Sam and Eggs

Julia is 1 Year Old - Happy Birthday!

2012-02-11T00:16:00.000-05:00

Julia is 1 year old already! Here are some pictures from her celebration.

Happy 4th Birthday Samantha!

2012-02-08T17:00:00.000-05:00

It is birthday central around here! Our little sunshine turned 4 yesterday. We had her "truck" party on Sunday. On Monday she took cupcakes to preschool and on Tuesday, she got to pick dinner and have ANOTHER cake. Don't think we are stopping there either...because we do it all with Julia tomorrow.

Samantha picked "Trucks" as her party theme. Ok. We can work with that. On party day (Superbowl Sunday no less), she wanted to wear her blue princess dress with her cape to make her a "golden princess". All I want is to be able to make one of those princess cakes where the skirt is the cake...but no, it's trucks. And why the princess? Well, she does love to dress up. Ben watches "This Old House" with them every morning waiting for the sun to come up and there is a GMC truck commercial that ends with a truck pulling a parade float with a princess on it. Maybe that's what we were going for.

No matter, we love Sammy's theme and jumped into it with gusto. We made her a pink pinata and then we made her a pink truck cake. Both are the result of me trolling google images to piece together a combo of what is cool and what I can actually pull off.

Poor Sam has no idea what day is her birthday and she couldn't wait for it to get here, and now she thinks that it is a week long. Fine by us. Incidentally, for her dinner, she chose: noodles, plain, no sauce; with sweet corn and baked beans. She turned down going out for chinese for this, which I secretly loved. Though, I did sneak some tomato sauce onto my plain noodles.

Pinata on the table.

Candy frenzy

Racing trucks

In PJs for dinner on actual birthday. Because all this celebrating is fun!

The Artist Formerly Known as BeJewelia

2012-01-27T15:17:00.000-05:00

Yay! Kassi made me a calendar of pictures over the year and in the process must have uploaded a jillion photos that were otherwise lingering on our other camera. So I have come across some oldies but goodies, that may seem out of season when posted.

A couple of silly things. Today I sorted my iTunes by the most number of times played. Most of our tunes average around 22 plays. So I was curious what would be the big winner? Any one of my Lilith Fair ladies? Prince? Supertramp? Nope. It was "Baa Baa Black Sheep". By a mile, at 120 plays. Followed by about a hundred other kiddie tunes. Waaaah waaaaah. And incidentally, the first non-kid song that appeared was Pink's "Leave me Alone". Huh, who knew I was such a big fan?

And now for what you tuned in for: Pictures. We don't really let Julia color yet. But she is a weasel with the markers and keeps heisting them. We do however call her "Bejewelia". Quite frequently.

Our big art project right now is a making a truck pinata for Sam's birthday party. Sure we could buy one, but where is the fun in that? Plus, they don't make pink truck pinatas.

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-20T11:17:00.000-05:00

For New Year's Eve this year, we celebrated every tradition we could think of. We made Chinese Dumplings (pot stickers) and had all hands make at least one. Ben's Aunt Laura was in town visiting for his parents' 50th Wedding anniversary party. She was game enough to join in the fun. Btw, we learned this from our briefly mentioned weekend in NYC.

I love this picture of Aunt Laura & Samantha

Papa got into the fun too -- didn't even complain about the festive hat we had him wear.

Julia was a vision in her party headband of choking hazards doom. This girl really likes to eat tissue. All kinds of tissue. Even when connected to cardboard and tinfoil.

Samantha's super party gear. Auntie Wendy made the dress! She made dresses for all the girls for Christmas. Rock on Wendy!

Let's see, Chinese Pot Stickers, 12 grapes: 1 for each month for good luck to be eaten at the stroke of midnight (or at 6:43 as was for us...but how are you supposed to eat the grapes and kiss your honey?!). We also had lentils for financial luck (little coins) and pickled herring, for the Polish...but we don't really know why and my group is begging me to give this one up.

The next day, we went to our friends' house which always ends with a kids group hug/sumo wrestling fest.

Never has an Easy Bake Oven made such a delicious and beautiful creation on its first try as this. Elliot created it herself: brownie cake with cream cheese and whipped cream frosting with sliced strawberries and cocoa on top.

And finally, who can resist a picture of a sleeping baby, bottoms up in the afternoon!

MLK Weekend

2012-01-13T15:00:00.000-05:00

I just saw somewhere that someone said, "If you have a blog and you only update it once a week, you are not a blogger." Well, ha! I am a blogger and I only update, as you know, sporadically. Then again, I have a full time job and am not trying to make this my living. Just trying to let the relatives feel closer to our village.

So its the MLK long weekend here. I wish I recorded dinner last night when Elliot asked what MLK is all about. It was a cute conversation but by the end, we almost needed to write some letters to him (why do I have to include all the details, like oh, he was killed and the killers went to jail...forever --which isn't where I was going, but they kept asking pesky questions!).

This does remind me however of the self-portrait Elliot did this fall. It had a little write up. I remember when they were talking about descriptive colors for hair and skin (peach coconut!) and such as a unit in kindergarten. I thought the whole class had to write it on their self portrait after reading Elliot's. Ben and I were quite surprised when we read what she told the teacher to write about her:

It says, "Important things about Elliot are that she has light skin, she has a mom and dad and two sisters and she likes art and she has 9 cousins, 4 grandparents. But the MOST important thing about Elliot is that she has light skin and is special!"

But no, actually no other kid mentioned skin color - it wasn't part of the fill in the blanks. More like, "I like to ride bikes" and "I went to Texas". I wonder what the other parents think when they read it. So Beth, I hope Alice will invite Elliot over to play in her underground railroad sometime.

Happy New Year 2012!

2012-01-08T10:55:00.000-05:00

Wow. So, I emporarily stopped being a blogger. Not really intentionally. More over technical difficulties in actually accessing our Blog. I won't bore you with the details, and I am not sure it is really even fixed yet, since I felt like I had to hack my way into my own account here. But that is not what you come here for. You come for the goods. The gals. The Pictures. So let's get down to it. Looks like our last post was (gasp!) around Halloween. Since then, lots of good stuff has happened: Ben turned 40. Some of the Chicago family came out for Thanksgiving. Julia turned into a little toddling person. Christmas was festive. John & Peggy celebrated 50 years of marriage. We rang in the New Year with everyone else's traditions. Now we are gearing up for two little February birthdays: Sam will be 4 and two days later, Julia will be 1!

Samantha now likes to wear ALL her dress up dresses at once. And particularly likes to be "The Golden Princess" after all those Moody Street Circus shows we took in.

Julia discovered and instantly loved bagels.

Elliot & Samantha spontaneously busted into dance in the Burlington Mall. People gathered to watch.

We made some shortbread peppermint bark. To distract the kiddos, I asked each to unwrap a candy-cane. not so easy for little hands. I was joking when I gave one to Julia. But it did not stop her. She weaseled that thing into her mouth and sucked it through the wrapper. And that is how she swiped her first candy cane. I somehow thought it was less of a choking hazard with the wrapper on...

Elliot's fashion continues to amaze us.

Ben and I had a fantastic "Food and Fashion" weekend in NYC. One of the nights, we got to work in the kitchen of the French Culinary Institute. We made pot stickers to show the girls. The focus was not really on cooking, it was more of a cocktail party, but we jumped right in.

Backing up to Thanksgiving when the grandmas got into the action of Wii Tennis. Quite competitive! And the kids watched with rapt attention.

Grandpa & Sammy in the Boston Community Garden.

Julia Julia Julia. She is such a little smiley peach.

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:00:00.001-05:00

Julia's first Halloween!

Julia's not so sure why we get all the candy. She likes attacking it and playing with the wrappers, but since none of hers was opened, it's just not as interesting.

Sammy on the other hand, was faster than every kid on our block and lead the charge from one dark sidewalk with stairs to the next!

And Elliot, mid way through needed someone else to carry her bag of candy for her...just too heavy (mind you it was half the weight of Sam's who is half the weight of Elliot, who had no trouble sprinting between houses...but we all have different motivations, right?

Snowtober before Halloween

2011-10-31T08:41:00.000-05:00

Seriously, the costume that my kids put on first today was their full winter snow gear! And they played outside for 45 minutes in the 3-4 inches of SNOW that fell. So not cool New England. We had a jam packed weekend. Ben was gone all week at TedMed, so we greeted him at the airport Saturday at 6:30 am. Since he was at a medical conference, he wasn't in the mood to indulge in Kanes Donuts, but was happy to go to Barry's Deli in Waban. Then he took the girls to Elliot's last soccer game of the season. At lunchtime we switched, and I took her to a birthday party. Which turned out to be our first DROP OFF birthday party. Laaaaa! really, I don't have to stay? You want me to leave and come back in 75 minutes?! And I am alone? Good gravy! What to do with my time? Head down the street to shop. For MYSELF. And run into Auntie Wendy while I am there. Back to get Elliot & reunite with Ben, Julia & Sam to head to a pumpkin carving party in Cambridge...where we had no blizzard contingency plan. Today we lazed around in the morning and then went shopping, to a dress up and dance ballet class, and then to see the Circus for the last time this run. Auntie Kassi hit the circus while I cooked dinner and Ben & Julia watched football. The girls helped me make a pin the nose on the pumpkin for the class Halloween party tomorrow. Good times. And Good Night.

That is Quinn. I work with him. He probably did not expect "holding baby" as part of his job description last week, but it is one of the few pictures we have with the girls all in their costumes and facing the camera.

Not the most flattering picture, but I love it. Samantha is like the hamburglar sitting over in the corner window watching Boston below, stuffing as many halloween oreos in her mouth as she could muster before I spotted her, snapped her picture, and then stopped her.

Apple Picking 2011

2011-10-14T14:33:00.002-05:00

We hit up Honey Pot Hill Orchard this year again. This time with cousin Zoe and friends Zoe and Benjamin. Before we even set foot in the orchard, we were chomping on cider donuts, sipping cider, running the hedge maze, and basking in the sun. It was a great day for apples. Even if all the honey crisps were gone by the time we got there!

