Addie.... 3 1/2

Addie. She is our little quiet princess... most of the time. she has her headstrong grumpy moments!
She can be so quiet and reserved and then the crazies come out and you never know what she might do. She really has always been easy to calm and entertain. She loves her princess toys and barbies, but also loves to play with her big brother and run and chase. When Vinny gets to his decided finish line and proclaims 'I win' she will boldly state 'I lose'. Very happy about her accomplishment.
She LOVES movies and quotes lines from them all the time! we stayed in a hotel last Friday night. She was the last to wake up Saturday morning and the first thing out of her mouth was 'they are going to the dropoff, the dropoff!!!' - line from Nemo. She is way better at movie quotes than I am. I think there was more to this one. Super cute though. Most things can be convinced to do willingly if you offer up a movie time after.
She really enjoys going to Big girl School - this is Sunday School and it was a way to get her to go and now she really enjoys it and is so proud of the color projects she does in there.
She is still sleeping in a crib and we have not had any problems with it yet, but she can now get in and out on her own. We will probably look to move her into a big bed soon. oh, how I love having her in a crib. ho hum... More on that in a later post.

Elise at 23 Months

Elise is quite the character these days. Trying to keep up with her is almost impossible sometimes! she really gets into everything - and I mean EVERYTHING. She likes to do things on her own. Apparently, she is very independent or she just got fed up with waiting her turn. She will find 'stools' of all sorts to reach high places, she learned if the shakes the cabinet doors real fast she can get past child locks (that is what we get for getting the cheap ones - the other kids were not so persistent!), if she thinks the dog looks hungry she will go find her some food (Beasley is her new best friend). She is really talking now and she gets very upset when you can't figure out what she is trying to say. One of my favorite is 'deeper' or diaper. she will go get a diaper and the wipes and bring them to you when she needs a change and sometimes when she doesn't. She has tried out the potty a little bit. One day last week Dave had picked up all the kids and was doing some normal afternoon stuff and elise went to the potty chair and pooped all on her own.

This week she has had a cold. This proves to make sleeping VERY difficult when you must suck your favorite fingers to sleep. Last night she finally made it through the night and stayed in her own bed. Thankfully, we were all getting exhausted from these past few up and down nights and ending up with a little stuffy girl in our bed for a few nights - no one sleeps well that way!!

So now fast forward a week. I have gotten so bad at getting posts done! Elise is much better in the stuffy nose department. Back in her own bed. Had some definite crying streaks to get back on track, but much better to have everyone in their assigned sleeping stations.

I have to get better at posting some of the funny things she does! My new goal.

pets in the microwave

this was from just after christmas - better late than never for posting.


Scene: Vinny and Addie playing with littlest pet shop pets and the new toy microwave.

Vinny: Oh no, the bird got dead.
Addie: Oh no.
Vinny: Oh, he is not dead he just got warmed up.

This seems a little disturbing.

Weekend update...

Just a quick run-down on the weekend (and beyond). I have a few items I don't want to forget!

Frog Days: Vinny took 2nd and won $2. He was sooo excited. Addie tried racing this year as well, but her frog did not leave the starting line - she was not disappointed though.

Shower time: Vinny took a solo shower for the first time tonight. Daddy just sat on the sideline to make sure all the important parts got cleaned:)

Bath time: I gave the girls a bath - another exciting time - Elise pooped in the tub!!! EWWWWW! Guess it is time to sanitize the jets anyway. Luckily Addie didn't even notice and we got them pulled and rinsed off. again... ewwwww!

T-ball: Vinny wrapped up his first season of t-ball last week. Dave was the coach. They had a fun time. I am not too worried about the major leagues knocking down our door yet, but he is getting the basics and had fun!

Pictures and better updates to follow soon!

Spring Trips

We had a pretty busy spring here (mostly a very busy May). The first weekend in May we went to the Wilderness in the Dells with all of my family for our 'Skoyen Christmas' trip. It was a great time! We had a condo and we all had a good time. We had 9 adults and 7 children and all made it through a weekend with no troubles:) The waterparks were awesome for the kids AND adults! One thing I did not do was take pictures. I only took a couple the whole weekend (waterparks and cameras just don't mix all that well). Here is one of my dad and brother 'bonding' at the condo.

The next weekend was mothers day and we spent some time with Dave's family. The week following was Vinny's soccer week. He did a park and rec soccer program. It was a fun intro to soccer and to organized sports in general. he had a really fun time. He is not an overly competitive kid as of yet, but really enjoyed himself.


The weekend after that was one I had been working for since January. I ran a half marathon in Green Bay. It was great! I really enjoyed the run and after about 9 miles I remember thinking to myself 'I am really doing this! and I am going to make it!!' Was a great time. All of us went over to Green Bay to spend a couple days. My race was Sunday morning, so we headed out on Saturday afternoon and made it over there to get settled in, get my race stuff and the kids had time to play in the hotel pool/waterpark. My brother, Dave, came over to run the full marathon. It was great to start out the race with him. We went our own pace after a couple miles, but both had good days and we all got to watch him run through Lambeau!
So, after recovering from the race we headed back to our hotel and brother Dave left for home. We all headed over to Bay Beach. What an awesome place!! It was our first trip there, but we will for sure try to make it back!! The kids had such a blast. We got some dinner and went back to the hotel and hit the pool again. I took advantage of the hottub - very nice!! We all went to bed pretty early so we could get some fun in on Monday before we had to hit the road again. Monday we went to the Railroad Museum. Another great spot that I would recommend to those traveling with children in Green Bay. Got to go on a train ride and walk through a lot of old trains. Then it was time to hit the road again and head for home via my parents to pick up the pooch (she got to vacation at their house for the weekend!).

That is my summation of the May trips, since it is now July - my memory is sketchy:)

Recent Pics

A few early summer pics from a morning photo shoot on the
porch:)

long time....

Wow! it has been a long time!! Guess we have been keeping busy here. Elise is always into something so computer time while she is awake is pretty minimal, so I don't get much past the things I 'have' to get done when I get time to sit down with the computer. Bills do have to come before blogs, I guess!!
So, since my last entry we have a 5 year old! Vinny had his birthday on June 1. We had a family party for him and he got to play with his cousins. The kids love when we have ALL the cousins over.
We have been spending time in the sprinkler, at the splash park and have made a trip to the local pool. The kids love water. Vinny is signed up for swimming lessons later in the summer and I hope to find some for Addie this summer or fall also.
Vinny is in Kindergarten readiness this week and next. He is loving it!! Monday was his first day, he was a little nervous when we first got there and I think he was holding back a tear when he walked in the room, but when I picked him up he was so excited about all the things they did. He even sang some of a song he learned that day! That is big for him, he usually keeps all things done at school under wraps:) This morning they got to go on a bus ride (he thought it was fun - good since he will be riding the bus starting this fall).
So, on a note from my end. I am heading back to work starting on Monday! yikes! That will change things around here. I found an in-home daycare that we like for the kids. They checked it out last friday and all the kids did well. Next week will be a goofy schedule since Vinny will have summer school and it will be my first week at work. Dave will be taking some mornings off and I guess we will play it by ear.
Photos and more interesting postings to come soon, I hope!! :)