The Abb Five

Marble visits our house

2011-02-19T13:10:00.002-05:00

Christopher is in the Monkey class at school and they have a stuffed Monkey named Marble thats gets to visit the families on the weekend. He was so excited for his turn.

Christopher playing superheroes with Marble and Dora looking on....

on Sunday we decided to head to the coast to Grills for lunch

Tired out...

Thanks for visiting Marble!

Happy Birthday Christopher

2011-02-19T12:22:00.002-05:00

I cannot believe Christopher is 4! He is such a joy to our family and really makes us feel complete. We had a small party for him at our church playground with friends from his class.

First we celebrated during school....

Yummy cupcakes!

The party was a batman and batgirl party!

Christopher wouldn't smile because he told me Batman doesn't. I finally won him over...

We played "Batman, Batman, Joker"

His friends ready for cake!

Gracie looking pretty!

Christopher and his buddy Nate....

The whole gang!

We had a great time. We love you Christopher!!

Happy New Years

2011-01-08T21:36:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone has a wonderful 2011!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T13:53:00.001-05:00

Our annual Christmas PJ's

Locks of Love

2010-12-26T15:38:00.004-05:00

On December 23rd Rylie donated her hair to Locks of Love. This is an organization that helps disadvantaged children suffering from medical hair loss. She has been waiting and waiting for it to get long enough to donate. It had to be ten inches.
Before:

After!

She absolutely loves her new haircut and has been telling everyone about her donation. She has such a sweet heart. We love you Rylie!

I am returning!!

2010-04-17T22:17:00.001-04:00

I don't think anyone reads this site anymore but I am coming back. I have felt overwhelmed about catching it all up so I decided I will just start new and not worry about that stuff! I hope you come back to read and see what's going on in our world

Darcie

Back to School

2009-11-06T10:05:00.002-05:00

This summer sure flew by! The girls were so excited to go to school.
My big first grader...

and cutie Kindergartener....

Christopher wanted to go too....

Sweet sisters....

They allow you to walk Kindergarteners in on the first day but by the time we got to school there was absolutely no parking spaces so Rylie just got out of the van like a big girl and I told Gracie she needed to make sure she got to where she needed to go. So I never got any pictures at the school, BUT it made for less tears for Mommy too because it all happened so fast.

Bahamas

2009-10-30T20:01:00.011-04:00

Okay so these pictures are very late but I just couldn't skip them. This summer we went to Atlantis in the Bahamas. It was a first airplane trip for the kids. We had a blast. Sorry for picture overload but I couldn't resist.

Ready to go...

Christopher loves his space shuttle....

technology keeps them all busy....

Boarded on the plane....

So excited....

until we got in the air....

We made it....

The hotel had the Miss Teen USA pageant going on while we were there. We saw the pageant girls everywhere we went. First we ran into some at the airport.

The girls loved it!

Beautiful....

Cheesy smiles....

Looking for the pools....

We loved all the fancy aquariums...

Lounging in our room....

If you don't know Rylie is VERY afraid of the pool. We were shocked but thrilled she was this brave.

One of the nights we decided to let the girls go to the kids club. Christopher wasn't old enough so he stayed with us. At first Gracie wasn't too excited about going but Rylie couldn't wait. After we picked them up they both asked to go again but we told them once was enough.

The night they went was a Willy Wonka theme...

Mommy and Christopher....

One day we chose to leave the hotel and do a Dolphin encounter. We took a scenic boat ride there to Dolphin Lagoon. The girls loved it. We tried to get Christopher down too but once the dolphin splashed him he wanted no part of it. Our dolphins name was Salvadore.

Some more pool time....

The next day I took the kids to the beach for a bit while Chris played golf. Christopher entertained himself with this water bottle.....

while the girls got a hair wrap....

Loungin....

sliding....

feeding some sea turtles....

they have a waterslide that you can go on that takes you through the middle of this shark tank. Here we are waiting for Gracie and Daddy to come through. After waiting in the long line Gracie was told she wasn't tall enough. She missed it by about an inch! I think secretly she was sort of happy as she was pretty nervous.

brave girl again....

Love the view....

Finally a family shot even if its dark....

Christopher and his shark face on the way home....

It was such a fun family trip. I am so glad we decided to go!

Happy Birthday Rylie!

2009-10-12T09:13:00.009-04:00

Well its catch up time! We celebrated Rylies 5th birthday with a Littlest Pet Shop Party. What Fun! I cannot believe she is 5!

We all got animal hats....

Christopher chose to be a dog....

Gracie a kitty....

Daddy snuck away during the party to work on the farm....

The fabulous cake....

a little challenging to transport...

Her face shows it all :)

This kids all took a trip to the pet store and picked out a pet...

Is it possible Ninah is this old?

Gracie and Jack with their new pets...

Max and his monkey....

We had a race to see who could eat their dog food (cocoa puffs) the fastest with no hands....

Her new bitty twins, she loves them!

It is always fun to have a party for Rylie because she gets SOOO excited. We love you sweet girl!

A trip to the Zoo

2009-08-14T23:16:00.004-04:00

The kids have been asking to go to the zoo so we finally went.
Gracie was popular with the birds....

Christopher was doing fine until he saw Gracie, then he was "all done"

Christopher was so excited for the train ride....

