Summertime...and the pics got lost?

We had an AMAZING summer!

Learned a lesson though: I need to stop relying on my cell phone to take our family photos!  Unfortunately, this fall my cell phone needed to be replaced, and the new version has no SD card, so I didn't have the store move my old pictures to the new phone.

 

Fast forward to tonight, and there's about a three month gap in photos on my laptop.  So, as I try to resurrect the old phone to get the summer pics, I will have to fast forward to September.

 

EVERYBODY's in school!  Our district has full-day Pre-K, so even Tommy is out the door at 8am, returning around 3:30pm.  This means that Wes FINALLY gets some sleep!  This transition has been wonderful for us--no more rushing home on certain nights so that Wes can go right to sleep.  It's both of us, nearly every night, having a family dinner, helping with homework, and just spending time with the kids as a family.

 Do you think Tommy was a little excited for his first day of school?

 Like last summer, Grandma and Grandpa came to NY for an extended stay and we took the family pilgrimage to Charlestown, RI.  Only this year, all three kids stayed in the RV with the grandparents, meaning that Wes and I had a hotel room to ourselves, every night!  No little people waking up in the middle of the night, or waking us up at the crack of dawn.  It was heaven.

 And I'm happy to report that my parents are still the most fun grandparents ever!

 The kids were big fans of Grandpa's bike.

It was a summer of fun, friends, family, sunshine and love.

December!

We, of course, had a home celebration for Dani's 6th birthday.  So much fun.

 School Christmas concert...our fearless Tori had a case of stage fright!

 Not Dani!  She had a blast!

 For the first time we went to the Schenectady PBA Breakfast with Santa.  (Wes never mentioned it before this year, but it is, apparently an annual event.)  Dani meets an elf.

 Tommy was in awe of Santa!

 Another Tori oddity...she wanted no part of Santa.

 Until she got a present, then he got a hug.

 Celebrating Great-Aunt Virginia's 99th birthday at Teresian House.

 Tori had a haircut and asked for a blowout.  She loved it!

 And CHRISTMAS!

Of course, Grandma and Grandpa came!

We hosted a Christmas Eve party and the kids wanted to dress up!

 Posing with Grandma.

 Christmas morning! 

What a smart Santa!  He wrapped each kid's present in different wrapping paper!  Way to go Santa!

 Santa is apparently unfazed by the term "some assembly required".  It took Grandpa and Mommy about 45 minutes to put the trampoline together!  (So worth it, though!)

 No, it's  not KISS or the Insane Clown Posse, Grandma bought facepaints for the kids.  All Grandpa needs is a black star on his eye, and we'd have KISS.

 A balloon animal kit from Grandma.  (She didn't realize we were already pros at these types of balloons!  She tried to get Grandpa to blow them up, and then I broke out the pump!)

 New Years!  We rang the new year in at 8:00pm so the kiddos could participate!  (We also did it at midnight too!)

What a super fun December!

March madness.

 March means birthdays--one which Wes and my mom share.  Happy 42, Big Man.

And we had lots of recent visits from Grandma and Grandpa.  Grandpa got to enjoy a weekend with the kids, without Grandma.  Usually, he's second fiddle to Grandma, but when she's not around, he is lavished with attention.  Snuggles on the couch.

 Snuggles after dinner.

 And then Grandma came, and more fun was had.  Tea parties.

 Trips to the park.

 More tea parties.

 Finger painting--I think Grandma enjoyed it more than the kids!

 And, somebody lost another tooth!  This time it was just in time for family photos.

 

We're trying to teach Dani and Tori about money, and the tooth fairy deposits are helping with that.  A month or so ago, I opened savings accounts for the kids.  Since Dani was born, we've been throwing change into a large baby bottle bank.  The kids are always asking for coins to put in it.  It was finally full so Dani, Tori and I went to the bank to feed the coins into the machine to deposit into their accounts.  (the net was almost $150!).  If you enter my house, they will shake you down for more coins for the bank. 

And, I broke down and bought a minivan.  There's just no making that cool.  But it's practical...woo hoo!

