It's that time of year

I will admit it - I love the colder weather.  It is SO nice to curl up with the kiddos and watch a Holiday movie together under the blankets.  And we have been watching them alright!  Actually before Halloween these boys started asking for The Grinch and Charlie Brown.  Speaking of Halloween it was a success!!

Christmas pictures are right around the corner for us.  Outfits have been ordered.  We will be wearing red, black and white this year.  I couldn't resist a certain red dress from Boden.

And Gap coming out with The Peanuts line??? Perfect timing.  Come on with this sweater!

The one thing I do hate about Winter is what it does to my skin.  I get instantly dry and could scratch my shins all darn day.  I discovered bio-oil about a year ago after it was suggested by my surgeon. And OMG I am in love.  I guess it is good for scars and stretch marks but I just LOVE it for moisture. And there's a coupon and a cartwheel people!!

  

And with the cold weather I am back to using Redefine from Rodan + Fields.  Their PM cream is the best moisturizer I have ever tried!!!!

Message me if you want some: www.kdipalma.myrandf.com

Shoes, Boots and more Boots

OK I just need to take a quick second here and love on some footwear.  If I had a spare $1500 - here is what I would buy...

These are called So Kate!  Now how perfect is that???  Only $675 too. ;)

If you have worn uggs in March than you understand why they suck.  My feet wouldn't be wet in these...

Crushing hard on these.  Only $130

Ok I don't have black knee high boots so these are pretty much a need, not a want.  

Frye Love!!  Only $388

Ok and one more.  Every girl needs a pair of cowboy boots.  

Only $189.  Perfect for a Jason Aldean concert.  

Ok back to reality!!!!  Since smallest Meatball has outgrown his high chair and our current table has 4 chairs, we will be shopping for a bigger table.  So off furniture shopping I go...

Lately

Oh my goodness where to start.  I haven't blogged in a bit so this post may be a little of everything thrown into one. I had surgery (boo) but I'm all better.  All I have to say is surgery sucks and so do IUD's and their side effects.

I joined a gym and I'm loving it.  It takes me back to the old cheerleading/dance days, maybe its the mirrors.  During the day it's mostly other moms and kids.  The babies aren't loving the kid club thats for sure.  They don't love Sunday School either but seriously an hour away from us - they need to do it!  There are some kids that go to daycare 40+ hours a week.  These little buttercups needs to toughen up. Oh and by the way I am in serious LOVE with Athleta, specifically the Chaturanga Capri in stripes.  Being apple shaped, I need to draw attention away from my upper body.  I got a couple pairs of stripes, 1 solid, some tanks and new sports bras from Target and I am ready to go :)

I am loving the new work schedule of Monday and Fridays back in the PACU.   I tell Steve it may be hard to ever get me to work more hours :)  Single Mom Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays are going ok.  Some of the days fly by and others drag.  Some days their are tears for daddy and others go just fine.  But I know Steve finishing school is going to be great for our family.  Nursing in my opinion is the BEST career to have for families.  Which is why I chose it so many years ago.  When Steve finishes, he will work 3 days a week and I will work 2.  So one of us will always be home to get the kids on and off the school bus etc.  And papa can finally enjoy retirement!

It's Fall Ya'll!  My favorite time of the year.  We already made the trek to Pumpkinville.  It's an hour away from our house but soooo worth it.  Pumpkins, cider, donuts and a muddy corn maze - we were loving it!  And really the boys love any reason to throw on rain boots and find mud or puddles.

I started a Christmas list and made some purchases.  Reid needed a suitcase to match his brothers and PBK had a 20% off one item so he got the gray, personalized of course.  I have lists started for everyone and need to get started.  I hate to wait till the last minute.  Steve and I REALLY do not want toys for the kids.  This may have something to do with us being the ones that clean up every night.  I really just want to get certificates for fun things to do as a family.  Weekends are what we all look forward to now because Daddy is home.  Movies, mini-golf, Chuck E. Cheese, Pizza Hut, Go-karting, etc.  Speaking of movies, the older boys are dying to see the Peanuts Movie!  We will probably be there opening day.  

