Mission Accomplished September 30, 2009

My house… Where do I start?  Yes, Nate and I have three kids and you can tell.  Which does not bother me, except it has gotten carried away.  Nate and I were very excited that Gigi was coming into town this past weekend; we had big plans.  Nicole threw a surprise birthday party for Mike (which was a ton of fun; HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!), we had Karyn’s baby shower (yeah!), and the house (which is always a project).  Here are some pictures of the kids being goofy Sunday morning…

The Girls...

Look at this face!!!

AJ and Kaitlyn look a lot alike!!!

Almost everyone was looking!!!

But we did accomplish our mission.  Keeping busy from literally the minute the plane landed until heading back to the airport, we were doing something.  So here are some pictures of the final result.  Too bad that we still have a ton more rooms to do.   I am sure Gigi can’t wait!!  But seriously, THANK YOU GIGI!!! 

Few things left to return to people, but almost done!

I am still in shock that it looks like this!!!

Horse Time September 28, 2009

Our friend Maggie, that bought Noah, owns a horse named Tango.  Rachael and AJ have been thrilled about the opportunity to ride Maggie’s horse.  We were finally able to catch up Maggie last Monday morning. 

When we first got there, Maggie was brushing Tango and quickly put Rachael and AJ to work.  Then the kids helped apply bug spray to Tango.

Kaitlyn was a bit more intimidated by Tango.  Especially when he decided to check her out and try to play.  But she took it like a champ, as always.  When  I pulled her back a little bit, Tango pulled her closer again.  Smart guy….

But it was nice to be with such a sweet, gentle horse.  And Tango is a really good looking horse!

Next came riding time.  I thought AJ would have jumped at the opportunity to get on, but he wanted Rachael to go first.  And that is what she did, with a big smile.  Maggie sat on the horse with them…

You can tell that Noah has issues with Maggie riding on Tango.  He barked feriouciously at them until I tied him to the gate.  It is amazing how much a gentleman he turned into.

As with many activities these days,  Kaitlyn ate her way through the morning.  Smiling the whole time.

Rachael and AJ got a kick out of feeding the horses.  We started by giving Tango some treats for doing such a good job.  Maggie then took us to meet the other horses on the farm.  Whenever possible, Rachael and AJ tried to feed them.

It was really nice to see what  a great time Noah is having and how much excercise he is now getting.  We look forward to going back to the farm and seeing Maggie, Noah and Tango again soon.  Here are some other random pictures.  Thanks Maggie for a great day!!!

CONGRATS is in order!! September 27, 2009

Congrats to the Corchiarino Family!!  Kelly, Chris and Isabella welcomed Giuliana Corchiarino.  Born weighing 6 lbs 14 oz, 19 inches long.  She arrived on 9/20/09 at 3:01 am. 

Brownie Time September 24, 2009

To help Nana celebrate the Jewish New Year, we traveled to Delaware and had a fun afternoon.   Rachael and Kaitlyn had fun helping Nana get all of the silk off the corn.  Nana got a kick out of it as well…

As a child growing up, I have fond memories of my Nana making homemade brownies.  And they were really good.  In fact, I can remember sitting around the table with Jason and my  Nana hoping that the brownies would break.  After all, you cannot serve a broken brownie.  So Nana told Rachael and AJ that the next time we went to Delaware that they would make brownies.  The kids loved making them, every lick of them. 

Anne Arundel County Fair September 22, 2009

This was a first for us… going to the Anne Arundel County Fair.  A bunch of us ventured one evening to check it out.  There was lots to see, but the kids ONLY had eyes for the carnival rides.  So not long after getting there, we were headed to the rides.  Rachael and Ethan led us in the right direction; AJ and John followed behind.

With so much to see and do, we started the kids on the cars ride.  You can only imagine how excited all of them were…  My kids LOVE rides.

AJ and Johnny

Rachael and Ethan

It did not take long until the kids were running to the next ride.  We remained hopeful that the rain clouds would hold out long enough to get in a few more rides; which we were successful at.

AJ, Rachael, and Ethan

All four on the Dragon

At one point the older kids went on a different ride together, so we loaded the younger ones into the fire truck.  Jax was thrilled to get to ride along with the boys.  They were really cute together!!

