A Birthday Surprise, Thanks Aunt Laurie & Music Class Returns

Roland and I had been scheming for the past couple of weeks and we were both so excited to be able to plan a special pre-birthday surprise for Seth. A great big thank you to Bonnie for watching Leah for us all day. We told Seth that we needed to drive one hour for a birthday surprise for him. He asked tons of questions, but had no idea what or where we were going until we handed him a white plastic bag with an SU basketball t-shirt inside. His eye lit right up and he was over the top excited. This was his first time to the Dome for basketball. Pepsi was wonderful enough to give us floor seats about five rows back from the players and a parking pass so we felt very blessed.

Seth even won himself a special t-shirt for making two of four shots.

Seth went to the Dome for a football game in the fall and since then he has been obsessed with that sport. After this game he has shifted his focus and has been shooting hoops whenever possible.

The winning shot.

Thank you for this outfit Aunt Laurie, I love it.

Stage Notes Jr. started back up and Sophie joined the group so I held homework club at our house after school yesterday before dropping the trio off at Ticia's for class. How do parents with triplets do it? Juggling the three was interesting. Both first graders completed their take home reading and Sophie completed her ELA, but when she asked for help with fractions I had to draw the line. I told her Mr. Ro does all the Math homework in this house. I'm horrible at it. :)

Addicted

We have created a ski lover and rather quickly. She took one lesson and now asks to go all the time. She loves it and we are so relieved. It is so wonderful to see both kids enjoy something so much and in the future we will be able to take all sorts of fun ski vacations.

We skied both days last weekend and at the end Seth was beyond exhausted. He passed out on the couch on Sunday afternoon and it was killed to wake him up.

Now Mother Nature decided to thaw all the snow, what the heck? Bring it back at least for the next two months so we can enjoy it.

Leah is Skiing!

We finally talked Leah back into trying skiing again. We pulled the "Your best friend Lindsey is taking a lesson too." card. We was all sorts of excited until the instructor came over and tried to take her away. Then the lip started to quiver and she almost started to cry. We promised her we would stay close and watch and once she went down the small hill a couple of times she was all smiles.

We are so thankful that she likes it and that she wants to go now.

During her lesson

I was even able to take Lindsey up after her lesson and have her practice with me. Both girls are hooked and we are all so happy. Now all of the little girls have learned minus Charlie. The next generation of skiers have started.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but Blogger has taken away the ability to post pictures temporarily which is very frustrating since I'm camera obsessed. I'm at a loss of what to do. I sent them an email as well as many other people and it still hasn't gotten fixed. I'll check back daily in the hopes that I can start blogging again. It is very frustrating.

We are all good. School and work, planning for Seth's big 7th birthday and awaiting our trip to the Great Wolf. Life is good.

My New Year's resolution for 2013 is to plan less and slow down. I'm one week in and I've never felt so stress free and calm. Let's keep this up, I feel like a new person.

Seth Quote

I picked up Seth from Pam's on Monday and as we always do we chatted about our day on the two minute ride home. Seth said his day was great and then proceeded to tell me that he got an extra high five from Mrs. Morrison at the end of the day. I said, "That's great buddy, how come?" His response was, "I was the only student in the class to notice that she got a haircut and compliment her." I have taught that boy well. Loved it. Priceless.

Reflections of Twenty Twelve

2012 was another fantastic year for our family. I could bore you with the blah blah blah of what a lucky lady I am, but I'll just simply say Thank You!

In review, here are a few (ha ha!) of the things that our family was lucky enough to do last year...
*Seth turned 6 and had his first friend sleep over. We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese and then home for a sleep over. Thank goodness they slept and weren't up all night.
* We tried Leah skiing last year, but she didn't dig it at all. So instead we got her a sitter and the three of us enjoyed many Saturdays on the slopes.
* Seth was asked to be in his very first play at WHS...Miss Saigon. He then was star struck and learned the words to every song from the musical. It was quite an experience for us all.
* I hosted my first assembly at school for the book Have You Filled Someone's Bucket Today?
* We left the kids and headed to LP for an all adult weekend with friends. It was so fun.
* Leah turned 3 and we had a Dora/Ponies party.
* Took Seth to see Annie. He was obsessed with musicals.
* Our friend Zeke turned 40 and Lisa planned a kick butt party for him filled with wine tasting, eating and tons of fun.
* We took the kids to The Great Wolf Lodge. AKA The Most Amazing Family Indoor Water park Ever!!!
* Seth's art work was chosen to be in the Art Show at the State Office Building.
* We all went on an adult Poker Run and got all sorts of muddy.
* Took Seth to see The Phantom of the Opera. Yup another musical.
* We went to a Memorial Day party at The Dickinson's new cottage...super fun.
* I went to NYC and full filled my current Bucket List thanks to the wonderful Smith sisters.
* Took Seth to see Godspell...yes musical #4 for the year and it is only June.
* We travelled to NH to see our wonderful friends The Gilbert's then headed to Lake George to meet up with the family. It was an amazing trip, truly memorable.
* My sister Dayna got married on the battlefield in Sackets.
* We went to every parade that we could all summer long.
* Took the kids to Enchanted Forest and Knoebel's.
* Seth attended the YMCA camp and Beaver Camp.
* Roland and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary in style. He surprised me and we went to Turning Stone for an overnight. It was full of spa treatments, a Brazilian Steakhouse and so much more.
* Our friends had a surprise anniversary party for us. Priceless.
* We went to Pirate Days and Halloween in August.
* We took Seth to his 1st SU football game with full tailgating. Such a great day.
* Took Seth to see Fame Jr. #5 musical of the year.
* Participated in the Turkey Run on Thanksgiving for the first time as a family.
* Seth was in The Littlest Elf at the Lake Ontario Playhouse. Such an amazing experience for us all.
* Seth was a Wise Man in the Christmas Eve children's mass.
* Finished off the year with amazing holiday celebrations with all of our families and then had a Pre-NYE Red Solo Cup party.

2012 ROCKED

Huge thanks to our amazing family and friends for making this year possible.

Welcome 2013

 We enjoyed every single minute of our last day of vacation. We decided to get outside and enjoy the winter wonderland and head to The Castana's and go sledding.

 Made some snow angels

 Shared a snack and some hot cocoa

 Ate some snow

Welcome 2013, we hope you ROCK.

NYE Kiddie Style

 Our wonderful friends The Sweet's invited us and three other families to their house for a NYE PJ Party. It was a total no brainer, a party where you get to go wearing your comfy jammies...score. Thank you Lisa and Zeke for a fabulous idea.

 I'm not sure how I managed this, but I was able to get ALL of the kids in the picture and looking at the camera. Yay.

 Roland ended up watching the Furbies somehow.

 Best buddies

 Leah is Mr. Lee's #1 fan so she was thrilled to jump all over him.

 

 The chocolate fountain was the way to my heart and I REALLY overate. It was amazing. My kids enjoyed it too by the way. Ha.

Happy 2013, Thank you to everyone who made it extra special. Thank you Lisa and Zeke for being amazing hosts as always.

Pre-NYE Red Solo Cup Style '12

 This was the third year that our wonderful friends got creative and crazy and came to our NYE theme party. This years theme was "Red Solo Cup". Each couple was asked to come up with their best costume using red solo cups. We are NEVER disappointed when it comes to our group. The costumes were amazing. Leah even tried mine on before she headed to her sleepover. A great big thanks to Grandma and Poppy for having the kids for a sleepover. Thank god since the party didn't end until almost 3am. 

 The costumes included...Honey Boo Boo's parents in their redneck finest (Kristen and Lee), Some kinky connecting cups (Rod and Jen), a GIANT cup and booby cups (Lisa and Zeke) and a walking beer pong table and a Miss Red Solo Cup (us).

 The Pope and the queen (Justin and Joan), Cupbands (Brad and Krista), formal ware made out of cups (Pam and Jay) and Miss Solo herself (Mak).

 The girls

 The men of Rock Band. This game is the hit of the night every year.

 I couldn't stop laughing at Kristen's fake belly.

Until next year...

Thank you amazing friends and family for making it a truly memorable night.

Mihalyi Time

 With each passing year I truly cherish the Christmas' that we spend in Lowville. My grandparents are 85 and 87 years old and we all know that each year with them is a blessing. It might be chaotic with many Polish opinions, but we all love one another and the time we get to spend together. I took the time to sit and chat extra with my Gram this year. We all pitched in and bought them a new kitchen vacuum and a new living room TV. They were thrilled, but needed all sorts of instructions. They are so cute.

 Leah got a beauty salon set from my Gram so she and Uncle J decided to practice on one another. PRICELESS.

 We love you Gram and Gramp.

 The yearly "cousins" picture + Seth and Beaner

Christmas at a Glance

 I was completely lazy and enjoyed every single minute of my vacation so I decided to not even turn on my computer for over a week. It felt GREAT. Now, I'm way behind in sharing all of our wonderful holiday moments. Let's just say this was the BEST.HOLIDAY.EVER. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family. We split it up perfectly this year and every night spent celebrating with family rocked. We started out with my Dad and Sue and had a Buckingham fish fry. It was delish and I am proud to say that I ate my weight in fish and cole slaw as always.

 Next up was Christmas with Mom, Tom and Justin. We even topped it off with a snuggly Christmas movie. The kids received the bean bag chairs they so desperately wanted and couldn't have been happier.

 We managed to squeeze some skiing in between all of the celebrations too. Leah still isn't convinced that she like skiing, but we will keep trying.

 Christmas Eve brought the pageant at church. Seth asked NOT to be an animal this year and his wish was granted. He was one of the Wise Men or as he called it "The Red King". He was very brave in front of a packed church and we couldn't have been more proud.

 His sister thought he was pretty cool too.

 Leah was so good at church. We had to be there super early and then sit through the mass. She was in the pew for about an hour and a half.

 After church we headed to The Charlton Christmas. I have to say I think it was the best Christmas we have ever spent all together. We laughed so much and had a wonderful time.

 The kids had so much fun together and Leah even got Uncle Brad to change her dollies diaper.

 Christmas morning brought letters from Santa and so much excitement. The kids were so appreciative and Roland and I sat back and smiled from cheek to cheek. We are so lucky.

 Santa brought Leah a giant doll house which I secretly love more than she does. I tidy it up every night when she goes to bed.

 My favorite gifts are always the homemade ones from the kids. This year they were so amazing. Seth made his hand out of clay and then painted it to look like Santa. It turned out amazing.

 Leah even made her first ornament from Nursery School and it brought tears to my eyes.

 Seth was so excited to get his Steeler's jersey.