Happy 3rd Birthday, Anne!

Why not celebrate her at her half birthday this month, too?  Well, we also celebrated her on her actual birthday, of course.  Little Anne turned 3 in July, and I am sure the word I think of most when I think of Anne is JOY.  She is just the perfect example of a joyful little girl.  You can often watch her prance around the house dancing to her own tune or requesting I turn on music for her to dance.  She loves to wear dresses every day, whether they are in season or not.  She is very playful and loves to do puzzles, dance, play Legos, Play-doh, and many types of imaginary play.  She enjoys Dora and Minnie Mouse quite a bit.  She and Leah are becoming closer friends and it is very fun to watch them interact.  It is clear that Anne really looks up to her big sister.  Her brothers are always looking out for her, too.  I cherish the time I get to have with Anne every day.  She will mostly consider herself a "big girl" except when the idea of school comes up.  Then she says, "I'll stay with you, Mom, 'cause I'm just a little girl, right Mommy?"  Sure love her!

Happy Birthday to...

...well, all my children.  It seems I missed posts for all of their birthdays except I caught Catherine's first.  SO, time to catch up.  We'll get Anne, then Leah, Jacob, Leyton, & Nathaniel.  We are into our odd year of ages.  Anne turned 3 in July, Leah 5 in October, Jacob 7 in December, and Leyton & Nathaniel 9 this month!  Wow. 

Twas the night before Christmas...

What a lovely evening.  Mass at 6:30 (which wasn't over packed, so it was wonderful), then home for snacks and bedtime.  Anne went in to brush her teeth and I had to enjoy: "Goodnight Santa who's watching me."

Our joyful little three year old.  Merry Christmas!

Fwew...can you say VOMIT?

Well, everyone but Catherine has been talking about it here, but she has been doing it! Well, of the kids, Nathaniel is the lone healthy kid this week. Starting last Saturday, we have pretty much had daily occurrences or at least someone feeling like they need to! Jacob will hopefully be back to school Friday. I have pictures to post from his 12-12-12 birthday, which he was sick for. Just crazy. And to think that we went in last Friday to get FluMist for the boys...was that the cause, an unfortunate effect, or a result of sitting in the waiting room too long? I was hoping Leah was going to be lucky and miss it, but it caught her tonight and got Anne again, too (it started with her last Saturday).

Here's to hoping for a healthy weekend without sick parents! To top it off, by the way, today was Patrick's last day at his job. The new one is supposed to start Monday, but I think (well I know) he's going there early in the morning.

Beware of back posting...

So in my attempt to catch up, I may post some past events under that date rather than have, say, the kids' Halloween pic on December 1, it may just be posted as Nov. 1 to eliminate too much evidence of late posting.  So, hint, I did get that one up.  That's the only one I've done so far, but hope to get back to Leah's birthday, first day of school, Anne's birthday, summer activities, and more pictures of Catherine growing up. 

All the Cousins at Thanksgiving

Well here they all are -- all fourteen of the cousins together in Wash MO for Thanksgiving at Grandma & Grandpa's.  We had such a nice time and it is always special when we can all get a chance to spend time together not only in the same state but even in the same house!

Catherine and her Cake