Now That Christmas Is Over....

We are ready for spring......

Skating With The Girls

Today we went ice skating- Jenny is lacing up Courtney


Courtney all set to go


Kenzie standing on ice skates for the first time...acting like a pro- she wanted to walk out on the ice herself!


Alina,her BFF and Courtney out on the ice


Aunt Kelly and Kenzie


Aunt Kelly and Alina




Jenny having fun before she fell on her knee


Kelly acting like Dorothy Hamill


Kenzie did awesome for her first time- she kept telling me how much fun she was having


Courtney ready to take a nose dive


Alina with her BFF


All of us- fun day today girls! Thanks

Happy Holidays

Oh Tyson

Just a few reasons why my son must be confined at times.....if he sneaks off to another room, this is what happens...



food all over the floor-


Hair pieces everywhere-


Just found this phone in the garbage tonight(He's already given one to the garbage men without us knowing)


He sneaks into his sisters room to climb the ladder to the bunkbed-


But after the end of a long day with him all I have to see is this happy little face and once again he can do no wrong in my eyes!

Christmas Party

Friday night I took the girls to see Santa and a reindeer in town. It was outside so I didn't bring Tyson. So we are standing in line to see Santa and Alina see's a friend ahead of her in line so she proceeds to yell "hey Lana- do you believe in Santa?" I told Alina she can't say that in front of little kids and the funny thing is she still believes in Santa(thank goodness)- she just wanted to know if her friend did.

Sat. night we went to Skip's work Christmas party and took the two older girls- They had a blast-




And that is all I can write b/c I have a tired 2yr old and a wound up 3yr old who won't leave him alone!!!

True Meaning Of Christmas

These are the things that make my heart melt-
I took the kids and one of Alina's friends to Sweet Lights tonight. For those of you not familiar they are huge lights you drive your car through and it's a couple of miles long(1 or 2 maybe)
Anyhow we had Christmas songs on while we were driving and this is what Alina said

Alina- looking at the lights and listening to the christmas music makes me realize that christmas is not about gifts- it's about being with your friends and family

I thought that was so sweet - wondered if she's still feel that way if there were no presents under the tree christmas morning-haha!!

Winter Time

Kenzie on her way to her Christmas concert yesterday- her skirt looks like it's on wrong and her sweater looks bulky...she looked cuter in person!



Tyson absolutely hating to be bundled up




Gotta love the cold!!!!

No Shirt No Shoes No Service

So this little man had a follow up eye appt today. Dr. M only had to be in the room with Tyson for a couple of minutes to see why I have a hard time keeping his glasses on. By the time Dr. M came in Tyson's shirt was off (that's his new thing- he likes to be shirtless) I didn't bother to try and get it back on. No use. He was really trying to get his shoes off. I explained to him I haven't been doing a good job with this whole glasses thing- I actually expressed to him how I dislike glasses at this age. After being in the room with him I think he completely understood why.
It is just exhausting taking him anywhere- he just wants to run run run-

On the way out the woman at the front desk was going on about how adorable he is (while Tyson was soaking it all in- he was smiling and blowing kisses to her)
She said to me-"how do not just sit and stare at him all day?"
I just smiled but I really wanted to be like- "uhhh this little monster doesn't sit still at all lady!"
He's so lucky he's cute- can't wait to take him to Kenzie's Christmas concert tomorrow(not!!)- might have to sedate him beforehand

Let It Snow

Do I Mind???

Do I mind that Tyson says "Da Da" all the time to Skip?? Not at all- even though I can't get him to say "Ma Ma." Do I mind that he has been very clingy to Skip- wanting to be held by him all the time, gets up and walks away from me the minute he sees Skip, now even cries when he leaves?? Not a bit- I love it.
I can remember when Tyson was born, I was so scared how things would be- would Skip treat him any different, how is he going to handle having a son with DS?..our only son we were so anxious to have. He actually handled everything much better than I did. He doesn't treat Tyson any different because of his disability...I tend to baby Tyson more but that's just what mother's are supposed to do to their children!



