Monday, July 6, 2015
Marvel Live
Last September we were treated to tickets to Marvel Live by Uncle Joe and Lindsey, who got them through work. I personally went to the show with zero expectations and I ended up being extremely impressed by the show! The story line worked in every major hero and villain, but Iron Man and Spider Man were the main stars, with Loki as the main bad guy. A few fight scenes went a little long, but the story was good, special effects were impressive, and they used projection lighting to change the backgrounds and even the floor covering very convincingly! There were motorcycles, explosions, and flying vehicles and super heroes! It was so much fun, Tyler asked for weeks if we could go again!
All smiles during intermission!
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Timmy's 2014 Sports - Spring T Ball
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| Good try, Buddy! |
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| I love the celebration! |
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| Check out Timmy's face in the bottom right pic, so excited Aiden caught his throw from Pitcher and is getting the out! |
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| Baseball Ready |
The team sold coupon books for a Reston Little League Fundraiser and Tim pushed for each player to sell the minimum 10 coupon books a piece for the team to win a Laser Tag Party, and the players came through! It was so much fun and a free end of year party to wrap up an awesome season. Coach Tim passed out medals to all of the players, and he even earned a trophy himself, for his last season of coaching T-Ball, for this son anyways...
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Visit with Brittany
So, we're half way through 2015 and I still have a bunch of 2014 posts to write! Hopefully I can get caught up on a bunch of it over the next few weeks!
Tyler and I took a weekend trip to visit Brittany and family in New Jersey in the end of August. It was a fun trip and so nice to visit with Brittany for more then an hour or so! We didn't do too much touristy stuff, because Tim and I definitely want to take the boys to New York for all that stuff soon. So this was really just a visit with friends!
Tyler and I had an easy ride up and got in around his bedtime. Elizabeth was excited to have someone sort of her size around, and she kept bringing her toys over to show him. Tyler had to get used to being the big kid and seemed almost confused that Elizabeth didn't talk! He made himself at home before too long though. After the kids, and David, went to bed Brittany and I got to chat for a while over some wine.
Saturday we took the kids and headed into New York City. The ferry from right by Brittany's apartment docks very near the WTC site. We walked through and looked at the memorials for a few minutes. We stopped at a real bagel shop for breakfast, wandered around shopping all day, had New York style pizza for lunch, shopped some more, stopped at the grocery store and then a playground for a while, and headed back to Brittany's for dinner. It was great weather, food, and a lot of walking! Tyler and Elizabeth both spent the day happily in their strollers taking in the sights! We have some easy going kiddos!
The next morning we all, David included, got up and went to Carlo's Bake Shop, which is the bakery from Cake Boss. We were there pretty early in the morning but there was already a long line! Tyler took inventory of the display windows before picking out a Black and White cookie. He loved it! To this day, whenever he sees a black and white cookie he claims it as his favorite!
From there we all went to brunch near Brittany and David's. The photo of the Statue of Liberty is from right next to their building. Tyler picked out a Statue of Liberty trinket to take home to Timmy, and he still gets excited and shouts out "Statue of Liberty" whenever he sees it pop up on TV! After brunch, Tyler and I headed home. It was a short trip but so nice! We are definitely due another one soon, especially since Brittany just had her 2nd baby, Samantha.
Having some time alone with just Tyler was also very cool. It's really rare for me to have one kid and not the other in general, and at the time, Tyler was just a little older then the age that Timmy was when Tyler was born, so it was neat to see him one on one at that stage. It was nice to have some extra bonding time with him! While we were on our trip Daddy and Timmy had an exciting weekend too. I remember mini-golf and movie theaters being involved!
Tyler and I took a weekend trip to visit Brittany and family in New Jersey in the end of August. It was a fun trip and so nice to visit with Brittany for more then an hour or so! We didn't do too much touristy stuff, because Tim and I definitely want to take the boys to New York for all that stuff soon. So this was really just a visit with friends!
