My Lovely Valentine's

This year Valentine's Day came with more snow. Not really a surprise these days since it seems to snow constantly. But on Friday we were in day two of a big storm. On the eve of Winter Vacation from school we had two days off for snow which is our second recent school break with two extra days. 

My grandmother made decorations with them one night while she was babysitting. 

The big question all week was whether or not to make treats for school. We decided to go for it and made these yummy cookies which we have since eaten. Now we will make them again next weekend for the school celebration after break.  

The boys both made their own cards for their friends at school. Evan insisted on doing all of the writing himself which included the names of 22 classmates and 5 teachers! It took him a few days but he did it. Braeden decided to draw each person a picture of something they like or enjoy to do on their card. It was very sweet and so thoughtful. I love that they each care enough to put the time and effort into their friends. 

On Valentine's Day the kids were delighted with the Flashlight Friends we gave them. 

Roman and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day with gifts for each other. I have never really loved the holiday for a variety of reasons but I love celebrating it for my kids! I will take any excuse to show them how much I love them. :)

Christmas Day 2013

After an interesting night when Maggie decided to start vomiting around 11:30 from eating too much fruit and not enough anything else at dinner, we woke up to find that Santa had not only been to our house but had inadvertently left a treasure behind as well.

The magic of Christmas was alive and well in our house when we found this gem on Christmas morning!

What made this discovery even more incredible was that the Santa's Facebook page had posted this status on Christmas Eve:

The timing of our acquiring the bells from a very special helper of Santa and this status made it pretty hard not to feel the magic of Christmas!! 

Braeden just HAD to have this train. He has lots of trains but he was in Rite Aid one day and saw it and was determined he NEEDED it. It's not great quality but it was inexpensive and Maggie ended up getting it for him. He was thrilled!

Maggie LOVED this horse. I'm pretty sure it's not for riding but...

I encourage the kids to think about what they think Daddy would like and then we go and buy him a present. Evan thought about it for a few minutes and then told me that Daddy really likes peanuts (which he does) so that's what he bought him for Christmas. I love this tradition and look forward to seeing how their shopping choices change as they get older. 

Evan just HAD to have some Gak. It's gross and sticks to everything, but he got some and about two days later it was all dried out and in the trash but he sure enjoyed it while he had it. 

Christmas is always busy and it's always hectic, but I love it so much and having children to bring the magic back makes it so much more special. We continue to honor some of the traditions that my family had growing up as well as creating new ones with our little family and our friends. 

And I think that finally wraps up 2013! 

Christmas Eve 2013

We had a wonderful Christmas. The kids found so much joy in so many places and we were blessed with some amazing "magic" to make the holiday even more special. The kids get very excited when Martin (our elf) makes his appearance and this year he was not only a look-out elf for Santa, but he became a messenger as well. The boys gave him their letters to take back to to the North Pole with him and when they would remember something that they wanted to add to their list I would hear them talking to Martin to see if he could pass along their message to Santa. It was so fun to watch and hear!

Christmas Eve is always spent with my mother's side of our family. This year while we were waiting to eat dinner, Santa called! I didn't think any of my three would even get near the phone, but I was so wrong! All three of them took their turn and answered his questions and verified that he knew what it was they were most looking forward to seeing under the tree the next morning. Braeden told me later that he was so glad he got a chance to talk to Santa because he had forgotten to tell him that he wanted legos when we had visited him at Kringle Candle but he remembered on the phone. Phew!

Our very own cookie monster!

 Let's get this party started!

 In front of Grammy and Grampa's tree between Church and dinner

Grammy Jean and Braeden 

Ciocia Julia (the hostess) and Maggie

 Grammy and the boys

Maggie has quite a bond with my cousin Katie! My aunt gave Katie a picture of herself making a funny face and Maggie thought it was the funniest picture she had ever seen. She carried it around showing it to everyone and then laughing hysterically every time she looked down at it. I don't always understand her but that girl cracks me up!

Katie and Maggie

Talking to Santa!

Saying good-bye to Martin and cookies for Santa!

I love Christmas Eve because it's the easiest night of the year to get the kids to go to bed! 

