Happy Birthday Mackenzie, Courtney & Matthew!

Mackenzie, Courtney and Matthew turned 8 on Monday!

They had a party with their friends at Prime Time Sports on Friday. I made 72 cupcakes in all for three class parties. Mackenzie wanted green aliens, Courtney got monkeys, and Matthew had baseball cupcakes.

Happy Fathers Day, John!

Dad's day started with breakfast in bed (with chocolate frosted donuts, of course), some fun gifts (crocs, a hawiian shirt, a yankees shirt), and a family barbecue in the afternoon, and catching some of the US Open on TV. What more could a Dad want?

Lunch

Mackenzie was nice enough to make me lunch today. Tuna on rye, with raisins and green pepper slices on the side, plus a little box of nerds. There was a nice little flower in a pot, too, and I even got a little show to go with my meal. The best part was my drink. Looked like ginger ale, but I know we didn't have any. When Mackenzie showed me the soda can she found in the fridge, it was a Coors Light. I passed on the 'soda,' but loved the rest of my lunch.

Disney!

After Jamie & Shawn's fabulous wedding Betty and Carol joined us at our favorite place... Disney!

We ALL rode space mountain, drove cars at the Indy Speedway, had to go on Small World (which was way too cute for Matt), and loved the Hall of Presidents (where the kids think some of them were robots and some were real (not)). In a lapse of parental judgement I made Courtney go on Splash Mountain. She complained the entire wait about parents forcing children to go on scary rides, screamed bloody murder the entire time, and then said she'd go on again. She went on Space Mountain, for heavens sake!
We did Spaceship Earth, Mission Space, and Test Track at Epcot before walking around the countries. Ate schnitzel, sausages, and potato salad in Germany, and danced to the oompah music. Matthew got picked to lead the band!

Before heading home on Wednesday we ate breakfast at Chef Mickey's. All the characters signed Mackenzie's Pluto baseball shirt and she showed it off at school the next day.

Here comes the bride...

Jamie and Shawn were married on Saturday, May 19th. They looked stunning together. Christina was a jr. bridesmaid, Courtney and Mackenzie were flower girls with Lindsey, and Matthew was a hit as the ringbearer with Frank. Frank is a pug.

Mothers Day

My day started with our tradition of breakfast in bed. (Chocolate donut, blueberry pancakes, bananas and coffee!) I ran a 5k race in the mornings, and went to the beach in the afternoon. Overall a great day!

Matthew's Famous

Matthew's class is featured in the 1-800-Flowers Mothers Day catalog, and they're on the website, too!

There's a really cute video you should see at:
http://ww11.1800flowers.com/template.do?id=template8&page=4052

Earth Day

Saturday was Earth Day. The girls and I picked up trash around the preserve by Brady Park. Later Christina had a soccer game, followed by a softball game. (She had to change in the car!) Mackenzie had a soccer game, and then she and Courtney had a softball game that Daddy coached.

The weather was so warm and beautiful this weekend, that we had our first backyard fire this year on Sunday night and roasted marshmellows!

Hot Dates

Tonight is the Little Ladies Dance. The girls got all dolled up, and went out to dinner and then to the dance with the cutest guy in Massapequa.
Meanwhile, Matthew and Mommy had a date, too. We went to dinner, bought baseball cards, and played games at Dave & Busters.

Reflections Winners!

Christina won 1st place for literature, Matthew won 1st place for choreography, Mackenzie won twice, 2nd place for literature and 1st place for music. Courtney, despite writing an awesome story, didn't win a trophy, but got a medal for participating. (Click this link to read Courtney's story, and decide for yourself if she should've won.)

Easter Fun

Aunt Betty came for a week and took the kids to Vanderbilt Planetarium, The Cradle of Aviation, and The Firefighters Museum. Then their cousins from Maryland came for Easter. We enjoyed seeing Uncle Peter and Aunt Laura, but Matthew was in heaven with two more boys to hang out with.
Kyle, Matthew and Maxx digging in to dessert. (The best way to have it is everything in one bowl, topped with whipped cream!)

The Mattejat side of the family group photo: Mackenzie, Maxx, Courtney, Matthew, Christina and a reluctant Kyle. (What is it with parents and taking pictures all the time?)

Lunar Eclipse

Did anyone else see the lunar eclipse on March 3rd? Aunt Donna and Uncle Allen joined the kids outside to watch, and they brought light sticks, too!

