Kane Brewery

Yesterday afternoon my parents, Stu, Brandon, Wesley, and I went to Kane Brewery. We were waiting in line and Wesley said he had seen some kids from his school. Sure enough there were twins from his class that were also there.

Happy Thanksgiving

Turtle Racers

On Sunday we went to the environmental center at the Manasquan Reservoir. They had a turtle program that I thought the kids would enjoy. It was a big hit. First they showed us different turtle shells and passed them along for the kids to feel. Then they took out two different turtles and had them race on the floor. After seeing the shells and turtles they had a craft for the kids to do. They decorated bottle caps with a small pom pom glued on the front as turtles and then had the kids take turns racing them down a ramp. It was a lot of fun!

World Prematurity Day

"Some people never get to meet their hero. I gave birth to mine."- Supporting Prematurity Awareness

Today is World Prematurity Day. As most of you know, Brandon was born at 26 weeks, 1 day. It is a miracle he made it that far after I delivered his twin sister at a little over 20 weeks. Brandon weighed 1 pound, 14 ounces and was 13 inches long. He spent 12 weeks in the NICU and had his share of preemie issues- infections, anemia, blood transfusions, vented, on Cpap, and a cannula, on an apnea monitor, ROP which resolved itself, reflux, and other issues. Today Brandon is a very happy 6 year old. He always has a smile on his face despite what he went through his first couple months of birth. Most people can't say that their child is their hero but he is definitely mine.

San Francisco

I went to San Francisco during teacher's convention by myself to visit my brother, his wife, and my two nephews. My brother and his wife were so generous to fly me there with their frequent flyer miles. It was an experience I will never forget and I was so happy to go and visit. I had a fantastic time there. It was so nice seeing everyone and getting to know my nephews better. We don't see each other often since they live so far away.

The weather was beautiful when I was there. We went to Ravenswood winery, went to Sonoma Square, saw amazing views of San Francisco from Bernal Heights Summit, and went to Fisherman's Wharf.

Frozen at Blue Swan Diner

A few weeks ago a diner near our house was having their first ever character dining. It was the characters from the movie Frozen. Brandon and Wesley love the movie Frozen so we decided to go. We knew that Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff would be there. We had no idea that Olaf would be there too. The kids were so excited to see all of the characters. I am so happy we decided to go.

First Lost Tooth

Brandon lost his first tooth tonight. It was loose for awhile but got really loose on Halloween night. I finally was able to pull it out tonight right before bed. He was so excited to put it into his tooth fairy pillow for the tooth fairy to come.

Halloween and Bowling Birthday Party

Brandon and Wesley both loved Halloween this year.

On Thursday and Friday Wesley had a Halloween parade and party at his school. I went on Thursday and Stu and both sets of grandparents went on Friday. On Thursday Wesley was so happy when he was walking in the parade. After the parade his class sat down to sing some songs and then Wesley started pouting and saying he was going to miss me. He refused to sing. By the time the class went in he was crying. On Friday he had a pout on almost the whole parade and when they sang their songs and cried on the way in again.

Brandon had a parade and party at his school on Friday. I couldn't go to his parade since I had a parade at my school around the same time. Stu and both sets of grandparents went to the parade.

We went trick or treating on Halloween. Brandon was Mario and Wesley was a pirate. My mom made Brandon's overalls and I made his hat. Wesley's costume was purchased a few days after Halloween last year for less than $3.00 so it took a lot of brainwashing to initially get him excited about being a pirate but he was excited. Both boys were so into trick or treating and got a lot of candy.

Last weekend the boys went to a birthday party for their friend Jen. It was at a bowling alley. They got to wear their costumes to the party. They had so much fun bowling.