When You Need Your Angels the Most!

It is funny, this week it seems like my patience has been worn thin with the kids.  I am not sure if it is the fact that the last three weeks at least one of them has been sick which means very little sleep for mommy and daddy.  I think spring fever is setting in as well because they seem to be a little more rambunctious than ever. 

I fell into bed last night absolutely exhausted but I couldn't fall asleep.  Instead I laid there and thought about the challenges of motherhood. Immediately my mind drifted and I just couldn't think of anything else than my dear friend Tanya.  She was facing a "motherhood" challenge far more profound than anything I was going through.  Today her daughter checked into the hospital for major surgery.  All I could think about is what she must be going through.  As a mother I could almost feel the lump in her chest I could only imagine she was feeling knowing she would have to turn her baby girl over to the doctors to be fixed. 

I think all mothers have that insatiable desire to fix things when it comes to our kids.  We don't want our babies to suffer, to be sad, or to hurt.  And we feel that it is our job, our responsibility to "fix" it.  And all I could think about is there she would have to sit in the lobby as the doctor's wheeled her baby girl away for hours, and she would have to surrender her ability to "fix" her baby to the doctors.  Sitting and waiting and wondering, probably wishing she could just hold her hand through it all.

I think many of us asked for angels to watch over Tanya and her family today.  Because today was a day when she would need her angels the most!

If you know Tanya, you know that she and her family are loved and supported by so many good friends and family.  It gave me comfort knowing that they would be there to hug her during her doubts and hold her hand through the procedure.  And although it had to seem like an eternity, they both made it through!  I can only imagine the relief, the literal weight that lifted off of her and Frank, and the ability to finally let that breath out that they had been holding in since the diagnosis!  Angels truly were watching over them!

More "motherhood" challenges await, the recovery will take a couple of weeks.  But now it is time for hugs and kisses just because she can!  I am most glad that tonight she will be able to just sit there and watch her daughter sleep.  To shed her tears of relief that probably have been building up for weeks and most of all to count her blessings for her sweet Micaela.

God bless you Tanya, for your faith, your courage and your strength!

Kadee Bug is Playing Soccer!

Kadee decided she wanted to try soccer this spring so we signed her up.  She is so excited and actually pretty darn good.  She has no fear and just goes after the ball.  She scored a goal at practice the other night and passes to her teammates like she has played for years!  Me and Charlie are absolutely no help to her however, because neither of us know a stinking thing about soccer.  Oh well.  It is fun to just watch her have fun doing something she enjoys!

Happy Birthday Charlie - The Big 35!

Mr. Neilson turned 35 this year!  Unfortunately his actual birthday was quite a bummer.  He stayed home pretty much the entire week because our kiddos were all sick.  What a trooper though, four days, three sick kids!  That's a keeper if you ask me.

The night of his actual birthday he headed to get a haircut after I got home from work.  Me and the kids decided daddy deserved a little something special so we went and got him balloons, cupcakes and his favorite Italian meal (pesto) from Don Antonio's.  We had a nice little birthday celebration to try to turn his otherwise bummer birthday into something nice.

The following weekend Charlie's parents came to visit as they do every year for his birthday, it has become a nice tradition for him.  They treated us to a delicious dinner at Joe's Stone Crab and we treated them to their long overdue birthday presents, tickets to the Elvis Show at Aria.  What a great night.  Dinner was delicious, especially the Key-Lime Martini (BEST DRINK EVER!!!) and the show was very enjoyable.

The rest of the weekend we spent relaxing and on Sunday we had a big BBQ dinner to really celebrate Charlie's Birthday. 

We topped the night off with cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory and eventually called it a night.

Here is to another great year my love...you are a wonderful man, a fantastic father and truly my best friend.  I count my blessings for everyday I have you by my side!  Happy Birthday!

Zombie Brains and Barf...DISGUSTING

Grandma Syrros bought Cole a new toy.  Yep, let him pick it out all by himself!  No ifs, ands or buts about it.  This is what he wanted so this is what she was getting him.  It is absolutely disgusting, but kind of cool to watch...

Zombie Brains...

Zombie Barf

Haven't kept a strong enough stomach to try the edible bugs or Zombie Skin!

Can't Beat a Lorax Breakfast!

We had a break on St. Patty's Day in between opening ceremonies for Cole's little league so we took the kids to IHOP so they could finally have their Lorax Breakfast.  We eat out often, but I truly think I enjoy breakfast out together the best...Just always seems like such a good way to start off the day!

Opening Day - Silverado Little League

Cole has officially moved up to the "big leagues".  This year we registered him in the local little league.  The last two years we settled for NYS but he loves him some baseball so we figured it was time to move into a much more organized league.

