5k FUN!!!

Most of you know of my attempt to participate and actually RUN in 5K races. My third race was Saturday and I didn't want to go alone (as my running friend was on vacation!) Luckily, my fabulous sister stepped in! Jackie has been training for this for just about a month.

Here we are at the beginning of the race! Thanks to Uncle Steve for highlighting us...
Here I am crossing the finish line! Memo to myself....get yourself some SMOOTH running ensembles!!!
Jackie stayed with me for the first 2 miles and then she slowed just a bit (but finished not even a full minute after me, so she did amazing, for just having started back to running!!!)
And here we are...our first race completed! Now, I'm trying to talk her into doing the half marathon with me this December!!! :)

It's a P - P Party!!!

We had another combo birthday party for Jack and Nick on May 17th (still playing catch up!) We opted for a low key kind of BBQ since May is so crazy for everyone and now that we have baseball games every Sunday (as does most of their friends!) finding a day and time that worked was tricky!

We did succeed though and thankfully the weather was AMAZING!

While everyone was arriving, we had the bouncer out and ready! What kid doesn't love to jump??? The only tough part was making sure only 4 were in there at a time!
Once they were tired from all their bouncing, we served up the food! Here are Nick, Rachel, Iris, Ethan and Jack smiling with their hot dogs!
After all the kids had eaten, I pulled out a craft for them to do, while the parents ate (well, actually, just the dads, as the majority of the moms helped out!) Since it was so sunny, I had them all decorate foam visors! I had tons of stickers and markers for them to do up their red or yellow visor! Red or yellow, you may ask??? Well, the boys couldn't agree on one theme, so we had a Pokemon (Jack!) and Power Ranger (Nick!) party. Pikachu, from Pokemon is yellow and Nick's favorite Power Ranger is the red one!
After our craft, it was CAKE TIME! Again, Peggy Brown did an awesome job! Both boys loved their cakes!
After cake and ice cream, the boys opened up their presents! Hmmm...I'm thinking that is Cam there with Jack and Nick, but Angie, let me know if I'm wrong and it is really Syd!
It was such a great day!!! Thanks to all our friends who came over to celebrate my babies' 7th and 5th birthdays!!! :)

Garage Sale Fun!!!

For the past few years, my mom, Aunt Joy, Jackie and I have gathered up all our our "stuff" and had a yard sale. We never keep the money, but rather donate it to family/friends who can use a couple of extra dollars. This year we made $750 in just two Saturdays (one sale at my parent's house and one at mine!) Here is how we had everything organized at our house!
Jackie and Steve...
Here is Luke with his Elmo slippers, that he NEVER wore, so I was going to sell them...of course, once he saw them, he LOVED them and wore them the whole day. They now have found a happy home in Luke's closet, and of course, he hasn't worn them since!!!
Lisa, Jack's 1st grade teacher, and a friend of mine from church, stopped by while she was out and about doing some "yard sale ing." Of course I invited her in. You should have seen Jack's eyes when she walked in the door. He was shocked! Here, he is, once he calmed down a bit! :)
All in all a great yard sale, with only a few drops of rain! Thanks to all who helped with this undertaking!!!

Billy is still ROCKIN!!!

Anyone who was at our wedding reception knows that we LOVE Billy Joel! Our favorite song is Scenes from An Italian Restaurant (our first dance at our reception!). Anyhow, anytime Billy comes into town, we are always there! This tour with Elton John was no exception, even though we have seen them together, I think, 3 times!
My mom agreed to watch the boys on a Thursday night (thanks, Nana!) while we were at the almost 4 hour concert!!! Our good friends (who have also lived in the NY/NJ area) share our love of Billy and Elton. We met up with Jennifer and Robb. Here Jennifer and Dan "rock" out! They both knew all the words to We Didn't Start the Fire...unbelievable!!!
We also went with Kristin and her new "friend," Mike, who is a piano player at The Big Bang, who also LOVES Billy Joel! He even quit his 9 to 5 job to follow in Billy's footsteps!!! Unfortunately, Mike, had amazing seats, just 6 rows from the stage, ours weren't so great! Luckily they had some amazing Hi-Def screens for us to watch!!! :)
Here is Elton...his costumes were amazing!!!
Ahhh...and here is Billy...I seriously LOVE him. Dan has certainly okayed me marrying him, if the opportunity should ever arise! :) Honestly though, Billy puts on an AMAZING show and he is 60 years old! WOW!!!
I had a conference I had to go to the next morning and I had to meet a co-worker at 7 a.m., but getting home around 1 a.m. was SO worth! Can't wait until they tour again!!!

Happy Birthday, Nicky D!!!

