The Caruso Clan

Dog Heaven

2010-12-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

This week we said goodbye to our four-legged pal, Basie. He was such an awesome family dog and will be greatly missed, but it was time to let him go. He outlived his original prognosis (he was diagnosed with mouth cancer last fall) by a year so we feel fortunate for that extra time we had with him.

Miles said to a family friend just this morning that "Basie is in dog heaven playing with Boots."

Well said, Miles.

Visiting the Big Guy

2010-12-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

Miles loved seeing Santa and filling him in on his wish list.

Jilly did not share his enthusiasm.

National Boards

2010-11-20T09:22:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that we now have two National Board certified teachers in the Caruso household. After two+ years, I found out yesterday that I passed! More than it being a reflection on my teaching abilities, I am proud of the fact that I saw it through to completion. Believe me, there were MANY times along the way I thought about just giving up.

Thank you to all our friends and family who have supported me through this long, crazy process. I couldn't have done it without you!

Boys and their toys

2010-11-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

Vince is pretty excited that Miles is finally big enough to have toys that are fun for both of them to play with. A couple days ago they were out exploring the neighborhood with remote control cars. This morning they built (well, Vince built while Miles watched) some sort of Star Wars lego vehicle. (You can see how technical I get on that one!)

It's really fun to see them have this guy time together.

Starting the process

The finished product.

Happy, happy boy!

Five Years Old

2010-11-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

Miles turned 5 on the 5th of November. He enjoyed several days of celebrations--birthday festivities at Barb's on Friday, his official birthday party on Saturday, and treats with his classmates on Monday. It was the birthday that just kept going!

It's hard to believe that we have a five year old now. Miles amazes us daily with his memory for details and his enjoyment of learning. He loves being a big brother (most of the time) and his favorite things these days include watching "How to Train your Dragon," anything Star Wars, legos, and GeoTrax. He's really blossoming socially in pre-K and we're glad we elected to give him another year before starting kindergarten. We feel very lucky to be the parents of such a great little guy!

Halloween!

2010-11-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

A spider and a bumblebee for the celebration at Barb's.

Our bumblebee turned into Nemo for trick-or-treating because it was a lot warmer. Both kids had a great time and Miles is already planning on being spider again next year.

Halloween preparations

2010-11-11T18:05:00.000-08:00

Miles was really into decorating for Halloween this year. He made the Frankenstein pumpkin at Barb's (daycare) and the spider here at home. He was also pretty adamant that we should have Halloween lights up...thankfully Grandma Louise had a few extra strings of orange lights to send our way!

Overdue update

2010-10-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it's been over a month since we last posted anything, but we'll chalk it up to the craziness of a new school year.

Vince is off and running at Shorecrest. The commute in the morning takes him about 35 minutes (not too shabby!) but the drive home lasts anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours (YUCK!). He has three football games down and two to go. And, for the first time in 9 years, will probably not have to take the band to football playoffs. The students, families, and staff have all been very welcoming. Overall, it's been a good change and he's enjoying himself.

My teaching assignment changed a little this year too. I now have two extra preps and am teaching 8th grade again for the first time in 10 years. The trade-off is that four of my 5 classes are gifted students. They are highly motivated and bright and definitely keep me on my toes. I'm enjoying the challenge a lot!

Miles is going to preschool 5 days a week. His teacher is Mrs. Garl. They work on a new letter of the alphabet each week and show and tell has to start with that letter. So far he's taken an alligator, Bepo (his stuffed dog), his Cars computer, and a Diego memory game. He can't wait until "S" week so he can bring his spider and starship. He's also very excited about turning 5 early next month. Cool!

Jillian (aka Godjilla) "wreck things" according to Miles. "And she also likes to chew on bath toys." She's working on climbing up and down stairs and she never, ever sits still for too long.

Basie is hanging in there. A year ago he was diagnosed with mouth cancer and they gave him about 2 months to live. Here we are a year later, glad to have had the extra time with him but secretly wondering if this was all a ploy to keep our vet in business with prescriptions for pain pills and antibiotics every 3 weeks. He still seems happy, but has definitely slowed down. We'll keep you posted when his status changes.

Our family tree is growing!

2010-10-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

Ara's adoption was finalized last week! Congratulations to Jerry, Alicia, and Ara. It was a long journey and we couldn't be happier for you.

Congrats also go out to Vince's brother Phil and his wife Tiffany. They are expecting their first baby in early May. Here's to a smooth couple months as you prepare for baby!

Welcome to Shorecrest, Mr. Caruso!

2010-08-22T22:00:00.001-07:00

The band students and families hosted a "meet and greet" at the Lake Forest Park Civic Club this evening. It was great to meet so many members of the Shorecrest Band. Everyone has been so welcoming to Vince and our whole family. Thank you for a great evening and here's to a successful inaugural year for Vince at SCHS!

Students donned Vince with "spirit gear."

Nice hat!

All decked out in Shorecrest gear!

Vince with Alec Wilmart (his new teammate)

Happy First Birthday, Jillian Ryan!

2010-08-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

Jillian turned one last week. We marked the event with general "Caruso Celebration" at the park near us. (We were also celebrating Vince's new job at Shorecrest and that he's finished up his masters degree.)

Silly Jilly

2010-08-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

She definitely keeps us on our toes...

From Wolverine to Scot.....Vince changes gigs.

