The Zoo

We visited our local Zoo today.  The kids love going to the zoo and I love taking them!

I couldn't believe how close Kylie was able to get to this peacock, of course right after I took this picture he put up all of his feathers.  So pretty.

It's a win win situation! 

This guys is 100 years old!  I have no idea how they figure that out but that's what the sign said!

See the baby with it's Mamma...so cute

Basking in the sun

"Look Mom I'm running away from you...see me?!"

This zoo also had a park to play on so of course we stopped and played.  Kylie never fails me when I call her name and I have the camera in my hand, so always smiles :)

Big sister helping out...so nice to see

Strike a pose sister!

They loved the Zoo...it was a nice surprise for them.  They had no idea where they were going!

Biker Girls :)

The girls got new bikes and they LOVE them!

Kylie out grew her bike so she need a 'big girl' bike not a baby one like she had.  So this is the one she picked out, it says 'Rock and Roll' on the seat and on the middle bar.  Suits her perfectly.

And Lacey really wanted needed a bike too!  She wanted to b 'Just Like Kylie', so the trike just wasn't cutting it anymore :)

So we are now the proud owners of  12", 16" and 20" bikes!  I think we are set for a while.

Miller Park Zoo

On our way home from our friends house we decided to stop at the Zoo!

I don't think kids ever get tired of going to the zoo...and neither do I!

I thought these birds were so cute.  We were able to walk right underneath them and the didn't have a care in the world!

Beautiful bald eagles!

After the zoo, there was a small park the girls wanted to play at so we were able to burn some more energy off before getting back in the car for the rest of the ride home!

Lacey tries very hard to be a good big sister

Such a sweetie

Swinging is great!

She's a big girl now!

It's even more fun when your big sister with play with you!

They loved it and everyone slept the rest of the ride home....aww peacefulnesss.

Kylie's Spring Break

So glad I brought the girls up to South Bend/Nilesthis past weekend, it was the end of her spring break. They have had the best 2 days so far! Yesterday we surprised Natalie, Hailey, and Jacob, the look on their faces was priceless!

Today we surprised Mrs Chris, Mrs Jessica, Ms Tina, and Mrs Cindy at daycare. And then Kylie did a great job reading to all the daycare kids.

After that, we went to St Mary's school and Kylie received a VERY warm welcome. Then onto Elle's house to play with her friends. Kylie was so happy to see all of her Michigan/Indiana friends, it was awesome to see her SO happy.

What a wonderful weekend. Everyone made us feel so welcome. It was great!  Here are some pictures I took of the kids playing together...forgot my camera when we went to Elle's.  Darn it!

 

Lacey and Hailey had a great time looking for bugs to collent.  It appears in this picture as though Lacey was incharge, for how long is anyone's guess....

They were deep in conversation, apparently those animal crackers were very interesting :) 

 "Let me back in, I WANT to play on the play ground!"

 She chasing a moth butterfly...see it one the upper left?

Pausing for me during her 'nature exploration' :) 

 

Welcome to our family Janessa Ann

This weekend my newest niece was born, she's going to be the family's 'lucky charm' since she was born on St. Patrick's Day!  She is beautiful and I love her to pieces!

Here is a picture I took of her and her Mamma in hte hospital...so sweet :)

Eventful weekend

So this morning I was all excited because we were actually ON TIME for church! That is until I heard the most blood curdling screech from the back seat. When I looked back to see what the problem was, all poor Kylie could do is point and scream! Apparently she discovered a 'hitchhiker' in our car....a little MOUSE had crawled across her foot! I have never in my life ever heard her scream like that, and she could barely speak, her eyes were bigger than quarters.

I pulled over as soon as I could and took everything out of the car in hopes that I could find out 'friend'. I'm really not sure what I thought I was going to do if I found him because I don't exactly like mice either. As I'm doing all of this Kylie starts to feel bad about scaring the poor little mouse. She said 'he was just little and looking for something to eat and now I scared him'. I thought to myself him? what about the rest of us in the car?! Amazingly the other 2 girls didn't even fuss, Lacey just wanted to see the mouse...

Lets just say, trap is set....

Another thing that happend this 'eventful' weekend is the pipe that is attached to the bottom of my kitchen sink apparently decided that it was 'done' doing its job and fell away from the sink. The timing could not have been worse, I had a sink full of water and the dishwasher was empting at the sametime...two words....'tidal wave' of water came from underneath my cabinet. Water was everywhere..., it took 5 beach size towels to wipe everything up! To make matters worse is I have harwood floors in my kitchen/dining room/family room and apparently the water found a way underneath the flooring and now the flooring is heaved up in 2 spots and starting a third! The one is so bad that you can see the sides of the wood planks, the other 2 haven't gotten that far yet.

When it rains it pours at our house! ugh

Daddy and his 'mini me'

I do believe these picture speak for themselves :)

Lacey loves Papa

Lacey loves her Papa!

Ssshhhh, she loves Grandma too....but don't tell.  LOL

Rockin' Out

Kylie loves to sing!

Her latest project is she is 'forming' a band.  She has been very busy writing songs and practing her guitar.  Kylie loves to download her favorite songs and memorize the word and choreograph dance moves to the songs.

