LET'S CATCH UP!!

LET'S CATCH UP!! Our lives have been a whirlwind of activities lately! Here are some pictures to keep you up to date with what we have been doing over the last month...or so! Claire had a Spring Hat Parade in her class. She designed and decorated her paper plate into a grassy, flowery bird's nest with rattling eggs for that extra effect!





Occupation Day was a hit at East High Elementary. As you can see we have a future police officer...which should not surprise anyone. Ayden is ALWAYS concerned with following the law...i.e. "Claire, are you HAVE to be in a booster seat or Mommy will go to jail", OR "Mom, what would happen if you were pulled over for driving too fast?" Of course I don't say, "Mommy would beg the police officer to let me "go"...after all running two kids from here to there can be a little stressful!
Claire on the other hand is looking to orthodontics as her profession.....don't ask? I wouldn't even be surprised if she follows through with that dream!







A quieter moment at our house was celebrating Earth Hour. Earth Hour was started two years ago as an effort to conserve energy, and make a statement to stop global warming. Simply, you make the conscious effort to turn off everything electric for 1 -2 hours on this night. It was a lot of fun last year as the four of us sat in the dark trying to solve the world's environmental problems....we have such inventive kids!
This year Ayden and Claire decided to play the piano by candle light, sing songs, talk about earth hour, and even tried to read without electricity. They like to think about what it was like before electricity was even invented! We decided that it would be fun to do this more often, and maybe even make a party of it sometime! Maybe this Summer we can!

On a NOT SO QUIET night at our house, the kids had a boxing match....
against their viscous father!

Needless to say the kids won!!

St Patrick's Day food!! YUM YUM! It really was tastier than it looks!! Can't you tell by Ayden's face?

TAGGED

So my friend Annie has "tagged" me. I had to follow her directions and post the 5th picture from my 5th folder of my picture file. I am glad she did. I forgot to post Ayden's last basketball game!! So here he is a PRE-game picture. Can't you see the concentration and determination on his face? This game was a big one because it was the first time playing full court with a full 5-man team! And I will brag a little bit....he made the only basket for his team! YAY, AYDEN!!
I am supposed to tag five more people, BUT all of my friends and family are face-bookers. I am the soul blogger of the group! Thanks for including me Annie!

SOCK HOP!!

Every year the PTO sponsors a "Sock Hop" at East High Elementary School. It is a BIG deal. The whole school looks forward to it and it is always A LOT of fun. The kids are encouraged to dress in the traditional sock hop clothes which of course, my kids just "hated"! The two of them just live for this stuff...it is SO funny. They both were super excited...and particular...about what they wanted to wear. They looked FABULOUS!

My little angels!

As if dressing up, dancing and friends weren't enough....the cotton candy was a free bonus!! WOO-HOO!!

These are the post-cotton candy effects! Give 'em a little sugar and all inhibitions are lost! WATCH OUT DANCE, FLOOR HERE WE COME!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRENT AND ELI!!

Some of you may not realize that I had surgery on Monday:( Nothing too serious. I had a herniated rectum...it's called a rectocele. I am doing very well...in a little bit of pain, but nothing I can't handle! Anyway, the recovery is along process of following many restrictions, eating right...and basically being BORED OUT OF MY MIND!!!! No...I am trying to catch up on current events, read, and unfortuantely watching way to much talk-show TV!!

SO-O-O-O, having filled you in on that , you are probably wondering why I have Summer picutres of the kiddos on this post. These are just some cute pix of my favorite kids EVER!! Today is the celebration of my best nephews' birthdays. Trent will be NINE YEARS OLD tomorrow....I can't believe it. And Eli will be FIVE YEARS OLD on Tuesday!!

Here is the sad part......It is the first time I have NOT been able to be at their birthday party:( I am SO BUMMED. I wanted them to know that I am their in spirit, and cannot believe how much they are growing!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOYS!!!! ILOVE YOU!!

