Surprise Birthday Party

On February 19th ,we went into operation birthday party. Grandma flew home to LV the night before so that nothing from our usual routine changed. On Saturday morning, Grandma sent Papa out to have the car serviced and then he stopped off to see one of his friends. In that small window of opportunity, the Chicago crew flew in and was picked up by Grandma and the Boston crew drove down. We hid our car in the garage and waited patiently for Papa. Upon his return, Grandma called him into the kitchen and when he poked his head in the door, Papa was actually speechless. It is one of the few times I think we actually surprised him but then again it isn't every day you turn 70.

Saturday evening we rounded up the family and had a semi-surprise party for Papa and Uncle Eric. I say semi-surprise because when going to the Inn with the family and going to the upstairs it can only be one thing - a party.

Izzy had her party outfit on and was ready to go.
The whole Maple Conn crew rallied.
As always, no one wanted to miss a family get together and Dave was full of life.

To Papa and Uncle Eric's surprise, Uncle Warren a life long friend arrived and kept them entertained the whole night. Uncle Warren is full of stories and always makes us all laugh - a personality larger than life.

It was time to blow out the candles and we couldn't find Uncle Eric so Garrett stepped in to assist Bradley and Papa.

(Thank you to Connor for all the pictures from the party)

After recovering from the festivities, we went back to our normal routines the next day. Since it had been Papa's birthday, Connor told Papa it was time for him to go to the doctor. Connor decided to do his own physical and was stumped by Papa's slow heart beat.

Papa even managed to have some quality time with the girls. I went into the playroom to find him singing to the girls and they were both sitting in his lap laughing and smiling. Izzy and Emily really took to each other and Izzy gave lots of hugs to Ems.

Uncle Eric got lots of cuddles from Emily - he was her hot water bottle on the cold winter day.

It was a fantastic trip where we all got to spend time with each other and we managed to surprise the birthday boys. We are so happy it worked out and the kids love surprises.

Feburary 14th - Emily's First Tooth

The firsts just keep on coming: On Valentine's day, Emily's first tooth poked through. It was her bottom left front tooth that appeared first and your second bottom right front tooth appeared about a week later. You have also started making babbling noises which can be described as follows: bra bra bra gra gra gra We are convinced your first words are going to be either brother, Garrett or grandma. No sense in starting with the easy stuff like mama or dada. You are the sweetest, most laid back and cuddly baby. It is very important to note that we didn't even know you were getting a tooth until it appeared. You are so tough that daddy is convinced you are a Turner. Let me explain. Grandma's maiden name is Turner. Grandma is tough as nails - she could be so sick and she would keep on going never complaining or she could be so tired she could collapse but she keeps on going without ever saying a word. You catch my drift. It is the best compliment you can get in this family. We love you little girl...you are growing up too fast.

Connor's 5th Birthday

It's some body's birthday I wonder who...it's some body's birthday - I think it's you!!!! Connor loves decorations and loves to plan how he is going to decorate the house for special occasions. So, he told Grandma that she was in charge of decorations for his birthday. A few days before his birthday they all went to the party store and picked out balloons, streamers and plates. The night before Connor's birthday the boys went to bed and Grandma and mommy had something up our sleeves. We blew up tons of balloons and stuck them to all the windows in the family room and kitchen. We put up banners and hung streamers across the windows and bookcases but we had one more idea which Grandma used to do for me when I was a kid. We took the streamers and hung them across the main doorway which leads into the kitchen. When Connor saw our handy work in the morning, you would have thought he won the lotto. He was the happiest boy...he told us that walking through the doorway was like going through the car wash. Needless to say the streamers had to stay up for a while. After celebrating at school with the requested munchkins, it was time to celebrate at home and I think we had a good time. First off, Connor was a superb big brother and let Garrett help open all of his presents. They worked together so well. My favorite part is that Garrett even bought Connor some presents (Shawn the sheep and Superhero books) on his own and they are some of his favorite. Emily is just happy when her big brothers are happy.

In honor of Connor's love of football, we got a football ice cream cake. Apparently it took a long time to open presents because when we returned to the kitchen, the cake was starting to melt away. Of course, that did not stop us. Please take note of Connor's crown which he made at school. He wore it for the entire month until it got scrunched on a car trip.

