Sean's 30th Birthday!

Yesterday was Sean's 30th birthday!!  I made his favorite dinner (homemade chicken taquitos) for dinner and surprised him with one of his favorite desserts as a kid - butterscotch blondies.  Throughout the day he found little notes (30 in total) that I left around the house for him, in addition to some new work shirts and a special book full of letters from his grandparents, parents, siblings, and the kids & me.  I hope he had a fantastic 30th!! :)

All set to make a wish and blow out the candles!

Owen couldn't wait to help open the presents

Looking at his new book

A day at the Fair!

Today we went to Ridgefield where they were having a town fair.  It was fun walking around, getting ice cream and a balloon sword (and heaps of flyers from different vendors!).  We then went to the playground where the boys had a blast running around, climbing, and sliding :)

Pictures to come.

Ethan's Violin Performance

After practicing all year. Ethan had his violin performance!  It was nice to hear all of the instruments play together, especially since we have been listening to Ethan play the same two songs for 10 minutes every day while he practices!

Ethan would NOT let us take his picture - so this is the best picture we have of him during the performance (with at least 10 others of just the top of his head!)

I took a video of the kids playing "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" but for some reason it won't upload... I'll try again later...

Spring Break 2013

Ethan's spring break was in April this year and we drove to Virginia to spend time with our family and friends.  It was bittersweet - so great to see everyone, but also, my grandma's health drastically declined the Thursday before we arrived (it is believed she had a heart attack).  I was able to see her on Tuesday and say my goodbyes to her - it was so hard seeing her like that, but I honestly think he knew I was there and heard what I said.  She passed away peacefully Wednesday morning at 10:10AM.  I am so grateful that I was able to say my goodbyes and be with my family during that difficult time.

Aside from mourning my grandma's passing, we were able to see our friends and family.  It was so great seeing everyone!!  I was even able to get together with some of my 'mom friends' - it was so fun watching Owen interact with his friends and to catch up.  Meg and I were even able to sneak off and get pedicures, and Jill and I were able to get manicures and have dinner at a new yummy Thai restaurant.  We were able to see Aubrey (and her cute baby-bump!), and Sean caught up with Jennie and her kiddos in Richmond on Tuesday.  On Friday Sean and I took Owen and Ben to the National Zoo - I think Owen's favorite was the elephant! :)   (Ethan spent the day with Dave)

After trying to figure out the logistics of everything, we decided to come home Saturday night and therefore, miss Grandma's funeral that was held the following Wednesday.  Boy, was it hard not being there!  I thought about her all day, and after Ethan got home from school, we decorated balloons with notes to her and sent them up to heaven.  It provided a little bit of closure...  Also, my parents let me decide what I wanted inscribed on her headstone.  She is buried with my grandpa in Quantico so I had a list of about 20 different choices.  I picked "Beloved wife, mother, and grandma."  I think it suited her best out of all of the options and I think she would approve of it:)  It really meant a lot to me that my parents let me do that. 

Pictures to come...

What I Haven't Blogged About: Sandy Hook

I have debated whether or not I should post about Sandy Hook and have decided that I should, as it has effected us, and friends and family (near and far) may want to know about our perspective of this tragedy.  December 14, 2012 will be a day that we will always remember.  In the morning, a 24 year old man entered Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 children and 6 adults before taking his own life.  Sandy Hook is in Newtown, about two minutes from our home...  We looked at a house that was 'zoned' for Ethan to attend this school.  I kept having a feeling that I knew someone whose child attended that school, but I couldn't remember who it was (that's what a newborn does to your brain!) and then it hit me that it was my friend, Alissa's daughter, Emilie, who was a first grader there.  I immediately called Alissa to see if Emilie was OK.  When I didn't hear from her after a couple of hours, I called our RS  president to see if she had heard. That is when she told me the devastating news:  Emilie didn't make it.  Shock.  Disbelief.  But I just saw her on Sunday!  Alissa just took pictures of our new family of five!  Robbie was Ben's P.A. just 3 days before when he was in the NICU!  These things don't happen to people you know!

