Reese Turns 4

This year Reese got a great surprise on her birthday morning because even our friendly Elf Sam got into the birthday celebration. It added an extra level of excitement to the daily ritual of looking for Sam.  Of course, we didn't need to do much to crank up the excitement level on this day.  Reese was plenty excited for everybody.  She has been able to tell anyone who asks for a while now that her birthday is December 11, and the arrival of the actual day was almost too much for her to take.  In fact, when Reese and Sarah went to Trader Joe's to get some things for dinner she proudly announced to the cashier that it was her birthday, and because Trader Joe's is so fantastic they presented her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  Reese absolutely loved it!

Reese had quite a few ideas about what she wanted for her cake but ultimately settled on Elsa's castle.  If you don't know who Elsa is, then shame on you.  Or just go watch Frozen.  In any case, Sarah once again did an incredible job putting together the perfect cake.  And to make it extra special we gave Reese her birthday present of an Elsa dress and tiara moments before we revealed the cake.  So she was able to hold her Elsa cake while wearing her Elsa outfit.  It was almost too good to be true.

The evening overall was wonderful.  Sharon and Chris joined us for dinner and Reese basked in an evening that revolved around her.  The smile in this picture says it all.  Her big sister was very good throughout and did her best to hold back from opening Reese's presents for her.  Meanwhile, we sat there and tried to figure out how Reese got to be 4 so quickly.  She is already talking about how she is going to be 5.  We can wait on that one.

Giving Thanks in Connecticut

Welcome to Connecticut!  It is hard for us landlocked folks to be so far away from the ocean, so we relish every opportunity we get to see the waves and the salt water whenever we visit either coast.  Reese was clearly happy to be down at the Surf Club on this day.  And we were all excited to be up in New England.

Both Callie and Reese were especially looking forward to spending time with Zoey.  The three of them did everything together and took turns soaking up the attention of any adult willing to give it.  We were happy to see that they were just picking up where they left off after this past summer on the Cape.

Uncle Chris is a great guy for many reasons, but he is particularly wonderful with the little ones in the kitchen.  He loves to have them help him with whatever he is cooking or baking and the girls were all over it.  They spent quite a bit of time working on all the steps involved, from the dough rolling technique to the proper placement and spacing on the cookie sheet.

Education runs in the Balestracci family.  Of course, here Brendan's lesson on cookie theft is more on the naughty side, it is still a very helpful skill to carry forward in life.  And it should be said that both Brendan and his older brother are just as good with their younger cousins as their father is.  We say it every time, but the girls are very lucky to have those two as their older cousins.

Since this trip we stayed with Nana Banana and Sport, Callie and Reese were able to get some alone time with the two of them.  Nothing beats getting to have your grandparents all to yourselves for some good bonding, games, and other assorted activities.

This year, instead of doing a sibling dinner or breakfast, we spent Thanksgiving morning running the Turkey Trot down at Hammonasset.  It's the annual 5 mile road race and it's a great opportunity to earn your turkey dinner even as you get to see all sorts of folks who are back in town for the holiday.  We lucked out because it wasn't too cold.  And with the unfortunate exception of a pulled calf muscle we all survived in one piece.

And while the parents were out running the kids got to hang out with their grandparents.  They make a great looking crew, don't they.

And of course their grandparents are beside themselves with joy to have everyone around.  They get to see Mike and Brendan quite a bit, but having the whole gang together is quite a treat.

The Colorado crew headed back home the day after Thanksgiving, but we still had a few days in town and headed to the Science Museum in Hartford.  We had never been there before and it was a great place to spend a few hours checking things out and being silly.  Reese and Sport loved trying to keep the beach ball up in the air.

John, on the other hand, had a great time in the space portion of the center and took advantage of all the good photo opportunities they made available.  However, the family favorite was a lounging booth where we got to watch different educational space videos on a big screen.  Very cool and very comfortable.

With Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror it was time to turn our attention to Christmas, and the Skonieczny's knew just what we could do to get everyone in the spirit.  In Mystic you can watch Santa arrive via tugboat and if you so desire can get your picture taken with him.  This is not the Skonieczny's first rodeo, and while the kids walked around their grandparents held a pot in line that made sure they would not have to wait long at all.

Our girls were happy to take a picture with Ella, Ethan, and Eli, but were less enthused about taking a picture with this Santa.  We chose not to fight this battle and just allowed the girls to take in the whole experience.  Really, how often do you get to stand on a dock and watch Santa arrive via tugboat.  It was definitely a very New England scene.

And on our last night in town we jumped at the chance to visit Mike at his place of employment, one of the best frozen yogurt joints on the Shoreline. Sarah pushed the boundaries and asked for this photo op behind the counter.  However she compensated Mike well with a nice tip.  It was a great way to end another fun Thanksgiving in Connecticut.

