Holy S*#% An Alphabet Kids Blog Update!!!

Okay, so it's been a while since we last posted a blog update. Well, for those of you who have been patiently waiting, I (Daddy) give you The Alphabet Kids update!

Let's start with Christina. Sissy began Kindergarten this year. Yes... KINDERGARTEN!!! Holy cow is she growing up fast! She loves wearing her school uniform...




And as you can see, the school is following my strict instructions to form her into a nun! She's eating a carrot (healthy) while reading her bible!



As for No. 2 (Dominic), he just LOVES preschool and all of his friends. Well, to be honest, he only has four friends at school. That's because of the 16 kids in his class, 12 of them are girls! So the boys have banded together already and are fast becoming best friends. Dominic is learning so much too. Check out his letter writing below...





Not bad for a 3 1/2 year old!



Unfortunately while Bubba was practicing his letters, no one was paying attention to Ethan...

That's either some great medicine or he filled up his syringe with Grade A sugar!

Well, it's getting late and it took me over an hour to figure out Angie's password for this stinking blog, so I will leave you with an "awww" moment. Big brother Dominic reading books to his little brother Ethan. How cute...

Cute until it was time for wrestling!!!

Good night from the crazy world that is The Alphabet Kids home.

Dominic Turns 3! - I know I'm late!

Dominic James turned THREE! And it's hard to believe how fast the past 3 years have pasted.

We had a wonderful time celebrating the big 0-3 with our Bubba.

First, the Saturday night before Dominic's birthday, Daddy and Bub celebrated in style. They went to a Cleveland Cavaliers game. Christina made him a sign to take to the game to hold up. Not only were we able to catch a glimps of Dominic and his sign on TV (we TIVO'd it for those of you who'd like to see it), but Dominic and his sign made the jumbotron along with a birthday message from the Cavs.


Then, the night before Dominic's actual birthday, Christina stayed up late to decorate. She (along with a little help from Mommy) hung balloons and streamers. She also went and got him special Spiderman plates and cups to have his birthday breakfast on. Dominic had a yummy breakfast of sprinkle filled cupcakes with blue frosting. (This was his requested breakfast - good thing his birthday isn't everyday!)

But now on to the fun party!

Our house is just too small to host a family birthday in December, so we were thinking we were going to go with Dominic's favorite pizza place for his party. However, when he was asked where he wanted his party, his first - and only - response "McDonald's!" What surprised me was that our McD's is nothing fancy. No slides, no jungle gym, just a few video games (which my kids can't play) and the small computer with a coloring pages game on it (that the kids love to play). But if McDonald's is what Dominic wanted, it's what he would get.



They had a blast. We had plenty of food and fun for everyone! The staff was great and was very accommodating even before the party began. They did so much for us and everything was included- happy meals, party favors and even cake & ice cream. So for those of you reading this that live around here, I highly recommend a birthday party at McDonald's.

Big sister Christina and Birthday boy Dominic wearing their party hats.

Little brother Ethan getting in on the "cheese" for the camera action. He was happy to have french fries!

Dominic blowing out his candles on his Ronald McDonald cake. If you look closely you'll see the drool that was hanging from his mouth! It was quite gross, but the nice McDonald's girl grabbed a napkin and cleaned him up! Needless to say, no one wanted to eat any cake from that end!

Dominic wearing one of his favorite gifts, his fireman outfit. I think for the first 24 hours after he got this all we did was hear that he was on his way to a fire somewhere in our house and had an emergency!

All and all I think Dominic had a great birthday. I still remember the day we brought that little man home from the hospital. He's certainly grown and has quite the personality now! Infact, this last picture, he picked out for himself to add to the blog:

Wish us luck on the next three years to come! Just kidding!

We love you Bubba James!

Christmas Cheer

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loudly for all to hear!" -- Elf

Merry Christmas from The Alphabet Kids!

Trick or Treat AGAIN!

I promise this is not just a repeat of my Trick or Treat from Halloween. Or the Halloween party at school. I know I tend to repeat myself or forget what I've said and done (we'll blame that on Ethan's 3 am wake ups) but this is a new blog, about, you guessed it - TRICK OR TREAT!

