The end of baseball season...

It's so hard to say goodbye... sniff sniff... ha ha, yea right. The end finally came and the boy's were able to receive their long awaited trophies. Jim had class and couldn't attend the awards night, so I had to hand out the trophies for Aidan's red sox team.

Here I am handing Aidan his trophy. Nolan and his trophy
Nolan receiving his trophy

Aidan and his trophy, you can't tell from the pic but he was actually more excited that night than Nolan.

Nolan being cheesy

I know that the boys had a lot of fun playing this year and despite what I say, I did have fun watching and supporting them. But it's always nice to take some time off and have our Saturdays back again.

Mom's day

For a nice mother's day treat this year, my wonderful husband volunteered (kind of) to babysit seven kids so my friend Jennifer and I could have a fun night out. It was great.... for us. We went to get pedicures and had dinner and even had time for some retail therapy (although neither of us bought much). It was so much fun... thanks again Jim, you're the best hubby ever!

pooped again...

How tired would you have to be to fall asleep on a wood floor?

Time to PAR-TAY!!

We had a combined party for Zoie and Aidan this year. The theme was candy land so we invited all their friends over and had a big colored path going through our house that the kids could play on, and of course tons of candy everywhere! I figure I only have a few more years where Zoie and Aidan will be willing to do combined parties, so I am taking advantage while I can. It will be annoying when they get older having to do two parties three days apart.

For the party I left the cake making to the professionals , as it should be. We had a most delicious Costco cake, they are the best! Here are Zoie and Aidan blowing out the candles. To save time (and the amount of spit on the cake) they each only got to blow out one candle. This is all the kids lined up on the colored path. Zoie and her BFF Jocelyn

The beginning of the path

A few of the party guests, waiting for festivities to begin.

The party turned out great. Thanks everyone who came and all those who helped out.

Birthday suit (happy birthday zoie)

This is Zoie's choice of what to wear on her birthday. I guess it's what she wore on her first one (minus the flip flops) so why not?This child has no fear of being naked in front of others. Should I be concerned about a stripper in the making? he he

Sorry, I'll move on to more appropriate, fully-dressed topics.

For Zoie's birthday once again we hung out around the house. She finally got dressed and then had two rounds of presents, one from us in the morning and one from nana and papa later. Like Aidan she also received a bike which she loves because is it very girlie, and many other small messy toys. yea!
That is one happy girl!

This time its a birthday pie. We knew we would have cake at the party and we had just had cake for Aidan's birthday so we were trying not to get cake overload.

Blowing out the candles on the birthday pie!

Aidan's new skill

Aidan learned how to ride his bike without the training wheels and he was so excited. It is the same bike that Nolan learned on and it had seen better days, The tires have no tread and the paint is chipping, but it works. Never mind that we have a brand new bike sitting in the garage for him. (see happy birthday aidan post) Look at that proud smile.
Now he can ride just like his big brother.

happy birthday Aidan!

As usual the birthday festivities spanned several days this year. We met Jim's parents a few days before Aidan's birthday for dinner at Moe's and for them to give him his presents. The kids had tons of fun checking out the new toys (thanks nana and papa), and then playing afterward.

On Aidan's actual birthday we kept it easy by opening gifts at home and then heading to the park to play with a few friends. It was a great day, very low key. I tried once again to make a homemade cake and it turned out okay. It looked much cuter in the magazine where I saw the idea, but oh well. Kids don't care, cake is cake right?

Aidan was very excited to get his brand new big boy bike (it doesn't have training wheels), but for some crazy reason he still won't give up the tiny bike that he learned to ride on. So the nice new bike sits in the garage while the nasty old one gets all the play. Good thing we bought it, I was getting scared we might run out of things to clutter up our garage.

Take me out to the ball game

Another fun day at the ball field. This time Aidan actually played instead of warming the bench (by the way he would choose to sit on the bench, coach Jim doesn't actually make him sit out.)

Here is Aidan showing off his batting skills. We always laugh at the fact that Aidan is such a slacker. We are sure all the other parents thought he was no good at first because he is always rolling around on the field or playing with his toys instead of paying attention to the game, but when he is up to bat he can really pound it.

Zoie always finds ways to entertain herself during the games.

My styling is courtesy of Zoie... do we have a new fashion trend in the making?

Aidan in his huge helmet, I swear his head is not really that big...

And here we have Aidan out on the field yelling for his team mates.... no wait, he's yawning.

At least he is out on the field.

More sleeping Zoie

I don't know if anyone is getting tired of seeing pictures of Zoie sleeping, but around here we are definitely not. We think it is hilarious how she can fall asleep anywhere, by the time she finishes elementary school I am sure I will have enough to fill a photo album.
When we were outside I was pulling weeds (joy!) and next thing I know I look over and Zoie is asleep on the lounge chair. Don't worry, I moved her inside so she wouldn't get sunburned (but only after getting some priceless pics of course).

Nolan plays catcher

Towards the end of the season Nolan's coach let him have a try at playing catcher. He was sooo excited. It takes forever to get all the gear on and Nolan couldn't wait to get out on the field and play. He did pretty good for his first time.

getting all the gear on He looks so little, hee hee

And of course Zoie fell asleep for it all, we all know that girl can sleep anywhere.

Easter weekend part 3

After leaving Tampa we drove the 2 hours home and stopped at Jim's parents house for another egg hunt and dinner with the family. The kids loved hunting for real eggs this time but we tried to make it quick, since it was so hot and we don't really want eggs sitting in the sun for too long. After the kids were done with their hunt we had our traditional hunt for the adults. I am pleased to announce that Keri and I beat Jim and Will in the number of eggs we found. Yes! go girl power! ha ha j/k Also the pic of Jim and his Dad is so that I can constantly remind Jim what not to wear when we get older(black church socks and church shoes with shorts) Sorry Bill...:)

Easter weekend in Tampa

The week before Easter was spring break so we decided to head to Tampa for a few days. We had tons of fun as usual relaxing and having fun with our friends the Ojukwus. We went to the beach, swam in their pool, and we even got to have a couples date night while all seven kids stayed home with a sitter (she was very brave to take that on). Then on Easter Sunday the good ol' Easter bunny came to visit and all the kids had a great time sorting through their candy and having a egg hunt before church. Then we headed back to Fort Myers to spend the afternoon and have dinner with Jim's family.

Sorry it's been so long

Anybody tired of looking at the old man on the motorcycle yet? Ha! Sorry I have been majorly slacking on the blogging, it's been a crazy couple of months here, but things are settling down now somewhat and summer is almost here so I guess that means I should post the pictures from Easter...

The weekend before easter we went down to Gulf Coast Town Center to do one of our favorite things which is eat at Moe's and then get ice cream at Cold Stone. While we were there we came across a scary bear but Jim scared it away .... As you may have guessed we decided to stop by Bass Pro because the kids love to run around and look at the fish and all the stuffed animals.
Zoie and Nolan with a racoon.

Playing in the kids tent

Nolan eating ice cream

Aidan showing off his toy

Princess Zoie (she wouldn't leave the house without her crown) being brave and going to see the big horse/dog we saw there
And who else did we run into...

Yea! The Easter bunny, who would come to see us in Tampa the following week.

To be continued...