Halloween 2013

I have never been a huge Halloween fan, but I do love to see the kids get dressed up and all of the smiles and giggles that come from running up and down the road with their friends while trick or treating. Unfortunately for us this year it was pouring rain! It didn't dampen spirits, but we were very wet at the end! The boys planned with Brayden and Riley to be various characters from Super Mario Brothers. They tried to include Maggie, but she beats to her own drum and in the end wouldn't even put her Minnie costume on :( She did however let me throw a tutu over her clothes so she was a fairy princess of some sort. They all looked adorable and had a blast despite the rain.

Pumpkin carving!

Braeden carved his all by himself this year! He went to a pumpkin carving night at school the week before and was so proud that he was able to do the carving so he came home and showed me. I'm definitely not going to complain about one less pumpkin to cut out! 

Our final products.. Evan's (bottom right) was a Wipeout course.

Mario and Toad

..and a princess..?

Mario and Luigi

Princess Peach, Toad, Luigi and Mario

Our trick or treating group. You can't even see Jake, but he's all in black behind the raindrop next to the hulk. 

The rain soaked us but everyone had a great time!

Slow Down Summer!!

Where is this summer going? We are having lots of wonderful experiences and enjoying ourselves immensely, but my goodness is it going by in a hurry. The first week after school got out Braeden went to baseball camp. He absolutely loved it and learned so much. I was so proud of him because I didn't know how he'd do playing baseball for six hours a day, but he soaked up every minute and finished the week with much improved skills. His coordination has improved a lot over the course of the last year and it's really starting to show in his sports. On Friday night he had his first golf lesson of the summer and he'll be doing basketball camp beginning next week. He's so excited to be doing all of these activities and I love that he's getting some experience in them all and giving everything a try.

Last Wednesday we went to the 4th of July celebration at the Keene Swamp Bats. It's a local college level baseball team that is fun to watch and has lots of fun activities for the kids. My parents and my brother's family have been going to games for a couple of years and took Braeden a couple of times last year. We decided to try taking Maggie and Evan this year for the game and fireworks and they were great. They didn't make it to the fireworks because the game went so long, but Braeden and I did stay and enjoyed the show. We got home at 11:15.. Yikes!

On the 4th we went to two parties; one for lunch and another for dinner. There were pools at both so the kids were thrilled and spent a lot of time in the water. Braeden has always loved swimming and now both Evan and Maggie are also loving the water this year which is great because our whole family can enjoy the pool instead of Roman or I having to watch whoever was refusing to swim last year. We ate lots of great food, played games and loved spending a summer day with friends. The kids played lots of baseball too at the second party. Half of the kids there had been at baseball camp the week before and enjoyed being able to play together again.

This weekend we have been working on getting our house ready for the floors to be redone and the arrival of Lucy. Not two things that should be in the same sentence, but it just happens to be how the timing worked out. She will be mostly on the kitchen floor for a little while so hopefully the finish will be able to set up before too many puppy scratches begin to appear. Today we had a visit from my in-laws and Jason's birthday party. The boys got to play in a pool again! Good thing too because it is HOT here. We have lots of busy plans for this week too which include Maggie turning 2 on Thursday and bringing Lucy home on Friday! How is my baby already 2???

Easter

I feel like this year Easter, even though it was very early, came at the perfect time. I have been feeling very done with winter and being inside. My mood has matched the grayness of the weather and I have been more than ready for spring. Yesterday, along with a fresh start in the eyes of God for another year, Easter brought  with it sunshine, fresh air and a feeling of renewal that was so necessary for my soul. Flowers are starting to push through the soil and fresh air is making its way into the house and planting itself deeply within our family so that we too are beginning to open up and blossom; awakening from the darkness of winter and opening ourselves up once again to all of the possibilities and promises that spring brings.

We celebrated all weekend long, sharing in festivities with family and friends. The kids and I delivered some Easter goodies around on Saturday.

 Then we spent the evening in the company of some of our very favorite people. We began with an Easter egg hunt.

We got on our marks..

 hunted for Easter eggs..

 Apparently didn't love all of the findings..

and then rejoiced in the treasure!

After that it was time for dinner. The table was set..

 and the goodies waited.

After dinner we dyed eggs!

All the while, Maggie ate cake!

After our company left, Evan and I quickly got a cake in the oven for the next day so that we could be finished and go to bed so the Easter bunny would come. And he did!

I was terrible about taking pictures the rest of the day, but we had a wonderful time just the same. Lots of yummy food and time spent with family. The kids were ready to come home and go to bed last night. I am so delighted that Easter brought me the best gift of all this year, Spring!!