3 years ago today....

was my due date with Kevin and Ryan... what a ride it has been! Sometimes you want to say has it "only" been 3 years? And other times it feels like only yesterday they were born...

Done!

I'm done! I'm so excited to say that I'm done Christmas shopping... everything is done all the way down to the stockings! Yippee! Everything has been carefully hidden and we have a lot of putting together and wrapping to do but no more shopping! I'm so excited, I think I'll start even earlier next year!

What American Accent Do You Have?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Boston You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.
The West
The Midland
The Northeast
North Central
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

How Massachusetts are you?

I'm embarrassed to say I got one answer wrong!

Dude! You're 95% from Massachusetts!

Dude! Me and Sully and Fitzie and Sean are gonna hit Landsdowne tonight after the game, hang out at the Beerworks. I'll pick you up at the Coop at 6.

How Massachusetts are you?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

71 Degrees

It's November 16th and it's 71 degreees outside.

Does it get better than that?

I think not!

Now, if only it could stay that way til spring!

No Concerns...

The meeting with Eddie's teacher couldn't have gone better. She said is doing extremely well academically and socially and she has no concerns. I couldn't be happier!!!!!!! Way to go Eddie!

$146.60

The cost of 5 tickets to see Go Diego Go - Jaguar Rescue - LIVE! I got the cheapest tickets available. I didn't have to dial like crazy though because I didn't realize that tickets were not on sale to the public on the 13th, they didn't go on sale to the public til the 20th... these were ADVANCED sale tickets and you needed a PASSWORD! So I scoured the Internet and found it... I was so psyched. (Yes, really)... if anyone needs the password... it's GROWL The show is not until March... but I'm already looking forward to it... we won't tell the kids til we get there! They will be so surprised! In the meantime, they will think the train ride is the big deal til they see DIEGO and ALICIA and the SPECTACLED BEAR and the BABY JAGUARS and all of Diego's other friends!!! How exciting! I can't wait!

A Busy Day

Today has been a hectic day! It started with us having to be at the high school at 8:00 for Ryan's assessment. Of course today is the first day the kids have slept in til 7:30 since the time change... so it was a tough job getting them out the door... plus I wanted to have Eddie's backpack ready just incase we didn't have time to stop home before school... Kevin was also set to start PT & OT today and was saying that he was afraid of new teachers!!! So we finally got there... 10 minutes late! Ryan went in with the teacher by himself while I tried to entertain Kevin and Eddie in the hallway. We started to read a book when I remembered I still needed to meet with the school nurse about Kevin's allergies. I purchased an extra Epi Pen for them to keep at the school incase of any allergic reactions. The preschool nurse was not there but there was another nurse who took the Epi Pen and then gave me a bunch of paper work to fill out... on top of the paperwork I need to fill out for Ryan. Ryan was done around 8:30 and the kids played pretty well together while I talked to the teacher about what her thoughts were. There were a few issues that came up and she is recommending a full assessment like Kevin had covering PT, OT and speech... so that will be coming up. We finished up with Ryan and headed over to the PT room for Kevin's back to back PT/OT sessions. They said they didn't have a signed copy of his IEP and I said I hadn't seen it yet. They said they couldn't start his session til they had it in their hands and that it was to have been sent home in the mail... well, after a lot of confusion, they figured out that it was still in the school so I signed it and Kevin was able to start. He had PT from 9:00 - 9:30 and OT from 9:30 - 10:00. We dropped him off and headed over to another classroom where the PTO was having Violet the Clown come perform. She's great! This is the 3rd year in a row she's come to the school. Eddie and Ryan had fun... Ryan and I slipped out (a friend kept an eye on Eddie) while I went back to the PT room to pick up Kevin... they said he did really well! I was worried he was going to be too tired but they said he did fine... We finished up at the school and were on our way home when Eddie reminded me about the Thanksgiving feast and I remembered that I had forgot to send in the $1.75 for chicken nuggets for him so we quickly stopped by the school office to see if we could sign up and they said it wasn't til tomorrow so I wrote a note and put it in his backpack and then we were off to a friend's house... we have been swapping off bus duty with the kids and it was my turn to get her kids on the bus... (she will bring Eddie home later so it's a great deal, I don't have to wake up Kevin and Ryan from their naps in order to pick Eddie up)... their bus comes at 12:06, Eddie's bus comes at 12:10... wasn't sure if I could do it but I was able to get them on the bus and get home with 2 minutes to spare (we live very close together)... not sure if that's a good idea for everyday since any traffic would mean we would miss the bus but it worked out for today. As it turns out, I will be needing to drive Eddie to school on Fridays because Kevin will have speech... Kevin's schedule is set - he'll be going to speech on Tuesdays from 10-10:30, he'll have PT from 9:00 - 9:30 & OT from 9:30 - 10:00 on Wednesdays and then speech again on Fridays from 11:30 - 12:00. We should hear back in 45 days if Ryan will need any services and we'll go from there! Kevin and Ryan are in for their naps... today is Parent Teacher conferences and Ed and I will be meeting with Eddie's teacher this afternoon at 3:00 pm. I hope it's a good meeting! Wish us luck! After the meeting, we have a couple quick errands to do... and then I'm off to work (6-11pm)...

