Paris: Day One

Arriving in Paris late morning to early afternoon left us little time to see as much as anyone would like to see once one arrives in Paris.  We made it to our hotel, dropped our bags and headed for the Arch de Triumph and Avenue des Champs-Élysées.  I must say that one of my favorite things about being in Paris and London was walking up the stairs from the Metro/Tube and getting a completely new view to take in and enjoy.  However coming up the stairs off the metro the first time in Paris was truly special.  The view behind me was the first bit of Paris that I was able to see, recognize and get butterflies over seeing it with my own eyes!  

Our first stop was what else a pastry shop!!  Adam and I enjoyed a pastry and continued our walk to the Arch and shopping on the Avenue.  We ended our first day enjoying dinner on the patio of a cafe.  The church that Adam is standing in front of was our view for dinner.  I enjoyed my roasted chicken and Adam had the classic French sandwich with ham, cheese and an egg on top!!

What an amazing first day :)

10 Years of Wedded Bliss = A Check Mom's Bucket List

Ten Years ago Adam and I were Sealed for Time & All Eternity.  These past 11 years that we have been together have been so fun and our lives will forever be blessed by the simple "Yes" that each of us said.  As fun as it is to look back at these fun pictures, I am so grateful for the present.  Adam and I have four amazing children and our lives are so much fun with them. We are truly blessed and I can't wait for the next ten!!

One of my life long dreams has been to travel overseas.  Two years ago I purchased a passport and it has just been collecting dust!  Adam made plans for his Mom, Nanee & brother Jared to watch the kids so that I could meet Adam in Europe after his last overseas trip for his MBA with Duke University.  Adam flew from Russia and met me in Paris, France.  What an amazing sentence that is to write...We met in Paris! 
The fun was just beginning, but I was just thrilled to finally have not one, but two stamps in my passport by the time I arrived in France.  I flew through Toronto, Canada so two stamps were given; I mean required!!!   My favorite part of my of the 4 amazing stamps that I received are the little pictures in the upper right hand corner.  I thought it was so neat that they have a plane, train, ship or automobile to signify how you arrived or in our case left a country!  SO COOL!!!

Our "Smoking" 4th of July

Due to Dadam being in Russia for the 4th the kids and I laid pretty low on the 4th!  We enjoyed hamburgers & fun cookies that we decorated, but we held off on fireworks until July 5th so that Nanee could enjoy them with us!

Dadam is usually in charge of lighting the fireworks so this was a first for me in a lot of years...  I thought that utilizing the pool as our water/safety source would be the best course of action.  I used a piece of wood to set the fireworks on and started the show for the kids and Nanee who were on the other side of the pool.  The fireworks were fun and the kids had a good time watching.  When the show was over I cleaned up the pool area and set the finished fireworks on top of the trashcan so that they could cool.  About a 1/2 hour later after the little ones had gone to bed Nanee, Adam and I were chatting in the kitchen.  Adam mentioned that he saw a fire, we looked out the window and sure enough our trash can was on fire!!  The fireworks had reignited and there were flames a burning.  We were quick to put out the fire, but as you can see our poor trashcan will never be quite the same!!

I am guessing that it will be a few more years until Mommy is in charge of the fireworks again!!  Lucky for us Adam had good eyes and caught the fire before anything really bad happened :)

NO MORE DIAPERS & Water Proofed!!!!!

So excited to announce that Amelia is officially a "Big Girl"!  She has been working very hard at going potty in the restroom and learning how to swim.  The last part of potty training (getting through the night) was finished up about a week ago, but I didn't want to say anything and jinks this amazing event :)

Dadam has been working very hard with Amelia to water proof her.  Having a swimming pool in our back yard can make any parent nervous and just knowing that all four of my little ones can swim gives me a huge relief.  Enjoy these fun videos of her showing off her new talent!

Dadam's Day

Father's Day was busy at our house!!  We started the morning with yummy omelets and finished the day with steaks brownies!  Dadam enjoyed his special day, but was a little taken back with his gift.  Not the tie, the sweat shirt!!  Dadam doesn't get cold very often so the idea of spending money on a sweatshirt doesn't really compute!  I however know that he was headed to Europe for school and will most likely need something warm.  I also know someone that loves sweatshirts (me) and will wear it a lot this next winter!!

We love our Dadam and are grateful for all of his hard he is putting in with work and school.

Happy Dadam's Day, We Love You :)

UPDATE: I am happy to report that he wore the sweatshirt twice in Europe!!

Alex's 5th & Adam's 9th Birthday Weekend

 Cake, Cake & More Cake

With Adam and Alex celebrating with classmates and teammates this year they have both had cupcakes twice and one birthday cake to share.  Alex enjoyed cake with his class on the last day of school and Adam enjoyed his birthday with his teammates.  We had cake as a family and then once again enjoyed cupcakes at Amazing Jake's with the Ashton family & Nanee.  The baker of the family is a little tired of cake...good thing the next birthday celebration isn't until September :)

 As a family we have decided to enjoy our birthdays with friends every other year.  On the off years we will have enjoy a family party and instead of gifts we will ask people for donations to a charity of the kids choice.  This was the first year of the donation birthday and the boys really did well.  They did however love the fact that Grandparents were exempt from the no gifts rule (because they donate to the kids charities each year)!

 Legos, Lunchboxes & Legos Oh My!!  I don't know if you have heard, but both Adam and Alex LOVE Legos!!!!  Their Grandparents have heard and they all come through with flying colors!!


 

 Pirate and Cars 2 Cake!!


 

 The Lego Fairy worked late into the night gluing the Black Pearl together so that it's Captain would be able to sail the next morning!  It didn't take long for the sails to come off and the boat to be in true playability!!

Monday night our family enjoyed FHE with the Ashton family at Amazing Jake"s.  Once again we enjoyed cupcakes after yummy pizza and pasta.  The kids enjoyed a very quiet night (not busy) riding rides and playing games.  Not having to wait in line was a big highlight of the night!!  The kids weren't the only ones enjoying themselves though.  Dadam and Andy found a pirate game that kept them quite busy throughout the night.  Dadam had just finished finals and so the game played well to his stress release :)

All in all I would have to say that the boys had a great birthday!  The celebration seemed to go on for days and so they truly got to feel the abounding love that we all have for them!







 

Summer School

Adam, Addison and Alex are attending summer school this year.  The classes are from Monday to Thursday each week for the month of June from 8:00 am to 11:00 am.  Adam has signed up for Lego Robotics and a 3rd grade Math Review.  Addison is enjoying a Music from Around the World class as well as reading and enrichment classes.  Alex is attending a summer preschool academy in hopes that his summer will have a bit of structure.

I am happy to say that the kids love it!  Adam is using a computer to program Lego pieces to move and grab items.  He has to create a robot that moves through mazes and completes assignments.  Addison has been coming home with new dances that she has learned and loved when she was able to take a drum into class for Show and Tell.  Alex is struggling with summer.  He is having a hard time with new teachers and aids not to mention the amount of down time he is having to adjust to each day. 

I must say that the funniest thing to me about summer school has been seeing Adam and Addison get onto Dadam for being late in the morning!  The kids hate having to get passes for class when Dadam drops them off late to school.  Alex is riding in the bus in the mornings to prepare for Kindergarten next year so he doesn't have to worry about that just yet!!

I am thrilled that the kids enjoy learning so much.  I think that this is something that we will continue throughout the kids educations so that their love for learning doesn't dwindle during the months of summer :)