Who Needs a Babysitter?

Can I get one for each of the kids?
(the crate, not the dog!)

Locks of Love

Courtney and Mackenzie donated their hair to Locks-0f-Love, where they make wigs for kids who have lost thier hair. Here they are, before and after....

Science Fair

Science Fair time again! Christina experimented with different ways to clean up oil spills, Mackenzie worked with moldy bread, Matthew figured out if heavier baseball players hit more home runs, and Courtney sent eggs flying with different packing materials.

Who's The Cutest?

It's tie. They're all cute.

It's a Boy!

We got a puppy! He's a cute little guy. His name is Toby. We got him at the shelter. Just because.

Eggsperiment

Courtney threw eggs off the back porch last night for her science fair project. She was testing packing materials, from cotton balls to crushed crackers. Matt and I smeared each other with the leftover shaving cream. These days I figure, what the heck, make a mess and have some fun.

You think you had a bad day...

Kind of says it all when Christina's grace before dinner was "Thank you God for me not having to go to the emergency room." Charlie Brown bit her finger this morning, Mackenzie wacked her in the eye this afternoon, and ten minutes later she was crying again, but this time for real and gushing blood. She hit her mouth on the fence and bit her lip. Two doctors at the pediatricians office looked at her, (checked her eye to boot) and told us lip cuts don't get stitches unless it goes all the way through. After half an hour with ice on her mouth, and a cold compress on her eye, she was back running around.

Happy New Year!

Celebrated with our friends. Here are all our kids, don't know where the grownups are. (hic)

So Many Toys, So Little Time

Santa brought all kinds of fun stuff! Courtney was psyched to get the Illustory Kit, so she can write and illustrate her own hardcover book. Mackenzie had a cow-y christmas. Matt got the biggest, coolest RC truck. Christina got a super pogo stick, earrings, and lots of soccer stuff. Everyone got lots of books.

Hermione Lives!

On his way out to the bus this morning Matthew starts stammering, "It's her! I found her!" I had no idea what he was talking about, until I saw him pointing at the floor by the stairs. There was Hermione, the hermit crab. I put her in her cage, and she came out and went right to the shell with water.
Christina put little bowls of her food all over the house, but she didn't have access to water.

In other news, everyone's spewing but me. Matthew threw up all night Tuesday. The girls all got sick last night. John's not feeling so hot, either. That's four days total with kids home from school. Kinda putting a crimp in my shopping plans!

APB: Missing Hermit Crab

Pet emergency: Hermione the hermit crab disappeared. (Christina may, or may not, have forgotten to put her back after she took her out this morning.) Her cage is on the kitchen counter, so I wouldn't think she could survive the fall onto the tile floor. Now we can't find her anywhere. It's kind of spooky. Courtney says Hermione went on a secret mission. Mackenzie suggested Charlie Brown ate her. I can't imagine where this thing could be, but I find myself looking into corners everywhere I go. And stepping carefully.

Gingerbread!

We are obsessed with gingerbread this year. On the way home from piano lessons yesterday the kids wanted me to stop at Starbucks to get the gingerbread latte. Everyone had a sip. (So what's a little caffeine before bed?)

Yesterday was also St. Nicolaus Tag. If you leave your slippers out that night, the elves leave candy in them! (So what's a little candy before breakfast?)

Someone's already been nibbling at the gingerbread house! Must be a very tall elf.

Turkey Day Weekend

Got soaked watching the parade in the city, had a great dinner at Betty’s in Jersey City, caught up on school projects and playdates on Friday, Christina’s team won 2nd place in a soccer tournament Saturday (yay), I ran a race this morning, met the kids at John’s hockey game, John put up Christmas decorations while I helped Christina build an Iroquois long house. And this was a quiet weekend. ;)

Fame & Fortune

Christina and I ran a 4k cross country race on Veterans Day. The triplets ran a 1k Fun Run. Courtney says the Fun Run wasn't very fun. Meanwhile she took pictures and Mackenzie was in charge of the video camera. Matt cheered. Christina did great, and finished strong. I took 1st place in womens Masters (40 and older) and got a check for $100! Daddy returned from his trip to Las Vegas with a pile of cash. Now the kids think we're rich. Matthew thinks we should give some to charity. So they're each getting some money and they have to research who they want to give it to.

BOO!

We carved pumpkins, roasted the seeds, got all dressed up for Halloween, had parties at school, trick-or-treated with friends, and ate lots and lots of candy!

