Winter Waterpark

Last night we spent the night at a local hotel and waterpark.  Grandma and Grandpa bought us all a package for Christmas and we had a blast!  Claire was beyond excited to spend the night in a hotel and Oliver was amazed by everything he saw!

Claire insisted on wearing her vest while we were there.  She is a total rule follower.  She was directing all the kids on the water slides and was always making sure that everyone was safe.

Oliver was a little hesitant about the water slides but he loved swimming!  Swimming and playing with Owen (or even just being by him) was Oliver's favorite part! Poor Oliver tries so hard to keep up with Claire and Owen!

Grandma loved playing in the water with the kids.

We couldn't keep Grandma off the water slides.

Oliver loved hanging out with Grandpa.

They had two big water slides.  One was slow and the other was fast.  And when I say fast, I  mean FAST!  Us adults were a little freaked out by it!  But the slow slide was perfect for Claire.  She was so happy that she was just tall enough to go on it.  And I mean she was JUST tall enough.  Here she is coming down the slide.  Notice she is backwards.  I think the poor thing just whipped all over the place in that tube!!

Here is Mark coming down the water slide!  Like I said, even the adults loved them!

The hotel itself was exciting for the kids.  They loved running in the long hallways, riding the elevators, and playing on the luggage carts.

We all had adjoining rooms and that worked out perfectly.  We were able to put the kids to bed in our rooms and then we could hang out and have adult time in Kevin and Sara's room.  Grandma loved reading to the kids before bed.

Then the next morning we had a delicious breakfast and then we were back at the waterpark!

Claire told us "This is the best day of my life!!!!" about 78 times.

The kids LOVE playing together and to put them all together anywhere is a blast.  But to put them in a waterpark was heaven!

Even when they were just swimming in the water, they had a blast.

Notice Claire has her vest on.  Yeah...she is only in 1 foot of water.  I love my little rule follower.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for a great Christmas present!  We all had a blast!!!  We love you!!!!

Kiddo Update

I decided that an update on the kids is long overdue!  My kids are growing so quickly and doing so many wonderful things that I want to make sure that I write some of it down.

Claire

My sweet little 5 year old is growing so quickly.  If I had to use two words to describe her they would be kind and curious.  She is always thinking of others and loves to take care of her little brother.  Claire told us tonight that she tries to help with Oliver and she often tells him "You have to listen to me like I am your mother so that you don't get hurt."  

She loves school and really enjoys doing her homework.  I LOVE doing her homework with her.  I really enjoy watching her little brain work.  She has no idea that I have waited for these days of us sitting at the kitchen table working on her homework since the day she was born.

Claire is in love with music.  And after Santa replaced her MP3 player twice, he finally got her a pink Nano (here she is with her first MP3 player) that she takes everywhere with her.  She can often be found dancing and singing dramatically somewhere in our house. 

Claire is curious and is always craving more knowledge.  She has a love of Science and reading.  She loves to read to us every night and I love to listen to her read.  She continues to amaze me on a daily basis.  She is also getting to be very sensitive!  She takes everything very seriously and takes everything to heart!!  

While Claire still likes to have fun and be silly, she is really starting to be self-conscious and can sometimes be shy.  My advice to Claire as she grows is to continue to be curious and learn as much as can.  I would also tell her to try not to take life so seriously and not to take everything to heart.  While some things are important, your happiness is the most important thing and YOU are the one in control of how happy you can be.  And I will ALWAYS be there to help make you happy, no matter what it takes.  Oh yeah one more thing, I love your hair!  I know you will try to make it straight at some point but please don't.  It is amazing!!!!!

Oliver

My hilarious little two year old is growing so quickly.  If I had to use two words to describe him they would funny and loving.  He is always smiling and loves to make other people laugh.  He also loves to snuggle and make people happy.  He is always asking "You happy Mama??"

Also, Oliver LOVES to read!  He tries to mimic Claire and read just like she does.  It is adorable. 

Oliver LOVES dinosaurs!  He has always loved trains and trucks of every kind but now he has added Dinosaurs to his list of things that he loves.  He knows most of them by name and cannot get enough of them.  Here he is with his face painted.  When asked what he wanted he immediately answered "A DINOSAUR!"

Then he was thrilled that the mouth of the dinosaur was his mouth.  He was roaring away all night!

Oliver also loves babies!  If there is a baby anywhere around Oliver is all over them!

He also loves to be naked :)  Being a boy he is always trying to figure things out. Here he is with a key that he is trying to fit into this door, naked of course.

Oliver is doing great with the potty!  "Number two" is taking a little practice but he knows how to entertain himself while he goes.  You never really know what he is up to.  If he is too quiet for a while you can pretty much be sure he is doing something like this.

Oliver loves going to school everyday.  He can't wait to go and loves his teachers and friends.  Here he is waiting patiently (as he does every morning) for Daddy so that he can go to his favorite place.

Oliver is very outgoing!  He has no fear of being the center of attention and tries to make everyone laugh whenever possible.  Here he is at an event at Mark's school.  In this session they asked the adults a question and of course Oliver raised his hand and was ready with an answer, even if he was not really sure what they were talking about.

