Mr. Defense

Matthew is a defensive powerhouse in the Upward Basketball Kindergarten division. He is really good at guarding his guy and had a bunch of steals yesterday. He also had a high score yesterday of 8 points. Sean is helping coach the team (did I surprise anyone with that??). It is so fun to watch Matthew play - he is totally focused and serious about sports!!!

Blast from the Past

Just saw this picture on my pc and wow - was Julia's hair dark. Boy, they all look so young in this picture. This was taken in May 2005!!! Matthew 3 1/2, Katie 7 and Andrew 8.

Andrew's Birthday Update

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY ANDREW

Today is Andrew's 11th Birthday. Sean and I were talking last night and it seems not so long ago that we were in Cincinnati eagerly awaiting the birth of our first baby. Andrew has grown up to be such a wonderful young man. He is so kind, funny, sensitive, athletic and a great big brother. We have been so blessed by him and thank God everyday for this amazing son!!! He got to plan his birthday today. In the wee hours of the night, I decorated the kitchen for his birthday and wrapped his gifts. Katie got him (w/ her own money!) a tshirt from American Eagle. Grandma Wilkie, Aunt Melinda & Uncle Charlie and the girls, and all of us got him Rock Band for his PS2. Can you believe that the game disc did not work??? Andrew was so dissapointed. Aunt Mere & Uncle Jeff gave him an Abercrombie shirt!! He is styling.

We took Andrew, Matthew and Will to Starbucks this morning. It was kind of sad to see your son walk confidently up to the counter and order a Double Chocolate Chip Frapacinno!! Where did my little boy begging for apple juice go?? Sean took the day off of work to spend with Andrew. What a lucky boy!!! Sean took Andrew, Matthew and Andrew's friend Allen bowling and out to lunch at Johnny Rockets. For the kids' birthdays, I let them request their favorite meal. Of course, Andrew's is tacos. Nice and easy and yummy too!!! More pictures to follow of Andrew's special day!!

Valentine's Day Part 4

Daddy took us all out to dinner on Valentine's Day to Carrabas. That is our favorite place to go out to eat as a family. We had a feast of mussels, calamari, and pasta. We ate outside and the kids were so good. We sat next to 2 older couples that were very complimentary to the kids. We are so lucky to have 5 little valentines!!!

Valentine's Day Part 3

After lunch, Mom and Will went to WPS to help with Matthew' Valentine's Day Centers and Party. Mom worked at the pattern center helping the children cut out different colored and sized hearts and then we made patterns. It was really nice to be in the classroom with Matthew. That is a treat and something that I don't get to do very often. Matthew gave out customized Hersey bars to each of his friends. They were a hit!! This is a picture of his teacher, Mrs. Allred, explaining each of the centers. The little boy with the glasses is Matthew's friend Martin.

Valentine's Day Part 2

Julia had co-op on Valentine's Day and was so excited to deliver her Valentine's Day chocolate bars to her friends. They had a little party and it was quite wild in her classroom. She loved all her cards (and CANDY!). She spent the afternoon with Mrs. Servine at the park and then with Mrs. Hart while Mommy and Will went to Matthew's school party at WPS.

Valentines Day - Part 1

On February 13th, Sean arranged a babysitter and we went out to dinner for Valentine's Day. What a treat to have some grown up time and not have to cook. Of course, we took Baby Will with us!! He was awesome at dinner and so smiley. We went to the Crab House and Downtown Disney and we were going to stroll around after dinner. But the weather didn't cooperate - it was cold and drizzly. Nevertheless, it was a fun night!!!

Flip Flop Jules

Julia went to her first gymanstics class last Friday (yes it has been a busy week with no blogging!). She and her best friend Lauren are in the Mini Gym class. She started out very shy (with her hands in her mouth - just like a small Katie) but warmed up and really did well. She was a great listener and can't wait for tomorrow. Since the kids are on their Winter Break - Katie is going to take her. In fact, Katie is the helper at Julia's co-op today. Katie is a very nurturing young lady - she will make a fabulous mommy someday. Now we just have to find a small leatard for Julia - so cute!!!

Miss Katie

I noticed that on the blog I have not posted a picture of Katie in a while (thanks for the heads up Julie!). Katie has been a busy girl with school, piano and of course her softball. She is taking pitching lessons, working out a couple times a week with her little league team and going to the cage with Sean when he has a free moment. This picture was taken this morning at church. Katie has ventured into the babysitting world, helping us with Julia and Matthew several times a week while we are running around with Andrew's activities. We are always in town but it has been really, really nice to not have to lug Miss Julia all over Celebration.

