Merry Christmas Eve!

Oh Boy, I really hope we make it until tomorrow~ my two monkeys have been up since 5. Brady was asking AGAIN if Santa had left something in his stocking yet. I am excited for Santa to come too, but would be more excited if I could sleep a little too! Merry Christmas all!

Kid's Christmas Progam

Today the kids performed in the Christmas Program at church (2 services). Here is video of their performance. The song is called Angel Band and I am attaching the lyrics since I am sure you won't understand them. They had a great time with the instruments though!

The Angel Band by Hap Palmer

(Solo) One glorious Christmas morning
Ten angels did appear
And each on held an instrumetn
Carefully made by hand
First they counted off to ten
Playing one by one
Then they played together
in a joyful Angel Band.

(All Sing)
There was one, there were two, there were three little angels
There were four, there were five, there were six little angels
There were seven, there were eight, there were nine angels
Ten little angels in the band!

Oh wasn't that a band Christmas morning,
Christmas morning, Christmas morning?
Wasn't that a bandChristmas morning?
Ten little angels in the band! (Repeat)

The kids are on the front row Brady at the far left and Katie is 5th from the left.

http://www.dropshots.com/laniganz#date/2008-12-07/13:22:37

(Sorry for the link) I can't get videos to upload here.

The Funny Things They Say.....Part 123,567,234

Katie:

On our drive home from W Palm Beach for Thanksgiving, we made a pit stop. Katie said she didn't need to use the restroom. Ten minutes down the road, Katie says she has to go poopie. Mommy says "Well, you will just have to hold it." Her reply? "I have to hold the poopie in my hand?"

Brady:

When he tooted this morning, Daddy asked "Brady, what was that?"
Brady replied with a giggle "There's a duck in my pants!"

Katie:
We put the Christmas decorations out today. Katie helped me put out the Nativity set while the Lanigan males went to CVS (or PB&J as Brady calls it) to get a string of lights. I ask Katie who Baby Jesus' daddy is. She said "Joe-fuss!" It sounds so funny!

My last thought before I close, why does she think its funny when her brother goes in timeout?

Christmas Lists

Enjoy!

October Photos

Power Ranger Brady!




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Brady trying to be a mummy- using Dental Floss















Pumpkin Patch Photos 10/19/08

Our update....

It's been a busy couple of months and we haven't felt much like celebrating. I have tried to write this post a few times and could never get it right, so here goes....Rob's sister, Kelly, passed away peacefully on 9/12/08 in her sleep with her mom and dad and partner Richelle nearby. Aunt Kel, as B&K loved to call her, will be greatly missed. She had bravely battled breast cancer for 4 years and in July decided to stop all treatments and scans so that she could enjoy her days. Our family is in pain and we all really miss her.

I called Mimi's cell phone today and Kelly had recorded her voicemail greeting about a year ago. It was the first time Rob and I had heard her voice and we both took it hard. Brady noticed our sadness and immediately went up stairs to retrieve his favorite blanket and the stuffed Tiger that she had given him. He took them to Rob and told him that they would make him feel better. They did, too.

Back in the spring, Rob and I committed to walking in the Breast Cancer 3Day walk in Tampa Bay (60 mile walk over 3 days). This walk benefits the Susan G Komen foundation. Rob has raised almost $2200 and I have raised almost $4000. We had hoped that Kelly would be there at the closing ceremonies with us. She was so excited that we were doing this walk and while we know she will be pushing us along- we know we will cross the finish line with heavy hearts. Please pray for us- that we will have the strength and endurance to make it through on 10/31-11/2.

Love- Tam

A Wednesday Funny!

ahhh, I think we are watching too much tv.

As the kids were leaving for Preschool this morning with Daddy. Katie yells "Bye Bye Mommy, I love you!"

