A lazy day for reflection

Today is a chilly 33* here. Little man is down with a low-grade fever and little lady is napping all bundled up in a cozy warm blanket. It's a lazy day all around. A perfect opportunity to reflect on the upcoming holiday season.

I realized that I've been pretty introverted the last couple of weeks. Not really sure why, but I think it has to do with the fact that we had 30+ guests here for Thanksgiving and I was in full on hostess mode.

I really need to get back in the friendship saddle. Christmas is the perfect excuse to get back in the swing of things. Here's some things I have planned to help me re-focus:

**Attend any and all holiday parties that we are invited to.

**Make and deliver gifts for all of our friends and/or neighbors. Any ideas???

**Offer to help friends with wrapping gifts. Perhaps have a mom's night out where we have a wrapping party?

**Like last year I plan to have some of Dominic's closest friends over for a pre-Christmas party. Last year we exchanged favorite Christmas stories. This year I'm thinking we'll get the outdoors heater out, strike up the chimenea and roast marshmallows while we huddle together under blankets watching Elf on the garage door. (We have a projector that has yet to be used.)

That's all I've thought of so far. Any traditions that you guys do with friends that you'd like to share? Leave me a comment!

On another note, we made salt dough ornaments yesterday and painted them this morning. It was a super fun activity! We made ornaments for each of the kids, one for each of his cousins and one for his bestie, Andrew.

Here's the recipe for the salt dough:
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water
Mix all ingredients together until it forms a dough. Roll out on floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Bake in oven for 2 hours at 250*F.

Cabin Fever

Having two kids is slowly sinking in. Before Jillian was born I tried to prepare for just how to deal with two kiddos, but in reality there really is no way to know what to anticipate. For instance, we are totally sequestered this week. With us being homebound until Jillian gets her shots next week, we have all had a bit of cabin fever.

Tuesday we had AM and M come over to drop off dinner and they stayed for about an hour and a half so the kids could play. That was a wonderful distraction for both D and I. Jillian happily slept the entire visit!

Yesterday after Daddy got home from work and we'd eaten dinner, D and I headed outside to play hopscotch and to blow some bubbles. In the shade it wasn't too bad and we stayed out for about 30 minutes before his cheeks got all red.

This morning I had it all together enough to gather the two kiddos and head outside before the heat got brutal for some sprinkler jumping time! M and O spied us outside and headed over to join us. The boys had fun running after one another and seeing who could get closest to the water sprinkler before conceding defeat and fleeing to Mom. I'm proud to say I think D won that "contest".

Tomorrow we are planning on baking a little sweet goodness. What we'll bake is still up in the air, but we'll see how we feel tomorrow.

Only 4 more days and we are free to roam about the country (or at least the city).

And now a photo just because it's so cute:

Enjoying the view???

Here's my view today...can you guess what we've been up to??

This week we participated in one of the coolest playdates thus far: Vincent VanGogh's birthday celebration. Each toddler was provided with a canvas, paint, paintbrushes and sunflower cutouts. A classic VanGogh piece was on display and the tots were instructed to make their own. There were 5 of us in attendance and all 5 did something different! I have to brag and say that D was the ONLY tot to do the WHOLE thing on his own. He pointed out where to put the sunflowers and I glued them down. Here is his:



Pretty impressive, huh? I think this kid's got the artistic gene in him yet.

This week we also witnessed the "supermoon". Daddy and D make it an event to go out and say goodnight to the moon as often as possible and I was able to catch this sweet moment the other night:



I pinkie swear that the next post will be all about my Spring Camp. I have 3 of the 6 shirts made and ready to post.

Tonight it's off to the fish fry. We are meeting two other couples and their tots so that should be a lot of fun for all involved!!!

Happy Friday, everyone!!

Only 52 more sleeps...

until Christmas, according to Santa's Official Christmas Clock!!!

I feel bad for Thanksgiving. It gets smooshed in between two kids holidays and it really deserves it's own time to shine. We went to the bookstore today to look for our camping titles and the stores are already all dolled up for Christmas! What happened to Thanksgiving?