Hay ride! Anyone remember the year the tractor hit a bump and Samantha fell backward over her hay bale and was saved from going overboard by an ankle grab of a stranger (while mommy and daddy held their coffees)? Nothing like that happened this year.

oops, intermission cupcakes with Ruby andZoe at Ruby's house.

Julia was picking anything she could get her swiper hands on. She's awesome.

This and That

2011-10-07T15:17:00.002-05:00

Love the styling Missoni girls...thanks Auntie Wendy!

Above is the post script to Elliot's first day of Kindergarten...sleeping soundly, clutching her goggles for swimming class so she would not forget.

Oh look at this delicious pucker!

And Samantha's first day of her new PreSchool, Jams. Sam goes to Jams.

Here we have dueling cousins stuck in car seats. Miles and Julia party on.

Chandeliers! DIY: Painting a Brass Chandelier

2011-09-30T19:40:00.002-05:00

Did you hear? My house had 15 chandeliers when we bought it. No joke. Not one that we would ever pick out or wish to live with. We replaced one of them with a purchase from West Elm. Next up: paint one for the kids' bedroom. After doing adequate research on the topic and making an "urgent" trip to Home Depot...you know, must get there before it closes on Saturday night to be armed to tackle project at break of dawn Sunday morning? And then pulling the trigger to get it done, dragging myself and paying a babysister to watch the sleeping babies while we are trudging the aisles at 10PM on a Saturday night to load up on the needed kit of tools? Yeah, that was the start of this project. And turns out, that trip to Home Depot, was actually a joke, since I did not actually get to this project for a full 3 weeks after said "urgent" trip. Uggh, I hate it when that happens. The upside is that when I had a random, unexpected free block of several hours on that future Saturday, voila! I already had all the tools needed and did not have to spend those day light hours at Home Depot.

Supplies purchased:

1. Rubber gloves - protect those hands.

2. TSP: Uber cleaner rubbed on all surfaces with an old t-shirt to clean and ready for priming.

3. Painters Tape: tape all electrical parts, and candle sticks if not painting.

4. Spray Paint Primer: White by Krylon. Apply in thin coats. Allow ample drying time in between (1-2 hours).

5. Super fine sand paper sponge to sand down any drip spots, or scrubby part of a sponge. I did this and scraped off the primer in doing so, so I do not recommend this step after all.

6. Spray Paint: Purchased Watermelon, Yellow, Purple, White (returned all but Watermelon, which we used).

7. Rustoleum Gloss Protective Enamel. I messed this up. I thought it was a clear enamel to make this shiny. Even though I bought glossy Watermelon, I thought this would be a protective shiner. Well, it has a brown top. Because IT IS BROWN. Thank goodness I, as a fluke, did a little test on the box at the last second before spraying on my finished product. It is indeed brown...though does not say so on the can, only on the price tag, which I missed. So, I do not know if there is such a thing like clear nail polish to apply. I just skipped it after all.

The chandelier we started with. Actually took it out of the girls' bathroom.

I'm kinda proud of my rigged up spray area. Other posts did it directly on the ground, one recommended a cardboard box. I used 2 saw horses draped in drop cloth, with our broom taped up to hang the chandelier upside down. Which is really good, since you mostly see chandeliers from the bottom up anyway, so you want that part to be really good. I was just lucky that this lamp had a loop at the bottom to hang with already. All I had to do was find a dowel thin enough for it (our broom).

I took off the candle sleeves, and then taped the electrical parts. This is it after the primer coat.

And this is it. Dried already - see its shiny on its own.

Hanging with the lights on above. And lights off below. Couldn't bring myself to buy more fun bulbs. Our house came stocked with about 200 bulbs, so it is just a waste to go outside of our inventory. I do however long for these fun candle covers.

And for those of you interested in Elliot's room make-over.

Here is the room when we bought the house. (Chandelier is different than the pink one we installed - this one is ready for its own repurposing.)

Some might argue that the "before" in this instance is an eeensy bit better. No more carpet, hard wood floors. New pink chandelier. Fancy purple walls. Whole lotta kid stuff.

Hooray for Kindergarten!

2011-09-06T08:53:00.000-05:00

Elliot is at her first morning of kindergarten right now. A rainy morning is not keeping us down...tho working the umbrella and the oversized backpack with the huge lunch box to house just plain carrots for a snack, maybe contributed to the wipeout that occurred before Ben ever finished his question, "Do you think we would let her walk to school alone?" Then wipeout in the wet mud. Good thing we were just across the street from our house. No injuries, Elliot got to switch to her new leggings that she wanted to wear in the first place, and we were back on our way. We all did great at drop off. I am going to pick her up at 12:30. Then there is no school tomorrow. Then the rest of September she is done at 12:30. But then in October she has class until 12:30 3 days a week and 3 PM 2 days a week. Really?! How confusing could they make this? I hope she loves it - she told me she already knows everything, so I expect her to be reading by the time I pick her up today.

Bindi Kitty Post Script

2011-09-02T07:42:00.000-05:00

It's been a bummer week at our place. We had to take Bindi kitty back to the Animal Rescue League to find a new family to adopt her and we (mostly Ben & I) are taking it pretty hard. I mentioned before that we were all a little allergic - but, it seemed to be getting better / livable. We made her appointments at her new vet, we tore the packaging off her new climbing posts and toys, we posted her on our blog. She had been sleeping on our bed for 3 weeks...she was in! And shaping up to be a pretty good kitty. But then Samantha had a nighttime cough.
We gave her Allegra for allergies in the morning (our first treatment to see if it would help at all, thinking we may need to do it more often, since we are keeping the kitty and Samantha cant keep her face out of Bindi's belly).
Then Samantha got a fever during the day.
Kassi called. Gave her motrin for fever.
Kassi called again later (this should have been a sign for us in itself).
More fever + quick breathing+fast heart rate.
After work, we came home and saw Samantha. Fevery & sick. And wheezing with her quick shallow breaths.
Called the doctor.
Took Samantha to the ER to be assessed for respiratory distress.
They gave her a triple dose of Albuterol to open up her breathing and took chest x-rays.
Ruled out pneumonia, but said she showed signs of "Reactive Airways" which is baby asthma.

After much discussion with the doctors and our pediatrician the next day, we knew we had to take Bindi back. We can't risk going to the ER to breathe every time someone in our house gets sick. Plus, we felt like we had to do it quickly, while Bindi is still a kitten, so she has the best chance of being adopted again quickly.

So, on the way home from the hard last day at their day care and saying goodbye to teachers and friends as we move on to Kindergarten next week, we broke the news to them that Bindi had to go. Ouch. Copacabana all over again - tho justified.

By the way, the Animal Rescue League in Boston is AWESOME. We had been spending all our time at the MSPCA in Jamaica Plain, but really should have been with ARL that whole time. It's where we got Bindi. They are fantastic. Super helpful and nice. And, very good to us in this whole unfortunate situation. We're keeping track of Bindi while she is there and until we are sure she is in a new home.

Sweet 6 Months

2011-08-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday Miss Julia, Droolia, Bejewelia, turned one half. 6 months already?! And for her sweet six months, she got a new kitten. Well, we all got a new kitten. Just a coincidence that she was ready to come home on Julia's half birthday. And, the next day, miss Julia sat up by herself! Skipped the tri-pod and went directly to sitting (and flopping in slo mo after a few seconds). And, she is a puree eating machine. I am making her food for the most part, since I like to cook and all and she likes to eat, it works out well. And, since Samantha sometimes likes to revert to babyisms, she wolfed down Julia's "potato, leek, carrots and spinach puree" like it was chocolate pudding. Yay! I'll let Sammy pretend to be a baby if it means she is eating good foods.

We have been a little slow to introduce our new kitten to the world. At first, because we are busy folks. And then b/c we think we better not get too attached...we are all somewhat allergic to her. We hope it is coincidence. Ben was allergic to Sheffield, but Elliot, Sam & I were not. We've all been a little sneezy and watery eyed since our kitten came home, but Samantha (who denies being allergic) pretty much looked like Will Smith's allergic reaction in the movie Hitch on Thursday and then wheezed herself to sleep. So, we love our new kitten, but maybe not enough yet to sign up any of us for a lifetime of shots or daily allergy meds...

This is Bindi. We think. Still debating names too, but Bindi Kitty and Bindi Dot seem to be sticking.

Julia sitting up! Baby + Kitten = cuteness explosion.

And then baby falls backward...still practicing sitting up!

My lucky day on Friday to spend the whole day with my girls. I put them in their matching shirts to not lose them.

And this is Julia's hand being mamed by baby kitten.

Back to Julia. She's a keeper! Trying to wave, swipe everything in site, and laugh hysterically when evere someone else laughs. In fact, if you wipe her face, she hates it and starts to cry. If you fake laugh while you are wiping her face, she starts to laugh too and let's you do it.

Storyland 2011

2011-08-13T12:31:00.000-05:00

Back in June, we made our 3rd annual trip to Storyland. This time, Grandma flew in with cousin Emilee to join in the fun. We had a great time with them visiting. Emilee was a model guest with the best manners and general disposition, which we hoped our girls would pick up on (who might have been a bit whiny and tantrummy over that weekend). We were crowded into the minivan for the 3 hour drive, but we made it in time for an afternoon of sunshine. Which was followed the next day by torrential rain once our friends, the Hongs, arrived. We were happy to have one good day of weather. No bears this year, though they were reported in our condo complex and we drove off to find them...no dice - which I suppose is a good thing. We got in a little pool time, and an unexpected outlet mall time since my mom's bag was lost on the flight. She eventually was reunited with it, after we shopped for new clothes.

It might be a good thing these girls live far apart. They are peas in a pod and little conspirators. I heard them giggling up a storm in the condo. And then went to check on their muffled voices, and found them here. Under the sink with the door closed and the bathroom door closed and the lights off. Just fine, hanging out in the dark under the sink.

