Hunter's birthday party had to be indoors this year due to inclement weather, but we still had a great time and Hunter lost his first tooth to boot! We're pretty sure he swallowed it while eating bat shaped PB&J sandwiches though because he noticed it was gone right after eating and we scoured the floor and didn't find a trace of it.
A quick game of "Hot pumpkin" before cake eating.
Hunter opening his present from his dad, a superhero video game he's been waiting for to be released for about a year now. Tom, being the trickster that he is, has been telling Hunter that the release date had been pushed back to December and that maybe he should put it on his Christmas list instead. Hunter was pleasantly surprised if you can't tell by the expression on his face!
Gryffin giving me his best mischievous face as he cheated at bobbing for apples. We had to resort to pears because my kids kept eating all the apples I bought for the party and we were only left with about eight apples for the game. Pears don't float...except for the red ones!
Blowing out the candles!
Mom mom used trick candles a few family birthdays back and Hunter has been waiting and waiting to have his turn with the trick candles. He thinks they are about the coolest thing and he's grinning from ear to ear as he watched them relight!
Thanks to Aunt Aubrey for her homemade dark chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate buttercream. Hunter's absolute favorite!
Hunter's good friend Ella and cousin Nadia reconnected for the first time in months and were super happy to see each other and play together at the party.
I always feel overwhelming anxiety when I'm about to have more than 20 people in my house, but everything turned out great and my sisters helped me so much with the preparations and clean up and didn't seem that bad at all. Thanks to everyone who made Hunter's birthday so special!
We have settled into a great routine for weekdays that I can't help but feel proud of. I am gone most mornings until it's time to pick up Hunter at school at 2:00 PM. We walk home together and he tells me all about his day. I love this little bit of time we have together and I can see how much he has grown in just one month of Kindergarten. None of the material is new to him as he had 3 years of preschool at Noah's Ark, but his social skills are ever increasing and he LOVES his classmates, teacher and school in general.
When we get home, mostly, the twins are still napping and Hunter gets to have a little bit of down time. He can choose either an hour of TV or an hour of video games. (yes, I let my 5-year-old play video games, some one call child services!) When Olivia and Gryffin wake up, we head over to the school playground for some energy release and to keep the peace between the kids. They never fight or pick with each other there because there are other kids to keep them busy and no toys to fight over! An added bonus is I get to interact with other mothers and actually get to have conversations that don't involve Blue's Clues, string cheese or more goldfish crackers!
We head home around 5:45, or whenever the crowd disperses. I feed the kids dinner and clean up while they play in the bath. Hunter is starting to be annoyed by the toddler bath antics and I usually have to wash the twins quickly and remove them from the bath before the bathroom becomes a small pond.
Olivia and Gryffin usually need to be in their cribs by 7:30 or the situation can get quite hairy. There is usually very little resistance if any at all. A book is read to them by either Hunter or me, brush teeth and up to bed. Again, Hunter and I get to have a few moments together to reflect on the day and read some books together before he heads up to bed.
It's usually about 8:30 PM by the time I get back downstairs for a little bit of me time. I have about 2 hours to finish cleaning up, do laundry, blog or load pictures off my camera onto the computer, read or just watch TV before Tom gets home at 10:30. The routine is working great for now and I'm not really looking forward to the cold weather and being cooped up inside. I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it...
Well, we've made is through the first week of Kindergarten without a hitch. Hunter seems to be adjusting well and having a great time in his new school. He's made some new friends and gets along well with his teacher, Mr. Shaffer. His only complaint so far has been that "It's a really long day, Mama!"
This is Ella. She lived next door to my mom for the first 4 and a half years of her life. She and Hunter get along quite well and we were a little sad to find out that they didn't get the same teacher. Hunter says that they "stick together" on the playground though.
He was very excited to enter the building and get to his class. Olivia and Gryffin were sad to see him off and Gryffin ended up being the only one to shed tears as we said goodbye to our Hunter Bean. He tried so hard to get back in the school. Olivia and I had to literally walk away from the school to get him to come with us!
