DECORATING THE TREE

Again, I know this is late but as I said we have been so very busy.  So please bear with me as I post all of December's posts late.  :)

Here are a few pictures of the kids (sans Jeff) decorating the Christmas tree.  The babies enjoyed decorating the tree but REALLY enjoyed taking all the ornaments off the bottom of the tree!  We now have NO ornaments on the bottom of the tree!  LOL!

SUPER TWIN POWERS - ACTIVATE!!

Here is Super Kalia, in her best Supergirl pose, sending all her super powers to Super Tuesday!!

 

(Grandma and Pappy gave this outfit to Kalia for Christmas and Kalia knew just what to do with it!)

GO TUESDAY!!

Please go here for an update.

A FAMILY VISIT

I know this is a bit late but we have been really busy around here.  My BIL, SIL and their family came to visit the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We had such a great time with them.  We climbed a mountain, picked a Christmas tree, ate like pigs and laughed and talked for hours.  The girls had so much fun with their Uncle Nando (he's such a goofball!  lol) and warmed up to him almost immediately.  (Sooo not like them).  The kids all had a great time with their cousins and we were all so sad to see them go.   The only cousins my kids have are the ones that live so far away in Toronto.  It was so great to see them all getting along and playing so good together and Matias and Aolani were so so good with the babies too!  I only wish we could get together more often.

Aolani with Sofiya and Uncle Fernando and Matias, Aolani, Sofiya & Kalia

PLEASE PRAY FOR TUESDAY!

A little over a week ago we were all celebrating Tuesday's no evidence of disease clearance. And now, as quick as lightening, she has another tumor. She had a 2cm by 2 cm calcified spot in her abdomen after all chemo and the scans. Everything came back clear. But then something wasn't right. Tuesday started having horrible pain in her abdomen. On Christmas Eve they took her to the ER and they thought maybe she had a bowel obstruction. They did xrays and nothing was there. Then they decided it was her bowels telescoping which is common after major abdominal surgery in little ones. But JK knew it was something else. Yesterday they did a CT Scan. the 2x2 "calicified" spot was now a 9x7 mass. It is growing rapidly. It is cancer. The drs are all stunned. How could this happen? For a cancer to grow so quickly after 5 rounds of chemo is unheard of. They currently have no clear treament plan. They sent her home yesterday with a bunch of pain meds and are taking the weekend to confer with drs around the country on the matter and create a game plan. Monday she will have a PET Scan and a consult and hopefully they will come up with a plan on how to beat this. There will be no stem cell transplant at this time. We were all gearing up for that endeavor but I guess God has another battle in mind first. I am not going to lie, the odds are highly stacked against her. This is why it is so important that you pray. Let God be flooded with all of our voices asking for him to help Tuesday. Tuesday has been such an inspiration for so many. She has brought God back into many lives who had pushed him away. Her family needs strength and she needs to beat this. For all of us.

Please pray for Tuesday!

FALL FUN

Last weekend we went out to enjoy the fall leaves before raking them. It was a really warm day and we all had so much fun jumping in the leaves.

Ok well maybe Sofiya didn't like being in the leaves too much but she did like raking them!

Nordic Bo Peep and Long Lost Sheep Costume GIVEAWAY!!!!

Nordic Bo Peep and Long Lost Sheep Costume GIVEAWAY!!!!

8 THINGS

I was tagged for this meme by my dear friend Jane and just had to do it!


8 Favorite TV Shows
1. Desperate Housewives
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Lipstick Jungle
4. House
5. Hotshots
6. How I met your mother
7. So You Think You Can Dance
8. Criminal Minds


8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Bravo
2. Bob Evans (for breakfast)
3. Olive Garden
4. Smokey Bones
5. Salvatore's
6. Rockafella's
7. J Barn
8. From Italy Pizzeria


8 Things that happened yesterday
1. Emailed with friends :)
2. Babysat 2 kids
3. Made bayou chicken and scalloped potatoes for dinner
4. Watched a million episodes of Little Einsteins, Yo Gabba Gabba and Dora with the girls
5. Did laundry and cleaned up the house
6. Watched House and Heroes (on Tivo) while the girls napped
7. Gave a horrible interpretation of a mime stuck in a box.
8. Went to bed at 8!