Gracie was pretending to have important business going on.....

This guy was trying to eat Rylie's dress....

After our hot outing we played in the new splash area they have there. They bring these huge blocks of ice and the kids love touching it and it cools the water down....

Don't think we will be planning many more zoo trips in the summer....we will wait until it cools down. :)

4th of July

2009-08-08T19:02:00.003-04:00

We had our regular cookout on 4th of July complete with fireworks.

Some of the family....

Daddy and Gracie....

Chris, his brother Shawn, and Stephen was here from out of town....

Why I love my sisters!

2009-07-21T15:16:00.002-04:00

They jump in my bed with me even though we aren't supposed to....
They are fun to dance with.....

They let me dress up with them.....

and they love to snuggle with me!

Recital

2009-07-21T14:55:00.003-04:00

The girls had their dance recital. It was very late at night so I was a bit worried of how Rylie would be but they both did great. Gracie's Kindergarten teacher Mrs. W even joined us.

Waiting at rehearsal....

Aren't they sweet....

This was Gracie's first performance "Fairiez"....

Gracie and Mrs. W.....

Rylie was so excited to find a yellow R in the auditorium....

They both want to take a break from dancing so Rylie is headed for acting and Gracie for Gymnastics. Should be interesting :o)

Parent Appreciation Program

2009-06-08T21:46:00.004-04:00

They had a parent appreciation program for Kindergarten parents at Gracie's school. They sang 5 songs and then had a snack with us while we watched a slideshow of the school year. It was very sweet. Chris had to work so Grandma Brown was excited to come with me.

This is Gracie and her friend Hannah who is also our neighbor....

The girls.....

Gracie and her principal....

I am so thankful that everything worked out for us and Gracie was able to attend this school. She had such a great year!

Rylie's Graduation

2009-06-08T20:42:00.004-04:00

Wow time flies! We celebrated Rylie's preschool graduation. Can you believe she will be in Kindergarten soon? She did a great job and had a wonderful year. It will be so strange not having any kids in preschool for a bit.

Yummy cake....

Rylie and her friend Lily....

Rylie and one of her fabulous teachers Mrs. Vanessa....

When people ask Rylie if she is excited about Kindergarten her response is..."I am scared to get a shot." I think I will make her appointment soon so she won't have to think about it anymore!

We love you Rylie and are so proud of you!

Pirate Boy

2009-06-07T14:28:00.001-04:00

Bunny Ears

2009-05-23T11:43:00.002-04:00

Gracie had a musical at her school called Bunny Ears. She practiced her 3 word line over and over.
.

Easter 2009

2009-05-17T22:08:00.008-04:00

I have finally gotten the motivation to get back here :) Here's some pictures from our wonderful Easter.

Checking out what the Easter Bunny brought....

We then headed off to Aunt Mag's for a wonderful day!

Katelyn and Muffin helped find eggs.....

David's Easter Basket....

Checkin out the loot.....

meeting of the minds......

Rylie and Papa....

Somehow we always wind up doing bubbles....

These kids LOVE Aunt Mag......(and she loves them too :))

Hope everyone is well. Summer is almost here!!!!

A wedding

2009-04-22T22:28:00.005-04:00

Chris' cousin Annette got married a few weekends ago. The wedding was outside on a lake and the weather was perfect. The girls were so excited since they have never been to a wedding before.

We love Grandma......

and Aunt Melissa too.....

Uncle Shawn.....

Grandpa and Grandma......

Waiting for it to start.........

The Abb5................

A few pre-Easter pictures

2009-04-16T21:56:00.004-04:00

Rylie in her school Easter bonnet parade (she was wearing it backwards)....
We had an event at church on Saturday called Arise! I only have pictures of Rylie there because we were broken up into age groups and I was the preschool "Tour Guide" so Gracie was in a different group. Here's Rylie and I playing a Nickelodeon style family game.....

The egg drop from the fire truck.....

Rylie playing one of the games.....

It was a fun day!

A trip to the Nick Hotel

2009-04-08T21:57:00.004-04:00

A few weekends ago we headed to the Nick Hotel with some friends for some fun!
Sitting in the blues clues thinking chair....

She loves her Daddy.......

The girls had bunk beds, they were so excited!

Fun times at the pool.....

We went to the character breakfast. Christopher wasn't so sure if he liked them or not.

Diego....

Dora.....

Squidward (I was clueless on this one)...

Christopher and Max Jr. being silly....

and here's my wonderful family. I am so blessed!

Green Meadows

2009-04-07T22:40:00.003-04:00

I had the pleasure of Chaperoning Gracie's field trip to Green Meadows. Check out the fancy bus we got to ride in the background.

Milking the cow....

Here's her class.....

It was lots of fun and I can't beleive Kindergarten is almost over!

Bring Daddy to Dance

2009-04-06T20:57:00.002-04:00

It was the annual time for Bring your Daddy to Dance day. They were good sports once again.

Rylie was thrilled to have Grandpa this time :)

Rylie goes skating

2009-04-05T20:48:00.002-04:00

Rylie was invited to a skating party for her friend Lily. I didn't think she would have any desire in going but she was practically begging. I decided to take advantage of her being brave and took her. I wasn't so sure she would even put skates on but she did. The kids from her class wouldn't even go in the rink except the birthday girl so we stayed on the outside and learned a little. They still had a ball though.

