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."

Carson Turns Three!!!

Wow, it has been a big week! On Monday, Carson had his Thanksgiving feast at school. He wore a homemade Pilgrim hat and sang Thanksgiving songs with his class before enjoying a whole bunch of treats (video of singing to come). On Monday afternoon, we hosted playgroup at our house, and Karen made another AWESOME cake to celebrate his birthday...Yoda looked so real! Then, on Tuesday, he turned 3!!! I basically spent the day spoiling him with chocolate milk and treats. I can't believe my baby is three!

A Lesson in Getting Down

I really don't know what to say...Brady is usually shy or silly in front of the camera, but tonight, in a rare moment of abandon, he opened up and danced his little heart out. And Carson, oh my, Carson...those little legs are moving a mile a minute. Put that together with Daphne's infectious giggles, and we had quite a scene. Tears literally streamed down my face.

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.

Backyard Fun

With in-ground pools costing upwards of $20,000, we opted to have backyard fun during this steamy weather in our own way. The boys had a blast, and Jeremy even tried to show the boys a thing or two (not caught on video).

The Extravaganza Continues...

The week before Brady's big party brought us several visitors, and it was a fun and memorable week. First, Stephanie and the Rasamny Family came for a few days, and we got to spend time with Emmy and J.R. (of course, we loved spending time with you, too, Steph and Jk!), AND Aunt Reggie and Uncle Eric came and stayed for the party. Everyone was super helpful and made everything more fun.

At the party, the kids had a great time bouncing in the "jumpy house". (Carson was very put-out when the owner of the rental company came to retrieve his house. He kept asking where it was and why it was taken.) They also dressed up in pirate gear, fought with foam swords, decorated flags, ate goodies, and went on a treasure hunt! Jeremy headed-up the treasure hunt, reading off clues, and having the kids figure out where the next clues were hiding. It was complete chaos, but the kids had a blast. And, most importantly, Brady had an amazing birthday...he was VERY happy.

PS - In the picture with Eric, Brady has pants on, he had just spilled something on his shirt. I didn't want anyone to be weirded out.

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!

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!

Christmas Card Rejects

These pictures did not make our Christmas card cut, even though they were taken with my sparkly new camera. No matter who sees these pictures, however, I would argue that I have 2 of the cutest elves EVER.

Bathtime and Name Practice...huh?

Here's the set-up: Nonni and Poppy are visiting, Carson and Brady are in the bathtub "shaving" with shaving cream soap, and we all decided it was a good time to practice life skills with Carson. For some reason, the kid always answers "me" when you ask him what his name is. So, we decided to use the attraction of the shaving soap to bribe Carson into saying his name. He started off pronouncing it with a french accent, vaguely leaving off the "n" at the end. By the end of our "practice", he was calling himself "Carsie". We're getting there!

PS: Good times were had by all.

Boy Story

When Brady picked out his new "Buzz Lightyear" PJ's, we thought that Carson could have "Woody", but they didn't have his size, so we got them both "Buzz" instead. Hmmm...these two "Buzzes" could not be more different. Short, tall. Chubby, skinny. Goofy, tough. But the little one ALWAYS tries to copy what the big one does. We laughed so hard when they started posing for these photos...Carson with his hands on his hips, Brady flexing his biceps...where do they learn this stuff?!

Treats and Parties

On her recent trip to Houston, Nonni spoiled the boys one last time before hopping on a plane back to Philly. They were both very willing for snuggle with the woman who forked over the ice cream! That's pretty much how I get my hugs and kisses, too.

The following weekend, we went to celebrate Ava's first birthday party at the Dean's house. Carson was so spent when it was all said and done, that he literally fell asleep sitting up!

Good times.

Be Very Quiet...

We're hiding!

When I found the boys "hiding" with their little bums in the air, I had to get a picture. As Carson gets older, they get nothing but funnier together. Even though they fight like, well, brothers, it's completely obvious that they love each other.

Summer Left-Overs

My dad sent me a few pictures today that he enjoyed taking over the summer. You might wonder who Brady is fraternizing with in one of the pictures. Our favorite Italian restaurant in the whole country (it's in Philadelphia) is called Tre Scalini. Franca is the chef and owner who prepares food so amazing that it leaves your mouth smiling for days after the meal. Francesca is Franca's daughter who runs the business and planning side of the restaurant. Micheal is Francesca's husband (he's German, but we choose to be kind and over-look the fact) who waits tables, among other things in the restaurant. Alberto, who is pictured with Brady above, is husband to Franca and father to Francesca. What does he do in the restaurant, you ask? As far as I can tell, he makes himself available to partake in Grappa toasts, tell entertaining stories, and, all around, make diners feel like part of the family. Franca also always makes a point to come out and tell me how beautiful my children are, even though she has a beautiful granddaughter herself.

I was very jealous to hear that my parents were spending the evening at Tre Scalini tonight, but I'll try to just feel happy for them instead. Salut!

More Fun in Corpus

Also while on vacation, Carson learned the joy of having pockets (now he looks for them every day once he has pants on), Brady decided that visiting museums is much more fun when done at Mach 5 speed, and Jeremy and I (as parents of young children) managed to eat dinner at completely benign, "kid friendly", NOT new places.

The aquarium was especially fun, with Carson meandering so that his hands wouldn't come out of his pockets, Brady getting yelled at every 3 minutes for walking too far ahead, and we were finished observing interesting sea creatures in under 2 hours (with a soft pretzel in our hands). You just gotta learn how to do these things when you become parents!