The Race Team

I absolutely, positively, most definitely have the most wonderful family in the entire world. Today was a huge day for me...my first half-marathon that I have been training for for months, and my awesome husband and boys helped me every step of the way. We all woke up at 4:30 in the morning so that they could drive me downtown. Jer didn't want me to have to worry about finding parking, etc. so he packed up the boys in their PJs, then dropped me off and took them to breakfast. They all bundled up and managed to make 3 stops to see me along the race path (in the pictures above, you can see what happened when they took their hats off). Then, they met me after the race with huge hugs and kisses, even though I was sweaty and stinky. When we got home, we climbed into bed, and all of my men took a 2 and a half hour nap.

I also need to give a shout-out to my "coach" Tony and my wonderful friend (his wife) Natasha for being so supportive. How do people do these things for the first time without guidance? Well, I didn't have to find out.

A little bit of Carson logic: "Mommy, why don't you ride your bike...you will go faster?

AND

"I am going to ask Santa for a race car so that I can follow you on your race."

Brady Starts Kindergarten

I really couldn't think of a fancier way to title this post. My baby is going to Kindergarten and I am a mess! I cried a whole bunch tonight, and I'm hoping that I will be OK tomorrow. It's just amazing how protective I feel...I want everyone to love him as much as I do, and I don't want anyone to ever be mean to him. Plus, I want to keep and eye on him to be sure that he's making good decisions! This new territory is hard, and while my brain knows that I will get involved in his new school and he will be really happy there, by heart is feeling like I'm just not ready! The bottom line is that Brady is ready, so we just have to get through these first few days and all will be OK. Sigh.

P.S. I added some other pictures of what the boys have been doing on their last few days of summer. Happy they were to dress up like Master Yoda and Luke Skywalker!

Bad Mom...Big Events

I just not downloaded the pictures from our camera and realized that I haven't downloaded them in a LOOOOONG time. Sorry! The pictures above document Brady's monumental preschool graduation, during which he closed his eyes and pretended like he wasn't there. Apparently, Brady doesn't like the feeling of "all eyes on him" because as soon as the ceremony was over he was fine.

The next picture is of the boys enjoying a treat on the beach on Padre Island, where we spent our family vacation at the end of June. We had so much fun...these boys LOVE the beach. I have started to plan a beach house into our retirement plan.

And finally, the picture of Carson in his Phillies shirt shows him holding the first 2 cucumbers that he grew in our garden. He picked out the plant and watered it, and we got a lot of cucumbers this summer before it stopped raining completely and the plant died.

And...We're...Done (Or Are We?)

After having cake a playing for a while longer, the party came to an end. Then, Brady got to open his presents! He was such a good big brother, letting Carson open one each time he opened one. Brady's friends seem to know him well, and he got awesome presents. Thank you to all of our thoughtful family and friends...Brady enjoyed getting his "dollars" just as much as he loved getting toys. I think that Brady would say he had an awesome birthday this year...is it finally over?!

Brady Turns 5: A Two Week Extravaganza!

It all actually started a few months ago when I started planning the pirate-themed party that Brady asked for. I, of course, went way over-board and will probably never have another party at home again (who's in charge of reminding me that I said that?) because it ended up being not as cost-effective as one might have thought (unless one knows me and my afore-mentioned over-board tendencies). Anyway, I will discuss the party in one of my next posts, but these pictures are of Brady's actual birthday. He took a half day from school, we went golfing as a family, and had pizza and cupcakes for dessert. It was everything that Brady asked for and we had an awesome time. After they go their PJs on, the boys disappeared for a bit, then showed up in the kitchen in full pirate garb. They had raided my treasure chest of costumes. It was truly a great day...I can't believe that my little boy is 5!

The Egg Hunt

Let's just say that I don't exactly have ultra-competitive children. Carson was happy to open eggs as he found them, and Brady stood around for a while before he got started. Luck was on our side, however, because the lazy kids in Brady's age range gave up as soon as all of the eggs APPEARED to be found. Brady and I found many eggs that were hidden in pine needles. Brains almost always beats out speed. What fun!

We were also so happy to see Daphne and the Torr family this morning. Daphne looked so adorable in her dress!

Let the Easter Party Begin!

We had such an awesome time at Redstone today. They had a totally kid-friendly Easter brunch that included a kid-level, kid-centered buffet (plus awesome grown-up food), the Easter Bunny, face painting, balloon animals, a jumpy house, and an Easter egg hunt. The boys had so much fun, and I got to enjoy 2 cups of coffee. It was a truly lovely morning.

Obligatory Easter "Front Step" Pictures

"Mooooooooooooooooom, Can we PUHLEASE be done?"

It takes a lot of effort to make a 2-year-old and an Almost-5-year-old look sparkly, so, darn it, I need to document this day. Stand still and smile!

Easter Morning: The Good, The Bad, and the Handsome

Good = Candy.

Bad = Having to put on a real tie and new shoes.

Handsome = If I have to explain this to you, then you are hereby exiled from this blog.

My boys were serious troopers about having to wear "fancy clothes" and uncomfortable dock shoes. They wore their ties willingly because they were "like Daddy usually wears". They even managed to only spill their breakfast on the satin chair covers at Redstone...none on themselves!

Happy Easter!

Our Third-Baseman

I seem to remember a similar soccer video. I must admit, while I want to raise independent, confidant children, it will be a sad day when Brady is too old to run to me for comfort!

Santa Was Here

I know, I know...Santa was here in December and it is now February. Where has the time gone? Well, yesterday the groundhog (which Brady called a beaver...Justin Beaver, to be exact. What is he learning at school?!) saw his shadow, so we have another few weeks of winter. If it's still winter, I'm off the hook for lateness. Did you follow my logic?

Anyway, here are a few picture of the boys enjoying some of the same rituals and traditions that we enjoyed as children. Well, I think they enjoyed the cookies, but waiting on the steps while I took all of the pictures I wanted to take might not have been as much fun. Consider it a lesson in patience!

A Carson story: As soon as the boys came downstairs on Christmas morning, they ran to see if Santa had eaten the cookies they left. Santa ate everything except one piece of cookie, which Carson happily grabbed and shoved into his mouth. We all laughed so hard that he got startled and it scared him. He ran and jumped in my lap, hiding his face. It took a while to coax him into opening presents. Poor little guy, he just didn't want to waste a perfectly good piece of cookie!

Stay tuned for more.

Christmas in Pennsylvania, 2010

As usual, we packed a million fun things into our trip home for the holidays. Brady guilted the family into going to cut down a real Christmas tree, Aunt Boo and Poppy took the boys on the Polar Express where they met Santa, we visited Aunt Jenny's 3rd-grade classroom, made homemade cinnamon rolls, went to Great-Grandma Sara's nursing home, fed the horses on Grammy and Pap's farm, ate dinner at a ski slope, built a snowman, decorated cookies for Santa, went to the Please Touch Museum, opened tons of presents, and stayed up to greet the New Year (well, Brady did). We were sad to leave Nonni and Poppy's house. Now that we are back in Humble, the boys are very disgruntled by the lack of attention they receive!

More pictures to come.