Night night.

Cheater Post

2011-08-10T12:07:00.000-05:00

I am so far behind in my updates, but if you want a preview of our OBX trip this year, check out Mindy's awesome blog here.

Camp YPO 2011

2011-07-11T21:12:00.000-05:00

This June was jam packed for us. I went back to work. Then subsequently took every Friday off for a little vacay. Our first trip was to Lee, Massachusetts to go camping in the Berkshires at Camp Lennox, which was renamed, Camp YPO for the weekend. Ben is a member of the YPO (Young Presidents Organization) here, so we signed up for their family weekend at camp. Not camping, mind you, but camp, like what all our Jewish friends did every summer of their youths, for like 8 weeks at a time. But this was only for 2 nights. And it was a 2 hour drive away. And all we needed to do was show up and participate. And it was the best weekend we had in a really long time. So much fun - even if we didn't really know all the other families yet.

The weekend camp kept topping itself, like in the middle of the DJ dance party in the lodge, they announced there would be free hot air balloon rides in the morning. We went out to see the balloon, but did not go up in it. Thereby confirming the theory that if it is free, its not as special. Well, actually there was a line, and mosquitos, and we weren't sure how the baby would fare and, well, it was tethered and not really a big ride. Oh, and its a big noisy ball of fire above your head that fuels it. But, it WAS the most beautiful balloon we had ever seen.

These are our bunks, though these were not our sleeping arrangements, more like our morning snuggles. Upon arrival, they gave us sleeping bags and head lamps, and a sweeeeet old-school sweat suit. Which turned out to be a good thing bc it was down in the 40s at night, and we packed for the 90s b.c it was that hot the previous week. And now we barely have time to check the weather. I did not even have socks for Julia - she recycled the footies and mismatched sweats for the weekend. She didn't mind. She's rustic.

Above is Elliot jumping into the lake for our "color war" polar bear swim. 1 point for every person who jumps in at 8 am and it is FREEZING. And Sammy is on the dock. As she shivered back to our cabin, she asked, "But where is the polar bear? I didn't see one."

Here's our bunk house and our family sweat suits. They banished us to our own cabin (2 rooms + indoor plumbing). Most other families stayed in the Moms/Daughters cabin or the Dads/Sons cabin (ahem, I am going to be hosed next year and Ben will be solo!). Actually they didn't banish us, but they did it to be nice, since we had a 4 month old and all. Wait, maybe we were banished, I mean really, who wants to sleep with a crying baby in their bunk? (I Do!)

Elliot & Samantha getting ready to find the hatchet, a night time scavenger hunt.

Above, getting our color war grand relay race instructions. I had to eat a cracker and whistle the Star Spangled Banner and then run 100 yards. Julia was not so keen on it, so she slept in her stroller.

Below, Samantha closed down the mess hall at about every meal. She sure likes to eat slow.

Julia and I lounging by the lodge. Wow, did everyone there tell us we were superstars/ troopers / amazing / awesome/ brave / fantastic for bringing our 4 month old. When their eyes really said, "what were you thinking??" But really, I was going to be sitting around nursing my baby and up all night anyway, why not do it somewhere we could be outside and entertained, with our meals prepared for us?

Elliot at Samantha owned the arts and crafts table. They took a break to watch the professional BMX bikers who came to entertain us...

My tattoo was only temporary - and a huge hit when I revived it for my recent company picnic.

There was yoga (below), dodgeball, touch football, a rock wall, and a whole water sport activity that we napped through, and even an illusionist who was on Oprah and Ellen and Jay Leno. I tell ya, if you are going to "camp" -- this is the way to go.

Hair club for Julia

2011-06-24T15:20:00.000-05:00

Aaaackk! Did somebody go back to work or what? How was May my last post? So much is going on! Like, Julia is going bald! I am not really obsessed with this, just marveling since it did not happen with Samantha or Elliot. They all started with that head of hair, but Julia is the only one to lose it. The new fuzz is growing in blondish. I'm just glad it's growing in.

Here is the photographic evidence which will also preview posts I need to post:

Is her hoodie the culprit?

Full rock star spike...starting to thin.

The toned down version.

Talking to her dinosaur, and starting to lose side hair.

Uh oh, that's a lot of scalp showing.

Whoa! when did that happen? (And sneak peak of cousin Emilee visiting)

Julia's first Polo Match, and matching comb-over.

May Fun

2011-05-19T10:59:00.001-05:00

I am supposed to be paying bills and organizing our office right now. I am finding anything on the planet to avoid this apparently. Julia is on her "supernap" break in her car seat downstairs, so I know I am on borrowed time. But, a couple people have asked for pictures. And this translates to me thinking there are blog fans, and who can disappoint fans? Well, me usually, but not today. Today, I post. And the bills wait, again. Unless Julia stays asleep for a while longer.

I am going back to work on June 1 - with mixed emotion to be sure. I am kinda looking forward to it, but realistically think that excitement will last all of a week and a half. Elliot and Samantha are at such a fun age right now, and Julia & I are so simpatico, I am going to miss her attached to me for 10 hours a day. I will fortunately be working from home 2 days a week - though admittedly easier on the commute, and the dry cleaning, it is hard for the girls to be home and not all over me, even if sequestered in my office. Kassi will have her work cut out for her. She is staying on with us through the summer, until Elliot starts kindergarden. I also just dropped off our deposit for Samantha's new pre-school. Another mixed emotion...the school was chosen for its overwhelming and awesome award-winning: location. It is next door to Elliot's elementary school and both are 3 blocks from our house. We interviewed 6 different preschools and concluded that we do not LOVE any of them, that the one they are in now, is much better than we have been complaining about, and we might as well go with the convenient one if the differences are marginal to us. Tho, as I walked the deposit up to them, I was worried about the decision. And when I am driving 90 minutes round trip to pick them up from their current school tonight, I am sure I will feel better about picking convenience.

Well, now I did it. Bills are not paid, PICTURES are not posted and Julia is wailing. Let's see how fast I can get these up:

See what I mean about fun ages? They picked their outfits for the Cordova sculpture walk on Mothers Day.

Kassi's crazy tire-goth idea...

My crazy Keith Herring inspired idea.

Kassi is taking a new photo class, for which my babes are more than willing subjects.

My babes. No time to airbrush dinner off of them.

Julia - cute as anything. And this is the 3rd tummy time we have done. Bad mommy.

The length of her at 14 weeks.

Check out the crazy cool chick. Mindy MADE that! And she did not even know we have a chickie nursery.

Mindy ...this is the room shot of Julia's room. We did not do anything in here, except rip up the carpet and polish the floors. Big plans for curtains and a chandelier re-do. I love the butterfly mobile at Pottery Barn and think it would be dandy in here!

Dining Room Makeover

2011-05-11T12:38:00.000-05:00

Here is our dining room as purchased with the house:

And here is our dining room after we completed the renovations: made the rough plaster ceiling smooth, removed wall paper, painted all wainscoting and built-ins and below, replaced the hunting horn chandelier.

We are in the market for a new dining table and chairs. In fact it pains me to see this table in this room, b/c I have a vision for what will go here. And it may still have the Easter egg table cloth and the Easter Bunny cake on it, but not those chairs, not that table and not that color.

So our house had 15 chandeliers when we bought it. Now it has 16, though one is dismantled in the basement. So when you visit, don't diss this one below (above is the horns up close). I love it, and Ben indulged me. Beth, you asked about lighting, we found this one at West Elm for just under $300 - seemed like a steal from all we looked at, and I do love it. It comes in a dark capiz shell too.

I loved it so much, I had the fun task of un-taping/unwrapping each individual shell by hand (feeling bad for the sweat shop workers whose job it was to wrap them). Ben had the fun task of installation...did I mention I love having a super handy husband?

Sammy likes the Suburbs!

2011-04-28T11:22:00.000-05:00

So after the Easter Feaster, Ben and the girls reenacted a scene from This Old House and basically alienated our guests into leaving while they dug up a tree in our backyard to immediately stop the "mulch volcano". They did not like being questioned about whether this was good for the tree, or what to do to clean it up, tho they may have admitted later to biting off more than they could chew in the middle of Easter Feast. But, Samantha was again in her element. She was more than ready to get her trike and go for a walk with me.

Side note: one benefit of living in New England is that is where This Old House is usually filmed. So when your husband accidentally digs up the root system of a 100 year old tree, maybe murdering it, maybe not, you can track down the specialists from the exact episode and invite them to your house to assess the damage or benefit done. Of course this comes with a fee, but hey, our celebrity arborist will be visiting us tomorrow (amidst 4 preschool interviews for Samantha tomorrow too, but that's for another post...hey, should she wear her overalls?).

Oh Yes We Did

2011-04-25T10:50:00.000-05:00

Put Julia in the dress. She's a little young for a quincenera, but she would fit right in. Julia was representing for all of us on Easter, who were otherwise wearing jeans and t-shirts. Our tiny baby girl happily chirped the day away in ruffles and bad headbands making us all feel more festive. Here are the highlights of the Dress.

Oh, and if you put Ben in charge of the outfit while you by chance make Jacques Pepin's recipe for cheese souffle, Julia will come out with the headband like a sweatband and her lacey scratchy collar tucked under her chins for most of the photos...and chives will sneak their way into your cheese souffle.

Shark Tank!

2011-04-22T07:50:00.000-05:00

Last Friday we went to the new exhibit at the New England Aquarium: the Shark and Ray Touch Tank. We put our hands in to feel rays and a bonnet head shark, which is like a mini-hammer head. Both girls were happy to splash their hands in the water and hold still for the fish to come by...and then yank them out when marine life actually came near. There were many rays, but very few sharks. When the shark came by the first time, Samantha saw it, said "shark!" and jammed her hand in the water to try and catch it!? Huh? really? Afraid to touch the fishies, but fine to try and grab a shark? I love it. And I really love that she did not freak out that her entire sweater dress arm was soaked through. Normally I would have expected this to be a clothes yanking off tantrum resulting in her topless and in tights for the rest of our visit - but no! She was a trooper this time. Three is really agreeing with her.

