Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope that all the special people in our life had a very special Valentine's Day! We love you all!

Valentine's

Seth has been making and receiving Valentine's this week and it has been almost as fun as Christmas for him. Yesterday he had his party at school, we came home and made Valentine's to give out and today he was having a little party at Pam's!Leah looked at me as if to say, "What the heck are you doing to me now?" Some day she will appreciate how creative her mom is! The key word is "someday"!

Happy EARLY Valentine's Day to all of the special people in our life!

Our weekend will consist of skiing, the movies, time spent with Sheryl & Jess, a special house project on Sunday and dinner at Dad's.

Addition to the LIST!

I didn't realize when I made my list of activities to look forward to that my mother-in-law also turns 60 this year! I'm sure both she and my dad are thrilled that I'm letting the whole world know they are turning the big 60! Live it up, you only live once!

Looking Forward...

This is the time of the year where I am getting antsy for spring to arrive and getting excited for all of the exciting Charlton adventures ahead. So in true Jen style I'd like to ramble for you today about all of things I'm excited to do that will be coming up!

* Skiing with Sheryl & Jess this weekend PLUS they are taking me to see Dear John for my birthday!
* Pepsi "Year in Review" Party ~ A fun filled night of food and good company that highlights the hardworking men and women that Roland works with. Everyone needs a little pat on the back once a year for a job well done! So we will eat, drink and celebrate on the company.
* My Dad is turning the magic number 60! It is very hard to believe!
* Jacob's ice skating birthday party. Seth has never been on skates so this ought to be a "hoot" as my mom says! Plus, I haven't been on skates in years, hopefully it is like riding a bike!
* Leah's 1st Birthday/Pink & Brown Bash! Invites are ordered so let the planning begin...
* The birth of baby "No Name" Voss in the next 3-5 weeks! Will it be a GIRL OR BOY? We should start a poll.
* Lucy's birthday party at The Most. Fun for the whole family!
* Seeing Mama Mia LIVE for the second time!
* We just booked our trip to Massachusetts & Lake George for July 10-14th!

I am sure that I will be adding many more adventures in the upcoming months, but for now this is what we will look forward to! I am sure I forgot something, but I will blame it on Mommy brain!

Thank You!

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU goes out to my entire family and wonderful friends for a kick butt birthday. I was showered with calls, texts, facebook messages, meals, gifts, flowers and on and on and on. I feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world and I THANK YOU all for being a part of my life!

A special thank you to my husband and children for the wonderful cards, dinner and beautiful ring! I love you so very much!

Happy Birthday Uncle Brad!

We hope you have a GREAT day!

Did I Say I Was Blessed??

Well, I am!

Sunday night Jen dropped off my all time FAVORITE dessert, but not just one...7! Jen makes this dessert called pavlova and I love love love it! So she surprised me and made me 7 mini pavlova desserts! I ate 1 as soon as the kids were tucked in bed and enjoyed every bite. Thank you so very much! You are a wonderful friend!

Lunch in Lowville

Sunday we decided to take a drive to Lowville and have lunch with my grandparents since I wouldn't see them today. They made the trip truly special by decorating the house and getting me a cake. They are so very thoughtful!

It was a great afternoon followed by a giant nap when I got home.

Saturday morning Kristen called with instructions for our morning together...don't eat and shave your legs! I had to laugh! She picked me up at 10am and we headed to Cracker Barrel for a delicious breakfast and then to Old Navy because I needed new jeans and I also did some summer shopping for the kids. After that she and I went to get massages. Roland surprised me and paid for a massage for me and Kristen used a gift certificate from her birthday in December. It was such a relaxing morning with such a wonderful friend!

In the evening 9 (we missed you Lee) of my closest friends, Roland and I went to Stefano's for yet more food. It was so fun to get everyone together and hang out. Plus, they showered me with fun gifts. I am truly grateful for such wonderful people in my life.
Thank you to my wonderful husband for setting it all up and getting everyone together.
PS~ We did not plan to color coordinate our outfits!
After dinner we went to Joe's for a couple of drinks, the juke box and shuffle board. Thank you Joan for coming home for the weekend too!
I definitely toned it down from Justin's birthday! Way too old to drink so much anymore!

Thank you Roland and Bonnie for watching the kids so that this night was possible!

Truly Blessed

The birthday blessings started on Friday night with a very special, very delicious lobster and steak dinner. Let's just say that at the end of the meal I immediately went upstairs and grabbed my fat pants and put them on! That is how much I ate! A very special thank you to Mom and Tom for a wonderful meal with wonderful family!

We broke out the tunnel and the tent for the kids to play in, but the "big" kids had more fun!Seth had quite the appetite that night too!

Charlton Birthday Take 2 & 3

Take 2: Today is Rocky's 8th birthday so we sang to him this morning, gave him morning treats and we will shower him with love tonight!

