Happy 25th Birthday to my brother Justin AKA Uncle J!

We love you and miss you tons!

Thankful Thought From the Weekend

Let's just say it was a fantastic weekend full of...
dinner at home on a Friday night with family, car trips with giggly kids, excitement in the eyes of children, chasing excited kids, photo booth surprises, juicy hamburgers and to-die-for fries, drinking poison aka Coke out of the coolest fountain machine ever made, girl gab, unexpected January summer shopping, spending time outdoors, riding the t-bar, getting stuck in a ditch (not so fantastic), the kindness of strangers, an unexpected visit from an auntie in need, buffalo chicken corn chowder and a good snowstorm to wrap it up. What more could we ask for? Nothing.

Better Than a Party

Instead of a big party this year for Seth's birthday we scaled it down and let him invite one friend of his choice to take to Chuck E. Cheese for an adventure. He chose Jacob of course and the five of us had a blast this past Saturday morning. We haven't been back since Seth was less than a year old and my goodness it has changed for the better. We would definitely go again!
Every game was only one token so the kids had a blast and I'd safely say they tried just about every game/ride more than once.

We have this very same picture of Seth in this car the last time we were here. My how the times have changed.

Leah was very excited to meet Chuck E. Cheese. She ran right to Roland after this and couldn't wait to tell him. It was priceless.

There was so much for her to do. I chased her around while Roland chased the boys.

Pure bliss.

A smiley boy was exactly what we wanted for his special day.

Leah loved this simulator.

We definitely planned this out right. We went right when they opened the doors and left before it got super crazy with kids. It was utter success.

The Newest Addition

Wednesday evening Grandpa and Nana came to pick up Seth for a birthday evening of fun. They went to the mall, scoped out the guns and fishing tackle in Gander (guy stuff), played at the arcade, had dinner and then they asked Seth a question one should never ask..."What would you like for a birthday gift?" First Seth said he would like a puppy. If they had actually granted his wish I think both Seth AND the puppy would be currently living with them. His second choice for a gift was a fish. Personally, I think this was a fantastic idea. They even bought one that most likely won't die for a while. Seth got a purple Beta Fish and he named him Steeler after his Daddy's favorite team, The Pittsburgh Steelers. Steeler currently lives on Seth's dresser (away from his little sister's curious hands)

Super Seth

Thank you Sandi for this wonderful creation, as you can see he loves it!

A Whirlwind of a Day

From the moment Seth woke up to the moment he fell deep asleep we celebrated!

It started with chocolate chip pancakes in the shape of a six. We don't traditionally have a hot breakfast since we are always on the go, but on special days we go all out.
Cody, our elf made a special appearance just to leave Seth a note and a little gift.

Seth couldn't believe that he was special enough for Cody to fly all the way back to our house from the North Pole just for him.

Cody left Seth a note and the movie Lemonade Mouth.

Roland picked Seth up from school and I grabbed Leah. Leah had made Seth a special card and she and Judi stopped at DD and got him a donut. Jacob and Lindsey also left a special bucket of treats for Seth. He was over the top excited about both little gifties.

Seth put his crown back on and he opened his gifts.

Leah got him a bubble gum making kit.

Uncle J sent him a rain check for a special day with him when he comes home for the summer.

Seth chose to eat at Red Lobster. He was so excited to be able to touch one of the lobsters in the tank. It was a crazy busy, yet wonderful day for our now 6 year old. Thank you to everyone who called, texted, sent messages on FB and beyond. We love you all.

The Photo Booth Tradition Continues

Every year on Seth's birthday since he was 1 we have gone and taken a family photo booth picture. This year the arcade got high tech on us and they now have a "new" booth. It only fits two people and it only gives you one picture. So we had the kids go first and it pretty much tanked, but oh the memories...
That picture didn't make this mom very happy so in true Leah fashion, she had to check out ANOTHER potty in the mall after their picture, so I sent the boys back in for a real keeper of a picture. Great job boys and Happy 6th Photo Booth Seth Patrick!

Flash from the Past

I can not even believe that Seth used to be this small and innocent. He has grown too quickly and it actually saddens me that he is 6. It just seems so much older than five and now that he is in school and so independent it just makes me sad to think that he keeps growing so fast.
We love more than you will ever know and we are so proud of all of your accomplishments.

Six Years Young

Where the heck has six years gone?

This weekend we had the grandparents over to celebrate Seth's 6th Birthday. We decided to keep is low key this year and the night went perfectly. Seth was able to enjoy the special people who came to celebrate with him and he had a blast. This year he asked for a Super Mario cake and I have to say it turned out amazing. Lorraine never seizes to amaze me and we appreciate her creativity each and every year.
Don't mind Leah in the background tee hee. We asked Jen Voss' mom Sandi to make Seth a super hero cape for his birthday. I was a little nervous that he might not like it since he has been going through a "shy/this isn't cool phase", BUT he more than loved it. He wore it all night, to bed and took it to our friend's house to wear last night too.

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's SUPER SETH!

Leah had a bit of a hard time understanding why none of the gifts were for her. Her brother let her help though thank goodness.

Seth wanted to eat Mario's entire body off the cake, but since we didn't want to stay up with him all night while he threw up we decided to let him nibble on his head instead.

I think he likes the cape just a little.

We even Skyped with Uncle J and Joanie. Yay!

I'm going to dig out some old pics of Seth from the past six years at some point today to reminisce so stay tuned.

Also, per Seth's birthday request we will be dining at Red Lobster tonight followed by our annual photo booth/arcade venture after.

WE LOVE YOU SETH, HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY BUDDY. XOXO

If I have learned anything in the past twenty four hours it is this...life is precious and family is the most important thing in the world. Don't stress over the small stuff and enjoy every minute of your life. You never know what is going to happen in the next hour or who you might lose. Let things go, don't argue over stupid things and just enjoy enjoy enjoy.

We are so saddened for The Bull Family today and we are sending prayers and love your way.

We are also sending hugs and love to Justin in Florida who truly wishes he could be here for his best friend Hudson. With heavy hearts we must keep going, but will remember the wonderful people in our lives today.

Happy 84th Birthday to my wonderful Grandma!

We Love You Tons!

Happy Belated 60th Birthday to Sue aka Nana Sue as well!

(Sorry, I didn't make it on the computer yesterday!)

We hope everyone enjoys their special days.

Togetherness

The snowy weekend was all about togetherness for these two. They built numerous forts, watched movies in the fort and slept together both nights. By Monday they wanted to pull each other's hair out and were over it. It was fun while it lasted!
Priceless
Love you Beaner and Patter.

Time to Practice

Despite the frigid temperatures last weekend, we braved the snow and went skiing. After about two runs Seth told Roland that he had a brain freeze and went and hung out in the lodge. Kristen and I plowed through and had a blast. She is really improving and loves it.
Lee decided that he didn't need us and ended up skiing on his own. He really wanted to just practice without his wife telling him what to do..he he.

Snowed In

Friday night we were definitely snowed in, so what did the kids do? They built a giant blanket fort in the living room.
If you think this is big, you should have seen the one they built on Saturday after they convinced Roland to take the coffee table out of the room.

They managed to bring all of their blankets and pillows from their beds AND as many toys as would fit into the fort. It was crazy and gave me anxiety looking in there. They had a blast though and it kept them busy.

Leah's Big Girl Room

The time has come, Leah is truly a big girl now and no longer needs her crib. It was so sad taking it apart, knowing that is was the last time one of our children would sleep in it. The baby machine is closed in our house so we will keep it for our grandchildren to use someday. Yikes, that better be a very long time from now. Nonetheless, I could never part with it. It is so hard to believe that Leah is rounding the corner to almost three years old. She is potty trained, can dress herself and talks up a storm now. No more diapers and no more crib. Sniff sniff.
These pics aren't the best. We were taking Christmas decorations up to the attic AND switching the kids rooms around all in the same day.

Leah's new and improved big girl room with her own bed.

It worked out perfectly that we took apart Seth's bunk beds and the top bunk had railings around it so Leah is very cozy in her new bed.

We love how both of the kids roomed turned out and then have been sleeping like champs too.

Creative Boredom

Living in the North Country can be pretty boring in the middle of winter with.no.snow. Thankfully my children have great imaginations and you never know what they will come up with to do on a boring winter evening. Last night Seth found every throw blanket that he could, took all the pillows off the couches and "built" a football field for he and Daddy to play football. I guess his swimming class wasn't hard enough and he still had some energy to burn off.
If only we had a big family room in the basement where they could run and play. Maybe someday.

Get those sillies out just in time for bed.

Someone in our house is trying very hard to become a reader and that someone is also very lucky to have a mom who happens to be a reading teacher...thus the flashcards! I couldn't resist, it's what I do. We practice our cards twice daily and read our take home book a minimum of two times. We are so very proud of the reader that Seth is becoming.

No Skates Required

We went to dinner at our friends house on Saturday night and Seth was able to play hockey inside their house. (Are they crazy?) All the way home he begged and begged for hockey sticks. So after church on Sunday we went and got some and he is now hooked. He and Roland played outside all afternoon and then he begged him to go back out after dinner (brrr) to play more. I am just happy that he is off his duff and playing AND that he didn't ask me. Let's just hope he doesn't want to play for real. I'm not a hockey mom.
No snow in January, this is just beyond strange.

Love ~ Hate Relationship

They fight. They play. They hit. They hug. You just never know with these two, but at the end of the day they love each other and after a busy day they begged to have a sleepover together.
We blew up the air mattress and when we left them they each had a pillow, blanket and one stuffed animal. See how that worked out for us?? They can barely fit amongst all the "stuff".