Let the games begin!

Baseball games, that is! The boys had their "Opening Day Ceremonies" for little league last Saturday and got to dress up in their baseball uniforms and join their teams on the field. It was a CRAZY day to say the least, but seeing the boys all done up in their baseball pants, jersey's and hats made them look SO BIG! It almost made me cry at how old they are getting and how these moments are so precious and rare {that they let me take their pictures and were happy to do so!} :-) So here are a few pic's of my big boys and there will be plenty of game day action shots to follow in the next week or so! Stay tuned for the latest, up to the minute info on the Little League Yankees and Mets!

5 Miles

I am usually on here to brag about my kiddos or hubby but today I am bragging about myself. I did something the other day that I am pretty proud of, it's been a goal of mine for some time and I hope to keep at it now that I know I can do it. I ran 5 miles the other day for the first time. I've been running fairly seriously for the past two years or so and have never felt like I was getting any better. I've always had this mindset of "if I can just go 5 miles I'll feel like I've accomplished something" but haven't been able to get there. Well I've worked my way up, very slowly, but I can finally say I did it! It feels pretty good, so good in fact that I did it again two days later! I can't run everyday with James' work schedule but I do run everyday he's home. My new goal is to run a 10k sometime this year which is about 7 - 7.5 miles I think. I'll let you know if, no make that - WHEN I do it! Yeah me!
Just in case anyone didn't believe me here's the proof! I run with my ipod and it has a pedometer app that keeps track of EVERYTHING! I just might have it printed out and framed! :-) Naaa, too cheesy!

I am a fun Mom!

It was one of those days last week, it was just me and the kids (James was working) and they had been trying my patience. They complained about everything, whined, fought, cried, disobeyed - you name it they did it! Then, they actually say to me that I'm not a "fun Mom"!!!

WHAT?

I was flabbergasted (I've always wanted to use that word!)! It actually made me pause and think. Am I really not a fun Mom? I admit I was pretty upset by that remark. Now, I know that they are kids and they think that if they don't get what they want when they want it that it's the end of the world and I've ruined their life...yadda, yadda, yadda! But, it really made me ask myself do I say "no" too much? Can I be more fun? Can I say "yes" a little more?

Well, I decided that I can. I really tried to make a conscious effort to say yes when I could, even if it was a little more inconvenient for me. I tried to be more fun all week and say no only when I had to. After all, I am the Mom and they are the kids so I do have to say no a lot!

Anyway, I guess my point is that if I really think about it and try to pick my battles, so to speak, I can be a fun Mom. I want to be a fun Mom. I think my kids want me to be a fun Mom, too. I also found that it made the times I did have to say no go a little bit smoother then before. It's amazing what you can learn from your kids, even though it's sometimes hard to hear.

So, of course I took some pictures of our fun times together. Enjoy!

My cute kiddos! The boys decided that they don't need to wear a shirt to bed anymore. I said "yes". Hailey didn't want to wear a shirt either. I said "NO"!
Ever since seeing it in Goonies, they've really wanted to spray the canned whipped cream directly into their mouths. So, I said "yes" and it was pretty funny!

Hailey doing push-ups against the wall!
Hailey had her friend over and they played princess dress-up! Don't they look gorgeous!

Family and Friends...

There's nothing better! We got to enjoy the company of both these past two weeks as we went up North for a little New Years vacation. It was tons of fun to spend time with dear family members we don't get to see often enough and an extra special treat to get together with some very dear friends, too! It was tiring, but oh so worth it! Thank you to EVERYONE who put us up at their homes, even if for just a few hours, and put UP with us, again, even if for just a few hours! We love each and every one of you and thank God for your love and friendship!

I didn't get the best pic's, but I got some good ones, hope you like them!

Uncle Kevin and Aunt Michelle (Kerry's Brother)

Papa Dennis (Kerry's Dad)

Great Gramma Gigi and the kiddos! (James' Grandma)

Grumpy and the boys! (James' Dad)

Gramma Donna and Hailey girl at the park and it's FREEZING! (Kerry's Mom)
The kids with one of my oldest and bestest friends kids!
Cousin Tracy took us bowling!
Cousins galore! Our oldest niece Katie, Hailey, Leilani, Jackson, Sebastian and Ryan!
Uncle Rusty and Aunt Laurel opening their present from us! (James' Sister)
One of our dearest, greatest friends, Renee and her niece, Chloe - whose Mom is also one of our dearest and greatest friends!
Stefanie, (Chloe's Mom), Renee and Chloe! It was SOOOOO FUN hanging out with these two awesome girls! Love you guys!
James with Steve and Nick, Renee and Stefanie's hubby's, respectively! Good bro time!
Sweet Stefanie with Hailey!
James got to see one of his old friends (his best man at our wedding) Chris and his little girl, Grace!
The kiddos in a rare moment of getting along long enough to take a picture! Fun!

Merry Christmas!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these must be worth millions! Hope your Christmas was as happy and joy filled as ours! Blessings to you in 2010!

A room to call their....

