Ready for Christmas

We had our third big Christmas Party this past weekend. This party always has lots of dancing and this year didn't disappoint.  The living room was cleared out an awesome Disco Ball put in and lots of boogieing.  Saturday we hand rolled Sushi at home with the Hynes, after Nicole and I went to Bikrams.  Sunday morning we went back to Bikrams followed by brunch at Green Goddess.  Calvin had Hockey practice Sunday evening, he is doing great and making lots of improvements.  Monday I went to Bikrams, my third day in a row and it was amazing.  I felt so good, strong and flexible.  I went deeper into positions that I have never been able to before.   I would go every day if my schedule allowed.  Will be back tomorrow (as long as my dentist appt. isn't too long). 

The kids can't wait till Christmas!  I am done with shopping, a few little things to wrap.  Mor Mor will go in on Thursday or Friday to pick up the Prime Rib Roast, yum!

Two Year Old

Guess what, we have a two/three year old.  It seems to have taken Ken and I by surprise.  Lauren has always been super easy, sweet and relatively quite.  But all of a sudden she has opinions.  She is a little pistol.  Talking in paragraphs and asserting herself.  Still cute but making life at home more busy, which is to be expected.  Somehow she has picked up "shut it" as her new favorite saying, not so fun.  This week she woke up in the middle of the night twice (pretty rare).  First time I let her cry till she said she peed and then I went upstairs.  She had taken of her pjs and diaper, clearly right after we put her to bed.  So she was cold and laying in pee, fun!  She got bundled back up and new sheets and went back to bed.  The second time she cried and I waited and then she said she dropped her blankie.  I went up and gave her her blankie.  Then she said I want to sleep in "your crib", "my crib?" "yes mommy your crib".  Pretty cute but no go on that one.

Teeth

Drew lost his thrid tooth last week.  I gave it the final puch and out it popped.  His top two teeth are loost, should be funny if he lose's those at the same time.  He was very happy with the tooth faity.  We went to the local toy store the next day and he picked out a toy. 

Skiing

We are in desperate need of snow.  But with one route down top to bottom Drew and I headed to the Mtn on the 5th.  It was my first time skiing since Colorado, 10 years.  Drew's first time up for the season and first time at the Mountain.  I can't say it was a lot of fun or e ven a success but we managed.  I did fine, excpet for screaiming toe pain.  The boots were used to me 10 years ago and three kids later very tight.  Drew was intimiated by the narrow trails and lack of visiblity, but we conquered and he will ski again.  The MMs and Cocoa immediatly following helped.  Wednesday I was at Racestock getting fitted for new boots. 

Early December

Last Sunday the 11th we put the tree up.  The boys were of course very excited and so was Lauren.  Lauren is having a very hard time not touching the tree.  But she absouluetly loves it.  She calls all outdoor lights and christams decorations Christmas.  When we drive by a house with christams decorations she points and says "oh christams".  Blitzen our Elf on the Shelf is also back.  First thing every morning all the children run to find Blitzen, Blitzen cerainly enhances the Christmas Spirit.  WE had a babysitter a couple of weeks ago for a Christmas party and she accidentaly touched Blitzen, Calvin was screaming and crying, Drew is freaking out.  It was quite the scene, thankfully it happened before we left and we were there to smooth out the wrinkles.

On that same day I took Calvin to the Spruce Perming Arts Center to see the Hip Hop Nutcracker.  We went with about 30 other Waterbury moms and kids, I don't know that I need to see that version again but it was fun. 

Christams Party Success

The Christmas Party was a lot of fun!  99 people, several people should up without spouses or we would have been close 110.  Only 6 no show, no RSVP.  The last few guests left around 1:30.  Calvin woke up at 7:00, too early!.  With the party behind us time to clean up the house and get the Christmas Tree.

