Well Hello There...

The past 10 months have been crazy for us, but you can not tell that from my lack of blog posts. Because of the complication of our situation, I had stopped blogging. I now realize that was a poor choice. During some rare solo down time the other day I read through my blog, watched the videos, and admired all of the pictures (of varied quality). I realized what a true time capsule my time spent blogging had become. I realized that I wanted to continue this- for memories, record, and pleasure.

Let's play catch-up!

Last October, due to extenuating circumstances, a relative's child came to live with us. Now that we are "legal guardians" I feel that I can and should include Nadya on our blog.

Nadya is a spirited 7 year old. She is artistic and eager to learn. She is full of energy and attitude. We hope to help Nadya grow into a kind, responsible, and loving young adult.

Devin and Nadya have semi-adjusted to their new roles as "siblings." For Devin this has been a whole new world. Devin spent 5 1/2 years as an "only" and was thrown into sharing EVERYTHING in his life with another child- a child a year older than him who has had many bumps in her road. For me, Devin's understanding-heart-of-gold and ability to adapt has been confirmed.

The kids fight like siblings and perhaps this has been one of the hardest things to adjust to. It was not a gradual grow into the arguing, blaming, accusing. It was a flip-of-the-switch. Between their rivalry and my teaching children of the same age- my life became quite an exhausting, stressful whirlwind. I am hoping that as we (I) better learn how to manage all of these roles, it will get easier.

For now I leave you with this picture (from my birthday at the New England Aquarium) and a promise that I will be back SOON!

(I wish Devin were looking in this picture but that would have been TOO easy! LOL)

4th of July Fun

On Saturday of our 4th of July week-end we picked up Devin's cousin (my cousin's daughter) and headed over to Erick's parents house for some fun in the sun. Pool + BBQ + beautiful weather = great time!

They enjoyed the water slide...





They had a ton of fun playing with each other- kids and adults alike. Our friend Hilary came with her 3 boys, Erick's cousin with her 2 girls, and some of Erick's other cousins were there too. The kids were AMAZING! No fighting- all fun!
After almost 7 hours in the pool, the kids were wiped! They sat on this seat and waited for us to leave.
This shot shows Devin's busted lip. He fell on a hand weight that he took out from under the couch and left in the middle of the floor on Friday!
These yummy snacks that I made (sorry for the poor pics) were scooped up faster than I could hand them out. I certainly didn't make enough!!!

Just a Bunch of Pics of US!

Christmas Eve 2010

This year we were lucky enough to have Erick off on Christmas Eve. Usually he has to work all day, delivering the mail, and then meet up with us later, either at my parents' house or at my grandmother's house, depending on what time he gets out of work. Because we had Erick with us we were able to get a lot of errands/stuff done around the house in the morning and then go to my parents' house to exchange presents in the afternoon. In the evening we went to my grandmother's for the extended holiday party.

Here are Mom, Micki, and Memmere enjoying a few quiet moments before the hustle and bustle.
Here is Devin focused on opening his presents. He was certainly spoiled and one happy little boy!
Devin and Uncle!
TOY STORY 3!!! "Just what I wanted!!!!"
Here are the 5 great grand kids at Memmere's house.
This was one of my favorite moments of the night. Watching the excitement of my cousin's 10 year old son as he opened the gift that we got him. It was a Nerf thing that he REALLY wanted, like begged me for, in a really cute way. He is such a handsome boy!!
Once we got home, we had to put out Santa's magic key. Then it was time to get Santa's cookies and milk ready.

Meet Lolly

Lolly is the newest member of our family. She is a 12 week old short haired sweetheart. Devin has been asking for a cat or dog for a while. We automatically had to rule out a dog since they are not allowed in our complex, but also had ruled out a cat since Erick is "not a cat person" and I have developed some dog/cat allergies since having Devin. Well, the idea began to grow on me after a few days and I began to consider it. Mr. I Don't Like Cats looked at the Humane Society website this morning and found this little kitten named Lolly which he immediately liked. He printed out the paper and suggested that we go see her. Needless to say, we didn't walk out empty handed. And after a trip to Pet Smart, we came home with a very hyper 4 year old and a mellow, cuddly kitten. Mr. I'm Not a Cat Person has been converted! He melted when she was in his arms!!

Here are some more (not as good) pictures of Miss Lolly on her ridiculously large play structure. I have no idea where we will house this thing! At least we know she likes it, she has been hanging out on it, even sleeping here. Oh and notice I took full opportunity of her being a girl and put some pink on her right away! She has a pink collar on (even though she is a house cat only) because it has a little bell on it and I am afraid she will hide somewhere or something! This way we will hear her.
Devin said this is my sister. I am her brother!
Wish us luck. This is our first family pet. (says the person who said she would never have a pet!) Oh and I guess we will see how bad these cat allergies are. I am hoping that it will be ok, since she is short haired. Cross your fingers!!

Halloween 2010

Race Car Driver Devin

Despite a nasty virus that has (temporarily) taken over Devin's asthma, we managed to get out for Trick or Treating today. Dressed up in warm layers we braved the cold temps to check out the costumes, decorated houses, and of course collect some candy!

Here he is with Grandma and Papa!
Being a little silly!
Checking out the flashlight.
Family Photo at Miss Kristen's :)

Thought I'd add...

a couple of MY pictures! Let's begin at my parent's house. Here is the gigantic turkey...it was delicious!
My dad, carving the turkey.
Mom, busy making the squash...mmmmmm!
My 76 year old Memmere and Devin. This came out so precious.
Now let's head over to Erick's Tia Tonia's house. Here is a nice photo of Uncle Brian and Devin.
Abuela, Grandpa, Uncle Brian, Aunt Courtney, and Devin all got together for a rare group shot. Came out great too!
By 7 pm the little ones were all snug as a bug in a rug watching tv....
We had an awesome Thanksgiving and were able to see both sides of our family. For that we are thankful. We are also thankful for our good health, love, support of one another, our home, jobs, and family and friends. <3

Super Fun Busy Week-end

Friday night Devin stayed with Grandma and Papa so that Erick and I could go on a date. We kept it low key, running errands and going to Chunky's to see Love Happens. It was a sweet girly movie, and lucky for me my hubby is so good about watching those! Devin, of course had fun spending the night at Grandma's!

Saturday morning I had a hair appointment and afterward I met up with Devin and my Mom. We went to see my Dad and his band play at the Auburn Duck Race. It was a lot of fun to watch them play, especially since Devin has never seen the whole band in action, just my Dad playing his bass at home. Devin was really grooving to the music!

There was a big (plastic) duck race, clowns making balloons for the kids, face painting, food, and more!
On Sunday Erick, Devin, and I went apple picking. The apples are great and its nice and early in the season so they aren't picked over yet. We found lots and quick!

After that we went to visit Abuela, Grandpa, Uncle Brian and Aunt Courtney. We brought them some of our freshly picked apples. We had a lot of fun visiting and the 3 of us had a new experience~ the Wii! We tried a few of Brian's games. Devin really liked the Mario Cart and the baseball game. We laughed a lot!

You know I made Apple Crisp on Sunday evening.....YUM!