Wes woke up on Friday so excited to be 3. Then he went to the bathroom and yelled "DADDY!!! WATER!" A pipe had leaked overnight. about 1/4 inch in the bathroom. Wes' room and the hallway were soaked. So Steve called insurance who sent over an emergency home repair company. They had to break into the garage ceiling and water gushed out. So, now we have super fans and dehumidifiers in Wes's room and the garage. Everything was taken out of Wes' room, including the carpet being pulled up. He's been moved to the guest room. Could have been worse, but its bad. Mostly because the upstairs is SO dry and hot now. They came by Sunday to check the house and there's still too much moisture so the fans/dehumid are here until at least Tuesday.

We skipped Dutch Wonderland on Friday and went Saturday(very fun). Taking advantage of being out of the home, we shopped outlets and got a table at PB. Sunday we thoroughly cleaned Wes' room and a few others. Not exactly what we wanted to do this weekend, but we're making the best of it, I guess.

I just wish it could have been the kitchen. Certainly would have loved HAVING to redo the cabinets and floor in there, rather than Wes' room the garage and the bathroom, which were in perfect condition.

Wesley is now 3!

Who could believe that 3 years have passed?! He had a wonderful time opening gifts and doing what he loves best... playing, playing, playing.

Topped off by a fun dinner at Red Robin where Mommy got to watch SMU football (has anyone ever seen a team so young??) and Wes got a YUMMY ice cream sundae with a serenade of waitstaff, it was a fantastic day.

Dutch Wonderland tomorrow!

Carson is having a marvelous birthday today. Complete with a visit from AAA this morning, a dr appt and 2 trips to Mr. Tires. He and Wes are playing non -stop with the new toys from the party on Tuesday. And he has selected McD's for tonight's dinner. He LOVES being 5 and took a shower to "wash off all the 4s" this morning.

Wesley, who will take his 3-year-old shower tomorrow, will get to celebrate in a little more style, as we're all headed to Dutch Wonderland for the day (where they'll give both boys the special attention suited for a Birthday King--special balloon and pin). He also plans a McDonald's dinner. In the meantime he's busy racing a million cars.

We had a great party on Tuesday at a local bounce-house place. I loved not having any work to do, and the boys enjoyed all the excitement fit for a birthday boy!

Pictures, of course, still to come...

This morning

So, today was the last day of camp and the Awards Ceremony. Each bunk does superlatives. Wes' class did cute little sayings about each child which I like so much more than awards. I mean, they're only 2, right?

Wes received "Play Play Play. Play All Day!"
Carson was "Best Athlete." Which, apparently makes sense because he was caught running like Dash in and out of the room today. Before the teacher could get to the door to yell at him, he was already back in the room. Still got a "talkin' to."

"My brain feels like it is going to come out of my head."

Carson, age 4, on his low-grade fever and, apparently, his headache.

My Dog by Carson

Take Me Out to the Ball Game, by Wesley

Heeeeeeere's Carson !

btw, when Carson mentions "shooting game" he's talking about a game on the wii.

Swimming with Daddy on Father's Day

I DID IT!

Carson, receiving his school gift and certificate. Totally priceless.

"Graduation", of sorts

The boys will each have 3 graduations from their current school... one after the 4s, one after the 5s (pre-k) and one after Kindergarten. "Luckily, that means 5 attendances at KIPS&K Graduation.

At Carson's Graduation last week, his class performed a few "acts". Led by Ms. Dot, he loved being on stage.

















Carson's teacher, Ms. Dot, who retired the evening of graduation.

Wesley's BooBoo

Yes, he fell. No, not stitches. Its Dermabond, a liquid stitch that made our life SO much easier. (thank you, Stuart!)

First Day/Last Day Pictures

You may recall that every year we photograph the kids on their first and last days of school. Here's the post of last year's pictures of Carson.

And now that another year of school has ended (and Wesley's first year!), we'll add to the collection:

Wesley in Rohna's 2s:
First Day/Last Day



















Carson in Ms. Dot's 4s:
First Day/Last Day:

Wesley took this picture

Tailgating, Literally

Carson, Nate, Sophia and Cooper

Fishing on a Saturday

Happy Wesley

Happy Memorial Day!

Today, waiting for the train:

Lets Get Cookin'

Today, Steve asked Wes if he wanted to make brownies, and without an answer Wes disappeared. Came back about 3 minutes later from the kithen with his Bailey Bea original apron and tools. Ready to work!