I absolutely love seeing the two of them together

Witching Hour

Now I know I'm not the only mom that experiences this- I call it my "witching" hour. Mine occurs from 3:30(the minute the girls get home from school) till about 7pm. It's absolutley crazy. "Can I have a snack, can you get me a drink, what's for dinner, when is daddy getting home, Tyson pooped, Kenzie needs wiped"...
I have to pop an Ativan just to get through dinner time. Don't worry I'm not hooked on them....yet. It's like we have to eat in shifts...Tyson first of course because no one wants to hear him scream, I usually throw food on his tray while I'm making dinner, otherwise he's hanging on my leg. Kenzie takes two bites and is done. Skip eats whenever he gets home. I eat while I'm standing feeding everyone because the minute I try to sit down someone needs something.
Now usually on the weekends we all eat together because I do feel it is important to have dinner as a family....Skip may think differently about that...try eating dinner with three chatty girls and a screaming boy.

Here we all are in our small kitchen- Kenzie always wants to help so she's stirring the soup unsupervised-just kidding I just left her there to take this picture quick.
Skip's trying to program Buzz Lightyear smack in the middle...did I mention our kitchen was small??? Funny thing is we all squeeze into the little island there to eat rather than eating in our dining room. Oh that's right there's always junk on that table too.


Tyson's locked up and already done eating..everytime he sees me with my camera he puts his hands on his face.


Who else has crazy dinner times?

My Helper

Tyson hasn't been feeling very well the past couple of days. I took him into the doctor's today and he has an ear infection. He pretty much just wanted to be rocked all day which is unusual because he is never sitting still so I definitely knew he wasn't feeling good. Alina rocked him so I could get some things done. It had been awhile-since he was a baby- that she rocked him so she enjoyed it. I can't say enough how grown up she is. She told me we are lucky to have him...she's right.

Enjoy

So many reasons to be happy and thankful for..not just today but everyday.
I just realized this is Buddy's first thanksgiving with us. Last year he had just gotten home from his long stay in the PICU and we had to watch him around people,germs..ect..the swine flu was bad last year so him and I stayed home for thanksgiving. I forgot the year before when he was a month old he was in the hospital b/c he had just had surgery. So Skip and I took turns that day staying with him so we could both go back home to eat.
So I am happy that we have had a year free of having to be in the hospital and I am finally feeling good about Tyson's health and realizing he is much more stronger. (I do still get nervous when he gets sick though)
I am thankful to have such a gentle,kind-hearted caring daughter...Miss Alina
I am thankful to have a daughter who loves sports and who has the cutest little voice that I could listen to all day..Courtney
I am thankful to have such an intelligent but devious little one who uses it to the best of her ability. Boy can she get Courtney worked up!....Kenzie Lynn
I am thankful...all I can still say is thankful our little man is here with us today..things would not be the same without him. He has done so much good for our family.
So that being said I am THANKFUL ALL of my children are healthy.

I am so grateful we live so close to my mom and dad..I love how much my kids love them and love spending time with them.
I am grateful for all my sister does for me and my kids..they love their aunt Kelly to pieces.
Life is good...crazy but good!

Weekend

Friday night we watched a movie together and then we made Auntie Anne's pretzels...YUM





Saturday Courtney had her basketball game and then her daddy took her to a Hershey Bears game


This is Sunday morning around 7:30am...everyone's up and at em



And Tyson's up to no good as usual...he doesn't waste any time! So while all of this is going on.....


Skip is in the middle of the room fast asleep...I will never understand how he can sleep through everything...


And did I ever tell you how much I despise glasses??? Tyson is far sighted and does not like wearing them so for awhile I gave up...But I figured it's best if he can see!



Kenzie also has them and she hasn't worn them either so today I decided to push myself to have the kids wear them...ughhhhh! Hope everyone had a good weekend