The Most Awesomely, Funny, Fun, Sweet, Giving, Rockin', Valentiney, Valentine's Day EVER!

Cali and I were headed to cheer, the end of our very busy day and I asked her, "Was it a good Valentine's Day?"
She replied with, "It was the Most Awesomely, Fun, Valentine's Day ever!  I repeated, "It was the Most Awesomely, Fun, Valentine's Day ever?"
"No!", she said, it was the Most Awesomely Fun, Giving, Valentine's Day ever!" I repeated again,  "It was the Most Awesomely Fun, Giving, Valentine's Day ever?"
"No!", she said, It was...and so the game began. We finally ended with the title you see above.
I'd say, at the end of the day, it was a good one, but it was different, and sometimes that takes a little adjusting to.

Scott is finally home, or in the state at least. I wish I could see him, but even if I can't, I'm grateful he is here and I'll see him soon.

I got up at 5:15 am this morning with Cori, who left today at 5:45 am for a three-day basketball trip up near Anchorage,AK. Scott flew into Anchorage last night and stayed up there to watch her games. She barely had a chance to peek at her Valentine's Day prizes and run out the door this morning.  I miss having her here today.

Cassi was next. She woke up at 6:00 and almost immediately asked if I would take her to Wal-Mart this morning. Umm, what? Yup, you see, while I was baking 8 quiches last night, (for the entire basketball team) and Cori was making oodles of Valentines for her boy, Cassi was at a movie. She didn't make one Valentine, so this morning she decided she wanted to get something for her best friend. A reusable cup with a straw that she wanted to take  to the coffee shop and fill with a red-bull special. We managed to get it done.

Then came my sweet baby Cali. Everyone was gone when she got up, but we still ogled over her V-Day goodies. And she was the one to have a gift for her Momma, that sweet girl.
A small book, Valintines Rymes and a crisp one dollar bill, from her wallet, to buy something for myself. :)

Roses are red.

Vilets are blue.

Valintines are sweet

and so are you.

Rose's are red.

Vilets are blue

Wever you are

I will be close to you. 

I spontaneously decided I would make her cinnamon rolls for breakfast. those rymes got me! I got them in the oven, then...

I got a phone call, I had to fill in for the school breakfast program. I had 20 minutes to get there. 

Pbttt! She wasn't real thrilled for about 3 minutes but I convinced her we would take the cinnamon rolls in the car for her and Annie, I made her some juice in her Valentine's Day cup, some for Annie in her new sippy cup, and off we went with icing on our chins!

Once school started, Cali left on her annual Valentine's Day Field trip, a performance at the Senior Housing Center. She was wonderful. She smiled a lot and wasn't fearful. Annie and I thought they sang so well, that we danced and danced! All those Grandma's and Grandpa's love that you know!

From there, we headed to the annual class ice skating adventure. None of my girls have ever really gotten the knack of ice skating although we've never given it much effort. The annual class skating trips stop in 3rd grade. Still, with little-to-no exposure, Cali did well and eventually moved away from the wall, even if it was for just a few moments. Annie really liked trying to skate. It wasn't easy keeping her upright. Fortunately for me, she didn't mind being on the ice either. In fact she liked trying to make snow angels on it, which didn't really work, but was fun to watch.

After that, I will admit my failure as a mother, I didn't go to her classroom party. I had to let Annie get a little nap, and frankly I was tired too. 

After Annie rested, and I switched a load of laundry and made a few darling little Valentines for Cali to take to cheer, Annie and I headed to watch Cassi play volleyball. It wasn't a good team day but Cassi did well. It seems she is destined to be a middle hitter! Dang, she had mad skills today! I gave her some suckers to pass out to her teammates but she wanted nothing to do with that. She was very angry about losing and really evaluated where the problems occurred today. I had to drop her off at the house after the game to give her a few minutes alone while Cali and I raced to cheer.

While I was driving Cali across town then coming back to get Cassi, she calmed down, thankfully! Then she made herself a cute little cut-up t-shirt to wear to cheer herself. Since its Valentine's Day, there was a no-practice-gear invitation and the girls were allowed to dress in red and pink. One of her prizes she received this morning was a pair of heart socks. Perfect timing, or her mom has inside information from the Coach and knew she'd have a chance to wear them to practice today! Wink, Wink!

While Cassi was at cheer, Cali got into her jammies, ate cereal for dinner, and pretty much had a sugar nose-dive. She crashed!

While all of this was going on, Cori was playing a screamin' hard game of basketball, actually 2, then Scott took her to dinner with her boyfriend and his mom. Awka, awkward! 