Had to show off Nancy's aprons--we love all of ours'!

Thinking Inside the Box

Chocolate Park

We joined the Barton's and other friends for a very fun day at Hershey Park last month. A few favorites:

Yes, there are more

Yes, I'll try to post more pics soon. I do have some from Hershey.

Ummm... Carson? Did you forget something?

An e-mail thread between me and Marci (Julia and Harry's mom) today, titled "Carson's Here".

From: Marci
To: Julie
Subject: Carson is Here

----------------------------

From: Julie Pron [mailto:juliepron@comcast.net]
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 4:58 PM
To: Marcia Rinaudo
Subject: Re: Carson is Here



Thanks!! He thought it would be much better to play with Julia than to play another round of Connect Four. (and so did I!)

-----------------------------
(about 30 minutes later, when I'm getting ready to take the boys to soccer.)

-----------------------------
From: Julie
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 5:26 PM
To: Marcia
Subject: Re: Carson is Here



does carson have his soccer shoes on?


-----------------------------
From: Marcia
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 5:26 PM
To: Julie
Subject: Re: Carson is Here


No. he is wearing his Keen’s and he has no pants on.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apparently, when I suggested Carson bring some books to Julia after he put on his shoes and shorts, he only caught the first 2 parts of the instructions. Marci said when he showed up at her door she asked if he had forgotten something? Only then did he look down and realize he ran over (3 houses) in a t-shirt and underpants.

Get your cold lemonade!

"Get your ice cold lemonade on a hot, hot day!" Shouted Carson everytime a car passed a few weeks ago.

It was Carson's 4th day home from school. He was healthy, but we figured it would be wise to keep him home one extra day. A quick trip to Target for Method, we passed through a neighborhood and I introduced the boys to their first ever lemonade stand. Of course, my little entrepreneurs loved it--and immediately began to plan their own.

Along the way to Target, we planned what we needed: water, ice, a pitcher, a sign, a table, cups ... and lemons. Carson listed. After I convinced Carson that there's a powder substitute for lemons, we approached Target with a different list than what we had started out for.

And on the drive home, Carson and Wesley started planning. First, the little Trumpsters thought long and hard for selling strategy. They quickly determined that they could make the offer "get a free sticker when you buy a lemonade."

We discussed the strategy of time. Because they weren't entirely convinced that a Lemonade Stand would profit more at "rush hour", it was decided that we would go home and set up right away. Of course, setting up required making the sign, preparing Lemonade, tasting Lemonade, even learning to pour.

And they went outside. The first customer was so wonderful. His son was had also set up a stand (we later had a customer who mentioned it was her 4th Lemonade Stand that day.) He paid twice--so that both Wes and Carson recieved a quarter each. A few customers later, and it was nap time. Only Wes' nap lasted hours longer than Carson, and Carson was out on the driveway again.

During the actual "rush" they boys were a little busy, and pulled off an incredible tip of 900% from Daddy. Carson paid his helper at the end of the day.

A favorite quote:

Wes, while holding up a cup while cars passed: "Lemonade for sale! Lemonade for sale! a quick glance at his cupCups for sale!"

A trip to the American Helicopter Museum

We're pretty lucky to have the American Helicopter Museum within 5 minutes of our house--less than a mile than QVC, in fact. So our big trip wasn't so big, but its always tons of fun for the boys.

This time we invited along PopPop and Gram and everyone had a marvelous time.

Before Preschool Shabbat: March 28

Carson gets his groove on!

Photos from Charlotte

I've been slacking... I know. Oh... if you only knew.

So here are some pics from our trip to Charlotte in March.


Aunt Pam takes Wes to a bar!

































Wes with Nana, the beginning of the building of the new Discovery Zone.

















Carson on the flying chair!




















Daddy's here!!






















Super Wesley!


















2 adorable boys... do you know them?


















isn't this the cutest bunny ever?

Isn't this beautiful?

Having a little fun a few days ago with an "old" photo.

A REAL Snow Day!!

Finally, we got a snowday for SNOW. You may have heard we've had a few days that were icedays, raindays (I know... sounds crazy, but it was RAINING and we didn't have school). So, finally, the snow came down and it was GOOD snow. Great snow. sledding and snowball making snow. The kids loved it.

I didn't get any pictures today, but here are a few of a snowfall last month:




Carson did an excellent job shoveling


His future's so bright...