My husband's family has a BIG family Thanksgiving every year and I just love it! He has such a great family (and I'm not just saying that b/c my MIL reads this blog every once in a while). The first Thanksgiving that I was a part of their festivities they just welcomed me in and chatted me up as if they'd known me all along. I LOVE that Dominic gets to experience the family Thanksgiving. They've been doing it for YEARS!!

So....I am going to let November do it's own thing this year. No more rushing it to hurry by so that Santa can be on his merry way. Each day in November I will mentally take the time to be thankful for the blessings in my life-and I have many. Lucky me!!

When I taught school I would have my middle schoolers keep a daily journal for the month of November. Every night they would list 3 things that they were thankful for that day. Think it sounds easy? The twist: they couldn't list the same things more than twice in the journal. That really made them focus on the little mundane things in their life. Try it out...you may find it helps refocus you, too!

So, enough about that. You're really checking in to see pics of our Halloween, aren't you?? We don't have much, I'm afraid. The hubster was in charge of the pics and he's not as nostalgic as I am, so we'll have to make do with what we've got.

On Wednesday, the 27th we participated in a costume parade at a local senior center and boy, was it fun!!! The olds just loved seeing all the kiddo's dressed up for Halloween. Of course D strutted his stuff like a pro.






Thursday we had a 12pm ultrasound. Baby #2 is looking good!! Heartrate of 176 (which means girl, for those wondering) and measuring right on track! We are 9 weeks preggo today.

This past weekend we went out of town to visit Aunt Suge and her crazy bunch. D loved playing in the boy's room!! We had a wonderful visit and a few hours after pulling in the driveway here at home we were off to the neighborhood block party.

D got to trick-or-treat for the FIRST time Sunday night. Our street is pretty quiet so there were only 5 houses to go to but he had a ball blurting out, "trick or treat!"





Yesterday we invited L and A over for some afternoon sandbox play. We haven't seen them in a while so D was excited to get some A-time in. As usual, the boys had a great time together.

I was going to post about the camp coming up but I think I'll wait until next time. The little man is napping and mommy needs to try and get in some z's too, if possible.

We also have a recipe club tonight and David made his SCRUMPTIOUS spinach. We should definitely win tonight!!! I'll post the recipe in the next post and let you know if we won or not.

Picture = 1000 words

A picture may be worth 1000 words, but I've only got 3 words to say: "Thank you, God!"

We have a heartbeat and baby is measuring right on schedule!! We are still in shock with our wonderful news.

D went to L and A's house to play while Daddy and I went to the dr appt. When L opened the door at pickup time, A came running with a bicycle helmet on and I about fell out laughing! D even took a turn wearing the thing.

After a short concerto on the piano and some guitar strumming D was ready to go home and take a nap. What a most wonderful morning we both had!

Photos coming...

Where's Waldo????

Here's a hint:



That's right, Boston!! We were so ready to get out of this heat and go somewhere a bit cooler. The weather was WONDERFUL! Temps in the 80's. Ahhh...Almost cool enough for long sleeves. Ha!

We did the Freedom Trail and had an excellent guide, Michael. He is a college history professor who forgoes the dramatics in lieu of the academic. He was very informative and we had a great time on the tour. D slept for the first 20 minutes but woke up once we arrived at Paul Revere's grave.

We had an obligatory visit to North End and had a delectable meal at a little place called, Trattoria Il Panino. The two lady waitresses just fell in love with D and made the experience that much more enjoyable.

My parents picked us up and drove us to Rhode Island for a short visit with my relatives there. We had a lovely lunch/dinner at a cousin's house and all the family came. This was their first time to meet D and they all (of course) loved him.

Once we got home I found an email in my inbox from my neighbor, M. She is hosting a bridal shower for a friend this coming weekend and asked me if I could bake the desserts for her. I am flattered. I know that she loves when I bake because she always gets to try whatever I have made. The fact that she would think of me to provide the dessert for a bridal shower is pretty cool!

