One Year Old

For years, I have wanted to plan an outdoor birthday party. Jake and Will are both winter b-days and I have had to make do and get creative with indoor parties. However, it was so much fun to plan a," park party." We live within walking distance of a great park and I've always wanted to have a party there. So, we did! Kevin turns one on September 27th. Which I still just can't wrap my brain around. We had a family party for him this afternoon and these days,"family parties," are no longer your small, quaint event. Our families have grown tremendously in the last few years. Between my family and Jon's there are now nine grandchildren. So much fun.
I go all out for first birthdays. Not that I don't go out for other b-days, but firsts are special to me. This time, I decided to do a wholesome pumpkin theme. We called it,"Our little pumpkin turns one." My sister and I are slowly developing a party prints business. Don't hold your breath... we are a little busy, but one of these days we will be up and running on etsy. With that said, we go all out for b-days. We design everything from the invite to the water bottle and food labels. It has been such fun and has really made our parties feel special. Kev was chill throughout the party, as he always is. He sat in his highchair half the time and munched on snacks. He loved the cake and balloons. Everyone gave him special attention. He even loved opening gifts! Which suprised me. I didn't think he would even notice them. By the end of the day, Jon and I both said," what a great night." To me, there is nothing like a great night with your family. I have dreamed of these days since I was a little girl loading up her pink Barbie mini-van. Tonight, I feel that I have already succeeded in this life. Not because I threw a great party... although, it was pretty fab... because I have a wonderful family. They are not perfect, far from it. However, we love each other and that is all that matters to me. It was so special to celebrate yet another blessing from God, which came in the form of a precious little boy named Kevin. Each of our children has come to us in a suprising way and we are blessed to have three unique and sweet boys. We love them dearly and tonight feel thankful for all that we have. Happy birthday to our lil' pumpkin Kevin. You complete our family and make us so very happy!

Lancaster Oh Lancaster

I need to be sleeping, so this is a quick one boys. We took a mini family vaca to Lancaster, PA. One of my most favorite places. The beautiful, peaceful scenery, horse drawn carriages and countless outlets... what more could I want? We had a wonderful stay at a hotel that I had been given many reccomendations about. The hotel itself was beautiful and clean. It also had an amazing kids pool with slides and sprinklers and an awesome breakfast buffet, of which I am the biggest fan. Sleeping together in a small, two room suite was... interesting. No, you boys actually did a great job. Falling asleep in the same room was the easy part. The 4am wake up calls...not so much. You boys were ready to go both mornings at 4am. Guess you were as excited as I was to be on vacation! Thankfully, everyone napped very well and we made it through each day with lots of smiles. The trip started with a stop at the discovery museum in Philly. Then, Saturday we saw Thomas the train at the strausberg train station. You boys loved it as always. Sunday, the boys went to Dutch Wonderland while Aunt Janet, Kev and I hit up the outlets. I loaded up as I usually do with everything I could possibly need until the spring. I feel so accomplished when I leave, it is amazing. I even bought your Christmas outfits and jammies already! I love that I don't see a store until the spring. Overall, it was an amazing trip!!!! It made it even better that some of our family was with us.

Our blessed little nest

Muscle men

Just plain cute

We went through a hay maze. It was cool for the first 20 mins, then I started to feel freaked out. Eventually we made our way out. You boys loved it, I was not a huge fan.

Never too old for trains

Thomas Tats... YES!

Conductor hats.. check

11 years

I was raised by parents who were," legal aliens." Think about that term for a second... aliens? Couldn't we have used a better word? Strange termininology, but they were technically not from here. They came here from Ireland when they were pregnant with me. My sister although born in London became an american and my brother and I having been born here, chose US citizenship over duel citizenship as well. Growing up, my parents relentlessly reminded us of how lucky we were to be Americans. I have been blessed to always have an awareness of how fortunate our country is for the freedoms and things we have. However, nothing made more of an impact on my citizenship as 9/11/01. I can't believe it has been eleven years. I was a junior in college. I remember waking up to the first tower falling on TV. My roommates and I sat in silence and watched. One of my roommates had an aunt who worked in the second tower and as we watched it fall... no words could be said. I remember thinking," should I still go to class?"

I decided to go... my school being probably 40% new yorkers... campus was empty. I walked into class and there was one other student there who seemed very confused and unaware of what had happened. My teacher walked in appearing disheveled. She did not look up to see how many students there were nor did she acknowledge what had happened this morning. She simply, started teaching. I couldn't believe it. We were going to have class today? Really? As she started.... she suddenly paused, looked up and said," my son is in that tower... today we will not let those terrorists defeat us... we are going to learn poetry." And there it was.

I will never forget the new feeling of fear. I had never thought about being scared for our country. I had never had to worry about wars, fightings or death. I was blessed. My parents had not been so lucky. Living in Northern Ireland they grew up with civil war surrounding them. My mother's home had been burned down for having been located in a catholic neighborhood. My moms' cousin was killed while attempting to make a bomb for the IRA. Their bags were checked for bombs before entering stores. Curbs were painted according to the side you stood for. Murals can be seen on building all over Northern Ireland depciting thes civil war. It was/is very much alive. They came here to escape that. I often wonder what my mom must have felt watching the towers. Did she think, Really? Here? I know I did.

I thought the USA was indestructible. For the first time, I felt fragile and nervous. I remember thinking what city is next? Is our whole country going down? It was terrifying. The thing about life that often annoys me is that we forget those feelings. Our lives go on. We forget. We move on. It is the way life works. However, if we could remember more often where we once were... I think we would behave differently. We would be more grateful, thoughtful and kind. We would hug and kiss each other more. We would thank people like the police, firefighters and all the helping professions instead of cutting their jobs during tax time. We would think of and talk to God more often. We would thank him for all he has done each day. Today, I want to remember .

Lately

Just a little picture update. We have been trying to find a new groove now that school is back in session and Fall is in full swing. Jake loves his classroom and new teacher. He has enjoyed seeing his school friends again too. Will and Kev are adjusting to taking their naps after we drop Jake off in the morning and then again after we pick him up. Everyone was pretty wiped once the week was over, but we made it through. 

 

While shopping, Will got some sticky fingers

Watching the landscapers. Boys...

Literally, hanging with some friends at a park.

Yet another park moment.

My boys have always loved books. Lately, I have been setting a timer each day and we call it our reading time. They are really doing well with it.

Kev all dressed up for a special occasion. This is one of Jon's old outfits from when he was six months old.

School is back

This morning Jake started back to preschool. It is his last year of preschool. For some reason that is hitting me hard today. His time at home with me has just flown by! He is ready for the world.... but I am not ready for him to enter it! Yicks. Whats a mom to do? My little boys are growing up so quickly and God has it on my heart to stay home, love them and soak it in as much as possible... so consider me soaked.... It made it much easier to see him excited. He was giddy. He gave his friend a huge hug when he saw him and couldn't get enough of his new classroom, teacher and cubby. When I came to pick him up he gave me the ol'," ma... five more minutes please..."

After some Mommy prompting

The little guys had their first morning no Jakers. They seemed to have fun together, but Will missed Jake BIG time. At least three times, Will was found walking around the house saying, "R U Jay (Jake)."  SO sweet.

Little snips of the morning