Matt Broke His Tooth

Matthew broke his front teeth at school. The big new top ones. He threw his head back and came foward, hitting his teeth on his desk. I brought him right to the dentist, and she put something on there to protect it. He chipped the very bottom off one, and a tiny corner off the other. But it hurts. He squirmed and cringed when she worked on his teeth, and I could feel the pain just looking at him. But he was a trooper and went right back to school. He insisted on having the school lunch, his favorite, pizza bagel. Just in case, I dropped off another lunch, so he ate both.

Happy Birthday Christina!

Christina is 9 years old!


She wanted muffins (from the bakery) for breakfast, and opened her presents before school. I brought in cupcakes for her class. After school Christina helped out Courtney and Mackenzie's Brownie Troop on a trip to Petco, while Matt and I picked up her birthday cake. Then she had her party at Celebrations, where she and her friends stuffed animals and picked outfits for them. Christina had a ball leading the dances, winning at musical chairs and playing name that tune. She got a gift certificate for the hippest place for girls to shop, the Limited Too, and got herself a cool outfit.

Still Lovin' Leaves

Can you believe they still love to jump in a pile of leaves?

Sunsets and Worms

After raking up a pile of leaves and jumping in, we walked, skipped and ran down to the beach club to see the sunset. The clouds were so beautiful, all puffy and pink.

Mackenzie decided to bring her pet worm to school, the one she found while raking leaves. It was safe and snug in a ziplock bag full of dirt, with it's friends Melman the slug and a snail. For decoration they had a flower and an acorn. Mackenzie wrote a note to Miss Griffin warning her, in case she didn't like slugs and worms, and that she needed to bring them to Courtney's class when she was done. Courtney wrote a note to her teacher, too.

I sure hope Miss Signorile and Miss Griffin have a sense of humor.

Funday Sunday

The rain put the kibosh on our camping plans this weekend. We even bought a new tent. All the games were still on, tho. I ran in a race this morning, so John took the kids to sunday school. From there he took the kids to Matthew's football game. I stayed after the race, because I had to get my award (trophy for 1st place Masters and another check for $100-yeeha!). Home for a quick shower before I go to watch Matt play for awhile. Courtney and Mackenzie then go with me to Christina's soccer scrimmage (because there's a playground there). The boys met us there later, and I took Courtney and Mackenzie home for lunch. It was after one o'clock by then, so we were starving.
The afternoon consisted of their pretend playing with complicated scenarios that I can't keep up with, and a big wiffle ball game while I baked muffins. Mackenzie and I went to a local market and got lots of fresh fruit and corn on the cob for dinner. Sounds like 'Leave It To Beaver', huh. Except our house looks like the 'Adam's Family'!

Back to School! (yay) (waa)

The kids are back to school, and we're all happy and sad. They all love their teachers. Matt says Mrs. Morgan is soooooo nice. She hasn't called me yet, so that's a good sign. After 3 days Courtney was already bored and mad. (We told her 2nd grade would be harder, and it's not.) Mackenzie's annoyed at the library teacher because she won't let her pick out harder books. Christina is happy her friend Amanda is in her class.

Sunday I ran in the Ocean to Sound Relay, a 50 mile race that crosses the island. I ran through Massapequa, so John and the kids met me a couple of times. The kids thought it was funny when Mrs. Stankard, their computer teacher, nailed me with silly string as she drove by. She was on another team.

While I spent the day with my running buddies, John took the kids to the P.A.L. sports skills fair. Mackenzie won a trophy, but was mad because Courtney got two. One was for running bases, and I don't know how she won that! They all got trophies for playing baseball and softball this summer. Christina had a soccer game, and they lost, but she got the only goal for her team.

No Amatuer

I ran a mile race on Saturday in under 6 minutes (first time ever in my life!) If that wasn't cool enough, I won 1st place in Masters (40 & over), which got me a nice trophy and MONEY!!! I didn't believe it until I had a check in my hand for (get this) a Hundred Dollars! Yeeha!


That was the beginning of a fun weekend. Went to a block party around the corner. John came reluctantly, but I ended up walking the girls and their friend home later because he was caught up in a poker game. Visited north shore buddies on Labor day. John and I celebrated our anniversary on Tuesday. Fourteen fabulous years! (I'm not even being sarcastic. For all my complaining, we have a great life together.)