Fun Personality Quiz - Try it (Link below)

Your Personality Is

Guardian (SJ) You are sensible, down to earth, and goal oriented. Bottom line, you are good at playing by the rules. You tend to be dominant - and you are a natural leader. You are interested in rules and order. Morals are important to you. A hard worker, you give your all at whatever you do. You're very serious, and people often tell you to lighten up. In love, you tend to take things carefully and slowly. At work, you are suited to almost any career - but you excel in leadership positions. With others, you tend to be polite and formal. As far as looks go, you are traditionally attractive. You take good care of yourself. On weekends, you tend to like to do organized activities. In fact, you often organize them!

The Three Question Personality Test

Our Little Sweetie

I snapped a couple of pictures of Julia

this morning before she went to preschool. We are making Valentines with her picture, so we wanted to get a nice photo in red. I think we got it!! It is amazing that she will be 3 in May!! She has a personality as big as her hair and she has a mind of her own. She loves to draw and spends hours everyday drawing potato people on 1000s of pieces of cardstock. She makes up crazy songs and hates to take naps. She falls asleep everyday on the way to pick up the kids from school (yes - napping from 3 - 5, bedtime is a nightmare!) But she is a total sweetie and we love her so much!!

Let's Eat

Well for such a big boy, William is not so great at eating baby food. He is not very interested and with every bite, he sticks his tongue out and it gets all over. We decided to take him out of the Bumbo seat and put him in the high chair. He did better today and actually ate all the peas. He likes the veggies much better than the fruit. That is different!!

Tummy Time

Even though we are on the go all day and night, we try to get William some tummy time every day. His godparents, the Stellwags, bought him this very cool activity mat for Christmas. It has flashing lights, music and so many cool things to grab and look at (including a mirror). Will likes to play on the floor on his tummy for about 20 minutes and then he is ready for something new. Yesterday when he was on his mat, I looked over and he had rolled all the way off and was trying to scoot to get his pacifier. We are in trouble soon ....

Shaving already?

OK - so Andrew is not shaving. He has to do a project for Spanish that requires him to make a powerpoint presentation about his daily routine. We took a bunch of pictures of him getting up, getting ready for school, eating, etc. He decided it would be funny to do shaving. It actually turned out to be a cute picture but it fast forwarded me 5 years. I am not ready to be a mom of all these teenagers. (btw ... we didn't have any shaving cream so we had to use mousse!).

Matthew's 100th day of school

Matthew was so excited to be celebrating the 100th day of school on Thursday. He got to wear "wacky" clothes - he picked out a tie-dye shirt, sport shorts and 2 different colored baseball socks. We made his hair into a faux-hawk and off he went. He had to create a picture with 100 items. He choose to make the numbe 100 out of smarties. Very clever and cute!! Matthew has had such a smooth transition to WPS, continues to amaze us with his sponge brain, his reading and AR points and his sense of humor.

Preschool Days

Julia goes to "school" 2 days a week at the CommPres church in Celebration. It is actually a co-op withe one teacher and then the parents rotate assisting the teacher. This past Thursday was my day to work. Boy - I was tired after spending the morning with 8 2 year olds (plus Willliam). I felt like Kate from Jon & Kate Plus 8. Julia is a really sweet girl at school and loves being with her best friend, Lauren. I got a few really great pictures.

Ash Wednesday

Wednesday we went to Mass at 7:00pm (right at bedtime for the little ones!) to begin our Lenten season with the receiving of Ashes. I have to post this picture of Will with his ashes because I just love it when the little ones get their first ashes. The other kids thought he looked adorable and it helps us all prepare for Easter.

One Sick Family

We have been pretty lucky as a family not to get too sick!! We have had one or two kids sick but never the ENTIRE FAMILY. A nasty stomach bug has visited us and no one has escaped it but Sean. Katie was the first to get sick last Tues/Weds, Jules on Thurs, Mom Fri/Sat, Matthew Sat/Sun and Andrew Sun/Mon. At this rate, Sean will have a long night ahead of him. I must say a whole sick family upsets the routine and makes for one crabby family. Everyone has been really sad and bummed, but I liked the instant 5 pound weight loss. I think that was the only way to lose that last little bit of baby weight!!! Ha, ha .... And yes - there are no pictures to go with this post!

Hanging out with Cousin John

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Play Ball

So here I am sitting at my computer at 1:46am on a Friday morning actually enjoying the peace and quiet of a dark house with 5 little ones soundly asleep. As you know, Sean and I are extremely involved in our local little league. Sean is coaching 4 teams this season and I am still in charge of all the registrations, team formation and any other general info. These are the really busy baseball weeks leading up to the Spring Season .... So I must continue to blunk away at this big pile of little league stuff. Hey - in jus 4 hours, William will be up for the day. Maybe I should turn in .....