Miscellaneous Fall

On November 1 we were honored to run the Live to Breathe 5K to help raise money to fight lung cancer.  Sarah's former boss Mary was one of the main organizers and she is very passionate about it because earlier that year her younger brother had lost his fight against the disease.  Unfortunately the cause hit even closer to home for us because John's Uncle Tommy had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer.  We felt good about being able to show our support and had a good run on a day that was quite cold and even had a few snow flurries.  Sarah made quite a fashion statement in one of the girls winter hats.  She loves the idea that she can already borrow their clothes.

Fall also marked Callie's second year in the LOGOS program at our church, and that means she helped lead worship in song with what is officially called the cherub choir.  They are quite a cute bunch, and you may not be able to see it in this picture, but Callie takes her singing quite seriously.  She is very focused when she sings and is not smiling or playing to the crowd.  It is still great to see her up there when only a few years ago we wondered if she would ever be willing and able to stand up in front of large groups.

Every now and then a little yard work gets done around here, and for perhaps the first time both Callie and Reese specifically wanted leaves raked just so that they could jump in the pile.  This particular action shot highlights the enthusiasm that Callie had as she threw her whole body at the pile with little regard for how little cushion their might actually be.  While not pictured here, you can trust us when we say that Reese attacked the leaves with equal abandon.

The very first snowfall of any worth this fall made Reese very excited.  She could not wait to get out of the car so that she could play in the snow.  She insisted on building a snowman, but as you can see that just wasn't going to happen.  So instead she had a blast throwing snow up in the air so that it fell down onto her face.  That entertained her for quite some time.

So often Reese acts like Callie's friends are her friends and we feel guilty that she doesn't get to hang out with kids her own age as much.  But her friend Maggie stepped in when she was allowed to bring a friend to her dance class.  Reese was excited to go and they had a great time in their dance outfits.  The two of them are very cute together.

The fall also means Thanksgiving and the potential for awkward elementary school Thanksgiving celebrations.  Or awkward at least if, like John, you don't want to deal with the inappropriate headdresses and lack of proper historical perspective about the event in question.  Fortunately for everyone involved, Callie's class chose to do turkeys and we all enjoyed a fun Thanksgiving lunch at Callie's school.  It 's always fun to get to see Callie in her element at Cassidy.  She feels so comfortable there and it makes us happy.

Speaking of comfortable, who doesn't like to soak their feet every now and then?  Here we see Callie and Murphy relaxing as they take in one of the many spa treatments offered at their friend Elizabeth's birthday party.  This birthday party was simply over the top with a series of luxurious spa experiences.  The girls couldn't get enough of it and giggled throughout each treatment.

If you can see through the mud masks, this is Callie with the birthday girl.  Please take note of the head bands and the robes which were two of the numerous giveaways that Callie came home with.  Thankfully, Callie hasn't asked for this type of treatment at home yet and has yet to request a full spa day after a rough week at school.  She did, however, wear the headband every day for about a week after this party.  She will remember the whole experience for quite some time.

Rites of Fall

Hello there, is it fall? I guess it must be fall because we are at Evans Orchard for one of our annual visits. This marks at least seven consecutive autumn visits to this orchard, and in that span of time it just gets bigger and bigger and crazier and crazier. We have our rituals where we check out the pumpkins, run around the playground, and see if there is anything new. Most years we are successful in avoiding any livestock or animal rides, and this year was thankfully no different.

This picture is a little hard to believe because we have a picture of Callie by the pumpkins here every single year, including when she was only a couple of weeks old.  The pumpkins used to seem so big next to her, and now it is the other way around.  Reese is a little bit more feisty and isn't so easy to capture in these kinds of still life poses.

The biggest new addition to the orchard this year was an enormous air trampoline that was built into the ground and allowed for what seemed like hundreds of kids to jump all over it.  It truly was an unbelievable sight to behold.  The girls could not get enough of it.  However, the jumping did end with an "arm injury" that Reese milked for probably two hours before it was magically healed by some unseen miracle worker.  It was an impressive theatrical performance by the little one that had her parents strategizing about a possible ER visit.  Other than that, the day was filled with fun and we were able to get a couple of pumpkins which was the main goal of the trip anyway.

As the girls get older so many different activities get even more enjoyable, and pumpkin carving is right up there.  Although they don't have the knife skills yet to carve the faces they do like to get their hands into the guts of the pumpkins.  You can tell that they had a lot of fun dealing with all of the slimy pumpkin innards.  And at this point it really looked like they were going to be a big help.

