Friday, December 14, 2012

Counting my blessings.












 
As I watch Dateline tonight, I pulled open my computer and just stared at the pics of my kiddos. They are my world, and i can't imagine what the parents of the little students killed are going through. 20 children. 6 adults. It's terrible.
 
Today I hugged tighter. Thank you God for this day.
 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A Kid Again

I love feeling like a kid again and doing all of these fun activities. Big Joey and I  just started getting a peak at our days to come. The boys are becoming more flexible with travel and both are able to enjoy new adventures. I had no idea it was going to be this fun this early. Don't get me wrong, I am more tired and there is less time for things I used to do. However, I'm trying to cram it all in before they outgrow those phases.

 On the way to Grandma's Condo last weekend  we stopped by Taltree Arboretum and Gardens. It's located in Valpairaso, and it was just a small detour off of our way to New Buffalo, Michigan. Let me rewind by saying we had the worst car ride ever with the kid and we were desperately looking for a break and some fresh air. This place was perfect.
 We call Grandma's Condo "Grandma's Condo" because that's what the boys call it. It's located right on top of train tracks, which you'd think would be annoying, but for some reason it never gets old with the boys. Ray Ray can hear an engine minutes away, we all yell "Train!!", and run out to the front.

 I never thought I would be the type of mom that would encourage silly obsessions your kids have, but I am and I loooooove it!!!! We affordably dressed like The Wiggles for The Children's Museum Halloween Party for a total of $21 for all of us. We continue to have Wiggles performances all day long and we CANNOT WAIT for Halloween next week!!!!
 Last weekend we were able to enjoy our first stay at a hotel in French Lick, Indiana. I bought a Groupon a while ago for a one-night stay, 8 passes to the indoor water park, 4 passes to putt putt, 4 passes to lazer tag, a trip to the pumpkin patch with a kiddie zipline, hayride, and a pumpkin, and free breakfast all for $150. What a steal!!!! We dropped Louie off at Grandma's and took off. Wow, this place was perfect for little kids. The water park was only 10 rooms away from ours and we were able to do everything through our little wristband with a chip in it. We will be going back every year.
 Joey did all of the slides and had that crazy laugh throughout each one while I was screaming my head off. In the picture above do you see that big bowl with blue and yellow stripes??? It is like those funnels you put your coins down that go around a million times. Well, in a double tube, Joey and I would go straight down a super dark tunnel, go around this bowl a million times, then down another dark tunnel and ended up in some tidal waves. It was nuts!! I had no clue my timid 4 year old would love this, but he did!
 The toddler area above was perfect for the boys while Joey and I sat and relaxed. Did I mention there was an arcade room right outside the park where adults could grab a beer and pizza while watching some football? It was an unbelievable set up.

I am writing this blog from my bed. Unfortunately I caught the stomach flu somewhere and I've been in bed for about 30 hours now. I feel terrible...I caught the flu on big Joey's birthday. He had to come home from work early to take care of me and the kids and is now missing another day of work on what he calls The Greatest Day of The Year... the start of the World Series.. So I'd like to give a shout out to an amazing, hard-working, kind husband who continues to be our rock when we all feel defeated. Thank you for giving us such a beautiful life babe. Love you!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

All that I have....time for.

Grandma's Spiderman Birthday

Joey's first sport. Daddy coached. We scored twice... in the wrong goal.
 Sydney's 3rd birthday.
 Daddy's little girl.
 Joey's first field trip to Waterman's Pumpkin Patch.
 Joey's first pony ride... then an anaphlactic reaction. :)
 The kids. Ray's new smile. Awesome.
 Asking Mom why one of his Army men didn't have a head....
Ray still loves sugar, of course.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Summer has come and gone.

Ray Ray started school. He's in the 2's and only goes one day a week. He still is crying for the most part, but last week was much better. If you don't remember Joey cried in the 2's till March, and now Joey begs to go. Hopefully we see Ray turn a corner sooner. My Mom always told me that as a mother you are as happy as your saddest kid. That makes sense right? Anyway, it's nice to have a morning with Louisa. I especially like it because that's the only day of the week I get to shower before noon! Ahhh, the joys of being a mother ;)

 My bestie from growing up, Alli Walli, came to stay with us in August for a few. The kids still walk past the room she slept in saying "Shhhh, Awwwi is sllleeeeping." Alli never misses a beat with the kids.... even on LA time. The kids love her and Ray still pretend calls her daily.
 My beautiful Mom just turned 60. We threw her a suprise 60th dinner at Ruth Chris and the night turned out perfect. It was just a small group of us, but very intimate and relaxing even if the night ended with a debate over where some glacier stopped in Franklin Township many moons ago. You'll have to ask my brother about that :)

 This summer was also filled with my 10 year class reunion. I began to plan it and decided there was no possible way I would put the energy into it that needed to be there. I passed the torch over to an awesome friend and our night was a huge success. Plenty of old friends, pitchers of beer and stories told at a local restaurant. I was impressed with our turnout.
 The girls finally met. Big Joey's best friend, Brian Egan, who is also Little Joey's Godfather, had their first baby. Brian and Jenn just moved back from Portland after both finishing their residencies and are finally getting settled back into Indy. Their sweet baby girl, Layla Jolee, and Louisa may just have to be best buds. For now, car seat buddies.
 We have a HUGE obsession with The Wiggles. We perform, dream, reenact, dance and do all things Wiggles right now. Little Joey can do every dance and studies them off of Youtube videos from our phones. We were able to go to their farewell tour at the Murat, and since then we have been dreaming of our Wiggles Halloween costumes. The Wiggles products are really hard to find. They aren't in many stores, only so many on Ebay and if you order direct from the website the Australia shipping will kill ya. So.... with that being said... if you happen to come across anything Wiggles, please send them our way. If you haven't been up to speed with them, this is their last year and there will be new Wiggles characters as of next year. We are desperately trying to collect all we can before the new guys take over. What we do for our kids, right?
 This pic slipped in there, but glad it did. We are still working on wearing our glasses, but isn't he a doll in them??  It's funny how things change.... when little Joey was a baby, it seemed impossible to have playdates or go anywhere due to crying spells. Louisa prefers the excitement and is bored out of her mind when the boys are sleeping. It's such a sweet blessing they have each other.
 Ahhh, there are the Wiggles. We got our tickets off of Groupon and the seats turned out to be pretty good. They put on an amazing show, and I am actually sad these guys won't be coming back (they are in their 50's though).
 A night away!!!! Big Joey and I finally had a night away. My pledge sister, Abby, got married in Bloomington last weekend. What a perfect place to have a wedding and bring everyone back. She married a Sigma Chi and that is the fraternity we mainly ran around with in college. It was great seeing all of the girls and guys at the old bars.


Lastly, a sweet pic of my crazy Ray Ray!!! If you think of it, say a little prayer for him on Tuesdays around 9:00am when he gets dropped off at school. He needs all the prayers he can get.... and so do his teachers.

Until next time, we will be either soaking up some good weather, performing Wiggles or at a Roncalli event trying to find the band.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Boating and Babysitting

When we were in New Buffalo, Michigan we were able to meet up with my pledge sister (roommate) from Pi Phi. She has 3 kids that are all about 2 months apart from mine. They have a place there too AND A BOAT!!! We had a blast with them! The boys have been begging to go back and jump off the boat since and we can't wait!

 This pic was right at dinner time where we all starting having little meltdowns. Hard to believe we each have 3, Tayte.




Here's a pic of our fab babysitter.
She saved me this summer and I feel so blessed God put her in our life.