Me, I'm going to pass out, along side my girls, and dream about the Most Awesomely, Funny, Fun, Sweet, Giving, Rockin', Valentiney, Valentine's Day EVER!

**I just wanted to mention, I don't normally detail every movement we make in a day however I've noticed lately that I am missing the personal element from a lot of my old-time favorite blogs. It seems everyone is only posting details to a project they made or a product they are endorsing. I don't do any of those things really but I haven't been posting a lot either. I'd hoped this year I'd do a better job of it. I'm still working on it but I want to make sure I keep it personal. Hope you understand and won't find it too boring. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here is our annual First Picture of the New Year!

As usual, it was quite funny trying to get the perfect picture. You will see, by the video below that we took one or two good ones and then pandemonium ensued. Big dogs make big chaos!  Wren was in Colorado this year, so for the first time in longer than I can remember, he wasn't going to be in our annual First picture! We were all missing him and the thought of him not being in our picture was a bit too much, SO, we fixed that by printing a picture of him and holding it up.

I don't really believe in making resolutions for the new year however I have thought that I should try harder to update this blog more often. So if I had to say what my New Year's Resolution is, it keeping track of our family life better via this blog.

I do take a daily picture and post it here (I am a bit behind in posting but the pictures have been taken!)
but I miss the stories I used to share. I have to find the time somewhere. Keep you fingers crossed for me, it won't be an easy resolution to keep.

Here is wishing all of you a year filled with Happiness, Joy, Peace, and Goodwill!
Happy 2013!

Happy New Year

Can you believe it's 2012? Did you ever think about this year, where you would be? I'm not sure I ever did. Life seems to be going so much faster than I ever expected it would. That said, I'm in for the long ride.
Loving (mostly) every minute of it. I wish I could hang on to my girls a little longer but they are pulling, testing their boundaries and growing so quickly. So me, I'm hanging on, to each moment, each memory, each tradition for as long as I can in hopes they don't abandon them all and we can continue to make great memories.

Just like we do every year since Cori and Cassi were tiny, we took a first family picture of the New Year.  There aren't really any rules but I try not to use a tripod. (As far as I know, we only did that one time- when Andrew was visiting.) I always hold out the camera, at arms length and snap. Because it always happens sometime after our annual New Year's Eve party, I've usually had a few drinks, so you could end up viewing the tunnels of my nose or see a lovely double chin. The kids are loopy and very tired so with them you never know what you will get. And Scott, he's usually just trying to get it done without casualties.

As the girls grow older, we seem to often have 'extras' visiting and because they are usually close friends, we include them. This year is our biggest grouping yet. In addition to the 6 of us (I say 6 because Wren has been in almost EVERY one- love that boy!) there is Cassi's friend, Abbi, Cori's friend, Whitney and Cori's boyfriend, Brodi. There weren't really any great shots, in fact there is something ridiculous about every one. I'm not including all of them but I will show some of the better ones.

These pictures are really special to me and hopefully I will one day be able to compile all of them in one space. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Here is wishing you a wonderfully silly and fun year, that it's a great ride and that you are hanging one!

Happy 2012!

Daddy Day!

(I'm catching up on a few old posts- I'll never catch up on everything I've missed but I'm trying)

I should start by saying Happy Father's Day to the most wonderful Daddy. My girls are lucky ladies to be sure. Also to my Daddy. I am grateful for him and for the relationship we have. We are fortunate to live closely- I know many who aren't as lucky.

The girls started the day with Breakfast for Daddy. There was a lot of Mommy help but they certainly added many personal touches including personal delivery of said nutrition.

We struggled in a big way with what to give Scott for Father's Day. The fact is, giving Scott a gift that we can afford on any given day is nearly impossible. First, his tastes are expensive! Second, he usually buys himself all the things he wishes for at the exact moment we can afford them. Third, it seems he does not really enjoy the little things. The girls worked really hard to surprise him. We finally decided on a Fantasy Football yearly magazine, a box of nice golfballs, his favorite candy bars and...the best gift all day, a stack of Cali-made gift certificates for 2 minute head rubs. :)

As for the rest of the day, Barry called me and organized a beach party celebration much like our Mother's Day festivities. Rocky was in town for the first time in many years so it was extra special. Of course, Grandpa was there too and all the big kids came out, which fills me with joy. Also, Nana was here making it an extra special day for Scott.

We set up a day camp like we always do. There was a ton of food, like there always is!  Since it was a holiday of sorts, some of us even had a few extra sweet moments.

Cali climbed the bluff, with nary a thought for it's height or instability. Scott kept an eye on her and since we couldn't seem to keep her away from it all of a sudden, Grandpa took a few turns going up and down with her too.

