Wine and Dine & Kiddo Updates

I signed up to run the same race I did last year, the Disney Wine and Dine through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I think I will do this race with them every year forever. It is amazing.

Visit my Team in Training page (hasn't been completely personalized yet, but I will get to that soon), and consider making a small donation. My plan of action is to try to get more people to make small $5-$10 donations. Of course I wouldn't turn away more generous ones, but I think $5 is feasible for just about anyone. Last year I didn't have a ton of people donate, but those who did were extreeeeeemely generous. I'm hoping I can do it again. Please help me get started if you can!!! :):):) I have from now until November to meet my goal, but an early start never hurts.

Onto the babes-

Grace is still into building little houses with her babies and various other toys. Sometimes she includes the others in on the action. This time Erin was the lucky one.

We went shopping for...I don't remember what! But we were at the outlet mall, and Jack fell asleep. I texted Colin, "SCORE!" This one isn't the greatest shopper! Turns out, he was sick with bronchitis. That explains it. Otherwise he would've never just fallen asleep like that (or even sat still in the stroller for that matter). Side note - Why can't I have his lashes?!

Colin taught baby Erin to hold his cheeks and kiss.

Eyes closed and all!

We bought the kids a pool the other day. They love it! Provides for lots of hours of entertainment for them.  It will come in handy for these 90+ degree days that will begin in our very near future...and end in, I don't know, November if we are lucky!

Erin didn't get to the point of bronchitis like Jack, but she did require some breathing treatments for her cough and congestion. 

The kids made cards for their teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week. I thought Jack's handwriting was pretty impressive. I just drew the lines and told him letter by letter.  Never mind his name, though. For some reason (I'm strongly convinced it's because he is a lefty), he sometimes will do a mirror image of his name.

A big fish from Colin's trip to the Keys. Let me tell you, Grace was QUITE impressed with this picture!!!  

Trying out a new dress (a bit big still).

Silly face!

This kid loves him some iPad apps. He is currently really into a "Jack and the Neverland Pirates" pirate training school one. 

Daddy took Jackster out to lunch at Uno after his 4 year (oops...a little late!) well visit.

He got 4 shots, and didn't cry a bit! Tough guy! He weighed in at 38 pounds (56th percentile). He is almost 42 inches tall (64th percentile). The doctor estimates that he is on track to be about 5'10. We will see! And now that I was able to submit the shot and physical record, our big boy is officially ready to start school in January!  

Jack's 2012-2013 School Picture - The photographer must've said something Jack found genuinely funny because otherwise you get his cheesy fake smile. I love this one!

Grace's 2012-2013 School Picture - She apparently wasn't too pleased with the situation. I asked her if she smiled, and her response: "No, I didn't like the guy taking my picture." Okay then...that explains it. LOL

Erin's 2012-2013 School Picture - Erin's teacher had already warned me that she wasn't enjoying the picture thing. The teacher had to walk her up to pose and stay right by her side because otherwise she would cry. Poor girl was terrified.

Mother's Day 2013

Mother's Day 2009 (link to that post)

Mother's Day 2010 (link to that post)

Mother's Day 2011(swollen pregnant face/nose) (link to that post)

Mother's Day 2012 (link to that post)

Mother's Day 2013 was perfect. My very first gift was Colin's return from his 4 day fishing trip in the Keys. He had a great time, and we missed him lots and lots! He was tired when he got home so, I treated myself to Starbucks and a pedicure while everyone napped. Yesterday, I think I slept in a bit longer than usual. I got up, and I showered in peace. They showered me with more gifts - sunglasses to replace my stolen ones, nail polish, and running socks. Colin had made reservations for brunch at 9:00, which was delicious as always. He got me a new iPhone (free!) by trading in old ones. I sat on the couch and relaxed for a few minutes and played with the kids, while Colin did lots of weekend housework. We went to the pool and relaxed while the kids swam for a little bit.  I was treated like a queen and was definitely feeling the love and appreciation! ;)

Jack's pirate picture he made for me...

and a flower on the other side of the paper.

These fishies spent some time in the neighbor's pool yesterday afternoon. Erin is a serious water bug!!! She will jump right in with floaties. No adults were even in the pool! We were all standing guard ready to rescue anybody, but it wasn't necessary. 

There were chilly when they got out, so they all took a warm bath (above) then went to snuggle with daddy.

