Chiapelli Family

Happenings

2010-05-31T19:12:00.000-07:00

We have lots of happenings that have kept us hoppin around here. Here is a quick picture update.

Kira in her FIRST ever parade!!! Walking down Main Street with the Daiseys from her troop for a Memorial Day parade. It was H-O-T and sunny, but Kira did great!

We posted flags at the cemetary to memorialize all the veterans who have fought for our country. We are greatful to have our freedoms and happy to remind our children that we have this special day off because of many great men and women who have fought for our freedoms.

Happy Memorial Day! After the Balloons, Flags, and Parade we had a huge BBQ! We love to party! Food, Fun and great Friends and GREAT weather!

Marina waves "Hi" - just kidding, she just waves those arms wild! Here we are at the Memorial Day Balloon launch we love so much.

Memorial Day Balloon launch - Kira and Ethan both had sleepovers with friends this weekend!

Marina is fully loving baby mush - I am making most of her food now; easy, quick and good for her :) Yum Yum Yum!

I was loading my car to bring some stuff to a friend. Natalie asked me if she could have the lipgloss that ust came with a new Hello Kitty book we bought. I thought, "Sure, lipgloss, totally harmless - right?" Well, I loaded and chatted with a friend and was NOT paying attention to my little 2 year old and this is what I got. What you cannot see is that the lipgloss is GLITTER and she was covered. It was even in her eyes - I always love lipgloss on my eyes. I just had to laugh and say, "Natalie, you are so pretty I need to take your picture!" I guess she taught me, huh?

Kira had a field trip to the Zoo. We had a great time walking with friends. Most of the day was cloudy but warmed up and got sunny just long enough for it to be a great day!

Ethan had an "Insect Extravaganza" at school. He particpated in a play, power point presentation, did a written report and made a diorama. You can ask this kid anything about Bees and he knows it! Below is a video of his power point presentation. It was a group project, they learned how to use the Smart Board and powerpoint. He presents for a little girl who was absent and his own information. We are very impressed with this second grader that we love so much!

Marina

2010-05-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

Well, 6 months later we have this cute doll. She's a good babe!

Too much to talk about!

2010-04-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since Thanksgiving it would be a little foolish to catch up. Can't promise that I will continue to post regularly. We have a LOT going on and once things settle I can recap again. Here is Nov - April in a nutshell.

Marina around Valentines Day - 3.5 months old

Disney World!

Disney with Tigger and Pooh!

We hooked up with some good friends, the Boren's, in Disney. Ethan we thrilled to have a friend to ride rides with and we loved swapping kids so we could ride with our hubby's. So fun!

Down in disney, marina catchin zzzzz's

Jeff and Kira - Daddy Daughter Dance

Ethan and his winning pinewood derby car

Natalie's 2nd birthday - dressed and playing with her presents

Natalie's 2nd birthday party

Baby Marina's blessing in January - thanks to all family who came out!

We had a great christmas

blessed sweet baby marina with lots of family to support us

celebrated natalie's 2nd birthday

ward conferences started, we had a stake primary activity, a blue and gold dinner and a leadership meeting (busy, busy, busy!)

kira and jeff went to a daddy daughter dinner dance for girl scouts

traveled to disney world

ethan took 1st place for his pinewood derby car for the wolf's (4th place overall)

celebrated ethan and kira's birthdays

ethan turned 8 and was baptised - yeah!

marina is now 5 months old and so sweet!! natalie is a total crack up and keeps me on my toes DAILY, kira had a really fun birthday party at the buffalo zoo "slithering selebrations"

Enjoy some pics as a recap - hope to blog a little more regularly.

Thanks for giving!

2009-11-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving with our friends.....THANK YOU!

A super clean baby!

Turkeys in our backyard....just a few days before thanksgiving! WHERE was my shotgun????

This is a little late, but we are very THANKFUL. We have so much to be thankful for....

dinners full of love from friends

thanksgiving dinner made with love and care

not cooking for sooooo long!

cards

calls from those who love us

a healthy baby and mommy

gifts for Marina, me and the kids

homemade gifts full of love and time

calls to check in

visits and visitors

flowers

patience

sleep - when it comes

calls from friends stopping by

health, happiness and our home

a good paying job

a totally stingy company that is still in business

calls from friends to take my older kids for an hour or two

chocolate :)

and the list goes on.......

Thanks so much to everyone who has taken care of us this last month. Crazy and difficult at times. The lack of sleep makes my brain foggy so hopefully I have not forgotten to thank anyone. I find myself thankful it is not summer yet and I do not have to juggle 4 kids at home. I am especially grateful for a husband who has stayed up late, gotten up early, came home from basketball and snuggled the new babe just so I could get a break.

New Baby

2009-11-20T18:33:00.000-08:00

We have been sleeping great since Marina came home. The kids love their new sister. Marina gets lots of hugs and kisses. Marina is now 6 lbs. 11 oz.

The Next Bach

2009-11-20T18:05:00.000-08:00

Ethan had his first piano recital tonight. He did a great job. Feel free to watch.

Marina Lauren Chiapelli

2009-11-05T18:34:00.001-08:00

Marina was born today at 7:11 pm. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 7 oz. Mom and baby are doing well and expect to come home on Saturday.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T17:59:00.000-07:00

Neal Armstrong
Tinkerbell

Witch

Kira's kindergarten class party

A "bun in the oven", chef, Neal Armstrong, witch, and Tinkerbell

Our pumpkins - Elmo (Natalie), Throw-up (Kira), Cannibal (Ethan)

The Chef with his 'bun in the oven'

We have been partying all week! Cub scout party, Daisey's party, 2 class parties, church party and a neighborhood party! WHEW! The kids have gotten full use out of the costumes and Natalie has found a love of Halloween!

With only 12 days to go until my due date I had no desire to dress up. BUT the season got the best of me. I LOVE Halloween and just had to come up with something. So on Friday afternoon I pulled together this little "bun in the oven" number with Jeff as the Chef. Kira is a Witch, Ethan is Neal Armstrong and Natalie is Tinkerbell. No theme, but everyone loved their costumes and we had a lot of fun at all the parties.

Our pumpkins are N-Elmo, E-Cannibal Pumpkin, K -Throw up Pumpkin. Hope everyone else had a fun week too!

Fall in Western NY

2009-10-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

We love fall here in NY. The color of the trees are so vibrant and pretty. The first fall we lived here we had a crazy storm which dumped snow on all the trees with their majestic leaves still on the trees. Many of the trees lost limbs and some totally fell over. The following fall was pretty bland, but I did not realize it. The trees were still recovering and did not produce the beautiful colors that we are seeing now. The kids have been coming home from school everyday asking to rake the leaves. Of course I say yes, but they don't get very far by themselves. For family night this week we raked the leaves and played in them until dark. It was a lot of fun!

We have also carved our pumpkins...I will have more pics on Halloween.

2009-10-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

To the Fifth Power

Tagged for a meme! (Thanks, Jenna - Jeeze!) Here goes. . .

Five North American Cities in Which I'd Seriously Consider Living:
1. NYC, NY
2. San Diego, CA
3. Colorado Springs, Colorado
4. Philadelphia, PA
5. Any beach on the east coast south of South Jersey

Five Songs to Which I Know all the Words:
1. "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" by U2
2. "Hotel California" Eagles
3. "Something in the way she moves" James Taylor
4. "Penny Lane" Beatles
5. "I am a Child of God" Naomi Randall
*I need to listen to the radio*

Five Foods I'd Wish to Have in Unlimited Quantities on a Desert Island:

1. Home made rolls
2. Butter
3. Strawberries
4. Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate
5. Peanut Butter

Five Chores I Should Be Doing Right Now Instead of Blogging:

1. Reading Jesus the Christ (is that a chore?)
2. Cleaning the downstairs bath
3. Making a frozen dish to save for after the baby
4. Sleeping (is this a chore? I just know the computer keeps me up longer than I should be)
5. Mopping the kitchen floor

Five Childhood Friends I'd Love to See Again:
1. Jeana Sparano
2. Amy Mohn
3. Jenna VanSciver
4.
5. I can't really think of anyone else :)

Now, five friends to tag (but please play even if you aren't tagged, and then let me know!):
1. Eliza - you need something to do right?
2. Amy
3. Rachel - because I know you will :)
4. Andrea
5. Audrey

Soccer

2009-10-20T19:21:00.001-07:00

Ethan and Kira have both really enjoyed soccer this Fall. Kira likes it so much that when she got to her last practice of the season and it was canceled due to low temps she still played with her Dad! We signed them both up for winter indoor to keep them busy and get a little run around time here in blustery cold Buffalo.

Time Out for ME!

2009-10-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

Me, Mary Ellen Edmunds and Audrey

The girls!

Me, Mark Mabry and Audrey

Last weekend I took a little adventure to VA to hang with my sister in laws and mother in law. It was our gift to her for mother's day, but she paid for just about everything :) Happy Mother's Day Deb! I guess the best gift was time together, which I really cherished. I felt guilty leaving Jeff who took off of work to be with the kids AND watch the little boy that I watch. But he was great. He ran around taking the kids to the zoo, soccer practices in the rain and all the stuff we normally work out together. What a great guy :) Although I felt guilty leaving, once I was gone I was so happy to have a little time before baby #4 comes. Time Out for Women was just the place to go. We heard from a lot of great speakers, but the 2 that stick in my mind the most were Mark Mabry who put together this. He was very humble and it was nice to hear his story. We also heard from Deanne Flynn who talked about paying attention to the most important things in life and not to focus on all the little details that can swamp us. She wrote a book called the The Time Starved Family (funny...I was listening to her while Jeff juggled our life alone). Most of all it was great to spend time with my SiLs and MiL, although I wish they all could have been there, it was great to be with some of the family.

Reader Poll

2009-10-08T18:19:00.000-07:00

OK friends and family - we have really struggled with baby number four for a name. This is our 3rd girl and girl names do NOT come easy to me or Jeff. So we have posted some of our name options, but definitely would love some input. Feel free to vote for your favorite. We do have a preference but have decided that we are open to options. What do you think? The poll is on the side bar.

He did it!!! AGAIN!

2009-09-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

Visiting the Kirtland Temple on Sunday - Can't even tell he ran 26.2 miles can ya?
Our little pioneers

We are so proud of our Daddy!

The 3 Marathoners!!!

Can you spot Jeff as he nears the finish line (to the left of the umbrella)

A glimpse of Jeff running strong! (Look at those leg muscles!)

There he goes again!

The kids waiting to cheer on their dad! Go Dad!!!!

The crew after the Kids Fun Run - They all ran the 1K (and then we walked back to the car! Ugh!)

Making "Go Dad" signs the night before at the expo

Jeff has completed his 2nd marathon! He ran Akron, OH for 26.2 miles, all around, up hills and down in 4 hours 28 minutes! This is a tough marathon with the steep and long hills, but Jeff made it and beat his last time by 30 minutes.

