Shrimp Boil 2009

We were invited to our friends Nate and Beth's for what is now the 2nd annual Irwin Shrimp Boil. It was bigger and better than last year too! The kids are just that much older and the food was just that much better. Take a look at some of the pics from the nights events!

The kids with the biggest kid of them all Lee!

The shrimp boiler cookers!

You can't even tell Kristen is pregnant, she camouflaged it with black.

Double Trouble ~ Jacob and Seth

My favorite picture from the whole party ~ Leah and Sophia

Let the good times roll!

Kristen worked her magic on Leah like normal!

Eric was trying to work his magic on Brady.

Boil shrimp boil!

The party was a huge success and everyone had a great time. A great big thank you goes out to Nate and Beth for a fabulous Saturday night!

In Love

My daughter has her very first love. It is not her Daddy, her brother or any of her friends, it's... a bee! Take a look at this...

She will literally sit in this chair for 30 minutes at a time, stair and talk to this bee like crazy. It has to be the cutest thing she has done to date. She is in LOVE!

Friday Fav's List Week 10

I won't be around tomorrow so I have to make my list for the week today. It hasn't been a very eventful week, thus the lack of blogs. Let's see, what have we been up to??

* Mexican lunch dates with Jen V.

* Playing dress up

* One Tree Hill weddings with a sad sad ending

* Story time at the library

* Getting ready for the garage sale. Can't wait to unload some junk, I mean treasures!

* Playing play-doh for what seems to be hours at a time

* Tons and tons of walks, sometimes twice a day to calm Miss Leah

* Swim class

* Cranberry-oatmeal-walnut cookies

* Pepsi out of a can, not a plastic bottle (love it)

* Grey's Anatomy season finale tonight!!

* My addiction to Facebook, I now have 118 friends (who knew I even knew that many people)

* Shrimp Boil on Saturday (can't wait)

* Lexy's Birthday (Sunday) Happy Birthday early!

* Getting my Shutterfly book in the mail that I created about the nine months I was pregnant for Leah which will one day be given to her as a special gift.

* Leah only getting up once a night instead of twice for a week straight!

* Calling True Green Lawn Care to fix our lawn once and for all. It is a sad looking lawn.

* Kate Voegele songs, I love her new album!

* This picture...
* My day with my mom tomorrow

Have a great weekend everyone and pray for NO rain! We have shrimp to boil, wine to drink and junk, I mean treasures to sell!

Mother's Day Letterboxing

First and foremost...Happy Mother's Day to all the rockin' mom's in my life! I am blessed to have such a great Mom, Step-mom, Mother-in-law and Grandma along with all of my wonderful aunts, sister-in-laws and friends who are mom's or mom's to be!

I received some wonderful gifts from my family. Yesterday I was surprised with a one hour massage and it was the best, but as always it went by far too quickly! I was also given one of the best gifts that I have ever been given, truly because it was made with love and excitement and it didn't cost a dime. Check it out...

Seth built me this wheelbarrow planter, he pounded all the nails, placed the stickers, planted the flower and delivered it to me with a HUGE smile on his face. It is truly the BEST gift ever, well...besides he and his sister!

Thank you to Mom and Tom for helping with the finished product, I love it!

After getting to sleep through the night and until 8am, (thank you sooooo much Ro!) we headed out for breakfast and on our first letterboxing adventure of the year. It was also Leah's first time letterboxing, which of course she slept through, but there will be many more in her future!

It has been a wonderful Mother's Day and I will remember it always! Thank you so much!

Friday Fav's list Week 9

To start my list today I have to add one UN-FAV to the list....shots! Today we went to the doc for Leah's 2 month check up and she is doing great and growing like a weed! She weighs in at 12lbs. She was happy while we waited and great with the doc, but those darn shots did not make her very happy. Now, she is sleeping the pain off.

Back to my list...
~ Lexy's 1st Communion and party were so much fun and Seth had an utter blast. He passed out on the couch as soon as we walked in the door last Sunday evening. He was beat!
~ Our visit to SYR was so much fun. Seth and Lucy will be life long friends, I can just tell and Leah and Mariana will be the best of friends. We are sad that The Nagraj's moved back to SYR, but we can visit anytime and they are only a short text or car drive away!
~ We officially set the baptism date, chose the godparents, inherited the dress and met with Father Robinson this week. July 19th here we come!
~ Our bi-weekly lunch date with Jen V was super fun again this week. Leah slept through it once again and I was finally able to try The Teriyaki Experience. It was good, but not fabulous. I think we should go back to the Mexican restaurant one more time before I go back to work. That was reallllly yummy!
~ Story time was successful this week because Seth and Jacob sat across the room from one another. They were both much better listeners not sitting together.
~ PoP kicked Seth's butt this week. He was exhausted from all of the running and playing and then he still had to go to swim. Thursday was a high exercise day for Mr. Seth! Thanks for watching Leah Grandpa and Nana Buckingham!
~ Kristen gave me an itunes card so I have been enjoying picking some brand new songs to play over and over. Music makes my day! My picks included Kate Voegele (LOVE her music), Nickelback, Pink, Sugarland, Lady GaGa and Bethany Joy Galeotti.
~ I made Jen V's strawberry sunflower salad twice this week. We are totally addicted, thank heavens it is completely fat free and super yummy. Both nights that I made it we ate it within 24 hours. Thanks for the recipe.
~ Last Saturday Seth and Poppy went to Home Depot and built me a Mother's Day gift. Wednesday night they took Seth and fixed it all up to give me for Mother's Day. Seth couldn't wait and gave it to me this morning. I need to take a picture of it. It is wonderful and priceless.
~ Thursday night is now golf night for Ro. His league officially started so he and Tom are MIA on Thursday nights. My mom came over to keep us company and we love it! We love the company and of course we love grandma!
~ Ro and I are going on our first date night since Leah was born tonight! Grandma Charlton is braving it and babysitting for us. Thanks a ton! We are super excited.
~ I am going to have to give a giant thumbs DOWN to the fact that I go back to work in 3 short weeks. Who knew that 9 weeks would go by so quickly. I only have to work 19 days and you can be sure that I will count them down each and every day!

Rainy Thursday

We went to PoP today and Seth played hard. Take a look...

He climbed the mountain all the way to the bar and... Swung back and forth with no help from me at all!

Nothing much is going on in our lives other than this. Leah goes for her 2 month check up and shots tomorrow, Roland's golf league starts tonight and we have swim class tonight too!

College $

We have been going around and around trying to decide if we should refinance the house. The rates have dropped significantly since we bought the house back in 2002. Back then we financed at a rate of 7% which was decent at that time. To make a very longggggg story short we have finally decided to refinance for 15 years at a rate of 4.75% and we are dropping 9 years off of our mortgage. We are also combining our home equity loan that we just took out to side the house and put on the addition into this loan so we only have one payment a month. That means that when Seth graduates from high school the house will be paid for and we will have more money to help him with college and then his sister 3 years later! We are very excited and feel that we made a smart decision!

I really need to take a spring picture of the house this snowy one is depressing!

Our Trip to SYR

Yesterday I took my first solo trip to SYR with the kids to visit Beth, Lucy and Mariana. They just moved back and into a new house so we were very excited to see it and them.Lucy had Seth playing house with full on dress up shoes. It was hysterical! I'm not so sure if he will appreciate these pictures when he is 15, but I had to take a picture. They were having so much fun.

Now that Leah is 2 months old it is hard to believe that she was as little as Mariana. The time is flying by so quickly. We had such a fun day and we realized how much we miss The Nagraj family, thank goodness they are only an hour away and we can visit anytime.

