Greetings everyone! There isn't much to report on our end. We have been enjoying the overall mild weather and have been taking advantage of having a little more free time on our weekends this month. We had Ben's birthday party a few weeks ago at an indoor play place. He also, in full Ben fashion, decided to cut his hair one night after going to bed. When I finally noticed that his hair didn't look like and asked him if he cut it, he just very matter of factly said, "Yes." Like, doesn't everyone cut their hair after bedtime???
Jake and Jimmy have been busy working on their cars for the scout Pinewood Derby. Jake actually won first place for speed so he is going to the District race next week. Yes, he's in the big leagues now! Other scout events this month included a visit to our local ABC station where the tiger cubs got to be present for the six o'clock news. They got to see all the behind the scenes action. Today they are going to a Duke ice hockey game and Ben is happy he gets to tag along.
Kelly went up to Delaware for a weekend to wedding dress shop for Laura's wedding. Laura is going to make a beautiful bride!
Other than that, we just remain busy with work and the day to day chaos of homework, making dinner, and keeping up with everything. Leah is perfecting her climbing skills....making mommy very nervous in the process.
Some new pics and videos posted. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

We've had a very busy month of December! Both Jake and Ben had Christmas programs at their school (unfortunately I couldn't get good shots of either from my camera), we celebrated Ben's 4th birthday with cupcakes and Pinata at his school (the "real" party is in a few weeks), and Jimmy went hunting and shot his first deer! We did the usual Christmas preparations of getting a tree and decorating it and the house. "Blinky" joined our family this year...our new Elf on the Shelf. Mommy is very happy Blinky is now gone for another 12 months...he turned into a chore to move every night! We also drove around to see local Christmas lights and Jake sang in the children's choir for Christmas Eve mass yesterday. Jimmy made another great "Dinner of the Year" of prime rib and yorkshire pudding. The boys were SO excited about Santa arriving and were up before sunrise (5:41 a.m. but who is keeping track?) and were very spoiled by Santa.
We hope all of our family and friends have a Merry Christmas! Some pics and a few videos posted!

Turkey

Hello everyone! We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! We hosted a crew this year. Jimmy's parents, grandparents, sister Rachel and her family as well as his Aunt Jeanne (also Leah's godmother). Everyone got in the Tuesday before TG and we spent the next several days cooking, eating, playing in the backyard, going out to breakfast with Pop Pop, hiking, and just hanging out. It was fun having the cousins together and Jake and Ben really took to Aiden. Leah wasn't so sure sometimes who this guy thought he was coming in and playing with her toys! Aiden even learned how to say Ben Ben before the visit was over. :)
In other news, we completed the soccer season earlier in the month and topped it off with a team pizza party for Ben (and Jimmy's) team. We also had a cub scout hike and birthday parties to attend.
We are gearing up for the busy month of December and hope you are too! Some photos and videos are in our web album...stay tuned for some possible additional photos over the next few days.

Happy Halloween!

Greetings! It's hard to believe it's almost November! Our October was an action packed month from start to finish. The boys continue to have soccer practice and games. Jake has really blossomed as a player this season and just loves playing! Jimmy spent several days at Hatteras Island for his annual surf fishing trip. He ended up having to take two ferries to get there due to the aftermath of Hurricane Irene shutting down Rt. 12. The kids and Kelly went to Nags Head for a few nights to visit with Grandma and Grandpa, who were staying at the beach for a week. The kids had a great time and we lucked out and had nice weather...the boys had no qualms about getting in the water despite it being COLD.
The day we got back from the beach Jimmy took the boys for the bi-annual cub scout camping trip. This was Jake and Ben's first tent camping experience and they had so much fun. The trip was busy with tie-dyeing tee shirts, making arts and crafts, making donuts, singing campfire songs, etc. They can't wait for the next one! Mommy enjoyed some alone time with Leah while the boys were camping (it was practically a vacation with only one kid at home!). The weekend was topped off with running the Ramblin' Rose half marathon. We were lucky that our sitter was willing to come to our house at 6 am so Kelly could get to the race in time. It was a fun race in and around the Duke campus and with about 1800 other women. Very inspiring!
The following weekend Jimmy and Kelly went to the Immaculata fall fundraiser gala with some other parents. It was a fun night topped off with a "flash mob" that Kelly participated in. After practicing for a month it was nice to have it all come together. Hopefully some video will surface soon from some of the onlookers!
As if that wasn't being busy enough, we also had the Immaculata Halloween carnival. Jake was a vampire, Ben was spiderman, and Leah was a puppy. We'll be going trick or treating with friends and the kids can't wait!
We hope all of our friends and family are doing well! New pics posted in our web album!

Back in the swing of things!

Hi all. We are back in the full swing of fall activities! Jake started first grade a few weeks ago and Ben moved up to a new room at school. Jake has also started in the next age group in soccer (bigger field and official referees!). Jimmy is coaching Ben's team this fall (Go Alligator's!). Also, Jake has begun Cub Scouts. Since the Tiger Den is so large, Jimmy offered to be one of the leaders so he had a few busy weeks of doing all the required Scout trainings, etc. Jake has many classmates in his den and seems to love it. They have their first camping trip next month and lots of other fun activities to look forward to this year.
In other news, Leah has officially started walking. She is just taking her time and teased us a few months ago with a single step. She is now up to about 5-7 steps but still prefers crawling on her hands and feet like a little monkey. She is also starting to show her stubborn side at times in typical "I'm one now and I have an opinion!" fashion.
That's about all that's new. Just been dealing with the whole earthquake, hurricane, and tornadoes thing in the past few weeks! Some pics and videos posted. Have a great week!