Today was opening day for Silverado Little League.  It was a pretty exciting day for the boys and the parents.  First thing in the morning the boys received their uniforms and took their photos.

This year Cole is on the Diamondbacks!  He loves his team name because him and his sister have been watching so much Nat Geo Wild that they have every species pegged.

After photos we entered the team gift basket raffle.  Each team had to provide a gift basket to be raffled off as a fundraiser.  We were hoping to win the NY Giants basket but unfortunately we didn't have any luck!

Later in the afternoon all the teams lined the field, were introduced and got to run the bases!  The boys were sooooo excited!  They were scheduled to play a two inning scrimmage but unfortunately the weather turned to nasty.  The coach instead let each boy hit the ball and run the bases.  He didn't want to completely deflate their excitement due to a little wind and rain.  All in all it was an AWESOME time...now bring on the games!

How Do Balleen Whales Eat?

How Do Baleen Whales Eat, wait...what the heck is a Baleen Whale?  Yep it is time for Kadence's first Science Fair.  It brought back lots of memories for me and Charlie including all of the cool ones we remembered, as well as the ones we did in our school days.

Charlie decided to take the task on to help Kadee.  He told her about one he did as a kid and she immediately fell in love with the idea!  They did the research together and really put together a pretty cool experiment!

Apparently some whales (Baleen Whale, i.e. Humpback Whales) don't have teeth, instead they have Baleen.  So the experiment was to determine which more resembled a whale's baleen, a comb or a brush.  We each took turns dragging a comb and a brush through a tub of water filled with pepper.  The pepper was meant to resemble the krill (shrimp-like creatures) the whales eat.  Kadee documented all of our results and laid out her research and findings.

She was so proud of her project and she really did a great job! She had read the research they dug up on it over and over and could tell you more details than you could ever imagine about Baleen Whales! I was so proud of her and Daddy for helping out. 

Happy Halloween!!!!

We started our Halloween off like we always do with a Halloween breakfast with Halloween Pat-A-Cakes!

After work, we rushed home to get our Halloween night started.  We got the house all ready for the Trick or Treaters. 

The kids got in their costumes and we were off. 

My mom and dad came down to answer the door for the Trick or Treaters.  They don't get any Trick or Treaters in their neighborhood so they like coming down to the house to see all of the kids.

Our neighborhood was hopping like it always is.  Nobody disappointed, everybody had their decorations up and we even had a couple of haunted houses!  We had people pulling in and dropping kids off.  This is one of my favorite nights!  We get to see all of our neighbors and everyone just seems to be in such a great mood! 

Chance was hilarious to watch this year because he fully understood the fact that all he had to do was ring the doorbell and people just gave him handfuls of candy!  He couldn't get to the next house fast enough. 

Everybody loved Cole's costume.  They thought he was the real deal and some of the littler kids refused to go up to the door when he was there because they were scared of him.  He had to keep taking his mask off to show him he was really just a little boy underneath!  Kadee was great out of the gate but not much for stamina.  We made it around our block and she tired out and was ready to go home. 

All in all, everybody had a Fantastic time!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Aunt Julie bought the family a pass to the McGee Ranch Annual Pumpkin Patch this year.  We have driven by it in the past but in the hustle and bustle, never made it in.  This is the cutest little ranch in Las Vegas.  The kids got to ride the horses, go on a hay ride, feed the animals and pick out their very own pumpkin.

 Thanks Auntie for such a good time.

Kadee & Cole's Halloween Birthday Party

The treats were all made, the pizza ordered, the games set up and the haunted house ready.  The kids had a FANTASTIC birthday party We had lots of yummy treats.  All of the kids came in super cute costumes. 

When everybody had arrived we started playing games.  First off was the eyeball relay, then the mummy wrap.  This was hilarious.  Some kids were able to make super cute mummy's out of toilet paper.

Then it was time for bobbing apples.  This was so fun to watch!  All of the kids tried so hard.  Some retrieved apples in no time at all, but others were not able to catch an apple.  Chance patiently waited his turn and with a little help from mommy was able to get an apple.

After everyone dried off we played, "Guess the Body Parts".  We carved out 5 pumpkins and put each of the following ingredients in a pumpkin; grapes for eyeballs, spaghetti for guts, baby carrost for toes, a cauliflower for the brain and a peeled tomato for the heart.  The kids grossed out as they reached into each pumpkin to try to guess which body part they were feeling.

After we were done with the games we had pizza and then got ready for the haunted house.  It turned out super spooky and the kid spent probably 30-45 minutes just going back and forth through it.

We finished up with a dance contest.  The kids and all of their guests partied like rock stars and had a BLAST!!!