Bonnet head shark and Elliot's arm

Ray and Sam & Ellie's arms.

Chihuly!

2011-04-19T19:53:00.000-05:00

The MFA has a new Chihuly exhibit that is tons of fun. I know very few artists by name, and this is one of them...and mainly known to me because of the fabulous ceiling he did at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, but nonetheless, I was very excited to take the girls during the members-only preview of the exhibit. Not only was it free because we are members, but we got to see it early. And the best part about our membership is that I won it on an art scavenger hunt with Ben earlier this year. So many great things about beautifully colorful blown glass. Anyhow, a photographer would have a field day here.

Entering the exhibit

This is the first piece. No flash allowed, so the shots with the girls in front for perspective did not work. This is about the size of an actual rowboat.

Too bad Julia slept through the exhibit. She is usually staring at the ceiling and this would have tripped her out for sure.

And if you were looking for something funny, this maybe is not it. Chihuly was in a car accident late in his career. He is apparently fine, but he lost an eye from the accident and he wears an eyepatch. There was some info on this at the exhibit and I mentioned it to the girls, who then had a hundred questions. In the museum shop at the end, there was an art kit with a picture of Chihuly on the cover. He was dressed like a lumberjack and kneeling down with his eyepatch on. Somehow, it struck me as funny, like some SNL skit and I laughed out loud. Elliot asked me what I was laughing at and w/o thinking, I just said, "I am laughing at his eyepatch." And then I heard what I said through the ears of the adult next to me, who looked at me like the most insensitive person in the world. And maybe I am, but the look of the lumberjack pirate trying to sell me an art kit at the end of the exhibit was funny, until it registered that he was not in character and I just told my 4 year old it is okay to laugh at someone b/c they have an eyepatch. Which then I tried to cover up by suggesting, within ear shot of the adult who heard me, that it must be very difficult to do this art with one eye and when we get home we should try some one-eyed art to have an appreciation for it. Funny, later that day when I was unpacking boxes, I found an eyepatch in the medical kit and pulled it out for Elliot's art project. She's been bugging Kassi ever since to be able to do some one-eyed painting. I still love Chihuly, but if he ever reads this, he probably will not love me.

Grandma and Grandpa visit and all I got were these crummy photos

2011-04-09T05:46:00.000-05:00

House Preview

2011-03-28T22:04:00.000-05:00

We have not yet moved into our new house that we have had for almost a month because we are doing some work. I am not decided on how well I will document the process and whether there will be a separate home renovation blog, but as a little teaser preview, here's a fun before and after pic of what is happening so far: Ceilings were smoothed from prickly plaster to smooth and (gasp wood-lovers!) we painted the wood wainscoting...

Living Room Before Paimt

Living Room after paint

Looks like I need to work on recreating the same shot (I was not planning on doing this) and there is so much more to come, given that I love my new house, but really don't like many of the finishes and fixtures in it. Hello? Who has fireplace makeover ideas for me?

Tooling Around

2011-03-28T08:06:00.000-05:00

Sam and Benjamin, one of her many boyfriends

Look who is awake and playing! Both of us, for once...

Julia and Elliot ... one recovering from goopy eye.

Sam on a mission.

Samantha's missions often include plumber bum, but she gets the job done.

Happy St. Pat's & Kassi's Birthday

2011-03-19T18:58:00.000-05:00

Top of the Cookie to You!

Oh, she is a tasty morsel!

Just hanging out in my 3mos - 6mos sweater. It's too big, but too cute to resist.

Happy Birthday Kassi! Look at that cake! It is from the Bobby Flay Throwdown with Bread & Chocolate in Newton and is their version of Boston Cream Pie. I am sad to say I did not make this beautiful creation, but was very happy that we could buy it less than a mile from our house. And, as Elliot said, "Why didn't Bobby Flay tell us he was coming to Newton. You should text him, Mom, and tell him to tell us when he is here!"

Julia is 1 Month

2011-03-10T13:07:00.000-05:00

Happy 1 month to Julia. And happy downloading pictures finally to me!

Julia all suited up to go to her 1 month appointment.

The watchful big sisters are never far from Julia.

last week, she started to "wake up" a bit more.

Adapting to life in her bouncy chair chaos (not chaotic at moment)

"Mom, enough with flash already!"

And lest anyone think life is always staged and perfect, here is a realistic view of our current temporary headquarters. This is my bedroom, office, den, storage unit, nursery, changing station, etc. We closed on our new house last week. Our contractors are starting today, and alleleuia, we should be moving in the next couple of weeks. I can blame the state of this room on our temporary situation, but who knows, maybe I won't be any neater in our new digs!

There is a baby lying among that mess of cookbooks and paint samples...

Don't let this picture fool you either. It is the first time I have been dressed in a month - with hair and make-up done too. And only because we had 2 doctor appointments and a trip to OMG, register Elliot for Kindergarten ... and because Kassi is around to help out again.

Auntie Wendy found matching Puma outfits for Sam & Julia. Don't tell adidas we are cheating on them.

Samantha always comes in our room and says, "Can I have some appetizer?" And by this she means "sanitizer" because she wants to hold Julia.

Look at that gorgeous profile!

Sisters!

2011-02-18T19:13:00.000-05:00

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!

I AM SUPERMAN (guest post by Daddy)

2011-02-15T20:09:00.001-05:00

Elliot, Samantha, and Julia at day zero. Guess who's who?

2011-02-10T14:40:00.003-05:00

First Ski Lessons

2011-02-06T15:49:00.000-05:00

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

Happy 3rd Birthday Samantha!

2011-02-04T16:03:00.001-05:00

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

2011-02-04T15:43:00.000-05:00

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.

The Birthday Party Circuit!

2011-01-31T17:15:00.005-05:00

Eyeing a cupcake...

They really like cupcakes...

Michael Jordan in the making (i.e. check out that tongue!)

The Overalls Song

2011-01-30T20:55:00.001-05:00

After lunch a few weekends ago, Elliot & Samantha disappeared. And then reappeared in these outfits. Done completely on their own - no help or encouragement from us (an unbelievable feat given how hard it is for us to clothe Samantha lately). And they were giddy happy. ANd they wanted to perform the Overall Song. Which I believe we also video taped, but who knows how to upload that anymore? So here are all the pictures. Scroll quickly. It will be just like a video!

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-25T20:54:00.000-05:00

We had an awesome New Year's celebration. We went to First Night. This is a crazy Boston tradition of spending the evening outside, viewing ice sculptures, watching performances and eating street vender food. Kind of like a summer street festival, EXCEPT IT IS 10 degrees outside! There are fireworks at midnight. Really? Who the heck thinks this is a good idea? I suppose, only the people who would hang out in Times Square to watch the ball drop would be interested in this. At least at First Night you are not corralled by bike racks and left to stand in a huge crowd - you are free to walk around. After 6 years in Boston, this was our first First Night. And, admittedly it was only interesting b/c we had a lack of better plans, our friends were going to the parade, and it was unseasonably warm in the 40s or something. And if we were going all the way downtown, we might as well get a hotel room and make the most of it (note downtown is 6 miles away). And if we were getting a hotel room, we should get one with a pool and make it a family fun date. We did. And it was. Awesome. One of my favorite New Years Eves.

If you would have told me 6 years ago that my idea of a good New Years Eve would be to be 8.5 months pregnant, staying in a chain hotel to use their indoor pool, walking in the freezing crowded streets for 2 miles to see ice sculptures and a parade, followed by running back to the hotel to avoid fireworks, realizing we missed the non-cranky dinner window and have no reservations and room service looks sucky and will take an hour, so we have to eat at "Champions" the hotel bar, (which admittedly was very good for what it was, and I was not sad for this option), and running up to our 2 double beds to put 2 toddlers to sleep while we all watched the ABC scrubbed version of "Wild Hogs" (with John Travolta & Wm H Macy) in bed ... and that falling asleep as the Dick Clark Ryan Seacrest special was just STARTING would be a great New Years Eve, I would have said, hand me the mom jeans and push me over a cliff. But instead it was AWESOME. I loved it. Want a repeat next year. (And incidentally I was awake for New Years at midnight, only b.c i was awake 47 times that night - and I am not exaggerating the 47 times. I have a new Fitbit activity monitor and it told me so!)

Christmas Collage

2010-12-31T06:53:00.000-05:00

Elliot sporting her newly fitting Patriot's Sweatsito.

Sam making Christmas Egg strata and Ben making Christmas Eve Lobsta Corn Chowda

Shepherd cousin and the flock at the church pageant.

And the stockings were laid on the presents with care.

And, just showing you, still pregnant ;-)

Opening presents on Christmas morning.

The aftermath

Grandma, the first aid kit was a surprising hit, for not really being a toy, and the girls have mostly burned through the bandaids already.

New Doll house.

Sam has decided the picture of grandma and grandpa is hers and she put it in the doll house on her own. And then put her little ponies down for a nap!

I love that the Critters of Calico Corner bunnies are riding on the Tech Deck skateboards.

And then, the next day, it snowed about 18 inches here. We all went outside. I couldn't/wouldn't shovel, but my primary job was to lift Sammy out of the snow every 2 steps she took, "I need help! I can't get up!"

This is our Christmas Card

2010-12-23T17:20:00.002-05:00

Maybe there will even be some commentary or holiday letter posted here ... but for now this is our Christmas card. And if you did not see it here, you won't see it anywhere else either, so don't go checking your mailboxes this year and feeling left out. Everybody was.