The day started out at 7AM with Jeff running and the kids and I rushing to catch up. We made it outside to the 3 mile mark and cheered for Jeff. Then we hung outside a friends hotel balcony and cheered him on at the 10 mile mark! Next we ran over to the Kids Fun Run. We ran with our friends through the race....I walked with another pregnant friend whose husband was smokin the rest of the boys in the race.....and we grabbed our metals, goody bags and headed to see Jeff at the 21 mile mark. Right on time he came over the hill and then we jetted over to the 24 mile mark for some more encouragement. Slightly behind schedule we waited in the misty rain until he appeared. Off he went and off we went to the finish line. We got there just in time to see him come across the finish line at 4:30 (chip time 4:28)!! Hurrah for Jeff!!! We are so proud of you for this accomplishment!!! AND to all our friends who came and ran the race for the 1st time!!! Thanks for sharing the weekend with us and making the run around so fun!

Sunday we hit the Akron ward for church, went over to Kirtland for some church history tours and then on to dinner with our good friends in Erie, PA! It was a BUSY weekend, but we had a blast! YEAH JEFF!!!

Piano Time!

2009-09-22T18:27:00.001-07:00

Well these two cuties like to bang away on the piano, but Ethan has really come along. He is starting to actually ENJOY his piano lessons and practice!! YEAH! No more plunking away....he is making music! Go Ethan! BTW, Jeff and I firmly believe in music lessons. Neither of us had them and we want all of our kids to have the opportunity to not only learn a talent, but to bless others with their talents. Even though Ethan did not LOVE the piano at first, we pushed through the tears and struggles so that he can get to this fantastic point and further! Here he is playing "Grandmother" for all the Nana's and Mimi's so far away! :)

Special Week!

2009-09-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

This cute girl got chosen as the first Star of the Week for her class. This means she got to make an awesome board all about her. She said her favorite things are playing with Natalie at home, coloring pictures at school, she likes all the colors of the rainbow, mac n' cheese, waffles and cookies. We put lots of pictures of things important to Kira like swimming, swinging, playing with friends, being with her brother and sister and mom and dad.

At school she gets to be the special person everyday and choose a helper to take down the role and lunch count, be the line leader, and lots more! Over the weekend she will bring home Casey the Cow from school and write about our special weekend with Casey. She is VERY Excited!

Natalie update

2009-09-11T19:10:00.001-07:00

I pulled our potty seat out of the basement this past week. I was cleaning, saw it and thought, "oh this will be good to start introducing Natalie to it" I figured she would sit on it, look at it and just get used to the idea that soon she would be using the potty. So when we came home from Palmyra late on Sunday night Jeff was getting her ready for bed and she said, "Potty". I was ready for bed, but Jeff put her on the potty. whatever right?
She WENT! 9:30 at night 1st time on the potty and she WENT!!!

Since then she is potty crazy.....no not at all ready for REAL potty training so I think we have created a monster. Tonight she sat on the potty again and she WENT! but this is what followed when I tried to get the diaper on her and this went over and over again :)

Happenings!

2009-09-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

We've done a few fun things recently and thought an update was necessary.
Saturday we hit the Buffalo Wing Fest. We decided you cannot live in Buffalo without going to Wing Fest. We thought how much fun Alison and Rick would have had here, but we are not HUGE wing fans. Still, Jeff ventured down a path no other should go. Let me begin by saying he is training for a marathon. Saturday morning he woke at 5 AM and ran 23 miles. He came home feeling great (why ruin that I ask?). At wing fest he was approached by a vendor who said, "If you drink our hot sauce you get a free T-Shirt". Jeff, says, "OK!" HUH!!!!!! Down the hatch!

AHHHHH!!!! Yes it was HOT! He drank both water bottles we had then looked for something more soothing. ICE CREAM! He ran to the ice cream booth and downed an ice cream sandwich. And then.........he threw up! Lovely! Oh, and the T-Shirt, it says "Wings and Beer; Thou Shalt Enjoy" with a lovely picture of some hippy dude holding stone tablets like the 10 commandments. Ummm...where are you going to wear THAT Jeff? No where!! I pushed on and took the kids to a "chicken run" and Jeff, he ran it too! CRAZY! The funniest part of the whole day. We did NOT eat any wings. Not one! Good Times!

By complete stark contrast we visited Palmyra on Sunday. We loved the print shop, had a dinner picnic at the top of the Hill Cumorah and peeked in on the Temple grounds.
Jeff and Natalie following Ethan and Kira as they rolled down Hill Cumorah!

Grandin publishing, first printing of the Book of Mormon

Another fun video

2009-09-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

Just another fun video. The kids had a really fun day with some friends at the end of summer and I think this is a great one. There is a sprinkler under the trampoline and they are going nuts. Note the goggles on Kira - just in case she goes under I suppose!

Just a cute video

2009-09-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

Just a cute video of Natalie. I took this about a month ago when she started to talk more, now she is talking even more, but this is so cute.

An end to summer.....

2009-09-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

And now it is time to go back to school. Hello schedules, hello routine, hello solid 2 hour naps ;), hello Mrs. Brown and Mr. Ruhl!!!

The kids went back to school today! 1st day ever for Kira and she did GREAT! The bus almost took off without her. The bus driver shut the door before she could get on the bus. Lucky for her she has a fanatic mother who was NOT about to let the bus drive off without her on it :). No....I banged on the door much to the bus drivers surprise and I informed him he had another passenger this year. She did jump right on and sat with her amazing big brother. I was a crazy mom and followed the bus to school for more pictures. Here she is with her new teacher Mrs. Brown (ethan's K teacher). I am also happy to say I get to be her room mom. Little did you know I patrol around school all summer with signs that say "pick me for room mom" and "I like to bake". If you didn't know my dream job is to bake cupcakes and make play dough for 5 year olds! I also want to be at all the best Halloween, Block and 100 days of school parties!! All the cool people attend these! All joking aside I LOVE being a room mom, but I am terrified Kira will have a melt down with me in the room! Time will tell......she CAN tie her shoes so that is huge!
Ethan seems to love his new class and teacher. He is very motivated with positive reinforcement and this teacher has a treasure box so we are all set. Their could be dead worms and dirt in the box for all Ethan knows, but he is already motivated to do well!
And me......hmmm.....Oh how I LOVE schedules, routines, places to be and things to do. I kid you not! And most of all......I LOVE....LOVE.....LOVE silence!!!! (natles is a pretty quiet kid, I've only got 2 months of this so I will enjoy every moment!)

2009-09-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

We visited with family (thanks for coming!)

2009-09-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

We swam.....and swam......and swam!

2009-09-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

They drove fast cars.....

We said "see ya later" to good friends.

We were silly with our good friends!

We played and played and played!

An end to summer

2009-09-03T19:43:00.000-07:00

Thos long lazy summer days, who doesn't love them? We had a fun summer. We planted and picked....we read and visited the library (lots on rainy days).

Toronto

2009-08-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to Toronto to round out our summer of "city" vacations. We wanted to stay close - its only 1.5 hour drive and there is a lot to see and do. Most importantly we took advantage of our reward points for the 3 night Hotel stay. We stayed right in the city at The Grand, had a nice suite with a kitchenette, pool and huge buffet breakfast every morning. The kids LOVED swimming each day in the pool and we checked out the roof top hot pools - that was fun!

Day 1: We went to Ontario Place an amusement park right in the city on Lake Ontario. A funny place and a waste of time/money if you ask Jeff and I. There was not a lot to do. The Canadians have a funny idea of amusement. At one point we saw a bunch of basketball hoops with kids waiting in line to shoot hoops......I thought.....is that such a novelty? Do they only have Hockey sticks here?

Day 2: we hit the Hockey Hall of Fame, my highlight was grabbing a fresh crepe with chocolate and bananas :) Jeff's highlight was the beloved "fake" Lord Stanley Cup. The real cup was off with a player somewhere being paraded around, but this cup is an identical replica.

Next we were off to the CN Tower. We made the trip up and then up again to the sky-pod. Why not go all the way up if you are going to go up, right?

Natalie LOVED the glass floor, she is fearless!

Day 3: We went to the Ontario Science Center. This is a childrens museum with a lot of interactive explorative areas. It is huge! Really too big to do it all. I think it was a pretty good museum, but too crowded and not staffed well at all. Very similar to the Strong Museum in Rochester, but not as good.

Day 4: Our final day we went to the Toronto Zoo. I loved this day. The zoo is huge, but so well laid out. Each area is given a regional theme, "Tundra, Savannah, Canada, etc." The animals from that area of the world are there but they also have cool props to play on and look at. They also have a whole water park right in the zoo! My favorite was the coral reefs and Australia - we walked THOUGH the Kangaroo exhibit! So cool! The kids loved the polar bears and the gift shop ;)

From Movies

And we're back.....

2009-08-02T18:09:00.001-07:00

For the past 2 weeks we have had Internet problems. Along with our lack of a camera I felt no need to blog, but finally we are back online!! Ugh! For the record, don't downgrade your Internet service to save a buck. You'll just end up with no Internet until you upgrade again!

Anyway here is what we have been up to:

We were bored with rainy cool weather so we invited (begged) my sister-in-law Andrea to send my nephews Tyler and Jared here to help keep us entertained. Yes, at times I had 6 children running around (don't forget I watch a little guy occasionally) and yes, it may have been a little bit of work. But the truth is, aside from cooking extra food and washing bathing suits every other day those two kids were the best thing we did this summer - so far! During the day we tried to keep things low key so that I could maintain some schedule for Natalie's sake. Ethan and Kira had swim lessons most days and we would stay and play at the pool. This was and is lots of work for me especially if I have the little guy that I watch, but it was worth it to see Ethan and Kira happily playing with their cousins. As a side note I think it is pretty comical when I show up to the pool with 6 kids and I am pregnant. Some of the other moms look at me like I am a little nutty....and maybe I am, but I'd rather have them run around the pool then run around my house!

So here is a quick recap of our week.

Monday - day swimming/night Niagara Falls

Tuesday - day swimming/night playing at Spaulding Lake while the YM flip canoes for their canoeing merit badge. Thanks Shannon for letting us play with you!!

Wednesday (Jared's Birthday! with rainy weather) we did swim lessons and then went to McD's for lunch and playing in the play land/night we took the older kids to the Drive In and watched G-Force (horrible kid movie but the kids had a great time).

Thursday - day swimming/night we just got ready for camping

Friday - we left for a Jellystone Park in Mill Run, PA south of Pittsburgh. We wanted to break up the trip for the Tyler-Jared trade off with their dad who met us halfway between DC and Buffalo. We thought camping a few nights would be fun. This camp ground had a LOT to do including mining for gold and gems, swimming in 2 heated pools, water slides, train rides, carousel rides, hay rides, firetruck rides, a mardi gras parade - because it was mardi gras at the camp ground! Yikes, so much for communing with nature! It was a little too busy for us, but the kids had fun! UNTIL......we got drenched! 4:30 AM Sunday it began to down pour. We THOUGHT our tent would hold up but after 2 full hours of torrential downpour it started to leak - EVERYWHERE! It was dripping on the kids, on our clothes, on my forehead. Pretty soon we were all getting wet along with everything in the tent so Jeff started to pack everything up. I am not sure how the kids slept till 8 AM since a few of them were getting really wet, but they slept through us packing up and dripping water. Overall the camping was really fun. There was a great heated pool and the kids loved taking in all the other activities including riding some rapids on the river. Here is Ethan riding the rapids, Jared was right behind him. Brave little buggers!

