Date Day

A couple weeks, Nolan saw a commercial for Beauty & the Beast 3D on tv and asked if we could go to the movie and see it. I was already planning on taking him on a "date" that weekend, so it worked out perfectly. We went to lunch then to the movie, which was so cool to see on the big screen (again) with my little guy. I LOVED it in 3d! Here's Nolan and I before we left: Joey and Danny wanted in on the picture, too!!

Kid-Isms

NOLAN-

• I asked Nolan, "When did you get to be such a big boy?" He said, "November 16th."
• Nolan and Daniel colored a picture for Brian and I and Nolan explained that he wanted to show us that "even toddlers can color good sometimes."
• Brian was explaining to Nolan that to win a free lego that they had entered a drawing for, he would have to be very lucky. Nolan replied, "Well, I hope one of my eyelashes falls out, so I can be really lucky and make a wish to win the lego."

Joseph & Daniel-

• They both say "Oh" in response to many things (but mostly Joseph)
• J says "Yeayy!" really cheerful like when he is saying yes (and in a good moof)
• D says "O-tay" for okay
• The boys love smoothies. Every morning, Daniel asks for one. But he pronounces it, "Boobie." He'll say "Mommy! Boobie!"
• Daniel calls ice "Ass cream"
• Sometimes when I hear the twins awake from a nap and I walk in their room, they are laying together on Joseph's bed reading a book together.
• Strange month--one night we found Daniel asleep behind the rocking chair. Later that same week we found Joseph asleep in the same spot. I think they go back their to play and peek into the other twins crib and then just crash. Its scary, though, when I go to check on them in their bed and they are GONE!
• The twins tell on each other. When D does, it sounds like this: "JoJo mean. JoJo push. JoJo go time out." When J does it is usually started off with a high pitch scream, followed by, "DANNY MEAN! DANNY PUSH ME!"
• I tried to get Danny to eat a veggie of some kind or another and he said to me, "Danny no like. Momma eat."
• We had a sitter one night so we could go to dinner. We had set a fort up that day. When the sitter arrived, the twins got upsest (they usually do, but are getting better). Danny sort of accepted we were leaving, but Joseph went into the fort and we could hear him sobbing and saying, "Mommy Daddy no go. Mommy Daddy stay home." I barely left.

Shadows of Love

I was fiddling around with the camera the other day and realized I had a good back drop to make a shadow profile. I was so excited and Nolan was actually fairly cooperative (I may have had to bargain with the Wii, but hey, this kind of thing is priceless)! This is the original.

I did some editing (crop and color saturation):

This is one of him smiling that I think is adorable and I like that you can actually tell he is smiling.

Which one is your favorite?

Snow Tubing

The week between Christmas and New Years Brian took some time off. One of the things he had been wanting to do was take Nolan snow tubing. They had a blast, but unfortunately there hasn't been as much snow this year, so they didn't go "all the way down the hill." Nolan didn't know any better and talked about it for days!

North Shore

A couple days before New Years Day we drove to the North Shore to explore. Alot of the museums and shops were closed for the season, but it was still beautiful. I'm looking forward to going when its a bit warmer, but I will say this...fresh clam chowder tastes so good when its cold outside!!

In Salem, we visited a beautiful, very old cemetery. Some of the dates were so old you could barely read. Nathaniel Hawthorne's stone was there, with many family members. The picture below struck a cord in my heart...a child's stone and someone had left a stuffed monkey. It drew questions from our boys...

Nolan would only sit on the branch after Daniel sat up there (assisted):

This is where the day got scary. I didn't know until days later I had actually had a picture of this...notice Joey is running through leaves. Notice how he isn't looking where he is going. If you look close enough, you'll notice he's leaning, because as I snapped the pic, he had tripped. He landed on one of the tombstones. Head first. Blood spewing from his head...I took him and ran into nearest deli. They gave us ice and a wash cloth. I was asking them where the nearest ER was, when I realized that although there was quite a bit of blood, the cut was very small and not a deep gash. Whew. What's even stranger...he had a small cut on his forhead and a long cut on his nose...somehow, by a miracle his eye was untouched. It doesn't add up or make sense, but we joked that the angels at the graveyard were watching over him!!

After lunch at a cute little spot on the water we headed up the coast to Gluocester, where we found an amazing little playground and a beautiful view. There is a gorgeous castle you can tour in warmer weather that I want to go back and see. Danny loves the swing...notice the water in the background?

On a huge hill overlooking the water : Cannon!

Joseph and I:

Un-Decorating

Taking down Christmas lights isn't usually all that fun. But when its almost 60 degrees and you end up shedding your winter coats, its not so bad!! Especially when you have helpers:

And bubble cowboys, who say, "Arms up Momma! Arms up Daddy!"