I just want to enjoy the Holidays in this house as it may be our last one here.  Moving may be on the horizon.  We have been in this house for 6 years already!  If we don't move, there may be a major remodel in our future.

Really looking forward to Halloween.  The older boys are set.  Although P's costume is too small but he is gonna rock it!  We decided Reid would be a cute Barney and he LOVES Barney.  But all I could find were vintage costumes from the 90's.  So he may be wearing something from the closet - you guessed it - a hand me down!  Haha but who can resist that little puppy dog costume from PBK anyway.

I have been really enjoying Football Sundays around here.  The weather has been nice, windows open and dinner in the crock pot and family time.   GO BILLS!

The Birthday Post

Looks like I am turning 35 again ;)  Too bad we aren't in Vegas this year seeing Britney!  I always do a Birthday Post of the stuff I would love to receive.  So in keeping with tradition, here it goes...

I do seriously love my Anastasia eye brow palette but this looks nice too..

And of course these would go with my new Bills hoodie...

Red of course.  Tried them on in NYC and they are super comfortable!!  Now if she would just carry a size 7.

Anything Almond scented!  Philosophy holds out on me till Christmas but this is a wishlist right?

And really how cute are these sparklers from Kate Spade...

I love her ear earrings.  They are big and let's face it - size matters!  Hahaha.

Were you looking for a reason to go to WalMart?  Probably not but.....The Pioneer Woman has released a new line and I am in serious LOVE.  How cute is this batter bowl?

And it's about time they made this next one!  Dry shampoo for us dark haired ladies.  I like this brand but always ended up with white hair when I used it.  Not anymore!  and for $8.99.

Alright, Here's to another year older.  Let me know if there is something else I should add ;)

The Meatballs Go Camping

You read that right.  We went camping.  This made us laugh a little as we packed up the truck.

This is pretty true for us.  We had to buy a tent (obv) a big one and 3 little chairs for the kiddos, bug spray and lots of food!!  We went to Jellystone, which is like resort camping.  Sounds perfect for me because I don't consider myself a camper.  Although, that might have to change because Meatball bitched like a woman for the first day and half!!  This may have to do with my tendency to underpack.  I admittedly packed 2 pillows for 5 people (3 kids and 2 adults) and only 1 ipad.  I know - WHAT WAS I THINKING?  Haha I guess I wasn't.  I thought we would rough it?  We went with my sister and Uncle Pete and they brought their trailer.  So we had access to a full kitchen and bathroom :)


Anyway, we had fun!!  And I loved that the nights got chilly so we could snuggle with all those babies in the tent.  And Yes I will still call them my babies when they are 17, 14 and 13.  Meatball drank a bottle of fireball so he really shouldn't have had any complaints, right?

Tractor ride in their pj's

I wish I took a picture of the smores we had!  Who knew a layer of peanut butter would make them taste divine with Bud Light!!

My Minions 

Anyway, the pools were awesome.  I love a kiddie pool!

And after my Meatball said "Italians don't camp!"  Guess who caught 3 fish??  Canoeing, a playground, a camp store for more stuff and eating!  We can't complain.

 Happy Campers!  And we already booked for next year - in a cabin this time :)

Obsessed

I have found and fell in serious love with this:

I have naturally curly hair and need product to keep it straight and protected from humidity.  Well this has been giving me some pretty good hair days lately.  I spray it on wet and then round brush and flat iron as usual.  I got my first bottle on clearance at Target (of course) for $10!!  It is originally $20 but check for a cartwheel.  It is sooooo good!!

And all this heat melted my fave mac lipstick so I found a new love:

Kat Von D liquid lipstick in the shade Mother.  It is lipstick that stays on forever but from a tube!  I hate lip gloss on a breezy day because your hair gets stuck in it.  This is matte and perfect.  OMG I may just wear this color right here forever.