The whole walk home both of them asked "Where Hunter go?" about 50 times. We miss our Hunter in the mornings and look forward to picking him up at 2:00. He has learning to do and people to meet and adventures to go on. He is such a sweet boy and kind brother and will be an excellent student too.
I think I'm more proud of this drawing than Hunter is but I think it is so cute! On his second day of school, they practiced writing the letter "A" and then were supposed to draw something that begins with the letter "A". This is what he drew.
Three weeks ago, I read my friends Sayward's blog about her dog Hagrid, who had become ill and she made the difficult decision to put him down. I cried when I read it. Two weeks ago, we took our dog Link, who seemed to be having quite a bit of trouble with his leg, to the vet. We got some very sad and quite shocking news that he had lymphoma, and probably had about a month to live, at best. I cried when when we got the news, a lot. A week ago, we were scheduled to go back to the vet to see how Link was doing. He had been prescribed some prednisone to make him more comfortable and help with the pain in his leg. It seemed to work for a few days and he had quite a bit of energy and didn't seem to have a problem walking. However, that didn't last long and he started to become more and more sick as we approached the appointment. Tom and I discussed that we would not allow him to suffer, and if the vet suggested it was time to let go, we would. It was an extremely difficult decision and I cried a lot, again. We said goodbye to our sweet Linky dog on Tuesday, August 18 at 11:30 AM. We took him to Tom's Aunt Kathie and Uncle Paul's property in New Castle and buried him in one of his favorite places to be. We miss him terribly and treasure every moment of the past seven years that he spent with us.
Looking quite regal in his old age
Looking handsome and golden in his younger years
Rides in the Wrangler were his all time favorite
Feeling quite sad as Tom left for the army...at least we had each other!
Quite possibly the cutest puppy ever!
...even when soaking wet!
One of all time favorite pictures. Maya drinking at the sink, Link drinking at the tub!
They were the best of buddies... finally together again.
Maya teasing Link by eating his food right out of the bin!
Helping newborn Hunter to drift off.
Not really sure why we're paying so much attention to that tiny human that makes so much noise.
Check out Linky's tongue sneaking a taste of Hunter.
Halloween doggy's all time favorite candy...wildberry Skittles
Winking Link
Smoking a licorice on Christmas.
How he would wake up Tom when I told him to.
Looking a bit frail and sad but still as cute as can be.
Olivia and Gryffin celebrated their 2nd birthday on August 3rd. I can't believe how quickly the time seems to have gone by! We had mostly family and some friends come to celebrate with us at the house. The day was a weird one with periods of heavy rain and periods of sunny skies. A fun time was had by all!
Here is the lovely and expecting Aunt Danae with the masterpiece of a cake she created! I picked out a homemade vanilla cupcake and buttercream recipe off of the internet and Danae was kind enough to do the baking while her sister Gloria and I prepared other foods for the day. I found an adorable Very Hungry Caterpillar cake that I had my heart set on creating and Danae did an absolutely perfect job. Unfortunately, we never got to eat the cake because a light bulb broke right over where the cake was sitting. My mom quickly ran to Giant Eagle to buy some "cookie" cakes from the bakery. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit upset about it. After all, Hunter has had a homemade cake for every birthday and my sister Aubrey made homemade chocolate cupcakes for the twins first birthday. I quickly got over it and everyone seemed to like the cookie cakes just fine... disaster averted.
Olivia was very pleased with her Maclaren baby doll stroller. Gryffin covets the stroller as well and it has become the number one thing that causes arguments. Thanks to Gloria (Aunt Boo Boo) for the stroller.
Tom's Aunt Kathie made these adorable hats for Olivia and Gryffin. They are super cute on and the babies couldn't love them more! Thanks to Aunt Kathie for a beautiful and practical gift!
