Chicago Trip

I thought I would report on our trip to Chicago. Those of you who know, Chicago and Me do not get a long very well. Lets just say, taking a trip to Chicago equals naughty children and anxiety driving in the city. This trip was a way to put all that behind me and try over. We decided to go and check out Chicago for the weekend. We stayed two nights in a hotel. On Saturday we went to the Navy Pier which held the Winter Wonderland Feast and then to the (free) Zoo and saw all the lights plus animals. It was very fun. The kids were great and I took lead in navigating and Matt had the "balls" to drive in the big city. So it all worked out great. Luke was sick over the trip but he was a great trooper and we still had fun. We were blessed to have gotten home safetly. There was a huge storm the night before. It snowed nine inches that night. The trouble wasn't in Chicago it was coming home in Indiana. We hit a bad windy, snowing, foggy, storm. We literaly almost slid off the road three times. I was very glad we decided to take Matt's SUV because his four wheel drive helped. Anyway we made it home safetly.

I don't know what Kacie is doing.

This picture is deceiving. It looks cold but it really is an ice skating rink in doors. When thought this Winter Wonderland Feast would be out doors. Instead of freezing we were sweating.

There was lots to do at the Wonderland Feast. There was great rides, Ice Skating, trains, big big rides, all kinds of rides. We did cookie decorating because that was the only fun thing to do. Thats what we kept telling the girls. It might have been more torture for the kids to "Look but not Touch" the rides. Oh well.

Ryan wanted her picture with the beautiful princess.

He was great for not feeling very well. He is still smiling.

The rest are pictures at the Zoo. It was very very cold. Luke was very tired so I wrapped him in his mobywrap and he slept. We kept each other warm. It worked out great.

WHERE'S LUKE?

Birthday Girl

It was Kacie's birthday today!! She turned Three. She is such a big girl. She got to pick her cake and she wanted it all pick. She picked princess plates and pink decorations for around the house. We sure do love and enjoy her. Here are afew pictures. HAPPY BIRTHDAY

BoSox Win in 4!

Since college I've been a die hard fan of the best Irish punk rock band in the world. I've been trying to make the music come on when the website is opened but unfortunately my doctorate is in medicine, not blogging. In honor of Boston's recent World Series championship I figured I would leave a taste of Ireland via Boston. Blogging nation meet the Dropkick Murphys, Dropkick Murphys meet the blogging nation. Enjoy. Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Tessie!

A Star Is Born

Well, as promised here is Ryan's highlight film from her first soccer season. She played on a team called the "firecrackers". They were really cute little girls and fun to watch learn to play. At the beginning of the season Tracy couldn't have been prouder. She has been prepping Ryan since she was born to run, dribble and shoot the ball. Needless to say, we were all shocked at her first game when she wouldn't go within 20 yards of the soccer ball or other girls. Sure, we thought she was cute as heck running around the action but we were kind of impatient to see her first bicycle kick.

As parents we've learned the power of positive feedback, so we figured there was no better time than now to try it. We told Ryan if she would kick the ball 5 times we'd treat her to an ice cream. Positive feedback works! At her next game she kicked it 7 times. We decided to sweeten the pot. We then told her if she scored a goal she could have a pack of gum. One game later she scored 5 goals. Whoa! What kids will do for Hubba Bubba. After she realized it wasn't as intimidating as she thought she was a goal scoring machine. We kept waiting for her to rip her shirt off in celebration revealing her mini-sports bra ala Brandy Chastain, but luckily she opted for the double fist pump.

The firecrackers won some and lost some but all-in-all it was an awesome season. Ryan had a blast playing and we had just as much fun watching. More than anything we were just happy that she overcame her intimidation of the "scrum". Now she absolutely loves the game. Who knows what the future will bring. Maybe a pack of gum for an Olympic gold medal. Time will tell.

