What...it's almost the end of 2011!!!!!

Yeah, so I have been really letting the Blog go for a long time. We've been busy! The kids started Kindegarten this year. The girls are in 1/2 day and Luc is in full day. LUCIEN IN TALKING NOW!!!!! He really likes to say "Pie". He is talking so much now and communicating with everyone now. It's been awesome, except that he wants what he wants and if he doesn't get it...watch out! He is very into Cars, the movie. The girls have branched out and are making new friends. We found a wonderful friend, Rebecca, who lives down the street. She has twin brothers who are becoming great friends too!!!! We are getting ready for Christmas now and very excited to have seen Santa multiple times now.

On the home front, we brought a new puppy into the house. She is a Coton de Tulear and her name is Coq au Vin, "Coco" for short. She has been a welcome addition to the household. We also adopted triplet sister kittens. Isis, Ankara and Cleopatra have been making the house very much their own. The love to look out the window at the birds and squirrels and growl. They have already caught a couple mice in the house, so I hope they keep up the good work. Well, the girls are home from school. Promise I will try posting again sooner than later!

It's been almost a year since my last post...

OK, yes, I am a slacker or should I say SLACKER!!!! Well, the kids actually made it to their 3rd birthday without myself or John killing them, so that was a big milestone. We went on vacation with Cioci Bonnie, Uncle Scott and Hadleigh to Cape Cod for a week and it was awesome! Luc started school in September and is loving it! He has really improved a lot. He is still not "talking", but like I am sure once he does we will be ready to put in earplugs!

We had a lovely surprise this Thanksgiving when the Grybko's came for the day! Of course, Cioci and the girls were here as well as Jill, Jeff and the girls. We even had Mots, an exchange student from Botswana, that made the day even more special.

John turned 40 on the December 23rd! He doesn't look a day over 35...love you baby!!!

Jill and Jeff got engaged on Christmas morning! So I will be gaining a new Brother-in-law and a new niece and 2 new nephews! I am so happy for all of them. As Oliva said, "Now I can really call you "Cioci", Cioci." The family got a new puppy named Lucy from Santa.

I fell down the last step on Jill's stairs carrying the ham and pan to bring home and either sprained my ankle really bad or broke my foot. I go to the doctor's today and hope I don't come home with a cast.

The kids have grown up so much. Sydney know all the "Princess" songs and her favorite radio song is "I make good girl's go bad" (is that a bad omen or what?) Kateri is my little Polish Hoarder. She had a shopping bag full of movies that had to go everywhere with her and now it's a box full of miniature horses. Luc likes to jump EVERYWHERE! I think we should have named him "Tigger".

Just enjoying seeing them develop and learn and trying not to lose my temper too much when they destroy the house.

We will miss you Grandpa

As many of you know, John's Dad passed away on February 12th. We will miss him very much but are grateful for the time we had with him. We know he is watching over us with his beloved wife Nancy and we are happy that he could be with her on Valentine's Day.

Bright Lights and Santa Claus!

We had a dinner party on Saturday with the Danielson crew and Jill and Jeff. Lucky for us, Santa was making the rounds that night and we heard the sirens in time to go out to meet him. The kids were all excited, until Sydney saw the flashing lights and started to freak out. Needless to say, all worked out well and they got candy canes.

Sunday we were off to church and then breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Many lollipops and a long, draw out, cold breakfast later, we returned home to chill out. Later, we met Diane and the Kieras crew as well as Simone and Sue at La Salette shrine to take in the lights! It was freezing cold out, but the Christmas spirit warmed our hearts and the kids loved the lights!

Nail Polish, nail polish everywhere...and not a drop to drink...

This morning, as the spawns were watching Dora, yes again, I decided to slip upstairs to take a shower. As I approached the bottom of the stairs I was assaulted by the strong smell of nail polish!

Upon reaching the bottom step, I was vaguely aware than something was not right. There were drops of bright pink leading from the living room into the dining. My first reaction was that one of the kids had cut themselves and was lying prone in a corner of the dining room slowly bleeding to death. Alas, this was not so (I could have handled that misfortune). Instead my 2 darling daughters had painted their hands and feet a bright fuchsia and were at that moment attempting to cover the wall with what was left in the bottle.