CATCH THE LOVE BABY!!!!
sorry I can't be with you:( love, Atah

p.s. you can share this with your friends if you want to!

Happy Valentine's Day....

Jason had a very important date over the weekend....the Daddy-Daughter Dance! It was SO adorable to drop Jason and Claire off at the door to the "White Ballroom" at Masonic Village, and see all of the other little girls and their daddy's dressed to nines like Claire and Jason! Yes.....almost all of the dad's were in suits and ties, and the girls were in fancy-pants dresses!! Claire took it VERY seriously and had her hair curled, she wore her flower girl dress, and her special-occasion coat! They had a GREAT time, but Jason is not prepared for her to be so independent. She loved that he was there with her, but really could have cared less when she was dancing with her girlfriends! Poor Jason...he has no clue what he is in for!



The kids and I went to Grammy's house for our annual Valentine's- Day- Cake -making! YUM! Of course, Ayden's favorite part is eating while he "works"! He has enjoyed making these cakes since he was really little...he LOVES cherry pie filling! What a funny kid.

So, Jason spent Valentine's weekend doing the backsplash....well he put it up, and then we grouted together. How romantic! It looks great, though and we are super glad to have it done. Next up.....finish the island. No sweat!

WOO-HOO!!! LET"S GO TUBING!

We had a sleep over this past weekend. It was A LOT of fun. These are some sleepy kids, who of course, were not at all ready to go to bed. It was a good thing that we had some bribing material to work with! Our plan for the next morning was to go snow tubing at Ski Round Top, so they all agreed that they would need extra energy for a day filled with activity.


Claire was without a doubt the bravest of tubers! The boys have conceded to this fact and have been able to admit that a five year old girl can/is adventurous and brave. She was the first to go down the hill by herself and also the first to go on her belly, rather than sitting in the hole! GIRLS ROCK CLAIRE!!!













Trent and Ayden were the most concerned with looking the part. They were very independent when riding the lift up the hill and there hesitation to go down the hill quickly diminished when they realized that it was actually fun to take the risk!!




Eli had a great time. He is the littlest of them all, but he hung in there smiling and laughing the whole time. He thought maybe Pop-pop would scream the loudest. I'll let you wonder whether he did or not!!











So, at the end of the day I am not sure who was more tired. Gabby and Pop-pop, or the kiddos! OR ME....we're the ones that had the sleep over, remember?








Some nice cold beverages (and many many of snacks) made a perfect ending to this adventuresome day! Thanks for a coming along everyone....we had a GREAT time!

CLAIRE'S NEW HAIR

Okay, here is my baby girl with a new hair style. Some of you haven't had the chance to see it yet. Yes, she looks like she is 10 years old and she acts like she is 15 years old. It is truly amazing how fast these kids seem to be growing right now! Every week it seems like another piece of clothing is too small, or a new pair of shoes are a must.
As you can see, Claire thought it important to include a shot of the back of her head, to (Just so no one is confused as to how long her hair is now)!!

WELCOME TO OUR HOME, SPIKE!

