Uncle Richie

As most of you know my brother a ssgt in the marine corp is currently over in Iraq. Well Michael is very proud to talk about Uncle Richie the marine every chance he gets, so when he was assigned to draw a picture and write about someone who is currently doing something to change history he choose Uncle Richie. He drew a picture of him and his reason was because he is fighting for our freedom. He did this all on his own with no help from me. It amazes me sometimes to hear how much he knows. He is a very smart kid! It has been over two years since he has seen his uncle and he misses him alot. He keeps asking me when do we get to go see him or when does he get to come home from war. And I have to tell him I don't know which gets to be very hard, but I think he understands a little more now. So please keep Richard in your prayers all long with all the other men and women over their and for their families. Richard has a wife and two young boys at home. They seem to be doing well but I know they are all ready for him to come home!

Cutting the Grass

The other day as Danny was getting ready to cut the grass Michael said that he would like to learn how to do it. So Danny decided to give him his first lesson in cutting the grass. It turned out to be harder than what Michael had expected so he only made it 1/2 way around the yard, but hey we have to start somewhere. And he did inform us that he would love to cut the grass again when we get one of those ones you can drive. So I guess Danny will be cutting the grass for awhile yet.

Hot Coffee

One of Matthew's favorite morning things is sharing hot coffee with dad. Of course Matthew's is watered down and not very hot but all the same he loves it.

I'm so mad

The other day we were getting ready to leave and told the kids to brush their teeth. Well as each of the older kids went in Matthew tried to go in the bathroom when Danny told him no that it wasn't his turn he started pouting went to the couch and ended up falling asleep!

Pics of Baseball & T-Ball

Graduation

Well I guess you can safely say that we survived yet another year of school. Now the trick is to survive the summer. Michael is now in the 3rd grade and Miranda is in the 1st. They both did excellent in school this year with both their behavior and their grades. There was never a note or a bad report on either of them. I hope their eagerness to learn and achieve will follow them through out the rest of their lives. I am so very proud of them. Thesse are some of the pictures from Miranda's graduation ceremony. The kids sang a few songs and danced then the all received their diploma. In the background you can see the principal dancing along with the kids. He is such and awesome principal you can tell that he enjoys his job and loves being with the kids.

Wonderful World of Potty Training

Okay so Matthew has been potty trained for nearly one month and now I have the funniest story to tell. Last weekend my sister and her family were camping at a nearby park and Danny was working so I decided to take the kids and go visit them. It was a beautiful day and we had not seen them in a while. Any way, Matthew thought it was really cool to go in the camper and go potty, well after a while and 3poops it was just a game. (or so we thought). Their camper was back in the corner with no one near by so the boys were just going potty on the trees to try to keep the camper clean and let Dominic finish his nap. Well Matthew tried to get in the camper and Tony and I told him no, then he insisted he had to poop, well thinking that he was just trying to get in we again told him no and to go find Michael and Joe that they were looking for frogs. Well the idea of finding a frog easily distracted him so we thought okay he really did not have to use the bathroom, well a few minutes later I heard him yell for me that he needed help with his pants, when I went to try to pull his pants up he said "no mommy you have to wipe my butt first I pooped in the leaves." So upon investigating the situation he really did poop in the leaves. I felt so bad and so did Tony. But I praised him on not going in his pants and told him he was a big boy. I never would have dreamed that he would poop in the leaves! What a boy! Just like daddy!

A Day with Grandpa

Recently my dad invited us to join him and his wife to go to lunch at the Finn Inn a really cool restraunt in Grafton IL it has huge fish tanks and fish right where you sit, the kids really enjoyed it. We also rode the ferries and went to see the lock and dam. It really was a nice day. I enjoyed it and I know the kids did.

No more babies

As excited as I am to not have to change diapers anymore the saddness really hit me today as I was cleaning the house. As I was cleaning the counters in the kitchen I could not figure out what was missing, then it hit me, it was the tub of baby wipes that had sat on the counter in the same spot since we moved in 8 years ago. It is funny how something as little as a tub of baby wipes will make me realize that it won't be long and all my kids will be in school. Gee then what will I do with my time!!!!! Matthew even told me the other day that he had to go potty so I was going to help him and he tells me "Get out Mom I not need you help no more I big boy" that really almost made me cry. I will always treasure these moments with my kids. Even if somedays they do drive me totally insane!

Baseball

This year I have 2 kids playing ball. Michael is in the Pee-Wee divison and Miranda is playing T-ball. What a joy it is to watch them play. Michael in his third year has improved so much and is really starting to enjoy playing and Miranda just starting out really seems to be having a lot of fun. This past Saturday was opening day. And a long day it was. Danny was working and so I was on my own. The parade started at 10 but we had to be there at 9 to get the kids to the right spot and then we had opening ceremonies then Sis had pictures at 11 and a game at 1 and Michael had pictures at1 and a game at 2. I can't say thank you enough for to the other parents who helped me out, I hate to admit it sometimes but I am not super mom and sometimes I do need a little help! But we all managed to survive with no sun burn and were only 1/2 worn out by time we made it home.