Shots from the Tourney

Roland was in the JPD III Tourney this weekend and we found some shots taken of him online so I wanted to share them, damn he looks good. Way better than I looked last week at my lesson.

I know he is going to get smack for the expressions on his face, got to love them!

Rollin' w/the Babies

It is official...we can no longer lay Leah on the bed and walk away, she is ROLLING! We sing her our version of "Rollin' w/the Homies" titled "Rollin' w/the Babies!" I know we are dorks, but she laughs at us!

Air Show

As a kid my Dad used to take us to the air show it seemed yearly and at that time of my life I actually hated it (sorry Dad), but we heard that Fort Drum was going all out and it was all free so we decided to check it out this year and boy were we pleased.

Seth in a helicopter

MWR had at least 10 or more inflatables for the kids to play on so Seth took full advantage!

It was very hot out so we all had snow-cones to beat the heat!

The air show itself was truly amazing and I have no idea how those pilots don't throw up with all those twists and turns in the sky.

Seth and Daddy inside an old WWII fighter plane.

It was a great afternoon and we will definitely check it out again next year. Leah will be mobile next year also so it should be fun!

Watch out Tiger Woods

Poppy stopped over on Sunday morning and brought Seth the most perfect gift... real mini kids golf clubs. He was so excited and wanted to get started right away. Following in his mother's footsteps, he was instantly frustrated, but kept trying.

Thank you so much Tom AKA Poppy. Seth loves his gift and can't wait to get out on the golf course with you and Roland soon!

1st Signs of Summer

Last day of work and the first time in the pool for the season. Great combo!

Leah opted out of the pool, she napped poolside instead!

Future Yankee

Maybe someday when my son grows up he can help the Yankees pull themselves out of the funk they have been in. When that time comes he can show them what his Aunt Sheryl bought him for his birthday when he was 3!Thanks Aunt Sheryl!

Tis the Season...

...to pick strawberries!

Yesterday we made our yearly trip to Adams to pick strawberries. This was the 2nd year that Seth went with us and he LOVED it. He was super excited and so well behaved. The weather was perfect, but the strawberries weren't the best. We picked what we could and made the most of it. It just felt good to be outside in the warm sunny weather! Thank you to Dad and Sue for watching Leah for us!

Seth & Grandma on the wagon to the berry patch

Taste tester!


When we got home from strawberry picking we had a surprise visitor whom we haven't seen in over a month. We were all extremely excited to see...
Sheryl spent some time with both kids and ended up spending the night at our house. She even kept Seth home with her today and took him to the Farmer's Market. He was smiling from ear to ear at the fact that he got to stay home and Leah had to go to Pat's. Thank you Sheryl for taking care of our little man today.

Leah talked and talked and talked to everyone. Must be she had an exciting day and had to tell us all about it!

Growing

Seth has finally mastered his bike. We bought it a little larger than we probably should have, but not any longer. He can finally ride it and he loves it!

Saturday's Festivities

Saturday was another jam packed day filled with fun. We surprised Roland with a Father's Day massage so he went at 9am and came back very relaxed. Then, I went and my sister did my hair for Aunt Jan's reception. It turned out so pretty, thanks a ton Dayna! After that we went to the reception and it was so nice to see all of Roland's family that we never see unless there is a wedding or a funeral. We had to laugh when we got home because I would say at least ten people said that they read this blog daily or weekly which made me feel so good. I didn't think we were that interesting, but I'm super happy that so many people care about us.

The proud groom Herbie and Roland
Aunt Jan and Roland

Our favorite cousin Kim who we haven't seen since Sheryl's wedding and that was a bit foggy at best due to many hours of an open bar!

After the wedding we headed home to relieve Mom and Tom (thanks for babysitting for us!) and then right to Kristen and Lee's for dinner. It was rainy, but the boys made the most of it by riding bikes in the garage. Since Kristen is due in October she has been slowly bringing down the baby items when we come over for Leah to use so when Leah was getting tired we had the bright idea to get the swing down. After many attempts to find it we finally got it down, strapped her in AND no batteries!

Searching and searching for the swing with a ghost flashlight!

We ended up pushing her back and forth for a while.

Then the boys had ice cream AND....

...then took a bath!

By the time we got home we were completely exhausted from the day, but had so much fun all in all!

He Can Do It!

Check out my boy writing his name without any formal training and he is only 3 1/2!

We are so proud that he even attempts it!

She Can Do It!

Check out my girl napping in her big girl bed!

It had been a struggle, but she seems to be loving it now.

Father's Day (cont.)

We had our Father's Day luncheon and it was a huge success. I do have to thank my girlfriends for giving me such wonderful recipes over the years, which I then share with my family and get rave reviews! Everyone enjoyed the lunch, the kids and the overall company. Thank you everyone for sharing this special day with us!

