:00

these 2 are buddies. he will stick up for her all the time no matter what. she can do no wrong in his eyes.

kindergarden graduation

2011-10-13T12:38:00.004-04:00

my girl loves school. she would go every day of the week if she could. she is so excited for first grade next year so she can go to school all day like jack. classic amelia when she got home from school we took a few pics of her in her cap and her dress, and then she ate her "graduation lunch" from mommy. her sandwich was rolled up like a diploma, and she LOVED her "graduation cap" for dessert. i can't believe i will now have 2 kids in school full-day. :( where has the time gone?!?!

random july

2011-10-13T04:18:00.009-04:00

has a goal for all my blogging to be caught up by this week.

then i plan on blogging daily, or every other day like i had in the past - and to never get behind again in my blogging. i keep reminding myself that the kids needs this. they will have my blog books some day and it will mean the world to them. (at least i can hope so!) so in order to get my blog caught up, i am going to MOSTLY lump all of the photos together from july, and then aug, and sept.. this isn't the way i would choose to blog but i am reminding myself that as long as the photos are on the page, it will be fine.

random july:

we had many get togethers with friends at the pool this month.

one get together posted was with the wives of some of the officers todd works with.when the guys work 4-12, the wives try to get together occasionally to we have someone to complain, sympathize and commiserate with us, about our husbands job and schedule.

one morning we woke early, and walked down to the pond. jack was dying to fish and with exceptional behavior this specific week, he earned a fishing trip to the pond. it was a fun morning.

nate loved sitting and watching jack fish. he loved all of the action.

nate was in the pool for the first time, and like his siblings, he LOVED it!

playing in the pool with cousins.. todds sister and her kids came for the day..

beach! mommy had a photoshoot in sea isle so we met up with our neighbor joan, at the beach this day. todd had a seizure a week prior. it was his first ever, and he was out of work for a month. (everything turned out fine. was a mixture of his meds and an energy drink) i didn't want to leave him home with the kids. it was joans idea for us to head down and they can hang with her while i went to my shoot. after the beach we went back to joans beach house to shower and then todd and the kids stayed with joan while i did my shoot. we drove home soon as i was done.

nate loves his jumperoo and is in it all the time. occasioanally he gets too comfortable and goes to sleep in it!
july 4th!

todd was off so we had a cookout with family and friends. we had a ball!!
nana and her great grand- kids!
girls chilling on the couch watching tv is how they either start or end their day most days..
amelia loves to help us feed nate. actually, she loves helping us do any and everything when it comes to nate!
michael and kristen's housewarming party!
amelia went off the diving board for the first time. she insisted on my catching her. i tried for awhile to get a picture but she would only let me catch her which obviously meant i couldn't take photos. so once miranda and jack got home and made a big fuss, she wanted to show them, jumped right in to todd, and was so proud of herself. i love how miranda is looking at her in this photos. so proud.
beach day with friends!

we had 2 diff beach days this summer with the boraskis and cordiscos. so much fun!

SMORES!!!

terra came to visit for a few days. we have kept in touch since she moved to kansas but with her work schedule and the kids, and my work schedule and the kids ... its been hard. it was so nice for her to come visit, and hang with us. we went with kristen to try on wedding dresses, had a beach day, and just hung out and got caught up. it was terrific.

hanging with nana...

random june...

2011-08-25T14:03:00.004-04:00

try my hardest to get caught up with blogging.

random june.

1. fathers day. we hung out at home and had a bbq with the foods daddy wanted.

2 and 3. spending time with our new cousin "baby jacob"

4. at least 2 out of the four kids come into my bed every morning when they wake up. we cuddle, hang out and just relax for a bit. best way to wake up.

5. beach day at school.

6, 7, and 8 - picking up miranda from the bus stop for the last day of school

9. picnic lunch with friends to celebrate the last day of school/beginning of summer.

10 and 11 - hanging with nates BFF killian. (K.J)

12, 13 and 14 - where we spend most of our summer days.

amelia and ian

2011-08-24T11:47:00.002-04:00

these two are second cousins but see each other a good amount. i hope it always stays that way!

beach with grammy ..

2011-08-18T15:45:00.004-04:00

we went away with grammy to the beach for a few days this month. we all had such a relaxing, nice time. the kids loved being in a hotel and amelia, who we were so worried about, was SO good!!although, we had a few time-outs!

my quirky girl

2011-08-05T22:52:00.002-04:00

i so love you. you are so goofy, so funny, and you crack us up all the time. your moods, like the rest of us.. change like night and day. crazy one minute and so serious the next.

first day in the pool

2011-08-05T15:10:00.002-04:00

the kids have been waiting all year for this!!