2010-07-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

After 12 years in the Bellevue School District, nine of which were at Bellevue High School, Vince has decided to make a change. Starting in the fall, he will be the director of bands at Shorecrest High School in the Shoreline School District. Shoreline is just north of Seattle, so the commute will be a chore for a while. However, the plan is to look at moving further north next year. He is sad to be leaving behind so many fond memories, great students, skilled colleagues, and supportive parents, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. Shorecrest has a long history of excellent bands and Vince is eager to carry on the tradition.

This cake was made by one of Vince's wonderful students

This Mr. Caruso bobble-head doll was a gift from the Bellevue HS 2010 band seniors. Creepy, isn't it?!

ABC 2010

2010-07-08T15:32:00.000-07:00

This was Vince's third and final summer at the American Band College in Ashland, Oregon. This year Marcy and the kids came down for the "certification ceremony" (he's not officially graduated until the projects are done in a month) and the 4th of July festivities.

She's mobile!

2010-07-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

Look out! Jillian's cruising now! Video taken in the play area at McDonald's on June 29, 2010.

Keeping busy while Vince was away

2010-07-08T15:05:00.001-07:00

Vince left on June 19 for his third (and final) summer down in Ashland, OR. While he was away it was single parent time for me and the best way to cope was to keep busy. We finished up the school year, zipped up to Lopez Island for a few days, did play dates and trips to the zoo, and generally ran the kids to exhaustion every day so that all would sleep peacefully every night....and by "all," I mean me.

Lopez Island (6/25-6/27)

Woodland Park Zoo (6/29)

(You can hover your mouse over the slide shows for captions.)

Miles gets a "big boy" bike

2010-07-08T14:50:00.000-07:00

This spring it became obvious that Miles had definitely outgrown his big-wheel-style trike. So, after perusing Craigslist, we bought him his first two-wheel bike at the end of May. He was SOOO excited when we surprised him with it.

Admittedly, his first venture out was a trying time for all of us as he got very frustrated quite easily. He hasn't been too excited to get it back out a lot yet. But with the weather finally turning nice around here we're hoping that plenty of time outside will allow for more practice, confidence, and fun.

Dad puts on the training wheels.

Helmet on, ready to go!

And he's off!

A houseful of kids

2010-07-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

A novel idea...pick three Saturdays in a row. Coordinate with two other couples who also have kids. Each couple takes all 6 kids for four hours on one of the Saturday evening. Result = over the course of three weeks, you get two nights "off" and one night of a packed house.

Here are some pics of the evening we had the gang at our house on June 12. We kept them busy with a little project outside.

Updated Pictures

2010-05-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

Jillian turned 9 months last week. She's crawling all over the place, has a mouth full of choppers, and pulls herself up on everything.

Looking up at daddy.

Miles is nearing the end of his first year of preschool. He can spell simple words (mom, dad, Miles) and is working on writing his name. (The black tongue is thanks to some Transformers candy. Nice, eh?)

Oh, and we're letting Miles' hair grow out from the #2 buzz cut he's had for the last 3 years--we'll see if the cowlicks calm down when it gets a little longer. In the meantime, it just gets puffier and puffier.

John Hancock

2010-04-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well, the jury is still out on whether Miles is left-handed or right-handed. He uses both pretty interchangeably at this point. However, he is showing some pretty typical "lefty traits" in how he writes his name. Guess we'll just have to keep watching and waiting. In the meantime, here's a sample of a worksheet he did at Grandma Barb's; he wrote his name all by himself. So cool!

Generic Post

2010-03-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

Some recent "casual" pictures from around the Caruso homestead. Miles took several of these himself . Can you guess which ones? Perhaps he will be the next Ansel Adams.

Also of note....Jillian is working on teeth 3 and 4 and is now mobile. Her crawling gets faster and faster every day. Oh, and she fell off the bed and landed on her melon the other day! Miles is working on writing his name, memorizing the original Star Wars Trilogy, and being a perfectionist. Vince survived the busy month of March (festivals, concerts, competitions, etc) and Marcy put her medical benefits to the test by breaking a toe and getting strep throat within a week of each other. Rights of passage!

The Offspring

2010-03-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of March, we had some professional pictures taken of the kids. (Miles at almost 4 1/2 years and Jillian at 7 months.) We think they turned out pretty well! We have them on disc, so if any of you family members would like copies just let us know what size.

Bath Time!

2010-03-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

Jillian has officially outgrown the kitchen sink and has graduated to the bath tub. Here are some fun pics of the kiddos from last week.

She's also eating some solid foods, so baths have become a much more frequent occurrence!

A bit overdue....

2010-02-27T15:35:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened around our here since the beginning of February!

Jillian turned six months old (actually, almost 7 as I type this) and is now sitting up, eating solid foods, and has two teeth. She rarely sits still and we don't think it will be too long before she's scooting around. She has also grown into her 12 month clothes...YIKES!

I returned to work on the 1st. I am really enjoying being back in the classroom and I have a nice group of students. It's also really great to see my pals at work. It has, however, made for pretty hectic schedules as Vince and I learn to balance both being at work full time while taking care of all the "home" things too. The big plus, however, came yesterday in the form of my first paycheck in several months...a welcome change!

Miles is thriving! He loves being back at Barb's full time and adores having Jillian there with him. He's enjoyed celebrating the birthdays of several friends and has declared that his favorite place to go is Target. (Gotta love that kid!) He's also become quite skilled at scaling the outside of Jilly's crib in order to climb in and play with her. It's REALLY cute.

