Joey and Nicky's 4th birthday party!

Our good friends, Joey and Nicky, invited us to their bowling party to celebrate their 4th birthday in December! We were all so excited to attend---Austin kept mentioning "throwing the balls at the LIGHTS!" LOL I kept trying to explain to them that there were pins you had to knock down---I don't think they "got" it until we were actually there! Nick had a blast as well-he was on a team with younger boys we didn't know-but he did so well helping them, teaching them, playing with them-It was definitely a proud Momma moment for me.....It is showing what a caring boy Nick is. And the BEST big brother!!!
Thank you Kim and Anthony for inviting us to Joey and Nicky's birthday party!!!! We all had so much fun---we love all of you!!! (Esp. my future sons-in-law!!!! LOL) (We have an arranged marriage in the works--LOL)

St. Nicholas Day

Here they are.....all kids' shoes lined up for some "treats" from St. Nicholas.....Nick INSISTED my sneakers be included as well. And I am happy to report that St. Nicholas did leave the Wilke kids some chocolate candies in their shoes! So exciting!

Thanksgiving placemats!

I had to include these adorable placemats the kids made for me for Thanksgiving! Aren't they the cutest things? Their handprints made the turkey and they each made their own "feet", and it was accompanied by this so stinkin' cute poem!!! Love them!

A night of Christmas lights....

The pictures are dark, but we did go see the Martell House this year again. The Martell house is a local home that has an enormous light display in his front yard, backyard, etc. It has become "tradition" for our family to take a walk through every year. Aunt Patti, Uncle Vinny, Nanny, Lexi, Nick, the babies, and Mommy all ventured to this home on a Saturday night....Austin initially would NOT take a picture with Santa Claus...he just stood from afar and kept mentioning "tool bench" loudly, so that Santa could hear him! LOL By the end of our walk, Austin did want to take a picture with Santa.....and they got more candy canes, too!!!! All in all, a successful trip to see Christmas lights.... :)

Silly Katie girl

Here are some random pics of Katie being silly.....love this girl! :)

Nick is a red belt!

Nicholas tested to become a red belt in karate this past December. He was required to make up TWENTY moves of his own, as well as memorize the 44 steps of the previous belt...and was required to "spar" another member of the karate school. He did excellent and is now a red belt in karate! I believe after red belt, there is a red/black belt, then a black belt!!! Way to go, Nick!

First Preschool Pictures

Oh my, I still can't believe I had FOUR babies at once!!!! But seeing is believing, LOL! :-) I had the babies' first "school" pictures done together-mainly to save on money....I get their pictures done throughout the year at various studios, and I wasn't willing to pay $30 per child for pictures I was not sure would come out okay......In any event, I think this group photo came out super cute...and I LOVE the class photo---as you can see my kids are more than half of the class! :-)

Santa Claus came to preschool!

The kids had a special treat at their preschool Christmas party! Santa Claus arrived! We heard the jingling bells and just KNEW it was Santa! Matty, Emma, Katie, and Austin were simply AMAZED....and soooo happy!!!! Well, that is, until Katie opened the present Santa gave her. She was MAD! LOL She turned to me, and said, "Mom-where is my PINK GUITAR??????????" LOL She continued, "I don't want THIS!" (meaning the My Little Pony book Santa had given her!) I could not believe the words coming out of her mouth! She sure is becoming an independent and spunky little girl!!! She knows what she wants-that's for sure!!! I did have to explain to her that the "big" presents Santa brings underneath the tree---that he didn't have enough room to bring it to the preschool.....LOL. Gotta love kids! :)

Christmas Show 2010

Nicholas had his Christmas show at school....Aunt Patti, Uncle Vinny, Lexi, me and the babies all were there to cheer Nick on.....He even had a small speaking part...where he talked about what his traditions were on Christmas Eve....The funny part was that Nick told the entire audience we go to Midnight Mass (we don't!) and we even sit around the table and eat ICE CREAM together (We don't!)....LOL I guess he was getting ready for Confession on Monday morning!

Santa Baby.....

Mommy "attempted" my own photo shoot with my babies.....Not too shabby.....

FOUR stickers!

Austin has had a bit of a rough time transitioning to preschool. His teachers and I have implemented a Behavior Chart for his 2.5 hour day.....Ms. Gail breaks the 2.5 hour day up into four "periods" where he can earn a sticker for good behavior. Well, I am pleased to say that Austin is really doing well. He has a temper...however, with guidance from Ms. Gail and Ms. Cori, he has learned to "stop", "take 3 deep breaths" and think of a better reaction.....and he really takes his time to take those steps to calm himself down, before making a bad choice. So cute tho, the other day, he got mad at one of his sisters....he ran up to me and said, "Mommy, I took my deep breaths and everything, and I'm STILL MAD!!!" Love that boy!

Wilke Quads turn FOUR!!!!

How in the world could my "babies" turn FOUR? Seriously-FOUR years old???? And I'm still calling them my "babies"...I think I always will! :) We had a great day on November 3rd. Thanks to our good friends, the Kennedy's, we decided to use their birthday present, gift cards to Build a Bear! My kids have been there, however, only one at a time, and with my parents....so I was a bit anxious to see how taking four of them at once would be.....It went WELL!!!! It was so much fun to watch them pick out which bear they wanted...and all were different! They listened intently to the worker there, and did just as she asked.....They had an absolute blast! As we left, the girl gave me free ChickFila coupons for the kids.....so off to ChickFila for lunch we went! :)
When we arrived home, we were greeted with a bunch of balloons and cookies from Aunt Patti and Uncle Vinny.....this totally made my day and their day, too! What a surprise!
At night, we had family over and celebrated once more....We had vodka rigatoni and yummy cake!
I feel so grateful and blessed that I have so many wonderful people (family, friends, and my cyber buddies, too!) that genuinely care about me and my children. Life IS good! :)

Blog is now private

Due to some crazy "stalker"-like issues on Facebook, I figured it was safer to make this blog private....I don't keep up on here as much as I did in the past....Mainly because I am addicted to Facebook! :) In any event, I will make more of an effort to post at least weekly, so that my children will one day have a "journal" of their lives.....through Mommy's eyes...

Halloween pics!

4th birthday party!

I cannot believe I just celebrated my babies' 4th birthday. (We had the party early on 10/16....their actual bday is not till 11/3....but I wanted to do it before Halloween, so we could pick pumpkins and such)

We had a beautiful Fall Day at the farm.....apple picking, pumpkin picking, corn maze, food, and pinata...... :-) The kids had a blast!

Some Mommy and Me pics....

I am trying to take more pics of the kids and me.....Here are my tries..... :)

Travel soccer!

Boys loving on Nanny and Poppy