Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Karate




How could I forget posting about karate??? Dylan's been taking karate classes for a little over 2 months now. He is getting better every day! I love the crisp white uniform (especially when it stays white and doesn't get full of mud from getting in and out of the car). He's learning tons of discipline and has been so much calmer since starting the class. Pretty soon he'll be testing to get a stripe on his belt and he's very excited about that!

Wii---

I feel like a fool because prior to having children I SWORE my kids would never have video games NEVER, EVER, EVER---I could never imagine my precious angels lounging around the living room, snacking on chips, playing video games. As a kid, I could careless about Atari (back in the day) or Nintendo, when all of the other kids were obsessed with the games. I liked books, LOVED reading, and playing outside whenever possible. That's what I wanted for my kids, to have a love for books and to enjoy the outdoors.

Nintendo's Wii is a video system that has been around for a while. It's pretty pricey and something I would never imagine purchasing for my children--well that changed right after Christmas. Since I have been trying to be healthier that last couple of months I would love the opportunity to be outside playing with the kids running around, or go the the gym, but with 3 kids under the age of 4, going to the gym is not in the cards right now. I definitely don't have time to do exercise tapes but was looking for something I could do for exercise that's fun and that could be done fairly quickly---

I was in Middletown on Emily's birthday and saw Wii on sale. I "texted" my BFFs and asked them if I should buy it or not (more for me and Stephen, not for the kids). They talked me into it and I was on a mission to find that gaming console---I was getting peeved when it was sold out but tried my luck at Babies R Us---SCORE!!! I bought the Wii for a total of $24.00!!! (I had gift cards, coupons and money that was given to us as Christmas gifts I got a bargain only paying $24.00 out of my own pocket)

This gaming system has to be the most fun my family has had together in a VERY long time! The games are wonderful because you get a total workout and you can't just lay around to play the game, you have to interact and move around! We can totally sit for hours and play this as a family (even Brynnie can play).

I have to recommend this to any of my friends who don't have it---you gotta get one because its good exercise an tons of fun! You can't play this without enjoying yourself.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Emily's birthday party
















A "rubber duck" theme--who doesn't like rubber ducks??? Oh how much I LOVED this theme!!! I braved making another home made birthday cake (and this one by far was the easiest) for Miss Emily. The decorations were discovered in my attic two days before the party since I remembered I had bought tons of first birthday stuff when Brynn turned 1. The pink and yellow was such a great combination. Again I get really sad thinking that it was the LAST first birthday party I would ever plan. All of our family and friends came over and we had amazing weather. I think it was 40 degrees outside. The warmer temp allowed us to have the kids play out in the garage and that's where we set up the pinata (because what birthday party in the Poley house is complete without a pinata) and put up the "Pin the Tail on the Donkey". There are too many great pics to post so I'm going to post some without completely overwhelming myself.





Emily Grace Turns 1




Oh the dreaded post, my baby is 1! As I write this, Miss Emily is growing at leaps and bounds! She started walking about a month ago but is now pretty much running, loves to play, but especially loves pulling things out of my kitchen cabinets and climbing on anything she can reach.




My sweet blonde hair, blue eye baby girl, who came into this world earlier than she should have, has brought so much joy to our lives! She's such a smiley baby and reminds much so much of Dylan as an infant. We are now in the toddler stage (I can't believe I'm using the "T" word) and there's so much to look forward to with her.




She is starting to talk. Of course her favorite word is "Ma Ma" and actually chases me around the house saying "ma ma, ma ma, ma ma". She says "da da, D (Dylan), ba ba, nite nite, up, YESSSSSSS, num num (food) and just started to say "kack kack" (duck). I'm looking forward to taking her to the library classes and before you know it, Little Gym.




Emily Grace, Angel Face, we love you more than words and I'm so glad you arrived and completed our family!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Christmas '09
















I only have time to post a couple pics of Christmas--it was quite a year--Dylan and Brynn were so much fun and Emily just wanted empty boxes and ripped up wrapping paper! Toot, our Elf, left to go back home with his family. I promised my teary-eyed children, he will return on Thanksgiving. It's amazing how much they loved that Elf!

Christmas Eve
















On Christmas Eve we have the same routine...bake cookies, then get dressed, go to Christmas Eve Children's Services and head to Grandpas for dinner and presents. This year, unfortunately, Stephen was VERY sick with pnemonia and the flu and I did it alone---not fun when you have 3 little ones, but the kids were so well behaved in church. We then went to Grandpa's house where it's always entertaining. The kids love horsing (no pun intended) around, we eat dinner and then exchange gifts. Dinner was a lot of fun--and exhausting. Emily fell asleep in her carseat before we got to the main road!