Happy Birthday Valentine!

Valentine's Day in our house is full of celebration....because it's Jack's birthday!!!  And this year was no exception.  I simply cannot believe my first baby is now FIVE!!!  It really sounds cliche but time does pass by right before your eyes.  I feel like all I did was blink and my little baby (the wonderful child who slept through the night at 10 weeks old!!!) is now a little boy.  Okay, before the tears start to flow, I'll stop.  :)

Jack was a little sad that Daddy wasn't here for his party, but we were lucky enough to have plenty of family around to take away the sting of Daddy's absence.  My parents flew in and my Aunt Lynn, Uncle Ed, and cousin Jennie (aka "Aunt" Jennie) drove down from DC to join in all the five year old fun!

This year I had Jack's party at a place called The Little Gym where he had previously taken a preschool tumbling/gymnastics class (which he loved).  They throw one heck of a birthday bash and it was totally painless for me - all we had to do was show up with the cake.  Literally!  All Jack's preschool classmates came (all 13 of 'em!) as well as several of his friends we know outside of school.  Yet another reason NOT to host his party at our house; 18 little people + lots of sugar = a whole ton of mayhem that I didn't have to clean up after!!

Most of the pictures have other children in them so I'm unable to post them here but I'll share a few of the many I took that afternoon.  Surprisingly, the twins were completely unfazed by the slew of crazy preschoolers bopping around and instead joined them running around exploring the gymnastics equipment.  I guess that's the benefit of being the second and third born children - they are completely acclimated to the craziness that is a house full of little kids right from the start!!

Jack on his "throne" at the start of the party.

The party room.

The twins quickly tired of the toys in the lobby and made a break

for the gymnastics room!

And they were fearless!!

"Look out Mom - I'm on a mission."

(Nathan)

Balance Beam!

More exploring.

Crazy Jack at age 5 (above). 

Compared to crazy Jack at age 2 (below).

Jack fell in love with this WALL-E cake and do you think I could find matching paper goods?  Of course not.  So, against my nature to have everything match,we had Scooby Doo plates, napkins, etc. to go with our WALL-E cake.

Happy birthday to you!!

Yum.

Snowy Day

They predicted "Winter Storm 2010" (imagine it said in a loud, ominous voice...) and I admit I was skeptical.  Then it started snowing, and it kept snowing, and snowing....well, you get the point.  It has snowed ALL day today and I bet we really did get the 5 - 8 inches they predicted and then some!!!  It's also been quite windy which as caused some drifting so it's hard to gauge just how much snow has fallen because there are places where it is knee deep and yet only ankle deep in others.  But, nonetheless, a significant amount of snow fell in our little corner of the world and the kids couldn't be more ecstatic!  Our neighbors down the street practically adopted Jack for the day and so he was able to  get in some really great outside time frolicking in all the white stuff.  And yes, he had to eat some too....

First thing this morning when it was really coming down.

Mid-afternoon it had almost reached the top of the deck (by the end of the day it had!).

Huh, where'd the driveway go?

If I had a snow shovel this wouldn't be a problem...

Looking up the street. 

I kept waiting for the snow plows to arrive and clear the streets, but alas they aren't equipped to do such things here so even the highways remained uncleared all day.

Me: Don't you throw that at me!

Jack: (grins slyly)

Preschool Conference

Well, I had Jack's first "real" preschool parent-teacher conference this morning and I must say that I left the meeting with a huge smile on my face!  Jack's teacher did have many nice things to say about him but the overwhelming theme in our conversation was that he is a VERY verbal child.  This is no surprise to those of you who have been around him on a regular basis!!  He is always talkative and energetic in the classroom and gets along well with all his classmates.  Even better, his teacher mentioned that he seemed unaffected by Jay's two deployments and has remained his happy cheerful self throughout the changes at home.  Yay!!!  Here is a funny snippet from an "interview" she conducted with each of the children where she asked a set of questions and wrote down exactly how they responded:

Q:  What do you like to eat?
A:  Noodles & cheese sandwich.

Q:  What are you going to be when you grow up?
A:  A spaceman.

Q:  What kind of work do Mothers do?
A:  Cook & clean.  (oh boo!!)

Q:  What kind of work do Daddies do?
A:  Buy new cars. (HAHAHA!!)

I came home and told Jack how proud of him we are and then I took him out to lunch! :)

Sam's Club

I think I'm going to petition that every retail store have carts with two seats!  This was SO much easier than pushing the double stroller and pulling a shopping cart!!  (they are ALL looking at the TV's which are right next to us...and explains the glazed over look on Jack's face)

New Buggies!!

Today was a beautiful sunny day with mild temps so to burn some energy we all went outside for a walk this morning.  Jack rode his new bike and the twins rode in their new push buggies - which they LOVED (although it took me an hour and a half yesterday to put them together it was well worth the effort)!  As long as I kept them moving they were perfectly content to ride along following Jack on his bike.  They would laugh and giggle at each other too...so cute. :)  I was worried I wouldn't be able to push two at the same time because they don't steer all that well but it wasn't a problem...thankfully!!