8 Things I look forward to
1. Thanksgiving.
2. Christmas.
3. Spending QT with ALL the kids
4. Spring vacation (hopefully!)
5. Summer
6. Teacher strike being over
7. winning the lottery
8. Economic depression ending


8 Things I love about Autumn
1. The beautiful colors
2. The rustic/ cold smell in the air
3. Hot chocolate
4. Halloween
5. Cozy evenings with family
6. Making soups and snuggling under the covers to eat them!
7. Kids jumping in leaf piles
8. Crunchy leaves under my feet


8 Things on my wish list
1. Get a water softener in here ASAP
2. Keep in better touch with friends
3. Take a family vacation in the spring
4. Better health insurance
5. Healthy kids.
6. A white Christmas
7. Win the lottery.
8. Travel alone with my hubby.


8 People I tag
1. Bre
2. Jenn P
3. Jenn H
4. Sheri
5. Deanna
6. CC
7. Debi
8. Meike

From Dates to Diapers and Beyond!

A blog I follow is doing a bunch of giveaways!

Check it out here:
From Dates to Diapers and Beyond!

HELPING WITH HOUSEWORK

TUESDAY NEWS!

Hi everyone. So I have huge news and a huge request from all who pray. Tuesday had scans done last week and she is infact a MIRACLE! Most of the cancer is gone and they are thinking that the tumor (which has shrunk from the size of a canteloupe to the size of a golfball) is indeed DEAD! Who would have thought months ago when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma that she would do so well?? I mean we all prayed and prayed, but this is just so much better than I would have ever imagined! This little girl is blessed!!

On to the prayer request... Tuesday is having major surgery today to remove what is left of the tumor. This tumor, unfortuneately, is attached to part of the heart and some major arteries. Her doctor's have never seen this before, and know that it is going to be a more complicated surgery than they had hoped. PLEASE pray for her today that the surgery goes better than anyone could imagine and that little Tuesday recovers quickly. She had a long road of recovery after the last surgery and I am praying so hard that she has a much shorter road this time!

Please check Tuesday's Family blog for updates on her surgery throughout the day!

Thanks to everyone who continues to pray for her! IT IS WORKING!

xoxo

SNOWBALL 2008

Brittani & Cody


Last Saturday Brittani and her boyfriend, Cody, went to the school Snowball. They decided not to go out to dinner and Brittani asked me (very last minute) to make them dinner. So after checking what I had in the fridge that I could make them, I decided on chiken parmesan with penne and a ceasar salad. And I put candles on the dining room table, dimmed the lights and put soft music on for them. I tried to make it as romantic as possible with 9 other people in the house! LOL (Jeff had 2 friends over) Marcelo wanted sooo bad to be their waiter so he went upstairs (all on his own) and got his best suit on, and started serving them wine (white grape juice), then salad, then dinner. He even cleared the table afterwards and he made a GREAT tip too!! ($3!!)

After dinner we cleared the living room and Britt and Cody watched The Notebook. (LOVE that movie!!) then off to the dance they went. They had a great time dancing and hanging out with friends. To keep the party going they went to a friend's house afterwards and ate pizza rolls and watched a movie. What a great day for them!! I remember LOVING to get all gussied up for those type of things!!



Pretty flowers for a pretty girl!

Soooo BEAUTIFUL!!



Britt & her best bud Celo





"Make a funny face"

Time for dinner

Does Britt know that it was just white grape juice in that champgne glass??

Such a good waiter he is!

Marcelo the waiter

Tropical Tree Frog Costume GIVEAWAY!!!!

Tropical Tree Frog Costume GIVEAWAY!!!!

TRICK OR TREAT TIME

We had a really nice Halloween this year. We went trick or treating to my mom's & dad's house then to my Grandma's house on Thursday then we went around the neighborhood on Friday. My parents and grandma just LOVE seeing the kids all dressed up in their costumes and the kids love any excuse to put the costumes on and get candy! :) Speaking of candy, the kids got TONS of candy and it will take until well after Christmas for them to finish it all. LOL!

My grandma (great grandma to the kids) holding Kalia & Sofiya

"Big Grandma" (as the kids call her) with all the kids (minus Jeff & Brittani)

Pappy holding Kalia - she doesn't know what to think of that mask! LOL!

The girls' all dressed up trick or treating

Marcelo dressed up and trick or treating

Marcelo and Cody at one of the neigbors who had a scary corn maze set up in their front yard. Marcelo was so scared! But he was a big boy and went through with Cody.