Happy Halloween

It was a successful Halloween. We definitely got tooooo much candy. Two little girls plus lots of candy equals two naughty girls. They are cute but look out. Emotions are high. We were able to go with Matt. This was a first for a long time. Ryan was able to run her heart out, house after house with Matt (and Luke) while I took Kacie in the wagon and tried to meat up with Ryan every once in a while. It was fun. The weather was great and it didn't get dark while we were out. I think we couldn't planned it better. Ryan was the bride of Frankenstein. She looked great. Kacie......Well.....she wanted to be "drapes." It was very cute in how determined she was. For weeks she told us that is was what she wanted to be. We got a great outfit for her (purple sheet with purple balloons.) Matt had a work party where they had the kids dress up in their costumes and parade around the clinic. Well, Kacie was such a hit that it scarred the pants off her. She did not like the attention at all. Every nurse/Doctor/anybody wanted a picture of her. She didn't know what to do. So the ward trunk or treat she was snow white and the costume got really dirty that the only thing left was being grapes again or Annie and she was not going to be grapes (we really tried to get her to be grapes again.) So she was Annie for Halloween. That is why you will see her in three different costumes. Halloween came and went and now we have too much candy. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Family in Town

My sister Teresa and her husband Mike came and visited us here in Indiana. We had so much fun. Ryan and Kacie got to play with their cousins Alli and Zachary. We partied till we dropped. We showed them the town of South Bend. Matt and Mike went fishing almost every morning. They only came away with one fish. This is the curse of mine and Teresa's family. Our curse is rubbing off on to them. The best part of the vacation was putting the kids to bed and staying up late to play "Settlers of Catan", watch movies and eat treats. It was great. We miss our family in Utah and were so happy to have them visit us.

Zachary was Kacie's. She was a good mommy to him

Here are the Three Drama Queens. They played princesses till they dropped and changed clothes contantly throughout the day. It was hard to seperate them.

This is Mike.......he loves to show off.

Does my twin look anything like me? Ryan wondering why Teresa looks so much like her mommy.

Lukes first hair cut

WE FINALLY DID IT. We put Lukes mop head under the razor. We both felt it was time. His hair was going out of control. Matt came to the conclusion earlier then I did. Matt and Luke were having a boys night out (boys will be boys). You know, doing guy stuff and a lady came and asked how old Matt's little girl was. That was the wrong thing to say to Matt. Matt made it quite clear that Luke was not a girl (poor lady). Ever since Matt has been pushing for Luke to get a buzz. I don't know what did it for me. His hair was just getting too long. So there you have it and the next thing you know his is a buzz head. We think he lost five pounds when we cut his hair but gained five in his cheeks.

This is prep time. You can't see but there is a tear in Lukes eye.

Lots and lots of hair equals.........................

TADA!!!!!!Equals a buzzed head. His beautiful curls are gone but look at those chubby cheeks. They are so yummy.

Our handsome boy!

First time on the "Naughty Step"

Luke was being a very bad boy today. It was his first time on the "Naughty Step." We took pictures of this event. Ryan came in crying because Luke bit her finger. We all agree that he should know by now that that is unacceptable behavior.

(Daddy helping Luke with the "Naughty Step")

(Luke confused and uncertain about the "Naughty Step" and a disappointed father)

(Ryan very upset about her bitten finger. Poor Ryan)

Life Lessons Learned

Hello all my blog followers. I apologize for the long absent of my blog. I started reading Harry Potter and so my focus was on reading the book. You would think I would have that book done in a day but I am not that type of reader. I absorb it and ponder each chapter. That is how I enjoy books. So there you have it. That is my story. But while I was out the girls have learned very important life lessons. One Sunday we had big things happen to both Ryan and Kacie. We just got home from church and we were trying to pull ourselves together. Sundays are hard on little Lukers. So I went upstairs to feed him and put him down for a nap. Matt left to go home teaching. About two minutes after he left Ryan comes in crying holding her finger and it was bleeding really bad. She told me that she cute it on piece of paper. I never seen a paper cute do this much damage. So finally she admits that she cute her finger with a knife. She thought she would cut herself a piece of cheese. I used this as a good teaching moment and told her that she was lucky she didn't cut her finger off. I got a great reaction with that that I am confident this won't happen again. After we got her taken care of and happy again. Ryan and Kacie decide to get old keys and pretend to unlock everything. They did doors, walls, chairs, etc. They were just pretending like little kids do. Well, I was walking by Kacie when I she started screaming. I looked over and she put the keys in the outlet. It shocked her really bad and it went through her body. She started saying her hand hurt then her tummy hurt then she said her foot hurt. It was really cute when she was trying to tell me where it hurt. Matt happened to be there by this time so we mad this another teaching moment and scared her into not doing that again. I guess as parents we learned a lesson in baby proffing our house. So there you have it, it was a day of learning.