WORTH IT!

2009-07-18T18:06:00.000-07:00

Our camera broke so I don't know when we will have pics on our blog again. But here is something worth checking out - free dinner! Tyson is offering a mail in rebate for up to 8.99 for a skillet creation. Check here and print out the rebate form!
http://embracedinner.com/

Ethan's in a parade!

2009-07-09T18:47:00.000-07:00

Ethan loved walking with his school cub scout pack throwing $15 worth of candy out to the kids as he waved and smiled. The parade was to celebrate Old Home Days, a little carnival-like town fair. They opened the event with a big parade through town and Ethan was able to walk with the scouts. This is actually his 4th parade! But since he did this one on his own I think he felt pretty grown up. In fact, he told me before the parade he did NOT want is dad to walk too, he'd be just fine with the leaders. Hmmm.....so grown up!

4th of July

2009-07-07T19:32:00.001-07:00

After camping we cleaned up and then ran out again to see some fun fireworks with more friends! I felt like we were home just long enough to unpack from camping and then head out again. Boy were we worn out after all that crazy running for almost 2 weeks! So glad to be home and establish a routine.

Camping in Watkins Glen

2009-07-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

After rushing home from NYC, 2 days later we headed out for a weekend camping trip to Watkins Glen, NY. We had a great time spending quality time with friends around the campfire, eating way too many s'mores, and hiking the Glen. The weather was too cool for swimming, but just right for sleeping and hiking. Double click the box below and it should take you to the webalbum. Sorry I have not mastered the slideshow embed!

The Big Apple!

2009-07-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

After PA we headed to NYC to take in the sites. Ethan must have learned about the Statue of Liberty this year because he was bugging us all winter to go see her. We were happy to oblige and make this one of our vacations this summer.
STATUE OF LIBERTY - First we headed straight to Battery Park. I am so happy I bought reserved time tickets, we passed MANY people in line and walked right up to the front. The ferry ride was great and Ethan and Kira were thrilled to see Lady Liberty. Next it was on to the pedestal, but first we had to pass through another security screening. Very different from when we were kids. I can remember hundreds of people through out the statue, on the stair leading to the crown, reading all the information and looking at the artifacts. There were not even 100 people throughout the entire pedestal area since 9/11 changed the rules. FYI - the crown opens up to ticketed visitors on July 4th, but one of the guards told us that those tickets are booked into Feb 2010. He said they book one year in advance so book now if you plan to visit!

TIMES SQUARE - Next we headed to our hotel in the heart of TS. We played in the Toys R Us Mega Store, M&M store and Hershey Store. We headed to dinner in Mars 2112, a themed restaurant. There was a shuttle ride to the red planet and then you were surrounded by aliens and martians.

AMNH - Day 2 we took the subway to AMNH, side note - you do NOT need to pay the suggested admission price, you can pay what ever you want :) We breezed through most of the stuff looking for the key items that were in "Night at the Museum". Unfortunately, most of the key characters are not even at the AMNH, so the kids were a little disappointed. It was a museum, not much more.

CENTRAL PARK - Next we hiked over to CP for a little carriage ride. We found a guy who gave us a bike tour. Yes, he pulled our family of 5.5 on a bike! It was a good tour and we all enjoyed the rest, shade and sites of the park. I wish we had more time because we would have spent it there.

After this we went to FAO Schwartz. I was really excited for the kids to see the huge clock tower but much to my dismay the whole store was different. The clock tower was gone - the only thing left was the huge piano.
The kids mostly just enjoyed being in NYC. They loved our hotel in the heart of Times Square - worth every penny! Natalie did not sleep for 2 days (except on our tour through central park). There was so much to see and take in no one wanted to pause for a second. We are already planning our return trip in a few years!
(Click on the slideshow below for pictures or if it work try this link - http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=tarachiapelli&target=PHOTO&id=5353873407269322338&aid=5353869639213739089&authkey=Gv1sRgCO2_97X-h-zY0wE&feat=email )

From Movies

Family Time!!

2009-06-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Andrea and Evan chillin at the end of a long day
Anna and Natalie looking very tired - so many rides, so little time

Kira with her prize which she named Hershey

The Coaster Crew, Tyler, Tanner and E

Kira and Nat on a fun ride

Rob working the wiggle wire. He won a huge Kung Fu Panda.

Ethan did not :(

Brad feeding Alex fried dough with powdered sugar. After I offered Alex a french fry his daddy said, "Go ahead, mommy is not here." Yes, Alex had a lot of fun that day!

Audrey, Isaac and baby Sydney all the way from UT!

Pop-pop, Mom, me and kids

The day school ended we headed to PA for a little vacation. First stop - family visits to Anastasia and new baby Eli grandchild number 23 for the Chiapelli's (sorry no photos!) but he was a cutie. And a chunker! Weighing at almost 10 lbs and only 1 week old. He will soon catch up with his big brother. Next stop, grandchild number 22, Devan born to Joel and Carrie. (again no photos - we stink!) BUT my pop-pop and parents ALSO came to J&C's for dinner so we do have a photo of my pop, mom, me and kids.

After all the visits we headed to Hershey Park - capital of Hershey's chocolate and chocolate lovers everywhere. Super fun day. Although it was hot and the park was crowded we still had a great time. This park has the 2nd most rides of any theme park in the US; a zoo, huge water park and many, many rides for riders of all ages. The highlight for me was the lazy river over and over and over again. Ethan went on his 1st upside down roller coaster - The Super Duper Looper!! He has no fear, unlike Kira who would not ride the sky ride with me and Natalie :( We were so happy to visit with the Jacobson fam and to see grandbaby number 21 Sydney Jo!

Our graduate

2009-06-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

Kira graduated from preK on Friday. There was quite a bit of excitement and a huge build up to the big event. She did a fantastic job singing the songs and graduating. We were very proud of her. I also have to say that she did remarkably well on her report card for the year. She scored in the highest category on every single section of her report. She had a great relationship with her teacher who always said Kira was doing very well. Kira's improvements are especially great because she is our emotional child. Last year she screamed and threw a temper tantrum throughout the YMCA preschool because she had to get dressed by herself after her swimming lesson (Yikes!). SHe is not without drama and tempertantrums but, this year was a BIG improvement. This year Kira mostly enjoyed all the crafts and projects. She also loves bugs so I sent in painted lady butterfly larva with a butterfly house. She was the center of attention as she told the kids about the caterpillars metamorphosis to chrysalis and then to butterfly's. The kids also had a fun butterfly release party a week before graduation. She especially loved spending time each day after school each day with her friend Ella. We swapped homes after school and the girls loved playing and eating lunch together, spending time at parks, with playgroup and at the library. She has had a great year and we are really looking forward to the summer when we can spend some time practicing tying shoes, playing on the computer and finishing our reading lessons. Kindergarten here we come!!

Baseball baseball baseball

2009-06-20T17:59:00.000-07:00

Ethan and Jeff have been immersed in baseball most of the last month and a half. Ethan is playing on the same team with teammates that made up his team last year. These kids are really good buddies from kindergarten which makes it a LOT of fun for him. The coaches pitch to the kids and they will eventually use the pitching machine. Ethan loves to play shortstop and has made a lot of outs and usually gets on base. Jeff also plays in a league with very silly rules. They start with one strike and one ball. So far his team has been beat badly by bigger scarier, burlier, older, beer drinking men than Jeff's team of young clean cut guys. Oh well - at least they have fun!

BIG GIRL!

2009-06-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

Natalie is officially a big girl! She slept in her "big girl" bed last night for the first time. For a trial run of "official-ness" she took her nap in there today and is again in the bed tonight! She loves it and goes to sleep with a smile on her face and wakes without crying!

IT'S A........

2009-06-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

GIRL! We found out today, with the whole family in tow, that we are having another little baby girl! Most importantly she has 10 fingers, 10 toes, a great heart and we - baby and me - are BOTH in great shape. No issues! Hurray! The tech gave Ethan and Kira both print outs of the baby and they had a great time showing their teachers and friends at school. Everything is still on track for Nov 15th.

KIRA RIDES HER BIKE!

2009-06-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

Jeff took Kira out to teach her how to ride her bike and wha-la! She can ride!!! How exciting! For a little girl who pushes the envelope in every way possible this quick learn is a big deal. Seriously, she takes about 35-45 min EVERYDAY to get out of bed, go to the bathroom and put clothes on. UGH! This is with me calling upstairs every 10 min, "Kira, are you out of bed?" "Kira, are you off the toilet?", "Kira, do you have clothes on yet?" Kindergarten here we come!!! But really this is a GREAT BIG deal for her. It only took a few tries to get her rolling and now she can ride. We are still working on starting and turning, but she can stop without falling and ride in a straight line for a distance. Very exciting for our little Pre-K gal.

Lots of Happenings

2009-05-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

We got a great deal on this beautiful furniture from Raymore Flanigan with a deal from my sister who is a manager there.

We are thrilled that we have finally updated our furniture and just love the way it looks!!

Memorial Day 2009 - Letchworth hot air balloon fest

Ethan and some buddies ballooning.

Cuties!

Happenings!

2009-05-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

Kira and buddy checking out the rainbow at Letchworth State Park

Natalie chomping on her favorite snack - an apple - and she will eat the WHOLE thing!

Amazing landscaping!!

We love our new landscaping!

Ethan lost a tooth! The sandman made sure E was fast asleep before the toothfairy swiped his tooth and left some moulah!

Perfection?

2009-05-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who has, what I consider, a very serious blog. She often talks of things, leaving no pictures of kids playing or vacations. She blogs about life, challenges we face, challenges she faces, opportunities and opportunities missed, good things, blessings, her testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ and so much more. Her last blog entry was one that shatters my heart. I have looked up to this friend in so may ways. I have sought her advice and friendship even though we are separated by miles.

She blogged about the failings in her marriage. I feel so sad for her because she has tried so hard to make things work through 2 marriages. Her current marriage is not over, but she is having trouble. I was sad for her, but I was also inspired to blog about my own marriage.

Jeff is a wonderful husband. He really is. We have had difficult times. I can remember the beginning of our marriage when I would complain all the time about what he "did not do". I had a hard time focusing on what he did do. I have learned to look at what he did and does do. Yes, sometimes the bathroom trash overflows before it gets taken out, but he does do it!

Jeff is a great father. He loves our kids sooooo much and make it a point to spend quality time with each one of them. He makes each of them feel special in their own way and never feels like he has to bath, put to bed, take over for a while. He enjoys our kids and loves spending time with them even if it is doing chores with them.

He works very hard at his job. He has excelled and received many promotions for only being with the company 6 years. He wants to support us and allows me to stay home to take care of our family.

He knows how to balance what we do at home. He knows when I have hit my limit of chores, kids and life in general and he takes over with a smile. He shows his love to me by never complaining. He may be dead tired because we were BOTH up with the baby, but he still helps and shows love to our whole family.