Tyler and I had an easy ride up and got in around his bedtime. Elizabeth was excited to have someone sort of her size around, and she kept bringing her toys over to show him. Tyler had to get used to being the big kid and seemed almost confused that Elizabeth didn't talk! He made himself at home before too long though. After the kids, and David, went to bed Brittany and I got to chat for a while over some wine.
Saturday we took the kids and headed into New York City. The ferry from right by Brittany's apartment docks very near the WTC site. We walked through and looked at the memorials for a few minutes. We stopped at a real bagel shop for breakfast, wandered around shopping all day, had New York style pizza for lunch, shopped some more, stopped at the grocery store and then a playground for a while, and headed back to Brittany's for dinner. It was great weather, food, and a lot of walking! Tyler and Elizabeth both spent the day happily in their strollers taking in the sights! We have some easy going kiddos!
The next morning we all, David included, got up and went to Carlo's Bake Shop, which is the bakery from Cake Boss. We were there pretty early in the morning but there was already a long line! Tyler took inventory of the display windows before picking out a Black and White cookie. He loved it! To this day, whenever he sees a black and white cookie he claims it as his favorite!
From there we all went to brunch near Brittany and David's. The photo of the Statue of Liberty is from right next to their building. Tyler picked out a Statue of Liberty trinket to take home to Timmy, and he still gets excited and shouts out "Statue of Liberty" whenever he sees it pop up on TV! After brunch, Tyler and I headed home. It was a short trip but so nice! We are definitely due another one soon, especially since Brittany just had her 2nd baby, Samantha.
Having some time alone with just Tyler was also very cool. It's really rare for me to have one kid and not the other in general, and at the time, Tyler was just a little older then the age that Timmy was when Tyler was born, so it was neat to see him one on one at that stage. It was nice to have some extra bonding time with him! While we were on our trip Daddy and Timmy had an exciting weekend too. I remember mini-golf and movie theaters being involved!
Monday, June 29, 2015
To Timmy, at 7 Years Old
Timmy,
I can't believe that you are seven. How big you have gotten jumps out at me from time to time though. When I hold your hand it takes up most of mine. As I lifted you out of the top bunk bed yesterday I said, "Well that might be the last time we do that," between you ducking to keep your head from hitting the fan and me trying not to break my back or drop you because of how heavy you are, it's probably safest if you start taking the stairs down! I have to double check socks when I'm putting away the laundry to see if they are yours or Dad's, I no longer confuse yours with Tyler's... You have your first loose tooth. You are the last person in your class to lose a tooth (though one kid had a tooth pulled at the dentist, so I'm not sure that counts!) You hope that the Tooth Fairy will bring you enough money to buy a video game...
We are so proud of the person you are growing up to be. You are typically still a rule follower, but sometimes a rule bender. You know what's expected of you and usually want to meet those expectations. But you are still a little sneak when you would rather not follow the rules. Like when you want a snack but you know it's almost dinner time, you sneak through the living room to the snacks instead of asking when you know you will be told no. You also like to sneak into our bed after you've been tucked into your own. Sometimes we see you on your way and let you think you've snuck by, other times we send you back to your own bed. Sometimes we really are surprised to see you in our bed when we are going to sleep.
Speaking of sleep, you are happiest when in your underwear, especially for sleeping. You don't take your clothes off as soon as you get home, but it is very common for me to find you in front of the TV in just your undies, and on the weekend you see no need to put on clothes unless we are leaving the house. You have a stuffed animal problem. I took this picture last weekend when I was washing the sheets on both your and Tyler's beds, but easily 80% of this pile belongs to you. You make a little nest out of your animals when you go to bed at night. You are obsessed with electronics. You try to wake up in the morning before school to get some game time in before I get you up. One day you got up so early that you fell back to sleep on the couch, Ipad game still running!