On May 13, exactly one week after Jack turned 7, my Nicky D turned 5!!! Here we are on his birthday, doesn't he look older???
Since Nick does not like cake, I opted not to make one (whew!) and instead we bought a Cold Stone cake...Nick's favorite ice cream place!!!
You'll notice that Nick is wearing two different shirts in these next pictures. That's because he SO wanted his birthday present (as he knew he too was getting a DSi) so we let him open it on the Saturday before his birthday! Look at that smile, he just KNOWS what he is about to get!!!
I love the look of excitement here!
He loved his Batman Lego and Ben 10 game!!!
Happy BELATED 5th birthday, Nicholas! We love you! We could never have imagined that you would have turned into quite the perfect second son...so willing to keep the peace, so loving to all, and so darn funny! We also LOVE your great singing and dancing!!! :) You rock!!!

More Mother's Day LOVE!!!

I know, I know...I'm SO behind!!! I'll be better with keeping up with my blogging as soon as I'm done with school (on Thursday!!!) Here are a few pictures from Mother's Day!

Here I am opening one of my Mother's Day cards from the boys! I love that all three of my little dudes are in a school so they all made me cards!!! These are truly the best gifts ever!!!
And, my FAVORITE picture ever (well, so far!) Here are are my boys and me (or "I," Dan and I have been contemplating which is the correct grammar!!!) I don't typically dress them all in matching sweaters (although I think they look so cute) but Children's Place had an AWESOME deal. What is a mom to do, but buy them up??
Happy BELATED Mother's Day to all those loving moms out there!!!

Happy Mother's Day...

Here is a poem I grabbed from one of my favorite blogs...although I think we are very lucky to have such an awesome group of family and friends who support us everyday, raising Jack and Luke is often harder mentally and oftentimes physically than Dan and I lead on! Rarely does a day go by that we don't have some issue with a hearing aid, cochlear implant, or an "on looker" when we are walking around Target! As my sidebar says though, I wouldn't change anything!!!


HERE’S TO THE MOMS

Here’s to the Moms who may not have “signed up” to parent a deaf or hard of hearing child, but do so anyway with grace and love.

Here’s to the Moms who narrate every second of every day, not caring what others may think.

Here’s to the Moms who put miles on their cars driving back and forth to countless therapy sessions, doctor’s appointments, hearing aid fittings, cochlear implant mappings, and more.

Here’s to the Moms who work hard to be their child’s best advocate and primary language role model.

Here’s to the Moms who have had to learn a new language full of AVT terms and audiological jargon.

Here’s to the Moms who face the “experts” and fight for their child’s best interest in IEP meetings.

Here’s to the Moms who can wrestle a CI or HA onto a squirming toddler… and replace it hundreds of times each day without loosing their cool.

Here’s to the Moms who can cook dinner, answer the phone, and change a CI/HA battery without breaking a sweat.

Here’s to the Moms who constantly have to explain their child’s “equipment”.

Here’s to the Moms who have ever felt the pain of having a child who is “different”.

Here’s to the Moms who never take a single word for granted.

Here’s to the Moms who never fail to astound me with their capacity to persevere… and to love.

Mother's Day Tea!

I absolutely LOVE our daycare, Learn With Us! Every year they have a Mother's Day Celebration and this year was no different. Luke's class wasn't doing anything (they don't start inviting moms until the students are in the 2's room!) and Jack was just getting back from school.

Anyhow, when the moms got there, the pre-k class was singing some songs that they sing during their circle time. Here is Nick, looking oh so cute, sitting by his teacher!
Here is Nick's Pre-K class getting ready to sing all their Mother's Day songs! Nick actually sang! This is HUGE as whenever he has to sing in front of anyone (aside from Rock Band!) he typically just stands (usually it is in front of the church) and cries! I have hope for this years Christmas program! Notice there are only 2 boys in the class...Nick and his friend!
One of the many girls who LOVE, Nick!
Here is another girl that loves Nick...here are Nick and I!

Happy Birthday, JACK!!!

So, I got a new camera (more to come on that!) and I'm SO happy as May is a SUPER busy month for us!!! We celebrated Jack's SEVENTH birthday on May 6th! I can't believe my baby is seven! The past years since his birth have flown by, and I still feel like the 26 year old that had him! :)

We are having a small BBQ on Sunday to celebrate with family and friends (with a great Peggy Brown cake), but I still had to make something so Jack could blow out his candles!!! Here is my pitiful attempt at a decorated cake!
Even though the cake didnt' look too pretty, Jack still loved it - I love that about seven year olds! :) We all sang, even Luke! ;)
After our McDonalds dinner (Jack's choice!) and cake and ice cream, it was time for Jack to open his present! He was SUPER psyched to receive a Nintendo DSi!
I think Dan was just as excited for Jack to get the game! Here Dan and Jack check it out!
Finally, here is a picture of Jack and I! I can't believe that we were blessed with such an amazingly bright, clever, playful, fun-loving, compassionate boy! Jack is truly turning into such a great young man! I love you, Jack!