Rylie and Alea trying it out....

Mommy don't hold my hands anymore....

Rylie and Lily the birthday girl!....

Gracie's 1st Competition

2009-04-02T22:34:00.004-04:00

This is back from February but I just didn't have a chance to get all the cd's together and stuff. Gracie's group did great at their very first competition...we are so proud of them!

They are accepting their awards, this was quite funny since they weren't really coached on this part :)

Happy St Patricks Day

2009-03-18T23:57:00.002-04:00

Better late than never!

Rylie :)

2009-03-10T23:12:00.004-04:00

I thought I would share a few of sweet Rylie. In her class they have a "teachers helper" every day. Well as soon as Rylie knows its almost her turn the countdown begins every night she goes through the list of who it will be next. It is so funny because on her day she runs into the classroom to check for her name and then she kisses it. This time it happened to be the day of the Valentine Party....

Rylie and her friend Areliz....

This girl LOVES babies......

Hope everyone is doing good! Be back soon!

Happy Birthday to my Baby Boy!

2009-03-01T23:32:00.004-05:00

I can't believe Christopher is already 2! Here are a few pictures from the fun we had!

He got a new helmet for his birthday and wouldn't take it off.....

Thank goodness no more Barbie helmet :)

Yep I'm back!

2009-03-01T23:14:00.001-05:00

I have been procrastinating doing this so bad. Instead of going in order I am just going to start fresh and then when nothing exciting is happening I figure I can post the older pictures I forgot.

Happy New Year

2009-01-26T19:16:00.003-05:00

We went to my friend Gina's parents house to bring in the new year. The kids had a blast!
She loves her Daddy....

Gracie, Anthony and Vincent.....

Ashley's girls Myah and Ninah....

and Max Jr....

Staying up until midnight is rough......

Hope everyone had a great New Year and hoping 2009 brings everyone something special!

Fun at Grandma and Grandpas

2009-01-24T23:05:00.002-05:00

We headed to Grand Island to see the Grandparents and they kept the girls for a couple of days. We had some family fun!
Uncle Shawn....

Christopher and CJ....

Grandpa taking everyone for a ride in the golf cart.....

Gotta love green brownies.....

Christmas 2008

2009-01-24T22:46:00.005-05:00

Here are a few highlights from Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve at Aunt Mag's, then Christmas morning and all day at home. It is so nice to not have to travel house to house and just enjoy the holiday with the kids. We are so thankful our family comes over and joins us! Of course Santa was VERY good to us this year...

The girls with cousin Katelyn, look at all those gifts.....

Rylie and Aunt Mag with her new snuzzy blanket....

Our tradition of new PJ's, Daddy had some too.....

Santa came....

Aunt Melissa, Cousin Lexi and the girls after all the present chaos playing some Go fish....

Christmas Get Together

2009-01-18T23:20:00.002-05:00

We had some friends over for a little Christmas Party for the kids. There was food, crafts, and games. It was lots of fun!

The grown ups had to get some Wii in too while the kids cheered us on....

Santa

2009-01-18T23:08:00.004-05:00

We took a trip to see Santa....Christopher lasted about 3 pictures before deciding he didn't like the big guy!

Christmas Program

2009-01-17T00:53:00.004-05:00

Rylie had her preschool Christmas Program. She did something very unexpected...she went up to the microphone before the song and started talking into it. She has changed so much! The kids are so funny because we practice and practice but you never know what will happen when all the parents are there watching. Of course they were adorable singing Away in a Manger....
She has the green dress with white bow....

A trip to Bethlehem

2009-01-14T23:32:00.002-05:00

Rylie was obsessed with the Nativity Scene this year. It was really cute because anytime we drove by one or saw one somewhere she would be so excited. She is Mary's biggest fan for sure! We decided to go to a Live Nativity at a nearby church with some friends.

Rylie was so funny. They had stations for each part of the story they were telling. Well once we got to a party with Mary in it she was right up in the front row yelling "Hi Mary". Mary couldn't really talk to her because she was acting out her part but she finally did get a small wave at one of the stations.

We are still here....

2009-01-10T23:43:00.003-05:00

I know its been too long! I have been procrastinating because I have so many pictures I want to share and I was planning to do a super long post so I can share them all but I still haven't done it so I will just do a bunch of small ones until I am caught up. That way you get in the habit of coming here more often anyway.
The girls starting their Advent calendars (and Dora too)....

That's all for now but better than nothing :o)

Our elf Mikey

2008-12-23T08:57:00.001-05:00

Santa dropped of and Elf on the Shelf right after Thanksgiving. The elf is here to watch the kids and he reports to Santa every night on their behavior. The girls named our elf Mikey.

Every morning they love trying to find where he is hiding....

Winter Park Parade

2008-12-21T12:18:00.002-05:00

Gracie was in the Winter Park Christmas Parade which I have been going to since I was a little girl so it was sort of strange. Daddy happened to be off that day so we had lots of fun. The dance girls were supposed to have their hair like someone from whoville which turned out to be much harder than I thought.

Munchkins are a parade tradition...yummy!

Rylie loved the parade....

The gang.....

and our star............