Christmas Party Madness

Ken is on the road all week and our 5th annual Christams party is on Saturday.  So far 4 regrets, umm that means a potential of a ton of people.  Last year we hit a hundred.  I am sure some more regrets will trickle in and there will be some no shows but we are looking at well over a 100 this year, yikes!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving.  My cousin Cecilie, her husbandr Frank and two children Caroline and Daniel drove from Ohio to spend the holiday.  They are from Norway but living in Ohio for 4 years.  We got our first substantial snowfall the Tuesday before Thanksgiving so the kids had lots of fun playing in the snow.  There was snowman building, fort making, sledding and fun in the snow.  The children had a lot of fun getting reacquainted since this summer.  Caroline and Daniel speak a lot of English now which made for better communication.  Mom and Dad came for Thanksgiving dinner and the meal was great.  Friday Mom, Cecilie and I went to Burlington for Black Friday.  We did some shopping but was mainly observing the activities, we had a nice lunch at Luenigs.   Our guests left on Saturday.  Calvin had hockey practice on Sunday.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Calvin-awesome reader, reading well beyond his grade level and very good spelling.  He is doing fine in Math but still struggles with writing some numbers and letters backwards.  We really don't think its Dyslexia but we are having him evaluated to be sure.  When he focuses he doesn't write backwards.  He has a habit of rushing and wanting to be done fast, when he hurries he makes mistakes.  He needs to slow down and work on his hand writing.

Drew-is doing really, really well.  He is excelling in Math, we didn't get the gifted word but the teacher tip-toed all the way around it.  His grasp of numbers, reasoning and problem solving is apparently very advanced.  The school and us will continue to try and challenge him and make sure he is getting the support he needs to continue progressing.  Everything else was great.  Although he can't rhyme, we are working on this at home and I think we have him up to speed.

Chess Tournament

Drew was in a Chess Tournament this month.  I happened to get a link about a local chess tournament through a Yahoo group I belong to.  I asked Drew if he wanted to go and got an emphatic yes!  Ken took him and he played 4 matches and won 1.  He was the youngest competitor.  So proud:)

Outer Banks

We are renting a house on the Outer Banks in May with three other couples.  The house is right on the beach with 8 bedrooms and we can't wait.  The rental is Saturday to Saturday.  The house has a pool and everything else you could possibly think of, check it out http://www.outerbeaches.com/OuterBanks/VacationRentals/Waves/Details/PineIsland/.

We will drive taking two days, probably stopping around Philly.

Hockey is Back

Hockey is back and Calvin couldn't be happier.  Ken and I are both really happy that he is so genuinely excited.  He has practice Sundays and Tuesdays.  Drew didn't want to do Hockey this year, which is fine.  Drew is really looking forward to Skiing.  It's good for the boys to develop some interests without each other.

Stowe Mountain Host

This year I got a volunteer position working at Stowe Mountain Resort as a host.  In exchanging for working a minimal amount of days I get a season pass this year, next year a pass and vouchers for days worked and the following year another season pass and the pattern repeats till the whole family has passes.  But from day one I get full-time employee discounts, which is huge!  With two boys eager to ski an all day trip to the mountain with lessons for two boys went from 180 to 50.  The 180 is a local price too, an out of state price is even higher.  Ken and I are both really excited.  I have gone to a couple of Mountain Orientations which count as days worked!  And have gotten new skis and am ready to go.  Now we need SNOW!

Halloween

For a change it was not freezing or snowing or raining on Halloween.  Vermont children can experience some pretty severe Halloweens.  After some last minute switching from Calvin (he was thinking of Steve Jobs) we ended up with a Vampire, a Pirate and Minnie Mouse.  Lauren LOVED trick or treating.  After the first house and realizing that you get candy she was off with her brothers.  We went trick or treating in Waterbury Center.  The weekend before our good friends the Berry's had their annual Halloween party.  Gwynne and Tom go all out with decorations and their new house looked awesome.  We also got the first snow fall of the year.  I dressed up as the Mona Lisa and Ken was DaVinci.  Unfortunately our other awesome annual Halloween party was the same night.  Every other year they are on different weekends.  The Berry's live about 5 miles from us the other one is two towns over, we stayed local.