As days have turned into weeks, and weeks into months, the tragedy seems to have been forgotten by the rest of the country, but not by our area of Connecticut. Wherever you go there are reminders.  The firehouse in our little town now was 26 little flags around the big flag; the local jewelry store has a sign under their store sign that has 26 angels; "Sandy Hook Loves Bethel" signs are displayed in store windows; decorated stars are on light posts that line Newtown's 'Main Street'; snowflakes that people have made from around the world decorate store front windows; billboards have signs that say things like "We Love Newtown", and so many others.

This morning Alissa called me and asked if I could watch her girls this afternoon and of course I agreed.  Their two girls are just as sweet and as cute as can be and Ethan had so much fun entertaining them with piggy back rides, basketball 'games', and pushing them around the house in Owen's car.  (Owen seemed to be a bit overwhelmed and they said that he was 'annoying them' haha!!)  While we were eating they both had so much that they wanted to tell me that they were talking over each other - we talked about Tinkerbell, pixy dust, bunnies, and then Madelyn was talking about a dog that they knew -and out of the blue Sammie said "Emilie died."  I know how important it is to Alissa that the girls don't forget their big sister, so I told them that she did, and she is with Jesus now.  Madelyn then said that the dog 'is in heaven, too, and I think Emilie is playing with him.'  My heart just about melted, hearing these words from two little girls who are so sweet and innocent.  Oh, how I wish I could do something to bring Emilie back and heal my friend and her family's sorrow!!!  It is so hard not to ask God "WHY?"

Ethan's Leprechaun Trap

Last week Ethan came home from school and mentioned that he had to make a Leprechaun trap for school. I don't know who was more excited about making one - him or me!  We hopped on the computer to see if we could find some cool ideas, but nothing really caught our eye.  Ethan then had an idea on how he wanted his to look, so the next day I took him to Michael's so he could pick out the supplies he wanted for his trap.  He then went to his room and came out about 2 hours later with his trap that he made completely by himself!

The leprechaun will see the gold coins that are on the sides of the trap, climb up the ladder and see the pile of gold (as well as the signs for free gold) and run over to the gold and fall down the hole.

I {heart} My Boys!!

Just some of the reasons why I love them...

Ben:  loves to smile and his whole face lights up whenever he does.  If he is in his bouncer and I'm cooking or cleaning, my heart melts when I look over at him and catch him watching me.  He LOVES to snuggle with his momma!  He talks and 'squeaks' and blows bubbles.  His hair...  I love to run my fingers through it - it is very, very soft!

Owen:  So mischievous but oh, so cute!!  He has the most kissable cheeks.  When he smiles you can't help but smile back.  He loves to learn new things.  He enjoys coloring, drawing, painting, writing with chalk.  If he sees you writing, he insists on writing as well -and when he gets a writing utensil he will give it back to you and say 'quack quack' - code for 'please draw me a duck.'  (if I had a penny for every duck I have drawn I would be a very rich girl!  But, I can honestly say I think I can draw a duck in the most efficiently way possible now!  And just on Sunday a man sitting behind us during Sacrament commented on my duck and monkey drawings - haha!)  He he will sit and look at his books on his own, but really likes to sit in my lap and look at them together.  He shakes his head 'no' when he really means 'yes.'  He chews on Mr. Monkey's tail A LOT.  Wherever Owen is, Mr. Monkey (one or both) are sure to be nearby.

Ethan:  Incredibly thoughtful and caring, with a bit of humor (and sometimes a little bit of sass)!  He absolutely loves his little brothers and I love watching him play with them.  It is so sweet when Ben is crying  and Ethan picks him up, bounces him, and says, "shh... it's ok" and other sweet things to Ben - totally melts my heart!  Loves to read and make things - wonder where he got those hobbies from? ;)

Sean:  As with Ethan, he is incredibly thoughtful and caring - always putting the kids and myself before himself.  He really listens, even when I don't think he is.  When he gets home from work he immediately starts playing with the kids and then helps me put them to bed - most of the time he still has his coat on when the boys are in bed because he was too busy playing with them to take it off!  (it makes my heart so happy when I see Ethan and Owen run to greet Sean when he gets home!)  Is very supportive in all of my crazy crafty creations and dinner concoctions, even if they don't turn out quite how I planned...

I sure do love my boys and am one very blessed Momma!  <3 nbsp="">