Funny Kacie

Kacie can be so funny sometimes. We have been getting beautiful weather and today was no exception. We decided the best way to take advantage of this day was to go to Notre Dame and go for a walk along the rivers. I think alot of people had the same idea. There was tons of people out. A lot of them were runners. As we were walking, there was a group of guys running past us. Kacie in her load voice, which usually isn't very load but this time it was, said "Mom, why are those boys running Naked?" Of course they weren't they just had their shirts off. but she got a lot of heads to turn toward those boys (especially mine!). The boys that were running thought it was funny. I saw a few of them laugh. Matt and I had to laugh. We will let her find out on her own the difference between girls and boys. I am sure it won't take long. She has a little brother that will help her figure things out. That reminds me of when Ryan first noticed the difference in Luke. I was changing his diaper one time and she asked me why Luke had a different peepee. It's funny what kids say when a new baby comes into the home. One night as we were saying our family prayers. It was Kacie's turn. She started to bless everyone in the family and also thanked Heavenly Father for the food and then she kind of hesitated for a minute looking at Luke and then said "thank you for mommy's boobies so that Luke can eat." I was not expecting that and I started laughing really hard. Kacie got a little embarrassed. I couldn't help it. It was very funny.

We have lots of mommy's here. The girls love to take care of Luke. Sometimes it is to much love, but we started him on solids about a week ago. He doesn't need anymore extra weight but it was time. The girls were so excited to feed him. It was an exciting event. I am always asked by Ryan and Kacie if they can feed him. I have to admit they do a great job and I love that my hands are free for a short moment which is nice. The clean up is a different story but I do enjoy letting them. Here are a few picures of what it is like during feeding time.

Maybe this is the reason for his weight gain? He eats for two.

Well, I will leave you with the pictures we took at Notre Dame. It is so beautiful.

Drama Queen

Ryan Started Preschool Finally this week. I look forward to school days just as much as she does. Going from three kids to two for only two and a half hours is awesome. Sunday the day before her first day of school we had family night and we talked about school and what to expect. She was very concerned about meeting new friends. I told her that she needs to go up to the kids and ask them if they want to be her friend. I also said that they will be nervous just like she would be so she needs to go up and ask them first. When I picked her up after her first day of school I asked her how it went and she told me that she went up to a little girl and asked if she wanted to be her friend and the little girl told her "No." So she went to another little boy and asked him if he wanted to be her friend and he told her "No" also. Ryan looked at me with a sad face. It was really cute. We didn't go over what to do when they say "no." So I felt bad. I just told her that they need some time and that they are just really nervous. She tried it the next day and she told me she finally found one that said yes. She was very happy. She told me that the names of her friends are Kira, Shealee and Tyson. (She just named her cousins.) On Sunday Ryan was caught brushing her teeth on the stage at church. Apparently she brought her toothpaste and toothbrush. I try to monitor what the girls have before we enter but I must have missed this. From what I was told It was a pretty funny sight. She also wore her princess crown to church. She was the most beautiful princess there. It was a battle I was not going to win so I just have to let it go. We go through a lot of Drama in our house. I really have a hard time keeping from laughing at their drama. One day Luke was acting a little fussy all day. I just thought he was teething. Well come to find out as I was putting him to bed I found a tight hair band around his wrist. I couldn't see it very well. You could lose anything on his body. There are alot of rolls. He was very happy when I took it off. When I confronted Ryan she pulled lots of drama on me and said she was just putting on a bracelett for him and some how I turned into the bad guy. She said "the reason why I am upset is because everyone is being mean to me." Then she puts her best sad face on. I couldn't help from laughing. I even got fake tears from her. Ryan is the cutest thing ever. Here are some cute pictures of Ryan through out the years. Our little drama queen!

Ryan was always wearing these boots. They were her favorite. She called them her "Dance'n Boots."