PineWood Derby - Congratulations Connor!

Connor participated in the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby in January. This was the 2nd derby that he participated in with the 1st one being the Space Derby last fall. The derby races are a great opportunity to work with Papa Ross and Daddy on converting his block of wood to a racing machine!  Check out his cool car that won him an overall 3rd place and had the occasional wins of 1st and 2nd during the individual races.  In addition, Connor received the award for Judge's favorite.  Congratulations Connor...way to go!!

Just like daddy!

The boys decided to coordinate with daddy today....plaid day for the Seaton boys! Connor was so excited to point out that they were all "matching" in their color-coordinated plaids of red, white, and blue.

Day with Daddy

In mid-July, we had to cover three days of care for Claire since her daycare provider was on vacation. Daddy decided to take 2 of the days to spend with his little girl. The first day, they went for a visit with Papa Terry where Claire was very alert and talkative. The next day, they hung out together at home and ran a few errands. Daddy really enjoyed his time with Claire, but did make the comment that she was a full-time commitment (hopefully now he knows why I didn't get much done during maternity leave).

The pictures below were sent to me with a note "Claire says hi". I loved it so much...made my day!! I wish I could get updates from Claire sent to me daily...

Sicknesses, Sicknesses, Go Away....Don't come again another day

Over the last week or so, our family has had their share of sicknesses circulating around. I have to say that we have been very lucky this season so far, but it definitely put some dents in the holiday plans. Last weekend, Papa Terry and Aunt Julie both were inflicted with some sort of flu bug and our Christmas get together has been postponed until post-Christmas. The Weds. before Christmas, Connor was home sick all day with a fever. Good thing I was done with my Christmas shopping, but it did postpone some other activities I had planned that day.

Over the Christmas weekend, I had some major hip pains (pregnancy related) that have prevented a good night's sleep in several days. This in turn has potentially led to me catching the winter crud that Chris had all week since my defenses were down. On Saturday, Brady willingly went to his bed for an afternoon nap. That evening, he seemed to be fine and put on a good show for our visitors. On Sunday morning, while Chris was making breakfast, he disappeared back to bed and took a 2 hour nap. The rest of the day, we cuddled with Brady who had an off/on fever throughout the day.

At this point, hopefully this is behind us. The boys are back at school, daddy is back at work, and mommy has seen her beloved chiropractor for some adjustments. Hopefully the sinus crud will be short-lived as I return to work on Tuesday.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

On Friday night, we celebrated Daddy's 35th birthday with his family. We had it at our house so the boys could run free...and boy did they ever! They were having fun showing Mimi, Papa, Aunt Julie, and Uncle Marx all their geography artwork. It was a nice celebration! Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Anniversary - 10 years down, several more to go!

Last weekend, Chris and I celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary. We had the opportunity to go out for a nice dinner and then we went to see a hilarious movie. Since we hadn't been out in awhile, it was nice just to get out with just the two of us (while the boys had a sleepover at Grandma Darla's).

It's hard to believe that it has already been 10 years, but then again, the years seem to have flown by. Chris and I are very lucky to have found each other and I am especially lucky to have him. He is very good to both me and the boys and plays a strong role in our family. Chris and I also have a lot to point to in the last 10 years...following are just a few! I look forward to many more years with Chris and making memories with our family!

• Two wonderful, toddler boys and one baby on the way
• 3 houses - we survived the first fixer upper and survived not just building 1, but 2 different houses. We also survived the temporary residences in between (one of them with my parents).
• We each completed a 2nd college degree - I got my Master's and he got a 2nd Bachelor's degree (which he had to finish after the boys were born).
• We have went on three cruises - Bahamas, Eastern Caribbean, and Baja. We have also went on several family vacations and hope to go on several more with the kids. We didn't get to vacation much with our families, so we hope to experience vacationing and the various sites across the country through our kids.

Seaton Family (before we are five)

Daddy's New Ride...

For Father's Day, daddy got a new ride...a Razor Scooter that he could push along beside the boys when they were riding their bikes. We thought this would be a great idea for daddy after seeing him toy around Toys R Us on one...of course, we had to get one that was age and weight appropriate.

See them go...don't they look like they are having fun?