Happy Birthday to Kevin and Ryan!

Today we celebrated Kevin and Ryan's birthday. They will be 3 on Tuesday, November 14th. We got up and frosted their cakes... ended up going to the Build a Bear at the mall... they both picked out Winnie the Pooh bears... then we went to Brigham's for lunch... we had free meals because they are in the birthday club... they were both SO tired though from being behind in naps... and then we went to the party store to get our free balloons (from another birthday club)... and then home for the party! We had a small party... they had a GREAT time! Here are some pictures from the day! Happy birthday to our little guys!!!

Ryan showing us the bear he picked out:



Ryan watches his Pooh Bear getting stuffed:


Time for a bath:


Kevin's SO excited about his Pooh Bear!


Another bath!


Kevin and his horsie cake:


Ryan's safari animal cake:

AAAAAAAAHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Imagine that sounding like a HUGE sigh of relief! For those who watched Grey's Anatomy last night, maybe you know what I mean. I think the writers have been toying with our emotions long enough and at last, I truly believe (and maybe I am naive... again)... that Derek and Meredith will really be a true, solid couple. I hope they date for real, get to know each other, get married and just do it right (please!) I hope everyone else stays out of it and that they will live happily ever after! The writers did get me nervous with Mark's approaching Meredith and her seemingly thinking about it (how could she even THINK about getting involved with him???)... I was so glad she put out her hand to Derek and said "I'm Meredith Grey"... that was the BEST! I'm thinking this is REALLY it! They are really going to get together... and then the kiss sealed the deal. I'm hopeful and optimistic for them!!!

Steph, I agree - I think Sloan needs to just go away... back to where he came from... he has been nothing but trouble since he arrived. It seems as Addison has "seen the light" and knows that Mark is no good for her... as well as Callie although she wasn't quite as involved with him as Addison... it almost looks like the start of a nice friendship between Addison and Callie. Who knows? I really like Callie.

The Burke story line is really starting to annoy me. Yang needs to tell him what's going on with Bailey and Burke needs to do something about it. And what is going to happen next week with George's father? And where does George's father LIVE anyway? Is he even nearby? He's just going to HAPPEN to end up in Seattle Grace? I mean that part I guess is sort of believable but why is he there? He's a heart patient? He wants Burke to operate? He's the one who noticed the tremor... so I can't decide what's going to happen... whichever way it goes down, Burke is going to have an "episode" for sure... it's what happens after that.... that is up in the air. My first instinct would say that Cristina would be there and save the day... but now with Bailey on her and not allowing her any surgeries, maybe Yang won't even be in there? Maybe Bailey will be in there. Maybe Bailey will save the day? Obviously, they best not let George be there...

And speaking of George, what was up with the fist fight? Come on people, GROW UP!

At any rate, the best part is that it's ONLY TV! We have all week to wonder what's going to happen!!!

Have any insights????

Get out there and VOTE!

Just a friendly reminder to exercise your right to vote! I will going shortly! They say it could be a record day for voting! I'll be looking forward to the results tonight.