Beyond Blessed

This is exactly how I am feeling these days!  To be honest I am overwhelmed by all the positive things in my life.  I believe in God and talk to him daily but I know I am not the best Christian woman and yet he blesses me.  And with 3 healthy kids alone I am beyond blessed.  And then he goes and blesses me again - With a 2 day a week job that I so desperately needed!!  I currently work 2/3 weeks so basically 10 days a month.  Papa watches the boys and he is getting tired.  He has been doing it for 7 years now.  So the 3 day weeks are too much for him and I get it.  So we have had a great babysitter do the Wednesdays but she is going back to school.  And Steve is starting nursing school, which means he will have class and clinical 3 nights a week for the first semester and then 4 nights.  I just cant be at work 3 days a week too.  With only 7 years of seniority I can't believe I got it but I did.  And I know who is responsible for it!!  I used to work in the PACU back in 2013 but got eliminated and bounced around.  So I am going back and so excited.  5 days home with my babies every week.  I only have 2 years left before they both go off to school so I am going to soak it up.  Recovery room here I come!

Why do the Summers fly by?

I swear the Summer goes by way too fast.  But so far we have done the Zoo, Great Wolf Lodge and West Seneca Comunity Days.  We went to the Zoo for Fathers Day and had a great time.

We hit up Great Wolf again.  I cannot say enough about how nice it is every time we go.  This was the first time we went in the Summer.  We usually go in the dead of Winter, aka. December or January and have honestly never even looked outside.  They had such a nice pool outside and bar!  It truly is a resort, complete with a spa.  And the breakfast buffet has Eggs Benedict.  Which is something I HAVE to have on vacation.  It is 30 minutes away for us.  My advice is do not waste any money on splash lagoon or the hour drive.  I always watch Groupon or Living Social - they always have deals.

And I like to start off the Summer carnival season with West Seneca Community Days.  It is always at the end of June and is the first time the kids get to go on rides.  This year was Reid's first time!  

With all this fun we are having - who could think about reading? Well....Me!  I used to read books all the time and somehow, at some time, have stopped.  Life with 3 kids is so crazy but I miss it.  So I'm charging up the ole' Nook and can't wait to start.

Crazy Busy Fun

The title pretty much sums up our life lately.  May is Birthday month around here and it goes by so fast.  We took about 3 weekends to get ready for the boys party.  Honestly, Steve and I both hate to do outside house work.  You will never catch us gardening, or washing chairs unless we are entertaining.  So, 8 bags of topsoil, 20 bags of mulch, 3 new bushes, 2 new flower pots, washing gutters, concrete caulking, painting our side door, planting vegetables, hosing off the patio, planting grass seed, prettying up the shed and we were ready.  It took about 3 weekends to do all that.  It is nearly impossible with the kids to get anything done I swear.  But the Power Ranger party turned out great!

I have never attempted to grow anything in my life.  And I can kill just about any plant.  However, this year I have high hopes for my 2 tomato plants, 2 jalapeno plants, red pepper plant, romaine lettuce and green onions!!  Cross your fingers people.

The meatball and I are hitting NYC next weekend to celebrate his 35th.  I honestly think I am the most excited about not carrying a diaper bag for 3 days!  And let's not forget the shopping...  And we have another fun stay at Great Wolf coming up next month.

The kids made a bucket list for Summer.  Needless to say I better keep working.  Fantasy Island, Darien Lake, Marine Land, the fair, Carnivals.  And Brady is playing T ball so he will have games every Saturday morning.  I love it though because it gets us all out of the house early and we can take the little ones to the playground.  Him and daddy have been practicing a lot.  I think hes going to be much better than last year.  Hes a lot more interested.

 I am bidding on every 2 day a week job at the hospital I can find.  I have to do something with the husband starting nursing school in the Fall so prayers are welcome!  Hope your Summer is crazy, busy fun too!

Vaca!

