Way too cold to do anything outside today so we took the skating indoors with a group of friends! 

Maeve is starting skating lessons in a few weeks so this was a great practice for her. All three of them took their share of falls but got up like champs. 

 Maeve is convinced that after her lessons she's going to be the best figure skater in town! Makes me laugh, but she is convinced. She spent her time 50/50 with the skating walker & without. 

 I think Marin may take the cake for the one that fell the most. The best part is each time she fell she just laughed & laughed. By the end of the hour she was getting a little less clumsy.

Marguax was slow & steady... falling a bit as well, but she really tried to get the technique down. We got a family pass to the ice rink so we'll be visiting again frequently. Hopefully they'll all have the hang of it sooner than later.

Very fun afternoon, nice to get out of the house. The wind chill is -30 today. So darn cold!!!

Looking forward to New Years Eve in a few days! xoxo

All the prep & anticipation of Christmas has come and gone. We had a great few days together snuggled in at home. I am not ready for it to be over. My house has been decorated & the tree up since the beginning of November! It always looks so bare once it all comes down. 

We all had a great day yesterday. The girls were told not to get up before 7:30. They were up at 7:00 sorting through their presents under the tree with excitement. A few big boxes, Margaux was sniffing the presents trying to guess what was under the wrapping paper. Made us all laugh.

 After sniffing one she said it was a book. She was correct! The next one she guessed was a gift card, that one was wrong. It was little holiday press on nails that they loved! Their little hands were so darn cute. Unfortunately they didn't stay on long but it was fun while it lasted. 

All three were so excited with their gifts. 

Marin was thrilled with her heated blanket, robe, swim suit, clothes, rip stick & new shoes/slippers.

Margaux loved all her new pig stuff, books, a robe, swim suit, gallon of glue {for slime} toilet trouble game and her electric scooter.

Maeve was crazy excited for her LOL dolls, marble run, a school play set, robe, swim suit & an electric scooter as well. They'll all be zooming around the neighborhood come spring. 

We hung out all day in our pj's and eventually headed down to Veraghen's so the kids could all show each other what they had gotten. They were all so darn excited.

 We ended up ordering Chinese food for dinner & the kids had fun with some Christmas photo props. Very low key Christmas, so darn cold outside it was perfect. We have never had a Christmas at home where we were able to stay in pj's all day. Much needed & very relaxing.

How cute are these kiddos? Even got Sloane in a photo. haha

We'll head to Madison for a Christmas there with Gary's family in a few days. Such a busy & fun time of year for all. We'll be sad when it is all done but will look forward to 3/5 of our family's birthday week! The fun just keeps on coming!!! But for today we are still in pj's having another day of relaxing. Family gift this year is two giant bean bags for the basement & we will be hanging out on them all day today. Love this time of year, enjoying every min of our time together. Happy Holidays! xoxo

Merry Christmas Eve!

This morning we saw our traditional Christmas Eve movie at 9:15am in our pj's. The movie they chose to see was Ferdinand. Very cute & the girls really enjoyed it. Then it was time to head home, get the house ready & head to church for 4:00 mass. I promised the girls they could put their new pj's on as soon as we got a family photo together after church. 

 Maeve the little poser. They looked so cute in their xmas outfits.

Pics done & it was time for lots of yummy appetizers, playing games & matching pj's for the kiddos. Lots of adorable pics with little Fitz, Sloane is not a fan of standing still for photos. Get what you get with her!

One of my favorite nights of the year. Great food, conversation & memories with family. We had our annual facetime chat with GG & Grandpa Goessl in AZ as well. Once the crew headed home, the girls were pretty excited to go to sleep to wake up for Santa. Wish they would go to bed that easy every night! They went to bed about a 1/2 hour ago. I better get myself in bed or he won't come, lots of excitement tomorrow! xoxo Merry Christmas to all!

The day before Christmas Eve & we are hosting, so much to do around the house to get ready so why not make the day more crazy... we throw sledding into the mix! Today the temp is 15 degrees & tomorrow we drop to below zero for the next 4-5 days. If we didn't sled today, we wouldn't be sledding for a while. We packed up, headed to my parents & the kids had a blast. Quite the crew too!

Marin had a few friends over & we also had the Veraghens and Finlans with us. Way more fun with a group of friends. It was cold, but they were on the hill for a little over an hour.

Lots of fun action shots. There were quite a few wipe outs bit they took them like champs & laughed them off. 

Love taking these kids sledding at my parents house. I have so many memories of doing the same with my friends as a kid. Our kids just love it. With my parents building a house in spring, this will be the last year of sledding at the house. We are all so sad, but need to get it in as much as we can this winter & enjoy it while we can. xoxo

Gingerbread time for the littles. Maeve decorated last week in her classroom with both Gary & myself. It is a project that they all look forward to each winter. All three of the girls wore this striped shirt to school on their 1st Grade gingerbread day. Little Maeve is the last to wear it. Makes me sad.

 She did a great job decorating & eating... mostly eating. Her house turned out so cute!

Today it was Margaux's turn so Gary & I headed back to school to assist her. She requested different candy than Maeve & had big plans for how she was going to decorate her house. It was all drawn out in her plan including the licorice rope fence. 

They both were so proud of their finished products. Excited to display them in the house for the next week {and probably eat all the candy off it as well}. So excited for Christmas! xoxo

Two nights of Christmas Concerts already this week. Marin's first concert is not until January, but we sure enjoyed Marg & Maeve's concerts. They both did so great & sang their little hearts out. Thankful no one got sick & everyone was able to attend. So much flu going around, we've been lucky enough to escape it so far. Let's hope it stays that way until Christmas!

Margaux's concert was last night. Her songs included Sing Me Now of Christmas, The Dreidel Song, The Boomwacker Song & The Candle Glowing in the Window. 

 The cookie social is always the best part of the concert for the kids. All their hard work paid off & they eat cookies and act crazy together. They are always so cute dressed up together.

Maeve's concert was tonight. She sang Esta Esta Navidad, Snowman Choir, Small Star & The Sounds of Santa's Workshop. She has a little cough which made singing a tad bit difficult, but she did great!

They both looked so cute all dressed up with their hair curled. Maeve was just thrilled to have a little makeup on. Blush, mascara & eye shadow sure know how to make a girl feel special. Her smile was priceless. Margaux is so hard to apply mascara to with her long lashes. She really would never have to put it on... ever! Great job girls, looking forward to hearing Marin sing her songs in January. xoxo

Annual Christmas Caroling with our neighborhood crew tonight. We had such a fun time & a really great turnout this year. Quite the crew of carolers & they all sang so wonderfully.

{That is Sloane front right not looking at the camera. She would not smile for the picture. But she did love playing her new harmonica while the kids sang!} Their songs included Rudolph, Jingle Bells & We Wish You A Merry Christmas. Second year that they sang without a radio & rocked it!

The adults enjoyed standing back behind the kiddos with their cocktails singing along at their leisure! 

The kids know exactly what houses to go to where treats are handed out. They've got this caroling thing down after all the years. Fun tradition that is enjoyed by all. Having a foot of fresh snow made it all the more fun... the kids were ruining all the neighbors shoveling jobs. Hopefully the kids caroling outweighed the mess of snow we left behind at each house. Tis the Season!! xoxo

Sleepover with some of our favorites tonight. The girls are so excited to have the Fin twins & Estelle here overnight. We are so used to having Estelle here as our 4th child, but having the boys over night is an added bonus. They lost their grandpa this past week & have very heavy hearts. Having just gone through it with Grandma Betty, our girls have been so sad for them. We are happy to have them here tonight as a good distraction & to have a much needed night of fun.

Love these kiddos. They have their beds all set in the basement ready for the slumber party. With how loud they all are in the basement right now, I have a feeling they'll all crash hard in an hour or so. Just in time for Gary & I to pop in at a neighborhood holiday party! Another added bonus, these kiddos will be joining us on spring break this year. Months away but our girls are anxious to show these three all their favorite spots/activities in Orange Beach.

This pic is from October... I think the beach photos will look a little like this. No shortage of fun! xoxo 

We have a new little Catholic in the family.

Fitzgerald Gary was baptized last night, surround by his family & pretty amazing godparents!!! 

