Welcome Home Lee

 We were absolutely thrilled to have been able to take part in a huge surprise this week. Lee was able to come home and we all helped to surprise not only Jake and Linds, but Seth and Leah too. It was utterly priceless and so emotional. We are so thankful that Lee is home safe and sound and we look forward to our families spending time together before they move this summer.

 I'm really not sure who was more excited...Jake and Linds or our kids. The excitement in the room was off the charts.

Welcome Home Lee, we are so happy that you are back.

Farewell Snaggle Tooth

Finally, after two long months of a freaky looking snaggle tooth, it is gone. Seth looks so stinking cute and he currently has his baby face back with the loss of his front tooth.

Charlton Wackyness

 It isn't often that we all get together so when we do we are bound for some laughs and a good time. Sheryl and Rachel brought home a lovely turkey hat and some super stylish mustaches so we all tried them out over the course of the night.

 If the weather cooperates you may see me sporting this gorgeous hat for The Turkey Run on Thursday. I'll most likely look like Phoebe from that hysterical episode of Friends.

Thank you Bonnie and Big Ro for a wonderful evening!

Chopped

 Leah and I had a mother/daughter chop off your hair morning and it felt GREAT. I was tired of fighting with Leah about brushing her hair every morning and I was tired of my long long heavy hair so we made an appointment with Brianna and we are both very happy with the outcome.

I think she looks as cute as a button!!

Stage Notes Jr.'s New Additions

 Last year Seth, Sophia and Jake joined Stage Notes Jr. and had such a wonderful time in Kids on Broadway. This year we have some sibling additions to the crew. The kids had such a great time at their mini rehearsal this Sunday and Leah already asked when she can go back because it was so fun.

Come see these wonderful kiddos on Saturday, November 30th at 2pm and 7pm @ IHC.

Pirates & Princesses

 We surprised the girls and took them to a Disney show on Sunday. They both put on their fancy dresses and brought along their Doc and Sophia dolls. The excitement meter was through the roof.

 The show was fantastic; very fast paced, tons of music and dancing. The girls loved every minute.

 I enjoyed my girls day with my girlie too.

Love you Bean.

Thank You Pepsi

 Some pretty amazing Syracuse basketball tickets fell into Roland's lap so the boys took the opportunity to head to the game. The weather was even so warm that they were able to go down early, tailgate and make another trip to Varsity Pizza. It was basically a dream come true for Seth.

An extra bonus for Seth was meeting Otto and having a photo opt.

Bring On the Musicals

Tis the season to start a new musical. Seth has joined Stage Notes Jr. once again and will take part in the upcoming show The Polar Express in November. He had his first rehearsal on Sunday and came home singing. After some peer pressure from her brother and friends it seems that the singing bug has hit Leah and she asked to join in on the action. I texted Ticia on Monday to ask if it was too late for Leah to join and she said YES. Leah and I practiced the two songs last night over and over. Needless to say I now know "Frosty the Snowman" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" pretty well. Come check out a fantastic show on Saturday, November 30th. I'll be the parent crying since both of her kids will be on stage. Cross your fingers Leah doesn't chicken out.

Veteran's Day

 I helped out Kris on Veteran's Day by watching the kiddos so she could work. We headed to Lowville to spend the day with my favorite veteran and my Gram. Thank goodness the weather cooperated in the morning so that the kids were able to get outside and run off some energy. The boys had a great time running around on the turf football field.

 They girls played on the playground for the most part.

 When we got back to my Gram's the girls searched for Waldo. It is Leah's favorite thing to do at Gram's.

 The boys took full advantage  of the big yard and built a fort in the big tree out back. They had so much fun that I had to beg them to come in for lunch and I had to yell at them to come in when it started raining pretty hard. They would have stayed in that tree all day.

I was so happy to spend the day with my favorite veteran. I am thrilled that his surgery went so well last Friday and that I was able to give him some love yesterday.

Saturday Adventures

 Other than a bright and early 7:30am soccer game on Saturday it was the first time in a long time where we had no commitments for the entire day so we took the opportunity to get out of town for a few hours and do whatever we wanted to.

 Our first stop was at the ski sale at the State Fair Grounds. Leah has grown so much that her itty bitty skis were way too short. She picked out a swapped pair of polka dot skis and she was so excited.

 Our next stop was Seth's choosing. He loves to head to SU hill. We browsed in a few shops and then hit our favorite place...Varsity Pizza.