Take 3: Starting tomorrow we will start to celebrate my birthday! Mom and Tom know that I love lobster so they decided to cook me a lobster dinner tomorrow night for my birthday. Aren't I a lucky girl? YES! Tom and I went to Sam's on Thursday and bought the lobster tails and now my mouth is watering just thinking about them!

Saturday I have a mysterious morning planned for me. All I know is that Kristen is picking me up at 10am and we won't be back until 1:30pm. I was told to dress casual and that it would be fun. I am very intrigued and excited! Saturday night Roland has set it all up for he and I plus our closest 10 friends to go to Stefano's for dinner.

I feel very very loved and excited to start this fabulous weekend!

Happy 8th Birthday Rocky!

We LOVE You!

1st Stride Rite's

I feel like it was just yesterday and we were taking Seth to Avon to get him his first pair of Stride Rite shoes, now 4 years later we are doing the same for Miss Leah. She was so funny. Since she usually just wears Robeez and they are so light she was so confused by the actual shoes and the weight of them. She didn't like them at all and didn't want to stand up.

Avon didn't have much of a selection so we just tried on some sizes and ended up ordering a pair of pink sneakers.
These are heavy Daddy!
I would much rather crawl, this is hard work!
Check me out!

Last night Leah walked from the little play kitchen in the toy room all the way to the green plaid chair across the room. She was so proud of herself and so was I.

Bathing Beauty

When Leah is tired or just plain grumpy all we have to do is stick her in the tub and she is instantly all smiles. What a lifesaver that can be from time to time!

She also LOVES to stand in front of the mirror and dance up and down! I took some bum shots, but I don't think she would appreciate me posting them for the whole world to see!

Leah now has three teeth and is working on the fourth!

Twenty3

Saturday Justin turned 23 and we celebrated, let me tell you we celebrated. Well, let's just say I haven't celebrated like that in years and boy did I pay for it on Sunday. This mom will not be having a repeat of it this weekend for my birthday. We had a blast and we have lots and lots of pictures to show for it, don't worry I won't bore you with them all!

Justin wanted make your own calzones for his birthday dinner. It was super fun and Mom and Tom had all sorts of fillings for them.
Justin also wanted ice cream sundaes instead of cake so that was fun too!
After the kids were safely in bed and Mom and Tom were covered up warmly on our couch we headed to Joe's for a few birthday drinks.
Let us not forget about the birthday shots as well.
We also got a see another side to Joan and we loved it!

Our friends The Richard's came out to meet us too and got in on some of the craziness as well. It was a fun evening with friends and family!

Happy Birthday Uncle J

We love you and hope you enjoyed your morning serenade! See you tonight!

Positivity!

It seems like winter lasts for so long and we are cooped up in the house or at work for many many hours a day so here are a few positive things in my life that keep me going on a daily basis...

* Excited baby steps taken by Miss Leah as she toddles 3 to 5 steps here and there.
* That fact that Seth can name each and every car in his "collection", give descriptions and tell you all about them. Plus, how he lines them all up and has a fit if his sister comes anywhere near them. "MOM, Leah is touching my collection!"
* When Seth says, "Mom can Leah come play in my room with me?"
* Sitting on the couch watching OTH with Roland on Monday nights. It is the only night we watch TV together and I love the extra time with him.
* Weekly visits from my Mom and Tom after school. Extra adult conversation, I love it!
* Helping out friends in any way I can.
* Forming a much closer relationship with my SIL. Love it!
* Snapple Raspberry Iced Tea
* DVR
* Skiing, we have gotten back into it this year and it is a great feeling to be outside in the fresh air.
* Emails and early morning chats with my Gram.
* The hope and anticipation that spring is on its way.
* Planning Leah's 1st birthday bash. Get out your pink and brown!
* Planning summer vacations to MA and Lake George.
* The HOPE of finding Seth a new sitter for next year. Cross your fingers for us please.
* Cuddling up in my snuggie.
* Family
* Friends
* Family
* Friends

What are you feeling positive about lately??

The drive in this morning was HORRIBLE! My new thought is that whomever is in charge of making the ultimate school closing call for a district should get out of bed and take a drive down the road and REALLY see what the roads are like and what danger he/she might be putting these children into. Can you tell that I'm a little upset? It was scary and I get to turn around and do it again in 4 hrs. Serenity NOW!

Random Thought...

I wish children were born with teeth. It would save them the pain and us the pain and be much simpler in general! Thoughts?? I know you will agree with me!

Denver Testing

We went for Leah's 10 month Denver Developmental Testing this morning and we couldn't be more pleased. She is saying and doing everything age appropriate and beyond. We are so proud of our little lady. The doctor also told us to start slowly introducing milk into her formula so we will try a little tonight. It is so hard to believe that she is almost 11 months and before we know it her birthday will be here! Get your pink and brown ready party goers!