Tuesday, December 30, 2008

More Marines in the Wisniewski family!!!

Last year sometime (I think it was May) Ski's brother Bryan called and announced that he wanted to join the Marine Corps. Shocking as it was, we had no doubts what so ever that he could do it! However, since May it's been a long road for him and he has worked harder then anyone I know to make his dream happen. On Dec 19th he was finally able to swear in and these are some of the pictures his wife Noel took.

Yesterday Dec 29th, Bryan left his wife Noel and his baby Celest and headed off to Parris Island, SC for bootcamp. Like the protective big brother he is, Ski can't believe his brother is going through what we went through all those years ago but it's a right of passage that we've all had to endure and I can't wait to hear the stories he has to tell when he's finally done. Matthew has already been talking trash to him about out ranking him. He's a PVT in the Young Marines and Bryan is a Recruit.

I know there is not a brother more proud then Ski is!!!! Here are the two of them almost 12 years ago when Ski graduated from bootcamp. I can't wait to get a picture of the two Wisniewski brothers standing side by side wearing their uniforms!!!!

Looks like Bryan will be graduating about a week from my due date. I know that neither me nor Ski are willing to miss the graduation so it looks like I could have the baby down in SC if he decides to come early!!! I'm just a little nervous about the 7 hour drive there and the 7 hour drive home!!!!

Good Luck Bryan!!! It's going to be a hard 13 weeks but I know you can do it!!!!

Friday, December 26, 2008

Let the fun begin!

Now that all the gifts have been unwrapped and everyone has eaten more then a weeks worth of food in one setting, it's time to play with all the gifts - and let me sleep in until noon - Thank you so much Ski, I needed it!!!! Cadence was so excited to set up her tent today.


As you can see - she had a few visitors!!!


I found Ski in our room learning to play his new guitar. This year on my Christmas list I asked him to write me a love letter. Well, as always my husband did not disappoint. I started crying about the first paragraph and cried through out all three pages that he wrote. It was the sweetest thing I've ever read! It wasn't just the pregnant hormones either! Well next year he says his goal is to learn to play the guitar and to write me a song! I can't wait to hear it. He likes to pretend he isn't a romantic at heart but I will let you all know, in his own little way he is very romantic.

As for Jacqui and Matt - I have hardly seen them all day to even take a picture of them with their new stuff. They have been out running around the neighborhood.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Happy Birthday my sweet girl!

Not only is it Christmas but it is also Jacqui's twelfth birthday. Lets not go into how old that makes me feel. Next year she is going to be a teenager. Oh but don't think that it hasn't already started. She and I were shopping for clothes the other day and in the middle of the store I had to stop and call my mom to apologize to her for all the times I drove her crazy trying on clothes! I'll show Jacqui something I think she might like and she just gives me "the look" like I have no clue what fashion is. I can tell you that I'm being paid back in full. My mom of course just laughed.

Really hard.

I didn't find it quite so funny! Damn that mothers curse!!


Look how grown up and beautiful she looks!


Every year - and I mean EVERY year - I even out all the kids gifts between the kids and then I remember "Oh - Jacqui's birthday" and I have to readjust the budget.


She mostly just wants clothes now a days. And shoes. Lord knows her foot grows faster then I can keep up with. Her MawMaw in Texas sent her some shoes for Christmas and they were size 8.5 - they barely fit. I think she's probably got about a month or two before she outgrows them!!!! So much for sharing shoes - I'm only a 6.5! Next she's going to be taller then me too!


Can't remember what exactly she got - but as you can see she is a little excited. I think it was an ITunes gift certificate for the new IPOD she got for Christmas. Either that or money to buy the new phone she wants to upgrade to.


So here we are - another year, another birthday. This time TWELVE. Doesn't seem possible. Could someone please tell me how this...


turned into this...



A look inside the Ski Christmas!

On Christmas Eve I asked Matt "Are you excited about Christmas buddy??"

He replied "No - I'm really not thinking about it all that much."

Well that night the kids went to bed at 9pm. Matt woke up at 11:30pm, and midnight. At 2:30am he woke up again so I told him to go turn on his TV and watch it till he fell asleep. At 4:30am he woke me up again. In between that, Cadence woke us up to go potty and ended up getting in bed with us which is always real comfortable especially now that my belly is HUGE. At 7 am Matt woke us up again. No - he wasn't excited at all!!!! By that time I couldn't sleep anymore but Ski wanted another hour. So I got up and poured Matt a glass of milk, me a glass of water and I went into his room to share some cookies and milk with him before everyone woke up. Would you believe it, he was finally asleep again! So there I sat - the only one awake. Finally at 8am everyone woke up to this...




Santa had even finished all his cookies and milk, fed his reindeer and wrote Cadence a letter back! He also left a bone for each of the dogs on the table and some circus tickets for all of us to go to the circus in February.


If you remember from the previous posts, all Cadence wanted Santa to bring her was Scooby Doo toys. Here is the look on her face when she got them!!!!




The rest are pretty self explanatory. They are just a look inside of our Christmas morning!!!!













I can honestly say none of us need anything for quite a while. Thank you to everyone who sent us gifts and we hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Eve

We had a pretty quiet but nice Christmas Eve. Ski and Caders tracked Santa on the internet so she could see where he was and when he would be on his way to our house. Jacqui and Matt play along too even though they are "too old" for that kind of thing!!!




I was busy making pumpkin pies and Jacqui's birthday cake and also cookies to leave for Santa. This year all he got was the pre-made chocolate chip cookie dough kind that I could cut and bake.


Tradition at our house is that we all open one present that night before we go to bed. I don't know who was more excited to get a gift - Ski or the kids. He has had his big old head under the tree for weeks trying to shake his presents and guess what they were.


Jacqui and Matt knew they were getting the same thing so they devised a plan to sit back to back and open them at the same time.


Cadence got a Scooby Doo Christmas movie and couldn't wait to go in Matt's room to watch it!!!



After opening their hand held Guitar Hero games, this was how I saw them for the rest of the evening.

Eating some dough from the chocolate chip cookie wrapper!!!


I let Cadence fill the plate with cookies for Santa - she decided he needed three of them.


Matt poured him some milk too.


Then we all ate a few cookies our self!!!!


I LOVE this picture. I don't know who makes who happier!!!!


How could Santa resist a feast like this! Even the reindeer got carrots. One for each of them!!!! Caders also wrote him a letter to remind him to bring her some Scooby Doo toys!!!!!


It was an AWESOME Christmas Eve - one of the best I've ever had!!!!