The Kindness of a Stranger

So, on Monday we were desperately in need of food, so I made the weekly trek to the grocery store with a very fussy 6 month old and a spunky 2 yr old (the twins were in school, thank goodness) I really don't like grocery shopping- its expensive, its hard to contain kids and people get mad at me because I use WIC checks, coupons,etc.

Elijah was getting sick and hadn't been sleeping well, but thankfully, he fell asleep while I was shopping. Ella was VERY good until we got in line to pay- I had to get her out of the cart and she immediately goes to the candy rack and starts trying to open every candy bar she can get her hands on. While I am trying to get my 2 yr old under control, Elijah wakes up and starts screaming! So, I pick his 100 pound car seat up an start bouncing him to keep him quite.

Usually the check out clerk has her act together and can process WIC quickly so the people behind me don't freak out, but I must have gotten someone new. I immediately started apologizing to the lady behind me, as the clerk was inspecting every WIC product to make sure I didn't cheat the system:) Sure enough, I grabbed organic carrots by mistake instead of the regular brand, so she wanted me to go get the right bag. I told her not to worry about it. Then I had grabbed an extra juice, I also told her not ring it up. Ten minutes later with a pack of Mentos opened by Ella, WIC was done. So she starts with my regular order. I am a sale shopper so I watch closely to make sure everything rings up right (another thing that irrates people in line behind me) Just to add to my fun trip, the apples weren't ringing up on sale. so I told her to forget them. So, FINALLY , I am done and as I was paying, the lady behind me says, "Wait just a minute, I want to buy those 3 things for you." I couldn't believe it- that has never happened to me- of course, I protested, but she insisted and said she knows its so hard to shop with babies! That small act of kindess from a complete stranger, made my day and lightened up a stressful situation. Thank you God, for meeting my needs and letting me know that there are still nice people in the world!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sweet Ella Bella!

My dear SWEET Bella is 2 yrs old today- where has the time gone- it seems like yesterday I was in the hospital waiting for her to arrive, changing tiny diapers and kissing tiny cheeks. I LOVE the fact that she is growing up and look forward to finding out what type of woman she will become, but it is mingled with sadness. She soon will outgrow wanting to be rocked on my lap, or given snacks every 10 minutes! She will go to school and grow more independent as the years go on, but for now and always she will still be my sweet Bella- I love you, Ella!

A look back...

All in the Family

So, I just posted about how much Ella looks like me, well, take a look at my brother Justin when he was a baby and Elijah- they look SO much alike!Justin

Elijah

Justin

Elijah

Double Vision

This is absolutely amazing!!! People have been commenting on how much Ella looks like me. Below is a picture of me when I was 2 yrs old....

And here is Ella at 2 yrs old...Me and my brother Justin at 2 and 1...Ella a 2 yrs old...

Isn't this amazing! I can't get over how much alike we look!

Happy 7th Anniversary

Here is a picture of us 7 years ago on this day walking down the road to start our life together ...

Here we are 7 years later- exhausted after 4 kids 4 and under!
All kidding aside, I am married to the most wonderful man in the world. He is SO loving and patient with me and spoils me more than I can say! Not only does he love me, he is GREAT with our kids. I work part time and at least 3 nights a week, when I arrive home from work late at night, he has the kitchen cleaned, house picked up, kids bathed and put to sleep- who could ask for more! Not only does he take VERY good care of our kids, he also loves them SO much and showers them with attention, hugs and kisses!
He's the BEST!
I love you Mark!

New Years Eve Festivites

New Years Eve was fun this year- normally we crash around 11pm and just stay home. Well, this year, we were invited to the Nash house! We stayed for about2 hours and the kids had fun exploring their HUGE playroom and the adults had fun eating and playing games. After leaving there, we went home and had the Kochacans and the Lutz family over till midnight. Marks parents stopped by for a little too. We played poker and Apples to Apples till midnight!

We toasted in the New Year with the Lutzs and amazingly all teh kids stayed awake except for Elijah who crashed pretty early!

I had fun making food for the occassion- I made crab stuffed mushrooms for the Nashes and crabdip( which we ended up eating on New Years Day) and Chili Con Queso for our house. It was all SO good!

Christmas Gift Reviews

So, I stole this title from my husband's blog because I really am bad at thinking of titles for my posts. This year was a REALLY nice Christmas and I got a lot of VERY nice gifts! Usually we get money from relatives which is GREAT but it's also fun to open things as well. So, here are some highlites from what I got...

1. From my mom- a HUGE gift basket filled with my favorite things- Ghiradeli chocolate, cute coffee mugs, Dunkin Donutes coffee, Tastycakes and a cute country ornament. I think the mugs are my favorite since I am constantly drinking coffee and tea.

2. From my husband- Apples to Apples- it is SUCH a fun game and I've wanted it for a while. I know its not very romantic but we really don't get one another very much since we don't have the money and we actually really like to eat out so that is what we normally do for special occasions! And it is SO nice having family nearby to babysit when we do go out!

3. From my inlaws- They were SO sweet and got me everything off my list but the "romantic" things:) My favorite is my BIG pasta pot with strainer and steamer inserts- its GREAT! I cook pasta SO much around here (its one of few things my twins will eat) and I actually never had a strainer so I had to use a spoon. Anyway, this pot is great! I can just pick the insert out and it strains the water right out. They also got me a teapot, pot holders, rolling pin and another favorite gift- A Nursing Cover!!!!

Thanks everyone for being SO generous to me ( and my kids) Merry Christmas!