I am convinced this child will do something in the arts.  Whether it is singing, dancing, acting, drawing or some/all of the above I have no idea, I just know how creative she is.  It's amazing to watch her. She definately got her creative genes from her daddy!

Our back deck makes a perfect stage for her to sing her heart out. Its so fun to see her so 'uninhibited'!

Glamming it up at Grandmas!

This past weekend we went to Grandma and Papa's house to celebrate a VERY late Christmas.  It was a very short trip, arrived Thursday night and flew home Sunday evening.  Whew!

The girls had lots of fun with Auntie Shayla.  When I had a slight emergency to attend to, she was nice enough to step in and help keep the two older girls busy.  What better way to keep busy than dress up!!!  Shayla fixed hair, did make up and let them 'dress up' in her clothes.  They loved it.

I was totally shocked by how much OLDER Kylie looks.  In my opinion she looks about 10.

Shayla did an awesome job.  Kylie and I have already decided when it comes time to fix Kylie's hair for her First Communion in May Auntie Shayla is on duty!

My babies are just growing up so fast!

The debut of Greg Norton Music

Greg is getting back into singing!  He now has a youtube channel that he will be posting videos on.  Please make sure to subscribe to his channel to be updated whenever he uploads a new video!





Enjoy!

Kylie's 1st Reconciliation

Greg and I were fortunate enough to be able to go with Kylie to celebrate her First reconciliation.  Just the 3 of went, we left the little girls at home with a babysitter.  I'm so glad we did...it would have been much to long for them.

Unfortunately we did not remember to bring a camera with us so we had to use the camera on my phone.  Ugh!  The ceremony was beautiful.

Each of the kids came in carrrying their own candle singing 'Christ be our light'.  Then there was a short prayer and homily.  Then each child went up and said their confession.  Kylie was the last one to do hers.

After each child did their confession, they were able to re-light their candle from the large candle at the front of the church.  It was so awesome to watch each child come out of the confessional with HUGE smiles!

After the ceremony there was a short reception for the kids, it was great!

Happy Birthday Katie!

Happy 1st Birthday Katie!

Mommy and Daddy love you very much

you are the absolute PERFECT addition to our family.

Tik Tok

She created this hance hersolf!  While I don't necessarily love this song I do think its cute how hard she worked on her dance.

Kylie needs her own youtube channel

It's important that you watch these videos in the correct order. First:

Then:


I love how she just talks to the camera like its a person...so cute!

Pixie Dust

There are short little exchanges that happened between Lacey and myself.  They are so cute because she has been watching Peter Pan and really likes it!

Earlier in the evening around dinner time...

Lacey:   Mommy I need some pixie dust

Me: You need PIXIE dust, why?
Lacey:   So I can fly!

Just before bed...

Lacey:   Mommy when is Peter Pan coming to our house?
Me:  Well you have to go to sleep first.
Lacey:   Then he will come?!
Me:  Maybe so..

This morning..

Lacey:   Mommy I didn't see Peter Pan last night
Me:  You didn't?!
Lacey:   No
Me:  Well maybe tonight after you fo to bed
Lacey:   Yeah and maybe tonight, but I haffa sleep good!

Facebook

Some statuses from my facebook page...updating facebook is much easier than keeping this blog updated.  But I'm still going to try!

December 14, 2011: 
Note to self: When making the home remedy or apple cider vinegar, honey and water, a little vinegar is good...more is DEFINATELY not better!


December 27:
Lacey: Mommy what are you eating?

Me: it's stuffing
Lacey: It wooks wike puke! Are you eating puke?
Me: It's not puke
Kylie: Lacey when you were sick last week did you see mommy eat your puke? No! Mommy doesn't eat puke!


I found this little interaction so funny. I don't know what was funnier the fact that Lacey thought I was eating puke or Kylie finding the need to explain to her that I DON'T eat puke!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to  yours!

Gingerbread Village

The girls decorated their gingerbread village

I really thought they would have fun doing it for quite a while

I was wrong...

They decorated for about 10 minutes

before telling me they were done

They did, however, get a lot done in that 10 minutes

All in all they houses they decorated turned out cute.  I guess the main thing is they had fun!

Christmas Parties!

All three girls had their Christmas parties today.  It was so nice to be able to be at all 3 parties.

Kylie's was first, they each colored a puzzle piece and then all the kids put it together to see the 'secret message'.

Then they did a candy cane race, Kylie's team came in first!  And then of course there were treats and gifts to open.  I think all the kids had a great time.

Then Kylie and I were on to the little girls Christmas party at their daycare.  It was nice that the timing worked out so well!

Katie and her friends enjoyed some juice and muffins!  Then they were off playing with all of the parent that came into see them.  They had lots of fun enjoying the extra attention!

Kylie mostly stayed in Lacey's class enjoying the treats they had (theirs were better than Katies :)).  After Lacey's class enjoyed their treats they sang 2 songs for the parents that were there.  They had lots of fun opening their books that they exchanged.  Although some knew which books they brought and didn't quite understand the 'exchange' concept....their only 3, I guess that's what you'd expect!

All in all each of the girls had a great time, and so did Mommy!