 

And, in funny things my kids have said lately:

 

"Mommy, nobody's perfect; not even astronauts." (Dani)

"But Mommy, I'm not littering, I want to give the birds some stickers to play with."  (A disappointed Tori when I wouldn't let her throw stickers out of the car window.)

 

During a dinner, I had made a roast beef on the rotisserie.  Dani pointed out that the meat was the same color as Daddy, "brown and pink".  I suggested to the kids that perhaps that meant that Daddy was perfectly cooked and ready to eat.  Tori's response was, "NO!  We can't eat Daddy, because he would be too hard to chew."



Ringing in the new year with the folks.

 A few days after Christmas, my parents flew in for a visit.

So the kids had a second round of presents and holiday cheer!

The kids were so excited!

My parents are in their mid 60s, but you'd never know it by their boundless energy.  They are the most attentive and fun grandparents you can imagine.

 They wanted Grandma and Grandpa to watch Despicable Me.

 Tommy and Grandma doing a New Year's Eve conga.

 New Year's Eve wouldn't be complete without noisemakers!

 Wes had to go to work but I managed to sneak in a quick photo before he left.

 

As we start this new year, I resolve to take nothing for granted, to appreciate every moment, at home, at work, with my family and friends.

Cheers!

The *mostly* perfect Mother's Day.

I am woken by Dani and Tori, stuffed animals in tow, asking to snuggle.  They climb into our bed around 7am, and hug, and hop, bounce around.  After a few minutes, I step into the bathroom to brush my teeth.  Tori sneaks in, "Happy Mother's Day!" she exclaims.  I come back into the bedroom and there are presents, lots of them, wrapped in Christmas wrap, which seems to be a trend in our house.  Dani has decorated a card, filled with pictures of people; when asked, she tells me, "This is you teaching me ballet, Mommy."

Daddy takes the trio downstairs, and I fall back to sleep.  I wake at 9:30--as a mother of toddlers, this is an all too rare luxury.  I head downstairs to check in--we all have some cereal, and I head to the shower.  We have plans.  Big plans. Stupidly risky plans.  We are taking three toddlers to a fancy restaurant for brunch.  We get dressed, do hair, Big Man sports a suit and tie.  He tells me I look pretty in my dress.

We arrive--head to our table.  I fix a pair of plates for the girls, while Big Man sits with Tommy.  As I head to fix my own, I look over at the table, all is well.  When I return, Dani says, "I don't like this, Momm-ARRRRRRGH" and she starts to puke.  Thankfully she had the linen napkin on her lap.  I catch most of it in my hands and the napkin, and a fair amount lands on her dress. No one seems to notice in those fleeting minutes. As the staff (and owner) notice I am cleaning, they ask if everything is okay.  Big Man assures them it's no reflection on the food, as I bring Dani to the Ladies room.  We rinse her dress off, wash up and are as good as new.  The table now has a pink cloth napkin at her place and all is well.  My plate of food is cold, but we're staying! 

Mother's Day Brunch, Take 2.

 

 Tommy masters the fork, and, thankfully, doesn't play the spoon/fork/plate banging game too loudly.

Tori sits like a little lady, drinking her orange juice from a tea cup.  Dani does the same.

 Tommy starts to get antsy so we head outside for some photos.  Tori is determined to clown around in every pic.

 When we could catch Tommy, he smiled and was a handsome little dude.

 Catching the three of them?  No way.  Between Tommy's need to move, and Tori's constipated face, we were doomed.

 They did slightly better when they posed with Daddy.

 This was us, headed back to the car.  Tommy was leading the charge.

 Daddy and Dani paused for a photo.

It really was a lovely day. 

 

And, I need to make a shout out to my mom.  I had a childhood full of love and creativity.  It was filled with playgrounds and beaches and adventures of all sorts.  Of songs, and stories, and unwavering love.  There were "tiger hunts" through the reeds at the beach (long before the universe was tick-paranoid) fresh air, and picnics, and just so much fun.  I am the mom that I am because of the mom that I had, and I very often think that I'm not doing it as well as she did.  Because she was awesome.  And now, she is showing that same love to my children--on the floor with them, bouncing on the beds, in the wagon to the park, and non-stop never-ending fun.  Love you Mom!