Winter Olympics!!

Ahhhh, we officially have a problem, I am an Olympiholic. I love all the events, stories behind the athletes, replays and drama. Our TV is on every night. I get nothing done and am losing sleep staying up so late to watch. Part of me wants it to end but the other can't give it up. I guess it is getting us through the winter:)

My helpers all day!

I don't ever want to forget the cute things my kids do once they are older and stop doing them.
Gabe carried around these Lego guys for days so I had to snap a picture. He also loves to lick the bowl when I cook.

Lily loves smoothies and for the past week actually wants a bib each time she eats.

After her bath one night, she read in bed with Carissa for over 30 minutes.

The kids brought Yoda up from the basement and the rest of the day, she carried him around like her baby and even gave him kisses.

Whenever Lily is hungry, she gets out a bowl and the cereal bag and drags it to wherever I am to pour it. Independence is good but needless to say, we are vacuuming more often than usual.

An evening at home

After having dinner together Friday night, the kids all went out to jump on the trampoline. The sun had been out so the kids acted like it was summer even though it was dark by now! Lily wanted to go too so I went out while Tay cleaned up the dishes. She wasn't too interested in jumping as she could see him in the house and just wanted to talk about dad and get his attention. After some jump rope and crack the egg, the kids went to get on PJ's while Taylor and I sat on the love seat to watch a little TV. This never happens at our house so we were enjoying our couple of minutes of peace talking about the Olympics which were starting. Suddenly... party over, the kids were back and had to sit with us. It must be how we have our furniture set up in our family room but why does a family of 7 people all sit on a love seat? We channel surfed a bit and had some popcorn as we went between the opening ceremonies, Survivor and Spiderman 2 which was on TV. We stayed up until 10:00pm. Then as I put Gabe to bed and layed by him a couple of minutes, he sniffed my hair and said, "Mommy, you smell like a pinata". Nice. It isn't like we crack them open all the time or anything. Even though it was late, Ethan had watched the Hannah Montana movie this week and wanted to discuss the pros and cons of him becoming a secret rock star. He is still toying with the idea of keeping two identities when he is famous. Tough decision. Overall it was a perfect evening at home with the kids. Simple yet living the dream!

~Ode to my Sistas~

I've always thought that one of the greatest gifts my parents gave me are my siblings. Although I think my brothers are fantastic, nothing can compare to sisters! We are so different from each other yet similar. We know each other so well, yet continually learn new things about one another. I recently learned that one of my sisters loves breakfast and can't really sleep in when given the chance due to her hunger. Some other great little facts about my sisters include: One listens to rap music in her car, one has enough make-up (high end make-up) to fancy us all up for 5 years, one has an immaculately clean home, one will talk to anybody about anything and make them feel like they are her best friend! They all have a great sense of humor and we always laugh at ourselves the entire time we are together. We can giggle about the dumb things we did as kids and the awkward stages we went through or about the stress we caused our parents. I am always learning something new from them that is so valuable and could never be duplicated by other relationships. I absolutely LOVE my sisters!!

Gabriel is 4!

Gabe got to open his first gift when he woke up which was the game Candyland he has been asking for.

He finally has a bike! Some things about Gabe I love are his sense of humor and how he likes to tease his family. He is so affectionate that sometimes I have to stop him from kissing me so much. He loves to be adored by his siblings and aunts and will talk nonstop if he is interested in something.

Gabe wanted to have a Beach Party with his friends which was pretty chaotic but a lot of fun in the end. He wanted a smurf cake so I got this great idea to have crumbled graham crackers as the sand. None of the kids would eat that part of the cake. They all wanted the blue water part.