Pregnant Me + 60s Style

2010-12-14T13:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I was asked by the 3rd person this week to please send some photos of my belly. Somehow, Mindy had a whole pregnancy without one tiny glimpse of her being pregnant, but I am caving in. After all, this blog was started over 4 years ago (yeesh!) basically to chronicle my growing belly and morphed into so much more. But now, who has time for the monthly photo. You can scroll through the Disney post to see how pregnant I was in October. These beauties were taken recently. I am currently 31 weeks along (and don't remember how many weeks pregnancy is), though we are due on Feb 9th. You know its funny, I have less knowledge about this pregnancy than the other 2. People (doctors) keep brushing by things and saying, "well, its your 3rd, its old hat, you know whats up..." when really, nothing could be further from the truth. I've forgotten all the words and the things to watch out for, and to prepare for (like, oh yeah, we should probably find the car seat?) and worse, is I am not consulting any of the books. I was waaaay more prepared for Elliot, and then with Sam, it was right away so I remembered most things and still consulted books...but now, ha!

So, here I am. And, that is my husband Ben. We went to a YPO Holiday party with a 60s theme/costume flare. And I was way nervous after these get-ups that we would get there find out that by 60s they meant "Mad Men" 60s. Oh, thank goodness they did not...

This last photo is with the girls when we went through our house for the last time once the movers came...I am sure I will get around to posting about that someday. Enjoy!

Disneyland (October 2010)

2010-12-12T07:39:00.000-05:00

Switching to Santa Monica Pier with Noah, William, Benjamin, Samantha, Elliot & Adam

Copacabana Gone Horribly Wrong

2010-11-12T09:10:00.001-05:00

There is no denying I am pregnant when I started crying listening to Copacabana today. I chalked it up to hormones, but maybe it was something else.

Elliot & Sammy's Ami &Papa just came back from a trip to Brazil and brought the girls t-shirts that have sparkles that say Copacabana Rio De Janiero. The girls like the sparkly bits. I like the Copacabana bits.

Of course when they put them on this morning they asked me to sing the song again. They remembered "Lola was a dancer with yellow feathers".

I remember very distinctly being about Elliot's age (??) at my Aunt Linda's house walking into my cousin Tami's room and singing every lyric to Copacabana. She thought it was fantastic that I could sing it and made a really big deal out of it - so big that when she put me up to perform it in front of the family, I fell mute and refused to sing anything at all or even acknowledge that I had heard the song before. Man those grown-ups would have loved my rendition of Copacabana, and I still regret not performing it at 4. But, apparently my memory of this song is only for the fun parts.

I mean, her name was Lola, she was a show girl! His name was Rico! He taught the cha cha - they were young and they had each other, who could ask for more? They were dance teachers at the Copa! Awesome. Just like Dirty Dancing! I remembered there was some small bit about a fight, but it was AT THE COPA! They fell in Love. And we love to dance! Elliot & Sam have been singing the bits we remembered for days.

This morning, I bribed the girls with iTunes: after they were all ready for school, I'd buy the song and we could dance and learn all the words we have been making up. Well, let's just say that we can now add "Tony" to the list with Uncle Stephen and Barbaro that makes Elliot melt down with uncontrollable sadness. And let's just say that mommy should REALLY preview songs before getting our dance party on.

Rico was NOT a dancer. He wore a diamond. Tony was the BARTENDER. Punches were thrown, chairs were thrown, there was a single gunshot. But who shot who? I think you know how this one ends. Lola lost her love, Tony, and is now an old drunk wearing her beat up dress sitting at the Copa disco 30 years later missing Tony. And now, Elliot is crying her way to school about to tell her whole class about it - it is show and tell day after all and she is wearing the bloody Copa t-shirt to remind her. Samantha is asking me if Tony punched Rico, and I have to find Lola's address today to send her the picture of Tony that Elliot made me draw (instructing me through tears).

And dammit, that song is still really a fun one to dance to, but I think we are going to have to shelve it for a while. Curse you, Rico!!!

Editor's note: Barry Manilow won the Grammy for Copacabana song of the year 1976...so I was only 3 when I remember singing it...thought maybe I had one of those time warps and facts would prove I was 8 or something.

Head of the Charles

2010-11-06T13:57:00.000-05:00

5 Years in Cambridge and this is the first time we made it to the big event. It is a collegiate rowing competition. Wow, did Sammy really love it! She cheered all the boats and would only let us hang by the water's edge to see everything. Oh, and she is dressing herself these days. Which most days makes me cringe, but i happen to love her little hound dog look here.

Halloween and Spooky Toast!

2010-11-02T04:31:00.000-05:00

Snow White and the "Magical" Madrigal Princess

Waiting to Trick or Treat

Cinderella and her friend Benjamin (who borrowed her giraffe from last year) at the school parade.

Hello, I'm Cinderella. At least that is what her necklace says when you press the button 100 gazillion times.

Blue Fairy and Cinderella at the school parade.

Pumpkin Carving party at Kate & Jack's house.

Which actually turned into an adult competition, while the kids tormented the rest of the uber-decorated house.

Elliot's Veggie Pumpkin

Putting out pumpkins on all Hallows Eve.

Did you know there are many days of Halloween? One would think I would have better pictures of it. But the truth is, our house was struck by some kind of plague this week and we all seemed to recover in time for the 4 parties, and trick or treating, but we all really should have just been at home in bed for the past 4 days. Each time, we would rally to go somewhere and I would think the plague had passed only for us to be driving home saying "that was a bad idea...we should not have gone out!"

Halloween started with my first office work kids trick or treating on Thursday. Elliot was a blue fairy and Sam, Cinderella. Then Friday, we had their school parade followed by a kid party at Ben's office. Saturday we went to Kate's house for the pumpkin carving party, which we totally missed the boat on that we should have come in costume! Duh. The night before Halloween and we go to a party as ourselves? Ooops, but we BYOpumpkins as instructed and voila! At least we carved them in time. FINALLY actual Halloween arrives. And it is 40 degrees and blustery. And the girls are sick of their costumes. So we find costumes that can support layers underneath and that is how we had a Magical Princess and Snow White for the actual celebration. And Samantha, frozen and coughing, croaks out: "More twick or tweeting!! Go back out!!" Elliot begged us to go off of our street (unheard of!) and to the coffee shop street, Springfield. Its just around the corner from us and WOW! was it cool - all the houses were really decked out in scary (Modern Family) style - it even had a police detail working the traffic. We had no idea it was right around the corner. I mean, we see the decorations on our usual drive from Target, but who knew it was Halloween central? We might have to come back next year from our new suburban location ... which we still haven't found. Which is why all of my spare web time goes to house hunting and not blogging.... but alas, Happy November!

Bathtub Beards

2010-10-20T07:56:00.000-05:00

Glacial Park Scavenger Hunt with Grandparents & Cousins

2010-10-04T13:39:00.000-05:00

We had a lot of fun visiting my parents' lake house over Labor Day. We made an impossible blog cake, suckered my dad into another trip to El Niagra, hit up their AWESOME farmer's market on the Square, went on a fun scavenger hunt at Glacial Ridge State Park with most of the cousins (grrrrr, Andrew), and even caught a ski show.

Our Kind of Town - Chicago is! (This one is for Kassi)

2010-09-30T13:32:00.000-05:00

Three little girls you may recognize - getting cozy over a see-saw.

And three little girls' mommies, getting cozy over some Cafe Selmarie.

City girls do some silly dance and clear the sidewalks for all.

Sam, Elliot, Charlie & Alice all posing in Lincoln Square under the Lincoln Street sign.

Sam, Auntie Jessie, Lincoln the namesake doggy, Emily & Elliot.

Halibut Point State Park

2010-09-28T13:18:00.002-05:00

A few weekends ago we discovered Halibut Point State Park up in Rockport MA. Found it quite by accident since I was really looking up a place called The Lobster Pool which is a sea side restaurant where you order at the counter and then sit down on some rocks by the ocean. Seemed a little far to drive for this particular lunch (though I must be becoming a wuss about this stuff b/c an hour drive would have never before deterred me from a "must try" place). So what to do after we drive all the way up to Cape Anne for lunch? Well, good thing the Lobster Pool website had a "things to do nearby" type page. Otherwise, not sure I would have known this quarry was there for the hiking. It was beautiful. It was easy to do with kids. I will not go again until Samantha is much older. The parts down by the ocean/rocks were cool, but the trail that wraps the steep rock-face quarry was death-defying for me since Samantha kept charging for the no-barriers at all edge. All the more fun that as we were packing up the car, we checked in with Wendy, Jeff & Alex who, lo and behold, were up for a last minute adventure. It was an hour to drive there. We hiked around for about an hour and then went to the Lobster Pot, where we wound up waiting about 45 minutes for it to open. Silly us, we should have spent more time at the park.

Samantha gets pretty before our hike. Hey, it was the only way she would let me put in her "explorer braids". Elliot also did her own make-up. Look closely and Ben says she looks like a "klingon" (SP? from Star Trek).

Sam, Ben, Alex, Elliot, & Jeff explore the tide pools at Halibut Point.

Ellie, Sam & Ben pose with Jeff in the background.

We all have explorer braids!

Ahhhh, the real reason for our trip: The Lobster Pools.

Samantha's BIG Haircut

2010-09-26T11:13:00.000-05:00

After a winter of unsticking her hair from her face, where it was perma glued with snot and food on a thrice daily basis, we finally decided to cut bangs. But then really, that just moved the mess further back. She has gorgeous hair when she lets us put it up, which is only about once every 10 days. Ben had the vision of shorter hair for her. I admit, I resisted. Fearing she had my fine hair and it would just turn into a big cotton candy boufont every morning when she woke up, I kept saying no. Plus, after our experience at Snip-its, it was a pain to think about figuring out where to take a toddler for a fashionable haircut.

Alas, when visiting Illinois, we decided her mullet needed to go. She was very excited to go to "the hair cut store". We did all of this due diligence: "Hey, Shannon, where is there a walk-in hair cut place like a Cost Cutters or something?" She told us and we picked the closest one. How's that for research?

Sammy was all excited at first.

She was a little timid when we got started and then looked a little worried - but was a champ. As was the woman who cut her mullet into the cutest little bob ever. And then blew it out. This haircut is totally Samantha, smart, fiesty, and fun. We should have done it long ago.