Updates (and there are lots of them!)

Okay, so once again I have been delinquent in my blogging duties! I guess with Jay home and then Christmas which was followed by a trip to Ohio I was a little distracted!! We have been busy getting our act together as a family again....easy for Jack but it took the babies a little longer to let Jay back into the club, so to speak. But eventually everything fell right back into place.

Our Christmas was wonderful - Santa and our families were good to us! Thank you!! Jay even splurged on diamond earrings for me which (as you know I love all things that sparkle) was a fantastic surprise!! Following Christmas, we took a trip to Ohio which was an action-packed week filled with lots of visits with all kinds of family - many of whom we hadn't seen in a long time. A huge thank you to everyone who traveled long distances (in not-so-nice weather) to meet up with us on our whirlwind tour!!! I don't think there was a day that somebody (adults included) in our family didn't have a runny nose but that didn't slow us down! Jack also experienced a really good dose of SNOW!! Especially up at my Grandma's in Medina...enough to sled in which I think just about equalled Christmas morning on Jack's fun-meter. Jay and I decided to drive home to VA from Medina in one day just to see if we could do it and (for better or worse) 13hrs later we arrived home.

I didn't even get a chance to get anyone unpacked before I fell victim to the most violent flu I have ever experienced. I kid you not, I don't think I've ever been that sick! Yuck. Now...I wash my hands like a fiend while Jay is not quite so good at remembering and since the Navy makes him get every vaccine out there and he didn't get sick, Jay is now a firm believer that the best way to stay healthy is to avoid washing your hands and just get all the shots you can!!! Anyway, it took me a good two days just to be able to move my body from my bed out to the couch to see my children and at least four days before I could eat real food again.

But it turns out my getting sick when I did was excellent timing on my part because at least Jay was home to take care of the kids. You see, last Wednesday we received notice that Jay's ship would be deploying again on the following day bound for Haiti (yes folks, that's a 24hr notice). So, on Thursday we said goodbye to him once again and just as quickly as he was home, poof, he's gone once more! Hopefully the ship will only be out for a couple of months but as of now there is no final return date. I admit it stung a bit that he had to leave us again so soon after returning home but it is hard to be selfish in the face of such massive human suffering. Jay's ship has the capacity to transport many, many people, equipment and supplies; plus, they have extensive medical facilities on board (operating rooms, surgeons, hospital beds, etc.), so hopefully they will be able to provide some much needed assistance in the disaster relief effort.

So, once again it's me and the boys...at least for a little while! Thankfully, Jack has remained his usual happy self through all this recent change and even commented to me that he doesn't mind when Daddy goes away. As he further explained to me, he and Daddy have so much fun together when Daddy's home that he doesn't get sad when he has to leave. !!!! The adaptability and insight that child continues to display each and every day never ceases to amaze me.

Baby it's cold outside!!!

Our dusting of snow...which was SO exciting to Jack that he insisted on playing in it first thing in the morning...which also explains why he's still in his pj's, wearing his rain boots, a makeshift hat (it's the liner to his hood), and no gloves because we couldn't find them. Can you tell we aren't used to this???

Santa came to our house and brought many fun things including a trampoline and a play kitchen! It really was exciting despite Jack's somber expression... :)

Grandma & Grandpa Lambert sent these fun new riding toys for the twins. They're a little short for them yet so they can't really push themselves but they have fun bouncing on them...and then fighting over one even though we have two! I am now adding referee to my ever-expanding list of job duties. (Matthew)

Nathan.

Santa didn't forget the twins!

Matthew (I think).

Nathan & Mommy hanging out on Christmas morning.

But, by far the biggest hit at our house this Christmas was the Dragon castle!!! It is Jack's favorite toy hands down....score one for Santa.

The twins new favorite spot! (they don't sit like this in my lap, by the way!)

Oh yeah, and in between Christmas and our "vacation" Jay was promoted!!

Visiting Great Grandma Heichel. Nathan wasn't too thrilled about trying out Gram's scooter.

Good thing we brought the Wii to Great Gram's!

Meet Thor the Dinosaur (w/ Nathan) - the newest addition to the family. He was lovingly left at our house by our neighbors down the street. He moves around, roars, plays songs, falls asleep, burps, sneezes, and best of all you can ride on him! Because everyone needs a giant, motorized triceratops at their house.....

Here is Matthew feeding Thor his leaves which he munches on...the kids do really all love him so I suppose he'll live with us for a while. :)

And Jack's new cool bike!! He had outgrown his little 12" bike so I found this 16" one today and we brought it home. Jack especially likes the fenders and lightning bolts - this child appreciates flair.

HE'S HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so I know I've been a blogger slacker lately and I really have no excuse other than I was just plain tired out!  We haven't been doing anything particularly exciting lately anyway...  We did, however, have a wonderful Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa Lambert - thanks to you all for making the trek down here!!