We always go to brunch at Disney on Mother's Day as a tradition. Here they are playing with Lincoln Logs at the Whispering Oaks Canyon at Fort Wilderness Lodge. 

So lucky to be their mommy!

Just a little bit of my Mother's Day loot - cards, a fan, a footprint, a coffee mug, pictures, a plant, and a funny questionnaire (below). At least he got the age right, geez!

The only thing missing yesterday was celebrating with my own mom! Happy Mother's Day, mom! I sure appreciate everything you do for me and hope I grow up to be as caring, loving, selfless, encouraging, and supportive as you! :)

Also, go try this recipe! You'll be glad you did. So delicious, and it pleased my whole family. Well, besides Jack, but that isn't surprising. 

Just Pictures and One Video

I'm sure lots of you have seen the infamous YouTube video of the dad doing his daughter's hair using his shop vac. I told Colin about it this afternoon, and he had to test it out for himself. He is pleased with the efficiency and accuracy! LOL

Wow, it's been a while!!

Enjoying another picnic by the lake:









Ready for gymnastics:



Daddy dressed us in matching outfits. Boiler up!



Last weekend the 3 of us met in ATL for a girls' weekend. It was priceless to say the very least. We don't see each other nearly enough (although we do text constantly), but when we do, we pick up right where we left off. Such great friends!!

This was taken at our first lunch of the trip, at Mellow Mushroom.



This was our first night, and sweet and thoughtful Colin and Jack had champagne and chocolate covered strawberries sent to our room. Kudos to Colin who managed all 3 kids solo for a solid 2 days!! 3 freshly bathed and ready for bed babies were in the van when he picked me up from the airport. I came home to a clean house and everything perfectly laid out for the next day (something I always do). :)))



Our hotel was amazing and extravagant. Thanks to Katrina who generously covered the room by using her points!!!!



Here we had lunch at Cinco, which we had seen the Real Housewives of Atlanta enjoy a huge bowl guacamole on the patio here, so we scouted it out.



There was a huge mix up among employees regarding using points for spa services, along with a 24 hour cancelation notice or you pay 100% of the service. When we found out they weren't going to honor our points toward the massages and facials we had scheduled, we tried to cancel, and the hotel was going to cover the cancelation fee. We were outside waiting on our car when the front desk girl came out to tell us they were going to let us get the services, free of charge. We were so excited!! It was literally a good $600 worth of spa services.






This was our last selfie, taken at the ATL airport. Sad to say goodbye, but ready to see our babies! An EXCELLENT and much-needed break for us.



Monday my van was broken into at the gym. I stupidly leave (not anymore) my purse in the van daily when I work out. It's never in plain view, and plus my windows are very darkly tinted. Along with the fact that Clermont doesn't have crime really. Anyway, I got there around 3:30 and was back to my van at 4:15 to discover a van full of broken glass and my purse gone. There was another lady next to me whose purse was also stolen, and 2 cars in the middle of the parking lot whose windows were busted and purses stolen. We took the kids to school every day, and Colin has literally spent his entire week picking up the pieces of this nonsense. We had to close our checking account and start over. All of our bills were set up for automatic deduction, so to make the change was a huge process. Yesterday an $1800.00 check cleared out of our old checking account. (We were reimbursed immediately.) I have my strong suspicions that the people who did this are these guys. Here are the 3 car seats lined up in our truck, since the van was windowless until Thursday.



Erin's language is exploding. She's using quite a bit of full sentences. For example today when we picked them up from the gym's day care, Colin had asked her if she colored the picture she was holding. She said, "No, Gracie did it, Daddy." It's funny to hear a "baby" speaking in sentences. She's also doing good on potty training (nowhere near trained, but progress!)






Saturday morning color time:



She picked out her ensemble today.






Jack is still really into pirates (understatement of the century). Here he is as Captain Jack Sparrow. He watched the movie, then immediately needed to stick a toothpick in his bandana. ??? I don't remember that detail of the movie, but I'm sure it must be true.



Grace is the best independent player. She organized this entire "house" with her kitchen, babies, etc. then played quietly and contently in it for almost an hour.



And here is when she got into the nail polish, very sneakily.



Here is an entertaining performance by the McCormick trio. This was moments after we sold the TV. The stand turned into their stage, and the baby proof strap into a microphone.

Here is Jack reciting his verse of the week at home.

And here he is doing it with a friend at school.

Have a fabulous weekend!! We are off to PF Changs for an impromptu date night after a week full of stress!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone