Saturday, January 31, 2009

Lazy Saturday

I love having a Saturday when all we have to is a few household chores (I finally got to hang my pictures from a month ago) and sitting with the kids and playing board games a new game for the Wii. It is really sad how much fun we have beating up the bunnies in Raving Rabbids...thanks to my cousins in Jersey, Rachel and David for turning us on to that game!

Pinky Pie

There is a "My Little Pony" named Pinky Pie that Jilly has and she loves. For Christmas she was given a memory game featuring the My Little Ponies and one of the cards is Pinky Pie. That was all she could focus on, she could grasp the concept of only turning over two cards at a time and trying to make a match, but all she wanted to do was find Pinky Pie...it was so cute.

She didn't care about who had the most matches, only about who had the Pinky Pie match. Kid has a one track mind!

Friday, January 30, 2009

Fun loving Friday Night







We typically have a standing date for Courtney to go ride Moose and then stay out at the barn and hang out with Sunny and Mikey. This week, Sunny and Mikey were busy so we decided to be oh so adventurous and as a family go and get our hair cut tonight. The girls and I met Jeff in Landsdowne because heaven forbid that Miss Mandy does not cut Jilly's hair!


Jeff has been seeing Mandy now for about four years, and has always raved about how she never cuts it too short, and she's so sweet, and she always asks about how us girls are doing. So when it was (finally) time to get Jilly's cut we took her to see Miss Mandy, I'm not sure who fell in love first. Jilly sat so still and was (thankfully) her cute little self, and has Miss Mandy wrapped around her finger. Mandy loves to cut her hair, because she does sit so nicely and smiles, and Mandy loves all the hugs and kisses that comes with Jilly. It's no wonder that girl walked out of there with 2 lollipops and 6 clippies.

Courtney's no slouch in the freebie department either. When she told Mandy that she just wanted a trim because she wants to donate her hair to "Locks of Love" once it is long enough, she ended up getting her hair straightened for free!


Jeff got yelled at for letting his get so long, and Mandy almost cussed me because mine is so thick that it took forever to cut. All-in-all, it was a fun night, and hopefully we will be able to get out of the house and enjoy the nicer weather in store for us on Sunday.

Plugged in again

It was so nice to be able to go to out today and finally get our cell phone upgrades that we have been waiting on literally for months now. Somehow I went into the hospital pregnant with a working cell phone and came out with a baby and a busted P.O.S. phone. It feels so good to have that security blanket when I go out to the barn and now especially with all this crazy winter weather upon us.

Spoiled children




So the kids are sharing pretzel fish for a snack after lunch. There is one zippy bag and they get to take turns holding the bag and doling out the fish. I'm not sure which one started it, but some how the one with the bag has to feed the one not holding the bag. The things these kids come up with crack me up!

I am really impressed that after 3 days of being together (and under "Hitler's" watchful eye no less) these two kids have not been in time out once. There has been no hitting, no sharing issues that couldn't be resolved, no real meltdowns (unless you count Jilly when she saw Uncle Bubba yesterday, she knew when he got here it was time for Riley-man to go home), they have eaten good meals with very little coaxing. I makes me so happy that these two may be cousins, but they can get along as well as siblings, and hopefully will for the rest of their lives. There is even talk of this being a more permanent once-a-week thing...here's to hoping!

Going somewhre?!?




When we feed Cooper, we put her in her car seat, only because it's already in the house and it can be put in the kitchen or living room, where ever we need it to be. Well, I didn't pull the seat belt tight and as you can see she was sitting up trying to get out. It looks like it's time to break out the high chair, because Cooper wants to be a big girl. It also looks like she's going to have the "little miss independent" streak that both my other girls have...yippee, I'm thrilled, can't you tell?

If you can't stand the heat...

I'm not too into many of the "reality" shows on TV these days, but I do love my Hell's Kitchen which premiered tonight. I think that most of the draw for this show is the meltdowns that Chef Ramsay incites, and there is something about watching grown professionals reduced to tears over their own stupidity. Example "I thought if I used cold water it would boil faster." I swear that one of these days I am going to find a recipe for lobster spaghetti, and risotto...they both sound really good. Well, here's to trying to expand our culinary horizons, without killing our loved ones or setting our houses on fire in the process. Happy cooking all.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

My Baby Cooper (part 2)




Just a disclaimer for those of you with a weak stomach, no babies were hurt in the photos taken today...on the contrary, as you can see...I think Cooper came out the winner of the "War of My Baby Cooper". After seeing just what Cooper was capable of with her own sister, Riley steared clear of her for the rest of the afternoon, we'll see how much he remembers when he comes back tomorrow.