Vince has had a busy month with meetings, festivals, convention, and other work-related things. The Caruso boys experienced great father-son bonding last night as Miles watched Star Wars with Vince for the first time; there was a constant dialogue between the two of them as Miles asked a bazillion questions about what was going on and Vince patiently answered each of them. This morning Miles declared that he loves X-Wing fighters.

I will try to get back to posting more regularly as I settle into a groove at work. Glad you all check in on us through this blog and Facebook!

Silly Girl!

2010-01-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

So proud of Vince...

2010-01-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Check out these links to read about Vince's recent recognition. We're very proud of him! (You may have to copy and paste them into your browser.)

First, read this one from the Bellevue Reporter:
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/bel/community/81159382.html

Then, this is the actual article referred to in the link above. (Scroll down to Washington to find Vince.)
http://www.sbomagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications::Article&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=DFF1DC7D05B54907B3B6F53D8E7C07D8

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-29T15:58:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy and fun week. Vince is on winter break, Marcy's brother and his family visited from Wenatchee, and the whole Hewitt crew got together for Christmas Eve. Miles LOVED having his cousins stay with us for several days and we enjoyed seeing Christmas through the eyes of little ones.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and we wish you a safe and happy New Year!

PS: If you hover your mouse over the slide show you'll see the photo captions. Enjoy!

December 2009

2009-12-17T07:28:00.000-08:00

Some fun pictures from this month (so far):

Santa!

2009-12-13T21:55:00.001-08:00

A visit with the big man himself...

Miles practiced his request in the car on the way to the mall. (There is big pressure to get it right when you're putting in your request to Santa.) He wants a big Optimus Prime to play with his big Bumblebee tansformer (check!) and a Transformers cartoon (check!)

Jillian woke up from a nap just in time for the picture! When we asked Miles what Santa should bring Jillian he suggested diapers. I think Santa may just be able to make that happen! (check!)

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T11:08:00.001-08:00

We hope you are all well and finding reasons to celebrate today. To all our family and friends (near and far) we are so thankful for you...today and always. Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,
Vince, Marcy, Miles, Jillian, & Basie

PS: Here are a couple projects Miles did at daycare last week with Grandma Barb--it's his tree of thanks (trees, friends, food, toys, mom & dad, home, God) and a pine cone turkey.

Eight years....

2009-11-24T15:40:00.001-08:00

Then...

Now...

Pretty lucky, I'd say.

Miles' Four Year Pics

2009-11-24T15:38:00.001-08:00

Miles turns 4!

2009-11-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

We asked Miles a couple weeks ago if he'd like to have his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's this year. He pumped his fist in the air while emphatically shouting, "YESSSSS!" Mind you, he's never been to there. (Actually I had never been there either...amazing, but true.) I guess it demonstrates the power of commercials because they have certainly influenced their target demographic! Anyway, we invited a few of his buddies to join us for lunch last Thursday. They played, they ate, they met the rat...they had a great time.

Jillian turns three months old.

2009-11-08T16:44:00.000-08:00

We looked at some old pictures of Miles last night from when he was the same age....the similarities are amazing. The Caruso genes are strong.

Renton's "Boo Carnival"

2009-11-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

The week before Halloween, there was carnival-type event for kids put on by the city of Renton. Miles liked jumping in the inflatables and playing games for candy prizes but he wasn't too sure about the dad who was dressed up like wolf to match his daughter's Little Red Riding Hood costume. We couldn't blame him--it was scary looking. Other than that, it was a great way to get into the Halloween spirit. And Miles loved giving his Iron Man costume a trial run.

October

2009-11-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

Here's the fist of several posts coming your way....a few pictures of the kids being their cute selves during October. (Yes, I know I'm biased...deal with it.)

Jillian shows off her faux-hawk. (Yes, it does it naturally.) That'll be fun to tame when she gets a little older.

Miles tries out a costume from his new dress-up bin. Buzz is cool. (And costumes found at a consignment sale for cheap are just as cool!)

JillyBean and dad.

Miles really wanted to help Vince mow the lawn. Priceless.

Jillian is smiling consistently enough to capture on film now. We love her dimples!

Vince Hits the "Big Time."

2009-10-18T22:28:00.000-07:00

This article is from The Barque which is the student newspaper at Bellevue High School. It only took 9 years to get around to selecting Vince for an interview. Enjoy the read. Anybody notice what is odd about the photo in the article?

(you can click on the image to enlarge)

Two months old!

2009-10-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

Jillian is two months old today! Wow! She's giving us glimpses of smiles and showing off dimples on both sides. She's sleeping well at night, is growing like a weed, and will have her two-month check-up later this week.

Miles loves learning!

2009-10-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

Miles has been LOVING preschool! He's been singing new songs around the house, making new buddies, and enjoys deciding what to take for show-and-tell each Friday. He even surprised us just this morning by announcing that the fist Jillian was making was the letter A and then went on to show us B, C, & D in sign language. Amazing!

His class focuses on a letter a week and does all sorts of projects with each. Here's some of his A, B, and C work:

Jillian's Birth Announcement

2009-09-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you Jesca for helping design and create this awesome birth announcement for Jillian!

.

Welcome to the family, Ara!

2009-09-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Vince's dad and stepmom--Jerry and Alica. (Or, as we call them around here, Guampa and Guama.)

This summer they were finally able to travel to the Philippines to retrieve their new daughter, Ara. The adoption process has been long, with several bumps in the road along the way. And while it will still take a while longer for the adoption to be finalized, all news from Guam is that everything is going well so far. Ara is adapting to her new home and family quite well and Jerry and Alicia are busy and very happy to be keeping up with a three-year-old.

