Carter - as promised

I am in the cities for training so I had some quiet time to "catch up". For those of you that have received a Christmas letter and those of you that still will and those of you that may not (yours must have gotten lost in the mail) as promised here is the video of Carter at his Pre-School program. He's easy to pick out.... What a ROCK STAR!!

Update

Well, I was informed today that it's been 5 weeks since the last post - wow, time has sure gotten away from me.

We have been busy, but just the regular stuff. The holidays were good, it was nice to visit with everyone. The kids finished the second quarter of school yesterday, the school year is half over :)

Daisy can start selling Girl Scout cookies today - so let us know if you're interested.

Also today, Reed started the community rec basketball program. He was really shy at the first session (big second graders) and didn't play, so we tried again at the second session - and he wasn't shy at all. He really enjoyed himself.

Yesterday I was the mystery reader for Reed's class, they guessed who I was but still enjoyed the stories. I think all kids like the "Froggy" series.

Tomorrow Kelly leaves for a week in the cities for training. We have been planning how I will survive the meals, but I'm not sure about anything else! Hopefully it will be a calm week for us.

My travel to NYC was canceled, so that is a bit of a relief for Kelly.

I'll try to keep you all updated a little more often...

Sick week

Well, this has not been a fun week! We started out the week with Daisy having a flu bug on Monday. I stayed home with her - and got a lot of work done.

Then Tuesday night - in the middle of the night, Aidan was really super crabby. So I brought him back to bed to cuddle - guess what - he was unhappy because his tummy hurt - he threw up on Kelly's pillow. And then on the middle of the bed. So - we cleaned him up, and sat with him in the bathroom - waiting to see how much more would come. He was determined that both mom and dad be there with him. Kelly got in some good play on the iTouch at least.

Carter woke up and came in to join us, saying his tummy hurt too. So - we told him to stay in the bathroom so that if he got sick, he could do it in the toilet, right?! No, he was going back to bed.

About an hour later, we decide that Aidan is okay now, and to go back to bed. So, we put down clean sheets and bring him back to bed with us to fall asleep. I found Carter on the loveseat and carried him back to bed too. We all fall asleep, and a few hours later - Kelly heard him get sick again. I reached for the bucket, but it was too late, he threw up all over our bed again! Back to the bathroom... We get him cleaned up, and the dirty sheet off. The top sheet was okay, so we slept on that and a towel - just in case for round three.

About 5:30, Reed comes in and said he just threw up in his bed! Kelly just sent him to the bathroom - we were so exhausted.

So in the morning, we start getting ready for the day - and I see puke on the floor in the hallway.
Then on the steps, and in the living room. Wait - there's more in Carter's room too! He threw up all over - all on carpet! Kelly was not happy!

We had agreed in the middle of the night that he would stay home with Aidan. He ended up staying home with all three boys and cleaning up the carpet messes. I did (am still doing) the laundry.

But it was a short bug, thankfully - and everyone went back to work/school/daycare today. Kelly's even starting to get over his cold - thank God!

We hope that you're all staying healthy - and happy.

Aidan's Birthday Pictures

Here are some pictures from Aidan's 1st birthday party. It was a puppy theme! We even had 'puppy ears' for all the kids to wear - Dominic (Sonia and TJ's oldest) is showing his :)

Halloween Pictures

Reed was Batman

















Aidan was a sweet little puppy




Daisy was a vampire (no pictures)



Kelly was a tourist (and the birthday boy), still no pictures - he was supposed to be the one taking them



Wendi was a black cat (again no pictures)



Carter was Optimist Prime (from the Transformers)

Hole in My Smile

Both Reed and Carter are now missing their front tooth! Carter lost his a long time ago, and Reed finally caught up with his little brother!

For those of you who don't know the story (or have forgotten it), Carter lost his when he feel off Kelly's motorcycle. Kelly was in the garage packing for our first week long family vacation, and Carter was sitting on the bike in the garage. He was about 16 months old, so he was pretty mobile. When Wendi pulled into the driveway, Carter turned to see - and it made the jacket on the seat slide. When it slid to the floor, so did Carter. He was a pretty tough sport, we went into the bathroom to clean him up. Then we talked to the 'baby in the mirror' and he calmed down right away. He probably only cried for 5 minutes. But, the next day (on vacation) - his tooth was sticking straight out. I pushed it back into place, but it kept going out. By the next day, it was out. He is saving it until he loses another tooth, and will put them out for the tooth fairy together, and hopefully earn double the rewards!

The life of a rose

Below is a series a photos from the life of my rose. This was the only rose I was able to grow on the rose bush we planted this summer.