Trip to Louisiana

We go to Louisiana every year and visit Greg's grandmothers, cousins, aunts and uncles. I started going in 99 before Gregory and I were married. Now that we have 3 kids the road trip is quite different than it used to be. We have decided that it's best to put the kids in pjs and leave around bedtime. The kids were great in the car and we managed the trip in 12 hours driving up the night of the 17th. We left on the 23rd and arrived home the morning of Christmas Eve. It was a wonderful trip. The kids enjoy their cousins, and the country. Tre loves going in the woods and they all love playing outside. Enjoy the pics!

And a few silly ones...

Louisiana

There are eleven cousins age 6 and under all together (including our kids). They all had a great time together and can't wait for another visit.

Amusement parks!

So over Thanksgiving we decided to take the kids to Disney so that we could spend time with cousins who were coming from LA. Greg and I also had 2 free tickets for doing some volunteer work. It was a great time! We left Frankie home cause we were doing MGM Hollywood studios and I just didn't think it would be worth it to bring her. She wasn't going to be able to do much and we figured the lines would be a mile long. We spent the time in long lines catching up with the family and the kids entertained eachother well. We spent the whole day there and then went out for pizza after.

A week later, Becky and I took the kids to SeaWorld where we also got in free thanks to Florida resident and teacher promotions! The kids all had a great time watching the shows. Frankie loved going on all the rides in the kiddie area and Tre must have ridden the shamu rollercoaster at least 8 times! During the Shamu show, the whales were jumping in the air and "waving"... showing off all their tricks and Joey said "I think those whales are fake." The little cynic. Ha! I love that kid!

I should be taking down Christmas decorations...

but instead I'll reminisce about Christmas ... bloggy style.

The kids are at the perfect age for Christmas. I love it! They were totally psyched. They all visited Santa and even Frankie sat on his lap and told him she wanted a ladybug pillow pet.

Christmas Eve I spent unpacking from our trip and cleaning and Greg and I were exhausted after driving all night. Tre and Joey were eager to go to sleep so that Santa could come but Frankie was up till 10 so we didn't get finished wrapping presents until about midnight. The kids woke up some time after 7 and Joey was hollering in the livingroom for Tre to come look. It's a good thing I got up when I did cause Joey had already opened half of her presents and made it known that she did not get a Barbie doll house from Santa (I warned her not to expect one since we already had another doll house). Her favorite gifts were probably the jewelerybox and the dress up clothes/princess costumes (despite the fact that she asked Santa for Barbies- she doesn't play with them all that much). She also likes her unicorn pillowpet from Santa.

Tre is enjoying his nerfgun and still wears his bathrobe frequently. It's actually quite fun to have nerf gun fights with him. I wish I could do it more often. Frankie likes her pillow pet and playfood a lot as well. She pretty much just plays with whatever Joey is though.

We had a great time with family Christmas morning and then visited more family that evening. It was a great holiday!

edited to add that I wrote this a while ago and just now published it. I am proud to say that all Christmas decorations are put away in the attic!

What happened to October?

Tucker and Nicole's wedding and Halloween were the big events and between, school, swim, dance, karate, PTA, and teacher trainings... the rest just flew by.

Our trip to NH was awesome. I was so excited to take all the kids to see Fall. We had cold windy weather, saw pumpkin patches, picked apples, collected leaves... We visited Parkers Maple Barn for a rehearsal brunch and saw how they make syrup. The wedding was a blast and the kids were all in it and did fantastic. We had at least 15 people all staying at the hotel so there was plenty of family around to help with the kids and just a great time! The last 2 days we went on a hike up Rattlesnake Mountain and visited a Science center where the kids saw a bunch of animals and then we just chilled out at Tucker and Nicole's place.

I can't wait to get some of the pics from the wedding photographer cause of course his are way better than ours.

Some Labor Day Pics

Greg's mom was taking the kids over Labor Day weekend while Greg and I were going to Indian Rocks Beach with friends. It was a much needed break for me! School started out fine- we were all just tired from waking up so much earlier. But then, Tre got a stomach virus on the 3rd day. Sick kids wear me out! I'm trying to take care of the sick ones (Tre and Frankie were the ones that got it) and keep my house disinfected in the meantime. It's hard enough keeping up with the laundry as it is, nevermind washing extra towels and blankets and sheets every night! Not to mention, cleaning the carpets and couches. Have I mentioned how much I dislike my carpet and how gross it is? :shudder:

Anyhow, Friday couldn't have come sooner and Greg and I took the kids to the beach that evening (so I wouldn't feel guilty that we were spending a whole weekend at the beach without them (they love the beach)! We had a great time. It was so nice to go to the beach in the evening and not worry about sunscreen! The kids had a blast and then we all went home, slept and shipped them off to Granny the next day.

My brother, Tucker, was also in town for the weekend and was able to see the kids briefly before they left. We had a great visit!

Frankie Friday!

So school, karate, and dance have all started. Let the chaos begin....

I haven't blogged in a while and we have been so busy! Lots has happened but whenever I get a chance to sit down and blog I don't know where to begin. I'm thinking of organizing my blog by day/subject. I have some fellow bloggers that do it and it might help me organize my thoughts better. I haven't thought much about it but it's Friday so we'll make it Frankie Friday.

Frankie started school this year. She attends the same school as Joey and is in the 2 year old class. Joey and Tre had the same teacher and she is wonderful! I signed Frankie up to attend 5 days a week but figured I would kind of start her off just a couple days a week and work her up to 5 days. That didn't happen though. She loves it and expects to go every morning, since Joey does, so I let her. I walked her in on the first day and she was fine with me leaving. The next couple days Joey walked her to class, holding her hand. Now, I just drop the girls off in carline and Frankie waves and calls out "Bye Mom!" and then runs down the hallway before Joey can even take her hand LOL. She's always happy to see me and hand me her papers/pictures she made. She likes to go on the swings at the playground and says she likes her firends in her class (although the only name I've heard is Dominick). Apparently she has started asking to use the potty at school ( she occasionally does at home too) so I'm hoping she'll potty train soon!

Oh and that cute pink shirt with the alphabet down the front is screwed up. Target forgot to put the letter "O" in their alphabet. I didn't notice it until she came home that day. Boo Target!