 I think Gary will forever be excited about his middle name & we are excited for a baby boy! The girls enjoyed watching the baptism. Margaux held Gary's cell phone so GG & Grandpa Goessl could facetime & see the baptism from Arizona. Marin was the official photographer & she did so great! She took a lot of really great photos. I  have trained her well.

It is crazy to me that I have children big enough to stand holding a baby. Marin looks so big holding little Fitz in the photo. We all just love him to pieces. So fun having a baby around again & a boy! We love you Fitz! Happy Baptism Weekend! xoxo

Christmas Parade day & boy have we been lucky lately with unseasonably warm weather. Today at parade time it was 48 degrees. Perfect for the girls. They didn't have to wear any cold weather winter gear & were able to walk in their shoes. Snow boots can make for a long parade walk. It was perfect.

Grandpa & his grandchicks before the parade in front of the fire dept float.

 Sloane could barely concentrate with Santa behind her. We did take a pic with the float before Santa arrived too. The big girls {and Alleda} chose to walk the parade route with my dad & some other fire department peeps. Maeve chose to watch the parade & collect candy with Sloane.

Such a great afternoon, the girls all really enjoyed the parade. Again, seemed odd to not have snow... but we enjoyed the warm temps. According to the extended forecast, the cold days are near.

We started the morning in the gym for Marin's 1st basketball tournament, went to the parade & ended back at the high school for more basketball. Busy, fun day. I am happy to be in my pj's relaxing this evening! xoxo

Last night we had our first Polar Express experience. Something we have always heard about but never experienced on our own. Tickets go on sale in July & sell out in less than an hour! So this year I was on top of it & got tickets for the 5 of us. Splurged & got VIP tickets which scored the girls a few extra perks. Upon arrival they explored the trains that were indoors & got to pose for a photo with the conductor.

I got the girls new matching pj's last weekend. They were pretty excited to wear them & looked so darn cute! After exploring we sat in our seats, listened to the story of the Polar Express, watched a few dance numbers & sipped hot chocolate out of these cute little cups. 

Once the story was done it was time to board the Polar Express. Our seats were right next to the Kentops. Eva & our girls were so excited to see that they each got their own Polar Express cocoa mug & special treats on the train. It was fun to see the train car all decorated inside as well.

 The conductor came around & punched the girls tickets just like he does in the book/movie. 

And it wouldn't have been a train ride without more hot chocolate. I think they got their fill of treats & sugar. Probably helped them sustain their energy. Our train ride started at about 8:30. It was just before 10pm by the time we finished. Late night for the chicks, but worth it.

During the ride there were a lot of actors in & out of the train car acting out and role playing the scenes from the book/movie. The girls played along well & were shocked when Santa came onto the train & sat right next to them in our seats. Empty seat was there the entire time but they thought nothing of it. 

The girls knew that he was a helper Santa... the real Santa is too busy to do all these fun events! But they happily shared some of the things on their list with him before our ride came to an end.

One last photo next to our train, the Silver Spirit. Such a fun, magical night for our girls. I am so glad we got the tickets this year & got to experience it together. Tomorrow is December 1st already. The month always goes by so fast. I will do my best to soak it all in. My favorite time of year. The girls are anxious to open day one of their advent calendars! xoxo

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

We had a very nontraditional Thanksgiving. Low key day at home watching football, hanging out in the hot tub for a bit & shopping for me in the evening. We didn't even have turkey!!

Sometimes low key days/weekends are much needed. With the holidays in full swing as well as basketball for Marin our weekends are all full for the next two months. Relaxing is just what we needed.

Tonight we decided to go see the Garden of Lights. The girls love this annual event & the weather was perfect. 56 degrees! Although when we got there it started raining, we still had a great time. Wet, but warm... Much better than cold & wet! Kids were still pretty dry at this point...

We had a big crew & enjoyed our time together. 

