Lacrosse

I love this sport, it is such a blast to watch and I think Coleman is really into it.  Hopefully we have finally found "his" sport.  He has always liked a lot of different sports, but nothing has ever really stuck.  He started this season and has had fun learning the game.  

Here he is with the ball in his net.  

This game is very physical as you can see from the picture.  They can use there sticks to try and knock the ball out of the net of the other player.  There are a lot of little rules that I don't totally get yet, but hopefully I will have many more seasons to figure out.  

Action shot, heading down the field. 

Everyday

Claire doesn't take naps anymore, but I guess she still needs them.  This has been happening everyday lately. When my Mom was here she said she would find her asleep everyday around 5pm, of course then she wakes up super cranky. My goal has always been to try to get her to bed by 6:30 so I am not liking this whole power nap at the end of the day. 

I will have to say she sure is cute when she is asleep.

In the basement in her chair.

I have a picture of me asleep just like that when i was a little girl.

On the floor in Brian's office

Couch in the living room

Chair in Brian's office.  You have to be really tired to fall asleep like that.

I think she has lost her mind!

Anyone who knows my Mom knows that this is a big deal.  She actually let my girls do her hair and makeup.  They love their Mama so much and she is crazy in love with them.  It amazes me how good she is to my kids, no matter how tired I know she must be sometimes she never complains. She is always asking me what she can do to help me, and plays with my kids from sun up to sun down.  She is the best Mama and I feel like my kids are the luckiest kids in the world, she would do ANYTHING for them.  I am grateful for the memories she creates with them and I know they will always treasure them, as I do.

 When we were done doing her "make over" Evelyn said "Lets go over and scare the neighbors" lol!!!! :) :) :)

What a good sport.

They had so much fun, Thanks Mama. We Love You!!!

Happy Father's Day

I love all the Men in my life and I am so happy I was able to spend this Fathers Day with my sweet Daddy.  He has been here for 2 weeks and I wish he never had to leave.  Brian tried really hard to get me to not take any pictures today and I wasn't having any of it.  I took no pictures last year because he said that is all he wanted for Fathers Day, well not this year buddy.  

Coleman and his Dad

I love this picture and I just had to post it, she is getting so pretty!

I love my Daddy so much, he is the BEST!!!  And I know I will ALWAYS be his FAVORITE :)!!

The luckiest Dad in the world, look at those kids!!!!

Big Daddy is one popular guy at this house.

Today at church the kids did a cute little questionnaire for their Dads and they had some really cute answers. 

Some of my favorite answers from Coleman:

                                               What makes your Dad mad? ME (sometimes, sometimes!)     

                                    What is the funniest thing your Dad has ever done? He is not very funny.

                                          

                                          Some of my favorite answers from Leland:

                                     What makes your Dad mad?  When nobody gets buckled.  (Brian can not stand it when we get in the car to go somewhere and we are about pull out of the garage and everyone isn't buckled up. He gets so mad, he started threatening to beat whoever wasn't.)

                            What is the funniest thing your Dad has ever done? When he does a puppet. ?!

                  What does your Dad love most about you? I make him laugh (and that is so true!!!)

             I am so grateful for a husband that I love and for how hard he works for our family, he is an amazing man and he is such a great example of working hard and loving his family.  I love watching him with our kids and all the fun stuff he does with him: daddy attack, stories at night, movies and daddy dates, playing baseball in the yard, cooking with the kids, and countless other things.  I love this Man!!!

                                          

  

I LOVE NYC!!!!

I love many things in this life: sweets, family, the beach, musicals, shopping, sex (lucky brian)  just to name a few!  New York City has to be at the top of the list!!!  I mean there is great shopping-GREAT!!, lots and lots of amazing food (and I love good food), and believe it or not I love the smell and the noise and the rude people and all the different languages you can here just walking down the street, the plays-oh heaven help me the PLAYS!!!!! When we lived in NJ the ONLY thing that keep me from killing myself was the fact that we could go into the city every weekend, and as we drove through the tunnel back into Hell I would always say " I love New York" and Brian would say "I know you do." 

So in December when Brian told me his next Managers meeting was in NYC I told him that I was going and he said he figured as much. So we extended his trip by a few days and made a little anniversary trip out of it. So from June 15th -19th were made our plans to head to the BIG Apple.  I was so giddy getting on the plane- until I fell asleep. 

