It's Great to be Eight!

Jack had a great birthday! Sunday afternoon Grandma and Grandpa came over to celebrate. The brought a birthday cookie for him. Unfortunately, my goal to get a picture of the grandparents and Jack did not happen. They are often on the back side of the camera.

Monday, after school, Jack had a few friends over. Daddy took the guys bowling and then they came back here for dinner and cake. From left to right: Sam P., Isaac, Jack, and Sam J..

Jack wanted a Hot Wheels cake. I was happy with how it turned out so was Jack!

We finally have some family pictures with all 6 of us. It's been a very long time since we've had a family picture. Our friend, Jill is a wonderful photographer (hoping to one day make it her career) so she generously took our family pictures. We went in the woods on a beautiful fall morning.







It's not easy to get 4 kids to all look at the camera and to smile. Ella Jane saw a chipmunk and no longer had any interest in pictures. Despite challenging subjects, I think Jill did a great job photographing our family.

It's a Girl!

Just when we thought our family was complete a new little girl came into our life. Her name is Nessa. She is a 2 month old blue-point Siamese (probably a little tabby in her too). She's a sweet cat.



I found Nessa in a nearby parking lot. I tried getting her one night with no luck, went back a second night with no luck. But, the third time was a charm! She was skiddish at first, but got over that as soon as she was inside a warm house with good food, no more eating out of the Taco Bell dumpster!

For those of you wondering where the name comes from it's a Character from the Book/Musical "Wicked". Nessa is the sister of the main character. Actually, Nessa is the Wicked Witch of the East (you know, the one who had the house dropped on her -- but she was deeply misunderstood).


As you can imagine the kids are thrilled! Isabelle keeps saying, "I can't believe I have a kitten". Isabelle has been calling all her friends to come meet Nessa.


She's very playful. But, all that playing can wear one out. On the left she had fallen asleep right in the middle of chasing that string. The kids give her a good workout. She is the perfect balance of cuddly and playful.


Nessa is unbelievably tolerant. She lets the kids pick her up, carry her around, and generally just obsess over her. I think she's going to fit well into our crazy household.

Oh, and isn't she adorable!

New School Year = Changes

Fourth grade has been a big deal for Isabelle. It means science projects, geometry, long division, and BAND! Isabelle is now a flute player. She's just thrilled to have her new instrument. It's just the start but I'm sure there will be some out-of-tune concerts in our future!


Poor Patrick has had a rough adjustment to afternoon pre-school. At least a couple times a week I find him sleeping somewhere around the house before 6:30 p.m. This particular day he pulled pillows and blankets off my bed and crashed. I woke him only to get his jammies on him and put him in bed. His eyes hardly opened. But, aside from being a little sleepy he's having a wonderful school year. His teacher and all of his therapists have seen big improvement and big changes in him!

Back to School!

The kids are back to school! Summer went much much too fast! I actually cried tears to see them go back. I wanted more time with them. I wanted to stretch out the lazy, hazy days of summer. I wanted to sleep until 8:00 a.m. each day a little longer. But, I could not freeze time, so they are back. Isabelle started 4th grade. She has Mrs. Platt for her homeroom teacher and Ms. Newman for her gifted classes (same gifted teacher as last year). Jack is in 2nd grade. He's thrilled to have Mrs. Fuss who Isabelle had two years ago. Patrick started his second year of pre-school with the same teacher, Ms. Barb. He will also have the same therapists as last year.

The other day I asked Patrick if he missed me while he was at school. He said, "no. I have fun school". Okay, so I'm totally thrilled that he likes it; but really, he couldn't lie to me!?!? He has adjusted very easily and is happy to get on the bus each day.

He and Maddy are in the same class again. They are the best of friends. You would think they were already a married couple. They are inseparable, yet can bicker unbearably. I'm so glad they have each other in class together. So, while Patrick is doing great he is adjusting to his day. He goes to school in the afternoons now, which means no nap or quiet time. I found him crashed on the couch before 6:00p.m. for the first few days of school.

Ella Jane is adjusting to the new school year as well. She is not thrilled with all her siblings leaving her every day. She tries to get her shoes on when it's time for the big kids to leave. She says, "Ella Jane go school. Ella Jane go on bus". She must ask me a few dozen times a day where Isabelle and Jack are. She naps for much of the time Patrick is at school and wakes to find him home. A few days ago she was feeling particularly crabby. I found her zonked out on the living room floor. Cute. Pathetic, but cute!

August in Michigan

All six of us went to Michigan. It was the first time in 5 years that Kevin has been to my parents house, so we were all thrilled to have him with us.

Kevin and I took the two little kids on a Paddle boat. They didn't last long. We barely got past the dock when Patrick asked to go back and Ella Jane was trying to climb out of the boat.

We had a family party to celebrate my dad's 65th birthday. Clearly, I didn't have my camera out enough since I have no pictures of Dad on his birthday. What party would be complete without a bonfire and s'mores?

Above left: Isabelle and her friend, Lauren, who lives next door to my parents.

Above left: my beautiful cousin, Karly with her fantastic hubby, Ben. Above right: my little cousin, Andy with his wonderful fiance, Heather. YEAH! They got engaged!!!! Okay, so I feel really old that Andy is old enough to get married. I remember giving him a bottle and reading him bedtime stories.

My brother, Mike, was able to come in for the weekend from NYC. We love spending time with Mike. Our visits are always nice, but way too short. He's an awesome uncle and the kids have a blast with him. Dad fashioned some very cool marshmallow roasting sticks. He took metal Kaboob skewers and duct taped them to very long, thick sticks. Although, pointy sticks in the hands of small children... risky!

Birthdays!!!

We celebrated Patrick's 4th birthday and Ella Jane's 2nd birthday with a backyard BBQ with friends and family. It's so hard for me to believe that they both have already gotten so big. Ella Jane really seemed to get into the whole birthday gig this year. She sang "happy birthday" to herself, to Patrick, to Daddy, Isabelle, Dora (the t.v. character), pretty much everyone. Patrick said, "I'm four, I'm four! I'm almost five!"



Grandpa brought some super bubble solution and huge bubble wands for the kids.

Patrick had yet another Thomas Cake. Ella Jane had a Dora the Explorer cake. We sang to each of them separately. I love to watch how their little faces light up when everyone sings to them.



Above left: Ella Jane is OBSESSED with Dora. Our friends, the Hurley's got Ella Jane two Dora dolls, which she was happy about as you can see. Above right: Isabelle hanging out chatting with her two best friends, Jaci and Abby Sutherland.

My husband is such a clown! He's available for parties, just call for pricing.

And I wonder why Jack is such a goof! Above right: Kevin, Mike Hurley, and David Jouf. Acting like boys!