Playing Catch up......

You would think that with Jason gone I would have lots and lots of extra time in the evening to devote to doing things like updating my blog. That does not seem to be the case. My blog is not getting updated and, well, I am not doing anything in the evenings that requires me to get up off the sofa! Take a look at the three munchkins in the above picture and you will know why. Yeah, they are keeping me a little busy, yes, they are driving me a little crazy and yes, I could be losing my mind........ No, it really hasn't been too bad (well, sometimes it has) :)!

Ryleigh turned 18 months about a week ago. She started going through the "terrible twos" a few months ago and if I remember correctly from with the boys, we have a ways to go. As far as I can tell the boys could still be going through the "terrible twos"! She is really starting to talk and that is so much fun. Her cute little voice seems to help balance out the times when she is screaming for something or climbing everything in the house. From the looks of these pictures you would think that she is a sweet little girl that sits and reads books all day. This is NOT so. :)

She is starting to like books though and will let you read a short one to her. She also is starting to get books on her own and "read" them. You can hear her when she has a book just chatting away.

Classic Ryleigh face.
Every time I came in the room to take her picture, she would get up, scream and try to grab the camera. I caught this picture from sneaking around the doorway.
She LOVES to help with laundry. Though she often mixes dirty with clean, and unfolds everything I fold, I figure I should just keep letting her help. Maybe this will cultivate a love for really doing laundry when she gets older??

A couple of weeks ago we went to a birthday party at an art studio. Only Ryleigh and Aiden are in this picture because Kyle was crying behind me. The crying has something to do with me getting everyone out of the car (or so I thought) and then starting to walk away. Apparently I did not get everyone out of the car and Kyle was left behind for a mere minute. This of course traumatized him and ruined the birthday party. By the time Kyle calmed down and stopped hanging on me, Ryleigh had ruined her entire outfit with pink non washable paint. This experience for Kyle will probably come out in therapy in about 20 years.
Kyle and Daddy on his last day home. We had a hot chocolate party in the living room with him while Ryleigh was napping and Aiden was at school.
This is the view I see a lot of, Ryleigh crying at my feet...... See how she has two pacifiers? She always has to have a spare. She won't go to bed unless she has two.
Kyle giving Ryleigh a ride in her baby doll stroller. He races her back and forth and she loves it.
I really have no idea what the boys are doing in this picture. All I remember is they asked me to take their picture.....


Daddy brushing Ry's teeth. Don't you love the face? She loves to brush her teeth! If you can't find her and someone has left the bathroom door open, you will find her in the sink, brushing her teeth. Sometimes the water is on, sometimes it's not, but usually she is wet and sticky!

Here is a video of Ryleigh saying a few words. This is almost 2 weeks old and she is already saying a lot more. I have a few more recent videos to post, hopefully I will get around to it soon......

For Grandmom Jeanie

Grandmom Jeanie is not feeling very well, so this video is for you Grandmom!! The kids and I wanted to let you know we are thinking about you and hope you are feeling much better really soon! We love you!!!

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

Hope you had a fun party last night with all your friends and that today is fun too!!

Thanks for being such a good aunt to Aiden, Kyle and Ryleigh, they adore you!

We love you lots,

Erin, Jason, Aiden, Kyle and Ryleigh

If you are a mom, you probably know what I mean, unless you are one of those perfect ones. If you are, please do not comment.....thank you. :)

Twas the week after the holidays.......

Getting back into the swing of things after 3 weeks of vacation is almost not worth the vacation. Last Monday loomed with more dread than a dental appointment. It went as bad as I expected, maybe it was bad because I knew it would be, but for whatever the reason, Monday was just the beginning. Aiden, who up to this point has LOVED school, was not happy about returning. Kyle and Ryleigh caught the spirit and suddenly hated the gym daycare. Each day when I would pick them up I would hear comments about Ryleigh like "Wow, you need an espresso to keep up with that one....." or "If you see her in a walker (mind you she has been walking since she was 9 months old...) you know we just couldn't keep up with her anymore." I saw her in the walker a lot....... Of course they were not telling me anything I don't know, after all I am her mother. :) She gets in to more trouble than the boys combined. How, I don't know, because they do a darn good job of getting into trouble themselves. They kept us hopping last week with things like: cleaning pee off every surface of a bathroom (someone, we won't mention names - must have been "sleep peeing" - never knew this could happen, but I find pee in very strange places), scrubbing PILES of toothpaste off bathroom surfaces (who knew that stuff got so hard if left for a day or two??), corralling them all three running naked around the house after escaping the bathroom, waking up to toy helicopters stuck to your back, stepping on Marine guys (you probably know them as Army men) every time we turned around, trying to keep a certain little guy from throwing up every vegetable you put in his mouth, or cleaning up the throw up since we don't always succeed. I could go on and on but, as usual I have been working on this blog for days, so I think I will just close and publish before another holiday rolls around.... :)

The other night we were attacked by some pirates!!

They took over the whole living room......