You have determination. You set your mind to selling 100 coupon books for Reston Little League this year so that you could earn a Nintendo 3DS and a new baseball bat. Daddy and I took turns taking you door to door and selling them in front of Lucia's. You sometimes complained when we said it was time to go out selling, but you were always polite with your customers. You had your pitch down and improved it over time. When you were down to needing $10 worth of donations or one last sale, your customer said she would make a donation. This is you waiting to see how much she'd bring back, and celebrating on the way home. I told you how proud I was of you, and that even though you always had a parent with you, that you were the only one who did 100% of the work. Daddy stressed to you that when you work hard you get rewarded. I hope that you are always motivated to work hard.
You also worked really hard in school this year. You made huge strides in your reading, writing, and handwriting especially. You had some big projects at the end of the year and they both turned out so well. You did research on an animal, wrote about it, made a booklet about it in Computer Class, and a model of it out of recyclable materials in art class. You chose a wolf and it turned out really great. At the very end of the year, you did a research report on a Famous American. With a little guidance, away from a Disney channel actor, you chose Walt Disney. Your work that you did at school and your poster that we made at home are all really well done. You had your facts down and had a nice presentation. We are very proud of your work and effort!
You are athletic and adventurous, but you don't necessarily know it. You doubt yourself, or you say you don't want to do something because you're afraid of the dark or of heights. You don't look like you're afraid of heights to me...
You had a great baseball season overall, but you did have a hitting drought for a few weeks. You continued to be excited about playing though and worked really hard doing batting practice until you worked out the kinks. We were very proud of your good attitude and hard work under these circumstances too. One evening when Daddy was telling you that he was proud of your hard work and for not complaining during batting practice, you said, "I was thinking lots of complaints in my head." That made me proud in an entirely different way, since you knew not to argue with Coach Dad at practice. You had a tremendous year fielding, having a part in many of the outs that your team made, like this stop and forced out at 3rd base.
You are creative and imaginative, but in a completely different way then Tyler with his fanciful stories and made up "facts". You don't like to color by number or draw what you are asked to or follow suggestions for your homework writing. You want to do it your way, the way you see it in your head, not how it's "supposed" to be. You recently wrote a story about your family, just for fun. You were very accurate in your descriptions of all of us. When I find it I will scan it and put the pictures here, but each of us had a sticky note a piece with a little drawing, and it said something along the lines of, "Tyler is my brother. He likes to wrestle me. I love him so much. Daddy takes me to the movies. I love him. Mommy makes my lunch. She works a lot. I love her. Grammy plays with me. She plays Candy Crush. PawPaw likes to hunt. He is very serious. Sometimes he is not serious." We all got a kick out of your story!
You love being behind the camera taking pictures, selfies, and videos. We are always finding gems like these on our phones, and you have been known to fill memory cards with scenery shots and videos.
When I posted your birthday party pictures on Facebook, Nate's mom captioned this one "Wolfpack to be". You overheard me telling Daddy that and asked what it meant. I told you it was from a movie (The Hangover) and that it meant we thought you three would get into a lot of trouble as you grew up, and have a lot of fun doing it. You told me that doesn't make any sense, which I am relieved is true for you for now. I can't wait to watch the fun you guys will have as you continue growing up together and I am so happy that you have such great friends, and have been developing these friendships since you were 2 and 3 years old!
You are a fantastic big brother. Tyler adores you so much. You are starting to lament being the oldest, because "it's not fair" that you always have to be the good example. You have no idea yet how much responsibility being the oldest really is, or how much testing parenting things out we (will) do on you. For now, just know that your biggest supporter is always, literally, right behind you.
We love you so much TimTim! We are so proud of you! Happy 7th Birthday!
I can't believe that you are seven. How big you have gotten jumps out at me from time to time though. When I hold your hand it takes up most of mine. As I lifted you out of the top bunk bed yesterday I said, "Well that might be the last time we do that," between you ducking to keep your head from hitting the fan and me trying not to break my back or drop you because of how heavy you are, it's probably safest if you start taking the stairs down! I have to double check socks when I'm putting away the laundry to see if they are yours or Dad's, I no longer confuse yours with Tyler's... You have your first loose tooth. You are the last person in your class to lose a tooth (though one kid had a tooth pulled at the dentist, so I'm not sure that counts!) You hope that the Tooth Fairy will bring you enough money to buy a video game...
