The Jolly Fat Man Pays Us A Visit

the kids Christmas Eve

We had a great Christmas. The kids are so excited with all their new toys and were so happy to play with their cousins. We had a get together Every day this week and weekend.

We are all happilly exhausted!

Me with my boys on Christmas Eve!

How lucky am I? 3 of the cutest boys in the world and they are ALL mine!

Ethan and Daddy play a duet with the new piano

Leah with her FAVORITE cousin Garrett

33 years of ME!!!

A picture of me on the day I was born

The world has survived 33 years of Cathie Tierney!

Thanks Mom & Dad for creating me and then spending the next 33 years trying to contain me!

To all my friends, thank you for finding the good in me and helping me to see it too!

To Theo.... thank you for making my life a dream come true

To my kids... your the best thing I've ever done! Thank you for choosing me!

33 years later....

Getting ready for Christmas

Well we went to go get our Tree on Saturday. Every year we set out to cut down our very own beautiful Christmas tree. We bundle the kids up, drive out to the farm, trapse through the field looking for THE BEST tree. That's what we plan to do, yet every year there are always tears, fights about which tree to get, please about having to go to the bathroom, whinine about being too cold. Yet every year we forget about the previous year and head out to do it all over again. I guess that's what holiday memories are made of...

The boys looking to cut down the perfect tree..

Alex, Our nephew Garrett, Ethan, & Theo

Leah AKA the pink diva on the sleigh

Ok so I got these two snap shots in before the melt downs started to happen. Shortly after this one Leah & Ethan & I ended up in the truck watching Cinderella II and Theo and the older boys wandered around for awhile and then the boys decided it was too cold. So they climbed in the truck too. After about 20 minutes I decided "This is stupid" and I called Theo on his cell phone andtold him he was on his own.

He's putting the light on the tree as I write this and once we get it decorated I'll take pictures so you can all see Theo's hard work...

Halloween pictures

What do a Ninja, Blues Clues, and Stephanie from Lazy Town all have in common?

Nothing but this picture!

I'm a Corny Pink Haired lady

How cute is this little puppy dog!

He's a little scary! But her had so much fun and got a tons of candy!

The reason that Dentists stay in business!!

Oh what a month it's been!

Ok so the month of October is shaping up to be an even crazier month than the last! I know it's hard to imagine anymore Caos in my house, but we gained 2 teenage girls at the end of September, My Nieces Hannah (15) and Madison (14) I went from Trying to potty train to homecoming and Volleyball games!!!
Here is Madison all dressed up ready to go to her FIRST homecoming Dance. I'll give you a moment to think about where your first high school dance, the dress, the hair, the boy.... ahhh ... It's hard to imagine that she'll look back at this picture in 20 years and say OMG what am I wearing and what is with the hair!!!

Here is Hannah at her last home Volleyball game. She's 6'1" so she's a natural!

The other team HATES when she's in front ready to spike it in their teeth!

It's been VERY interseting having teenagers in the house. My father's words have been coming out of my mouth a little more than I'm probably willing to admit. I remember thinking he had NO IDEA what he was talking about, and now I'm think the man is a whole lot smarter than I could've ever imagined! But even with the Caos, and the tight living quarters, I'm glad the girls have been able to take refuge at our house. THings have been kinda rough in their lives over the last few months, so keep them in your prayers!

But we did manage to carve out some SchmierneyFamily time and made our annual visit to Circle S farms. Here we are on the Hay ride. We did all our usual favorites; sliding into piles of hay, Pumpkin donuts (My favorite) the bales of straw maze and ofcourse, picking out the perfect Pumpkin.

Leah wanted a "Little bit Tiny" and Alex wanted "The Biggest One I can carry" and Ethan, being Ethan, was just along for the ride!! I love how mellow that little man is! Especially compared to the older two! They certainly have their own opinion about things and they are usually the exact opposite of each other!

We are Looking forward to Trick or Treat! We've got all the kids costumes figured out, now if we can just get them to wear them!!! Pictures to follow!!!

Leah meets her idol

Well it finally happened, Leah met Dora yesterday at the Columbus Zoo!

We were all soooo excited!

It's Time for a Fiesta

The big bad Three year oldOpening Dora presentsThe whole family together for the fiesta

We kept asking Leah what she wanted to do for her birthday and being very into Dora this year ofcourse whe wanted a Fiesta it was. I asked her several times were she wanted to have her fiesta and what exactly was at a fiesta...... Well she wanted it to be at PaPaw's house, there had to be cake and Uncle Justin was going to be there.... because ofcourse... "Justin Likes a good fiesta" Those were her exact words!

Well we werent able to make it to PaPaws house for the fiesta, Luckily Nanny's place was her second choice and Nannys house is a great place for a summer birthday party! She's got a big pool and a swing set and a boat, and all kinds of fun things!

It was a great day, and we wore everyone out , still its hard to believe that my little girl is 3!!!

I do your nails Momma?

I bigger Momma

I big "nough do your nails

.....K???

I doing gooder job right momma???