The creator of the fierce battle

A few guys tried to escape to the outside world by hiding in the diaper bag, but I found them. :)

Her new favorite past time, putting on mommies undergarments! ;-)

Yeah, he has mischief written ALL over him.

Hey Grandmom, we hope this post helps you feel better!! Get better soon!!

Happy Birthday MOM!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!! Wish I could be there so I could make it special for you like you always did for us. I plan to carry on all your traditions you started with me for our kids birthdays. Thanks for all you have done and continue to do for me and all of us kids. You are very loved by us all and we are grateful for you and that God choose you to be our mom. I KNOW my kids are glad that you are their Mom-mom!! Each year they will learn more and more how lucky they are. Hope you had a great day!

With lots of love,

Erin, Jason, Aiden, Kyle and Ryleigh

A Whole Lot of CHRISTMAS!!

Ok everybody. You might as well make yourself a cup of your chosen beverage and settle down at your computer. Because this possibly could be the longest post ever. I should have kept up with the blog while we were away, but since we were with everyone that looks at it, I figured it could wait. (Though I did hear a lot of complaining from Alex!) Without further ado, here is our Christmas!!



Christmas came early:
We left Tuesday morning, the 18th, for PA. Our fist stop was to MD and my grandparents house for the night. We enjoyed a night and dinner with them and my aunt, uncle and cousin. Spent the next morning with them and then headed up to PA early the next afternoon. The moment we arrived at his parents house Jason said he had to go do something and left with his mom. They were back in just a few minutes. They walked in the house and Jason said "We have to go somewhere right now." I gave a bit of resistance since we had just arrived, but Jason said we really had to do it now. I had no idea where we were going. We started driving, Jason said he wanted to give me my Christmas gift early so Christmas morning could be all about the kids. He drove away from all the stores and malls so I was completely confused. Then he started up a hill and put his blinker on. I realized he was taking me to the place he proposed to me 10 years ago that month. We drove up the hill, parked and Jason made me get out and stand in a certain spot. He set up the camera with the self timer that takes 3 continues pictures in a row and got down on one knee. He opened a small black box that held a gorgeous 3 stone diamond anniversary ring and anniversary band. He said something about being together 10 years, but honestly I don't remember exactly what he said. :)

The picture does not do it justice! It shines and sparkles and catches the light beautifully. I think he did a really good job picking it out!
Getting Ready for Christmas!:

I spent the next few days shopping, (with help of Joel, who did good job of keeping up with me as I ran him from store to store!) shopping and more shopping.

Jason was excited to get up to PA to pick up his new deer head that he mounted from our last visit up to PA. His mom actually let him hang it in the living room while we were there so he could look at it all the time! Pretty impressive looking deer huh?Jason decided to take break from shaving and cutting his hair. Ryleigh was not too sure of the new look.Grandmom P keep the kids busy making gingerbread men, playing games, doing puzzles and having tea parties. They had a blast!!The first of many gift exchanges: Amity, Jason's youngest sister.
Joel and Jason with Joel's new tree stand.Joel, Josh and Lydia.
Amity and Lydia opening gifts.
Jason enjoying being with his family. It was a great Christmas!

Another ring!:

On Saturday night before Christmas Matt asked Liz to marry him!! On Sunday after church we all oohed and aaahed over the ring and tried to get a good picture of it. Aimee won! We spend the rest of the day, in between opening gifts and eating, talking about wedding plans.

Aimee's prize shot.

Sibling Gift Exchange and Annual Steak Dinner:

Sunday morning we got up and went to church with my parents to hear the girls sing in the Christmas Cantata. That evening we had our steak dinner and sibling gift exchange.

Everyone enjoying the yummy London Broil. Thanks Mom and Dad!The kids had chicken fingers and fries. As you can see they were fine with not having steak. Time for presents! Allie loves Aiden and usually could be found where ever he was. At this time they were in the process of giving dad a back ache.

Presents and fun chaos.
Aiden loves his Megan and Sarah. I think Dad might be experiencing a headache there in the background.
Josh, Lindsey, Aiden, Kyle and Allie. They all got a long great the whole time with the exception of Allie and Ryleigh. They fought for "top cute little girl" most of the time!

Ryleigh was not interested in opening gifts. The boys had no trouble stepping in and helping out.


Another side of the room.

Decorating the tree!:

This is out of order, but I have been working on this blog for days, so it is staying where it is. :) One day at the Ports all the Port grand kids helped Grandmom decorate the tree. They requested colored lights, so Grandmom went out and got some even though she likes white. Good grandmom, huh?

I got all the kids in one shot! You have no idea how hard this was. :)
I also tried very hard to get them all in a posed shot. It never happened.

I even tried to sit with them to keep Ry in spot. Still no luck.


All done and enjoying the night!