Back to the birthday cake...since the cake was a little soft, there ended up being a lot of melted cake on their plates and the boys couldn't let that go to waste. So they licked their plates clean which ended up all over their faces.

Then, Connor put his plate on his head.

This was very funny to them.

With all the fun, birthdays also mean our annual doctor appointment. At five years old, Connor is 45lbs and 46 inches tall. No wonder mommy and Grandma have such a hard time carrying you. And no shots!!! I hope you had a great day big boy.

A Glimpse of Garrett

Garrett is growing and maturing so fast. He simply amazes me everyday and in the last couple months he has had so many great experiences at school. When I attended Garrett's parent teacher conference, the teachers couldn't say enough fabulous things about him. He is very attentive and listens including raising his hand and asking questions. He loves to socialize and even invents games at school. One day on the playground he created an imaginary baseball game with no ball or bat. He included kids and teachers as they pretended to hit the ball and run the bases.

Here are some highlights of how the teachers described Garrett:
- Strong motor skills - which means cutting and drawing is no problem for him
- Loves the play dough table but refuses to get glue on his hands
- He is interested in trying to write his own name
- No problem with recognizing his numbers

At school, they provide quotes of the day. In the past couple of weeks, Garrett has been the quote of the day twice and I thought I would share.

1- During snack time, he was obviously hungry and wanted a second helping. So Garrett said "Can I have more snack? I'm a Cheez-its Monster."

2- One cold and dreary day, the kids were playing in the big room and the teachers said Garrett and several other kids ran in circles for a long time. Garrett walked up to the teach and said "I'm super exhausted! I ran like three marathons."

One last story: One day Garrett was working on painting a picture in class. The teacher was sitting near by so Garrett decided to tell her the story he was painting. He proceeded to tell the teacher that he was drawing two buildings. The buildings are the ones where the firemen were running up to save people. Yes, Garrett was drawing the Twin Towers. It is amazing how capable Garrett is of understanding a huge event and it is even more astounding to see how he can express himself.

Garrett - you are a smart little boy whose personality and determination is going to get you far in life. We Love You!

A quick snip-it about Connor

Over Christmas, Connor received a book about all the different modes of transportation. This is an extremely detailed book which details the development of each type of transportation from the early 1900s to today. This has resulted in many questions and taught us all many new facts. One night while Daddy was readying about cars, Connor learned that somebody invented a solar car which ran on sunlight. About thirty seconds later, Connor asked Brian what happens to the solar car at night time.

Connor you are so smart - you are always thinking which always amazes mommy and daddy.

The month of January is when the schools hold parent teacher conferences. When I attended Connor's conference, I learned everything I already knew. He is a smart, energetic and a fun young man. Things that impressed the teacher: you can count to 100+, you always raise your hand to contribute, your math skills, you love climbing the snow mountain, you love to write, you wrote all the names of the kids in class and you joined the zipper club.

As we all know, Connor is a very caring and sensitive boy towards others. Mrs. Marsh wanted to share a story with me. One day the class read a book about a witch hiding under the staircase and she asked all the kids what they would do to the witch. Some kids said they would pour hot lava on the witch or throw nails at the witch. Connor simply stated that he would give the witch a soda.

Connor I hope you never change because you are the most thoughtful and kind-hearted young man. I love you!

6 Months Already!

I know the picture below is a little blurry but I think Emily's face is so cute.

Emily was the perfect patient at her doctor's appointment and even had four shots which she handled like a champion. The results are in and Emily is growing so fast:

Length: 26.5 inches (65th percentile)

Weight: 17 pounds 11 ounces (65th percentile)

Head Circumference: 97th percentile
Emily likes to try the same food that her big brothers eat. So, here she is eating a pancake for the first time and loving it.

Uncle Kevi Came to Town

Uncle Kevin is almost finished with law school and we are thankful that he comes to visit us when he has a short break. Unfortunately, I don't think he is going back to Brooklyn well rested.

We kept Uncle Kevin pretty busy - as soon as he thought he was going to have a quiet minute.

The boys would tackle him.
Or test out his physical strength

or make him do shoulder presses with Emily.

It was a great weekend. At one point, Garrett was telling us all a story and when he got to the cliffhanger of the story - he goes "Dun Dun Dun." He is now making his old sound effects.