Some firsts (after years of no posts)...

So two and a half years since the last post is probably some sort of record!  Like a lot of people, we got used to communicating via Facebook and the blog took a backseat- well really it just took a dive right out of the car, clearly. : )  But a break from Facebook has left some family members without a way to see milestones for the kids so I'm posting.  They both began school this week- Marin started Kindergarten and Seaton began T/Th 3s preschool.

 He's trying to show that it's his 1st day of school by holding up a number one.  This was today- 9/3/13.

 Marin was quite happy to see him go while I was trying to hold back tears.  I'm so excited for him and glad he'll have the same wonderful experiences Marin had but it's still hard to watch our baby boy grow up.

 We are beginning our home school adventures with Marin this year.  She's in Kindergarten and we began our school yesterday, 9/2/13.  Yes it was technically a holiday but Stephen was home to be a part and it only took a couple of hours in the morning so we went ahead.  Overall the day went well.  She was a little sad a few times when she thought she was missing the fun her Daddy and Seaton were having but we worked through it and hopefully every day will get better.

 Stephen helped me download a tracing font for her handwriting practice so she started the day writing this!

 We're using Five In A Row (literature-based curriculum) and beginning with the story of Madeline which takes place in Paris- we're both going to learn a lot. : ) 

 And these pictures of Seaton are from Meet the Teacher day last Friday but some of them were too cute to leave out.

 They are starting with a dinosaur theme- they clearly know the way to our boy's heart!

Massaro Family 2013

Merry Christmas 2011!

I'm fairly certain the few remaining people who read this blog also receive a Christmas card from us so these pictures will be a bit reduntant. : )
But we still want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Bless others as you've been blessed, that's our prayer for the rest of this year and for 2012. Love to all!

Trick-or-Treat 2011

We had a wonderful Halloween! Marin was a fairy butterfly something or other. Seaton was a train engineer (for all of 20 minutes). I tried to think of the simplest "costume" possible where normal clothes were required and he still wasn't having it. But we got a few pictures, went to the houses on our little cul-de-sac and called it a night. This is the first year we've stayed home for trick-or-treating and I know now that I do not need a lot of candy. I bought 4 bags and 2 people came to the door! And every house we went to tried to empty their collection into my kids' bags because they weren't getting many people either. Strange! Oh well, there are worse things in life than extra candy.

Happy Halloween! Ready for Thanksgiving now!

Marin's 4th Birthday Splash Bash!

When Marin learned to swim we thought a pool party would be tons of fun for her birthday. And it was- for the kids! We won't be having any more pool parties until all the party-goers are proficient swimmers. : ) In spite of the constant need for "lifeguards" every one had a great time and we were all exhausted by the end of the afternoon.


"motor boat, motor boat, go so fast- motor boat, motor boat, step on the gas!!!"



my big birthday girl!

Marin and Seaton relaxing by the pool before the festivities began.

Her cupcakes came out really well (so says the baker). I used peach rings as floats and put a teddy graham in the peach ring so it looked like they were floating. They were cute!

Meet the Teacher & First day of preschool

So like all my pictures and posts, these are reversed. The second picture is from Meet the Teacher Day when Marin got to "play" in the centers, meet her new teachers and some friends and get comfortable with the classroom. She was immediately comfortable in the dress-up center!

And more than excited on her very first day. She looked so cute and grown up.

fancy new camera = no new pictures

So Stephen thought it would be a great idea for me to get a fancy new camera for my birthday. Well the result has been that he's the only one who's using it! I'm afraid to take it places so I'm missing a lot of our recent family memories. I'll try to do better. I did, however, include some fun pictures of us and the kids until I can catch up on recent activity around here.



Sweet Marin is going to be 4 next month. We've had a busy, fun-filled summer and we are ALL looking forward to her two days at preschool starting next week! In July we visited a pediatric ophthalmologist for her and she was diagnosed with amblyopia and esotropia (essentially a lazy eye). She wears a patch 3 hours a day and we work on activities that cause her to track with that eye- coloring, computer games, television (her fav). Sometimes I even put a patch on my glasses and we play pirates- she's being a real trooper!

I just noticed as I was typing that both the pictures of our kids are in their highchair/booster seats. It's about the only time they are still enough for me to snap pictures. : ) Seaton's destroying what looks to be cake or something here. He is definitely a "treat monster"- not the greatest eater in general but when treats come around he's a terrific eater. He is an incredibly active little boy and he is so funny and sweet! That is until last night when he started climbing out of his crib...yikes!!! I have a feeling we are going to have some long nights/nap times ahead of us for a while. But other than that, he is healthy and wonderful and I think we are going to keep him. : )

Here is a rare moment of them loving on each other. Marin has to be careful where she sits/lays because Seaton won't be far behing trying to sit/lay on her!

stay-cation

I heard something recently about people vacationing close to home because of rising gas prices. Well lucky for us we live about 1 hour away from one of the best vacation spots around - the BEACH!!! We spent last week there and had a wonderful time. It was so different this year since Seaton was just a baby last year and now he's a walking, talking little man. And Marin is a fish so we spent much of the time just trying to keep up with her. I know every summer will be different and it's so fun to watch our family grow and change.