I'm still here!

It's been a little while since I've posted anything... Heather introduced me to Facebook and I'm hooked! It's great! I've connected with a lot of old and new friends. It's been fun to find friends from high school and chat with them again.

The kids are all finally feeling better. All the kids came down with hand-foot-mouth disease (which sounds worse than it actually is), but Dylan got it the worst. He got some soars in his mouth which made it very hard for him to eat, sleep and he didn't even want his binky! And for him, that is shocking! That's how I knew he really was in pain. I kept him on Motrin for about 4 days and that seemed to help. I think we are finally on the road to recovery!

We spent Monday morning at the park with the kids. We have had beautiful weather here lately, so being outside felt awesome. The kids had a blast at the park and playing with other kids. We packed a lunch and enjoyed a picnic together. Ryan feel asleep on the car ride home and the little ones went straight to naptime as soon as we got back. It was the best nap they've taken in a month! Even though taking 4 kids to the park is a little stressful and crazy, it truly is fun to see them growing and experiencing new things. We have always said that if we'd do it with 2 kids, we will at least try to do it with 4 kids! Overall, it was a fabulous day! I have a few photos that I'll post later tonight. :o)

Sick again...

4 out of the 5 of us are sick ... again! Jacob so graciously started this cold epidemic right around Christmas. Then he passed it to me, then I passed it to the babies, now Jacob and I have it again! We are sharing the love around here! I just got my voice back and I woke up yesterday with a scratchy throat and voice. When I picked up Jacob from preschool on Tuesday, I think every kid there was either coughing or had a runny nose. Between church and school, we are doomed to be sick! I've never been a big fan of the flu shot, but I'm going to seriously consider it for next flu season. Overall, the kids handle being sick pretty good. Megan takes after her mommy and is not a good sick person. She gets the worst snotty nose and has a lot of trouble sleeping. When I'm sick, I want to curl up in bed and blow my nose a thousand times while watching garbage daytime TV. However, those days are over. I think that's been one of the toughest things about being a mom - having sick kids and you being sick too. I don't know how Jon does it... he seems to skip getting sick and even if he does get it, it's gone in a day or two. Lucky guy! Anyway, I'm off to wipe more runny noses!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my Dad's 60th birthday. He'll probably kill me for saying "60th" in that sentence, but I think it's something to be proud of. He has accomplished a lot in those 60 years and we are all so thankful to have him in each of our lives. What an awesome day to have a birthday! I think no matter who you voted for in this presidential election, today was a historical, powerful and memorable day for our Nation.

I was looking back through some old photos and I couldn't resist posting this one of Dad, me, Heather and Mom... Don't we look so cool!?! :o) (Look at Dad -is he not the coolest 80's Dad you've ever seen!?)

Family ski weekends are one of my favorite memories as a kid. There was one trip that Dad and I rode the chair lift together all day and we sang the Oscar Meyer hot dog song over and over and over. We laughed our heads off because whenever we hit a certain part of the chair lift, our voices would rattle during "B-O-L-O-G-N-A"! It probably sounds dumb, but for some reason it cracked us up all day!

Here is a photo of Dad and Megan this past Christmas Eve. Megan loves her Papa Tommy, as do all the kids!

Happy Birthday, Dad!! We love you!!

New Year's resolutions

I'm not a big New Year's resolution kind of person, probably because (like most people) I can't seem to stick with 'em. My number one resolution this year was about yelling. Now, I've never considered myself to be a yeller. In fact, I consider myself to be a rather calm and quiet person... that is, until I had 4 kids ages 3 1/2 and under! My resolution wasn't to not yell at all, because that would be setting myself up for complete failure. So, instead I resolved to yell less. Well, today I've successfully accomplished this resolution! I guess I should include that today I've completely lost my voice and every time I try to yell, nothing comes out! I've been battling a soar throat for the last few days and it finally took over my voice. It's so hard to control 4 little kids all day with no voice! I took the kids out for a walk this afternoon and Jacob took off running down the sidewalk and I tried to yell at him, but again, nothing came out. Thankfully, he stopped anyway. Hopefully I'll have some sort of voice tomorrow!!

Megan pooped in the potty!

Today, Megan came up to me and she was tapping her bottom and saying "poop, poop". I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty and she said "yeah" so we went into the bathroom, she sat on the little potty chair and she pooped in the potty! I was so shocked! I yelled "Megan's pooping on the potty!!!" and it was so loud she started crying! I think I scared it right out of her! Jon grabbed the camera and we caught her first potty experience, however I won't share it here because it's a bit graphic! (If anyone wants to see the photos, I can email them to you!) I swear, if she starts pooping on the potty all the time now, I am going to be SO excited! One less poopy diaper to change! Woo-hoo!!! :o)

Getting ready for Christmas

We had a fun visit from Grandma and Grandpa A. (and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Amy) last Saturday. Santa arrived a few days early and brought the kids some really fun and cute presents. It was a small glimpse of how crazy Christmas morning will be around here!

Today, Jacob, Jon and I decorated some Christmas cookies. Jacob really enjoyed putting 10 M&M's on each cookie and about 100 sprinkles! Tonight we are going to load everyone up in the 'ole minivan and go check out some lights around town. Then tomorrow (Christmas Eve) we are having Grandma Lynnie and Papa Tommy over for our traditional Sugo pasta dinner. Mom and I will be taking the kids to church for our Christmas program, but unfortunately Jon has to work until Costco closes, so he'll miss out this year.... bummer! :o( But he'll be home in time dinner and our yearly watching of "A Christmas Story" while we finish wrapping presents and filling the kids stockings.

Guess which ones I did, mommy??

We hope this Christmas finds everyone filled with love, hope, joy and peace! Merry Christmas!!

Love - Jon, Lisa, Jacob, Megan, Ryan and Dylan

Snow!!

We had snow at our house this morning! It seemed to be a hail/snow mix, but it definitely stuck on the ground for a little bit. If you look closely at the photos, you can see little white dots of snow falling from the sky! Too bad it wasn't Christmas morning! How fun it would be to have a white Christmas!?