O Christmas Tree

2008-12-21T12:00:00.003-05:00

The girls were thrilled to help put up the Christmas tree. Us girls went to Lowe's and found a good one. When we finished decorating it three quarters of the ornaments were on the bottom front of the tree :) Christopher refers to all the "bulbs" as balls so I had to move them up to the top. I have to say this is one of my favorite trees so far.

Outdoor cuties

2008-12-16T22:37:00.004-05:00

I am not sure where Rylie was at this day, she seemed to miss the camera......

Max came over to play

2008-12-15T21:46:00.002-05:00

I watched Max Jr. a few days ago for a little while, the girls were so excited. You would think they never had a little brother. He is such a cutie!

Daddy's little Helper

2008-12-13T13:58:00.003-05:00

Turkey Trot

2008-12-11T22:36:00.003-05:00

Gracie took her turkey on a parade around the school. There were some really fancy turkeys there! The pilgrim near you see is her teacher Mrs. Winemiller...we love her!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-12-07T17:37:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for all our friends and family!
Watching the Macy's parade...Christopher was waving to the TV......

My pilgrim and Indian. These are actually both Gracie's from school but she shared with her sister. They earned feathers if they were able to do certain tasks the teacher asked. We were so proud of Gracie because she earned every single one possible.

The food was delicious (if I can say so myself).....

Grandpa and Rylie......

The girls and Grandma Shirley (Chris' grandmother).....

I want to thank each and every one of you for all your love throughout the year!

Rylie's Feast

2008-12-04T22:49:00.002-05:00

I was so happy to be able to go to Rylie's Thanksgiving feast in her class with her. Gracie's was at the same exact time so Daddy went with her.
Check out the girl to boy ratio.....

This girl loves cookies......

Turkeys Turkeys Turkeys

2008-12-02T20:13:00.004-05:00

Both girls had take home family projects to make a turkey so we worked on them all together. I am getting lots of good use out of my craft bin this year!

Puzzle Girl

2008-11-22T15:26:00.003-05:00

Rylie seems to be going through the puzzle phase now. She did this one all by herself!

Another Park Day

2008-11-22T15:00:00.006-05:00

We met up with some friends at a park where we love to feed the turtles. I think the kids ate more of the bread than the turtles did.

Trick or Treat

2008-11-11T22:02:00.006-05:00

Ever since Gracie was born we have met up with friends and Trick or Treated in their neighborhood so once again we headed out. This ended up being a very cheap Halloween because once I took the Halloween box out of storage and Rylie spotted the Minnie Mouse gloves she insisted she wanted to be Minnie again. The dress and the shoes both fit still! I was very undecided about Christopher because you never really know how the weather is going to be here and I knew he wouldn't want anything on his head. I finally decided to throw a pirate costume together from things around the house. I am so glad because he didn't even want to wear that. He wouldn't wear the hat even long enough to take a picture.

Barbie Mariposa.....

Captain Christopher.....

The gang.....

Christopher got the hang of getting candy VERY fast....

Rylie seemed to wait until everyone was away from the door so she could make a solo appearance. I heard you get more candy this way?

I was shocked at how far Christopher walked, but on the homestretch he gave in and got in the wagon and still got more candy......

We got lots of candy and a fun night for everyone!

Halloween Parties

2008-11-08T09:51:00.006-05:00

We had a bunch of school parties before Halloween. At Rylie school they had to wear a fairytale or nursery rhyme. Therefore Rylie chose to be Cinderella (of course). We had a little parade for the parents around the school.......

I snuck away from my class party for a few minutes to spend some time in her classroom.

All the princesses....

Cinderella and the old woman who swallowed a fly.......

Gracie also had to dress up like a storybook character at her school.

Introducing Fancy Nancy.....

They were required to carry the book that represented their character in the parade. She was acting shy.....

Fortunately her class party was on a Friday so I wasn't working and was able to volunteer. It was lots of fun!

Every year we wear our costumes to dance class too....

Halloween pictures will be next. Stay tuned!!

We went to see Shamu

2008-11-06T21:59:00.003-05:00

After the parade we went to Sea World for the Halloween Spooktacular for a few hours. Well right when it was our turn to go through the candy section all the booths ran out of candy. They claimed they were getting more soon but we didn't want to wait. We had fun anyway without candy.

Christopher loved the giant sandbox....

riding in style....

Everything we went to see Christopher would get so excited. He clapped for Shamu and he loved the penguins.....

and the carousel.....

I am so glad the weather is nicer and we will be able to go more often!

A Twinklerz Parade

2008-11-01T21:55:00.004-04:00

Gracie is on the twinklerz dance team and they got to be in their first parade. I had her thinking she was going to have to walk a long way but they only had to ride in the back of a truck. Rylie started off saying she doesn't like parades but once the candy started getting thrown it was all good....

The Twinklerz...

Gracie and her friend Isabel....

It was fun!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-25T20:49:00.012-04:00

We took our 3 pumpkins to pick out a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. Times like this I wish we weren't in Florida and we could go to a real pumpkin patch. How cool would that be?

Christopher wasn't too into the pumpkins but he liked running.....

I think I have come to the realization that I am rarely going to get a picture of all 3 children together so I have stopped dwelling on trying so hard. It makes my life much easier. I did try a couple of times at the patch but Christopher was up and out of the picture before I could even back up. As you can see Rylie is also in the "cheese" stage so that doesn't help out too much. I think we still got some cute pictures though. :) Hope everyone is doing good!