My Baby Cooper
















Riley-man was with us again today (Grand-ma Alice is still a bit under the weather) and after lunch Riley and Jilly started to fight over Baby Cooper. Each of them taking turns shouting louder and louder "No! MY Baby Cooper!" I had to step in when they actually started to pull on her, it started with kissing on her, which was fine...but they were getting serious at the end. Thankfully I got a few pictures before things got too ugly. But, hey, if you have 2 two and a half year olds fighting over something, I'd much rather it be the fact that they love the baby then who gets to play with what toy!

Food for thought


Last night while I was feeding Cooper her dinner (which was 3.5 oz cherries and apples mixed with 3.5 oz cereal...no wonder she's our chunky monkey) every time I would get close to her mouth with the spoon, she would start to hum. It was so adorable, it reminded her Daddy of a cat purring. You can see she is a pro at eating, from the first time eating solids over two months ago she has opened her mouth like it was on a hinge when she sees the spoon come near her.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Hand me downs







Jilly wanted to play in the snow again today, and when she and Courtney went out Jilly wanted to find Connor again to play like yesterday. Well Connor had some chores to finish before he could come out to play, but he came over and he and Jilly played outside for about a half an hour. Which was a nice little break for me. Connor taught Jilly today how to eat snow, he even taught her the rule about eating the snow "If it's all white, it's all right.". I think that Diego might have some competition for Jilly's affections here shortly, and it's only fitting, seeing as how Connor was Courtney's first boyfriend.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

This one's for you Shelley


All day long Riley kept calling me "friend", but he called Jeff "Uncle Jeff". No matter how many times I reminded him I'm Auntie Chris or even Aunt Chrissy...all I heard was "friend". So when I was telling Russell and Amber when they came to pick him up, Amber told me that Riley like to call her "Amber", but most times he forgets Amber and ends up calling her "Elmo". So there you go Shelley, you could have it worse with Addie.

Snow Angels


We went out to play in the snow, and it was wonderful! Some of the neighborhood kids even came over to hang out with the little ones. Connor taught Jilly and Riley how to make snow angels and how to throw snow balls. Daddy's going to be proud of how well Jilly can aim, if we can time it right, I want to plan on being outside when he gets home tonight so he can see first hand how well she throws!

Thanks for not listening...


So this is one of those times where you are glad you were wrong. For Christmas Jilly was given a little play kitchen from Mom-mom and Pop-pop, even though they were told we did not think we had room for it. Well, it has been a HUGE hit! On New Year's Eve, Courtney, Jilly, Lexi, and Noah all had a blast playing restaurant with it. And now this morning, Riley-man and Jilly-bean are cooking up a storm. I can honestly say I have never been so happy to be so wrong before. Thanks again Mom-mom for not listening....this time.

Feeding time at the Zoo


Today, we have Riley-man here with us all day long for a play date because Grandma Alice has the flu. For breakfast we all had some scrambled eggs, sausage, and hash browns. Hopefully later we will all get the chance to play in the snow!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Just a quick little rant..

Acknowledge the little things that people in your lives do for you, whether you ask them to or not. It's just common courtesy, don't take anyone or anything for granted, you won't realize how much someone means to you until you no longer have them to lean on.


I want to thank all of you for everything thing you have done for me, my girls, my family, and for just being there for us.


thank you

Hi Nana

Is there anything prettier then a brilliant red cardinal sitting in a snow covered tree? In our house, when the kids spot a cardinal they say "Hi, Nana." And the story there is that my Grandmother (Nana) loved cardinals. Courtney was 4 1/2 when she passed and when we would see any cardinals we would say hi to Nana. Courtney has a picture frame that she decorated with some cardinal stickers that has a picture of Nana in it in her room, and she shows it to Jilly all the time when the two of them are up there playing, so Jilly has learned to associate cardinals with Nana. And it still touches me evry time when one of the kids will be at the back door and say "Hi Nana", but this morning it was much funnier. Jilly got mad "Mommy, squirrel chase Nana, not nice squirrel, not nice!" Hopefully with the chance of more snow in the next few days I can get a good shot of "Nana" in one of our trees in the back yard.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Iron Chef




