Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Oh my, I am doing it again! Where does the time go?? We have a had a CrAzY past few months. It started after Thanksgiving, we threw a Surprise party for Brian's mom 17th :) Birthday at our house. Brian did an outstanding job with a song he wrote and performed for his mom.

The week following that, it seems like everyone in the house got sick and the sickness lingered through x-mas. I ended up being more busy with work due to some required learning and extra computer classes the week of Christmas!! I had also gotten the flu the Tuesday before x-mas and missed Tom and Joe's Christmas concert :( Thank goodness for video cameras! This year, I didn't get to wrapping any gifts until x-mas eve morning!! If you know me well, I usually try and get all this done ahead of time.

Christmas Eve we went to my parents house where it is always a fun time with 7 grandkids opening presents at the same time. This year was actually a lot better, the older kids listened and attempted to wait their turn to open a gift.

Christmas Day, Joe was the first one up and it was so cute to hear his giddy voice out in the living room checking out the presents Santa had left. When all the boys were awake, they got to open a few of their presents before going to mass. The rest we opened when we got back home. For dinner, we headed to Brian's parents house for Christmas dinner and more presents. It was extra fun this year, because Brian's dad handed out copies of the song "On the 12th Day of Christmas" each person in attendance had their own number and had to sing it out when it was their turn. To make things even more funny, Brian's dad gave the # "5 Golden Rings" to his 80 some year old sister. It was too cute to hear her sing that verse over and over.

Well, that sums up Christmas. I will be eventually posting our trip adventures to California. We had a Blast!



Picking out our tree from Big John's Christmas Tree Lot...a tradition we do every year!
It was super cold that night, but even lamby beared the cold to help find the perfect tree.
Joe helping place the x-mas bulbs up high.
Batman Tom helping out with the decorations as well.
Joe and Peter putting their ornaments on the tree.
Brian and the boys visiting Santa at the Golden Valley Country Club.
This is Tom being clever one day. He decided to wear his columbia fleece jacket and then wear another columbia fleece jacket on his legs to make himself look like on of Santa's elf's....Pretty Smart!
After the rest of the gang saw what Tom was doing, they all wanted in...So here they are along with my nephew, Braden, singing Christmas carols.
Joe and Tom-Best Buddies
Peter and Amazing Snow Globe....he loves the song "Silver and Bells"
Joe, Peter, Tom
Tom and Joe kiss Peter......Peter looks paralyzed by his brothers' love.
Joe decorating sugar cookies.
Tom helping roll out the dough....and yes, he is wearing Brian's old Falto bell cover as a chef's hat!
Peter deciding which sprinkles to use.
My cute little niece Hailey.
Sharing some cousin loves....Peter (Dec.), Brett (May), and Elena (March) are all 3 months apart.
Almost all 7 of them looking at the camera.
My parents with the grandkids.
Our attempt at a family photo.
Joe on Christmas morning...looking at the stuff in his stocking.
Tom excited about his new recycling boxers!!
Peter investigating his new crane from Santa.
Brian's homemade dessert.....He is an AMAZING MAN!
Brian's aunt and the rest of the family singing on the "12th day of Christmas."
Brian's parents leading the group.
Our pretty Christmas tree and all 1300+ lights. This year, I made sure to have enough electrical cords so I wouldn't have any power outages...HA! Success!

December Sun

So, I am way behind in my postings as you can tell. Here are some pics of the boys this summer when Brian's Aunt Dee took us to the Country Club to swim....


Joe lounging poolside
Peter relaxing in the shade
Tom expressing his coolness
Tom's GQ pose
Peter swimming with the noodle
Joe enjoying the VERY HOT summer day.

Naptime

This is what happened one day when I was working and Brian put Peter down for his nap and let Tom and Joe watch a quick show while leaving 2 home depot buckets out.

Tom left/Joe right
Tom "A little help please, Dad."
Joe "Me too, Dad."

Dr. Seuss at Halloween!