Meet Hedgie

2008-10-22T21:49:00.002-04:00

Gracie had a family homework assignment to make a puppet of a nocturnal animal. I went online and found a list of nocturnal animals and read her the list. Everything you think of being nocturnal was on there like bat, owl, raccoon....but did she pick one of those? Nope she chose the hedgehog. Not sure how she even knows what a hedgehog is but I decided it would be okay because not many kids would probably be bringing in a hedgehog puppet. We decided to make a sock puppet. I did any part requiring the glue gun and she did the whole face, ears, feet and sprayed the hairspray to make her quills prickly. It was fun to hear her talk about all the other kids puppets and how they were all so different.

Here's "hedgie"...I think it turned out cute.....

Christopher and the Ducks

2008-10-20T22:29:00.004-04:00

We have been taking advantage of some great weather and have been spending lots of time outside. Last week I took Christopher to feed the ducks. We saw lots of swans, ducks and turtles. I couldn't take too many pics of us feeding them because I was too nervous Christopher was going to end up in the lake since he likes to go to the very edge to throw the bread in.

More bread Mommy....

We had a visit from the pigeons too....

We played on the playground.....

Christopher would stay outside all day if he could. We had lots of fun, anyone care to share where they like to go to feed ducks around Orlando?

Go BoSox!

2008-10-14T22:09:00.003-04:00

Chris and I were so lucky to get tickets to the American League Championship game on Saturday night in Tampa. I have only been to Fenway to see games so this was new for me. It was so much fun. It is amazing to me how different a playoff game is versus a regular season game. There was definitely lots of Red Sox fans there too so we didn't feel too out of place. Now this was one of the greatest games of all times...lots of Home runs and the scoreboard kept going back and forth between the Rays and the Sox. Unfortunately after 11 innings my team lost :( We didn't get home until 4:00 in the morning and then I was up bright and early for church but it was definitely worth it.

Now since then the Sox look horrible and I am not counting on a World Series appearance.

Rylie performs in chapel

2008-10-10T09:28:00.006-04:00

Press the arrow to watch the video.

After school we went to the churches playland. It is so fun to watch the kids interact and listen to what they are saying.

Rylie and her friend McKinley...

She has finally got the courage to go down the small slide....

Christopher loves it too.....

100 Years!

2008-10-07T23:59:00.002-04:00

The Church of the Nazarene celebrated its 100th Anniversary this past weekend. The church we go to is a Nazarene church so over the last month leading up to the celebration I have been learning so much about the history of the church. Our church celebrated along with over 18,000 churches across the world and we had a special service from a Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene. The elementary kids also joined in the celebration and were asked to bring or wear something relating to the number "100".

Here is Gracie in her 100 shirt. She loved making it!

Gracie's Day Out

2008-10-06T16:34:00.003-04:00

So Gracie and I decided instead of her having a birthday party with her friends, since it is over a month ago we would spend a Mommy and Gracie day together.
We went and got a pedicure. She chose a pink color and got some fancy flowers. She loved it....
Then I took her to Toys r Us to buy some things with the money she received for her birthday. She picked out a Hannah Montana Beauty case and some books....

Then we went home and picked up Rylie and went to the movies to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua...

We had such a fun day!

Outside again

2008-10-01T22:09:00.003-04:00

We got a bit of a break from the heat last week so we took advantage and spent a lot of time outdoors. Christopher is the only one featured because the girls took too long eating dinner to get out before the sun went down.

Peek a Boo.....

Lookin for airplanes....

We live right in a flight path so we spot many planes from our backyard....he LOVES it....
found one......

Just a swingin...........

My first field trip

2008-09-27T15:16:00.004-04:00

Gracie announced in the van one afternoon after picking her up from school, "I have great news. We are going to see Elmo!" I wasn't sure what she was talking about but when I got home I found the permission slip for the field trip. I was surprised they were going on a field trip so soon but she was so excited. It happened to be on a Friday so I was thrilled I wasn't working and could sign up to be a chaperone. About a week before the show the teacher called saying the field trip was canceled due to the county not allowing any buses for any special activities. The kids were so sad. Well the teachers worked some more on the issue and they were able to hire private buses to take us to the UCF arena. It really wasn't the same as going on the Big Yellow school buses but it was still fun. Our class had so many chaperones we only had 2 kids each. We will see if that is the same at the end of the year when we are going somewhere outdoors in the lovely Florida heat :)
Here is Gracie and Emely...my 2 kids for the day....

Gracie and her friend Hannah who lives in our neighborhood...

Gracie and Alexa....

The kids had so much fun and they were all so cute. I am so thankful my wonderful husband works super hard and this gives me the opportunity to do these things with my children.
Gracie also bought her first meal this week at school...good old school pizza. She said it was delicious. Hope everyone is doing good out there.

Cruise time

2008-09-23T20:51:00.006-04:00

So here is a few highlights from our weekend escape. We had a lot of fun and I am so thankful for my Mom who came to watch the kids for me.

We went out right in the middle of Hurricane Hanna so the first night was SO rocky! It really was awful. Many people did not make it through dinner. The Abbuhl's were fine and definitely weren't giving up dinner. After we woke up on Friday morning the seas were much smoother and the rest of the trip was perfect.