We are so proud of the person you are growing up to be. You are typically still a rule follower, but sometimes a rule bender. You know what's expected of you and usually want to meet those expectations. But you are still a little sneak when you would rather not follow the rules. Like when you want a snack but you know it's almost dinner time, you sneak through the living room to the snacks instead of asking when you know you will be told no. You also like to sneak into our bed after you've been tucked into your own. Sometimes we see you on your way and let you think you've snuck by, other times we send you back to your own bed. Sometimes we really are surprised to see you in our bed when we are going to sleep.
Speaking of sleep, you are happiest when in your underwear, especially for sleeping. You don't take your clothes off as soon as you get home, but it is very common for me to find you in front of the TV in just your undies, and on the weekend you see no need to put on clothes unless we are leaving the house. You have a stuffed animal problem. I took this picture last weekend when I was washing the sheets on both your and Tyler's beds, but easily 80% of this pile belongs to you. You make a little nest out of your animals when you go to bed at night. You are obsessed with electronics. You try to wake up in the morning before school to get some game time in before I get you up. One day you got up so early that you fell back to sleep on the couch, Ipad game still running!
You have determination. You set your mind to selling 100 coupon books for Reston Little League this year so that you could earn a Nintendo 3DS and a new baseball bat. Daddy and I took turns taking you door to door and selling them in front of Lucia's. You sometimes complained when we said it was time to go out selling, but you were always polite with your customers. You had your pitch down and improved it over time. When you were down to needing $10 worth of donations or one last sale, your customer said she would make a donation. This is you waiting to see how much she'd bring back, and celebrating on the way home. I told you how proud I was of you, and that even though you always had a parent with you, that you were the only one who did 100% of the work. Daddy stressed to you that when you work hard you get rewarded. I hope that you are always motivated to work hard.
You also worked really hard in school this year. You made huge strides in your reading, writing, and handwriting especially. You had some big projects at the end of the year and they both turned out so well. You did research on an animal, wrote about it, made a booklet about it in Computer Class, and a model of it out of recyclable materials in art class. You chose a wolf and it turned out really great. At the very end of the year, you did a research report on a Famous American. With a little guidance, away from a Disney channel actor, you chose Walt Disney. Your work that you did at school and your poster that we made at home are all really well done. You had your facts down and had a nice presentation. We are very proud of your work and effort!
You are athletic and adventurous, but you don't necessarily know it. You doubt yourself, or you say you don't want to do something because you're afraid of the dark or of heights. You don't look like you're afraid of heights to me...
You are creative and imaginative, but in a completely different way then Tyler with his fanciful stories and made up "facts". You don't like to color by number or draw what you are asked to or follow suggestions for your homework writing. You want to do it your way, the way you see it in your head, not how it's "supposed" to be. You recently wrote a story about your family, just for fun. You were very accurate in your descriptions of all of us. When I find it I will scan it and put the pictures here, but each of us had a sticky note a piece with a little drawing, and it said something along the lines of, "Tyler is my brother. He likes to wrestle me. I love him so much. Daddy takes me to the movies. I love him. Mommy makes my lunch. She works a lot. I love her. Grammy plays with me. She plays Candy Crush. PawPaw likes to hunt. He is very serious. Sometimes he is not serious." We all got a kick out of your story!
You love being behind the camera taking pictures, selfies, and videos. We are always finding gems like these on our phones, and you have been known to fill memory cards with scenery shots and videos.
You are a fantastic big brother. Tyler adores you so much. You are starting to lament being the oldest, because "it's not fair" that you always have to be the good example. You have no idea yet how much responsibility being the oldest really is, or how much testing parenting things out we (will) do on you. For now, just know that your biggest supporter is always, literally, right behind you.
We love you so much TimTim! We are so proud of you! Happy 7th Birthday!
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