So we road tripped down to Hoquiam fcr the weekend to visit with Linda, Scott, Leila and Emma. We planned to leave bright and early, but getting three boys and all the gear packed in the car and getting out the door proved to be more of a ordeal than we ever imagined! Anyhow, we got there in the early afternoon. Stopped in at Salvatin Army and hit the jackpot with 2 pairs of Levis for Dee and I for only $5 and they are like new and fit great. Went into Walmart and got a new microwave, got tired of ours sending out blue sparks everytime we try to nuke something. That can’t be good. It was a madhouse in there, a serious zoo especially with 3 adults and FIVE kids! We were quite the spectacle…and of course, Dominic had to go potty twice when we were on the other side of the store. Oh well!

Got back to the house and had a great time with Linda and Scott, just hung out, had a great dinner that Linda made and just relaxed while the kids played. It was really nice to see them and spend some time together with nothing to do but chat.

The kids had a blast with Scott throwing them up in the air, as you can see from the pictures. With their vaulted ceiling they really got to go high!

Got back last night and had dinner with my folks and helped them put Christmas stuff away, then got the boys home and into bed while we started laundry and got the bags unpacked. Great visit, but nice to be home and back into schedule today…Alice is here and Mary’s cooking chicken enchiladas and key lime pie for dessert! We’re spoiled for sure.

Off to check out cars online…I’m ready for a change!

So we had a little “dress-up” play today and Alice was a princess, Dominic was a skater boy and a teletubbie and Carlos was Mini-me! I was cracking up with the Carlos picture, I mean, you can’t get a kid to pose like that! It was fun to play and the kids love to see the pictures of themselves all dressed up. Still fighting the cough, had to give the little kids one of Dominc’s breathing treatments, which proved to be an ordeal. They ended up ok and it seemed to help with the cough a little. Had a great evening with my parents coming over for take-out Sawatdy Thai food (the best EVER) and then the boys got to play ponyboy and read stories with grandpa and grandma.

We’re headed to Hoquiam for the weekend to see Scott, Linda and the girls. It’s been awhile since we’ve been down there so the trip should be fun for all of us. Can’t wait to see how big Emma’s grown since we saw her last. We’ll post some pictures on the blog when we get some!

It’s all about football here at the Field-Bennett house! What a great game last night with FSU and Penn State with triple overtime! The Rose Bowl tonight (go Texas!) should be a good one, too. With the boys still fighting this cough, it’s nice to have an excuse to just kick back and cuddle with the kids. Carlos and Dominic both can say “football” and get excited when a game comes on.

I’m off here…have Finn coming for a few hours to play. Hope he won’t cry for 3 hours straight like last time! 🙂

Trey got his first official haircut yesterday and he looks SO handsome. It’s amazing how taking just a little hair off the top of his head has changed his looks so much, he’s much older looking now (yikes, he looks older than all the kids his age by a ton already) without the curls.

The boys all have this horrible cough and two are on antibiotics. Hoping this passes quickly, it’s no fun to be in a house full of sickies. Just have my fingers crossed that Dee and I can get though their sickness without coming down with it ourselves. Lots of Zicam and Vitamin C for sure!

New years resolutions are going strong so far…hoping that we can keep them. Dee wants to get organized and I want to have our house cleaner! So, I set up a schedule for housecleaning and instead of doing it all at once it’s broken down throughout the week. Last night’s cleaning the kitchen took forever since there was lots of clutter to get rid of. Hoping that it gets easier next week or this resolution will fail, since I’m not spending 2 hours every evening cleaning! Today’s laundry day and dusting the living room, should be easy when the kids are napping. The other piece to the puzzle is our “to do” list, which we made new years day and we are trying to accomplish 1 thing per day on that. They aren’t big things, but “replacing light bulbs” just doesn’t get done unless it’s on a list or we’re sitting in the dark.

Enough chat about housecleaning and clutter…I’m off to snuggle with my sick babies!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Didn’t think we’d see the New Year at the stroke of midnight, but some neighbors fireworks woke up Carlos just before 12pm and he was up for the next 3 hours. So, we tried to sleep through it but that just wasn’t in the cards. Carlos is officially moving back into the room with Dominic and Dee and I are eagerly awaiting a full night’s sleep!

Here’s the link you’ve all been waiting for…it’s the Field Family whole family picture at the Picture People. It was fun getting us all together to do this, and a picture I just love. My nephew, Luca, didn’t quite cooperate but that’s ok, we all have our moments and now his has been captured on film. It’s funny, too because he’s really a mellow guy and I was sure one of our boys would be screaming and crying in the photo. Enjoy! Hope the link works, the Picture People website is strange sometimes and acts up. http://www.picturepeople.com/viewsharedalbum.aspx?SharedPictureGroupID=362144&ShareKey=6f49f9f66b224b1eab4666ac2252d992

Had a great surprise visit from my friend Stephanie, her husband Dave and their son, Jacob last night. They were in town at her folk’s place and stopped in to say hi. It was great, Jacob is age-wise right between Dominic and Carlos so they all can play together. Carlos was being a twit, though, and didn’t want to share toys. Jacob was jazzed to be somewhere with lots of all new toys and Steph, Dave, Dee and I got to just hang out and chat while the boys played. It was really great!