OWN! That's right, Jackson and Ryan officially have their own rooms! James and I got a wild hair yesterday while cleaning up the toy room in anticipation of things to come this week. (A big fat guy with a white beard who always wears red!!?!?) We decided it was as good a day as any to separate the boys into their own rooms. This is actually a pretty big deal, because they have never had separate rooms before. Okay, so Jackson spent the first 2 years of his life by himself, but like he really remembers the quality time spent with his stuffed animals in his crib! No, they've only known life with each other. I wasn't sure if Ryan would even go for it or not, being the younger brother and not knowing what it's like "on your own" and everything, but he was extremely enthusiastic about it when we asked them. So, we spent the better part of our day cleaning out, moving around, and throwing away stuff so the boys could have their own rooms! I have to say they turned out great and I'm loving it so far! We'll paint and decorate in the near future, but for now I'd say we have a good start! It was wonderful to send them to their rooms this afternoon for "room time" where they both fell asleep! :-) Jackson's' new digs! He got the old toy room as his room. He loves it!
Ryan's' new room. He is still in his same old room, but with everything re-arranged it's like a brand new pad!
Now Hailey already had her own room, but since the toy room is no longer, she now has toys in her room for the very first time! She is PUMPED! (Mom, not so much!)

Just singing in the rain!

Hailey was determined to play outside the other day, even though it was pouring down rain! All on her own she put on her brothers yellow rain boots, her jacket, got her umbrella and went out to play! It didn't last too long, but she sure was cute out there!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Oh Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches! We took our annual trip up to the Christmas tree farm this past week and had a BLAST playing in the snow! There was a good couple of feet of snow and we decided to make it a snow day for the kids and have some fun family time! We found our perfect Christmas tree right away, well after we shook the snow off of it, made some snow angels, and then got down to business - SLEDDING! We had to drive around a while to find the perfect spot, but we did find it and had so much fun! Hailey was the bravest of us all, tackling the big hill solo in her little torpedo sled, the boys decided to ride with Dad the first few times to get the feel of it and then went out on their own. We ended the perfect day with a yummy pizza dinner at our favorite pizza place and then headed home to decorate the tree and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas! Ahhh, I love this time of year, don't you?

So Thankful!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had! We got to spend it with my Mom's entire family -the first time we've ALL been together since mine and James' wedding I think! We stayed with my Gramma Bubba and went to my Uncle's house for the big day. My brother and his family joined us, along with my two cousins and one cousin's girlfriend, whom Jackson just adores! The kids LOVED getting to play with their two cousins, Lorelei and Duncan, whom Hailey fondly refers to as her friends Worewei and bebe Dunc! We played games, watched Star Wars much to the boys delight, went to the park, did a little Black Friday shopping :-), and just enjoyed being with family! Thank you to my family for hosting us and making it a wonderful Thanksgiving for us! Hope everyone had as much fun as we did!

My brother, Kevin, and our Gramma Bubba!

The kids with Great Gramma Bubba!

My big brother, Kevin and his wife, Michelle, Lorelei and Duncan!

Gramma Bubba with her kids - my Mom and Uncle Glenn!

COUSINS! We had to give Duncan a camera to play with so he'd sit still!

Hailey's "friend" Worewei! They had so much fun together!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2009 was a great success! We got to celebrate twice this year, once at our church's harvest party on Friday, and then the big trick-or-treating on Halloween night! Both were crazy and tons of fun for the kiddos! They enjoyed bounce houses, cotton candy, popcorn, soda, and of course tons of CANDY at the harvest party. It was so fun to see all of our friends dressed up and having fun. The night of Halloween James worked so I invited several friends to join me and the kids for some dinner and trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. We had a yummy pizza dinner and then got all dressed up, (even I dressed up this year using one of my many costumes I have from doing the church Christmas plays over the years) and we set off for some trick-or-treating fun! There were seven kids altogether and six adults and boy did we have fun!

The kids did a Star Wars theme for costumes this year. Jackson was Darth Vader for the second year in a row, with the addition of the breathing device, Ryan was Bobo Fett, (yes, that is a Star Wars character), and Hailey was the most beautiful Princess Leia I have ever seen! She managed to keep the wig with the buns on for most of the night too! Anyway, we had a great time celebrating this year with good friends and lots of candy! Hope you had a great Halloween too!
Jackson "Darth Vader" Irvine, Tommy the Pirate, Ryan "Bobo Fett" Irvine, and "Princess Leia" Hailey!

Enjoying some treats at the Harvest Party!

Princess Leia gettin' some candy!

My Star Wars kids!

Don't they look "scary" good?!?!

Pumpkin Patch!

Mrs. Spring's Kindergarten class!

Ry-guy with his pumpkin!

Ryan and his best buddy, Jett, on the hay ride!

Ryan and his friend, Charlie, on the train ride!

Ryan's Kindergarten class got to take a field trip to the local pumpkin patch the day before Halloween! It was Ryan's first field trip, riding the bus and everything! I got to go as a helper and James and Hailey tagged along as well! It was so much fun and such a perfect day to go - the weather was excellent and it wasn't too crowded since it was so late in the season! The kids got to see a pig races, ride on the train, go on a hay ride to pick out their very own pumpkin, and then enjoy a picnic lunch complete with the farms' own apple cider YUM! Ryan loved it, especially since he was with all his buddies! Hailey had a blast too, she thought she was a part of the class! All in all, a great field trip day!