However it was only a matter of time when their silly, goofy sides overtook their work ethic.  Reese found it quite amusing to put the top of the pumpkin on her head and was more than willing to pose with it.  This was the type of activity that took place while John and Sarah were doing their best to bring the pictures drawn by the girls to life.

The end results were received well by Reese and Callie, even if they don't reach the intricate levels of master carvers.  It was nice to get pumpkins out on the front porch a couple of nights before Halloween arrived.  We must say that we embrace jolly pumpkins more than we do scary ones.  We are a treat more than a trick household.

Speaking of treats, who wants a cupcake?  This cute picture here is in part the result of some quality conversations that ensured Reese would be happy wearing one of the hand me down costumes her older sister had worn before.  Let us first say that Reese was very happy with her costume on the night of Halloween.  But we have to admit that in the days leading up to the event we tried to ignore it when she would tell people that she was going to be a cupcake because "that's what Mommy wants me to be."  So much for clever manipulation.

Ironically enough, Callie also embraced the candy theme as well as the hand me down theme this year.  One of Sarah's co-workers mentioned that she had a candy fairy costume and Sarah knew it was just the type of costume Callie would love to wear.  Although we had already purchased a cat costume for Callie, we gladly put it aside for this year so that she could spend the night dreaming of lollipops and other sugary goodness.  The only downfall to this costume quickly came when middle school kids asked Sarah if Callie was dressed up as Katy Perry.  That's when Sarah bit her tongue, sipped the wine in her travel mug, and pointed out that Callie was a candy fairy.

This year Halloween started out raining and chilly and ended up cold and sleeting.  In short, this was the type of night that we carried an umbrella and expected the girls would want to go home quickly.  Much to our surprise our girls are willing to tough out quite a bit when the prize is candy.  Any time Reese mentioned she was cold we would ask if she wanted to get any more candy and her eyes would light up and the cold weather would be forgotten.

And because of their persistence the night ended with quite a sizable amount of booty.  The activities following our journey through the neighborhood included the traditional sorting and bartering.  And because it was Friday, we then we topped it all off by watching a movie.  All in all, it was a great Halloween.

The Season of the Shark

After an absence of one season, Callie decided that she wanted to play soccer again.  John decided that he would enjoy helping out with the team and signed up to be an assistant coach.  As it turned out, no other parent signed up to coach, so John ended up being the head coach of the Sharks, a team of girls all 8 and under.  It was quite an experience to say the least.  Fortunately, it was a very good experience for both the player and her father the coach.

It is a bit of an understatement, however, to say that the season was also a bit challenging.  Of eleven players on the team there were probably six or seven who had never played soccer before, and the lack of experience showed in the 0-10 record we accumulated.  Although the record does not show it, the coach and all the players grew throughout the season as a team and most importantly, they had a lot of fun.  The main emphasis every week was to make sure the girls had a good attitude, tried hard, and learned a little about the game.

At the beginning of the season, games resembled the beehive formations of the U-6 league, but by game ten the girls were showing a bit more skill and discipline on the field so that at times it actually looked like they were playing positions and not just running around.  With the spring season just months away signs point to Callie and John making another run with the Sharks.  John has his pair of shark-embroidered shorts ready to go.

Family Photos

For the first time since Reese was born we finally got around to having family pictures taken.  If truth be told, we tried this about three years ago when Reese had just turned one, but Callie wanted nothing to do with it.  So this time around we bribed both of the girls with candy and silly string, bought a couple of cute dresses, and headed out to the UK Arboretum.  We had high hopes but it was a cold and grey day, so we didn't know how things would turn out.

The goal of the photo shoot was to get at a minimum, one family photo for our Christmas card and potentially something we could hang up in our house. The photography we hired for the job was named Tracy, and she turned out to be great. The girls warmed up to her quickly and she had a lot of good ideas. Fortunately, the Arboretum also has a lot of great options for backgrounds and general scenery. Callie has been having to appease her parents for the past seven years to take pictures and she did a great job.  On the other hand, Reese was giving it her best shot to ensure she would get the promised treats in the end.

This did not end up as our Christmas card photo, but it was definitely in the running.  Although it was fall the Arboretum was still displaying a variety of colors that made some of the spots look like spring.  Here we did our best to appear to be your average Lexington family caught strolling through the garden on a fall day.  Some of us did a better job than others of looking casual.

This is one of Sarah's favorite photos, John caught between his two girls.  Callie and Reese also enjoyed getting the chance to stand up on the bench and be taller than their Dad for a change.

As we alluded to earlier, Reese did her best to cooperate so that she could have fun with the silly string and eat some candy when all the photos were done.  However, she has some work to do before her photo smile looks as natural as her true impish grin.  Still, this is a pretty cute picture of her.  It's always amazing when we can capture an image of her standing still.