Grandma and Papa Charlton
Grandpa and Nana Buckingham

Grandma and Poppy Puccia

Heartbreaking News = Too Much Wine Consumption

Friday night we got some shocking news that we were anticipating, but didn't ever really want to hear. A little over a year ago we met a new family that moved into the area and we all became friends INSTANTLY. Picture the most laid back, funny, interesting and down to earth people and you have just described our friends Nate, Beth, Brenden and Parker Irwin. We met the Irwins last March and they fit into our little circle of friends perfectly. We all felt so lucky that they had moved to our little community. For the past year we have had play dates, cook outs, shrimp boils and endless laughs. We are so sad to say that in a little over a month they will be moving back to Pennsylvania to their family. We know that we will keep in touch and get together because they are only 5 hours away, but it will never be the same and we are coping with this loss. It is crazy to sit back and really think about all the memories that we have made in just one year.
Due to this bad news we ended up killing 2 magnum bottles of Red Cat and staying up extremely late laughing and talking. We have one month left with the Irwin's so we have just about every minute planned. We are utilizing all the time we have left with our wonderful friends.

Happy Father's Day

Today is a very special day. A day to honor all the wonderful men in our life. We have dad's, step-dad's, father-in-law's, husband's, uncle's, grandfather's and friends all of whom are the BEST! We are truly lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful and devoted DAD'S. We are making the most out of every minute on this special day and it all started this morning with golf, but no ordinary round of golf. Take a look...

Seth's first round of "guys" golf!
Take a look at the writing on the flag and you will know why Seth had his picture taken with this particular flag.

Seth's favorite new thing to do when he is out in the woods.
This golfing game is tiring!

Next for the day will be the luncheon that I have planned and prepared that will start in about an hour. Stay tuned for more Father's Day coverage later!

Check This Out!

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon this program to create these neat posters. I found it again today so I made one for Leah.

Seth was not even two years old when we took that picture of him. He has changed so much!

Don't worry her middle name isn't Bean, that's just her nickname!

Life w/The Charlton's

This past week is seriously a complete and utter blur. It was week 2 of our mini session of swim so we would no sooner get home and then have to turn right around and head out the door for swim. I haven't gotten out for a walk in two weeks and I desperately want to, BUT it is raining again. Roland had a work function at Boldt Castle Monday night so my brother came over for dinner and kept us company. On Wednesday I went out to dinner with some friends to bid Rachel a farewell. Those damn military wives make the best of friends and then they have to move away. We all had some good laughs and ate and ate and ate for two hours. I even saved room for dessert, well sort of. I ate two bites and brought the rest home for Ro. Last night was the last night of swim. It is 5:58pm and the kids were excited to get in the pool when the fire alarm goes off so we all had to evacuate the building IN THE RAIN! Luckily Rod and Lee took the kids and let them hang out in the back of their truck. I do have to say that over the two weeks of swim, Seth had the most spectators. Many of our family members took the time to either come and watch Seth swim or help me with Leah at home. We thank you for that!

This weekend is super busy. We have a family wedding, dinner with friends and a special Father's Day luncheon at our house on Sunday. Needless to say, I need to hit the grocery store tonight to prep for the fun filled weekend of food and then head to my Mom's to raid her closet for the wedding.

I also only have 4 days left of work and two weeks until our vacation! We have tons and tons of fun activities planned for the summer and I can't wait to get started!

New Toy

Leah's 1st mobile!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish my Grandpa a HAPPY BIRTHDAY today! We already celebrated this past weekend, but today is his actual birthday. I called him about an hour ago and he said his big plans for today are to go to The Diner for dinner tonight and then to his favorite restaurant The Clipper tomorrow night! It sounds like he will get his fill of good food.

We love you Gramp!

Parenting 101

Last night after swim class we were getting changed and Seth says to me, "Mommy, Sophia has a butt crack." Stupidly I laughed and said, "Yes she does." The laugh gave him free reign to think that he could say "butt crack" whenever he wanted to. We needed to put an end to it so after many warnings, he ended up losing his nightly cookie because he wouldn't stop saying it. He even said to Lee, "Hi Mr. Lee butt crack."

It is super tough because it is truly funny, but not appropriate. So while I'm telling Roland about it at the dinner table we both have to turn our heads because we are dying laughing. Oh the crazy things kids say!

Celebrate Good Times

On Sunday we celebrated my Grandpa's birthday and just about everyone in the family was able to attend so it was extra fun.

