Thanksgiving and Diana's Bridal Shower

Both the Hersteins and Guptas (and all our siblings) were out of town so the 4 of us were on our own for Thanksgiving. We went up north and tried to make our own feast. The food wasn't bad but I have to say that Thanksgiving at my parents or Matt's parents is much tastier! However, the boys loved being up north since there are so many toys and games up at the condo. It's like our home away from home.

Right before Thanksgiving break, Matt's sister Diana had her bridal shower. It was held at Aunt Pat's house and was a lot of fun. Sean played with his cousins below and we were able to fete Diana a nice shower. We can't wait to see her and Brian get married in the spring!

Sean with his cousins Anya and Nora:

Halloween 2014

While I am posting, here is a picture of my boys Darth Vader and Buddy.

Sean and Bradley had a wonderful time trick or treating. It was pretty cold again, but they braved the wind and were able to get a decent stash of candy. Our neighbors are very nice, but we may venture out to a sub with more kids next year. I always remember a lot of kids out, which made it more fun to go house to house. We saw 2, maybe 3 families. However, our neighbors do give out big candy bars and mini-bags of crayons/ books because they get so few visitors. It's a trade off, but at this age I think the boys would love trick or treating either way.

Life as a Working Mom

I have been very busy, which explains why I haven't blogged in quite some time. I did start teaching again in August and am loving it. I teach Calculus AP, Honors Precalc and Algebra I. The students, faculty and administration are all great people to work with.
It has been a challenge to juggle the demands at work with the demands of my family, but we are hanging in there. Matt has been incredibly wonderful and I always am so thankful for him for doing more than he should while I do lesson plans every evening. The boys have been adjusting to kindergarten and preschool. Both of their schools are amazing and they have been learning so much. It will be so much easier when they are both at the same school, but Sean's school does not have a preschool.
I am bracing myself for the winter in the hopes that the boys don't get sick too often as little kids do during winter months. I haven't missed a day of school yet since August and I don't intend to, though I know it's out of my control.
In December, my school is sending me to the AP conference so that is really the only day I have "planned" to take off. I am counting down the days until Thanksgiving break for a much needed getaway up north. We randomly got a dusting of snow today. I am hoping the snow is just a fluke, and we don't get any more until closer to Christmas!

Back to School

After 5 years of being a stay at home mom, my tutoring efforts at Sacred Heart have led me to a math position at Bishop Foley High School. I am so excited to start teaching. I may be teaching Calculus AP as one of my classes. That would be my dream class :) Matt and I had a date night planned today and getting the call today from Father Gerry made our date night a celebration. Plus going to Mongo is always fun, no matter what the occasion. I hope to inspire the minds of our future students!!

Let the Stain Begin

Sean started farm camp at Bower's Farm and Bradley started Sacred Heart this week. Matt graciously helped me take down cabinets ON Father's Day. What a dad! I have begun the staining process of turning the horrible oak cabinets into beautiful dark espresso. So far I have washed down and sanded the cabinet doors. Next is staining! I am going to do the inswings of the cabinets first just in case this ends up being a total disaster. I am following Monica's blog that I found through pinterest, which sounds pretty simple, even for a non DIY person like me. Pictures in a few weeks!

Preschool Graduation

I am so proud of my Sean-bear (what I called him when he was a baby - and sometimes still do!). He has grown so much this past year and his school is mostly to be credited. He had amazing teachers and a wonderful class. He made friends and has learned so much. I feel very confident in his abilities to be a great student in kindergarten and beyond.
We celebrated his preschool graduation and we are now off for the summer! Here is he looking very dapper in his shirt and tie.

Bradley needed to go on stage and have his picture taken. He will be standing there in 2 years, following his brother's footsteps.

Sean's class performed a few end of year songs including, If all the Raindrops, Do you know the Muffin Man, This Little Light of Mine, and Six Little Ducks. Here is an excerpt from the Raindrop song.

Sean's wonderful teachers Mrs. Stinebaugh and Mrs. Geraghty. And their ice cream gifts that Sean and I made for them:

 

Easter Week

We had a fun-filled Easter weekend. It started off with a trip to Buddy's Pizza the week before Easter. Jessica and Len told us about this event where the Easter Bunny comes and gives each child a basket of goodies, plus each person gets a lunch deal out of it. We all signed up together and it was pretty fun. Since we didn't get to see the Easter Bunny at Somerset this year, this was the perfect opportunity to have a meet and greet with virtually no line. And the pizza is always good! Here is Sean with the Easter Bunny, Bradley was a little too scared:

The Saturday before Easter, we invited the Sackins and Salazars over for brunch. We were excited to show everyone our new house and to meet baby David, Erin's new baby son. I made eggs Benedict, french toast, fruit salad, coffee and mimosas. We also bought some fresh bagels and cream cheese. The kids had a fun time eating and playing outside and us adults got to catch up!

  

On Easter Sunday we headed to the Hersteins in Ann Arbor for our Easter tradition- church, brunch and an egg hunt. This year we went to St Mary's Student Parish because Jenny sings with the choir there sometimes. Brunch was yummy as usual. And all the cousins had fun looking for eggs and opening Easter baskets back at the house. Here is a family pic:

Winter wrap up

Spring started and it did not feel like spring until TODAY. It is almost 60 degrees. I haven't felt that temperature in Michigan since October. I have to wrap up our winter activities before it is too late. Thanksgiving was spent at my parents' house while we had Christmas at the Hersteins. Sean was in a wonderful Christmas play with his class. They all looked so adorable singing classing Christmas songs. Bradley started gymnastics class in January and we just had our last day today. Sean started swimming classes at Goldfish. He loves his teacher Ms. Taylor. I started tutoring last fall and am still doing that now. I am hoping to have more clients in the summer. It has been great teaching again, and I love the one on one I get with the students.
For our summer lineup, I signed Sean up for a week long farm camp and a summer long camp at Cranbrook. It's his first camp experience. Bradley will be in a toddler class twice a week, but mostly we will have fun at the zoo, various parks, Aquatic Center, museums, gym and library. We also hope to go up north at least twice before school starts again. Can you tell I can't wait for summer???

House Updates

After moving in, in October 2013, we have done a few things to the house that we thought were necessary. Although our house is a great location, great layout and in great condition (structure wise), it needs a lot of updating. It is straight out of the 70s! As of today, we updated the family room carpet and door, our kitchen floor (YES!) and patio door, and our mud room floor. We also bought Sean a new bedroom set today! He has had a platform twin bed ever since he was 2 and now that he is entering kindergarten in the fall, we wanted him to have a set that could hopefully last for a long time. Bradley (who is in a converted toddler bed) will get Sean's hand me down furniture until he is ready for kindergarten.

New floor (new carpet in the background)

Sean's new bed (from art van website)

Best Caesar Salad

It is at Flemings Steakhouse. One of the partners had Matt take me out because he was impressed with Matt's commitment to a particular case he was trying. Anyways, I ordered the scallops small plate and the modern Caesar salad. The scallops were great and the salad was AMAZING. It had prosciutto chips and fried capers that went perfectly with the traditional flavors. Yum! Matt ordered the monk fish. Our waiter said it was called that because monks ate them a lot, but it actually tastes like lobster! This was our second time at Flemings and we will be going back again sometime.