Noah's Last Week of School AND Moving Day!

Noah and Ms. LeGage- Kindergarten     Noah & James with Matteo- classmate

This has been a crazy bittersweet week for us!  We are so excited to be moving into a new home with a much bigger space for the kids to play, but at the same time it is sad to leave our home in Portland and all of the neighbors and friends we have made here over the last four years.  Gabe and I are probably the most excited to close out the "training/school" chapter of our lives that has spanned the past 10 years and move into the "real job" phase;)  I thought I had planned the move perfectly to happen the day after Noah got out of school, but just for fun, his last day happened to be the day we moved... and why didn't Gabe take this day off?? Thankfully we hired movers! 

Noah had a theme day each day at school this week the top right picture was from Flag Day when everyone insisted on wearing (and having Audrey wear) matching shirts.  He has really had an amazing year with a teacher he loved and meeting lots of new friends.  He can now read most things and has improved greatly in math and drawing/painting skills. 

During this week we have tried hard to do some fun activities with the neighbors and around Portland while the kids are awake, then packing like crazy at night. We have made it to the end though, things got done and we are very thankful that my parents were able to be here and go above and beyond with some late nights... We have promised them that if we move again we will hire movers to do the whole job;)

James Turns Four!

This sweet guy turned four today.  Pretty cool that he was born just a short time after we moved into this house and he turns four just days before we move out of it.  James is turning into such a neat and fun kid.  He loves driving cars and playing trains... more than anything he seems to have a great memory that we hope will some day be used for something other than repeating movie and book quotes, but for now it is funny to hear him insert those quotes into daily life... it is like a quirky little guessing game, James's own version of "name that movie/book";)  James has a fairly stubborn temperament, but we just keep telling ourselves that this is a quality that will serve him well into adulthood... and that he probably will be potty trained sometime before he is 10... right?!?!?  He is such a sweet, cuddly and caring boy and we couldn't be prouder that he is part of our family and such a good (*protective) brother!

James's Birthday Party Weekend

Our last weekend in Portland was James's Birthday weekend as well as Father's Day, so we packed as much in as we possibly could... packing will get done at some point... I think;)  For James's 4th birthday party he was super excited for a butterfly themed day and had been thrilled to find the decorations he wanted at target.  We took our first stab at a piñata... we were thankful our neighbors came to play and were able to finally break it open!  The kids had a great time playing outside and having one last get together at our house.  Thank you to all that came out to celebrate James's birthday!

Saturday evening we took both sets of grandparents to a Sea Dogs game in celebration of Father's Day.  I forgot my camera (surprise!), but everyone had a great time with their baseball mitts and all of the popcorn/pizza they could eat.  On a side note, Gabe had to skip the game for a more exciting trip to the ED where he was dx. with Atrial Fibrilation.  He is perfectly fine, suffered no ill effects and was back home after only a few hours.... just made for an interesting evening and farewell to his co workers at the hospital;)  

The Playset Weekend

 

 

Last weekend my parents, my brother and his family came to visit and take on the project of our "new to us" playset. Saturday we played, they disassembled the playset, and we walked around the old port on a beautiful evening.  Sunday morning we took the kids over to the hotel for some swimming fun.  We then took another day trip to our new home in Wilton.  There we spent the rest of the day playing in the yard while Uncle Jon, Nicki, Daddy, Grampa and Noah reassembled the playset.  It was a gorgeous day that has made us very excited for the upcoming move.... only a little more that a week away...!

Summer Arrives and Skips Spring

While Gabe was in Florida enjoying pleasant, tolerable temperatures (low 80s, cloudy, etc.) the kids and I were left on the coast of Maine to endure record breaking, sunny, humid days in the low 90s with little relief at night... and no AC....seriously?!?!?!? The best way to sum up the weekend is to say that we didn't go anywhere further than the back yard. Although it was appealing to seek air conditioning in a store, the thought of being outside long enough to load everyone into the car, then wearing Audrey in the Moby wrap was unappealing;)

This weekend turned out to be wonderful and relaxing for all of us. We played in the sprinkler in the mornings and evenings and played in the basement during the day.  I was even able to grab lots of pictures throughout the weekend.  The highlight for the kids was a breakfast picnic on Saturday. Audrey has finally started smiling responsively which the boys are just thrilled about!  James's favorite "nice" saying is currently "Look, Audrey is smiling at me!" with a huge smile on his face (his current "not so nice" saying is "Get out now!" or "Get out of my house now!" both lines from The Lorax).  It seems as though she loves the attention from them just as much as they love to give it to her.  We are really enjoying just playing outside, finally!  The $20 water table, $10 elephant sprinkler and $5 plastic pool continue to be some of the best purchases we have made:)

Gabe's Florida Visit 2013

Gabe took a long weekend to visit Grammy Grammy and Grampy Grampy in Florida. The top pictures are the view of Clearwater Beach from a roof top lounge called "The Crow's Nest". The bottom two pictures are taken while visiting Grammy Grammy at the rehab hospital.  Gabe really enjoyed his time visiting with his grandparents & mom.... although the highlight for his was his first every pedicure:)