Making Sausages

(I'm working hard to catch up.  We got an Ipad which is AWESOME, but you can't "blog" from it so we had to fix our computer.  We are up and working again...and I have A LOT to catch up on!)

Rob has always talked about how much he used to love making Italian sausage with his grandparents when he was growing up.  It's one of his favorite memories...

So he was very excited when we decided to head up to the cabin to make sausage with his grandparents.  He learned the "art" of making Italian Sausage from his grandparents using his great-grandpa's grinder...talk about pretty cool!

We have a deep freezer full of Italian Sausage...come on over!!!!

Nana blowing the stundeens (which are casings but we have no idea how to spell it...but that's what they called it).  It's rather disgusting, but everyone took their turn, even the girls.  It's "tradition"..and I love myself a good tradition!

Lots of Grinding

Rob with his dad and grandpa making the sausage. 

Enjoying outside time with Great-Nani

This girl makes me smile!!!!

Great-Papa teaching the girls some Italian! I think they learned "head".

It was a great weekend in Indiana!!!!!  And we've been enjoying the fruits of our labor!  :)

More "catch up" coming soon!!!!

Happy Birthday, Kate!!!!

Happy birthday to the best sister and aunt!!!!!

I wish I could post a video do Caitlin singing happy birthday, it so cute!!!!!

Sorry there are no pictures.... Apparently this blog site is not "Apple-friendly" but I'm working on it!!!

We hope you have the best day and can't wait to celebrate!!!!

Go Dad!!!!

I'm so proud of my dad!!!! As I type, he is headed to the starting line of the prestigious Boston Marathon!!! It is something most runners only dream of... And he's there right now!!! It's going to be a HOT one today with temps in the mid 80's...so we will be hoping that everyone is safe, hydrated, and cool today! Unless you have been to Boston during marathon weekend or run Boston, it's hard to explain what an amazing experience it is!!! From heartbreak hill to the Wesley girls to Fenway, it's amazing!!! Good luck dad, we are cheering for you and trying to send you some of this chilly Midwest weather!!!!!

Easter Weekend

Easter Weekend came and went...in a whirlwind!  But a great, fun whirlwind!!!!!

On Friday, we decorated eggs!

Saturday Morning we had our traditional "friends" brunch at a local golf course (which Rob somehow managed to stay and golf after...funny how that worked).

Family Picture!

Rosie was such a  ham and was going get those girls to dance whether they wanted to or not..she was adorable and had us all laughing! 

Daddy and his girls during the "Father/Daughter" dance.

Auntie Nay Nay and one of her 4 favorite men, Jake!

What Moves!!!!

The whole group!  We sure have come a long way since the days of high school...or even our first brunch here with 5 kids total!

Saturday evening, my dad and Rob made a Muskovich tradition...horseradish! 

It was hilarious to watch.  They would make a batch...literally start crying from how strong the smell was...and do it again!!!!!  My mom's definition of "insanity".  But a really great night!!!!

Sunday morning started off at home with a visit from the Easter Bunny and an egg hunt.

It was so cute because Abigail would always give Caitlin one to make sure they were even!

Counting their loot before heading to the bank...literally!!!!

Funny Story:  After our Easter morning at home, we did quick baths and breakfast (and I'm not saying this happened...but we MAY have fed the girls scrambled eggs in the bath to kill 2 birds with 1 stone...but I'm not saying we did that), the girls and I headed to church while Daddy made the food and packed us up for the day.  While at church (which again, I'm not saying this happened, but we may have gotten to church at 9:00 to learn it started at 8:30), we went up for communion.  The priest went to make the sign of the cross on Abigail's head, and as his hand came towards her head, she HIGH FIVED him!!!!!  OMG!!!!  I was dying.  Everyone started laughing so hard (except the priest) and we decided to make a quick getaway before we get kicked out of the school there before kindergarten even starts!  It was classic!!!!

After church, we headed to my parents for Easter Part 1.  It was great!  Brunch (which includes lots of polish food, I LOVE it) and drinks!!!!  It was so fun watching the girls together because they are becoming best friends!!!!  They also got LOTS of gifts and went on an egg hunt!

The 3 girls

The girls were hilarious because they were all in "character" on Easter:

Lucy:  The little ham.  Cracking everyone up.  She kept putting her animals on her head and laughing...adorable!  Oh, my favorite part was the egg hunt.  Lucy was the smartest one of all.  She let the other girls find the eggs, and when they turned around to get a new egg, she just took their eggs out of their basket.  Too Smart!!!!!

Caitlin:  Drama Queen.  She decided she wasn't going to smile or have any fun.  She wanted to just cuddle and get hugs!!!  (She snapped out of it by "present" time).

Abigail:  The Diva.  Posing for every camera that she could find!  Also, taking such good care of Caitlin and Lucy, making sure they had eggs, food, etc.

The Chaos that was Easter.  Wouldn't want it any other way!

After Easter Part 1, it was time to head to Easter Part 2 at Rob's grandparents house.  As always, the food was AMAZING!  And the laughter even more AMAZING!  I didn't get any pictures because the afternoon started with the chaos of an "accident"...but luckily we were outside so it kept the cleaning to a minimum.  Unfortunately, I left my camera outside in the mist of the choas and forget to get it until we were leaving.   But it was so fun to be with the whole family!!!!   The girls had so much fun sitting on everyone's lap..and eating everyone's treats!  They also spent a long time picking flowers outside for EVERYONE!  They love being with the family!!!!  And this mommy loved the Sangria!  ;)

Now, we have to work on this "girls' trip" away!!!!!  ;)

So, that was our Easter. It was great!

