Kaitlyn and Homecoming

I have to get these pictures up of Kaitlyn!! She had homecoming at Lutheran on Saturday, September 20th. She looked so grown up!! I love this girl!!!!

Buzz Lightyear makes homemade playdough

Cam and I made playdough this morning! Yes, he's wearing a Buzz Lightyear costume. We spent about an hour this morning talking about what costume he wants for halloween and we still have picked one. This is one of his dress-up costumes and loves to wear it everywhere. Chris even let him wear it to the zoo.

I love making things with him now. I love babies the best but it's so fun when they can start helping. I know that I could have made it much faster and cleaner but it's nice when we can slow down and do things like this!

Play Dough Recipe
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
4 cups water
4 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup cream of tartar

Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan. Cook and stir over low/medium heat until play dough is completely formed and no longer sticky. Allow to cool slightly before storing in an air tight container or zip lock bag.

*You can use 1/2 and 1/2 of baking soda and baking powder if you want. It turns out the same*

This was a new trick that I learned today and it's really nice. Cream of tartar can be expensive because you can only get it in tiny containers so its much cheaper to make it with the baking soda and powder.

Here we are playing with our new playdough!

Dinner at Shogun

We had a great time at Shogun tonight for dinner. This is a Hibachi restaurant in Racine and the kids love it there! Alright, Cameron doesn't like the fire part but tonight he didn't even mind it!! It is SO expensive but the kids really have fun and I know that when they get older this is one of the things that the kids will remember! We all have those memories of when we were children and we want our kids to have these memories too!

I remember all family vacation we would take with my nana and uncle. Every year the week after the 4th of July we would go on a week vacation with my nana and uncle! I loved staying in the same room as my nana and uncle! We've gone to LaCrosse, Mackinaw Island, Michigan, even to Pennsylvania! It's something I loved (even if there was always one MAJOR fight between somebody, that part I didn't enjoy) and want my kids to have those memories without the arguing (:

Anyways, back to my Shogun memory! The kids had a blast trying to catch the vegetables!! Here they are all trying to catch zucchini! Anthony was the fastest to get it but Kait caught it too (after a few tries) and even Cameron got a piece in his mouth (alright, they told him to close his eyes and open his mouth and Andy put it in his mouth and we all cheered and clapped!). Even Chris and I tried. Okay, Chris did it right away and I never did! I tried but it never happened.

Trip to St. Louis

I never shared about our wonderful trip to St. Louis! It was planned so that Chris and the boys could go to the Rams vs. Giants game but it turned into so much more than that!! It turned into one of my favorite and best trips we've had! It was relaxing (I guess for our family we'd call it relaxing) and just a pleasant time!! There was no yelling or arguing about ANYTHING! I'm reading the best books right now but that's a whole other post.

We took a trip to the St. Louis Zoo. What a beautiful zoo! We had a blast there and saw lots of cool animals! We even saw a dinosaur!!

The kids showed Cam how to act funny! He really didn't understand what and why they were doing what they were doing.

We went to a restaurant Saturday night that use to be owned by the Cardinals announcer but he died. Chris found out that the management of the Giants was going to be there later that night. Of course, Chris had to see who was going to be there so he took the other kids back for dessert so he could see who was there. Anthony got his cast signed by a Giants player that now is a coach. It was cool to see the kids and Chris get excited and enjoy the same thing. I love the kind of teenagers the kids are!!! They are so special and I feel so close to them. I hope we have the same kind of bond with Cam when he's a teen that we do with the other two.

I love this picture!!! It shows what a stinker this little brother is and how good the older kids are with him!!

We went to the St. Louis Children's Museum too! The kids had fun there too. It doesn't matter how old they are!!

We even saw Sacagawea!! What we make our kids do!!! His first girlfriend will love to see these pictures!!

spending time with my Jelly!!

I love doing fun projects with the kids! Okay the big ones aren't as excited with projects but I luckily Cam still loves to do them!! I don't know what I'll do once Cameron gets older and doesn't want to do projects with me! I guess I'll have to find some other little child to do them with me.

Here's Cameron and I at the beach collecting rocks to make a matching game.

Okay, we're not doing so hot collecting the rocks, we'd much rather throw them in the water. This was fine because there were plenty of rocks!

We brought the rocks home and put stickers on one side and then turned them over and made a matching game with them! Cameron really liked it (we used animal stickers). We also made one with different colored butterflies too!

The boys first day of school

Jeez!! Sometimes I just don't think!! I totally forgot to post Anthony's first day of school pics! I know that its been 1 week already since school started but better late than never!

Of course I made Chris take Tally for a walk so he could get Anthony's first day of school picture. Anthony didn't mind it as much as Kait but I think that's because he idolizes Chris so much so he doesn't care what Chris would do!! He's such a doll!! I love this kid!!!

Here's Cam's first day of preschool picture! This was the best I could do, he would not stand still! He had it after his first day. He did great but it was a long time for he. He had to sit for both sessions and by the end he was DONE!

End of summer?

