This could be me...

For those of you who have ever asked......."Yes you can"

twins

FAT Tuesday

Enough said.


I'm heading to the kitchen for a snack....

photo fun

Have I ever mentioned just how wonderful my husband is at giving gifts? Really, almost embarassingly good. He is just a generous soul and loves to make you happy...in my case giddy. I am spoiled, horribly, and I know it. ONE of my Valentine's gifts was a zoom lens for my new camera that I bought myself for my birthday back in August. So I have been playing with it...can't wait to use it outside once the weather perks up. Here are some random pictures. Love you Sean!!

at normal range

full zoom...If you click on the picture you can see ear wax in her ear....gross I know

her new diva glasses...they have a hello kitty on the side. I wish they came in my size, however I have a uber large melon

Love how her shoe is fuzzy in the background. If you look at most pictures of the kids you will notice that they ALWAYS have crud around their mouth. They are the messiest eaters and I have given up on wiping their mouths ALL the time.

The Annual Gale (Braden's School) Auction was tonight. Since I am the room mother for his class I was in charge of collecting all the supplies (arts and crafts for the kindergartners) and organizing them in the basket. See Below....

Then it is an item at the silent auction....which was mayhem. I had to take my sister (thanks em!!)with me to help with the bidding. Alyssa was there and we sorta teamed up. I sadly lost out on winning a 1/2 recess for Braden's class or for Brady to have lunch with his teacher. Jakob, Alyssa's son, did win the day of NO homework....these went for big money. Last I checked on recess it was at 80.00. I stopped because I figure that Kindergartners play more than the rest of the grades. We weren't knocking people over, and I did give up when stuff go too high. I ended up with:

1 cherry pie---Dozen Super Yummy Frosted Sugar Cookies----30 carwash tokens

a $200 photographer gift certificate----a Gale Tshirt-----a super cool hurricane candle holder

ALL FOR $140.00.....yes, a little more than I wanted to spend, but it goes to the school which ultimately Braden benefits from.....
wonder what next year will bring.............

the.best.ever.

Without any prompting, this arrived for little Finley on Valentine's Day. Not one suggestion from me. At. All. Such a sweet Daddy. I remember growing up that every Valentine's Day my dad would get my sister and I something....candy in a heart shaped box, little trinkets, stuffed animals, little blue box jewelry, etc. Every Year, even after I married. Maybe Sean is starting the same tradition with Finley...she loves them and knows they are "hers". I got the kids a little tote of some things too....he even added a gift card to each of them, again, on his own.

We had a great Valentine's Day. My parents went to Peoria and brought sushi back for us and donuts from Dunkin'Donuts for the kids....no smushy lovey dovey. We were totally content in our jammies, hangin' out on a Saturday Night. Hope you all felt love today!

Braden Turns 6!

We planned to make our own pizzas for Bradens Real Birthday dinner....mom offered to have it at her house because the house had been cleaned that day and she thought it would be nice to still come home to a clean house. I eagerly took her up on her offer.

DONT ASK....
Yet another cake....funny thing NO ONE ate it. Not one person, well, Finley had some frosting....

He got this card from the Reed's...it sings "Happy Birthday" and he loves it. Daddy isn't a fan of the repetitive noise, so it stays in Mommy's car....so I get the honor of listening to it daily. It might not make it through the next car purging.

Birthdays

In order to save family from having to have to drive 2x in one month (aren't I nice), we combined our kids "family" birthday parties this year. I'm not sure I will do it again, it about killed me. A weekend inbetween Finleys and Bradens is when we decided to do it.....Finley thought it was Braden's birthday and was confused why she had gifts, again. So when Braden's real birthday came around, she wondered where her gifts were. Regardless of MY ILLNESS, YUCK, it was a great weekend filled with LOTS of food and family and drinks and desserts.

Baby Mallory and Finley.....in the chair, the only place Fin thinks she can hold her.

These guys are at the dessert table....that is where I would be sitting too...notice not one of them has a fork in their hand....hmmmmmm

Brent and Gina drove from Peru...Illinois...for the event, THANKS GUYS

It was a hello kitty/power ranger theme with a picnic feel......try to figure that one out.

A split cake for the kids...

Opening presents.

Progress

So there has been some progress, however we see it easier that others. It has been SOOO COLD here and there isn't any heat (yet) in the house. The guys are doing what they can to keep busy. Last week the heating/cooling crew showed up and got to work.

Here is the framed out "future cedar closet" in the basement....this I am super excited for!
this is the "future exercise room"....It looks HUGE in this picture, when in reality it isn't that big.

this is the "future bathroom" in the basement and a utility closet next to it

This is looking back to the exit of the basement. To the left of the stairs will be a door to the circut breaker/control panels for the generator. To the right of the stairs will be a door to the (I THINK) water heater.
Here are our 2 ,yes 2 furnaces.......I think one will control the main floor and one will control the second floor...this I am not sure of, but will know soon enough.

Some ductwork that will be in the walls...this is in Seans office looking at the 1/2 bath and into the family room.

The guys (Matt, Chuck, Jake and Doug) are working on the soffit....It is hard to notice, but it is the wood portion you see under the roof line. They hope to get that closed in soon. MEE TOO

Wasn't sure if I posted the garage doors yet...here they are.....all 3 pristine white ones.

A Little Visit

My nephew Cole came to visit for a few days last week...we had plenty to do, including "baking" some cookies.
If any of you know Cole...he is an eating machine...and is a true Kane...he LOVES dough

eating

sneaking

my Cute Little Helpers

We miss you Coley!! Finley asks if you are here whenever she wakes from sleeping. I of course say you are not and she replies "he'll be RIGHT back!!"

Cora

I dont normally do this but please say a few prayers for Baby Cora. She is about 10 months old and has just been diagnosed with a stage 4 cancer. It is a heartwrenching story.....I DO NOT know her, her family or anyone who knows her. I came across her blog through one that I frequently read. If you wish to read about her and her progress/status it is here . Dont read it unless you reeeallly want to (it's sad)...simple prayers will help.

**please note that little Cora passed away this morning (2-8) after her short battle with stage 4 cancer. Such a sweet baby girl. Please continue to pray for her family.