First Day of School

Well, today was rough. My last "baby" went off to Kindergarten today. He was super excited after meeting his teacher on Friday (Mrs. Soper who Brandon had for Kindergarten too WOOHOO). I fought back tears at the bus stop this morning although Ryan was not fooled. He said I know you are going to cry mom and it's okay cause I love you lots. How sweet is that?? Both Brandon and Ryan could not wait for the bus this morning. When the bus arrived after a quick kiss goodbye from both they ran to bus beaming. Ryan was thrilled. Then once it pulled away, I burst into tears and watched the bus pull away. I came the house and was crying for a bit then went to meet up with some mom's from our school for coffee this morning. That helped quite a bit. I really missed them today and was chomping at the bit to know how their first day went. They got off the bus with HUGE smiles and ran straight for Eddie and I and were little chatter boxes about their day. All is right with the world, while I am still a little sad that my "baby" is growing up.... I am so proud of him for not being scared and running straight at Kindergarten head on. Ryan told me that he stayed in the green today, did not move to red and gave me a high five. This means, he was good all day no discipline. That's my boy!

Check out our First Day Duds

Kindergartners where ID tags the first two weeks

so they have bus, home and teacher info in one place.

Heading to the bus stop

The mad dash to the bus

Here they come, they made it home!

Running to the house at the end of the day all SMILES

Eddie Hits the BIG 40!

I have to start off this Blog by saying we have the BEST FRIENDS EVER! Last night Eddie and I went out to catch a movie as the kids are still up in Maryland with Grammy. I have enlisted two friends to decorate the yard for Eddie's 40th birthday. Now, I need to give you a little background so you get how truly funny and priceless this has been! I have had all of this stuff hidden in my trunk. I gave my spare car key to one friend for access. Eddie was trying to insist we take my car and I had to fight him so we would not and he thought I had presents or something hidden inside. I was texting the two friends all day yesterday with instructions and confirming our plans to exit the house. We were in the movie and I get a text that the job has been completed. Eddie is like, really, you cannot even go to a movie and not be texting. My friends decided to hide at an empty for sale house across the street because they wanted to see the show. I texted them back as we entered the neighborhood. As we turned onto the street, Eddie was like what the F*** someone vandalized our house. I burst into laughter I could not hold it in anymore. I almost fell out of the truck laughing so hard! Our friends came running across the street and Eddie was just in shock that I/We had gotten him! After much razzing about turning the BIG 40, our friends bid us good night and I waited until this morning to get the pictures. It was even better in daylight. Our neighborhood walkers have all been stopping to read all the signs. I am sure there will be plans for retribution next year and I say bring it! I love you babe, Happy Birthday!

Get the shot already, I am ready to hide!

He's creeping up behind you....

End of Summer Pool Fun....

Today we packed our PB&J sandwiches, fruit, yogurt and juice boxes and headed to the pool for was our last day there this summer :-( . They will be spending most of next week visiting Grammy in Maryland while Aunt Lindsay, Uncle Corey and James are on vacation. The boys have LOVED being at the pool all summer and today was AWESOME because Ryan actually started swimming without his vest for the first time AND under water! I have been trying to teach him to float all summer and his butt and legs keep sinking so today I thought, lets try under water face in and all and go for it. After a few quick cues and Brandon's help HE DID IT! It was so fun to watch him and he was so proud of himself. Brandon helped me by taking most of these pictures below of Ryan while I worked with his swimming. Below are two videos of Ryan and of Brandon too as his swimming has gotten so much stronger this summer and he has learned how to bring up his head for air.

We've got our sunscreen, can we swim already????

Look at me NO VEST! I DID IT!
Going a little deeper - 4ft need a vest

Brandon my fish playing in the pool

Summer Fun.. Lake Anna

A few weeks ago, Brandon was invited on a day trip to Lake Anna with his friend Wyatt. They had a blast as you can see from the pictures below. Lake Anna is about 30 minutes or so from here with lots of things to do from boating, fishing, picnicking and swimming. This also gave Ryan and I some time together so we opted to go to the movies to catch the new Harry Potter movie which Ryan LOVED!

Suprise 40th Celebration for Eddie

There truly is nothing better than family! A few weeks ago my sister emailed me wanting to help to make Eddie's 40th birthday special. She know how important birthdays in general are to me let alone it being a big one. She and Corey and my mom got together and set a plan in motion to surprise Eddie. His actual birthday is August 19th so I knew the date would not be a give away. We headed up to Maryland under the guise that Eddie was going to an Orioles game with Corey and us (me and the boys) hanging out with Grammy, Aunt Lindsay and James.

Our good friend Jada was also invited and she arrived literally as we did. So I quickly fibbed and told Eddie that she came to hang with us so as not to give away the surprise until we got inside. SURPRISE, we tricked you! Eddie saw decorations, balloons and food set up. My family really out-did themselves. He was speechless and very surprised. Those of you who know me know I personally HATE surprises and it is not easy to surprise Eddie. How did I pull it off you ask??? Did not mention word one to my kids. That made it simple to pull off!!! Sorry boys, it's true you don't keep secrets well.

There were so many munchies from cheese and crackers to shrimp and a cool spicy dip, fruit and chips with dip. Corey made the most incredible Crab Cakes that Eddie is still raving about today (Hey Lynn... where is that recipe?). Corey paired the crab cakes with fillets that were grilled to perfection.

A few beers and some time chilling and catching up were followed by presents. Eddie was given a Smoker/Grill combo and several types of smoker chips in different flavors. Then we had cake and a toast to Eddie. My sister even had a special cupcake for Ryan with a candle for him to blow out too so we sang to both of them.

My family is amazing and I am so grateful for what they did to make Eddie's birthday special. We had such a wonderful day and will never forget it. Thank you all we love you so much!

Family Photo!

Hey, what's in here? Can I help?

Ryan helping Dad with his cards

I needed a new one of these!

James working on his wrestling moves with Ryan

Take that Ryan, I've got ya now!

No, Lindsay did not make the typo, the bakery did!

Get ready to make a wish!

Happy 40th Eddie, we love you!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY RYAN!

Today we celebrated Ryan's 5th birthday. We had a joint party with his friend from Pre-K Brooke who turns 5 on August 4th. Ryan loves to be in the kitchen and pretends to cook all the time so we decided on the Young Chef's Academy with a Pizza Party theme. The kids each made their own pizza from scratch. It was so fun to watch them making the dough and following the directions intently.

Our Pizza Cake made by good friend Susan was YUMMMMYYY!!!

Check out my cake... when can we dig in?

I love my Dad!

Daddy and Mommy with the Boys before the party

Ryan & Brandon with friends Matthew and Meghan

waiting for the party to start

Demonstrating how to properly measure flour

and making a flour Castle

Now it is our turn to make a flour castle

way to go Matthew!

Look, I tried!

Daddy helping Ryan clean his area

Suzanne helping with clean up so we can make our dough

Brooke and Ryan help with ingredients for the dough

Kneading the dough

Flouring our stations

Kneading my Pizza dough, this is cool!

Shaping the dough

I am making a boat shaped crust

Carmen (Nicholas' mom) helping out with sauce

The finished product waiting for the oven

All Done, let's get em baked!

Opening Presents

Make a Wish (both Ryan and Brooke

had their own #5 Candle)

Time to taste our Pizza... YUMMMY