Visiting the Hehl Family in Ct.

We went to see Erik's family for a few days after Christmas. Lucky for us Devon was home because she and Sergio got jobs in Bangkok! One night we went out for Japanese at a Hibatichi restaurant. Jake was pretty impressed with watching the cook's tricks while preparing our meal. We all got a chance to catch a piece of vegetable in our mouths that the cook flipped to us. I was very bad at this but Devon was able to make a catch on the first attempt. Jake was also greatly amused by playing with his aunts hair and they patiently let him do pretty much whatever he wanted to them.

Christmas 2011

WOW was Santa good to Jake! All Jake asked for for Christmas was a fire truck with a ladder that went up and down. He got that and lots of other items. Althought he played with the fire truck most of the day the piano was also a big hit (Mom and Dad are still deciding if it is a hit....). He really got the idea of Santa and ripping open gifts this year. Jake had us up a 5:03 to see what Santa had left for him. At first he was a little hesitant to go down stairs because he was afraid Santa might still be in our house. When you think about it a strange man entering a house via the chimney to eat cookies and leave presents is a bit frightening. We spent the morning opening presents and then had a very nice meal with TT, Papa, and Ome. Christmas is so much fun with a three year old.

Move over Macy’s Day Parade!

We are practicing hard for this year’s Hehl Family Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Time to Freeze

The Winter Classic will have to compete with the Hehl Classic this year, once we sign the contract with ESPN this week. Jake and Erik are busy working on the construction of our first backyard hockey rink. Anyone that knows us knows are love of hockey. Jake started skating last winter and loves it. By then end of this winter he should be pretty good on his skates especially after we start is 5:30 am daily skating drills in our backyard…….kidding here. The idea of a rink brings back great childhood memories for me playing until very late into the night on the rink in Heather Rich’s backyard. Lots of good times were had there in the cold winter nights of Saranac Lake.
Looking forward to a nice winter for backyard hockey!

Great Moment

This was supposed to be with the last post but my computer froze. One of my favorite parts of the week was early one morning Jake and I went for a walk so we wouldn't wake my Mom and Grandmother up. We got down by the lake, on a cool morning around 6:30. I sat in a chair as Jake set his bike down. When I asked Jake what he wanted to do he said "I would like to sit with you and watch the water for a little bit." I just melted that he could stop to want to enjoy the beauty of Lake Clear. It made this not obvious morning just perfect. He sat on my lap for over 5 minutes without talking or moving and just took the beauty of Lake Clear in.

Awesome Family

We had the amazing opportunity to spend a week (in July) in the Adirondacks staying at the Lake Clear lodge (http://www.lodgeonlakeclear.com/). It is an amazing place. The fun started with my Grandmother’s family (Abare) reunion. I believe this tradition was started in the early 1980s after my Great-Grandmother, Nellie died. There was a very bad two weeks in my grandmother’s family when 3 people in the family were buried over an 11 day period. It is my understanding that the family got together and said we have to get together for fun times not just funerals. My grandmother came from a big family so now, multiple generations later, the family reunion is large and a ton of fun. I think there were over 70 people there. My great-grandmother, Nellie, raised all the kids while walking to a from the local one room school house feeding the fire and getting it ready for all the children. The family lived in Gabriels, a suburb of Saranac Lake. So basically it was pretty rural. My great grandfather was not able to walk and I am not sure why. My Uncle Dave said that our family comes from good hard working stock and he is correct! I just think it is amazing that our family continues the family reunion. This year my generation brought along a lot of kids so it was fun to see all the kids playing.
On Saturday of the family reunion my Uncle Dave had the great idea to hike St. Regis Mountain. So the only ones that ended up doing it were uncle Dave, Erik, Jake, my Uncle John, my cousin Pam’s husband Matt and their daughter who is about 8 years old and me. Well it is not an easy hike near the top and in total is 3.3 miles one way. Jake walked some but got a ride most of the way in the backpack that Erik carried. I have no idea how he managed to hike all that way and on a difficult trail with a 30 lbs kid on his back.

A Good Start to the Summer

Wow! Is it really July already? In a four week span between the end of May and the beginning of June Jake was in 3 fishing derbies (Marcellus, YMCA, and Manlius) in 4 weeks. He was not successful until the third try. Maybe that was because his Papa was there to show him the ropes. Apparently Mom has lost a little bit of her fishing magic. Jake caught a 7 ½ inch rainbow trout in the village of Manlius annual fishing derby for kids. Manlius, has their own fish hatchery. Some kids were pulling out rainbows that were in the 8lbs range. I am glad that Jake started out small so the bar wasn’t set too high.

Jake Kissing His Fish


We have also had some fun times playing at home. Jake is very into his blocks these days and loves to build towers and roads. Lucky for us we have enjoyed a lot of meals out lately. Jake has a very sophisticated taste for food. If Jake has any type of sea food on his plate he turns into a crazed animal. On father’s day we had lobster and Erik couldn’t crack it fast enough for him. We are positive that Jake ate more than any of the adults at the table. I can only imagine what our grocery bill will look like when he is 16. I better start saving a little extra now.

Batter Up

Anyone who knows Mark Hehl knows that he loves baseball. Therefore he made the trip to Syracuse to see Erik’s first game of the season. Because one baseball game in a weekend isn’t enough for Mark he also had to go see the Syracuse Sky Chiefs. I was in need of a little alone time to run and do some time run so the Chiefs game turned into an all-boys outing. Jake enjoyed the game and even like Scooch. At the end of the game Jake wanted to say good bye to Scooch so he went looking for him. Jake’s attempt to find Scooch even included looking for him in the bathroom and opening up each stall door. Unfortunately Scooch was nowhere to be found. It was a successful trip because Jake came home with two baseballs.