Of course there was eating.....I am so glad Chris stopped the diet for the weekend....

Ashley is so crazy I love her.................

When we got on the ship we were told we wouldn't be going to Nassau Bahamas the next day as planned but instead would be going to Freeport on Saturday. We tried to make the best of it there....

Pamela making my girls their personalized souvenir purses....

We saw a ton of these huge crooked tail lizards.....

The boys were dying to find some conch to eat. We came upon this stand thinking we hit the jackpot...until we found out the conch were right there live and they were serving them raw with some onions and other veggies.......

So instead we ate here..............gotta love the Hole in the Wall restaurants.

Chris and I in our fancy suite......

The girls..............

The guys.......

God's beautiful world from our balcony................

I can't thank everyone enough who helped make this happen for Chris 40th. I know he will remember it for a long time!

A visit with Angel and a birthday party

2008-09-16T21:07:00.006-04:00

I have been procrastinating on doing this blog because I feel so far behind.....so here goes some of what I have been holding out on.

Rylie's class "The Angels" has a mascot and one of the kids get to take it home and take care of it over the weekend and then you write in the journal to share with the class. Rylie got to go first and she had "Angel" over labor day weekend. They have a boy and a girl and of course she chose the boy. That's Rylie...didn't surprise me one bit. She was so excited.

Angel went to dance class....

Angel visited with cousin Katelyn.....

During this weekend we had a small party for Gracie's and Chris' birthday with Chris' family. It was lots of fun. Angel came to the party too.

Gracie got the new Hannah Montana movie and started watching it but I guess she was too tired from the big day....

I wanted to do something special for her at school on her actual birthday and she requested Star Hannah Montana brownies. I am not sure where my kids come up with these wild ideas but I put in my best effort.

I wasn't able to go to school because I was working but the container came home empty so I guess they were a hit.

Happy 6th Birthday Gracie!

I had no idea how much my life would change on September 3rd, 2002. I am so happy to be a Mommy and am so excited to continue growing our love and have fun together. Gracie is so smart, independent and beautiful. We love you big girl!

Happy Birthday Chris

2008-09-02T23:22:00.004-04:00

My wonderful husband turned 40 today! I have been planning a very special surprise since February for him. I got a bunch of our friends together and we booked a cruise this weekend. This has been a VERY hard secret for me to keep for almost 7 months. Of course now Hurricane Hanna is out there in our way so we aren't sure what will happen yet. Chris was shocked and so excited to open his present.

I hope you had a great day....We love you!

When Daddy's in Charge

2008-08-26T21:36:00.003-04:00

1. Mommy makes Brownies.

2. Mommy takes a shower and Daddy watches the kids.

3. Daddy falls asleep.

4. Mommy comes out to find this.......

Gotta love Hurricanes

2008-08-19T21:47:00.003-04:00

I can't believe we had a hurricane day the second day of school. Anyway the girls both had family projects for school to do and we had a flower modeling clay project saved just for a rainy day. Thank goodness the storm wasn't too bad.

Hard at work on the flowers

Rylie's class at pre-K is the angel class so we had to decorate an angel...

Gracie's school is the "stars" so we had to decorate a star

Of course there is now glitter all over my floors but they loved decorating so no big deal. I am keeping my fingers crossed that school is open tomorrow as planned.

Big Day at our house

2008-08-18T17:36:00.007-04:00

So Gracie started Kindergarten today, and Rylie started Pre-K. They were both thrilled as the alarm clock went off this morning. They have had their clothes layed out for days in anticipation.

Of course Gracie went with not a problem. She told me earlier in the week that I didn't need to walk in that I could just drop her off. Needless to say Mommy wasn't doing that. Got to get a couple of pictures of that first day.

Rylie also marched right into her class and sat down. I am so amazed how much she has changed from this time last year.

When we went to pick up Gracie and Christopher saw her walking in the line he started squealing. It was so cute. She said she had lots of fun and was excited she got to take her lunchbox to a restaurant.
It really stinks that school is canceled tomorrow and probably Wednesday. Praying that everyone stays safe in the storm.

Rylie has dollars

2008-08-12T15:59:00.002-04:00

Rylie got some money, or to her dollars, for her birthday. We finally went to her favorite place, Target, and she bought a few things. She was so excited to have her own money in her own purse.

My little slugger

2008-08-07T22:46:00.004-04:00

A few shots of Christopher and his favorite toy. Go Red Sox!

A little playdate

2008-08-07T00:32:00.002-04:00

We had our playgroup friends over last week. We have been a group for about 4 years but this past year we didn't get together too often. Once the older kids started preschool and school it was really hard for us to make time to get together. We have tried to do some things this summer so everyone came over to swim.

Gracie and Harrison Diving

Isn't that baby adorable!

Hope everyone is having a great summer. Leave me a comment so I know I am not talking to myself :)

Congratulations Shawn and Melissa

2008-08-05T22:24:00.007-04:00

Chris' brother Shawn and Melissa were married July 11th. They left the next day for a fabulous honeymoon in Moorea and Bora Bora. Well this weekend was the reception...we had lots of fun!

Isn't this paradise.....

Gracie and cousin Chloe

My nephew C.J.