I spent Monday brainstorming. Here is what I came up with:



After we discussed my ideas I was ready to go shopping. A quick trip to Mike's and we were good to go.

I spent Tuesday afternoon making these:



Tuesday evening I had a burst of energy and I decided to make these:



I must be honest though, I actually decorated them today. I had some of these big sugar balls sitting around from D's baptism party and decided to add them to the top. Cute, no?

I've also been working on D's birthday party that is next weekend. I'll post pictures of some of those crafts after the bridal shower baking is finished.

We've got a busy month this month. I'll try to keep up, I promise, but don't hold my feet to the fire, ok??

The case of the heeby-jeebies

We decided to stay close to home today. No toddler storytime and no playdate at L's.

Instead, we stayed home and invited M and O over for a last minute swimming get together. The boys were both having a blast until the Polaris sweeper came a'creeping up on O and brushed his leg. O screamed like a little girl and started crying and clinging onto his momma! M and I couldn't help but laugh, we know all too well that feeling you get when something foreign brushes past your arm or leg. Don't even get me started on my extreme fear of spiders; they are ALL KINDS of creepy!

Anyway, we tried to persuade him that the Polaris sweeper is not the devil. M took him to the end of the pool where the Polaris was hard at work deep underwater. O was leery and didn't even really want to look at the thing! D and I swam over to it and I faked a few kicks to it and that didn't even seem to help.

We decided to call it a day and M suggested we retreat to their house for some afternoon play in the AC. Good call! After a quick change by both of us we met them at their house. I brought some Blue Bell ice cream to help O feel better. It worked!

We talked about going to lunch next week as a belated birthday date for myself. We'll have to see how our calendars synch.

I think I may have a new reader as of today. If that's the case then this picture is for you:



I got an invite to a girl's afternoon at the movies next week. The invitee sent an email to a group of us "regulars", in her words, inviting us to go see the new Sex and the City movie at Studio Movie Grill. I HATE THAT I HAVE TO MISS THIS!!!! There's just no way for me to manage it...my neice is graduating from elementary school the same afternoon and I already promised her mom I would go. Ugh!

Oh well, I'm happy to know that I am now considered a "regular". :D

Two-fer Tuesday

I've got two days of plays to post about today. I have just been so crashed out at the end of the day lately!

Yesterday we extended an invitation to our neighbor, M and her son O to join us for a little afternoon playtime. It was wonderful to relax with the boys and catch up on our gossip. The boys are at the age now that they are beginning to interact more while playing. They still don't play TOGETHER, but they will pause in their own play to check out what the other is doing and occasionally give some input. It's too cute!!

They were here for about 1.5 hours. It always helps the afternoon go more quickly when you've got some friends to help you lose track of the time.

Today we got an email from K asking for the name(s) of any landscapers we might recommend. I took the opportunity to relay the name of our "yard guy". I have learned to respond to any email asking for help, even if I don't really have any help to give. It's always nice to let people know that although you may not be able to help at the moment, you may be able to help them out later.

I inquired if we would be seeing them tomorrow at the neighborhood playgroup and she responded that they were definitely going to make it. She then invited us to meet them at the local park as they were about to leave the house. We couldn't make it for about an hour but we let her know that we would be there.

On the way I called L and told her that we were on the way to the park if she wanted to meet K and I there. She said she'd love to and to give her about 20 minutes. We all met up and the kids had a good time exploring the park.

While we were there, D made himself a new friend, Luke. Luke is about 9 years old and loved talking to D. I say talking TO D because D can't exactly talk WITH him. It was so cute to see him interacting with an older boy. You could tell he was loving the attention!!!



L and I kicked around some get together ideas for this summer: dollar movies, first Tuesdays at the museum, zoo visits, toddler storytimes. I'm really going to enjoy hanging out with her, I can already tell!

Tomorrow is a busy play day for us, we have a morning play group and an afternoon bouncehouse playdate. Should be fun!!!