(who am i kidding... so am i!!)

of course the day they were able to go into the pool, miranda was punished and could not go in. i understood her punishment but felt SO badly for her.

One day that week when I was working, apparently she left the house without telling anyone and went to her friends house, our neighbors, a few doors down. When jack went to see if she was there (as Todd was a raving lunatic trying to find her) Miranda told the neighbor girls to say she wasn't there. Todd was frantic. They finally found her 15 minutes later.
Being outside is the only thing my kids love more than anything, so todd told her she was grounded for a week. She was told time and time again to ask us before leaving bc this has become a habit of hers. I felt a week was too long for a 6 year old and Todd agreed he was so mad he just yelled out a punishment without thinking. Later, he told her - for every day she had excellent behavior, she could earn a day back.

my free spirited girl

2011-08-05T15:07:00.001-04:00

on our way home from visiting a friend who just had a baby, you spot a ton of trees among the shade on a hot summer day. you beg to stop, look around, and dance together. how could i say no?

i hope you always stay that way.

Nate & Killian. bff's...

2011-08-03T21:59:00.000-04:00

we had a playdate. as you can tell from the second picture, amelia was so mad and had to jump in!

mothers day

2011-08-03T21:44:00.003-04:00

what a TERRIFIC way to wake up!!

love these goofy kids!!

i had cookies made for the kids as a gift from me, for mothers day. the kids LOVED them, especially jack.

we painted flower pots and planted flowers for grammy and nana.

matching ...

2011-08-03T21:42:00.001-04:00

jack went to school in this shirt today and when he got home i mentioned that nate had a shirt like it. he then asked me if we could put it on nate so that they could match. so sweet.

nana and her girls...

2011-08-03T21:37:00.001-04:00

the girls love to hang out back with nana on her swing. they love hanging out in the backyard with nana and grammy.

playing hookie - beach day.

2011-08-03T21:24:00.005-04:00

woke the kids up and said -- lets play hookie and head to the beach!

so thats what we did. the kids were beyond thrilled. there wasn't alot of people there and the weather was gorgeous. we had SUCH a good day.

dancing in the rain..

2011-08-03T21:20:00.004-04:00

is always fun past-time on a warm spring or summer day.

todd and nate...

2011-08-03T21:06:00.005-04:00

i took some random pictures of todd and nate the other day. things are crazier this time around with 3 older kids and i realized one day that i didn't have alot of photos of todd and nate. i was sad to realize that, especially because todd was beyond excited when we found out we were having a boy and they already have such an endearing relationship .. i made sure i snapped a few this morning and promised to do it again a month or so later. (which i now realize i haven't done!)

my girls...

2011-08-03T20:23:00.002-04:00

lately you haven't been getting along. i hope one day you realize how lucky you are to have each other. i will do my best to be sure you know just how incredibly lucky you are. in the meantime, i will be ready with my camera to catch the moments that you DO get along, and holding my breath, hoping that the moment lasts.

bus stop

2011-08-03T20:20:00.002-04:00

the highlight of amelias day is always picking miranda up from the bus stop. sometimes we bring her baby, sometimes her stroller, sometimes a toy.. she always wants to bring something with us. as miranda is jumping down the steps, shouting to us about the kindergarten drama that has happened that day, amelia is busy yelling to the kids... "hi lexi!!! hi randy!!! hi tommy!!! hi claude!!! hi savannah!!! ... she loves the attention as much as her sister!!

my assistant..

2011-08-03T20:18:00.001-04:00

nate is such a happy baby. always smiling and laughing, ESPECIALLY at amelia. he lights up when he looks at her. i usually call her over when trying to get a picture of him and she stands with me making all kinds of goofy noises and faces.

mirandas bangs...

2011-08-03T20:16:00.002-04:00

we have been letting her bangs grow. what a fight it is!! i can now say.. since i am way behind on blogging and it really is 3 months later, that i LOVE how her hair is now without bangs, and the struggle was totally worth it!!

field day!