Summer slow down

2010-09-25T08:36:00.000-05:00

Really, I consider myself a blogger? I have two and I have not logged in to either in a month. Maybe its because I've started reading other people's blogs and that is influencing my psyche on blogging. They all seem concerned with how many hits they have and increasing readership through links and weighing their worth by comments, not to mention they seem to be making it their full time job - whereas I have a full time job already, so this is just a hobby. And its just a scrapbook for me and a way for my family in Illinois to keep up with my two little beauties. Oh, and we are trying to sell our house, buy a new house, fill my new job description, and grow a baby too. I hope you are not reading it here first...but its true! We have another little Heywood on the way coming to us in February. I'm gonna need a new blog title! And I am going to need to find some time or a faster way to upload my non-professional photos. I think I will get on that.

Beach Blanket Bingo!

2010-08-24T19:02:00.000-05:00

Our beach babies!

Walking on the dunes in Corolla

Surfing the waves (toddler style)

Man, does she love the water

Strong Man act at the talent show

Cousins dancing

Building our sand castle compound

Old time Heywood beach/pool tradition - next year were going 4 high

Ta da!

Ami and Papa with their grandbabies

Seriously, who isn't joining us for this kind of family bonding next year!

Cousin worship!

Shore Patrol Reunion

Could Elliot love sharing a room with her cousin more? And we weren't punishing Sammie in the corner - she loved her floor bed.

I love this photo!

2010-08-22T07:35:00.002-05:00

One from the beach... Sammy was fearless (and a little scary) in the pool!

July Before the Beach Random Stuff

2010-08-02T19:26:00.004-05:00

Check out the amazing little halter top my mom made for Samantha.

And, hmmmph, when did my baby's legs get all skinny?

Not a baby anymore ;-(

Elliot's 4th Birthday.

Modeling the beautiful nightgown my mom made for her.

Ben and I in a photo taken by "the other woman" in Ben's life. His iPhone4. Which I am dangerously close to chucking into the ocean. What is cuter than 3 4year olds on a tire swing?

I am sure all toddlers demand all the lox with their bagels, cream cheese and tomatoes with a little caper on the side. Elliot models her new bike and helmet for her birthday - the only weekend she rode it without terror in her stride. This weekend I had to carry the bike down the block for her to ride on a smooth surface. And by ride, I mean do a half pedal and slam on the breaks to not get to close to that pole that is 50 feet away.

Elliot's home haircut modeling - we tried bangs. Fortunately, we only tried them and did not actually cut them - b/c whoa - that's not a good look on her!

Happy 4th Birthday Elliot!

2010-07-06T20:32:00.001-05:00

2010-07-06T19:41:00.001-05:00

Rocking out at FOUR!

Storyland 2010

2010-06-17T21:36:00.000-05:00

Don't feel like writing. A thousand pictures worth a thousand words.

Wow, they love driving the old timey cars.

Flying Dutch Shoes

Tiger Tamer & German Carousel

If this is Sam's fake smile, keep it coming! And let her teach it to Ellie.

The Whirlng Turtles (Tilt a Whirl) = the last time we saw Ben smile that day.

We rode a pumpkin up to Cinderella's Castle, while Ben recovered for an hour on a bench from the whirling (below) - guess who is not the parent to go on rides with the kids?

The girls recovered for some whirling in tea cups, minus Daddy this time.

Elliot's first "Polar Coaster" - Last year she was not tall enough to ride. This year, she dwarfed it.

Samantha miss muffet above and a concert pianist below.

The lion fountain never gets old. Ever. Might be better than the old timey cars.

Back at the hotel.

Yesterday's bottles root beer (above). Moat Mountain Smokehouse brews real beer (below).

Quick notes for me to remember next year: we stayed at Comfort Inn @ Pirate's Cove...next year I would stay at Residence Inn or the big water park Red Jacket or whatever it is instead.

We ate at Yesterday's in Jackson for lunch.

Moat Mountain in N. Conway for dinner.

Red Fox Grill in Jackson for dinner.

Peaches in N. Conway for breakfast.

Loved all the places we ate for various reasons, would go back to all.

Urban Garden

2010-05-31T20:10:00.000-05:00

My reading genre is still heavily food/restaurant oriented. Somewhere after reading Omnivore's Dilemma, Animal Vegetable Miracle, Soul of a Chef and watching Food Inc., I decided we needed to get back to our farming roots (they run deep on both sides of the family - something we have never really cared to embrace before). Unfortunately, I am not a green thumb - or any thumb - and our plot of land consists mainly of our driveway space, where our car is usually parked. My previous gardening forays have involved herbs in the window sill. Which I buy every now and then. I keep them until they dry out and die a few weeks later and then buy more, or just put the pots away. I am glad to have saved most of the pots - taking up precious space in our condo, but saving me extra $ every time I get the urge to "garden".

I decided to do a "pizza garden" with the girls. Grow tomatoes, basil, peppers & onions. We planted the seeds on the counter weeks ago...apparently about 5 weeks too late though - thanks for that tip, Dad. Would have been good to know 5 weeks ago. We searched for a half barrel to use as the entire garden. My gosh these things are expensive! It reminds me of the book "The $64 Tomato" - which I haven't read, but pick up every time and ponder how much my tomatoes will cost, if I ever get one. After expiring my options at Mahoneys, Home Depot, etc., I happened on this barrel in the Christmas Tree Shop window and had to stop...real cedar and only $16.99 - about 1/10th of the other prices we saw. Sold!

But, I am a gardener now, and my patch of driveway does not have "full sunlight". So by golly, my pizza garden will. I enlist Ben to buy casters to put on the barrel so I can wheel it around the driveway for maximum light. You know, the 1 or 2 days a week I am actually not at my office during the day (i.e. weekends).

I KNOW this pot is too small for all my plantings, which is why my tomatoes will go in my new Topsy Turvey tomato planter! Which by the way, in case any of you get inspired, does NOT come with any tomato plants. You have to buy them separately. And they have to be about 10 times the size of the seedlings I have had taking up my counter space for the last 8 weeks. Since I needed instant gratification I bought 2 mature tomato seedling plants from Home Depot - heirlooms no less, to put in the planter. We also bought a big bag of organic soil and the Topsey Turvey at Home Depot. Good thing seeds are cheap...but it can't be efficient to buy everything twice.

Thus far the novelty has not worn off. We are at least still watering. I haven't moved the barrel around but once (a 180 rotation) in 2 weeks. If you have any urban gardening tips for me - comment away. I need real basic info (when, where how to buy/plant/tend) - I do not know what I am doing and will not likely ask for help. I realize 10 plants in a 2 ft diameter tub is not likely to work out, but who knows. This is my maiden year. The learning curve might be high, but the tomatoes might be sweet! And I think so far, I am up to about a $48 tomato.

(PS - I'll have to add pics back here for you to see the seedlings while still lush.)

In It to End It - Walk 40 Miles

2010-05-25T19:42:00.000-05:00

Picture taking has fallen way down the priority list lately - which is not a good thing for a photo-based blog. I've found a few from the last couple weeks to keep us telling a tale.

First, our dear friends visited from LA with their super-cheery Zoe, or "Baby Gibson" as we liked to call her. We had a whirl-wind tour of Boston during a torrential monsoon. They were troopers as we were soaked to the bone in puddles up to our ankles, pushing strollers for cover in the aquarium and then Faneuil Hall.

We had grand plans for dinner in the North End, but after we came home and cleaned up, the skies opened up again and we took them to dinner at the picturesque, Alewife T station (well, Jasper Whites). The men braved out for a cannoli show-down. In a blind taste-test, Mike's Pastry once again prevailed - even though we claim to hate it for being too touristy, it keeps winning the blind tests over Bova & Modern.

On Mother's Day the weather was nicer, we walked through Harvard Square and I think our toddlers may have run them out of town. Tantrum central at our house lately ... I know it's just a phase I will look back on and laugh, but really, they chased their own grandparents out a few weekends prior!

So then there was the weekend of my participation in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. It is 40 miles over 2 Days. You know this, because I likely hit you up for cash. I raised over $2300 thanks to all you donors!

The walk was awesome! The weather was so great I am probably ruined for all future walks. If I could have fun walking with my client and her boyfriend for 40 miles, I was thinking how great it would be to do it with girlfriends. So watch out, Girl Weekend, Sherie's vote is that we find a cause and commit to 20 miles or so. What could be better than a leisurely, well planned, good cause where you just get to meander and chat all day with scheduled snack breaks? Okay, I am leaving out the part about how after 26 miles on the first day, I could NOT walk and almost did not return to day 2 for the final 13 miles. But, I did. And it was great. But maybe 20 miles is enough for the future.

Oh, and did I mention how great Ben, Elliot & Samantha were? They spent their whole weekend shuttling me and cheering me on at various points...it was spectacular!

We really are proud...

2010-05-12T20:40:00.000-05:00

What can one say?

Sheep Shearing with Grandma & Grandpa

2010-04-29T20:01:00.000-05:00

Scroll to the older posts b/c this is the 3rd of a threesy tonight. And I am about to sink into tv, so commentary might be scarce.

We love ourselves some face painting!

Except seeing it in this light, Elliot looks a little like The Joker.

And in the background above is the star of the show, a craggy old farmer (is he from central casting?) shearing a sheep by hand!

And we closed the weekend at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum. Which had some breathtaking views, of which we have no pictures. We just congregated in the lobby of the White House for a photo-op.

Bangs! Broccoli and Marathon

2010-04-29T19:54:00.000-05:00

Look at Samantha's fancy new bangs! After a winter of hair being stuck to her face and eyes and coated with food and snot, and chasing her around to comb her mop only to have her yank her ponytails out so hard I thought the hair would go with it, we finally wised up to the answer: BANGS! We cut them at home (better than Snip-its and I'm no pro). We should have done this long ago for her. And, she looks adorable. And, and Elliot says, just like cousin Emilee.

Somehow I got the magic formula right tonight because both girls ate heads of broccoli as big as their heads - this is actually the second bunch for each of them. 2 nights later, they would not touch a scrap of broccoli - go figure. And, obviously, Elliot was wearing a ball gown she did not want to get spaghetti on, so chose to eat dinner shirtless.

