Honey, he's nobody...

Last Saturday, we headed out to Joe Buck's for dinner and then to the Blues - well, RANGERS! - game with our pals Jennifer and Robb! Robb and Dan are both Ranger fans, in title only, as neither really follow hockey all that much - while Jennifer and I, being STL girls, are of course fans of the BLUES! The game was fun - the Blues won 4 to 1...here is Robb and Dan sitting while the rest of the Savvis Center was applauding the Blues' 4th goal!
Since the boys were spending the night at Nana and Papa's house (THANKS!!!) we headed out for drinks at Ruth's Chris at the Hyatt to meet some of Jenn and Robb's friends from the St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-up - where Jenn and Robb were volunteering for the weekend! ANYHOW, we got there and immediately Jenn made eyes with the fabulous piano player and the next thing I knew, she was up there singing a song!

Here she is, with one of her friends from Warm Up (and this was BEFORE any major drinking!!!)
And this picture would be AFTER!!! (after our delish bellini's that is!)
Okay so the funniest thing happened upon arrival to the hotel! All these Cardinal fans sit and wait in the lobby with their baseballs and sharpees hoping to get an autograph from one of the baseball players (Jenn informed us that none of the players even stay at the hotel - rather they sneak in a back door on the day of the event!) Anyway, one young fan runs up to Robb - who is dressed in his Rangers jersey and YANKEE hat - and says, "Hey, are you a ball player?" To which Robb quickly says "Yes!" (of course while he is still walking so he looks totally legit!) He further tells the fan that he is not signing autographs! It was seriously great! I jumped right on that bandwagon and had my pic taken with the famous ball player!
And check this out...he even signed my napkin for me!!!
So, on the way out, it happened again!!! This time, Jennifer tells the fan, "Oh, honey, he's nobody!" as Robb, Dan and I quickly exited the hotel!

Okay, so Robb investigated the Cardinals lineup and found who the young fans thought he was...

None other than Denny Reyes!!!
Robb - by the way - I think you're cuter!!! :)

SNOW cold!!!

TWO weeks ago, we were lucky enough to get some snow (and two snow days!). Since the weather forecasters were calling for the white stuff on that Wednesday night into Thursday, Nana and Papa spent the night with us...that way Papa could get safely to work (as he works in the same town in which we live!) and Nana could still do some work for Dan - answering phones, computer work, etc.

It was SO cold - below zero, I think - so we kept Luke inside, but Dan, Nick and Jack braved the cold to play in the oh so dry snow!
Unfortunately this snow didn't make such great snowmen, but we had snow angels all over the place and the boys quickly figured out that if they held some snow in their warm hands long enough, they could mold some into some great snowballs!!!

After all of 2o minutes or so, Jack was done and ready for some hot cocoa!!!
Nick and Dan managed to stay out a bit longer, but quickly headed inside to the warm and cozy house! Thank goodness we had some great Dora episodes Tivo'd for Luke and the Wii for the boys! Ah, I love snow days!!!

Game Night!

Our fam went to my cousin, Sandy's, house for a game night in early January! We had a great Italian dinner - thanks to Sandy and Duane for the great cooking! Then, I'm not sure how this happened, but Dan ended up doing a circumcision with a bread stick and a napkin! Thanks to Nana for assisting!
Then it was time for the games! Our first game was Taboo...

Here are my cousins Kelli and Cindy (and of course, Dan!) engaged in the game!
After we (the girls!) lost on Taboo, we moved on to Sneaks...a game kind of like Spoons!

Here are our great hosts...Duane, Kari, Kelli and Sandy! (Including puppy Lexie!)
Papa, Jack, and Nana enjoyed the games too!
...while Nick enjoyed watching a movie...
...and Luke LOVED Kari! YEAH, another babysitter!
Now we are in the midst of planning a great Wii game night...now THOSE pics should be fun!

Home at Last!

Monday morning we left Memphis and headed home! It took us quite a while to get there, and once we did, Baby Henry was super excited to get out of his car seat...and sit on my shoulders!!! Love ya, Henry!

What a Way To End a Night!

After Uncle Steve's impromptu party at the hotel, we headed back to Bryan's house for dinner! Steve and Bryan had a stop to make, so Jackie, ALL the kids and I said we would go ahead to Bryan's and wait outside, as they were just about a minute or two behind us!

I pulled up in front of his house and all of a sudden I couldn't move the car either forward OR backward! Jackie tried to get out of the front seat, but couldn't get the door open. She was the calm one, as she climbed out behind Luke, as I was freaking out (although holding it together pretty well, especially since there were five kids in the car.)

All she said was, this is the city's fault! I quickly jumped out of the car and saw this! My fabulous Toyota Sienna's front passenger tire had landed in a sewer drainage that was missing a grate!
Thankfully Steve and Bryan were there just a minute later. They assessed the situation and decided there was no way we could get the van out so we opted to call my roadside assistance! The tow truck was there about an hour later (give or take, once we got the claim through!). It certainly kept the kids busy while dinner was being made! Here are Jack, Alyssa, Nick and Luke watching as the tow truck pulled the van out of the hole!
And here is the after picture!!!
Thankfully there was NO damage to the tire and we safely made it home the next day...of course, with our Dunkin Donuts in hand! Aside from the crazy tire issue, our trip to Memphis was a great one!

