Visit from the Leprechauns

There is alot of talk of Leprechauns in Keira's classroom. Catching them and if they would leave chocolate etc.  I know she would be disappointed if they didn't visit our house so Mike and I made some plans and prepared to execute them. Problem is we forgot. I remembered around 230 am ( I guess there are some positives to waking up every 45 min all night long ) and was able to sprinkle chocolate bars all over the floor, put some drops of green food coloring in the toilet and write all over the windows with a green window marker. The kids loved it and even Nairi went on and on about the Leprechauns having green pee.

Papal Party Videos

Upon news of Habemus Papum, we commenced our Papal Party.  Our friends brought food, we made cupcakes and sloppy joes.  The kids had a dance party.

39 weeks!

Lets go little man..... we are WAITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The kids ask me every day. "When is the baby coming? Before Easter right?" And from Israel. " I don't like it in your belly. Its to dark in there. The baby is probably scared because its so dark in there. He should come out!"
If he follows in the path of his siblings he should be born some time this ( the 39th) week.

Snowman

 Its pretty impressive right???? I'm talking about the snowman not that the fact that I put 3 kids in snow gear by myself with this BELLY. I was kinda hoping all that huffing and puffing would result with me starting labor but no such luck.

 His hat is totally giving him elf ears!

So much for early spring!!!

Mudroom so close to being done!

Remember these? Before wall removal...

 Before wall removal

 Old mudroom hooks and bins and dysfunction closet.

 We finally settled on a paint color. Its a solid gray.

 Note the red rug will be leaving the room as well as the tan carpet. The plan is for hardwood floors and a colorful area rug. We also need to add some accents of bright color since all  we have right now and gray and black. But that all has to wait till we have the necessary $$$.

  Mudroom storage. Every kid has a bin for hats, gloves and socks. Everyone has hooks for jackets and purses and backpacks.

 Looking into mudroom from family room. That lower bin is what Mike built for shoes. He is going to add a lifting bench seat to the top of it and we are still waiting on the laminate tile flooring that is been back ordered from Home Depot for about a month. Its hard to tell from the camera glare but that is bead-board on the walls.

 Any guesses to who the nameless bin belongs too? :o)

If anyone has any great ideas of what we can line the bottom of the "shoe bin  with let me know. I know its going to get gunky from wet muddy shoes etc so I need to put something waterproof on the bottom so it doesn't ruin the wood.

Choosing a paint color....

 Have I mentioned I am indecisive when I am pregnant? My poor husband. First the babies name dilemma and now this. I wanted to go with a gray with white trim. 6 or 7 paint samples later I have finally made up my mind. Since I made a mistake about the first gallon we bought we are going with an accent wall in Silver and the rest of the walls in Elephant Gray ( which is actually not pictured in the above picture). Walls are primed and getting painted today and tomorrow. Biggest wait time was the ceiling. We had to get a professional in here to match the ugly popcorn ceiling ( because it takes a special tool that Mike does not have). Before anyone thinks we are fans of the popcorn look we are not but the whole house has it and its easier to just match it in the spots in the ceiling where the dry wall was repaired/redone than sand the whole darn ceiling and still have popcorn in the rest of the house.

 voila.... can you even tell whats old and whats new??

 The plastic bubble covered room we are dealing with. LOVE the mess!! But hey better now than when baby arrives!

This is where the "mudroom" will be. Its hard to tell under the plastic but the bead-board is up!! Hope Mike can get to the built ins this weekend if the painting is done.  The flooring is back ordered at Home Depot so its unlikely the project will be complete before #4 arrives but the messiest parts should be done at least so that is good.

Very important Baby Business!!

We never got our old house blessed. This time I was determined to do it and do it before the baby's birth since we hope for it to be a home birth. Huge thanks to Deacon Andrew and Deacon Jorge ( both to be ordained priests in a few short months!) for stopping here on their way back from Baltimore and blessing it for us. As you can see we enjoyed a yummy meal and there were dirty dishes and kids and toys everywhere. The chaos of family life, showered in Holy Water. Israel was funny telling Andrew " Don't get my toys WET!!!" When their was holy water flinging everywhere. Thank you Andrew and Jorge!!

35 weeks with #4

terrible picture but you get the idea!

My favorites from Joe and Christine's wedding

Nothing like getting married just hours after it stopped snowing from the blizzard of 2013. 2 feet of snow! We made it there and it was a beautiful ceremony and a fun filled reception. Nothing like a dance floor filled with kids under 10 to make for a good time.

 So handsome dressed up!

 Flower girl Keira

 The couple

 Nairi finds Corduroy more entertaining than the wedding Mass

 Daddy and son

 Sisters!

 Someone must be touching their face in every family pic right? And me of course big and pregnant because we apparently only take family pictures when I am weeks away from giving birth.

 It might appear that they do love each other once in a while...

Taking a break from dancing to watch someone shovel the mounds of snow

Influenza

What do you get when you add 3 home bound kids, one very pregnant mama and a case of influenza? Absolute nuttiness. That is us. Bringing stir crazy to a whole new level. Keira had a fever x 7 days, a positive flu swab and now an ear infection. Israel had 3 days of fever and appears to be over the hump. Nairi is just starting with the fever.  It appears we will go no where in February.  I'm more than ready for Spring which I can see is nowhere in site as we wait for the Nor'Easter of 2013 to bring us 2 feet of snow.  What exactly are the kids doing in this picture? Making their own drum chorus with books, pencils, spoons and bowls. Yes they are bored. We have done a million crafts, play dough, read books, watched movies, played endless games of Go Fish and Memory. Keira and Israel missed a complete week of school.  I will say dealing with being home bound and winter  is 100x easier in our new house than in our last tiny one. Space makes all the difference!!
Think we might need to break open a bottle of wine tonight while we watch the snow fall.

Dry wall is up

One step closer to moving onto the more exciting aspect of the project. My mudroom built in's and the new entry way/ kitchen flooring.