The kids are crazy about Uncle Shawn

So pretty

Christopher and C.J. hitting the cake

Some dancing

My cute family!

Congratulations again and welcome to the family Melissa!

A party at Sliderz

2008-07-30T20:39:00.002-04:00

We went to a birthday party at Sliderz last week. Sliderz is one of those indoor inflatable places with slides, bounce houses and other fun things. It was lots of fun.....

Christopher was the brave one out of all 3 kids.....figures

Gracie and her buddy Anthony eating pizza.....

Christopher and his friend Max (they are 4 days apart) I can't believe how grown up they are getting....

I wonder what they are saying......

Happy 3rd Birthday Vincent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A birthday continues....

2008-07-29T20:32:00.002-04:00

I decided to take the leftover cake to school on Rylie's actual birthday. I figure with a summer birthday she won't get too many school celebrations. The girls went to camp there for the week. Of course she loved it!

and Christopher did too.....

Check out her new jewels from Grandma Shirley

Birthday Party Overload

2008-07-24T22:19:00.011-04:00

When Rylie told me she wanted a yellow elephant birthday party I was dumbfounded. How in the world would I pull this one off. Well I gave it my best effort....

It started with the elephant tracks and the peanut mess they made (the birds and squirrels LOVED this the next day)

EVERYONE wore yellow! A great big thanks to all of you....

We wore elephant ears instead of Birthday hats.....

We played Pin the Trunk on the Elephant. Katelyn my middle school aged cousin helped me with the art, isn't she talented!

Max Jr. wanted in....

We threw peanuts into the elephant's mouth

We made yellow elephant necklaces.......

and of course a yellow elephant cake.............Thanks Publix!

Goodie Bags and peanut confetti...........

The boys weren't too happy about posing on the couch.....

Even babies wore yellow.............

We had so much fun at the party...can't wait to hear what the next party request will be.

Happy Birthday Rylie!

2008-07-21T00:03:00.007-04:00

Rylie turns 4 today...I can't believe it. She definitely has contributed to some gray hairs with her health scares but she is such a sweet girl and loving girl who loves hugs. We love you!

And just because I like to look back......

3 years old

2 years old

1year old

More birthday party pictures coming soon.................

Family Day

2008-07-20T23:51:00.003-04:00

We spent a family day together this week....the big event was Chuck E. Cheese. The kids had fun and that's all that matters....

Daddy played too....

Splash Zone

2008-07-14T22:48:00.004-04:00

We went with one of Rylie's school/church friends to the splash zone. I wasn't sure how I would do with 3 kids by myself there but it wasn't so bad. Rylie even decided to go down the waterslide about 40 times...I am so proud of her!

Here are a few pictures from VBS. I had 4/5 year olds this year. It was a lot of fun. We had somewhere between 120-130 preschoolers all week long!
Gracie and her friend Isabel

This is my group dancing (my favorite part of the day)
Rylie giving her offering to help build a school in Africa

We all took naps everyday after VBS....thank goodness :)

Little Artist

2008-07-07T23:02:00.002-04:00

This kid loves to color. He starts off sitting down, then stands up and then gets on the table so unfortunately for me I can't get anything done while he is "busy" and he doesn't think its as fun in his highchair.

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-05T22:56:00.006-04:00

We had a great day yesterday once the rain went away. The kids swam and swam and watched some fireworks. Poor Dora got very scared and Rylie went to bed because she didn't like them either.

This kid has no fear...I will just say that the swimming lessons were worth every penny since he went in twice yesterday

Don't these look yummy!

Watching the pre fireworks show

Thank gosh no injuries....

Only a few days until Chris' brother Shawn and Melissa get married....woo hoo!

Rylie started watching them here....

then decided to go here...

We have a busy week ahead with Vacation Bible School but I know it will be lots of fun.

Max and Myah visit

2008-07-03T23:47:00.004-04:00

Ashley, Max and Myah came over for a visit. It has been a long time since the boys have seen each other. Max wasn't too crazy about the pool but we had fun.

We miss you.....

2008-06-29T01:21:00.002-04:00

Can't believe its been a year, the girls still talk about Grandpa Pat.

Just some pictures.........

2008-06-26T22:28:00.003-04:00

Busted....

She is swimming like a fish

She doesn't leave the steps

Cool Shades

Friends....

Gracie's big day

2008-06-24T23:58:00.006-04:00

Well Gracie decided she wanted to get her ears pierced. I wasn't really sure if she would go through with it because I can clearly remember as a little girl chickening out a few times but she definitely proved me wrong. I let her pick out her earrings and she chose some sparkly flowers. They sure have upgraded starter earrings since my time. She was very brave and barely flinched. Since we have gotten home she has been looking in the mirror constantly. She is so excited.
Picking them out..............

I want these........

Getting ready, she looked a little nervous at this point but I really believe I was more nervous than she was.

So happy.......

I wanted to make it a special time for Gracie so my friend Julie watched the other kids. She has three of her own so she was having fun with 5 kids. Somehow she managed to take a few pictures of mine. She is so talented....check them out on her blog:
Julie's Blog
Thanks again Julie!