By the end of the night we were all pretty wet & ready for hot chocolate. It was a little different having rain & no snow on the ground to go along with the lights. This fall/winter has been so funny weather wise. We'll continue to enjoy it while it lasts! xoxo

We've had a very sad week at our house. My grandma passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday November 8th due to complications after her open heart surgery on Tuesday. After just seeing her & knowing her positive prognosis we really never expected this outcome. My heart hurts knowing that I was unable to say goodbye to her or tell her one more time how much I love her. I feel fortunate to have had 37 years with her, but I am saddened by the idea of having to live without her in our lives moving forward. I will hold the memories of her in my heart forever. Some of my childhood memories include spending nights with her & my grandpa at their house. Together we would bake cookies & cakes, I would watch her sew in her sewing room upstairs while I dug through the metal containers filled with 100's of buttons picking out my favorites. We would spend time in her yard swinging on her swing or picking fruits & veggies from their garden. Not only did she have great toys, she always had a pantry full of the best snacks & candy.

She was such a kind, caring & loving grandma. Now my memories shift to her as a great grandma to our girls. Just as I remember arriving at her house & running to find the toys, our girls would do the same during their visits to her house. Even playing with many of the same toys I had played with as a little girl at her house. I love that she kept some of those things & how much our girls enjoyed them. Her candy jar was always full & waiting for the girls even when I would say "they don't need it." Grandmas house was for treats & our girls knew not matter what I said, Grandma Betty would let them have it. She really enjoyed having the girls at her house.

I am thankful I got to share Grandma Betty with Gary & the girls over the past years. She was too special not to share & I know they all loved her as I did. Our lives will not be the same without her. We have many photos & some pretty special things in our house that she has made us over the years that will keep her memory with us.

We love you so much grandma & will miss you beyond words. xoxo

First Snow of the Year!!!

Not a ton of snow but the girls were excited to get out & shovel/play.
Layla was at the door within minutes of waking up ready to play with Maeve.

And the big girls + Estelle were busy shoveling our driveway & the neighbors sidewalks.

Always fun to shovel the first few times it snows, ask me again in February if they are still shoveling! Forecast shows mild weather ahead, so I don't believe this snow is here to stay just yet. They'll enjoy it for today! xo

Today was Margaux's Ellis Island simulation day at school. They have been studying their family heritage for weeks & the early US colonies as well. Such a fun learning experience for their class. All of the kids got to dress like early immigrants, which is always a hit. My opinion, Marg rocked her immigrant attire. She looked adorable... little christian Scarlette Laurent from France.

She was born Jan. 2, 1884.

She was stopped by the doctors fresh off the boat because of a serious nail infection/fungus {aka her nail polish}. That warranted a visit to the hospital for treatment, where they wrapped her fingers up. It was pretty funny, she enjoyed the attention!

After a long afternoon of traveling through all the areas of immigration, her family met with the commissioner & their family was granted entry to the US. 

Somewhere along the way she added an eye patch too! I was busy taking pics of the group. Hopefully her life in the US is what she was hoping for!!! haha Looking forward to Maeve's turn with Ellis Island in a few years. Her family better make it into the country or we'll have problems with her personality!! xoxo

Happy Halloween from our little pig, Evie from the Descendants & crazy monkey. Today our house if filled with candy & treats. I am not sure where to go with it all!

First year that I didn't get a photo of the three of them together, they were all very busy with their friends. So I did get some cute friend pics!!! Marin had 8 friends over after school to trick or treat with her & have pizza/snacks after wards. I wish I would have taken a pic of them in the basement with their piles of candy surrounding them once they got back here. So.much.candy!!! They had a lot of fun together.

 Maeve trick or treated with Gary & her group of friends. How adorable are these kids? Sloane in the spider costume is just too cute. She was a scary, scary spider. For how cold it was last night, Maeve made it much longer than I expected. She was happy with her haul of candy! Lots of layers under those costumes, it was about 32 degrees.

 And then there is the little pig, cow, her farmer & friends. I started out with this crew & followed them for about an hour before I was frozen solid. Too cold for me. Plus, they were hard to keep up with running between houses. I think they were happier w/o having to wait for me!! 

 A few more shots of the girls...

Even little Sloane was a trooper & made it out for quite some time. Fitz was a shark & stayed in the house with Grandma who was passing out candy. Wish I would have taken a photo of him. Soooo cute! One quick adult Halloween party photo of the neighborhood group before our Roaring 20's themed party. Fitz made this shot!!!

Today I am ready to take down all the Halloween decorations & head right into Christmas. Maybe I'll wait until the weekend! Tis the Season!! xoxo