Surprise! You have school today!!

We went to bed on Sunday night thinking we still had two more blissful days of track out ahead of us. What should we do? Make Valentines for school parties? Go visit Aunt Jen and Gracie? The possibilities were endless.  That was until I got up at 6:00 am Monday morning and decided to "double check" that the kids didn't go back until Wednesday…..

OOPS

So what's a mom to do you ask? Well, you pace the hallway and fear for you life knowing that you have to wake your sweet 9 year old girl up and say "Surprise, you don't get to go down and visit your awesome cousin and have fun all day because you have to go to school because I wrote the date down wrong on the calendar and it's Monday and you have to go to school BYE!! (and then run out of the room because your fearing for your life. )

OOPS

"Oh, and one more thing Rachel…..Jacob is sick and DOESN'T" have to go to school" 

mom of the year…..just saying……

Well we made it through because like I told Rachel, sometimes you are thrown things you don't know are coming at you and you just have to roll with it. She must have listened because she came off the bus  beaming and chatty chatty about school. (And she didn't even tell her friends or her teacher that her mom is a clown sometimes…bonus points for her : )

Matthew the Marvelous turns 2

What can we say about this little guy…….

This little blondie has captured our hearts, and the hearts of his brothers and sisters. 

He is a typical two year old, full of joy and mischief. He throws tantrums when I don't let him drink cups of water out of the toilet (that only happened once……or twice). He is a little instigator and likes to take things away from his brothers or sister just to get a rise out of them. If he could eat mashed potatoes and spaghetti at every meal he would! He adores his "diggers" and his sister "Ray Ray". 

Dinnertime is Matty's time to shine and he loves to make his siblings laugh. 

Matty has been the missing puzzle piece to our family. He rounded us out perfectly.  Two years has gone so fast. I can't believe we'll be potty training and sleeping in a big bed soon! 

Happy Birthday to this little man that stole our hearts two years ago and continues to bless us everyday with his charm!!!

Andrew Turned 4!!

Remember this guy……..???

4 years ago we were overjoyed to have another little guy, and scared to death that something was seriously wrong. Thank God it turned out to be nothing too serious and today we have this guy……..

Think he looks impish? Well, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a  duck………..

Quite the little history buff

 He is our Titanic loving, story telling, slightly impish little guy. He loves his beloved Pats.  He can impress you with his knowledge of the Titanic and how it sank to the bottom of the ocean. He loves to laugh and dance and is the most expressive and excitable child you will ever meet.  Andrew has come so far! Two years ago, we were at our wits end because he was so temperamental, so unpredictable.  Now he comes downstairs giggling every morning asking to watch his History Channel documentary on the Titanic (thanks Papa and Grams….5 hours of Titanic Doom is like a dream come true….well, at least for him)
 : ) dAndrew makes us laugh everyday with his facial expressions and off the wall comments. He loves his "Matty Gooey" and Spiderman.
He is growing and learning so fast and we are so blessed to have him in our life.

Happy 4th Birthday Andrew!!!

Snow Day!! (or four but who's counting)

Hey, we take our snow here in NC seriously folks. That's why when we got 2 inches last week they decided the kids needed 4 days off. The bad news is the school has to make those up on Saturdays. The  good news is we are tracked out so we don't! Woo hoo! So the kids had many days to bundle up and play with their friends. I tell you it was a busy day for me zipping up snow pants, drying gloves, heating hot chocolate, making sure Matty didn't eat the yellow snow. And just for the record, Matty lasted longer than anyone…..who knew diggers aren't just good for mulch….they work in snow too!

I know I know, you'll shoot your eye out

After I set him on his feet

BRRRR!!

Drew driving…..this can't be safe

Cold? What cold?

Weeeeeeee!!!!!

King of the World play set

I like the yellow over there better mom

Don't let him fool you

Yes folks, we are in football pants and no jacket. Jacob insisted that he "experience what it is like to play football in snow"

Our Amazing Daughter

Where on earth did the time go? 

From this

To this

To our beautiful girl today

Since the day she arrived our lives have never been the same. Each day is filled with laughter, some challenges, questions, and love. She is so strong, and so confident. She challenges us everyday to be better parents, better people. She is a fantastic big sister to her brothers, and a great friend to her peers. She excels in school and is a strong, capable athlete. She is an amazing gift to us and we thank God everyday that he gave us this little girl. Happy 9th Birthday Rachel!!! 

Feliz Navidad!

I didn't realize it was February 4th already because we are still immersed in Christmas music in the car. Matty never fails to request "Ho Ho" on our short trips to and fro. None of the kids complain but I have to say I'm pretty sick of it. So….since we're still in the Christmas spirit here in the Cesarz house, I figured I should probably sit down and post about Christmas…then maybe we can give Jose Feliciano a rest : )

We were so blessed with another wonderful Christmas filled with excitement, anticipation, health, love, and joy. Let me tell you, Christmas with 4 young kids is the best it ever gets. We followed our Christmas Eve tradition first with a beautiful Mass out at Holy Family, then dinner at Bandidos. Yum!  Once home, we got  ready with reindeer food and cookies for Santa. The excitement in the air was palpable!

Santa must have not come until late because Nathan and I were up until midnight. Luck was in our favor as we didn't here the patter of little feet until a bit after 7:00 (woo hoo!)

The rest was a blur of smiles and giggles and magic. I think the pictures speak for themselves. Until next year Jose…….

Stockings from Santa

Drew is moving too fast to get a good picture !

Spider-man Spider-man

That is what I call excited!

Relaxing after a busy morning!

Pre-Christmas Festivities

We had so many events leading up to Christmas I decided it should be it's own post. Tree decorating, Rachel, and Andrew's Christmas programs at school. 

Last year I demanded nicely asked if we could get a fake tree. I was sick of paying a billion dollars and the tree dying the next week. So….this was our second year with a fake and I have to say, I kind of miss the real thing. Nobody comes close to making candles that smell like a fresh cut tree. It was nice not to have to buy a tree this year but I may have to politely ask if we can get a real one next year (or have the children beg)……

Everyone helped with tree decorating

Hmmmmm where to put the next ornament…..

Rachel getting ready for her Christmas concert

Andrew all dressed up for his moment to shine

Yep, that pretty much sums up Andrew. He looks like the cat that swallowed the canary

uh oh…maybe he did swallow a canary