Ara will celebrate her 4th birthday on November 14.

And so it begins...

2009-09-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

Miles started preschool on Thursday. He goes two mornings a week for 2.5 hours.

Vince was able to sneak away from his school on Thursday to join us for a celebratory lunch after Miles' first day. Miles picked Wendy's ("It's way better than fast food, mom.") and as we ate lunch we asked him about his first day. His classic kid response when asked what he did at school that day: "I don't know." It starts so young.

Oh, and here's a cute story from the first day....

We had to put together a “comfort kit” to keep at school in case of an emergency (extra clothes, snack, photos of the family, etc.). The kit was supposed to include a small toy, so I picked up a couple “Go Diego, Go” matchbox sized airplanes at the store on Wednesday. Unfortunately, Miles found them in the car that afternoon. He really wanted to play with them, so I let him have them for the evening but made sure he understood that they would go to school the next morning for his emergency bag.

On Thursday morning as we got ready to go to his first day I loaded his “comfort” bag into his backpack and he asked about the planes. I reminded him that they are only for an emergency. As we drove to school that morning he declared from the back seat, “Mom, I need my planes. It’s an emergency!”

One month old...

2009-09-03T23:29:00.000-07:00

Wow...where did a month go already?

Tourists in Our Own City

2009-09-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we decided to take a family field trip and play tourists in our own city.

Earlier this summer the first segment of a light rail system in the greater Seattle area opened. For now, it runs north-south and starts just a couple miles from our house. It extends up into Seattle and ends at Westlake Center. We thought Miles would enjoy the train ride, so we loaded up the gang and headed out. It was actually really fun; Miles LOVED it and Jillian slept the whole time. We rode north, got out at Westlake, had lunch, and headed home again. All said, it took us about three hours from the time we left our house until we got home again. We highly recommend this little excursion! An afternoon of entertainment for the price of train tickets ($10) and lunch. Very cool.

A few new pics...

2009-08-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

Jillian Ryan Caruso

2009-08-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

Our trio becomes a quartet

We're all home now and trying to get into a routine that will work for everyone's sanity.
Jillian was born August 4th, 2009 at 12:39p. She measured 21" long and weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz.

Marcy's c-section went very smoothly, but the anesthesia really got to her for a few hours afterward. Miles loves being a big brother so far and Basie isn't quite sure what to think yet.
Both Vince and Marcy are trying to recall what we did the first go 'round with all the late night feedings and lack of sleep, but in general little "Jilly Bean" has been a real trooper.

We'll post more pics as we can, but here are a few to get us started. I'm sure some will make it to our Facebook pages as well.

We think she looks much like Miles did at this age, with the exception of all the dark hair. Maybe she will actually look Italian?

fresh from the oven!

Miles & Jillian meet for the first time

first bath

lunch

Miles got to eat hospital food too!

Will Vince be able to keep up?

ready for the ride home

big bro and lil sis

Jillian and mommy back at home

Counting down to Baby...

2009-07-30T15:17:00.001-07:00

We're in the home stretch. Our c-section is scheduled for Tuesday (8/4). We should be able to post pictures here on the blog from the hospital.

Looking forward to meeting our little girl....AFTER Vince get's home from his 20th HS reunion in Colorado this weekend.

We'll keep you posted!

It's hot here...enough said.

2009-07-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here are the preliminary high temperatures at 5 p.m.

Vancouver, WA: 107
Renton: 105
Tacoma: 104
Olympia: 104 (ties all-time record)
Seattle (Sea-Tac): 103 (all-time record)
Seattle (Boeing Fld): 103
Gig Harbor: 103
Bremerton: 102
North Bend: 102
Everett: 100
Bellingham: 96
Port Angeles: 92
Forks: 83

And a map showing it "cooling down."

Renton River Days

2009-07-22T17:17:00.000-07:00

Every small town has a little festival celebrating itself, and Renton is no different. Today was "Kids' Day" of Renton River Days. Miles and I went down to the festivities to play while Vince continued to make headway on his projects. Highlights included: the Wenatchee Youth Circus, bouncy toys, watching a fireman shoot water from a hose, and getting to play "the drums." However, I think Miles favorite thing was getting his very own soda all to himself for the first time ever. Happy boy!

An evening at the park

2009-07-22T17:03:00.000-07:00

It's been VERY hot here the last few days...maybe not by Guam and Florida standards, but certainly compared to what we're used to in Seattle. And most people around here do not have airconditioning. So...when the thermostat reads 86 degrees inside the house at 8:30 pm, it's time to escape the heat and search out cooler places. We found a nice little break from the heat at Philip Arnold Park in Renton the other night.

PS: Yes...it really is this light out at 8:30 pm here. Welcome to the 47th parallel.

An event worth celebrating...

2009-07-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

Happy 40th Anniversary,
Mom and Dad!

In a day where milestones like this are rarer and rarer, we're happy to celebrate your 40 years together. Congratulations! And here's to many, many more!

A trip to the San Juan Islands

2009-07-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

Miles and I snuck away for two nights to Lopez Island to give Vince a chance to get a jump start on his projects. (Now that he's home he has two big projects for his Masters program which have to be submitted by early August.)

This is the third year in a row that Miles and I have gone up to stay with our pal Carrie and her two boys; she hosts a revolving crew of guests for a week at her family's place up there. The ferry ride is always a hit with Miles, and while the weather was a little too cool this year to spend a lot of time on the beach, we did hop on the inter-island ferry and spend one afternoon at Friday Harbor. Very cool!

