Object of the Day: Blue Socks

Dominic has his "object of the day" (see side bar to the right for more on his objects) Today's object was a pair of Isabella's blue socks. This is not the first time for the socks to be the pick of the day, but it is the first time I got some good photos of it. He likes to wear them as mittens and fill them with objects. He is a pretty silly boy.

Crazy kiddos

Here are some great pictures from our time with the Sienkiewicz family. The kids were laughing so hard because Jude was giving Dominic a horsey ride. Mary is announcing their arrival.

Helping Dad

The kids are really into helping out with dishes--probably because they don't know it is work yet. (note the shirt yet again!)

Be patient...go back

I am working BACKWARDS so I just updated as far back asThanksgiving and I am working forward until I get caught up. It may appear that there are no new photos...but you will have to scroll DOWN to see them. I was just too excited to get the Christmas ones up to start where I left off. But good news is that I am almost caught up!!! A few more insomniac nights and I will be done.

Pray for a BIG miracle for this sweet family

I was sitting today thinking that I would get my life in order. In the midst of all of that I started feeling tired and a little blue....since the "order-getting" was not happening so quickly. What better thing to do then surfing online? I often go to other blogs to get some inspiration and I wanted to share with you a story of a sweet family that is in need of a lot of prayers right now. I don't know them personally ...but I hope that everyone can relate to them spiritually--especially if you have kids. After reading what they are going through (if this link doesn't work google confessions of a CF husband) it really made me see that my life, as disorganized as it can be, is very blessed with a healthy family. I hope after reading their story you will remember Tricia & tiny 1lb, 6oz Gwyneth in your prayers and enjoy your loved ones a little more fully!

It's a Winner: Italian Chili

Michael and I entered a chili competition at his office and this is the winning recipe. We are going to take the spoils of our win to go on a date, I don't think we will order chili.

Italian Chili

1/2lb ground beef, cooked & drained
1/2lb Italian sausage (we used Scimecas), cooked & drained
2 cans red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
2 can black beans, drained & rinsed
2 cans Italian tomatoes
1 1/2 c water (more or less depending on your desired consistency)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
14oz jar of pizza sauce
2oz pepperoni cut in half or smaller
1 green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 t italian seasoning
2t salt
3 minced garlic cloves or 2t powdered garlic
---shredded mozzarella cheese to sprinkle on top before eating

Mix all together in a crock pot and cook until hot or at least 3 hours. It makes about 3qts
(please note the above picture is not of my chili recipe ....just random chili)

Giant tower of Yellow

Dominic is very proud of knowing his colors. We recently taught him all the color signs and the first one he picked up on was yellow. As a result he is always pointing out and signing things that are yellow. I found him in the living room today building a giant tower out of only yellow Legos. He was very proud of his creation and I was pretty amazed that it was taller than he was!

Happy Epiphany

Today we celebrated the arrival of the kings and the presentation of their gifts to Jesus. In honor of this day we decided to take one last picture with the tree, since it will be taken down after today.

First Annual Epiphany Party

We had the first annual Epiphany party with the B-W's and the day was a huge success! We started the day out with brunch and since the kids played together so well we didn't leave until after dinner. It was an awesome day of games, food and conversation. The kids also had some fun in the tub.
After such a successful day we decided to do it every year and celebrate the Epiphany. So even though we didn't do any Epiphany activities this year I think it still can be the first annual party, right?

Nothing more festive...

...than forcing your children to wear Santa hats and pose in front of the Christmas tree. Dominic only agreed to the arrangement because of the candy bribe I made with him. You can see his distaste in every photo. It is almost as if his eyes are saying...."I can't believe that you are making me sit here and wear this completely ridiculous and very uncomfortable hat! It doesn't even match my favorite shirt that I am wearing right now! Okay, I will wear it but only for the candy not because I want to.. and therefore I shall not smile!"

What is my problem?

Wow how pathetic am I? I keep looking at my blog
wondering when someone will update it. hmmmm
I guess that should probably be me! Life is starting
to get a bit more normal now that my house is not full of
greenery and twinkling lights. I guess that means I should
get around to updating.....
Not that anyone really looks at my blog anyway.

Happy New year

What better way to say good-bye to 2007 and welcome in 2008 than dousing food on sticks into oil, cheese, and chocolate? Exactly! New Years is a time to think about the changes you want to make in the upcoming year, things you want to do differently. We had a caloric celebration...but if you look closely you will notice that we were dipping broccoli and carrots in cheese....you did know that that makes fondue healthy, right?

Beauty is only Mullet deep

The world around us is always telling us to express ourselves, to be ourselves and to not care about what people think of us. True beauty is within. I thought I would let my two year old express himself not knowing what would happen.

