Well, it has been a month since my last post. Not too bad. I am really, really trying to post more often. The pictures are a recap of our life in the last month. We got alot of snow one day in February and the kids had fun playing in it. This winter hasn't been that bad really. A little snow here and there. The kids really haven't had many days of enough snow to play in. I think they only went sledding a couple times. We are into March now and the 1st day of Spring is just around the corner. Hooray!

We also celebrated Christina's 3rd birthday on February 17. She had a Minnie Mouse party and had lots of fun. Some of her gifts were a Doctor Mommy doll and Peppa Pig toys. She loves to play doctor every day and she loves watching Peppa Pig on tv. Right now Christina and Michael are the best of friends and the worst of friends. It drives me absolutely nuts! They do play well together half of the time and the other half they argue, fight and cry constantly. Michael tries to tell her what to do and Christina will have no part of it. She has her own mind and ideas and fights with Michael about everything. Most of the time I just leave them alone to work it out between themselves, but it is maddening to listen to them both screaming all the time.

Andrew just finished with CYO basketball. He really loved it and says he wants to be a basketball star someday. He is doing well in school and has lots of friends. His closest friends right now are Sam, Johnny, Willy, Doc and Ben.

Isabella is my challenge child. She tests my patience in every way possible. She seems to never do anything that I ask her to do and I am fighting with her constantly. I hate that so much. She does not like me to tell her to do anything. Everytime I ask her to do something she says no, or just a minute, and I have to ask her over and over and over again to do it and then threaten some punishment before she reluctantly does what I have asked. It is so frustrating. Andrew is totally different and usually always listens to me and does what I ask pretty quickly. So it is so hard to not compare the two and constantly ask myself why Isabella can't be more like Andrew. But I know she has her own personality. I really dread the teenage years if she is acting like this already at the age of 7. Right now her usual punishment is to take her iPod away. I took it away yesterday because she wouldn't do as I asked once again. Her closest friends right now are Alayna and Moira. We have been trying to get her interested in signing up for some sports or other activities. No luck so far. She is very shy and refuses any of the suggestions we make. All she wants to do is horse back riding, but I would prefer she join something where she will get more exercise. I really worry about her weight being an issue as she gets older. Vince says that she has his body image and he was the same way. His mom had so much trouble finding pants to fit him, just like I do with Bella. I have to order plus sizes from Lands End or JCPenney for her. But Vince says that when he hit 7th grade he trimmed down and got taller. Hopefully that will happen for her. I worry about her self image in our society today where  "thin is in".

The other pictures I posted are of our trip to Bounce it Out. The kids loved it, and Christina keeps asking to go back.

I'M BACK!!! (It's only been two years...gimme a break...life can be crazy with 4 kids!)

 

Well, I am back. Hopefully to stay. I am really, really, really going to try hard to post more often. Alot has happened in the past two years, so I will just try to summarize. We moved into our new house December 1st, 2010. Amid all the boxes and unpacking and chaos of 4 kids, I received a terrible phone call that my mom was in the hospital. She lives an hour away, so not easy to just jump into the car and go. She was admitted with terrible pain in her left knee. She was diagnosed with sepsis. An infection in her knee had led to a blood infection that spread throughout her whole body. I traveled back and forth by bus to spend time with her, along with all my brothers and sisters. We were all shocked when she passed away on December 13th. Needless to say this was a very stressful time for me. Knowing that both my parents were now gone, I felt very alone, even though my house was filled with lots of little ones and lots of noise. Very strange. Nevertheless, with 4 kids and Christmas coming, I had to try to get into the Christmas spirit in a big hurry. We put the tree up right before Christmas and it did help keep me distracted having my kids so excited about Santa's arrival.

 

The picture I have posted is from November 2012, and the one I used on our Christmas card this year. Andrew is now 9, Isabella is 7, Michael is 4 and Christina is 2. They certainly keep me hopping. I am still loving being home with them everyday. I am so thankful to my wonderful husband for working hard every day outside our home, so that I can work hard every day inside our home taking care of our beautiful four children!