The Boys!

The pictures say it all!

Tee Ball!

The kids are loving Tee Ball! They sure are growing up!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

Ryan insisted that I take a picture with each kid this year. I am so glad that he did!
We had a great Mother's Day weekend (I always extend the holiday to a full weekend)!
Ryan took me to Wheeling for a great night of playing poker. The kids made me a ton of crafts and pictures.
It was a perfect weekend! Happy Mother's Day to all of the other Mom's out there!

Happy Mother's Day Sheila!

Sheila's Mother's Day Present!
The boys weren't exactly interested in having a photo shoot that day!

Rainy Day Fun!

This picture cracks me up! It was a rainy afternoon here today, and the kids were determined to be outside. I looked out the dining room window to see this! Ben was, of course, in full basketball gear. Maria and Jake were in the middle of an intense Tic-Tac-Toe battle. The boys had to have their "working" gloves on! I love the days when they play together and don't fight, although they seem to be few and far between!!! I know, it is strange for a bench to be sitting on the ground, but the frame broke and we haven't figured out what to do with the bench yet!

My Three Boys!!!

Jake and Ben were getting ready for Preschool the other day, and as we were leaving I saw all three of the boys standing together in the living room. It hit me that all of these boys, these brothers, will have a lifetime of great memories together. I had to snap a picture of my three boys! Funny to me that they look NOTHING alike! Sans the matching pullovers (brightly colored for playground visibility), you would never know they are brothers!!!

Albuterol Boys!

Well, we have been on hiatus from the blogging world for a while. The boys all had pneumonia, and it made for a couple of interesting weeks around here. They loved their breathing treatments...so much so that they asked the nurse if they could have one for Christmas! Thank God we are all healthy now!!! Hopefully, it will last!

Seuss on the Loose!!!

All of the Kindergarten classes at O'Hara Elementary performed "Seuss on the Loose" on Friday.
It was an adorable medley of singing and Dr. Seuss books. Each class memorized a different book and recited it with props and dancing.
All six of the Kindergarten classes learned three Seuss-inspired songs and sang them for everyone.
It brought tears to my eyes! Maria had the time of her life! It is hard to believe we will be watching Jake do it next year!

Benny Turns 3!!!!!

We had a fun "basketball" party for Ben last week to celebrate his 3rd birthday!
He had a blast playing basketball with all of his friends and family and got a lot of basketball clothes as gifts.
Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us! All of the "Aunts" were definitely missed...Jessie, Connie & Jenny!

Dan's Birthday Dance Party

We were going to go out for Dan's birthday, but we decided to stay in for a family dance party!
Good times were had by all!

Ben Provided the Guitar Music!

More Dance Party Love!

Holy Terror, Batman!

So, Jake is obsessed with Batman. I don't know how it happened. He has never even seen the show!
So we have been having our own Batman shows. According to Jake, they must include running on the coffee table, pushups on the coffee table, and then a flying leap off of the table. It absolutely cracks me up!!! He is so intense and passionate about being Batman!

Here We Go Steelers...

The kids had a ball decorating for our Steelers "party" (note the random streamers taped to the wall in the backround)
that was attended by only the six of us!!!
We are proud to be a Six-burgh family!
Go Steelers!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Danny!!!

Dan's birthday is tomorrow. So bitter-sweet! Our little man is growing and moving and talking...we can hardly keep up.
We had a little birthday party last weekend, and the cake was definitely the highlight for him. He loved it!


During Cake!

After Cake!

After Bath!

Happy Birthday Danny! We love you!!!!!!!!

Another Little Foxes Game!

Benny put on a real show tonight! He had the whole student section cheering him on!

Jake did a fantastic job with all of his dribbling skills!

Our Littlest Fox!

The Whole Crew!!!

Our "Little Foxes"!

Sorry it has taken me so long to post these. The boys had a fantastic time at their first "game" (they perform their dribbling drills on the perimeter of the court at the halftime of the varstiy game). They both love basketball. It was great to watch them. True to their personalities, Jake did exactly what he was supposed to do and Ben just did his own thing! I only posted two videos. It took so long for them to upload!

Dan is Mobile!

Sorry about the orientation! I can't figure out how to flip it.

The Older Three!

Maria "reading" to the boys! Too cute!

Movie night with the Fiscus kiddos and popcorn! Of course, Kung Fu Panda was playing!

We went to the Children's Museum today, and they had an exhibit with real Steelers gear for the kids to wear. The boys were in heaven!

Benny! Ahhh, Benny!

With Dan turning 1 soon and Maria in school now, Ryan and I have been talking about how quickly the kids are growing up and all of the things that we will miss. Ben keeps coming to mind. His adorable two-year-old ways will be greatly missed!



This is one of my favorite pictures of Ben. He is always dressed up as something, although you could never guess what because he puts his "outfits" together himself! This particular day he is a fireman! His shoes are always on the wrong feet too...just part of his charm. And talk about things I will miss, how about those chunky toddler legs??? Gotta love 'em!

Another great Ben moment. At Maria's birthday party he decided to play Santa. We all got ot sit on his lap and tell him what we wanted for Christmas. Aunt Jenny wanted a new house (she was in the middle of buying a new house). Ben asked me every ten minutes for the rest of the night if we could go to the garage and get Dad's real tools so he could start on Aunt Jenny's house!

Another Ben classic! Again a fireman, but this time he had on "earwax" (earmuffs) so the fire wouldn't hurt his ears, and a tossel cap to pull over his eyes so the fire won't burn them. He then proceeds to put the cap on (over his eyes, of course) and walk into the walls! The gloves have become integral to the fireman outfit. They also double as football player gloves, so they see a lot of action!

Oh, that smile! We love you Benny!

Christmas Day 2008! Presents! Presents! Presents!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday To You!

Maria LOVED her Wizard of Oz birthday party!
Thanks to everyone for celebrating with us and making her birthday so special!

Such genuine joy!

Jake and Ben picked this out for her!

Scary!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIA!!!

Maria is 6!
So hard to believe that our little peanut is 6 years old today!
Her teacher is allowing me to bring a special treat in to her class today
and read her favorite book to the class.
Fruit cups and "The Mermaid's Bracelet" at O'Hara Elementary!

Our little Kindergartener is almost 6. Can you believe that?
We are still trying to get used to 5! Here's a picture of her new haircut.
Wow, short hair is so much easier to take care of!

This is the first smile that I got when I asked to take her picture!
What a cheeseball!

A Picture Really Is Worth a Thousand Words!

It is amazing to me that one picture can totally sum up Benny's personality!
We were having lunch yesterday, and I looked across the table to find Ben putting a "Hamband" in his hair.
Of course, in true Benny style, he is bright-eyed and filthy!
On another note, we hit a new low the other day in the DeMotte household.
We thought Ben climbing in the toilet and hanging out there was pretty bad (you remember the picture???),
but the other day as Ben was "admiring" Jake's use of the potty, he decided to dunk his head in WHILE Jake was peeing!
You can't even make this stuff up!
We love you dearly little man!
You certainly keep things interesting.
As one of my friend's always says, "You are going to have to make friends with the principal for that one!"

Our Little Man Dan!

Happy Halloween!!!

Our little Monsters had a great night!

Enjoying the "fruits" of their labor!

My favorite picture of the night

This is usually what happens when I try to get a picture of all four kids!
At least they are all physically present.

The Halloween Parade!

School Halloween Parties

The boys loved their Halloween Party at school. They came home with more candy than they could carry, seriously!

Maria's class had a great Halloween party too. Can you spot Cinderella???