Part two of the birthday party day, Courtney and I went to Gram ma's house for a bake off, while Jeff had the ittie bittie's for a nap at home. Aunt Amber requested a veggie lasagna for her b-day dinner. With some of us not being big veggie fans, the decision was made to make a second lasagna with all the "regular" ingredients.
Courtney has the cooking helper for her Nintendo DS which had a recipe for a veggie lasagna on it, so the challenge was made. My Mom was going to make the regular one, and Bug was going to do the veggie one. Only problem was trying to come up with a fair way of judging it. Then it hit us...Ginny! But when asked which one she liked best, her answer was "Both". But we all had a great time watching her dice, chop, saute, slice, and even make her very own beshumel sauce.
My Dad who claims to be "allergic" to all things veggie, had 2 yes I said TWO pieces of Bugs lasagna. She's going to make some man very fat..ummmmm I mean happy one day with her cooking!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

swimming in a snowstorm



For Blake's 3rd birthday party, we were invited to join the family and friends for swimming and pizza. The kids all swam till their lips were blue (which you would think would be hard to do in an indoor pool with an air temp of 80) and then headed off for pizza and yummy cupcakes. The funniest thing about the whole day was as we were leaving Leesburg it started to snow, and it picked up and looked like a blizzard while the kids were swimming at one point...but not a single flake stuck to the ground.

Friday, January 23, 2009

A family tradition.








My Pop-pop made a wonderful cheesecake from a recipie that was his mother's that she brought over from Germany. Everyone in my family has tried to make this cheesecake since he passed away in '97, and for the first 10 years, I was the only one who could make this cheesecake.
Then I started to let Courtney help me. Last year for Jeff's birthday in March, she made about 90% of one on her own (she asked me do stiffen and fold the egg whites, a little over her head then). So when Amber asked for a cheesecake for her birthday dinner, Courtney and I said sure...little did we know that Jilly wanted in on the action. Usually, I have no problem letting the kids help with the cooking, but this is a pretty complex recipie, so instead I got a little creative. Jilly got her own bowl that she got to keep on her level, and every time Bug added an ingredient Jilly did too...only all of Jilly's ingredient's were flour. She got to measure, and pour, and stir, but I did not have to worry about the final outcome. It was a great way for Courtney and I to be able to initiate Jilly into our special little circle.





























our BIG girl


Cooper went to the doctor today for her 6 month check up. Dr. Moore told us that she sits up like a 7 1/2 month old, can move on to stage 2 foods, she will be crawling very soon, and oh, yeah...she weighs 15lbs 13 ozs!!! Two months ago she weighed exactly 11 pounds! Still not sure what I've done differently with Cooper than the two before her, but she is putting on the pounds quicker then both of them combined!
Other than a 2 minute crying "fit" after the shots, you would never be able to tell she had 4 shots today. She was all smiles and giggles, motorboats and even her "mamamama" and "dadadadada" all day. I don't know what I ever did to deserve such a chilled out baby, but she's enough to make even me say "Oh, maybe one more...!" :o)

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Boogie woogie woogie...


Many of you know that I have a very wide taste in music, which is to say I enjoy most everything but most country. So while I was cooking dinner tonight I had my i-pod on and Jilly was dancing in the kitchen when "O What A Night" by Frankie Valley and the Four Tops came on. I called Courtney out to the kitchen and asked her if she knew how to do the Electric slide, and when she said no is when all the fun started!
There I am in the middle of the kitchen (which is pretty small) trying to teach Courtney, the whole time Jilly is yelling "Round the rosie, round the rosie". Jeff was holding Cooper, who was grinning from ear to ear, and they were be-bopping right along with us. The next song came on and we all just laughed and the girls still wanted to dance, so I had to send them out to the living room so I could pull dinner out of the oven.



I think the funny thing is, the first time I saw anybody do the electric slide was at the eighth grade prom with Jeff. I love how life comes full circle right before your eyes, it can be the most beautiful thing. And all over a silly little dance.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Worn out!