Olivia admiring the Hungry Caterpillar cake
Having their cookie cake on the steps
Happy boy Gryffin at their birthday lunch at Bahama Breeze
Aunt Danae and Uncle Aaron stayed with us for a week while they we waiting to close on their new house. Luckily for us it happened to be the birthday week and we had some extra sets of hands around the house for preparations and kid watching. The soon to be parents did a great job and Hunter, Olivia and Gryffin all loved them so much and were so sad to see them go! They will be great parents to their little guy and we can't wait to play with him too!
Olivia and Aunt Nae Nae playing peek-a-boo at the park
It all started with this really awesome Melissa and Doug puzzle I bought for my little key loving tinkerer, Gryffin. I thought it would keep his little fingers busy for a while and away from the more dangerous situations he usually gravitates towards. I never thought it would so rapidly teach him one of the more crucial skills necessary for a life of crime.
I walked into the room to discover Gryffin working on one of his favorite pastimes, trying to open the file cabinet. He climbed up on the computer desk via the swivel chair and retrieved a key and commenced the breaking and entering. I caught him right at the moment of success.
Caught red handed buddy!
The kicker is, he didn't even use the real key for the cabinet! It was actually a bike lock key that he skillfully used.
Last Wednesday, we embarked on our decidedly annual trip to Lancaster to ride on Thomas the Tank Engine and go to Dutch Wonderland. We had so much fun last year, we planned on bringing the kids back this year. The 5 hour car ride is less than desirable, and we squeezed everyone(Tom and me and our 3 kids and Aubrey and her 2 kids)into our good old Saturn Relay. Needless to say, with 5 kids ages 5 and under, it seemed a lot longer than 5 hours! We survived the ride there only to squeeze our families into a two room suite. We were really trying to be thrifty and I think we succeeded.
Luckily, our incredibly charming hotel(The Historic Strasburg Inn)had this really awesome Amish built playset in the back to keep the kids occupied while we packed for each days events. The above picture of Olivia reminds me of Little House on the Prairie with the field and log cabin in the background.
Thursday had rain and thunderstorms forcasted so we planned to do a few indoor things including visiting The Choo Choo Barn. We took Hunter to this awesome miniature railroad the first time we came to ride Thomas when he was two. It is a gigantic layout of the city of Lancaster with tons of moving details. There's a baseball game, a carnival, a miniature Dutch Wonderland, an Amish Barn raising, and my personal favorite, the house on fire. So much cool stuff to look at! A little fire truck actually drives to the house that's on fire and a little fireman puts a ladder up and another guy gets the hose out and actual water gets sprayed on the house to douse the flames! This is totally amazing to watch.
There are dig sites, and gas stations and a parade going around one of the blocks in town, and of course...the trains!
Outside of the miniature village, the kids climbed around on this wooden engine.
I love how this shot floated down here, crazy blogger!
From the left is Malacai, Olivia, Gryffin, Nadia and Hunter on the gazebo swing at the hotel. It's more difficult than you think getting a photograph of the five of them!
Hunter looking cute.
Gryffin was obsessed with this monster truck ride at Dutch Wonderland. He must have ridden it about 10 times!
We had a blast in the water park called Duke's Lagoon. There are baby water slides and water shoots out everywhere!
We rented a stroller from the park because we couldn't fit ours in the van, and I knew the babies would need a nap during the day. Unfortunately, the rented stroller is nowhere near as comfy as our cadillac of a stroller and it was difficult for them to fall asleep while sitting so upright in the hard molded plastic stroller. Eventually, I found a nice peaceful trail by a river that was away from all the noise of the park and they drifted off.
All 3 of my kids sleep with their eyes partially open, it's kind of creepy.
We wrapped up our trip on Saturday with the Day out with Thomas event. It was a very beautiful but hot day and patience was wearing thin with kids and adults. Everyone was excited to ride the train and we even saw some Amish farmers with a horse drawn plow harvesting some sort of crop during the ride.