As usual...

a big long rambly get caught up post.  I will try and keep my thoughts in chronological order but thats not so easy....

Red Sox!

I won a pair of tickets to see the Red Sox/Devil Rays at Fenway from a Cancer Charity.  We managed to buy two more tickets in the same section and took the boys for a Boston adventure.  Our good friends the Deweys  also won tickets and they brought their two kids.  The Bryants and Merrils hosted the charity raffle and they were there too.  It was quite the Waterbury contingency.  We had great seat in the Lodg Box (I think).  Anyways just one section from the field at field level.  We all had a great time and it was the boys first trip to Fenway.  We decided to make a night of it and spent the night.  The Indoor Pool seemed to be the highlight for the boys.  I would like to say they enjoyed the game but I think they enjoyed everything about the stadium experience but perhaps not so mcuh watching the game.  A quick trip to Target in the morning and we were on our way back north.  When we left Sunday morning I dropped Lauren off with Erika, Eli and Kevin. She had loads of fun picking apples and playing with Eli.  Erika dropped Lauren off with my mom on her way back through Stowe at the end of the day.  Lauren spent the night there.

Huge Boys!

Drew is now wearing a size 2 shoe, I can't believe it. A few weeks I went to get the boys rain boots out, that probably haven't been used since May. Drew's 13 were useless, couldn't even get his foot in the boot. And Calvins size 2 was missing a boot. Great I just got those boots in the Spring, oh well. New rain boots for both boys size 2 and 3, new merrels too.

Back to School

My baby boy is in Kindergarten, sniff, sniff! School finnaly started this week, a week late. The first day should have been the 30th but with the flood it was delayed till the 6th. I drove both boys to school on the 6th so I could walk Drew to his classroom. Calvin and Drew have taken the bus to school every morning since and take the bus home together in the afternoon. Drew is in after kindercare T,W and R. We have part day Kindergarten here and if he wasn't in the after kindercare care his day would be done at 10:50! Friday he has Kindergarten all day and no school on Monday. Lauren is still with me 24/7. Both Calvin and Drew are coming home from school happy and ready to go back the next day. The bus comes at 7:05, which makes for very early mornings. We would all get to sleep later if I drove them, but nice to save the gas and have some down time in the AM before I go to work.

Irene.......

The remnants of Irene devastated many portions of Vermont. It rained and rained and rained. Sunday night we got word that the Village was being evacuated. We talked to friends in town who were desperately trying to empty basements, while others were too late and their basements were already full and the river was coming in the first floor.

The aftermath was awful. So many families are displaced and lost so much. Ken and I both got in to town and volunteered. Not as much as we would have liked but with a two year old we were a little restricted.

The good to come out of Irene is the state and many towns and communities pulling together to lift up those that need help.

End of summer

We returned from the Island with just one more week of Rec Camp. Calvin also had soccer camp during his last week. Both boys were happy to come back to camp. Unfortunately it was a rainy week and they only got in one last day at the town pool with their camp. Mor mor was still at the Island so I had to work every morning which was a bit of a struggle as camp is only 3 days a week. But we managed and Drew got to come to work with me.

One night this week myself and several girlfriends rented Paddleboards on the Res, followed by a cheese, bread and beer picnic. Paddlebaording was a lot of fun and had me wanting to get one next year. Jake was nice enough to take my kids till dad got home. The boys got to play with the girls new Kayaks which was a huge hit! They had so much fun we hunted down and bought them each a Kayak. The Kayaks are good to 120 pounds, so there will be lots of fun to come on the pond, the res and the Island.

My book club also had an outing this week. We went to Ferrisburgh for a garden tour followed by a delicious dinner at the Starry Night Cafe. I definetly want to eat there again wtih Ken.

