Five Years Old

Sam's Birthday was yesterday. I cant believe he is 5 years old already! The years are just flying by!!!!!!!!! I have to say that the last 5 years have been some of the hardest years of my life, but also the most rewarding. Ive given a lot more love in these 5 years than I ever did in my entire life before.

For Sam's Bday this year, we had a party at a bowling alley. It was so much fun! We invited our friends the Stoddards, the Werners and the Crists along with Mom and Randy and Bob and Pat. It was so much fun! The kids really loved bowling. They make it easy for kids to bowl these days. Even Charlie was able to bowl. Put the rails up on the sides so the ball cant go into the gutters and they have this thing-a-majig that you can wheel over and just set the ball on top and it rolls down and onto the lane in a perfect straight line.


Sam made out like a bandit like he always does. We got him 2 hermit crabs and the whole crabitat set up. He named his crabs Su Su and Yu Yu after Tiffany and Leslie's cats. I cant believe Tif and Leslie have cats named Su Su and Yu Yu. So funny! We also got Sam the new Super Mario Bros game for the Wii and we all love it. I stayed up until 1am playing it! It was a fun time.

Happy Birthday my sweet, thoughtful, caring little guy. I love you more than the world.

Happy Bday Charlie

Charlie turned 2 this last week. We also celebrated Carl's bday (38) and our anniversary (5yrs). Needless to say, it was a busy, fun week. We had a little party here on Saturday for Charlie. We had the pool heated up and friends over to swim...everyone had a great time. I made a cute cake and cupcakes this year, stole the idea from my friend Laurel. Yesterday after the party, we had a nice little hike with just Carl and I and the kids and it was nice.

Yesterday Sam turned 4!

I am constantly amazed at how time started flying by much faster once I had Sam. With each year, I cant believe how fast it went and how much he has changed and grown. I cant believe he is already 4!! Its been 4 fun years for sure!! Yesterday, I had a little party here at the house with all of our playgroup friends.

It was fun. We ate pizza, killed a pinata, and then had the gooeyest Sneaky Snake cake ever. When I asked Sam a few weeks ago what kind of cake he wanted for his Birthday, he says, "a smeaky smake cake." Um Whaaaaat?? haha. I love his cute little voice and the funny ways he talks. What he really wanted was a Sneaky Snake cake. He remembered Charlie's snake cake from last year and he LOVES the song Sneaky Snake. I decided it had to be different, so I had this one done out of cupcakes. It had more frosting on it than Id ever seen and it was messy!!!! Of course the kids all loved it.


Sam got lots of fun presents, including a spin art machine, a sticker making machine, nerf guns, hot wheels, an adorable home made book bag that my friend Elisabeth made.

It was a great day and Sam had a blast! Happy Birthday my big boy!

Grandpa McGuire's 100th Birthday

Last weekend, we flew to MI to celebrate a huge event, Grandpa McGuire's 100th Birthday. It was a really great time for all of us. I really am amazed at the size of our family, and how everyone keeps in such close touch!

We flew in on Friday and that night we went to Rose's house for a cousin's party. There were a bunch of my cousins there, with their spouses and kids. It was great to catch up and see all the kids. We didn't stay out too late on Friday because we had a HUGE day coming up for Grandpa's bday.

Saturday morning, everyone met at the school that is next to Grandpa's house. We had to use their gymnasium to do a family photo. That is what it takes to get 150 people in a photo together. It was hilarious when it came time to do a photo of just the great grandchildren. Picture 20 toddlers being put down by their moms all at the same time, then the mom's running away to get out of the photo. Screaming and crying and fits ensued. I'm sure it will be a hilarious photo! The little ones were sprawled out on the floor, throwing fits and all the babies were screaming with their little terror faces babies have when they scream.

After the photo, we headed over to the church across the street and had a special Mass just for our family honoring Grandpa and his life. Its amazing that Grandpa's immediate family can fill a church! It was very special. Lots of people got up and talked about Grandpa and it was very evident what a remarkable life he has led.

