Four is Fun!

I'm breaking my radio silence to make sure I get in the traditional birthday post. Brennan has seemed very excited the last week or so about his upcoming birthday. He's even been counting down the last few days. I was a little surprised yesterday when he woke up and said he was sad because it was his last day of being three. I guess that's a good thing because it must mean that the last year was pretty good in his eyes. But, I told him, four will be so much fun.

I was getting a little nostalgic last week watching a few videos of the kids from awhile ago. Like the ones here and here. And our all time favorite Puff video. I feel like I can hardly remember him that small. As the saying goes, "the days are long but the years are short." Can these kids please stop growing up for just a minute!?

Helping me cook Tomato Soup. He actually had two helpings! I should let him help more often.

Without further adieu, Brennan's fourth birthday questionnaire.

Four-year old favorites:

Color: Blue
Song: Twinkle, Twinkle
Food: Mac 'n' Cheese
Show: Super Why
Movie: Lego Movie
Game: Feed The Kitty
Dinosaur: T-Rex
Toy: Octonauts
Thing to do with Kaelyn: Play food
Thing to do with Dada: Go sledding
Thing to do with Mama: Play soccer
Thing to do with friends: Play with everything
Book: Dinosaur for a Day
Animal: Monkey
Restaurant: Dos Amigos (we ate there for his birthday lunch) and Five Guys Burgers and Fries
Drink: lemonade and chocolate milk
Sport: all of them
Superhero: Batman

Happy Birthday my buddy-boo! You will always be my favorite Superhero!

Happy Birthday to Tate, too! Bren's lucky to share his birthday with such and awesome cousin. :)

Wish we were here

It's now been about 3 weeks since our trip to St. Martin with the Schmidt side of the family. And even though the weather in Concord hasn't been freezing, it has been quite gloomy and rainy. A stark contrast to the sunny, warm weather we enjoyed on Thanksgiving. So as much as I love our home (the new house and the whole community) it's not hard to dream about and wish we here again:

Kaelyn swimming in the pool at the villa only steps from the beach

View in the other direction from the pool deck

Or here:

Our view at lunch on Pinel Island

See, you wish you were there too, don't you?


Longing to be back there may also have something to do with how different this trip felt to the last. Remember that trip? I was being somewhat kind in that blog post about how crazy and difficult my youngest made that trip for me. It was not relaxing in the least. I'm sure Care-Care and Jay can now identify with that feeling. Although, even though Connor was always on the move and being curious he did seem to at least sleep better than Bren did at that age. And let other people hold him.

The kids are becoming quite the seasoned travelers. The technology available today may have an little something to do with it.

On the flight from Charlotte to SXM we had a pretty nice plane which included personal touchscreen tv's in every seat. Brennan liked watching the gps map to see how much farther we had to go. Kaelyn "accidentally" turned on Frozen. Oh well, it kept her happy for 2 hours of the flight.

The kids are really at a great age to take to the beach. We still need to be pretty vigilant watching them in the water but they are gaining confidence and independence each time they go in. And they truly enjoy it. Even being crashed by the waves. Bren still doesn't like getting water in his face and has to come out and get it wiped off but there were a few times at Karakter where he powered through it and stayed in the water.

See, sleeping baby and sleeping Mama. Lucky Mama.

I think that baby's sleeping again.

They also loved making creations in the sand. And the absolutely adore playing with their cousin.

Even though Bren still needs an afternoon nap we were able to get in some slightly longer days at the beach than we have in the past. One day he napped on the beach with Nana. Other days he would fall asleep on the car ride home from the beach. He's very partial to back scratches from Nana, which are almost guaranteed to put him to sleep. Even if he's sitting up at lunch.

Nana having a snuggle and reading to her babies after lunch on Pinel.

This was after our long day on Pinel. He woke up in time for the boat ride home. He usually wakes up a little cranky but I think the boat ride perked him up.

Hanging out with their cousin like a couple of cool kids

Being a superstar and waiting for your photographer is a rough job

No matter what beach we take them to they just love running, getting their feet wet and exploring. Bring 'em in their fancy clothes and they're still sure to get plenty wet.

My attempt at a frame-worthy photo. I think we'll have to go with one from the photographer instead.

Can't you just feel the joy?

She may have been getting tired of being asked to smile nicely, but she never stops being cute.

I tried to find opportunities for learning. We examined shells and other things we found on the beach. We also talked about how the ocean looked like different colors in different spots.

We had a few windy days while we there. I remember the first time we took Kaelyn to Karakter (I think it was her second year there), which is usually a pretty windy beach, and she was terrified of the wind. We had to use shirts to block her from the wind the entire time we were there and she wouldn't get in the water. The wind didn't seem to bother either of them much this time. The even enjoyed the rough waves. Except maybe when Kaelyn went to wash her shoes off by herself and got knocked down with no adult nearby.  Ooops!

And you thought their hair was crazy just sitting at home.

Enjoying a fruity drink

We even got a taste of Christmas while we were there. Doesn't feel quite the same without snow around though.

There's our little superstar again.

Brennan got quite a kick out of his first kayak ride on our second trip to Pinel.  I hope he remembers the experience and excitement.

Getting back to the main island at the end of the day proved a little more difficult. It took multiple attempts to get everyone in the kayak ready to go.

Kaelyn's turn!

You didn't think I'd let this one go, did you Matt? Luckily everyone came up laughing and the next attempt was more successful.

Saying good-bye at the end of the trip is always bittersweet. The kids (and adults) did enjoy watching the big planes land from Sunset Beach Bar.

A few more pretty pictures to remember the trip.

A soft, soothing sunset viewed from the pool deck at the villa.

As the sun sets, the moon rises.

