This is the best Chrismas ever...

"This is the best Christmas ever," says Dylan after putting up the Christmas tree. He also repeated the line tonight after a visit with Santa and shopping and pizza dinner - did I mention a trip to Toys R Us tonight? They had gift cards burning in their pockets. Funny that their spending turned into my spending...

I'm grateful for all of it. No tears during a nearly perfect Santa picture, movie and popcorn, shopping, dinner out and no dishes and a evening on the couch with happy kids and a husband that doesn't have to work tonight.

O' Christmas Tree

Christmas Tree basking...

Ice Time

Gavin went to his buddy Jack's birthday party. First time ice skating. He had a blast. Thanks to the cones and buckets, the falling was more minimal.

First Day of School

~Nora~

Last week, we sent Gavin off to first grade. Today is Nora's first day of kindergarten - sort of. Nora completed preschool last year although her 5th birthday is not until October 10. She is not old enough for public school and I am not inclined to accelerate our journey. So, what then? Our daycare has an excellent kindergarten class that she will participate in every afternoon. She will still attend the preschool class M, W and F mornings. This is a great option for her. We look forward to this opportunity for her. She is very ready to go to the next level for academics.

Check out all the new digs. Spiderman for Gavin, Olivia for Nora and Toy Story 3 ("free") for Dylan. It is a rare occasion that they are not aware of each other's journey. I am so grateful for that.

Beautiful girl!

I had to pick out something "fancy and elegant", as Fancy Nancy would say. I'm sure Olivia would be disappointed that the dress is not red. Either way, Nora was very excited about her first day, her promotion in the ranks of daycare and the opportunity for a few new faces in class. There are a few new children (non-daycare) that are attending her class. If Nora was remotely nervous, it was well hidden.

Bikes: The Beginning

Dylan learned to peddle!

He has desperately been trying to figure it out and foot peddling the big wheel bike had become over rated. After vacation, he jumped on his tricycle and despite barely being able to reach the peddles. he took off. He is, of course trying to catch up to Gavin and Nora.

In addition to Dylan's milestone, Gavin has shed his training wheels. Nora has been riding without training wheels since late June. Gavin has been frustrated by this, especially on his scooter. She is faster. He got over the hump with Daddy's help. Circus bears have evolved...

Gavin: Fall Ball

Gavin has been playing fall baseball. It has been an interesting adventure moving up to Bantum league. We are now playing with outs, strikes and the boys are positioned at pitcher and catcher. Coach pitch continues.

Gavin team is young. They all played instructional/t-ball in the spring. Winning has not been within reach but good experiences have been. We have mixed practice with games and they have learned a lot. Interesting to see them learn plays and the rules of the game. We will continue to work on implementation!

Too many kids, too much time...

First Day of School

~Gavin~

Gavin is officially a first grader. While many folks are crossing this bridge this fall with their children, our own journey is is sharply real and monumental. We have not traveled down this road before. This is nearly always true when I discuss Gavin, as he is the oldest, but it never seems unimportant. So true of the above picture, that Nora and Dylan are part of his journey. They insisted on being there to see him on to the bus.

"Check-out my backpack!", he says to Daddy. Dylan was very interested in this process. He normally is when it comes to his brother ("brofer"). I love that Dylan looks like I feel here. Very proud. Very happy. Very curious.

Ok, ok...posed, required photos with parents...

Gavin was a mix of excitement and apprehension for his first day. It depended on the moment. He did not recognize his teacher (negative - mental note & lesson learned: at end of school year, suggest meeting next grade level of teachers ahead of time). He did, however, know some students from previous class, baseball or playground (positive). He was riding the same bus with kids he knows well (positive). We had the same bus numbers (positive and bonus*). He was unsure of classroom location prior to bus stop (negative) but during long wait for bus*, discovered through kid-conversation with a now second grader, where class was located (positive). Go Gavin - network to your advantage!