 Oliver does NOT like playing outside in the snow.  He repeatedly tells me, "It too cold Mama.  It too cold."  

Oliver loves music and loves to sing!  His last favorite song was "Born To Be Wild".  Although he can be found singing "Doooogggiiieee Wooowww".  My advice to Oliver would be use his humor to make others happy!  He has a great sense of humor and he can really brighten a person's day and make them happy.  I would also tell him to keep reading (even if he really doesn't know how) some day it will click and he love it even more.  I would also tell him to keep being so loving!  Finally, I would tell him to be patient with Claire.  I would let him know that she mothers him so much because she loves him and someday she will need him to take care of her and protect her.

As for the both of them, I would tell them that they need to stick together.  They are a team and they will always have each other.  They will need to lean on each other and help each other out.  Oliver can help Claire be silly and just have fun sometimes.  And Claire can help Oliver be a little more serious at times. Oh yeah and they should always remember to take care of their mother and father :)

These two make me so happy EVERY DAY!  Watching them grow over the last five and half years has been truly amazing and I have loved every second!!!  Thank you Claire and Oliver for being mine and making my life perfect!

Happy Birthday Uncle Johnny!!

Last night we had a great time celebrating Uncle Johnny's birthday!!

My kids think Uncle Johnny is the most hilarious person ever put on this earth!  

Whenever they are together they just laugh like crazy!  Oliver carried around his microphone and him and Uncle Johnny sang "I Got Boogers!" over and over.

Apparently John and Oliver are having some sort of conversation.

I love these faces.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE JOHNNY!  WE LOVE YOU!

The Science Museum

Over the break (I know I am a little late with this post) we became members at the Science Museum.  This is perfect place for Claire AND Oliver!  They have so many wonderful things that interest both of them!

 Oliver was so excited to see the dinosaurs!!

  But when he actually got to see them, they freaked him out!  I am not sure that he was really ready for how GIGANTIC they are! After a while he got more comfortable with them and loved them!  Claire had gone to the Science Museum on a field trip so she was very proud to show us all around.

They had a whole sports exhibit and the kids had a blast playing all the games.

My little football player.

My dainty football player.

 Everyone had fun practicing our lacrosse skills.

Claire was beside herself with the solar system exhibit.

They both loved the puzzles.

And Mark loved doing the weather.

My little Weathermen.

Claire really enjoyed all the space stuff. Here is my little astronaut.

My gorgeous girl.

We all had a blast and we can't wait to go back!!!

Happy New Year

After the madness of Christmas calms down there is always the excitement of New Year's Eve.  This year we stayed home with the kids and had a few friends over.

I was thrilled to set my table.  I can remember my mother having New Year's every year.  She would spend hours setting the table and getting everything ready and I would just follow her around and watch.  Now I was setting up my own table, I felt like such a grown up.

 I think my mother would be proud.  It's not nearly as fancy as my mother would have done, but I am still learning.

The men prepared the meal for us.

While the big kids snacked on the appetizers.

 And the babies napped.

I must say, the boys did a great job with dinner!  Everyone brought something and the meal was delicious.  

After dinner we all just relaxed and enjoyed visiting.

The kids had a blast running and playing like maniacs.

I love them.

The Balko Family.  Brendan and I had some wonderful dinner conversations!  I think he enjoyed his first New Year's Eve.

The Cappelli Family. Our second year was better than our first.

  The Komosinski Family.  We enjoyed spending this evening with our friends and their kids.  The best part of the night was seeing my children enjoy themselves.  I can remember my parents having parties and me playing with my "fake cousins".  We would stay up late and play all night.  Then we would be really really quiet and hope that our parents wouldn't make us go home. I can't believe that I am now on the other end of the parties.  Better yet, I can't believe that I have kids that are old enough to stay up late, play all night, and be really quiet hoping we don't hear them and make everyone go home.

As we toasted to ring in the New Year I did not have my silver change in my pocket (for those of you that know me this is a big deal.  The superstition goes that if you have silver in your hand/pocket you will be happy in money in the new year) but I did hold the person I love and I held glass in my hand.  Which means I may be broke this year but I will be lucky in love and happiness.  And that sounds pretty good to me.

On New Year's Eve I always spend more time reflecting on the previous year than making resolutions for the upcoming year.  I like to think of all that has taken place and what I would like to make better or do differently.  I do not make resolutions.  I stopped that years ago.  Too much pressure.  I found that I spent more time being upset that I didn't fulfill my resolutions than I did trying to better myself.  So instead of making a resolution this year I will make a vow.  I vow to be happy.  Simply that....happy.  I will do whatever it takes to be happy.  And you know what they say..."If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.".  I know this may sound like a selfish goal but here is the thing, OTHER things make me happy.  My children experiencing life and learning makes me happy.  Therefore I will do whatever it takes to have them experience everything that they possibly can.  My husband achieving his goals makes me happy.  Therefore I will do anything that I can to help him achieve his goals.  Get the point?  

That being said, I hope that everyone has a wonderful New Year and does whatever it takes to make them happy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!