Girls' Weekend...with kids!

My sisters and I headed to Bartlett, NH this weekend for a much needed getaway. This house never saw us coming~15 kids under one roof! Needless to say, we had a great, crazy, chaotic but FUN weekend and we hope the kids remember trips like this forever. Love you all!

Happy Birthday Reilly & Brooke!

Here are some pics of Reilly & Caragh this morning, ringing in Reilly's #5!

ROCKSTARS!

Happy Birthday Brooke! We love you! Have a super day! ♥

Egg Hunt

The Easter Bunny hid over 150 eggs at Nana & Papa's house! The kids had so much fun on their egg hunt!

Natalie Jean
Jack, Natalie & Alana

Cass w/ Mallory ♥

Brendan, Elise & Reilly

Football fun~Alana, Brendan, Jack & Elise

Rex w/ the ball, Jack, Alana, Elise & Erin

Great day, LOVE you all!

Easter

Easter Eve, coloring eggs. Like her cousins (Colin & Kelsey), Cass was too cool to join in on the fun this year (she's in the background). Amazing how kids change in just a year, ages 14 and 15 are so completely different.
Oh and is it just our family or does everyone end up w/ a child in tears, some fighting, yelling, screaming, spilled egg dye, etc.? Yup, it happens every year and this year was no exception.


Easter morning...

Happy Easter everyone~we love you! ♥

Finally!

It was sooooo nice to be outside today. We were able to take out the bikes and the kids had such a great time. Of course, within 5 minutes of being out in the driveway, I turned by back and Reilly headed straight across the street on her bike. She thought it was a riot. I didn't. I told her that I was so angry that she did that and how dangerous it was, blah, blah, blah. Then I said, Daddy is going to be soooo sad. She goes to walk away, then turns around and says, "Well, don't tell him then!", with a duh look on her face.
Kids...they've got all the answers!

Think Spring!

Well, it's here. The flowers are hung and now we wait...we wait for this weather to change, we wait for the green grass to grow, we wait for the trees & flowers to bloom, we wait for that spring fling feelin'. (not fling as in fling~haha)

Where are you spring?

St. Patrick's Day cupcakes~

Any excuse to bake cupcakes!

26 Questions...

Here it is...the latest installment of Blog Tag.
26 is a random number and these are definitely some random questions, so here goes. C'mon...you know you love it.

1. What was your first car? I can't even remember the answer to that!? I know it was Mary's car and was given to me b/c she left for Germany...hmmm, I have the worst memory. It's actually scary to not remember things that most ppl remember for life! I loved it and loved the freedom. I don't think it lasted too long though.

2. Do you have any nicknames? Kags, my brothers have been calling me that since childhood, only them though. Jay calls me Kel. I've also been called Jelly Belly, Jelly Buns, Jelly, etc.

3. Have you ever been scuba diving? I went snorkling in Aruba and I had minor panick attacks between the breathing through that mouth piece and the fear of seeing something really big down there...I resorted to just putting the mask on and going under for about 30 seconds at a time. Jay was my lookout for sharks...yeah, who was I kidding?!?! He would have loved the exposure! "Honeymoon Gone Bad...When Animals Attack IV".
Anyway no, I would NEVER scuba dive! Not a chance!

4. What's your least favorite color? teal blue, just hate it.

5. Would you ever go skydiving? probably, but would most likely have to be pushed out of the plane, while on all 4's. I know my legs would give out walking over to the open door.

6. What toothpaste do you use? AquaFresh Extreme Clean, I'm very into suds & lather and wowie is all I have to say!

7. What's the last movie you saw? couldn't even tell you...I could list a # of movies that I've been meaning to see for years now though! Just never find myself in the mood to waste tow hours on pure fantasy, I'm such a realist.

8. What do you want to know about the future? If there's an afterlife

9. Do you need to do laundry? not really, usually keep up w/ it pretty well

10. Do you listen to the radio? not really, maybe when I clean the house. I like silence in the car, maybe talk radio. Sadly, music is just more noise sometimes.

11. Where were you when 9/11 happened? I was working at a middle school and we got word of it and were able to watch bits and pieces on TV throughout the school day, avoiding letting the kids know what was truly going on. I went home that day and really saw what was happening and was numb for weeks, cried every day for months. That was the first tragedy of my life and I'm still not quite over it. I think life moved on too quickly for me afterwards, I could have used some serious downtime after that. I still could never watch a movie/show about it b/c it brings it all back. I also have trouble going to large public places/events where there will be lots of people. I was seriously traumatized by 9/11 and most of all heartbroken.

12. What color are your bed sheets? boring beige, one of my favorite colors...haha

13. What's your ringtone? Come on Katie, it's not that bad!!! It's the sound of a cruise ship horn w/ seagulls and the like. I enjoy it but she has made me very self-concious about it. I answer very quickly in public places and yes, I have noticed others looking around like, what the h***!

