Christmas - 2010

We had our honey baked ham dinner on Christmas eve with a tastey sweet potatoe casserole, green beans, and Jane's delicious apple sauce! After dinner the O'Connor's, Bill, Julie, Diana, and Zack, came over for cookies!! We had fun visiting and then headed outside to feed the reindeer. The boys were pretty excited but we were amazed at how well they went to bed - lights out and all were quiet! (I can remember lying in bed as a kid not being able to fall asleep due to excitement!) It was an early morning - I think we were downstairs around 6am. The boys were pleased - Zach with the guitar and computer, Jake with buzz and woody, and lucas with his motorcylces!!

Eric and I were spoiled with a new Keurig coffee machine!

December 25

Christmas week - 2010

Oma, Papa, and Tubby arrived the Tuesday before Christmas to enjoy some time with boys prior to the big day. We took full advantage of our time and fit in a lot of fun adventures!! Wings at Fat Heads, T ride downtown, lunch at Primanti Bro's, neighborhood hikes with Tubby, movies, and a lot of family time by the fire - FUN!

December 23

Michigan

Over the weekend we traveled to Michigan to celebrate the life of Eric's grandmother, Emeline Falls, or as the boys called her, "GG Falls".

Click the below picture to view the album of photos.

December 19 - Michigan

heinz breakfast with Santa 2010

We got back from our Thanksgiving trip and jumped right into Christmas mode with a Santa Breakfast at Heinz! The boys enjoyed the activities and it helped us all get in the Holiday spirit!

Thanksgiving in Texas

Yes, the Falls Five traveled on the busiest travel weekend of the year!! Well, we actually avoided most people by flying out on Turkey Day and returning the Tuesday after but it was still a major undertaking....and the boys did GREAT! We were able to spend the weekend at Andrea & Tony's home in Prosper, TX with Opa, Yaya, Andrea, Tony, Cole, Sienna, Jonathan, and Nina! It was great to be all together and also to enjoy the constant sunshine (although the temp was quite chilly!). Lots of memories....ice skating for the first time, bowling for the first time, taking walks/bike rides, checking out the park, playing in the back yard....FUN! Thank you to the Isaacs for hosting!!

Click the picture below to view an album of photos from our trip.

November 30

Hilton visit

It had been too long since we had headed back to Opa and Yaya's for a visit so we drove up for a long weekend and had a blast visiting farms, taking walks, celebrating Halloween, our anniversary (#6), and Yaya's birthday!! Enjoy the pictures from our action packed yet relaxing weekend!

October 26

bike ride

It was a crisp morning and we decided to pack the bikes up and find some flat land to take the boys out for a ride. It was great - Eric and I were able to get a little exercise and the guys all did well staying on the side of the road and following our "safety rules"!

Family Day at Yecks Farm

We met some friends at Yeck Farm for a picnic and hayride on Saturday afternoon and we lucked out with another beautiful Fall day. The kids all had fun and we went home with some great pumpkins (and carmel/peaunut covered apples!).

October 16 - Yeck Farm

Zachary - Soccer

Something clicked about mid-season this Fall and Zach tasted a glimpse of victory as he scored his first goal! Ever since he has been hungry for more and we have enjoyed watching him play on Saturday mornings.

Stamps

Yaya & Aunt Joni's hidden treasure had some new crafts - we had fun with the stamps on a rainy afternoon! Thanks!

The Farm

We went on Zachary's first field with St. Paul's - The Farm! It was a very small farm but the class was able to feed the cows apples, sit on the tracker, watch them stack hay in the barn, pump the well, ring the bell, and check out an outhouse!! Fun stuff!

October 15-

261 Reunion - October 2010

Over Columbus Day weekend we were excited to host a 261 Reunion. Opa and Yaya came from Hilton, Aunt Joni from Seattle, Uncle Joe & Aunt Jutta from Germany, and Cousins Ron, Katja, Ryan, and Lisa from Irwin, PA. It was a perfect Fall day and we had fun visiting and celebrating birthdays!

For those who don't know - Yaya, Joni, and Joe grew up at 261!! It was their first time back in 3 years and the first time seeing the house since we had made changes.