All in all, it was a great trip. Olivia and Gryffin were suffering from some sort of stomach bug and that wasn't too fun but it wasn't enough to ruin our trip and I'm sure we'll be back next year...
We've had a very busy month, jam packed full of lots of milestones and memories. We started off with a traditional Mother's day celebration at our house put together by my wonderful husband and Uncle Kurt. This is the fourth year that they have pampered all of the mothers in the family(Tom's side and mine)with a wonderful brunch including quiche, fruit salad, pancakes, sausages and lots more. It was a fabulous time for all the lovely mothers in the family(12 mothers were in attendance).
My mom and her two sisters
The Monday after Mother's day just happened to be Tom's 30th birthday. So, while Tom napped after all his hard work on the brunch, my mom helped me put together a surprise party for him at her house. The above picture is his arrival at the party, thinking we were just going over for dinner to my mom's like we do every Sunday. All of his sibling and mine were there and he was truly surprised. Needless to say, this fun-filled day wrapped up with an early bedtime for all.
Tom and his sisters and brother and Hunter pause for a picture before the DQ ice cream cake
Gryffin reminds me so much of Hunter at this age with those big blue eyes!
I love this picture of Hunter...such a big boy now
Izaya recently went to her friends Bat Mitzvah and Emily wanted some pictures of her dressed for the occasion. All I can think of is, Wow I wish I looked like that at 13! Isn't that supposed to be the awkward phase. There's nothing awkward about this 5'7" beautiful girl!
Last Sunday, my mom and Brian came over with all kinds of tools and a big box of contractor bags to do an Emergency Landscaping at my house. It's a really huge yard and a really huge job that is going to take several weekends to complete. This is a rather daunting job, and I am extremely grateful for their help. I can't wait until we are finished and we can enjoy the backyard fully for the first time since we moved in!
Even Gryffin helped out with the little wheel barrow that my mom brought.
While raking some debris, I found this little guy. Olivia just loved him and was sad when I let him free. She called after "foggy" and nearly pitched a fit when he disappeared into the hillside.
On to the Memorial day parade and picnic. We set up camp right on the curb at the end of Pryor way. The twins were absolutely thrilled at the candy throwing. It was just the best thing ever!
More candy, please Mama!
Noah and Hunter got to actually be in the parade for QVRA. All the baseball and T-ball players were allowed to march in the parade if they wanted too. Noah is in the middle, holding the sign.
Hunter didn't so much march as ride on his dad's shoulders. It was a very hot and sunny day, and we Scotch-Irish folk are ill-equipped for the sun and heat. As soon as the boys got to us, they hopped out of the parade and joined us on the curb to enjoy the rest of the parade.
We headed back to my mom's house for a picnic and some fun with the sprinkler and water balloons. Olivia wanted so desperately to hang with the big kids and tried several times to climb up into the tree house(unsuccessfully). She settled for the bench instead.
We hooked up the sprinkler to the hose and let all of the kids cool off in the street. My mom lives on one of the few remaining brick streets in Sewickley which is scheduled to be paved later this summer after some sewer work is complete. It will be a sad day, and I've been taking lots of pictures of the kids playing in the street. I hate for McCready way to lose it's charm, and gain some unsightly potholes this winter!
Trying to cool off!
Running on McCready Way and splashing in the puddles! Gryffin carried around a corn-on-the-cob and dunked it in the puddles and continued to nibble on it...priceless!
Lastly, our little Hunter graduated from Pre-school on Tuesday and is now officially a Kindergartner! His class, along with Noah's Ark I and II had a performance at the ice cream social and Hunter practiced his line and Spanish songs with me all week long. He did a great job with his part. "A rainbow reminds us of God's promise not to flood the whole earth again" and remembered all the other Bible verses and songs. We are so proud of our little guy!
Hunter receiving his "diploma" from Miss Morgan, one of his teachers this year.
Olivia especially loved the bagpipers and danced her little heart out with each passing group. Here is a little clip from the last set of bagpipers in the parade.
