Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone! We had a crazy weekend! Friday was our search for Babka bread. For some reason Stop & Shop decided not to carry it this year at any of their stores! I had to send John out Saturday AM to the Polish store to get some. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Friday was spent cooking the kielbasa and eggs. Mackenzie and Jordan decorated the Easter eggs while the babies watched. Jill made the horseradish this year (after claims she made it last year, not realizing that she was still in Africa at the time it was made). It actually came out really good, of course that is because of my expert growing and tender loving care that I extend to my garden! We had a special visit from Auntie Tina, Aunt Jackie and Elizabeth, Veronica and Olivia. The babies had so much fun playing with everyone that they didn't want to take naps. They were exhausted!

Saturday we got up early and I made homemade sauce with meatballs and sausage. We met Jill and the girls at the library and went to the Easter egg hunt. Kat and Syd were besides themselves at the sight of the Easter Bunny. They kept waving at him and laughing. Of course when we got into the library, Syd just wanted the Easter Bunny, but Jordan and Mackenzie took her to find the eggs. Jill had Luc and I had to chase Kat into the main library and bring her back to the kids room. I was helping her find eggs and then we went to see everyone else, and Syd was missing! Jill thought she was in the corner, the girls thought she was with me and I thought she was with them. After a frantic search of the area, I had a bright idea to look in the Easter Bunny room. Lo and behold, their was Syd, standing right in front of the Easter Bunny, blocking the other kids from getting their pictures. After taking a deep breath, I composed myself and gave a little nervous laugh as I scooped her up and took her out, protesting all the way!

Of course once we made it into the room to take pictures, they had no patience to stand in line to wait their turn, so it was fun trying to keep them entertained. We finally made it up to the bunny and the photographer couldn't help but start to sing the "Brady Bunch theme".

After we came home and got the basket ready to bless. Jeff and the kids came over along with Bonnie, her brother and Hadleigh. All three cars headed of to St. Stans in Woonsocket to get the food blessed. No one understood the Polish priest in our group, but it was still fun and new for the kids. We went home and ate like little pigs and then went outside to run around. After a rousing Easter egg hunt, everyone was hopped up on candy, especially the babies!

Sunday, we were up at 6am, showered, fed the kids, bathed them and were in the car at 8:15am to go to church. The church was packed and we got there just in time to score an empty pew before the church filled up. After church we went back home and got ready to eat our blessed food. We literally ate all day, smoked the Houka pipe Jill and Jeff brought back from Egypt (it is just tobacco) and relaxed. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Cairo Express...(or Cioci went to Egypt and all I got was this lousy Tee-shirt)

Just kidding Jill!!!!!!! I have to live vicariously through you since I have no life! Where is my Mummy finger?????

Well, Jill and Jeff are back from their grand adventure in the Middle East! After a fun filled week of Hookahs and haggling, they came back with gifts galore. The babies got tee-shirts (Egyptian cotton of course) of which Kateri insisted everyone wear over their PJ's for the last 2 days! They also got silver cartouches with their names in hieroglyphics. Uncle John got a hookah (that should be interesting) and Cioci got an awesome papyrus of the Goddess Nut from the tomb of Ramses IV.

We were very happy to have everyone home safe and sound and can't wait to see all the pictures and hear the stories of their adventures. Now we have to get ready for Easter! Of course with all the excitement we missed the darn Easter Bunny at the Green Mountain Chococlate Factory this year. I don't know why I bother to write things on the calendar when I never remember to look at!!!!

Kateri is already running around the house with her pants off! We just got home from the library where we attended the "Ring-a-ding-sing-thing". Lucien was a hit with all the ladies and made a few new friends to hold him! Kateri was running around with the older kids and fighting them for instruments. Sydney was singing along to the songs and shaking her bum-bum to the music. All in all, it was a fun thing to do on a crappy day. Hopefully they will take good naps for me this afternoon. Cross your fingers!

Random Events and Petra too...

Well, Jill and Jeff should be in touring Petra in Jordan today. Petra is an ancient city that once thrived as a trading post around 300B.C. It was made famous by "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" where they found the cup of Christ in the final scenes. Yesterday she called to tell me that they had just gone swimming in the dead sea . She said you could stand up and float in the water without touching the bottom. They rubbed on mud (Jeff was reluctant at first) but found it exhilarating! They are bringing back some for us! God knows we need some revitalization around here!

We are all sick, Jordan and Mackenzie included. We just have head colds but it is miserable! Last night Luc had gas pains from the broccoli from dinner so he was freaking out. Kateri woke up all stuffy so John brought her into the shower around midnight. After that, things finally calmed down until 6:30Am, when we all woke up. The girls got ready for school, breakfast was served, and then the kids settled in to watch "It's a Big, Big World".

The Great White Hunter, a.k.a Nashoba, chased a big, bad deer into the woods this morning. Thank God we have him around here to protect us from all the warm, fuzzy creatures that roam the forest!