How fortunate we are to live so close to such a beautiful, relaxing setting. And how lucky we are to be invited to spend time there! (Thanks again, Carrie!)

More swim pics

2009-07-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

These are from last Thursday. Miles finished up the introductory week of lessons ("Fish School") and this week started the next session. He has a new teacher and is still in a group with his buddies Ben and Andrew. Although the weather has been substantially cooler this week--which prego mama enjoys immensely--he's been a trooper and seems to really like being in the water.

Making Progress

2009-07-01T11:02:00.001-07:00

The drawers are in and a few other touches have been added. Now I just need to organize stuff into drawers and the closet.

Miles' First Swim Lesson

2009-06-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

Miles started swimming lessons today. He was super excited that his buddies, Andrew and Ben, were in his class. And I was thrilled to find out that his teacher was Jenna, a former student of mine. How cool!

He's signed up for 12 lessons down at Henry Moses (the community pool here in Renton). It gives us a fun outing each morning and I get to sit and visit with our friend Mo while the three boys play. Perfect!

Venturing into the water

Miles, Andrew, and Jenna

Blowing bubbles while Ben watches on

Brrr....a little chilly

"Bobbing" his face in the water

Ben, Andrew, and Miles...three happy swimmers

Making Room for Baby

2009-06-24T16:40:00.001-07:00

Since we only have two bedrooms upstairs, Miles and Baby will be sharing a room. We had to get creative with space so we enlisted the help of my dad to build a loft bed for Miles. The drawers will be done in a week or so. In the meantime, "Grandpa Ken" delivered the bed yesterday and Miles LOVES it! Not only does he get to climb a ladder to go to bed now, it doubles as a "fort" underneath. Too cool.

I spent today making the new space "his" and creating a new little area for Baby. (By the way, I'm pretty proud of the fact that I assembled the crib without any directions or help!) We wanted a space that was "girly" enough but also went in a blue room....so it's jungle animals for our new little one. Right now the rest of the house looks like a wreck, but at least the kids' room is starting to take shape.

Gotta love it!

2009-06-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

I took this picture this afternoon because Miles REALLY wanted Vince to see the balloon sword he got at Ikea today. This is actually sword #2…the first one was red and popped in the parking lot on the way out to the car. The tears were more than I could bear, so back in we went for version 2.0. This time he chose yellow.

When I sat down to email the photo to Vince this afternoon, the sword was resting by Miles' bed as he settled in for a nap….he told the sword to have sweet dreams.

As a side note, Miles has become extremely attached to his Lightning McQueen boots in the last couple days. He just HAD to wear them.

Life through the eyes of a three-year-old. Gotta love it.

Time to catch up...

2009-06-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well, the end of the school year is finally here.

Wow.

It's been an exceptionally busy one. So...how else should we follow it up, but with an extremely jam-packed summer!

A couple recent and upcoming highlights:

1) Vince is now down in Ashland, OR working on summer number two of his three year Masters program. Due to the insanely late end of the year in his district this year (thanks to the strike and several snow days) he had to take a week off school to head down. He's staying in a condo with five other guys he met last year and has declared it to be "the lap of luxury" compared to staying in the dorms. Let's see...flat screen, air conditioning, pool and hot tub, washer/dryer....yep...sounds pretty darn good.

2) That leaves Miles and me on our own for about three weeks. We'll keep you posted on how that goes.

3) Miles starts swim lessons next week. He's VERY excited! I'll make sure to post more about that once they start.

4) Baby Girl Caruso is growing...a lot! We found out a few weeks back that I have gestational diabetes. I was able to control my blood sugar during the daytime pretty well with diet alone. However, my numbers kept going up, up, up at night (apparently this is completely hormone-driven) and so they've put me on medication. I was offered a daily pill or insulin shots. Ummmm...let me think about that one. Seriously!?!?! Who picks shots?!?!? Anyway, the meds are working well, but I now have weekly appointments and twice-weekly non-stress tests for the baby. Our ultrasound this week showed that baby is healthy and very big....she's about 5 1/2 lbs already with seven more weeks to go. Good thing we're having a c-section!

5) Our c-section is tentatively scheduled for August 4. I say tentatively because they've already changed it on us a couple times due to doctor and OR schedules. But, for now, this is the date we're anticipating her arrival.

There are some of the big news items for now. I'll try to post more regularly now that school is done. (Well, after tomorrow, that is!)

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there. Hope you have a great one!

.

Our newest niece

2009-05-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

Miles with his cousins: Kalynn, Joella, and Rowyn. Congrats, Steve and Kara!

Point Defiance Zoo

2009-05-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

While Vince was busy with the Bellevue Jazz Festival last weekend, Miles and I snuck down to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma where we met up with my cousin Alisa and four of her kids. Miles loved seeing the animals and playing with Kayla, Bekah, Leah, and Jared. I loved having all the willing babysitters along with us as it gave me a chance to catch up with Alisa. Much needed! We didn't even mind getting wet...too much.

Easter pics...a bit late

2009-05-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

Just realized that we didn't post any Easter pics. What kind of parents are we?!?!? (Oh ya...busy ones.)

Here you go. :)

Pixar Parade

2009-04-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

This parade at California Adventure featured characters from many of Pixar's most popular movies. Miles was entranced at the sight of Lightning McQueen and Mater in real life. It was one of the highlights of the trip!