He is not perfect, but he is doing a great job. I love him and I feel very lucky to be married to such a wonderful man. Challenges have come and more are yet to come. Marriage is about balance, finding the good and positives. Focusing on me and not him, wondering if I have done all I can do today and not worrying if he did all he could do. He may not buy me lots of flowers, sometimes he even forgets to open the door for me when it is cold and my arms are full, but I KNOW he loves me and through all the challenges we will face we will face them together!

White whites

2009-05-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

It worked! My friend Rachel shared a little tidbit that she picked up from some random blog. She told me that if I wanted really white whites to spray the stain with mildew remover - like Tilex - then launder as normal. So I tried it. Ethan's baseball pants are really grungy after just one game. He loves to slide and the white pants get some yucky mud and grass stains. This past time I treated the stain with shout and then washed in whites with bleach in the load. I forgot to check them and threw them in the dryer only to find out later that the stain was now super set-in. So I decided to try the mildew remover. I did bleach the pants a little first in a bucket of water and bleach, then I sprayed on the remover, rubbed them a little and then laundered in hot water. They came out totally white!! I should have taken before and after picks, but it really did work.
Disclaimer - don't blame me if it does not work and don't do it on anything but whites.

Queen for a Day (or weekend!)

2009-05-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

I love mothers day. I think it is so fun to get homemade gifts from my kids, be showered with kisses and love and just lounge and play all day because that is what I should do!! My fun day really began last week. Kira has been soooooo excited about a Mother's Day Tea that her preschool put on. Each day I would probe about what they made or what plans were in the works. I was very impressed with her and her little friends ability to keep a secret. When the big day came Kira took me by the hand with pride and we found the preschool transformed with tables, table cloths, art work, flowers, and yummy breakfast treats. It was really sweet. The kids sang songs, told what they would buy us for a millions dollars (I would get the best flowers from around the world), gave us flowers, and a picture of me. It was really special!

Sunday, I really was a great mom and got up before Jeff when Natalie woke up early. Jeff had spent about 7 hours moving dirt to fill in our landscape job on Saturday so I did not think it was super important for me to be pampered in bed. But when he woke I climbed back into bed and let the kids come snuggle and give me all my fun gifts. Ethan gave me a flower pen and stationary that he made himself with his thumb-prints turned butterfly, spiders, etc. Super cute!

I received lovely flowers from Jeff as well as all the amazing landscaping he has done all by himself!

The best part of mothers day is just lounging which I was able to do with some friends while dads took the kids far away from us. We milked it and talked and laughed for at least 3 hours while the dads occassionally came in with looks of, "is this day almost over?" It was so fun!

Busy, Busy , Busy....Tired, Tired, Tired

2009-05-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

Haven't been blogging much because I have been pretty tired at night. Too tired to blog in fact. AND we have been pretty busy with a lot of stuff. Here is a quick update.

Ethan was in a play at school. He played the role of Neal Armstrong (isn't he cute?). It was a special group of kids who first researched their character and then played the part. Now he is in another special group of kids learning about fossils. We have been very lucky with Ethan. He is smart and gets his work done quickly in school which has allowed him to take part in other "extra" opportunities.

Jeff ran a 5K in a slow 25 minutes. He was disappointed, but it was warm 70ish and super windy that day. If you run, you know those two factors can be tough.

The weather has been beautiful so we have been playing outside tons. In fact, Jeff has built a beautiful retaining wall which I will post a pic of once we finally finish the landscaping.

I was released a primary president in our ward and was called as the stake primary president. Very nice because overall it should be a lot less weekly stress and work! :) I am excited for the change and the chance to work with people from around the stake. 2 weeks after receiving the calling I ran a Bike Rodeo for the cub scouts. Thank Heaven for the Internet and other people who take the time to post their ideas! They rock because I sure don't have the time to post my ideas (or motivation).

Kira had her Kindergarten "screaming" (screening, but I swear she said screaming today). She of course did very well. Not only does she know her numbers, shapes, colors, body parts and letters with ease, but she has been taking the same reading lessons I did with Ethan, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lesson". I highly recommend it. Ethan is an excellent reader and I attribute that to those lessons which built a great foundation. I am sure she will do the same as she goes through school.

Natalie had another ear infection. I am not sure how this is possible with tubes, but it happened. It was pretty yucky and I had a frustrating day trying to get into a Dr. to look at her ear - which was pussy and bleeding! It was a tough week. Normally, Natalie is super easy going and always smiling. She was inconsolable for so many days. It was frustrating and sad, but I am glad everything is figured out and we are getting the sleep we need again. She is back to her cute self of helping me with chores around the house like setting the table.

Birthdays and Bunny's

2009-04-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

Ethan and Kira had many a birthday celebration. Not only did they both have special treatment at home AND they also were lucky enough to travel to PA and have a birthday party with their cousins. (Thanks Aunt Alison and Uncle Ricky for letting us trash your home, setting up your awesome moon bounce and letting us invade with ...ummm....12 cousins and lots of moms and dads! ) They also had a bowling birthday party here at home! The kids loved spending time with their closest friends, eating cake and getting fun presents.

Of course we had a few Easter egg hunts. Natalie really figured things out quickly. Grab and egg, open, eat chocolate! She loved it! I had to put all the Easter goodies away today because ever time I turned around she had an egg with candy, wrapper and all, melting out of her mouth! It was a lot of fun. We did get a picture of the kids with the bunny, but Ethan (who has not voiced his unbelief just yet but shows it in his actions) would not smile. Oh well, they are loving their SUPER long break (7 school days - jesh! no wonder we get out of school just before the fourth of July!)

Signs of Autism

2009-04-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

Today is World Autism Day. It affects so many and so many do not know what to look for. Here is something to think about. Thanks Melanie and Grant for the information!

Watch for the Red Flags of Autism
(The following red flags may indicate a child is at risk for atypical development, and is in need of an immediate evaluation.)

In clinical terms, there are a few “absolute indicators,” often referred to as “red flags,” that indicate that a child should be evaluated. For a parent, these are the “red flags” that your child should be screened to ensure that he/she is on the right developmental path. If your baby shows any of these signs, please ask your pediatrician or family practitioner for an immediate evaluation:

No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter
No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter
No babbling by 12 months
No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months
No words by 16 months
No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months
Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age

*This information has been provided by First Signs, Inc. ©2001-2005. Reprinted with permission. For more information about recognizing the early signs of developmental and behavioral disorders, please visit http://www.firstsigns.org or the Centers for Disease Control at www.cdc.gov/actearly.

Happy April Fools Day!

2009-04-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

OK....so you may have figured it out by now but just to quell any worries or concerns or excitement we are NOT having triplets. We ARE having a baby.....but just one little smushy baby! Never believe a post by the Chiapelli's on April Fools Day :)

Happy Birthday Kira! (march 25th!)

2009-04-01T18:05:00.001-07:00

Sometimes life gets in the way of the blog and two birthdays in one week definitely makes it hard to get on and blog. BUT! Kira is loved and had just as fun a birthday as Ethan did. She woke up to waffles in bed, went to preschool with her "Fur-Real" doggie as a show and tell, had chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip muffins AND blueberry muffins to share with her preschool class. After school I picked her up with her good friend Ella and took them to McDonald's for lunch. Kira choose gnocci's for her special dinner (she and Ethan both found a quarter under their plates - an Argentine tradition). We wrapped up the night with games as a family.

Kira's birth story: The young women in my ward were throwing me a surprise baby shower (I did not know about it) at mutual that night, but when Jeff got home from work I felt so miserable I just did NOT want to go. He broke the surprise to me and of course, I went. Had a GREAT time, the girls did a GREAT job, but I was so tired I came inside and didn't even unload my gifts. Jeff left for basketball and got home around 11:30. When he got in he woke me accidentally only for me to realize I felt REALLY awful. Then they started! I tried so hard to wait until a reasonable hour to wake Jeff. Finally at 4 AM we just HAD to go to the hospital. It took a while to get Ethan to our friends house so it was about 4:45 when we got to the hospital. I was in a LOT of pain and needed the wheelchair to make it through the front doors. Once I got in I was 8 cm, YIKES! Paperwork, yes, yes, yes give me an epidural I DO NOT care how far along I am and at 6:10 Kira was delivered! Now a wonderful 5 year old, getting ready for Kindergarten, a great big sister, LOVES her brother beyond words, a snuggle bug, sensitive, easily scared, an animal lover and our little girl! We love you baby!

AND we wrapped up both their birthdays with a trip to PA to visit cousins. Friday we went to the Please Touch Museum in Philly, Jeff and the kids ran up the Art Museum steps to get a picture with Rocky (a Philly must), Saturday we saw "Aliens vs Monsters" and then had a fun party at Aunt Alison's house. The kids had a blast jumping in the moon bounce and on their trampoline - they only came in for food and presents!

Our Big News

2009-04-01T17:44:00.001-07:00

If you did not now we are expecting. I had my Ultrasound today and we found out we are expecting not one, not two, but three babies due in November. We are very excited. Jeff did not believe me when I told him. The kids are so excited. Ethan of course is hoping for three boys. Jeff will go crazy if it is three girls. Does anyone have any cribs for sale???

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!

2009-03-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

7 YEARS OLD! What a big kid! What a great kid!

Ethan came into the world on March 23, 2002 at 12:17 PM. The funniest thing about the labor and delivery, aside from how I was slurring my words, threw up just hours before and was fully drugged....was that the Dr. came and checked me at 11:50ish and told the whole family to go grab some lunch since I had not progressed very far. Once everyone decided to leave Ethan decided it was time to come out. I felt a bump, called the nurse and she rushed to page Jeff over the loud speaker of the hospital. He was just outside the elevator door when he heard his name, returned upstairs to find Ethan ready! Three pushes later Ethan was here. A whopping 5 lb 7 oz and 18 inches long. Ethan is a total dream child. Always wanting to please us, do the right thing and generally be a good kid. We love you so much buddy!

Today he was lucky enough to have waffles in bed, get a fun game called Battleground, only 1.5 hrs of school (they call that a half day here in buffalo), friends over all afternoon - from noon until 4ish, a dinner of his choice - hotdogs and mashed potatoes (yum), yellow cake with funfetti icing and a shopping trip with money from Aunt Heather and Nana & Pop-Pop. He picked up a new Wii game and pokimon cards. Happy Special Day E-Dog!

Update

2009-03-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

We have been having a lot of fun, not super busy which is great. Here is what we have been up to.

I co-chaired a teacher/staff appreciation luncheon for the PTA. For the invites I used pastel colored papers and glued a little bag with a few chocolate candies tied up with pastel/spring ribbon on the corner. They said:

"Spring" on over to the multipurpose room for a staff appreciation luncheon.

You have been "souper" and have helped our children "rise" in every way.

Please "lettuce" shower you with appreciation.

Soup, salad, bread and dessert will be served.

I made cute tissue paper pom-pom's from martha stewart.com that I originally saw at a friends baby shower. We hung those from the ceiling just like in this picture. We set the tables with white tablecloths, pastel colored napkins alternating the colors around the table and just sprinkled the table with tissue paper petals (left over from the poms). It was very cheap and very easy and looked really nice.

