Life Lessons from Steve Perry....

Gen was out getting some much deserved time to herself this morning, which left the gang and I alone for a few hours. After rough housing and whipping them up, we sat down for lunch and a few corresponding meltdowns.

If I'm being honest, it wasn't one of my best days as a dad. Frustrated, not as patient as I should have been, and just not understanding why they wouldn't listen/respond to simple logic. The conversation escalated for a while, until this point:

Me: "Seriously?? Please sit down, and eat your food!!"
Molly: "Why are you sad, Daddy?"
Me: "Because you guys won't listen Molly...."
Ally: "Dad?"
Me: (beyond frustrated, yelling) "WHAT???"
Ally: (smiling) "Don't stop......be-leeevin'....."

Within a few seconds, the gang kicked into semi-harmonic gear, and dropped the chorus of our favorite song (below.) No, our house is not an episode of Glee where the kids break into spontaneous song & dance. But...... a) we're huge Journey fans and crank the iTunes selections frequently and b) the gang love the movie Bedtime Stories lately, which features the song in their favorite scene. Granted, they only really like to sing the two lines of the chorus - but it's about the sweetest sound you'll ever here.




Moments like this morning make it all worthwhile, and obviously I snapped out of the funk immediately, and it changed the tone of the afternoon for us all. Thank you Steve Perry , and thank you to the big man upstairs for these funny kids and daily reminders for why we should all be thankful.

Couldn't resist the clip - heading off to watch Vh1's behind the music special right now... Have a great week.

~Conor

Blue Sky & Delays

I don't know about you, but I like the bummer news first. So, here it is...

Our new baby is running late. We were supposed to bring her home today, however, we will have to wait another week. What's another few days, right?! I was worried about telling the kids. But they are handling it very well, thanks to some GREAT advice I received from my friend, Tracey. We decided to make a game out of the waiting and the peeps are loving it. We made her a video, the kids are drawing her pictures, buying dog treats and finding new ways to countdown. I'm sure it will make her arrival that much sweeter. I promise to share all the details once she is here.

Now, the GOOD news... it didn't rain today!! YAY! The kids and I were off to the park faster than a bolt of lighting!

Miss Molly

Crazy happy peeps!

Silly Ally Boo Boo

Gotta LOVE that swirl...

Getting sooo BIG!

(L to R)

Ally, Libby, Russ and Molly

Ally and Mommy

Ally Ann

Busy Little B

Libs making her infamous "Stink Face!"

Russell Man

TGIF! Have a great weekend everyone!

Story Time...

Late at night when the kids are sleeping and the house is blissfully quiet I find myself reflecting on all the funny things they have done during the day. That's why, it's my favorite time to blog and record our family memories.

Ally and Mo Mo

Russ and Libs

With all the rain over the last couple weeks we've had to get more creative with our time. Our funny little people recently (on their own) started this new game and it literally has me rolling on the floor laughing. They sit at the kitchen counter and play "story time."

Story time begins with Russ YELLING out, "ONCE UPON A TIME...." and goes something like this....

Russ:

"ONCE UPON A TIME there was a BIG red dragon and he flew up into the clouds and found a castle."

Russell Man

Libby:

"MY TURN, MY TURN..."

"Once upon a time there was a dragon and he saved a Princess. The Princess is named Libby."

Elizabeth

Ally:

"It's my turn!"

Libby:

"No, it's Molly's turn!"

Ally and Libby

Me:

"It's Ally's turn. Go ahead, Ally."

Ally Boo Boo

Ally:

"Once Upon a time in a land far away the Princess Libby had a Princess sister named Ally and they had a pet Dragon and the dragon drank fire! The end."

Molly:

CRYING.."What about me? That's not the end, it's MY turn!"

Me:

"That's right, it's Molly's turn."

Molly Mo Mo

Molly:

"Okay, once upon a time the dragon named Russell flew away. The end."

Russell:

"My turn my turn!"

"Once Upon a time a big dragon ate the Princess Libby!!"

Russell Man

Libby:

"Wha? Russell!!!! THAT IS NOT VERY NICE! My turn mommy!"

This game goes on and on and on and on....

What I can't get over is how well each child seems to (sort of) pick up where the story left off. It's hysterical! The more they play this game the better they get. I just LOVE the watching their little minds hard at work. It's my favorite part about his age!!

Of course, despite the rain, we've spent plenty of time outside too! Puddle jumping and muddy messes are a must. Singing in the rain could be our new theme song!! ;)

I hope your all having a great week!

Joy Ride...

Time literally feels like it's flying by lately, and I realized it's been almost six months since I had the chance to start doing reviews. This latest opportunity has been the most fun yet!!

I got to drive a BRAND SPANKIN' NEW Lincoln MKT! I was in heaven and DID NOT want to give it back!! Click here to check it out!

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Happy Monday!

Getting Ready!!

I don't know what the kids are MORE excited about... that our new addition (if all things go according to plan) comes at the end of the week OR that we have a BIG, soft dog bed in our family room!?!

They crack me up...

"Hey guys.. NO EATING ON THE DOG BED!!!"

(L to R)

Ally, Libby, Molly and Russ

"Now this is what I call relaxing..."

