Snippets........

Once again, it has been awhile.... I don't have much knew news to share. Anyway.... here is the low down......the school year is winding down and it seems like the activities have been increasing. We have a lot of stuff to pack in the next 2 weeks. I have been preparing to go back to work and recently started running again. (Boy do I feel out of shape!) Steve has been out of town and then came back sick. Michele stayed for a short visit and she was a huge help. I have been planting flowers and enjoying the spring weather. Nicholas has been joining me at night while I'm feeding the baby because apparently there is a witch haunting his bedroom. Amanda is fighting off a cold and this week received an invitation for breakfast with the principal. Her teacher selected her to attend the breakfast and it is a very special honor. Gabby is growing and sleeping more. Yesterday night was her longest 5hr. stretch. YAHOO! In the meantime, here are some new photos.

Miss Gabby in her usual hangout. I love these happy non-fussy moments.

We are loving the nicer weather. Last weekend we spent time at the park and I thought this photo was an excellent example of pure happiness, Steve pushing Nicholas higher and higher.

Playing more baseball. Grampie is rounding up part of the team.....

There is a homerun swing if I've ever seen one!

Shenanigans in the outfield...... The pregnant lady/water girl and Amanda playing soccer in the outfield instead of doing their baseball duty. That left me to chase down fly balls, and boy was I RUSTY!

I love these pictures! This is field day at Twin Beach Elementary. In this event the kids had to take a wet sponge and RUN down the field to fill up a water jug on the opposite side. Here Amanda takes off at a sprint....

Fills up the jug.......

And takes enough time to smile and wave at the camera during the race!

A recent picture of Gabriella at 4/5 weeks old

Pictures with Aunt Michele. We had a great few days during her visit. She was a huge help making sure that things were running smoothly while Steve was out of town. Thanks Shel! (The glasses were compliments of Aunt Shel too. Nicholas is one cool Dude!)

Amanda in her J Lo glasses.

And finally........... I just wanted to share why I can't seem to be on time...... Wednesday afternoons are always a little crazy. We need to leave for tennis at 4:30 and Amanda gets off the bus at 4:05. I quickly give the kids a snack, everyone changes into tennis clothes, we get water bottles and racquets, and run out the door. Well..... that is the way it is suppose to go. Yesterday, I'm feeding the kids' snacks while the power goes out. The kids are all excited and start to look for flashlights. (Remember, it is 4 in the afternoon and very light out.) I'm telling everyone to hurry up and eat, and change, and stop worrying about the flashlights. We have to leave in 5 minutes. I strap Gabby in her car seat and begin to tie Nick's shoes. Then Gabby surprises us with a dirty diaper. I tell the kids to get in the car. I change Gabby's clothes because she poops through them and change two more diapers in the process. Great timing! Finally, we are out the door and down the drive. I do a quick check in the car. Water bottles.... Racquets... What? No tennis racquets. Silly me! We are going to tennis right? I pull back into the drive and run in the house. Now we are ready to leave and I'm en route to Franklin. In the process a Fed Ex truck nearly runs me off the road because the driver is in the wrong lane in the round about. I actually got to do a couple circles on Farmington Road. We finally make it to Northwestern Highway and we are only 5 minutes away. That puts us only a few minutes late. I breathe a sigh of relief and reach for my water bottle. That is when I notice yellow poop all over my jeans! C'est la vie! It is a good thing I had antibacterial wipes in the car. I was as good as new by the time I pulled in the parking lot. And that my friends............... is why it seems I can never be on time. You have to love the unpredictability of LIFE!

Finally.............

FINALLY....... I think we are healthy. Nicholas has been running a fever for the last 5-6 days, but this morning he is fever free. YEAH! We have been cooped up in this house and I'm going a little stir crazy. This was the first morning we were even able to walk to the bus stop. The fresh air was fantastic.

In the meantime it has been a fairly quiet week, just the usual, with the added bonus of enjoying Nicholas' company 24/7 and trying to keep him away from Gabby. Here are a few new photos.

In the midst of being sick, Grammie Herdoiza sent a package from Florida. Talk about excited! When the doorbell rang and Nick saw what was on the porch he started shouting, "A package, a package, a package." He is grinning from ear to ear thanks to Grammie's loving gesture and some Motrin and Tylenol.

More Webkinz.........

Mother's day was great. Both kids made special projects at school and couldn't wait to share them with me. I opened them up earlier in the week and Amanda rewrapped them on Mother's Day morning for twice the fun and excitement. As an added bonus Steve and the crew got me a day at the spa in Novi. I can't wait to enjoy my day of luxury! (My husband..... what a thoughtful guy!)




In addition to the beautiful clay art, Amanda made me a scrapbook at school. She wrote 6 different entries about me and here is what this 7 year old thinks.....

In Amanda's own words, "My mom is a physical trainer. My mom cooks the family dinner. She cleans the house. She helps someone in the family if they get hurt. My mom helps if I have special projects. She buys stuff for everyone. She cleans the floor. She takes me places. My mom does the dishes. She give me allowance. She helps me with stuff or chores. She pays for friend's birthday presents. She lets me have play dates with my friends."

Do you see a recurring theme here? I'm a really good cleaner. I'm glad that further in the scrapbook she describes playing tennis, games, and reading together too. It is amazing that I ever take off my rubber gloves and detach myself from the vacuum cleaner!

And finally............. This morning Nicholas was so happy that he didn't have a fever, he told me he knew why. He hadn't eaten any junk food, because junk food makes you sick. (Isn't that what I am always telling him?) It must have been the junk food that contaminated him with germs. Soooo... good bye potato chips, cookies, ice cream......

Yes!!! We are fever free!

Oops I almost forgot..... I did have another Nicholas incident this week. Let's just say it involved make-up..... more specifically nail polish....... but not on his nails....... on his lips. UGH! I had to soap off his face and that Hannah Montana polish is nasty and hard to get off and it stinks. Oh yeah, I got the spots off his teeth too. I'm glad he didn't ingest it and the nail polish has been removed from the premises.

Until Later...............

3 Weeks Young...........

As promised....................... Here are some new pictures of Gabby at 3 weeks.

Ohhhhhhhh Nooooo... Here she comes with that camera AGAIN!


My favorite photo of the afternoon. She looks like an ANGEL! I'm in LOVE.


Just about ready to sleep... I wonder what she is dreaming about?

I want to make a scrapbook page out of all her tiny body parts. Here are those cute little fingers...

I love that I caught Gabby smiling in her sleep. Of course I had the camera off the tripod so it is blurry and a little crooked, so I will call it artistically PERFECT.

And finally....

I've had enough!

Well, I'm off to bathe Gabby and bake some banana bread with Nicholas. Have a great day. Until later...............

Take Me Out to the Ball Game............

This was Nicholas' first attempt trying out his new baseball mitt the Easter Bunny left him. Grampie and Uncle Justin were anxious to share their wealth of baseball knowledge. After some throwing practice, Nick took a turn batting while I took pictures from the outfield while catching fly balls. I think we might have a future Tiger all-star in our midst!

Take me out to the ball game.........

Grampie pitch me a strike...............

Uncle Justin says be patient...................

Wait for a pitch that you really like............... And it's going, going, gone....Home run.....Over the left field fence.................. (Check out that form.)

Before you know it, Nicholas might look like this...............Hitting balls right into the neighbor's backyard

I'll be back soon with some new Gabby pictures. Until later............