Saturday we went to a NY State Maple Weekend event. It was pretty interesting, we saw how they tap the trees, when sugaring began and how it has progressed through history, saw a demo how they boil the sap and eventually make maple syrup. We all ate yummy pancakes & eggs with maple syrup. NY is the 2nd largest producer of maple syrup in the US and 3rd in the world. A lot of that takes place right here in WNY. We really wanted to see the making of syrup in action because Jeff's pop-pop in MI owns a large piece of land and ran a working sugar shack in his earlier years. Once he took us out to the sugar shack in his Model-T Ford. I could not believe it takes 40 gallons of syrup to make 1 gallon of syrup. One tree only makes 10 - 12 gallons!!! That is a lot of tapping!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

2009-03-09T18:40:00.001-07:00

On Saturday Jeff took Ethan and Kira to Toronto to watch the World Baseball Classic. The USA was playing Canada. I really wanted to go along, but Jeff doesn't understand why you need to be there two hours before the game starts and never wants to stay all nine innings. I cannot stand to go to a game if I cannot see the whole game. I stayed at home with Natalie.

They had a great time despite their seats near the roof of the Skydome. The USA won 6-5. Kira was very happy because she got to see her favorite player Shane Victorino. The kids each got something from the gift shop. Kira got a mini bat and in the 3rd inning got upset that the USA was losing and wacked the guy in front of her with her bat. (She tried to act like it was an accident, but if you know Kira, she takes sports very seriously.)

LIFE!

2009-03-08T17:50:00.001-07:00

I found these funny things at Ideadoor.com and just had to post them here, if you can use a good laugh read all the way though:

Sometimes I feel like this:

The Girl in a Whirl by ~Dr. SuessT (a.k.a. Vickie Gunther)
Look at me, look at me, look at me now! You could do what I do If you only knew how.
I study the scriptures one hour each day; I bake, I upholster, I scrub, and I pray.
I always keep all the commandments completely; I speak to my little ones gently and sweetly.
I help in their classrooms! I sew all they wear! I drive them to practice! I cut all their hair!
I memorize names of the General Authorities; I focus on things to be done by priorities.
I play the piano! I bless with my talents! My toilets all sparkle! My checkbooks all balance!
Each week every child gets a one-on-one date; I attend all my meetings (on time! Never late!)
I'm taking a class on the teachings of Paul, But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all¦ >
I track my bad habits ~til each is abolished; Our t-shirts are ironed! My toenails are polished! > Our family home evenings are always delightful; The lessons I give are both fun and insightful.
I do genealogy faithfully, too. It' easy to do all the things that I do! I rise each day early, refreshed and awake; I know all the names of each youth in my stake! I read to my children!
I help all my neighbors! I bless the community, too, with my labors. I exercise and I cook menus gourmet; My visiting teaching is done the first day! (I also go do it for someone who missed hers. It's the least I can do for my cherished ward sisters.)
I chart resolutions and check off each goal; I seek each lost lamb on my Primary roll. I can home-grown produce each summer and fall. But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all
I write on my blog! I sing in the choir! Each day, I write thank yous to those I admire. My sons were all Eagles when they were fourteen! My kids get straight A's! And their bedrooms are clean!
I have a home business to help make some money; I always look beautifully groomed for my honey. I go to the temple at least once a week; I change the car's tires! I fix the sink's leak!
I grind my own wheat and I bake all our bread; I have all our meals planned out six months ahead. I make sure I rotate our two-years' supply; My shopping for Christmas is done by July! These things are not hard; It's good if you do them; You can if you try! Just set goals and pursue them! It's easy to do all the things that I do! If you plan and work smart, you can do them all, too! It's easy! she said
and then she dropped dead.

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Last but not least... Our Casserole Service! If you just can't possibly throw together food for various Ward occasions, WE CAN! Our basic services include:Funeral Potatoes
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Who me...Crochet?

2009-03-07T19:27:00.000-08:00

YES ME!! I completed my first ever crochet project! Check it OUT!! I love to learn new things! Thanks Kendra and You Tube for the tutorials!!

Beautiful Baby!

2009-02-26T19:24:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures of Natalie for her 1st birthday! Love ya super cute, smiley, crazy, laughing baby girl!

That lucky little kid!

2009-02-26T18:30:00.000-08:00

Can you believe this kid? He was chosen in Kindergarten to be one of the few speakers/presenters. He wins the pinewood derby bringing home 2 trophies, beating 82 kids. Then he goes to the blue and gold dinner where they have a door prize and of ALL the kids there who gets the prize? This lucky little kid! He won 2 huge Nerf guns, 2 small airplanes and 2 small Nerf guns (he gave one away to the only other kid from his Den who went to the dinner). Well, he is wonderful but how does he do it? Everywhere we go he touches it and it turns to gold. Lucky little.... He has been loving his prize, we had a fun family Nerf gun fight tonight. You go E-Dog! We love you!

Winter Break 2009!

2009-02-24T18:49:00.000-08:00

Winter break...WINTER break? yes, here in buffalo when the temperature is 4 degrees and you are just beginning to feel cabin fever the schools give you a week off. Ah yes, a week in February. What shall we do Mommy? Well kids, here is what we did - we had a super busy super fun week. It was a challenge to come up with something interesting each day but I did it - with a little help from some friends. I know I had fun with these activities and I sure hope they remember the fun!

Monday - Buffalo Botanical Gardens with friends. Once a year they have a $1.00 entry fee and I am grateful to have a friend who knew about this fun and totally cheap thing to do! We pretended it was warm since it was 80 degrees inside the gardens! Then McD's for lunch (we stayed until 2 PM!) That night we had breakfast for dinner UNDER our table - our backwards night FHE.

Tuesday - roller skating!!! Tots and Moms skating at a local rink that allowed strollers, skates, bikes and anything with wheels. Natalie had a particularly great time during the "black light" songs as she waved her glow sticks through the air shouting Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh! Kira loved riding her bike and it was good practice for her in the middle of winter. Ethan wowed me on his blades - I cannot believe he could still roller blade after such a long winter. This place also had a bounce house for the kids to jump in.

Wednesday - we hit the beach....at the mall that is! The mall here trucked in sand and sand boxes for the kids to play in. We also had lunch with lots of friends and enjoyed some free ice cream.

Thursday - we did a birthday photo shoot with our good friend Carolyn for Natalie's birthday. She and her kids stayed for lunch so we could all play.

Friday - We had fun bowling for free (everything and anything for free please!) with some friends.

Saturday - we surprised the kids with a trip to an indoor water park (there are a 3 to choose from here) in Niagara Falls. We stayed at the Sheridan that overlooks the falls and splashed and played all day Saturday and Sunday! This was a super fun mini vacation! We had friends join us that we met up for dinner and swapped for a super quick date night. The one picture that is foggy is Jeff and Ethan in an outdoor pool - it was snowing and yes I ran out there in my wet bathing suit to get the picture!! Note the view of the falls behind Natalie - this was the hotel pool (the water park was just not enough for our kids).

Sweet treats

2009-02-14T18:05:00.000-08:00

We had a sweet valentines day!

Our house was hit with a heart attack last week from some sweet friends! The kids and I gave Jeff's car a heart attack at work yesterday - that was a sweet little surprise. We wrote on the hearts "Our dad is great, he makes us chocolate cake" and "We love our Dad" This morning we opened up sweet treats from each other and family. Thanks Nana and Pop-Pop for the treats and books. We also went to the aquarium and watched the sea lions blow kisses for sweet treats. Here is a funny video of Natalie enjoying a music card I got for Jeff.

School Day

2009-02-14T17:32:00.000-08:00

Every day Natalie and I say good bye to Ethan from the front door. We wave bye bye and blow kisses. Here she is waving her handsome big brother on.

Our Wonderful Valentine

2009-02-14T12:04:00.000-08:00

Tara, The kids wanted to write their favorite things about you:

You are the most wonderful Mommy!!! You make me good dinners everynight, you play littlest pet shop with me, you like to squeeze my chubby cheeks, you help me with my homework, you help me get dressed, you are very patient with me when I take 30 minutes to go the bathroom. You take us to do fun things. You sing songs to me at night when I am scarred. You tickle my little toes to make me laugh. You let me have a Nutty Bar even if I don't eat all my dinner. (sometimes). You are very pretty. You are the best mommy in the world!!!

I agree with the kids, you are the best mom in the world and the best wife. We all love you so much!!!

Love, Jeff, Ethan, Kira and Natalie

Teachers vs. Sabres

2009-02-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

Ethan's school had a fundraiser, where the teachers played basketball against former Buffalo Sabres players. (I think I would rather watch paint dry.) I left at halftime with Kira and Natalie, but Jeff stayed with Ethan because he wanted to stay. Ethan got a poster autographed by many of the players.

They got their picture taken by Buffalo.com. (If your kid's school ever does something like this, send your spouse and leave the young kids at home. You won't miss anything.)

My Big Helper!

2009-02-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up at 5:30 AM in excruciating pain. Jeff had already left for work to go running and I was in bad shape. The pain was in my abdomen mostly under my ribs. As the morning continued the pain worsened. Still...I am trouper and thought I could push through the pain and it would just go away so at 7:15 I woke the kids and asked them to get moving, dressed, etc. Normally, I need to keep going in turning on lights pulling off blankets, tickling, and moving E&K until the finally get up. Today, with pain seriously setting in, I told E that I was not feeling well and I did not have the energy to ask him to get up 10 times. What did that little sweety do? He jumped up, got dressed including his shoes and socks, popped downstairs and made his own (hot because that is all he will eat) breakfast, continued by getting Natalie some Cheerios, helped K get dressed (shoes and socks included), got Kira breakfast.....he did everything short of doing the girls hair! What an absolute sweetheart! I was on the couch the whole time! - withering in pain.

I was in so much pain that I kept Ethan home in hopes that he would be able to help me (which I have never even thought of doing), but ultimately Jeff came home and we made a trip to the ER. I am pretty sure I had some gall bladder thing with the level of pain and symptoms. This was a level 10 on the scale of 1 - 10. Unfortunately, the hospital only took blood and did not do a sonogram. I left the hospital feeling fine, but worried and waiting that the pain will hit again! But wasn't E so great! What a GREAT kid!