Build a Bear Family

You could say we are a Build a Bear family! We've taken each of the kids to BAB on their birthday and they love it! We started when Eddie turned 2, and Kevin and Ryan have been going since they turned 1. There's something magical about that place! Kevin and Ryan will be turning THREE (!) on the 14th and this Saturday we'll be making our annual journey to BAB... we usually go to the South Shore Plaza right here in Braintree but since we've had a bit of the city bug lately... and I'm a city girl and will take any chance I can get to go into the city, we're heading into Boston to visit the NEW Fanueil Hall location... we'll have lunch there and come home for cake and ice cream... and all things Diego! LOL! We've "previewed" the store at the mall two times already just to get ideas for what they may want to get... at first Ryan wanted Pooh Bear and Kevin wanted a dog or a horse. Now Ryan says he wants a kitty cat meaning Hello Kitty... Um, not sure if Dad will go for that one! LOL! I'm thinking since we are going to the Fanueil Hall location, maybe they will want to make a (Red Sox) Green Monster - it's the only location you can make it at! I'm really looking forward to it so I hope the weather will be nice enough to hit the T (which is 1/2 the fun for the kids)... I do have to work that night but they will have missed a nap so it will be a nice and early bedtime... to be continued...

3 If By Train

Our trip to the Science Museum was a hit! We took the train because it's 1/2 the fun... however, part of the red line was down so it took a bit longer than we thought... we had to take a bus to our stop... on the way home we took a trolley... next time, we will drive! Other than that, though, we had a blast! We didn't get to see it all... so there will have to be a next time! Although we are not ready for a pass yet... I do see one in our future at some point when everyone is older. Enjoy the pics!

Snacks on the train! (Thanks Darlene!)


Is that Moose A. Moose?


The beach! The beach! I wish I was at the beach!


Deer







Is this a space shuttle or one of those fancy nap pods?




Take a picture of me, Mom!


Night Night!


Cool contraption!


I know, I do too many pictures... sorry! Thanks for peeking.

The Childrens Museum Revisted

I just found some pictures that I must not have uploaded the other day... I thought they were too cute not to share. Enjoy! By the way, that's paint on Kevin's face, not a big scratch!

It's all about 4's

(Please sing to the tune of Raffi's classic hit "Going to the Zoo"... I love Raffi!)

"I'm going on a CRUISE, CRUISE, CRUISE... How about YOU, YOU, YOU..
You can come TOO, TOO, TOO, going on a CRUISE, CRUISE, CRUISE..."

I'm so excited! I'm going on a cruise on March 4th with my Mom to some wonderful, exotic and WARM locations. We will be cruising out of Fort Lauderdale and staying in a hotel the night before. The group we are traveling with is a health oriented group. There will be vegetarian cuisine prepapred for us, lots of presentations to learn from and all kinds of exercise classes, etc. It should be an enlightening trip. Lots of experts from many different fields will be there, and you can even have a consult with them (for a fee of course!)...

What does this have to do with 4's? Well, since I am all about numbers and things working out "EVEN"... this makes TOTAL sense to me. Today is the FOURTH, my cruise leaves on the FOURTH, and that gives me FOUR months to lose weight and get in shape before the cruise. Strange coincidence? I think not! So as of today, I'm going ALL RAW (yes, again!) for at least 4 months. I can do anything for 4 months, right? I feel 1000 times better when I do it, and I'm looking forward to it. I have been SO tired lately and I know I will have much more energy once I get into it... now if I could find time to exercise, that would help too. Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!

Random Funny Things

We were re-arranging Eddie's room and we needed some tape to hang up a few things... Eddie says "Mom, do you have any goose tape?"... after a few seconds I figured out he meant DUCT tape! How cute!

The other day we were walking somewhere and Ryan was on top of my shoulders and he wasn't liking it too much. I think he was nervous about being up so high but I was tired of holding him and we were in a hurry... Ed told Ryan to tell him (Ed) what was wrong and Ryan said (very slowly) "Dad.... I.... can't.... speak...." It was hilarious!

Kevin has decided diapers are not for him anymore... well, no - he's not ready to potty train, his dislike of diapers is only SOMETIMES... the other night in his crib, he decided to remove his pajamas AND his diaper. When Ed went to check on him and put a blanket over him (another thing he doesn't like is blankets), Kevin was sleeping on his back, totally comfortable... with NOTHING on! Luckily he's a great sleeper, I took him out of the crib while Ed changed the sheets (of course they were wet)... I put him back in a diaper and PJ's, back in the bed, put a blanket over him and he never even knew!

