Heather and Decker visit

Before Heather and Decker arrived for their spring break visit (where it was still winter), Will potty-trained! Hats-off to one of the easiest kids for us to potty-train! I was sure it was going to be difficult, and so I kept putting it off. What a pleasant surprise that he's "taken to it" very easily.

Despite the "late winter" snow storm soon after H & D arrived - inches fell!! - we trekked out to the Plaza and Museum at the end of the week. It was cold but most of the snow was gone! 

Will was attached to Decker always.

 March Madness at the Sheehan house looks like this:

Will's 3rd birthday

Will's third birthday marks the end of our "birthday season." We had a great celebration, a few days late because we were at Camp of the Woods on his actual birthday (February 17), and Peter and Myra joined us! Since Will doesn't eat any meals the rest of us would consider a real dinner, I made Parmesan Chicken and Rice - a family favorite. One thing we can count on, though, is that Will eats chocolate! So, we repeated Daddy's cake - Chocolate Sheet Cake from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook. 

 He wanted a helicopter cake - just a bit more than I was willing to undertake. But I did make a helicopter landing pad, which the helicopter missed! :) 

 Will has enjoyed blowing out candles throughout the birthday season, and finally it was his own cake and candles!

Camp of the Woods President's Day Weekend 2013

What a treat it was for our family to spend President's Day weekend at Camp of the Woods in Speculator, NY. We think this weekend had some of the best weather yet, at least Saturday did! Once again, our family was able to rest well and spend really quality time together, making memories. 

One of our favorite places: the tubing hill! 

We had the hill to ourselves for a long time on Saturday! 

Anna Kate was the only one who time after time pulled her own tube up the hill (and sometimes someone else's tube, too)!

 Will wanted to run down the tubing hill and climb back up it, rather than using the path. 

 Will walking up the tubing hill

 Anna Kate and I had a lot of fun riding together down the hill!

 Everyone loves the tubing hill!

Will even rode all by himself this year!

 And, of course, a sleigh ride on Sunday, which was frigidly cold and windy. But who can say no to a horse-drawn sleigh ride? Not us! We bundled up and enjoyed ourselves, even getting the thrill of experiencing a sleigh-drawn "donut" in the parking lot.

We were very surprised to come to a house that was just over freezing - 36. We were thankful! Much colder and we would have had a big, huge mess on our hands, since our furnace malfunctioned over the weekend while we were gone. So, our pipes had (miraculously) not frozen - a warm February weekend had saved us! Dave figured it out quickly, but it was slow to warm up our house. Thus, the picture below: 

It's Birthday Season

It's birthday season around here. Dave's 35th was on January 26. The girls planned balloons and signs as a surprise for him, and we had a quiet evening together as a family (just the way Dave likes it). 

He picked a great meal: Chik-fil-A copy cat sandwiches, chips, salad and Pioneer Woman's Texas Sheet Cake. 

Will loves birthday candles. He has to take a turn blowing out everyone's candles.

Lucy's 7th birthday was less than a week later. We had a great celebration of our little Lucy's life. She was only an infant when we moved to Albany, so her life definitely marks time for me. She is growing in to a lovely young girl. She has a tender and sensitive and generous heart. She feels deeply and expresses excitement in big ways. She is working hard on school and becoming a stronger reader and doing well at math. She loves to draw and color and paint and make things and loves, loves, loves taking care of her dolls. She still loves horses and can create quite the playmobil fairy village. 

Of course, our dear friends Peter and Myra celebrated with us.