Happy Easter!

It's a tad delayed - but then there's always a lot going on here - so I blog when I can. Easter Sunday is just over one week past and the boys are still talking about the fun they had with their cousins and we're still also parceling out one Easter basket candy per day or two. I tried to put our Easter decorations away, but Austin in particular really enjoys the musical stuffed bunnies we've collected from Granny over the years - so in an effort to continue to see him dance everyday after work/school when he turns one on - we'll ride out this holiday just a tad longer.


Easter Sunday the boys woke to find their baskets on the floor of their bedroom - and they didn't think we could hear them trying to eat as much candy as they could while we were still "sleeping". We let them sneak some - then got up and confiscated the baskets until the early morning sugar rush wore off. We headed to Mass which is always an ordeal. Even if - and I do mean IF - the twins are decently behaved, Austin treats church as a personal speedway. I mean, what else are slanted, descending aisles for if not for an ideal pathway down which to gain speed - in front of a rapt audience no less. We try to keep him focused on the aisles at the back of church - but needless to say one of us is always up and on the move following behind a toddling runaway.


After Mass we went home to hang out for a bit before Paul's cousins and their families came over for an afternoon Easter Egg Hunt in our backyard and then a fine dinner of Honey Baked Easter Ham (yum!). We were happy to have Ashley & Tate Westbrook (Ashley's dad is Granny's oldest brother Tom) and their three kids: Holly, Cate & Thomas, and Heather Jo Ashton (HJ's dad is Granny's other older brother Mike) and her two daugthers: Taylore & Giselle.
If you're keeping count, that's 5 adults and 8 kids - so outnumbered no doubt. But bear in mind that 7 of the 8 kids (all save for Austin) are between 4-7 years old. This makes for such a great time - always - but especially on a holiday that revolves around candy (after church, of course).


We kept the kids inside while Paul & Tate hid a ton of eggs in the backyard and we went out to get our cameras ready for the official opening of the fence gate and the onslaught of kids and also to let Austin roam about and accidentally stumble (literally) upon an egg or two himself.
Paul opened the gate and it was like the running of the bulls. Grade schoolers everywhere the eye could see (only 7 of them, but at the pace they were going it was like cockroaches scattering when the lights go on - they were everywhere - seemingly all at once).

It was hilarious - and we were blessed with no rain and a slightly chilly but very sunny day.


Sugar rush #2 of the day for the Dean boys before dinner - so even though the kids sat at the table, they didn't eat much - which was fine by the adults.
















It was a great day with family and fun
and we hope you had as wonderful an Easter as we did!

Lovin' the Grandparents

I'm a bit tired tonight - with March Madness and all - but felt the need to show some Grandparent love after chatting with both families today. Our boys just love their grandparents. Also thought it was a good chance to share more pics and less commentary (a bonus when I'm tired).

Granny (Paul's mom) was here in January for a visit and the boys love to go check out museums and monuments with her. We switch up which museums we visit, and this trip realized that the boys have never been to the old Air & Space Museum on the National Mall. We always drive out by Dulles Airport to the new one (called Udvar-Hazy) which is built inside a hangar and can display much larger craft - like a Concorde as well as one of the space shuttles. Anyway, we figured it was time to take them to the more vintage museum and, of course, they loved it...



For Christmas, Grandma & Papa Pete (my parents) got the boys a subscription to a kids magazine called "High Five" - a mag for a slightly younger audience than their sister pub "Highlights". The boys pour through the magazine each month and they were intrigued by a recipe they saw for "Breakfast Banana Split". So taken were they by the thought of this in the morning, the day they knew I was going grocery shopping, T.J. carefully wrote down each item shown on the magazine's list of ingredients for me to take to the store. With so much effort on their part for me to buy the makings of the dish, I had to do it. So, Friday night I prepped the materials and Saturday morning before hitting swim lessons, they helped me make their special meal - it was a hit!



Austin loves his grandparents too - some of the very few people he'll still let cuddle with him as he enters into his super independent phase. These aren't shots of him with his grandparents, but they are gratuitous shots of him just being cute that I felt necessary to include.


And not to be ignored, Reilly at age 9 still scampers about vying to pull some of our attention away from her 3 brothers. And while Austin would rather roam around freely than cuddle with us - he's more than happy to snuggle with his best friend: his yellow, slobbery, tolerant pooch! Most of the time, she returns the love - though we're not sure if it's because the adoration is mutual, or because Austin's the most likely Dean to have the time to truly dedicate to her and these days she'll take what she can get!

Teenagers or Just Tykes with 'Tude?

So over the past few weeks our boys (well, not Austin - though I'm sure it's just a matter of time for him) have been working hard to see how far they can push us and what our limits are as far as what behavior of theirs we'll tolerate.

In fact, just last week we were taking a family walk after work/school and T.J. was unhappy with the route we were taking and I got the first (though I'm sure not last) "MOM, YOU'RE RUINING MY LIFE!"

Paul and I were shocked right into fits of laughter, which then prompted T.J. to then yell "It's NOT funny!" He's wrong - it was hilarious. When we stopped laughing at his angst - again, mind you it was over the DIRECTION we were walking down the road for a 15 minute stroll before dinner - we tried to tell him how ridiculous he was being. He was in no condition to listen to us, but if nothing else it gave us a glimpse of what the future may bring.


