May and June

School is finally over!!! Jack and his schoolmates were part of an end of the year recital. He did a solo improvisational act on the Titanic and sang a Beatles' song! Interestingly, he wasnt at all phased by the hundreds of people watching...

Jack with his friend from school at the recital.

CAMPING, CAMPING AND MORE CAMPING!!! Whew, we spent a lot of time in our "Adventure House" (Jack's name for the trailer) and made up for lost time...

We spent some time with our usual Memorial Day gang:

camped in Lancaster and did the whole train thing (visited Choo Choo barn, took a train ride and had a picnic lunch, and played on some train rides) and Dutch Wonderland:

camped at Knoebels:

As usual, all was fun and too short lived!

We also went to New York state in June for Uncle T and Aunt Lindsay's wedding. Jack was excited to be the ringbearer and wear a tie...

Jack decided to try out tee ball instead of soccer, he seemed to really like it, but being left handed was interesting especially as he watched the other right handed kids do things.

Jack also went to "Farm School" with daddy and learned alot about animals on living on a farm. He also spent a week at "Acting School" at the urging of his school teachers. Jack loved it and learned alot about singing, dancing and acting. Daddy and Jack also started going to the Environmental Center once a week and Jack is loving learning about animals, nature, etc...

Looking forward to July 4th at Lake Wallenpaupack!! Could be our last camping trip just the three of us!!!

March and April

Yay! We finally have been able to get outside and play! Of course we had to visit one of our favorite places, Promised Land State Park, and make sure it made it through the winter and was ready for camping and Jack's 4th birthday party this year. All looked good...

We spent Easter in Poe Paddy State Park in PA and had a great time with Robby and Marilyn Fisher. Fishing season also started in April. As usual, Jack loved running around Nimrods and fishing with his daddy. He caught one fish and was content with that (to Matt's relief!)

Matt and Jack has also spent many hours in these past two months clearing up and playing by the creek in our backyard.

As for Jack's birthday...we were very busy celebrating (and, in retrospect, crazy) for a whole week! We kicked off his birthday week with a visit to NYC to see Thomas and Friends on stage and have some good sushi! As usual, we took Jack on his "surprise birthday trip" to Mystic Seaport in CT. We camped a few nights and had a great day at the seaport. On our way home, we visited the Children's Museum in CT which was a great, fun hands on museum.

Finally, we ended the week with a fun, gorgeous day at Promised Land State Park with family and friends celebrating a Titanic Birthday! Jack had a great time and is always in his glory when he is surrounded by people he loves! After April was over, Matt and I were completely exhausted...obviously!

February

Another LONG month of wishing for sunny, warmer weather!

Luckily, Jack has been busy with school, Momma is busy with work, as usual, and Daddy has been very busy this month fixing up a house that he and his partners bought to sell.

While we have been sneaking out of the house and getting some outdoor time in when we can, Jack still finds the Titanic to be his most favorite thing to do and talk about when indoors. He not only plays Titanic in the tub, but builds Titanics out of Legos AND waffles!!! Its a lot of Titanic at the Nonnemacher house and we have all learned more than we ever wanted to know about it. Jack has been educating his teachers at school about the Titanic and we were just asked if he would be interested in performing as Captain Smith (the captain of the Titanic, of course) for a community production. So, stay tuned on that one.

At the end of the month, we helped to host a party for Nana (who turned 60) and Pop pop (who finally retired). While Daddy's band entertained, it was Jack who took the cake. During a break, he found his way to the stage and proceeded to (on his own, mind you), sing "Rich Girl", "Can't Buy Me Love", and "Happy Birthday" all while strumming his guitar and giving Matt directions on the sound and drums! It was quite the first performance for him.

Here's to hoping for a warmer month in March!

January

We are tired of the snow and especially of the ice. Lucky for us, at the height of our single digit temps, we were in California! Not only did Jack have a great time on both flights (he enjoyed taking naps on the place), but the Roths allowed us to shake up their world for a while. We enjoyed the sunshine and realized how much happier we are in the sun and being outside. We also got to visit Legoland, Malibu Beach Creek State Park, Pacific Aquarium, Manhattan Beach, and sites around Torrance area. We did kick and scream on the day we had to leave...

Upon return home, we each successively got sick in one form or another. So, not only were we cold and not on vacation anymore, but we were taking turns and busy taking care of one another! Jack actually only made it to school 3 days in January. Honestly, he wasn't sad in the least!

But we are back at life now in Northeast PA...working, playing music and hanging with friends and family.

Obviously, looking forward to Spring and getting the camper out of hibernation!

December

Jack really enjoyed playing in the snow that we have been getting this month. He especially likes to eat it, we try to remind him to not eat the yellow stuff!

For Jack, December was a long month of waiting for Santa and Rudolph to come to his house. However, he was ecstatic to get drums on Christmas morning which were "just what he always wanted!" He immediately began wondering how Santa fit his new drum kit in his sleigh, though. Jack got his fill of being with the family and of toys and presents!

Jack also celebrated Christmas at his school and was in his first play! He played Santa (sorry, Mr. Claus, as Jack reminds me) and wore his costume for many, many days after the play to spread Ho, Ho, Ho's and presents to anyone who would listen. (That firefighter coat has sure come in handy!)

Daddy has been playing with his band on weekends again and Jack says that his Momma has been "staring at the potty all day long because that baby is growing!" and now professes that he wants to be a baby doctor (when he is not being a firefighter, rock star, airplane pilot or "worker guy")