So for Marathon Monday - I somehow accidentally walked 7 miles with the girls pushing our blasted double stroller. We watched a good 90 minutes of marathoners finishing the race and somehow the only pictures I have are of Ana's Taqueria on MIT's campus where Samantha slept in the stroller and then woke up to eat a burrito as big as her head. I sense a theme here, of head-sized food. And I blame LaBamba at UofI (where they sell burritos as "big as your head")

Easter Eggs

2010-04-29T19:44:00.000-05:00

This one is for you Kate...and for me to remember for next year. I saw some DIY webcast about an old school way to dye Easter eggs. This is our result. You need to use old silk scarves or ties. They must be 100% silk. We went to Goodwill and bought men's ties and cut them up. Wrap eggs in silk. Wrap white cloth over the silk (we cut up old t-shirts). Secure with twist ties. Put eggs in non-reactive pan (we used our tiny Le Creuset dutch oven, mostly b/c it looked like the one in the webcast and I don't know what is "non-reactive"). Fill with enough water to cover eggs. Add 3 tablespoons vinegar. Once the water boils, leave them in for 15 minutes. Take them out and unwrap. Voila! You can reuse the silk 2-3 times. You can rub veg oil on them to make them shiny...we did this, but not so smart for hiding the eggs around the house. I thought this was a brilliantly easy way to color eggs, you boil them and dye them at the same time. And, we learned that Papa and Ben have a lot of old patterned silk ties to donate to our cause next year.

Easter Bunnies

2010-04-15T18:48:00.000-05:00

Samantha at the end of the day, treating herself to a mini scone with English clotted cream, strawberry preserves and a fresh strawberry on top, just like Ami likes to eat them.

Easter cherubs on their way into Grace Church.

Breakfast with ... the cousins!

Samantha and Alden entertaining themselves in the pew during the service. They were great, but Wendy and I got yelled at for talking, complete with evil eye from the man in front of us who apparently did not share our excitement over deviled eggs.

Recreated easter egg hunt with Zoe. Over and over and over again.

The closing Easter parade. Led by the not-pictured ring-leader, Zoe. They put on quite a show for us. Talent show, watch out!

April Fools 2010 - Fried Chicken Style

2010-04-01T19:22:00.000-05:00

It's April Fool's Day and time to trick the toddlers again. This time with fried chicken dinner. I told Elliot we were going to have dinner in funny plates tonight (we all ate out of pans). I sat one cupcake tin down in front of Sam & one for Elliot. One sweet. One savory. Thanks to Hello Cupcake for the recipes for the faux food cupcakes. We missed having the cousins over to enjoy the feast. But we had lots of fun April Fools phone calling the grandparents with Elliot telling them "There's a baby in mommy's tummy!! April Fools!"

Oh yeah, that is my favorite jell-o in the "lemonade". Same as last year's, and will likely be an every year staple. If you bug Ben enough he will post the video of Sammy "drinking" it. I can't figure out videos here anymore - too sick tonight to try harder. So, bug Ben ;-)

Those hips don't lie. This girl's got skillzzz.

Parker's Maple Barn Year 2

2010-03-23T20:59:00.000-05:00

Oscar Night! Samantha takes a cue from Beyonce, Madonna, and Lady Gaga by rocking the "no pants" with my ballet slippers look. Elliot finds her best red carpet gear. Both gals purses are by Stuart Weitzman.

And now, this is not really from Parker's, but from Island Java in the Bahamas. I felt I needed to make up for the picture of Sammy in just her diaper. Plus, these donuts were amazing! And now for the previously scheduled post:

It's maple sugar season. Our annual pilgrimage to a sugar shack and big breakfast. The CJos found us Parker's Maple Barn last year, and only over an hour outside of Boston into New Hampshire, it's a winner. Our girls still get up so early, we just planned to wake, jump in the van and be there when they opened at 7:30 am (otherwise there are very long lines). The reality was, we woke, then decided, maybe a quick shower, and oh yeah we should get directions, and pack up all the sleepover gear (we had Alex & Zoe with us) and then hit the road! Oh wait, Ben wants coffee. Stop at Starbucks 1: doesn't open until 7AM. Drive on. Stop at Starbucks 2: Open. And Oh. My. God. My 9 year old niece and nephew have an order for Starbucks "steamed milk with caramel". We wait in the car while Ben goes in. I have to dig around to find an outlet so the 'tweens can plug in their laptop. Elliot asks if we are at the maple barn: we have not even left Cambridge. Ben comes to the car with a drink carrier FULL of lattes. 6 of them. 2 adult ones and 4 kiddie drinks in little kiddie Starbucks cups. Are you kidding me? But we are happy to learn that the little kiddie steamed milks in their little cute kid cups are about half the price of those organic chocolate milk boxes we have been getting for the girls. So there. I guess my 3 and 2 year olds now have their own orders at Starbucks too. Ben puts the car in drive. Elliot spills her cocoa down her front, but "that's ok!" and then Ben notices the van is out of gas. We pull into the gas station. Anyone keeping track out there? This is our THIRD stop and we have not even left Cambridge.

But right, this was supposed to be about Parker's Maple Barn. It was worth the trip. The breakfast is awesome (though, surprisingly, the pancakes are not great - which is fine) Note to me next year: get the French Toast - deep fried. They have it and it looked awesome. Also, if one nephew asks for a cinnamon roll, order one for the niece too to avoid disappointment.

Walking back from the sugar shack, and toward the gift shop and a year's worth of maple syrup, we found a stack of these boxes. Good lord, what are bacon jugs? So many connotations.

Bahamian Vacation 2010

2010-03-01T20:38:00.001-05:00

Last year we went to Chicago in February and vowed we would go somewhere warm this year. On a little-researched whim, we went to the Bahamas. We had a fantastic time, just the four of us in our deluxe tiny bedroom in the sky. No vacation is without its price, figuratively and literally. On the figurative side, as most of our adventures start, the price came in the form of being covered in puke yet again on an airplane. Actually 4 times, spread across 2 flights. While Sammy was getting her airsick on, Elliot made no less than 7 trips to the airport potty in a 2 hour flight. Pretty impressive. Upon arrival, we felt justified in our steady diet of 2 pina coladas by the pool a day. We also learned some things about the Bahamas. Grand Bahama Island is actually further north than Miami, and it is much hotter there than it is in say, Boston, this time of year, its not exactly sweltering. That dingy sweatshirt I brought sure got a lot of wear.

Our Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island

The view from our room.

Elliot saw the scary mannequin head and asked to have her hair braided. Sitting on a crate in front of Subway. She sat there for 40 minutes. She spent that long tantrumming in our room running from us brushing her hair just an hour before. Turned out to be the best investment ever ($2 per braid, yikes!) - we didn't have to do her hair for the rest of the trip and it lasted 6 days. Who can do this for us in Cambridge?

Swimming in the hot tub. It was freezing a couple of days. And for a couple of days it felt like we rented a private island with a full staff and no other people. Then a big conference descended on the place and it was hopping (and still, sometimes cold). We made fast friends with a toddler from .... Somerville! Just 1 T stop away from us. How random.

Samantha dipping her Tetakki tuna roll in Apple Ponzu sauce. On one hand it is a little gross that we took our girls out to fancy sushi date night with us, on the other hand, I am proud of us for choosing to eat there b.c Ben & I would like it instead of the touristy family joint that might have been more suitable for families. The good side of us being on this deserted island is that the restaurant wasn't crowded, so were happy for the business and didn't seem to mind feeding toddlers on their porcelain dishes.

Playing Go Fish in the lobby of the deserted Manor House. The next day: on to see the dolphins!

Exuma the dolphin we pet and kissed.

Crybaby and China Doll, I am talking about the birds.

Hunting for conch on the beach

Samantha seems a little too at ease here.

This is us, traveling light.

This is our return flight: our little yellow bucket was not used at all on this leg. You can hate us again.

Working from Home

2010-02-28T09:15:00.001-05:00

My pictures are back. Throw money at the problem...that will fix it. Apparently there is a limit as to how many pictures Google will let you post for free. And for any of you in the same boat, it apparently only costs $5 for the year to fix...and about a month to figure out how to pay that $5 if you are me.

This picture is from a while ago when the 3 of us were working from home the same morning. All in front of our respective laptops. Sammy's sings.

Video: The Ballet Last Day of Our Acquaintance.

A Thousand Words

2010-02-16T21:44:00.000-05:00

My girls are cuter than ever and my mailbox or blogbox or something is over its size limit and since my house is not equipped with an IT guy like my office is, and my office does not support or sanction my blog, you don't get pictures of my babies, you get words. Sorry. Sort of.

"IS STEPHEN A FIXER?"
Elliot and Ben have been watching inordinate amounts of Homes by Holmes on TLC or whatever channel it is on. I find Holmes to be almost unbearable to watch in his handy manny overalls and he's-better-than-all-contractors tone, but Ben and Elliot LOVE it. Elliot asks to watch it all the time an Ben is happy to oblige in the name of bonding (i.e. getting to watch tv). So on the way to school, Ben & Elliot had this conversation:

Elliot: Daddy, is Uncle Jamie a Fixer?
Ben: Like, does he fix things?
Elliot: Yes, like you used to build houses in California? (how does she know that?)
Ben: Yes, Jamie is a fixer.
Elliot: So, was Uncle Stephen a Fixer too?
Ben: Yes. He was a very, very good fixer.
Elliot: But, how did he get up the ladder in his wheelchair?!