Brady then yells "Bye Mommy, take care koala bear! giggle, giggle"

Where do they get these things? :)

First Day of Pre-K3

The monkeys are back in school as of Monday. It is so quiet in the house now and I LOVE IT! They seem to really like their new school. We are completely day-time potty trained (will work on night time soon!) so they are in the official "big kid" class!

Summertime!

Ok- so I am behind again. After our Indiana vacation, the kids went to Vacation Bible School at a small local Lutheren church- they really seemed to love it and we loved it on two fronts: 1.) It was FREE! 2.)It got the kids out of the house for 3 hours a day for 5 days and gave Daddy a bit of a break. Below is a video of K singing at the end of the week. Hear the kid yelling the words to the song? That would be my girl!

We took the kids to dinner with Mimi and Papa on a Sunday evening and didn't realize that a show was included with dinner.

We also started soccer in a program at our church. Daddy is the Assistant Coach. Here are some photos for your view pleasure.

July Vacation In Indiana

I am a little late in posting details from our vacation in Indiana.

We spent 3 days with Grandma and Grandpa in Lafayette and then 3 days with Grammy and Grampy in Williamsport.

Here are some of the photos:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbsWTRo3ZM2yz

And here are some videos: B and K adopted a stray barn cat while at Grammy's house. Since our visit Grammy and Grampy have purchased food, bowls and worm medicine for "Oscar." The goat belongs to "Uncle Dave" and the kids had a lot of fun "shooing" him away. Luckily, cousins Keegan and Guthrie were able to trap the goat in the chicken yard to keep him from eating Grammy's flowers.

Tropical Storm Fay

As we are preparing for Tropical Storm Fay, Daddy has been in the position to explain Hurricanes and Tropical Storms to B and K.

B asked Daddy if the wind will blow our house away. Daddy said no, and if the storm gets too bad, we would leave and go somewhere safe. B's reply?

"Daddy, I think we should just go to Chucky Cheese, its the safest place for us!"

The Joys of Potty Training~

Before I became a parent, I could never understand the fascination and the incredible amount of talk about poo poo and pee pee. Ahhhhh- I now do! Our approach has been "hands off" on the potty training- we havent pushed the subject- only encouraged. I do still get a bit anxious when I hear about 2 year olds being potty trained- but I am doing my best to keep that to myself.

I can't believe that I actually jump up to see who did what in the potty. "Mommy! I did poo poo! Come See!" And I run to check out the masterpiece of my very talented children!

T minus 3 weeks and Brady and Katie are off to Preschool for 3 year olds- they must be potty training to go to the older 3's class versus the baby 3's.

Brady is really trying- especially when it comes to getting gummy bears or a sucker or ice cream. He went to Vacation Bible School in big boy pants.

Katie is on her 2nd day of wearing big girl panties to Vacation Bible School. She is doing great. Yesterday, after nap, she came into my office to tell me she wanted to her panties back on. She said "I keep my panties in my purse- to keep them safe!" Safe from what, I ask!

A Monday Funny

So Brady is beginning to show some interest in the potty and I am so sure that I will have many more of these stories to share, but here is the first.

We have found the perfect bribe to Brady to achieve our potty training goal before the glorious date of September 7th- the first day of PreK 3 for B and K- GUMMY BEARS!!

Anyway, Brady was talking about his gummy bears this morning before I went to work, so I asked him if he wanted to try to go before Mommy leave for work. He went to try and we had no luck. So I grabbed a handful of Cherrios to give that a try. He thought this was a very fun idea but still had no luck- he even grunted a couple of times.

Katie came into the bathroom and saw what fun Brady was trying to have. "I want to try it Mommy! I want to squirt the cherrios!" I had to explain to her that this was a fun game for boys and we would think of another game for her.

I walked out of the bathroom and this is the conversation I heard.

B: "Katie, you can't squirt cherrios because you don't have a tootie. You have a vagina."

K: "Oh maaannnn! Brady, can I borrow your tootie?"




