The J-man

Flirtin' with the camera and hangin' with the ladies.

Saucer Babies

Well, technically, Justin is in a jumperoo, not a saucer and the only picture I could find of Michael is blurry, but aren't they cute?

Safety City

For the past two weeks, Luke has attended Westerville's Safety City every afternoon. They rode around a miniture town on tricycles to learn the rules of the road. They also learned about fire safety, 911, poison control, gun safety, water safety and they memorized their addresses and phone numbers. Luke absolutely loved the program even though he didn't know any other kids there. On Friday, Luke graduated along with 180 other children! I can't believe that they called every child's name, but they did. Here is Luke getting his Safety City diploma.

Swimming lessons

Both Luke and Michael finished two weeks of swimming lessons today. I have to say that I am impressed with both of them. They were both the smallest and youngest in their classes. Neither one of them passed their level, but both made amazing progress. Luke went from not even wanting to put his head under last week to doggie paddling, back floating and tooling around underwater by the end of this week. Michael finally learned how to blow bubbles and was the hit of his class. He had all of the instructors wrapped around his finger and just had a great time. Michael even went down the slide by himself, which I somehow missed on video, but I did get Luke on the slide and Michael fetching dive sticks without actually dunking his head under.

A boy and his monster trucks

Same Outfit Pic

Justin's Baptism

Justin was baptized today by Deacon Campbell at Immaculate Conception parish. Our good friends Mike and Michelle Dougherty are Justin's godparents. We're godparents to their youngest son Benedict. Larry and Joyce Masek also came to the baptism to help wrangle the rest of the kids. We're godparents to Larry and Joyce's son Mark and they're godparents to Mike and Michelle's son Thomas. And Mike and Michelle are godparents to Larry and Joyce's daughter Maria. Confused yet? I think that it's easiest just to say that we're all family. Justin slept through the baptism and all of the other kids were great. We came back to our house where we joined by yet more godparents (Michael's godfather, Manuel) and friends and had a lovely afternoon that I somehow didn't get any pictures of.

Justin getting ready to get dressed.

I think the seventy dollar outfit has finally paid for itself after thee baptisms.

Larry with Mark and Thomas. Joyce was busy taking pictures and holding the partially sucked lollipops of Luke, Michael and Maria.

Justin didn't even wake up when the water was poured over his head.

Mike, Michelle, Thomas, Benedict and Justin.

Four of the godsiblings: Luke, Maria, Thomas and Michael

Our first family photo.

Happy baby.

Luke and Caleb's Birthday Party

Luke's birthday is May 28th and his best friend Caleb's birthday is May 30th, so Caleb's mom Ali (knowing that we would have a newborn) generously suggested that we throw a joint party this year. I'm so glad she did! Ali is a spectacular planner and has such amazing ideas. She took care of almost everything. All Matt and I had to do was buy the food! The party's theme was knights and dragons. We rented a shelter house at Blendon Woods Metropark--which I highly recommend. It was a great set-up. Every kid got a cape and real wooden sword. There was a dragon hunt and a castle cake and loads of fun! Here are some of the pictures, most of them taken by Ali.

The shelter house.

Sir Luke .

Sir Caleb and Lady Daniela.

Lady Jaden.

Even Little Lady Lola wore a cape.

The fearsome dragon.

Sir Luke attacks the dragon.

Sir Michael takes his turn.

But the dragon was resilient. It took whack from David, Caleb's dad, to sever the dragon's head. His body went flying---right into Alyssa. Still looking for a picture of that!

How Justin spent the party.

Cake time!

Perhaps the green icing was a mistake.

A pair of happy five-year-old knights.

Thanks Graham Family for helping us to throw a fantastic party!

Luke is 5!

Yesterday was Luke's fifth birthday. His party was today and I'll post about that once I've begged some pictures off my friends because I didn't get very many! Yesterday was pretty low key by comparison. Luke got some prehistoric animal figures, a lunchbox and swim goggles from mommy and daddy, a razor scooter from Grandma Carole and these from Poppy and Nan:
Poppy made the wand himself from a branch off the tree in his yard! Thanks Poppy, we love it!

Justin smiles.

At the Beach

It was hot today, so we went to Delaware State Park and hung out at the beach.

How Justin spent the afternoon.

Luke's Class Photo

There he is, right smack in the middle. Love it!

Luke's Last Day of Preschool

I can't believe that Luke's preschool experience is over. Luke started at SYC in September of 2007 when he was 2 years old. He screamed like a banshee for six weeks and, on the advice of the teachers, I stayed with him. Then, just before I almost pulled him out because I was NOT going to pay tuition for me to go to school with my child, he got it. He just figured it out. And now, he is a self-composed and confident soon-to-be-kindergartener. I can't believe how far he's come! Here he is on his first day at SYC (notice baby Michael in the backround):

And here he was this afternoon, after his last day at SYC:

And here he is with Josh, his best school friend. I love that they're both in Star Wars shirts. Congratulations, Luke, on a job well done! On to kindergarten we go!

Justin Takes a Bath

Justin hates getting in the bath and hates getting out of the bath, but he doesn't mind actually being in the bath.

Ahh, warm and cute.

Michael's Class Photo

Oh, hail to the brave soul (Stephanie, the director of the school) who attempts to get a class photo of ten two-year-olds! And, just for comparison, here is Luke's class photo from when he was in the 2s:

Michael's first year at SYC

Today was Michael's last day of school. He's had a great year in the 2's class at SYC. His teachers, Molly (who also taught Luke) and Susan gave us a folder full of artwork, pictures and notes. We also got a CD with over 90 pictures of Michael on it! It's amazing. I LOVE it! So here's Michael's year in pictures.