April 30, 2011...SUN!

Following a baby shower for a dear friend of mine, the boys and I headed to Leroy for some fun in the sun.  (Yes, I said SUN!)  Nate found a little girl who totally played along with him and entertained his every story line.  It was great to get outside and blow some of the winter funk off.  Especially with such great company!

April 21, 2011...Easter Egg Thursday

Tiff and Brie came over tonight for dinner and Easter egg dyeing.  The kids flew through almost 2 dozen eggs in no time!  We wound up with a whole lot of pink eggs for some reason, but they had a great time doing it and it's always fun to let them go at it.  Alex may be pink until his 3rd birthday, but that's ok.  If you ask Nate, he'd tell you "Boy's can like pink, too!"  

April 16, 2011...Easter Egg Bunny

Today we paid a visit to (as Nate calls him), the "Easter Egg Bunny".  I was glad both boys were cooperative and we didn't have any scare issues like previous years.  Luckily the photo I paid for was much cuter than these.  But it was still a good time with great friends.  

March 22, 2011...Headin' West!

We boarded a train tonight for our cross country adventure out to Oregon!  The train was scheduled for 11:00 PM (and didn't actually arrive for nearly an hour later) so it was a late night for the kids but a screw up in our tickets landed us all in a sleeper car for the night so we got the kids to bed relatively easily.  I awoke the next morning to Nate sitting up in bed, staring out the window, and whispering "Awesome!" under his breath at all the sights roaring by!  What fun we'll have!

March 18, 2011...Picnic

We had some beautiful weather today so the boys all got outside to do some work.  Dave came through on his promise to build the Ciravola's a picnic table for everything they've done for us this year and the boys got to blow some stink off.  Boy did they sleep well tonight!  Nothing like a little sunshine to keep your spirits up though!  

March 1, 2011...Chuck E.

Today we met the Ciravola Clan at Chuck E. Cheese for some mid-afternoon fun.  For a small fee, we got lunch and hundreds of tokens for the 5 kids (and two Mothers!) to play games with.  The kids racked up their own piles of tickets and were able to cash them in at the end of the fun for some cool prizes.  It was literally hours of fun!

February 6, 2011...Superbowl and Super Friends

Dave was able to get Superbowl Sunday off from work at the last minute so we extended an invite to the Ciravola Family to come hang out!  We love this family as an extension of our own!  The kids got to play with Chloe, Jayden, and Ava and the parents got to hang out, eat, drink, and watch the big game!  I'm so glad they were able to join us on such short notice!  

January 17, 2011...Happy Birthday, Tiff!

To celebrate Tiffany's birthday, we headed downtown by train to see the sights and do some shopping.  We made it back to Long Island just in time to make reservations at The Melting Pot - only the most fabulous fondue restaurant ever!  What a great day!  Happy Birthday, Tiff!

January 16, 2011...Family Ties

Our crew on the first day of our trip to NYC.  The boys were troopers on our 10 hour drive through bad weather and worse traffic.  They did very well on the drive down and after a quick swim, they crashed.   Today was spent hanging out, exploring the hotel, and relaxing.  It was a perfect lazy Sunday!

January 11, 2011...Concentration

We were finally able to celebrate the holidays with the Ayers clan. During our gift exchange amongst the kids, I snapped photos, as usual.  I love this shot of Pam, trying diligently to figure out the toy we got for Brianna.  IWN, Pam!

December 5, 2009

Breakfast with Santa at Springdale Farm!!!

We started this tradition with our friends, Tiff & Brie, a few years ago and I look forward to it every year!  Nathaniel loves going to the farm and seeing all the animals (even when it's freezing and no one else is braving the cold to see them!).  I had a hard time picking just ONE photo as I got so many good ones!  So here are a few of my favorites...

There are so many more, but you get the idea!

We also bundled the boys up and headed out to get our Christmas tree tonight.  We decided to get a pre-cut tree and support the local boy scout troop that was set up at Nathaniel's pre-school. 

Here's Alex all bundled up and ready to go:

 

Daddy and Nate found a perfect "table top" size one.  Just what we were looking for this year to keep enquiring minds from knocking it over and/or pulling all the ornaments off it!

December 2, 2009

Tonight the boys and I went on our weekly "Walk and Talk" with my friend, Heidi.  She had two of her three children with her so we took the opportunity to stop and see Santa as we were passing through.  Here is Nathaniel and Jayden:

And Alex and Santa:

And while we were there, Jayden took a photo of me and my boys for me.  I have so few pictures of me with my boys!  And I love this picture!  

Thanks, Jayden!

November 24, 2009

A visit from our beloved Brie = fun times for ALL!

November 8, 2009

Today one of my best friends in the whole world organized a "Blankets for Babies" event (that word is used lightly, it was more of a cooperative effort) - I used it as an excuse to go visit and in the meantime make some warm, fuzzy, fleece blankets to be donated to the local children's hospital for little bitties who don't have much in the way of comfort.  Thank you, Tiffany for having such a big heart to arrange this effort.  And for allowing me to come along for the ride!

October 20, 2009

Buddies.

Our friend {"Baby"} Shawn (on the right) came over to play today.

As you can see, we LOVE {"Baby"} Shawn.

However, we still need to work on NOT calling him {"Baby"} Shawn

as he is clearly NOT a baby anymore!  :)

October 3, 2009

Apple Fest 2009

Here are two of my favorite people with Nathaniel.

 Love these girls more than words can say!

August 20, 2009

We had a fabulous play date with Auntie Pam and ("Baby") Shawn and Baby Brianna.  I love the freedom of letting the kids play (and they play so well together!) and just sitting back and having a semi-coherent conversation with my BFF!  Here is a rare moment of tenderness between brothers.  I believe this was seconds before Nate hit Alex and pushed him out of the way, but hey...it's a glimpse of kindness.  

August 10, 2009

My friend, Shelby, has a dream.  Her dream is to make beautiful cakes.  Or perhaps it's more of a passion for flour and sugar and all that one can create from it.  Who knows?  Either way, I'm here to support her in any way I can.  If that means eating her creations as she practices her art, then I'm there for her!  :)  This particular creation was a trial run at making a smash cake for Alex's first birthday in a couple months.  I think it's just adorable and tasted even better than it looks!  What a nice surprise for a Monday morning!

August 2, 2009

Happy birthday, Brianna!  We are SO happy to finally meet you and SO proud of your fabulous Mommy for a job well done!  You are a lucky little girl to have such a special angel for your Mommy!  We love you so much!

July 11, 2009

We went to a party at a friend's house today and the kids got into a gigantic water war.  It was great watching them run around having such fun!  It was pure innocence and joy at its finest.  Although the adults that got caught in the crossfire may not agree with me!