Tristan is not immune to anger fits himself. Just tonight he did something so appalling (spit at T.J. during an argument - again, a VERY important argument: whose book got read first at bedtime) that he got immediately ejected from the family and sent straight to bed. Well, then he got even more upset because now he wasn't going to get a bedtime book at all - so he started crying uncontrollably.

The next thing I know, he's sneaking out of his room - I try sending him back, but what's that he's done? Oh yeah, he's gotten himself so worked up that he threw up in his bed. Nothing like a kid's attitude causing the parents more work. He even goes so far as to try to blame me for making him cry which then led to the vomiting. Unfortunately he leaves out the whole spitting incident as the true catalyst.

It seems as though our dynamic duo is 5 going on 15.

Suppose Austin's a devil in training and not far behind with his incessent need to look straight at us while tossing his food off his high chair tray. At his sitter's he's even taken to stripping his crib of all toys, blankets, sheets, and even the mattress itself - so he can jump up and down on the wooden frame instead of taking a nap. Look - you can totally see the deviousness in his eyes!


Ah, one day at a time...

Lost Tooth, Downtown Visit to Daddy and Football Love

T.J. lost his first tooth Wednesday at school - outside no less. It came home to us in a ziploc complete with a bit of mulch! It's been wiggly for awhile, and he's been messing with it in hopes that it would come out. He's even asked me to pull it out a few times. The tooth fairy left him a silver dollar - which he asked to hold onto, but - money savvy man that he is - he asked to have 4 quarters to spend to equal the coin that he wanted to keep. T.J. is fascinated by all vending machines - and he promptly took his quarters to buy - not candy - but a Sprite. Can you tell his mean parents don't let him drink soda? Anyway, here he is showing off the empty space where his bottom middle tooth once was:


You may recall that Tristan lost 2 teeth the day before Thanksgiving 2005 - however, that was NOT a natural loss of teeth - so T.J.'s is quick to tell you that his loss is still a first for the house. (Tristan's were knocked out by T.J.'s head - when the two collided on a school playground).

The association Paul works for (American Public Transportation Association) had their annual legislative conference in DC last weekend and into this week. He had to stay downtown and the boys love nothing more than trying to trash a hotel room. Sooo...on Sunday I gathered up the crew and drove downtown to invade Daddy. As expected, the boys thoroughly enjoyed his hotel room and the ice machine, hotel hallway, etc. What I didn't count on was how much Austin would also like running around the room - particularly looking at himself in the full-length mirror. The boy does like to gaze at himself!

After the demo crew grew weary of a confined space - we walked a few blocks over to take them to the American Museum of Natural History. We were just there in January - but some things never get old to five-year-olds - namely dinosaurs and mammals! Here's a pic of the three boys hiding in the "den" - it's a little hiding spot in the mammal area for kids to crawl into - apparently used mostly to frustrate parents who are trying to get their kids to move on...


Finally, it should come as no surprise that Austin is enamored with sports balls of all kinds - baseballs, basketballs, soccer balls, etc. When he sees one, he becomes somewhat of a savant in that his total and complete focus is trained solely on the ball - and getting it into his hands. This morning while walking to my car to go to his sitter's, he spied a stray nerf football that the twins were playing with yesterday afternoon. He grabbed it - and flat-out refused to let it go - so he held onto it all the way to the sitter's, then into her house, and then while I took his jacket off - and still when I walked out the door while he went into the kitchen for breakfast. I bet he still has it with him when I pick him up tonight!

Inaugural Blog!

As I'm finally gearing up to draft my first blog entry - ever - I get a notice from the site that my page has been flagged as a possible spam blog. What?! I barely comprehend enough about blogs to muddle through the set-up phase and get one going - and I get flagged? What is suspicious about a family blog - would someone lie about having three boys and a busy life? Look, first blog, and already I digress...

The inaugural blog posting is somewhat delayed due to my page being "verified" as legit - but story is still fresh in my mind, so no worries. So last Monday I pick up Austin from his sitter, Miss Sunita, and she hands me a very full diaper bag. Seems he soiled his sheets and blanket during naptime - which is somewhat unusual. As she elaborates, it turns out that Austin is taking after his Uncle Eric already...



Now Austin is a fan of removing his pants whenever possible - particularly in his crib. And if we let him run around in just a diaper, he tries to pull that off as well - the little man just prefers nakedness. Well, apparently he's a fan of fingerpainting as well...can you see where I'm going with this? During naptime, he removed his pants, then his diaper, proceeding to drop a load on the sheets, then use it as a medium for fingerpainting - all over the crib!! Very remniscent of a prank pulled by a very young Uncle Eric - I believe when Aunt Marty was watching him. I apologized profusely to Sunita, and was secretly thankful that he hadn't tried that trick at home just yet.



Needless to say, he is now sporting a snapped onesie under all pants - extra layer of protection!

And, just to close out this first posting with a nod to our Dynamic Duo, here are the ski school pics from the slopes at Seven Springs, PA. (The picture at the top of this posting is also from our ski trip - we don't get that sort of white stuff at our house!)

Tristan (top) & TJ (bottom) strike a pose: