FOUR girls and ONE lucky guy

First Day of School

2011-08-23T19:00:00.005-04:00

I am now the mother of a kindergartener, a first grader and a fourth grader. There was a time, just a few years ago, when I could not wait for this day to get here. Having all of my kids in school seemed so appealing back when I was in the throws of toddler mania......but oh- how I wish I could go back in time and hold and cuddle those babies. I remember taking Alli to church for the first time after she was born. Pete and I came home talking about all the random people who told us to, "enjoy this time because they grow up so fast". Back when my days consisted of nursing, changing diapers, chasing toddlers, cleaning up spills, toys, crayoned walls and the like, I never felt like it was flying by.......but here I am- a mother of three elementary children. All those random people who kept telling me that time flies after you have babies were right! It has flown by!

The first day of school was a success! All the girls did great at drop off (including myself!). I am excited about their teachers....and so are they.

My Baby Girl

2011-08-23T18:41:00.003-04:00

My baby girl turned 5 in July!! Why does time go by so fast!?! Katie is our little comedian. She loves to make us laugh. We usually can not get through a dinner without cracking up at whatever silliness she is doing. She is also quite the athlete. Katie is like a little ball of muscle. She has been in gymnastics for a couple of years. This year we are trying soccer and we are so excited to see her play.

My Little Broadway Baby

2011-06-25T23:21:00.005-04:00

Tori had her first big recital! She did a tap dance to the song Broadway Baby. It was so cute! And she did fantastic! She is a fabulous dancer!

I took a few pictures of her after her rehearsal.

She took dance with one of her best buds Jillian.

I loved getting her all ready for her recital! It brought me back to my dance team days. It was a lot of fun for the both of us!

Ready For Summer!

2011-05-30T22:06:00.003-04:00

Only 3 and a half days left of school! Can't wait to have my girlies home and the freedom of later bed times and sleeping-in! Lazy days of summer hanging by our pool.....here we come!

Playing Catch Up - Katie

2011-05-21T11:39:00.005-04:00

In December, Katie learned to do the monkey bars. This girl has no fear!

In March, Katie and I met a lot of her preschool friends at the zoo. I tried to take advantage of our time together before she is in school full time.....I honestly can not believe she will be in kindergarten next year!

In May, Katie had her preschool graduation......I didn't even cry as much as I thought I would! But I am sure that I am going to be a mess on her first day of kinder!

Katie spent her first day of summer catching caterpillars. She loves all kinds of insects, bugs and animals.

Playing Catch Up - Tori

2011-05-21T00:54:00.006-04:00

In January, Tori had her very first sleepover with her favorite friend Jordan.

In February, for career day, Tori chose to dress up as a ballerina. It is a very fitting career for her. She is a fabulous dancer!

In April, Tori received The Principal's Award. This is a big deal! And we were so proud of her!

In May, one of Tori's pictures that she made in art class was chosen by her teacher to be in an art show that was held at a local business. Her art picture is the one on the bottom.

Playing Catch Up - Alli

2011-05-21T00:28:00.007-04:00

Here are a few Alli updates-

In February, after only 7 months of braces, she got her braces off! Beautiful straight teeth now!

In March, she joined a volleyball team. The season was pretty short, but she improved a lot during her time on the team.

In April, she turned NINE YEARS OLD! And after five years of asking for a guinea pig, she got one! Meet Bubbles, AKA Piggie. I cried when she saw that we had got her a guinea pig. I was so happy to see her excitement. She has done a pretty good (read OK, not that great, have to remind her a lot, makes a huge mess when cleaning the cage) taking care of her.

Alli also took the TAKS test in April....that wonderful test for all public school students. She struggled with the math part and was tutored once a week for a few months before the test. She was so nervous when she took the test. But I bet she did great. We haven't received her scores yet. And, honestly, I don't care if she passed or not because I know she gave it her best effort. Her teacher sent me an email after the tests were complete to let me know that she had never seen a student work as hard as Alli did while she was taking her test. I am so proud of her for trying so hard! And that is all that matters to me!

Playing Catch Up!!

2011-05-20T23:30:00.006-04:00

Wow- it has been quite some time since I have posted anything on this blog! So many excuses....but I wont get into that! Let's go straight to the pictures and updates!

Starting the first week of 2011, after NINE YEARS of being a SAHM, I became an employee of First Friends Preschool! It was a tough transition. I only worked two days a week, but sometimes it felt like five! This was Katie's last year of preschool so I was glad to be at her school.

Katie and I at school on Camo Camping Day

Next year, I will be teaching four year olds- 3 days a week. I am super excited about it....a little nervous, but mostly excited! I can hardly believe that I am at the stage in my life when all of my girls will be in full day school! They really do grow up too fast!

Tori is 6

2011-01-02T14:15:00.001-05:00

Tori is 6 years old!

We celebrated Tori's birthday with a party at home with some of her friends. We decorated gingerbread houses and played a tasting game.

The girls had a lot of fun decorating their houses and guessing which flavor of candy cane they got.

Tori asked for an iPod for her birthday. She has had a lot of fun with that and all the other toys she got.....and then a week and a half later, more toys from Christmas! Needless to say, she is over-loaded with things right now!

And the best part about turning six in our house is - you can get your ears pierced! For a long time, Tori was saying she was going to wait until she was seven to get her ears pierced. Which was completely fine with me....six is just the earliest that I want them to do it. But then just a few months before her birthday, she changed her mind. So after school on December 14th, we went to go get her ears pierced!

Her eyes are a little teary....she cried when they did the first one, but was fine after the second one went in.

Hard to believe she is six years old! She is a great kid! So sweet and loving! And she has been doing an awesome job taking care of her newly pierced ears. She is so responsible! (It must be a middle-child thing!)

Halloween 2010

2010-11-03T22:50:00.001-04:00

The Queen of Hearts

Miss Strawberry Shortcake

A Beautiful Butterfly

As always, the girls had a great time trick or treating! I loved the costumes they picked out this year.

Here they are with our neighbor friends ready for the evening to start!

Look at all that candy! So dangerous to have all this chocolate in the house!

America's Greatest Generation

2010-10-23T20:43:00.001-04:00

An era that has been said to be the most terrifying and turbulent in our nation's history, an era of men who served their country by fighting in and winning the battles of World War II, and of women and men who helped America finance the war with their home front efforts, these are the men and women who are now referred to as 'America's Greatest Generation'. My grandpa, Alex Rodriguez, was one of the men who served in our nation's military during this time. He served in the United States Army and lead a group of solders in the Philippines as a Staff Sergeant. He served proudly. He was a man that took Duty, Honor and Country to heart. And up until his last days, he participated in every local WWII event. He rode in parades, waving his flag proudly, as the crowds honored him and the other veterans. But he was humble and never boasted about his medals. Grandpa could usually be found at one VFW or another. He was selected through a veteran's program to be taken to see the WWII Memorial in Washington DC. Sadly, he will not make his flight, missing it only by three weeks. My grandpa passed away on October 14th. He was a great man. He was loved by so many people. And I am proud to say that I am a Rodriguez and that my oldest daughter is named after her great grandpa.

Alex Rodgriguez, my grandpa, front and center holding the flag.

In honor of Grandpa, Post 76 conducted a 21-gun salute and flew the flag at half mast.

I am fascinated with this generation of great men and women - their dedication and patriotism helped shape our nation. Veteran's Day is right around the corner. Don't let this day pass without thanking someone from our Greatest Generation. I wish I would have called my grandpa every Veteran's Day.

10/10/10

2010-10-10T23:14:00.001-04:00

Today was a very special day for us! A few months ago, Alli asked Jesus to be the Lord of her life. And today, (on her half birthday), she obediently followed Christ in baptism. WE ARE SO PROUD OF HER! And I am so thankful for her decision and her desire to be obedient! I love that my children are getting to experience Christ at a young age. My prayer is that Tori and Katie will follow in Alli's foot steps and make the decision to follow Christ. And that they would never stray from His path!

In her baptismal outfit

Proud daddy ready to baptize his first daughter

So sweet! I love this picture!

September

2010-10-09T22:20:00.001-04:00

Wow! Time is a flyin'!

September was a busy month for us......well, every month is pretty much a busy month for us! But with the start of school and all the activities that come with the start of school, it seemed to be extra busy for us!

Alli is taking cheer for the first time this year. She is really enjoying being a cheerleader and is already talking about wanting to cheer again next year.

She also got braces! She had the bottom braces put on at the end of August and the top ones a few weeks later.

Here she is with her new braces!

Hopefully these things will make her teeth super straight because they are really a pain in the butt! We were at the orthodontist at least once a week when she first got them. She was always having some thing or another poking, stabbing, or hurting her. She seems to be doing better with them now that they have been on her teeth for awhile.

Tori is loving school. She loves going to art class and loves the new friends she is making. Her favorite day of the week is Tuesday. Tuesday is ballet and tap for her. She loves ballet! She has been saying for at least two years now that she wants to be a ballerina. She is very good at it and practices at home all the time. I will go into the playroom and she will have all the chairs set up ready to give me a show!

Katie is doing well in preschool. She has really developed an interest for words and reading in the last few weeks. She is in gymnastics and is doing very well in it. My favorite days with Katie are Wednesdays and Fridays- these are the two days that she does not have preschool. I love that we get one on one time together! We cuddle, read, clean (she loves to help!) do puzzles or go shopping.

These pictures were taken at one of Alli's games.

First Day of School

2010-09-11T16:01:00.001-04:00

My girls are back in school! The summer seems to drag after the first month and then August just flies by! And now we are back to rushing around and having long To Do List's to get through......how does that happen?

Alli is in 3rd grade now! She's getting so old and big too quickly! I am very excited about her teacher this year. She seems like she is going to be great. Alli has a couple of friends in her class, which is always the most important thing to her. She apparently likes school only for the social aspect!

Tori is in kindergarten! Wow- kindergarten! It is crazy how fast time flies! She has adjusted very well to kinder; although, it was a bit tough in the beginning. She was so tired when she got home, she did not like going every day and she definitely did not like that I could not walk her in after the first week. But now she is good! She is very confident in where she is suppose to go, and, of course, her big sis is there to walk in with her. And she really seems to be enjoying her class....I get a full report of everything that happened that day!

Katie is in her last year of preschool! She was so excited to start school, probably because her sisters started two weeks before she did. Her 'best bud' Georgia is in class with her again. Katie already knew who her teacher was going to be because she goes to our church. And she thinks she is the "best teacher in the whole world"!

July

2010-08-02T16:11:00.001-04:00

Another month of summer has gone by!

July was definitely a more relaxing month for us. I have been taking full advantage of the fact that the girls actually sleep past 7:30am! This is the first summer that my girls have slept in and it has been nice! Now I can let them stay up a lot later and not have that dreadful feeling of what the next day will be like because they are so tired. I have had to wake them up several times this summer for piano, swim or whatever else happened to be scheduled before 10am. I can't believe that I have had to wake up my girls at 9:30 in the morning! Who would have thought this day would already be here?!? I have been sleeping-in myself....not waking up until 7, 8, or sometimes 9! I am a little nervous about what the morning of August 23rd will look like. I haven't seen 5:30am since May! And the girls have not woken up before 7am since May....hopefully we will all get back into the swing of things very quickly.

The most important event in July for us is Katie's birthday. She is four years old now! We celebrated her birthday in San Antonio with family. And came back home to celebrate with Grandpa and Linda who came down for a short visit.

FOUR YEARS OLD!

Hitting the pinata at MoMo's and celebrating with swimming, cake and presents with her cousins. (And Paige, but she is kind of like a cousin!)

Katie and Tori showing off her "Ariel Museum". Every gift she opened had some kind of "Ariel" in it. Can you guess who her favorite princess is?

At Build-a-Bear with sisters, her best bud Georgia and Jackson (Georgia's brother).

So, other than Katie's birthday and a few pics of the girls eating watermelon.....that is our July! We were so busy relaxing that we did not even get the camera out!

Enjoy your last few weeks of summer!

June

2010-07-01T00:04:00.001-04:00

Our first month of summer has gone by super fast! Probably because we have been super busy!

Alli's last day of school was June 2nd. As she was leaving school that afternoon, she says, "I can't believe I am a third grader!" So, I guess the minute you walk out the door on the last day of school you are officially out of that grade and in the next!

Alli's last day as a 2nd grader.

Later that same day, we left for Alabama to visit Nana and Papa, Aunt Nikol and Donaven, and Aunt Morgan and Bailey. The girls had tons of fun hanging with their cousins and swimming.

I love how Alli is totally chillin' behind Donaven...that is how I like to spend my time in the pool!

A very intense video game...

The day after we arrived home, the girls started swim lessons. Tori and Katie are now very good swimmers! Tori is a little more cautious than Katie, but they are both swimmers now! I see some pool side reading in my very near future! Alli also took lessons so she could become a more efficient swimmer. She did great and swam up to one-third of a mile at the end of her session.

Our family was also very involved with our church VBS. The girls had a lot of fun and I was glad it was a big success.

The girls and I had some fun painting matching "Funky Fingers" on our nails.

The trampoline is really no fun in the hot Texas summer....unless you add the water hose.

And since it is so hot, the girls wanted to get a summer haircut.

Before

After

We just got back from a short trip to San Antonio. We were able to just chill and hang out with family for a few days. It is so nice to go in town and not feel rushed to see everyone. We did get to visit my baby nephew. He is so stinkin' cute...but I did not have the camera so no pics.

I am looking forward to a little slower July and some more fun times with my girlies.

Preschool Graduation

2010-05-31T23:07:00.001-04:00

Tori is done with preschool! We are very proud of our sweet girl who will be a KINDERGARTENER next year!! It is so hard to believe! I know I say this all the time, but it is so true- THEY ARE GROWING UP TOO FAST!

Getting her diploma and a hug from her sweet teacher Ms. Tasha.

This is from a slide show they did of all the "graduates".

Ms. Tasha was a great teacher. She loved up on my little girl everyday of school....this is the most important thing for me in a preschool teacher. Ms. Tasha is one of those teachers who greets with hugs and kind words! I love that! I HOPE that Katie has her next year.

One of Tori's favorite friends from her class was Hallie. Hallie is really Tori's first friend. Tori had never really been interested in "friends" until this year.

My Girls

2010-05-01T21:38:00.001-04:00

My Girls- fun, happy, crazy, demanding, sweet, cuddly, loving, lovable, beautiful, smart, can't get enough of them girls! They are growing up too fast right before my eyes.

Alli. She is my complete opposite. She is a social butterfly. Loves her friends. Wants a play date everyday. Thinks school is boring. Loves music. Loves her DSI. Loves to cuddle. Caring. Fun. Funny. Loves animals. Loves her teachers. And is such a good girl. I LOVE to cuddle with her. I love how she is concerned for others. She is such a good friend to her friends. I love the time I get to spend with her at school on field trips or eating lunch with her class. And I love our special alone time together.

Tori. She is something else. She amazes me. She works out with me and by herself. She hits golf balls with her daddy. Loves to read. Makes her bed without being told. Cleans up without being told. Loves school. So sweet. Works hard and tries her best at everything. I love to hear her read. I love that she is always making sure I am watching her at dance and gymnastics. I love that she is pretty much happy all the time. I love how she is so sweet to her sisters...well, she's sweet to them most of time...

Katie. She is our wild child. So funny. So cute. Full of energy. In to everything. Loves Ariel. So strong. Great at gymnastics. Loves her doggies. Loves to jump on the trampoline. Loves to pretend and tell her own fairy tales. She makes me laugh all the time. I love how she'll do something over and over because it makes us laugh. Her voice is so sweet and I dread the day she doesn't say "yiddle" for 'little'. I love that she "reads" to me now. And I love that she still holds on to my leg and doesn't want me to go when I drop her off at school. She is my baby and she is going to be four soon!

My Big EIGHT Year Old

2010-04-18T18:51:00.001-04:00

Alli turned eight last Saturday on the 10th of April. I am sure I say this every year, but it is so hard to believe she is eight! She is a great eight year old! She is doing so well in school. In fact, last week she was given an award for citizenship!

Here she is getting her award and a big hug from her sweet teacher Mrs. Anderson.

Her friend Alexa also received an award for Citizenship.

Alli has started taking piano again. We had been on a waiting list for a few months now, but found another teacher. One who comes to our house to teach- so much easier for me! She has started taking a tumbling class and is really enjoying it. Alli is also having some orthodontic work done. She has spacers now and will be getting an expander next month. Braces will follow soon after the expander. Between her piano, tumbling and teeth, she is sure costing us a lot of money at just eight years old!

I am so happy that she transitioned so well from our move. She has made a lot of really great friends at school and in our neighborhood. I am so proud of the little girl she has become!

Alli chose to have a slumber party this year. This was our first slumber party! It went really well. We started off the night with pizza. Then we broke up into two teams and went on a scavenger hunt. Who knew that scavenger hunts were so fun! This was our first one and we had a blast! The teams bombed each other with water balloons and silly string afterwards.

The worst part of a slumber party is trying to get them to go to sleep! If Pete and I can forget about how hard it was to get 10 girls to go to sleep, we might allow Tori and Katie to have a slumber party one day!

CRAZY GIRLS!

Easter 2010

2010-04-05T22:48:00.001-04:00

This was the best Easter! It was so nice to be able to wear our nice Spring clothes and not have to cover them up with our Winter coats! Not only did we have great weather, but we really took the time this year to reflect on this very significant holiday. We attended our church's Good Friday service. It was beautiful. A great reminder of the huge sacrifice Jesus made for all man kind. Oh, how thankful I am for His sacrifice.....His amazing grace that saved a wretch like me! The Good Friday service helped prepare our hearts and minds for the Easter service on Sunday.

Coloring eggs

Easter morning = Peeps for breakfast

Modeling some of their Easter gifts

A very sad Katie. She was upset that she could not find her sunglasses.

Off to church and the church Easter egg hunt.

Now she is happy!

My three sweet girls!

Good Friday

2010-04-02T09:54:00.001-04:00

Today is so much more than just another Friday.

"God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Let the Easter celebrations begin.

Have a great Easter weekend!

Trampoline Fun

2010-03-25T12:50:00.001-04:00

We love our trampoline!

Bye-bye Baby-face

2010-03-06T10:55:00.001-05:00

Here comes the big adult teeth that will change her look forever!

Snow Day!

2010-02-11T13:36:00.001-05:00

I can.not.believe this snow! It has been snowing since about 6am here.....it is now 12:30! This is absolutely crazy! At least we have the gear for it......minus the sleds. Who would have thought that I should have held on to those sleds!

The trampoline is the safest spot for eating snow!

Meet Sally, our little snowgirl. Katie really thinks she is going to come alive! She keeps looking out the window to "check if she is alive yet". I hope she is not devastated when she is mush tomorrow.

Salt On My Wound

2010-02-07T16:16:00.001-05:00

Another reminder of just how far from the baby stage I am......

Tori has a loose tooth!

Where does the time go?

2010-02-05T10:11:00.001-05:00

I have thought about this year for a long time now. You know, the year when all your children are in school and there are several hours a week where you are childless. Well, let me tell you, it is not at all what I thought it would be. I imagined myself accomplishing so much more than I have in these last few months. I imagined that by now, the fifth month of having alone time in my own house, that Katie's first year scrapbook would be done, every room and every closest would be organized, every picture would be hung, more posts would be posted on my blog, and possibly, the couch would have been laid on and a novel started and finished in one day. None of that has exactly happened. In fact, I think I have blogged less this year than any other year! My days with the girls in school seemed to be filled with errands and more errands and laundry and cleaning and more laundry. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy going to the grocery store alone. And I also enjoy running in and out of a store without having to unbuckle and buckle someone else. My house is getting cleaned quicker and more often than ever before. And I am not singing the Dora theme song while I clean. I am actually cleaning to the sounds of my choice! But it is so different....it doesn't feel or sound right. How and when did I get here? This morning, Katie buttoned and zipped her jeans all by herself. And this was not the first day....she's actually been doing that for a while now. How come it seems like so long ago that I have changed a diaper, tried to figure out what my child was trying to tell me, dealt with tantrums or looked frantically for that pacifier? All of my children speak in complete sentences. They dress themselves. They tell me what is wrong or what hurts. They spend time in their rooms playing by themselves. And they go to school.....all of them! Where does the time go? How did I get here so quickly? I miss my babies!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-13T22:39:00.001-05:00

(Alli and her BFF Paige)

Here's to a new year filled with good health, happiness.........and more blogging!!

Happy Birthday Tori!

2009-12-15T21:55:00.001-05:00

It is hard to believe that my second baby girl is FIVE! My-Oh-My time flies when you have kids!

Tori celebrated her birthday last weekend with her friends at The Little Gym. It was a great party. She had tons of fun playing with old and new friends.

Tori's sisters surprised her with her very own fish. Alli had been saying for the last couple of months that she wanted to get Tori a fish for her birthday. She picked out a beautiful red Beta for her sister. Katie wasn't let in on the process until right before we gave it to Tori. She is horrible at keeping a secret!

We surprised Tori with an American Girl doll. She was so excited to get her very first AG doll!

Victoria Grace- Happy Birthday My Sweet Girl!

A Morning Surprise

2009-12-02T11:57:00.001-05:00

This morning we woke up to snow! I'm so glad we had time to get out in it before Alli had to be in school. And I'm so glad I held on to those snow boots!

What a great way to start off our day!

Back to Blogging

2009-11-10T22:54:00.001-05:00

After being in our new home now for about three weeks, I am finally feeling pretty settled! Every box in the house has been unpacked and closets are now getting organized. The garage will get unpacked this weekend and all will be done!

I have to admit, I LOVE being here! Pete says I am on a Texas high! It just feels really good to be here. Familiarity is comforting and makes me happy! The first week we were here, I think we ate Mexican food at least four times. And the girls have already had more than enough Chic-fil-A.

The girls are in full swing of things at school. Alli has her first field trip this week. And Tori and Katie have a preschool Thanksgiving show next week.

Halloween was a lot of fun. We met up with some neighbors and ran into a few 2nd grade girls that Alli had already met. She was in her happy place!

Last week we celebrated my 35th birthday.......now that just sounds weird! Thirty five!

Alli's second first day of second grade. (And there is that Texas flag! I love it!)

Tori and Katie (not wanting her picture taken) before school on School Spirit Day.

My little Butterfly, Cheetah Girl, and Judy Jetson.

On my birthday with my girlies and

my awesome husband!

The Count Down

2009-10-11T21:37:00.001-04:00

In just six days we will be making our way down to Texas for good. We will be leaving New Jersey, the place we have called home for the last two years. It has been a lot of fun for the whole family. We came here with the attitude of it being a big family adventure. And what a great adventure it was! We have experienced many things, things that we would not have done living in Texas. I look back on the past two years and am very thankful for our time here. I have always wanted to live in a state where I could experience seasons. I thought it would happen after college, before marriage or before kids, but it was so much better this way. I love that my girls will have memories of snow (maybe only through pictures for Katie). I love that we saw a bear walk through our front yard! (and I say love because we are all safe inside looking out the window!) I love that the girls have seen the trees turn from green to red, orange and yellow. And that they got to burry themselves in the leaves when they fell from the trees. And I love that we were able to drive to very cool places like New York City, West Point, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

Though I love that we were able to enjoy all of these things, I never felt at home here. Things are just different....it is hard to explain. Maybe it is an unexplainable feeling. A feeling of home that your insides just yearn for. And for me, the yearning never went away. It is not one of those feelings that left me sad and unable to get from one day to the next. It's just there. Some days it is stronger than others. And some days I barely noticed it, if at all.

People like what they like and they like what they are use to. For example, I recently had a conversation with a woman who visited San Antonio for her sons boot camp graduation. She said she rented a car but gave up trying to drive around because the highways were so confusing. WHAT!?! YOU THINK TEXAS HIGHWAYS ARE CONFUSING? I couldn't believe it. Because I love Texas highways. They are so not confusing! And we have access roads! If you miss your exit, no biggie. Take the next one and turn around. Can you do that in Jersey? Never! Because there are no such things as access roads. Another example, a conversation with another mom. She says, "You mean you put eggs in a tortilla? And it is a what? A breakfast taco? Sounds interesting...." From the look on her face, it looked as if it sounded more disgusting than interesting. But what Texan doesn't love breakfast tacos? I guess I just like what I like because that is what I am use to.

Goodbyes are never easy. Especially when it is, most likely, forever. My hardest goodbyes will be to my closest friends here. They were my saving grace. God just happened to plant the three of us, all new to the area, in the same Bible study small group. They have blessed me tremendously. And have made my life in Jersey all the more better. I will also miss our church. That is probably the place that felt most like home. Even though, I must admit, I wasn't sure what kind of church we would find here. But God Bless Jersey! There are Christians here! (Just Kidding!)

Top 10 things I will miss (not including friends- that is a given!)

Fall - it is the most beautiful time of the year here in Jersey. I was so anxious my first Fall here. I spent every morning studying the trees, watching and waiting for the change in colors.
Our yard - we have a great big yard with these unbelievably tall trees, these huge rocks for the girls to climb, and the beautiful pond that Pete built. We have wild fruits and veggies that grow in our yard. We have bunnies and chipmunks every where. Dixie is going to be so bored in Texas. She will not have any little critters to ~~torture~~ chase!
Proximity - I already mentioned this, but I love that we could drive to such cool places in just a small amount of time.
Alli's school - I really like Alli's school. I love that it is so small. There are only 3 classes in each grade level. And she has had wonderful teachers. Her current teacher is throwing her a Goodbye Party! She is so sweet to do that!
Gas pumpers - this has been very enjoyable! I haven't had to pump my own gas in over two years!
Shoprite - this is my local grocery store. I wont miss the grocery store itself, but I will miss being able to shop from home for just $10 an order! I have been grocery shopping from the comfort of my home for about two years. I never had any problems with my order - it was the best!
Our neighborhood - we live in a great little neighborhood. There are 17 homes in the hood and everyone knows everyone. Everyone knows everyone's kids and even their dogs. It has been great.
No sales tax - I love not having to pay sales tax on clothes and shoes!
Strombolis - I never had a stromboli until I moved to Jersey. I am glad I waited to indulge because I am sure it would not have been as good.
Cool summer nights - need I say more? Who doesn't love a cool night after a nice hot day?

Happy October

2009-10-05T21:09:00.001-04:00

The Pumpkin Patch

Alli had her class bear, LDC, for the weekend

Oktoberfest with our friends who live right next door.....for the next two weeks

A little German music

Pete joins the band

Face Painting

Bouncy House for our little ones

And Rock Climbing for our big girl

Look at her all the way at the top!

She is so proud- and so were we.

A little dancing with their friends

Katie and her boyfriend

We'll miss our neighbors!

First Day of School

2009-09-15T16:44:00.001-04:00

The day has finally arrived! I think we were the last school in the country to start! Alli actually started last week on September 10th, but that still seems very late. Tori AND Katie started preschool today! For the first time as a mommy, I will have some time to myself three days a week. I'm not too excited about it because preschool, like kindergarten, is only two and a half hours long. I can not get too many things done in such a small amount of time. But I am very excited for the girls. They have been talking about going to school together for a few weeks now. All three girls seem to have very wonderful teachers.

My big second grader.

At the bus stop. Alli was sad when I told her that she will not be taking the bus when we move to Texas.

Tori's second and last year of preschool. She is really growing up too fast!

My baby! She was being a stinker this morning and would not smile for me.

But I caught her with a little smile!

Katie loves that Tori is at school with her. And what will I do when we move to Texas and they are in school for five hours! Now that sounds exciting!

In a few weeks, we will do this all over again. But that is a good thing! We will be moving back to Texas in just a few short weeks! We have a contract on the house and will close here on the 20th of October.

Playing With Our New Camera

2009-09-03T22:10:00.001-04:00

For our 11th anniversary, (which is this Saturday!!) we decided to buy ourselves a better camera. We, and when I say we, I mean Pete, have been having fun playing around with it and are amazed at how great the pictures look. Alli had her first soccer practice tonight. I think Pete took about 450 pictures. I hope that I will actually take the time to learn how to use it....

Here are just a few of my favorites from the new camera.

Katie loves this little boy!

I love how the action shots come out!

Weekend Away

2009-08-31T17:32:00.001-04:00

We squeezed in a little vacation and headed down to DC this past weekend. Pretty soon the girls will go back to school and Pete will be commuting between here and Dallas. So our family time is precious and we are trying to get in as much as we can.

Feeding the ducks in the reflecting pool

The Washington Monument

Alli and Carson in front of the Lincoln Memorial

An amazing sight- it is such a neat place

This is the World War II Memorial. It is beautiful.

It was a great day! I was so proud of the girls because they did so much walking and so little complaining! I love DC. I think it is an amazing place. We hope to visit there again when the girls are a little older and can appreciate the history.

The night before going to see some sites, Pete and I went out with our great friends Pete and Jami. Our family time is precious, but so is our mommy and daddy time! We went to the Kenny Chesney concert and had a lot of fun hanging out with our friends. We will sure miss hanging out with them when we move....whenever that is!

Tailgating before the concert

Pete grilling some great chicken....with his wrench.

Jami and Tara

The bean bag toss

Pete and Jason

The girls had a fun time with the babysitter!

Beach Vacation 2009

2009-08-18T14:45:00.001-04:00

The whole family went to Port A for a big family vacation- sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles. It was great to all be together!

A little game of Texas Hold'em. Notice I am the only female playing- and I was the big winner!

Alli's BFF was able to join us. Alli's BFF, Paige, just happens to be the daughter of my BFF, Amber, from high school!

We love the beach!

Celebrating Katie's birthday at the beach!

Katie got some Ariel beach supplies to go with her Ariel bathing suit.

She was sad that I did not get her a birthday hat so Uncle Goombah made her one.

My baby girl is three!

Happy Birthday Katie!!

We're Back!

2009-08-16T14:35:00.001-04:00

We had a great (and very long) vacation in Texas. The girls and I were gone for a whole month. It feels so good to be home! We did have a wonderful time, but I'm so glad to be back in our own home.

We survived another long road trip! And this time we had two dogs with us.

The girls looked like this on and off throughout the day.

It was a little tight for Maddie and Dixie, but they were able to get comfortable enough to sleep most of the way.

We spent a lot of time just hanging out with friends and family. We had a great beach vacation in Port Aransas where we celebrated Katie's third birthday, did a whole lot of swimming in San Antonio and made a quick road trip up to Dallas (our future home!) to visit friends.

We are still unsure when and exactly where we are moving. Nothing can happen until we sell our home here......and who knows when that is going to happen. I am staying positive and know that it will happen. Pete will start his new position in September. Luckily, his schedule will allow for him to work from home right here with us for a few weeks!

I have tons of pictures from the trip that I will post soon!

Summer Nights

2009-07-10T10:17:00.001-04:00

The girls have been asking to sleep in the same bed together for awhile now. We told them they had to wait until summer.

So here they are - altogether in the guest bed!

Good News and Bad News

2009-07-02T09:32:00.001-04:00

The good news- we are moving back to Texas!

The bad news- we are really going to miss all the great friends and neighbors we have here in New Jersey.

We have really been blessed during our short time here in New Jersey. We found a great church, made great friends, and just happened to move into THE BEST neighborhood this side of NJ. Everyone is so friendly, there are tons of kids, everyone knows everyone- even the dogs all play together. We can only hope to find a neighborhood like this.

We are super excited about moving back home. We will be moving to the Dallas area - not real sure where, but probably McKinney. And the best news yet, this is our last move for a very very long time!! We will finally feel settled for the first time in 11 years.

Know anyone looking for a house in Jersey?

It's a great house! We'll miss our beautiful yard, all the trees, and the privacy we have between our neighbors' houses. It's very different than what you find in most suburban neighborhoods in Texas.

I will say that I will definitely not miss the snow! I'll take the Texas heat over the New Jersey cold any day!

Our Backyard

2009-06-25T21:25:00.001-04:00

On a daily basis, we have a number of wildlife animals in our yard. There are tons of bunnies with little white cotton tails, chipmunks, cardinals, frogs, snakes, ground hogs, and tons of deer. The best part about living in a four seasons area is seeing all the new animals come out in the Spring time.

Momma and baby deer.

This mama and her baby have been in our yard several times. The girls love seeing them. And the other day, out by our shed, we saw just the baby.

It was precious! At first, I thought maybe it was injured because it was just sitting there letting us stare at it. But the second I got too close, he got up and ran away. I was curious why the baby was left alone. Apparently, it is normal for the moms to leave the baby while they go off to get food.

And don't forget the bear! Mr. Bear was actually in my front yard a few weeks ago! Sorry, no picture. I was too anxious and excited to think to turn off the flash so none of the pictures turned out. It was really amazing and exciting to see this wild creature just strolling through our front yard! Luckily, we were all inside when he made his visit. I think I would really freak if I saw it while we were hanging out outside.

My Little Pianist

2009-06-16T12:41:00.001-04:00

Alli had her first piano recital. She was so nervous - she had the butterflies all night, but you would never know! She did awesome! She played perfectly! We are so proud of her!