Happy Easter!!!!

Spring Break Get-Away

I really wanted to do something special with the girls for Spring Break, but obviously after Disney, we knew we weren't going anywhere warm and tropical.

However, we had the best "getaway" for Spring Break thanks to Aunt Julie and Lucy!!!!  We went down for 2 day of Spring Break Fun in the City!  It was the perfect getaway and we had the best time!!!!  Plus, we took advantage of all of Julie and Joe's memberships!  ;)

On Tuesday, we went to Navy Pier.  After a great lunch, we decided to head to the Children's Museum.  The girls played while Lucy slept, but after she woke up, the girls were so excited to play with her.

Caitlin "scooting" around Navy Pier.  Instead of bringing a double stroller, I brough a single stroller and a scooter.  The girls thought it was fun to scoot around even if it wasn't "time efficient".

The Children's Museum was a fun "surprise" because it wasn't on our original agenda...but thanks to Jules and Joe's membership, the girls were able to take advantage of it!

Shoppingn around

3 Monkeys in a car

This is only 12 short years away!

The comedian

Thanks to Daddy, I LOVE to pretend to drive a car! ;)

"At the carwash...yeah!"

Mommy's girl

Both the girls went up here numerous times!

After the museum, we headed back to Jules and Joe's house.  It was a great night because in addition to us, Rob, Joe, Katie, and Vern all came over for dinner!!  And we had Smoke Daddy's, which is our absolute favorite in Chicago so we were so happy!  The whole fam and Smoke Daddy's is an awesome combo!

The girls and I slept over...and the next morning we were headed to the Shedd Aquarium.  Jules had to do some last minute cleaning for a showing for their condo, so I took the 3 girls for a walk.  Along the way, we found this amazing little bakery "Bleeding Heart Bakery" which is one of my new fave finds in the city!  The girl's saw this donut called "Mommy's Little Helper" which made their eyes light up, so of course I let them get it...it's spring break!  I could only imagine Jule's face when she sees what I fed Lucy for breakfast!  :)

That's one big donut!!!

We got to the Shedd right when it opened and even found street parking, so we knew it was going to be a good day.  For the first hour, it felt like we had the Shedd to ourselves.  It was so much fun!  Thanks AGAIN to Jules and Joe for letting us take advantage of your membership! 

The seal was just "chillin"

The "jellies" were the big highlight of the day.  We went through MANY times to see them..and left with 2 Jellyfish stuffed animals and a book about Jellyfish.  Such a great time!

This lady was cleaning the penguins glass and it was so cute because all the penguins were cuddling on her...or pecking her to get her out of their space...hard to tell...but I was surprised how much they loved human interaction. 

Hands on water exhibit is always a favorite.

Sweet Lucy!!!!

Thanks again so much to Jules and Lucy for a great 2-day getaway for Spring Break.  It was awesome and we had the best time!!!!!

And the topping on the cake was when we got home, I had these waiting at the door:

with the sweetest note from Rob thanking me for all I do with the girls everyday!  Flowers for no reason...I really am the luckiest mom/wife/girl in the world...and I made sure to tell the girls to make sure they marry someone who does things like that for them!  ;)  Thanks so much Babe for the surprise...it sure made my day!  It's the best "bonus" a mom could get!  ;)

In other news, today starts day 1 of potty training.  I changed 3 pairs of underwear while trying to type this post, so we'll see......

And in Apraxia news, we have a new "addition" to our family coming today or tomorrow that has been shown to really, really help kids with Apraxia...I can't wait to share it with you as soon as it's delivered!!!!!

I'm off...to change some undies! :)  Happy Spring Break!

White Flag

After 3 rounds of the flu (both girls and mommy) and one round of bronchitis (mommy)...we are waving the white flag!!!!  While we've been loving this warm weather, we are paying for it with the ridiciulous strand of flu going around here.  What a week of naps, medicine, movies, milkshakes, and cuddles....it's been a LONG week!  So here's to hoping everyone will wake up healthy this Saturday and we will start to get our family back!

She's Earning Her M & M's Around Here!

Not sure if this is "blog worthy" or not...but here it goes anyways!

We decided against doing the 3 Day Potty Training Method with Caitlin like we did for Abigail.  Her therapists think she needs to potty train in a more gradual way.  While her Apraxia doesn't get in the way because she's able to tell us "tee tee totty" (we are working on the p sound), her personality is much more "I'll do it when I'm ready" and they said if we try to push her, she'll fight us!

Next week is Spring Break so we are home all week with no school, work, etc...so our plan is to really focus on potty training next week.  However, we are having Caitlin wear undies when she's at home even though we aren't being crazy about potty training.

This morning she did a GREAT job going in the potty (we are 1 hour into the same pair of undies...and 1 (or should I say 2) major success...and she was a dancing queen with her Pee Pee Dance!!!

1st #2 in the potty.  "Pee Pee on the Potty"

And she LOVES her M & M's...

and wouldn't take a picture without me seeing the M & M's in her mouth!!!!  What a character!!!!

So things on the potty front are on the up and up!!!!!!  We are looking forward to a possible summer with no diapers!!!

I was looking back to see what Abigail looked like when she potty trained.... 

She looked so old to be back then...even though she was 3 months younger than Caitlin is now! 

So here's to a summer of LOTS of trips to the bathroom!!!!!!