New York

We had a great time in New York. We made LOTS of turtles (well, really, Papa made them).

And made LOTS of lego creations (actually Ethan).

The boys slept in Grammy and Papa's exercise room.

And played in the basement.

Jason escaped to Indianapolis for a Chargers/Colts game with Ryan and Rob.

Jason's grandparents were there. We loved visiting with them.

And the kids really loved celebrating Christmas a little early.

And my birthday.

We were sad to leave, but the kids loved flying.

Random

The boys are so cute when they hang out together.

Ethan lost his front tooth!

And Colin is always a ham.

Pictures from our day

We have an amazing nanny, Melissa, who has been with us for over a year. She takes great care of our kids while I work part time. This morning she put Maddie's hair in pigtails. A few weeks ago, I put my baby girl to bed, and in the morning she woke up a toddler. This morning, I left my toddler at home to take the boys to school, and came home to a little girl. If time could pause just long enough for me to catch my breath, I'd appreciate it.

This is how Maddie usually looks:

And here she is all grown up, checking out the groceries.

After Colin got home from preschool, he and Melissa had the following conversation:

Colin: Lissa, what's on Maddie's head??

Melissa: They're pig tails.

Colin: PIG TAILS!!! Maddie say oink oink now???

Along with time, I'd love to pause the weather exactly where it's been this week. Gorgeous days that smell like fall...not chilly, not hot, bright yellow leaves snowing down all day. I love it. The boys wanted me to bury them in a leaf pile this afternoon. They had a ball. I loved hearing the belly laughter as I raked more and more piles of leaves on them. I have hundreds of pictures to blog about, including one documenting that big gap in Ethan's smile, but again, that issue with time. I'll include one of my favorites here, which Melissa took of Maddie last month when she took Colin and Maddie on a nature walk. We are off to New York to eat too much and sit in front of the fire. Happy Thanksgiving!

Beach to Battleship

Jason took on his second half-Ironman down in Wilmington. He went down the night before with his friend, and I drove down with the kids to cheer him on the day of the race. If I was smart, I'd post these pictures and just say something about how cool the battleship was to tour. The truth is, I was completely off my game that day, I guess, because it was one of the top 3 worst days of parenting I've ever had. I did manage to hold it together (no screaming at the kids or crying on my part), but really, it was a lousy day. I miscalculated SEVERAL things, like how long it would take us to get to the island, how much food would be available, what kind of supplies (diapers, change of clothes, etc) I would need. Jason finished the race and headed pretty quickly to the medical tent to deal with horrible nausea and possible dehydration. I took the kids up the battleship, which Ethan had been begging to see. It was hot and the kids were hungry and tired, but you would never know it from these pictures. It was such a lousy experience I failed to get a single picture of Jason racing or afterwards. We didn't feed the kids until around 9:00 that night, and Colin stood up on his chair in the middle of the restaurant and the entire chair went over backwards. It seemed like a fitting ending to a terrible day. But we all survived!

Field Trip

I went with Colin's class on a nature hike field trip. The setting was gorgeous, the day was gorgeous, and we had a great time.

It was so nice I took the kids back later that week after school.

Madeline was convinced she could throw this rock in the water. She's spunky.

Sandbox

The kids are still loving the sandbox their Dad built them, and I am loving weather cool enough to enjoy it! I don't know if you can tell, but Madeline is dumping shovels of sand on her brother's head. I have no clue why.