Cody & Marcelo & some creepy guys

The girls checking out all the great stuff they got.

Kalia trying to give me a kiss for letting her have candy. ;)

Sofiya wanting me to open just one more bag of chips for her to enjoy. lol

PUMPKIN PATCH

We made our way to a local pumpkin patch last week. It was much smaller than the one we went to last year but with gas prices we decided to not travel an hour just to go to a pumpkin patch. The kids still had fun petting the farm animals, taking a hay ride, going through a VERY tiny corn maze (not a real corn field) and drinking some apple cider. We did get a few good pictures too. We didn't get any with pumpkins because we had planned on going to another local pumpkin patch that day but by the time we got there, they were closed. :( Oh well next year!

Here are Brittani and the girls petting a pony.

My beautiful Brittani and Kalia

Marcelo in the 'fake' corn maze (he still liked it!)

Don't they look like they had fun anyway?

Me and Marcelo on the hay ride

TWO FOOTBALL GAMES, TWO PARKS AND A FITNESS TRAIL!

See didn't I tell you I was busy? We have had at least 2 football games per week and 2 volleyball games per week (I know, I know.. I only took pics once of Britt's volleyball games and wouldn't you know when I got home I realized that I had forgotten to stick the memory card in before I left. Nice!! OH well.. there's always next year. I hope!

Ok so first are the 2 football games. One was Marcelo's who is doing ok in football, but asks to quit at least twice a week..lol. And one is Cody who is still doing FANTASTIC! He is always being tried in different positions, he plays the ENTIRE game too! He plays offense, defense and special teams. The poor kid never gets a break... and he LOVES it. The really good thing about this is that he is doing better in school, keeping his room cleaner and just seems happier! And boy does he LOVE to talk about football!!

So without further ado, here are the football pics of Marcelo and Cody..

So we have really been parking (I know that's not a word) it up lately! The day after the babies' birthday we decided since it was a gorgeous day that we would take the girls to a nearby park that has a bunch of fairytale themes. It's really cute, albeit a little rusty and in need of a good paint job. We also got some really good fall shots of the kids!

And here are the pics from the 2nd park we went to. This was from last weekend. We decided to go visit my grandma but decided to stop at a park along the way. We were going to cook out on the grills there but SOMEONE bought the charcoal without the lighter fluid in it and then didn't bring lighter fluid so .... well we had a nice dinner at my grandma's. LOL. It was still good. :)

And lastly we went on a fitness trail. Oh this was so fun. This was also at the park that was near my grandma's. I had done this trail when I was little and had such fond memories of it. Well it was still really fun, but they had really tamed down some of the equipment. I guess too many people got hurt and complained. WHINERS! We had such a good time goofying around and walking in the trees and I can't wait to do it again!

Did you notice Britt likes to hang upside down??

KALIA & SOFIYA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Yes I know I already did a birthday post but that was for their actual birthday. This one is for their birthday party that I held late this year due to having Brittani's big ole' party a couple weeks ago.

We had a nice little birthday party with just a few close relatives. We had a nice time chatting and catching up and watching the girls oooo and aaahhh over their Little Einstein's cake, Little Einstein's toys, and Little Einstein's movies. Did I mention it was a Little Einstein's party? The girls just LOVE Little Einsteins so how could I resist? :)

The girls got a very special surprise gift for their birthday... do you know what it is? ;)

MY BABIES ARE TWO!!!

Ok so I know I'm posting this late and I apologize but I have been a little busy with football, football, and volleyball... and ok.. I procrastinated a bit too. So pretend I'm posting this about a week and a half ago, ok?


On the girls' actual birthday, we woke up early and had homemade waffles!! YUM!! The girls loved them! Then it was bath time (to rinse off all that syrup!) then we were off to the zoo. It was just me, the girls, Jeff and his girlfriend Stephanie. It was a GORGEOUS October day and we all had so much fun. The girls were actually very interested in the animals this time. (they are very interested in learning animals and animal noises at home too) They kept staring, laughing and squealing all day. They just loved the penguins, mainly because one of the huge ones was rubbing up against the glass right in front of them. He was there forever and they just giggled and giggled! It was too cute! They also loved the monkeys (bitty's as Kalia calls them) and the baby elephants. OH they were so cute playing together. We went in the aquarium and stayed there for a bit looking at all the fish, sharks and turtles (teetles as kalia calls them). Then they were off for a quick play on the little playground (we had to drag them away) and they slept the whole way home! They had a great time at the zoo!!