Once the mass ended, it was back across the street to Grandpa's house where the celebrating and festivities began. There was good food, live music, open bar and of course, lots of ice cream and chocolate milk. Kids were everywhere! S was having a blast playing with all his little cousins. I was having a blast catching up with everyone, and running myself ragged trying to stay on C like a hawk. Between Carl, my dad and I, we were able to watch him pretty good. The alcohol was flowing all day, from noon to midnight. It brings out a whole different side of people! Like Carl singing, Alice's Restaurant with Uncle Tom Rice playing guitar. Or Luis belting out LaBamba! Then there were endless games of beer pong that I could not drag my cousins or husband away from.

It was such a great party! Just like a 100th Birthday party should be. Grandpa was out a lot of the day, being greeted by his friends and family. He was so happy to have all of us there. We were so happy we could be there. I loved getting to see all my siblings, and am so thankful for each of them. Carl had a really great time. It was his first trip to MI to meet that side of the family and he fit right in! Everyone loved him and thought he was great and he loved everyone too. I am looking forward to more trips to MI, much more often now.

We had a room at the Novi Sheraton, but was not impressed with the hotel room. When my cousin Greg and his wife offered their home to us, I could not pass it up. They have 3 kids, Mason, Myles and Michaela. Myles and Michaela are the same age as S and C, so it was perfect. A baby proofed house, with tons of toys... we could let the boys run wild and sit back and relax. It was so nice hanging with Greg and Kim. I hadn't hung with Greg since we were kids, so it was really nice to catch up with them. They cooked us a great steak dinner and we visited for 2 nights. It was fun. We cant wait for them to come to AZ for a visit, so we can return the hospitality!

Aside from the flight there, which was terrible, the entire trip was great. Its just not fun travelling on a long plane ride with a 16 month old. Its not easy to keep them entertained, especially when they scream for 80% of the flight. Once I pulled out all the tricks in my bag, I was reduced to sticking raisins between C's toes, for him to pick out and eat. I know its gross, but it was the only thing that brought out a giggle, and stopped the screaming. Whatever works!

Thanks to my entire family for making it such a great trip. We are sooo lucky to have so many cousins and aunts and uncles to have a blast with. I loved these pics of Leslie and Maria being great Aunties.

My 33rd Birthday

This week was my Birthday. I have to say that I had a great Birthday this year. I woke up and Carl had a gift all ready to go for me, wrapped up in a little blue box and everything! He never wraps anything, or has it on the actual day he should be giving it to me, so I was super excited that he had gone out ahead of time and bought me a present. He gave me the coolest necklace ever. I love it and its exactly what I like. I could wear it every day. :)

So my day started out so nice like that, with my necklace. I couldnt stop grinning all morning. Sam had preschool that morning and Charlie napped good, so it was easy for me that morning. Then in the afternoon when Charlie was napping, Carl went to the gym and took Sam with him and let me have a nice little break!

At 6pm my mom came over to hang with the boys so Carl and I could go out for dinner. She brought me some flowers, 2 cast iron skillets, and a cast iron Dutch oven. I wast thrilled! Ive really been wanting to get into cast iron cooking lately and now I can!

Carl took me to AZ88, one of my favorite resturants. It wasnt crowded, and it was just the 2 of us. We had our new camera with us and were taking lots of pictures. Everything there was fabulous as always. We got the St. Petersburg Potatoes, which is my favorite appetizer EVER. I am definitely going to have to try to recreate that for myself somehow.

We had a great time. Thanks Carl for making my Birthday really special this year.

Charlie's 1st Bday Party

Happy Birthday Charlie!!

Charlie had a great party. It was alot of fun, lots of friends and family showed up. Tons of kids. All of Sam and Charlie's friends from playgroup and from the neighborhood were here. The bounce house was a hit. We had Mexican food from Someburro's...one of my favorites! Charlie was in a great mood the entire time. When we sang Happy Birthday to him, he just looked around and then was trying to go for his cupcake the whole time. I finally got that candle out of there and he just went for the cake. He ate 2 pieces of cake!! By the way, the Snake cake was awesome. Made by yours truely. The kids got to beat up a Pinata. I think all the kids had 2 or 3 turns before we were offering the stick up to an adult. Finally Carl broke the pinata open a bit, to get it going. It was cute. Every little one there wanted to beat that pinata open. All in all a wonderful time. If you'd like to see the rest of the photos, click Here