Little Chippie

Genevieve somehow chipped her front tooth.

Sigh.

At least she'll get a natural replacement in about 5 years.

Sigh.



Don't forget...

Don't forget to stop and smell the roses...or azaleas.

So many friends!

The munchkins got to see a lot of their friends this week. Monday it was 90 degrees out (in April!!) so we busted out the baby pool and the O'Brien boys and their cousin Madeline came over to play. Here's Genevieve with the boys.

 Sebastien coaching Genevieve down the slide, because for some reason, she's not keen on going down it.

 Sebastien spent about 15 minutes playing "Ahgoo!" with baby Madeline. They both loved it and he really got her laughing at times.

 Another day this week, the Richard girls came over and here's a pic of Bella and Sebastien on our bike ride. Unlike Bella, Sebastien prefers his little trike over his big boy bike. Whatever! At least this year he can pedal and make it around the block, which he could not do last summer.

 We also went to visit baby Joshua in the hospital where he was born only 2 days ago. Here's Joshua's daddy Rick showing him off to the kids.

 Me with my godson.

Godchildren

Dan and I are undoubtedly blessed with having our son and daughter. You may not know, however, that we are also blessed with a goddaughter and, as of this morning, a godson. Joshua Leo was born this morning to our friends Nicki and Rick and joins big brothers Luke and Landon. I can't wait to meet him...hopefully I can go visit tomorrow.

Mary Brigid, our adorable goddaughter, turns 1 next week. She lives in Colorado with her parents and our friends Erin and Jesse and big brother Jonathon. Happy (early) Birthday Mary!

Easter Sunday

When Sebastien woke up Sunday morning, he was very excited to find out where the Easter Bunny hid his basket of candy. With some help, he found it and was very happy. We went to Mass and then to Grandma and Grandpa's house for an egg hunt and delicious dinner. The kids were also showered with Easter gifts.

Here are the munchkins during the egg hunt.

 Later we took family pictures on the back porch. Sebastien wasn't too cooperative (as usual) but these are about the best we got.

The Szakalys

 Our family

 The Masses

 Kim and Brian

 One last shot with my princess in her Easter dress. (Then it was playtime so clothes were changed.)

 Auntie Becca with the baby girl.

Grandpas 

 When we got home, Uncle Brian, Dan, and Sebastien planted our second apple tree. Now that we have two apple trees, pollination will occur this summer and hopefully we'll get some Fall apples (at least on the first tree that was planted last spring.

What a wonderful time we had with the Szakaly crew. I wish we all didn't live so far away from each other but I am so blessed to have them and that we are all healthy and willing to travel to make it work.

Visit from Family

We had such a great long Easter weekend. Grammy Patty and Papa arrived late Wednesday night. Thursday morning we had some playtime at home and then went to gymnastics. Here is Genevieve brushing Papa's hair.

 Grammy brought "How to Train Your Dragon" and Sebastien really likes it. Here they are watching it for the first time.

 Papa took some pictures of us at gymnastics. These pictures are from Genevieve's class since I am down there too. Sebastien does the "baby" class with us before he does his big boy class.

 Thursday night we picked up Uncle Brian from the airport then went to The Common Man for dinner. Friday morning we piled into the new minivan headed toward the cape and rhode island. We spent the day in New Bedford, MA. Our first stop was the Whaling Museum. I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't think it'd be as cool as it was. Highlights included a 12 year old whale skeleton that is still dripping oil, a whaling boat replica that you could climb on, another ship replica to play on, lots of interesting whale stuff and plenty of handicap ramps for the kids to run up and down. Here is uncle Brian in front of some of the whale skeletons that were hanging from the ceiling.

 And it wouldn't be a Szakaly trip if we didn't stop at a Fort and/or see a tank. We stumbled upon Fort Taber in New Bedford and got out to look at it, see the tank, play on the playground, etc.

 We had lunch at Davy's Locker and this little beach of shells was outside the restaurant.  

After naps, Brian and I took the kids swimming at the hotel pool.

 We went to a good restauant in New Bedford that night and the next morning headed towards Newport, RI. Since the kids fell asleep in the car, we drove around and looked at the Newport mansions and coast. We then went to Newport Vineyards to take a tour and stock up on some of their yummy wines.

After the vineyard we headed home. The kids slept the whole way back. We went to Plaza Azteca near home for dinner and I'm glad my parents found it as delicious as I hoped they would. Everyone crashed when we got home and that was just as well because we had a busy Easter Sunday coming up.

Small (but fun) changes

No, the kids didn't regress in age by over a year. I just posted this photo as a "before" shot of our den before we ripped out the old carpet. Last weekend we finally said enough is enough with that carpet. Even though we couldn't find the source, Dan and I were always seeming to catch faint whiffs of old dog urine coming from that carpet.

Luckily the trusty maple hardwood that lies beneath every surface of our house was also in the den. Unlike the bedrooms upstairs, the carpet padding was such that we didn't have to have the floor professionally cleaned before we could expose it. There are lots of nicks and scratches, but it will do for now until we feel like having it professionally refinished. And yes, the wood paneling makes it look like a sauna. (Maybe we should leave this room bare and move in the hot tub.) 

 Ahhh, that's better. Furniture helps de-sauna-tize it.

I think the only one not so happy with the change is Gwynnie. I found her like this this morning -soaking up some sun on the smallest patch of carpet left in the room.

 The second change around here has been in mommy's car. I'm not sure how I've made it the last two years carting around 2 kids in a 4 door Oldsmobile Alero sedan. Our 2012 Honda Odyssey is making me very, very happy. I did a grocery run and a wholesale run yesterday and could buy as many big packages of paper towels and diapers as I wanted! Imagine not having to be limited by a very small trunk! I am also so excited to bring the kids AND their bikes to the park soon.

 Here's a view of the inside middle seat where the kids sit. There is a seat in between them that comfortably fits an adult or it can be a tray/cupholder. The third row seat fits 3 adults or folds down into the floor to make for a lot of storage room.  When my family comes tomorrow (agh! I should totally be cleaning right now), we will see how taking 7 people on a long car ride goes. It seats 8 so it should be fine, right?! Anyway, I won't go on and on about the features, except to say that Sebastien learned in about 2 seconds how to open and close the sliding doors by pressing a button. (Don't worry, I can lock it if I want to.) He's thrilled. I'm thrilled about many things, including the built-in trash can. I know it's silly to be thrilled about a $2 piece of plastic but c'mon - no more "mommy take my fruit snack wrapper, kleenex, booger, etc." I'll say, "Put it in the trash can!"

And finally, this may not be a "change" so to speak, but it helps complete today's theme, so humor me. Dan and Sebastien planted the early spring vegetables last weekend. They planted peas, kohlrabi, lettuce, and chives...and maybe something else. I can't remember. Anyway, my boys love to garden. And I love them...and eating what they grow.

Happy (early) Easter everyone!

Monkey Business

I debated about putting up these videos because they are silly and not so pertanent to our daily lives, but then I decided to because, well, I just like them. They're 2 videos of monkeys from our trip to the zoo (see last post). In the first video, the baby monkey tries to run. Now, I didn't realize that baby monkeys would be able to swing before they could walk, but apparently that is the case. Seeing this monkey walk, was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. You can't see it too clearly on this video because of the glare on the glass. As the monkey runs away from the camera, note his drunken diagonal walk with his arms flailing above his head. I dunno, maybe you had to be there. You decide.

This longer video is more baby monkey swinging with some commentary from the Masse and O'Donnell kiddos.