14. Do you have any obsessions right now? yeah, my weight...it ain't doin' me crap!

15. Do you watch cartoons? nah...realist, remember?

16. Do you like sushi? no, raw fish...hurl

17. If your significant other was a superhero, what would his/her name be? haha...Jay would be Mr. Routine, Hiiiiiii-Ohhhhh...the Man Who Keeps It Steady. Yup from the time his eyes open at 5 am, Jay is ready for his very standard day. Since he sleeps in just his Fruit of the Looms, he's got his loungewear neatly folded on the nightstand by his side of the bed. He's also got the slippers right by the bed so he can just sit up, turn to the right, swing his ol' legs around, get himself dressed in a flash. He then enjoys his coffee (which is set the night before) while reading the morning paper. By this time my cutie is ready for his daily you know what like clock-work(I assume nude so he can then jump straight into the shower)~no need to waste precious time. He tidies up the kitchen and is pretty much off to work, returning home for the same standard lunch Monday through Friday: ham & cheese w/ extra mayo & mustard, salt & vinegar chips on the side. When the workday is done, Jay returns home, off come the work clothes and he's back into his loungwear. He finishes reading the paper, while two small children do anything to get his attention and eventually do. He'll hang w/ them, eat what's for dinner (could be a boiled boot and he wouldn't complain), watch TV for the rest of the night...until bedtime @ 9pm.
Then, my hubbie's standard day starts all over again tomorrow. Of course, there are a few minor changes every now and then w/ basketball a couple nights a week, but all in all this is the life of Jay. Anything out of this routine needs to be run by him about 3 days in advance or at least 9 hours. Jay lives a very simple life, which isn't to say that he's simple-minded, he's just a simple man who married a not so simple (but sort of) wife.

18. Do you enjoy sleeping late? I can sleep no later than 10 am and do whenever I get the chance, a couple times per month.

19. Who tells the best jokes? My Jay would think so, but he tells the same joke over and over to everyone we see and it irks me...they're usually dumb jokes to boot. I'm not a joke type of person. I love pranks though! OMG, do I!!!

20. Do you believe in karma? I hate the word karma b/c it's just so like karma, man but yes I do believe you get back what you give.

21. Do you like your eggs scrambled or sunny side up? scrambled I guess.

22. Do you collect anything? If so, what? not really

23. Name a song you can dance to. We Are Family...gets me up there every time!

24. Favorite concert you attended? I'd have to say Poison when I was a freshman. I think it was my first (again, bad memory!). I was just in awe!

25. What's your favorite invention? Cotton Gin, Eli Whitney??? j/k one of the few inventors I do remember from school. I think I'll say Simon Cowell for American Idol!!!

26. What do you like better: oranges or apples? I'll say oranges but neither of them really appeal to me. I love watermelon, bananas & grapes.


There you have it, Kelli 101. Do you still like me???

P-A-R-T-Y!!!

Wow! We had an AWESOME time yesterday at Pump It Up, celebrating Reilly, Caragh & Brooke's birthdays. Saying we all had a blast is an understatement! The kids had so much fun and so did the adults! This place sure knows how to throw a party!

Thanks everyone, the kids had a very memorable birthday! Thanks Mary~same time, same place next year?!?! LOVED it!!! What a great time!

Happy Birthday Girls! xxooo

Speed racers~Mallory, Reed & Caragh

Rockin' Reilly

Mia & her big cousin Cassidy ♥

Erin & Reilly...deathmatch!

Kesley & Cassidy ready to rumble!

The family~love you all!

Birthday girls ♥♥♥

Just Monkeying Around...

My kids HATE these pictures of me and leave the room every time I pull them up on the computer. These were done a while back and I just have to share since Katie put it out there. It's just so funny!
Check out the website: http://morph.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/

monkey me

me as a baby
me African-Americanme East-Asianme older (yikes!)
me West-Asian

Now, wasn't that just way too funny?!?!

The Great Outdoors!

Wowie~the feel of spring! The poor kids are so confused due to our looong winter hibernation that Reilly started throwing the leaves up in the air yelling, "Yay, it's fall!".

Great to get back outside for the moment, this nice weather isn't quite here to stay...but it's coming!!!

2nd Best Day Of The Year...

Wow, flashbacks from when I was a kid...on each of our birthdays my mother brought us on our annual trip to Toys R Us to get ANYTHING we wanted in the entire store. Well, at least we thought we had our pick of anything and BOY was that a great day in life! There were 7 of us, we didn't get toys every time we went out, we appreciated extra special days like this. I will say though, it was horrible being the older or younger sister, helping them choose something and wanting it soooo bad for myself. But when it was my turn...look out!

Thankfully my kids' birthdays are together, so I took them both to Toys R Us last night and I had as much fun (maybe more) as they did. FLASHBACKS! I tell ya, I ran to that doll section, my heart was pounding...all the pink, all the chubby little faces, isle after isle, top to bottom! I was 6 again! It was the greatest! Reilly & Caragh already had a toy in mind before we even got there and went right to it, but I forced them to look around more, I didn't want to leave! I wanted to go through the entire store and let them choose what they've always wanted, make this (the best day next to Christmas) last a little bit longer. I was reliving a moment, living through my kids, which I often do. And no, they couldn't get anything in the store and I bet neither could we, but there's no better feeling than thinking you could. I hope that they can remember the feeling like I still do. They are pretty young but we have many more of these annual birthday trips ahead of us and I can't wait!

The EXCITEMENT!!!

Reilly chose a Pound Puppy b/c on the commercial it says that they have no homes and need people to take care of them. Good advertising, huh?!

This is what they settled on, a Pound Puppy, Twins (one for each) and Caragh chose a toy microwave. Great fun! Loved it!

Celebrate!

We had a small get together this afternoon to celebrate Reilly, Caragh & cousin Patrick's birthdays. It was a great time of course, always so good to get together!
Thanks for coming everyone and thank you for all the great gifts! We love each and every one of you!
Happy Birthday Patrick! 13! Have a great day tomorrow! xoxo


Snazzy new robes! Thanks Auntie & Nana!

Cousin Madison~check out those boots! Stylin'!