 Roland even surprised him with a stop at The Carmelo Anthony Basketball Center.

 For the finale of the day we decided to take the kids to The Melting Pot for a special treat for Seth's excellent report card. The kids had no idea what to expect, but they really enjoyed it.

 Seth asked for extra cherries since they are his favorite and couldn't believe his eyes when she brought out an entire bowl of them for him.

Saturday ROCKED.

Have I Mentioned My Life Now Revolves Around Sports and Music?

 Last night we started a new session of soccer for Leah and basketball for Seth. Leah was thrilled that soccer was once again in the small field. There were no tears just total smiles. She loved every minute and asked when she could go back. Thank you god for this change of feelings.

 It didn't hurt that her BFF joined soccer with her for the first time.

 Seth also started a mini session of basketball through the district last night. Can you say utter chaos? In any event he had a great time and was able to practice some skills. He complained that it was too easy for him, but I think practicing the basics can only help him. Plus he had many buddies that were there so he was excited to see some friends from Sherman AND his partner was a girl. I'd say he enjoyed himself all around.

Right now between soccer, basketball, more soccer and rehearsals for two upcoming musicals our plate is bursting with productivity. Don't ask to see my day planner it might give you anxiety.

Happy Weekend to all. We hope to head to SYR tomorrow to get Beaner new skis and then the rest of the weekend will fall into place as it comes.

TGIF.

Weekend Wrap Up

Seth's 2nd grade picture; snaggle tooth and all.

 I don't think that I could have squeezed one more thing into this past weekend. It was so busy that I am tired just thinking about it again. Friday night we travelled to Lowville to visit Gramp and Gram. Gramp is having some surgery this week so we wanted to make sure to see him and give him some extra love.

 One Saturday Leah and Seth both had their own play dates. Seth had Weston over and Leah had Caitlin over. The 4 kids were so well behaved and they all kept each other busy for two hours. It was amazing. In the afternoon Seth, my mom and I went to see Oliver. We are so impressed with the star studded cast. It was a fantastic show and all of the kids hard work certainly paid off. I was so proud of Sophia, AJ, the Marra boys, Ticia, Kyle and so many more people we knew in it.

 Saturday night we got together with our family. We hadn't seen Brad, Krista and the kids since the end of the summer so it was long overdue. The kids had a fantastic time together and the adults ate and drank way too much.

Luke and Leah broke it down playing Just Dance. It was too cute.

Sunday was just as busy; we had something going on from sun up to sun down. Thank goodness this weekend is a little bit less busy. Plus it is a long weekend yay.

A Rainy Halloween

 A little (a lot) of rain didn't stop us from having all sorts of fun on Halloween. Seth's school still held their parade, but inside so we were able to check out all of the interesting costumes.

 We had our own Spy and Doc McStuffins in our house this year. They looked super cute and enjoyed every minute of their rainy Halloween. 

 This is most likely our last year trick or treating with our buddies so the kids had a great time together.

When the girls got tired they had even more fun handing out candy. They even delivered. By the end of the night they were running down the stairs to the sidewalk to hand deliver candy. It must have been the sugar high.

Blessed

 It's been one of those weeks where I felt both totally crazed, but yet totally blessed at the same time. Whenever life has gotten a bit too busy, something has happened to ground me and to help me count my blessings. Leah's school picture came back this week and it melted my heart completely. Leah can be such a challenge and she is going through an "interesting" phase right now, but she can also be the absolute sweetest little thing ever. On one of the evenings that Ro was out of town this week Leah woke me up at 3:30am just to tell me that she loved me. No how can you be angry about that? You can't, it was the best.

 Two of my favorite people got engaged this past week and we are over the moon THRILLED for them. They are so in love and I feel blessed to share their happiness and to welcome Joan to our crazy family. I have two brothers getting married in the next two years so can you say party AND I will continue to hit Planet Fitness for the next two years to look good for said weddings. HA.

 Leah felt like she met a super star this week...The Bishop. It was so funny listening to her tell us about her day.

 Seth had a super Halloween infused music class this week and he loved every minute of it. We are so blessed to have met Ticia and to be a part of her music family.

I am not a person who normally dresses up for Halloween, but this year our entire building had a theme and it was really fun. We were all SUPER TEACHERS with full on capes, masks and all sorts of accessories. It was really fun and the kids loved it. We had t-shirts made with phrase "I'm a Teacher...What's Your Super Power?" They are great and oh so true.