We stayed at the W times square and it was really nice,  Luckily we were on the 44th floor which helps with the noise.  We were so tired at night we had NO trouble falling asleep.

On Tuesday we got up and decided to walk the American Museum of Natural History, which is at 79th street and Central Park WEST.  So after walking from 47th to 79th we realize we are on the EAST side of central park and I was NOT amused, I was wearing really cute shoes and my feet were not happy with me.  I managed to survive and we had a great time looking at all the Indian and Tribal Exhibits, it was absolutely fascinating. 

This is all new to me, they now have lawn chairs set up all down Broadway from about 47th-34th (the roads are totally closed), it is pretty cool to see so many people sitting and chilling out in the middle of Times Square.  This is where I spent 1 1/2 standing in line to get a ticket to a show.  Brian and I had tickets to see The Lion King, but he had to work all day on Wed so I decided to go see a matinee.  I got a ticket to see the new show 9 to 5, I really wanted to see Billy Elliot, but it was completely sold out the whole week I was there(maybe next time). Anyway 9 to 5 was so good, I loved it.  Brian wouldn't have liked it so I am glad I was able to enjoy it without his sighs.

Here we are after dinner one night, he really didn't want to take this picture.  He is such a party pooper and it really gets on my nerves.  It was so nice that he really only had to work one full day and we were able to spend a lot of time together, this was the first trip alone without the kids since we had Ruby.  On Thursday we spent the day shopping and that night we went to see The Lion King, which I felt for sure he would like and guess what he did NOT!!!  It was such an amazing show, I loved it.  Brian and I really are perfect for each other, but it just makes no since to me that after seeing at least 5 musicals he can honestly say he doesn't like plays.  Well I have made a decision, he never has to go to another one again.  It is a total waste of money and I will just go alone from now on and I can sit in my happy place and not have to worry if he likes it or not. The only sad thing is it took me 12 years to figure this out. 

Brian not only hates to be in pictures he isn't all that good at taking them. That's OK he is still my soul mate and best friend and I am so grateful for our 5 days alone and for awesome parents who happily watch my kids.

The only negative thing that happened to me on my trip was the big guy who fell asleep next to me on the plane ride home and laid there the entire flight with his mouth wide open. And his breath was HORRIBLE, so bad that I had to lean on Brian the whole time and try my best not to look his direction.  Whenever I did get a whiff it was not pretty.  I had 3 hours of this and he finally woke up, by that point my neck was cramped from leaning sideways for so long.  I have never been so happy to get off a plane. 

Very Cool!

During our trip to NY the company Brian works for was given the honor of ringing the bell at NASDAQ. The President and CEO invited all her top executives to come and be a part of this event.  This month marks the 10th year the company has been on NASDAQ.  I was able to go as well and watch from a separate room, it was pretty cool.   

Here is the sign facing Times Square with the companies name and logo.

This is Martine Rothblatt, the President and CEO of United Therapeutics.   

This is the all top executives, Brian is about the 3rd from the left.

This is Brian and the other executives he mainly works with from Sales and Marketing.  Brian is the one on the far right that you can barely see.  Brian's Mom even saw him on CNBC, it was a pretty cool thing to get to do and we are so grateful for all the experiences he has had so far with this company. 

Claire's Party

We had Claire's birthday party on Sunday june 14th.  We were so happy Mama and Big Daddy were able to be there and also some close friends of our.  Claire was so excited and I think all she had to eat all day was cake and candy. 

Here she is with her GIANT cake I made, she loved it and was so excited when she saw it!!!!

One happy girl!

Claire got a Baby Alive from Mama and Big Daddy and she LOVES LOVES LOVES it!!!  The baby drinks a bottle and wets her diaper.  Claire changes her diaper and feeds her many times a day!!!  Everywhere she goes she takes her baby Belle (that is what she named her, Belle Carly Krallis).  She is such a good little Mommy and loves her baby.

She got a Barbie Jeep from her Mommy and Daddy ( her Daddy definitely spoils her rotten).

I really made this cake for Brian, birthday cake is his FAVORITE right up there with cupcakes.  He likes yellow cake and chocolate icing.  I always make 3 layers and it has never turned out this tall before.  I used a new recipe and it was amazing, it was just a lot thicker batter and made 3 big layers.  Brian was a very happy boy!!!!

Dance Recital!