Disneyland 2009

2009-04-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

(Tip: if you hover your mouse over the slide show you'll see the captions.)

The bulk of our trip was spent at Disneyland and California Adventure in Anaheim, CA. Miles enjoyed the rides, meeting Mickey Mouse, and spending time with the "big kids," especially the "silly girls!" He was a real trooper every day; not a single melt-down! It must truly be the happiest place on earth! The band played well, the students had fun, the weather was fantastic, and we were all sufficiently exhausted! Glad to be home.

An afternoon at Six Flags - Magic Mountain

2009-04-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

The first day of our trip to California with the BHS Band was spent at Six Flags - Magic Mountain. While the high school students enjoyed all the thrill rides (X2, Viper, Goliath, Batman, Riddler, Superman, etc, etc), we spent time with Miles on some tamer attractions. Miles was THRILLED that there was an entire area of the park devoted to Thomas and his friends. His favorite ride was the Percy roller coaster that he rode twice all by himself. Vince did manage to go on Goliath, Batman, Riddler, and Viper. Marcy and the fetus watched.

Miles and his buddy, Nolan

2009-04-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

Vince had to travel to Spokane for a jazz festival (By the way, they won their division!) while I was in the last week or so of working on my National Boards. While he was gone, several friends helped watch Miles so I could work on my entries.

Nolan's uncle took these pictures while they played at Nolan's house. We thought they were too cool not to share. (I especially love the title of the book!)

Spring Break!!!

2009-04-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a big couple weeks around here....I finished and submitted my National Board entries this week. SOOOOO glad that's done. The next hurdle is a huge exam in June which covers all aspects of social studies: history, geography, political science, and economics. The main focus is on history, though, and the recommendation is to study the AP US History and World History guides. Sure. No problem. I'll get right on it.....after spring break.

We also found out about a week ago that our arrival due in August is a girl. We're pretty excited, although Vince's first comment was, "Someday she's going to be 13." Yes. Yes she is. Miles is pretty excited about having a little sister, at least in theory. We'll see what happens when reality hits this summer. For now we just need to start shortening the list of potential names. Requirements: easy to spell, easy to pronounce, no terrible history with students by the same name, and not too common but not too strange. That should make it easy. Or not.

Speaking of girls....My brother and his wife (Steve and Kara) welcomed a new baby girl last week. They are now the proud parents of 3 girls: Kalynn (13), Joella (2), and Rowyn. We're looking forward to a trip over the mountains later this week to meet her!

Our final piece of excitement...we're off to California in the morning. Vince is taking his HS band to play in Disneyland (I can't remember if this is trip #4 or #5) and Miles and I are going along. Tomorrow we'll spend the day in Magic Mountain; the following three days will all be at Disney. Miles is super excited to see where Micky lives and to meet Lightning McQueen in person. We'll definitely post some pictures as soon as we get home.

Vitamin D

2009-03-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

We've had a pretty rough winter, weather-wise...so it shouldn't really come as a huge surprise that this week started out with snow. Yes. Snow. AFTER daylight savings. Fortunately, it didn't last too long. And even though today's high temperature was only 40 degrees, (yes, I know that's only 8 degrees above freezing for those of you reading this in Guam and Florida!) we decided to take advantage of the clear skies. Miles, Basie, and I went for a walk/ride along the Cedar River trail in downtown Renton.

We were freezing, but it sure felt good to get outside for a few minutes.

Miles' first trip to the dentist

2009-02-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

Miles had an awesome first trip to the dentist this week. (It helped a lot that he got to go to his buddy Nolan's appointment just a few days earlier!) Miles was a great patient and his teeth are gorgeous...although they did warn us to start saving now for braces when his permanent teeth come in! (Yikes!)

Waiting patiently in the chair...shades on and ready to go!

Almost done!

Showing off those pearly whites!

A well-earned prize--an assortment of bugs from the dentist and lunch out with mom.

Baby Caruso #2...arriving this August

2009-02-06T17:31:00.001-08:00

We are excited to share our first glimpse of Baby Caruso #2.

He/she was orginally due August 18, but after today's ultrasound they've moved the due date up to August 10. We'll have a scheduled c-section about a week before that.

Vince and I are very excited. Miles is not so sure. Good thing we have a few months for him to get used to the idea!

(Baby's head is to the left and he/she is face down.)

The Seattle Children's Museum

2009-01-23T19:19:00.001-08:00

We finally got to explore the Seattle Children's Museum...thanks to Miles' buddy Jake who celebrated his 2nd birthday there earlier this month. What a fun place!!!

Colorado

2009-01-23T19:13:00.000-08:00

We ushered in 2009 with a quick trip to Colorado. It was Vince's Christmas gift from several family members. (Thank you so much!!!) How fun to get away for a couple days and catch up with old friends. We stayed with Butch and Cynthia Eversole, who have three-year-old twins: Raleigh and Ceci. Miles was in seventh heaven! We all had a great time!

Christmas 2008

2009-01-12T18:27:00.000-08:00

What an end to 2008.

2009-01-10T16:06:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted...shortly after the last update, we found out that my dad (Ken) had colon cancer. Between that and the winter blast that hit the Seattle area with a vengeance, I wasn't much in the "blogging" mood during the end of December. School was shut down, roads were impassable, and we were worried about my dad.

Fast forward to today....dad has had successful surgery to remove his tumor and they found no cancer in his surrounding lymph nodes, the snow is gone, we're back to school, and things are settling back to our normal, busy routine. Thank goodness for that.

But what a month it has been!