Happy Birthday Uncle Steve!

Sunday, December 27, was Uncle Steve's birthday! We had already celebrated in IL, but we had to have a bit of an impromptu party! When Jackie and I took the kids to pick up the pizza (on Saturday night!) we also made a stop to pick up a few "fun" gifts for Steve from the kids! They all got to pick out a gift and a card to give their Uncle!

The birthday boy with Jackie and Henry! What party would be complete without hats???
Steve loved opening up his gifts, although I think the kids all were getting more excited about the goofy gifts they chose for him!!!
Uncle Steve, wearing his gift from Nick, with baby Henry and his niece and nephews! What a great looking group!
We headed over to Bryan's house then for dinner and of course, cake! I found what I thought would be Steve's favorite...yellow cake with coconut icing!!! Turns out, he is the ONLY one that wanted any...
He did get the best gift of all this year though...his first birthday with his cutie, Baby Henry!
Happy Birthday, Uncle Steve!!! We are SO glad that you are a part of our family!

Chillin' with Chuck!

What better way to spend a late morning and early afternoon with five kids than chillin' with Chuck E. Cheese! All the kids (sans Alyssa at times!) had a GREAT time! Nick got over his fear of Chuck...as demonstrated by this picture!
And Luke's fear of ALL characters seemed to subside as he actually posed by Barney!
Jack, as usual, was all about the games! Thanks to Uncle Bryan for keeping him busy!!!
Bryan and Alyssa get their picture "sketched" there!
Hopefully Henry won't be scared when he is older....but he looks a tad bit freaked out in this pic!!! :)
We left just as tons of birthday parties were coming in...perfect timing!!! Now, it's off to the movie!

Hangin' at the Hotel

When we were down in Memphis, we opted to get a couple of hotel rooms instead of all 7 of us crashing at Bryan's house! Since Bryan had to work, we opted to order some pizza and chill with the kids!

Jack was loving the fact that he could eat on the bed!
Baby Henry tried his first "biter biscuit" since he was cutting FOUR teeth!!!
After we were done eating, Aunt Jackie kept the kids busy with some crayons while I unpacked us!
After baths, the kids settled down with their Dsi's!

Here is Luke (and his darn binky!) enjoying his game!
Nick and Alyssa look like they are working hard on their game!
And FINALLY, after a long, fun day it was time to go to sleep! Night Bryan, night Alyssa!!!
Tomorrow's plans include Chuck E. Cheese and Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel!

Movin' in Memphis...

The day after Christmas we kissed Daddy goodbye and hopped into the good ole mini van and headed south...a 5 hour trip with a car full (the boys and I, plus Jackie, Steve, and Henry!) was definitely worth seeing Alyssa Jade and Uncle Bryan!

Santa had brought Alyssa tons of good stuff, but all her IL family came bearing gifts too! Here she is opening her pink doctor's kit...I wonder who picked that out for her???
Henry was SO happy to get out of his car seat and see his Uncle Bryan!
Uncle Bryan was the who introduced us to the Wii game, Just Dance. After he did a dance for us, it was Aunt Jackie's turn...she picked the "Mashed Potato!" Here she is peeling her spuds!
Unfortunately, Bryan wanted to see me, his eldest sister look like a fool so in honor of Dan and our favorite song to get down to at Yankee Stadium, I chose Cotton Eyed Joe! Even more unfortunate was Jackie stealing my camera and taking a few pics...I figured I would post one so as not to get slack from my two younger siblings!
Alyssa and Luke loved dancing to the music...so did Jack and Nick, but they immediately sat down when the camera was pointed at them as they got a little shy!
I may have made fun of this crazy game, but guess who now owns it??? In fact, I'm planning a Wii "Just Dance" party even as I type! :)

Christmas with the Clan!

All our family came over for a fantastic brunch on Christmas morning! Before we were able to eat though, we had to exchange our "secret" Santa gifts! We all exchange names (never telling WHO we have) on Thanksgiving! Papa was the first to reveal his person...Steve...who was SUPER happy to get a "man purse" filled with goodies!
Time for Steve to give his gift to....Dan...who loved all his tools and a new St. Louis Mafia book!
Dan gave his gift to....Nana....who happily held up her new RED salt and pepper shakers!
Nana passed along her gift to...Jackie...who loved all her new clothes!
Then it was time for Jackie to give me a gift...I MAY have known she had me, as I MAY have had a hand in choosing my new PJ's and perfume! :)
Then, no surprise at all, I handed over my gift to Papa...Dad ALWAYS has it all figured out! He LOVED his great stuff though...including an MP3 player!
We all then played games and ate, and ate, and ate....and of course, we had our "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" cake for dessert! Here we are singing, "Happy Birthday!"
And, after everyone had left, except for Nana and Papa, the boys were able to have fun playing with all their new goodies!

Luke enjoyed hanging with Papa!
While Jack played with his Imaginex dinosaur tower....
...and Nick enjoyed his Batman cave!
Finally then, it was time to go to sleep as we were heading out to visit Uncle Bryan and Alyssa in Memphis early the next morning! Nighty night!