So, about the beginning of October I was throwing away a bucket full of candy that was left over from a parade the kids and I went to in early JULY. After thinking about that and all the candy my kids would be getting trick or treating, I began to have candy on the brain. It was like a message was sent to me when I picked up a magazine that Joyce had given me and I read an article about a woman who sent Christmas stockings to soldiers serving overseas. I had my moment when the light bulb went off.

We were going to send some of our candy overseas to some soldiers. I thought about it and decided I would ask the other preschool moms (and dads) if they would be interested. I sent home a flyer. At first, I heard nothing. Bryan told me that he didn't think we'd get much, since our kids didn't bring home tons of candy. But I held out hope. I was going to get SOME candy.

But then the candy started coming. Next it was pouring in. But I still had to figure out who to send it to. Through our church I found a woman who is a member of Blue Star Mothers, and her son is serving in the Marines. She actually offered to pay my shipping! So I sent out a follow up email to parents and even made some phone calls. Bring on the candy!

I went in to the preschool Monday morning to have the kids write out cards. They were really cute and asked about where the soldiers lived, how their candy was going to get there, etc.

I had Bryan write up a news release for me and I sent it out hoping that the hometown paper would pick it up and add it to their "School News" section. Today I got a phone call that the Register wants to use us as their feature school article in Monday's paper! Super excited, but with only a few limited pictures I rounded up a few good kids & parents (that donated candy of course) and in less than 20 minutes had 5 kids for more pictures! You guys rock! I also got an email tonight that we'll be in the Catholic Chronicle as well!

Super super excited. I've been on cloud nine all day! While I should just feel good about the "doing good" part and not need the recognition, it's always nice to know that someone does recognize your efforts.

But really it wasn't just my efforts. It was the efforts of the kids in Christina's class. I took my Blue Star Mom tonight 54 pounds of candy. Yes, you read that right! 54 lbs!!! And I guess not only the recognition is good, but it's also good knowing that 54 lbs of candy isn't going straight to my hips & thighs!

I also need to add my funny with Christina & Dominic and the candy. Dominic could really care less what was going on with the candy, but Christina and I had to have a talk about where her candy was going.

After I explained to her, and how well can you explain war to a four year old, she seemed ok with her candy going to the soldiers. Well, Christina & Dominic were helping me box the candy up and she asked him if he knew where the candy was going. She then told him it was "going to soldiers who are fighting for us and fighting for candy - and now they don't have to fight for candy anymore." I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry, but I do know I have one amazing 4 year old!

Snack Time!

Ok, so my kids are usually not picky about what they eat, for the most part. And when it comes to snacks, we stick with the kid favorites - goldfish, bananas, fruit snacks, cheese & crackers, granola bars - you know some good, some not so good for you.


Well, Bryan went shopping on Friday night by himself and brought home this jumbo bag of Shearer's Butter Corn Puffs and asked me if they reminded me of anything. And they did. A little over a year and a half ago this picture of Christina was taken. You can tell by looking at it that she enjoyed her snack.


But I don't think we'd had them since then. We now have two more kids who would most likely be helping their big sister with this new bag. And helping they did! Well, Christina might have called it a hinderance, since she had to share!

Anyway, Saturday at lunch Dominic ate three large handfuls! By Saturday afternoon snack time, Christina and Ethan got in on the action. Then, when I came down stairs last night from putting Ethan to bed, Christina and Dominic were sitting on the couch eating cup fulls.


Don't be to harsh to judge my children's eating habits. I know they need their fruits, veggies, grains and what not, and we try really hard to stay on top of this. But sometimes it's fun to just eat junk food! So we don't do this everyday, and my kids do enjoy their green beans and grapes.

With that being said, Dominic found the bag of "popcorn" this afternoon and the snacking began again. I actually had to pour them into a bowl because the bag was getting torn! They were fighting over it! They finished their bag off this evening. So in a little less than two days my three children ate an entire bag of these things!


Christina was enjoying having the bowl in her possession. She did make sure everyone got some, but at one time she was holding the bowl above Dominic's head and told him to reach!

Everyone sharing nicely. Ethan was quite into this. He doesn't get chips, so this was a real treat for him!


