Linni's 10th Birthday - October 11th, 2009!

Linni turned 10 on October 11th and it was the 4th Birhday she's been living with us in WA! We went bowling and she had a sleep over! When we were bowling, she came over to me and said, "if this was Wii bowling you and me would be kicking everyone's butt". She is such a joy to have in our lives and such a little competitor! She reminds me a lot of myself when I was little. But more than anyone, she acts so much like Soren and my Dad!! Her adoption was official last December and she added me and Olivia's middle name and wanted to change her last name to be the same as papa's so it's now Chandalyn Marie-Care St. Denis. I left it up to her but did not want her to change her first or take out her middle name, Marie as she was named that for a reason and thought it would be important to her when she is older! Her name is a mouthful but still a very beautiful name! She still goes by "Linni" and said she forgets sometimes that her name is actually Chandalyn. She cracks me up! She started the cello this yr and carries that thing around to and from school...she's doing a good job, she said she's the best in the class. A cute little story, the other day she had gotten school pictures taken and when I got home from work, I was asking her how she thinks the pictures turned out and at first she said "I don't know" in a kind of annoyed voice like how should I know, I didn't get to see the picture and she waited a few seconds and said, "it's probably the best picture I've ever taken"! I thought this was so hilarious!!! So, we've been going around the house saying it all the time lately! Anyway, here are some pics of her party.

Linni's Yummy DQ Cake!

Linni Concentrating on getting a strike

Come on, knock em down!

The Birthday girl with Sloanie

My ball seemed to go to the gutter every time & I used to be good??

Marcus showed Pito how to dry his hands so he made sure to do it every time :)

Pito cheering for Papa's ball

Linni and O don't like this picture but mom does so I win

Pito's 3rd Birthday September 20th, 2009

My little guy is growing up so fast, he told me the other day that he didn't want to be a big boy yet and I said that's fine with mama! We had two parties for him, one with his friends or the people we tell him are his friends like Seinfeld says...who knows he might not even like these kids. :) That party was at Chuck E Cheese and he had the greatest time. He loved Air Hockey, which he totally dominated! He literally ran around that place non-stop from the time we got there until we left. It was difficult to get him to sit down and eat pizza, cupcakes and open presents. He was trying to climb on the table to blow the candles out so he could move on to the next event! It was very hard for me to get him to pose for pictures with his friends so that's why you'll notice all of the pictures are me chasing him down with threats to pose for mommy. We also had a party at "Gammy's" house. He got so much good stuff and had so much fun both days! Thanks to everyone in Marcus' family, Marcus & the girls, John & Kim and my Dad for making this a special Birthday for him!

Bring it, I'll block it every time!

Are you guys paying attention, nevermind!

Hmm, what should I do next?

This cake is cool, it has dig digs, mixers and bull dozer's AND fire too!

I got this part down, I practice anytime there are candles lit at home!

Ok, mom enough! I'm ready for more presents!!

Picture I replaced of Marcus Jr's 1st Birthday!

I replaced this with the 4th of July kids picture but I couldn't leave it off all together, it's just too sweet!

Whew, It's been a while...

Kimberly took this picture of Sloan earlier this year

Marcus & I at Eric and Sara's Wedding

I love this little guy! Always such a happy boy!

Linni and O, 4th of July (They are still best buddies!)

Marcus and the girls, 4th of July

I'm back...I was just reading a friend's blog and decided it was time to bring mine out of retirement. I'm kind of like my Minnesota Vikings qb, Favre.

Ok, so where do I start, my family life is busy with our 4 kids back in school and running around for practices and games, birthday parties and all that other fun stuff! Sloan is now a freshman in high school (Yikes, this is still so crazy to me!) Olivia is in middle school and Linni is now a 4th grader! Our little guy, who we still call Pito is now 3 years old and as sweet and smart as any 3 yr old little boy we come across! :) Sloan just finished playing fall league basketball (Marcus was able to coach them, which he loves and misses so much!) and getting ready to start her season really soon. O is starting a winter league basketball and Linni does not want to play this year so we aren't going to make her. And the little guy stays with my dad during the day and is smarter than a whipper snapper!!

Marcus and I are blessed, both of us have jobs that we like...most of the time (I should say, we're blessed just to both have a job with WA having one of the highest unemployment rates in the country!) and my dad rents our one bedroom apartment in exchange for babysitting Pito so it keeps him from working outside and gives them the opportunity to be best friends, which they are! Pito wants to be with my dad sometimes even when we're home from work. I'll say to him, "hey what about mama you've been with papa all day?" and he'll tell me, "it's ok mama, don't worry about it!" He's hilarious and super sweet, must have gotten that from his daddy! :) I work in commercial lending now at Anchor Bank in Lacey and I'm still learning, it's much more complicated than residential. I let my real estate license expire and I kind of wish that I would've kept it active just in case I could sell a home or two a year on the side! I guess, I can start over but that seems like so much work now especially that I already work a full time job. Maybe someday!!

Sloan went to Europe in July with the NBC International Tour. She had so much fun and was able to visit, Ireland and England. I will let her blog about it so she can explain her favorite parts in her own words. Both Sloan and Olivia are getting straight A's and Linni is doing good too. (they don't do the A's and B's yet for her grade.)

There is so much I feel like I've missed, I'll just start small today and try to get this going again. I'll add some pictures that I found saved in my computer and add more later.