15 Years and Counting...

On January 14th, Frank and I celebrated the 15th anniversary of our first date. Has it really been that long??
Kinda makes me feel old...I'd like to pretend we were 18 again!!! Then again, I like growing old with you, Frank. I love you!!!

14 Years Later....

Frank and I had our first "date" on January 14, 1997.
I can't believe we've been together for 14 years...I can hardly remember what my life was like without him in it, and that makes me happy!!
I love you, Frank! Always and forever!!

A Michigan Thanksgiving

Ghost stories with Aunt Emily, reading with Grammy, relaxing, chillin' with our shades on in the house, 2 year photos in the play room, Alex carrying Saeda, Alex playing with baby Tommy (Holty family friend), playing in the crib, playing, playing, playing, finding Jerry the Elf, eating, laughing, and making memories that will last forever.
Happy Thanksgiving!!

Who wants an apple?

The boys and I went apple picking with Nana when she was here visiting in October. It was a gorgeous day and the trees were LOADED with apples! We picked almost 30 pounds of Pink Ladies! Yum!
After the picking (which took a lot less time than you'd think 30lbs. would take) we enjoyed some apple cider and apple cider donuts (again yum!). We love apple picking in the fall!

Segway

Last year, Frank and I won a silent auction for a night stay at the Richmond Westin and a 2 hour Segway tour of Richmond. We finally had a chance to use both when Nana was here. Thanks for watching the boys, Nana!
It was nice to have the night away...we had an amazing meal at Millie's, drinks at the hotel bar, and a night without two rowdy boys to take care of. It was great!
The Segway tour was lots of fun, although I did feel dorky wearing a helmet and motoring around the streets of Richmond on one of the things. Nonetheless, it was a good time!



Riding this Segway makes me feel....sad?? What is that face I'm making? I definitely was nervous, though. I was totally afraid that I wouldn't be able to make the Segway work. Don't worry....I figured it out!

At Tredegar Iron Works.

He'd ridden on a Segway before and was totally comfortable on it. Well, as comfortable as you can be after standing up and shifting your weight forward and backward for 2 hours!

Virginia State Capitol

Bowling Party

Alex chose to have a bowling party this year (actually he wanted laser-tag, but I nixed it when I found out how expensive it was!). Seven of his closest friends joined him and everyone had a blast! Frank and Hunter bowled on their own lane and the rest of the kids had the other two lanes. Fun, fun, fun!!!
It was so hilarious to watch the kids and all of their super-awesome bowling moves. They told me before we started that none of them needed the bumpers up, but each and every kid proved that they most definitely did need the bumpers - it would have been 2 hours full of gutter-balls otherwise!!
Bowling, hotdogs, french fries, lemonade and cupcakes topped off with some time in the arcade. How can you go wrong???


Listen up, everyone. This is going to be a super-fun party!

Woot woot!! It only took 7 minutes, but my ball finally hit down a pin!! And the guy didn't even have to come and rescue my ball from the middle of the lane this time!!

Alex's first strike!!!

Yummy cupcakes, Mom!

Child-free Vacation

Frank and I took our first vacation without the kids in the middle of August. Six days and six nights of child-free bliss. It was awesome!!! We spent time in Syracuse and Ithaca, sleeping in, eating at adult restaurants, and just spending quality time together. Thanks to Grammy and Nana/Papa for watching the kiddos for us!!!
We can't wait for our next vacation sans kids. Why haven't we done this sooner???

Summertime in Tennessee

At the top of Round Knob Mountain. Such beautiful views! The drive to the top was scary...very narrow roads that seemed to go on forever. And look, Fonder! There's that elusive frog!! Just a side note, be sure never to trip around me...I'll probably push you down farther!

Smoky Mountains

The views were really breathtaking!!!

We had such a nice visit with YiaYia and Fonder this summer!! The mountains, the movies, good times with family.

