FIVE years later...

So many changes and a few more kiddos (one missing from this pic even.)

Donuts Make People Happy

Varsity Donuts is an awesome local donut shop in Aggieville that our family visits frequently.  I have seen a few other birthday parties done there and actually attended one just a couple of weeks ago.  Around the time that I was planning Claire's first birthday party details was when I got the invitation for our friend's son's party.  Pinterest had  inspired many little craft projects for her big day. I knew from the time I found out she was going to be a girl that her first birthday would involve burlap, shabby chic decor, and lots of tulle!  The one part I couldn't nail down was the location.  When I received the invitation to our friend's son's birthday party a light bulb went off; Varsity Donuts would be the perfect vintage/shabby chic location.  I spent many summer nights crafting away and evaluating where everything would go.  I was so pleased at how helpful the staff was with all of my requests, and decor.  It turned out exactly as I envisioned and Claire was one "HAPPY" donut eating babe! Some of the party's activities included: donut dough, coloring aprons, and frosting/decorating donuts.  {these pictures are a duplicate of facebook, sorry :)  }

Teige turned 2

A few weeks ago (okay almost a month ago already!), our Teige turned 2.  I decided to go with the gymnastics center which turned out both good and bad.  The kids of coursed loved it but I hated that the adults (and anyone over 12) weren't able to go out onto the floor and be with the kids.

6 Months

At six months Miss Claire is sitting up on her own, CRAWLING, growling, smiling, holding her bottle, eating solids and loving it!, has two teeth and continues to be the BEST little surprise in our life!

Valentine's Day 2013

This year I can't really take credit for the cute Valentine's Will took to his Pre-K class.  I ended up purchasing a printable from Etsy and paired it up with Varsity Donuts.  They did turn out pretty cute though!  (Sorry no pictures, only one I have is on Instagram) Will also wanted to do the traditional Valentine so I picked up a box for like $2 of his favorite Power Rangers (AHH, when is this phase going to end????)  Both Grandma's spoiled us with lots of candy and toys!  I was a slacker and failed to get any fun cards out to the family but I did manage to get a few pictures of the kids (if only they were all looking and Will was in focus, bummer).  Joe was in NYC that week for work so I am going to use that as my excuse (didn't stop him from surprising me with flowers delivered to the house, Love him!)

Hope everyone else had a great Valentine's Day too!

No promises

I got the itch to mess around on this old blog again.  It was never my intention to let it go the way I did but life got busy and I had to prioritize!  I love this space because it is such an awesome way to document memories and revisit them.  I hope to start incorporating some posts back into our busy schedule but I am not making any promises :)  I did re-name the blog, change the web address, and update little sister's tab.  It was fun to document her birth and think back to the day before she was born.  I can't believe she is already 5 months!  I need to get up to speed on her milestones but for now here is a picture: 

  

Summer So Far

I got an email today from Manhattan Catholic Schools regarding the upcoming registration meeting and it made me realize how fast our summer is flying by!  Here is a little recap of some of our activities. We spend the majority of the time at the pool but we have also enjoyed some crafts and extras along the way too.  Will participated in micro soccer in June, finished up swim lessons just before his birthday, and is still going to gymnastics once per week.  He wasn't too into the whole soccer gig but he didn't mind swim lessons.  We don't do the open gym too often now that he is in a class (it gets to be too often and bores him) but we did enjoy a fun night this past Friday as a family.  He prefers the open gym to the class but either way is usually alright with him. 

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law came over one afternoon to paint the boys' room (I will post pictures when we get it complete, just waiting on a shelf and some organizing) and of course the boys wanted to help so we broke out the old paint brushes and made our own mess out front.  

  This little program was just enough to get his feet wet.  They worked on different drills each day and then the last week they played some scrimmage games against each other.  I think we will try it again next year and see if he likes it better.  He just lost interest pretty quickly.  The last day was probably his best day and I think it had to do with finally being up beat enough for him.  

The staff for swim lessons did a wonderful job.  He got to level 3 in the Swim America program.  I tried to enroll him into the second session after having such a good experience the first session but unfortunately they were full.  I plan to try and keep him involved in them throughout the winter through the UFM and hopefully next year he will continue to excel. 

DQ visits have become more and more frequent!

We enjoyed a picnic in the park with Grandma JoAnn last week.  The boys definitely enjoyed themselves in the splash park.  TJ usually hangs out on the border enjoying the smaller splashers but big brother felt like he needed to experience the big rings!  He didn't seem to mind the trip through but he did resume his position on the border where he feels more in control of his experience.  I am so glad to have two boys that aren't afraid of water in any way, makes activities like this more relaxing and fun.  

We have been celebrating SO many birthdays lately.  The same day as Will's party we celebrated with Lizzy for her 4th birthday.  She also had a pool party.  Surprisingly the kids were very well behaved for having such a long day in the sun.  It was nice for me to be able to relax, enjoy the pool and socialize instead of worrying about the details. 

Our good friends little boy, Tucker, just turned 2!  His western themed party was held at the new Discovery Center.  We hadn't been there so we were excited to get to check it out.  There was a fun area for the kids to get to play and then a room with tables for the guests to relax and watch the birthday boy enjoy digging into his cake and gifts.  

We are planning on celebrating another birthday for Miss Audrey this weekend at her Princess Party.  I will have to add to the birthday collages after the weekend! Other future summer plans include the fair, welcoming our family back from their Destin trip [we don't get to go :( ] and the arrival of Miss Claire!