I didn't get a ton of pictures and I'm not real sure why but I did manage to get Holly to capture a Holmes family photo which is hard to get being that I am the one usually taking all the pictures.

I almost took a group shot of all the kids with their Dad's- fortunately my Dad remembered that I was one of his, and I got in the picture rather than taking it!

The best picture of the day however would have to be this one. We were joking with the guys and asking them to take a 'jump' picture which the kids do all the time. There were some super funny takes and it was hysterical to be a part of. I'm glad we did it because it's a memory we won't forget for a while.

After seeing it, I'm guessing you won't forget it for a while either!  :)

These Irish Eyes are Smilin'

Top of the evenin' to ya.

I hope your blessings were many today- love, laughter, family, friendship, and of course a little luck!

It was every bit that and more for me. It may not seem like much for many, but for me, I think I had my own Irish angel looking down on me.

Here's the story. Cassi was due to have cheer practice today. I hadn't realized it was falling on the holiday when they added this extra practice.  When I finally did, it was too late to change it. I tried but it didn't seem it was meant to be.

Most of you are aware, but in the event you aren't, my Grandma, on my Dad's side passed away in early December. She was a unique, fun and a very proud Irish woman. Each St. Patrick's Day, since the day they were born, I have decked my kids out in our finest greenery in her honor. I also always take them to our little hometown parade, where we meet up with friends, from which I called Grandma every year. She got very tickled hearing all the little details about our innocent and very small, little celebration.

When I finally figured out the two events, the cheer practice and the parade, we going to overlap, I was pretty disappointed to say the least. I was torn. The practice was mandatory (with a national competition only a week away), I didn't feel I could take two of my girls and not take the third, and yet I felt if I didn't go, I was somehow ignoring my heritage that my Grandma was so proud of.

Here comes the blessing, really.  Late last night, the coach sent a text canceling practice. :) A small thing to most but to me, HUGE!  I was going to follow our traditions, we were going to make it to the parade and our friends would be there to and all would be right with my world. Another blessing, Scott (the love of my life as he is referred to- even on my cell phone) came home today. He's been gone three long weeks and we have missed him so.  And...my dad, he came to town and we went to dinner- for corned beef and cabbage, of course.

So you see, it was a w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l day! And I am blessed- To be Irish, to have love, laughter, family, friends and a little luck!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

Happy Turkey Day!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  We spent ours at Grandpa's house. I am a sucker for traditions and so, we did everything much the same. We ate fairly early, filled our bellies with some awesome Thanksgiving day food and headed for Anchorage just like we usually do.

There were some minor exceptions this year. For one, the girls went with me and Grandpa to Anchorage and Scott went too!  I usually head up with only my Dad but this year everyone wanted to get into the Black Friday festivities. :) Of course, he and I were the only ones to get up at 2:30 am to be at the stores at 3:00! Still the girls got to get out into the thick of things and they too had a great time. It may not be your usual traditions but you know what, they are ours and that alone makes it all right!

We started our day with cinnamon rolls, which we do on Christmas as well. Cali and Scott were icing them and somehow they went flying. It was really funny.  Leave it to Scott to cause all the trouble! :)

I even tried to change up a thing or two for dinner this year and tried my hand at the 'cherpumple'. (Seriously, look it up on you tube! It's wacked! A cherry, pumpkin and apple pie baked into a cake!) Mine was a bust. It would not cook. I am pretty sure it was in the oven for 2 hours. So guess what? It was dry. :) Then I put the frosting on but the pie/cake was still warm on the inside and that added to the fact that it was really warm at Grandpa's house...well it made for a slightly droopy mess. Oh well, I wanted to try it and I did! Next year however I think I'll be looking for something new again!

There were lots of giggles going on while we were there.

Amber got stuck under the table. OK, well actually Aaron was holding her there wile tickling her. Young love is sweet. They are cute together!

Cori spilled tea all over herself on the ride out and ended up in a pair of leggings. I am not sue where all the hair came from, but she decided the vacuum was the only way to take care of it!  I can honestly say it was the first time I've ever seen anyone vacuum themselves off.

Grandpa bought a new elliptical machine and Cali caught rides with anyone willing to give it a whirl. (It kicked my butt!)

I even managed to get GiGi and Grand[a to take a picture together. (I am positive he doesn't know about the bunny ears! Don't tell him! LOL )

We ended the night in Anchorage and Ambe and AJ's apartment playing the Wii. Cali has possible dance classes in her future again. She loved the dancing game. I'm worried someone might think getting her that game for Christmas could be a good thing. Uggg! Just kidding! :)

I hope it was a wonderful Thanksgiving day for everyone. Here's to traditions!- Oh and making new ones!