Thank you and goodnight!

I started this blog on Valentine's Day 2012 when I was 10 weeks pregnant with Riley.  There was so much exciting news and everyone was scattered across the country - a blog seemed like a great way to share news, pictures and stories of my growing belly, our growing family and our growing baby.  Over 8 years later, 300+ blog posts, 2 cities, 4 houses, 2 kids, and countless memories later, I have decided that it is time to end the blog (or at least take a break on purpose).  As you can tell, I haven't written a blog post in almost 6 months as life is very busy - in a good way!  That, and I'm not sure if anyone reads this anymore!  Either way, there are a lot of other ways to share stories, pictures and document the boys growing up.

It has been quite an adventure we have had so far, and I am looking forward to everything that we have to look forward to.  This blog served as a baby book of sorts, not having kept hard records or first steps, first teeth, first words but rather posting them here (and going back for reference every once in a while).  I hope that the boys read this one day not only to see fun pictures, but also hopefully to have an insight into what life was like growing them and raising them thus far.  I know that you don't truly understand parenthood until you yourself are a parent, and maybe hearing some stories and thoughts from my perspective will give them a better understanding into who I am and how I learned to be their mom.

We have just finished 1st grade and Preschool B and have started the summer break - or as what can best be described as summer break with coronavirus.  These are interesting times that we are living in and although we have unlimited hours at home, they always seem to be filled.  And when they are not filled, all I want to do is shut down, watch tv and relax.  Each morning I remember that I wanted to write a blog post and each night I forget.  So now, I will shift the blog to other forms of memory making and hope that the boys will remember our times together for themselves moving on.  I can't believe how much has happened since I first started writing and look forward to everything that is to come!

So to anyone left following our story so far, to Riley and Asher who hopefully one day read this and to future me who goes back to remember how little they once were, thank you and goodnight!  XOXO

Happy 4th Birthday Asher

Asher is 4 years old and it's time to party!  Because I was away again this year for Asher's birthday, we delayed/continued the celebration for another 10 days of fun until we were all able to get together.  This evening, Bibi and Zee came over (the Stamms had to back out due to illness) and we had a family party with the specific parameters as per Asher's requests.  I asked him a few times what he wanted for his celebration and he said M&M's and donuts.  He didn't want a theme... he didn't want decorations... he didn't want a cake - just donuts and M&M's.  So that is what we had!

Asher celebrated on his actual birthday, brought donuts to his friends at school and had a party tonight.  So now 10 days of celebrations later, I think it is time to pass along the birthday torch to the other January babies.

Asher - at 4 years old, you are sweet, smart, silly and so many other things.  You try to be like your big brother but you also like to do your own thing.  You don't mind standing up for yourself but are still a snuggle bug.  You help me to get ready in the morning by picking out my jewelry and handing me my make-up.  You insist on doing most things yourself but still like to be carried every once in a while.  You are learning new things every day and I always look to you when I need a smile or a hug.

I can't believe that our baby is already 4 years old and I can't wait to see how he grows into the next year.

Super Hero Halloween

We asked the boys what they wanted to be for Halloween this year and it should come as no shock to anyone who has met us that they wanted to be super hero's!  This is totally acceptable (if not predictable), especially because Chris and I already had existing super hero outfits that we could join in on the group costume with Black Panther and Spiderman!   

The weather has been dry and sunny all week, but of course, it had to be rainy, cold and super windy on Halloween.  But that was not going to stop us from going trick-or-treating!  Chris and the boys went out with the neighbors and left Addie and I behind to hand out toys.  She was a very good helper and only barded at people when there was a group coming to the door all at once.  I stationed myself on the covered front porch in a folding chair and watched the costume parade.

Once the boys were done trick-or-treating (they stayed out for over an hour), Asher wanted to help give out our treats.  He set up his station and let me know when the next group of kids were coming to the door.  I was hoping for nicer weather, but at least it wasn't raining too much and everyone had a great time on this very exciting holiday!

We also weren't going to get too bummed if Halloween was rained out cause we have been practicing for weeks!  Last weekend, Asher and I went to the Halloween parade in Mt. Lebanon and had a great time.  He was all in as soon as he heard that they throw candy at your feet and you get to collect it.  Riley had also already gone trick-or-treating when he went camping with Y-Guides last weekend so we have been celebrating for ever!

And just to make sure that there was always something to do to get ready for Halloween, we had to carve pumpkins, too!  And when I say 'we' carved pumpkins, I actually mean I carved pumpkins!  The boys wanted nothing to do with scooping out the seeds - Asher was grossed out by it and Riley just wanted to start sawing away at the pumpkin.  But we tried out some cool stencils this year and I think they turned out pretty cool!

So now we move onto November, put the costumes away for a few weeks or so and wait for the next opportunity to don our super hero looks!