Dave Matthews Band

Frank gave me tickets to a Dave Matthews Band concert for my birthday. After months of waiting, the concert was finally this last Friday, at Nationals Stadium in DC. It was such a great time!!! Our good friends watched the boys and we had the night to ourselves. Other than the ridiculous heat, we couldn't have asked for a better time!
Thanks, Frank, for such a wonderful gift!! We'll have those memories forever!

Exploring the Children's Museum

Water fun, super blocks, painting, picking "berries", riding the train with friends, digging for treasure, giving hugs to Charlotte, and climbing in the jungle. The new Children's Museum was tons of fun for Hunter and Mommy on a hot summer day!

NY Summer 2010

We had a great vacation in New York this summer.  We started in Binghamton with Grammy.  Playing in the backyard with water, going to the Discovery Center, a Binghamton Mets baseball game, fireworks, Taughanock Falls and dinner in Ithaca.
Then, on to Nana and Papa's house.  Gigi's house for dinner, Aunt Norma's house to see all of the cousins and Guppy for dinner (Daddy made a surprise visit!), lunch at the mall to get out of the heat, Aunt Erika's house for a cool break, dinner with Aunt Erika and Uncle Paul, time at the lake, Old McDonald's farm, swimming, goulash, kumquat pie, a fire and marshmallows, a paddle boat ride, and Cheese World.
So much fun!  Despite the ridiculous heat we had a great time!

Does Anyone Recognize These Boys?

We went to dinner tonight at a Japanese Steakhouse with some friends. Along the way we came across these two unusual looking boys. I have no idea who they are. They sure do look funny though!
The middle one looks a little like Mr. Potato Head!

Dinner with Friends

All the kids.

All the adults.

All the crazy moms who wanted to prove that we can do back-bends just as well as the little girls. Two of us forgot we were wearing skirts though and all the kids got a good laugh out of seeing our underwear.

Return of the Cake

Aunt Emily and Little Miss Cakes came to visit us for a long weekend and to enjoy Easter and Hunter's birthday with us. We had a fantastic visit (as always)! We went to the park in the 90 degree weather (what?), played outside with bubbles, had an impromptu Easter egg hunt with the neighbors, ate doughnuts, played, got messy at mealtime (ok, so that was mostly Saeda), went out for pizza, played some more, and had a great 4 days spending quality time together. Saeda is the cutest little thing, and Aunt Emily is a blast (the boys had tons of fun "attacking", having helicopter rides, and being goofy - and Alex spent a lot of time reading with Aunt Emily too!). What a great time we all had! We'll be counting down the days until the next visit.
(P.S. - Holty's if you're reading this: We wouldn't mind if you lived closer (hint, hint!)

First Market Mile

Alex participated in the Kids First Market Mile again this year with his school. He ran with me this time (Daddy stayed home with Hunter - it was WAY too cold for all of us this year!). He had a decent time too - 10:45. Not too shabby, Alex! Especially when we were pretty much numb from the cold by the time we started!

Before the start.

Kinda pathetic looking. Hopefully next year is warmer!

Dancing with the Stars

Alex's school had a fundraising dance last Friday evening for the school counselor's son who was in a horrible mountain biking accident. It was a really fun family night out! Hunter busted quite a few moves (he loves a good beat) and Alex had fun running at top speed through the crowd with his friends. I'm surprised he didn't hurt himself or someone else (although he did end up flying into the wall and ripping down some of the decorations! Oops!). Both boys loved the party snacks...Alex had his all time favorite Doritos and orange soda (followed later by a Coke - thanks Daddy! He really needed the caffeine at 7pm) as well as a cupcake and doughnut, and Hunter had Goldfish and Sprite. After all that junk they were definitely wound up. Hunter crashed

soon after that and could barely make it until 8:30, wanting to be held by Mommy most of the time. We left by about 8:30, and Alex couldn't stop talking about the next time

there is an event like this.

We're looking forward to it too, Buddy!

Check out that nasty bruise on Frank's forehead....watch out for poles that come out of nowhere!

Ready to go to the dance!

Attempting the limbo...I think he had a knee down, but a good try nonetheless!