2011-08-03T20:04:00.006-04:00

the kids usually get shirts at school but this year the school gave out visors instead, and were told to wear orange or black, depending on the team they ended up on. the kids were so bummed. i think mostly because they love getting their friends and teachers to sign their shirts. (and both kids wear theirs usually to bed) i made shirts for jack, miranda and all their friends and the kids were thrilled. miranda and noelle. noelle is a "high school helper" .. but beyond that, she is one of our babysitters. and sadly, i used to babysit for noelle and her siblings, when she was only a few weeks old. now she is starting college!

the kids loved their last names on the backs!

memorial day!

2011-08-03T19:23:00.003-04:00

we stopped over to see grammy and nana. after that, we came home to swim and cook burgers on the grill. nana and grammy came over to join us. it was a nice relaxing day.

"fancy" day at school

2011-08-03T18:56:00.002-04:00

still growing out the bangs

you can see why...

2011-08-03T18:51:00.003-04:00

i have taken to calling him... "the cutest boy in town"...

its true.

i could eat him up with a spoon.

drool and all

outside kid #3

2011-08-03T18:49:00.002-04:00

this girl loves being outside just as much as her siblings, if not more!!

kissing my boy

2011-08-03T14:51:00.004-04:00

i can't stop. i kiss him more times in one day than i can begin to count.

i did/do it with the other kids too.

still.

i can't stop.

literally.

i don't know what it is.

i just want to eat them up and kiss them all day long and do nothing else. i don't even mind the slobber, the tongue hanging out, and the occasional puke that may come out. i would rather make out with this baby than do anything else, any day of the week.

easter!!!

2011-07-16T15:29:00.004-04:00

for a few days before easter miranda kept saying to us: "i just don't understand how a giant bunny comes into your house in the middle of the night and leaves baskets. doesn't anyone else think that its so weird???" (the girl has a point!) but she made sure to leave him a note!

the kids loved hunting all over for their baskets as usual and loved the bunny's footprints and carrots he dropped when leaving! after the kids looked through their baskets, we had an easter egg hunt with some neighbors, friends and family. everyone had fun!! we had easter at our house this year and it was such a nice relaxing day!

dying eggs...

2011-07-16T13:13:00.003-04:00

and while we were finishing ... you can see what amelia did in the kitchen ! :)

easter bunny at the mall

2011-07-16T12:29:00.003-04:00

it was a long. long. day. i worked over night 7p to 7a. i came home and the kids and i did a few things around the house, we did some crafts, got ready for easter and decorated eggs. todd headed to work 4-12 and my plan was to have the kids in bed early, since easter was the following day. mom and nana were over for dinner and my mom asked how the kids were when we went to see the easter bunny.... and i froze! i had completely forgotten. my mom insisted it was no big deal, the kids didn't seem to care, and reminded me that i worked all night with no sleep and needed to rest up for tomorrow. i couldn't let it go. we got baths after dinner, dressed and went up to the mall, dragging myself the whole way. i had all of the kids crossing our fingers the whole time that there wouldn't be a huge crowd for the easter bunny. luck was on our side!!! there was a small line, the kids were so good, and even were treated to ice cream after for being so well behaved. it was a perfect night .

blanket on his face..

2011-07-16T12:16:00.002-04:00

we were at the mall with dana and killian and nate was so tired and fussy. he wouldn't fall asleep but was just moving his head back and forth, whining, fussing, squirming and whining again. i took the blanket and put it over the side of his face. he turned his face into it, looking like he was suffocating and fell right to sleep. ever since then, he loves to have a blanket touching his face when he sleeps...

nate and killian's first easter

2011-07-16T12:09:00.001-04:00

the bff's went to see the easter bunny for the first time!

my phillies boy!!!

2011-07-16T11:51:00.003-04:00

finger sucking...

2011-07-16T11:38:00.002-04:00

5 months and ALL you do is suck on your hands all. day. long. i cant get a picture without the hands in the mouth. pull them down, they immediately go right back in. everyone thinks you are teething but i disagree. i remember all of the other kids doing the same thing at this age.

my compassionate kid

2011-07-15T16:33:00.002-04:00

my sweet boy. you are so caring and compassionate. you have a huge heart and are always taking other peoples feelings into consideration. you always think about everyones feelings. today you got home from grammy's and daddy said to you - i want you to clean your room. you went up, cleaned your room, asked daddy what else you could help him with, and went out to water my flowers. then daddy sent me a picture of you helping amelia taking her diaper off and helping her on the potty. you are so sweet and take your time with her. i love that about you.