But sometimes, even cowboys get in trouble. And have to sit in time out:

Basketball

When we lived in Florida, Nolan's first sport was basketball, through the YMCA. Last year we didn't realize he could play basketball because almost everything else on base goes by school age, not actual age, so after a year off, he's back! He loves it and I think he has a natural talent for it, but hey, I'm his mom, so I admit I'm biased. That being said, at his first game this past Saturday, little man scored TWO BASKETS! I am such a proud momma!

Here he is warming up...I was actually trying to figure out the lighting for my camera, but this is the only pic I have of him shooting a basket: Some action shots during the game:

Happy New Year!

2011--A year to remember!

I began thinking about 2011 and of course, hospital visits struck me. Then I began to lose count. But then I realized, I was counting 3 stitches visits which actually happened at the end of 2010. If you recall, Daniel fell into our tv stand corner and needed stitches on his forehead. Two weeks (roughly) later, Joseph fell, on the exact corner and got a matching spot on HIS head, same place. Ironic, right? Then, two days before 2010 ended, Daniel fell into a toy firetruck and busted open his chin, needing minimal repair, but glue "stitches" none the less. I remember this one vividly because I was so worried about having him in an ER, full of germs, so close to his surgery date when we were being so careful about keeping him healthy. In January, Daniel had his second heart surgery. And came out with flying colors. Next to the hospital was Joseph, who awoke us one night with a scary cough and couldn't seem to catch his breath or breathe. I have never been so frightened as when I drove him to the ER, listening to him gasp for air. Next was Daniel, who caught a cold and Brian took him to the Children's ER as a precaution because it was post-surgery and we were concerned about a high fever and so were the doctors. All was fine, thankfully. Nolan became ill in March and probably should have gone to the ER, but we avoided it, but went to the doctors three times in five days with what turned out to be the flu. He was sick for 10 days, with a fever reaching 104.5 To say the least, it was terrifying. In early June, sweet Daniel was back at Children's hospital for his second surgery...to fix a tethered spinal cord. We spent two nights in the hospital, short comparitevely, but it was a much more trying stay for him and for me, as he couldn't sit, he had to lay flat for 48 hours. If memory serves me correctly, next was myself. Not even a week after moving down the street, into our new house, I developed a sore throat. A sore throat so bad that meds didn't help at all. A visit to the doctors said it wasn't strep throat. Two days later, I called them back in tears, in more pain than I can ever remember being in. They sent me to the ER (and freaked me out with what that meant). The ER doctor said I should have already been on antibiotics, that I had pharyngitis. In September, Nolan became suddenly ill, vomiting quite a bit and after a quick trip to the Pediatricians was sent to the ER for dehydration. After IV's, he was sent home and within hours was back to himself, thank goodness! Finally, in October, Daniel fell for the second time in three days, landed on his forehead (in the same spot he had early in the week), resulting in an instant baseball size lump on his head. Talk about terrifying. Thankfully my in laws were in town and Kathy was able to come with me to the ER. And thank GOD, no serious damage was done. It was at this visit I asked if they perhaps had punch cards, seeing as I had three boys and I now seem to be a regular there!

In between our hospital visits, the year was chalk full of fun. Going on vacation to the beach, visiting museums, cook outs with friends, girls nights, guys nights, family movie nights, family game nights. One visit to the hospital one of my dear friends surprised me with hot tea to help calm my nerves. At 11 pm at night. A few months later that friend, Cheryl, and her family moved away and we had to say good bye. We also had to say good bye to Jess and Tyler and their boys, two of Nolan's best friends. Nolan had to say good bye to over half of his preschool class in May as they moved away. We moved houses. Brian pinned on Major. Ups and downs. Nolan played T-ball. Nolan played soccer. The twins started talking. Nolan started kindergarten.Ups and downs. Full Circle. I love it and I mourn how quickly it goes.

New Years Eve we left the kids for the first time since the twins were born (on NYE, not ever). We went to dinner with two other couples, had yummy food and lots of laughs. We came back to base and went to a friends house and ended up playing board games until the new year! I have to admit, I missed my kids on New Years...I love watching them with noise makers and hats, so even though it was a great time, I think it will be a few years before I leave them again.

And finally...my new years resolution. This post is only a few days late, but I blame that on my getting an ear infection and being down for the count for days. This year my resolutions are simple. Aim to please my family and treat my family as good as, if not better, than other people. I only need to worry about what they think of me, not other people. So if I have to say no more, I will just learn to do it. And my second resolution is to write more. Journal, blog, write more letters... I miss writing dearly and need to get back into the habit. I will concentrate less on perfect photos and more on everyday photos and writing about them. I don't need perfect lighting to know how beautiful my boys are on an every day basis.

Soo....here's to a new, wonderful, hopeful, happy, exciting (but not too exciting), memorable 2012!!!