Another Trip

 Right after we came home from Boston, we made a beeline to PA for Kris's cousin Doug and his wife Sheri's baby shower.  Tammy did a wonderful job on the shower.  My mom came down to come with Emma and I.  It was a quick trip, but fun to be girls only!  We even got some cleaning done at the farm.

Boston

 Kris and I took Emma to Boston at the beginning of May.  He had his annual MIT conference and Emma got to come since it's her last year before Kindergarten.  She loved having us to herself, although we still had the normal Emma moodiness!  We spent our days at the Children's Museum and Aquarium.  We had some great food at Quincy Market.  She loved Boston Common and Boston Gardens - smelling flowers and chasing birds and ducks.  We took her to see Blue Man Group - which she loved!  She was wonderful at all the MIT events - even telling her 1 knock knock joke.  It was so nice to spend time with her alone.  She is a wonderful child!

And a big thanks to my mom who spent the week with the boys at home.  I'm pretty sure she didn't have as much fun as we did!

Ryan's Communion

 Ryan had his 1st Holy Communion the day after Emma's birthday.  Proud, we are - although there were a few hiccups and a crying mommy during it.  Ryan kind of got in his own way in regards to the Communion.  But we were able to celebrate with all the family that came in for the weekend (some pictured, some not).  We all went out for a humongous meal at Golden Corral afterwards and sent everyone on their merry way!

Overall, the weekend was a success and a lot of fun!  Thanks again to everyone to traveled to us for it!

Time Just Gets Away - Emma's Birthday

 Sorry - Time gets away from me and I realize how long it's been.  So I'll start here and go to the present with a few posts.  At the end of April, we had a large celebration weekend.  It started with Emma's birthday on Saturday.

We had a great party at our church, playing traditional party games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Musical Chairs and 3 Legged Race.  The kids (all 27 of them) had a wonderful time.  Most of them had never played these games before.  There were, of course, a few upsets over eggs dropping and losing a game.  But in the end it was fun!

 The cake was made by me - and I didn't even get a bite.  It looked really cool though.  Everyone had a friend there (as evidence of the pictures).

Emma got way too many gifts, we haven't even opened some.  But they will lead to some great days over this summer.

Long Time - Sorry

 I'm so sorry that is has been so long since I've updated this.  Here is quick synopsis of where we are.  Above - Nick turned 3!  Party at Jump Zone.  Loved it - kept saying he was getting his birthday (as if it's a present itself).  Now wants to know when he'll be 4.

Emma went out to PA with Kris for pig butchering.  1st time any of them had gone.  She enjoyed it.  And as much as I thought different, not one of them is bothered by knowing they are eating a pig.

 3 kids in pj's above.  One of the only pics I have from February.  Bare with me.
Easter just happened.  Kris was in PA to deal with some major farmhouse renovations.  That left me alone with all 3.  Amazingly, we had a small snack, found baskets and eggs, got dressed and took pictures.  All before getting to church on time!!  All 3 have enjoyed this season - especially rehiding and finding eggs.

 Below, we have pictures from Nick's first 'show' at preschool.  They were way too cute and funny.  I was proud of him for participating (something Ryan still doesn't do).   We took him out for lunch afterwards!  Emma even skipped out of class early to see him.

Dress up has been big in my house for the last few months.  They all love to dress up in Emma's dresses.  That's all they do though - try them on.  They don't pretend they are doing anything!

 The last picture was from the 1st nice day last week.  That meant - time to wash all the outside toys.  They loved it, as always.

That's it in a nutshell.  People have been sick, Nick had staples from a fall into the corner of the wall (all while Kris was in China), we're at the gym a lot - workouts, gymnastics, swim lessons.  I think Ryan is down to 30 days left of school.  It's going by so fast!  I'll try to do better with this!

 Merry Christmas!  We haven't been on here for a while because we are out of picture memory.  So this will be short.  Here are a few pictures from our Christmas card and Santa time.  I'll add more pics of what's been happening soon.

We have enjoyed a wonderful November and December.  We went to MI for Thankgiving.  Nick, Emma and I were there for the week starting with a Zebrowski family Thanksgiving and stayed until Kris and Ryan met us on Thursday.  We enjoyed a lot of time with my family and took the kids to a old time town (in Flint no less) where they had a train ride with light displays and Santa! We all enjoyed our time in MI.

  We have spent December prepping for Christmas. The kids enjoyed making a list of all the things we would do for the season.  And we were proud when we crossed off the last thing - and even added a few new ones.
We stayed home alone this Christmas for the first time since we had kids.  It was a quiet and relaxed celebration - although the kids already asked if we could go to MI next year.

Merry Christmas!