Winter is on the way!!! Tune the skis!

That's right, winter is on the way and we are ready for it. Say what you will that you don't want to rush it and whatever, but I love winter. Logan has his first pair of skis and he is ready to hit the slopes. Sarah and I have our Bash Badges ready to go. Bring it on!!

Here are the boys in the first snow of this year just a few days before Halloween. Logan was amped to see the snow and play outside. Carter would have been just as excited to play in the snow if she would have just kept his gloves on. It was a challenge to keep his hands warm to say the least.
Halloween was loads of fun this year because the boys had their own custom costumes made by my mother. She out did herself again this year. This is Logan as Spiderman. If you look closely he is doing the web shooting finger pose. He practiced to do this just right.

Carter was the cutest damn pirate you ever saw in your life. The best part is that we worked on him to say "Arrrrgh!". Every time he did it he would clench his little fists up and grit his teeth to try and look as menacing as possible. He wasn't terrifying, but he did love his outfit.

Jordan wanted to be Cera the triceratops from The Land Before Time. This is what my mom came up with. Unbelievable. Keep in mind that none of these were from bought patterns, these were all done from scratch, my mom and sister did these outfits and gave the kids a really nice Halloween. All three of the kids got a lot of compliments from other kids and passers by.
Here is all three of them together. Carter is in full dress with his eye patch and treasure map on his belt.
I had to post a couple nice photos of the boys on a beautiful fall day. They were running around the leaves in the back yard before we got them all cleaned up.

Carter has developed such a great sense of humor and he is really growing into the younger brother role by annoying the hell out of Logan some days.

Marley is just waiting for a stick to be thrown so she can shred it all over the living room floor. She turns one in December.

They grow up so fast.

Hopefully I'll remember to get some photos of Sarah and I for the next post. I hope everyone is doing well.

Take care,

-Ryan

Earlier this month Sarah told me that I should take a break from the kids and go down to see our good friends Tom and Suze Renaud in New York City. They just had their first baby in July who they named Sammy. So I grabbed a cheap flight and headed down to the city.

For those of you reading that I went to school with. Tom and I grew up together in Jericho. He met his wife, Suze, at UVM when the were both in med school. They are both doctors now and Tom is in his second year of a fellowship to become a Pediatric Oncologist.

I commend him on the ability to put himself in the position of working with little ones with cancer. I can't imagine how heart wrenching that job could be at times. Although if you know Tom, you realize that he is such a grounded and reasonable person, he will be able to deal with it better than most of us. Secondly if you have ever met his wife Suze, you will know that he has the best support anyone could ask for being with her, she is amazing. The two of them make such a good team together and are friends that anyone would be proud to know.

We had beautiful weather the weekend I was there which allowed us to walk around the city for most of the day Saturday. This is a photo of Sam and I by the Flat Iron Building with the Empire State Building in the background.

Here is Tom and Suze in front of a small cafe in little Italy. We had to stop because the awning stated that they had "The Best Cannolis on the Planet!" With advertising like that, who wouldn't stop and get some. I have to admit, it was the best cannolli that I've ever tasted.




It was great to see the three of them. Both Tom and Suze are so busy with their professions that we don't get to talk all that often. So I was glad that I got to go down and see them. I have Sarah to thank for giving me the weekend off from the boys and letting me run down, even though she loves to visit the city just as much as I do.

Where did summer go?!

So summer is now gone and I couldn't tell you where it went to. We did a lot of stuff but it all went by in a blur. Furthermore I only have a few munutes to update things here so I'll be short and sweet and give a quick idea of what this summer had to bring.

• Early in June Logan started riding his bike without training wheels.
• Carter is trying to talk so much right now that it's hard to keep up. I understand most of what he is saying. If he can't get through to you, he will grab your hand and show you what he is talking about.
• Sarah isn't teaching at the university this semester since I started a masters degree program at Johnson. I hope to be looking for an elementary teacher position in fall of 2010.
• Logan grew about 3 inches from May to October 1st.
• Carter grew close to 2 inches in the same time.

Those are the big ones right now. Sorry for such brevity.

Here are some photos to catch everyone up on.

Logan took this one while we were walking to The Great Escape in Lake George, NY.

Carter and Aunt Abbey at the Strawberry Festival.

Carter "Chillin" With Abbey on one of the rides at The Great Escape.

Marley tollerates Carter's constant pouncing.

The next few are where the boys spent all the hot days this summer.

Above you saw Sarah and I posing for a photo by Logan.

Logan with his Spiderman face painting.

Logan after he was tossed up the velcro wall and the two boys in a bouncy castle.

As for the carrot. We found this in the garden. It was too good to pass up. So I'm selling it right now on e-bay. I'll try to get a widget to show it in the blog.

Again, sorry for the quick and dirty but I had a very quick minute and wanted to get some photos up. Take care.

One year gone by already!