Our New Pond

2009-06-05T21:59:00.001-04:00

When we bought our house we inherited a pond full of fish.

This is what it looked like when we moved in.

And then in the Summer, it looked like this.

It was pretty crazy with all the plants and lilly pads- and the ridiculous filtration system....which only someone who knows about ponds would know. We did not know about ponds until this past Spring. As the water started to melt, it was apparent that our little fish did not make it through the Winter. We set up a heater, but the snow sitting on top of it made it sink....so the fish froze. It was pretty gross and something had to be done.

Pete schooled himself on ponds and started the process of draining it and removing all the dead fish along with lots of thick sludge..... a pretty stinky process!

Doesn't that look fun!?!

Once the pond was drained, Pete was ready to make his own pond.

A little help from Alli.

Let's see if it holds water...

and if the water fall will work.

It works!

Time to add some fish...

then the landscaping.

The final product - and it looks great!

this is a cool pond. by alli

(Our little pond helper wanted to leave a note! Of course, I have a little girl sitting on my lap while I am trying to do something...)

I think Pete did an awesome job! I love our pond and love looking at our little fish.

At The River

2009-06-04T11:44:00.001-04:00

This past weekend we went to visit our good friends Pete and Jami in Virginia. We headed down to Jami's parents house and spent the day at the river. The water was freezing, but the kids did not mind at all.

Tori - doing her favorite thing- reading! I love it!

That night the moms and dads got to go out!

We are loving being so close to Pete and Jami. They have been great friends of ours since we've been married.

Trout Derby

2009-05-10T21:16:00.001-04:00

A co-worker of Pete's invited us to a Trout Derby for kids. It was so much fun! The girls were a little reluctant to get up early and go fishing, but they loved it! Pete and I were so thankful that Greg had invited us. It was a great day. It was out near the Poconos so it was a beautiful drive and a beautiful day to be out doors. The girls fished for two hours, then they had lunch and then came the prizes. Prizes were given out for most Trout caught, smallest Trout, biggest Trout and a few others. The girls caught 13 fish altogether and Alli got the prize for most Trout released back into the water. Tori and Katie also got some prizes just for participating.

Alli loves to hold her fish!

I definitely would not say that I am an outdoorsy kind of gal. I was pretty paranoid with all the poison ivy and ticks. I was just certain that every plant was poison ivy! We did see a couple of ticks on the girls. Since moving here, I am an expert at spotting them on the girls. But, like I said, we all had a great time.

I cannot believe how my girls like to touch fish and worms and snakes- YES SNAKES! Greg picked up a grass snake. Alli grabbed it right out of his hands and then Katie grabbed it right out of her hands. Tori is a little more hands off- like her mama! She touched it, but was not interested in holding it at all! It was a perfect day and a perfect way to spend time with my family for Mother's Day.

Playing with the worms

And the snake

A little bored and tired.....

W00-HOO

2009-04-28T11:46:00.001-04:00

IT'S HOT!

And we are taking full advantage of it!

It will be back into the 60's tomorrow, but it has been wonderful for the past few days to feel 90 degree weather. I think we may have been the only ones in NJ that were not disappointed by the high temps. It was a little too hot for the folks around here, but I have been loving it!

SEVEN!

2009-04-12T18:15:00.001-04:00

My big girl just keeps getting bigger- and is now seven years old!

We celebrated Alli's birthday this year with a bowling party. It was a lot of fun. And I was so glad that my mom was here to help Pete and I out with all the kids.

On her birthday, Pete took her to pick out her new fish. She cried and cried because all she wanted for her birthday was a gerbil. Pete and I are not ready to add any more animals to our family. So when she decided she wanted her own Beta fish, I was thrilled and glad to get her one. We waited for our good friends from DC to drive up and then went to see the new Hannah Montana movie. She thought she was so lucky that the movie came out on her birthday.

The girls put on a fashion show for us later that evening.

Happy Seventh Birthday to my Sweet Girl!

Yesterday morning we headed into the city for some more fun.

Their first NYC subway train ride.

Sweet sisters in Times Square.

Easter Egg Hunting-

2009-04-06T09:13:00.001-04:00

New Jersey Style- all decked out in our winter gear!

Our church has an annual Easter Egg Hunt. Before hunting for eggs, we saw this great juggler who shared God's word through his juggling. Then we went out into the cold to hunt for eggs. We have had a few days of nice weather, but this was not one of those nice days. We were all freezing!

Alli is being blown away by the crazy winds.

My mom has been such a trooper! She really DOES NOT like cold weather!

The Dogs

2009-03-25T20:48:00.001-04:00

I love my dogs!

Dixie has brought out the mother in Maddie. And Maddie's affection towards her has made me love her even more. I think having two dogs is definitely better than one. I still can't believe how active Maddie has become since Dixie was brought home. She loves her little sister.

Just look how cute they are!

My Baby Girl

2009-03-18T20:59:00.001-04:00

Last night was a big night for my Katie. It was her first night to sleep without a pacifier! This is HUGE!! She loved her paci's. And when I say love, I mean L-O-V-E!! Katie's paci's gave her the desire to go to bed. And this was the main reason that I had not taken them away. She would say,"Mommy, I need my paci's." I would tell her she can only have her paci's when she goes to sleep. To which she would reply, "Okay Mommy, I am ready for bed." And off to bed she went- it was that easy because paci's made it that easy! But her first night without them was great! I was so proud of her! Of course, I asked Pete to put her to bed. I did not know how it was going to go. But, much to my surprise, she did wonderful- better than I could have ever imagined! Pete told her she did not need a paci because she was a big girl. And then said he would get her a prize for being such a big girl. She said ok and that she wanted a lolly pop for her prize. And that was that! He walked out of her room and shut the door. And we did not see her until she woke up the next morning. Isn't it so funny how we put things off because we dread them and think up these horrible scenarios? I am still in awe at how smoothly it went!

My big girl with her prize!

NYC

2009-03-15T21:44:00.001-04:00

We decided to drive into the city this weekend because, well, just because we can! After a year and a half up here, I still can't believe that I am only an hour away from NYC! It is such a neat place- so different! It just amazes me every time we go. The girls were great and had a lot of fun. It was so helpful that my mom was with us. One-on-one with the kids is ideal when walking the streets of NYC.

Our first stop was to Toys R Us. Before we even go to the store, both Alli and Tori were telling us that they did not want to go see the big dinosaur.

But Katie is not scared! She actually asked Pete to take her to see the huge roaring T-Rex!

The girls did not get to ride the big ferris wheel last time we were in the city so we made sure to do it this time around. Pete and I rode with Alli and Tori on the Scooby Doo cart.

MoMo and Katie got on the Tonka truck. I was really hoping she would get on E.T. She still loves E.T. so much!

We headed to the Stage Deli for dinner. The food was not that great and very over-priced, but that is probably the case with most restaurants in Times Square. I got a turkey reuben - it was $20 and it did not even come with anything else! Over-priced or not, it is always so fun to take advantage of driving to the city for a few hours just because!

Isn't it March?

2009-03-02T07:56:00.001-05:00

This is not exactly what you want to wake up to on March 2nd!

Notice how high the snow is on the girls' picnic table. And it is still coming down.

Pete doing is favorite thing- shoveling snow!

Can you imagine how ready I am for some warm weather? It has been cold here since October!

At least it warmed up enough last week for the girls and I to drive down to Philly to go the zoo. I met my friend Becky who moved to Philadelphia from San Antonio. Becky and I met at our church in SA. It is so great to hang out with someone from home!

The Philly zoo was great. I can't wait to go back in the Spring when all the rides are open.

The polar bear is on top of the rock.

This turtle was being a little friendly....

and this peacock was looking for someone to be friendly with.

But none of the girl peacocks seemed to be as impressed as we were by his beautiful feathers.

My poor Alli was not too happy that we were going to the zoo without her. She says she doesn't remember all the fun things she got to do before she started going to school five days a week. I am certain that I did more with her!

Here she is working on her piano lesson.

There is HOPE!

2009-02-15T17:16:00.001-05:00

I did not realize just how depressing it looks outside until earlier today when Alli and I were going through some old photos. Seeing pictures of trees with leaves and grass that is green really gave me some hope! I think I forgot that NJ actually does get warm weather. And that we really do have a nice looking yard.

our pond today

our pond in the summer

side yard today (with Pete The Lumberjack and Kate The Great)

side yard in the summer

front yard today

front yard in the summer..........see, there is HOPE! It will start to warm up soon and the trees will get their leaves and the grass will turn green.

Now let me go sit in front of the fire and think happy green thoughts!!!!

Cold IS Relative

2009-02-01T21:24:00.001-05:00

The other day, my great friend Shannan (AKA Sammy) wrote a post titled What is Cold Anyway. She wrote about cold weather being relative. And it is so true! Today the high was 42 degrees. I was really looking forward to 42 degrees. A forecaster on one of the local news channels called for "nice" weather for today. Two years ago, I would have thought 42 degrees was really cold. Two years ago, I would have dressed my daughter in a hat and heavy coat. And today, after going to church and feeling some relief from the bitter coldness, Katie comes home and changes into this

Yes, she is wearing flip flops and a leotard! A year and a half in the northeast will make 42 degrees nice!

Silly Girl!

*Don't worry! I did make her come back inside and put on some more clothes! If there wasn't snow on the ground, I might have let it fly.

My Doggies

2009-01-21T22:00:00.001-05:00

Aren't they sweet? Dixie is in her favorite spot. She loves to cuddle up next to Maddie. And Maddie has become such a great sister to her! (And don't they really look like sisters with the same color of hair!) It has been great to see Maddie so active again. She and Dixie play all the time.

San Antonio

2009-01-21T21:45:00.001-05:00

in one picture....margaritas and some good Mexican food!

I try to steer clear of super greasy fattening foods, but occasionally I will indulge! And especially since I do not live in SA, I took full advantage of going for a late night snack at Chacho's. Plus, I went for an hour long run with my cousin that day!

My First Trip

2009-01-15T22:48:00.002-05:00

I am on my very first trip without Pete or the girls. So this is Pete's very first time to be parenting on his own. I already miss the girls and Pete. I kept looking behind me at the airport because it just did not feel right to not have kids in tow. I had lunch by myself at the airport, read some of my book and watched a movie on the iPod. It was more down time than I have had in a long time! I am looking forward to some more stress-free time with my family here in San Antonio- and especially the warmer weather! And thank goodness I wasn't on the flight that landed in the Hudson River.

Thank Goodness It Is January

2009-01-09T18:40:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile!

I have been too busy recovering from the month of December!

Let's start from the beginning of the month- we returned home from our Thanksgiving vacation to a broken refrigerator. We picked up our new family pet and two days later she was taken to the vet where we were told she may not make it. After a four night stay at the vet's, Dixie, thankfully, came home. I came down with Strep throat. We celebrated Tori's fourth birthday, spent a lot of time at holiday parties and holiday programs. And, of course, there were endless hours spent on the web trying to find the perfect gifts. And before the month ended, we spent about 8 hours in our home without running water. Joe the plumber came out and took a big fat check from us and now we have a new well pump and running water. (No city water for us country folks!)