"Oh the places we will go. Your mother won't mind at all if you do". -The Cat in the Hat

We had a Blast this Halloween! The boys decided they wanted to be Dr. Seuss characters. We decided that Peter would be The Cat in the Hat, Tom- Thing One, Joe - Thing Two, mom as Cindy Lou Who, and dad the Grinch (yep, he didn't even need a costume;) ). We also transformed their wagon into the Thing-a-ma-jigger. Mucho thanks to Brian's one semester of engineering knowledge and my decorating prowess.

Here are some Pics of the fun Halloween weekend. On Friday, Brian's Aunt invited us to a Halloween party at her Country Club. If I could only describe the looks we received as we walked in the door. All the little kids were busy running around on the dance floor then we walk in and the music might as well been off. The kids stopped dancing and gravitated towards us and then went straight for the Grinch. Brian threatened to steal all the kids candy because that would be the Grinchly thing to do. The kids all screamed no and a couple of them punched Brian straight up in his face. Brian eloquently exclaimed, "Punks!" Way to go, big boy. What a way to start a party.

The food was scrumptralescent, the non-scary hayride was entertaining, and the haunted house was amusing, although Joe would have nothing to do with it. "I'm not going in there. You're crazy!" Maybe next year.

On Sunday, we dressed up and loaded the thing-a-ma-jigger in the trunk of the van and headed to my parents house, then Brian's parents house, and home again to trick-or-treat around our neighborhood. All in all a very weekend.

Peter is asking me everyday now-"Well, what are we going to be for next Halloween?"

Peter as "The Cat in the Hat"
Tom as "Thing One" (he will readily tell you that he is #1 by 20 minutes. It's gonna be a long life Joe.)
Joe as "Thing 2"
Brian with his Aunt Dee
The Cat in the Hat sitting on the Grinch's lap.
Horrible attempt at getting them all to look at the camera....Ahhhhh
Daddy with Peter
Cindy "Whou" as Peter likes to say
The Family on a non-haunted hayride.
Adult Halloween Costume Contest WINNERS!!

The Cat in the Hat riding in his thing-a-ma-jigger
Cindy Lou's sexy legs....oh, and don't for get those fabulous shoes! HA!

Oh no, the Cat fell asleep at the wheel!



Our nephew and godchild Braden as a pirate.
Elena as a witch, Tom, Peter, Joe behind Peter, Braden and Brett


Gotta love Peters cheeks in this pic.
Baby Hailey as a witch in training.
My mom loves Halloween as well and this year she made a witch to sit on her porch to scare the poor little kids trick-or-treating. It definitely scared my kiddos.

Joe Bob

So as I was driving Joe and Peter to the clinic last evening in the Jetta....we were listening to the new "Seal" CD.

I hear Joe in the back seat say, " Hey mom, can you turn the music down? People are going to think we are having a party in here."

Home Sweet Home

Sleeping Beauty

When are they going to let me outta here?
Mom and Auntie Katie giving me a spa treatment:)


Thanks for the Prayers!!

Hailey is home as of last Saturday evening. She received her PICC line with no problems and completed her IV antibiotics. She will have to take amoxicillin for a year to prevent any more urinary tract infections and kidney infections due to some mild reflux of urine that is backing up to her right kidney.

The urologist wants to see her in a month and repeat a kidney ultrasound due to the size of infection they spotted..per my sister it was 2cm x 2cm.

YIKES!! So WE are so HAPPY she is home!!

Here are some pics of her in the hospital and then a picture of the back of my van with 5 BOYS in it. CRAZY!!

Prayer Request

Molly and Hailey at cousin Juliet and Matt's Wedding August 21st, 2010.
Miss Hailey sporting her first swimsuit (August 20th 2010)
Attending her first parade August-2010.

We have a prayer request to ask of you.

Our 2 month old niece, Hailey, was admitted to the hospital last Thursday for an urinary tract infection that ended up spreading to her right kidney and then out into her bloodstream. She is on IV antibiotics and tomorrow they want to place a PICC line in her. In order to have the PICC line placed, she needs to be sedated for the procedure. The plan is she will need to be on IV antibiotics for at least 10 days :(

My sister has been staying at the hospital with her and she is VERY tired and stressed out...who wouldn't be??? Hailey had a rough day today crying and overall fussy.

Please keep Hailey, Molly, AJ, Braden and Brett in your prayers as well as the rest of the family.