Happy Halloween

Sniper Will

2nd Lieutenant Andrew

 Dr. James

Mommy Catherine

Andrew Turns SEVEN!

Our happy guy turned SEVEN today! For his birthday, he asked if several of his friends could get together at a special field in our town and play baseball. His friends were happy to join and the guys had a great day of a baseball game, homerun derby, hot dogs, popcorn and cake.

Andrew brings us such joy each and every day. It was a blast celebrating him on his big day!

We're Three!!

Trip to Barcelona

In August, Matt and I were fortunate enough to travel to Barcelona, Spain where he was invited to give several presentations at a European cardiology meeting. I don't have time to list all of the amazing details of our trip, but I did want to document a few of our favorites.

 Montserrat, Font Magica at Montjuic, Sagrada Familia, and the beautiful beaches.

 Park Guell (and all of the unique Guell architecture)

Our favorite restaurant, Els Pescadors (we went twice!).

 

 

 Walking down La Ramblas and stopping for amazing food at the open market, La Boqueria

And of course, the reason we were able to go...all of the hard work by my rockstar husband paying off! So proud of him!

Back to School!

August is here and things are a lot quieter around the house. 

Andrew is now a big 1st grader!

Will is in 4th grade (I wonder how much longer he'll let me take these back to school photos...)

The boys are at the same school and right down the hall from each other. They are having a great year so far.

Perhaps the biggest news is that James and Catherine are also going to school! They are in a preschool program 2 1/2 days a week. So on those days the house is reeeeeally quiet, but my looooong to-do list keeps me very busy!

It took a little while to warm up to the idea, but after a few days, the twins are loving school.

Vacay at the Lake

The day after school was out, we headed to the lake for a weeks vacation. As always, we had a great time playing in the water, eating ice cream, fishing, seeing family and friends, and relaxing!

Farewell sweet Sophie...

On June 19th, we had to say goodbye to our sweet Sophie. As you can imagine, this was one of the hardest things we've ever had to go thru. Sophie was 13 years old, had endured 5 moves, a marriage, and 4 kids. She could be feisty and gave us fits sometime, but overall she was a sweet dog and we miss her so much.
Back in May I had one of my friends photograph us so we could always treasure pictures of our good times with Sophie. It took me a while before I could even look at these pictures, but now I am so thankful we have them.

End of School!

June 20th and school is finally out. Here's what the end of Kindergarten and 3rd grade looks like!

Twin Life

Having twins just might be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. (I know....if that's the toughest, then wow! what an awesome life I have!)

But the greatest part is seeing the instant friendship and sweet bond they share. This is truly blossoming more and more the older they get. They fight and tattle just like typical siblings, but they are so concerned for each other if one gets hurt or is upset. They play in their room and their latest antic is to climb in each other's crib and read and giggle.

 

 

This is my favorite video. You'll have to make sure you turn up the volume on the video box. I love it when he asks "Cat-tin" to play with him. And sweet sister knows that if she lives in this house, she might as well just play baseball!

 

Catherine's 1st Haircut

At 2 years and 8 months, it was time for Catherine to get her first haircut. I was a little sad to see the little curls go, but my big girl was SOOOOO excited to get her haircut. I took Catherine and James at the same time and when I said, "Who's first?" she said, "Meeeeee! And ran and jumped into the chair." She smiled the whole time!

We took a few inches off and she was so proud of her new 'do!

And the good news is, there still seem to be a few curls hanging around.

And not to be left out, Mr. Handsome got spiffied up too!

Baseball Season

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!! :)

The weather here isn't always cooperating, but baseball season is here and we are excited!

Of course, we kicked off the season with our annual opening day hot dog dinner.

We have been enjoying our family Christmas present baseball ticket packages (to: us, from: us!).

 

We bought a few ticket packages for just Matt and me and a few to take the boys.

So far, the Red Sox haven't won a game that we've gone to. Hmmm....

And of course, the boys are having fun in their seasons.
Will tried out for the National League here (4th-6th graders) and made it on to the Texas Rangers.
He is enjoying pitching and playing 2nd base.

Andrew is playing t-ball (and soccer and flag football). He is enjoying all of them, but the kindergarten leagues are not quite as competitive as he would like. Andrew is Mr. Intensity!