We did our 2nd Disney Cruise with a side of Sea World this year.  And every year I get a lot of questions about taking a Disney cruise, what its like, what to expect, etc.  So in this post I am going to share my honest thoughts.  We did actual Disney World 2 years ago and wound up with a 4 year old asking repeatedly to go back to the hotel and swim in the pool.  Oh yeah and when he would see a character freak out because he wanted to see whoever it was but didn't want to wait in the line.  My advice: if you do the parks with little ones, don't plan on doing parks all the time.  Schedule in some time to hang in the pool and relax.  And don't waste money on park hoppers.  We never hopped, 1 park a day was enough.  Our travel agent, Kathy F at AAA in OP, who is pretty awesome by the way, suggested a Disney Cruise.  Tell her I sent ya'!!

I have cruised before (Princess Cruise lines and Royal Carribbean) and Disney does it all better!  I found the food was really good on Princess Cruise lines but Royal Carribbean spanked them when it came to the actual ship.  With Disney you get great food and an amazingly clean and cool ship.  Good food for adults and kids.  Our entrees every night were so goood!  And their kids menu was great. Great for kids that eat well i.e. salad, steak or kiddos like mine: mac-n-cheese, pasta, chicken fingers etc.  And let me just tell you the people at Disney get it!  They get eating with kids can be fun or disastrous at times.  It was amazing how fast they whipped these kids food out every night.  And the servers come over and cut your childrens food so you get to actually eat hot food!  Oh hot food - how I have missed you over the years.  The service was amazing and it doesn't stop at meal times.  Our cabin maid was named Ruth and she was so good.  Poor thing had to vacuum up chips all day from my kids and all the sand they brought back from the beach.  She even vacuumed our balcony.  And the ship is SOOOOO clean.  I saw people dusting the ceiling in the pool area. Yeah I Know!!!  The ship is really good about handing out purell wipes too before all meals.  And Disney takes care of all the tips per person and just charges it to your room.  If you feel inclined to give more you can.  And we did because they were all just awesome!!  The service was even better than last year if that is even possible.

My kids loved to play on the balcony.  And mom and dad liked it at night all to ourselves!

Now let's get to the characters.  You get a list of who will be where every single day.  For my kids they wanted to see Mickey, Donald and Goofy.  But there was a lot to choose from: Capt. Hook, Tinkerbell, the Princesses, Chip n Dale, etc.  They only let people line up for 15 minutes.  So the lines don't get too long and everyone gets a chance.

I will be honest you pay a premium with Disney.  But honestly to be able to grab some alone time with your spouse and know your kids are safe and having a great time is priceless!!

I recommend the Bon Voyage drink.  Half pina colada and strawberry margarita-yum!

Brady loved the kids club and couldn't wait to go back.  And each cabin comes with 2 phones so you can be reached via text message or phone call if there is an issue or if your child wants to be picked up.  Now maybe it was the fact that all the nursery workers sound like Mary Poppins but Pierce was well taken care of to.  P called it school which cracked us up.  He has never been to a daycare but they asked me what he needed to do and I was stunned.  Like huh?  Oh yeah I get it!  Should he sleep, or eat or just play. Sorry I'm new at this :)  And they call the pull-ups or diapers - nappies.  I love it!!

Disney's private island Castaway Cay is beautiful!

You will always get those people that will tell you to wait to go on vacation as a family with young kids.  That they won't remember it, or enjoy it or it costs too much.  Blah, Blah, Blah.  Screw that! We had a blast.  I say - We remember it, hello that's what pictures are for and we can afford it!!  And I don't know about you gals but with a husband that works full-time I dress these kids everyday.  It was SO nice to have a husband to split the duties with.  We make a great team!  And eating 3 non-rushed sit-down meals a day as a family (usually I'm getting up 5,000 times) gave me time to really work on manners with the boys.  Although apparently they like to wipe their hands on their clothes not napkins like mom would prefer as Brady told me.  Hahaha

Isn't there something so cute about kids with suitcases?  P didn't want to check his!

