10 Blessings I'm Grateful For Right Now...

1- One amazing, generous, helpful, handsome and smart son! Ethan is the best big brother, a hard worker at school and an overall good kid. 

2- Two beautiful, fun-loving and energetic daughters! Lexy will do anything to get you to laugh and smile... Bella just smiles and it makes you smile!!

3- Three birthdays to celebrate in the next three months for my three children! April, May, and June are party months at our house!

4- Four siblings who have taught me everything I need to know in life... whether good or bad! Thanks you guys!

5- Five wonderful years living in a great neighborhood with the most wonderful neighbors!  You guys are awesome!

6- Six years of teaching under my belt! I am grateful that I have my teaching degree to work with these bright little people who will determine the future of the world in which we all live.

7- Seven years of marriage to the most wonderful man in the world! Tony is my best friend and the love of my life. 

8- Eight months until Tony and I hope to go on a vacation without the kids! We are hoping to be able to pull off a vacation to Cancun in October. 

9- Nine more weeks until school is out and I get to start on a very busy and eventful summer vacation! One wedding, one trip to Ohio, one trip to California (in the same week even!), a new nephew will be born, etc...

10- Ten pounds I've lost since the beginning of the year, and another 10 pounds that I hope to lose soon!! (I had a hard time thinking of one for 10, but really, I am proud of myself for this accomplishment!!)

While lying in bed last night, I realized that I had so many things to be grateful for in my life and if I am going to utilize this blog as a journal, I needed to write these things down. Hopefully it will inspire some of you to reflect on those things that you have been blessed with in your life as well. 

What's New At Our House This Week?

Every week brings something new to our home, however, this week there were a few that stood out among others.

Isabella- got a NEW TOOTH for a total of 7! 4 on top and 3 now on the bottom.

Alexys- got a NEW CD for her dance class so she can practice her routines for her dance recital in May. We really look foward to listening to that....... lots!

Ethan- got NEW CLEATS for his NEW SEASON of SOCCER. He is growing so fast and has out-grown his last pair that lasted for a good 2 years. They'll be waiting for Lexy to use them in the fall!

I was trying really hard to think of NEW things for Tony and I but I came up short. Technically, I had something to share but since it isn't official yet, I didn't think that it would be appropriate to share. And no, I'm not pregnant! (I know our neighborhood well enough to know that it crossed your minds!)

Beautiful Day at the Park

How could we not take advantage of the beautiful weather we experienced this week! We spent as much time as possible outside. These pictures are from our day at the park with our friends Landon, Cole and Gavin. We also visited the library for story time.

Catchin' Up!

Yes, yes, yes... I am a HUGE slacker! But in my defense I feel like I have a legitimate excuse. Of course my computer has been down for a while but my genius brother, David, took apart our laptop and fixed it! When I got it back... I couldn't find my camera! I couldn't find it for a few weeks so I am trying to catch up. Sorry that it is a month after Valentine's Day, but I needed to post something!

As for our family, we are all doing well. Nothing new or exciting is really going on. Ethan will start soccer soon, Lexy's dance recital is coming up shortly, and my baby Bella is crawling all over the place! I'm including just a few pictures that I have gotten in the last little bit. Now that I have both my computer and my camera back, my goal is to add a new post every Sunday.

This is what you get when your 3 year old decides that she isn't ready for bed! All dressed up like a princess, laying on the stairs because she knows she'll get in trouble if she comes downstairs. Lexy was sent to bed a good hour before we headed upstairs for bed and found her like this.

Family Fun at Skate Express!

Even Bella was able to have some fun as Ethan pushed her in her stroller!

Lexy got tired so she just jumped on her dad's feet for a ride around the rink!



Scooters are aloud on the rink as well. Ethan was proud of himself because he could skate with roller blades.

TUBS of Fun!!

Valentine's Day 2009

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

After a fun filled day of heart shaped pancakes, homemade Valentine's for dad made of candy hearts, a red dinner (spaghetti & meatballs w/ red kool-aid) and of course red roses from dad, we got ourselves dressed up for church. Mom re-used our Christmas dresses by using pink shirts underneath to make Valentine dresses!!

Kids will be Kids!

Here I am again posting without a picture but I have to share these stories. I love my children very much and don't always record the funny things they do.