Our biggest news is that JAY CAME HOME YESTERDAY!!!!!  It was exciting, tearful and COLD.  :-)  We met the ship at the pier and while it was 45 degrees outside the wind was really blowing which made it seem much, much chillier.  I had the boys all dressed alike in jeans and matching button down shirts but unfortunately I had to cover it all up in non-matching jackets...oh well!  Jack didn't recognize Jay at first but I'm pretty sure it was because Jay was in his cover and dress blues which is a uniform I don't think Jack has ever seen before.  They have since fallen right back into the routine of being best buddies almost as if Jay was never gone in the first place.  It is so sweet to watch!  The twins changed significantly in the last seven months - Jay left two babies who couldn't even sit up and came home to two toddlers who walk, say words, eat big people food and drink out of cups.  Quite an astonishing transformation for him to witness.  Nathan (who is generally more gregarious and people-friendly) warmed right up to Jay but Matthew is still a little unsure.  You can tell there is definitely a recognition there but he is still more hesitant with Jay.  Overall though it really seems as though he never left which is a fantastic but weird feeling....almost like he was gone, gone, gone.....and then, poof! he's back again right where he was before.  :-) 

Our current project is to find Jay a car because he turned his lease in right before he left and so right now we only have one!  I'm not sure which Jay was more excited about - seeing his family or getting a new car!!Those of you who know my husband are well aware of the fact that he LOVES cars.  :-)

Here are a few pictures of his homecoming yesterday.  Like I mentioned earlier, it was freezing so we didn't linger around outside too long before heading back to the car.  Thus, we don't have all that many pictures of him coming home.

Waiting in the car (and watching Curious George) for Daddy to call and say he was able to get off the ship.

Daddy's Home!!!!!!

Jay couldn't believe how much the twins had changed in seven months.

We were all SO very happy to see him.  :-)

Jay's dad was able to join him on the last two days of the trip home on what is called a Tiger Cruise so he came off the ship with Jay.  Hopefully the next time Jay deploys, Jack will be old enough to go on the Tiger Cruise.

Trip to Williamsburg

Yesterday Grandma and Grandpa Heichel treated us to a trip up to see historic Williamsburg, VA.  We didn't make it up there until late afternoon (even though it's only an hour drive)....getting everyone napped, dressed, fed and ready to go takes a while!  I think G & G have a new appreciation for why I'm perpetually late.  But we had a beautiful fall afternoon nonetheless and we enjoyed walking around and taking in all the scenery.  Jack had fun watching the reenactments and seeing the various "townsfolk" dressed up to play their parts.  It did seem as though there weren't too many buildings open to actually tour but that may have been because we were there during a more off season time. 

The Governor's Mansion. 

I think we all would like to go back and take this tour on our next trip (it costs extra)!

Can I get one of these at home?  Just kidding!

Beautiful horse-drawn carriage.

The twins hanging out in their usual spot.

I dressed the boys similarly in the hopes that I might get a nice shot of them together and this one didn't turn out too bad!  The original photo was really washed out but thanks to the magic of photo editing I was able to make a bad picture look pretty good.

One of the houses in the village. Jack is on the front steps making friends with a cat who was trying to nap in the afternoon sunshine.

As we were leaving we were able to listen to a special performance by the Fifes and Drums which were marching and playing as part of a commercial they were filming on the grounds.

Halloween!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Heichel came down for a visit over Halloween which was good timing because I realized that in order for all the kids to really enjoy the festivities I needed back-up!  I was able to take Jack out trick-or-treating while Grandpa handed out candy at our house.  Simultaneously, Grandma was feeding the babies their dinner and getting them to bed on time. I could never have done all this by myself!!  Jack had originally (long ago) decided that he wanted to be Spider Man for Halloween.  So we made a trip to Target early in the season to ensure that we would have first choice over all the costumes (you see, I have not one single crafty bone in my body so all my children will have store-bought costumes at Halloween...I suppose there are worse things...).  Unfortunately, all the Spider Man costumes came complete with a full mask which was something Jack was not going to entertain.  This made the Batman costume (which only had a half-mask) seem much more appealing and this is how we ended up coming home with the Batman outfit.  Also a bonus, Batman had awesome muscles.  :-)  Jack thoroughly enjoyed the actual obtaining of the candy but tired after walking around our neighborhood for about 45 minutes.  His pumpkin bag was filled by that point anyway so we headed home (sweaty because it was hot!) to check out his loot and help Grandpa pass out candy.  I think Jack may have had just as much (if not more) fun handing out candy to the other kids as he did going around to get it!!

Yay for fall leaves! 

Jack's little pumpkin and our fake lighted one.  I unfortunately failed to remember to buy any larger pumpkins for carving...oops.

Batman!!

(Matthew)

I was too cheap to buy the twins costumes since they weren't actually going trick-or-treating but I did get pumpkin onesies for them so I'm only sort of the worst mommy ever. Well, maybe not because then I forgot to take a decent picture of the twins in their pumpkin onesies. Hence the hasty shots of them in their highchairs before heading off to bed... :-)

(Nathan)