The boys had one week off with no camp before school started. Melissa and I took the boat and kayaks out on the Res with all the kids. I can't believe we haven't been doing that all summer. It was my first time pulling the boat and launching with out Ken. Josh M was also on the Res with his boat and helped talk me through the process. But I did it!

The last weekend before school started was a great weekend. A few friends came over for Ribs friday night, good times and great food. Saturday was the annual summer bash at the Hynes curtesy of the Hynes and Burkhouse/Crawford families. The party is always a blast and this year was no different with a fun band, bonfire and great people. The came the rain..........We are forecasted for a lot of rain and flash flooding was a concern. We hunkered down and planned to spend the day inside with kids waiting for bedtime..................

The Island 2011 and a Wedding

We had an absolutely great time at the Island again this year. We left for the Island on July 31st. Before leaving we attened a wedding on Lake Champlain the night before. The ceremony was on a boat and the reception at the Echo Center. It was a very nice wedding and lots of fun, congrats to Vy and Spenser Weppler.

We were at the Island for two weeks. Mom and Dad came also came up the same day. They Hynes joined us for our last weekend. Mom and Dad went to Alquinqun Park for a long weekend on that same weekend, then they stayed at the Island for another week.

The kids had quite a few early mornings to start which was a bit rough, they were so excited to be there. Calvin was a fish swimming without any aids most of the time, he swam across all bays with out help. He also casted, caught and reeled in his first Pike. Drew loved the water this year, but with swimmies or a life jacket. Both boys did lots of fishing, Drew helped Dad reel in a couple of Pikes. They also had fun reutinit with Connor Lueck, while Devin and Lauren also got to know each other. Lauren absolutely loves the water and wanted to be in it a lot! Generally that mean mom or dad going in with her while she floated or swimming around and swimming while holding her. We went on several family fishing trips, I got my first liscence in years. It was really nice to be out on the boat the 5 of us and Brownie too. I also got a lot of Pikes. Ken is going back in early October for a fishing trip for a couple of days.

Pond

We have been spending lots of time in the pond. Drew is swimming back and forth and around the pond with his swimmies. Calvin is doing the same with no swimming aids, he loves to jump off the dock. Lauren has been floating in her ring/thing but she has to have me with her and usually holding hands. But we tour all around chasing the boys.

July and a new name

In a very slow attempt to blog more often I have renamed the blog, see above. The new name is more personal and thats about it. I think I may start a new blog where I can have my own rants and thoughts.

I can't believe we are halfway through the summer already. I really hate how time is going by more quickly as I get older and it really scares me to think how fast it really will all go by.

The boys have been enjoying their summer camp three days a week. They both have made huge strides in swimming. We got Drew some arm swimmies and now he is off like a fish. He can't have the swimmies at camp with him so he practices swimming without aid when there. Calvin is jumping off the diving board and trying new jumps and dives. He is still working on learning strokes, maybe this winter we will do swim lessons. For some reason he doesn't want lessons and is happy learning from me. We are working on the breast stroke, he can do the arms but usually reverts back to the doggy paddle. We will be going to the Island the first two weeks of August, he will have lots of time to work with mom on his strokes there. Calvin is getting so big. He is a great help around the help and does a lot of fetching for me and helping out. He is still a wonderful eater and loves to snack on fruits and veggies. I feel badly that the kids dinner is often not as exciting as our dinner, as he would much rather have "adult" food. I've been making a lot of smoothies this summer, which Lauren and Calvin love. Unfortunately Drew is still anti lots of fruits and veggies. He likes Bananas, Watermelon and is warming up to Strawberries. He likes Cucumbers and Red Peppers. He will eat whatever veggie we give him at dinner but not always happily.