Tom, Justin and my cousin Chris

Gram

Uncle Wayne, Gramp and Uncle David

Miss Leah and Poppy
Master griller for the day

Grandma and Leah

My grandparents have the old game trac-ball so we all played that for what seemed to be hours!

Out w/the Old...

... and in with a brand new high chair!

We sold our big old high chair that Seth had because it was just too big and bulky and I bought a new one that sits on top of a regular chair. I love it and it is such a space saver. Leah loves it too as you can see. We are going to start cereal very very soon so we tried the chair out last night and got Leah's seal of approval.

This is the sign you see when you walk into Good Dog Charlie's in the Bay! I love it and needless to say we kept our kids close to us. We don't need them to be awake all night long and there will be no more dogs in our future!

Letterboxing Part II

After our adventures we went to the Bay for dinner and ice cream. It was raining, but we didn't let it stop us from finishing out a great day!

Waiting patiently (ha ha) for his pizza!

Leah's 1st trip to Alex Bay

After some good food, ice cream and a little shopping therapy we finally called it a night!

Letterboxing Orientation

Saturday night we took the VERY EXCITED Castana family on two letterboxing adventures. First we headed towards Redwood to what was called "Calling all Mousekateers." Kristen called and asked if we needed to wear sneakers and bug spray. I very quickly said, "No, not this time, it shouldn't be too far in the woods." HA! I learned my lesson. We definitely needed sneakers and the bugs were crazy. We laughed it off though.

The boys were so funny, they kept singing the Laurie Berkner song, "We're Going on a Hunt." Roland even printed them out treasure maps for the car ride.

We found the box...

and opened it up and found the book and stamp! They were so excited when the stamp was a giant Mickey Mouse head!

Kristen took all sorts of notes and stamped her first letterboxing book! The second box was in Alex Bay and it was raining pretty hard by that point, but we pushed on and found it. Leah slept through both treasure hunts,but woke up in time for dinner at Cavalarios Bayside.

** I have some pretty funny pictures of both boys going to the bathroom in the woods, but I decided not to post their naked bums. Jacob said he had to go first and of course whatever Jacob does, Seth has to do too! So I have two of the cutest pics of Seth and Jacob's naked bums in the middle of the forest.

I lots more to share about the weekend when I have more time so stay tuned!

We wanted to help Eric show off his brand new ride!

I'm sure Seth will want to sit on it when we come to visit to be like his Uncle Eric!

Thumb Sucker

This video might make you a little dizzy. I had to capture a thumb sucking moment!

This is what she looks like when she is sleeping with her thumb. I think my parents will agree that she definately looks like me with her thumb in her mouth as I was a thumb sucker until I was in the 8th grade. So there may be braces in her future if she sticks with it. Right now it is too cute!

Our Little Babbler

I can watch this over and over and it makes me smile from ear to ear!

I have been promising Seth for weeks that when it warmed up I would treat him to something from the ice cream truck. Well we have WAITED AND WAITED AND WAITED, but it hasn't warmed up too much so yesterday I heard the music and we rushed to get a special treat. Seth's eyes lit right up when I told him we had to hurry to the ice cream truck before it drove away. The funny part of the whole experience came much later in the evening when Roland picked Seth up to take him to swim. He must not have looked at his face directly until he got him to WHS because as soon as he went to get him out of the car seat, he hit panic mode and thought Seth was bleeding on his lips. Seth calmly said to Roland, "No Daddy, I ate a Popsicle from the ice cream truck!" I tried to wash it off, but that red dye wasn't budging!

Busy

It has been the busiest week ever and I can only blame myself. We ended up signing Seth up for this 2 week mini session of swim. It is 4 nights a week for 2 weeks. Thank goodness is isn't until 6pm, but still it is a mad dash to get everything done and to get us out the door by 5:45pm. By the time 9:30pm rolls around I am completely exhausted and ready to crash. Seth on the other hand is loving every minute of his swim class. I think that he needs to try a little harder and kick a lot more, but it will come in time. Right now I say that he will be in 1A forever, but we will just have to wait and see how he progresses. Leah has been doing great! She is so exhausted when she gets home from Pat's that she crashes at some point in the evening for a cat nap and then sleeps like a log at night. She joined us for swim class last night and just took it all in. She is becoming quite the little busy body. She is looking all around and doesn't miss a trick. Roland is extremely busy at work this time of the year and he is always putting out some sort of fire in the Pepsi world. Who knew that soda could have so many crisis'. I am wrapping up all of the end of the year projects here at school and starting to clean and put all of my junk away in my classroom. Only 11 days left!

Milestone Moment

We tried the backpack for the very first time with Miss Leah on Saturday and she loved it! I can't believe how big she is getting, FAR TOO QUICKLY!