Dominic & Ethan drinking their milk. Christina holding her bowl with a death grip!

Dominic and Christina with their empty bag. Guess we'll have to head back to the Market.

We love Shearer's Butter Corn Puffs!

It's Trick or Treat Time!

Happy Halloween from the Alphabet Family!

We had a chilly night, but that didn't stop us from heading out to collect our loot! If you have not seen our last two posts, here's the low down on costumes: Christina was a beautiful butterfly, Dominic was a mischievous monkey & Ethan a pleasantly perfect pumpkin!

What a fun time!

Christina and Dominic were ready to go shortly after getting up this morning. Someone remind me next year not to mention that it's Halloween until about 5 minutes before we get ready to go. It was a long day for them waiting for 5:30 to come! They did pass the time by asking me how soon it would be until they could go trick or treating. Bryan walked in the door and changed his shoes, however he didn't make it far enough in to even take off his tie.

Laying on the couch this morning, giddy with excitment of what was to come later on today!

So out we went.


Christina was into Halloween last year. Dominic enjoyed it, but tonight was different for both of them. Their excitement tonight seemed to feed off each other. Dominic must have tripped about 5 times trying to get out of the wagon faster than Christina. If I would have posted all of our pictures you'd see a theme, Dominic heading back to the wagon as Christina is still making her way up to the house. Here's one of what many of them look like:

Ethan was very happy hanging out in the stroller. He did get his fair share of candy, even after we told people he didn't need it. At one house they even let him pick out his own candy. He decided on a roll of smarties and a tiny tub of play-doh.

Christina was also pretty excited at one house. She got to get a bag of Fritos and proudly showed them off for the camera. Since when do people hand out Fritos for Halloween? These are the same people that also offered her a juice box. You might be thinking maybe they weren't expecting trick or treaters, but they were! They actually had 4 families partying in their yard with baskets of candy and what not that were handing out! So my girl brought home the Fritos!

Dominic had to check his bucket after almost every house. Making sure that they really put the candy in there and then to tell us what he got. Here's the monkey checking things out:

We were only out about 45 minutes but the kids had a blast! We barely got in the door and the buckets were dumped on the table. Obviously by the photos below, they had a great night!

Ethan with his smarties and M&M's

Dominic found some Lemon Heads

And in true Christina fashion, she liked, ALL OF IT!

Hope everyone had a wonderful night trick or treating. Truly a fun, cold evening.

Can't wait for next year!

Happy Halloween (at preschool at least)!

It's been a Halloweenirific week for Christina. She had her Halloween party at the library yesterday. The kids were all asked to wear their costumes. The librarian, Mrs. B, even came dressed as the Cat in the Hat. Christina I think was more excited about the M&M's they gave her and seeing if she could get them all eaten before we got home and her brother saw what she had!

Today we had her Halloween party at preschool. Christina decided she was going to be a butterfly this year. So we hit the sale at Old Navy and got her the cutest butterfly costume around! Of course, it was the cutest because she was wearing it!

This is Christina's costume from behind:

They actually combined the 3 and 4 year old classes for the Halloween party. So if this looks like a big group it's because it is! There are 24 of them when they are all together! I seriously don't know how these two teachers have the patience!

Christina's best friend at school is Jersey. In the picture above we have Reagan (also known as Princess Leia), Elizabeth (backwards Tinkerbell), Christina (the cutest butterfly in the universe) & Jersey (super girl). I unfortunately don't know the princesses next to super girl's names (sorry 3's)!

Christina eating her halloween cupcake. Although when asked if it was good, she informed me all she at was the frosting. And the cupcake was even chocolate! What was she thinking?!

Christina crawling through the tunnel during one of their many fun activities at the party.

This is Christina and Malena. Malena was cinderella. You may remember Malena from the birthday party post a few months back. They shared their party together (with Tinkerbell -Elizabeth) back in June.

Anyway, thought I'd post these up here so that Bryan will get off my back about me not doing a blog. He was nice enough to go to the party and take the pictures, the least I can do is blog about them!

Rest assured for the die hard followers, we'll have a post after Saturday night. Trick or Treating for everyone!

Sleep is calling me and after the week of sickies we've had-boy do I need it!

Night!