Happy Mother's Day!

Today was a wonderful day! I woke up, Alli and I went to 9am mass, then came home and got the babies ready. The whole family (minus Jackie and crew) went to Jack in the Box for lunch. Some may laugh, but our family is over 30 people and lots of kids, so its usually easier and quicker to do this. We thought about having a BBQ or going to someone's house, but we all wanted to do our own stuff with our own families, too. However, Jack in the Box obviously wasn't prepared for our big family. We were pretty much the only people there, but it took AT LEAST 45 mins to get our food. We weren't too thrilled about that b/c its hard to keep the kids calm the whole time. So it got a little hectic, but it was still fun. We came home and put all the kids down for a nap. Jim gave me some of my gifts....gift cards to Old Navy and Gap. Finished opening later on and got some clothes and costume jewelry. He is doing so good with the gifts lately :) I always want new clothes for my gifts and he doesn't know what to get me, so its easier that way. I don't care if its not 'personal' or whatever. So, I went shopping by myself for about 2 hrs, but I didn't get much. That part was no fun....I hate when I actually have money to spend and alone time to shop, and then I can't find anything I like or that looks good. Came home, kids woke up and I just spent the rest of the night with them. So thankful to God for all four of my wonderful, healthy, and happy kiddos (and my mom too!)! They are all so sweet and I think they knew it was MY day today b/c they were soooo good. And I don't say that very often ;) Now Jim is dorking out with Tim....they went to see the new Star Trek or Star Wars movie...same thing, right??? ;)

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms and Moms-to-be!!!!!

I'll add the group picture when Jane sends it to me.

Saturday, I loaded up all the kids and did the MDA Stride and Ride at the Mills Mall. It's a great fundraiser and I think Elizabeth raised somewhere over $2300 for the MDA! Thanks to everyone who donated! It's always a lot of fun too! Great breakfast and lots of stuff for the kids (face paint, balloons, coloring).

Alli getting her face painted
Alli and Me
All the kids (front to back - Cassie, Jenna, Jimmy)
Liz, Jackie, Mom (Mike & Matt with mom), Lexi, Billy, Henry, Marissa, and my 3 babies
They had a cool band playing as we walked. They were very nice and let the kids play some of the instruments.

Saturday night, I went out with some of my girlfriends for some drinks. We went to The Vine Bar, down on Main St (St. Charles). It was a lot of fun, very low-key, but we had a lot of laughs. We were out celebrating Amanda's new job at a different law firm. Congrats Amanda!

Amanda, Beth, Brenda, Janet, Me, Dawn
Friday night, just went to Kohls with Ann and Alli for almost 3 hrs. We got a lot of stuff though :)

Here are a few pictures of the kids eating with a spoon! This is a big accomplishment for them (or us?). A lot of dr's, therapists, people in general, get on us a lot about the kids not using utensils yet. Its already a mess to clean up when they are done eating, so I never even attempt to let them try for themselves. So, I guess you can say I'm holding up my kids development for selfish reasons....I never want to have to clean up the mess, give them baths again, etc. But, I let them try it yesterday with mashed potatoes. They did pretty good! And Jimmy just looks so darn cute in these pictures :) And like such a big boy! I also just noticed that I use a lot of !!!!! and ...... (oooops)


And Alli is just always so sweet