Our little star!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrgWvBfUZ6k

He is hysterical.

I'm pretty sure Broadway isn't in our future.

Which is ok by me, I always made fun of the choir nerds.

That's probably why I ended up marrying one.

The entire audience was laughing while Jack was singing and as we walked out everyone showered praises on him for his amazing singing.

So funny.

Holiday Party!

Friday night Joseph had his company Christmas Party.

We were about an hour late b/c you can't get anywhere around here on a Friday.

Thankfully we didn't miss anything. especially not the dessert bar.

And the BEST part of all was that Amelia was there.

We filled our plates with yummy goodness (I ate the chocolate since her baby is not a fan of chocolate milk) and then we chatted and danced the night away.

Someone should probably let Amelia know that she just had a baby... she looks fantastic.

The Clinic

Isn't she pretty?

Last Tuesday my phone rang (I didn't hear it) and the nurse at the elementary school left a message.

Abbey had a headache and had been in the clinic 2x that day.

I pick her up from school and she comes bopping out, smiling from ear to ear.

I question her about how her day was and then ask about the visit to The Clinic.

She suddenly feels better....headache gone.

Wednesday- Joseph works from home. He takes a break to have lunch and we are watching Glee.

The phone rings, I know it's not the usual suspects because I've already talked to them.

I say to Joseph (half joking) "I bet it's the school nurse".

Sure enough. Abbey is in the clinic with itchy eyes. According to the nurse-"the whites of her eyes are fine but she has red circles around her eyes, could you come pick her up?!"

I'd like to stop here and say how on earth does a school nurse not know when a kid is making up ailments? I mean really you see kids all day. It doesn't take a genius. Send them back to class.

I pick her up and greet her in the office. I do my best to contain my frustration.

When she gets in the car I inform her that because she is "sick" she must spend the remainder of the day in her bedroom because the rest of us don't watch to catch her itchy eyes.

Suddenly her itchy eyes are gone.

After making her spend some time alone in her room, I crept upstairs to talk to her about school.

And it all comes pouring out. "Mom, I want to go to the smart school. I already know EVERYthing they are teaching me. I need to go to 1st grade. I don't like quiet time. I am not a baby, I don't need a nap. They (1st graders) read real books and I might actually learn something. Kindergarten is BORING!"

And that is the root of the problem. She's bored.

I am not claiming Abigail is gifted. But I do claim that she has a mother who did school with her all summer long out of fear of having the youngest kid (which she's not YAHOO) who doesn't know anything. There are kids in her class who can barely hold a pencil, that's the difference.

Basically my daughter is quite clever and to get out of quiet time she was feigning illness.

I spoke with the teacher and she was given strict orders that Abbey may not go to The Clinic unless she has blood coming out of her ears or she is vomiting. Ok not really but you get the point.

I love and adore my Abbey girl. And she makes me laugh. *bonus*

A few weeks back I had her conference and her teacher had such wonderful things to say about her. But the thing that made me feel most happy and proud of Abbey was that she said

"Abbey is a kind and sweet girl."

All I've ever wanted was for my children to be kind and loving to others.

My kids might not be quiet little church mouse children but they are polite, kind, and loving. As my sister inlaw would say "You don't plant peas and get corn".

I am truly grateful for my 3 sweet littles.

*And The Clinic is further proof that Abigail and Katherine (her cousin who is 8 days younger) were ripped from the same mold. Abbey fakes headaches to get out of school. Katherine has church throat so she can go home and hang with her Mom*

Jack Jack

My sweet Jack.

Sometimes I catch Jack doing something and I think to myself "when did he get so big?!"

A few weeks ago my friends little girl was heading to nursery and she wasn't too happy about it.

My friend saw Jack and asked Jack if he would watch her and take care of her.

Jack enthusiastically said "YES!" and went into nursery.

Apparently the entire 2 hours of nursery Jack made sure that she was happy and was ok.

The leaders took the older kids out to have a lesson without the little ones and Jack turned back to where Hailey was and exclaimed "wait I have to take her with me, I'm supposed to watch her!"

I love him so much.

I hope he is always such a good boy who makes good choices.

He is doing well in school and enjoys being with his friends.

He is a boy though so sitting on little carpet squares for more than 5mins is out of the question.

He loves to be outside jumping on our trampoline, even at 9am after we drop Abbey at school.

Treats are his hot button and if I take away his daily treat I don't stop hearing about it until bedtime.

He is currently obsessed with anime.

Which I secretly love. Pokemon, Panda Go Panda, Ponyo, etc.

Life is better with Jack around.

The baby

This is my baby.

I know he is not a baby (Joseph likes to remind me of this), but he's my baby.

2 weeks ago he headed to nursery for the 1st time and never looked back.

Joshua is such a love bug but he is also full of fire.

He is by far my most independent child, which is crazy if you know my kids at all.

He is very opinionated about his food and toys.

He has lots of words but not everyone understands him.

He is incredibly spoiled, which is a problem.

He hurls himself on the floor (or concrete sidewalk) like NOTHING I have seen before.

I have seen some tempers in my 5years of motherhood but NOTHING like him.

5 mins later he is sitting in my lap wanting me to snuggle and hold him like a baby.

Sometimes Joseph and I look at eachother like "where did he learn that??!"

we blame eachother and laugh.

He refuses to stop nursing and for now that's ok.

He is my baby.

Afterthought- Just so you don't think I lead a charmed life with kids who are well behaved and lovely all the time, here is a snippet of my life with 3 kids. I was grocery shopping. 2 boys in the cart and Abbey walking with me checking off the list. I'm looking for my favorite counter cleaner when Jack is apparently chanting "Mom eggs, Mom eggs, Mom eggs". I'm really good at tuning them out. So good it's scary.

Finally Jack yells a little louder "EGGS!!"

I look over and Josh has reached around and grabbed 2 eggs out of the carton (wegmans has double decker carts so stuff is right behind him) and has one in each hand, SMASHING them together.

He's as happy as a fly in horse poo. yes the country in me is coming out.

I want to yell and get angry but I'm in public and really what good's that going to do me?!

So I search my bag and find my dinky kleenex face wipes. I grab the eggs from him.

Abbey (love her) says "Mommy what can I do to help you?!"

Abbey to the rescue. HOORAY.

I give the commands to get a thing of wipes *lucky for me we are on the papertowel aisle* and run them to me, open them and hand me a few.

She does. I wipe up Joshua and the mess.

Chuck the mess in the trash and keep shopping.

Atleast they keep it interesting.

The REAL Halloween

This was the longest weekend of my life.

Friday night we had our party, Saturday we headed to a Fall Festival a co-worker of Joseph's was having. The only reason I went was to see Amelia and kiddos.

We left and booked it back up the road to get back for our Church Carnival and Trunk or Treat.
The youth at church put on a carnival for the kids and then the parents decorate the trunks of their cars and hand out candy.

Good candy.

Joseph stayed home with Josh and I took the big kids.

They loved the games, face painting, popcorn, bounce house, etc.

So fun.

They got enough candy at the Trunk or Treat that we shouldn't have gone TorT'ing.

Pretty girls
Digging for coins. or seeds

Clown pants

Best Friends.

My littlest goblin.

stinkin' exposure ruined it. boo.

hahahhahaha

18month olds are REALLY cooperative.

Most of the kiddos before we left to get candy.

This is why I love Kerri.

Not afraid to be carted around like a princess while she feeds her baby in the BOB.

I am so happy that today is Monday.

We literally did NOTHING today.

I have about 150 errands to run but I didn't do anything all day and it felt awesome.

And my kids haven't asked for any candy.

BONUS.

Halloween Party!

Friday night we had an adults only Halloween Party.

It was so fun. We got all dressed up, made some soup and some treats and went off to spend some time with adults! HOORAY!

We played games and ate some seriously glorious soup.

My friends are quite the chefs.

The decor and the party favors were darling.

I wish I had taken pics of the little boxes of candies Mallory and Merianne spent all day making.

Too cute.

Paulie Bleeker
This vampire prefers human blood.

Fred and Daphne.

I think Fred had too many of Scoobys snacks

Vampire and Werewolf

P.W.T.

Paulie and Juno MacGruff

I could barely even look at Merianne for the first hour we were there.

Burglar and Money Bags

The ladies

The man folk

We have the best friends.

They are so funny and great to spend time with.

I can't wait for next year!

Carving Pumpkins

For family home evening we carved our pumpkins.

It was quite an experience because neither of the kids wanted to put their hands inside so that left all the work to Joseph and I.

And let's be honest I'm not really into pumpkin guts.

But it was fun and the kids loved seeing them all lit up.

Cox Farms 2010

Two weeks ago we packed up and headed to the farm. It was the perfect day.

Off we go...
Everyone loved the slides.

He is the cutest thing around

My pretty girl (she constantly tells me she hasn't figured out how to smile showing her teeth yet, haha)

Yes his face looks gross but his eyelashes are fantastic. And I think he's really really cute.

A hayride.

A man in a box being held by a gorilla.

The kids were so fascinated until we told them what was really going on.

Joshua in time out.

He finds himself there a lot these days.

My sweet guy loved playing on the tractors.

The kids drank more cider than I could believe.

I wish they always sat still.

Our crazy little family.

I sure do love these people.