Jax, AJ and Johnny

The night was great, but  Igive credit, once again, to my little princess.  Kaitlyn took it like a trooper, sitting and watching all of the kids together.  She is such a sweet baby!!

Kaitlyn

It would not be a complete evening if we did not try and get a group picture of the kids together… So here was my best attempt!

All of the Kids

I am very thankful for the amazing friendships that I have with Nicole and Pam.  They are always there, for all of the good and the bad that happens in life.  I am truly blessed to have them both in my life!!!

Michelle, Nicole, and Pam

You Stay… September 22, 2009

Rachael, AJ and Kaitlyn went upstairs quietly the other morning.  When I went upstairs, I saw all three of them standing at the top of the stairs asking me to stay downstairs.   TROUBLE!!!! (I think that Kaitlyn was just so proud of herself  )

Stairs, Stairs, Stairs September 21, 2009

Kaitlyn mastered stairs a few months ago and then she stopped climbing.  The other day, Kaitlyn decided that she was going to start doing stairs again.  And now all she wants to do is climb stairs. Here is a quick video….

To Soccer and Beyond September 17, 2009

After soccer practice, we loaded the kids into the car and headed to New Jersey for the third time.  Jason and Beth headed up there with Sarah to see my grandparents.  We were very glad to be able to visit with everyone.  The big group picture is on Grandpa’s camera, but here is a smaller group picture…

The kids really enjoyed each others company.  It was really cute to see Sarah and AJ together, only I think that she was more interested in him than he was in her.  The girls (Sherry, Rachael and I) were able to run out for some fun girl time and get our nails done.  Rachael is a pro at getting nails done and even asked for sparkles on top of the pink (fingernails) and orange (toenails) nail polish.  Unfortunately, we did not have our camera at the salon.

 

Sarah and AJ playing trains

Uncle Jason doing his thing with the kids

Kaitlyn playing with Great Nana's buttons

My kids LOVE birthdays, go figure.  With Sherry’s Birthday only a week away, we decided that we would bring a cake to celebrate!  We were really excited to help celebrate such a fun occasion.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!!!!

Getting ready for cake

Although it was a quick afternoon, it was very nice to have everyone together.  Thanks Grandpa and Sherry for hosting!

Soccer Saturdays September 16, 2009

It is only the beginning… getting up on Saturday mornings for an activity that the kids are involved in.  This past Saturday morning was Rachael’s first ever soccer game.  We were so proud of her. 

Here is here team picture…  Not bad for the number of kids that are on her team.

Of course Nate and I were glad to get a picture with Rachael…

It was a good thing that no one keeps score for these games.  Our ‘Red Hawks’ got the first and only goal for the game.  Otherwise the other team demonstrated fantastic scoring ability.  Rachael needed to be reminded several times that she needed to be running after the ball.  One proud moment though, was when Rachael was defense and kicked the ball down the field away from the goal.  We were very proud….

I have to give AJ and Kaitlyn a ton of credit for sitting there and cheering on their sister.  But AJ was very excited at half time to be able to kick a soccer ball around with Dad.

Random Catch Up September 15, 2009

I have fallen a little behind in blogging, so I thought that I would do a quick catch up of last week! 

1.  Our neighbor Marge had two girl hats that she gave us Monday evening.  It was a little hard to take the kids seriously when they both put them on and wore them around the house. Or perhaps it was AJ wearing the pink…

2.  Geo Trax; a big hit in our house.  We have not had carpeting in our basement for the past month; so now that we do, we are starting to use the basement again.  Friday morning, the kids had a blast playing on the track that I made for them.

As my kids would say, here was the problem.  If the train fell off the track or went the wrong way, they sat there and expected me to fix it for them.  Go figure….

3.  When we had a yard sale a few weeks ago, we almost sold a fisher price train that we had from AJ.  But instead, we decided to hold onto it in case Kaitlyn showed interest.  She LOVES the toy… plays with it a ton. 

4.  Sometimes it is just worth posting cute pictures of siblings together…

I just cannot get over how fast they are growing up.  Kaitlyn is becoming her own person now, which we are really enjoying!