Jake's first Blog Entry

Hi Everyone, Jake here                                                                                                       

When I was in school (which i'm not) my mom made Military cupcakes.Here I will show you a picture.

Well there's the picture.

(Post comments if you like)

Trick or T-T-T-reat in the C-C-C-old!

What's a little light snow and freezing temperatures to a determined trick or treater? Not much of a deterrent I'll say! It was a pretty miserable day weather-wise for poor Halloween Revelers here in Camillus. The town's first ever fall harvest fest was packed with fun things to do for kids and families, but the weather kept all but the die-hards from coming out. By the time trick or treat time came we had seen our first snow of the season (more like wet, white rain) but luckily nothing stuck at all and it was dry when the kids headed out.

Corinna went next door to one house and did her best "trickortreat" sound and was THRILLED when candy got put in the bag. Then back home with mom to hand out candy. The boys, with Natia, Kaitlin, Kim, and Charlie braved the temps and scored candy big-time. This is quite THE neighborhood for candy handouts! My favorite part of the night--trading all the candy you don't want--was loaded as Natia, Jake, and Aidan spread out all over the living room floor and thoroughly went through their loot. The boys were so good. Jake dressed as Spider-Monkey and Aidan as Mario.

The gang before heading out, Kitty Corinna is hiding behind Aidan.

Corinna's firs and only stop, next door.

Kaitlin was really getting into the spirit!

Corinna holding her treat bag taking it all in!

Mario loved his mustache and wore it for hours (EW!)

Spidermonkey, ready for anything.

Natia in her final costume of the season, the werewolf.

Our front stoop. Cue the creepy music coming out of the bushes and the strobe light

and it looked pretty darn cool!

My candy hander outter helper. She spent nearly all night taking candy out of the drawer and putting it into her bag. Emptying it and starting all over again. Adorable--until she figured out how to unwrap the candy without me seeing!

Jam-Packed weekend of Fall Fun

What a busy, crowded weekend!! Friday the elementary school PTA hosted Family Fun Night and it was a crazy-crowded night. There was a carnival, dance party (dancing with glow sticks--Aidan was in heaven), raffles, food, the works. The kids were like the mayors of the school, stopping to say "HI" to their peeps every third step. AND, I won one of the raffles so I was feeling cool.

Jake was getting ready to get his card crossed out. After each activity, you got a box crossed out. When you got 6 boxes you got a free bag of popcorn. You'd have thought they were giving away gold with the way the kids were fighting to get the 6 boxes filled.

Aidan is using his Star Wars Force powers to move the ball up the bars.

Saturday night after a great soccer game earlier in the day (Jake was goalie)....we headed to the Boo at the Zoo. Also a crazy-crowded event. It was at the Syracuse zoo with lots of different animal shows for kids, a juggler, bubble blower, and much more. But the best part was that the kids got to wear their costumes and it was relatively warm and the rain held off until just as we were leaving and even then it was just a mist. However, we got there late and had to park soooo far away. But the kids were awesome, I don't even think they complained. (I did.) Poor Corinna did come home with 102 fever though!

A little pre-event face painting.

Aidan was loving life being all painted. Although he INSTANTLY wanted it off when he was done.

Little Miss Kitty ready to go.

meow.

Mr. Mario. There were a least a dozen other Marios at the Zoo Boo.

Jake went as Spider-Monkey, a character from Ben-10.

Our neice Natia (Britney Spears in Spike's old costume--hmmmm) came over and got ready with us.

Look at Aidan laughing SOOO hard. There was a juggler on stage.

Sunday we carved pumpkins. Jake was so into this year. Aidan was too grossed out by the smell and goo of the pumpkin guts to do much, but Jake did a lot. In years past, Spike did the 'hard' work of cutting off the top of the pumpkins and hollowing out the guts and basically carving the whole thing for each of the kids. But I did it this year. COrinna was attached to Spike so I was in charge of pumpkins! Like I said, Jake did most of his, but I carved out Corinna's and Aidan's. I did try to roast some pumpkin seeds and they were disgusting. Let's just say, I'm glad you only have to carve pumpkins once a year.

Jake "I'm so dramatic", LOVED getting all the guts out of the pumpkin. 

Shelby thought we should carve this one....

Little known fact: Pumpkin carving goes much smoother when you wear cat ears.

This is about as close as Aidan was willing to get to 'his' pumpkin.

The finished pumpkin family.



Aidan's Mario Galaxy Super FIVE Fun Fest

Aidan's fifth birthday party was out of this world! Well, more like into the Mario Galaxy. We celebrated his half-decade of life on a beautiful fall day indulging in his latest obsession--Mario Brothers. We kicked it old school with party games like duck duck goose, hot potato, and limbo. The kids LOVED it!! Aidan couldn't stop smiling all day all his best pals from school and his cousins helped him celebrate.

Aidan (dressed as Mario) blows out his candles. It was cute --he did make a wish before blowing out the candles. He whispered "I wish I had every videogame. (sorry world peace, it will have to wait for birthday #6 maybe) to himself then blew out the candles

The birthday cake. After a disasterous first try baking, this one came out pretty good! I surprised the kids with a galaxy blue layer of cake.

Kaitlin didn't quite get the 'hot potato' game, but she sure loved dancing in the center!