Cooper played herself to sleep this afternoon. Which is really suprising seeing as how it was Jilly's turn with the TV which means Diego was on. Not sure if it's the color or the music that Cooper enjoys, but she seems to love that show almost as much as Jilly does.
Coop loves to lay on the floor and play on her Boppy mat, which comes in handy when we get the "I have to potty now" cry from Jilly. I find it funny that the things that Jilly absolutley could not live without Cooper wants nothing to do with, and what Jilly didn't care for Cooper just adores. Funny how their personalities show from this early on.

"I'm trying to sleep here!!"


We've had clean panties, we've had the night-night bottle with cereal, the other two girls are sound asleep (or faking really well) so now it's time for sleepy snuggles on the couch with Mommy. Aahh, the comfort of a nightly routine...that is until I was trying to talk to Jeff tonight, and Cooper wanted NOTHING to do with it. Every time I would try to say something to him, she would reach up and grab my mouth, as if to say..." Excuse me, but did you not realise that I am trying to fall asleep down here?!?" What was worse was the longer it went on the more I started to laugh, and that did nothing for getting her to sleep. But eventually we all settled down and Coop got to bed.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

sisters by chance, friends by choice


This is team work at it's finest! We have a princess game for the Wii that Jilly loves to play, but she doesn't understand the concept of steering. Thankfully Jilly can hold one controller and do the princess magic by shaking her controller, while Courtney steers with the other controller. So far, it has worked out well, the game is beneath Courtney, but she gets a big kick out of helping Jilly, and seeing how much pride Jilly takes in being a big girl like her sister.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

devotion

Ok, so I'm pretty sick with an upper respiratory infection and because of the coughing that goes with it I was afraid to sleep in bed last night because I didn't want to wake up Cooper in the middle of the night. So I finally got tired around 3, and I told Jeff I was going to sleep on the couch so as not to wake up the ittie bittie. He said, "OK, can you hand me that blanket?" he slept on the floor last night to keep me company. Sometimes he can surprise me, which after 8 and a half years is strange, and wonderful all at the same time!!

Too much cold medicine...

Goodness only knows how many posts might end up here tonight, as it is just after midnight and it feels like first thing in the morning after a really great night sleep! Thanlfully I got a new game for the Wii today to keep myself occupied tonight while everyone else is fast asleep. Hopefully though, I will crash at some point. So here's to getting some shut-eye while all the kiddies are quiet!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Sing for your supper


We just got back from Courtney's first Middle school chorus concert. She looked a little scared, but had a ton of fun. She loved the bouquet of deep pink roses she was given after her performance. Jilly was there and she was "singing" along with the chorus, and clapping. I was very proud of her, she wasn't loud, didn't melt down, and was wonderfully behaved.

It sounds like Courtney might be comming down with the upper repritory infection that I have, so this might be a very VERY long weekend. It's hard enough to keep kids entertained when it's only 20 degrees outside, but add to that one of them being sick, and a sick Mommy...

First Snow

I can't wait untill we get enough snow to make it worth going out to play in it. All morning Jilly has been playing, and out of nowhere she will run to the back door and start yelling "Snow Mommy, snow." It reminds me of last year when Jilly was starting to put sentences together, and while I was on the phone with my Dad who was having a hard time saying "the" goodbye to his Dad, she came over and snached the phone from me and started yelling "Nowing Pop-pop, nowing Pop-pop." It brought a smile to the face of a man who was losing his father, but also made him aware of how life gives and takes. It has been almost a year since we lost him, but we all can still feel Little Pop-pop, (espically when the Phillies won the World Series this year). and the impact he had on all of our lives. Funny how a little thing like snow can really make you think.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Too Sweet

So I have a horrible cold right now, and this morning while attempting to say good morning to Jilly nothing came out. And now all morning all she has said to me " I be nice to Mommy, she have an owwie in her roat." I think Jilly is going to be just as caring and compassionate as Courtney is.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

kids say the damnest things!

While over at Sunny and Mikey's house playing Scene-It, Jilly very innocently repeated what she heard Sunny say. I'm sure you can all picture in her cute little angelic voice turning and saying over her shoulder "Damn-it". And all this weekend when she gets frustrated you can hear her either growl "GRRR" or she'll say "Jesus Crap". It is so hard to tell her that it's not nice and she needs to appologize when you're laughing so hard you almost pee!