When we got home we made one of their favorite dinners - chicken nuggets and homemade mac & cheese. YUM! A cupcake each finished it off! I think they had a pretty good birthday, don't you?

BRITTANI'S SWEET 16 PARTY!

YEP you read right! Britt is turning 16 (tomorrow!!!) and we celebrated her Sweet 16 by throwing her an amazing party! We had slushies, cotton candy, karaoke, milk chocolate fountain, white chocolate fountain, lots of candy everywhere and to top the night off ~ a whip cream fight and a chocolate slip n slide! I didn't get near the pictures I would have liked because I didn't have someone (that I won't name ~ DEBI) to help remind me and guide me so I was running around aimlessly most of the time trying to make sure everyone had a full glass of slushie and a cotton candy in hand!

It was a blast and I'm hoping that it will be a day she will remember forever! (I'm thinking she will because she told me it was "the best night of her life") I LOVE YOU BRITTANI!! HAPPY SWEET 16 BABY!!! (crying, crying...)

Britt picked out this cake online, and was in love with it, but I told her there was no way I could get this cake for her and she was soooo excited when it arrived!!

This is not what she wore the whole night, she changed after a few hours of hard partying LOL.

Time to eat!!

Random photos ~ Britt and the girls doing karoake, the flowers I gave Britt for her special day, the babies looking cute and waaaay too much weight on the trampoline! LOL

THE CHOCOLATE SLIP N SLIDE!!

ALL ABOUT TUESDAY!!

My Tuesday update for this week is a GREAT one. She is doing FABULOUSLY. Getting stronger every day and definitely kicking this cancer's ass!!! GO TUESDAY!! She is still in the hospital in the oncology ward (not the PICU, YAY!) but the family is hoping she will get to go home, even if for just a couple days before her next round of Chemo.

Just look at this beautiful face... Look at her smiling. She is fighting so please keep helping her by praying for her and making donations to help the family cope with the huge medical bills. You can also still purchase Tuesday apparel to spread the word about her fight against Neuroblastoma and remember that ALL profits go straight to the family.

Please rememeber to go to the family's website and share your prayers with them EVERY TUESDAY. They really look forward to reading them and realizing every day how many people (many complete strangers) pray for and truely care about their little girl.

PLEASE KEEP PRAYING!

Don't stop now!!

BEST BROWNIES EVER!

Ok so as I'm sitting here stuffing my face full of brownie, I started to think that I have to share the recipe with you all because this recipe is the best brownies EVER! I seriously have to stop myself from eating them all!! This recipe has been passed down in my family and now I am passing it on to you. I took them to Brittani's volleyball game the other day and everyone LOVED them! And they are pretty easy to make too!

Here is what you will need:

3 sticks butter (or margarine)
6 tsp Cocoa
6 eggs
3 C sugar
2 ¼ C all purpose flour

1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 large jar marshmallow cream

chocolate icing (receipe below)

1. Melt butter then mix with 6 tsp. cocoa. Let cool.

2. Add 6 eggs and 3 C sugar and beat well.

3. Add flour, salt, vanilla and walnuts (if desired).

4. Spread in 12 x 18 well greased pan and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

5. White still very hot (right out of the oven) spread marshmallow cream evenly over the top.

6. Now cool completely then top with icing (recipe below - this is the best part so DO NOT skip the icing recipe below!!). (FYI - I keep them in the fridge since the icing has milk in it.)


Chocolate Icing:
3 T Cocoa (heaping)
2 C powdered sugar
½ C Crisco
¼ tsp vanilla
Dash salt
whole milk

Mix everything together then add milk til smooth and creamy. ENJOY!!! And be sure to let me know how you like them!

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

We didn't really do anything exciting for labor day weekend. Friday we went to the Pirate game, Saturday we had Marcelo's football game, Sunday... ummm.. I can't remember what we did Sunday LOL... I guess we just hung around the house and Monday we invited my parents over and we swam in the pool and cooked out on the grill. Just a nice fairly lazy weekend. But it was so nice just to enjoy one of the last weekends of summer with family.

I'm not sure who this is, I think it's Kalia but boy doesn't she look like Marcelo??

The girls enjoying blowing some bubbles with daddy.

Sooo serious..

What?? I didn't do anything!!

So not a baby anymore, but a big girl. :(