A couple days after we got back I turned Caribbean Life on HGTV while I was folding laundry.  Kaelyn asked if every place was St. Martin. She also said she wished we could live in St. Martin always. She especially liked the houses with balconies (one of her wishes for our buy house that did not come true) "because it feels like you're in the sky but you're really in a house." And I think Brennan is still convinced that Connor and Care-Care and Jay actually do live in St. Martin. You know, South Carolina, St. Martin, they're so similar I can see how he'd be confused. Or maybe just wishful thinking.

Good-bye St. Martin! We hope to see you again soon!

Fall Photo Dump

In all the crazy, busy-ness that is our usual Fall combined with moving and vacation, I feel like I missed posting on some fun happenings. So I'm just gonna go ahead and cram them all in this one post of mostly pictures and brief (hopefully) explanations.

Soccer. Kaelyn really enjoyed playing soccer again this fall. Especially since she got to be on the same team as one of her best buds, Maddie. While she may not have been the star player (sorry sweetie) she had a blast and made some improvements on her skills.

Brennan also enjoyed going to her practices and running around and getting dirty on the baseball field behind us. He even made a new friend, Lily, Maddie's little sister. I think the word girlfriend may have been used. You can see how seriously Kaelyn and her friend are about soccer as they're examining a piece of grass.

Maya was able to get away for a couple days and visit for a long weekend. We finally made it down to the Robert Frost Farm (on their last day open for the season) to explore. Since Kaelyn has such a love for reading and wants to be an author some day I thought Robert Frost, having been a New Hampshire resident, could be an inspiration for her. Plus, I really like his poems. We didn't do the tour in the house because we weren't sure Bren could handle it so close to nap time. But we did do the poetic nature walk around the grounds and had a picnic. Fall is a beautiful time to visit the farm.

We also picked out pumpkins and ate one of the best apple cider donuts in the state. Brennan picked a monster. They were priced by pound and it was probably the most expensive pumpkin I've ever bought. I think he wanted to take the tractor home, too.

And of course, Halloween festivities. I briefly considered making costumes again this year. I even had a plan in my head for a really cute Elsa and pirate costume. But then these were on sale and I remembered we were moving the day before Halloween. I did, however, make the Elsa crown and pirate eye patch. Because Brennan couldn't be a pirate without an eye patch (I actually had to make two since he lost the first one) and what's a queen without her crown?

This was at Halloween Howl downtown. They close off part of Main Street for kids to trick-or-treat at the businesses and enjoy other activities like hay rides and a costume parade (we skipped both this year). I think it's a fun tradition and it's nice to get a second use out of the costumes.

Since Halloween was our first full day in the new house we kinda ran out of time to carve a pumpkin. But we did squeeze in painting one for the teal pumpkin project just about an hour before trick-or-treating started.

And here they are, trick-or-treating in the new neighborhood. That was supposed to be Brennan's tough pirate face in case you're wondering. He wasn't actually sad.

I know Fall isn't technically over yet, but since there's snow on the ground and Christmas decorations up we'll just have to wrap up there.

Saying good-bye

How do you say good-bye to your best friend? To someone who's been by your side for seven years? Always happy to see you. Always there when you need him. The sweetest soul you've ever known.

Yesterday we had to say good-bye to Rudy. During the last month I've had so many emotions and thoughts over losing him but I'm not sure I can eloquently convey them now.  It's so hard to imagine our home, our family, without him. Yesterday morning I looked at his medicine bottle and tears sprang to my eyes. Later looking at his food dish brought on heaving sobs.

Telling the kids was torture. I don't think Brennan completely understands. He went from sobbing (I think mostly because he saw Kaelyn crying) to joking around and talking about getting the brown and white dog we saw at the park. Kaelyn cried a lot and was confused why he was going to have to go to Heaven when he's only seven. She wants another dog, too. She was finally comforted knowing that he would be happier in Heaven and would be able to run around and play again. She also wants to bring his picture to school to share with her class.

Baby Rudy

Chasing golf balls

Exhausted at his first ND game

Sleepy boy

You will be greatly missed little buddy. I'm so sorry for all the times you wanted to play and I thought I was too busy. You deserved better. You deserve the best. You will always be in our hearts.

Have fun chasing bubbles up there in Heaven, Buddy!

Flashback Friday: One week in

Welp, it's been just over a week since we've been in our "buy house." And boy has it been a crazy week. We had to move all of our stuff and paint the kids rooms in three days. Well, I suppose we didn't have to paint the kids' rooms, but I think it made them more excited about  moving and helped ease the transition. So I'm really glad we were able to. None of this would have been possible without the help of our family and friends, but especially Nana and Pop who very generously offered to drive up to help us with painting and moving. Nana and Pop, I promise the next time you visit it will be much more relaxing!

The kids seem to be adjusting well. Of course, we are pretty much in the same neighborhood, close to some of their friends and the park and they didn't have to switch schools. But there was a period where they (at least Kaelyn) questioned why we were moving again. It was in anticipation of this that our last house was affectionately referred to as "rent house." Before we moved out here I didn't want her getting confused when we bought a house and moved again a year later. So I tried very hard to explain to her that we would be moving to a house we would rent for a short time until we could find a house we wanted to buy. The terms "rent house" and "buy house" stuck, but I guess after a year the concept was still a little hard for a six-year old to grasp.

Nevertheless, she seems very happy in her new pink and green and brown room. And Bren loves his blue room. It really does make a huge difference to be able to paint and make it our own. Although the whole house really does feel cozy and homey, even if there are still boxes in every room.  We're getting there. Pretty soon will be back to our daily routine and mess and we won't even remember what it was like to have boxes stacked to the ceiling.  Well, I'll remember. And that's why I don't intend to move again for a very long time. Or for a very good reason. I'm not sure my back and my knees will make it through another move.

It really feels like we're home.