The kindness of others

2009-01-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

This day was working up to be pretty gunky. The weather called for 6 - 10 inches of snow overnight but no go, it did not start snowing until about 8 this morning. That meant school was on. Well, it was my day to drive the girls to preK. My girlfriend barely made it by my house before 9 because of the snow and crummy roads, then I make it to drop them off 30 minutes late! Ugh - that cuts into my morning and I am now late for an appointment. OK fast forward to the afternoon. I picked up Kira from my friends house and, like an idiot, I back out of her driveway into a huge snow pile at the end of her driveway. ARE YOU KIDDING ME (stupid, stupid, stupid - imagine me hitting forehead)? My girlfriend had just jumped into the shower and I knew she would not come to the door right away so I root around her garage find a shovel and then spend about 30 minutes digging and driving back and forth totally wasting time - still unable to get out of her driveway. All the while Natalie is missing her nap, crying in the car and Kira is trying her best to be calm and calm Natalie. Enters my friend who, clean and fresh from her shower, throws on boots and grabs a shovel to help dig me out (Kind Act 1). We spend a lot of time, we get muddy and totally wet with snow and STILL the car is stuck - we cannot figure out why the car will not move. As we stand at the end of her driveway, shovels in hand, along come the Town of Amherst Snowplow.....and he plows the snow around my car DEEPER!!!! Oh....I am sooo steamed. My anger could melt the snow - unfortunately it does not. (Kind Act 2) Along comes a guy in a truck with a plow who kindly plows me and tows me out! Yeah! I am free! Fast forward to home, getting toes warm, thinking about our own driveway and how Jeff will just have to deal with it when he gets home because I have had it with snow for the day. I look out the window and what do I see.....our neighbor snow blowing our driveway!!!! (Kind Act 3) What a great day! We gave him some fresh baked bread tonight. My day was cruddy, but days like this remind me of the wonderful people throughout the world! Thanks friends and strangers for your kindness!

And the Winner Is.....

2009-01-24T19:24:00.000-08:00

Today Ethan had his first Pinewood Derby. Ethan, Kira, Dad and Mom worked together to build the car. The plan was to build a car good enough to compete and not finish last. There were a total of 82 cars that raced and Ethan finished #1 overall. He was the first Tiger Cub to ever win in his Pack. He raced in 11 seperate races and won all 11. Ethan was glowing all afternoon and excited for his big trophey. All the kids also got a participant trophey, which Ethan gave to Kira to thank her for all her help on the car. We are all very excited for Ethan. If you want to know the secret to a fast Pinewood Derby car, Ethan will tell you it is the green paint.

E-Mealz

2009-01-19T17:31:00.001-08:00

I think everyone who knows me well knows I like to do things effectively, looking for the shortest route to greatness. Well, I found it in my dinner/meal planning. My mother-in-law showed me this site that she subscribes to and I thought it was sooooo wonderful for so many reasons. Let me give you my reasons and then tell you what it is/does.

(1) The family budget has shrunk as the cost of groceries has gone up so

(2) I started to plan each and every meal for the entire month and

(3) I was purchasing in as few trips as possible, everything that we needed to survive the month food and all other grocery items.

I make a calendar in word every month listing what we will eat each day and then I make a grocery list from the meal plan. This takes a LONG time because I have to pull together all the recipes I am using that month. Finally, I make a huge trip to the store and buy as much as I can within reason. Obviously, some things will not last 30 days and I will need to return, but I found that we spend less money if I only make 1 major trip a month. The food calendar rotates staple meals like spaghetti, breakfast for dinner, and a few other kid favorites. My issue was coming up with interesting food for the rest of the month - no one wants to eat the SAME meals each month, especially me, I like variety.

Then I found "E-Mealz.com". This is a website that you pay $5 a month for a monthly meal plan, recipes, and grocery list - that right - you read it GROCERY LIST. AND the best part is you can CHOOSE THE MEAL PLAN you want. Let's say you like low-carb, they plan it for you; let's say you are a penny pincher like me and want to shop at Walmart or Aldi, they plan it for you; let's say you want to loose weight, they plan it for you!!!!! Amazing!

I subscribed right after Thanksgiving and have really enjoyed the meals. Occasionally, they list a meal that we would not eat - Jeff does not do fish - so I just skip that meal and the ingredients from the shopping list and insert one of our stand-by meals. It is so great.

I understand that some may say, "What kind of penny pincher are you if you are willing to pay $5.00 a month for a meal plan?" A smart one! I have so much going on in my life, between being the Primary President, being on the PTA, serving as a room mom, working part time and raising 3 children plus 1 cute hubby, not to mention blogging/making wonderful FHE's and memories for my family; I realize that my TIME is money and I can spare $5.00 for one or more hours of work/planning. You can check it out by going to their link where you can see all the meal plan options and an example menu and shopping list. "E-Mealz.com"

Natalie Walks!!!!

2009-01-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

Yeah! Our cute little Nattles WALKED today!!! More than 1 step! Check it out - she is really on a roll now...stairs, walking, watch out world because pretty soon she will be driving!!

Natalie's Ears

2009-01-15T18:38:00.000-08:00

Poor Natalie has been getting ear infections regularly, so today she had tubes put in her ears. Her wonderful father went with her to the hospital for the procedure. They had to be there at 7 am for some reason, even though the procedure did not begin until 9:15. Natalie got to wear a cool hospital gown. Dad and Natalie just hung out and played with the batteryless toys. (I think the hospital is on to something). Natalie fussed a lot right after the procedure, but is fine now.

Food Storage Advice!

2009-01-13T20:01:00.000-08:00

OK - I know it is not much to look at, but this is my happy attempt at an organized food storage system! AND I LOVE IT! Sorry, like I said it is NOT much to look at - if you look really close you might see 1 can of corn there on the shelf. Seriously this is a good thing. I took a few hours and moved a lot of junk around to make some space for this great thing I really believe we need in our lives. Not that anyone should or needs to be more nervous about the future, but Jeff's step-mom says that we have only gone 42 (don't quote me) years between major outbreaks of flu epidemics. At this point we are at 40 years - scary! So get your food storage in order! I do not have a very good role model for food storage. I had an aunt in Utah that had major food storage, you know the huge barrels full of wheat, flour and lots of other stuff, but I cannot really remember any food storage at home growing up.

So YES, please - give me your advice! I want to know what I should store first and please be realistic - I do NOT own a wheat grinder, and I do NOT like red beans. Be serious people, this is TARA, the girl who will do things as easily as possible EVERYTIME - what should I focus on and HOW should I store this stuff. Take a good long look at my photos and tell me what I am missing! Thanks!!!!

Oh yeah, and IF you want to buy me a $500 wheat grinder I would not object, but please don't tell me to store wheat unless you are making that purchase! I would love to make my own bread like my girlfriend Rachel, she makes GREAT bread. Alas, I will focus on the food storage - Oh, I love to be focused and organized!!!

Here is the link to the wheat grinder :)

http://www.jandjkitchen.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=293&osCsid=d324c30740685deb34152d7ebf77a1cc

Natalie is One!

2009-01-11T18:11:00.000-08:00

Taking a peek at my cake!

Digging in to some yummy cake!

On this day one year ago our sweet little Natalie came into our lives. The labor pains started the night before while I was having a fun girls night out and continued through the night. At around 4 in the morning I could bear it no more and told Jeff I was going to go downstairs so that I did not keep him up. BUT just a little while later we decided it was time to go to the hospital. We called our friends to come over to stay with Ethan and Kira and at 6 AM we headed to the hospital. I know I could have had her by 7, but the hospital had a different agenda and so we took our time! Yikes! Anyway, at 10:18 our little sweet baby Natalie came into our lives. She is such a joy and a wonderful little baby.

At one year old she has started to take a step, but then sits down and crawls. She JUST crawled up the steps for the first time today! She can play patty cake, peek a boo, wave hi and say "HIIIII", and today she woke up saw Ethan and said, "E-TAN!"

Tonight we sang Happy Birthday and ate cake & ice cream, yummy! Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! We all love you so much!!

(go Eagles!)

Animated Snowball Fight!!!!

2008-12-24T19:46:00.001-08:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Twas' the Night Before Christmas...

2008-12-24T17:41:00.000-08:00

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care....

We went and watched Christmas lights to music, boy did we stare

The cookies were made, the coco placed out

The kiddies read stories and then it was lights out

We stared a new tradition of hot dogs on the fire

with marshmallows, chocolate and grahams we never did tire

The bathroom is done, pop-pop and daddy said with glee

It sure does look nice, yes sir-ee

The kids are so excited to bed they did fly

but not before we feed the reindeer (or at least we will try)

We hope your Christmas is lots of fun

and please remember that this holiday is about the Son.

Merry Christmas!

Forgot how to blog

2008-12-13T18:02:00.000-08:00

We visited Heather and Kevin and celebrated our birthdays...Dec 3rd, 6th, 11th and 15th - Hurray for December!

We rocked out till 1AM playing Guitar Hero World Tour on Bob's new Wii that he got for his birthday, Nov 29th - Thanks for the fun family time!

Kim, Mike and Nicholas came to visit us! We got to meet baby Nicholas - doesn't Kim look amazing for just getting that baby??? (he's adopted!)

Natalie and all the kiddo's made little headbands for Thanksgiving dinner.

We ate Turkey, Ham, sweet potatoes and all the great stuff of Thanksgiving

So, I forgot how to blog. Seriously, my life took over and then I forgot how to blog. I had majorly sick kids, gift making central, thanksgiving away from Buffalo, and then.....it happened.....Christmas Time!!!! AGH!!!!! Sooooo busy - my birthday, Jeff's, buying gifts, making stuff - food, casseroles, gifts, cookies, primary, primary, primary, well...you all know, your too busy to read this! So rather than make you sit through my time consuming blog here is a very quick recap of the past month (or so).

Natalie learned to say bye-bye (almost!)

Natalie is so excited for Christmas she is already looking for Santa! We decorated our tree and had fun with cocoa, cookies and carols

On my birthday Kira and I went to the nutcracker - Kira was so excited for the special mommy, daughter time!

On my birthday my wonderful friends took me out to breakfast! (I am in that picture)

The kids met up with Santa at the ward Christmas party.

Ethan was King Herod in the Primary Nativity at the party

Kira was an adorable angel.

So we have been busy......but it has been a lot of fun!

The Family Guy Newest Fan

2008-11-03T19:08:00.000-08:00

So Jeff let Ethan stay up until 10:30 last week when the Phillies won the World Series. He saw a commercial for the Family Guy. He now walks around saying in a devilish baby voice, "I'm about to drink my first soda." The problem is he keeps saying it like a broken record. We love Ethan, but its safe to say he wont be watching Family Guy anytime soon.

Halloween Fun!

2008-11-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

me as Princess Leia DARTH!

2 witches a dragon and a knight

Kira and Mrs. Sue

Baby witch, but she is really an angel!

We had such a crazy busy Halloween this year. Too much Fun! We carved pumpkins on Monday for Family night. Ethan chose a headless horseman and Kira chose a Cat. It was not until we put the carved pumpkins outside that we realized we neglected Natalie! Poor baby did not get to carve a first pumpkin!

This is the year of many costumes. Wednesday night Ethan had a cub scout Halloween party and he chose to be Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies. Thursday night was our ward Trunk-or-Treat, Ethan was a knight, Kira was a dragon, Natalie a witch, I was a wizard, Jeff was a grumpy-man-who-could-not-go-to-the-Phillies-parade (wish I had a picture of him, but I forgot to take one). On Friday Kira had a party at preschool, she was Barbie and the Diamond Castle. Ethan, aka Darth Vader, also had a party at school and then we had a BIG party at our house, I was Princess Leia, Jeff was a Phillies player, and Natalie was a cute baby in a Halloween shirt. We love parties! After some good food and company we headed out to trick-or- treat. I know all the costumes seem dizzy, but the only one I bought was the barbie one because Kira really wanted it. I picked up Darth at a yard sale and did some pretty serious tailoring taking an adult size costume and turning it into Ethan size. All the others came from great friends! Fun Halloween!

WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS

2008-10-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a long October in the Chiapelli home. (A lot of late nights watching the Phillies). Jeff is always asking me to go to bed, but I cannot sleep until the game is over. Now we have a bit of a problem. The parade for the Phillies is scheduled for Friday (Halloween) in Philadelphia. I really want to go, but Jeff keeps reminding me that we are having a party at our house and the kids have parties at their schools. Jeff thinks that Ethan and Kira will be sad if they miss their parties. I tried explaining to him that it has been 28 years since the Phillies have won and it might be a long time before they ever win again. I'm not sure he understands that this will be something the kids will remember their whole lives. You can go to a Halloween party every year. If you talk to Jeff let him know that people will understand under the circumstances if we cancel our party.

written by the Philly lover himself - please don't be fooled!

Go Phillies!!!!

Fun Race Day

2008-10-26T18:58:00.001-07:00

Saturday I ran a really fun face with some great friends. It was the 5K Jack-O-Lantern Fall Run on Goat Island, Niagara Falls. Lots of fun, only my second race. I started out sooo fast trying to keep up with a friend. At the mile mark I heard the guy call out, as I passed so speedily, "8:05" I said "WHAT?" - that is really fast compared to my normal 10 minute mile. But of course I had to pay for the speed, I was plagued with a side cramp that took over my entire midsection causing me to walk. My super speedy friend passed me......then another friend tried to rally me......I tried to run but had to walk a little more. FINALLY I was able to jog it in to the finish line. I was still happy. My time was 29:12, 30 seconds faster than my last 5K. Progress is always good. The best part was hanging with the girls. It rained the whole time and it was darn cold. We still laughed and had a lot of fun challenging ourselves, being with each other and doing something good! (ps go phillies)

Baseball bordom!

2008-10-23T20:04:00.000-07:00

So what do you do when you want to spend time with the hubby but don't really want to JUST watch baseball? Yearbookyourself.com This is a funny website! I have always wanted to see what I would look like in different generations. The early 90's one...well....is that a fake, or is that my high school yearbook photo???

Ethan update

2008-10-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

Ethan is like a lot of other kids in a lot of ways. Everyday he gets off the bus. I meet him at the corner and say,

"How was your day?"
"Great"
"Anything exciting happen?"

At this point he tells me about another child's day, what someone ate for lunch, that someone else was sent to the principal, that someone wants a play date with him. But he does not really fill me in on what happened to him, even though I try to pry the information out of him.

We had Family Night tonight (a little late due to schedule conflicts but we had it). We were talking about blessings and right in the middle of a thought Ethan says, "Wait, can I tell you guys something?" - I have learned that if they stop you it might just be worth listening to, "Of course"

Ethan then tells us how he was able to start a conversation in class about Argentina, where it was on the globe and, more importantly, why he knew where Argentina was..."My Dad served a mission for our church there". This generated a little conversation about missions and church in general from which Ethan discovered that a lot of kids don't go to church. What a little missionary! Once he realized what he did, and how it came so naturally, he was really happy!

Free Taco!

2008-10-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

What can I get for FREE? This should be my motto. So here it is. You can get a free taco from TACO BELL, anywhere in the country, on Tuesday Oct 28th from 2PM - 6PM (pretty random I agree, try to remember). This is because a base was stolen during the World Series. GO Phillies!

The Phillies

2008-10-13T19:49:00.001-07:00

Jeff says, "Its torturous"

He really likes baseball and so our lives are currently ruled by baseball. For those of you who do not know, the Phillies are in the post-season. (I am sure I will mess up the wording of some technical baseball thing so just bear with me). But I love Jeff and love spending time with him so we watch baseball all night, most nights. Do I watch? Not really...I blog, I sew, I read (Freakonomics right now) and occasionally I watch. Right now the Phils are down by 2 to the Dodgers.

sad....very, very sad.

If the Phils get bumped I think Jeff will scowl for at least a week.

GO PHILLIES!!!! HIT THE BALL RYAN HOWARD!!

or as they say in Ferris Buellers Day Off "Batter, Batter, SWING Batter!" Jeff is a grumpy sports watcher unless his team is winning. He shakes his head and turns the channel. But like a bad drug he turns the channel back and watches out of the corner of his eye. Let's all hope that the Phils pull this off and win round 2!

Happy Birthday Kari!

2008-10-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

The lady in the middle had a fun, fun birthday party. Her hubby planned a surprise party to LAZERTRON with a few couples. We started out by racing go-carts, which I love, except when I am being bumped from behind by "win crazy" friends. Serious competition because the person with the best overall time won a free return to the go-carts. No, there was no way I was winning against our crazy friends.

Next, we moved on to a super fun game. It resembled lacrosse except that you rode around in a circular motorized car that was difficult to steer and moved about as slow as an old person in a hover-round. I found it very funny when the referee stopped the game because we were slashing and he said, "Come on now, that is really enough!" This is when we all thought, "Oh, you haven't seen anything yet!"

Lastly we played a few games of Lazertag. What a workout! Want to loose weight? Want to get in shape? Go play Lazertag! We all came out drenched, but had so much fun! Happy Birthday Kari - that was a super fun night!

How to get a free ice cream cone

2008-10-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

After our hike we took the kids for an ice cream cone at the Twist-O-the-Mist. The line was pretty long, but more annoy was how slow it was........very, very slow! We were in line for about 20 min when we were just a family of 4 back. Suddenly a little boy walked to the front of the line and asked for an ice cream cone. At first, the people in front of us were confused and a little shocked, but the girl at the window started to place his order. Then his mother walked up and apologized to the people in line, but then turned to the girl at the window and asked for his ice cream cone! WHAT?! So, my usually docile, husband spoke up telling the woman to get in line. She shot back that he was rude and couldn't we see that her little boy who is just 5 could not wait....(uhh, we had kids in line too so did LOTS of people). That REALLY riled up people in line. This huge guy behind us started yelling at her, so the woman grabbed the ice cream cone and left! We know times are tough, but to set up your 5 year old to cut in line and then grab a cone, come on!

Having Fun!

2008-10-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

Natalie is 9 months old today! We had a fun day by hiking down the American side of Niagara Falls at Whirpool State Park. Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the beautiful weather with bright blue sky with no chance of rain, the colorful changing leaves, the once again green grass, Halloween, back to school, just about everything. I even love the change of clothes that makes you appreciate your wardrobe once again, even if it is in need of some updates. So we headed out to enjoy the weather and take in the local scenery. We had a good hike, but poor little Nattles got sick tonight - 3 times! There is a terrible throwy-uppy thing going around here. We have already had it, but apparently Natalie is getting it again. After her bath tonight she lost her cookies all over her PJ's. Back in the tub and a new set of PJ and !OOPS! she lost them again. Another clean up and this time we kept her naked. Another toss and finally she fell asleep in my arms. Cute, sad baby :( happy 9 months.

Our Beautiful Children

2008-10-04T18:41:00.001-07:00

I started this blog for 2 reasons. 1: I wanted a record of my our lives, events and happenings 2: To keep in touch with family and friends. Inspired by a friends entry I need to say why I love my kids so much. (WARNING: May contain mushy thoughts and could inspire love of your family more)
Ethan: He is a good boy. Never really wants to do anything harmful or wrong; never, ever wants to disappoint. Even as a baby if he did do something wrong a simple "ETHAN" in parental tone was enough to make him cry and feel so sorry for his mistake/wrong doing (it worked better than time out!). His strongest characteristic is still that he does not want to disappoint us as parents, which we love, but he also tries to please his friends too. This can be good, but I often worry that he will get his feelings hurt. He is sensitive, kind and very generous. Just today he let Kira have $5 from HIS piggy bank so that she could buy a toy at the store. He loves to have fun, have friends around, is a GREAT big brother to both Kira and Natalie, and so much more!

KIRA: Is creative and silly. Prefers to paint, color, and draw pictures over playing outside. Is a leader. I would say almost bossy, but I can distinctly remember suggesting play themes with my friends when I was a child, just like I hear Kira doing, and I hope I turned out OK. Is very independent and mostly does not go with the flow of what other little girls are doing or what they are expected to do. She loves picking up worms, bugs, frogs, and just about anything squirmy. BUT she also loves to sing Barbie songs, play with her littlest petshop toys and go to ballet every Saturday. I love that she is her own person, unique and wonderful!

Natalie: So little, but already a personality blooming. She seems like a great combination of both Ethan and Kira. We can see a lot of love in her eyes. She loves to be nuzzled, cuddled and snuggled. She smiles so easily and is very easy going. She plays with Ethan and Kira and looks for them all the time. She is strong and not afraid to crawl around independently. She is our little cutie bug who makes us so happy, even at 6:00 in the morning when she won't go back to bed!

Sweet Baby Boy!

2008-10-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

My best friend has adopted a sweet little boy! Almost two weeks ago I got a call from my very best and one of my oldest friends, Kim. They have been jumping through the baby hoops for so long. Their journey has been long and at times difficult and tear filled. Kim is such a wonderful friend. Although, we live far apart and have for years, she is always there for me. I have a friendship with her that is easy, comfortable and picks up right where we leave off every time we talk. When she called me I was so happy for her I cried and laughed and was soooooo happy! Of course she could not just pick up the phone and tell me, no she had to be sarcastic - silly Jersey girl. She said, " Teaching has been really stressful lately and we needed time off and so we flew to out to CO." This is something I could totally expect from her - to take off on a flight for a 'break'. I started laughing and said, "Really, you did?" and she replied, "Well, we had to come pick up our little baby boy!" I know that they were so happy, but boy was I so happy for them. They flew out to Colorado within a day's notice to pick up their sweet baby boy, Nicholas. I do not want to be to personal, it's not my story, but I was so happy that I really felt like I needed to write about their joy...and the happiness it brings me that they have adopted. Congratulations Kim and Mike!

A Temple in Philadelphia

2008-10-04T17:34:00.000-07:00

Pretty exciting news! The Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, today stated that they will build a temple in Philadelphia. How exciting is that? No, we don't live there, but we certainly do visit a lot and it will make our visits so much sweeter. And of course, Philly is home and we hope to one day return....one day. We said to ourselves that if we couldn't live there, it was OK(ish) since we would have to travel to the DC temple if we did live there. Here in Buffalo we have the Palmyra Temple 1 1/2 hours away. Close enough to make a late date night of it or go on a half day Saturday and take in the sites with the kids. What a wonderful blessing for the people in eastern PA to have that temple there! For now we can enjoy our temple and keep hoping to head back to Philly, the liberty bell, Valley Forge, cheese steaks, "Yo Joey!" talk, and the Phillies (that one is for Jeff).

Slacker

2008-09-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well...not really. I have been very busy and that is why I had to post a lot of "catch ups" Here is what I have been up to for those of you who thought I fell off the face of the earth.