261 Reunion - October 2010

Other photos from the weekend:

October 11

September 24, 2010 - 3 year olds!

Hard to believe but our babies turned 3! They had a great birthday with Oma visiting and were to surprised to find baloons, bikes and a basketball hoop waiting for them when they woke up!

We spent the morning testing the new bikes and then met up with some friends at Jumpin Castle for a little party in the afternoon. Overall it was a great day!


They visited the doctor for their well-visit. No surprise - Jake is 5 lbs heavier and 2 inches taller than Lucas....he was in the 90+ percentile for both height and weight. Luke was 31 pounds and 38 inches.

September 24

Jumpin Castle - 9.24.10

new trees @ 261

This month we purchased (with a birthday contribution from Oma and Papa) three new trees for our yard. Two Cleveland Select Pear trees for the back and 1 purple plum for the front.

I thought it was so sweet - Eric had a tree at his house growing up and he had talked about in the past how it would be a nice idea for the boys to each have a tree to "grow with". SO...below are the pictures of each boy with their new tree!

OBX Beach Vacation 2010

In August we took a road trip to Corolla, NC with our cousins Jane, Doug, Jeff and Oma! We drove to Herndon, VA this first night and then finished the drive on Saturday morning. We checked into "Heaven on Seven" and were pleasantly surprised by the accommodations we could call "home" for the week. We had picture perfect weather as we waited for Hurricane Earl to determine his “path” up the east coast. Every day we went to the beach and sat by the pool wondering how it could be so beautiful, with no clouds in the sky, as a hurricane was headed near. We made the most of our week but decided to pack our bags Wednesday night as they raised the alert from a category 3 to category still not sure of where “Earl” was going to land. Thursday morning we left at 4am and received a call at 10am that there was a mandatory evacuation!!! We were thankful to have had the head start as traffic would have been awful. So, long story short, it was great while it lasted!!! We will do it again…..but maybe NOT during hurricane season!!!

Notes from the trip:

Zach and Jake swam alone in the pool (wearing the frog and the duck)
Lucas did not enjoy the beach and would not go near the ocean
Zach enjoyed jumping in as long as the water didn't go above his head
Jake had little fear
Lucas LOVED the kiddie pool where he could stand. He would "dive" in and get his face wet and splash all around
Bike rides were fun - we rented a trailer for the little guys
Dinners out were good but had a difficult time finding places
Jake slept on the top bunk all week with no problems
Jake was Doug's sidekick
Granzy did NOT fall in the hot tub




Below are some group shots and an album – enjoy!

August 31-2

Pirates Game Adventure - Friday 8/21

Pirates game 8.21

Eye on the Pie (Lucas)

A "food fight" broke out in the basement between Zachary, Lucas, Jacob and our neighbor and Lucas ended up getting hit with a wooden piece of pizza! Below are the results.... We took him to the eye doctor to make sure everything was okay....and luckily it is just a bad shiner!! (just in time for the first week of school!)

Pre School 2010

This year all three boys will be going to the same preschool. Zach will go to the "4-day 4's" Tuesday - Friday and Jake and Luke will be 2-day 3's on Tuesday and Thursday. The great thing about the arranagement is that drop off and pick up will be at the same time/ same place!! (selfish Mom!)

Below is a picture of the boys on the stoop before "visiting day". On visiting day we all got to go to school together and meet all of the new friends, check out the classrooms, and see the teachers.



The first official day without Mom was the test! I had thought that we would have no problems....J&L have Ms. Joan, who was Z's teacher last year, and the room, etc. was all very familiar to them. The boys and I brought Zach to his room first.....no problem - Zach barely said goodbye (sniff sniff). Jake and Luke led the way to their room...but as we approached the room Jake's grip kept getting tighter and tighter!! Before I knew it - Lucas was in the room playing and Jake was in my arms crying.....yikes! Ms. Joan quickly peeled him off and scooted me out the door....and two minutes later I peaked in the window to see Jake playing in the sand.

Below is a picture from the first week....Jake & Luke were more interested in showing off their backpacks!



Below is a picture of Zach's class and also of Zach and his friend Dylan. Dylan and Zach were in the same class last year.