The terrible 3's are upon us!

Happy Birthday #3!

His big day is actually tomorrow, but we celebrated it yesterday, so why not post it today?! #3 has been looking forward to his birthday for weeks now. I've never had a kid so aware of the big day at this age. Every night before bed, he would say, "My birthday is getting closer and I'm going to Chuck-e-Cheeses!" We are all so glad the day finally arrived!

We indeed went to the glamorous and oh-so-sanitary Chuck-e Cheese, followed by ice cream and play time at McDonalds. I figured if we exposed them to as many germs as possible, maybe they would all cancel out and no one would get sick. I'll let you know how that goes... He had a "bowling" cake (bowling, for some reason, is the new thing around here right now), which #2 so kindly decorated for me and presents. Super fun day!

#3 is spunky, confident, full of energy and brilliant (of course I'm the mom, so I'm partial). These three traits have helped him survive his first years with two older brothers. He is such a special part of our family, we don't know what we would do without him.

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Birthday Boy!

Today is the big day! Happy Birthday Bryan!

Trip to Florida

I headed to Florida last week to attend my sisters college graduation and commissioning into the Marines. My parents and three brothers (Sam, Joseph and Steven) were also able to be there. It was four days of fun, complete with a trip to Disney World! My brother Joseph is in the Army and was able to give Katie her first official salute as an officer. It was pretty cool.

I can't believe my sister is all grown up with a college degree AND a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marines. Congratulations to her and all her hard work! Way to go Katie!

Thrills & Chills

Gutting and carving the pumpkins...
The costumes and treats...
Bryan and I were "Popeye & Olive Oyl" - yes, the dark hair served it's purpose well. #2 had a last minute wardrobe change to Spiderman and #1 was happy to claim #2's green Ben 10 jacket.

We of course attended the annual "Family Halloween Blowout Bash". The kids had a blast and the adults ate until they were sick - well, at least I did. But it just wouldn't be Halloween if you didn't go to bed with a stomach ache!

This holiday is rapidly approaching my #1 favorite holiday spot. It may just top Christmas one of these years...

Ben x 2

Halloween has officially arrived at our house! The boys got to wear their costumes to school this morning. They both dressed as Ben 10 and I'm happy to say I spent a total of $9.89 on these costumes. I had to buy fabric paint for #1's shirt and two cans of black hairspray. It doesn't get much better than that!

Do Blondes Really Have More Fun??

I will let you know, since now, thanks to my good pal (and awesome hairdresser) Sarah, I am a brunette. I've always wanted to go dark, but have been too chicken. My halloween costume had a little to do with the sudden boost of courage (you'll find out what that is later). Other than that, I just closed my eyes and let Sarah go to town.

It's definitely different, but it's growing on me. Something a bit fun at least. So far Roman and Ian have said I look like a witch and Isaac said, "So, your hair is only going to be like that for like two days right?" Well, at least they're honest... :)

Bryan's Fight

Here is Bryan's fight from Saturday.

A few weeks ago he broke a couple ribs while training. And of course during the first round of this fight, he re-broke one of the ribs along with another new brake. BUT, despite all that, he still won by TKO. Here is the third and final round of the fight.