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dad's out there! We are very happy to have one of those wonderful Dad's in our own household...Chris is awesome with the boys (and to me also). The boys came home Friday night excited to share their gifts with Daddy. Brady made a fishing rod with a wood fish on the end that says "Daddy, you're a Keeper!" Connor made a picture frame and a book for Daddy...I thought that I would share what Connor and his daddy do though questions that Connor answered in his book.

My Dad and I watch...Penguins.

My Dad and I like to...play Air Hockey.

My Dad and I play...trains (he drew a picture on this page also).

My Dad and I eat...pizza.

My Dad and I go to...Chuck E Cheese (he is actually working on this trip with a reward chart).

My Dad and I read...Goodnight Train.

On Father's Day, the boys let us sleep in for a little bit. I love this age where they just get up and start playing without worrying about us or making 20 demands. I gave Chris a free pass for the day...no honey-dos, no babysitting the boys while I went to yoga, and no grocery shopping. We also got him a Razor Scooter, so the boys are really excited that daddy can ride beside them while they are riding their bikes. That afternoon, we spent the afternoon with Chris's family visiting. The boys had a lot of fun playing in Papa's garage with their cousins. Happy Father's Day Chris! Hope you had a relaxing day!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

The week before Christmas, Daddy always gets to make the rounds for birthday celebrations. This year, Daddy and the boys started out the celebrations on Thursday by going to Papa Terry's for dinner and birthday cake. All the boys had a blast playing with Papa Terry's train set that was set up around the Christmas tree. Also, Connor made sure that he was prepared for the celebrations by making a birthday card for daddy at school that day. On Friday, we went to Mimi & Papa's for a birthday celebration. The boys loved playing with Mimi afterwards and were rather wild.

Below is a picture of daddy's birthday present from mommy and the boys - Yamaha Digital Grand Piano. The boys are really looking forward to hearing daddy play. Connor has already made special requests for "Santa Claus is Coming to Town".

Chris's New Car (and Connor's in 2021)

For over a year, Chris has been talking about trading in his vehicle for a new vehicle since his current vehicle is a stick-shift. However, based on his choice of vehicle and the fact that his car was free and clear, I was not motivated to discuss it further. Over the last couple weeks, Chris has had some leg/hip pain and needed to trade me vehicles. That was all it took to convince me he needed a new vehicle! I drove his car to Montessori and work and I swear I hit every light and I got stuck in Riverside's traffic jam. Not the best situation in a stick-shift. I told Chris he now had my permission to get his new vehicle.

On Saturday, I arranged for Mimi and Papa to watch the boys so that we could go look at vehicles. He still knew what he wanted and when compared to some of his alternatives, it was one of the least expensive of his choices. We went straight to the dealership, asked for my hairdresser's husband (to avoid the aggressive salesmen), and test drove the vehicle. Chris liked it even more after that. We had a deal very quickly - then 3 hours later, we actually got to drive the vehicle home. (If dealerships ever want to make the process more attractive, they need to work on the checkout time. I think we signed more paperwork than when we bought our home. We were even video-taped during the finance discussion!)

Congratulations Chris (and Connor) on your new Toyota Scion XB! We told Connor he was loaning it to daddy for 12 years and then it would be his!

Happy Father's Day!

Today was Father's Day! Unfortunately for daddy, it was also the day we promised the boys we would set up the water table and the new pool. I finally talked daddy into a small 8 ft pool that we could get in with the boys. Not too big, but it is a start. (I already have plans for the 12-15 ft next year). We started out the morning splitting up the family - I took Brady to the doctor due to a rough evening of fever and shivvers. Yep - another ear infection after my theory that we were past this and didn't need to replace the tubes. Daddy took Connor to the grocery store. The remainder of the day was spent outside where the boys played in the water ALL DAY- migrating between the water table, their kiddie pool, the hose, and the big pool that was filling up. By time it was ready, Connor and I were the only 2 that got in and that was a max of 20 minutes! That evening, the grandparents came over for a Father's Day grill out and to see the boys play some more. Hopefully daddy doesn't feel like he did too much work on his special day! Happy Father's Day to a wonderful, supportive dad and husband!