1. PTA Madness: When we returned from vacation I had to make 80 apple shaped cookies with green and red frosting +sprinkles, bagged with cute little tags and pretty ribbon for the teachers at Ethan's school for the 1st day of school. This took me 2 solid days where NOTHING else got done. If you have ever dedicated your attention to just one thing for a long time you know how hard it is to recover and get your house back in order, especially when you have just returned from vacation. THEN I taped 80 packs of gum to cute little sayings and delivered them the 2nd day of school.

2. Return to p/t work. Oh I HATE working, but the YMCA called saying they needed help so I agreed to M,W,F 11:30 - 1:45 preschool activity called Lunch Bunch. Whatever. I am also watching a little girl from church on T and Th from 12 to 6. It is going well and I enjoy it, much better than the Y. We will definitely love the extra cash ;)

3.Primary Craziness: It is that time of the year again. Primary Sacrament Program! I have spent most of every night typing the program for this year. Yes, I know that there are many programs already done online and in cyberspace, but I choose to have the kids give there input rather than repeat something I scripted. So I had to type thought provoking (maybe not so much for the Sunbeams) questions, outline the songs and the theme of the program. That was a lot of time...no laundry was done this week!

4. More Primary stuff: Our quarterly activity! Thankfully I was not in charge of this activity, but as a presidency we divide things pretty equally. So my part was 1/3 of the activity and I was running around getting ready for it. It turned out very nicely and I think the kids learned a lot about Pres Monson and still had fun.

5. Twillight: I am reading the last book in the series and sometimes I prefer to read than to do anything else. Hmmm...Don't talk about it yet - I still have 200 pages to go!

Now that many of these bigger activities are behind me I can return to my normal activities like blogging, eating and sleeping :)

Star Wars

2008-09-14T18:54:00.000-07:00

We went to see some Star Wars characters on Saturday afternoon in the mall. Ethan was awestruck!

Ballet

2008-09-14T18:42:00.001-07:00

Kira started her first ballet class this Saturday. I was a little worried that she would not like it, but the teacher had the girls scurry like mice and fly like butterflies. If it involves animals and bugs - Kira loves it! She did great and I am so excited that she has an activity for herself, one that she does not share with Ethan or is about Ethan - it is just about her!

Kira's First Day

2008-09-14T18:35:00.001-07:00

Kira had a great first day of Preschool. Another reason I love NY is the universal (FREE) Pre-K that is offered. Kira is attending the Pixie Village preschool from 9 - 11:30 M-F. She has a little friend from church who attends there which took away some of her nerves. She walked right in and started to play with the dinosaurs.

First Days!

2008-09-14T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ethan's first day of school was a little scary. Jeff and I had been reminding Ethan that school would be starting soon, asking if he was excited to meet new friends, have a new teacher, etc. But on the first day of school when I woke him up he started to cry! Right out of bed! So sad....I had no idea he was nervous, he gave us no indication that he was worried. So we hugged him and encouraged him, but he cried again right before the bus came. His pictures are so sad :( I worried about him all day until he came bounding off the afternoon bus with a huge smile on his face! Yeah! Mrs. Kanaley is a hit, he made a new friend and has some friends from Kindergarten in his class. Ethan is so cute, so sensitive and loves being with his family so much. He is a great kid!

Myrtle Beach Slide

2008-09-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

Myrtle Beach

2008-09-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

We're BAAACK! Ahh! What a fun week we had at the beach. Here is a recap of the week.

Sunday: We arrived around 3 and after dropping our bags we hit the new "woodsy" kids pool. Last year this area was not even under construction. It was fun to explore the new areas of the resort.

Rainy Monday - E & K at MagiQuest, dressed in their gear

Monday: It started out sunny but the remnants of Hurricane Fay quickly took over our day causing it to rain and rain and rain. We made the best of it by taking the kids to play laser tag, in an arcade and we went to MagiQuest - one of the kids favorite places in MB. Basically you act as a "magi" on a quest with an electronic wand. There are places, screens, lights, and objects that respond to the wand as you solve various riddles and puzzles. Kind of Lord of the Rings, role playing but it is pretty cool. Jeff and I especially like the riddle solving and competition involved. Later in the week the kids did an outside quest around Broadway at the Beach. The company set up objects all over this shopping area that responded to their wands - also fun and a great way to spend an evening.

Let's go surfin' now every body's learnin' how come-on and safari with me! Kira hitting her boogie board!

Tuesday: The sun tried to return but we had bouts of rain, thunder and lightning between periods of sun. It was a little frustrating to go to the beach, get rained on; walk to the pool, but not swim b/c of lightning. Again, we still had fun and did not let the weather get to us.

Ethan riding the waves. It was hard to pull him out of the ocean.
Natalie trying to stay free of sand, but she found something else to put in her mouth!
Me, Kira and Natalie having fun on a boat ride across Broadway at the Beach.
Jeff went golfing, a lot, here we are golfing at 10 PM!!
Wednesday - Saturday: Beautiful days! We spend each day rotating between the pool and beach. I love the resort b/c they try to think of everything. What do you hate about the beach.....? Lugging all your stuff right? Well, this year they set up storage units right on the beach so that you could leave all your junk out there! Genius! In the evenings we found some fun playing on the beach with sparklers, swimming in the pools, going out to eat, playing mini golf, playing real golf and walking around the shopping areas. It was nice to visit with my mom and dad, Nana and Pop-pop and overall the week was great. The time flew by and we were sad to head home. Check out the slideshow for all the pictures.

New Blog

2008-08-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to tell everyone that my super talented sister-in-law has a new blog that spotlights all her amazing digital pages. I love her work and know that one day she will scrap a whole album for me (*wish*). NO! (well, I can still wish) Seriously, I have already started to do a little digital scrapping, but plan to dive in this fall with Andrea as my digital-scrap goddess role model. Check her out http://chiascraps.blogspot.com/

Natalie!

2008-08-26T19:43:00.000-07:00

Ethan crawled at 10 months and walked at 14 months. Kira crawled at 9 1/2 months and walked at 13 months. Natalie has decided to crawl - AT 7 MONTHS! YIKES! I am not ready!

On the road again...

2008-08-24T18:31:00.001-07:00

Trains with Pop-Pop
Natalie LOVES the warm water in MB!
E-Dog in the 'tree house'
Kira gets a butterfly at the kids dance party

Myrtle Beach is FAR from Buffalo. Even farther when your tire is about to blow out and the car is rocking back and forth like crazy! It took us forever to get to Va - 8 1/2 hours! Much longer than we ever remember that trip taking, now we know why. When we headed out Sat. to go to Raleigh we discovered that our tire was about to blow. We spent 2 hours waiting for a tire change and then finally hit the road again making it to Raleigh around 6:30. Sunday we hit the road one more time to finally make it to Myrtle Beach. YEAH!!!! We love vacations!!! We love the Marriott time shares! The kids have already taken in the splash pool, tree house, and a dance party. We can't wait for tomorrow!

Tyler and Jared

2008-08-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

Three Sister Island
Jeff and Natalie preping to find a geocache in Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls Crazies!

I don't have a lot of pics of the week because I forgot it almost everyday, but we had a lot of fun with Tyler and Jared. Monday we hit the splash park, Tuesday we went to the zoo, Wednesday we saw "Waterhorse" at the Regal and then played at home, Thursday we went back to the splash park and went to Niagara Falls & Three Sister Island founding a geocache and Friday we hit the road for VA. My nephews have got to be the best kids around. We had such a fun week with Tyler and Jared. I was happy to have them come stay with us for the week, but was so pleasantly surprised when the week went so smoothly - no fighting, just fun and all inclusive. When little E was feeling under the weather on Wed and spent the afternoon on the couch Jared, Ty and Kira played all day in the backyard looking for and catching bugs, playing on the play set, playing in the pool. I kept thinking, "When are they going to come ask me what we are doing today?" But they never did. In fact, I think Kira really took a liking to Tyler because I heard a lot of "Look at me Tyler!", "Tyler, catch that bug!" "Tyler, lets go make a bug castle in the sandbox!" (somehow I don't think Jared and Ethan minded and Tyler was a great sport about it) Most amazingly they played and had fun everyday - never a complaint - AMAZING! Thanks Ty-guy and J-Dog for the great week! Come to Buffalo ANYTIME!

What a weekend!

2008-08-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

Kira and Brooklyn jumping on the trampoline.
Most of the kiddos singing happy birthday to Deb - How many people can claim they have 19 grandchildren?
The boys getting ready for Star Wars!

We had such a great time in PA this past weekend. We headed to Jeff's parents home to join the chaos of his two sisters and one brothers families - 12 kids (all under 8) and 7 adults. Although we all had to endure screeching, yelling, crying, lots of laughing, running, toddling, night waking, a few disagreements and very little quiet, it was worth it! I love seeing Jeff's family. They are such good people, all of them, and they are so fun to be with. We arrived Wednesday night and stayed up late to catch up with everyone. Thursday we headed to his sister Alison's for a fun day at the pool and jumping on her trampoline. Thursday night we celebrated Deb's (J's mom) birthday at a restaurant - we actually escaped and got a sitter for a few hours (brave soul!) Friday was a day for the boys. We went to McD's for lunch to acquire the Star Wars happy meal toys, then all they boys went to the movie. Friday night we all went to Riley's birthday party at the bowling alley. Saturday was the highlight. During the day we went to the Smith Family Playground, they boys did some Geocaching finding 4 out of 5 caches and that night we roasted marshmallows, had s'mores, played with glow necklaces, and then Bob (J's dad) set up the tent for all the little boys to camp out with Jeff and Joel! So much fun!

BUT the fun has not ended, no, no! Tyler and Jared have come to NY for the week to play! So on the way home we stopped at the Priesthood Restoration site in Harmony, PA and ate dinner on the top of the Hill Cumorah! More to come as the week rolls on! THANKS AUDREY FOR BRINGING US ALL TOGETHER - AGAIN! We will miss you until next time!

Design Contest

2008-08-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law is in a design contest for a brand called "Dashing Diva". His design won first against other designers at his company. Now his design is going up against other designers from 3 other companies. He could use your vote. Just click the link and vote for his company, Atomica. Don't do it because I asked you to, do it because he is so cool and his design rocks! I don't know if he wins anything other than recognition, but isn't that payment enough. Thanks so much!

http://www.packagedesignmag.com/issues/2008.07/challengers.shtml

Kira

2008-08-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

Kira is such a crazy little girl. I have no idea where she gets it. Today we went to Glen Falls and she was chasing ducks, insisting that she wanted a duck. She actually caught one, but I think it took her off guard so she dropped it very quickly. She also loves bugs and catches the darn things with her bare hands. She loves them so much she does not want to let them go or put them in our little bug boxes. She just holds them and looks at them. I do remember trying to dissect a living frog with some very blunt scissors - it didn't work, poor frog. Maybe Kira is our budding scientist! Tonight, when I returned home from the grocery store at 9:30 PM Kira was still awake in bed. It is our little secret, but sometimes I bring her cookies and milk and we talk even though she should be fast asleep. I love those moments.