After a short cry of an expletive I shall not repeat, I ripped away the bottle and prepared myself to view the damage. There was a trail of pink leading into the living room, where a larger smear of pink was strew across the floor. CSI would have had a field day mapping the "blood" splatter. Thinking to myself, "That's not too bad", I turned to find footprints and droplets on my new rug in the living room!

Needless to say, after 3 bottles of polish remover, the nail polish has been eradicated from the affected areas. Where is my bottle of wine?????

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

Ok, so I am a slacker! I haven't posted anything in a long time now. Lucien is walking all over the place now. He can get up on the couch all by himself...what a BIG boy! Kateri and Sydney are in the Dora/Diego phase now. That's ALL they want to watch now. I have to give them credit...they know their animals now ("That's a Humpback Whale Mommy") and they "Reach, reach, reach" for things now. I have been very sick for about 6 weeks now. They thought I had pneumonia so I had to have a chest x-ray. I had this horrible cough that kept me (and John) awake all night. I ended up sleeping on the couch a few nights. It turns out I had a virus that was going around and it had to run it's course...it's very LONG course! So I am actually feeling better now.

We have been getting ready for Thanksgiving and we had a Halloween Party for the NE Region William's Syndrome group. I was able to get pumpkins donated from a local farm for the kids to take. We had about 50 people here on November 1st. It was GREAT! We actually ended up with quite a few older kids which was great for a bunch of us that have smaller children. Kerry and I were interviewed by the local paper and we even had a photographer out to take pictures! We had a beautiful day and made a lot of new friends.

Look out Revlon...Crayola as lipstick?

So we have discovered that crayons CAN be used as lipstick! Not only can we pull the barstools over to the counters to eat entire sticks of butter but we can also use the computer, make calls, get candy and virtually make a mess on any surface in the house!

Luc has started walking more on his own in between furniture and does well holding onto one hand. We "chase" our sisters around the garden outside and crawl all over the place now instead of crying to the nearest adult. Jill left for Australia last Sunday so we have 5 kids to contend with now...can you say Prozac and Merlot!

We do not like to wear clothes or diaper, for that matter. I can't wait for potty training!!!! We went apple picking Sunday and it was great. The kids loved picking the apples but spent more time eating them! We made apple pie and it went over well, even though I had no cinnamon and had to ground up 5 year old cinnamon sticks to make do! C'est la vie!

Well, Daddy's home. Time for "Mommy to check out", as John calls it, and relax outside for a few minutes until dinner is ready! Cheers!!

Pictures from Birthday Party

Houston...we have lift off! (or Luc walks)

Well, we had a HUGE surprise yesterday when Luc took his first steps. The first time was with Mommy and Lisa, our PT. He took 6 steps to Mommy all by himself. We waited for Daddy to come home and then he spent 20 minutes walking from Daddy to Mommy!!!!!!

We have the proof!

Happy 2nd Birthday...(mom says we may not make it to our 3rd)

We had a little party on our actual birthday with Jill and family and the Danielson's. The kids loved the cake and blowing out the candles. We can't wait for the big party!

The kids have been more than a handful. Climbing and crawling ALL over the house. I don't know how they manage to get into the places they do. We just added 2 new kittens to our brood after the loss of our beloved cat, Nefret. We named the black one Imhotep and the gray one Osiris. The are lovable and full of energy and fit in perfectly to our ever growing brood.

We have started to try potty training again. The like the idea of "sitting on the potty" but still prefer to pee and poop on the floor. Needless to say I found it more conducive to my sanity to remove the rug out of the living room for a while. It actually makes it easier to clean up...sweep and swiffer!

We got our ears pierced!

On May 25th, we got our ears pierced at the same place, Claire's in the Hampshire Mall, that Mommy and Cioci Jill had theirs done. Our cousins went first to show us that it was ok and then it was our turn. We cried a little, but then the lady gave us pops and we were fine! We love our earrings! Everyone thought we looked beautiful! Now we just have to let Mommy and Daddy clean them so they don't get infected...we're working on it!

