Trevor is Off to College!

Just when I think my kids are getting old because they are heading off to third grade, first grade and preschool, our nephew, Trevor, heads off to college!!! How is that possible?!? After growing up in Atlanta (for a couple years) and then Ohio, Trevor just moved into his dorm room at Brown University in Providence, RI last weekend (right before Hurricane Irene hit). We are thrilled that Trevor is only 20 minutes away from us now!! Even though he'll be busy with his new friends, school work and activities, we hope to see him every once in a while! Also, we know that our niece, Sydney, (who is now a Junior in high school) will want to come visit more now, too!

Trevor is all settled in to his dorm room!
Tracy and Jeff with Trevor on Thayer Street Our kiddos are happy that they'll get to see their oldest cousin more often now! (Unfortunately, Sydney couldn't come out this time since she already started back to school last week. Boo!)

And now for a little walk down memory lane...

It's hard to believe that this was Trevor and his Uncle Mike 18 years ago! (1993)I first met Trevor and Sydney (and Tracy and Jeff) while they lived in Atlanta. Mike and I were dating and still at Boston College, and we spent New Year's in Atlanta. (December 1996) Trevor and Sydney were the most well-behaved kids at our graduation from Boston College. (May 1998) People asked us if we rented Trevor and Sydney for our wedding since they were the perfect ring bearer and flower girl! (August 2000) Trevor held Isabella for the first time when she was three months old (September 2003). Trevor and Sienna (October 2005) We enjoyed several visits from Trevor and Sydney during the summers! (June 2007) The oldest cousin meets the youngest cousin, Elijah. (March 2008) Another fun summer visit from Trevor and Sydney when Trevor came to check out colleges on the East Coast. This was when he visited Brown for the first time! (June 2009) A Spring Break visit with Tracy, Jeff, Trevor and Sydney after Trevor was accepted and decided to attend Brown! They may have bought one of everything from the bookstore! (March 2011) Trevor and Sydney at Trevor's graduation party. (May 2011) Trevor was the salutatorian of his graduating class and gave a great speech at his graduation. All of us after graduation. We are so proud of all of Trevor's accomplishments and we can't wait to see what the future holds for him! Luckily, we'll be able to be part of his college experience! We're hoping that Sydney will end up on the East Coast in another two years, too!

Welcome to the world, Gwen Marie!

My cousin, Kevin, his wife, Tami, and the newly three-year-old big brother, Gabe, welcomed a new baby girl today!

Gwen Marie

9 lbs., 2 oz

We are thrilled to have a new baby cousin!!! Can't wait to meet her!

Summer Evening

We are trying to savor the fleeting moments of summer before the girls head back to school this week. Last night we had a "S'mores and Movie Night" in our tent in our backyard. Elijah caught a few minutes of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (the original movie with Gene Wilder, of course) before he had to hit the sack.

Isabella enjoyed her warm and gooey toasted marshmallows.

Sienna got ready to roast her marshmallows, too.

Elijah didn't waste any time with his s'more!

"What, do I have something on my face?"

Mike can't resist giving a thumbs up in every picture.

It's hard to believe that Isabella will be starting second grade the day after tomorrow and Sienna will head off to Kindergarten on Friday. What happened to my babies?!?!

Surprise!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

After the kiddos went to bed last night, Mike set his trap for Santa. Luckily, Santa got away, but his hat got stuck in the trap. (Look closely above the fireplace!). Mike also set up a video camera and caught a glimpse of Santa's hand writing "Can't catch me, I'm Santa C!!!" (If I can figure out how to upload the video off the video camera, I will post that video at some point).

The girls couldn't believe that we caught a bit of Santa on video and that his hat got caught in the trap!!

Elijah likes his new Shake and Go cars and racetrack!
After trying this out at Bass Pro Shops, Mike thought that Elijah "needed" a remote control truck for Christmas (even though it's for ages 8+). Santa thought that Mike might enjoy it more at this point! This proves once again that he's my biggest kid!!
Isabella asked Santa for a stuffed otter, and she got one! She still loves her stuff animals and prefers them over any other toy.
Bobu helped Elijah open one of his presents.
Isabella also asked for a hat like Mike's. Elijah likes making noise on his new drumset from Aunt Tracy, Uncle Jeff, Trevor and Sydney!!!
Sienna asked Santa for a CD player and a CD with songs about Sienna. (Isabella has a CD with lullaby songs all about Isabella). Sienna was thrilled that Santa brought her a CD player with Sienna songs!!!! We've never had any luck finding any personalized items for her before!

We had a great Christmas Day with Nana, Bobu, Aunt Katy and Uncle Nathan (even though I didn't get any pictures of them)!

A Weekend of Christmas Traditions-Old and New!

Some of the things I love about the holidays are the traditions that we have started as a family. After reading about my friend, Sarah's, great idea to do a different holiday activity every day in December, I was motivated to start some new traditions of our own. This weekend we enjoyed some old traditions as well as creating some new ones!

Old Tradition: Breakfast with Santa
Yesterday morning we enjoyed our annual pancake breakfast at Sienna's school. The girls were happy to see Santa, but Elijah had other ideas!
Elijah seemed to be intrigued by Santa once he was at a safe distance.
This picture has nothing to do with holiday traditions, but Isabella went to a birthday party this weekend and came home with this fancy hair-do (complete with a pink streak) and sparkly eyelids. I'm not sure that modeling is in her future! Old Tradition: Placing Wilma the Angel on top of our Christmas tree
This year Sienna had the honor of putting Wilma on top of our tree.It's getting harder for Mike to lift up the girls as they get bigger!A minor adjustment...Mission accomplished!

New Tradition: Family Christmas Movie Night

We started a tradition of Family Movie Nights complete with popcorn and a fire. We decided to watch Home Alone last night, but we were surprised by some of the language and all of the name calling!!! Is that really necessary in a kids' movie?!?! (I know, I'm such a mom...)

New Tradition: Holiday visit to Bass Pro Shops

Tons of people were waiting to see Santa, and we didn't want to wait around for several hours. Instead, we enjoyed checking out all of the animals (both live and stuffed); although, Sienna wouldn't go near this bear!

There was a pond with live fish and turtles that had a sign that warned people not to put their hands in the pond since all of the animals/fish could bite. Guess who stuck his finger in the pond to see if they'd actually bite? I'll give you a hint...it wasn't Elijah!

Elijah came up with some Christmas ideas for himself. He would either like this pink ATV...

...or this boat!

He likes anything with a steering wheel or handlebars! See?!?

Elijah, Sienna, Lauren (Sienna's friend) and I made a mid-week trip back to Bass Pro Shops and walked right up to see Santa!! As we learned with the Enchanted Village, mid-week visits are much better than weekend visits!

Old Tradition: Festival of Lights

Tonight we enjoyed the Festival of Lights on our town common.

Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived on a firetruck again this year!

Elijah enjoyed a free cookie!

Sienna posed in front of the lights.

Isabella, Sienna and Elijah

Elijah surveyed the lighting job.

Trying to keep warm!

We enjoyed our weekend of holiday family fun!!