Easter 2011

I took the kids to see the Easter Bunny at the Mall last Wed. Thought I would do good and get there early. Got there at 10:40 and the dang Bunny doesn't start his shift until noon! I already walked the kids in the mall, so I wasn't leaving. We played on the playground about 4 different times and then I made them go to a few stores. 4 kids and malls don't mix! What a chore! We stopped by the bathrooms, the drinking fountains, and the candy kiosks too.

None of them were scared this year, but Cassie wasn't quite ready to sit on his lap. I think Jenna was a little nervous, so she didn't smile too big, but was a big girl sitting on his lap. Jimmy was being Jimmy....he could care less. This was the only picture without his hand over his face. He is just a little shy and doesn't like to listen...he just does what he wants. They offered to retake it, but I think this was the best we were going to get :) A big change though since their Santa picture just 4 mos ago.....they were still crying and scared in that one!


We also went to Portrait Innovations and got a picture last week just to show them off in their Easter outfits. Jenna smiled on every picture except this one, but this is the ONLY one that Jimmy was even looking at the camera!

Trophies

Sorry regular readers! I'm hijacking the blog so I can post a picture of my fantasy baseball league's trophies. They just came in and I want to make sure everyone has a chance to see them (and I'm not sure where else to post them) :) Congrats to Bobby, Craig, and John. I'll get these to you ASAP.

America's Next Top Model????

Alli LOVES to pose when the camera comes out. She loves to sing and dance and put on shows for us. And we she knows she looks cute, she struts her stuff all over the house. Here's a few for her portfolio :)

And of course, Jenna right by her side ;)

Disney on Ice

We went to see Disney on Ice on St. Patrick's Day. Jim really wanted to go out for some green beer, but I bought the tickets with my MOMMES group way back in Dec. I didn't really think about what day it was on. But we never really go out too much since we had the kids anyway, so I didn't think it would be a big deal. Anyway, I bought all the kids a new Disney shirt, so they were pretty excited about that. The show was great---and we sat second row from the ice. Wish we could be that close for the Bon Jovi concert next month....but, that's not going to happen! Didn't get any pictures at the show. Can't wait for the next one. The kids were so excited and talked about it for days!


I just have to post this one b/c Jenna cracks me up! She totally looks up to Alli and wants to do everything that she does. Such a big girl.

Tour de St. Louis

March 20th

Jim's friends like to come in from back home (Springfield) to spend the day in St. Louis and do all of the touristy type stuff. Jim usually meets up with them, but I never get to go. They probably think I don't like them, but really either I already have something going on, or we can't get a babysitter, so he goes. But, I do like them---they are a lot of fun to hang out with.

First, we took the tour of Busch Stadium. It was pretty cool.

All the girls - me, Bekah, Vanessa, Amy (and her baby)

2006 World Champions
Jim and I in the dugout
All of us in the dugout - Back row - Jason, Sean, Joel, Amy, Front row - Me, Jim, Vanessa, Bekah, and Charlie
Then we all went to take the Schlafly Bottleworks tour and eat lunch. I was getting a little toured out. I know its a lot smaller scale than AB, but the tour was no comparison! Pretty boring. Food was just okay and I'm not big on their beer. Soooo.....I wouldn't really recommend that one.

Do they look interested???

Cute Kiddos

Ann has school on Thursday nights and my mom always babysits, so I volunteered to keep them at my house this week (3-23). Good thing it was only about 2 hrs ;)

They were sitting on the table watching Toy Story 3 and being so good. I was going to find the camera, and Alli said, "Mom, get a picture of the babies. They are all sitting there like a group and its so cute." I thought it was cute that Alli noticed how cute it was. Then she said, "Okay, wait for me to get in the front of them." Totally MY daughter!!! LOL!

We decided we needed to add the babies to the picture too. Luckily, they sat still long enough to get one of my new favorite pictures!!! These cousins love to play together :)

Matt, Mike, Cassie, Jimmy, Jenna
Dan, Alli, Chris

Day at the Park 4-10-2011

I'm so far behind in updating the blog, so I'm just going to start with the recent stuff, then if I have time, I'll go back and add stuff from the 1st 3 months of 2011.

After a long, long, cold, icy, snowy winter, its finally starting to warm up. We didn't have many plans this weekend, but the weather was so nice, we wanted to get outside and enjoy it. We took the kids to St. Ferdinand park to play and feed the ducks. They had a lot of fun. I think Jim liked the park too...I didn't realize he had never been there. It's a nice park and pretty close to home.

I think the ducks were full....everyone had the same idea on a beautiful day

Not a great picture of Cassie, but I think it looks cool
They are getting so daring, climbing on all of the playground equipment. Makes me a little nervous.
The only slide Cassie would go on. She is still hesitant to go on the big slides.
We didn't realize she was sick and had a fever until after we were already there for an hour. Poor baby is on day 3 with a fever now. And Jim and Allison have one now too. We did great this winter though without getting sick at all, so I guess we couldn't stay lucky forever!

My Potty-Trained Fools!!!!

I think we can safely say we are pretty much done with daytime diapers! I started last November, 2 weeks before their 3rd birthday. Jenna was done in a few days. Jimmy took about 2 weeks. Cassie...well, she just didn't really care. And I guess I didn't too much either. I didn't work with her much....I guess I figured she wasn't ready and heck, one kid in diapers was easy compared to three (and a heck of a lot cheaper too!!!) But, a week ago, I started with setting the timer for every 30 mins and made her go in there. She had a few accidents the first few days, but she has been doing great. I'm so proud of her :) We have still been putting them all in diapers at bedtime, but they never wet them, so I think we can safely stop (with Jimmy and Jenna). I'm really looking forward to no swim diapers over the summer too and saving some more money on that last box of diapers I had to buy each month!

Tonight, Jimmy was being silly with his undies, so of course the girls had to join in. And of course, I had to have them pose for a picture :)

Happy 2011!!!!!

We went to Blessed Theresa for a dinner/dance for New Year's Eve instead of having our usual party. It was fun....but not sure what we'll be doing next year. I'm glad Jackie babysat for us and got a picture of the kids for me :)

Jenna, Alli, Cassie, and Jimmy

Here Comes Santa Claus....2010

Santa came and dropped off lots of loot!
Breaking into the gifts
Santa put candy in the stockings and the kids had a hard time getting past that....they just wanted to sit and eat candy instead of open presents.


Doesn't Jenna just look thrilled with her gift????
We had a wonderful Christmas. The kids were really good. I'm so glad they are at the stage when we go to my Mom's house or to someone's house, they will go off and play a little bit with their cousins and not cling to us the whole time. It gives us a chance to sit and relax a little bit :)

Brian, Dad, and Billy
Greg and Jake
Cali, Alli, and Amy
Jenna and Liam (note - all the baby dolls in the house are now named Liam!)
Jenna, Cassie, and Marissa

All of us with Dad


We celebrated with the Clausers the next day and had Christmas at our house. We missed Grandma G this year (she was in CA with Aunt Cindy), but we enjoyed all the gifts, food, and company!