Happy Late Valentines Day

Evan's preschool hosted a Valentines Day tea! Most of pictures are very blurry.

Noah skips his much needed nap to attend the party. He had an ENT appointment in the morning.

Chaeli and Jonny were there too!

This is the morning of. Evan is giving a special valentine to each cat with a kitty treat taped to it.

Later that night the Cronin family celebrated. These are my special Valentines.

And the Valentine Day spread. We all were sick the next day from all the sugar.

Happy Valentines Day - I love ya, my guys!

Ode to my mommy

What would I do without her? The woman is amazing. She has a full time job and still has a homemade dinner ready 5 nights a week. She keeps her house immaculate, does the bills, the laundry, cleans, organizes and runs the entire house. She's not afraid to speak her mind. She'll never talk behind your back - she'll tell you exactly how she feels to your face, yet she gets away with it because she is loved by everyone and has a busy social life with lots of friends (much busier than mine) - wine parties, walking the boardwalk with Aunt Doris, even just riding her bike on the boardwalk by herself. She'll jump on a shady bus in Atlantic City and go to NYC on a whim just because she misses my sister, coming home late at night the next day. She's not afraid of anything and is always trying something new or going someplace cool either with a friend or alone. And yet she'll also drop everything to see her little grandsons and to help me out when Mike is away on business. She brings over homemade dinner, homemade cookies or pumpkin bread, takes the boys out, chases them around the house until everyone is exhausted. The woman has more energy than anyone I've ever known. She is amazing and I hope I'm that cool when I'm a grandmom. I wish I was that cool now.

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP, MOM! I LOVE YOU!

Evan's Big Party Part II

And now for the family party!

Scooby cake!

Evan's Aunt Mel, Godfather Uncle Dan and Elizabeth got him a giant cardboard rocket that you can color. It was awesome because it kept Evan, Noah, Elizabeth and Amelia busy for hours, but we had to commission an architect to put it together. Thankfully Becky's husband Chris is an architect.

Amelia and Noah hang inside the rocket.

Amelia escapes. Her eyes are like that because I blinded her with my flash.

And Scooby came to this one too. Notice the smile on Noah's face?

All is still good...

Until Scooby picked up Noah and all hell broke loose. I have never, NEVER witnessed Noah so upset in his entire life. I mean it. He screamed. His whole body was shaking. Poor Scooby scampered upstairs with his tail between legs feeling so badly.

It's not a birthday until the birthday boy loses his pants.

Evan's Big Party

With Matt Cadabra the magician!

There was a bunny.

Evan and Naomi cuddle.

And someone else special arrived too! Scooby Schmoo. Just look into his cold, dead eyes. Noah liked him at this part, but just wait until the second half of the party.

Scooby dances too!

My Firstborn Turns 5!

The man of the hour with silly string in his hair.

Where did the time go? How many parties can one five year old have? The answer is 4! One at school, a special dinner with just Grandmom and Pop on the actual day, then on the following weekend a friend party followed by a family party. Cupcakes at school and 3 cakes. Yes, we Cronins are a very wealthy family. hehe right. Thank God Noah doesn't have any friends yet besides Jonny. The poor guy is only going to get one party. The new baby will probably get a Twinkie with a candle on it.

Here's our special Grandmom and Pop dinner on January 14.

Evan has really been into Legos since his cousin Jack visited and had them. he's gotten a lot of them for Christmas and his birthday. Legos were also my absolute favorite toy as a kid. I could sit for hours and build with them. I literally zone out when they're in front of me, as you can see here.

And there was silly string!

For some reason the silly string made Noah FREAK OUT. Screaming. Crying. Shaking. I literally have never seen him scared of anything. It was crazy. But it happened again at Evan's friend party. Stay tuned...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY BIG BOY EVAN!!! Mommy and Daddy love you so much and are so proud of you!

Bad Kitties

It's Court House!

Roxy says hi.

They're such bad kitties. We love them. Court House likes to go outside and always makes a break for it when we come home and enter through the side door. Usually, I just let him hang outside a bit, like if the kids and I are outside playing and then bring him in a half hour later. One day the boys and I came home from one of our many doctor visits. This one was actually for Evan this time - a well visit - 98% in height! Anyway, Court House ran out and I had to forget about him for a minute so Evan could get ready for school. A half hour later, Court House is nowhere to be found. I ran around our house and both our neighbors' homes. No Court House. I had to get lunch ready, but I was shaken up and was ready to call Animal Control to see if they picked up a tuxedo cat. Court House has a microchip in his ear that lists his name as "Butchie" (his shelter name). The Animal Control truck is always parked across the street by the police dept and I was tempted to run over and ask them. As the boys were eating, I kept opening both the front and side doors, stepping outside and shouting "HERE KITTY KITTY! COURT HOUSE!" Noah was finished eating and jumped off his seat and the little boy who barely speaks kept running between the two doors, opening them and yelling, "HERE KITTY KITTY! COURT HOUSE!"

At one point I walk from the kitchen into the dining room - and there's Court House standing by the table like nothing had happened. Noah's squealing and looking very proud of himself so I asked him where Court House came from. Noah pointed to the front of the house and ran to the front door. I followed him and he opened the door and pointed outside laughing. Noah got the cat in! Yay Noah!

And this is Evan when Mike was gone on a business trip. I have to plant him in front of the tv while I put Noah to bed. I came downstairs to bring him up for stories and found that someone was keeping him company during Scooby Doo.

Court House looking scary