Ok so here's my only gripe.  Little P is potty training and because he is so little, he can't reach the toilets to stand like a big boy.  I was worried he would totally regress if we just let him pee in a pull-up all day, everyday.  But Disney didn't have a potty.  They did supply us with a diaper genie and a toilet seat that fit in the bigger one so he didn't fall in.  But every time he had to go we would have to run in there (if it wasn't too late) and hold him up.  Even a stool would have worked but they didn't have it.

Another year, another amazing trip.  Next year - the plan is to taking everyone.  We need to stay stateside with our youngest because of seizures so I would love to do the parks again and stay for a week.  But I really want to relax so maybe alternating between 1 day at the park and then 1 day to relax and swim and repeat.  I am already checking out different Disney resorts.  Inner corrider is a must for me, slide at the pool and a some kind of a food court to just grab a bagel or pancakes in the morning.  Sometimes if it's too fancy you wind up spending all your time sitting down to eat.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!  Happy Travels!

Leaving

Bye Bye Buffalo!  I shouldn't be blogging right now when I have so much packing to do.  Sometimes I think I just put it off because I hate it SO much.  All the decisions are what drive me crazy!!  I don;t know what I want to wear to dinner in 5 days, and trying to coordinate the boys, airplane outfits - aaahhhhhh!  Anyway, I am pretty excited to get out of this weather.  Buffalo has been crazy this year, actually it snowed 3 days ago which was very depressing.  I'm usually one of those people that save up all their bitching for August when it is Sahara hot.  Steve does all his bitching in the Winter anyway so it works out :).  But even I admit I am sick of the cold.  SO, Orlando here we come.  Sea World to see some whales and maybe Downtown Disney for dinner Sunday and then we board the cruise ship Monday.  And I am going to miss those sweet little cheeks on Reidy-roo but he is by far the crabbiest baby.  Someone told me "crabby baby, happy toddler" well any time now!!!  He is 19 months.  We joke if Reid were our first baby, we would have had 1 child.  So, it will be nice to not have crabby baby and enjoy the older two for a few days.  Last vacation without all of us.  I was thinking Florida next year with everybody.  It is better for us to stay Stateside with Reid and his seizures anyway.  I think papa is going to like only having 1 baby for the week.  So here's home next week!

And my dad hates when people plane the next vaca before you leave on this one.  BUT, I am taking Meatball to NYC for his 35th Birthday in June.  It will be our 2nd time there and we absolutely love the city.

See Ya when we get back!!

Little Meatball Update

How about an update on those three little ones in my life!!

Biggest:  Brady (almost 7) is kicking butt in school with reading and math and writing.  He is such a smart boy and being a good reader is SO important. Must have been all those books we read when he was little. He is still doing gymnastics and will be playing t-ball this Summer.  He still has only lost 2 teeth but he is up to my chest in height.  Brady loves to wrestle with his dad but don't let that fool you!  That little boy cuddles with his mama on the couch every night, which I just love.  He has also been helpig me with some chores at home.  He empties all the little garbages in the house and the diaper genie (not his favorite part) and can also clean a toilet with the scrubby wand.  He earns $1-2 for this and likes to keep his money in his camouflage wallet.  Which he never brings with him to the store.  He has also learned to ski this winter with Grandma and Grandpa.  He likes to go fast like his Grandpa.  Brady likes to watch Scooby Doo and can't wait to ride his scooter this Summer and learn to ride without training wheels.