The group playing our Mario version of hot potato (hot galaxy stars). It may have appeared rigged, but the first two winners were Jake and Aidan.

Before we began the chocolate gold coin search, everyone needed to don their Mario mustaches and hats.

The many Marios spread out over the yard to find the gold coins.

Corinna got into the spirit of things...

Limbo--you never fail to make for a good time.

Why I  love this picture: Corinna seizes the moment, while Kaitlin is distracted by the game, to run over and try to steal her chocolates.

Pre-Wedding Jitters

Well, they aren't my pre-wedding jitters necessarily, but there's excitement in the air for my sister's wedding. It's coming this weekend and it will be quite an event. It's a double ceremony, Tamil and a quicky justice of the peace ceremony. Corinna and the boys are in the wedding and I am a bridesmaid.  I can't wait to see the kids all dolled up and celebrating. It's been a while since they've seen their aunts. We are finishing our last minute pre-wedding trip errands and packing for the event. What an exciting time. Corinna will be a flower girl, Aidan a ring bearer, and Jake will play a special role in the Hindu ceremony.

It is sort of an event bookend to the summer. The 2010 summer has proven to be one of the wildest, most unpredictable summers I can remember. With all the excitement of the summer, it will be awesome to get everyone on a schedule again. I'm sure once we're in the throws of my cake classes starting back up, Jake's soccer games, Corinna's My Gym, Aidan's gymnastics....homework, lunches, and all that, I'll long for the "lazy" days of summer. However, the schedule and routine sounds pretty appealing.

Some big news on our end, Miss Not Quite 20 months used the potty! Incriminating picture to prove it! (however, in the interest of not totally embarrassing her, I subbed in this picture) It appears to be a one time thing, but we got pretty excited at the thought of one day not changing diapers for the first time in 7+ years!

I am so happy to report that Jake has fallen in love with reading. For the first time, he is eager to sit down and read the first book he's reading 100% on his own. Diary of a Wimpy Kid. he loves it and it seems perfect for someone his age. I LOVE seeing a picture like this!

Aidan is gearing up for his Kindergarten orientation soon and is excited to ride the bus and be with the 'big kids' at school. He's been sitting on his own and working on his kindergarten book that he begged for. So it's been fun to watch him so excited. How did it happen so fast!

Home Sweet Home

The cardboard box or two in every room is a clear sign that we aren't fully settled in just yet.

But, the boys are registered in their new school, the post office is forwarding our mail, and little knick-knacks are filling the shelves. The official close date on this house was July 23 and though the monsoon-like rain slowed things down a bit, that's when we moved into the new digs. It's a great house with lots of room. It's in an adorable neighborhood bustling with people, dogs, and kids. (though no ice cream truck yet, how odd!)

Spike is settling into life working from home. Either the cat or dog spends the majority of the day with him in the office. Even Corinna understands that 'daddy's at work now' when he goes upstairs. This was not an easy move, but we had lots and lots of help which made this crazy transition that much easier. It's hard for me to get used to life in the 'burbs. The pace of things is very different for us than it was in Westtown. It's all just a bit faster here.

As cliche as it sounds there are mornings when I wake up wondering whose room I'm in and miss our old home terribly and there are other mornings when I wake up and feel like I've lived here my whole life.

18 Months, Just Not a Fan

There are people who look at toddlers and whistfully say, "Oh I just *LOVE* that age!"

WHAAATTT?? I am convinced that when someone confides in me, after looking at little Miss 18 Months, that they "L-O-V-E" that age-- they are clearly having a short-term memory lapse of what having an 18 month old is like. It is tantrums, and teething, and "MINE!", and "ME DO" and refusals and whining.

It's watching every second because, unlike her brothers, she CLIMBS on EVERYTHING. She is fearless in a way her brothers never were! Let's stand on the kitchen table! Let's jump off the bed! Let's pull the dog's tail--HARD! (Good Buster!!) Let's just never stop moving. Run, Walk, Climb, Pull, Push!

In your eyes Little Corinna, I know it must be hard to be 18 months. Razor sharp teeth are trying to poke their way through your soft gums. You know what you want, but no real way to communicate it. You have a few words, but not enough for us silly grown-ups to decipher. You have no idea what the big deal is if you are standing on the table, holding a glass, or grabbing for knives. You do NOT want to be slowed down for a diaper change OR be buckled in the car seat.

BUT-there are the glimmers of hope that it's not permanent. That it's not all bad...Like when you sleep like an angel in your crib (your brothers never did) sucking your thumb and never far from bun-bun. Or when you light up when you hear daddy come through the front door. Or the run-across-the-room-to-tackle-hug-you move. Or the sweet sound of humming before you fall asleep. Or when you make a joke out of asking everyone in the house to nurse. It's chasing your brothers and watching them give you whatever you want simply because you are cute as anything.

I know that the next year will be rough...welcome terrible twos...followed by the often less pleasant threes. But then, all of the sudden, something changes. Like a magic wand. I know the tantrums will stop (most of them) the watch-like-a-hawk phase dies down, and the 'NO! NO!" goes away mostly. And the funny, energetic, playful side of you will get a chance to shine. But as for now, at 18 months, not a fan........