First, to start off this crazy week, my car was hit on Monday night. A girl thought that she didn't have to look in her rear view mirror before she backed up in a parking lot. Go figure... Anyway, we have been dealing with insurance issues all week and needless to say, it is Friday, I do not have a rental yet and my car is still not in the shop! I am a little frustrated at this point. But the things that have happened in the last 24 hours have brought me back to reality and really reminded me of what things should be most important in my life. That would be my family. So, here is story number one about Lexy.

My girls go to a neighbor's house while I teach at the school in the afternoons. I went to pick them up and Lexy was upstairs with her friend dancing to some music. My friend told me that they got a hold of her I-pod and she apoligized for some of the music that they might be dancing to. I wasn't worried.... then the girls came out to see me and they were dancing singing this song "MuHum, MuHum, MuHum, MuHum, MuHum". For those of you who don't speak pre-school, this is what they were trying to sing "My Hump, My Hump, My Hump, My Hump, My Hump." We were dying! It was the funniest thing seeing these two 3/4 year olds shaking their little behinds to a song that they didn't understand at all. I wish I had the video camera!

So here's Ethan's story. I had two choices when it happened... get really angry, or just laugh my head off. I chose to laugh!

So, out of nowhere last night around 11pm, Bella woke up screaming. It was so strange because she never wakes up and this was a painful, painful scream. After about 20-30 minutes of this we realized that it was just gas and after some Milicon drops (the greatest stuff in the world for babies) she was back to sleep. But during her screaming, she woke up Ethan. At this time, I was laying in bed and heard Ethan wake up. After a minute or so I heard him go down stairs where dad was trying to help Bella. Then Ethan came back upstairs crying. At this point I was a little confused. I got up to check on him. He was sitting on the toilet in the bathroom. I saw that there was nothing in the toilet, but some wet spots on the bathroom mat. I said "Ethan, did you pee on the floor?" While crying, he just said "I don't know." Of course the tired irritated mom at this point says "What do you mean you don't know?" He responds with "I don't know??" He got off the toilet and starts to put his jammies back on when he says "My jammies are wet mom." At this point I'm a little bugged and say "Ethan let's go in your room and change your clothes, it looks like you missed the toilet." So we go to his room, he's changing his clothes when I look toward his dirty clothes hamper. I see drops of wetness on the floor! Then I say (almost yell- remember, in my defense, I have been up with a screaming baby for a while too) "Ethan, did you pee on the floor?" He responds with the same "I don't know?" Then I see his jeans hanging over the edge of his hamper and they are soaked! I finally put two and two together and realize that when Ethan first got out of bed, he must have had to go to the bathroom, walked straight over to his closet (assuming it was the bathroom) and tried to pee in his hamper!!!!  He must have been woken up in such a sound state that he didn't even know where he was. Poor kid!! Of course I ran down stairs to share the story with Tony and together we laughed. How can you get made at that!!!

Computer Melt Down

I am dying here! Our computer is having "techinical" difficulties and I have not been able to add anything to my blog in forever! I have been keeping up with all of yours and been very jealous! Not that too much has been going on really, but there are a few things to share. I hate that I am adding a blog without a picture, but I can't download any right now. In a nutshell, things have gone a little back to normal since Christmas. Ethan is back to school, (as am I), Lexy gets to play with Tayli everyday:), and Bella... well, she's just sweet little Bella getting bigger and happier each day! Tony, however, has since gotten a promotion at the gym! YEAH! It should be a good thing, but mostly scary for the next little while. The nice thing is, he will be coming home during the middle of the day to watch the girls while I work. That will be great daddy-daughter time! He will quit his job with the chiropractor next week and work only at the gym from now on. He is doing awesome and loves being there. I'm so happy for him. This week, I have SEP conferences at school. I don't know any teacher who loves those! Having to meet with every parent to discuss how "well" their child is doing... it's not very fun when the child is not doing so "well". Wish me luck! With things like this going on, I need something to look forward to in the future. Here are a few things that we have to look forward to in the next few months:

March- My best friend and her family will be up here to visit! Can't wait to see you Mandi.

April- Uncle Brian and Aunt Nicole will be here for Easter Break! Bella's 1st birthday!

May- Ethan's 6th birthday! School ends!

June- Lexy's 4th birthday! My best friend's little sister is getting married! Congratulations Allison!

July- Trip to California!

Even if things seem slow now, they are really going to pick up in the next few months! We're so excited to see all of our family and friends so soon!