Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving. We started out by having Dominick's family at our house. We had tons of food! I brined, smoked then baked a turkey breast it was the best turkey I've ever had. We also made sweet and sour meatballs, ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes... the works.

After everyone left our house we headed out to my parents house. We had a nice visit with them. I brought them the left over turkey breast so they could taste the deliciousness =)

Nicholas wore his suit that used to be Dominick's. It's still a little big but Dominick's Mom and Grandma loved seeing him in it. We used the dishes that were Dominick's Great-Grandma's.

School pictures and Halloween

Okay so first things first! We got the kids school pictures back. I went out and bought new picture frames and hung them up on the wall right away

preschool 4 years old

The photographer said smile and show your teeth. So his fake smile is turned into a fake smile with his teeth showing.

Kindergarten 6 years old

I really like that Trinity's school had different poses and backgrounds to choose from. The only issue I have with Trinity's picture is that her headband is pulled forward.

Last night for Halloween we had SO many trick or treaters. I bought 4 big bags of candy and we ran out. I took our kids out around the neighborhood (Dominick was not feeling well) and almost every house had their lights on. The kids had so much fun!

House full of Kids

I had one of my nieces and two of my nephews stay the night last night. So we had 5 children running around the house last night and this morning. They all play together very well but they do get loud. They played outside yesterday but today it's raining and will be all day.

Cody has kept himself busy playing games (computer and wii). This is the kids playroom and where some of them slept last night not a war zone.

This is Nicholas' room which is normally pretty clean but of course all of the toys had to come out of the drawers.
None of the kids got much sleep so I am sure mine are going to take a good nap this afternoon while I am getting the house back into order.

2 days of no school and it's raining!

I have been playing around with my new Windows 7 and Microsoft office 2007 that I got for free from Microsoft. One of the perks of working for the company that I worked for was being able to take tests for different products that we sold in our store and get free or nice discounts. If I was certified for different companies products I was able to "sell" them to our customers better. I rarely ventured out to the sales floor but I still got the perks.

Trinity didn't have school on Thursday or Friday due to parent teacher conferences. It's been pouring down rain and Nicholas has a cough that sounds like it might get worse before it gets better. So we've been stuck in the house!

Thursday we read a lot of books! I had my conference with Trinity's teacher. So far Trinity exceeds all of the goals in her class. The class breaks up into 3 different groups for math and reading depending on skill level. Trinity is in the highest for both. Her groups also get more Spanish mixed in with their learning. I am happy that they are challenging her and keeping her busy instead of holding her back to wait for the other kids to catch up. Trinity loves to learn new things and I hope she always has that eagerness to learn.

On Thursday we also made sculptures out of marshmallows and toothpicks. The kids had fun with that one. Nicholas kept eating the marshmallows off my sculptures. We had a huge bowl of marshmallows too.

Friday we made green slime out of cornstarch, water and green food dye. I had to talk Nicholas into touching it but once he realized it washed off pretty easy he was ok playing with it. I could not believe how easy this stuff was to clean up and how fun it was to play with.

Getting ready for Halloween

Halloween is coming up pretty fast. We have started getting out our decorations. The kids have their costumes. We are having a little Halloween party at our house for the kids. I just have to wait now...

Today I was thinking that I have not taken a picture in weeks. So, out came the camera today and took a picture of my center piece. The bottom of the center piece needs some small pumpkins or something in it. I also have a nice runner to put across the table.

Today I was playing with photoshop and this is what I came up with just for fun. The kids love when I photoshop pictures with them in it. The pictures are of them in their Halloween costumes that they picked out for this year.

changes

After 3 years of working I am taking a leap and going back to staying at home with my kids. I've had a hard time the last 6 months or so working full time. I was away from my husband and kids way too much, especially since school started. We are cutting back and budgeting so I can be home with the kids.

I am excited and nervous at the same time. I love being home with my kids but I know we will not have any extra money. However, when you weigh family and happiness vs. money and extra stuff I am sure everyone knows which is better in the long run.

So here we go...

Trinity started Kindergarten

Trinity started Kindergarten last Wednesday. She was so excited to walk to school and meet her class. So far she loves everything about school except she thinks recess should be longer.

In this picture she is ready to head off to school. She is also showing off her newly pierced ears. We went and got them pierced the Sunday before school started. She picked out pink heart "diamonds" for her starter earrings. She is getting so old, I can't believe she is 6 already.

Trinity also had her 6 year Dr appt and she finally weighs just over 40 lbs! I can shop in the girls section for most of her clothes now instead of the toddler section. Her Dr is not worried about her weight because she has followed the same curve her whole life. She is always between the 15th and 20th percentile in weight for her age.