Recent Fun

In the last few days , we have had several Halloween-related activities as well as another birthday to celebrate.

The kids had a playgroup costume party on Friday and a cousins Halloween donut breakfast with Nana and Papa on Saturday.

We visited a pumpkin patch Sunday afternoon with cousins Kailey and Dylan. Here's a picture of what usually happens when you try to get five little ones to sit still for the camera....the only one not moving is the one who can't walk yet, and no one is looking at the camera!! Oh well.

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On Sunday evening we had dinner with extended family on my side, to celebrate my grandfather's 85th birthday. We got together at my Uncle Jim and Aunt Becky's home.
We had bbq, cake and ice cream. My grandfather is an amazing man at 85. We are very blessed to have him as our patriarch and in the words of my uncle...Gran is also " our hero". He has seen a lot in his 85 years and through it all has loved and supported his family and friends unconditionally. He survived World War II stationed in the South Pacific. He has lived through the passing of his parents, his siblings, his beloved wife and two of his children.He has also endured cardiac bypass surgery. We love you Gran!

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Last night Andrew carved pumpkins while the kids supervised. The girls were fascinated and thought the insides "gucky". Here's a few pics of the kids with their jack o' lanterns.






Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween tomorrow!!

A Growing Boy

Knox is now 9 months old. Today was his well-visit at the pediatrician's office. He's doing fine.

He weighs 21lbs and 15 oz. He is 28 1/2 inches long. He has 2 teeth so far. He sits up, but not for long before he's off crawling and exploring. He's making lots of babbling noises and eating a variety of foods ( he even tried dog food last week!! yuck!). Being the third child, I don't take as many pictures of him. But I did manage to snap a good one last night before he went to bed.

He is a happy boy!

A Few Birthday Pictures

Shelby in her new bike helmet.

Shelby got an Elmo cupcake and Jerzy's was an Ernie cupcake.

The morning after......

A Great Weekend

We had a great weekend celebrating the girls' birthdays. They received phone calls , and cards and thoughtful presents. The party on Saturday was great fun. I will post a few pictures soon.
I really can't believe that our baby girls are 3 and 2! It's amazing and brings us such great joy to watch them grow, play, talk, and learn. We are truly blessed.

Their new bikes are the obsession now. Shelby mastered Jerzy's trike pretty quick and because it's easier for her, tried to take it over. Andrew spent a better part of Sunday working with her on learning to pedal HER bike. Jerzy seems to have more fun pushing her trike and putting things in the little basket.They are so cute in their brightly colored bike helmets. Knox watches from his stroller and laughs at them when they come close.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in making the girls' birthdays very special. We appreciate it so much.

A Great Day

Today was a great birthday. It was a usual routine Wednesday of taking Shelby to school and going to work, etc. But it was nice... well wishes from family and friends all day, lunch out with a dear friend, dinner and cake at home with family. Thank you to everyone for the thoughtful cards and phone calls.

Last night was special too. Judy and I had dinner out and then made our way to Fair Park. We drove around a bit, but then found "fair"-ly close parking in one of those usual makeshift parking lots in the middle of a field being "tended" to by elderly gentleman. The Lion King was WONDERFUL. I highly recommend it. I know lots of people have seen it already. I would see it again. I hope when the kids are older we can take them to see it. The costumes and music and movement and set design are amazing. Thank you sister!

Now we have a day off and then it's two birthdays in a row! Hakuna Matata!

Shelby helps Mama make a wish. ( Yes- the cake had a bit of a rough trip from the car to the house to the table, but it was still delicious!! Thank you Vicki!)

One last picture before bedtime...

It's Birthday Week!

It's the start of what is usually one of the busiest and most exciting weeks of our year. All the Tokarz girls turn a year older this week.The little ones turn 3 and 2.... and Mama turns 32!! Shelby and Jerzy know their birthdays are coming, but they still aren't able to grasp the concept of days/time, etc.

Today was a good day at school for the girls. Knox and I were able to take care of some errands. Uncle Kemp was in town for the day and came to visit for a little while. Andrew is home and we're settling back into routine after his two week trip to Houston.

Celebrations begin tomorrow....my fabulous sister surprised me with tickets to see The Lion King on stage!!!! She can't be here to go with me ( she's seen it in NYC of course already) ,but I'm taking my Aunt Judy to enjoy it with me. I can't wait!!

Hope everyone has a GREAT week. I know we will!!!

Bump, Set, Spike!

We took a fun field trip Tuesday evening to our local high school for the girls to see their first volleyball game. Ms Vicki joined us and we also met our friends Theresa and Hannah. Knox played at Nana and Papa's while we were out. The girls had fun counting the seats, climbing the stairs, eating suckers, dancing to the music and oh yeah, watching the big kids play volleyball!

Shelby and Hannah

Theresa teaches biology there and when the girls were getting restless, she invited us up to her classroom to meet the pet turtles. She also gave us a brief tour of the school.It's very nice-- it's only a year old. This is the HS the kids will attend if we are still living here when the time comes.

Shelby checks out the turtles safely behind the glass.

Hannah and Vicki encourage Jerzy to get a little closer.

The girls stopped to take a break on the benches in the courtyard area on the way to the parking lot.

All in all it was a great outing for the girls. Maybe next week we'll try a HS football game!!!

You are my sunshine...

Ok so I have a hard time finding time to post to here. Oh well...I'll get better ( I hope!).

Girls are at school....Knox is putting himself to sleep....I'm about to enjoy a quiet lunch and get a few chores done before leaving to p/u girls at school. I have lots of pics to post, but the most recent are these of the kids that Andrew's sister took last week when she brought her boys by for a quick visit. ( Thanks Jen!)

The kids are definitely our sunshine. Even in those stressful , crazy moments a toothy grin from any of them or a sweet comment (from Jerzy " Mommy sing Sunshine")can brighten the day.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday. Here is my sunshine.