We are hopefully getting a new mattress delivered today that should help relieve our back troubles. We'll see...

Time to Potty Train???????

What can you do with a baby that is always getting naked???? It's time to bring out the little potty and start to pee! Kateri is in her "nude" phase of development. She is constantly taking off her clothes and diaper and running around naked. Of course, Syndey is no slouch, as she unzips her PJ's and pulls her diaper off with out taking her feet out!

Luc is crawling up a storm now and is pulling up to stand on his toys. He actually took 4 steps all by himself yesterday with his push toy down the hall! He loves to stand and we are working on getting him to balance better.

Cioci leaves for Egypt tomorrow with Jeff for a little over a week so we will have our "adoptive" daughters here as house guests. They are very excited to stay over because they get to sleep with Luc in his room.

We are all getting excited about Spring and can't wait to run around outside. We went for a short walk today with Kateri pushing Luc and Sydney holding my hand walking. They love to see the trees and hear the water dripping down the storm drains. They "tweet" when we hear the birds sing so they will be really excited when the butterflies come out!

We are very into the new books I just got on "How do Dinosaurs eat their food?" and "How do Dinosaurs go to sleep?". We love to roar and stomp our feet. Kateri and Sydney are very good at jumping and Sydney loves to shake her bum like a hula dancer to the music.

Hopefully the potty training will go well. This should be an adventure. I hope we are up to the challenge!

A busy week

On Wednesday we had a play date with our friend Brady and his Mom Kerry. It was more about evading Kateri's hitting than actually playing, but it was still fun. I made Ruebens and salad and we were able to talk over lunch until the exhaustion set in and we had crying start to invade the tranquillity!

Thursday, I had a doctor appointment to check up on Thyroid and BP, both of which are still messed up! The kids sat in their triple stroller (which just fit in the elevator) in the reception area. They were amused by the nurses and patients waiting. I tell people that they are in awe of being somewhere other than home, but they really are good wherever we go. Just as I finished my appointment, Luc started to get restless and cry, so we timed it perfectly!

After that, we met Auntie Paula and Auntie Lise at a restaurant down the street from my old workplace. Lise was on Kateri's side and Paula and I had Luc and Sydney. Syd was so cute feeding her brother and making sure he had food. Not to worry there because Luc was grabbing food off my plate and shoving it into his mouth faster than I could stop him! Kateri did a great job with her broccoli and grilled cheese, as well as driving Lise crazy by throwing her cup on the floor right after Lise picked it up for her! All in all, it was a relaxing lunch and being the only people in the dining room made it even better!

Friday, we took a bath and had our first floater courtesy of Sydney! Thank goodness I had just drained the tub so there was no water left but she still managed to squeeze a couple poop balls in her hand! After washing Sydney again and bleaching the bathtub, we settled down for a nap.

That is, Kat and Luc settled in and Syd called "Mama" until I went up to get her. She sat quietly for a little bit and then went to the bottom of the stairs and called "Kat...Kat...Kat" Upon which, after much yelling of her name, Kat woke up. I brought her downstairs and Syd just smiled and said "Kat".

After Luc woke up and we had lunch, we went with Cioci Bonnie and Hadleigh to the RSID museum in Providence. We found it after driving through the historic district by Brown University (really beautiful area with big hills). After finding a parking spot on the street, and 6 quarters in the bottom of our purses, we walked down the long, winding hill to the museum. Note I said down the long, winding hill...

The museum was really good with artwork from modern to classic to impressionist. It also had Egyptian, African and Asian artifacts. The nest part was we got there before 1:30pm and we had free admission! I had Luc in a bjorn sling and the girls in the double stroller and Hadleigh was bjorned onto Bonnie so we looked a little funny walking around. All the kids were great and just looked around. Needless to say, Luc was killing my shoulders and it was a challenge to keep him leaning back, which made it even worse.

Cioci Bonnie volunteered to push the girls up the long, winding hill. I seriously do not know how we made it up! I had to stop halfway because I was so winded (and out of shape) and I had Luc strapped to my stomach. Bonnie went all the way up with Hadleigh on her chest pushing the double stroller. She works out regularly! We were both huffing and puffing at the top. The backs of my legs are still sore today!

We had Cioci Bonnie, Uncle Scott and Hadleigh over for dinner that night and I made Salmon with Risotto and broccoli. It was my first Risotto and all I kept hearing in my head was Gordon Ramsay saying "Where is my bloody Risotto!" It came out pretty good and we ate every little bite!

Today we have snow! Tara, our OT, is coming for 11:30am to work with Luc and then I think we will take the rest of the day easy. Tomorrow, Daddy is watching the kids with Uncle Scott and Hadleigh because I am going to Cioci Bonnie's Tupperware party! It should be interesting and the Tupperware lady is a BIT$#!

Monday is Cioci Julie's birthday (Sto Lat) and Tuesday, Luc is back in the pool, and Jill and Jeff leave for Egypt Friday, so we are already off to a busy next week.