Lauren is very verbal, I am going to attempt to get all her words and sayings down but there is a lot. She speaks in 2-4 word sentences and can communicate almost everything she needs. I want to make sure I get some things down from this stage. She knows a lot of food, Nok is still Milk, water, cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese, cream (ice cream), cracker, pepper (peppers and cucumbers), banana, apple, bagel, pizza, pasta, bread, peas (from the garden), Strawbear (tomatoes and strawberries), blueberry, pickle. She can count to 10 most of the time, she is working on her ABCs, she loves to sing mainly Baa Baa Black Sheep but she has a few songs that she tries to sing, book, Lulu (ladybug girl books), Princess (Do Princess Really Kiss Frogs), show (TV), push/swing (she wants to be pushed on the swing), Slide, outside, pond, carry you (she wants to be carried), up (she wants down), dress (she wants to take her clothes off or wants something on), poo, pee, diaper, potty, bath, sippy cup, ice cube, Doggy, Elissa (our neighbor Melissa), Jake, Uncle John, Aunt Enise (denise), Ierra (cierra), Jack (Jackson), Maya, Ea (eva), Chris, Mor-mor, Pop-pop, Grandma, Grandpa, Joe, Blankie, Lap, All basic body parts, flower, ball, chair. I'm sure I am missing some but thats a good chunk.

Drew swims (sort of)

Drew got fairly comfortable at swimming short little bursts at the Swimming Hole. Yesterday he swam across the pond several times with his life jacket on. He really enjoyed it! Its a big step for him overcoming his fear of drowning. Somehow he is convinced that he will drown if water gets in his mouth. But he swam all around the pool in Florida with his ring and swimmies on and swam solo at the swimming hole. Oh well step by step.

I wish

I could update this more often. I like the idea of adding little blurbs everyday or so, but not very realistic with my schedule. So here is what we have been up to and little updates about the kids.

We went to church on Easter with Mom and Dad and then went to the Hynes for a big easter egg hunt and pot-luck Brunch. The sun even came out for us.

Memorial Day.
Ken and I were part of a relay team in the Vermont City Marathon on Sunday over Memorial Day Weekend in Burlington. Ken had a 5.8 mile leg and did great. I had the short leg, 3.1 miles. I was so nervous, first time running in an official race. I had a ton of fun, did well and felt strong. I ran the whole way without taking a walk break. I have gone running with the girls Saturday mornings for a few weeks. We generally do 3 miles but usually stop for a walk somewhere along the way. A couple weeks beforet the VCM was the 3rd annual Wild Woman Run in Waterbury, that was a lot of fun as always. Ken was in Polaski, NY fishing. Jake was nice enough to bring Lauren out in her stroller with the other little girls so she and I could finish together. Also last weekend the whole family plus Pop-pop hiked the Pinnacle on Monday. It was a quick little hike, the kids did great. We just stopped once for a little water on the way up. We followed the hike with lunch at the Green Goddess. I had my first swim in the pond.

I am trying to remember what else we did for Memorial Day Weekend. Mom went in to the hospital on Thursday to have a Stent put in her neck. The procedure was to happen on Thursday and was attempted, but the blockage was to great to get the stent in. Lauren and I went in to visit her on Thursday. The desicion was made to operate and remove the plaque in the artery in her neck. This is what they wanted to do originally but there was concern in regards to her ability to heal with all the radiation she has had in the past. Anyway they did the procedure on Friday and everything went well. She was discharged Saturday at 6:00. I went and picked her up and due to some medicine issues I didn't get back home till almost 11:00. Sunday night at 9:45 mom had an Afib and called 911. I was with her at Copley till 2:00am then she was moved to FAHC and she stayed there till Tuesday. She needed some blood and fluids. She is doing very well now is home and seems great. Not a fun weekend, very nerve racking. Not a lot of fun as your parents get older.


