A Surprise Birthday Party

Amanda's husband, Joe managed to pull off a surprise birthday dinner for her.

I was quite impressed by his planning and we all had such a great time.

It was a great way to celebrate Amanda.

She is such an amazing friend and she (and her family) have gone out of their way on many occasions to make my life easier.

Here's the Birthday Girl...

I know she suspected something was up, but I don't think she realized the amount of people involved.

I think we managed to fill up half of the restaurant in her honor.

Amanda, Kim, and Jen

Clarissa, Amanda, and Jen

Even the boys had a great time. Zach and I had just left the Nutcracker so he was full of energy after sitting quietly for so long.

I always seem to catch these two in a cozy little pose.

and finally the Kindergartener's Group Hug!

Way to go, Joe for your awesome planning!

My Date to the Nutcracker....

When I heard the tickets to the Nutcracker were for sale, my first thought was that Gabby wasn't old enough to enjoy it. It didn't even dawn on me to take one of the boys until we were invited to go with a few friends. As it turned out, he had a wonderful time. At one point he even reached over and held my hand. It was so sweet. He's my cuddly little teddy bear these days and really enjoys spending time with me. I hope these days never end.

Here's a picture of him with his friends Vivi and Bella before the show.

Pre-Thanksgiving Recap

I haven't been blogging as much as usual.
Over the past few weeks the boys have both had minor colds and Gabby has molars coming in.
She's also on antibiotics for an ear infection, but is feeling much better.
Needless to say, it's been a busy few weeks with a few sleepless nights to add to the adventure.

However everyone is well at the moment. Despite the craziness, we've still managed to capture some good photos and they all have their own mini-story to tell.

Zachary made this lovely "fall leaf bouquet" for his teacher and he's told me over and over how much she loved it.


The boys have recently discovered that playing Hotwheels in the bathtub is a lot of fun...(especially on rainy days)


This picture is entitled:
Ice cream for breakfast!
Last year Amanda, Kim and I started going to breakfast to celebrate each of our birthdays.
When the waitress discovered it was Amanda's birthday breakfast, she brought her some ice cream.


I guess we could label this one "Gabby's shoe fetish."
While I wasn't looking Gabby reached out and grabbed a few pairs right out of their boxes.
When I took them away she cried hysterically.
Once I explained how hideous they were, she settled down a bit.


Since she hasn't been feeling well lately, she's had quite a few challenging moments.
Somehow a phone call to daddy always works.
In this picture Gabby is holding the phone on speaker and Sam is talking to her.
Just moments earlier she was screaming.

She's also really enjoying her mornings with Zachary.
He is quite entertaining and loves to play with her (mostly when Gavin isn't around).

A few days last week, Gavin came home with different hats from costumes that they made at school. He proudly stepped off the bus wearing the hats and he looked absolutely adorable.

Zachary also had a chance to shine.
He performed in his first preschool Thanksgiving Program.


After the program he enjoyed lunch (Sharing Stew) with his Daddy.
Here's a picture of him with his teacher.

Gabby's Cardiology Appointment

Today Gabby had a cardiology appointment. Although she's doing exceptionally well, at each appointment I still dread the possibility of getting less than perfect news.

At her last appointment her echo brought about concerns regarding her pulmonary arteries. Today he ordered further testing and since the test requires an IV, it has to be done at a hospital. Fortunately it's not emergent and can wait until after Thanksgiving.

She's otherwise doing very well. She's not having any problem putting on weight... (obviously an inherited trait!) She's full of energy and her incison is healing beautifully.

As long as this test goes well, she won't have to be seen by cardiology for 6 months! That would be great news for Gabby because despite all they've done for her, she's not very fond of doctors.

A movie and visit with Santa

Thanks to Amanda's planning we went to see Madagascar 2.

The movie was cute and it was nice getting together with friends.

After the movie, we planned to let the kids go to the play area, but when the kids realized Santa was there they wanted to let their wishes be known.

It was beautiful seeing all the fountains running despite it being too cold to play in them.

After seeing Santa we decided to go to Bass Pro Shops to see the fish.

Leah and Gavin sure looked cute and cozy in front of the aquarium.

Gabby was happier to see the fish than she was to see Santa. Funny how she adores the Disney characters, but won't have anything to do with an old man in a red suit.

Zachary really enjoyed watching the train.

I was quite impressed with Bass Pro Shops. They really put together a cute setup for the Christmas season.

Zachary was so cute talking to Santa. He has a habit of crawling up on my lap and twirling my hair. I thought it was so cute that he was doing the same thing with Santa's beard.


The Christmas decor was complete with it's very own "shooting range."

Check out my boys impressing the girls.

It was fun evening. We managed to keep 7 kids entertained and they were all very well behaved.

Thanks Amanda for helping me pull Sam away from Saturday college football!

MOPS Thursday and Operation Christmas Child

Today we had our Thanksgiving MOPS meeting.

(Just in case some of you don't know, MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers.)

Each meeting a mom is chosen to be the M.O.M. (mom of the meeting) and today it was my lucky day.

I received a gift bag full of goodies and was able to wear the tiara and carry the torch (mop) during the meeting.

It was fun being recognized especially after taking care of sick kids in the earlier part of the week. There's plenty of rewards, but not a whole lot of recognition in my "stay at home mom" role so it was a pleasant surprise.

I managed to get a picture of some of the food. It was quite a feast complete with ham, casseroles and plenty of desserts.

Keeping with the theme, Joia wore this very cute shirt. She's quite creative!

The food and guest speaker were great, but the highlight for me was seeing the children donate change from their piggy banks to Operation Christmas Child.

Our moms brought in enough items to fill 20 boxes.

National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child is November 17th-24th.

If you're interested in putting together a box and would like more details, please follow the link below to find more information about drop-off locations in your area.
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

What an awesome way to teach a child about the true meaning of Christmas!

A few blog-worthy photos....

It's been a busy few weeks and I've missed several days of blogging.

However, here's a few of my favorite pictures taken over the last week or so that I haven't had the chance to post.

Last week a baby girl in Alabama named Kynslee had open-heart surgery.

I embroidered this shirt and Gabby wore it as a reminder for us to pray for her.

I received an update that she's now home and doing well.

It's hard to believe that in January it will have been a year since Gabby's surgery.

She's so healthy now that sometimes I forget all that she has overcome.

Gavin and Zach can be so loving towards her when they want to.

Here's Gavin kissing her. She loves kisses and will even ask for them.

Gavin's end of the year soccer party was Sunday afternoon. He was so excited to receive his first trophy.

Here's superdaddy managing three kids and a shopping basket.

Pretty impressive!

Gavin is starting to adjust to the long days of Kindergarten.

The latest news is that he's now riding the school bus.

It's been nice not waking Gabby to pick him up from school.

One of Gavin's favorite things about taking the bus has been our walks home from the bus stop.

However, with great persistence I've managed to get a bus stop on my street so our walks home will end when the bus route is changed next week.

Zach is still loving preschool.

and Gabby couldn't be happier going with me to her early learning program.