That's right. A few weeks ago I realized that it has been a year since I quit my job to stay home with the boys full time. It's been tough at times both on the financial front and with managing family time on the weekends when I work. Regardless, Sarah and I don't regret it at all.


I know I'm also late to post anything, sorry. I was telling some friends about the blog the other night when we went out to dinner and I remembered that I hadn't posted anything recently. Sorry, here it is.


We should review the year and see what has happened.

• We survived both teething with Carter and potty training with Logan and we didn't completely go crazy.


• Logan started Preschool. He loves it.


• Donovan the dog went back with Lisa and Omar when they moved back to this continent from France. So we replaced Donovan with Marley.


• Sarah survived a year seeing patients full time and teaching a class at UVM School of Nursing.


• I plan on starting classes at Johnson State College this summer to start working towards my teaching license and my master's degree in education. If all goes well, in two years I'll be teaching in an elementary school.


• I've finally broken into the playgroup scene in the area so the other moms actually talk to me. They no longer think that I'm using my kids to pick up women when they realized that I'm doing the same job they are. That one took a while and I'm still working on it in some places.

Now for some new photos.

As you can see, the new dog is just a little spoiled. Logan covered her up on the couch for this shot.

And it didn't take very long for her to figure out who would give her table scraps. She parks herself right below Carter every time he eats.

This was Sarah and the boys on Easter Sunday right after they ran around the house for their egg hunt. I think you can see the chocolate residue around Carter's mouth.

Some days we play pretty hard when the sun is out.

And this last photo is solid proof that Logan is my son.

Sorry that this entry isn't too exciting, but we are pretty busy this spring getting things done around the house. We have already put in the garden for this year and installed the invisible fence for Marley and we have talked about getting extra shock collars to put on the boys, just to make sure they don't wander too far away from the house. Sarah said no. She's no fun.

Later,

-Ryan

Sorry I'm Late

I know, I know. I'm a little late to update the blog. We had a little busy time around Holidays and New Years. After New Years we had my Mom's Birthday, Carter's Birthday, Several other parties sprinkled in there for other kids, and a trip to Ottawa to see friends.

Since we had a lot going on and It's been quite a few weeks since our last post, I have a lot of photos to show. Since it's getting late I'll show you some photos and catch you up on what we have been doing. This was Carter Christmas morning in his new dog shaped ball pit. Every week he is getting more and more interactive. He is constantly following Logan and watching everything he does. He also climbs on everything and keeps us all on our toes.
Logan had a lot of fun this Christmas since this was the first year that he started to get what it was all about. He and I set out milk and cookies right before bedtime and went right to bed so we wouldn't be in Sata's way when he came to our house. We had fun watching how excited he got and seeing his face when he saw the tree with some of the gifts from Santa. We did a small party for Carter's first birthday. We learned our lesson with Logan's big first birthday party. Not that Carter didn't deserve a big party, but this time we kept things small with just family and close friends.
Just to make you jelous, he smiles like this all the time, everyday.
This is Logan and Madalyn at Jay and Katina's party. Jay and Katina threw a big party to thank everyone that helped them out when the house burned. Close to 70 people came and celebrated with them in the new house. Yet another party that we went to this season.
Our two chefs helping mommy make some chocolate pudding for desert. The next morning it was on the table while breakfast was being made. I turned around to see Carter up on the table helping himself to desert for breakfast. It looked something like this.
Yea, he gets up there by himself. It's not just for the sake of climbing either. He knows when there are things up there that he wants, and he will try to get it. Now you can see why he goes in the tub all the time.
This past weekend we drove up to Ottawa to see Lisa and Omar. We went up to see the big winter festival the City holds each year and to see Omar, Lisa, Sam and India. This was the first time that we had ever been to Ottawa. It really is a beautiful city to vist. The best part is that they speak english and not french, well mostly english, some french.
Carter and India were pretty comfortable most of the time in the stroller. Aren't they so cute.

These were these really cool ice slides that were set up in a park for the festival. This was one of three big slides that were built, which Logan and Sam couldn't get enough of. Neither could the adults if we were honest about it.

Another feature of the festival was that they drain a canal that flows through the city and let if freeze for ice skating. This creates a 3 mile ice path from Dow Lake to downtown. We got down there and thousands of people are skating down the canal. The nice part is that the entire festival is free. We just had to get there. We will be making a trip each year if we can. I would suggest it to anyone who likes to play in the snow.

These are just a couple of the many ice scuptures that were on display. After a long day in the cold Logan and Sam enjoyed watching a movie and snacking on the chair together.

On our way home from Ottawa, we finally got to pick up Marley, our new puppy. This first photo was the first time that we got to meet her one month ago when she was 4 weeks old. She was finally finished weaning on Thursday, so we picked her up on Friday on our way home.

She is a mutt who's father is a Portugese Water Dog and her mom is a Golden Doodle. So far she is really doing well. She has been sitting next to me napping the whole time I have been typing this blog entry.

Logan has found a new best friend.

