Blog question

A few of the blogs that I read have it so the blogs they read show when there is a new entry. How do you set that up? Please leave me a comment if you know how to do that!! Thanks so much!

Where's the love?

Today is Wednesday and I'm LOST. Chrissi woke up this morning asking where Ian and Brennan were, that started the huge tug at my heart. I talked to them on the phone and they are having a blast. My mom said that last night she thought Bren was a bit homesick. He would get his feeling hurt easily. Talk about bringing instant tears to my eyes. But this morning they both couldn't wait to tell me about going tubing yesterday and grilling hotdogs on the boat. And the big topper of the evening was going out for ice cream. Brennan had to make sure that I heard about the two spiders there and that they weren't even dead, they were alive. And Ian had to make sure that I knew they were staying for three more nights at the Lake, as if I didn't know that already!

Last night my Grandma and Greg came over for dinner (all time favorite summer dinner......BLT's.......nothing is better when you have homegrown tomato's). We also played Wii. Grandma LOVES Wii!!!!! (Stay tuned, I have pictures to still post from the birthday party this weekend and you can see her in action). She has finally found the key to Chrissi's heart........CANDY!!! Grandma ROCKS! I don't know if I've mentioned it before or not, but I am the best bowler in the house. (High score.......269). Of course I'm talking about Wii bowling, not for real bowling, I completely suck at that. Can you guess what the goal for Grandma and Greg was last night? To kick my BUTT at bowling. Did it happen? Did pigs start to fly yet? Well, you have your answer! I SMOKED them! It was a blast. Grandma said "last game" about 5 times. At one point Greg told me that he hated me (all in good fun..........well at least that's what I'm going with) and Grandma piped in, "Me too!". I was stunned, my sweet Grandma AGREED. I then called my mom at the Lake and asked her, "Mom, YOU love me, right?" Not even knowing what's going on she replied, "No, I hate you. Can't stand you." Granted I can almost feel the sarcasm dripping through my cell phone, but still WHAT THE HELL!!! After I dried up my tears and pulled myself together, know what I did? I kicked their butt even more!!!! =) I LOVE my family!!!!!

Thanks, Grandma, Greg and Chrissi (Jesse was still at work, unfortunately and missed ALL the fun) for keeping me entertained last night and keeping my mind off missing the boys so much.

By Wednesday I'll be LOST

We have had such a busy week and I have TONS of pictures to post. We had the kid's "family" party yesterday and had such a fun day!! At the end of the party my "very different week" began. Ian and Brennan went to the Lake with my parents and my nephews for the WEEK!!!! It sounded cool when my mom called me in the morning yesterday to see if they would like to go. And to say the boys were excited would be a HUGE understatement. So as I'm getting ready for the party and packing 6 outfits for the boys, it hit me how long they would be gone. I am definitely the type of parent that thinks it is good for the mom and dad to be away from their kids. Having said that, I am also the type of parent that gets homesick for her kids pretty quickly. I'm actually quite pathetic!!! Maybe it's because I am with my kids 24/7, but after about two days away, I'm ready to come home. (Granted I am at home and the kids are gone, but you get the point!) So I think that by Wednesday (if I make it that long), I'll be pretty close to tears (if not completely crying like a baby). But this too is healthy and I guess why it is so important to be separated from your kids, it makes you miss them, including the whining and tantrums.

So Chrissi and I are going to have lots of girl time this week. Not too sure what we are going to do. Any suggestions???

Birthday pictures (Family Party)

Because summer is always crazy busy for everyone and with the kids having a birthday in June, July, and August, we decided to combine all three this year. The boys have always been combined, especially the family party. So we celebrated their birthday, July 27th when the temperature was a cool 95 degrees. Blah!!! Gotta love heat and humidity. It was not a hard sell to have the party indoors. We had a great afternoon. The boys mainly played in the basement with their cousins and Chrissi ruled the upstairs. We had the kids favorite........Meatballs and Spaghetti (my family always had said that backwards.......the spaghetti is completely secondary to the homemade meatballs), garlic cheese bread, and pasta house salad! Yummy!!!! What a great day!!!!


It's my party and I want to be HELD!!!!







Finally!!!! Bama is giving me the attention I deserve.







Chrissi hanging with Great Bama.







Danny and Erika chowing on the snacks.







Kim and Sue talking about out trip to Chicago in October. Sue was telling us about some cool places to visit.







"A table full of snacks just for me!!!" Whoops, the birthday girl got caught!







"How did you know that I LOVE puppies?" I don't know, Chrissi, maybe it is because you call every animal a puppy!!!







"Can I please open my present now?"







What an awesome big brother, always helping out his little brother or sister.







Bama and her other bestest boys!







Big Danny and Baby Danny







Almost a professional Wii Bowler! You'll beat me someday, Grandma. Practice makes perfect.







Mark, do you approve of Sue's salad?







Peek-a-boo, I see you Chrissi.







"OK, I guess we'll share!!"







Quick! Quick! What is it??







Yes! Yes! Yes!! A new Playstation Game!!







And what do you have Miss Chrissi?







Hooray, it's a new Barbie for me (and Mommy!).







But wait........even better........M&M's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!







Happy Birthday to Chrissi!!!







Happy Birthday to Brennan!!! (A little blurry, but that's all I had)







Happy Birthday to Ian!!!






Jesse with his new niece, Dani!

Happy Birthday, Brennan!

My baby BOY is 6 today!!!!! I just can't believe it. He was so funny last night, I had made brownies for him to share with his friends that I babysit. Well, last night he had one for his snack. Brennan gets this adorable look on his face, kind of like a shy boy that is embarrassed and has a crush on someone all at the same time type look. So he has this look on his face and looks at me and says, "Do you think that maybe the birthday boy could have two brownies tonight?" What? It's not even his birthday. I guess my mom has been talking to him and he thinks that he gets birthday month as well. Hey, now that I think of it he kind of does. He had his kid party at Vetta in June (maybe the end of May), today is his birthday, and this Sunday is all three of the kids family birthday party.

Happy Birthday to you, Brennan. I hope that you enjoy your day. We have big plans and he gets to choose what is for dinner tonight. I'll post more pictures tomorrow about our GREAT day!!! I love you, Brennan.
























(On a side note.............today has been a great day so far.........and not just for the birthday boy, but for my other favorite July birthday boy!!! More on that soon!!!)

Such a cute BABY!!!

Chrissi meets Baby Dani

Chrissi was such a big girl yesterday and got to hold Baby Dani. Not quite sure what she thought of her!! At times there was definitely some jealousy, especially when BaMa had the baby!!

Chrissi with 2 of her best Girls!

Chrissi loves to play with Dani and Melia. What's really cool is that Chrissi and Dani met several times in Guatemala. That is such a unique opportunity for these two girls to grow up "together". Although the three get along really well, they can also fight like cats and dogs. Below are pictures of the three playing in the toy room.


This silly little monkey sings the song "Watch Out Here I Come" while spinning in circles. The batteries are almost dead. My thought is that when they die completely the toy might have to stay "brokey".



Follow the leader!




Strike a pose, Chrissi!!!! She's getting ready to boogey!!!





Whatcha doing, Melia?



Looks like Dani is having a GREAT time!



Chrissi, is Dani telling you a story?


I LOVE MY GUATE GIRLS!!!

Meet the newest addition to our family!!!

I am so excited to announce the arrival of my brother, Danny and Erika's baby GIRL!!! Danielle Marie was born yesterday around 2:30, weighing in at 7lbs 8oz, and 19 1/2 inches in length. It was my honor and privelage to be in the delivery room with Danny, Erika, my mom, and Erika's mom........oh yah, and there was also a doctor and a few nurses. Thankfully the room was HUGE!!!

Erika was a champ with the delivery. It only took her a few pushes and Baby Dani was out and ready to meet us. I am not an overly emotional person. Everyone knows someone that EVERYTHING makes them cry, not that there's anything wrong with that, but that's not me. But as soon as the baby was born, I was crying. It was so cool. I had seen my youngest nephew born as well and I did cry, I guess the miracle of life does that to me. How super cool and a big thank you to Erika for allowing me to be in the room. Erika has only been part of our family for about one year, but we all love her so much and are so thankful to have her in our lives.

Danny was a champ as well. After he made it through the epidural all was good. He came out to the waiting room white as a ghost and shaking. We asked if everything was ok and he said, "Man, that was rough!"

Us "Is Erika ok?" At this point we were concerned because he looked so shaken

Danny "Oh yah, she did great! It was me! I almost passed out in the middle of it."

He was so pale and completely shaking. Of course we busted out laughing at his expense. It was so funny. Unfortunately for Danny this will probably be what we remember most when we talk about Danielle's birth.

Congratulations, Danny (I guess I have to start calling you Dan now since you kind of have a Jr. ) and Erika. We couldn't be any happier for you!!!

Here are just a few pictures. I forgot my camera yesterday morning so do not have early pictures, but I came back later because the boys wanted to see the baby and these pics are from then. (My mom has GREAT pics! When I can steal her memory card I'll add more!)

One last thing...........yesterday was also my Dad's birthday!!!!! What a great present!!! Happy Birthday to the best Dad and PaPa in the whole wide world.

Happy 4th of July

We had such a fun 4th of July. We always spend the day swimming at Aunt Linda and Uncle Gary's house. Then later we head next door to my parents for dinner and fireworks. It is the best thing in the world to have such a super close family. There isn't a family member that I could not count on for support. Look how much fun we all have together!!!


My super talented cousin, Trisha, doing a backflip.



Mom doing another perfect dive. The funniest thing of the day is that my mom decided to try to do a pike. Well, she ended up looking like she was doing the "running man" in midair while holding her nose of course.



Brennan is tired after swimming so hard. He is such the little swimmer all of a sudden. He can even swim in the deep and go off the diving board!!!



Just a little swimming fun!




Chrissi is having a ball dancing on BaMa's lap. (I'm sure she is sneaking in a chip or cracker or two in between shimmy shakes.)





Brennan and Erika. She is such an adorable pregnant lady..........nothing but belly........BUT, OF COURSE she hid it for the picture!!!



Can you say PRINCESS?? And we wonder why she is so ROTTEN!




My Elyssa and Kiki always look so super adorable. Remember girls, keep those dresses nice for Chrissi.



Me with my Grandma and me with my Bean. It's a running joke with Jesse that the kids won't remember that I was ever there because I am hardly ever in pictures, so he made sure to get a few pics with me in them.




Just chillin' out.



Watch out Grandma's got a gun!!!



We are either hanging out in the pool or at the snack table "ruining our dinner"!!












Chrissi getting major attention as always!!