Wednesday was the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals and Ken had the boys over to watch the Bruins, I hung out at Melissa's after dinner with the kids at Gwynne's. Friday night Melissa and I snuck up to the Mountain for Friday Afternoon Club and apps at the Cactus. Ken had the boys over for Poker. Gwynne and I hiked the Pinnacle this past Saturday. Fun to hike with a girlfriend and with nothing on my back, we were up and down in 1 1/2 great little hike. Had a nice Prime Rib dinner at the Trout Club with friends Saturday night. Sunday I ran 6.6 miles! I am very proud of myself, we (Melissa and I) walked twice up two little hills, very little walking almost short enough not to count it. We ended the walk right before a big hill on the way home. After the run we walked an addt'l .7 miles uphill to home. Last night we finished the weekend with great friends at a friends house for dinner. It was a great weekend with lots of exercise.

I don't know the rest of our past weekends have been this exciting. Ken had been travelling a lot in the end of April and early May, for both business and pleasure. The Trout Club opened and Ken was able to go for several days of fishing. We went to Mass for Jay and Meghan Rooney's wedding on the 14th. Ken and I both had a lot of fun, the DJ was great, congrats to them both!

Our vegetable garden is in and is looking good. I am having a lot of fun tending to the garden and flower beds this year. The past few years have been filled with babies and pregnancies. This feels like the first year since we moved in that I have had the time and stamina to keep up with everything. I have beans, lettuce, carrots, peas, tomatoes, peppers, squash, pumpkins, basil, cilantro, dill, cukes and potatoes in the garden. And more herbs in the herb garden. Ken and I have also been working on the flower beds. There are quite a few of them, lots of raking, digging up hostas, putting down paper and mulch.

We have had a lot of birds this year and are enjoying our feeders and watching the activity. The Hummingbird Feeder is in front of the kitchen window this year and lots of fun to watch.

This week we are having granite countertops installed. Looking forward to the new countertops and sink, but not being without countertops and a sink for a couple of days.

We have a lot of fun things coming in the newxt couple of months. Lots of Saturday parties, a concert and house guests, followed by the Island in the beginning of August.

Lauren will be in 2 on Thursday! She is starting to assert herself more. Please is a funny one for her. She says please now and again and uses it the right way. But if she asks for something without saying it and we ask her to say please 80% of the time she won't do it, she says NO and gets sad. Its pretty funny becasue she is usually so sweet and polite, says thank you and is generally kind and considerate. But she doesn't like to be asked to say please. She knows a lot of our friends names now. Jake was her first and she has had that down for a few weeks, then Aunt Nise (Denise), Melissa, she can say Maya perfectly, John. She also says Cierra and Jillian but not as clearly. Yesterday she climbed in the bath tub to pee! Not the potty but I think it is a good sign and time to put a little effort into potty training. I accidently bought her squeaky shoes. I had tried them on her, paid for them and then put her down to discover that they squeak with every step. It sounds like a dog toy. Oh well she loves them and they are her current size so shouldn't fit for very long. Her hair is still curly, the curls are turning into ringlets with the humidity. She is still sleeping well but has been getting up earlier, around 6:30. She got a swing from Grandma Mary and Grandpa Joe for Christmas which we have put up and she loves! She loves being outside with her brothers.

Drew graduated from HMCC on the 2nd! This was also his last day. He is very happy to be done with pre-school and is home with me till camp starts. He can't wait till Kindergarten starts in the fall. Drew has been getting chewed up by the bugs, I think it is the olive skin. Both Drew and I seem to be a favorite with the bugs. Drew has made some positive food changes lately. He is eating what he is served much quicker and without as many complaints. He also choose Pasta over Pizza for his graduation dinner. Drew has taken an interest in fishing this year and he Calvin spend a lot of time at the pond with their fishing poles. They both also love to hang out in the boat. Its not Ken's favorite place for them to be but it is very nice that they can spend so much time out there playing pirates.

Calvin is a whiz on his bike now and loves to bike all over and visit the nieghbors. Calvin has two more weeks of school and then will be on the same camp schedule as Drew. They have one week of full camp and then three days a week of full day camp.

Drew lost his second tooth yesterday!

Drew almost 5!