I did it Momma... your nails are all pretty now!

Summer Olympics

We decided to celebrate the opening of the olympics by having a chinese themed dinner and watching the opening ceremonies up at my Mom's house. I dont normally brag about my cooking but OMG, I made this Honey Chicken that was to DIE for!!! It was a recipe from PF Changs! YOU HAVE TO TRY IT!!! IT is worth the extra effort!!!

The night before, Alex and I whipped up a batch of fortune cookies... they weren't Exactly like the ones you get at the resturaunt, but they tasted SOOOO good and we even put our own fortunes inside. We found inspiration at a website and my favorite one was
"HELP! I'm being held prisoner in a chinese bakery!"

Here Leah, Ethan, Alex, my nephew Garrett, and my step dad Ken all watch the drums. You see the World Map in the background, during the parade of nations the boys would try and find each country on the map. See we snuck a little learning in when they weren't expecting it!

Leah loved the fireworks.... Do ya see that Garrett?

Here's the reipe for the HONEY Chicken:

P.F. CHANG'S CHINA BISTRO CRISPY HONEY CHICKEN

FOR THE BATTER:4 oz. all purpose flour2 1/2 oz. cornstarch1 egg6 oz. water1/8 tsp. baking powder1/8 tsp. baking soda

FOR THE CHICKEN SEASONING:1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into medium size chunks1 Tbsp. lite soy sauce1/8 tsp. white pepper1/4 tsp. kosher salt1 Tbsp. corn starch

FOR THE SAUCE:1/2 cup sake or rice wine1/2 cup honey3 oz. rice vinegar3 Tbsp. lite soy sauce6 Tbsp. sugar

TO COOK THE CHICKEN:Vegetable oil for frying (plus 2 tbsp for finishing sauce)

TO FINISH THE SAUCE:cornstarch slurry (1/4 cup corn starch mixed with 1/4 cup water)1 Tbsp. minced garlicred bell pepper and/or scallions, julienneTO SERVE:Crispy noodles, rice or egg noodles or steamed rice

TO MAKE THE BATTER:Mix ingredients for the batter together till just combined. Let rest in refrigerator for a couple of hours.

TO PREPARE THE CHICKEN:Coat chicken well with seasonings and marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

TO PREPARE THE SAUCE:Combine sauce ingredients, mix thoroughly and reserve for serving.

TO COOK THE CHICKEN:Pour vegetable oil into fryer or heavy bottomed sauce pot. Heat slowly to 340-350 degrees. Put 1/4 of the marinated chicken in a clean bowl and pour enough batter over to coat. Remove a few pieces at a time from the batter, using slotted spoon or large fork. Shake off excess batter. Carefully lower chicken into the hot oil. Suspend the chicken until the batter "sets," 20-30 seconds. Chicken is done when golden to light brown and crisp. Remove to platter with paper towels to drain. Repeat for all the chicken. Remember to check the oil temperature, it must remain hot.

TO FINISH THE SAUCE:Heat the reserved sauce in sauce pan, bring to a boil. Add cornstarch slurry, a little at a time. The sauce will thicken, let it come to a thickness of "loose honey." Let cook for a minute or two.Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a wok and add some minced garlic, red bell pepper and scallions and stir-fry briefly. Add 1/3 to 1/2 of the chicken (depending on pan size) and stir-fry briefly. Add enough sauce to just coat chicken. Stir-fry again briefly.

Daddys helper

I know it's kinda hard to see this video, but It's so darn cute!

Theo cleans the chairs almost every night after dinner and he finally got a helper! ( I'm just glad it isnt me!!! ) Ethan also likes to run the little dust buster vaccum. We have a real one and a play one. The kids take turns helping clean up. The dust buster was Theo's fathers day gift this year with the promise that the kids would use it to clean up after themselves and the kids are actually doing it! Who cares about child labor Laws! If Kathie Lee can do it, so can I!!! ( I know I'm not right!) Next I plan on teaching Alex how to do the laundry and Leah's old enough to clean toliets right? Now if we could just get her using one!

I did it by myself!

I put Lips on all by myself!!!

Proclaimed Leah Proudly!!!

2008 McCord Family Reunion

This past weekend we helped pull off the first McCord Family reunion in over 10 years. My Mom and her husband Ken have the perfect house for hosting parties and this was NO exception! It was perfect and close to 50 McCord Family members came. McCord is my mother's madien name. Both of my Mom's parents are gone but her Dad's brother Claire came and her Aunt Freida, seriously we had so many people there. All of my cousins and their families and some of the cutest darn kids I've ever seen! We went swiming, on the boat, played hillbillie golf, went on the slip and slide, busted open a pinata, threw my mom in the pool fully clothed.... I actually didnt get to help with that one but I did get to see if up close... now I just need the pictures...
It was really a great time and I loved seeing each other without having to go to a funeral as well. There was nothing dead except a bunch of beer can and lots of food!!! SOOOOO Good! It was a lot of work pulling all that together, and My Mom is so crazy she wants to do it EVERY year. So we're trying to talk her down to everyother year atleast! She just loves having people over! Especially the family! I'll start hounding my sister for some pictures! Believe it or not I didnt take ANY!!! I know what the heck I ALWAYS take pictures I was just having too much fun!

Hot time summer in the city, back of my neck feeling...

Theo & I took Alex to NYC for 3 days. Our original goal was to make it to the House that Babe Ruth built,(That would be Yankee Stadium for all of you NON-baseball people) before they tear it down. We got tickets to the game for Wednesday and then tried to cram in as much as we could for the 2 1/2 days that we were going to be there.... oh and we did mange to do ALOT of stuff. Think of any and all toursity things to do in the big apple and we tried to do them. Little Italy, Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, (we didnt actually go over but we did see her) China town, the Bronx for a game, FAO schwartz, Central park(Ok we walked along the outside it was getting too late to actually go in) Cab rides, subway, Grand Central station, we drove by Radio City Music Hall, and Ellens Stardust diner.



Here is a picture of Station 10 of the NY fire department.


It's right in front of ground zero. I have to say that our visit down there was probably the most emotional of our trip. We walked there from little Italy where we had dinner and the whole way we were making comments about all the people and the noise and the horns, and one of the first things I noticed when we were walking around ground zero was the LACK of noise. Except for the construction trucks, there was no-one talking, no horns, nobody trying to sell you something or someone playing a guitar. It was just quite. The "museum" for ground zero was closed by the time we got down there so we didn't get to experience that. But I'm sure it would've been hard to see and hear some of that stuff. As it was I got all choked up! A few years ago Theo got a t-shirt for fallen firefighters and one of the names listed was for a man named John P. Tierney of course that name struck a chord with me and it was surreal to find his name again up on the plaque on the fence. I know they have started construction on the freedom towers, but there wasn't much to see. But I told Alex that he'll be able to say he saw it when they first started to build it. On a much lighter note, the firefighter in this picture was GORGEOUS! I'm telling you I almost faked a heart attack just to get a little closer to him. Then I realized that Theo would probably intervene and blow the whole scam..... damn firefighters.....


Oh and this guy was a riot he was one of the guys working to build the freedom tower. He was on his lunch break and put his hat on the metal statue right next to Alex. His name was Joey (Something long and Italian) and he's from Brooklyn
He told Alex "Hey kid come ovr here 'n get in tha picture wid us

Gosh It's hard to type a NY accent.

And in honor of our arrival the FDNY decided to show off their fire boat complete with spraying all their hoses
There was no fire but pretty darn cool!

And on one of our subway rides we were treated to a NY delight, someone serenading us. I loved it. Theo made NO comment& Alex thought is was crazy... He asked why is that guy singing on the subway??

There are so many pictures and so many stories, I'm sure Alex will be more than happy to tell you his take on the trip. He was so good the whole time even during the 10 hour drive home he didnt do too bad. I think he liked having all of our attention all to himself. We left Leah & Ethan with my Mom & Ken and I think I'm going to have to give one of them my Kidneys to repay them the favor. 55 & 60 year old's should NOT be left in charge of a 1 year old and a 3 year old around the clock for more than one day! They looked exhausted and probably went to bed right after we left and are probably still asleep.

Mmmmmmmmmmm.... Chocolate

Alex with a 5 pound bar of Chocolate!
I forget what these things are called, its where they "mix" the chocolate

these were full of candy to buy and Alex needed a closer look

Here are the three of us at chocolate World

The sweetest place on earth, is their slogan in Hershey Pennsylvania, and after visiting Chocolate World, I have to agree. Although we didn't get to tour the factory where they actually make the chocolate, it was still pretty darn cool. The gift shop alone it worth the trip!

Summa Time

Here are some random pictures of the kids so far this summer! We've been having alot of fun and quite frankly,they are wearing me out! I need a nap!

The whole clan on wheels... ready to hit the open road Alex is feeling very patriotic, something about feeling so "free" on a bike I guess
Alex sawing some wood to make a lemonade stand!
Alex with his cousin Garrett and some neighbor kids with the finished lemondae stand

They made $12 (woo hoo!)
This is the cake I made Theo for his 33rd birthday. YES it is swiper the fox, that's what Leah says he is... swiper from Dora?!?!

Uncle Justin Comes for a visit

Uncle Justin chases after the gruesome twosome during Alex's ball game

The Master & His Apprentice

Uncle Justin teaches Alex the finer points of being a couch potato

These two became fast friends!

While others took awhile to warm up to him I still cant believe this is my "Little" brother!

Bye Bye Baby... Bye, Bye

Ethan had his first hair cut today...

say good bye to my Baby Boy

and hello to the new Little Man


I CANT stand it, I've been pouting all day... all those cute curls... gone.... he doesnt look like a baby anymore and I swear he's even acting more mature

In the span of 10 minutes they took him from Baby to Boy... but like Aunt Kiki pointed out

atleast he still has his Binky! He didnt like getting his hair cut, and started to fuss! But thats ok cause so did his Momma!