Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween 2012

I dislike Halloween more than I ever imagined. I have two kids with sensory disorders, two kids for whom Halloween presents a ridiculous amount of barriers to fun. Pile on top of that the fact that all kids are overwhelmed and expectations are too high for fun and candy and you have a holiday filled with intensity! At least in our house you do. We did make it to Auntie Ann's house, Auntie Kake's house and, of course, Grammy and Papa's house for trick or treating and fun. The kids looked adorable and most of them managed to have some fun!
For the first time ever I let Peter get a scary costume - I didn't love it but he did so I just had to bear with it. Molly was the Mad Hatter, Annie was a hula dancer and the little girls were beautiful little crayons! They all loved their costumes!


We are ready to begin our big night of trick or treating!

The littles can't wait to get going!

Do these girls look excited or what??

My little pink crayon!

The cutest hula girl I have ever seen!


Peter's icky costume!

My beautiful girl loved her costume!

Halloween is one of the only nights that I allow Molly to wear make-up outside of the house.

Auntie Ann loved spending time with the kids on Halloween night - she had treats ready and lots of hugs!

We made a quick stop to see Grandma!

Daddy and Peter goofing around!

My boys!

Annie and all the kids were so excited to get to Grammy and Papa's for some pizza and more trick or treating! They had a blast and Mommy got to sit and chat with Grammy for a while.

Silly girl with her Papa!

My handsome boy - this face is the one I love not that silly clown face.

Auntie Meg and Ellie Bean

Molly Girl relaxing at Grammy's house!

My sweet litle hula girl!
Happy Halloween! GNM - ILY!


Sunday, October 28, 2012

Uncle Iggy

Thekids are loving having Uncle Ig home for the last few weeks.Today we all met at my mom and dad's house for mass and lunch so I took the opportunity to take some pictures of Uncle Iggy with his great nieces and nephews!
The Eight Harding grandchildren!!





Uncle Iggy with eight of his great nieces and nephews!



Uncle Iggy with everyone - we have loved having him home and the kids are going to be very upset when he is not living at Grammy's house anymore!

We can not wait for November when Auntie LuAnn comes home and we are all together for my cousin Chris's wedding!
GNM - ILY!

Catching Up!!!

I am admitting freely that i have been a major slacker since Molly and I returned from Las Vegas. I had a few major grants due for work and the kids and I all got a really bad cold so it took some real fortitude to get through the weeks following our girls vacation! I am back on track and ready to do some catching up and some moving on.
Tonight I am sitting in front of my laptop enjoying a movie with the little girls while we all brace for Hurricane Sandy. The governor has declared a state of emergency and all non-essential employees have been ordered to stay home tomorrow because it is expected to be a terrible storm with winds close to 75mph. The schools have all been cancelled for at least the next two days and probably more if the storm is as bad as it is supposed to be.
So - while we wait for SAndy to hit I'll take a few moments to update the blog.
Molly came home from school very excited to let us know that she was the first Citizen of the Month of the year. I sat in the assembly in awe of my daughter and the support and love that surround her each day. Her recognition form deserves to be word for word:
Being respectful helps a child succeed in life. If children don't have respect for peers, authority, or themselves, it's almost impossible for them to succeed. A respectful student takes care of belongings and responsibilities, and a respectful student gets along with peers and adults. We teach children about respect in school, but parents have the most influence on how respectful children become. Mr.Wallen's first citizen of the month models respect 100% of the time. The parents of our Citizen of the Month should be so proud! Our entire class congratulates Molly Harding! This was the first Citizen of the Month ceremony where I actually teared up. Molly makes us so proud every single day but to hear that even when she is away from home making her own decisions she is stillrespectful and kind made me beam with pride all day long!

Our next big event after coming home from Vegas was attending Kk's marathon. She was running in her first marathon ever and it was her birthday so we had to make sure that we made a BIG impression. We had lots of signs and noise makers and by pure luck got some of the best spots to cheer from! The weather started out pretty brisk but by 10 am the kids had their jackets off and were having fun! Lila and Brendan made KK a sign in french!

We did have some pretty long periods of downtime waiting for Kk to get to the next mile where we could see her so the kids colored and played and snacked - it was perfect weather and all of the kids were just amazing!

Auntie Meg got into the spirit!

KK was met at the finish line by some of her favorite people on earth - her mom and godfather! I think papa was just a little proud of his godchild!!

KK ran the race in under 4 hours and we could not have been prouder! After the race we all met back at Auntie kake'sforcake and ice cream for KK's birthday and to hear all of the wonderful details about the race!