On June 13th the girls had their dance recital, they both take a combo class and they really like it! 

Claire's dance was so cute!!  She mostly just stood there and about half way through she started doing her little dance. Clap Clap Clap, Shoulders Shoulders Shoulders, hug hug hug , YOU!  It was just so cute I couldn't take it!!!

Leland's dance was so grown up, she loved her costume and flowing across the stage.  When she started to dance I actually started crying, I couldn't help it, she was so beautiful.

Leland was required to wear mascara, which she had never worn before, and when I put it on her I was totally shocked at how long her lashes are.  I mean really look at those lashes they are so beautiful and soooo long!!!!!!

My little girl is 3

Claire Margaret Krallis

Today this little cutie turned 3 years old, I really don't know where the time has gone.  Before I turn around she is going to be a teenager (heaven help me).  Claire is definitely my most challenging child, but having said that she is also soooo much fun.  She is a little chatter box, she talks all the time.  Brian says he was just like that as a kid(I believe it).  She has a great imagination and loves to play house and pretend she is the baby while Evelyn is the big brother (Why not the big sister?), and Leland is the Mommy.  My favorite thing she says a lot is "Your the best Mommy in the whole wide world" to which i say "Your the best Claire in the whole wide world".  She loves this and it always gets a big laugh.  One of my not so favorites is " I not very happy right now, you made me very mad".  She is so full of life and now that she is 3 she says she is a big girl and doesn't need to cry when I leave the house(that will be nice).  Claire has brought to my life a lot of joy and frustration and I wouldn't change it for the world. Happy Birthday my little Claire-bear! 

We took everyone to McDonalds for breakfast and she loved it.  I think she ate all her pancakes, which was a lot.

After breakfast we went to Kangaroo Zoo and as you can see she had a BLAST!

She got to blow out a candle at dinner, she is going to have her party on Sunday when her Daddy gets home, so the big cake will be then along with her presents.  I think she had a great day and I just can't believe she is already 3, what a big girl!

BIG smiles!

I love this face!!!  I don't think that she could smile any bigger. 

I mean really look at this face, priceless!!!!!!

I love my Baby Ruby!!!!

Strike a Pose!

Leland and Claire love me to take their pictures! 

Tonight Leland said to me "Mommy if I put my foot up like this and my hand like this will you take my picture?" and I could not say no.  She even placed Claire's hand and foot and told her exactly what to do, and believe it or not she actually did it!  These girls are so close, they have their moments, but they can be so cute together.  

What a little cutie pie!!!!!

creativity?

This is how my son eats pretzels.

Coleman was so proud of himself for writing his name in pretzels.  He wanted to take a picture and told me I could blog it.  I asked him if I could get a picture of him with his masterpiece and he said " Not going to happen, sorry".  Well at least he is consistent. He also made each girls names in pretzel too! They were pretty impressed, they love him so much!!  He is growing up way to fast!!!

Say Cheese, PLEASE!!!!

It is so hard to get all the kids to smile in one picture, I mean really HARD.  Either Claire is pulling a face or Leland is looking at Ruby, or Coleman and Evelyn are doing bunny ears or making a weird face.  Tonight I said I wanted a few pictures and the kids were actually pretty cooperative.  Don't get to excited I still didn't get one of all 5 kids where everyone is smiling, but we still had a lot of fun.

I love getting pictures of Coleman close up because I love his freckles!!  

I love Ruby's look of pure joy!

The best shot of all 4 girls, I must have tried 25 times to get them all to LOOK and SMILE, but it just wasn't going to happen. Maybe next time!

Is she beautiful? or is it just me?  Look at those eyes!

After much practice Ruby is sitting up on her own and just in time for her 7 month birthday tomorrow.  The girls think it just amazing that she can do this.  I love seeing how they react to all the new stuff Ruby is learning.

Ruby LOVES to suck on her toes, I wish I was that flexible!

So So So CUTE!!!!!!!!!

Batter Up

Evelyn loves Baseball!  She is in her first year of coach pitch and is really doing great, I think we might have a future softball player on our hands.  This is her second time to bat and she smacks the ball right down the middle of the field.  I have really enjoyed watching her play ball and so has all her sisters and brother.  You can often hear Claire screaming " Go Sissy Evelyn, Go Go" it is so cute how proud she is every time Evelyn hits the ball.  She has had some really great hits this season and we couldn't be prouder.