P.S. I need to post about our Gatlinburg vacation. I promise to get to it this week.

The Big Boy Haircut

A few weeks ago, I took the kids for haircuts at the mall. After we were finished, I ran into my good friend Joanna. Joanna, also the mother of boy/girl twins, is one of those friends that you always know will tell you the truth even though it may not be what you want to hear. I love her for that and that is the reason I knew she would be honest with me about my recent haircut- that I am still not so sure about.

Anyway, this is about Brady's haircut- not mine. :) Back at the mall, she noticed Katie's haircut right away and thought it looked great. Brady's? Well, she was not too keen on it. I looked pretty much like Katie's with a lot more curl.

Then we started getting the comments- "how cute, two girls!" and "look at her curls!" So, before I left for my business trip on Monday, I mentioned to Rob that maybe we should get him a "Big Boy" haircut. So, Daddy to him to a barber shop and the two boys of our family got a "real" haircut.

What do you think?

I think he looks so much like his Daddy now. Daddy thinks he looks like his cousin Cody. Katie thinks he is handsome. Brady is happy he can see his ears.

I think they are growing too fast.

Sunday with Mimi & Papa

Happy Monday! We spent Sunday at Mimi and Papa's house . We started our day walking our 3 miles for our training* then headed north to Mass. Brady and Katie went to children's church. After church, we met with Miss Dottie and Mr Tony (Mimi and Papa's friends) for lunch. Brady took a nap back at Mimi and Papa's but Katie was too excited to sleep. She was looking forward to playing outside in the little pool, slip and slide and big pool. Check out these videos.

Anna and Harry came over for a visit too. It was great to see them and catch up. .After swimming, we sat down to hamburgers and steaks on the grill with corn on the cob and lots of other goodies.

While we were cleaning up, the kiddos wanted to go outside again. Papa and Harry took them out to the swings. I think Katie had enough excitement for one day.

*Rob and I have started training to walk in the Breast Cancer 3-Day. More information to come on that.

A day at the Beach

On Saturday, we took the kids over to our favorite beach for the afternoon. Honeymoon Island is a State Park. If you have a full day, you can take a ferry over to Caladesi Island. Caladesi was recently voted the most beautiful beach in the US. Here are some photos I was able to take.

PEPE LePeu

The kids were napping and I heard Katie was up, so I ran downstairs to say hello. As I was coming back up to my office- I smell something very strong. It smells like men’s cologne. Oh no! I run into our room and Brady is laying in bed spraying himself with Rob’s cologne. I asked him how many times he sprayed and he said “8!”



Ahhhh- my nose won’t stop itching!

The Bag Lady

Yes, I know, I should be working right now.

Since I am a WAHM (work at home mom), I am blessed (I think) to have the kids home all day. While Daddy takes them out for lots of activities during the day so that I can attempt to get my work done. Most of the time its nice to have the kids pop into my office to tell me what they are doing.

Right now, I am now listening to the most exciting conference call! There was just a knock on my door and since I am have nothing to say or really contribute on this conference call, I opened the door.

It's Daddy and Katie. Katie is eating a brownie. Mind you, we finished the brownies I made on Sunday (today is Wednesday).

Mommy: What are you eating?

Katie (with a big smile): A brownie

Mommy: Where did you get a brownie?

Katie: In my PURSE!!!

Oh my, we have a bag lady living in our house!

P.S. The purse in question is a red striped bag from Grammy's trip to the Longenberger (sp) factory. Mommy used it for awhile, but somehow it became the Princess' favorite. She calls it "my Striped Purse" and carries it pretty much everywhere.

Happy Mother's Day to All Our Mommies!

Our own Visa commercial

Last weekend, we took a long weekend and visited the land of all things Mickey Mouse. Since we are on a tight budget, we stayed at the All Star Sports hotel, which was very nice and had everything we needed. On Friday, we spent the day at Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM Studios). The monkeys really enjoyed the Playhouse Disney show. Katie wanted to hug all the characters on stage and asked each time a new one appeared. Here is a video of them enjoying the bubbles.