Our plan for the day

Today is Saturday! Yippee! I have from today and tomorrow and I'm glad for the break and to be able to have some fun family time! Ed took Eddie to his LAST soccer game this morning. It was an 8:00 am start. It's pretty cold out there today! The season has been great so far! Eddie seemed excited to play. Today they will all receive soccer trophies... and their soccer pictures should be in too. I think Eddie really enjoyed it! His coach was great and Ed was assistant coach so that was really fun! After the game, the team is going to Dunkin' Donuts for a treat!

After they arrive home, we are going to hit the library and pick up our passes for the Science Museum in Boston. I actually have a ton of books to donate as well so I have to make sure to bring them while I have a couple extra hands to help me. The boys are SO excited to go to the museum... and for another chance at riding the T!!! I can't remember the last time I've been there. With any luck, I'll remember my camera AND my memory card... that always comes in handy! The time we went to the Children's Museum with Ed, I had my CAMERA but no MEMORY CARD so therefore, no pictures.

After the museum trip, if it's not too cold out, we need to clean up the yard. It's a mess. We are taking down the garden too so that needs to get done. We should probably take down all the Halloween decorations... I'm so looking forward to getting set up for Christmas... Last year on the day after Christmas, I went to Walmart and got LOTS of bargains. We got our singing & dancing Santa for inside the house which the kids LOVE (and, heck, I do too!)... and for the outside, I got one of those inflatible things... it's a chimney and Santa pops up and down inside of it. I think it's gonna be so cute... and we got some light up candy canes to go up our walkway and a boatload of new lights. I just can't wait to get it all set up. With any luck (and organization), maybe we can do it the day after Thanksgiving... that's the day I "officially" start taking over the house with Christmas music... may as well do the decorations too! Maybe if I do it that way, I can hold off a bit on the tree so it doesn't dry out COMPLETELY by Christmas.... and I do have to work the Friday after Thanksgiving so I'll have my work cut out for me!

I think I got sidetracked there! Have a good day!

Our Big Day in the City

A few weeks ago we took the kids to the Children's Museum in Boston. We have a pass so it was free and it was cheap enough to take the T (Kevin and Ryan are still free)... and the T was one of the highlights of the day for them! They loved it... and they seem to love going into the city which is great because I am a city girl and maybe they get that from me! Surely anyone who knows Ed knows that he is the opposite of anyone who enjoys city life! LOL! I guess they say opposites attract! At any rate... we went two Saturdays ago and it was great... and this week Eddie had a day off from school so I took the kids back in town to the museum. It was my first time taking the three of them on the train by myself and they were very, very good. I was so happy! We had such a good time! We've already reserved the library passes for the Science Museum and we'll be heading there tomorrow. Eddie is all about science these days so I think he'll really enjoy it!

Ryan climbing through the light up tunnel:


Eddie's turn:


Kevin showing that his shirt glows under the black lights:


Eddie - the latest member of the Blue Man Group!


Go Eddie Go!


Eddie getting up close and personal with the band:


Look at me, Ma!


Finger painting... isn't it fun to make a mess somewhere other than your house? LOL!


I think washing hands was almost as fun as the finger paints!

Happy Halloween!

The kids had a great time on Halloween. Eddie dressed up as Spiderman, Kevin was a dog and Ryan was a monkey. However, Kevin and Ryan wouldn't wear the hats/hoods that came with their outfits so it was pretty hard to tell exactly what they were. I had to work but was able to Trick or Treat for about 20 minutes before I had to leave. The kids had a great time. Ed took them around the neighborhood after I went to work... we left a giant bowl of candy out for Trick or Treaters who came to our house.

What is going on at Seattle Grace?

(Don't read if you haven't see the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy)...

What did you think of last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy? Let me just say that if anything transpires between Meredith and Mark, I will *scream* and then NEVER watch the show again! OK, you know that won't happen (well, the screaming will but not the NEVER watching again)... but I will be sorely disappointed in the show! I'm hoping that when they showed us a glimpse of Mark telling Meredith to "start fresh"... they were just leading us to believe he was coming on to her but he really wasn't. Just like they made us think Derek was with some other woman but it was really his sister. They sure are sneaky over there...