Happy Birthday to you, O!!

So I had an entire post typed out last night and my keyboard went all wonky and erased the whole thing!! Lesson learned: save!!!!

Ok, so yesterday I felt like a complete tarheel. I have been asking M for 3 weeks now when O's birthday is. I knew it was in May but could not for the life of me remember the day!! We met at the park for a little outdoor play time and it dawned on me...May 4th is O's birthday!! I had totally forgotten! As a mom, I know how the world revolves around my little one and surely she feels the same way!

After playing at the park for a good hour and a half/two hours we headed home where I promptly got a loaf of pumpkin bread in the oven! Baked goods always help to say I'm sorry, right? I even made homemade cinnamon butter to go with it.

This morning I ran to Target at 8am to pick up a few gifts for the birthday boy as well. A book and bubble blower. Ran back home, wrapped everything up all pretty (forgot to take a picture) and called M to see if they were up and around. We walked over bearing gifts (the best kind of guests, right?). She toasted the bread, buttered it up and we had a chat while the boys played. What a wonderful morning!!

While at the park we met two other members of the neighborhood playgroup that I've never met before. They both have older children as well as the little ones so they usually miss all the playgroups. This summer both ladies have decided to join the mom's day out program so they'll be able to take the little ones to some playgroups. It was good to put faces with names.

I also ran into K and her daughter G! K said that she has been under the weather the last few days, so I picked up a card for her at Target today and put a Starbuck's gift card inside. Dropped it into her mailbox on the way home and feel good about it. Everyone loves a little surprise.

While we were at M's this morning I missed a phone invitation from L to join her and A at Barne's and Noble storytime. She just called back and told me we definitely have to go next week. I've got to remember to put it on the calendar.

The Grands are home from their two-week road trip and will be visiting this afternoon so we have no plans to get out. Tomorrow afternoon we have an afternoon playgroup at K's. Our quiet week is about to get busy!!

Another fun-filled day!

Yesterday we had two activities to attend; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. It's a good thing that D has finally decided to switch to one nap! Makes planning MUCH easier.

Anyway, first up was shopping at a local outlet mall. I met five other girls for some good, old-fashioned girly fun. We hit up four kid's clothing stores: Carter's, Osh Kosh, Gap Kids and Gymboree. The best part? Outlet prices, of course!

Two of the ladies are preggers and due in May/July. They are both young, compared to me, that is...A moved here from New York and C has lived in this area for her whole life. The third attendee was R. She has a 3 month old daughter, M. The three of them knew each other somehow and spent some time catching up. The last two to show up were girls I had met at the mall playground, L and B. L had left her two kids with her husband so she was alone and B brought her daughter B with her.

B had to leave early as B was getting cranky the closer we got to nap time. L and I shopped pretty quickly so we walked on ahead to the Gymboree store together. The other three girls were chatting anyway so it seemed to be okay. On our way out of the store we ran into them coming in. It was dangerously close to D's lunch time so we had to skeedaddle. I apologized for my fast exit and we went home, but not before I bought this little number:



After a quick nap we were off to stop #2, playdate at S's. We were among the first to get there. (Punctuality has NEVER been a problem for me.)
Soon after, 5 more ladies joined us and we had a wonderful time talking about motherhood and giving advice to the newest mommy. She was full of questions!

Before we left we were invited to another playdate at K's house, which was today at 10:30. We contemplated going, but in the end we decided to stay home. We needed a nice relaxing morning. This afternoon we are having M and O over to play for a while in the sandbox. We'll break out the ice cream, too! What a treat!!

Tomorrow we have a church playgroup to attend. I am really looking forward to this as I may be able to meet some moms who will have kids in D's class when he finally goes off to school.

We are going out of town this weekend for a family baby shower and birthday party. I volunteered to make some goodies for my cousin. She is having a bake sale to raise money for a charity event. I'll be sure to post a picture of them. I plan on making them either today or tomorrow.