Can’t believe the Seahawks lost to the Packers (yikes!), that was the first of many games we’ll be watching today inbetween doing some household organization. It feels good to have things done the first of the year, clean sheets and towels, clean bathroom and kitchen, toys organized, etc. That’s a goal for the new year…be organized! We’ll see if we can stick to that one, fingers are crossed.

Last post of 2005, seems like it’s not really the year’s end. Dee and I are planning to be boring and head to bed, maybe read our books (usually a paragraph if we’re lucky) and sleep through the ringing in of the New Year. Yes, the thought did cross our minds to wake the boys up for the Space Needle fireworks, but that was a fleeting thought as we might not get them right back to sleep! So, I’m Tivo-ing the Needle fireworks so we can see them in the morning. The boys will dig that for sure.

Tomorrow is for just “being” and we have big plans of watching football, doing Sudoku puzzles (our new craze) eating crockpot junk food chip dip and little smokies and hopefully having some friends drop in the hang out with us. All are welcome, we’ll be home!

Here’s to great happenings for 2006…we’ve got our fingers crossed for two adoptions and we can’t think of anything better than that! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL, may it be fabulous!

Trey is rolling over! It’s official, he’s been close to doing it for the last couple of weeks, but yesterday he did it once and then became a pro. It’s amazing, he seems to be growing up so much faster than Carlos. He’s holding his bottle now, too (another skill mastered yesterday). We’re oh so proud parents.

We took down the tree, not that I’m a scrooge or anything, just had to get the space back in the living room and take down a potential climbing hazard for Carlos. He’s such a daredevil!

Dee’s dad returned home yesterday and we’re sad to see him go. The boys asked “where’s Papa B?” when they got up in the morning. They were excited by all the relatives visiting for sure, just didn’t understand why they are all gone now. Hopefully they’ll be back really soon (hint hint).

Off to get the troops out of bed and start the day…..

We’re starting to come down from the Christmas “highs” and high sugar intake. The boys are back in their routine but are still excited because Papa Benny is here visiting. He’s great with them and always down on the floor playing and coloring and all. It’s nice for them to get the quality time while he’s here. He hadn’t met Trey until last night, so that was a huge event! Trey was giggling so loudly and just loved Papa B.

We’re sad that Todd, Monica and Luca had to return home this morning…Carlos and Luca really had fun together and it was so nice to spend some time with Todd and Monica, too. We had lots of hanging out time, which is the best in my opinion.

Maybe off to the mall (yikes!) this afternoon to do a couple returns. Hate to fight the crowds but maybe I’ll leave the boys home to play with Dee and Papa! Hee hee!

WOW, what a wild last couple of days! The boys had a blast this Christmas, saw lots of relatives and got WAY too many toys. Mamas liked the new clothes for sure, they’re too cute. Carlos had a very Elmo Christmas and Dominic’s was lots of Toy Story. Trey got the wide variety of teething toys, so everyone was happy.

Carlos and Luca are getting along great, it’s so fun to have my brother and the family visit and for the boys to get to play together. I’m not sure what Luca thinks of Carlos, though, as Carlos is always trying to kiss him. 🙂 It’s cute!

Off to grandparents again while Dee goes to pick up her Dad. Should be great, he’ll be meeting his grandson for the first time! We’re all excited to show off baby Trey and get some great time with Dad in town and staying with us for a few days.

Hope the holidays were very merry for all. Be safe on New Years….we’re thinking about having a little martini party if anyone’s interested!

What a week it’s been! Sharon, Alan and Alanna went back to Detroit after a nice visit. We got to spend lots of time with them, which we haven’t done in years so that was great. Todd, Monica and Luca are in town now and the boys are having fun playing. Carlos and Luca are 2 weeks difference in age, they seem to like eachother but really don’t play together at all just around eachother.

Took all ten of us to the Picture People last night to get a family portrait done and it was a fiasco! All in all, the picture turned out well with grandma and grandpa sitting proudly in the front with the kids, spouses and grandkids surrounding them. Luca was screaming, the picture reflects that, but it really did end up nice and it was good to have a group photo taken. Now, if we could only get Dee’s family all together and do the same….

Today is mellow, we’re hanging out and going to try to make Christmas cookies after the boys get up from their nap. Should be fun!

Ho Ho Ho and Merry Christmas to all! We have loved getting all the cards and newsletter updates. Seems we don’t get out much anymore!