So let's break it down and let me know what you think!

George & Callie: Will they get back together? Is Callie feeling guilty about her adventures with Mark or is she just fed up with playing second fiddle to George's lady friends? And what was the thing with the ham & eggs? Don't you just love that when there is an issue on the show, conveniently a patient has a similar situation and chats about it?

Alex: I've been saying for a while that I think Alex is gonna be a full fledged OB/GYN before we know it... I think he needs to ditch Mark (which I think already happened)... although if he was REALLY interested in plastics, it would only behoove him to kiss up to Mark but who wants to do that? Make calls to the DMV? Puh-leez... but maybe that's the way it really is?

Izzie: What's the take on Izzie? Ed says in the real world she would have been arrested a long time ago. What's your take on that? What do you think about her role in this weeks episode about the girl burning herself? Should Meredith have picked up on that?

Burke & Yang: What's gonna happen here? Is someone gonna die on Burke's watch? Is Christina gonna save the day and make him look like a fool? When will it come out that he has a tremur? During surgery?

Mer & Der: What is the deal here? They are FINALLY in the situation we have all been waiting for (or at least me)... they are both unattached (the whole Finn thing was just to mix things up, I don't know how she could have been confused over her decision)... Especially in this episode when they were on the stairs and in perfect position for him to say he wants to get together and then lean over and plant a big smooch on her, he says he wants time to himself???? What is up with that? I suppose it make sense and all... I guess they just like to keep us in suspense!

Bailey: Poor Bailey! I feel so sad for her. You could tell she was so devastated when she was taken off Burke's surgery... like everyone feels like have questions about her judgement... I'm glad she caught Yang changing up the boards. Something's gonna happen between those two... we'll have to wait and see.

Who did I miss? Addison... I think she'll be status quo for a while. Anyone else?

OK, let me know what you think! Until next week...

Awesome Chicken Recipe

I made this delicious chicken in the crock pot but would recommend that it be cooked in the oven instead... Use this recipe to prepare the chicken and then just cook for as long as you would normally cook chicken (depending upon the size of the bird)...

Yummy Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:
One whole chicken
One lemon
1/2 cup OJ
1/2 cup honey

Poke a bunch of holes in the lemon. Put lemon inside the chicken cavity.
Pour OJ and honey over chicken.
Cook as usual.
Enjoy!

It was so yummy, my kids gobbled it up!
And if you make it, let me know how you like it!

Kevin's IEP Meeting

Kevin has been receiving services through Early Intervention for a couple years now... he was first diagnosed with low muscle tone at 5 months and started receiving PT services. Actually, the doctor picked up on it at 4 months but we didn't contact EI until 5 months. At first there wasn't a therapist available to come out for home visits so we started going to an outpatient facility two times a week... after that, we started having weekly sessions with a fabulous therapist... that ended after about a year or so. At that point, Kevin was tested for speech and starting doing therapy at home with another fabulous therapist. Well, Early Intervention only provides services until the child turns 3... then we go to the school system. Eddie was in the integrated program at the public preschool and I couldn't say more wonderful things about it. They are great... so I know Kevin will be in good hands. We had his evaluation a few weeks ago... he was tested in 3 areas, PT (physical therapy), OT (occupational therapy) and speech. Yesterday I met with the school to find out if he qualifies for services and as it turns out, he does. He qualifies in all 3 areas. They want to see him 4 times a week. They recommended "discreet" services which means I will take him to the school just for the services... it's not part of a preschool environment. I'm so glad they didn't recommend school. I don't think he's ready for that yet. First of all, the program is 4 days a week... and secondly, I don't think he has the endurance or attention span to go that many days or to pay attention/sit still/follow directions for 2.5 hours that many days... Anywho... the last day of "group" is next Thursday and Kevin will begin his therapy on the 15th. Luckily, they were able to book the PT/OT back to back on Wednesdays so he will get PT from 9:00 - 9:30 and OT from 9:30 - 10:00... speech will be 2 times a week and I'm not sure when those days will be yet. I am really hoping for morning sessions, though, because Kevin still naps at least 3 hours a day (if not 4) and I really think he won't be very productive if he's a tired little guy.