Friday, February 18, 2011

Sisters!







Mom - sorry this is the only pic of her on your blanket so far...we can improve on that! 

How cute are these?!  Check out my friend Aubri's store on Etsy:  Macaroni & Tees.  She makes all these adorable custom shirts.  

Elliot practicing her Happiest Baby on the block "shhhhhhhh".

The big sis' singing Happy Birthday to You!

Modeling the Big Bigger sis T's on mom's swanky blankey.

Julia - put up your dukes!

These guys are too much for me!

Sunday, February 06, 2011

First Ski Lessons

This video is only for grandmas.  Nothing spectacular happens in it.  Just Sam & Elliot (in pink, no goggles) their first time with 1 ski on...


A few weeks ago we went with a gaggle of preschool friends to Pats Peak in New Hampshire for some ski lessons.  I was the designated pregnant lady who sits in the lodge and drinks cocoa while reading a book...though admittedly, I should have spent less time documenting and more time with the books and cocoa!  I started off strong in the picture department and soon realized that there is no good way to tell apart kids covered in puffalump clothes from head to toe.  So here are only a few snippets of the big day.







Ruby, Samantha, Elliot, Micah and not pictured in the group shot:   Zoe, Benjamin, & Molly

Friday, February 04, 2011

Happy 3rd Birthday Samantha!

Samantha turns 3 on February 7th.  She thinks she has been 3 for the last 3 weeks, since we had her birthday party in January.   My due date is Feb 9th and that was just too close to risk a cancelled party for our star 3 year old.  We did a number of things we ordinarily might not have done if we were 1) living in our own space, and 2) not 9 months pregnant.  Like, for example, outsourcing the party to the Gymnastics Academy of Boston, where our girls take gymnastics class.  And, for buying a cake...don't tell anyone I have a cake blog and chose instead to pick one up from Royal Pastry Shop in Cambridge (which is still nowhere near as good as that cake you always get, Shannon, but I wasn't going to order one from Illinois either).

Elliot & Samantha & I have spent long hours on our new commute over the last month planning the details of Samantha's party.  It somehow causes all back seat bickering to stop and the creative juices to flow.  So, you can imagine our, and Elliot's disappointment that El could not go to the party.  On the way home from her gymnastics class, she said she felt sick.  She barfed when she got home.  But hey - still 2 hours before the party...maybe she was just carsick or something?  But when changing for the party, she hurled again, so she stayed home with grandpa instead.  Turns out she had a nasty 24 hour thing and was sprightly by morning - which is a good thing, but we missed her at the party.  Samantha however, got to be the true star of the show and was an excellent little hostess - hugging all of her friends and cousins hello & goodbye and handing out those bloody goody bags with such glee!









We'll have a little family party for her on the 7th too, so she'll be extra confused.

The Nutcracker

Just after Christmas, Elliot & I had a special date to go see the Nutcracker.  I don't get it.  I don't like the Nutcracker.  I don't enjoy the performance, and basically think that while Ballet looks really really hard, after you see a few spins and toe turns, that it all kind of looks the same, but in difference costumes.  Add to that, there is no vocal track, songs or spoken bits and I am a bit lost on the world's love of The Nutcracker.  But, Elliot's best friend was going and Elliot has a love affair with ballet all on her own that I do not want to squash, so I sucked it up and took her to see Boston Ballet's performance - because hey, if I have to suffer through it, may as well be through one that is considered the best and not some high school production of it.  Now, I am indebted to Maggie, the 5 year old with us who at least told me the story of the Nutcracker before the show began so we had some clue what was going on.  And to my friend Erica for coordinating the trip and making it bearable for all.   I did have a most excellent date with Elliot and it was really special to get dressed up with her and head to the city for our own date.  When I asked her what she wanted for lunch, she said, "you know that place?  that has the egg salad sandwich on bread with lettuce? you know, Starbucks?  is there one of those near the Nutcracker?  that is where I want to go."  Do I know a place called "Starbucks"?!   Good lord I could own my own franchise by now with the money I have spent on their lattes.

Coveting the Parker House Rolls

With Friends Maggie, Elliot, Zoe, Aiden & Emmett

With the dancing bear...no pictures allowed INSIDE the theater.
I was able to redirect her to some New England Clam Chowda and Parker House Rolls at the world famous Omni Parker House (where the rolls and Boston Creme pie were invented!).  She was quite taken with the glamour of the room - and I by how empty it was, so we had very nice service.  Even if we almost were taken down by a backpack-sized hunk of falling ice that fell from a 10+ story building and landed an arms length from our path on our walk there - heart attack for me and all passerbys who witnessed...hilarity to Elliot who thought it was funny.