Hosanna

This morning we went to a kids' program at church called "Hosanna." The kids have been learning songs in church to sing at it. It was cute, there were different stations like crafts, where they made a Lamb of God foam picture frame and a palm leaf, games, and of course-treats. After all the activities, everyone ended up in the auditorium for worship. Hannah wanted to go on stage and sing, and Josh did too...at first, then he came right back down, but Hannah stayed. I snapped a pic of her up there doing her hand motions to the song. She's so funny, sometimes she sooo shy, and other times, she wants to be on stage! It was real informal and fun, and Josh, Han, and Ryan had a good time.

Cousin Olivia's 1st Birthday Party

This past weekend we went to Michigan for Josh, Ryan, and Hannah's cousin Olivia's 1st birthday party. Sarah had a cute princess themed party for her complete with a princess castle cake. Olivia looked so cute in her birthday princess crown too. All the cousins played so well together and so much fun together. Hannah was crying when it was time to leave because she didn't want to go :( We got a picture of all the cousins together too. Eric even got us all McDonald's nuggets-go 50 pack!! Happy Birthday, Olivia!!

Fun with Friends

On Tuesday morning, the kids and I went down to the city to visit my friend Heather and her son, Aiden and to meet her newest addition, Evie for the first time. She's such a cutie :) She slept most of the time in her stroller. It was a beautiful day and we walked to a park that I think was named Juniper Park near to Heather's house. Even the walk was nice! It's just so good to be able to be outside again (for a few days anyway, before the weather turns bad this weekend). Josh and Ryan ran right to the slides at the park as soon as I let them out of their stroller, and everybody wanted to swing too. After we played for a while, we walked to McDonald's and picked up food for the kids. We had to say goodbye and get all the kids home for naps. Nice day...

Josh & Ryan's 1st Dentist Visit

Well today Joshy and Ryan had their 1st dentist visit that they have been waiting for ever since they stood by when Hannah had hers. Ryan went first since he volunteered. He couldn't wait to get the monkey sunglasses on himself. He liked to hold the "thirsty straw" too. He did really well until they wanted to try to take a bite wing x-ray. He had to have the big thing in his mouth to bite down on and it kept making him gag. He said "I don't want to do that anymore." Josh didn't have to have any x-rays since his teeth are touching each other much. Josh took his turn in the chair and did great! He's a good listener and is always aiming to please. He kept giggling with the thirsty straw in his mouth. Even Hannah sat nicely by and watch the boys do their thing.

They all got little bags of goodies with toothbrushes and floss and toothpaste. It was a beautiful afternoon in downtown Naperville...just wish I was able to get some shopping in while there!

A Night Out...

Yesterday started out as a regular day in our pjs, we had breakfast, played a bit, started to have lunch, and then...time to scramble together to get everything and everybody ready to leave for another showing. This is a good thing, it just takes some getting used to! So after lunch we hung out at Best Buy playing Guitar Hero for a little bit, looked at appliances, and decided it was time we could get back in the house to give the kids their naps. After they woke up from naps we surprised them with their visit to Grandma & Grandpa Boyle's house for a sleepover!

At Grandma and Grandpa's they got to eat pizza, sundaes, and open new toys! They had such fun and from all reports were very well behaved. While the kids were there, we got to go to the Chicago Bulls game courtesy of Pepperidge Farm. We stopped at Billy Boy's to eat before we went down to the United Center. They have the BEST ribs ever! Yummm...I need more already. The game was fun, the seats were far away from the court, but hey, Vince Vaughn was there, so that was cool :) He was sitting court side with his new wife by the looks of it. Little kids constantly asked him for autographs and he appeared to be very gracious. After the game, we got to go home to a beautifully quiet house...ahhhh...gotta love sleepovers (when they're not at your house!)

Valentine's Pancakes

This morning I made Valentine's pancakes for breakfast, and yes I know that Valentine's Day isn't until tomorrow, but I don't have time to make them before church! They were a hit, and quite tasty if I do say so myself.

After breakfast, we went to Jim and Mary's to visit and for the boys to open their birthday presents. Here are some pics...Thank you to "Namma & Dapa" for their presents-they were a hit! All the kids enjoyed the birthday donuts too-yummmm...

Check out the black and white pic, and see if you see the resemblance!

Airtastic Fun!

This morning the kids and I went to a place we'd never tried before...Airtastic. My friend JoLynn and her kids, Hailey, Ryan, and baby Hannah asked us to go there to celebrate their Ryan's birthday. After all the sicknesses and putting the trip off again and again, we FINALLY got to go! It was SO fun! It's a big place filled with inflatable jumpys (a word?) that you can play by the hour. They have slide ones, obstacle course ones, and just jumpy ones. It has a foam floor and the kids are free to RUN! Everybody wears their socks around and it's a great place to get some energy worked out of the kids in the winter. We'd definitely go back. The only catch was Mr. Ryan didn't really enjoy it until we had about 15 minutes left to be there. He wanted me to take him in everything and go down slides on my lap, needless to say my shoulder is hurtin'! Eventually he liked it and had fun :) I should've known when after we first checked in and he came over to me and said, "I want to leave this place." Hannah and Josh just went nuts with everything as soon as we let them loose. They were climbing up walls, sliding down the slides, and bouncin' around. I got more of a workout than I expected too! Thanks again for the invite, JoLynn and fam!