A Day At The Gardens

One of the perks from Matt's job is free passes to the NY Botanical Gardens. Every year we take advantage of that perk when the Halloween Garden is live. It's really a spectacular set up. Thousands of pumpkins (some real, some fake) in different colors, designs, and creations. 

The boys love it. Something about Halloween that gets their blood flowing. They were happy campers from the minute we got there. Made for easy picture taking.

They really loved checking out all the neat little displays.

And they loved the hands-on exhibits.

This year we discovered the puppet theatre.

The boys has a blast putting on their show.

Did I mention that we got some good pictures of these boys today??

Noah made sure that he did everything Matthew did. And looked at everything Matthew looked at. And stood everywhere Matthew stood.

Even when posing for pictures, Noah was a little mimic to big brother. The cuteness was off the charts.

I even think we did better with our self-portraits on this trip.

Not too bad if I do say so myself!

One of the activities they had set up for the kids was creating a "collection bag" for leaves and rocks and other little treasures. Matthew took this collection job seriously.

Which meant Noah did too!

Both boys loved that this pumpkin creation had Mets colors, so we just had to take a picture!

And after all the pumpkin fun, we treated ourselves to hamburgers and chips at one of the garden cafe spots.

Couldn't ask for better weather for this trip. We had so much fun that I'm thinking about making another trip to the gardens for the Christmas Train Show. If you're within driving distance of the NY Gardens, you should definitely make the trip for the Halloween Garden - you won't be disappointed!

Life Lately

We've been pretty busy around here since school started. I've been asked to work extra hours at the school here and there, so my schedule has been pretty full (which is good). There's also a lot of stuff going on around town lately too, so we've been out and about a bunch.

Last weekend was the Homefield Fall Festival. Highlights included pipe cleaner spiders with lollipops:

Face painting:

Matching, of course:

And pumpkin painting:

We celebrated Matthew's birthday with a party at the house. This is the only picture I took. I hope I can get some more from the other guests!

Matthew had his first school trip to PetSmart.

The weather has been great and we've been able to play outside a lot. The boys had their first lacrosse lesson the other day.

And we've been playing a lot at the school playground (you know, after hours).

Noah has visited Matthew's school on a few occasions and has done really well. I hope he does just as well when he really has to go next year!

That's about it for now. More fall fun to come!

Five Years (and one day) Old!

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

I'm one day late in posting - we were having too much birthday fun yesterday! It was a great day for a great little boy!

1st Day of Pre-K (take 2!)

Matthew is what's considered a "late birthday" kid up here in our town. Since his birthday falls close to the cutoff date for starting kindergarten we had the option to have him repeat pre-k. So now, instead of being the youngest in his class, he'll be one of the oldest. This extra time will give him a chance to perfect his fine motor skills, work on his speech, and catch up to his classmates in physical size a little bit. He's thrilled with returning to pre-k because he's the king of the school there - loves his teachers and all the kids, and loves his role as class clown. Today was the first day back:

1st Day of Pre-K favorites:
Favorite color: Green (news to me, but he insists it is!)
Favorite food to eat: Strawberries
Favorite toys: Smurfs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Favorite movie: Toy Story 1-3
When I grow up I want to be: Myself (yes, that's exactly what he said when I asked!)

And since Noah just can't be excluded from anything that his big brother does, he just had to be included in a picture this morning. With his own lunch box of course.

Next week Matthew will be five. Next year, off to kindergarten!

Hello Fall

It's like someone flipped a switch on our seasons. Overnight it's become fall here in NY. The temps have dropped, zero humidity, cool breezes - it's fantastic! My kind of weather.

Noah has been doing great post-surgery. Acting like his total maniacal self. Tomorrow we see the surgeon to get his stitches out. I'm hoping it goes as smooth as everything else has with this process.

Matthew had a "come and play" day at his preschool this week. Basically, everyone who is going to go to the school shows up on the same day to meet teachers, get comfortable in the school, etc. Matthew had a blast. He really seemed so grown up - leading his classmates in dance and song. Two hours of great fun - he's excited to start school next week.

We've been able to get out and about more with the nicer weather and it's nice to be able to enjoy the simple things like bubbles in the front yard.

It looks like this weather pattern is a beginning of a trend, and that will mean more outdoor adventures to come.

Happy Fall Y'all!

Post-Op, Day 3

It's weird how accustomed to Noah's birthmark I've become. I have used it as a landing pad for kisses for the past two years. Matthew has never even mentioned it. It's always just been a part of Noah. When his dermatologist suggested now is the time to start the removal process, I was nervous of just how different he would look.

The day before his surgery I took the boys to Subway for lunch. I took this picture to send to Matt to show him how Noah was dissecting his lunch, but realized how prominent his mark really was.

Surgery day began pretty easily. To spite having to wake him at 5:45am, he was in pretty good spirits. He knew we were going to the doctor, and this doctor had a pretty wicked awesome waiting room. Complete with a TV and DVDs. We chose Shrek to entertain us while we waited for our turn to go up to the OR.

As the nurses got him prepped, he was being silly, having fun, not really knowing what was about to happen. Only one of us was allowed to take him into the waiting room, and Matt said Noah was really sweet and calm when they put him on the table. He was asleep in seconds.

About an hour later he woke up and started to throw a fit. The nurses let Matt rock him and give him some water. It was crazy to see half of his mark was gone.

After a few hours, we went home and had a "normal" day. We went to my parent's house to play with their new puppies and have dinner. Noah acted like nothing was different. On the way home he said out loud "my face hurts" - to which Matthew replied, "Hold my hand buddy, that will make you feel better". So he did. And it seemed to work.

Day 2 was pretty good too. A little swelling, still a little groggy, but eating, playing, acting totally normal.

Today, day 3, you wouldn't know this kid just underwent surgery two days before. Besides the long line of stitches on his cheek.

We see the surgeon later this week, when hopefully the stitches will come out. His skin will heal, and bounce back, and in six months we'll do it all over again. Then, nothing will remain but a scar, which will fade in time.

In the meantime, I'm putting in some serious kissing time on the other cheek.