Dora Mania

The Dora following is not just Kylie anymore-- its spread to the whole house. We are stuck with Dora for a long time I think.

Enjoy the video...

Who's Who..... see if you can figure out the difference!

See if you can determine which child is which..... :)
we'll give you one hint-- its only two of the kids, not all three!

Its been so long, I forgot the password.. opps!

For those of you loyal, haha, followers, I do apologize for the long delay. Truth be told, I could blame the kids and probably should, but its just not something that I really jump to do in my free time. I know, amazing huh? In fact, I am not sure I have much free time... Although as I sit here and write this, technically it is free time, but I am trying to occupy my time instead of eating dinner.. you see, the typical routine calls for us to get the kids in bed, then eat dinner without the constant interruptions we do get. However, tonight, we did get all the kids in bed, but the driveway needed to be cleaned off and the wood box in the garage is empty. So, Chris is outside working on that and I am trying to find something to shut my stomach up.

So--- what's new in our world...

Kylie is back to school this week. She only asked everyday over break if it was a school day because she wanted to see her friends.... Makes me start to wonder, should I have signed her up for 4 days next year instead of just three?? hummm...

Kylie also had her first bowling adventure. She loved it but was not too keen on the buzzing or the ladder. Now, in English-- the buzzer went off everytime her foot went over the line (and of course, the kids always go over the line) and the ladder was a ramp they had for little kids to put the ball on top of and then a little push and the ball flew down the lane. It certainly sped things up, but Kylie didn't like it. She wants to take Chris back and teach him how to play.

Anika and Shay are animals, I mean good kids. :) They are growing like weeds and it amazes us that they will be one in a few weeks. Like, that was a huge BLUR! I am not sure Chris or I could really tell you what happened last year, but apparently we did something right... debatable, I know.

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks-- I do have some recent ones, but that would require me to upload the pics and I don't know where the camera ended up today. I am sure you can deal with what you get, right?

Kylie wearing Pop Pop's cowboy boots (that would be Amanda's dads)

Anika crawling underneath the walker... the next one show her trying to get on top of the walker.

Shay reading Dora.. and for all of you followers, her first word, besides mom and dad, yes, you guessed it, DORA.

Shay getting excited because DORA is on the TV.. she is a minature Kylie...

French Anyone??

Kylie has recently really gotten into "Fancy Nancy." Those of you with little girls probably know what I am talking about. In any case, I am in need of some help. Here is the conversation this evening when Chris was reading to Kylie before bed.

"Dad, Jewel is the dog's name and its french for butterflies."

"Wow, Kylie, nice job."

"Dad, how do we say kiss in french?"

"I am not sure Kylie."

Dad, how do we say toot in french?"

The conversation stopped there. Anyone with answers, please advise.

Santa... he's friends with my friend Joe!

Here are some pictures of our visit to Santa. Kylie was a geared up to see Santa at Joe's. (Joe is our realtor who sold us our house in Hawthorn Woods. Kylie likes Joe now since he is friends with Santa and even had to bring Joe cookies since he invited us-- yes, Kylie's idea).

In any case, here are three pics below. We did not forget about Anika... She was fussy the entire time we were there and would not look at the camera when Chris was holding her. Shay was a little freaked as you can see by the picture, but managed to not cry-- probably because she still had food on her tray. And for those of you complaining that I am in no photos--- here you go. I look goofy since I could not kneel down (it was 2 weeks post surgery), but I am actually photographed, so yes, these children have a mom. HA!

Santa, He brought everything I wanted-- even the chapstick!

Here are some pictures of the kids on Christmas morning/day.

Apparently Kylie was a good kid because she got her coveted Dora Snow Princess.

Kylie, Pegasus, and Snow Princess playing shortly after opening.

Anika/Shay playing on Christmas morning. (Kylie opened all their gifts, so no pictures of the wee ones opening presents- sorry!)

Kylie in her new chef outfit, ready to help Chris make the Ham and dessert!



After dinner and sporting our new Dora Snow Princess PJ's.... And not to mention the wonderful Dora coloring poster too she is holding. Do you see a theme yet?

And Anika starting early.... We do anything to keep them happy somedays!

Ahhh...

No excuses besides.....
The kids have been sick-- they just keep sharing it-- colds, coughs... I think its been three weeks by my count.
Then Amanda had the knee fixed and that has been SOOOO much fun for everyone- Not. Chris has pulled double duty as he had to do everything since I was unable to walk, carry a kid, bathe the kids, etc.. it was a mess..
Then the kids passed their lovely cold and cough to us, and we ended up getting it 2x as bad. So much so, that Chris and I both lost our voices. The kids thought it was great. The timing sucked since we were scheduled to head to IA over Thanksgiving weekend, but we were all miserably sick and stayed put... good thing, cause not sure any of the Donovan family really wants this...

SO..... excuses yes, but I we are trying to play catch up and this is about as good as it will get until we get things back on track, well, attempt I should say.