Lexy's 1st Communion

We spent the day celebrating Lexy's 1st Communion/8th Birthday. Leah slept all through church and Seth was excellent in church because he sat next to Lexy and Luke. Roland and I actually got to enjoy the mass instead of worrying that Seth was going to have a break down. It was the cutest mass, all of the recipients had a part and they were all dressed in shirts and ties and white dresses. It was priceless!

After the mass we all headed to The Carriage House for the after party. It was such a good idea. The kids ran and ran and ran for about 3 hours. The food, drinks and company were all great!

We were also finally given the chance to officially ask Brad to be Leah's godfather, which he gladly accepted!

It was a great afternoon and weekend for that matter. Roland went on another poker run on Saturday. As soon as I upload those pictures I will post some!

It can't get much better than this!

Friday Fav's List Week 8

We had a wonderful fun filled spring week! Here are some of the highlights!

~ 80 degree play dates where the boys played until they dropped and the mom's were fed like kings once again!

~ 8 week old little girls who get ear infections :(

~ Meeting and greeting all of Mommy's co-workers at Guardino. Leah was the hit of the day!

~ National Dance Week at Story time. Reading mixed with dance and music; Seth was in heaven.

~ Unexpected Panera lunches for friends in need.

~ Stewart's Raspberry Iced Tea

~ Playing outside every day and night.

~ Impromptu play dates at night while Lee helped Roland finish the deck!

~ First trips for ice cream of the season.

~ Swim class

~ Pesto wraps

~ Special lunches with Papa Charlton

~ Visitors, oh how we LOVE visitors

~ Cookies and ice cream before bed; becoming a ritual for Seth

~ Poker Runs for the weekend ahead

~ Home Depot Kids Day on Saturday

~ Cousin Lexy's 1st Communion on Sunday

~ Mini get aways by myself to do a little shopping since I haven't worn anything but stretchy clothes for the last year.

It was another GREAT week and I still have 4 left before I go back to work for only 19 days and then I will be off for another 2 months! I am truly lucky!

99% DONE

After only 2 weeks our new deck is about 99% done and it is flippin' huge! We could seriously have a dance party on it and I'm sure in time we will. Check it out...

Now all we have left is to landscape around the front of the addition and the back of the deck by the bathroom window and it will be complete! Then we can have a deck warming party!

Thoughts & Prayers

Our thoughts and prayers go out to our friends The Irwin's today. We wish your family all the best of luck. We will be thinking about you all! If you need us we are only a phone call away!

Love for Approval

Seth is at the stage where he loves to seek approval from his teachers. He considers Miss Ginger (above) from story time, Miss Erin from Kidnastics and Miss Whitney from swim class all his teachers. He loves to please them and show them what he can do. Well, today there was a guest reader at story time so Seth was able to basically sit on top of Miss Ginger and he was thrilled. He started sitting across the room from her but slowly made his way right next to her. He had the biggest smile on his face! Oh course I am the crazy mom who takes a picture of just about every memory I can capture for him.

Deck Update

Lee came over to help out last night and they got 24 out of 50 boards cut and most screwed down. The extra set of hands was extremely appreciated! It is getting there every day! Thanks a ton for your help Lee and thanks to Kristen for keeping us company at the playground.

I took this picture before it got dark, but there are actually more boards than this down.

~ Today Leah and I are headed to school to meet and greet all of mommy's co-workers.

Summer?

Today totally feels like summer and we are taking full advantage of every moment of it. We went to the Castana's this morning for a play date/lunch and Kristen fed us like kings. We are really getting awfully spoiled. This was the third time she has had us for lunch and it was delicious as usual. The boys played really well and are all taking super naps. Leah slept through most of it, but then woke up just in time to hang out and eat. Break out the jumpy, summer is in the air today!

Hot, tired and STARVING!

Tonight we will spend more time outside. We are headed on a walk with Grandma and then Lee is coming over to help Ro with the deck and the moms and kiddos are headed to the playground. I love this weather so much!