Love, Kateri and Sydney

Memorial Day Parade

Went to the Memorial Day parade in Bellingham last week. The babies love the fire trucks and the bands. They clap for everyone. Of course we sat in front of the old town hall right where the have the ceremony so we had front row seats.

This past Sunday we went to the Hadley parade. Jordan and Mackenzie and Alexandra rode on the float with Amanda. They were so cute.

Monday we went to the parade in Franklin with Auntie Rebecca and Matthew and Ryan. The kids made a new friend who shared her cheerios with them and we saw Cioci Jill, Jordan and Mackenzie marching with the Daisies! Then we went back to the house for steak and corn-on-the-cob. Hooray for Mojitos!!!!

Luc's eye surgery

Luc had his eye surgery on May 20th at 8am. The surgery only took about an hour, but the dosed him with so much knockout medicine that he didn't wake up until 2PM!!!! We tried everything to wake him up so we could get home, and nothing worked. Finally, the nurse gave us a cold washcloth to rub on his face and he actually stirred! He then proceeded to fall back asleep! I stripped him down to his diaper, and like a bad Mommy, started rubbing his body down. He finally woke up and ate and drank. Poor Cioci Bonnie and Hadleigh were with the girls again all day, but they had fun!

Luc slept the rest of the day and then when John went up to give him Tylenol, he was really HOT! He had spiked a fever of 103 and we called the doctor and they said to take him to the ER just to be safe. I thought that the virus the girls have had for the past two weeks had finally caught up with him, but better safe than sorry. The ER was packed and John had to fight to get Luc in to see the Triage nurse and they told him to wait. TWO HOURS LATER, he was still not seen (9:30PM at this time) so I told John to come home. Luc's fever had broken (thanks to the Tylenol we gave him) and he was sleeping. We kept an eye on him through the night and he slept great, woke up and proceeded to crawl around like nothing had happened. He was eating, pooping and playing!

His eyes look good, a little red in the corners still, but he seems to be doing fine. We go back for a follow up in 6-8 weeks so we will see then if it worked!

Pierogi Fest 2008

We went to see Jimmy Stur and Eddie Forman play in West Springfield a couple weeks ago (sorry for the delay)! The babies had a great time playing with their cousins. Luc was especially taken with his cousin Kayla. He was playing with her and crawling around on the grass following her around! Of course, the girls loved the slide and couldn't get enough of it. They loved dancing to the music and playing with the other kids. Mommy even got a couple of dances in with Cioci Jill and cousin Suzanne! The only downfall was the fact that they used Mrs. T's frozen pierogis! What was up with that??????

Walk for Brady...Luc's twin

Saturday morning, we took part in the "Walk for Brady" which his Mom started last year to help raise awareness for William's Syndrome. Cioci and the girls walked with us and we had a great time. We were able to meet some more kids with WS and their families as well a Luc's twin, Truman, from New Bedford. Everyone thought it was Luc when they first saw him and I had to check to make sure a couple times who I was holding.

We took a three mile walk around the lake at DW Field Park in Brockton. It is a really pretty park and a nice walk. After, we went back to Kerry's friend's house for lunch and music and conversation. Kerry did a great job organizing the event and we can't wait to help her out next year. It was great to see some of the families we met before and to meet new friends. Luc had a great time watching the musicians and flirting with all the Moms. We look forward to walking again next year and adding more people.

Narragansett Beach

We went to Wickford Village, RI and then to Narragansett Beach last Thursday with Jill and the girls. It was a beautiful day and we walked around the village and shops in the morning. Wickford is a picturesque town south of Warwick that sits on Narragansett Bay. John Updike is from there and based his book "The Witches of Eastwick" on the town. We freaked out a shop owner with the babies all grabbing different toys at the same time.

Kateri tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and cut her knee, but of course she wanted to keep walking. We fed the swan and the ducks in the marina and then left to find somewhere to eat. We drove across the bridge towards Newport and then decided to head down towards Narragansett Beach. We ate lunch at the Coast Guard House, which had a lovely view of the Bay, but the service was so-so. The babies loved the Calamari and of course liked the chicken fingers and fries!