* Bus: (1) The morning bus time moved up from 8:40 to 8:20 which for our family schedule is nearly invisible. However - bus was late on first day so that is not a positive influence on nerves (next picture). (2) Afternoon bus was SUPPOSED to be the same number, time, etc. In the middle of the day - changes were made - chaos was created. Gavin luckily, the social networking butterfly that he is, made it on to the correct bus. Three others on his bus were not so lucky. Two stayed at the school with the dozens of other kids too confused to know what to do and one child boarded the wrong bus. Lovely...in the end all was well. Second day was smoother and on time.

Let's get this over with!

BYE!!!

Note: Dylan and Nora both cried when Gavin got on the bus. They cried hard. Although this was terribly sad, it was easier to comfort them then to shed my own tears of detachment. I cry for fleeting moments that I just can't seem to capture let alone touch as they fly by on this journey.

Another magic carpet ride...

Pete took the kids (solo) to Idlewild! They had a blast despite HOT, humid weather and a heat index around 97 degrees. No swimming since Daddy was solo but they must have had fun since they all napped in the car on the way home as well as were in bed by 8 pm. Pete took a few pictures with his cell phone camera. Thanks Daddy!! I love them!

Nora?!?!

So, the kids took another magic carpet ride in Story Book Forest. Can a whole year be summed up in a comparison of two pictures? Gavin hadn't visited elementary school, ridden a school bus or lost a tooth. He was still in our family-world of home, daycare and family. He was still 5. Nora still wore toddler sizes, couldn't write her name and she hadn't started to catch up to Gavin in height. She was still a toddler - 3. Dylan was still a baby - not technically - more of a toddler - but still had short baby legs, a waddly walk, pudgy cheeks, and chubby rolls at his wrists. He had never spoken a sentence and had just given up the last bottle.

They were tall to short, just in a row - boop, boop, boop.

2009

2009: Last year...Idlewild

This year, they barely fit...legs are everywhere, torsoes have stretched, arms that can reach, and the glory of the lollipop has been passed on to the younger generation. The older two most likely either did not have one or chewed it up fast to get rid of the stick.

Gavin has finished kindergarten, now has a mohawk and has more legs and arms than he knows what to do with. He can run and I mean run. He can beat me in Mario Cart. Nora is fast approaching 5 with Mommy putting on the breaks. She is growing faster than Gavin and threatens to pass him ~8 years of age, as far as I can tell. She is starting to read, writes efficiently and has learned a ton of new songs, including pop-music favorites. She has a MP3 player! Dylan speaks with sentence structure and the vocabulary of a 3 year old spoken with the linguistic ability of a 2+ year old - adorable. He is insightful yet is a mocking bird. He is following as closely behind his siblings as his now-longer legs can carry him. An amazing year of differences.

2010

Some things are the same. They still love their lovies (Bunny, Li-Li, Pink Bear, Frogger and Roary), they still snuggle down into their beds the same way: Gavin on his left side, Nora on her right with one leg up and Dylan on his belly. Gavin has already reached a beautiful shade of tan for the summer and they are all turning their summer shade of blonde. Blue, chocolate and brown eyes between them. Smiles from all. Laughter, squeals and rare tears. They love the water, Nora loves to be soaked and Gavin likes to dish it out. They are slaves to their routine and they are wonderful.

Monkey See...Monkey Mohawk

Gavin has been begging for a mohawk haircut for nearly a year. We have used a few excuses, including the school year, but my excuses have run out. I have been cutting the boys hair for a few months now and recently purchased new clippers to support these efforts.

He is now the happiest 6 year old in the neighborhood!! Happy blonde mohawk (and SpongeBob pushup) to you buddy! Never mind the 23 silly bands and no shirt tan belly for a hot summer day.

Kelleys Island, OH - Vitale Family Vacation

Post is LONG overdue, but here it is...

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Kelleys Island Ferry: You gotta wear shades...

We went to Kelleys Island this summer for a nice long weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Vitale. We had amazing weather for summer in Ohio. Blue skies, warm weather. It was great.

Prettiest Girl!