Middle:  Pierce (almost 3)has mastered the use of the potty at home.  It is soooo nice to only have 1 in diapers. When we leave the house, it is a pull-up and you betcha he's peeing in it.  We have to work on that.  Pierce still loves Caillou, Mickey and Curious George.  And has just started watching Power Rangers like his bog brother.  Pierce loves to sing, especially Christmas Carols and watch anything with Santa or Christmas trees in it.  He knows all his numbers and most of his colors.  He has a little trouble with red and green.  Pierce wants to go to Chuck E. Cheese pretty much everyday.  He is obsessed with his daddy.  If he bumps his head or stubs his toe he wants daddy immediately to come home and make it better.  I just caught him the other day with his arms around his baby brother saying "I love this kid!" which cracked me up.  He still refers to himself as P and can be the sweetest boy ever or a little trouble maker.  He loves to say "mama catch!" and launch what ever he has in his hand directly at me.  I found him in the dark bathroom using his potty and watching his ipad and had to snap a pic.

Littlest: Reid (18 months) has 12 teeth, loves his papa and to run at you and fling himself on top of you.  He can say: mama, dada, ball, yeah, papa, bubbles, P, pop and loves to babble all day long.  This little one knows exactly how to work an ipad and pull up his favorite show SuperWhy.  He likes to pretend he's talking on the phone to papa.  He has to have apple juice in his sippy and a bowl of goldfish or he isn't happy.  He tends to be cranky some times but is just starting to turn that corner.  He gets a kick out his big brothers and can laugh and laugh when they do silly things.  Reid is my best eater!  He will eat almost anything I serve.  He loves to take of his socks and shoes in the truck.  And his favorite song we sing is "Tiny Tim the turtle"

Easter was fun with all the boys and I didn't even have to make Breakfast.  The Easter Bunny brought candy :)

Our attempt at a family pic was basically a fail.  The babies wouldn't let papa put them down so he had no choice but to get in the pic too.  We love our papa!!

Shopping and St Pat's

Am I the only one that freaks out at this time of year and panics?  I panic because my kids don't have shorts or sandals or summery pajama's and suddenly I hate everything in my closet and nothing will do because warm weather is right around the corner??

Well I fixed all of that and now I seriously need to stop shopping.  And hope that grandmas and grandpas bring pj's for Easter and then we will be all set.  Before our hot date on Saturday we ran up to the outlet mall in Niagara Falls and got the kiddos some new attire.  Literally in less than an hour, we got 6 pairs of shorts and 6 cute horsey shirts (as my boys call them) for the kids, mama got a very cute pair of Kate Spade jeans 50% off

and some new gold sparkly loafers and Dad got a new pair of black shoes too.  We were outta there in about 45 minutes!!  And on our way to Texas de Brazil for date night.

I needed to reward the hubs for fixing our plumbing and saving us 1000's.  Why not with a lot, and I mean a lot of meat?  It is kind of a weird place if you have never been and I honestly don't think we will be going back.  But you don't leave hungry that's for sure!

And I whipped up pistachio cake for St. Patty's day today.  Brought some to my dad who had a test done today and treating my co-workers tomorrow with it.  Who doesn't love a green bundt??

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Don't take your plumbing for granted

Ugh yes.  I am posting about our plumbing situation because it suuuuuuuuucks and I want to scream.
But yeah:

So either a pipe became disconnected or a pipe broke underground.  Either way, the front yard needs to be dug up :( and it's going to have us dropping some cash.  And to think it all started with a little boy flushing his pants.  Which actually may have helped us notice the problem sooner.  As if the raw sewage in the stationary tub wouldn't have tipped us off.

In an effort to save us from spending $1000's my husband, aka. superman will be digging the hole himself.  I have never seen a hole this big dug but he does this for a living.  So God bless him and his shovel.  I am gonna owe him big time!!  We will be watching from the window.  Once the hole is dug we will have the plumber come because obviously I am scared of this:

SO until it is all fixed we will be following this little saying "if it's mellow, let it yellow" and in case you didn't know the laundromat isn't fun with 3 kids.  I can think of a whole bunch of things I want to spend our tax return on:  some gold tory's, new jeans, a new coffee table.  I did have to pull the trigger on this little beauty:

Meatball has gotta understand right?  I am stressed.  Which means I shop and clean!!  Which reminds me to tell you how awesome are these little things:

No more spray and sponge for me.  Anyway, Happy Flushing!