I'll start posting "catch up" pictures as soon as possible.

-Marcy

Snow!

2008-12-14T10:32:00.000-08:00

Our first snow of the season fell last night....not a lot of it, but enough to cover everything and make it pretty. The only problem is that the temerature is not supposed to go back above freezing until Thursday. This could make for some tricky driving over the next couple days...maybe we'll at least get a couple late starts out of it.

Here's a look at the forecast for all you Floridians and Guamanians! (Yes, those top numbers are the predicted "highs" for each day!)

Frosty and Santa

2008-12-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

We had the annual "picture with Santa Claus" taken about a week ago. After three years with the same Santa, we got a new one this year. He was very good about chatting Miles up and getting him to say what he wanted for Christmas. The boy told Santa he wants a truck.....shocking, we know.

One of Vince's band parents is a wonderful seamstress and has made several things for Miles over the last 3 years. Yesterday, we received this snowman costume. Reminds us of Ralphie's pink bunny suit from "A Christmas Story," but cute as hell! (Thanks, Peggy!)

November

2008-12-12T17:16:00.000-08:00

We've fallen a bit behind in posting pictures the last couple months....so here are a couple highlights from November.

Miles' birthday party in early November:

Miles, Braden, and Andrew

Miles makes the big climb to the top of the slide.

The whole gang!

And just hangin' around the house:

Miles can put on his own shoes now, but they sometimes end up on the wrong feet!

He loves his hand-me-down hat from his pal, Nolan!

Miles often tells us that Monkey wants to talk to him. He'll have whole conversations with Monkey.

The Hewitt genes are strong....loving olives must be in his DNA.

Watching football with Vince, Miles decided that this basket made a great helmet.

Conehead Caruso

2008-11-15T10:10:00.000-08:00

Basie had a growth removed from his paw earlier this week. When he came home from the vet his paw was neatly wrapped in a bright yellow bandage. Today we went in to have the bandage taken off, but since he still has stitches for another 10 days or so, he got.....the cone.

Poor guy. The ultimate in pet humiliation.

Miles response: "Awww, Basie looks silly!"

Yes. Yes, he does.

Miles' three-year pictures

2008-11-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

Miles turns 3!

2008-11-09T13:58:00.001-08:00

November 5, 2008: Three years old today (But still a grump in the mornings, just like his mom.)

That evening, Grandma and Grandpa came down for a birthday dinner at the house and Miles opened a few gifts. Vince was just as excited to play with the new toys as Miles was!

2008-11-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

Miles had a GREAT Halloween!

Several weeks back I picked up a warm, fuzzy racoon costume at a second-hand store. Miles loved it and wore it around the house many times in the following weeks. A few days before Halloween, some friends offered us their Lightning McQueen costume....Miles was SO excited. So, needless to say, the racoon costume stayed in the closet and he got to dress up as Lightning McQueen for festivities at daycare.

He surprised us all, however, when he asked to be the racoon when we went out trick-or-treating that night. We thought it was pretty cool that both costumes were put to good use.

We went trick-or-treating with our good friends, the Wales, again this year. Their older boys, AJ and Braden, showed Miles and Hunter what to do. And unlike last year when we had to pull the younger two boys around in a wagon, this year they were HIGHLY motivated to get candy by knocking on doors. It was a really fun evening!

Puddle Jumpin'

2008-10-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

Every time it rains now, Miles asks to go jump in the big puddle.

Chillin' with the fellas

2008-10-06T11:40:00.001-07:00

Miles having a blast on Saturday with his pals Braden and Hunter.

Our escape artist

2008-09-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

Houdini has nothing on Basie.

Fall in the Northwest

2008-09-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

A sure sign that autumn is here....Salmon swimming up the Cedar River. SOOOOO amazing to watch!

Feeling Better!

2008-09-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

While we're still doing the "nebby" a couple times a day, Miles is doing much, much better. In fact, last night he had a blast jumping in a puddle in the driveway. I think Vince and I had just as much fun watching him as he had playing!

PS: If you watch far enough into the video you'll get to hear an amazing Flashdance reference by Vince.

Miles' first trip to the ER

2008-09-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

So….last night we had to take Miles to the ER…

He’s had a cold for a couple days and yesterday was a little “wheezy” so we gave him a breathing treatment (albuterol through a nebulizer) before his nap. He seemed pretty good. When he woke up, however, it was a different story. He couldn’t catch his breath and was super crabby and clingy and it was obvious something was very wrong. We drove to the ER where they fast-tracked us to through triage and got the respiratory people in to see us. They gave him a super-charged breathing treatment which made things immediately better. Then he had an oral steroid followed by another breathing treatment. Final verdict… he was in good enough shape to take home, but is on a couple meds and needs to be watched closely for any signs of a relapse in the coming days.

Happy to report that he seemed much better today.

Here he is doing this evening's nebulizer treatment (a.k.a. "nebby").
He really is a great sport about it!

Trains!

2008-09-14T14:44:00.000-07:00

We were invited to an open house up the street today. The entire backyard of our neighbor's house has been turned into a Garden Railroad: The Seattle & Black River Railroad. We had no idea that this hidden treasure existed just a couple yards away.

Strike update...

2008-09-14T10:33:00.001-07:00

There is a tentative agreement between the district and the union which teachers will vote on tonight. Here's hoping that Vince will get to teach tomorrow!