VALENTINE'S DAY AFTER
Who ruined my 3 year old and is feeding her crap at such a young age? Yesterday before school, Elliot had a massive tantrum breakdown because she left the bedroom and I changed Arthur to the news. (Hmmm, lots of tv theme here. Bad mommy - who is typing this in front of the tv). She was supposed to be eating breakfast with Ben anyway, but she was sobbing on my floor. Then under her breakfast, which was on the table above. Then she calmed down and climbed on my lap.
Mommy: Calm down. You probably don't even remember why you are crying, do you?
Elliot: sob, sob, Yes I do. (she looks around, trying to think, spies the vase on the table)
Elliot: I did not get any ..... flowers.
Mommy: Any what? breakfast? did you say flowers? flowers? When would you get flowers?
Elliot: I did not get any flowers for Valentine's Day. Boooo hooooo.....

Cut to Mommy putting some flowers in a vase for her by her bed and reminding her she got better than flowers: a box of chocolates bigger than her head. And that Daddy sent flowers to all his girls, she was just asleep when they arrived so I put them in the vase. She smiled, and was happy. Oh man, it starts at 3?!

MUSIC MIS-MANAGEMENT
Samantha is super musically gifted. Could be a prodigy if her parents had any talent to cultivate this gift. But we don't. We indulge her with sign alongs and kids music and cd's. But I am tired of all the kiddie music. Okay, I like singing along with it. But, I can't think of the last time I listened to my own music. Somehow I saw a lot of media this week about super cool parents whose kids listen to cool rad music that would put my iPod to shame. And then I wanted to listen to my own music and have my own kids singing along to something other than Wee Sing. But the problem is, I don't listen to super cool music that I would want a 3 year old to process. You think I had a problem with the message sent on Valentine's day above, then how can I pass on my love of angry chick music with inappropriate or melancholic messages? Oh, Liz Phair, you have a kid, why do you have to drop the F-Bomb all the time? Tori Amos, I guess they wouldn't immediately know what you meant? Ani DiFranco, really are you angry at everyone? And this is why if I could post anything right now, I could post the video clip of Elliot and Samantha who ran to put on leotards when they heard Sinead singing " This is the Last Day of our Acquaintance" and did beautiful ballet maneuvers because it kinda sounded like "ballet music" to Elliot. At least more than Lady Gaga.
PS speaking of lady Gaga, it is wrong, wrong WRONG, that Elliot kicked through Home Depot chanting "this beat is sick, i want to take a ride on your disco stick." Glad she hasn't yet asked me what a disco stick is, because really, I don't know.

Happy Birthday Samantha!

2010-02-07T20:46:00.000-05:00

More to come. Something is not letting me upload pics right now...

Sweet Samantha turned 2 today, but don't tell her that. She fully answers and thinks she is 3. She really relished her birthday and seemed to "get" it that it was her special day. We played Cooties and Don't Break the Ice early in the morning while Daddy was on the radio for a work interview. Then Samantha supervised the making of her birthday cake - a buttercream frosting lover's dream. She slept while we transformed the living room into Dora party land for our family party.

Accidental Austin Powers

2010-01-27T17:33:00.000-05:00

One day I am going to write a blog post again that is not just a hurry in between six other things. Maybe sometime in 2013. But for now, enjoy the random assortment of the last month and the non-linear thoughts to go with them.

So I was snapping this pic of Sam in her "night owl" PJs and Dora slippers (Thanks Auntie Wendy!) and Elliot busted into the frame with what looks like an Austin Powers-type censor. Love the conveniently placed pine cone and fir ornament.

This is how she sleeps. Every night. Face down. Booty up. Way up.

Ina Gartner's Lobster Corn Chowder is the bomb - until my hubby brings home live lobstas. Could write 7 pages on how big this went over and how we after almost 5 years in New England finally slaughtered out own lobsters.

The girls as sheep in the church Christmas pageant. With Alex and Zoe to shepherd them.

Meet Ruff. Ruff is Samantha's new doggy from Santa. He is bigger than Samantha. She drags him everywhere and loves him to death. Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!

New Year's Eve we got our party on - at home with fancy foods and drinks and party hats. We also watched Snow White. Everything was good except the Snow White part. Really, Disney? The step"mom" wants to kill snow white with a hatchet in the woods? Seemed a bit of a conversation I was not expecting to have with my 3 year old on New Years Eve. Will be editing in the future.

Santa Claus came to Town

2009-12-29T13:03:00.004-05:00

We took the girls to see Santa at the Burlington Mall. Wearing the beautifully fun Christmas dresses my mom brought at Thanksgiving. Elliot was a champ with Santa and our usually bold Samantha melted and refused to chat with him without us. I don't blame her, but Ben & I were not intending to be in the picture. We did however have better luck with photos in this little montage of them hanging out in front of Burberry was it? Carolling and otherwise soliciting attention of passers by. I love this little montage.

Telling Santa she definitely wants "clip on earrings for Christmas". He delivered. In all she received 3 pair from various sources, as of 12/29 2 of the pair are broken or missing, so these will be on the birthday wish list as well.

Time to start layering.

2009-12-19T23:37:00.000-05:00

And it hasn't even yet snowed a flake.

Plymouth & Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T20:48:00.005-05:00

Asleep at the big dinner.
Elliot's first turkey. And the first thing I have seen her draw with a face.
Samantha watching the rest of the parade from our front row seats in Percy's restaurant.

Walking backwards. Looks like forward on photos - not as cool.

Plymouth Rock. Really. That lump on the ground is the WHOLE thing.

My new thing. Post the pictures. Comment later. You can think of it like the New Yorker name the cartoon tagline. In fact, you can submit your entries and they may be posted. For now, suffice it to say, we had a GREAT time in Plymouth with my folks for America's Thanksgiving parade, and Thanksgiving was really fantastic too. It was nice chillaxing with Wendy Jeff & Kassi.

What, No Commentary?

2009-11-17T14:59:00.002-05:00

These are just random shots from our fun fall. Playing in the leaves. Having Toddlers and Toddies at our house. And Elliot's first sleepover with Charlie (we posted the Pokerface video, but not the actual sleepover part.

On the teeter totter, teeter tawter? How the heck do you spell see-saw anyway? Below are the sleeping beauties who slept right through the flash. Elliot's bed is on the right, covered in toys. Sammy is tucked in her crib on the left, and Elliot & Charlie are sacked out on Elliot's favorite, "floor bed" (i.e. blankets on the floor). She slept on it for a week and did not want us to put it away.

Back at the park. Into the leaf pile.

Toddlers and toddies at our house. Baby Mia is above. Playing doctor with Kate and Zoe from school below.

Purple blanket became a magic carpet train ride all through the house.

Samantha standing in the aftermath of their bedroom.

Who doesn't love the kiddie table?

Haunted Halloween

2009-11-02T20:34:00.004-05:00

We LOVE Halloween. Check out our scary pumpkins and give props to our carvers Jen and Ben from last weekends pumpkin carve-a-thon. But the stars of this show are Samantha, our scary giraffe - why scary? because everytime we put it on her, she says "rrrrooooaaaarrr!!". And our Bunny Fairy. Why bunny? Well since Halloween was 72 hours long this year (good point Beth!) we had several iterations of Elliot's fairy costume. The final one which made it trick or treating, we have no pictures of. Ben assures me, who cares, no big deal, but I assure you, I wish I had a pic of Elliot with her bunny headband instead of this blue one and of the makeup she directed me to put on her. Red. With lots of pink whiskers.

Look at Samantha working that runway above. She is seriously into trick or treating. Or would have been if not for being terrorized first by her grandma dressed as a witch and second by the giant zombie man who thought it was funny to walk toward our porch in a menacing manner - oooh tough guy, you scared a 1 year old. Yes you did. But in happier times, like below when we were at her school party, she lived it up with her adorable boyfriend devil, Liam.

Elliot is here with her classmates.
Auntie Kassi and cousin Alex join our ranks trick or treating at the Atrium Mall...which was lame. Very very lame. Except the part about being with our cousins and getting to dress up.
Ben looks normal, but the rest of us have our own level of crazy going on. This is about 8:30 PM after too much candy & trick or treating. Waiting for the stragglers to trick or treak on our porch.
And the next day: sorting the loot! I know as a mom, I am supposed to be all like, "oh no! what are we going to do with all this candy?!" But really, I was egging my babies on saying they could make it to one more house and "c'mon, you can get more candy than that!" And I am not alone in my house in this, as Ben was accused by a neighbor of being too controlling as he took a choco bar out of Sam's hand and traded it in for one he liked better. We have now instituted the "Daddy Tax" and "Mommy Tax" on all Halloween loot.

Fantastic Fall Friends Visit

2009-11-02T20:19:00.004-05:00

This fall has really been spectacular - which is nice given how short and rainy was summer. We were very fortunate to have our friends the Kaspers visit us the weekend after the Johnstons and before Halloween. They have an almost 5 year old and a 14 month old who matched up nicely with our babies. Noah is a charmer and baby Grace won everybody over with her cuteness. Especially Elliot who asked if we could get a little baby like Grace, and name it "Costco".

Elliot got herself dressed for swim lessons. And looked generally at ease during this photo shoot (who took these? Ben? Kassi?) Anyhow, I missed this ensemble until I found it on the camera and it could be an album cover - maybe that's just the leg warmers as sleeves talking.
Samantha busted out of the sing along at Stella Bella to check out the train set. Chooo Chooo.
We got serious with the pumpkin carving and painting. Jen and Ben really took the cake in carved creations. Sammy & I were sorting seeds, which we all ate - and I still contend that someone should NOT have been giving the seeds to Sammy, but we all lived. We also painted pumpkins. Noah was really into it and only wanted to paint his red. All red. Top to bottom red. Why? Well it is blood he told us. A blood pumpkin and it will scare the robbers away. I am happy to report that it worked and for the week we had the blood pumpkin, through Halloween, no robbers. Let's hope that continues.

Ben is reading stories and going over the rules of the sleepover. Kassi is a superstar for kicking us out and putting all 4 babies to bed. You see a glimpse again, of the orphanage style slumber - the floor bed rules over the red bed any day. Duh!
Stroller brigade to Harvard yard.

Poker Face Sleepover with Charlie

2009-10-18T09:14:00.002-05:00

Comments People, I do it for the Comments

2009-10-16T19:17:00.001-05:00