He picked his favorite button down, striped, blue shirt, & jeans--to show that he is just your average guy. He added some blue Crocs with turtles to show his playful side--and then he did something totally unexpected when he pulled out the spray bottle and a black comb from his back pocket, (almost like the comb had always been there) and with arms that seems to know exactly what they were doing he created IT. His newest creation...a glimpse of the interior Dominic that he has never let us see before. We saw that underneath that sweet smile and bubbly personality raged the heart of a Mullet man. The twinkle in his eye showed us that he had changed. Suddenly we knew that we must do whatever he asked! Through a series of grunts and gestures we provided him with several cookies and a glass of milk even though he had not had dinner yet. It was easy to see that this new little one was serious and in control. Maybe there is a little mullet in all of us? Are you being true to your inner mullet?

This is what happens when momma isn't around

When I dropped my sweet children off at Cabela's while I went shopping I had no idea that they would be wielding heavy artillery! I just hope Dominic doesn't become the next spokesperson for the NRA. I guess spokesperson would be someone speaking .....I guess he will just be their pretty boy.

Got Dirt?

If you are in need of a some excavation I have just the man for the job. He is very energetic and tends to run in to walls a lot with his tractor but he has such joy doing so! Let me know if you are interested and I will send him over. He will work for snacks.

Christmas Morning

Christmas day was such a beautiful time. The kids were so excited to see what St. Nicholas had left for them under the tree. Mass was especially beautiful and the choir was heavenly. Isabella got a new pink bike from mommy & daddy, which she proudly rode up and down the hall way all evening. Dominic got his own blue and green umbrella and a new little turtle. Michael was thrilled when he opened up a new robe & his very own tin of puppy chow, made by Isabella and mommy. It was a great day of love and celebration of the birth of Jesus. Dominic was overjoyed with being able to blow out the candles of Jesus' birthday cake....multiple times.

Still to come: the Christmas Nativity

I am too tired to do this tonight but I promise to have it up before the weekend is over.

Our little Snow Angel

We were so lucky to get so much snow this year. The kids had such a blast playing in the snow and sledding down the drive way. Dominic was especially cute in his snow gear.

Christmas at Mom's

We had a great celebration with my parents this year. Both my brothers were able to come and the kids a chance to play together. I thought I had more pictures from the day but it turns out I didn't take many...I was too busy relaxing and helping the kids open their gifts.

The story of the Blue Shirt

Just so you don't start thinking that we are poor and only have a few shirts for our little boy I thought I would explain why this shirt will probably show up in a LOT more future photos. Dominic took a nap before our family photo and we woke him up so we wouldn't miss our appointment. I simply grabbed his photo clothes and threw him in his car seat. I thought this would give him more time to wake up before changing his clothes for the photo. Right before our picture I changed his pants and went to put his other shirt on ....bad mistake. Dominic threw a HUGE fit screaming and grabbing at his blue striped shirt. The only way we got him to take the picture was to promise that he could put his blue shirt on right after we were done. He held us to it. Ever since he has had a big connection to this shirt and insists that he wear it EVERY day. If the shirt is dirty (and is in the hamper) he will still carry it around and announce to everyone that it is his favorite shirt and that he will wear it when it is clean (of course he says this using sign language and grunts.) He is SO insistent on wearing the shirt that he will permit me to roll up his sleeves and put a bib on him during meals so that it doesn't get dirty--therefore preventing him from wearing it two days in a row. Normally he doesn't want either done. I guess we are lucky since he chose a fairly nice shirt to be his favorite. I mean it could have been some ugly, gaudy, character shirt of sponge bob or Elmo (not that we own either). So if you see my boy wearing this shirt, over and over and over again. Just know that we allow it because it brings him such joy. You should see his face in the morning when he sees that his favorite shirt is clean just waiting to be put on.......it is like Christmas morning all over again.

It's that time of year again

The time when we dress ourselves and our kids up and force them to be good while we attempt to get at least ONE decent photo where everyone is looking at the camera so that we can send out a nice family photo to all of our friends and family. This year I think we set a record by accomplishing this task in less than two hours with a total of 15 photos. We only had to use candy bribes for the last 10 pictures. I won't torture you by uploading all the shots.....I just thought I would share one that we didn't use.

Our little Angel

We found this little angel flitting around our Christmas tree. She was just so sweet and so lovable we told her she could stay as long as she cleaned up after herself a taught Dominic how to talk!

Cold snow, Hot chocolate

The kids had fun in the snow sledding down the driveway. Dominic got a bit too cold so we had to come in and warm up with hot chocolate.

St. Nicholas Feast day

Our church had a St. Nicholas party in honor of his feast day (celebrated on Dec. 6th) the kids had a good time dancing to the live music and seeing St. Nicholas.

Need a little help with your tree?

This little guy is our light specialist. He is very good at checking all the bulbs and making sure all those little lights are twinkling!