Drew had a hair cut before we went to Flordia, we halved it! Still lots of beautiful curls, looks much better now that we aren't in hats 24/7. Drews has another adult tooth coming in on the front bottom. He has already lost one front bottom that has been replaced by an adult tooth, the other one is now loose but you can see the adult tooth behind it. Calvin had that too "double deckers". He has an appt with Dr. Neil next week and is not looking forward to having his tooth pulled. Dr. Neil pulled Calvins two baby teeth when the adult ones were visible and I imagine he will want to the same with this tooth. I've been encouraging Drew to wiggle it as much as he can to get loose by itself but it isn't getting much looser. Drew is doing well and had a great time in FL. He made huge progress in the pool, by the end of the stay he was swimming around the pool with arm swimmies and a ring, but he was cruising around with his googles on and having fun. He is very ready to be done with pre-school and start Kindergarten. I am going to pull him out of HMCC as soon as the pre-school graduation happens, then they wildo local summer rec camps till Island time!

Lauren almost 22 months (sniff-sniff)

Updated list of words and phrases, I love you, thank you, bye-bye, phone, doggy, mine, one, two, three, four, five, sock, shoe, all body parts including cheeks, hair, teeth, potty, Mor Mor. Pop pop, school (usually Drew School), cheese, cracker, bagel, outside, rease (i think is please), she is very good at thank you, so/so on your welcome and we are working on please, book, show, mommy and daddy, in Florida she was close with Grandma/Grandpa, Carrot, banana, night-night, train, poop, Lauren's hair is crazy, in Florida she had beautiful curls and ringlets. I am hoping when the humidity returns here so will her curls. Right now its pretty big with frizz. There are curls tucked in there, her bangs are getting long again too.

Punta Gorda

We returned from NYC on February 27th on the 1st we left for Florida! I had a busy Sunday and Monday and we were off again on Tuesday. I flew by myself with the kids. I must say it was about as good as I can imagine flying alone with 3 kids to be. We had extra seats from BTV to RSW and Lauren slept, the boys were "plugged" in and did wonderfully. Kens mom and Joe met us in Fort Myers. Ken flew down later that day into Sarasota. We all flew home together on the 9th. We had a wonderful week. The weather was great, a little rain one day but sunshine and warm the rest, a little windy but I will take that over clouds. Ken had a morning of fishing with Mr. Rundle, I had lunch in Venice with my godfather, we did some shopping, miniature golf, Ken and Joe took the boys to a Spring Training game. We had a day in Sarasota with beach time at Siesta Key and orange ice cream from albertsons. I always went to Siesta Key Beach with my grandmother and orange Ice Cream from Albertsons was a regular stop for me when visiting Granny and Pop pop. On the last night Ken cooked some _____ and _____, it was delicious and I will fill it in later. We are hoping to make it back to FL in the fall with the Hynes.

NYC

Hello. In February Calvin and I went to NY for the weekend. We went with my good friend Nicole and her daughter Eva, Eva is 7. We flew down early Friday morning landing in JFK at 7:20 we took a cab to the Marriott Marquis our room was ready when we got there. A quick stop in the room and letting the kids check out the lobby (very cool elevators) we were off. We had a great day with breakfast, subway to the AMNH, walk thru Central Park to 5th avenue, FAO Schwartz, Lego Store, Rockefeller Center and walk back to the hotel. Friday night we took the Subway to Brooklyn where we saw Treasure Island at the Irondale, late night Sushi at the hotel. Saturday was filled with more kids stores, lots of walking and a fabulous Italian lunch. For dinner we ate at the View which is atop the Marquis, food was pretty good, not great but ok, the real treat was that the restaurant spun around for 360 views. Saturday night we saw Wicked at the Gershwin Theater on Broadway. I really enjoyed the performance, as did Calvin but he was a bit "freaked" out, so we left at intermission. The weekend was about the kids and I didn't want to push it, it was late and he wasn't 100% in to it. We had a nice, bright, walk back to the hotel checking out the lights of Broadway. Sunday morning we had a nice walk to a great little breakfast spot, another trip to the Lego Store and the Metropolitan Museum Gift Shop and then back to JFK. A great, quick weekend with good friends. Calvin and Eva did great and had a lot fun together, definitely a trip to repeat.