So, as much as I enjoy the Christmas season, I am so glad that it is January!

We did have a really great Christmas. We are so blessed to have great friends and neighbors and a great church. Every year Christmas gets more exciting for us. It is such a joy to celebrate with our girls and get a glimpse of Christmas through their eyes.

Here are some of my favorites of Christmas 2008.

going through their stockings

The girls loved their umbrellas that Santa left in their stockings. Alli is wearing her new "fashion" dress up outfit and roller blades. Tori is wearing her new Hello Kitty ear muffs and her princess dress that plays music. And Katie is wearing and has been wearing almost every day her new Ariel night gown.

make-up from MoMo

ready to bake in their new Easy Bake Oven

And the best news of 2009- Katie is POTTY TRAINED!!! For the first time in four years, we do not have to buy diapers!!!

It has been about a week and a half since we've switched to panties and she is doing so AWESOME! I was a little worried. I did not know if it was possible to get three easy potty trainers. But I did!!! Thank you LORD for easy potty trainers! YAY KATIE!!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T14:19:00.001-05:00

For us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government will be on His shoulders. And He would be called WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE.

Isaiah 9:6

The Weather Outside Is Frightful.....

2008-12-24T14:21:00.001-05:00

But The Fire Is So Delightful!

And perfect for roasting marshmallows!

Making a fire that lasts hours and hours is something we have learned this winter. Our first couple of fires were not so great. But now we can make a fire last all night. I love the way it smells, looks and warms up the room. And the girls love that they can roast marshmallows!

Even the dogs enjoy the fire.

The weather has truly been frightful! We have had highs in the upper 20's the last couple of days! Burrrrrrr! I'd stay in all day if I could.

But the girls still want to go out and play!

A Snow Day

2008-12-20T11:53:00.001-05:00

Looks like it will be a White Christmas!

Tori missed out on all the fun. She was at her four year old check-up with Dad. I do not like to miss out on their check-ups, but there was no way I was going to attempt to drive in this, even with my 4-wheel drive!

Happy Birthday Tori

2008-12-14T16:43:00.001-05:00

My SWEET little girl is 4 years old today!! Tori is truly a sweet little girl. She is very considerate and easy going. She is quiet and a little shy. She is VERY independent and enjoys making "set ups" with her toys. She'll set up the doll house, Pet Shops, My Little Pony, or Barbies and play and sing for hours. She skips more than she walks and LOVES her dance class. Her favorite presents were "My Little Pony sheets for Lite Brite" from Grandpa Pete and Linda and her "new Hello Kitty pajamas" from Mommy and Daddy.

Tori had a fun birthday at Chuck E. Cheese yesterday.....again. She had her party there last year. And, again for the second year in a row, she asked for a polka dot cake. The girl knows what she likes!

Happy Birthday Victoria Grace!

Introducing.....

2008-12-07T22:32:00.001-05:00

Dixie Mae- the newest member of our family!

Isn't she adorable?!?

Everyone around here thinks so!

Pete and I thought a new puppy is just what we needed! She was rescued from a kill shelter in Kentucky and brought up here for us to adopt her. We are all in love already.....except Maddie.

Maddie doesn't think much of her! But we hope they will eventually become great playmates. We hear that bringing in a puppy will add some years to a senior dog. And we all want more years with Maddie!

Dixie has been really good. She is a sweet pup and tolerates the girls loving up on her ALL day long.

By the way....

2008-12-06T16:15:00.001-05:00

we did make it home safe and sound. And our trip home was just as good as the one down. The girls were fantastic in the car! We shortened our trip back and drove all the way in from Memphis! It was all Pete. The girls and I slept! I haven't had any time to update my blog. I have been trying to get back into the daily routine of things, Christmas shop, prepare for a special someone's fourth birthday, put out Christmas' decorations and deal with all the other stuff that seems to be going on right now.

The drive home really made me feel happy about living in New Jersey. Even though we are so (so very) far from home, we live in a great part of the country. It is so pretty here. And so different from what we are use to- the climate, the change of season, the people, the food, and such a neat experience for us all. And of course there is the fact that we are only an hour away from New York City, two hours from Pete's Alma Mater, and we can visit several states by driving just a few hours.

I still love Texas and still have the desire to move back there one day. Please forgive me for saying so, but until this trip, I never realized how un-pretty Texas is! I know there are a lot of pretty areas in Texas, but most of the Texas driving was not as nice as what we were seeing in the other states. But one thing is certain, it is definitely the most proud! I can not tell you how many times I saw the Texas flag on our drive through the state. It was on vehicles, billboards, homes, restaurants, shopping centers, car lots. It was every where. I love that! I love that Alli came home with a Texas flag that she made in preschool. I have been in Jersey for over a year and I am not sure that I have ever seen the NJ flag. I don't even know what it looks like. None of the girls have brought it home from school...yet. I like being from a state that is so proud. I always tell anyone who will listen that I am from Texas. I even have the Texas charm on my James Avery charm bracelet!

And here is the New Jersey flag in case you were curious. And yep, I am still pretty sure I have never seen it.

Road Trip Day 2 & 3

2008-11-23T20:46:00.005-05:00

The girls had so much fun at the end of day two playing with Madison, Sam and Ande.

As we continued down the highway on day two of our road trip, things kept on going well. We were able to stop in Little Rock to meet up with a good friend of Pete's for lunch at Jason's Deli. Jason's is another restaurant that is very much missed by our entire family. We found that it was a good idea to actually get out of the car for lunch. Initially, we had planned on eating both breakfast and lunch in the car. But we stopped for lunch on both days. The girls were needing that little break from the car. And it felt great to get out and move around and not be stuck in our seats.
We arrived at our friend's Aaron and LE Yanelli in Dallas at just a little past 5pm. Pete thought we could probably drive all the way through, but I did not think that was a good idea. But we were both happy that we decided to stop. It was so great to be able to visit with friends- for both us and the girls.
We left their house around 8:30am and arrived at my moms at 1pm. It was SO EASY- especially since we had been spending 12 hours in the car for the past two days!
We will definitely do the drive again. We are not dreading our drive back home. I think it will go just as well. And it is such a good family bonding time for us. The girls love staying in a hotel and look forward to staying in one again on the way home. We will stop in Tennessee again and then in Virginia. Hopefully we do not get stuck in traffic for too long on that Sunday after Thanksgiving.
Alli said her favorite part about the road trip was swimming. She actually swam in the deep for the first time! Tori said her favorite part was coloring in car. And I am sure if Katie would fully understand the question, she would say eating snacks whenever she wanted.

Road Trip- Day 1

2008-11-21T07:28:00.008-05:00

Pictures taken from Pete's phone on day two.

Day one of our super long road trip went very well!
We were driving off at exactly 5:09am - just 9 minutes later than planned. Not too bad.
We drove from Jersey to Pennsylvania to Maryland to West Virginia to Virginia and finally Tennessee.
It was a very pretty drive for the most part.
Exactly one hour and thirty minutes into our drive, Tori gave us our first, "Are we almost there?"
Our first stop was for breakfast at Chic-fil-A....we do not have one by us and miss it a lot!
There was only one spilt juice and one melt down. Not bad at all for spending 12 hours in the car! The girls are doing great! They have watched movie after movie. Any time they want a snack they get one. We have played games and sang songs. It has really been a nice trip.
We checked into our hotel and immediately put on swim suits. The girls had fun working off all of their energy in the indoor pool. I highly recommend staying at a hotel with a pool when doing a long road trip. It was so nice that they got to do something they really enjoy after being strapped in their seats all day.

Day two is off to a good start. We drove off at only 4 minutes past 5am.
The girls are watching their first movie of the day- The King and I. And Pete is driving and I am using his really cool Air Card! So cool!
The worst part about it is that I have to keep going to the back to hand the girls one thing or another. That is not a good thing for someone who gets motion sickness!

It is now, five hours into our drive, the girls are a little more restless today. They are bored with the movies and bored with the toys. We've played some games and now they are having lollipops...at 10 in the morning. I have done a lot of reading and browsing and now am getting a little car sick..UGH! My driving shift is coming up so more updates later!

My Birthday Celebrations

2008-11-09T15:17:00.001-05:00

This past Thursday was my ~~34th~~ 21st Birthday!!

My first celebration was on Tuesday with my good friends Shannon and Lori.

Me and my Jersey Girls! I met Shannon and Lori in my Bible study last year. I am so thankful for them! They are great friends and make my life here in NJ better.

On the night of my birthday we went to Chili's for dinner. Chili's is the best place to go with kids! Pretty much every table in the restaurant has at least one kid. It is also a "comfort" place for us. It is one of the few restaurants around that we like and have in Texas. NJ is not big on chain restaurants- just diners! On Friday, Pete and I were suppose to go on a "Hot" date, but a last minute doctor appointment for a rash on Alli prevented that. She was fine. I wish we had not taken her and wasted our time and money! But I had to make sure she was ok because I would be gone the next day for an overnight stay in NYC!!! My sweet husband bought my mom and I tickets for the Broadway show Mama Mia. It was SO GOOD!!! He also booked us a room so we could spend the day there. It was a great gift and a great time for my mom and me.

Here is my mom in front of the Rockefeller skating rink. It was my mom's second time to the city, but her first time to visit Time's Square.

It is still hard for me to believe that I live just an hour away from NYC. I love going to shows on Broadway! Pete and I went to our first show this past June. We have a high school friend, Derek Cecil, who was starring in a drama. We got the tickets through him so we had great seats! It is really such a fun experience. I can't wait to take the girls to a show.

That Clever Little Stinker!

2008-11-05T22:06:00.001-05:00

Last week Katie decided to climb out of her crib.

I was so not ready to put her in a "big girl" bed! I really liked her being ~~trapped~~ in her crib. See, she use to take naps. Two hour naps. And she use to wake up at 7:30 in the morning. Now that she has learned to climb out of her crib, she is not taking naps and she is waking up at 6:00! I do not like my mornings being interrupted by anyone! I wake up early to workout by myself. I like to watch Fox News while I am running on the treadmill, not Max and Ruby! Tonight, I was encouraging Katie to go lay down with one of her sisters when she wakes up in the morning. This plan could certainly backfire. I could have two or three girls interrupting my workout instead of the one! We'll see. I'll take it one day at a time until I figure out how to keep her in her room!

And this is how that clever little stinker learned to climb out of her crib. She stacked up her pillow and blankets and dolls!

And now she is sleeping in her "Big Girl" bed. My baby is growing up too fast!

She was pretty excited about her new bed.

Trick or Treating and Trick or Drinking

2008-11-02T16:15:00.001-05:00

Here are all the kids in the neighborhood getting ready for trick or treating.

A few houses were vandalized the night before Halloween. The toilet paper was the nicest thing they did. They only hit the houses with older kids so I am sure it was some teenagers.

Our neighborhood has a few traditions. One of them is to go trick or treating together as a group. When it comes time to trick or treat at your house, you just run ahead of the group so you are there to pass out candy.

Another tradition of the neighborhood is Trick or Drink, an adult version of trick or treating. We were told about this little tradition shortly after we moved in. On any given Friday or Saturday in October the trick or drinkers can come knocking. This is how Trick or Drink works- they knock on your door, you let them in and serve them a drink of your choice, everyone has about 15 minutes to finish their drink, and then one adult has to go with the group to the next house, and it starts over from there. Unfortunately, my mom was here so both Pete and I could join the group. I don't know what I was thinking! I think the last time I had four drinks, much less shots of liquor, in one hour was way back in college! Needless to say, I was not feeling well the next morning. But we sure are lucky to have moved into such a fun neighborhood.

This was the group that came knocking on our door. Luckily, we were prepared and had some alcohol to pass around. Too bad I did not bring the camera with me to take pictures at every house.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-02T11:52:00.001-05:00

A Snow Princess, a Fairy Ballerina and a Bumble Bee.

I think this Halloween was the best for me so far as a mom. This was the first year that all three girls were in to getting dressed up and going trick or treating. All of them were so excited about wearing their costumes. And, of course, they were excited about all the treats!

There's Snow On My Pumpkins!

2008-10-28T14:25:00.001-04:00

We woke up this morning to snow! Is that crazy or what?!?

This was taken early this morning.

And the rest are from this afternoon. It has not stopped snowing!

I hope this does not mean we are in for a BAD WINTER!

Tori's First Field Trip

2008-10-21T20:36:00.001-04:00

Today Tori's class went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch. The weather has been pretty nice. I expected it to be another nice day, but about ten minutes after arriving to the pumpkin patch, the sun went behind the clouds. It became very chilly! And Tori was definitely not appropriately dress. I felt bad, but she did not seem bothered by the cold. We made our way through the pumpkins, a hay ride, the maze, a corn box (instead of sand it was corn) and fed a few farm animals. It was nice to be at a pumpkin patch with the fall foliage and cold weather.

The view from the patch was so nice.

I did not get too many pictures. My hands were in my pockets trying to keep warm!

It Is Snowing Leaves

2008-10-16T21:34:00.001-04:00

This is the time of year when ~~Pete~~ we put off raking the leaves as long as possible. Pete has actually picked them up a couple of times already. It is pretty easy since we have this attachment that works as a vacuum for the riding lawn mower. I am thinking that I actually want to do it myself.......it would be ~~a nice break and finally give me some time alone~~ an easy chore once the thing is attached.

The girls and my mom and I had some fun in the leaves this afternoon. It is something new for us Texans. Fall is a beautiful time of the year when the weather is nice and cool. The leaves change from green to yellow, red and orange. It is quite a site! I am truly amazed at the beauty of it all! Now the leaves are starting to fall off the trees and the cool crisp weather is slowly becoming cold.

It's unbelievable how much fun a pile of leaves can be when you are 6, 3, and 2 years old.

Where did Alli go?

I think this will keep her busy for awhile.

West Point 10 Year Reunion

2008-10-14T19:07:00.001-04:00

This past weekend we drove up to West Point for Pete's ten year reunion. It was so much fun!! Friday evening we reconnected with our old friends at a class banquet. Saturday was a full day of events. We left our hotel early in the morning and went to the West Point parade, then to a tailgate party, the football game- which Army won, back to the tailgate party and later that evening we headed back to the hotel bar for some more fun with old friends. It was really such a great weekend. It went by too fast!

A few days before the reunion, our good friends Jimmy and Kim came up to stay a night with us. We were glad to have them and finally meet little J.T.

Kisses for J.T.

At the Banquet

At the parade

I love being at West Point. It is absolutely beautiful there. And seeing Pete reconnect with some old friends was great. He has shared so many memories with his classmates. And once out of school, we were able to continue the friendships and added more memories as our families grew. We were lucky enough to be stationed with our close friends at Fort Hood and also at Fort Sill. Getting together with them was so wonderful. I love how we can be together and somehow it seems like no time has passed. I admire these men and women who serve(d) our country.

The guys

their better half

On "The Plain"

Unfortunately, our extra camera battery was left at the hotel.....no more pics!

SHHHH......DON'T TELL THE GIRLS

2008-10-08T09:56:00.001-04:00

I am on my way out to pick my mom up at the airport! The girls know that she is coming soon, but they don't know it is TODAY!!!!

No Time to Blog

2008-10-01T21:09:00.001-04:00

Where does the time go? It just seems to keep on flyn' by!

The start of the school year has kept us quite busy.

This little girl has a soccer game every Saturday morning. She seems to be enjoying it....most of the time. She is pretty good and pretty aggressive when it comes to getting that ball! Because of soccer, we do not get to sleep in any day of the week! We are out the door every single morning by 8:30 for school, soccer or church. The seasons ends at the end of November.

A couple of weeks ago, we headed into the city for a birthday party for a friend's little boy. It was held at The Playgarden. It was a really neat little place. And it was probably the cleanest place I have ever been in- always a great feeling to walk into such a clean establishment. The kids had a blast!!!

Before going to the party, we went to the big (and I mean B-I-G!) Toys R Us store. This was so fun for the girls. They have this huge ferris wheel right inside the store. The girls decided not to wait to ride it so they could have more time looking at toys!

The girls having lots of fun at Grant's party.

This past weekend was a busy fun-filled weekend as well. Nana and Papa drove up from DC to visit. And after Alli's soccer game on Saturday, we drove over to Easton, PA to visit the Crayola Factory. It is just too cool that we live close to so many neat places! It is a great place and entertaining for all ages.

Katie giving her favorite color a big hug! The girl wants everything to be blue!

The world's largest crayon.

A Milestone

2008-09-18T22:14:00.001-04:00

I feel I have come to a milestone in my life as a mother. I have finally come to the point in my motherhood where I have a child attending school full time. From the moment the girls get up, I am non-stop moving in at least five different directions. I have to pack a lunch for Alli and Tori on her preschool days. I have to make sure Alli eats her breakfast, brushes her teeth and brushes her hair. I have to help Tori and Katie dress and brush their teeth. I fix their hair. Alli no longer wants me to fix her hair :( (She is getting way too old!) After Alli gets on the bus, Tori has preschool or gymnastics or dance. So at 8:35am (I know I have it pretty easy considering the time that most elementary schools start in Texas.) I put her on the bus and don't see her or hear from her for 7 hours. WOW! This is a big deal! I never knew how easy I had it with half day PM kinder! I was rarely the anxious yelling mom in the mornings. If Alli did not eat all her breakfast, no big deal. I would give her a snack a couple hours later. All we had going on in the mornings last year was dance, gymnastics or Bible study. None of that even started until 9:30. And we had two days where we could stay in our PJ's until noon if we wanted to! So if I can say anything positive about PM kinder, it is that it gave me my mornings!

I will say that Alli really seems to be enjoying her full day at school. She is the type of child that likes to stay busy. She does not seem the least bit exhausted by a full day. She loves that she gets to go to two "specials" a day. And, again, just like she did last year, she loves riding the bus with her friends. Our bus stop is the last stop so, unfortunately, she only has about a 3 minute bus ride! She has her friends here in the neighborhood and is making new friends in her class. She also likes her teacher a lot. I am so anxious to go to Back to School Night to find out more about her day and her new school. It seems like they have it so late....shouldn't back to school night be the first week of school?

Tori also seems to like her school. Her teacher's name is Mrs. Morales. Tori says her name so cute, "Mrs. More Alice". Tori's school also has Back to School night next week. I am so glad that they welcome siblings to all school events!

I am enjoying the four hours two days a week that I have alone with Katie. On Tuesdays, she and I are doing a Mommy and Me gymnastics class. She had a lot of fun on the first day. She was a good listener and stayed in circle time the whole time. I will admit, I was surprised! She is a bit defiant and doesn't always do exactly what I am asking her to do- examples: get out of the car, come into the house, put your paci back in your bed, ect.! I will keep hoping she listens as well as she did the first day!

Alli has her second soccer game this weekend. I was so proud of her on her first game! She did great and really went after the ball. Soccer is huge here! Is it just here, or is it like that every where? I will post Alli's soccer, and Tori and Katie's dance and gymnastic pics soon! I have been totting my camera around every where and haven't had time to download pics!

Tori's First Day

2008-09-12T12:28:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was Tori's first day of preschool. She did awesome! This day has been long awaited! She was so excited to start school.

Off to school! What a big girl!

I am trying hard not to compare this preschool to the perfect preschool that Alli went to in San Antonio. The schools here are so different............can't explain it- they are just different! But I am pleased with this preschool. And all that really matters is that Tori likes it. I want her to be in a loving environment where she has lots of fun and wants to go back every Tuesday and Thursday.

Some help from her teacher.

Ready to learn and have some fun!

While Tori was enjoying herself at school, Katie and I spent two hours at Target. It was great! I did not have to take any body to the restroom. I did not have to browse through the toys. And I did not have any one tell me that I wasn't fair for not buying them anything. I am sure these days will be short lived. Not long from now, Katie will be potty training. The mints, gum and rainbow Goldfish that I put into the cart upon her request will no longer seem like such a treat. And she will soon realize that there are a lot of toys in the store with the big red cart. But, I will enjoy it while it last!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

2008-09-05T23:22:00.001-04:00

Today Pete and I have been married ten years!

What an amazing ten years it has been!

You may remember that I mentioned a trip to Cancun to celebrate our anniversary early. We left from Texas back in July while the girls had plenty of family to love on them. It is always so hard for me to leave the girls. I get really stressed out the day before we leave, but I always enjoy myself and know that it is good for us to have some alone time. We had a great time! Pete and I love beach vacations where we can walk on the beach for a bit and then head back to the pool! I do love spending time on the beach- but mostly with the kids! When it is just us, I don't want to deal with all the sand! I want to lay in a chair, jump in and out of the pool when I need to cool off and have a waiter bring me fruity drinks! So that is exactly how we spent our time. We layed around the pool all day and managed to get in a round of golf and a couple of massages in between. I can't go on vacation without trying out the spa! And I am pretty sure Pete feels just the same when it comes to playing golf! The two go hand in hand.

Here is the happy couple waiting for our cab in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton. The hotel was great. And we had fabulous food every night.

Pete had flowers and champagne waiting in our room......so thoughtful!

This was taken as a tropical storm was coming through. Notice that the palm trees look like they are going to fly away.

My annual attempt at playing golf. The only time I get to play is when Pete and I have a vacation by ourselves. Pete is always super patient. He is a pretty good coach.

Pete playing well.

We had a very relaxing get-away in Cancun. These past ten years have flown by! I am so thankful for all that God has blessed us with. And I am looking forward to starting our 11th year here in New Jersey!

My Big First Grader!

2008-09-04T21:17:00.001-04:00

Here is Alli right before we went to Meet The Teacher at her school yesterday afternoon. She was very anxious and nervous. She kept telling me her belly was hurting. Which was making me SO NERVOUS! I felt so bad for her. On the inside, my belly was hurting too! But on the outside, I stayed positive and talked about all the good things that she gets to do in school this year- like go to specials every week, eat lunch at school, check out books, ride the bus....but what I really wanted to do was pick up my big six year old, hold her and hug her tight and promise her we will never move again! Alli really does not like "new" things. And I know how hard it must be for her to go to a new school. So we met her teacher. She is an older woman with a lot of experience. And I have only heard nice things about her. She seemed very nice and I am glad Alli is in her classroom. After prayers and kisses last night, as I was walking out of Alli's room she called me back in. "Do you think Mrs. Miller is nice, Mommy?" I say, "Yes! She seems very nice." And Alli says, "I think she seems very nice too." And that little conversation made me feel so much better. It was the first positive thing Alli had said about school!