Enjoying the Sunshine

2008-09-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

We decided to take advantage of a sunny Saturday to explore Crossroads Park. (Vince discovered this park at Friday's teacher ralley.) Two playgrounds, a skate park, a sprinkler area, and lot's of big open fields...we had a great time. (Although Miles wasn't too happy when the spraying rock squirted him right in the face!)

Day 7

2008-09-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=280940

Today marks day 7 of the Bellevue strike. This clip from last night's news shows Vince. (Watch for the guy in a yellow shirt that reads "STAFF.")

We all just want positive resolutions to the issues and for Vince to be able to get back to teaching. For right now, though, it looks like we are in for a long haul. In the meantime, I know the calls, messages, and emails of support Vince has been receiving are very appreciated so keep 'em coming!

We'll keep you updated.

On a lighter note...

2008-09-09T19:15:00.000-07:00

Marcy and Miles met up with their pals Amy and Jack this weekend for the third annual "running of the balls" in Edmonds. The event involves a truck dumping thousands of tennis balls at the top of a large hill in Edmonds. People can buy a ball for a couple bucks and the first ball down the hill is worth a cool prize. We were just there to laugh and stand in the middle of it all. Miles LOVED it!

Back to school....for one of us

2008-09-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to be the first week of classes...

For Marcy, it was.

For Vince, not so much.

Today marks day four of the strike.

The Museum of Flight

2008-08-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

While Vince was running a rehearsal at the high school today, Miles and I decided to enjoy a day out with my dear friend Jesca and her three boys: AJ, Braden, and Hunter.

What a fun place to explore!

(Hold your mouse over the slide show to see captions!)

Summer Fun

2008-08-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

Vince has finished up and shipped off this summer's projects for his masters. (Hooray!)
Marcy is in the home-stretch of writing seventh grade advisory curriculum. (Hooray!)

It's definitely been a working summer!!!! However, even with all the hours spent in front of computer screens, we've been trying to squeeze in some relaxation time. Here are some pictures from the last week, including a fun trip to "The Bouncy Place" with our niece, Kalynn, who spent the last two nights with us.

A Bedtime Serenade

2008-08-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

We've mentioned before how hard it is to capture Miles being "himself" on camera these days; he's so interested in seeing what the video turns out like that he often stops what he's doing and asks to see what we've recorded. Tonight, however, we were finally able to capture him singing...which he's actually been doing for a couple months...just never on camera.

These were taken just before bed tonight. He's all snuggled in and ready for stories...but not until after he serenades us.

Enjoy!

ABCs

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Renton River Days

2008-07-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

We took Miles down to Kids' Day at Renton River Days (the annual community celebration here in Renton). He loved banging away on the junk mobile, climbing in the fire truck, and sitting in the SWAT vehicle. He wasn't too sure about getting his fingerprints done, but was easily pacified by the lollipop the police had for him.

Days like this are a definite perk of us both being home during the summer!

Oregon Coast

2008-07-13T22:54:00.000-07:00

Our "family vacation" this year involved Marcy and Miles taking the train down to Ashland to meet up with Vince as he finished his first summer at ABC. We spent a couple days in Ashland--enjoying the July 4th celebrations--and then meandered up the Oregon coast.

Highlights of the trip included:

hotel pools
the wildlife safari (basically a drive-through zoo...think Jurassic Park, minus the velociraptors!)
beautiful scenery along the coast
the awesome train ride down (seriously...you need to do this!)
Evergreen Aviation Museum (home of the Spruce Goose and an IMAX movie that literally scared the poop out of Miles)
full-service gas stations (required by law in Oregon)
the 4th of July parade and concert (Miles slept through the best piece and most of the fireworks)
Sea Lion Caves (stinky, but cool)
the Ashland Motel....NOT!
being able to watch the DVD Cars in the car

So we're home now and gearing up for a couple busy weeks: Vince has his projects to work on and Marcy has curriculum to write. One major obstacle for Vince....Tuesday's release of NCAA '09....guaranteed to be just a bit of a distraction.

ABC....American Band College (aka Adult Band Camp)

2008-07-09T21:32:00.001-07:00

Vince attended 2 weeks of his masters program at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, OR. The program is known as ABC, the American Band College. It is the largest masters program in the country for band directors. At the end of three summers, Vince will have a masters in conducting (band, not electricity).

The program is super practical; none of that educational philosophy stuff. Each day he had classes with world class clinicians, conductors, guest soloists, and composers. He played his trombone 3 hours a day, performed in two concerts, slept fitfully in a non-airconditioned dorm room, and met some really great folks from all over the country. He also learned what "skpye" is!

He has two big projects to complete before August 11th and the '08-'09 school year will also involve working on his second year projects.

Tony, Kevin, Mike, Brad, Aaron, & Vince before the July 4th extravaganza.

The 200 member ABC Band performed on July 4th. This piece (Suite of Old American Dances by Robert Russell Bennett) was conducted by Robert Ponto, director of bands at the University of Oregon. (The video engineer apologizes for the shaky camera work. She had to film and keep track of a 2 year old!)

Miles goes bowling!

2008-06-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, Miles went bowling with the ASB kids from Marcy's school. The bowling alley had special little shoes--just his size! They also got out the lightest ball and a special ramp that he could just push the ball down. Add the automatic bumpers to prevent gutter balls and it was a recipe for success. What a fun afternoon!

A visit from the Guamanians

2008-05-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

Vince's dad (Jerry) and stepmom (Alicia) visited from Guam this last weekend. We really enjoyed spending time with them and it was fun to see Miles hanging out with his Guama and Guampa. Here are a couple pics of us at the park across the street.