We visited to limestone Glacier Groves while were there. They are glacial markings in the island limestone that are part of the State Park. Much of the natural groves were destroyed by limestone quarries.

As you can see, Nora started out dry, with merely wet feet. That did not last...

Nora Mermaid, so pretty.

Happy Birthday Aunt Kotzie - 100!

Happy Birthday to Mary "Kotzie" Denny. She is my great-great Aunt through my Dad's Mom. She turns 100 years old on June 4, 2010. She was even recently interviewed by the local paper, The Record Courier. Sitting with her is my Grandpa Williams.

We took Lots of pictures...check them out.

Happy Birthday to Maverick King as well - he will turn two on June 1. Happy birthday little dude!! Happy day to Mommy (Nikki) too.

We celebrated this weekend and it was so much funny. Aunt Holly and Uncle Daddy had everyone over to swim and party. Lots of good food, lots of cousins and lots of sunshine for everyone. It is a rare occasion to get together to celebrate and very nice to do it for a happy occasion.

My kids were fish. From the time the arrived to the time we left - swimming. We took only minimal breaks for snacks, nap (Nora under the tree)...

...and dinnertime with the bribe of cake if they ate their main meal. Dylan and Nora both swam with water wings. Dylan tore up the slide and Gavin dunked basketballs off the side of the pool Michael Jordan style (dated myself).

Nora was swimming in the "deep water" with Daddy...big girl.

Cool airborne picture.

All of my Grandpa's great grand kids were in one place at one time and even cooperated for some picture taking. Nora is the lone great-granddaughter out of nine, at least for now.

Robert, Mark, and Scott Sobnosky; Hayden and Elliot Whitmyer, Maverick King; and Gavin, Nora and Dylan Vitale with Robert Williams and Mary Denny. May 30, 2010.

Trip to the Park and a Picnic at Home

Nora the explorer at the park...

So hot! I need a drink..."I do it."

Saturday was beautiful! Hot, sunny...good day for a park trip and for a picnic. We did both.

I am really enjoying Dylan at the park this year. He is so much more free to roam and try on his own this year. I watch his every move but he is so independent. He LOVES slides and all of the climbing that goes with it. He tries desperately to keep up with the big kids. Little legs only move so fast.

Gavin has taken his independence to a new level as well. He quickly found some kids near his age to play tag with and was all over the entire playground. We played at the park for more than an hour and they were all so tired they ALL took a nap. Very little push back and were asleep in minutes. Amazing. It did help to have the bribe of fireworks, picnic, fire and playtime with Hutchinson family.

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We indulged Pete's inner-pyro this weekend and stopped at Prism fireworks. Nothing giant but some good rockets, small mortars, and some fountains. Eric and Carrie Stopped down with their girls and fun was had by all. The kids had a blast. We had a campfire and fireworks after dark. So much fun!

Nora - Preschool Graduation

Nora finished preschool. How is that possible? Graduation and a play about Jack and Jill's Wedding. It was a lovely story that involved many nursery rhyme stories, like the Three Little Pigs, Little Boy Blue (Gavin's part last year), Jack in the Box, Miss Muffit, and Three Blind Mice. Nora was a wonderful Blind Mouse - decked out with red, heart-shaped sunglasses and a cane (water squirter). This particular class is a little crazy. They tend to be a bit wound up. The kids did sing their song and performed the parts pretty well.

Nora was looking very beautiful. The church, where the play was performed, was very hot. The kids were getting hotter by the minute. By the time the play had finished and the graduation was taking place, Nora was sweaty. Hot Nora only equals grumpy; hence, the pout.

I had to wrestle her in for a picture with Mama...

Preschool holds a reception as well. There were over 100 people in attendance this year plus the 21 kids . They had a very nice lunch, cookies donated by parents and had wedding cake. The kids danced and played. They love the Hamster Dance, Barbie Girl dance and lots of other fun wedding-reception songs.

Nora and Daddy danced a very nice slow dance together. She was nothing but smiles the whole time. I guess I should have picked another picture...