So guess what Alli said about school today? She loved it! YAY! Oh- that just made my day!

This is our bus stop! All but 2 of these kids are right in our little neighborhood. And there are a total of 7 first graders. Alli is the second on the left.

My Big First Grader!!!

I did not get any pictures of Alli by herself this morning. I brought my camera to the bus stop without a memory card! I did get some of her this afternoon, but she was not really cooperating!

And this little cutie pie will have her first day next week!

Dog Days of Summer

2008-08-31T10:08:00.001-04:00

(Isn't Maddie the cutest!?!)

It really has not been hot enough up here to call it "the dog days of summer", but our days have been quite mundane. We are lacking in excitement around here. But sometimes that is a good thing!

Since the weather has been so nice, the girls and I have been spending a lot of time outdoors. We have a lot to do right in our own back yard.

Kate and Tori swing.

Alli climbs the monkey bars.

And she catches butterflies.

She is really good at catching them. She keeps them in her little bug box for a little bit. And then, reluctantly, she lets them go.

They all pick raspberries.

We have a ton of raspberry bushes in our yard. They are yummy!

We look for weird bugs.

We feed the fish.

Next week Alli will go back to school. And the the following week Tori will start preschool. This is Alli's first year of all day school and Tori's first year of preschool. She will go to school two days a week. I am glad to be getting back on a schedule and routine, but I will miss my girls! And I am sure after about a month of running around to gymnastics, ballet and soccer practice, I will be wishing for those mundane days with nothing to do!

Oh- Mr. Bear has shown up around the hood a couple of more times. I had actually just started running with a neighbor and the day before we were scheduled to run the bear was in our neighborhood. My neighbor was like, "It will be fine. I have been running for a long time and nothing has ever happened." I gave in and went for a run with her the next day. I prayed before we ran that we would not run into Mr. Bear. So as we are about halfway into our run, a truck that was coming towards us slows down and then stops. The gentleman rolls down the window and tells us that we probably don't want to go any further because he just saw a bear down the road! Thank you Lord for sending this man to keep me from having a heart attack!! Seriously, I don't know what I would have done if I would have seen that bear! Could you imagine? I know some people think it is silly to let a bear keep me from running outside. They say the bear is scared of you and doesn't want anything to do with you. But this momma is not taking any chances. My neighbor and I made it back home in record time that day! Our running relationship was short lived......maybe we'll start up again when Mr. Bear is hibernating.

Virginia Beach Vacation

2008-08-24T23:14:00.001-04:00

We had a great time on our vacation. We went to Virginia Beach with Pete and Jami Manternach and their two kids, Tyler and Carson. Pete and Jami are great friends of ours from our Army days. Pete (my Pete) went to school with both of them. It was about an eight hour drive for us. We were a bit nervous about how the drive would go, but it went very well. In fact, it went so well that we are actually considering driving home for Thanksgiving! I was also a bit nervous about being at at the beach with the kids for a whole week. Especially since we were not at a resort with a ton of other things to do. But the kids did fantastic. It was awesome to see them enjoy themselves so much. And vacationing with our friends was great. Tori was always referring to Pete M. as "the other Pete- not the one your married to". It was so cute.

We rented a house that was right across the street from the beach entrance. Location was key.....there were a lot of bathroom trips! The house was.....er, not so great. But it worked and we really did not spend a ton of time in the house. Our daily schedule was as follows:

* Wake up

* Eat breakfast

* Get sun screen and suits on

* Go to the beach for hours

* Back to the house for lunch

* Back to the beach for a few more hours.

* Back to the house

* Shower children outside

* Make and eat dinner

* Put the kids to bed

* Drink margaritas and play cards

* Go to bed

Yep, that pretty much wraps up our vacation! We did not do a whole lot more than hang on the beach! And that is my kind of vacation!

We did manage to exercise on a few days.

We adults got one night out! Pete and Jami go to VA Beach every year so they have a babysitter there.

The kids also had a couple of nights out. We let them ride their bikes down the boardwalk to get some ice cream one night. On our last night, we went to a little carnival type amusement park. And, of course, we spent some time in those overpriced souvenir shops!

Here are a few pictures from this past week.

Pete caught a little sting ray.

Alli and Carson are mermaids. They had a lot of fun together.

Tori spent hours building sand castles and decorating them with sea shells.

Run Katie Run! Katie loved to run into the water. She would lay down and splash around for about a minute, get back up and run back to me. She would tell me how cold it was and then turn around and repeat this- over and over again.

Tyler is really good at boogie boarding. Next year he gets a surf board!

Pete had a great beard by the end of the week.

What a nice way to end our vacation- Go-Cart racing!

Pete V. vs Pete M.

Vacations are always learning experiences. I am always leaving a vacation and saying next time we should do this or next time we wont do this. As always, I learned a few things from this vacation:

1. Ultimate Margarita Mix must be refrigerated after opening......major intestinal problems will result if it is not refrigerated.

2. Kids can be entertained for hours upon hours on the beach with nothing more than buckets and shovels.

3. You can never have enough snacks for a day at the beach.

4. Kids will still eat their snacks even if it has sand in it.

5. No matter how long you leave windows and doors open, you can never really get rid of the moth ball smell.

6. Never do all your laundry before leaving a rent house that smells like moth balls. When you return home and open up your suitcase, all the clean clothes will smell like moth balls and need to be rewashed.

7. The sand is never completely gone.

8. While going to the beach with your kids there is no need to bring a book........unless your name is Pete.

9. Digging holes in the sand is considered a workout when you are on vacation.

10. Not all kids will pee in the water.

VA Beach

2008-08-17T19:08:00.002-04:00

Eight hours in the car to spend one week on the beach.....I hope it is worth it!

I'll let you know!

The Never Ending Breakfast

2008-08-13T10:41:00.001-04:00

It is 7:30 am. The girls and I make our way into the kitchen. Tori immediately goes into the playroom to dress-up or color or play with ponies. Katie has been asking to eat since I took her out of her crib. So I get her breakfast first- a Health Valley cereal bar or cold cereal. She chooses cereal this morning.

Alli helps herself into the fridge. She stands there for 5 minutes before she asks if she can have pudding for breakfast.

Me- Sure. It has calcium. Tori, why don't you come and eat some breakfast.

Tori- Ok, Mama.

I pour my coffee. Make Pete's coffee. (He works from home most days of the week.)

I put a waffle in the toaster oven. Take a sip of coffee. Start to spread the peanut butter on my waffle.

Tori emerges from the playroom donned in her princess gear- a princess crown, a princess dress, princess shoes, and a wand.

Tori- Oh! A waffle with peanut butter! That is what I want for breakfast, Mommy.

Me- Sure. Here you go. You can have this one.

Alli- That looks good. Can I have one?

Me- Sure.

I put two more waffles in the toaster.

Katie- I bite. T-E! (This is how she says Tori) T-E! I bite!

Tori- Mom, Katie wants a waffle.

Me- Ok.

I take the two waffles out of the toaster. Spread peanut butter. Cut them up and give one to Alli and one to Katie.

I see Pete poking his head out of his office door.

Pete- Honey, would you mind putting two waffles in the toaster for me?

Me- Sure.

I put two more waffles in the toaster. I wait for the "ding". I put peanut butter on them. Alli and Tori want to play waitress. Alli carries the plate. Tori carries the napkin and fork.

Katie knocks over what was left in her cereal bowl.

I clean up the mess and promise myself that I will remember to pick up her bowl as soon as she is done tomorrow.

Tori- Mom! You did not give me a drink.

Me- Sorry, Tor. Do you want a sippy or a big girl cup.

Tori- I want a big girl cup because I am a big girl.

Me- Yes you are.

I serve Tori her drink.

I put the last waffle in the toaster. Make it and quickly eat it before anyone needs anything else!

It is 8:55am.

Alli- Mom, I am still hungry. Can I have another waffle?

Me- Sure you can. Just make yourself, okay!

Tori- Mom, I need some more orange juice.

The breakfast that never ends!

A Missing Tooth

2008-08-11T08:51:00.001-04:00

I took the girls to the dentist the other day for their cleanings. This was Tori's first dental appointment. She did great. My girls are always excited to go to the doctor or dentist.

Alli's teeth are looking great.

Tori has a little cavity right between her two back molars. Bummer! I really could not believe it! She is so good about letting us brush her teeth. But what surprised me more is that she is missing a tooth! She only has nine teeth on the bottom. One of her bicuspids never came in. They x-rayed her mouth to see if there is an adult tooth, but it was hard to tell. Probably because her mouth is still so small. How did I not notice? Well, I guess I never have actually counted her teeth. I just assumed they were all there!

Showing off their sparkling clean teeth.

Wrapping Up Texas Trip

2008-08-07T13:15:00.001-04:00

Kimberly's Night Out

My night out was spent with my two favorite cousins

and my BFF.

Melissa and I headed to Austin, checked into the hotel and got ready for our night out. Sammy picked us up to start our night at this AWESOME sushi restaurant Uchi. It was such a neat place and the food was SO GOOD.....my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Next, we went to hang out with my brother He bartends, manages and is part owner of a bar down town.

It was great to see my bro and meet some of his friends.

And great just be able to spend time with people I really miss!

Texas Trip- Part 3

2008-08-05T22:00:00.001-04:00

Family Time!

COUSINS

The Girls love spending time with their cousins...

and so do I! (and my sister too)

This is my cousin Vince. His band just happened to get their first San Antonio gig while I was visiting. This was one of my favorite nights while in SA. Most of my family came out to see him. I love that everyone in my family is so supportive. I stayed out until 2am!!! Something I have not done in years!

And visiting Great Grandpa and his dog, Daisy, was also one of my favorite days. I love being in his house. And I love sharing stories with the girls of all the great times I have had there.

Texas Trip- Part 2 Week One

2008-08-03T22:56:00.001-04:00

The first week in Texas was quite busy! I wanted to hurry up and see everyone!

Alli lost her tooth the day after we arrived to SA. She has lost a total of 3 teeth and 2 of them have been lost in San Antonio. Tooth number two was lost while we were there for my brother's wedding. This third tooth is her first one on the top to come out. The one next to it is a little loose.

We spent the next couple of days spending time with family. And we celebrated my niece Jenna's third birthday.

Before Jenna's birthday party, the girls and I went to our old church Oak Hills and then to lunch with our friends from our Life Group. Tori could not have been happier to see her two "best friends" Josie and Emma.

I needed to get to Austin as soon as possible. There is this little baby boy that I have been waiting to meet!

So the next day the girls and I headed up to Austin to finally meet Jacob, Sammy's baby boy! I was just thrilled to meet him! Our friend Lisa and her two boys came to hang out with us too. These boys are so cute! We met at Sammy's mother in-law, Kathy's, so we could swim with the kids.

