lazy saturdays

every weekday morning when I go in to get miles out of his crib he asks, "where's daddy?" and then answers his own question with "daddy's at work.  he went to work on his scooter." if he happens wake up before kyle leaves, he stands in the window in his little pajamas and waves excitedly until he can no longer see him driving.  I love to watch him as he crouches down and squeals, "bye daddy!  have a good day at work!  bye bye!!" he frequently asks for daddy during the day and I have to explain (again) that daddy will be home after nap time. so it's not a surprise that our family loves weekends...especially ones that include lazy saturday mornings when we can lay around in our pajamas.  I can't think of any place I'd rather be than on the floor playing with our little munchkins. we play games, read books, practice sitting (the bug is so close), "hide" under blankets ("where'd miles go?"), watch some cartoons, play with the puppies, and snuggle.

on this particular morning, miles got his hair cut by auntie blair.  don't we all wish our beautician made house calls?!

we had nothing really planned for the rest of the weekend, but we couldn't resist planning a last-minute bonfire with my brothers and their wives. miles kept everyone thoroughly entertained with his silly stories, sweet kisses, and goofy antics. henry couldn't help but flash his toothy grin over and over.  it is precious.

introducing brian and blair's latest addition, lucy

the weather was so gorgeous and lent itself beautifully to roasting some 'mallows and devouring s'mores.  

papa came home from his dinner with nana and brought out his fun iToys...the shot of miles watching a video on the iPad was a little too bright, to say the least, so we settled on this one with the iPhone.  he finally crashed at 10pm and kyle and I sat up chatting with my brother into the wee hours of the morning.  summer is the best.

red.white.blue

we celebrated big this year, just like we do every year. today was not only the day that miles got to sing happy birthday USA, but the day we sing happy birthday grandma sissy! we proudly wore our red, white, and blue and had a glorious picnic. inside. the rain didn't stop us from grilling out, playing games, and celebrating!

we made cupcakes (for USA) and frosted a little cake just for grandma. but we all know that grandma doesn't like cake, so we made her a trifle instead. yum.

what follows is a little recap of miles helping grandma sissy with her cake. a little overload, but I couldn't resist!

starting to blow out the candles

yeah miles!

happy birthday to YOU!

who doesn't love to lick the frosting off the candles?

checking out the daniel o'donnell singing birthday card. you're jealous. I know.

a practice rendition of happy birthday to YOU for auntie nykki. why not? it's her birthday in a couple of weeks.

the boys decorated their own cupcakes and the room was filled with laughter as the non-perils came rolling out in a mound on top of bennett's cupcake. he tried to shovel them into his mouth as quickly as he could. such a little boy!

and so we sang our happy birthday to the USA and we celebrated all things american. today we were thankful for our freedom. our freedom to be together with family and dear friends. thank you to all the brave men and women who keep us safe and keep us free.

five months old

to say these are late would be the understatement of the year. poor henry...I guess this is what being the second child will do. this month henry has been busy chewing on his toes, drooling, learning to roll, drooling, mastering the grab-and-hold-a-toy technique, drooling, sleeping through the night, drooling, smiling and giggling, oh and did I mention drooling?? he is an absolute joy and such a content baby. he's in LOVE with his big brother and we are in love with watching their brotherly bond form. it is so sweet. I'm not sure what henry weighs these days, but he seems to be smaller than miles was. in fact, the outfit in these pictures was miles' fourth of july get-up...when he was 6 weeks old. they are both l-o-n-g and slim, but henry doesn't seem to have the cheeks that miles did. we will get updated stats next month. in the meantime, enjoy the latest monthly pictures!

peanuts and cracker jack

in our household, summer is synonymous with baseball. and in rochester, baseball means the honkers. every year we try to make it to a handful of games and this year is no exception. we were a little late though, as we usually have been to at least one or two by the fourth of july. papa was gracious enough to invite us to the luxury box and miles had an absolute blast. he especially enjoyed all the extra attention he received being the only little guy in attendance. a special thank you to nana for hanging out with josiah and henry for the evening. kyle missed out on a fun evening while he was "winning money" at canterbury downs. riiiiiight. at least he had a good time with some high school buddies. who needs money anyway?

miles was mesmerized by "slider" (the mascot). papa hooked him up with a new honkers hat and he's so proud to show off the slider signature on the top of it. "slider write his name right heeeere. I like slider" in fact, slider walked on water until he came a little too close...at which time miles declared, "I don't like slider!" back off big guy.

the weather has been appropriately warm and muggy, but it didn't stop us from returning the very next night to take in a game out on the sports deck. my best friend, laurie, and her family invited us along to cheer on the home team just like we did during our college days. not unlike the box, the deck is an all you can eat and drink experience. this certainly did wonders for my waist line. guess I'll have to start my 30-day shred...again!

for me, spending time with the shevik family is a little like finding your favorite childhood blanket and wrapping up in it. it brings back such wonderful memories and I cherish the times when we can all get together. miles and bennett were immersed in their own world of books, trains, hot dogs, and slider. they had a ball.

what a more perfect way to wrap up two nights of baseball on fourth of july weekend than with a great fireworks display? miles stared at every burst of color with amazement. I stared at him and couldn't stop smiling. his face was better than even the biggest and most colorful fire cracker. I loved it.