They also loved meeting all their favorite characters- especially Buzz Lightyear and Woody. At the end of the day, they got to meet Mickey Mouse.

After lunch, we visited the playground designed after "Honey I Shrunk the Kids".

We finally went to visit Mickey!

Hollywood Studios has a spectacular nightime program called Fantasmic. We met our friends the Martin Family for it. Everyone really enjoyed it.

And then we crashed!

On Saturday, we spent a long day at the Magic Kingdom. We enjoyed Story Time with Belle, the Buzz Lightyear Ride, and the Dumbo Ride. Katie's favorite was the same as Mommy's "Its a Small World." Although, she called it the "Dolly Ride" Mimi and Papa joined us in the afternoon. We stayed for the very crowded parade and watched some of the fireworks before making our way back to the hotel. At the beginning of the fireworks, Tinkerbell "flies" from the castle down into the park. Brady kept asking me where she went, so I finally told him that she went to get a snack. He said "Did she go into the water to get a hamburger?" We all agreed that she did and that was the last we heard of it.

Here are a few of our favorite photos:

SUNDAY:

Cost of 4 Day Park Passes: $400

Two nights at a hotel: $215

Souveniers: $100

Riding the FREE bus, boat and monorail: PRICELESS

All Disney Resorts offer free transportation to the parks- the All Star Sports busses all their guests. By Saturday afternoon, we determined that the monkeys would be on overload and that it was probably not a great idea to do a third day at the parks as we didn't think it would pleasant for any of us.

So we opted to have a low key day. We rode the bus from the hotel to the Magic Kingdom.

Took a boat to catch the monorail to Epcot.

And the bus from Epcot back to the hotel. I think Brady enjoyed the "free rides" more than the parks themselves. We then packed up the cars and checked out of the hotel and went off to Downtown Disney for some lunch and a little shopping. Brady and Katie had a terrible meltdown in the van and when we put them in the stroller, they both passed out. Mommy and Daddy got to enjoy Rob's belated birthday lunch with Mimi and Papa while they slumbered.

Why Mommy?

We are in the why phase with Katie and sometimes it makes us a little crazy.

This morning, Katie was in full force with the why questions. I asked her "Why do you ask so many questions? She replied, "Wow Mommy, that's a very good question!"

April Supper Club

We try to meet up with our friends once a month for dinner. Everyone brings a dish and its a party! There are 12 adults and 17 children from age 10 down to 13 months. Its a great time for all.

Here are some photos:

Anna enjoyed her dinner!

Katie in pigtails.

Brady swiped my Pepsi.

Katie and Anna on the swing.

Some of the gang.

Matthew, Patrick and Jon.

The Batman Store

We were on our way to Publix the other day. Brady said we are going to the Batman store. When I asked him what you can buy at the Batman store he said "you know, supergum and super sandwiches." When I asked him what kind of sandwiches, he said "actually Mommy, they are out of sandwiches because Batman ate them all." I am still stunned that he said "ACTUALLY" in a sentence.

Soccer

We were sitting on the couch and there was a soccer game on TV.

Katie: "Daddy, are you on the red team or blue team?"

Daddy: "Red team. What team are you on?"

Katie: "I want to be on the red team like you Daddy! Will you throw me the ball?"

Mommy: "Katie, in soccer you have to kick the ball, not throw it."

Katie (rolling her eyes): "Mommy, Daddy can only throw the ball to me because I am fragile."

I think we have told her brother too many times to stop jumping and sitting on his sister because she is "fragile".

Ribs with Mimi & Papa

As you can tell, we REALLY like Ribs!

After dinner, Brady and Katie received their birthday scooters from Mimi and Papa. We had to wait til Katie's platelets were back to normal before they could ride them

Easter Photo