CHRISTMAS EVE:
We went back down to the Ports on Christmas Eve to spend the night
Christmas Eve would not be complete without a note to Santa.
And cookies and milk for Santa and lettuce for the reindeer.
Uncle Joel on the roof. Wonder why he is up there?? You should have seen the kids faces when they heard noises on the roof. They will never forget it.Looks like Santa came, set up a Pirate ship and ate the cookies!
CHRISTMAS DAY!: Christmas with kids is so fun! And quite busy.
The highlight of Jason's Christmas was his dream Matthews bow. Of course being the die hard bow hunter he is, he had to buy the boys compound bows. Need to start them out right he says. They were pretty excited to have one like Daddy.

Ryleigh just enjoyed the mess! Here she is trying out Kyle's new ramp.
They loved the Pirate ship.
Ryleigh opened her stocking with smarties candy and she was content to just sit and eat them most of the morning.
Granddad helped her open a few gifts.
Lots of pictures with their new bows.

They got it down pretty fast.
Aiden with Aunt Lydia.

More Christmas fun.
Aiden had all his toys cleaned up and put in his new suitcase.



The Port men.


Katie was sharing her candy with Aiden.


Drywall!:

As one of our Christmas gifts to mom and dad, from all the kids, all the guys hung drywall in the garage they are converting into a family room. First piece going up!
Jason was in charge of cutting.
Matt was in charge of everyone! :)
The boys, busy at work and ribbing each other. :)

Caitie looks terrified in this picture because I stepped outside and said "Smile!" and mom totally ignored me while Caitie and Chelly smiled. So, I said it again....and again, and again, and again. She was not cooperating or not listening or something. So I said it really loud and with a lot of force. It worked, but I think I scared Cait. :)Relaxing after a day of work. Josh offered to do the finishing work on the drywall. He is doing an awesome job. Of course we told him this guarntees him a few more months with Megan. :)
Just Home:
Ryleigh liked all the ipods and MP3 players everybody had. They actually let her listen to them, as I always take them away. No wonder they like being at grandmoms.Allie, Adam and Aiden.
Me and my good friend Meredith. They are moving to Africa in May!! How will we live without them just a drive away???? Good side, we are going to Africa one day! :)

Shopping for wedding dresses!! Do you know how many opinions you get when you take 6 sisters to try on gowns?? :) Poor Liz!
Of course we can't show you her in a dress, but her is a peek at one of the many beautiful gowns she tried on.

All the sisters!! Back row left to right: Erin 30, Liz 26, Ashleigh 20, Michelle 29. Front row left to right: Annah 13, Megan 18, Lindsey 6, Aimee 15 and Sarah 18. Of course we have 2 brothers, but they were not interested in having their picture taken at that moment.
Lindsey, Aiden and Allie, loving life being at Mom mom's.

Kyle, Lindsey and Aiden playing Halo. And below: watching the UFC fight and eating hot wings in the basement!! There are always people everywhere!!! Fun and crowded!

A Night Out: One night the older sibilings (as Ashleigh refers to us as) all went to Red Lobster for dinner. It started snowing while we were there, but we were all having so much fun we didn't realize how bad it was getting. By the time we left the roads were pretty bad and it took us a long time to get back up the mountain. Ash and Liz. Ash spend a lot of time texting Steve during our dinner. When she got up to go to the bathroom, we stole her phone and sent a text of our own. I don't think he is too anxious to meet this bunch..... :) We laughed so much during this dinner!!
Joe and Caitie.Chelly, Chris and little Adam (top) and Liz and Matt (below)
Christmas with the Kings:Grandmom, who now is in a wheelchair, was carried down the steps by some of the guys. She was a bit nervous, even though she was in good hands!Our last day was spend celebrating Christmas with my mom's side of the family. It was supposed to be the Saturday after Christmas, but due to Grandmom being in the hospital, we had it New Years Day. We have long since grown out of having Chrismtas dinner in the dining room, so we have it in the basement! So that is why you see beds and tables! :) It is extra sleeping space/dining room/family room. :)I think we have a picture every year of all these girls on the sofa. I don't think I have actually been able to find a seat there since like the year 2000! Mom Mom with my kids. They ADORE her.
Cousin Alex with my nephew Adam.
Too cute!

Alex and Ryleigh.


Ryleigh loved Buddy, Buddy was not so fond of Ryleigh.......

Ashleigh snuck up stairs and was texting Steve. We have yet to meet this Steve......
Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jeff, you made the blog!!!
Lindey got this snow globe that sang. It was quite a hit among the kids. Aimee got them to dance with it.

Chris and Adam
Ryleigh crawled up onto Ryan's lap with a book. I don't think Ryan quite knew how to handle the whole situation. But he has improved on his holding skills since she was first born. lol
My youngest sister Lindsey, and niece, Allie.
Ryleigh, all dolled up for the party.
Alex and Liz.The gang. 13 grandchildren, 2 grandchildren in-laws, 5 greatgrandchildren and counting!!!!
Five little kiddies in Grandmom Jeanies tub. :)
After the bath it was time for goodbyes and tears. We stayed the night with my grandparents to give us a head start on our trip home. We got up at 4:30 am the next morning and headed south!

As you can see, a good time was had by all! Happy New Year!