Sorry for the long wait on this one. Thank Starbucks, since It's now 1:45 am and I'm still working off the coffee I got before grocery shopping earlier tonight. Hence, pardon any typos that I have missed. Talk to you soon.

-Ryan

Logan Turns 3 This Friday!!

Well we already had his party for him this past Sunday. We did a Polar Express themed party for him this year because we tried to get tickets for the Polar Express in Burlington, but we didn't get lucky since they are given out via lottery.

That was until that Saturday morning when our friend Molly called us and invited us to use two tickets that became available that day. So Sarah got ready and took him down while I watched Carter. This was the first year that he really "got it". Sarah said that he was vibrating because he was so excited. His friends Wyatt and Madalyn were on the same train which just added to the fun.

Then the next day he got to have a bunch of his friends over for his Polar Express party. We printed all the kids golden tickets to bring to the party, and we set the projector up downstairs so the kids got to watch the party on the big screen just like in the movie theaters. They all came dressed in pajamas but they only lasted for about 45 minutes until they lost interest and we just played music for a dance party (no slow songs yet, he's not old enough). We couldn't expect 10 or so little kids to sit and watch a movie when they are all hopped up on hot chocolate and cookies. Not happening.

We had a really good turn out of families for the party. Which was surprising because it was the day that we were getting hammered with the big storm that dumped 20" of snow on us. Everyone had a good time and the all the kids were worn out by the time they left. What else could we ask for.

I don't think that we will be doing any big party for Carter's first birthday which is coming up in about 4 weeks. Not that he doesn't deserve it all all, he absolutely does. He just isn't going to remember one minute of the party if we do. That was the best part of this party and the Polar Express for Logan, he is finally old enough to understand what is going on and he really gets excited for it. It is so much fun to watch.

We went out tonight to get some photos of the family in the snow since we have so much of it. Now Logan won't go out in the snow unless he has his new snowshoes that are shaped like dinosaur feet. We gave him a pair the morning of his birthday. He spent an hour outside before his party tromping around the snow until his cheeks were bright red.

Carter is walking now and trying as hard has he can to keep up with Logan. He is now at the point that he doesn't fall and then crawl, he would rather walk everywhere. This is great because he is growing up and is going as fast as he can. The downside is that he running into things left and right. the poor kid will slam into things with his head at least 5 times a day.

One day as Sarah was leaving for work, she mentioned that she wanted to take some nice family photos that night. In the next hour after she said that, he got 4 nice goose eggs on his forehead. Two of them were real nice ones that hurt me to look at. I would worry, but when he does this, he cries for about 45 seconds total. Then he wants down to get back to whatever he was doing before the attempted concussion.

Sarah, The Boys and Myself all I hope that all of you have a great holiday and a nice new year. We will send out another update after the new year.

Take care

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

Summer is gone and winter has arrived much quicker than we all thought it would. I looked today and realized that it had been September since my last post. I knew I was running behind but I didn't think it was that long. Anyway, it was time to put up some photos of the Halloween costumes that my mom made for the boys this year.

Logan decided that he wanted to be a blue horse. For those of you who remember the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear. What do you see?" you will know where he got the idea. Carter was a pig. I'm not sure how that came about, I don't remember being involved in that decision process but I think Logan had something to do with it and Carter didn't have much of anything to do with it.

As you can see Mom out did herself again. Logan was prancing around the house with the horse costume in his glory. The one thing you can't see in the photos is that he is walking with his legs through the back feet, and the front feet are attached to the horse and are held up by the reigns around his neck. Needless to say this was the only time that we could get him to stand still long enough to get a photo. Every other time we took pictures, he was all over the place.

The only problem that we had was that some people thought Carter was such a cute little girl. We corrected them but knew that this was going to be a problem. He didn't see to mind at all.

I just figured out that we can post video on the blog as a new feature so I wanted to try it out when Sarah called me into Carter's room tonight to see what he was doing. He is trying to keep up with his brother so much that we are wondering if we need to start him off with a crash helmet early, just to get him used to wearing one.

As you can see from the next couple of photos, snow has fallen in the upper elevations and my buddy Andrew Jordan and I took advantage of it while the Smuggs was still clear of other people. This was November 17th around 6:30 am while we were on our way up the hill.
Andrew set himself up a little way down from the spot we were starting thinking that he would try and get a shot of my making a few turns past him. I started and thought he knew I was on my way down, little did I know he wasn't ready. He suddenly looked up and clicked off a photo as fast as he could, hoping for the best. He caught up with me and was psyched to tell me that he just took one of the best action photos of his life. Take a look.
Not bad for a point and shoot camera and a slacker on some telemark gear. Since these photos were taken we have gone up again and got another few runs. Life is good.
Sarah and I are a little bummed that we can't afford to get Logan up on the mountain this year, but we couldn't get ourselves passes either. Next year we are going to try and get a family pass and make sure that we all get up to the hill. I think that Logan will have a blast on the mountain and the thought of watching the two of them in a few years chasing each other down the hill just gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. I can't wait.