Buggy was quite comfy in her chair hanging out waiting for her auntie!
There are a few pictures out of order - so bear with me,please!

Over Columbus day weekend Molly and her soccer team  - the Rocky Hill Rockets won a big osccer tournament so we got to take some team pictures! The girls had a blast playing in the rain all weekend but it was cold and they were thrilled when it was over!

Rocky Hill Rockets are #1!

Playdate with lila and Brendan!

I love when all the cousinstry to fit on the tire swing together! I just love when all the cousins are at my house!

Molly and Lila swinging together!

Halloween at dance class - my favorite time of year because the kids get so excited to dance in their costumes!

Class pictures at dance - I know I'm biased but my girls are the cutest ones in the class!

Good Evening, teachers! The bow at the end of each class is my favorite part!

My lovebugs sharing a hug before school last week.

Is thee a better way to start the school day than with a group hug from papa?

Our first fire of the year started with a bang!!! Literally!

We had a small chimney fire that filled the entire house with smoke. It was horrible and scary but the RHFD was amazing and arrived in minutes with reassuring words and  ready to work. They were so good to us and made the house completely liveable within a few hours.

The firemen blew fresh air from outside into the house and guaged the carbon monoxide levels to be sure that we were safe to stay in the house.We had a quite a mess to clean up and lots of smoke smell to clear but we were safe and the damage to the house was nothing so we felt very lucky!

Uncle B came over for dinner the other night and ended up tucking his goddaughter into bed - she looks pretty happy!

The girls loving the leaves in the backyard.

My sweet little hula girl.

Katie and Annie all dressed up for Halloween at dance.

Annie's Irish class enjoying Halloween.


I couldn't take my eyes off of Annie - cutest little hula girl ever!

And back to Kk'srace -Auntie meg and Uncle Timshowing their support for KK!

Auntie Beth and Annie went and got some icecream and then decided to goof around outside - how cute are they?

I love this one - they could not be happier to be together! Auntie Beth ended up planning a sleepover with Annie last night and apparently they stayed up late talking!

Molly Girl with her Irish class - even the big kids have fun dressing up!


Auntie Meg and Auntie Beth came to see molly at dance!

Molly and her dance BFF - Vanessa.

BFF's

My little hula girl with her ice cream.

And back to KK's race again - Molly and Brendan loving on each other.

My beautiful girls showing their love for their auntie - they were so excited and happy to be there to cheer KK on!

This is Lizzie Bug's school picture in her class.
 
The two Peters -little Peter is almost as big as big Peter now and they act so much alike -sometimes it is a bit scary!

We love when katie comes over - the girls love to hang out on Auntie Ann's swing and talk.

I love this picture - I hope Annie and Katie are always this happy to be with each other.

Papa and Lizzie hanging out!

Going back a bit to Molly's real birthday which was right before we left for Vegas.

The twins!

Birthday Bagel

Blowing out her candles so she can get ready for school.

Opening her present from the littles - they bought her a bath and make up set a month before her birthday and asked everyday if it was time to give it to her. It was very sweet.

Ellie Bean loving her sister's birthday!


Sister Birthday love!

Annie bananie all dressed up for soccer. Molly and Annie both had soccer on Molly's birthday so we had to do cake really late!

Happy Birthday, Molly Girl!


Kisses from Daddy for the birthday girl.

Mommy loving on the birthday girl.

I love this picture of my girls - how sweet are they?

Tired out!

Mommy and Molly headed for Vegas!

The only picturesDaddy took while I was in Vegas - he took the girlsapple picking - we are still eating the apples! How cute are they all???

Chomping on some yummy apples.

Another playdate with Brendan and Lila - I love that sweet smile.

That face makes me smile every time.

I loved how the sun was falling on Annie's face - what a beauty she is!

Loving life!

Brendan and Annie having fun together.

Auntie Kasey clearly fed the kids pasta and meatballs for dinner and Lila just kept eating - she especially loved the garlic bread with cheese on it!

She could not figure out why I ran to get the camera - so cute!

Lizzie got a little less pasta on her face.

My beautiful girls ready to head out to the Amazing Challenge to support Auntie kake!

Look at those gorgeous faces - those little humans are perfect!

Sometimes I just can't believe that these kids aremine - they are so kind and respectful and beautiful!

My gorgeous children!

Since I had all five kids picture ready we headed over to the picture tree - Peter was not happy and made sure that we knew it!

I am the luckiest mother on earth! Those five faces make me smile no matter what else is going on!
I think that catches us up for now. I have a few morepictures to add in a little while so stay tuned but you probably won't hear from us for a while since we probably won't have power!
GNM - ILY!