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was very busy as Jake transitioned into his big boy bed and we were lucky enough to have Grandma Kathleen and Aunt Lauren come for a visit. Prior to Easter Jake enjoyed the time honored tradition of coloring Easter eggs with his T.T. He might even have my mother’s perfectionism in egg coloring. On Easter we all went out for brunch and Jake enjoyed the fruit and the pie the most.









Jake continues to shock us with how easily he transitions into new things. The first night and every night since he has been in the big bed he has slept through and not tried to get out. As you can see in the picture George also likes the new bed. Each night while we read to Jake, George joins in on the fun and cuddles on the bed to enjoy the comfort and the stories.

Jake 2.5

Well I have not kept this blog as up to date as I would like. So it goes. Anyway Jake hit the two and a half mark last month. With this age come some changes.

First off he has officially been out of dippers for about two months now. Mr. Budget (Erik) is very happy to not have to spend money on dippers. With this comes Jake’s ability to pull down his own paints, even in the middle of restaurants. That’s right the Hehl family is all class.

Jake is really coming into his own person these days. By this I mean he has developed a sense of independence, which is good but means that getting undressed could take 20 minutes. I am truly amazed by the amount of persistence, perseverance, tenacity, and well lets just say it…… the stubbornness a two and a half year old can have. The one thing Jake is figuring out slowly is that those are all qualities he inherited from his Mom and Dad! So maybe the joke is on him.

Last week Jake had his first run in with another boy over a girl. Who knew this would happen at such a young age. I believe Jake has a crush on this girl Abby in his class as he talks about her every day. So back to the story…..Abby was playing with a toy and another boy in the class (who is known to play a bit rough and take toys away from other kids) tries to take a toy away from Abby. Jake defends Abby by pushing the other boy and telling him that he may not take the toy away from Abby. The other boy’s response was to scratch Jake’s cheek and bite Jake across the nose. Jake received his first wounds over a girl. I am still not sure how I feel about the whole incident.

In in the end all the little trying moments are so worth it because one hug or an “I love you” from Jake just fills us with true joy that can’t be explained. Jake makes us laugh every day, especially when he is being a budding rock star. And boy does he have the hair of a rock star.

First Time Skiing

Anyone that knows me knows what a freak I am about skiing. Skiing is my favorite sport and I love to just bomb the hill. I actually don't remember learning how to ski but I am told I was doing it at three. I know Jake is only 2 and a half, but crazy me thought lets give it a try, and Erik was with me on this idea. I know it could have been a total disaster, but it so wasn't. We went to this really little ski hill call Four Seasons about 5 minutes from our house. Plus Erik has won two free lift tickets so Mr. Budget was game for taking this chance as it was economical. We rented Jake equipment. I knew he was a natural when as soon as I got his boat on he got right up and walked like he had sneakers on (well almost). He even navigated stairs on them. Anyone that has spent anytime in ski boots knows this is no easy task. Then we took to the hill and Jake loved the "magic carpet" that took us up the lift, as he thought it was a train. We ended up taking four runs down the mountain and I think he would have gone more. One of our trips down I stopped for a minute and Jake yelled "No stopping Mommy! Go fast now!" We plan to take him out a few more times this year. By next year at this time he will be bombing the mountain. Body Miller - Who is that? Jake Hehl has arrived!

Best Buddies

Jake's two BFFs are Feduch and George. Each morning both the dogs are waiting for me to open the door when Jake wakes up so that they can put their noses through his crib to wake him with their cold noses. The other morning Jake said he wanted George in his crib with him so Erik pick George up and put him there.

Rock Star

Jake is very into music and loves to play his guitar and sing. Do we have a rock star in the making?

Loving the Winter

We have had a wonderful winter with lots of snow. I think winter is magical time of year. I enjoy getting the snow and cold. Yes I know many people think that is just plan crazy.
Jake seems to have inherited some of my love for the winter and snow. He really likes to help shovel the driveway. Lets home that desire to help shovel stays with him through his teenage years. This morning we got out to Mill Run Park for a little cross country skiing. Feduch had a great time in the snow and George seems to even like it.

How to Eat Pie

One of Jake’s favorite things is blackberry pie. He is lucky that my father is a very good pie maker and has tons of blackberries on his property in the summer. My father picked all the blackberries he could and froze them. Just about every time my Dad sees Jake he brings him a homemade pie. Within the first few bits of his first blackberry pie, Jake decided that eating it with a fork just wasn’t fast enough so his solution was to pick it up and eat it like a piece of pizza.

The Revival

It has been well over a year since I last posted. Lets just say that the first year of teaching leaves very little time for anything other than work and family. Good news is that I seem to have a bit of handle on the teaching thing and can now try to keep this blog up again. I am afraid I have lost all my followers but maybe some will come back and there might even be some new ones. I promise some good stories based on our crazy lives and the life of a middle school teacher. Jake is at a really fun age so I am sure I will have plenty to post. And lets not forget about the dogs, especially George, who opens a locked sliding glass door at will and jumps our new five foot fence without having to take a running start.

This Christmas was the best ever. Santa was very good to Jake and brought tons of presents even though he only asked for two puzzles. Not surprising the puzzles are the favorite gift that he plays with the most. It took Jake two days to open all his presents for two reasons: 1. He is a bit of neat freak and carefully put all the wrapping paper from each present in the trash bag as he took it off; and 2. He played with each present for quite some time before moving on to a new present. He also ran over to the statue of Santa and said “Thank you Santa Clause” after opening each gift.