I don't want the summer to end yet!! I don't think I ever want summer to end. I'm sure Chris has a different feeling, by now he's ready for a break from lawns. He loves to be home in the winter hanging out with Cameron (and I think he likes me too!). Here are some of the reasons that I don't want summer to end.

1. I love to take Cameron outside to play in the backyard with NO COAT and he LOVES to play in the water.

2. I love the kids being home!! They came with to Green Meadows and did lots of other things with us too!!

3. Anthony's baseball games

4. Chris' softball games

5. Trips to the Zoo especially feeding Bo!!

6. Fun events outside with Racine Family Club!

7. Trips to the beach. We went to the beach to collect rocks today and Cameron even put his feet in the water! These are things that I love, we didn't plan on going to the beach but spontenously (sp) went today and had a BLAST!!! I love being able to just go and follow whatever we want to do for the day!!

Mets baseball - Porcaro's favorite pastime

Here's my boys waiting for the players! Cameron was more interested in seeing what was going everywhere but the field! We had a great time going to the games: I love watching baseball. Luckily the Mets won all three games so it was a nice time.

Here are more pictures of Cameron at the games! You can SOOOO tell he's the baby of the family and can be a stinker!!!

I also tried to get a nice family picture at the game of Chris and the older two and look who stole the show! He wasn't even suppose to be in the picture.

Labor Day Party

Today Cameron and I made cookies and taco salad to bring to my parents. It was SO much fun. I'm mad that I didn't get any pictures of him in the garden or cutting up the tomato and red pepper. He helped put the cookies on the tray, rip the lettuce up and cut up the tomato and red pepper for our taco salad. It's so fun and important to include him in day to day activities. I know it can be easier to do it myself but it's so much more fun to do it with him.

We went to my parents today for a Labor Day party!! We had a good time and got to see family. I felt bad for Anthony because he couldn't go swimming and he LOVES to swim at my parent's house. Here's Cam and Papa having fun in the pool:

We brought Cameron's little pool with also. My parents only have a small pool that would never fit 4 kids ages 5,3,2,1 in it so I thought I should bring his blowup pool and I'm really happy that I did. Sometimes my parents forget about the bigger kids. They realize things when Bella (my niece) is old enough to need or want it but not in time for Cameron's age to enjoy it. A 3 foot pool is not okay to fit a 1 and 2 year old plus my cousin's 3 and 5 year old but once Bella is too little for it they'll realize it }: I love my parents but sometimes they just don't think beyond my sister, brother-in-law and niece. I feel bad because I now know how my sister-in-law must have felt with my niece and nephew and our kids. Our kids were always given more attention, things and time and now it's totally the same way with my sister and niece and our family. It's sad because I feel my parents miss out on a lot of things especially with Cameron because they never ask to spend time with him or have him come over. They are always busy with my sister and niece and don't think about us. It's not the same but it helps when we've got some great people at church and school who just ENJOY Cameron and the kids and us!! It's not the same as family but it's what we've got!! Alright enough of my rant!! I'm not dwelling(at least for now) and I've got one more pic to show. He was so happy when he got his animal set!!

Kait's first day of school

Well my baby is officially growing up (but she's still my baby!!)

Here's Kait at the bus stop her first day of high school. She's so sweet!! The night before her first day I asked her if Chris could walk her to the bus, at first she said NO but then she said that it would be okay if he just took Tally for a walk and stopped for a minute. I love that she doesn't mind that we are around, sort of.

There she is getting on the bus. I know I'm so lame sometimes but I just love these kids SO MUCH!!!! Poor girl, I'll probably be there taking pictures when she's walking to her first classes in college.

Paint Party

Sorry for all the posts on one day but I'm playing catch up.

Cameron went to a paint party this morning and had a blast, can't you tell?

Simple things in life

I've told people this before but if I could I would live in the 1800's. Life was SO much simpler. We had a blast this morning. We were playing with chalk on the driveway and Cameron found a ladybug on the driveway. He asked me to help him pick it up and we spent the next 45 minutes examing, playing, poking, watching this ladybug.

We had to even draw a picture of a ladybug on the driveway!

I'm hanging this picture everywhere! It reminds me that "kids just need our love and attention"

My little helper (& the kids come home tomorrow!)

I keep singing to myself! The kids come home tomorrow, the kids come home tomorrow! and doing a little dance! I couldn't be happier!!!

It is so easy just to do things myself!! But....WHAT'S THE FUN OF THAT!!! We're making I spy bottles with water bottles. I know I never do everything at one time...........sooooooooo we started with coloring the rice today. I let Cam put the rubbing alcohol and food coloring in the first one and the rubbing alcohol practically took his breath away from the smell that after the first one, I put the rubbing alcohol in the rest (holy run-on sentence, GEEZ). I'd love to fix it but I only have a minute before the little man wants to go to bed. That's as far as we got with our I spy bottles. Now I have to think of things to put it. I've got a rubberband, button, piece of crayon, hmmmmm what else. I've got tonight to think of more. Gotta get to bed, night!

"Zoo Class"

Cammie and his zoo class! I really can't say anymore than what this picture says! He loves his classes! Here he is at the frog class!!