What a cute little turtle, right? So everyone knows, Spike is Brian and Erica's (brother-in-law and sister-in-law) lone pet that is being left behind as they journey to Japan for an undetermined length of time. Poor Spike...I am sure she misses her real mom already! I think I am the hovering step mother that she is tired of seeing and the kids are like her annoying step siblings that always want to play a game she doesn't like!!
No, really, she is doing very well...today. Let me explain.
Day 1 without Mama Erica and Papa Brian must have been a bit traumatic. Her little eyes were swollen, probably from our not-as-good-quality-of-water, like she used to have in NYC. We put drops in them and she seems fine. She then tried to escape the tub, BUT hovering step-mom was there to catch her!! So I rearranged her rocks, which apparently I did not do right, because she continually knocked them over. I did, however, find a suitable arrangement and she has since let them be. whew!
Day 2 without Mama E and Papa B was probably even more traumatic. She seemed so lethargic in the morning, and of course the hovering step-siblings were extremely concerned. Oh, I reassured them that everything was fine...."she's just getting used to everything, " I said. Well, the kiddos went to school and I started noticing how tired she seemed. So, I watch her hiding in her little cave that is under water. Her eyes seemed okay, but she really hadn't eaten anything. I figured she wants something special to eat...I'll teach her to depend on food when she is stressed out. You know, just like the rest of us. So, I put some romaine in her tank and feel the water and....HOLY COLD!!! This poor turtle wasn't tired, she was freezing! (not literally, don't worry). I look to see if the heater is plugged in and it was, but I find a crack in the glass casing around the heating coils. It must have shorted out. ANYWAY, I am just thankful that Spike wasn't electrocuted on Day 2. If that would have happened we surely would never be trusted with any of Erica and Brian's other offspring EVER!!

So, Day 3 has begun, and Spike is swimming and playing as a normal turle should be, in a tank warm and cozy. She, of course, has a new heater that I am hoping makes things better between us. Food brides haven't worked, but maybe I could buy her love.
Thank you Brian and Erica for adding this little bundle of joy to our family! We love her.






And this...well....this is Ayden's fashionable combination of "get-up" from Aunt E. Claire, of course, was the histerically laughing photographer. He looks like a...well, you know what he looks like. I have to admit, he is a funny guy!

SNOW

Sunday, it finally snowed!! Okay, it was only 1 or 2 inches, but it was pretty and fun to play in and that makes ALL the difference. Friends of ours, the Ethridges, invited us to play on the ice at a pond by there house. It was alot of fun, and Claire was able to try "iceskating". Ayden and his pal, Dalton looked more like penquins belly flopping and sliding on the ice. It was pretty impressive!

Dalton is in Ayden's class. We have had a chance to get to know the family through their friendship. They are alot of fun!











In all honesty, the kids played in the surrounding woods more than they played on the ice. I don't have any complaints, but I think the Daddy's shoveled snow for their own enjoyment!!

So this was our one day of playing in "real" winter weather!! Yay!......
I think I'm ready for Spring, anyway!!!

Back to the Basics!

Well Christmas has come and gone, New Years was lots of fun, and now we are all thankful for some normalcy. Ayden is especially happy when we can get back to our routine! He's so funny that way.
So for those of you who do not know, our holidays were great! It was such a fun year. The kids were very gracious about all of their gifts and were equally as excited about giving as they were getting! Of course Santa brought new bikes! It was very fun. The elves were very sneaky this year and had "stolen" Ayden's old bike and gave it a PINK paint job! Claire was ecstatic, and thought it was AMAZING that the elves were able to be so tricky, as well as thoughtful of REDUCE ~REUSE~RECYCLE! Santa also used newspaper this year to wrap presents which was also important to the kiddos.
Now that I've told you all about Christmas you are probably wondering, "Where are all the pictures?". Well, Claire received her very own camera for Christmas, which is now LOADED with pictures, however Mommy still hasn't worked with it enough to get our computer to recognize her camera. SO, there will be more pictures in the very near future! In the meantime, enjoy these pix from the school website. They are both totally into school this year and love learning, which I think is a huge blessing! I am so happy with their enthusiasm to learn and their teachers' eagerness to make it fun!
Above are CLaire and her friend Cole reading books in the class library.
Our school has spirit days....this happens to be Blue and White day to show your spirit for the E-town Bears!
Ayden is enjoying science class. They just ended their unit on Matter. What floats and what sinks, and why?
The last spirit day was dress as your favorite book character day. Ayden loves listening to the Harry Potter books, but decided he looks a lot like Draco Malfoy (Harry's nemesis). He really does look like him, and had a great time dressing up and practicing his british accentl "I'll get you, 'Arry Potta!"





Here is the "real" Draco Malfoy....I am sure you can see the resemblance!!