Birthday Bash

Saturday night we celebrated my mom's 56th (she's going to kill me for sharing the age!) birthday! The weather was beautiful, the company was great and the food was delicious! Here are some of the many pictures we took!

The birthday girl with her favorite kids! Seth's present for Grandma.Great Grandma was dying to get her hands on Leah.Tommy playing hop scotch.Seth eating his brownie sundae.

I look utterly ridiculous, but I was hoping I'd still fit.

The weekend was great and we are looking forward to another beautiful week. We are off to our Monday play date too!

Growing Up

Seth is officially sleeping on the top bunk now and LOVING every minute of it!

Saturday Deck Update

Roland worked as much as he could today. He is out of wood and needs to make yet another Lowe's trip in the morning! Here is what it looks like now...

Happy Birthday Grandma Puccia!

Seth & Grandma
Leah & Grandma

Thank you for all that you do for us Grandma, we love you!

Swim Pics

Here are some pictures from Seth's first solo swim class. As you can see, he loved it!

Getting comfortable with the water
So relieved that he was all smiles

Being a good listener

Kicking along with his buddy Jacob

Friday Fav's List ~ Week 7

It has been yet another amazing week at home and NOT WORKING! Have I mentioned that I love that I don't have to go to work and if we were rich I would totally stay home. For many of your who really know me, your jaw has just dropped. YES, I would love to stay home and I never thought I would ever say that. So here are a few of my favorite moments from this week, my 7th week off work!

~ Play dates at The Castana's. The kids played awesome, we looked for hotels for our Sesame Place trip this summer and she fed us. Thanks for taking care of us Kristen!

~ Gifties for the kids from Grandma and Papa Charlton's trip to Florida. Thanks a ton!

~ Lunch with Jen while we gabbed and gabbed instead of texting like any other day. What did we truly do before texting when we had to actually call someone?

~ Story time at the library. It was a dinosaur themed week and Seth was so well behaved and rocked out at his dino craft. I love to watch him be creative!

~ Walking with my mom and the kids as much as the weather would allow.

~ Tom & Mom buying Seth "The Original Big Wheel" for their house. If you could have videoed Tom and I putting it together you would have died laughing. Thank heavens we did it together because it would have taken me hours to put it together by myself. Plus, I had a Strawberry Shortcake Big Wheel as a kid at my Gram's so it is so sentimental to me that Seth now has one now.

~ Seth's 1st swim class solo. He smiled, laughed and was truly successful. Here is to many more great swim classes as the little man learns to swim on his own. Thanks for watching Leah Mom and Tom. Dad and Sue get to watch her next week!

~ Progress on the deck. YIPPEE, it is coming along.

~ Spring in the air and wearing crocs.

~ Smiley LEAH!

~ My jeans are fitting much better.

~ The Taste of the Town tomorrow, yum!

~ My Mom's birthday tomorrow, pour me a glass of wine!

~ Upcoming visits to my work to show Leah off.

As you can see life simply can't get much better! Well, the weather could be 60 of higher, that would be better! Have a great weekend everyone!

Deck Update

Here is the latest look at the new patio/deck. It has been a pretty crappy week weather wise so Roland hasn't had much time to work on it, but he was able to get quite a bit done in very little time.

Wish us Luck

Tonight is Seth's very first swim class, ON HIS OWN! I have been trying to explain that I will not be getting in the water with him tonight. I'm not sure if he understands, but we will just have to wait and see. I'm thinking positively...

Watch Out

This week at story time Miss Ginger read books all about dinosaurs which was right up Seth's alley. She even played Laurie Berkners song, "We are the Dinosaurs" which made Seth's whole day. He loves Laurie Berkner, thank goodness she is coming to Watertown this summer to perform! We already have tickets waiting for us and Seth talks about it daily. At the end of story time the craft had to do with dinosaurs so check out what Seth made...

Watch out for SETH the DINOSAUR!

This is what Leah looks like when she is done with the carseat and tired for the day! Of course I had to capture it to show her later on in life!