Spring Break photos

Look below on the right margin for a link to our Florida Spring Break photos.

Have a great day!

Ty and the butterfly world

Ty is so proud of his butterfly, at Butterfly World in Pompano Beach. We went there while on Spring Break in Florida.

A typical day in the McGuirk household

So, I am seeing a pattern in my posts... I only post when something happens in our family. Makes sense, right... why post everyday routine days?

Well, today is Thursday. Let me describe to you a typical day:

6:45 am mom awake, dog outside

7:00am start waking up big kids (usually takes 30 minutes!)

7:30am downstairs for breakfast, make lunches, finish homework, study spelling words, etc.

8:00am brush teeth, pack backpacks

8:20am Dad and big kids head off to school, Mom cleans up breakfast round #1

8:30am "babies" (that's their nickname) wake, eat breakfast (round #2)

9:00am watch Dora the Explorer, Mom starts a load of laundry (daily at least one load, if not more)

9:30am baths and Mom shower, get dressed.

11:00am switch laundry, play time - outside time - Mom's computer time

11:30am start lunch

12:00pm babies eat lunch, get Tyler ready for preschool (Mon thru Thurs)

12:20 pm load up and take Tyler to preschool

12:30pm either run a couple errands or head home for Taryn's nap

1:00pm Taryn naps, Mom cleans up dishes, switches laundry, check's email, enjoys "no kid" time

3:00pm Taryn usually naps till 2:30 or 3:00

3:15pm Taryn and Mom load up and head to Tyler's school to pick him up

3:45pm Pick up big kids from school, head home

4:00pm Snacks for all kids, homework, cartoons, outside time, Mom thinking about dinner (or rather about NOT cooking dinner) :)

5:00pm Start dinner or make plans for what to do for dinner, kids continue to play outside or downstairs or with the neighborhood kids

6:00pm Dinner - sometimes with all of us, sometimes just Mom and kids, sometimes just Dad and kids - depends on the evening (mom @ workout or dad @ meeting)

7:00pm Not really sure where this hour goes... one minute it is 7pm, the next it is 8pm... How that happens, not sure

8:00pm baths, showers, etc for everyone (some days babies take two baths), PJ's, feed chameleon, snacks, cartoons, reading for school, brush teeth

9:00 babies go to bed in Mom and Dad's bed

9:30 lights out for all kids, Mom and Dad catch up on computer time, laundry folding, dishes, mail, sometimes we even get a chance to talk just the two of us! Imagine that! :)

Somewhere between 10pm and midnight Mom and Dad move babies to their beds upstairs, and get to sleep... some days it is right at 10pm; some days... Mom is up alone, enjoying the quiet house, preparing for the next day...

AND SO WE WAKE UP AND DO IT AGAIN!

So, when in there are we supposed to "slow down and smell the roses?" What roses are we to smell? The multiple poopy diapers that I change throughout the day? Not sure who said that... obviously they did not have kids!

Sometimes we fit in dance time... we put mom's iPod on the speakers and turn it up really loud and dance... we tickle, we laugh, we take pictures, we chase each other, we have pillow fights, we build forts with blankets, we get all the toys out and don't pick them out until the end of the day... sometimes we break the routine and mom skips a shower, or even better... mom doesn't do laundry that day! Hah! (Only for the next day the piles are bigger...) I guess those are the roses to smell... the times that we don't do the routine, expected things when we are supposed to; those are the times that make having kids truely enjoyable. I only wish there were more of them. Thank goodness someone invented VACATIONS. Those are all "smell the roses" kinds of days...

This was, of course, a typical week day... the weekends are a different story. Somehow when the big kids are home and daddy too; well, the days are just not the same.

Every mom reading this can relate. And those of you who fit in an 8 hour day in an office... well... the routine is even tighter for you.

So, as we celebrate today being the last day of Winter... as the saying goes... "TAKE TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES".

Have a great day.

Trevor is 8 years old today

Trevor celebrated his 8th birthday all weekend long. It started with a party at school, treats and fun activities. Then on Saturday, his cousins, Nick and Ginger arrived for the weekend. So they played all day, then we headed to a community basketball center, new for our city, for the birthday party. We played and played and played for over 2 1/2 hours; basketball, dodgeball, interactive games, running, chasing, laughing, etc. Pizza, hot dogs, pop, and cake were all there too. Trevor had all his cousins there and 5 other friends, all his siblings and plenty of adults to control this wild gang. Then after the party, cousins came home with us to spend the night. 11pm mom had all of them asleep and everyone cracked open their eyes about 9am Sunday morning. Dad prepared the hardiest breakfast around... pancakes, bacon, sausage, the works... they enjoyed that and spent lots of time playing outside in the rain... yes, I said, in the rain. Kids right? Oh well, everyone was safe and they had lots of fun. The fun continued with dinner at our Mexican restaurant here in town; just our family where they sang Happy Birthday to Trevor and surprised him with some yummy ice cream and sprinkles. So, how does it feel when I think about Trevor turning 8? I am amazed at the difference between Tom at the age of 8 and Trevor at the age of 8. I am proud of him for so many reasons and yet I look at baby pictures and wonder where did the years go? Have I been so busy living life and keeping things together that I have missed all the time? I am so thankful for all my pictures. I suppose all parents feel this way and only stop to smell the roses a few times each year. Maybe we all should try to slow down a little bit more. Happy Birthday Trevy... Mom and Dad love you!

Boys will be boys

So, yeah... so the saying goes; Tom had an accident sledding and ended up at the ER with a gash on the top of his head. After multiple xrays and a CT Scan to make sure no neck and spine injuries were there, we watched as our brave 10 year old endured several needle sticks to numb his head and then 7 staples to close the laceration. He was sledding with a friend down a driveway hill and hit the top of his head (face first) on a reese hitch of a pickup in the driveway. I know... sounds graphic. His friend was so worried about him, all day, and even came over to see him after we got home and brought him a gift... very nice boy and good friend to Tom.

Tom spent most of the day on the couch, had some pain medicine and lots of TLC from his family. He was able to sleep all night and is up and moving about today.

So it goes down in the family memory books as another day to remember. Tom was incredibly brave and we are so very proud of him, and he has a great show-n-tell for Monday morning!