-Russell Man

Dog Pile! ;)

Go ahead, make yourself comfortable Libby!

A great spot for practicing your yoga moves!

We are SO excited!! The countdown is on!! We're keeping our fingers crossed that this time next week we should have TONS to share! ;) I can't wait to tell you everything about this wonderful journey. YAY!!

Have a GREAT week everyone!!

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Happy Thursday! ;)

Baby #5- UPDATE!

Our furry baby will (if everything works out) be coming home at the end of this month! We are so excited!! I first shared our decision to add a dog to our family here. For the last few months we have been patiently searching for her. With the help of an amazing rescue organization, we have found our dog!

I PROMISE to share ALL the details, as soon as she is here and settled in. I PROMISE! But for now, I'll leave you with a picture of our sweet baby girl!

We all have our fingers crossed that everything works out!!!

We hope your all having a great week!

Partay People!

We had such a great time Sunday! We spent the day with some of our FAVORITE friends in celebration of sweet Keegan's 3rd birthday!

Being the rough and tumble bundle of boy that he is, he loves CARS! He was in good company and our 4 wild ones had a BLAST!

Check out this cake...

(I had way to much fun playing with the pictures in Picasa tonight!)

The birthday boy...

Happy 3rd birthday Keegan! We hope this year is filled with nothing but good times and happy memories. You are such a special boy and we adore you!

Big sis...

Keegan's wonderful big sister, Marlee was the life of the party. She gets along beautifully with our little ladies. They look up to her so much! She is a born leader and wonderful little girl.

Awesome mama...

I just love hanging with mama Melissa! She is so down to Earth and such a great mommy to her two beautiful children. Melis.. don't kill me for this picture! It was too cute to pass up!!!

Wild ones...

The kids played their hearts out and of course, DID NOT want to leave!

Thanks everyone for a wonderful Sunday afternoon. We can't wait to see you all again!! Happy birthday big guy!

We hope you all had a great weekend too!

XOXO

Gen, Conor, Russ, Ally, Molly and Libby

Tuesdays With Ally

As I know you other parents will agree, this age (3 years and 8 months-ish) is full of questions. They are trying to understand the world around them and make sense of the chaos.

Yesterday, Ally and I had a conversation that left me full of emotion. It was such a true glimpse into her soul that I feel compelled to write it down.

She was in the hallway looking at a picture of my grandmother, Nani Lou Ann. She stopped me and asked, "Mommy, when is Nani Lou Ann going to come home from heaven?" I had to sit down. I put her in my lap and looked up at the picture. As we gazed on my sweet Nani I said, "She already is home - in Heaven." She replied, "But I want her to come back here." To which I responded, "Honey, when people die they don't come back. But, we believe that we will see them again, when we go to heaven." She just looked at me until I said... "Nani isn't coming back." She started sobbing. So did I.

After I got a grip, man I still miss her so much, I told Ally to close her eyes and think of Nani. She closed her eyes and I said, "Can you see her in your heart?" She paused and said, "Yes." So I hugged her close and said... "Then, she is ALWAYS with you, even if she isn't standing right next to you."

Ally is such a sweet and deep little girl. I have never seen a heart so big. Of course that was a pretty heavy conversation for a three year old. But, I thought it was really neat and made me realize just how much ALL of their little minds are constantly working, thinking and feeling. We don't give them enough credit for how much they DO understand!

When I tucked her into bed tonight, she pulled me close and whispered in my ear, "I see Nani Lou Ann in my heart." God love her little soul.

Ally Boo Boo

Heart and Soul

I hope this story warmed your heart as much as it did ours.

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I hope your all having a great week!

Photos For a Cause....

I know I say it all the time, but we LOVE our gym. We've been members since we got married in 2003 and it's the thing that keeps us sane through it all. Truly, I am a better mother when I get up, work out and shower before the kiddos even start to stir. Conor feels the exact same way and is equally passionate about setting a healthy example for our children. We can't wait to add our kids to our membership!

A few months ago, when Christina at California Family Fitness, asked if we would volunteer for a calendar photo shoot, we didn't hesitate! It's a huge part of our lives, and we were excited to hear that a percentage of the proceeds go to support a wonderful cause: Autism Speaks

The kids and I had fun getting ready for the photographer....

"Why don't I get curlers in my hair?"

-Russell Man

Miss Molly

Sweet Little Libs

Ally Boo Boo

The theme of the calendar was healthy recipes. They asked members to submit recipes and chose 12 lucky winners, one for each month. The food looked AMAZING, and the recipes are AWESOME!

Our job was to hang out at the table and enjoy dinner with our kiddos (and hope they didn't break any of the dishes/utensils!). It was a lot of fun and the kids did great - especially being up past their bedtime. We were so proud of them!

Ally was hiding to Conor's left.

PS - Conor says they captured his "good side" perfectly =)

We were honored to participate in this project and thrilled to raise money for a great cause! The calendars are selling online and only cost $2.99!

The final product..

California Family Fitness 2010

The layout!

Thank you again, Christina & Cal Fit for the honor of being a part of this fundraiser! If you want to help out a great cause, and could use a calendar filled with healthy recipes for 2010, please click here for more information.

Happy Tuesday!