10 Year Anniversary

How is it even possible that we are celebrating our 10 year anniversary?  10 years is a really long time - it's hard to even wrap my head around the fact that this is a real measure in any other way than remembering everything that has happened since we got married.  Since we said "I do", we have moved 4 times, had 2 kids, bought 2 houses, bought 2 cars, completed 2 Master's degrees, visited over a dozen countries, celebrated lots of milestones and made countless memories!

Our original thought was to take a big celebratory trip - somewhere neither of us had gone and make a big anniversary trip.  Then we bought a house and realized that other things take priority and that at the end of the day, we really just wanted to go somewhere together and have some time to ourselves.  So we took advantage of our friends mountain house and headed up for a weekend celebration!  The only thing that we had plans for was a dinner reservation, but besides that, we were totally flexible.  We slept in (or at least I did), went for a 5 mile hike at the state park, went to Autumnfest to listen to live music and check out the craft fair and just hung out at the house.  It was really relaxing and very refreshing not to have lots of plans that had us running from one event to the next!

The weather ended up being perfect, too!  It was pretty cold in the morning of our hike but that didn't stop us.  We added our layers and hit the trail.  By the end, our backpack was filled with layers and hats and the sun was shining.  The evenings were cool but we had a fire goings in the house while we watched movies, cooked meals, enjoyed a firework show (that Chris took credit for planning) and enjoyed each others company.  Turns out, we don't need to go anywhere big to have a perfect anniversary celebration!

Back to school time

In the one month since we've been in the new house, Chris was in Detroit for 1 week, I was in the Med for 10 days, we have 90% unpacked, bought a lot to pull the new house together and have finished up the summer at camp.  All of this has culminated to the next big day that everyone was counting down to - back to school day!

Asher had his first day back at the JCC last week and it was a seamless transition.  He knows Ms. Jen from summer camp, his classroom is the same and all of his friends are still in his class.  There wasn't a big hype about back to school for him cause he was at JCC camp all summer and feels like it is his second home.

Riley, on the other hand, had a huge change when starting first grade today!  He is at a new school, with new kids, taking the bus and going to school for the full day.  He has been counting down the days until school started and this morning when he woke up, he asked if the bus was here any time he heard a card drive by.  The bus comes right next door and if I could bottle the excitement he had when stepping on the bus for the first time, I would!

He came home announcing that he had a great first day, he loved the bus, our neighbor is in his class and he has a really sweet teacher.  I am hopeful that we can keep this momentum going and each day (or at least many days) go as well as today did!

Our New House!

Well, it's official, we are now in our new home!  To be honest, I would have written this blog a few days ago but A) I didn't have any free time and B) I couldn't find my computer...

But we are in the house four days now and we are loving our new digs!  It is a process that will take a little time to get everything in the right place, figure out what we need, assess how we will best use all of this space and work out the details, but it feels so good to be home.

The boys have been telling everyone about the new house, their big rooms, cool wall colors and awesome backyard.  Not to mention the fact that there is a playground right down the street and we have gone a few times already.  They are having the easy jobs of just moving in and making the best of our house.

Chris and I, on the other hand, have been busy at work!  We each took off the week to paint, unpack the PODS, clean and get everything in the house.  And it just so happened to be the hottest week of the year when all of this was happening, so we definitely deserve the break that we are getting tonight.  We still have some unpacking to do but after painting half of the house and doing lots of heavy lifting, a few boxes can stay unpacked in the garage for another night or two.

The house is already looking like a home and we are looking forward to putting our art on the walls, picking a new color scheme for our room, decorating the boys rooms with their new themes and living here.  The neighbors are really nice and it is exciting to see this as our long term home.  Signing away the next 30 years on a mortgage was a little daunting but we are really thrilled with the house, the amount of space that we have to live in and can't wait to make many memories here!

Kindergarten and Preschool Graduation

It's official, Riley had graduated from Kindergarten!  I honestly have no idea how we got here already and it really feels like it could have been last week that I brought him to the JCC for the first time when he was 10 months old for his first day of school.  Time flies when you're having fun!

The JCC put on their end-of-year graduation ceremony and this year, the Kindergartener's showed off their singing skills both in English and Hebrew.  I shuffled my way to the front, took my spot with camera in hand and as soon as I turned it on to start recording, the camera politely told me that I had forgot to put a card in... thank goodness the other parents were all equally as obsessed with capturing this moment and were willing to share their technology skills where mine had failed!

Asher also graduated from Preschool A and loved taking part in the celebration.  He and his classmates tie-dyed their own shirts and sand a song of their own.  Asher was singing his little heart out and was happy to see us right in the front row taking pictures of him.

After the ceremony came the carnival - a favorite activity every year.  There were snacks, train rides, a bouncy house and fun on the playground.  The weather was perfect and everyone had a great time celebrating the kids.  

Now it's officially summer time and we are ready for another awesome year of camp!