After lunch, we went down to the back and collected shells and Cioci Jill had Kateri digging a hole with the girls. Sydney was loving the beach until she got hit by a wave walking near the water, She wanted to be held until Jill coaxed her into digging. Needless to say, the girls were covered in mud in no time and I told Cioci it was her problem to get them cleaned up. Can someone say "Cold Water"! No one wanted to leave until after the rinsed off in the water and then they were more than willing to get in the warm car! It was a fun day and I am glad we discovered the beach. We will have to go down when it gets warmer.

Southwick Zoo and Aunt Jackie Too!

So, picture this, 11 kids, 4 adults at the zoo during school break...enough said! (Kateri, Lucien, Sydney, Mackenzie, Jordan, Elizabeth, Veronica, Olivia, Rachel, Matthew, Ericka, Aunt Jackie, Tina, Julie and me) The girls wore their monkey backpack/restraints so they were able to walk around without getting lost, although the managed to fall down quite a bit (with a little help). Luc was alert and looking around although he did manage to take a couple of naps in between. The kids were all great and we didn't lose anyone. Of course the babies loved all the monkeys, especially the new babies. Kateri and Sydney were getting knocked over by goats in the petting zoo. Sydney liked to grab their tails (wrong end kid) while Kateri was trying to pet every one she could catch. Luc was content to have Auntie Tina hold him and look around.

The zoo was packed and only one concession stand was open so we ended up going down the street to a burger stand. It actually worked out better because Julie and the kids were on their way back to Rt.146, it was less crowded and the kids were able to run around a little more freely.

We went back to the house after and put the babies to bed and were able to talk a little before Tina and kids checked into their hotel and Aunt Jackie went home. We had a great day!

New York, New York

Sorry I haven't posted for so long a time, but we have been trying to get outside to work as much as possible. This past Saturday, we went to New York with Jill's college kids. The babies did really well. Kateri and Luc took naps and Sydney was looking out the window and flirting with everyone. We lucked out because the Pope was in town. I have never seen so many priests and nuns walking around. Needless to say, we felt VERY safe! We just missed seeing the Pope because we had lunch reservations for noon and he wasn't coming through until 1pm and we didn't get out of the Mexican restaurant until after 2pm!

The food was awesome. Kateri and Luc couldn't get enough of the guacamole! I made sure I bought some at the grocery store yesterday. We walked around the city a little. It was also Earth Day so we picked up some freebies. We went to Central Park Zoo, which was kind of lame, but we saw triplet boys in a cute wagon-train. We walked around the park and watched some roller skaters dancing. The babies had their first New York hot dog which they REALLY enjoyed.

We went out to a burger joint for dinner where Luc proceeded to spill half a glass of red wine all over my shirt and pants. Thank God we were leaving by then. Sydney passed out before we were out of the city. Kateri fell asleep soon after and Luc passed out a hour before we got home! The Pope delayed us getting out of the city because they shut the bridge out of Harlem down so he could go through. We would have been home a hour earlier, but oh well! It was a great time and I would definitely do it again. The kids traveled really well. The only problem we really had was with restaurants not allowing carriages in. Next time we go, we'll wait until Luc is walking.

Mama saves the bird...and other important tasks

This morning, as I was gazing out on the yard, trying to figure out what to clean up today, I noticed something not right in the tree next to the deck. Upon further inspection, I saw that is was indeed a bird and it was...gasp...still alive! What is a Mama to do???

So, I went into the garage, got out my trusty pruning thingy-ma-jig and cut the branch down. The Grackle was caught in a string by the neck and wound around the branch. I broke the string off to get the bird unattached from the branch and was able to untie part of the string before the ungrateful creature flew off!

Talk about gratitude! I then proceeded to cut off a few branches, in my nightgown, mind you. I figured I might as well do it while I was in the mood.

I took the kids outside to play on the swing. Luc likes to go really high in the swing, Sydney, not so high and Kateri goes up AND down the slide by herself! She falls on her bum on the bottom and rubs it and says "Oh, Bum-bum. Ouch" and then climbs right back up!

The twins brought over all their dress up clothes last weekend, so the kids had fun trying on different outfits and pretending. The one I liked best was Kateri in the Tu-Tu. She can't take off her diaper and run around nude in it!!!

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!