Downey Park

2008-06-22T23:11:00.002-04:00

We went to Downey Park splash pad a few weeks ago with our friends. Rylie kept telling me she was having fun. Gracie kept going under the bucket that dumps water on your head. I am not sure why anyone would like that. Christopher is still not sure about splash pads but he still had fun running around the outside. It is weird to me I am taking my kids places I remember going as a kid although that was before splash pads, we could only swim in the lake (Yuck!)

Dance, dance, dance

2008-06-16T14:24:00.006-04:00

What started out as this....

Has now become this...............

The girls had their recital this weekend. They both did great and of course they loved that they got to wear makeup!

Happy Fathers Day!

2008-06-15T17:14:00.004-04:00

Happy Fathers Day to all those Dads and Grandpas out there. Here's what we did for Chris :)

Swim Lessons

2008-06-04T13:02:00.005-04:00

Christopher has been going to survival swim lessons for almost 2 weeks. He is doing great! Today he had to go in his clothes. I can't imagine how good he will be in another 4 weeks. Push the little arrow to see.

Graduation

2008-06-02T22:05:00.005-04:00

Well Gracie is officially done with preschool. Not sure where the time went but before you know it I know I will be blogging about her first day of Kindergarten.

Man these 3 year olds were really singing!

It's hard to believe this time next year we will be having Rylie's graduation.

Who needs toys....

2008-05-25T20:02:00.000-04:00

When you have a regular old hose?

St. Jude Trike-a-Thon

2008-05-23T21:32:00.002-04:00

We had a trike-a-thon fundraiser for St. Jude Hospital at school. All the kids brought their bikes to school and had a parade and then the next day they rode them around and around and around and around. I was shocked at how good some of the kids are.
I think Gracie was there more for the social aspect. She decided to bring her scooter instead of a bike but she only went around a few times. I am glad we got flat donations instead of per lap LOL

Christopher wasn't on a bike but he sure kept me moving....

The school raised enough money to supply a child with three days worth of Oxygen. Isn't that awesome!

The Angel's Mothers Day Lunch

2008-05-22T19:22:00.004-04:00

I finally was able to download some pictures from Gracie's lunch.

Splashing Fun

2008-05-19T21:52:00.003-04:00

I am having some difficulties getting the pictures off my other camera that's why I have been gone so long. So things will probably be a little out of order but I am sure you don't mind :)
I took Christopher to the Splash Pad last week...I thought he would love it but he really wasn't so sure. He warmed up to it at the end but insisted on having his shoes on.

Mother's Day Fun at school

2008-05-09T22:52:00.005-04:00

Tuesday was Rylie's Mother's Day breakfast at school. It was so cute....

Yum

2008-05-01T22:53:00.002-04:00

We decided to drive out to the Cracker Barrel last night. According to Gracie its her favorite place because they have those triangle peg things and its Rylie's because she can have her meal of choice "pancakes with ice (whipped) cream"
They have very poor rocking chair taste.....

That's my boy..........

My favorite things....family and Cracker Barrel

Aren't they sweet?

Sweet Kids

2008-04-28T20:44:00.004-04:00

Rylie was supposed to be in "time out" and she was awful quiet. We checked on her to find this..

Christopher loves his new Fire truck

A day at the park....injury free this time

Lookin Pretty

I love going to the park because I get full strength juice sometimes....

I wanna be a star

2008-04-26T23:28:00.005-04:00

Disclaimer: Don't pay attention to Christopher in the background drinking fish tank supplies.

Oh and sorry again its sideways I will remember this some day.

More random days

2008-04-21T21:43:00.009-04:00

So I know I have been slacking...but here's some of what we've been up to.

Caught these two on the couch being sweet...

Went to Aunt Mag's and had a fun day in the sprinkler and the pool. I skipped the pool...way too cold for me. I am a wimp.

My 2nd cousins David and Katelyn, Muffin, Aunt Mag, Gracie and Christopher. Rylie finally put her feet in on the steps but she was having no part of going all the way in.

Christopher fell asleep at one point...

We also broke out the sprinkler at home this weekend....

\

He can sure make a mess.....

Not sure how anyone can sleep like this....

I turned around and saw this......

We have been outside SOOOOOO much.

This girl LOVES figurines.....

Gracie had an accident on Friday, she bumped her mouth with her knee and knocked her front tooth. For future reference dentists don't work on Fridays. She was swollen for a few days but seems okay now. Luckily its a baby tooth and will be falling out soon anyway.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures :)

Beach Time

2008-04-07T20:45:00.005-04:00

Uncle Shawn and Melissa were camping at the beach so we decided to go see them during the kids spring break. The day started off a bit overcast but soon was HOT! Rylie didn't want to touch sand when we first got there but after realizing we weren't leaving she finally dug in. Christopher of course was eating sand by the mouthful

Where's my legs........

The gang

Gotta get more water

They love their Uncle Shawn

They have a little playground there so we played a bit

Aunt Melissa and Rylie

I lost my shoe

Spring Break went by pretty fast but I am sure summer vacation will be here before you know it.

Easter

2008-03-31T00:15:00.004-04:00

We had a great Easter. I taught Sunday School and then went to church and then we headed to Aunt Mag's.
Looking for Eggs...

Yummy Candy!

Aunt Mag is so crazy :)

Cousin Katelyn....with the "cousins" Dora and Muffin

Hope you all had a nice Easter too