Better late than never

Lets see, we'll put Drew first this go around.

Drew lost his first tooth a few weeks ago at just about 4 3/4 years old. Definitely young to be losing teeth but you can see the adult tooth pushing its way through underneath. (Calvin had his bottom front two pulled when he was just over 5, his adult teeth were pushing through, you could see them behind the baby teeth) I am sure the other bottom front will go soon too. He was very excited about it, he has been wanting to lose teeth for awhile. He was very cute and came running saying his tooth hurt, I felt it and told him it was lose. He lost it the next day eating pizza at the mountain during his ski lesson. Drew's hair is a big, floppy, curly mess. We don't want to cut although I have trimmed the front so he can see. If I can keep it long I think we will need to start an annual cut in the fall to avoid hat head during the winter. Drew is still really enjoying downhill skiing and can't get up there enough to keep him happy. He is starting to get a little bored at his pre-school I think he is very ready for Kindergarten. He will stop his pre-school around the same time school ends for Calvin. The have a church camp in Stowe they will both go to for a week in June. Hopefully I can get them enrolled in some local recreation programs for July, then August is Island time and back to school already. Much to Drew's joy yesterday was the last Sunday of Hockey. He just doesn't like it as much as Calvin, which is fine. There are lots of other sports he likes. He is looking forward to T-Ball starting up soon.

Calvin on the other hand really enjoys hockey and is looking forward to next year. Calvin is also really enjoying skiing and wants to go a lot. He hasn't been as much as Drew this year but is almost done with all the levels the program he is in has to offer. Calvin will play baseball on a little league team this spring too. Calvin turned 7 on January 18th, our big boy! We took him out to Piecasso to play games and to the Shed for dinner. I think we will start a tradition of taking each child out for a special dinner with just mom and dad for dinner on their birthday. We had a few family friends over for pizza and cake which quickly turns into 15 kids and 12 adults. It was a nice evening with close friends. Calvin is getting so big and handsome and mouthy. He is not to bad but it is interesting transitioning from toddler/little kid challenges and parenting hurdles to a boy with opinions and sass. TBPS had a x-c country ski program at Trapps on Thursdays, Calvin and I have been going and I am enjoying it so much. I really am having a lot of fun x-c country skiing and have also been out on the Rec Path in Stowe. They are grooming it for skiing this year.

Lauren Balauren is perfect:) She really is a remarkably happy and easy going little girl, she bring us all a lot of happiness. The boys continue to adore her. She and Drew play wonderfully together. Drew is young enough to still play imagination games with her, cooking food and feeding babies. We have two play strollers that they push around the house together. Of course Drew's crashes his, catches on fire and he needs a fire hose to put it out:) The boys sometimes pick her up to much or try and move her but they are gentle with her and have a genuine love and affection for her. Ken is very happy for her defense team for years to come. I'm not sure how much she will like that. She is very good at saying thank you more of a tak yu. We were at the Shed for dinner the other night and our server brought over our drinks and told Lauren she had cute pigtails, Lauren looked at her and said Tak You. I think she was responding to the drinks but it was pretty cute all the same. She has been eating a lot lately and goes to her chair and reaches for it when she is hungry. She is loving red peppers. The past few morning she has been waking up at 6 which is really early for her and us, I am hoping it is a phase to end soon. It is cute to hear her on the monitor saying Mamma over and over again and then Dadda too. She says goo girl to Brownie. She says Dew and Khaki (for Calvin and Drew), pees (please), nok (milk), baby, poop and pulls at her diaper, potty, cheese (which she loves), cracker, bye-bye, night night. She understands everything.