Castana's BBQ

Well, all I have to say is WELCOME HOME LEE! This was the first official party that Kristen and Lee have had since Lee came home last fall and it was nothing short of spectacular. I seriously ate far too much and then payed for it dearly on Sunday. There was tons and tons of good food, the kids had an utter blast with all the toys and the huge yard to play in and the adults were able to sit back and relax a bit AND eat! I have told Kristen that her house has magic powers because just about every time we come over Leah takes a killer nap and she in fact took a 2 hour nap during the party on Saturday.

Deep concentration

Grill Master Lee

Fudgesicle Smile
The resident jokester

Leah with her Fairy Godmother

Bubbles and Popsicles YUM!
I am sad to say that I didn't get any pictures of Kristen (AKA The Hostess with the Mostess) I thought I had everyone covered but I was wrong. We had a fabulous time and you can totally throw a party whenever you would like. We will be there!

Father's Day

The 1st Saturday of each month Home Depot offers a kids clinic and this month the kids were making a Father's Day project so I thought that I should take Seth to make it for Roland. I am not all that handy when it comes to tools. I can hammer your basic nail and use a screw driver, but that is about it. I was a little nervous to take Seth, hoping that I wouldn't make a fool of myself. Seth was ready to go, he loaded himself up with his hard hat, his Handy Manny tools and his Home Depot apron and he was ready to go!

Handy Seth

Believe it or not his Handy Manny tools worked well, but I convinced him to use the REAL tools.

Adding the final touches

BFFs for LIFE!

It wasn't very exciting so Leah took a cat nap!

Leah's 1st Parade

Last night felt like the real start to the summer. It was the annual Jefferson County Dairy Parade. We have only been going to this parade for 2 years now, but we have enjoyed ourselves each year. Last night was also Leah's first time at a parade. She did what any typical 3 month old would do and that is sleep a little, watch a little and then sleep a little more. Seth is a huge fan of any parade, even more now that he has caught onto the fact that you get candy at parades. We try and hit each parade here in the north country during our short parade season. Last night Seth was in his glory because just about all of his close friends were at the parade so he was able to play and laugh and watch with his buddies.

Seth with his BUDDIES! (Maya, Sophia, Jacob and Morgin)My 2 favorite boys!

The best picture of Miss Leah taken yet!

My favorite girl!

Relaxing because the parade was an hour late!
Mr. Lee and Jacob

Maya has the BIGGEST smile I have ever seen!
The kids were fascinated with this life size piece of pizza!

You will see us next at the Can-Am Parade in Sackets in July!

A New Phase

We have hit the "WHY" phase. When asking Seth to do anything his response is "WHY" and at first I would try and explain things to him. The world is all still new and he is very inquisitive about everything. I understand and respect that, but after a while it starts to grate on your nerves and I finally broke down and started saying the exact same thing that my mother once said to me... BECAUSE I SAID SO! I now have a brand new respect for all of the times my mother said to me, "Just wait until you have kids, then you will find out..."

You have to love that smile though!

FOR HIRE:

Ladies, if you need a good stroller pusher or all around good guy to help out with your kids, I have just the man for the job. He is a newly graduated Ivy Leaguer and he will work for any type of pay until he finds the right job and figures out what he is doing in the fall. Check it out!

Love you Justin and Welcome Home!

Happy 3 Month Birthday Bean!

You are growing up so fast that I just want to hit the pause button for you. I don't want to miss a single moment or memory with you.

At 3 months you now...
* Smile sooooo much
* Hold your head up and sit in the Bumbo seat
* Grab for toys
* Kick, splash and smile in the bath
* Watch people

We can't wait to see all of your milestones in the upcoming months!

Triple Trouble

On Sunday night we celebrated Roland's mom's birthday. Life gets so busy from week to week that we don't often have opportunities to gather together, let the kids play and have a good meal. Well, a birthday is the best excuse to do that so that is what we did. The three kids are the exact opposite of trouble as you can get. They actually play wonderfully together and really enjoy seeing each other.
To many more family gatherings as the kids grow. Soon Leah will be able to join in on the action too!

How Quickly They Change

Every time I take a picture of the two kids I can't believe how quickly they change from week to week. Seth keeps getting taller and taller and Leah is just growing at warp speed. Her cheeks are filling out and she holds her head up on her own now. Where does the time truly go? I am so lucky!

Thank You

Just an extra special thank you to all of the people who called, texted and emailed me today to wish me luck and to see how my first day back went. I appreciate all of your care and concern. I have the best friends and family ever!

Both kids did great at Pat's and my first day back went great thanks to my wonderful sub who left the best notes and plans ever! 18 days left!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Grandma Charlton!

We hope you have a GREAT day!