So after about 50 minutes of posing and smiling, it was time to reward the girls for their efforts.  Out came the silly string and the game was on.  For better or worse John was the chosen target for most of the string, but he didn't mind too much.  The bigger issue was having to pick up the silly string off the ground so that we did not conclude our photo shoot with littering.

The first missing tooth

Callie's birthday happened to be only the first indication that she was growing older.  The second big indicator appeared at the very end of that weekend.  After months of wiggling and after weeks of nagging by her parents about it, Callie finally managed to put aside her fears and allowed her mother to give a little tug and remove her first baby tooth.  Although there were immediate tears they were quickly followed by squeals of joy.  The emotions that a lost tooth can evoke are quite amazing.  She was so incredibly proud of it and we were struck by the fact that she is getting older every single day.

There were several things that needed to happen once the tooth popped out. The first was to send a text to her teacher Ms. Wood to tell her to be ready to sing the tooth song on Monday morning in class.  The second was to write a note to the tooth fairy to include with her tooth.  Callie was very particular and wanted to ensure that the tooth fairy left her tooth.  We are happy to report that the tooth fairy obliged and even left Callie $2 and a note of her own.  Callie was thrilled to receive the correspondence and cannot wait to lose another tooth or two.

Callie's 7th Birthday

This year Callie decided that she wanted to have a birthday party with her friends to celebrate turning 7.  However, we also needed to do our traditional birthday dinner with the Chrismans, which this year included an ice cream pie because she was going to get the homemade treat treatment from Sarah at the kids' party.  Reese was just as excited as Callie about the whole evening.

Among the gifts Callie received was this purple bike helmet from her parents.  The helmet was intended to indicate that a bicycle was also part of the package, but we will need to go to the store with her to get it.  Unfortunately the stars have not yet aligned and instead of getting a bike in the fall she will be hitting the road with a new set of wheels when spring arrives.  Fortunately, she has shown a great deal of maturity in dealing with the enforced delayed gratification from her parents.

The day of the kid's party finally arrived and Sarah was ready to display her fine work.  The theme of the party was cats and dogs, and instead of presents Callie asked her friends to bring donations to the animal shelter.  The decor also included pictures made by Callie and Ella of cats and dogs and you can see that we even made dog cupcakes and puppy chow mix as giveaways.

It was a very chilly day, in fact the coldest day of the fall at that point so it was a good thing that we had a ton of activities planned. We had set a schedule that gave all the girls little time to sit around and feel the cold air. It started with a relay race that included hula hooping, a toy dog toss, and a whole lot of running. We had three teams to represent the three general origin of the friends in attendance - Team Cassidy, Team Almost Home, and Team First Presbyterian. It was great though, because all of the girls interacted and seemed to have a good time.

The next activity on the agenda was a photo scavenger hunt throughout Ecton Park.  Each team had twelve pictures that they had to identify and locate within the park and then they had to take a picture with all the members of the team in it at that location.  It was great to see the girls running all over the park, laughing and being creative.  We had to limit ourselves for this post, but this picture gives you a sense of how it all went.  And yes, Reese did the whole thing because, as usual, she sees Callie's friends as her friends too.

Before the picture taking was over we did manage to get one picture of the whole crew.  It is quite amazing how tough it can be to get sixteen or so girls to look in one direction and smile.

Callie sure has been blessed to establish such great friendships with so many different girls from all of her activities.  We can only hope that this continues to be the case in the years ahead.

For example, here to the right we have Callie with Maddie, who she has pretty much known since they were both three months old.  Then there are the Preston twins, Harper and Kennedy, who, along with Landry, are all buddies from kindergarten.  They are a fun bunch who love to be goofy and typically have a lot to say.

And then we have Callie with Vivie Ann and Murphy, who are two longstanding friends from church.  We have quite a few pictures of these three girls together over the past five years or so, and it is amazing to see their friendships continue to grow even as their social schedules get more hectic.  Our hope is that this picture will be duplicated at their high school graduations.  Time will tell.

The party was certainly a success and everyone had a great time.  And Callie was able to collect quite a sizable donation of goods for the Lexington Humane Society.  We made an outing to their office the day after the party so that we didn't have bags of dog food hanging around the house.  It felt good to donate so much but we all had to admit that the place was a little loud and it did not smell like roses.

There was time for one last picture, however, and since it was fall we were able to have the girls jump in the leaves in front of the building. Reese in particular had been wanting to jump in a pile of leaves for some time, and since John wasn't going out of his way to rake the ones in our yard, this seemed like the perfect opportunity.