Vacation in Review: Tuesday

 On Tuesday we loaded up and drove two hours to Bristol Mountain. Seth and Roland had gone last year, but it was my maiden voyage and we had a blast. You take for granted that Dry Hill is just a hill and that you get very little exercise in the minute it takes you to get to the bottom. At Bristol is takes much longer and by the end of the day my legs were shot. It was the best day and despite the cold and windy temps we really enjoyed every minute of it.

 Seth skies like a little dream and has no problem keeping up with us. He even took us down a black diamond.

 Just a few more trails than Dry Hill.

Our tired boy at the end of 5 hours of skiing.

Buddies

 Last Monday night we had Lindsey over to let Kristen and Lee have a little date night and Leah was THRILLED. They played with every.single.toy.in.the.house, but had so much fun together.

 I even gave them a bath and then they watched some Dora before Linds had to leave.

Seth was quite bummed that Jake was out of town, but it was special for Leah to have a play date for a change.

Vacation in Review: Sunday & Monday

So winter vacation is over. We didn't have too many plans, but made the most of our time out of our normal crazy routine. Sunday we packed up and headed to Lowville for some bowling and a sleep over with Great Gram and Gramp. We bowled, ate dinner at the alley, played video games and then headed back to get into our jammies, eat some of Gramp's famous popcorn and watch a movie together. It brought back so many memories of when I was young and would spend endless weekends with my grandparents. I love that I can share that with our kids. I have to say that I will never sleep in bed with Leah again though. Let's just say she is a violent sleeper.

Seth is a fantastic bowler and he just loves it. Plus he has the cutest little swagger when he walks and tries to be "cool".

It was Leah's official first time bowling. She really enjoyed it, but after about the 6th frame she was over it.

The bowling shoes are priceless!

After bowling we got comfy or comfty as Leah calls it and dove into bowls of my Gramp's famous popcorn. YUM!

Leah made it through most of the movie too.

Great Gram and Gramp fell asleep almost instantly so of course I had to take some silly pics of them. Love you guys.

Food From the Heart

 This Valentine's Day I took the opportunity to be a little creative on a school night (doesn't normally happen) and put together a "heart" filled dinner. We had heart shaped pink pancakes, heart shaped cinnamon roles, strawberries, chocolate covered strawberries and bacon.

This is the one and only recipe I have found time to look at on Pinterest. It was super easy and cute as a button.

At first I thought I'd just make heart shaped pancakes, but at the last minute I threw in some red food coloring and it actually turned out rather cute.

After a very long Monday night of budget meetings, letter writing sessions and community budget meetings (Gov. Cuomo sucks) this is what I came home to. I have the best husband EVER.

I also came home to this beautiful bouquet and home made card. What a doll this kid can be.

Speechless

 You hear about those moments in life that just take your breath away. Those times where your emotions run wild with excitement, pride and thrill. This weekend has to go down in the record books as one of the most memorable ever. I compared it to the our wedding. The excitement and unknown in the air and then Monday morning came along and it felt like that day after. The day when it was all done and you were left with some sadness, but more memories than you can imagine. We were so lucky to receive a phone call last Monday morning asking if Seth would interesting in being in the WHS musical. Since I had forced Seth to overcome his fears and be in the Christmas show at church I figured he would be able to do it again and since his favorite babysitter was also in the show that sweetened the deal quite a bit. When I asked him if he wanted to do it he hesitated only until I said the name "Johanna". Right after that he ran to his room to put on cologne and was ready to head to school. It was priceless.

 The staff and students were incredible to our whole family. We were treated like part of the group and I never once felt like Seth wasn't being cared for back stage. It felt like we were part of the Select Family for a few days. We love Johanna to pieces and feel honored that she and Seth shared the stage. We have been going to shows that she has been a part of for three years now, but for she and Seth to be in a show together was more special than anything.

 Before we went to the first rehearsal we were warned that Mr. Faunce can be tough. Tough he is, but in the BEST way possible. Those kids don't strive for greatness because he sugar coats it, they are great because he is a great teacher! He treated Seth with incredible kindness and for that we will always be grateful.

 Mr. Faunce will have retired by the time Seth reaches high school, but we hope his wife who is equally talented will fill his role and that Seth will be a part of this amazing group down the road.

 Mark Anthony Taylor (Seth's dad in the show who he doesn't really meet) was overly kind to Seth and Jake. What a talented boy he is and we look forward to the next show, next month! Seth says he can't wait to see all of his "friends" again when they perform Phantom of the Opera at the end of March.

 This is only a part of the cast, but what great kids they are.

 The boys thought is was amazing to be able to get up on top of this piece of equipment AND the helicopter too.

After some peer pressure from a friend I let the cast sign Seth's shirt and it is proudly hung on the cork board next to his bed.

On Monday afternoon Mr. Faunce and three of the Select members also came to Seth's class and made him feel like the most special boy in the whole world. They brought candy for the whole class and let his class know that he was in their musical. The excitement in his voice and eyes as he told me was truly amazing. We are so grateful for this entire experience, more than words can express.
I would be proud to be a stage mom in the future!
Thank you also to our wonderful family; The grandma's, grandpa's, Poppy's, Papa's, Nana's and the Great's for coming out to support Seth. He loved knowing you were all there!

I can not thank my family and friends enough for the amazing birthday I had yesterday! I felt truly spoiled from sun up to sun down. I was sang to numerous times ranging from age 2 to age 85, phone calls, texts and fb messages. I was given shopping money, cards, a fountain soda, gift cards, homemade cards, candy, cupcakes, new Pandora charms, a new ski hat and so much more. Thank you just isn't enough. I am loved and I truly appreciate each and every one of you! xoxo

Birthday Part 1

 In our family we like to take an entire week to celebrate our birthday's. One day just isn't long enough to make it special. We gathered our wonderful group of friends on Saturday night and we all went to Ruyi for some fantastic food, drinks and tons of laughs.

 I have to say these four women are the best! I am so lucky to have them in my life!

 The restaurant was a bit hot combined with a few beers and Matt was having a major hot flash.

 After this picture was taken I told him he needed to man scape....ha!

 Bring on the sake

 Roland decided to add a few bibs so he didn't smell like alcohol the rest of the night.

Kristen took one for the girls team too, but not before putting her hair back.

After dinner we ended up at Joe's for some shuffleboard, juke box and cheap drinks followed by The Paddock Club where we ran into some old friends. It was a fantastic night.

Sleepfest

I can't keep track of where the kids are sleeping lately ha ha! Friday night Seth went for a sleep over at Grandma and Poppy's house so that bent Leah's nose quite a bit and our solution was that we would let her have a sleep over in our bed for the first time ever. She got to choose which one of us slept with her and she chose Daddy. At first I was sad, but in the morning when Roland referred to her as a "violent sleeper" I wasn't so sad. Her bed is soooo comfy so I slept like a dream. She looks so tiny in our big bed.

Saturday night the two were back together for their weekly sleep over on the air mattress. They looked to stinking cute all cuddly together until...6am when Seth woke me up because he couldn't find her! After I searched high and low and still couldn't find her in all of the house (insert panic!) I heard a little cough come from Roland's side of the bed. Apparently she woke up and climbed into bed with Daddy. Needless to say the sleep overs and going to take a break for a few weeks so that the whole house can get some rest!

I only brought my iphone last night so the pics are far away. I will bring the good camera tonight for the second practice!

Sneak Peak

We thought Seth was only going to be on stage briefly, but we were wrong. He will be up there quite a bit! He and Jake loved all the attention. I wonder how they will feel when they aren't together? We can't wait for their big debuts!