We not only met at Kathy's to swim, but also to see my first love, Sam Beau. If you knew me in college or before we had Alli, you know who Sam Beau is. For those of you who do not know, Sam Beau was my little chihuahua that was my "baby". He became very depressed after Alli was born. I felt so bad for him and so sad because I knew that we were no longer the right family for him. Sam Beau needed to be in a home where he was the center of attention. Long story short, Sammy's mother in-law is now Sam Beau's mommy. He could not be in a better home. He will be 13 years old in just a few days.

My First Love...

Later in the week, I met up with my sister in-law, Morgan, who just happened to be vacationing in San Antonio. It was a real treat to be able to see her family. The girls were excited to meet their little cousin Bailey.

And to wrap up week number one, I met up with my best friend from high school, Amber, whose daughter, Paige, happens to be Alli's "very best friend in the whole world". It is so great to see Alli and Paige together. I love that they are such good friends! Alli wears half of a "Best Friends" necklace that Paige gave to her.

Texas Trip- Part One

2008-07-31T14:29:00.009-04:00

Starting with the most important event of the trip....NO, not mine and Pete's trip to Cancun! Katie's Birthday of course! (Cancun comes in second for importance.....trips with your husband are an essential part of marriage!)

On July 19th my baby girl, Katherine Brooke, turned 2! I love this age! She is so much fun!

The early morning inducement appointment for Katie started with a trip to Walmart for batteries....not sure what the batteries were for....the video camera, maybe? I was five days passed my due date and already having contractions. Katie's birth was by far the easiest....so easy that I felt a little guilty. Shouldn't I wait a little longer to get that epidural? Nah, I did that with Alli and Tori.....who needs pain! So after about 6 1/2 hours of "laboring" (I say "laboring" because, is it really laboring when you don't feel any of the real contractions?) Katie was born at 12:56.....I really wanted it to be 12:57 because Alli was born at 7:47am and Tori was born at 10:17am. But the nurse said she couldn't fudge on the the birth time...
Katie came out screaming, really screaming! They gave her to me right away and when I spoke to her, she immediately stopped crying and looked at me with those big blue eyes. It was the best feeling in the world!
Today, Katie loves to play with her sisters. She will follow them around and just do whatever they want her to- most of the time. Every once in awhile, her stubborn two-year old ways come out and she wont do anything they want her to. She loves to watch the movie E.T. We watched it for the first time while in San Antonio. She sat there with her eyes wide and mouth open for almost the whole movie! It was really funny! Any time E.T. was not on the screen, she would ask, "Where E.T. go?" She loves to play outside and will swing and slide all day long if I let her. She has a bit of a mean streak. She hits and pinches. Sometimes she will tense up and then bite whatever is closest to her- a table, chair, the grocery cart, her sisters, and most of the time she will bite herself. But, for the most part, she is a sweet angel. And so stinkin' cute that I can't help myself from kissing and hugging her. She also is a silly little girl. She loves to be silly and make us laugh.
So silly!

And her are some pics from her party.

It is GOOD to be Home

2008-07-28T21:05:00.001-04:00

What a great time we had in Texas!

I can't say enough about how AWESOME my family is! I love to be around my family! They are so great! We had a blast just hanging out for the last 4 weeks!!

During the last four weeks Alli learned to swim and her fear of water is almost gone, she lost another tooth, and she spent the night with her "best friend in the whole world" Paige. Tori kicked her way across the pool while holding on to a kick board without an ounce of hesitation, she added even more My Little Ponies to her collection, and she amazed everyone with just how smart she is. Katie turned two years old and she became obsessed with E.T........she LOVES the movie E.T. and asks to watch it at least a hundred times a day. Katie also had her first ER visit. Her elbow was pulled out of place while my mom and I were trying to lift her off of Tori. This is something that is quite common. It is called a Nurse Maid's Elbow. I have had two friends go through the same experience with their toddler. Luckily, my mom lives just minutes away from the hospital. And the ER visit was shorter than most of my visits with the pediatrician.

We were on the go meeting up with friends and family just about every day. I was so happy to be able to see all of my family and a lot of my friends while I was there. I am already planning my trip for next summer. As always, staying with my mom was great. She is the best grandma and we are just blessed to have her in our lives. She spoiled the girls rotten for the last two months and now Pete and I are left to do the de-spoiling!

Pete arrived in Texas on the 17th of July. Two days later we celebrated Katie's 2nd birthday. And then the next day, Pete and I were off to celebrate 10 years (a little early) of wedded bliss!!! We spent four nights in Cancun at The Ritz-Carlton. It was great!

I'll post pictures of our Texas trip soon. In the mean time, I have about five suitcases to unpack! On top of the unpacking, I have to relearn how to cook and clean and do laundry!

I am looking forward to catching up with everyone. I was so busy or just on the go all the time that I did not even have time to check in on blogs!

Pictures soon...And it really is so good to be home!

Goodbye Ticks, Goodbye Bears

2008-06-27T12:00:00.001-04:00

Goodbye New Jersey......for a few weeks!

The girls and I are headed to Texas!!! We will be down there for a few weeks before Pete can meet up with us. What will a married father of three do all by himself? I am sure he will keep busy by ~~playing golf~~ working a lot. And of course he has the ~~Wii~~ yard work to keep him busy. I found this shirt on-line today. I think I'll buy it so none of the girls at ~~the club house~~ work will get any ideas while I am away.

Do you think he'll wear it?

I'll be in touch with y'all in a few weeks! Happy Summer!!!

Has Anyone Seen My Coffee?

2008-06-26T22:52:00.001-04:00

Katie is already enjoying one of the finer things in life.....a strong cup of Star Buck's House Blend.

Don't you love email?

2008-06-21T12:08:00.001-04:00

I opened up my email this morning and in my inbox I had a forwarded message from my husband. The message was sent to him by a neighbor who received the email from another nearby neighbor.

SUBJECT: BEAR SIGHTING

THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN FROM THEIR FRONT DOOR!!

OH MY GOOOODNESSS!!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?!!? THAT IS A HUMUNGOUS BEAR!!!!

That is enough to scare me into NEVER letting my children play in the backyard unattended!! And I don't care how nice the weather is outside. I will keep running on the treadmill!

I Thought This Day Would Never Get Here...

2008-06-19T21:15:00.001-04:00

Kindergarten is FINALLY OVER!!! Oh My Goodness! This year has lasted forever! But with all the snow days, I guess that is just how it is up here.

My baby girl is growing up and moving on to FIRST GRADE! It is so hard to believe! She is just growing up too fast!

I am so proud of her. She has done so well this past year.

Alli on the first day of school and on the last day of school. She has changed so much, hasn't she?

In the last few weeks, Alli wrapped up her Kindergarten Gymnastics Class, had Pete and I to her classroom for the reading of her book, and had a fun Field Day at school.

One Month and THREE TICKS LATER

2008-06-16T21:14:00.004-04:00

Did I mention that I live in the tick capitol of NJ? Tick Capitol = Lyme Disease Capitol! Well, I do!! And it FREAKS ME OUT!

Tick number one was on the back of Katie's leg, right behind her knee. Tick number two was found on Pete's calf. And tick number three was on Alli's lower back. And it is not like they are rolling around in the grass! They were just outside playing!
I am not a totally "Green" person, but I try to do my part by using natural cleaners. I use Shaklee and love it. I also just use vinegar and baking soda a lot because Shaklee is good, but not as cheap as vinegar and baking soda! I recycle, buy organic fruits and veggies and meats (when they are not outrageously priced), and I do not spray pesticides all over my house or yard and I don't want to put insect repellant with DEET on my girls every day! BUT what is a concerned mom suppose to do?
I have friends who are from here and who are also a little "Green". They tell me that they just make it a habit to check their kids every night in the Spring and Summer. And so, luckily, I have been doing that! But I don't care if the tick has been on them for just an hour! (They say you lessen your chance of getting the disease if the tick is removed within 48 hours.) I don't want any Lyme Disease carrying tick on my kids or my husband or myself....or my dog!
So, do I spray pesticides on my yard to try to keep those darn things away? I guess I could look for a natural spray. But, my yard is HUGE...it would probably be a ton of money.

I like NJ. I like NJ. I like NJ. I like NJ. I like NJ. I like NJ..........if I keep saying it over and over, it might set in.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-16T09:26:00.004-04:00

To d'man of the house!

My lucky guy had a nice Father's Day of relaxing and hanging out with his four girls....plus one more since MoMo is still here!

He got to do two things that he enjoys- go to the movies (for round two of Kung Fu Panda. Alli threw up on him the first time he took her. The girl has a problem with eating too much sugar at one time. Remember New Year's Eve?) And then he watched golf all day.........I am sure he would have preferred to play, but at least he was with his girls.

Thanks for being the AWESOME MAN AND DADDY that you are! The girls and I are lucky to have you!

Meet Kermit

2008-06-14T21:43:00.001-04:00

This would be the little guy that has taken up home in our pond. He likes to keep us up at night with his croaking. Now that we have a new frog pet I am wondering why we tell our children that a frog says "ribbit". The sounds that this little guy makes sound nothing like "ribbit".

And guess who tried to catch him AND succeeded?

A Heat Wave

2008-06-10T09:02:00.003-04:00

INSTANT ALERT-

PM KINDER IS CANCELLED DUE TO EXCESSIVE HEAT

WHAT?!?! Yes, that is right! Can you believe it? It was 95 degrees here in New Jersey so they cancelled school. AND they made the next day a half day! Which is VERY FRUSTRATING when your child is already in half day kinder. Alli's school does not have AC so I guess that is the procedure when it gets "too hot" up here. You would think with the amount people pay in taxes up here, they could afford to put AC in the schools.
It is pretty funny for us Texans that they are making such a fuss over the 95 degree weather. Every where we go people are telling us to try and keep cool. We went out to eat last night and the waiter said it was so hot in the restaurant because the AC could not keep up with the heat! Pete and I think it is great! I am just happy that it is not cold anymore!

A Future Hairdresser

2008-06-08T21:21:00.004-04:00

Katie is so stinkin' cute......... if I may say so myself! She sat there for about 15 minutes fixing MoMo's hair. She sang and hummed the whole time.
My mom is the best! She is so good to my girls! She spends her days doing whatever the girls want her to do......and doing the laundry and a little cleaning. I try to stop her and remind her that I don't have her come up here to be the maid! But she doesn't listen. We love having her here! I am so glad that even though we live 1000's of miles apart, we still get to spend so much time with her.

Gone Fishin'

2008-06-03T20:58:00.001-04:00

Our nephew, Donaven, is here for a two week visit. We are super excited he is here.

Pete took him and Alli down the road to do a little fishing. Alli loves to fish! She has a lot fun and loves to touch the fish.....yuck!

Look at those curls!

2008-06-02T20:06:00.001-04:00

Katie has the curliest hair of all the girls. It is so cute! I love it! She also has less hair than the other two when they were her age. I was able to do pic-tails in both Alli and Tori's hair by the age 2. Only one and a half months until Katie is two!! I really love this age. She is so fun......a lot of work, but she is certainly worth it!

notice the shoes!